3 bones | The Scented Hound

March 17, 2014
by The Scented Hound 5 Comments

THIRTY THREE by EX IDOLO

WHAT I SMELL: Thirty Three opens with a deep rose and oud in that plasticine way that sometimes oud can project. It’s exotic, smooth, lush and it’s tinged with hints of spice. After a couple of minutes a bit of leather is added giving it a rather burnished finish, like a saddle that has been rubbed with some expensive oils to keep it soft and subtle. But just as soon as I think this is turning leathery, those aspects fade away. Interesting, the fragrance has a wonderful way of bouncing off my skin. One minute I think it’s retreating and soon afterwards it seems to project significantly off my skin. I just put a couple of drops on my wrist and trust me, those couple of drops are going a long way. After around the 30 minute mark, Thirty Three begins to soften and dry out and after around an hour, it becomes almost smoky. In the end, Thirty Three is pretty linear, but that’s fine as it’s big, bold, yet thankfully rather handsome too; and there’s nothing wrong with that.

From the Ex Idolo Perfumes website:

Thirty-three is a fragrance crafted from very special ingredients. The soul of the fragrance is built around a vintage oud – distilled in 1980 and aged until its release in 2013. It is also the only modern perfume to use a significant amount of wild-harvested Chinese oud oil and natural Chinese rose oil to build the scent profile. Contrary to most ouds however, Thirty-three is a surprisingly soft and velvety fragrance, and genuinely fits in an innovative space in terms of the wider oud category. Thirty-three is a deep and dark unisex fragrance, with dry and cold facets

TOP NOTES: Soft black pepper, Candied mandarin, Caoutchouc

HEART NOTES: Chinese white tea, Chinese rose, Taif rose, Orris, Damascus steel

BASE NOTES: Rare, natural vintage ouds, Aged patchouli, Heliotropin

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Confidence

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE THIRTY THREE: persistent, deep, warmed

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THIRTY THREE: Kafkaesque (thanks for the sample), Olfactoria’s Travels, The Perfume Chronicles

BOTTOM LINE: To me, Thirty Three isn’t an office scent as it could easily overpower if you weren’t careful with your application. But if you’re looking for something that makes a bold statement without beating up others with that statement, this might be a great choice.

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental Woody
Classification: Unisex, but to me it leans masculine
Expense: $120 for 30ml EdP

March 3, 2014
by The Scented Hound 24 Comments

Hard Leather by LM Parfums

Let me start off this post by saying that it’s not my intent to offend. So please forgive me if I do! OK, given that…

WHAT I SMELL: Back in the mid-to-late 90s a group of my friends would head down to New Orleans during the Labor Day holiday season. At that time of year, the heat and humidity are oppressive. Combine that with small bars that are packed to the rafters mixed with sweat and alcohol, our group line was that “New Orleans smells like ass!” Hard Leather “smells like ass.” Yes, the opening is about as fecal as I have ever smelled. It smells like the back of a dirty bar where the mix of leather, urine and all other kinds of debauched happenings are going on. Does that mean that Hard Leather is horrific? No, it’s just real. After around 20 minutes a light honey comes out which helps to break the “hard” from the hard leather. But don’t get me wrong, this is all leather, it’s just not quite as dirty as it was. After that, Hard Leather get’s just a tad sweeter with the inclusion of some vanilla. But just when I thought the progression was over, Hard Leather becomes dryer, rather smoky and it loses any hint of sweet, but it still remains all leather, there is no doubt!

From the LM Parfums website:

This fragrance opens with a masculine soaring of rum associated with leather tonalities. The heart reveals the elegance of iris supported by the intoxicating honey.

The rich and spicy base notes of sandalwood, cedarwood, oud, frankincense, styrax and vanilla exude strength and Styrax,Vanilla depth .

Top Notes: Rum, Leather
Heart Notes: Iris, Honey
Base Notes: Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Oud, Frankincense, Styrax,Vanilla

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A hot sweaty dance floor.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE HARD LEATHER: semi-tough, strapping, potent

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT HARD LEATHER: Kafkaesque

BOTTOM LINE: This is a Saturday night guys night out on the town kind of fragrance. I’m not sure where else I would wear this unless I added a layer of my favorite feminine floral fragrance on top to make it my own personal “angel with a dirty face” scent!

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Leather
Classification: Masculine
Expense: 295 Euros or approximately $400 for 100ml Parfum Extrait

Thanks to Kafkaesque and LM Parfums for the 10ml bottle I received via a Kafkaesque sample draw.

March 1, 2014
by The Scented Hound 13 Comments

Konig by Yosh

WHAT I SMELL: Zesty is what I call the opening of Konig…like a flash of light of bergamot and sugared apple. It’s very fresh and clean. Soon enough, the bright top layer begins to retreat but the apple remains, although it loses some of its sweetness. Underneath, there’s a layer of vetiver and musk that provides an almost fog or cloud like base for the floraled apple. Add to that some warm amber and Konig starts to become more rounded. After around 10 minutes or so, the fragrance becomes more woody, but still with this slightly candy appled goodness on top. But it doesn’t take long for the wood to turn into more of a firewood as the scent seems tinged around the edges with a lingering burnt wood. What I like about Konig is that it’s masculine, but not stuffy, nor over the top brutish, plus it has nice projection and some real lasting power.

From the Yosh website:

An homage to the king within, perfumer Yosh Han, introduces Konig, a dark charismatic elixir fit for royals of yesterday and mortals of today. Konig takes us to a deep, black Bavarian forest during the time of medieval kings.

Notes: aromatic bitters, sage, cypress, red apple, smoky papyrus, snow flowers, bois d’landes, vetiver, white musc, saddle leather, amber, firewood.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Maybe it’s the name and the inspiration behind it, maybe it’s because it’s quite masculine without being dark, or maybe it’s that I’m not feeling very creative at the moment, but I can’t help but think of Thor.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE KONIG: Semi-sharp, plentiful, confident

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT KONIG: CaFleureBon

BOTTOM LINE: I’ve recently been basking in the glory of feminine florals as of late. Konig is a nice change of pace without going down a completely different and darker path. I think Konig could have some pretty wide appeal.

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Floral Woody Aromatic
Nose: Yosh Han
Classification: Masculine
Expense: $130 for 50ml EdP