parfum | The Scented Hound

May 22, 2012
by The Scented Hound 9 Comments

Muscs Koublai Khan by Serge Lutens

When I woke up this morning, it was raining and humid and I was feeling a bit ornery. I pulled out my untested samples and thought that Muscs Koublai Khan would be the right scent to match my mood as I wasn’t set for something light and airy. Of course, being one of those days I managed to spill most of the fragrance from the vial, but managed beforehand to dab myself with this interesting fragrance.

Muscs Koublai Khan went on quite sweet. The sweetness was surrounded by rubbery musk. I found it sexy and heavy. But after a time that heaviness leveled out and it turned into a familiar scent. I have been wracking my brain all day to figure out what scent it reminded me of. To this point I can’t answer that, but I do know that it goes way back. It reminds me of some powerhouse scent from the 80s. As the drydown continued, I also noticed that it has a bit of a barber shop smell to it, something similar to Brylcreem. In other words, it has a bit of a musky chemical smell.

I’m waffling on this fragrance, I have read comments where it has been compared to Frederic Malle’s Musc Ravageur, but Muscs Koublai Khan is much more subdued and doesn’t have ooomph, that Musc Ravageur hits you with. That’s not a bad thing, but it doesn’t make it quite as exciting for me. Maybe it’s just my mood… being ornery and writing a review doesn’t fair well for any fragrance!

Muscs Koublai Khan Notes:

Vegetal Musk, Roots of Costus, Labdanum Rockrose, Grey Amber, Vanilla, Patchouli, Ambrette Seeds, pure Moroccan Rose

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Chypre – Musk
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $140 for 50ml EDP

March 24, 2012
by The Scented Hound 5 Comments

Profumo by Acqua di Parma

Today I broke one of my permanent collection scents that I haven’t touched in quite a while. I probably made this purchase 5 or so years ago and it was one of my favorites, but all perfumistas know that we go through cycles when something we love goes to the back-burner only to be replaced with a new scent. The difference with this scent is that it veers from the masculine and is considered a feminine scent. Profumo by Acqua di Parma is a lovely and elegant chype. A light floral with a hint of spice and powder, it’s beautifully composed and comfortable to wear. It’s not something that I would wear on a regular basis and when this bottle is gone, I’m not sure that I would buy another; but it has served me well.

Profumo Notes: Jasmine, May Rose, Ylang-Ylang

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Classification: Feminine
Expense: From $299 for 100ml, EDP

March 17, 2012
by The Scented Hound Leave a comment

Charles Street by Mark Birley

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, so I thought I would celebrate by wearing an Irish fragrance. The only problem is that I don’t have anything that is from, or resembling anything near Irish, like a Creed’s Irish Tweed. So as blasphemous as it may be, the closest I could come to Irish is a scent from England. Charles Street by Mark Birley is nice and subtle, almost too subtle. When applied, the initial smell is of soft leather and raspberries. But wait, there are no raspberries in the composition, so where does that come from? Who knows, but it’s there and it’s nice. It mellows into almost a raspberry/cherry wet pipe tobacco smell with a hint of light leather. Again, I use the word nice. It’s nothing that wows and I found that it quickly dissipated and disappeared. Too bad. I guess that’s what I get for going English on St. Patrick’s Day!

Charles Street Notes:
Coffee, mace oil, angelica root, leather, vanilla, musk, patchouli