The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.

Tag Archives: fragrance review


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Vanille Charnelle by Les Absolus d’ Annick Goutal

Vanille CharnelleWHAT I SMELL:  Vanille Charnelle opens with a sparkling pepper which is soon met with a vanilla gourmand rather almond-ish ylang-ylang.  It’s sweet without being sugary and it smells like a baking rack full of cooling almond cookies.  But there’s a bit of sour from either the ylang-ylang or the tonka that keeps the perfume from being too confectionary.  The opening had me a bit worried that the perfume was going to rise up and scream.   But thankfully, after a few minutes the fragrance begins to contain itself.  The vetiver begins to come forward and with it comes a welcomed reedy woodiness that begins to dry out the vanilla.  But even as it continues to dry out, the vanilla almond is front and center; albeit less sugared.  After some time, the perfume journeys into a more floral realm and moves from gourmand to oriental.  It really is beautiful in a richly opulent and exotic way.  The notes are beefy and amped up and what was turning dry becomes ripened.  Vanille Charnelle then moves to a decaying spiced floral that’s wrapped up in vanilla.

Top notes are ylang-ylang and pepper; middle notes are vanilla, tonka bean and white musk; base notes are vanilla absolute and vetiver.

AnnieHallWHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  There’s something very nostalgic and 1970s about this perfume…very Annie Hall.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE VANILLE CHARNELLE: charming, noticable, sentimental

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT VANILLE CHARNELLE:  Fashion for Lunch, Perfume Shrine, Alice in Beautyland

BOTTOM LINE:  Vanille Charnelle is a wonderfully spiced floral vanilla perfume the makes me want to reach for my tweed jacket.  A little of the perfume goes a long way, so when spritzing, do sparingly.  

  • Bone Rating:  4 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent:  Oriental Floral
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: $280 for 75 ml eau de parfum

Sample courtesy of Lucky Scent.  


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À la rose by Maison Francis Kurkdjian

Francis-A-La-Rose-

WHAT I SMELL: À la rose has a sparkling opening with clean and bright citrus mixed with violet and the freshness of green.  I love the fact that the opening is incredibly cheerful with an unassuming easiness about it.  In addition, there’s a nice light powder that dusts the perfume; and strange as it seems, the perfume is both cool and warm at the same time.  The rose in the perfume starts to come forward, but in a tender and soft way without any harsh turns or nuances.  There’s a bit of a “bathtastic” aspect to the perfume, but not so much that it feels like soap.  Overall, the perfume doesn’t transform all that much, but instead maintains this soft, clean floral warmth that is close to the skin and incredibly inviting.

From the Maison Francis Kurkdjian website:

Damascena rose from Bulgaria – bergamot from Calabria – orange from California – violet – magnolia blossom – cedar wood – musk – centifolia rose from Grasse

À la rose is an ode to femininity, a declaration of love captured in a fragrance. Two hundred and fifty precious roses from Grasse offer their radiance and their unmatched richness in every flacon.

victorianlady1WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  A Victorian woman sitting at her dressing table getting ready for the beautiful spring day ahead.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE À LA ROSE:  pretty, proper, soft

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT À LA ROSE: Kafkaesque, Colognoisseur, The Women’s Room

BOTTOM LINE: À la rose is not an earth shattering perfume.  What it is though, is a lovely, soft and thoughtful rose beauty.

  • Bone Rating:  4 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent:  Floral
  • Classification: Feminine
  • Expense: $245 for 2.5 oz. eau de parfum

Sample courtesy of Arielle Shoshana.