oriental floral | The Scented Hound

June 5, 2014
by The Scented Hound 22 Comments

Songes by Annick Goutal

Do you have any of those fragrances that seem to call your name like a siren song? For me it was Songes…as much as I tried to stay away I just couldn’t! So let’s see if the song matches the lure…

WHAT I SMELL: Songes opens medicinal and deeply antiseptic only to quickly move to this indolic jasmine that smells rather like sweet bubblegum without being too sugary. The fragrance is big and wrapped in a waxy shell. In just a few minutes, the scent just blasts off the skin like a floral explosion. At this point it weaves a spell on you like a big floral feminine venus fly trap that overtakes you like an unsuspecting victim. The lush and heavy fragrance is almost too much to take so I caution that when spraying it on use sparingly! In addition to the bubblegum, there’s just a hint of spice which controls the sweet without overtaking it. After around the 30 minute mark Songes become more creamy rather than waxy and the Frangipani takes over to the forefront. Frangipani is not one of my favorite flowers, but the Tiare helps to compliment the Frangipani to give Songes a tropical feel. This is phase two and there is nothing subtle about the transition; Songes becomes full on South Seas. As more time passes, the fragrance becomes a bit deeper and when smelled it coats the back of your throat with its thickness. After about an hour or so, Songes moves into its third phase and retreats down to a dry and woody shell covered in with a light Frangipani. And after a few hours, Songes plays peek-a-boo as it sometimes seems to disappear, only to reveal itself again.

From the Annick Goutal website:

Olfactory Family :Intense Floral (Spicy) – (Frangipani flower, Tiare flower, Sambac Jasmine absolute, Ylang-Ylang absolute, Benjoin, Bourbon Vanilla absolute, Patchouli, Spices – Cinnamon, Cumin, Black Pepper)

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Like a tropical breeze brushing up against the white flowers releasing their intoxicating beauty beneath the full moon.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE SONGES: beastly, beauty, big

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT SONGES: I Smell Therefore I Am, Confessions of a Perfume Nerd, Olfactoria’s Travels

BOTTOM LINE: Wow, what a ride. Big, bold and like a slap across the face with a floral assault only to be left with this woody like shell of its former self. In other words, the siren song that had been calling me, entrapped me with false beauty. I kind of like it, I kind of don’t. It’s kind of big, it’s kind of not. In other words, Songes can keep calling, I just don’t know if I’ll answer again.

Bone Rating: 3 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Oriental Floral
Nose: Isabelle Doyen
Classification: Feminine
Expense: Review based on Eau de Parfum. Approximately $165 for 50ml.

May 26, 2014
by The Scented Hound 14 Comments

Tom Ford Black Orchid

WHAT I SMELL: Black Orchid opens with this luscious citrus that dances upon some candied florals. It’s spicy sweet without being obnoxious . After a couple of minutes, in comes the orchid, big, creamy and smooth and it’s met with a flattened note that I can’t quite put my finger on, but it might be the chocolate note (see notes below), but after a few more minutes that seems to dissipate. After around ten minutes, Black Orchid begins to warm and mellow with the vanilla coming forward like it’s covering the fragrance with a creamy layer of elegance. At around the 30 minute mark, the fragrance becomes more woody that’s dried with some peppered spice. And then at around the hour mark, the patchouli starts to begin to lightly sweeten Black Orchid again. When it’s all said, in the end you’re left with this spellbinding concoction that is greatly seductive.

Black Orchid notes listed in Fragrantica:

The top notes are French jasmine, black truffle, ylang-ylang, black currant and effervescent citrus. In the floral-spicy heart, dwells the Tom Ford‘s black orchid, imaginary more than real, and the base combines woodsy notes (patchouli and sandalwood), dark chocolate, incense, amber, vetiver, vanilla and balsam.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Bringing the 1980s back to the present.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE BLACK ORCHID: creamy, bewitching, lush

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT BLACK ORCHID: The Perfume Critic, What Men Should Smell Like, Perfume Posse

BOTTOM LINE: Tom Ford and I have not always been great friends as his perfumes will tend to overwhelm me. Black Orchid could do the same, but if you moderate the application, it’s incredibly beautiful.

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental Floral
Classification: Feminine, but can easily be worn by a man
Expense: $110 for 50ml EdP from the Tom Ford website

May 7, 2014
by The Scented Hound 11 Comments

En Avion by Caron

WHAT I SMELL: En Avion opens with a spiced Neroli that feels like it’s covered in a light wax. It’s not too orange, and it feels slightly weighted with a light incense and an inner warmth. En Avion isn’t a fragrance that morphs and changes, but rather it holds its own by daring you not to like it’s subtle but somewhat detached beauty. However, let me counter that after about 1.5 hours, En Avion becomes the beauty I crave as it develops into this incredibly creamy and wonderfully smooth floral composition with just the right amount of spice. I would also say that it’s a girly fragrance for non -girly girls as it feels semi-fresh and floral without being obviously pretty even though it is. En Avion is one of those fragrances that I love to wear to bed only to awake with a lightly spiced carnation that hugs the skin.

From the Caron website:

In 1919, to mark the dawn of women’s liberation, Caron made the bold move of dedicating a deliberately provocative fragrance to the beautiful androgynous women, nonchalantly holding their long ivory and mother-of-pearl cigarette-holders.

A subtly ambiguous fragrance, which takes the leathery top notes normally associated with men’s fragrance, and combines them with an infinitely feminine floral bouquet.

En Avion Notes: neroli, spicy orange accord, jasmime, opoponax

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Girls who don’t give a damn!

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE EN AVION: tempered, worldly, non-judgmental

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT EN AVION: SmellyBlog, Perfume-Smellin Things, The Black Narcissus

BOTTOM LINE: En Avion keeps calling me back and I seem to be wearing it a lot as of recently. This review is based on the current version of the parfum extrait, but I would love to get my hands on some vintage as I have the feeling that there might be a slightly darker edge that is missing from the current version. My love for Caron just keeps growing!

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental Floral
Classification: Feminine, but can be worn by a man.
Expense: $100 for 7.5ml parfum extrait