floral | The Scented Hound

April 6, 2015
by The Scented Hound 24 Comments

New Release: Puredistance WHITE

WHAT I SMELL: WHITE opens with this incredibly warm and sensuous soft bergamot. The opening is absolutely dreamy, serene and incredibly subdued. There’s a floral component, but it’s really hard to distinguish as the perfume is more of a glow than a singular note. WHITE is everything that perfume should be. It wraps you into its spell with a sheer and hazy trail of stately beauty. The perfume is slow to develop, but instead, reveals ethereal nuances, the first of which is a radiating veil of a sheer rose over this exquisite woody vetiver. After quite some time, WHITE starts to intensify in its projection, but all the while continuing to maintain a force field of warm and rapturous beauty. To my surprise, the perfume stays in this exquisite state for a long time, only revealing the most spectacular smooth and creamy sandalwood. In WHITE, there are no harsh edges, just a melding of the finest ingredients. Words escape me.

From the Puredistance website:

The main idea behind the creation of Puredistance WHITE Perfume has been to create a perfume so beautiful and positive that it gives the wearer an instant flow of happiness. We asked Master Perfumer Antoine Lie (who also created Puredistance BLACK for us) to create a white and golden dream; an intimate escape from harsh reality. It took Antoine Lie one year to complete the magic formula, using the best and most expensive ingredients in the world. The result is a one-of-a-kind perfume made to enhance your mood through intense, but comforting beauty – if you like it, a warm and natural happiness will be yours!

Ingredients: Rose de Mai from France, Tonka bean absolute from Venezuela, Orris absolute from Italy, Sandalwood from Mysore, Bergamot from Italy, Musk, Vetyver from Haiti and Patchouli from Indonesia.

The Royal Palace of Brussels

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: The most beautiful chandelier; full of light, beauty and magnificence.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE WHITE: luxurious, captivating, cultured

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT WHITE: Chemist in the Bottle, CaFleureBon, Bonkers About Perfume

BOTTOM LINE: Puredistance is known for their thoughtful and elegant creations. WHITE is perfumery at its best and is easily my favorite from the line. That’s quite the statement because all of their perfumes are incredible in their own right. My suggestion: If you want to live the perfume dream, WHITE is the perfect place to start. C’est magnifique!

Bone Rating: 5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral
Nose: Antoine Lie
Classification: Leans feminine
Expense: Launching April 20th. $170 for 17 ml parfum extrait.

Sample courtesy of Puredistance Perfumes.

March 23, 2015
by The Scented Hound 7 Comments

New Release: Asphalt Rainbow by Charenton Macerations

WHAT I SMELL: Asphalt Rainbow opens with a sparkly zesty bergamot, like peppered champagne which retreats quickly and then flattens to a slightly soapy, rather milky floral. The notes states that there are aerosols in the perfume and after 5 minutes it does feel like the perfume is sprayed through a can. As such, the projected spray throws out the perfume and what was once soapy and milky, is now a bit gritty and rough-hewn. There’s also a warmed hair spray effect that feels tinged with charcoal. What’s strange about Asphalt Rainbow is that in some sense, it feels very “bathtastic.” Maybe it’s the aerosol effect which makes it feel as if it was born in a 1950s blue tile bathroom. On the other hand, there’s a grittiness about it that makes it go from blue tile bathroom to truck stop bathroom. If you’re looking for your mother’s rose scent this is not it. The rose is muted, flat and roughened. For some reason, the perfume also reminds me a fabric store as there is a slight muslin feel to the fragrance, like it’s sheathed in bolts of the clean, yet unfinished fabric. After around 20 minutes the rose comes to the forefront, and it’s big and powerful and much cleaner with infused musk and a light amber. After 30 minutes, the perfume becomes much prettier, woodier and softer. And while it is still big, it has moved from the bathroom to the garden. In the end, Asphalt Rainbow becomes demure, light and rather pretty with a very prominent clean musk. Quite the journey if I say so myself.

From the Charenton Macerations website:

Asphalt Rainbow draws inspiration from the “break the rules” attitude of global street art: a creative world movement that teaches anything can be a canvas and anyone an artist. Specifically exploring the concepts of distortion, reappropriation, and impermanence, Asphalt Rainbow borrows from a series of masterful street art techniques to craft an olfactive love letter to the street: a roughed up rose that’s been hyper-colored, torn apart and twisted on its head, then nailed to the wall for your sniffing pleasure. The arc of the fragrance mirrors the unpredictable lifecycle of street art: a re-envisioned rose accord that distorts and morphs over time like a fragmented floral collage stretched across urban walls and alleyways; its aerosol-tinged aroma ever-fading closer to background.

Featured: Rose Absolute, Rose Fragments
Accents: Spray Paint (Aerosols), Galbanum, Lily of the Valley, Lychee, Ylang, Saffron, Magnolia, Leather, Cistus,
Background: Asphalt, Detritus, Patchouli, Wood, Amber

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: An institutional bathroom; clean, yet slightly dirty.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ASPHALT RAINBOW: big, bold, large

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ASPHALT RAINBOW: No others found.

BOTTOM LINE: Asphalt Rainbow is an interesting perfume. The journey is rather fun and conceptually I love the idea. But I love the idea more than the perfume. However, I can tell you that the hub loves it, which says to me that this is a floral that is for those who don’t want their florals to be too feminine or too pretty.

Bone Rating: 3 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral
Nose: Cecile Hua
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $100 for 30 ml Eau de Parfum

Sample courtesy of Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique & Apothecary

February 23, 2015
by The Scented Hound 11 Comments

Chanel Coco Noir

WHAT I SMELL: Coco Noir opens with a brown sugared and sweetened grapefruit and bergamot. It’s light and happy, pretty and rather bouncy as the notes crackle with the brown sugar. The sugar note starts to reveal a lovely floral dominated by jasmine that starts to grow and expand. There’s something almost a bit masculine about the fragrance as the patchouli provides a woody note that keeps the florals from becoming too feminine. But as soon as I say that, the perfume continues to grow and expand and it becomes rather creamy, like it would make for a beautiful and enriching hand creme. Finally, Coco Noir finds it feminine self and the perfume radiates warm florals which are beefed up by a pulsating sandalwood. The perfume almost has a heartbeat that pulses and projects off the skin in a rhythmic manner. In the end, Coco Noir provides a powdery finish to a radiant floral that is warmed from below.

From the Chanel website:

Magnetic and uncompromising, COCO NOIR reveals a black that is intimate, seductive and intensely brilliant. Striking top notes of Grapefruit and Bergamot accentuate the floral accord, with Rose and Jasmine, while Indonesian Patchouli and Sandalwood notes add warmth.

Passion via romance novel art!

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: pulsating passion

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE COCO NOIR: tempting, self-assured, confident

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT COCO NOIR: Bois de Jasmin, Kafkaesque, Undina’s Looking Glass

BOTTOM LINE: With “noir” in the name, I was expecting Coco Noir to be a heavy oriental full of deep and dark mystery. Instead, I found a fragrance that is rather big, bold and full of passion. Coco Noir takes no prisoners and although being rather feminine, there’s enough beef here to make me think that a man could get by with wearing this with ease as well.

Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Woody Floral
Nose: Jacques Polge and Christopher Sheldrake
Classification: Feminine, but could work for a man
Expense: Review based on the Eau de Parfum version. $98 for 3.4 oz. Eau de Parfum.