4 bones | The Scented Hound

December 29, 2012
by The Scented Hound 22 Comments

Enchanted Forest by The Vagabond Prince

WHAT I SMELL: Enchanted Forest opens with a beautiful juicy blast of ripe blackcurrant. It’s lusciously mouth-watering and evokes the sensation of just picked fruit of a fresh and green fir. It’s so fresh and dense that you want to take a drink of the wine that it represents. After a bit the blackcurrent diminishes and what develops is more fir. It smells like a fresh Christmas tree after it had just been cut and the moist melting snow combined with the smell of the resins fill the air. After a lengthy transformation and many wanderings throughout the forest, you’re left with a slightly sweet and slightly spicy warm and comforting musk. Very beautiful indeed.

Top Notes: pink pepper, aldehydes, sweet orange (traces), flower cassis, blackcurrant leaf, hawthorn, effects of rum and wine, rosemary, davana.

Heart Notes: blackcurrant buds absolute (by LMR from Grasse), CO2 blackcurrant (by Floral Concept from Grasse), Russian coriander seed, honeysuckle, rose, carnation, vetiver.

Base Notes: opoponax resinoid, Siam benzoin, amber, oakmoss, fir balsam absolute, Patchouli Purecoeur®, castoreum absolute, cedar notes, vanilla, musk.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Enchanted Forest is named exactly for what it smells like; an enchanted forest. I can’t do any better than that for a visual. OK, maybe add Hansel and Gretel to the mix (minus an old witch)!

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ENCHANTED FOREST: lush, ripe, evergreen

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ENCHANTED FOREST: Kafkaesque, Scents Memory

BOTTOM LINE: I really like this fragrance, especially the top notes which are just incredibly lush and full-bodied. The middle phase is OK, but the drydown makes this a comfort scent. I give an A for the marketing and packaging of this product and I’m sure there are plenty who will be clamouring for this when it goes on sale in the US. I probably would be in line for this as well, but I just wish they would offer this in 50ml size in addition to the 100ml version.

Bone Rating: 4.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Woody Aromatic
Nose: Bertrand Duchaufour
Classification: Unisex
Expense: 140 Euros for 100ml EdP. Only available at Jovoy Paris at present.

Promotional sample provided by The Vagabond Prince.

November 12, 2012
by The Scented Hound 15 Comments

Gaiac by M. Micallef

WHAT I SMELL: Goes on herbal and astringent to the skin. It smells of bergamot and light jasmine and an almost brown sugar sweetness that’s slightly spiced by the clove. Gaiac to me is a very different fragrance and I’m sure that I am smelling the gaiac wood, but I’m not familiar with what that smells like so I can’t say for sure, although as it starts to dry down a bit of sourness comes forth, almost oud like in its composition. Gaiac is a vetiver fragrance in its best form in that it’s not green, but more woody in its dryness. After a good 45 minutes Gaiac completes its transformation and what you’re left with a sweet honeyed vanilla that is incredibly pleasant.

Gaiac Notes: bergamot, jasmine, cloves, gaiac, vetiver, vanilla

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A medieval forest tinged with sunlight.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE GAIAC: ancient, otherworldly, sweetened

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT GAIAC: I Smell Therefore I Am, Confessions of a Perfume Nerd, Nathan Branch

BOTTOM LINE: This was a very pleasant surprise. I could see this as a future full bottle purchase. And if you’re not a big fan of vetivers like myself, this restores my faith in the vetiver note.

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Woody
Nose: Martine Micallef
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $90 for 30ml EdP

November 4, 2012
by The Scented Hound 26 Comments

Ambre 114 by Histoires de Parfums

After 5 days without cable and internet, I am finally back online. The tree that overtook my backyard is now in piles in the front of the yard and everything is getting back to normal. Thanks for all the kind words from everyone who wished us well during the storm and my absence. So now that I am back in the saddle, I thought I would continue with my fall obsession with testing amber fragrances. The first is a sample that has been sitting in my untested pile for almost a year, Ambre 114.

WHAT I SMELL: Almost icy/hot to the touch, Ambre 114 goes on medicinal; the thyme is very evident. Then as quickly as that leaves you, out comes the geranium note. I can tell that there’s a bit of amber in there, but I am getting more vetiver at the beginning than amber. Slowly, the spiciness then wafts up through the other notes. It starts to warm and then begins to open to that lovely rounded amber that any amber lover craves. What you are left with is a lovely vanilla’d creamed amber that wraps you in a wonderfully warmed blanket perfect for the long winter nights.

Ambre 114 Notes:

Top Note: Thyme, Nutmeg
Heart Note: Rose, Geranium, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Cedar, Vetiver
Base Note: Amber, Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Benzoin, Musk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: If Serge Luten’s Ambre Sultan and Maître Parfumeur et Gantier’s Ambre Precieux had a baby, this is what it would smell like.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE AMBRE 114: exotic, warm, spiced

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT AMBRE 114: Katie Puckrick Smells, Chemist in a Bottle, Fragrance Bouquet

BOTTOM LINE: Ambre 114 is lovely and if I didn’t own so many ambers at present, I probably would be buying a bottle. This is easily a comfort scent.

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental Spicy
Nose: Gerald Ghislain and Magali Senequier
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $125 for 60ml EdP