EDP | The Scented Hound

May 21, 2013
by The Scented Hound 18 Comments

Cinabre by Maria Candida Gentile

WHAT I SMELL: Hatchi-matchi…Cinabre opens with a dirty peppered gingered-rose. The ginger really stands out in center stage while the rose sits quietly in the back. It’s loud and it’s strong and smells like a heavy petroleum. I know this sounds bad, but it’s not. The rose starts to come to the forefront after a short while. It’s a dirty rose, one that isn’t fresh but one that’s thick and ready to mold off of the vine, almost as if it’s liquifying. I can’t say that I like it and there’s something almost repulsive about it; but it keeps drawing me back in. After a bit Cinabre bring forth a resinous sweetness which radiates and cuts out some of the dirt, but the fragrance continues to retain its earthy living state and still remains shockingly large. Finally, the dirt get whisked away and Cinabre moves into a phase that is slightly powdered and very sweetened rose of which the sweetness is sickening if you bring your arm to your nose. In other words, at this point Cinabre is best from a distance. Finally, the fragrance mellows into a lightly sweet vanilla rose, tinged with a hint of opoponax.

Cinabre Notes:

Ginger, black pepper, rose baies, Splendens rose, Morroccan rose, benzoin, vanilla, opoponax.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A working mexican village. So what does that mean? The combination of and smells of food, dirt, and flowers in the hot sun. It’s alive and earthy and the smells are sometimes beautiful and yet sometimes can be too thick with real life. After the heat of the day settles down, the sweeter smells of the town make their appearance.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE CINABRE: thick, gothish, sweetened

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT CINABRE: Scent for Thought, Perfume Shrine, Make Perfume Not War

BOTTOM LINE: Cinabre is one of the more interesting fragrances that I have sniffed in a long time. I can say that I actually quite like it but a little goes a long way and if they offered it in a 10ml offering I would probably pick up a bottle.

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental
Classification: Unisex more at the opening – more feminine in the drydown.
Expense: $185 for 100ml EdP, currently offered as a May 2013 Olfactif offering

May 16, 2013
by The Scented Hound 10 Comments

Le Parfum Couture by Denis Durand for M. Micallef

WHAT I SMELL: The newly released Le Parfum Couture has a bright opening of cinnamon and tangerine where the mix is slightly medicinal. Quickly the middle notes (rose, orange blossom and honey) circle around in a warm thick haze of oudish gourmand goodness. At this point, Le Parfum Couture is incredibly lovely and I have to say it is my favorite part of the olfactory journey. The fragrance then comes out of it thicket of juice and becomes lighter, with almost a tinge of incense with an ever so slight metallic edge (in this case that’s not bad). The patchouli then starts to reveal itself and what was once exotic now somehow becomes familiar. I think it’s the sweet amber that reminds of me another fragrance, but I can’t put my finger on what. In the drydown, Le Parfum Couture is a nicely sweet woody amber fragrance.

Le Parfum Couture Notes:

Head Notes – Ceylong cinnamon, Italy tangerine

Heart Notes – Bulgaria rose, orange blossoms, honey and animalis

Base Notes – sandalwood, patchouly, amber and white musk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A bee drenched in the juice of a honeyed flower.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE LE PARFUM COUTURE: sweet, alluring, inviting

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE LE PARFUM COUTURE: That Smell, Kafkaesque, Chemist in a Bottle

BOTTOM LINE: Le Parfum Couture is very appealing, even though it might be a bit sweet for my taste. It is one of those fragrances that I see as being very versatile in the fact that it is wearable for day or night and in warm or cold weather. Overall, a nice effort from Denis Durand and Martine Micallef.

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $190 for 50ml EdP

Disclosure: Sample for review provided courtesy of M. Micallef Parfums.

May 8, 2013
by The Scented Hound 16 Comments

Jinx by Tommi Sooni

Have you ever been attracted to a perfume bottle so much that you weren’t worried about the scent? Tommi Sooni bottles are like a siren song for me. Don’t ask me for an explanation, it is what it is. Jinx is my first foray into the Tommi Sooni line.

WHAT I SMELL: Jinx opens with a large rounded aldehydic opening mixed with fig. It almost seems like there is a tea note in there too (tea is not my favorite, but this blends nicely rather than overtakes the fragrance). Jinx is surprisingly not sweet, nor too fruity and the floral aspects are subdued like they are just warming slightly in the sun. The fragrance is quite linear and does not develop much after the floral warmth. That said, in the end Jinx reveals itself to be a very close hugging slightly green warm floral musk that’s very calming and lightly radiant.

From the Tommi Sooni website (which is well done btw):

Artists fall on the inspiration of a muse to create beauty with passion.

Jinx the eau de parfum by Tommi Sooni, created for celebrated designer Vanessa Leyjonhelm.

Vanessa traces her bloodline back to the islands of Greece, the land of ancient myths where Jinx the perfume was born.

A light touch of Jinx on your skin opens with the full and bursting fruits of a fig tree under a clear Grecian sky.

Shaded afternoon breezes drift through the green vine leaves and carry their scent to the sea.

Fragrant traces of crushed basil on the palms of an adoring father as he embraces Vanessa, the precious child.

A scented arrangement of flowers for our muse, and you, to envelope in: jasmin, lily of the valley, rose and ylang ylang.

For depth and strength of character we introduce moss, vetiver, rock rose and white musk. The flashes of genius we see in Vanessa’s creations are here too in the guise of crystallized ginger.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A warming halo.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE JINX: I’ve never seen a company provide three adjectives as I would to describe a fragrance until now. Therefore, I can’t refuse using their words: original, striking, alluring

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT JINX: The Non-Blonde, Indieperfumes, AustralianPerfumeJunkies,

BOTTOM LINE: Jinx is really lovely and completely understated. This makes me look forward to sampling some of the others in the line. And those bottles? Love them!

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Soft Floral/Aldehydic Floral
Nose: Brett Schlitter
Classification: Feminine
Expense: $180 for 50ml EdP

Disclosure: Sample for review provided courtesy of Tommi Sooni.