chypre floral | The Scented Hound

May 29, 2014
by The Scented Hound 9 Comments

Vintage Magie Noire by Lancome

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

WHAT 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.

May 21, 2014
by The Scented Hound 23 Comments

Bandit by Robert Piguet

WHAT I SMELL: Bandit opens up with rush of galbanum; it’s green and almost sparkling in its intensity, but at the same time rather animalic and dirty which seems like a contradiction. But soon, Bandit starts to elicit its floral side with a some gorgeous ylang ylang and jasmine sitting on what seems to be a layer of cigarette smoke that is layered on top of the green notes. After around the five-minute mark a light spice combines with the floral and hints of leather start to peak through. Soon enough the oakmoss starts to make itself known as the dryness sits at the base while the other notes morph above it. However, after some more development the oakmoss reveals an extra sharpness that when smelled it wants to collapse the inside of your nostrils, but that sharpness soon moves to a more dusty and powdery essence; all awhile still sitting on top are the lightly leathered florals that are rather pretty in more of a masculine way. In the end you’re left with a dusty and dreamy lightly leathered floral.

I find that Bandit seems to transform itself at different times when I wear it. Sometimes it’s more floral and pretty, other times it morphs quickly into the dryer chypre and light leather. Either way I like it because it’s unique and different and I believe, pretty unmistakable as a perfume.

From the Robert Piguet website:

Provocative and sultry, this chypre fragrance is an intense blend of exotic leather, wood, spice and floral notes including neroli, orange, ylang ylang, jasmine, tuberose, vetiver, oakmoss, patchouli and musk.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Bandit’s not quite the tough and wild gal that I had heard about and was expecting. Instead, I think she’s much more of a “Pussycat Bandit!”

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE BANDIT: dry, semi-tough, dusty

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT BANDIT: Olfactoria’s Travels, Perfume Shrine, Perfume-Smellin’ Things

BOTTOM LINE: My review is based on the Parfum Extrait version and on my box is a sticker that states:

“Certification

This is the original formula for Bandit created by this company with Robert Piguet for the introduction of the perfume in 1944

Errol G.W.Stafford, President, Givaudan Fragrances Corporation”

So I guess this version is about as good as you can ever get to the real thing. But I have to admit that if I want a real dirty girl, I’ll stick with my Gres Cabochard. However, don’t get me wrong, I love this pussycat of a rebel.

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Chypre Floral
Nose: Germaine Cellier
Classification: Feminine, but can easily be worn by a man
Expense: Varies depending on the concentration. Review based on the parfum extrait.

April 14, 2014
by The Scented Hound 22 Comments

PANDORA by DSH PERFUMES – VISIONS OF MERIDA

We 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!)