2 bones | The Scented Hound

July 21, 2014
by The Scented Hound 5 Comments

Graine de Joie by Eau D’Italie

WHAT I SMELL: Graine de Joie opens with a combination of juicy pomegranate and red berries; it’s fresh, clean and sparkling sweet. Soon enough, a bit of wood enters, but the sweet fruits on top are the main focus. There’s also an underlying current of a kind of light hairspray feel to the fragrance. After around 10 minutes, that hairspray component disappears and the fragrance begins to bloom slightly as it becomes bigger and rounder and more juicy. After around 30 minutes the musk starts to appear along with the freesia which then make the fragrance more “bathtastic”. In other words, it feels like it is more suited to being used as bath oil than as a perfume. Graine de Joie is pretty linear as it’s all about the juice. Unfortunately there’s also something very artificial about this that drives me away.

From the Eau D’Italie website:

Graine de Joie is a tribute to Love, a vibrant and luminous Eau de Parfum that evokes the irresistible feeling of light-headedness of when you fall in love. A bright and joyful fragrance with notes of red berries, pomegranate, pralines, and musk.

Top notes – pomegranate, red fruit; middle notes – freesia, praline; base notes – cedarwood, musk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Pomegranate red.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE GRAINE DE JOIE: fruity, bathtastic, artificial

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT GRAINE DE JOIE: Chemist in a Bottle, CaFleureBon, Bergamotto e Benzoino

BOTTOM LINE: Graine de Joie is clearly not for me. If you like light, clean and fruity perfumes it might work for you. Actually, I wouldn’t mind this as a fragrance diffuser for my bathroom.

Bone Rating: 2 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Fruity Floral
Nose: Daphne Bugey
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $150 for 3.4 oz. EdP

March 9, 2014
by The Scented Hound 24 Comments

NEW YORK MUSK by BOND NO. 9

Let me first say that I have avoided Bond No. 9 fragrances. I don’t know what it is, the plastic looking bottles with garish and bright colors? Or could it be that they seem to be like rabbits wherein they breed and multiply as quickly as you can turn your head. In any case, I really have had no desire to check them out. But as it would happen, a lovely friend sent me a nice size sample of New York Musk, so of course I had to check it out.

WHAT I SMELL: New York Musk opens with juicy black currant tinged with a slight citrus. It’s not quite edible, but extremely pleasant, yet seems somehow manufactured, like a smell that is part wood and part plastic like the inside of a shipping container…no, it smells a bit like a new outdoor jute rug…no, kind of like the inside a tweed coat. Whatever the case, it didn’t last all that long. I was expecting the opening to be overwhelming, but instead it’s relatively subdued. After a few minutes the patchouli really starts to flourish along with a hint of cocoa. At this point, New York Musk is nice and soothing. After around the ten minute mark, the fragrance starts to build in projection and the patchouli boldly takes center stage. The vetiver woodiness keeps the patchouli in line, not allowing it to completely explode. What I like is that there is a just a hint of nutty sugar that sits on top that makes it slightly gourmand. However, I do think to myself that if it stays in this state wearing it could tire me out. But after around an hour, the gourmandish patchouli makes way for the linen like musk which tends to flatten the overall fragrance, and also gives a slight wet and dirty tube sock finish. Unfortunately, in the end you’re left with a pretty pungent sour musk.

New York Musk Notes: grapefruit, black currant, osmanthus flower, green lilies, nutmeg, musk, patchouli, sandalwood and vetiver

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A wig. Why? Because this sits on top of your skin, it’s pleasant, adds some dimension, and like the right wig, it adds a nice finish to your ensemble. But then a wig can also sit on your head slightly askew and that means it’s just not quite right.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE NEW YORK MUSK: dichotomous, innocuous, semi-sugared

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT NEW YORK MUSK: Scentrist, CaFleureBon

BOTTOM LINE: I can’t really figure out what’s going on here. I like part of it, don’t mind some of it, and am left scratching my head with the dull dirty sock like finish. In other words, I’m not running to the Bond No. 9 counter any time soon to check out more of the line.

Bone Rating: 2 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Floral Woody Musk
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $260 for 50ml EdP

February 13, 2014
by The Scented Hound 11 Comments

Cuir Mauresque by Serge Lutens

WHAT I SMELL: Cuir Mauresque opens oddly sweet and tangy, like soured candy sprinkled in sugar and it’s as if that layer of sweet rests on an orange like plastic. Actually, more precisely, this smells like something sealed in plastic that when the seal is broken, the chemical plastic odors that were trapped inside are released. After a few minutes, a sour note appears, like ripened apricot. After a few more minutes, the leather starts to appear. It’s rather faint and not harsh, but there is a sharp edge to it that makes the back of my tongue curl. After another five minutes or so, the jasmine takes center stage and the fragrance begins to bloom and thankfully, that helps to push out the sour. Unfortunately, the sour is pushed out but the sweet comes on very strong. It keeps building and it smells artificial and manufactured. Thankfully, after around the 30 minute mark, Cuir Mauresque becomes slightly more muted, but not enough to make me love it more.

From Fragrantica:

Cuir Mauresque (Moorish leather) is a perfume launched in 1996. It represents a blend of leather wrapped up in jasmine and sweet spices to make a true Arabian aroma. Notes: amber, myrrh, burnt styrax, incense, cinnamon, aloe wood, cedar, civet, nutmeg, clove, cumin, musk, mandarin peel and orange blossom.

When I typed in “floral candy” in Google Images, this is what came up. I had to use it as her top, the headband and the cotton candy just somehow aren’t quite right, just like the fragrance.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Floral candy.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE CUIR MAURESQUE: odd, confused, sweet n’ sour

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT CUIR MAURESQUE: Kafkaesque, What Men Should Smell LIke, Notable Scents

BOTTOM LINE: This is one of the Serge Lutens that you don’t hear much about and if it wasn’t for the wonderful Kafkaesque I probably wouldn’t have bothered to check it out. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t meant for me. In the end, it evens out, but this is one odd duck that I can do without.

Bone Rating: 2.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Leather
Nose: Christopher Sheldrake
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $140 for 50ml EdP