green | The Scented Hound

I was really excited to sample Lubin’s Itasca, the scent that was designed to represent the North American Forest. Itasca is named after Lake Itasca in Minnesota, my home state. My father was actually born not far from Itasca State Park, where the Mississippi River gives birth. So as a native son, I was trying to see if this scent represented what I think of Minnesota. Unlike my last review of 1828 by Histoires de Parfums where I loved the opening of the scent, but did not like the dry down; this is pretty much the opposite. The dry down is lovely and the opening is nice, but considering the fact that with most scents you live with the dry down for the most part, I couldn’t have been happier. Itasca opens with a fresh blast of grapefruit and pine. It’s fresh, green and clean. It’s also very soothing and smooth. Pine can sometimes get sharp, this does not. In the end, Itasca evens out into what I would say is a floral scent, with just a hint of powder. Itasca overall is a cool, clean and refreshing scent. I think Lubin did a wonderful job of representing my home state.

From the Lubin website:

Top Notes: neroli, marigold, mandarin, juniper berry, grapefruit

Middle Notes: clove, tonka bean, clary sage, nutmeg, geranium flower

Base Notes: Itasca Red Pine, Java Vetiver, Texas Cedar, Partak Incense, Ethiopian Myrrh, amber, Canadian Fir Balsam

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Classification: Masculine
Expense: $110 for 75ml, EDT

Winter has come back with a vengeance today. The sun shines for a few minutes, then the sky returns to gray and the snow swirls through the heavy winds that are blowing. As it’s still February I guess this kind of weather is to be expected. But we have been spoiled by a lovely winter thus far. After reading the newspaper, feeding the cats and going for a winter walk, I put on my Saturday comfy clothes to go run my weekend errands. I thought I would check out a sample of Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Lumiere Noire pour homme that has been sitting on my shelf for a while. When first applied, I found this to be a little spicy (most likely the cumin and cinnamon), but surprisingly green at the same time. OK, I typically love heavy scents and my husband loves the lighter green scents; so I’m thinking this is nice, but not really my cup of tea. So I go to my husband and ask him what he thinks. No surprise, he loved it. So we head out of the house, run to the stores, and I could not help finding that this scent, in a lovely dry down, wafted and swirled up and around me through the wind. Lumiere Noire is a rose scent, but it is so faintly so that you don’t immediately think “roses.” Although this is for men, I do believe this easily fits into a unisex category. This is a lovely scent that I found to be clean and fresh. I would also say that this is a safe scent; you won’t offend others or yourself when you wear this. Lumiere Noire worked perfectly for a gloomy errand running winter day, so much so that I can’t wait to see what it can do for a beautiful and warm spring day. Simply lovely.

From the Maison Francis Kurkdjian website:

Olfactory family: Rose – Cumin – Cinnamon – Patchouli – Wormwood

Play of opposites for both agreements as two extremes which meet. An eau de toilette fragrance mysterious that draws up cause the abandonment of self.

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Floral
Classification: Masculine or Unisex
Expense: Moderately Expensive – $155 for 70ml EDT