3 bones | The Scented Hound

December 22, 2014
by The Scented Hound 9 Comments

Shangri La by Hiram Green

For me, there are few fragrances that I am introduced to that end up receiving a 5 bone review. This past year, perfumer Hiram Green’s Moon Bloom was one of those fragrances that did. I had heard so many wonderful things about Moon Bloom and was late the game in checking it out, but it was well worth the wait. So when I found out that Hiram was launching his second creation, I had to be front and center to check it out. But before I get into my review, I posed a few questions to Hiram:

Hiram Green

The Scented Hound: From what I read, Shangri-La was inspired by the Coty fragrance of the same name (Coty Chypre). What motivated you to create this homage?

Hiram Green: I was experimenting with a variety of different materials, once I started to picture a Shangri La paradise in my head, the Chypre accord developed intuitively. I did not set out purposely to create this homage, it just happened.

The Scented Hound: Moon Bloom, your freshman effort was a critical success. Was it intimidating at all developing Shangri-La knowing that you set the expectations so high for your sophomore release?

Hiram Green: It was very intimidating launching Moon Bloom. I am a bit more relaxed with Shangri La. I feel that many of the people who enjoyed Moon Bloom should find similar qualities in Shangri La.

The Scented Hound: What’s on the horizon for Hiram Green next?

Hiram Green: I am always working on new fragrances. Nothing is quite yet finished. Are there any fragrances that you or anyone else would like to see from me? (see the Hound’s response in the Bottom Line section).

On to the review…

WHAT I SMELL: Shangri La opens with this curiously warmed citrus which seems tinged with a bit of clove. The fragrance is prickly to the nose with a peach note that’s rather jammy without being thick. There’s a mulled spice aspect about the composition that exchanges rounds between being more floral and then once again becoming more spiced. After around 20 minutes, the tonality of the fragrance begins to find its middle ground between the floral and the spice and Shangri La at this point feels herbal, as if it’s a special and mysterious creation that’s housed in an unassuming pouch made of burlap, leather and twine. After some more time, the herbs and spices are met with just a hint of light sugar or sweetened floral. It’s not until around the 45 minute mark that you really start to get wrapped up in the dust of the oakmoss which makes for a wonderful haze to base the spiced florals on. But just when you think that the fragrance is going to settle in to its final phase, the peach note really comes forth and it’s a bit dirty and roughened. In the end, Shangri La remains this dusty spiced peach of a perfume.

From the Hiram Green website:

Almost one hundred years after Francois Coty defined the chypre genre with a perfume of the same name, Hiram Green presents his adaptation of this classic accord. Named after the fictional land described in James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon, Shangri La evokes a mystical fragrant paradise.

Shangri La opens with a sharp burst of citrus, followed by a rich bouquet of peach, jasmine, rose, iris and spices, all anchored by an earthy base of vetiver and oakmoss.

Lost Horizon – 1937

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Hiram Green named his perfume well…Shangri La.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE SHANGRI LA: mysterious, spiced, dusty

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT SHANGRI LA: Colognoisseur, Kafkaesque, Cafleurebon

BOTTOM LINE: Mr. Green’s second creation is wonderful and there is a quality and underlying spice that ties it to Moon Bloom and it is distinctively his. As far as I can tell from these first two fragrances, he can’t do any wrong so I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next…but I do have my weakness for big white florals, I would probably love it if he came up with a head spinning jasmine!

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Chypre
Nose: Hiram Green
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $165 for 50ml Eau de Parfum

Sample courtesy of Hiram Green.

November 17, 2014
by The Scented Hound 12 Comments

New Release: Copal Azur by Aedes de Venustas

WHAT I SMELL: Copal Azur’s opening is wonderfully spicy, yet sparkling, like sunshine evaporating the moistness of the early day. A salty note is mixed with a fresh pine, but the pine is not a cool weather northwest pine, but a warmer pine that feels like it’s grounded to the windswept Caribbean shore. There’s a distinct patchouli note which is woody and light and after around 15 minutes, a creamy sweetness enters all the while an incense radiates from above. Around the 30 minute mark, the fragrance lightens to a radiant incense with the pine, patchouli and tonka breezily anchoring the shore below. Overall, there is a brightness about Copal Azur that’s extremely appealing. In addition, the perfume is full of positive energy and inner warmth. Copal Azur is a magical Mayan beauty.

From the Aedes de Venutustas website:

Mayan incense, rising from age-old temples. Lashes of sea spray and whiffs of the jungle where the jaguar lurks… Copal Azur exhales the lush, spiritual vibes of sacred Tulum.

The Muse: Copal, the Mayan incense

The vibrant hues of the Mayan Riviera filter through milky, pine-scented wreaths of burning resin. Blue, for the Caribbean Sea and the limpid depth of the cenotes, the subterranean fresh-water pools that riddle Yucatan: a cool breeze of ozonic and salty notes. Green, for the lush Mexican jungles: a flash of cardamom glinting in the moist, woody undergrowth of patchouli and myrrh. White, for the purest quality of copal and the pristine beaches of Tulum: a lick of almond-scented tonka bean smoothed into creamy notes. Amber for the Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire – the fire that burns the sacred copal… Hypnotic, spiritual and forceful, Copal Azur might well indeed open the “Gate to Heaven”.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: The magic of Tulum, Mexico.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE COPAL AZUR: positive, sun-touched, energized

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT COPAL AZUR: Chemist in the Bottle, Colognoisseur

BOTTOM LINE: I guess it’s fitting after just returning from the Yucatan on vacation to complete a review on a fragrance that was inspired by a Mayan incense. What I love about this fragrance is that as an incense perfume, the incense is subtle, like it’s lightly whipping over the cliffs of Tulum (in other words, an incense perfume for those who typically aren’t incense perfume lovers). Copal Azur is a lovely addition to the Aedes de Venutas collection of perfumes which are each unique and wonderful in very different ways. I can’t wait to see what their next release will be!

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Oriental
Noses: Bertrand Duchaufour
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $245 for 100ml Eau de Parfum

Sample courtesy of Beauty Entreprise.

October 22, 2014
by The Scented Hound 5 Comments

Tom Ford Velvet Orchid

WHAT I SMELL: Velvet Orchid opens with a sweet, rather honeyed opening that quickly moves to an odd combination of honey and graham crackers. Yes, that’s it…like honey graham crackers. After a few minutes, the orchid reveals itself and the honey graham cracker note leaves the room. This is sugared and sweet and very rounded with florals that feel like they’re manufactured in a Chinese factory. After around 15 minutes, the fragrance settles down a bit to become slightly woody with some added radiant warmth, but overall, it feels like a sweet and big Everlasting Gobstopper. OK…maybe I spoke to soon. After around an hour and a half, Velvet Orchid becomes creamy and lighter with a smooth sandalwood finish. At this point, the fragrance finally finds it’s “pretty.” Oh, but what a horrific ride to get there.

After reading what I wrote above, I had to give this fragrance another shake to see if I was being fair to the perfume. So I pulled out the tester a couple of days later. Let’s take a look at round two…

Testing Round 2: Maybe it’s the weather (it’s cooler the 2nd time I tested this) or maybe it’s just my disposition, but the 2nd time I wore this I spritzed on just a bit less which I should always remember to do with a Tom Ford fragrance. In any case, the harshness that I first experience was much more toned down. I didn’t get the honey-graham cracker aspect that I did at first and albeit being sweet, the florals were far less manufactured. The perfume is sweet and somewhat powdery, but much more palatable. There’s a rather tropical feel to the fragrance this time as if the florals are hanging off of a vine and radiating in the sun. There still is a honeyed note, but it’s light, not thick and just adds a sheen to the overall composition, like a layer of fine shellac. This time there’s a slight hair spray aspect that I didn’t get at first, but it’s not offending and it adds just a tad of sharpness to the mix, but as soon as I smell that, a creaminess comes in with a radiant warmth. The fragrance seems to transform much quicker than it did earlier, but that’s a good thing as it moved much faster to the stage of where I want it to be; a creamy orchid that’s soft, a little powdery and very smooth and pretty.

From the Tom Ford website:

INTRODUCING TOM FORD’S NEW SIGNATURE FRAGRANCE. VELVET ORCHID LIVES IN A WORLD OF GLAMOROUS MYSTIQUE, EVOLVING THE CARNAL GRANDEUR AND SEDUCTIVE POWER OF TOM FORD’S ORIGINAL BLACK ORCHID INTO A HARMONIOUS AND UBER-FEMININE FRAGRANCE. LAVISHED WITH COOL FRESHNESS, DRAMATIC PETALS, HONEY AND RUM, TOM FORD VELVET ORCHID IS AN ORIENTAL FLORAL FRAGRANCE THAT TEASES AND CARESSES WITH ENVELOPING AND BRILLIANT WARMTH.

From Fragrantica:

The fragrance opens itself with bergamot, mandarin, Succan absolute (purified rum extract) and honey. At the core of this creation (made of “corporeal floral notes.”) isTom Ford’s distinctive, “timeless” signature – an imaginary accord of black orchid blended with notes of velvet orchid, which gives the perfume its name, with intense Turkish rose oil and jasmine and a new accord of purple orchid that grows in the wilds of southern Brazilian coast. There are also additional floral notes of orange blossom, rose absolute, narcissus, hyacinth and heliotrope. The base is warm due to the rich flavors of Peru balsam, myrrh, labdanum, sandalwood, suede and vanilla.

Trouble in the cul de sac…the cast of Knots Landing.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: What I got the first time I test was a “Knots Landing” kind of big 80’s glamour stuck in a cul-de-sac perfume. The 2nd time, what I got was just Donna Mills in Knots Landing, the prettier and more glamorous of the show’s entourage.

Donna Mills…the eyes have it!

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE VELVET ORCHID: Test 1: artificial, over-the-top, relentless…Test 2: velvety, fuzzy , pretty

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT VELVET ORCHID: Kafkaesque, Now Smell This, CaFleureBon

BOTTOM LINE: I never said that I was infallible and I try to keep an open mind when testing fragrances. Tom Ford and I don’t always mix well with each other and I thought maybe this was one of those cases. But I found that my review was rather harsh so I had a give the perfume another visit since my words were over the top even for me. Whatever the reason, the difference between the 1st and 2nd wear was like night and day. I loved Black Orchid and couldn’t imagine that this would be so polar opposite. In any case, Velvet Orchid really is pretty…just remember to use a light application so you don’t get full on Everlasting Gobstopper!

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Oriental Floral
Noses: Yann Vasnier, Calice Becker, Shyamala Maisondieu and Antoine Maisondieu
Classification: Feminine
Expense: $112 for 1.7 oz. Eau de Parfum