fruity floral | The Scented Hound

August 11, 2014
by The Scented Hound 24 Comments

Peche Cardinal by Parfums MDCI

WHAT I SMELL: Peche Cardinal opens with a muted berry that’s sweet and fruity and lightly tropical. It’s really pretty and soft and could easily have gone big and garish, but instead it is pure innocence. There’s a light creaminess that lends itself to a light peach freshness. It’s as if there are peaches and plums in a beautiful bowl, tinged with sun that’s met with a gentle breeze coming through an open window. Plus it’s cottony soft, like a baby’s blanket; all comforting and secure. After around 20 minutes, the warmth of the sandalwood comes in along with this restrained tuberose, making this even more comforting if that’s possible. After the 30 minute mark the fragrance begins to grow and increase its projection. But once again, it does so without making it loud. The final drydown is a just a little spicy, but a lot of peach and muted tuberose. Peche Cardinal is one majestic beauty.

From the Parfums MDCI website:

A fruity floral From a palette of raw materials by the famous Fragrance House Robertet, Amandine Marie imagined for MDCI a very bold, young and vivacious composition: daring at first, but with soft and silky tones in its development. A dazzling start: peach, blackberry, blackcurrant, Davana and coconut make it a true fruity fragrance, full of exuberance. After this grand opening that feels like the triumphant arrival of spring and awakens the senses, lily and tuberose and a touch of plum enter the composition, softening it into a smooth fruity floral. These floral notes are a prelude to the round and velvety final accords of the base: sandalwood, cedar and musk bring soothing calm, body and lasting power.

Girl with a Kitten, Jean-Baptiste Perronneau

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: The story of a girl’s transformation from beautiful innocence to a sophisticated and charming woman.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE PECHE CARDINAL: glorious, comforting, cultured

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT PECHE CARDINAL: Olfactoria’s Travels, Another Perfume Blog, Perfume Posse

BOTTOM LINE: Peche Cardinal translates into Cardinal Sin. There is NO sin involved with this fragrance. Instead, it would be a sin not to enjoy it. I’m not a fan of peach fragrances…but I am a big fan of this.

Bone Rating: 4.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Fruity Floral
Nose: Amandine Marie
Classification: Feminine
Expense: $250 for 75ml EdP without the beautiful bust. $375 for 60ml EdP with the iconic bust.

July 21, 2014
by The Scented Hound 5 Comments

Graine de Joie by Eau D’Italie

WHAT I SMELL: Graine de Joie opens with a combination of juicy pomegranate and red berries; it’s fresh, clean and sparkling sweet. Soon enough, a bit of wood enters, but the sweet fruits on top are the main focus. There’s also an underlying current of a kind of light hairspray feel to the fragrance. After around 10 minutes, that hairspray component disappears and the fragrance begins to bloom slightly as it becomes bigger and rounder and more juicy. After around 30 minutes the musk starts to appear along with the freesia which then make the fragrance more “bathtastic”. In other words, it feels like it is more suited to being used as bath oil than as a perfume. Graine de Joie is pretty linear as it’s all about the juice. Unfortunately there’s also something very artificial about this that drives me away.

From the Eau D’Italie website:

Graine de Joie is a tribute to Love, a vibrant and luminous Eau de Parfum that evokes the irresistible feeling of light-headedness of when you fall in love. A bright and joyful fragrance with notes of red berries, pomegranate, pralines, and musk.

Top notes – pomegranate, red fruit; middle notes – freesia, praline; base notes – cedarwood, musk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Pomegranate red.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE GRAINE DE JOIE: fruity, bathtastic, artificial

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT GRAINE DE JOIE: Chemist in a Bottle, CaFleureBon, Bergamotto e Benzoino

BOTTOM LINE: Graine de Joie is clearly not for me. If you like light, clean and fruity perfumes it might work for you. Actually, I wouldn’t mind this as a fragrance diffuser for my bathroom.

Bone Rating: 2 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Fruity Floral
Nose: Daphne Bugey
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $150 for 3.4 oz. EdP

June 14, 2014
by The Scented Hound 19 Comments

Vintage Molinard de Molinard

WHAT I SMELL: Molinard de Molinard’s opening is all smoke and incense on top of bergamot and a muted fruit. This is quite the contradiction in notes, but somehow it really works and makes the kick off incredibly interesting. After around 5 minutes the florals start to brush away the smoke and incense (but not too much though) to reveal a rather bright undercurrent filled with my favorites, ylang-ylang and rose (somehow that combination always seems to work for me). The fragrance is quite large and at times seems more fruity than floral but the one consistent is the veil of incense that seems to glide and move around the other notes. There’s a strange mix of cool and warmth with this; the base is warm but there is this sheered gauze above that seems to be a bit cooler. This is one of the fragrances that when sniffed you can feel the movement of the molecules running under your nostrils. As the fragrance begins to settle, the movement dies down and the incense calms to a whisper and the fragrance becomes golden warmth. It’s incredibly sensuous and very womanly, a real radiant beauty. After a few hours, you’re left with a lightly sweetened fruity comforting dream.

Molinard de Molinard notes via Fragrantica:

Top notes are black currant, fruity notes, green notes, asafoetida, lemon, bergamot and cassis; middle notes are jasmine, ylang-ylang, lily-of-the-valley, Bulgarian rose and narcissus; base notes are labdanum, amber, musk, vetiver, incense and patchouli.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Beautiful and mysterious, like an early 1930s Myrna Loy when she was still playing “exotics” prior to becoming a star.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE MOLINARD DE MOLINARD: mysterious, sensuous, radiant

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT MOLINARD DE MOLINARD: Post Modern Perfume (the only review I could find and which was based on the EdT version which was a very different experience from my Parfum Extrait version)

BOTTOM LINE: I found this little 7.5ml beauty at an estate sale and only wish that I had more. I don’t wear it often, but when I do, I always ask myself, why I don’t. Part of it is that I hide it away in a cabinet like a precious jewel that I just don’t ever want to lose. Oh, and what a little jewel it is…the bottle is an exquisite Lalique beauty.

Bone Rating: 4.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Fruity Floral
Classification: Feminine
Expense: Varied for vintage. Review based on the Parfum Extrait version.