EDT | The Scented Hound

March 31, 2014
by The Scented Hound 12 Comments

MON JASMINE NOIR L’EAU EXQUISE by BVLGARI

WHAT I SMELL: Mon Jasmine Noir L’Eau Exquise opens with a tangy sparkling grapefruit and citrus. It’s fresh and soon turns lemony and then quickly following comes a lush and radiant jasmine. It’s really pretty, very feminine, somewhat sweet and oh so heavenly. The fragrance just radiates off of my skin like a layer of sunshine. It’s very heady and if not careful, I could see how this could overwhelm. But after around 15 minutes the radiance tempers itself and the fragrance is met with a tea accord which pulls me away from my “love” of the fragrance to a “like.” Don’t get me wrong, it’s just that tea notes are not generally to my liking. I actually find that the tea takes the fragrance into the “bathtastic” mode and makes it feel like it’s turning into bath oil beads. In the end you’re left with a slightly sweet white tea and floral fragrance that is clean and pretty.

Mon Jasmin Noir L’Eau Exquise Notes from the Bvlgari website:

Top Notes: Pink Pomelo, Fresh Green Almond
Heart: Grandiflorum Jasmine, Sambac Jasmine White Tea
Base: White Musks, Delightful Woods

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A grand sun filled conservatory.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE MON JASMINE NOIR L’EAU EXQUISE: rapturous, voluminous, fulfilling

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT MON JASMINE NOIR L’EAU EXQUISE: The Beauty Junkee, IamBrigitte, SassiSam

BOTTOM LINE: The opening of this fragrance was incredible and I was in love. The dyrdown not so much. It’s nice and all, but it could have been so much more.

Bone Rating: 3 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Floral
Nose: Sophie Labbe
Classification: Feminine
Expense: $96 for 75ml EdT

March 24, 2014
by The Scented Hound 9 Comments

NEW RELEASE: UOMO by VALENTINO

WHAT I SMELL: Uomo opens with a spicy bergamot and then quickly in comes a sweet cocoa. It’s lightly warm to the smell, but very zesty and tingly on the skin. I feel like this could become very shrill, but it reins in the overly gourmand cocoa sweetness and instead leaves this lighter sheen of nutty goodness riding off of your skin. After around 20 minutes or so, the cedar slowly makes it way in, bringing a fresh woodiness to the fragrance, but at the same time there is a bit of sour that creeps in, but only for a short time. Uomo doesn’t change much past this point and in the end it’s relatively light and understated which is where it needs to be. Don’t get me wrong, Uomo offers a long life and pretty good projection as well.

Valentino Uomo notes:

Top: Italian bergamot, myrtle liquor.
Middle: crema de gianduia.
Base: leather, cedarwood.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: An Italian boulevard flanked by cedar trees where the smell of coffee, chocolate and other gourmand offerings from the cafes fill the air.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE UOMO: semi-gourmand, semi-sweet, semi-nutty

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT UOMO: The Candy Perfume Boy via Escentual.com, The Grooming Guru, I Scent You a Day

BOTTOM LINE: A very nice, easy to wear offering from Valentino. As much as I like the fragrance, I can’t say the same for the bottle. In pictures, the bottle looks like crystal. In person, it looks like a glass porcupine. I guess it’s nice that at least it’s different from the typical bottles out there.

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Leather Goumand (but where’s the leather?)
Nose: Olivier Polge
Classification: Masculine
Expense: $75 for 1.7 oz EdT (exclusively at Nordstrom in the U.S.)

March 11, 2014
by The Scented Hound 7 Comments

VINTAGE REVIEW: PARURE by GUERLAIN

WHAT I SMELL: Parure starts off deep and when first sniffed it hits the back of your throat with an initial blast of heavy plum with a layer of bergamot on top. It’s somewhat medicinal and rather antiseptic, like what you expect a cleaning product for a doctor’s office would smell like. After a few more minutes it becomes almost lemony and fizzy and it begins to grow larger in its projection. To me, it’s very warm and cool at the same time as the green keeps it cool, but the rose and amber keep it warmed on the bottom. After around 15 minutes the fragrance loses the coolness and the oakmoss comes to the surface drying out the scent with it’s familiar woody powder. Add that to a very noticable, but sudued rose and that’s very pretty and a bit spicy. Funny, after around 30 minutes or so, the warm base begins to retreat but the fragrance retains the floral spiciness. In the end, it’s a very calming and pretty floral chypre that is not too dry. Wait!!! After around almost 1.5 hours the oakmoss really dries the fragrance out, but no worries, it’s still pretty and rather proper. Parure is perfect for the coming spring as I don’t really see that as a winter fragrance.

Parure Notes from Fragrantica: plum, bergamot, green notes; lily of the valley, rose, iris, lilac, jasmine, narcissus; and oak moss, spices, amber, rose and patchouli in the base.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A pretty spring day, where there’s a dry breeze flowing through the flowers.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE PARURE: calming, pretty, reserved

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT PARURE: Yesterday’ Perfume, Eiderdown Press, Perfume Shrine

BOTTOM LINE: I have read so much about this discontinued Guerlain treasure and since I love my chypres I had to seek it out. I’m not disappointed as I love the fact that it’s not an uber chypre, but instead it is wonderfully subdued. Why did they discontinue it? Who knows, but I’m glad I got my hands on some. Now all I need to do is to find some of the parfum extrait!

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Chypre Fruity
Classification: Leans feminine
Expense: Varied through eBay and other sources. Review is based on the Eau de Toilette version.