Dame Perfumery Scottsdale | The Scented Hound

December 14, 2015
by The Scented Hound 16 Comments

Christmas Countdown…a few more last minute shopping ideas!

I know I already posted my 2015 Holiday Gift Guide, but if you’re like me, you wait until the last-minute to do your shopping. So I found some more exciting gift ideas that I would like to pass on. But don’t wait too long, Christmas will be here before you know it.

PUREDISTANCE PERFUME GIFT SETS

Puredistance is my favorite perfume house; there isn’t a perfume in the line that doesn’t make my heart sing. From the beautiful radiant floral green Antonia to the sophisticated and gentlemanly M, there’s something for everyone. Through January 10th, Puredistance is offering three sample sets (2 ml each) of their pure perfumes for an incredible 125 Euros. Included in the sample set are: Antonia, Black, I, M, Opardu and White. This is the perfect way to introduce the Puredistance line to your loved ones…and with 3 sets, you can keep one for yourself!

But if you’re already in love with the line like myself, Puredistance has whole set of gift promotions that would make any perfumista ecstatic. One of my favorite gift sets includes a 60 ml perfume of your choice combined with a 17.5 ml bottle of your choice. Choose the same perfume; one for home and one for your travels, or choose a combination of any two. All this for only 350 Euros. Santa, take note, I would like a 60 ml bottle of White and a 17.5 bottle of Antionia! Of course, all this is packaged in the utmost of luxury.

For more information on all of the gift sets and special promotions, check out the Puredistance website.

DAME PERFUMERY SOLIFLORE ROLLERBALLS

I LOVE rollerball perfumes! They’re perfect for traveling and they make for the ultimate perfumed stocking stuffer. Dame Perfumery continues to create incredibly beautiful perfumes at a very affordable cost. For 10 ml at $35 each, you can afford to buy one or all of these soliflores: Gardenia, Tuberose, Rose de Mai, Mimosa, Osmanthus and Narcissus. And if the soliflores are a bit too feminine for your liking, check out Musk Man, which was just named as a Fragrantica’s Reader’s Choice best perfumes of 2015! Another winner, Dark Horse was named as an Editor’s Choice best perfume of 2015…oh and the Gardenia soliflore was too. Given all that, a perfumed gift from Dame Perfumery is a no brainer!

For more information go to the Dame Perfumery website to see these and other offerings.

NEST BIRCHWOOD PINE HOME FRAGRANCE COLLECTION

Sitting on the table next to my couch is a Nest Birchwood Pine 3 wick candle. I can’t tell how much it brings to life the warmth and magic of the season to the house.

From the Nest Fragrances website:

The aroma of a majestic winter forest is created by blending white pine, fir balsam and birchwood over a base of rich musk and amber.

Besides the 3 wick candle, Nest offers a full line of Birchwood Pine products to choose from, including diffusers and sprays. And the really wonderful thing about the Birchwood Pine home fragrance collection is that it’s more true to winter than just Christmas. So once the tree comes down for the season, you can still hold on to the warmth of this scent all through winter!

For more information on the Birchwood Pine collection as well as all the Nest Fragrance offerings, check out their website!

Remember, Christmas is less than two weeks away, so it’s time to get your Prancer on and get your shopping finished so that you can enjoy the wonder of the holiday season.

All the best to you and yours this holiday season from The Scented Hound!

April 23, 2015
by The Scented Hound 10 Comments

Dame Perfumery Desert Rose

WHAT I SMELL: Desert Rose opens with a soft and delicate peach which is quickly met with a non-sweetened citrus; add to this the fact that it’s airy and semi-bright. As it develops the perfume gains some body with an ambered base. However, even with this body, this is one of the lightest and ethereal perfumes I have worn in a long time. And that’s a good thing. Sometimes rose scents when added to the heat of the summer sun can overwhelm, but with this light composition you won’t have to worry about that. Before I get too ahead of myself, the pretty Damascenia rose begins to make its way to the front. It’s floral sweet and not candied sweet and it has a sparkling and vibrant finish to it. The peach remains, but a lovely soft vanilla joins in to give the perfume a more rounded finish as well as creating this silky smoothness. The perfume then moves away from being ethereal, yet it never reaches to the point of being too large. It instead remains vanilla sweetened and silky soft and smooth (and just a tad spicy)…almost like a rose flavored egg cream.

From the Dame Perfumery website:

The composition is a blend of Turkish rose otto and Damascenia Rose with touches of peach, Sicilian lemon, Egyptian jasmine, geranium, carnation, heliotrope, sandalwood, musk, amber and vanilla.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: How can I resist… Sting’s Desert Rose. The perfume and the song go hand in hand, pretty, ethereal, exotic and dreamily lovely.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE DESERT ROSE: bright, peach-kissed, dreamy

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT DESERT ROSE: Scent of Abricots

BOTTOM LINE: I’m not a huge fan of peach notes in a perfume, but here its nicely infused with the rose. If you’re looking for something pretty and dreamy, Desert Rose would make for a nice addition to your summer scent wardrobe… and you can’t beat the price! But with Damascenia rose, it’s better to be safe than sorry, so don’t over spray to ensure that the desert rose doesn’t become a desert dragon!

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral
Classification: Feminine
Expense: $65 for 50 ml Eau de Parfum from the Dame Perfumery website

Sample courtesy of Dame Perfumery.

September 1, 2014
by The Scented Hound 6 Comments

New Release: Black Flower Mexican Vanilla and the Launch of Dame Perfumery Scottsdale

I guess it’s only fitting that on Labor Day I should write about one of the hardest working men in the fragrance industry, Jeffrey Dame. Together with his son, Cullen, they have founded Dame Perfumery Scottsdale. Jeffrey’s roots are deep within the fragrance industry. Over 35 years ago he started his perfumery career in the buying office at Neiman-Marcus in Dallas and spent a few decades in New York and Paris working in fragrance for Estee Lauder, Parfums Caron Paris and with the American fashion designers Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass and Geoffrey Beene to name a few. So it’s not surprising that this new venture has culminated with him combining his knowledge and love of fragrance with his love of family.

Dame Perfumery Collection of 6 Eau de Toilette Fragrances

Dame Perfumery’s Collection of 6 Eau de Toilette Fragrances

As part of the initial collection, Dame Perfumery has launched six creations for women, all of which are eau de toilettes and all of which are designed with a bright top note, a pretty floral heart and a warm sensual drydown. Just this past August, the monthly perfume subscription service Olfactif offered all six as an exclusive preview:

Mate, Heliotrope & Patchouli
Pear, Waterlily & Amber
Verbena, Freesia & Musk
Cassis, Rose & Sandalwood
Passion Fruit, Orange Blossom & Vetiver
Peach Blossom, Violet & Vanilla

Of course, I have a favorite among the group; the Cassis, Rose and Sandalwood. Who can’t resist a sparking rose and deep juicy cassis??!

What I find refreshing about these perfumes is that Jeffrey Dame’s philosophy on perfume shines through with these creations. He doesn’t abide by the thought that perfume is art. Instead, he believes that perfume is pleasure and that perfumes are meant to be worn and enjoyed and not meant to be worshipped. I can’t agree more.

And as if introducing six fragrances into the world isn’t enough to kick off the perfumery’s launch, Dame Perfumery also launched Black Flower Mexican Vanilla which is a more unisex composition and very different from the other offerings. Here’s my view on this fantastic vanilla fragrance:

Dame Perfumery Black Flower Mexican Vanilla

WHAT I SMELL: Black Flower Mexican Vanilla opens with a vanilla and caramel almost cocoa’d opening that’s rather nutty and gourmand. It’s strange that in one sense the fragrance is dry and peppered, but then again I’ll take another sniff of my wrist and the fragrance appears to be more rich, smooth, creamy and exotic. Be it peppery and dry or smooth and creamy, the one thing that is consistent with the fragrance is that it’s vanilla richness without the sweetness. After around 10 minutes, flecks of pepper dot the fragrant landscape as the florals begin to make an appearance. The florals are pretty without becoming too feminine and as they begin to develop the fragrance becomes more radiant and the sweetness from both floral notes and vanilla make for a delightful dance. As the drydown continues, the fragrance continues to soften and retreats to a light vanilla floral dream that is dry and somewhat powdery.

Black Flower Mexican Vanilla notes: vanilla absolute with touches of lemon, grapefruit, caramel, nutmeg, gardenia, jasmine, sandalwood, patchouli, vetiver, musk and tonka.

A Mexican Dream

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A Mexican dream.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE BLACK FLOWER MEXICAN VANILLA: smooth, woody, subdued

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT BLACK FLOWER MEXICAN VANILLA: The Muse in Wooden Shoes

BOTTOM LINE: Vanilla has a tendency to wear me out as it can easily become overbearing and sweet. Here, the vanilla is blended nicely with the florals so even though there is a sweetness about the perfume, it can’t be labeled as “sweet.” And for being 90 degrees today, the fragrance seems to be working, another big feat for a vanilla fragrance because I usually find they work best in cooler temperatures. Black Flower Mexican Vanilla is a Mexican beauty for sure.

Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Oriental Vanilla
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $65 for 50ml EdP from the Dame Perfumery Scottsdale website

Earlier, I mentioned that Dame Perfumery is a family affair. Not only is Jeffrey Dame’s son part of this endeavor, his father V. Dave Dame is Dame Perfumery’s Artist in Residence and was the creator of the artwork for Black Flower Mexican Vanilla. I believe that this family collaboration is going to be making some great waves in the industry and I look forward more to come, including the intriguing sounding Hatch New Mexico Chili fragrance that they will be launching later this year.

All of the fragrances listed above can be found on the Dame Perfumery Scottsdale website!