The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.

Tag Archives: EDP


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Keiko Mecheri at the Beach

My hubby Mark and I had a wonderful trip to the beach this past weekend.  Getting away for a little sun and fun for four days was the perfect way to re-charge our batteries.  Rehoboth Beach, DE is nice from the standpoint that it’s small enough so that it isn’t too crazy and crowded, but its big enough to have some fun shops and great restaurants.  I now have a nice tan and about five extra pounds around my waist thanks to good eating and drinking.

As mentioned in my last post, Rehoboth Beach also has a niche perfumery, Penny Lane Perfumes.  For such a small town, this is a great treat.  As it’s been a few years since being in Rehoboth and this was my first trip to Penny Lane Perfumes.  I’ll be back.

The Penny Lane Scent Bar

Mark and I sauntered into the store mid-afternoon on Sunday after being out on the beach for most of the day. When we arrived, we were greeted warmly by Cassandra, who manages the store.  The store’s not big, but it’s perfectly setup with a scent bar and some beautiful displays.  Once I got over my initial excitement of being there (which means that I acted like I had major ADHD by getting distracted by shiny bottles, etc.), we sat down at the bar and got down to business.  As we were the only two in the store at the time, we let Cassandra lead us down the road to various fragrance families, starting with florals, then moving too some citrus scents, etc.  Again as I was being ADHD, I was ready to start purchasing at first sniff!

The lovely Cassandra

In all, Cassandra sat with us for about 2 hours.  By the time we were finished sniffing,my nose and throat were raw.  But I could live with that.  We had a wonderful time and we felt very special by the wonderful treatment we received.  So you are asking yourselves, “what did you buy?”.  We’ll I’m almost to that point.  Both Mark and I ended up finding 3 fragrances that we wanted to test before we purchased:

Mark’s choices:

  1. L’eau Froide by Serge Lutens
  2. Sanguine by Keiko Mecheri
  3. Grand Siecle by Parfumerie Generale

Steve’s choices:

  1. Damascena by Keiko Mecheri
  2. Vanilla et Coco by E. Cordray
  3. Brulure de Rose by Parfumerie Generale

Are we in Paris?

After spritzing ourselves with our three choices, we headed over to the Mexican Restaurant down the block for happy hour priced Margaritas (which means that we had more than one each).  We sat at the bar sniffing each other’s arms, trying to decide which we liked best.  The bartender gave us a strange stare until we let her in on what we were doing and she joined in and gave us her opinions.  After about an hour, we trekked back to Penny Lane Perfumes and told Cassandra what we decided on.  To our surprise, we both fell in love with our respective Keiko Mecheri fragrances!

In all, it was a great and fun experience.  And here’s a tip for all perfumistas; you’ll never feel guilty about spending money on fragrance if you include your spouse in your excursion!  Thanks again to Cassandra for her wonderful assistance.  If you ever get a chance to get to Rehoboth Beach, DE, be sure to check them out!

Well let’s get down to the nitty-gritty, why did I choose Damascena?  here’s my review:

WHAT I SMELL:  Damascena isn’t a complex fragrance.  When first applied, it seems rather sweet and a little herbaceous.  That sweetness is punctuated by juicy black current. It remains in this stage for some time.  It’s almost edible without being heavy and it’s fresh and fruity without being artificial.  As it dries, out comes the rose.  It’s a modern rose that’s light and slightly sweet.  It’s funny though, each time I wear this, it takes on a slightly different tonality.  On the first day I wore this it reminded me a great deal like Kilian’s Rose Oud in its drydown.  For men, some rose scents can come across as too feminine and some may argue that Damascena may as well.  To me, I believe that it can work for both men and women alike.

Damascena Notes from Keiko Mecheri website:  Dades Rose, May Rose, berries notes, musk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  When it first goes on, Damascena reminds me of a lovely garden; but a garden that’s not too formal or tended.  In the garden, the roses and currents are a bit wild and overgrown and are fragrant in the morning sun and dew. The sweetness of the scent is pure happiness and joy.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE DAMASCENA:  fruity, sweet, fresh

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT DAMASCENA:  Raphaella’s Roses

  • Bone Rating: 4.5 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Floral Fruity
  • Classification: Unisex – leans a bit feminine
  • Expense: $115 for 75ml EDP


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Orange Star by Tauer Perfumes

WHAT I SMELL:  Orange Star goes on sharp.  It’s orange, but not a juicy kind of succulent orange, but more of an orange that was dunked in floor cleaner or some other kind of petroleum product.  I can’t say that it’s sweet, nor can I say that it’s sour.  It’s just very artificial.  Some of the sharpness disappears in the dry down but then the patchouli comes out.  I never was a fan of patchouli oil, but have found that in the right compositions it can really be lovely.  In this case, it’s very “hippy” patchouli.  This is a strong scent with a mind of its own.  I see this as a scent that would be favored by girls aged 15 to 20.

Orange Star Notes:  clementine, red mandarine, lemongrass essential oil, orange flower, violet flower, ambergris, vanilla, patchouli, ambreine

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: For some odd reason this to me smells like 1970. There is a real artificiality about Orange Star. And for those of who can remember 1970, our environment was made up of Naugahyde couches, mounds of Tupperware and just a ton of things made out of plastic.  It was not an era for natural products.  Orange Star reminds of old beauty parlors and old grocery stores where clerks actually rung up items that had price stickers on them.  I have to say that I have not experienced a scent that sends me back to another time like this one does.  Now, I have good memories from childhood and those images cited above aren’t bad things, but they’re not something that I want to smell like.  Not in the least.

The Brady Bunch House

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ORANGE STAR:  artificial, manufactured, thick

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ORANGE STAR: The following are some other reviews on Orange Star:  The Candy Perfume Boy, London Makeup Girl, Now Smell This

  • Bone Rating: 2 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Oriental Floral
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: $135 for 50ml EDP


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Bombay Bling by Neela Vermeire Creations

I was all set not to like Bombay Bling.  The weekend started off with temperature of low 100s.  Then Friday night a storm came through bringing 75 mile an hour winds with it.  Saturday I cleaned up the yard from downed limbs and I had to clean up the shattered glass from my broken patio table (getting bits of glass out of the lawn is a time consuming task…but I had to ensure that the neighborhood fox and the squirrels don’t cut their paws on the glass!).  It’s Sunday and it’s still around 100 and I’m almost finished working on the lawn.  In other words, it has not been a fun weekend.  I always worry that when I’m in this mood, writing reviews might not be the best thing to do.  In any case, here we go…

Bombay Bling is a hard fragrance for me to describe.  It goes on sweet and fruity, but in a very subdued and subtle way.  Maybe it’s because there’s a tinge of pepper that hides behind the top notes, or maybe its the base of warmth that keeps the sweetness under control.  In any case, the opening stage of this fragrance is lovely and embracing.  In fact the nice thing about this scent is that as it wears the opening doesn’t really disappear it just becomes a bit more subtle. From the name of this fragrance, I was expecting some over the top, loud creation.  Instead, Bombay Bling is the exact opposite; it’s fresh, light and reminds me of purity, optimism and sheer happiness.

OK, Bombay Bling managed to eat through my crusty weekend veneer.  As I need to get back to the yard work, I’ll just leave with you with the notes.  I’ll be coming back to Bombay Bling later.  This is truly a wonderful surprise.

Bombay Bling Notes:

Mango, lychee, blackcurrant, cardamom, cumin, cistus, Turkish rose, jasmine sambac, ylang-ylang, tuberose, plumeria, gardenia, patchouli, tobacco, sandalwood, cedar, vanilla

  • Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Oriental Floral
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: $250 for 55ml EDP