The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.

Tag Archives: New Release


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New Release: Victoria by Frassaï

WHAT I SMELL:  Victoria opens with a sparkling and warmed pettigrain which is quickly met with a bubblegummed pink lychee that becomes a bit chewy with the addition of a rich and rounded tuberose.  The perfume radiates wonderfully in this semi-sweet fashion with the thickened and creamy tuberose at the forefront along with a soft rose which helps to even out any of the strong facets associated with tuberose.  After some time, the perfume begins to quiet and the florals seem to float above your skin.  Underneath, there’s a slight projection that smells rather like cocoa, but only in the faintest of ways.  The perfume continues to slowly soften with a quiet and seemingly powdered oud settling underneath the creamy florals adding for a lightly earthy dimension.  What I really love about Victoria is that it’s rather tropical in nature without succumbing to being loud or garish and it wears wonderfully smooth without any sharp edges.  Victoria is a beauty that is secure in its femininity without having to overcompensate on being girlish.

From the Frassaï website:

Victoria is inspired by Argentine essayist and editor Victoria Ocampo.  Victoria was a patron of the arts and the first woman to be admitted to the Argentine Academy of Letters (1976). She was “the quintessential Argentine woman” according to famed Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges.  Her circle included some of the most relevant artists and intellectuals of the twentieth century.

VICTORIA is a fragrance of depth and sophisticated strength, a bold contrast between creamy tuberose and opulent oud.

Notes:

Top: Petitgrain, Litsea Cubeba, Pink Lychee Jungle EssenceTM
Heart: Tuberose Absolute, Styrax, Morning Rose
Base: Oud, Patchouli, Olibanum, Castoreum

Victoria Ocampo (Anselmo Miguel Nieto, 1922)

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  I’ll stick with the perfumer’s inspiration, Victoria Ocampo.  The following is a link to a Vogue Mexico overview on the life of Victoria Ocampo (article in Spanish).

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE VICTORIA:  serene, sublime, secure

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT VICTORIA:  None found.

BOTTOM LINE:  I would say that Victoria is one of the best perfumes in the Frassaï collection; and that’s saying a lot since they are all fantastic in their own right.  Here, Victoria is wonderfully feminine without being overtly so and the tuberose is perfectly controlled and contained. There’s also tropical feel to the perfume that manages to live on the edge of the tropics which makes it more approachable.  To me, Victoria is absolutely divine.

  • Bone Rating:  4.5 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent:  Floral Woody Musk
  • Nose:  Irina Burlakova
  • Classification: Leans feminine, but easily unisex.
  • Expense: $190 for 50 ml. eau de parfum.  Also available in 7.5 ml travel size for $47.  Pre-orders available on a limited run of 500 bottles via the Frassaï website.

 

Sample courtesy of Frassaï.  Opinion my own. 


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New Release: Le Jardin Retrouvé Mousse Arashiyama

WHAT I SMELL:  Mousse Arashiyama opens with a warmed and softly bright bergamot highlighted with a brush of incense.  It’s comfort right from the start as the bergamot soon settles into a beautifully radiant fig with hints of soft and lightly creamy moss.  Here, the perfume feels like a lullaby with hushed and quiet tones as it has been sung for hundreds of years.  The perfume then moves from the branches above to the ground below as an earthy base settles softly under the fig.  Here, the fresh overturned soil makes Mousse Arashiyama feel rooted in time.  At the same time, rising above the warmed earth is a combination of fig, incense, moss and wood in a radiant but weighted manner.  And with it, just a tinge of greenish vetiver to give the effect of rays of sunshine peaking at the grounded root.  From beginning to end, Mousse Arashiyama is a dream of a perfume.

From the Le Jardin Retrouvé website:

You walk in this forest as in a sacred place. Cradled by the softness of the moss, your steps obey an old instinct, a deep intuition. At the bend of the trail, your eyes finally meet this powerful tree you know, but whose name you do not remember. Your soul, freed from gravity, subtly separates itself from the ground and lingers to savor the scents of oak moss, patchouli, lentiscus and frankincense.

Inspiration: Arashiyama Garden, Kyoto, Japan

Top Notes:  bergamote , encens, lentisque

Middle Notes:  notes aquatique, accord figue

Base Notes: mousse de chêne, vétiver , cèdre

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  Victorian Japan.  Connecting the ancient to the modern.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE MOUSSE ARASHIYAMA:  reflective, calming, grounded

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT MOUSSE ARASHIYAMA:  CaFluereBon, The Sniff, I Sniff Before I Sleep

BOTTOM LINE:  Mousse Arashiyama is a beautiful perfume comprised of peace, harmony and reflection.  The last couple of unsettling years have seemed to blend into this new year.  Thankfully, Mousse Arashiyama will bring you back to the center and with it, promises of hope for 2022.  Thank you Le Jardin Retrouvé.

  • Bone Rating:  5 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent: Aromatic Green
  • Nose: Maxence Moutte
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: 98 Euros for 50 ml eau de parfum.  Also available in 15 ml and 3 ml.   Available exclusively from the Le Jardin Retrouvé website.

Perfume sample provided by Le Jardin Retrouvé.  Opinion my own.


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New Release: Sarah Baker Loudo

WHAT I SMELL:   Loudo opens with a fizzy bergamot that is quickly met by warmed white chocolate followed by something that smells like woolen mittens that have a bit of a salty worn patina.  The woolen mittens then turn to the sock drawer as the perfume now takes on a combination of wood and cotton with the tinge of the lightly creamy chocolate still lingering overhead.  But soon after, a light sueded leather comes forward.  At this point, the leather dominates and moves all of the other accords to the side.  The perfume is warm and comforting and approachable in that it carries with it familiar scents of many of the comforts of home.  Slowly, the perfume begins to radiate and pushes off the skin as the leather begins to dry.  And I’m not sure if my nose is deceiving me, but there’s a very light buzzing peppermint that seems to pop in and out.   After a long time, the leather begins to retreat, leaving a soft and pretty orange blossom to take it’s place sitting atop a woody semi-sweet flattened vanilla.  At this point, the perfume softly hugs the skin in the quietest of ways.  Loudo is a wonderfully interesting and a delightful journey of a perfume.

From the Sarah Baker Perfumes website:

Playful and sweet with the flavors of childhood appetites, it dries down to something seriously grown-up. Proustian aromas and a nostalgic glimpse of a beloved game encountered in the attic, realizing years later it was the seed of your adult prowess; the sensual, sexy and clever you.

Notes: bergamot, neroli, petitgrain, black cherry, cypriol, orange blossom, white chocolate, Laos oud, Suyufi agarwood, musk, amber, vanilla

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  A cozy farmhouse kitchen laden with all the comfort smells infused in the home.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE LOUDO:  comforting, nostalgic, unique

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT LOUDO:  The Sniffer, CaFleureBon, Stephan Matthews

BOTTOM LINE:  When I first heard that Loudo was an oud perfume, I couldn’t conjure in my mind how Sarah Baker would interpret it as it seems we all have been overly ouded over the past many years.  Thankfully, Sarah’s use of oud makes it the center of the perfume, but not one that is overt nor dominating.  The oud here translates more to the leather.  And the white chocolate, black cherry carry the perfume to the slightly gourmand.  In all, there’s something incredibly comforting about Loudo in that wraps the wearer up in a quieter and more simple time.  And as far as I’m concerned, a oud/leather scent that is a comfort is something that’s very welcomed.

  • Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent:  Woody
  • Nose: Chris Maurice
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: $155 for 50 ml parfum extrait