EDP | The Scented Hound

June 30, 2013
by The Scented Hound 19 Comments

Dries Van Noten by Frederic Malle

WHAT I SMELL: Dries Van Noten opens with a tangy citrus opening that quickly moves into sweet gaiac wood. It’s slightly sugary with some vanilla undertones. At the same time it radiates some comforting warmth through a layered honey. The sandalwood comes to the surface bringing a more woody essence. After about 10 minutes the saffron begins to reveal itself and there is a slight sourness that is revealed which is a good as it softens the sweetness of the vanilla. In the end, Dries Van Noten becomes a very light and subtle comfort scent.

Dries Van Noten Notes: sandalwood, guaiac wood, tonka bean, vanilla, saffron, jasmine, musk, bergamot, lemon, nutmeg, cloves, patchouli, woody notes and peru balsam

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Seduction

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE DRIES VAN NOTEN: sexy, sweetened, warm

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT DRIES VAN NOTEN: Cafe Makeup, Kafkaesque, Adventures of Barbarella

BOTTOM LINE: Dries Van Noten is a nice perfume, and for a Fredric Malle fragrance, it’s very understated. In its essence, it’s like the birth child of M. Micallef’s Gaiac (in the beginning) and Guerlain’s Samsara (in the end) both of which I like very much. As such, I don’t feel the need to run out and buy this for myself.

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental Woody
Nose: Bruno Jovanovic
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $185 for 50ml EdP

June 22, 2013
by The Scented Hound 19 Comments

Tableau de Parfums Loretta

WHAT I SMELL: Loretta opens with candied tart sweetness. It’s bright with just a tinge of sour. Quickly it moves into grape soda. Really??? Then quickly again, the grape soda is met with a light powder. Loretta is a tease. Am I going to like this or not? So far it’s different; not bad and not good. Thankfully, the grape soda is met with a bit of warmth that helps to anchor the sweetness. The plum (which to me smells like grape soda) completely dominates and therefore makes it hard for me to pick out additional notes even though I know they’re there as the fragrance starts to even out. Finally, Loretta settles down some to reveal a lightly sweetened patchouli woodiness tinged with a bit of what seems to be some coriander.

From Fragrantica:

The fragrance is a composition of sensual white flowers, dominated by tuberose and accompanied by jasmine and orange blossom. Dark ripe fruit like plum give the composition additional sweetness with velvety rose also on top. The dark side of the character is captured by notes of patchouli, ambergris, leather, sweetened orris root and woody – resinous tones.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Surprise…grape soda!

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE LORETTA: fruity, persistent, unique

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT LORETTA: The Muse in Wooden Shoes, Fine Fragrants, The Candy Perfume Boy

BOTTOM LINE: Loretta confuses me. I don’t hate her and I don’t love her and am struggling with when I would want to wear her. I keep reading about the tuberose in this, but that is completely escaping me. Finally, besides grape soda, Loretta reminds me of what the penny candy aisle at the Ben Franklin store used to smell like. Not for me, but I could see someone else digging this for its uniqueness. One thing I do love though is the bottle…it’s perfection!

Bone Rating: 3 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental Floral
Nose: Andy Tauer
Classification: Feminine
Expense: $160 for 50ml EdP

June 18, 2013
by The Scented Hound 23 Comments

Tom Ford Sahara Noir

You would think by this time that I would have learned that when wearing a Tom Ford fragrance that less is more. In other words, a little Tom Ford goes a long way. So now that we established that I overspritzed, that set the tone for the rest of my experience with Sahara Noir.

WHAT I SMELL: Hay. It smells hay like that has been sitting in a barn for some time. The smoke from a nearby fire has been absorbed by the hay. There’s incense and what may be a hint of bergamot, but mostly smoky hay. Nothing really happens much after this except that the hay becomes a bit dryer and woody and maybe just a tad sweeter; but I think that’s just wishful thinking and my mind playing tricks on me.

From Fragrantica:

Sahara Noir is an oriental-woody scent based on incense. Bitter orange, Levantine cypress (known as one of the plants growing in the gardens of the 1001 Arabian Nights) and cistus essence Orpur® (Orpur® are high-quality natural ingredients of extraordinary purity, developed by Givaudan) open the composition. The heart blends frankincence essence Orpur®, cinnamon, cool papyrus extract, rose absolute from Morocco and Egyptian jasmin with honeyed and animalic shades of beeswax from Burma.The base centers around warm amber notes – made of labdanum absolute and ambreinol (an intense natural labdanum fraction), cedar, frankincense resin, benzoin, vanilla, oud and balsams.

OK, I am seriously missing something here because Sahara Noir is incredibly linear and I am missing what I wish I could smell, like the rose absolute, jasmine and other notes that could brighten this a bit.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Of course, I can only say…smoky hay.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE SAHARA NOIR: boring, dull, there (I know, there is not an adjective, but Sahara Noir is just “there”)

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT SAHARA NOIR: Adventures of Barberella, Scents of Self, Notable Scents

BOTTOM LINE: When I first put on Sahara Noir I found it promising. I thought that it would develop and morph into something interesting. Unfortunately, it ended up sitting on me like a log. By the end of the work day I was incredibly tired and worn out from wearing this fragrance so much so that I just couldn’t wait to get home and put something else on. Uggggh.

Bone Rating: 2.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental Woody
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $150 for 50ml EdP