parfum | The Scented Hound

May 23, 2016
by The Scented Hound 16 Comments

New Release: Cierge de Lune by Aedes de Venutas

WHAT I SMELL: Cierge de Lune opens with a muted and spicy warmed vanilla that’s soft, gentle and quite comforting. It’s also incredibly unassuming and it feels like a whisper enticing you to come along as it travels down a quiet old world passage. After a few minutes, the perfume almost becomes hidden as it retreats from my skin. But Cierge de Lune is a vanilla based perfume so I have no doubt that it will once again appear. And as soon as I write that, a peppery note starts to emerge along with the softest of vanilla. At the same time, the pepper begins to flatten out the more rounded vanilla and the perfume begins to dry. The dryness brings out the smell of what to me smells like pencil shavings, but which are tinged with just the slightest bit of sweetness. After quite some time, a beautifully subdued and lightly creamy ylang ylang appears and the perfume begins to grow as if stretching itself out to seduce you with its intoxicating tentacles of spellbinding mystery. There’s a beauty in this perfume that feels as if it has a deadly and alluring poison. In the end, Cierge de Lune is a quiet, haunting and mysterious vanilla perfume topped with just a light whiff of burnt incense.

From the Aedes de Venustas website:

Cierge de Lune: Cool and limpid as moonlit desert air. Velvety and sensuous as the midnight sky… Inspired by the scent of the mysterious night blooming cereus, also known as the Queen of the Night, AEDES DE VENUSTAS’ sixth offering unveils the dark side of vanilla.

Top Notes: Crystalline accord
Middle Notess: Vanilla absolute from Madagascar, pink pepper, black pepper, ylang ylang
Base Notes: Suede accord, incense, amber, musk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: An old world European city street covered in a mysterious cloud of haunting smoke and fog.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE CIERGE DE LUNE: sublime, enticing, mysterious

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT CIERGE DE LUNE: Chemist in the Bottle, The Non-Blonde, Colognoisseur

BOTTOM LINE: Cierge de Lune is vanilla done right. It’s incredibly subdued and perfectly refined and rather than shouting it speaks in whispers. Cierge de Lune is easily my favorite thus far from the Aedes de Venutas line of perfumes.

Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Oriental Floral
Nose: Fabrice Pellegrin
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $245 for 3.4 oz. Eau de Parfum

May 18, 2016
by The Scented Hound 18 Comments

New Release: Mugler Angel Muse

WHAT I SMELL: Angel Muse goes on the skin all sweet, nutty and über creamy; it lies on your skin as if was applied like butter to toast. The perfume is sweet, but not sugary; instead it’s more gourmand. As the perfume develops, that creamy nutty buttery concoction moves to the less creamy, but the projection begins to grow and with it the patchouli comes front and center with a pulsating rhythm of brown sugar and vetiver which helps to keep the perfume from going full on sweet. As it continues to develop, a tonka and vanilla note comes forward which helps to give the perfume some needed depth. In the end, the perfume resides in a warmed cocoon of semi sweet-comfort and ultimately after many hours, Angel Muse ends up feeling like a comfy musky vanilla pillow. But best of all Angel Muse is a bright and happy scent and that’s sure to make you smile.

From the Mugler website:

Tantalizing. Delicious. Supremely feminine. Discover ANGEL Muse, the new addictive fragrance you will #HateToLove…. Cosmic explosions collide with magnetic attraction to create an irresistible Eau de Parfum never experienced before. Get ready to lose your mind! Fragrance notes: Grapefruit, Pink Peppercorn, Hazelnut Cream, Vetiver, Patchouli.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Full House, early ’90s.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ANGEL MUSE: big, noticeable, energized

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ANGEL MUSE: Musings of a Muse, My Life Along the Lishops, Complexions Beauty Blog

BOTTOM LINE: There’s something very nostalgic and comforting about Angel Muse. Like a throwback in time, the perfume is big and bold and fits like a well-worn sweatshirt or sweater.

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Oriental Vanilla
Nose: Quentin Bisch
Classification: Leans feminine and young
Expense: $70 for 1 oz. Eau de Parfum

May 9, 2016
by The Scented Hound 10 Comments

New Release: Night Flower by Eris Parfums

WHAT I SMELL: Sex sells…and the Eris Parfums line is all about sex. But before I get ahead of myself…on the skin, Night Flower is initially very sweet and sparkling, then quickly a warm and voluptous cardamom that’s seems to be wrapped in a light coating of honey comes rushing forward. The perfume is wonderfully sexy at this point, rather like the movement of a silken slip that playfully falls off the shoulders. There’s a warmth to the perfume, but the warmth feels like it’s generating from the skin vs. the perfume. After 10 minutes, a dirtied light leather moves its way in. The leather adds another dimension of seduction as the playfulness of the opening moves towards a more serious tone. After some more time, the perfume seems to recede and darken as you’ll need to lean in close to experience its hidden mysteries. In the end, the perfume is this quiet whisper of a burning ember of patchouli. It feels like at any time, the spark of the fire could explode and burst out of control.

From the Eris Parfums website:

NIGHT FLOWER Eau de Parfum opens with a blast of fresh, aromatic cardamom. Animalic leather and suede wrap around a narcotic Indian tuberose, drying down to a cozy base of birch tar, patchouli, cinnamon and tonka.

“Night Flower is a leathery, animalic floral fragrance. Spellbinding, sexual and addictive.” – Antoine Lie (Perfumer)

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Natalie Wood as Deanie in Splendor in the Grass…a girl stuck between love, lust and trying to remain good.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE NIGHT FLOWER: come-hither, tempered, controlled

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT NIGHT FLOWER: Indieperfumes, The Non-Blonde, Katie Puckrick Smells

BOTTOM LINE: Letting your inner sexual self reveal itself is easy to do with the new line of Eris Parfums. Night Flower is my favorite in the line and is probably the most tame of the three in the collection. But there’s just enough hidden mystery to make one just feel that you’re letting your dark side come out to play.

Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral Woody Musk
Nose: Antoine Lie
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $150 for 50 ml eau de parfum