The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.

Tag Archives: 5 bones


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Vintage Magie Noire by Lancome


lancome-magie-noire_340

WHAT I SMELL:  Magie Noire opens with this delicious rich creamy and warm blackcurrent that enraptures your nostrils with a deep and opulent bouquet.  It’s just so incredibly dreamy and powerfully beautiful that it takes your breath away.  That majestic opening calms ever so slightly to reveal some spice and then the jasmine and rose settle in giving the fragrance this floral headiness that seems to fill the air around my head every time I take a breath.  All of what I mentioned thus far is wrapped up in this smooth and creamy honey like cognac and its texture feels rather boozy without smelling boozy.  After around 20 minutes Magie Noire becomes more mysterious in nature as it becomes darker and slightly animalic which is rather surprising, but which makes me love it even more.  Usually fragrances seem to thin out as  time goes on, but Magie Noire keeps up the opulence.  After around an hour, Magie Noire once again settles down into the beautiful chypre like floral that radiates like a force field off of your skin.  For being a fragrance this was introduced in the late 1970s, I have a hard time wrapping my head around how this could be associated with the bad fashion comprised of synthetic polyester as this is just too beautiful for such a horrid time.

Notes as cited from Yesterday’s Perfume:

Top notes: Cassis, bergamot, hyacinth, raspberry, green note

Heart notes: Honey, jasmine, lily of the valley, tuberose, narcissus, orris, rose oriental

Base notes: Patchouli, castoreum, civet, vetiver, musk, oakmoss, benzoin

book of secretsWHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  A book of secrets.  It’s magical, spellbinding and completely takes your breath away.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE MAGIE NOIRE: opulent, magical, breathtaking

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT MAGIE NOIRE: Muse in Wooden Shoes, Yesterday’s Perfume, Scent of the Day

BOTTOM LINE: There’s a tragic side to this story.  I picked up small used bottle of the parfum extrait at an estate sale.  It only cost me $5  because only 1/2 of the 7.5 ml bottle was remaining.  As I was organizing my perfumes the other day I noted that the cap was missing off of the bottle  (it didn’t fit right in the first place) so the perfume has been sitting for a couple of months without a cap on.  Unfortunately only a little bit remains and it is pretty thick and concentrated at this point.  So please bear in mind that my experience with this review may be just slightly different due to concentration, evaporation levels…but make no mistake, it was heaven when I first got the bottle as well.  The vintage parfum is selling for ridiculous prices on eBay, but I will continue to search out a new bottle (of vintage parfum)….this is my quest!!!

Also note that I can’t speak to the current version of Magie Noire, but as you can see below, they appear to be rather different.  According to the Lancome website, the notes for the current EdT are:

Top Notes: Bulgarian Rose, Blackcurrant Bud
Heart Notes: Jasmine, Ylang-Ylang
Base Notes: Amber, Sandalwood, Patchouli

  • Bone Rating: 5 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Chypre Floral
  • Classification: Feminine…but who cares, I love it!
  • Expense: Review based on parfum extrait. Vintage bottles can be found on eBay.


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New Release: Tango by Masque

masquetangoWHAT I SMELL:  Tango opens with a spicy bergamot that dances with pepper followed soon with this wonderful cardamon which gives it a slight medicinal herbal hue.  After a few more minutes, a rather boozy almost whiskey like note is introduced and the fragrance begins to get a bit tangy and sharper which helps to lighten the rather deep opening.  It feels like its revving itself up like pistons in an engine getting ready for the fragrance to take off.  There’s a little sweetness that lurks underneath the spicy elements of the fragrance that help it to be more playful than sedate.  The amber provides for a consistent warmth for the base that makes Tango oh so comfortable, yet incredibly sexy like a form-fitting dress that reveals every curve.  After around 30 minutes, Tango becomes pure sex.  The heady florals matched with the warm base just oozes off your skin.  It’s intoxicating and breathtaking.

Tango note from the Masque website:

Head notes:  bergamot, black pepper, cardamom

Heart notes:  Sambac jasmine abs, Damascena rose oil, patchouli

Base notes:  vanilla bean, tonka bean, melilot abs, amber accord, leather accord, benzoin, muscs

tangoWHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  As the seductive dance between two lovers; Tango is named perfectly!

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE TANGO:  lively, nocturnal, peppery

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT TANGO: Colognossieur, CaFleureBon, The Non-Blonde

BOTTOM LINE:  Wow!  Tango took me by surprise and whipped me up into a carnal frenzy.  Tango isn’t a fragrance that’s meant for the office, but is perfect for when you’re prowling the streets at night.  Trust me, you’ll be noticed.

  • Bone Rating: 5 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Oriental Floral
  • Nose:  Cecile Zarokian
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: $240 for 100ml EdP

Sample courtesy of Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique and Apothecary


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PANDORA by DSH PERFUMES – VISIONS OF MERIDA

pandora_present11We just got back to the States after visiting Merida, Mexico this past week.  Merida is one of the spots that we are visiting in our search for the ideal place to retire in a few years.  We’re ready for an adventure and are both drawn to Mexico.  So after hearing wonderful things about the city, we decided to take a visit.  Merida didn’t disappoint.  Without getting too much into details, Merida is the capital city in the state of Yucatan.  It was founded over 472 years ago and is city full of culture, good restaurants and wonderful people.  We met with a real estate agent and looked at various options in the central city which is comprised of colonial homes which sit flush to the sidewalk, only to reveal high ceiling grandeur with gardens in the back.  They were stunning.  We also managed to get out of the city for a bit visiting a hacienda that was unrestored but in which you could see the magnificence that once existed as well as the Mayan ruins at Uxmal which after in the past visiting other ruins rated the best as the details on the building were very well-preserved.  Both of decided that we need to go back in the fall and do some more investigation into this Yucatan jewel.  It really felt like home.

A rare pic of the Hound!
Uxmal! Magical.
A fierce Mayan warrior god!
A picture taken at the hacienda. Ummm, no, that’s not the house, it’s the rope manufacturing plant. I think they had some money!
The yellow house is the house with the pool dividing the main house from the master bedroom. But this gives you a good idea of how the streets look in the city.
Another home we looked at. Picture is taken from the main house looking over the pool to the master bedroom. Enchanting.
One of the homes we looked at had a pool in the middle of the house!
Our Bed and Breakfast – Villa Verde. Beautiful.
Exploring the Mercado (the market) was so much fun.
Sunday dancing on the main square.

So what does this have to do with DSH’s Pandora?  Well, let’s just say that it became my Merida Mexico perfume of choice.  A few days prior to leaving for Mexico I received my order from DSH with my order of Pandora.  After reading some wonderful reviews by Kafkaesque, I wondered why I hadn’t sought DSH out before so I gave their website a spin and for some reason, was drawn towards Pandora.  Have you ever been drawn into a perfume because of its name?  I don’t believe I have in the past, but this time the name was the key!  I must do this more often, because like Merida, Pandora is a jewel.

WHAT I SMELL:  Opens with this beautiful lightly sugared suede along with this rounded deep floral mix that’s deeply soothing and strangely intoxicating and exotic.  After some time, Pandora starts to reveal its oakmoss, but without drying the fragrance too much, and as such, the otherworldly quality that gives the Pandora its mystery remains intact.  The fragrance doesn’t much morph beyond this, but what it does is radiate off your skin like a living force field that mixed with your body heat, will grow and pulse to match your warmth.

Pandora’s Notes:

Top notes: Aldehyde/Aldehydic, Bergamot, Cassis Bud, Davana, Green Peppercorn, Ozone, Pink Peppercorn, Ruby Red Fruits (botanical accord), Spice Notes, Violet Leaf Absolute.

Middle notes: Cabreuva Wood, Centifolia Rose Absolute, Green Tea Absolute, Juhi Jasmine Absolute, Linden Blossom Absolute, Orris Root, Yerba Mate Absolute.

Base notes: Ambergris Tincture, Australian Sandalwood, Cyperus, Fossilized Amber, Green Oakmoss, Mousse de Saxe no.1 (botanical accord), Muhuhu, Patchouli co2, Tonka Bean Absolute, Vanilla Absolute, Vetiver co2.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  Sexiness.  This was well suited for the warm Mexican nights and for dining al fresco at Merida’s lovely restaurants.  It made me feel alive, confident and surprisingly sexy.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE PANDORA:  warm, deep, soulful

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT PANDORA: The Perfume Critic, Scent Hive, EauMG

BOTTOM LINE:  This is so good that the 10ml bottle that I purchase has now been reduced to around 3 remaining mls.  I must have more.  Pandora has me under her spell!  Now, I must have the parfum extrait!

  • Bone Rating: 5 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Chypre Floral
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: $63 for 10ml EdP from the DSH Perfumes website.  It should be noted that the picture above is for the 15ml parfum extrait which sells for $227 (sorry, I couldn’t find a picture of the EdP version!)