The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.

Tag Archives: parfum


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A Perfumista’s Worst Fear

KleenexI think there can be many fears that a perfumista can face, be it using the final drops of your favorite perfume, the discontinuation of your most beloved fragrance, dropping and breaking a beloved bottle, just to name a few.  However, it never occurred to me until the other day, my worst fear (unbeknownst to me) became my reality; the loss of smell.  I never had thought that I could really ever lose my sense of smell, but it’s real and its harsh.

Right before I left for my holiday trip to Mexico I was struggling with a virus.  My nose and throat were bothering me and I made sure that I went to the doctor prior to the trip so I could ensure that my vacation would be saved.  So off we went and I managed to feel great, until a couple of days after we returned and I started feeling a bit under the weather again.  It hasn’t helped that this has been the coldest winter in many years, but this bug has just lingered on now for about a month.  So I went to the doctor this past Friday and he tells me that once again I’m dealing with a virus, but since I have been struggling with it for almost a month that he believes it’s coming to a head and should be gone in the next week.  He told me to pick up some Mucinex at the drug store and that I should be set.  Fine.

The week prior to going to the doctor I scanned the web to see if there were going to be any good estate sales in town and I found that there was a sale in Washington DC for some deceased socialite and they listed that there was perfume for sale.  Typically, estate sales might have a bottle of Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds for sale, but I thought that I would check this one out since it sounded like it had some promise.  So Saturday morning, I dragged my sweet husband out in the 15 degree weather to stand in line waiting for the opening of the sale.  Of course it was freezing, but thankfully the line was not that long.  Now of course, I’m worried that someone will get to the perfume before me, but I have no control over that.

vintageJan14After about 30 minutes they finally let us in (they were regulating the number of people in the house) and I made a beeline for the perfumes.  Let me first say that people coming out of the house while we were waiting outside said that there were some nice items for sale including a Lalique bowl and some Hermes handbags, but that the prices were rather high.  So comments like that made me hopeful.  So in the corner of this small room where all these people were looking at jewelry and purses, there was a small section of perfumes.  The socialite had good taste.  There on the table were about 20 bottles of various sizes.  There was not a  bottle of White Diamonds, instead there were vintage bottles of Y by Yves Saint Laurent, a couple of bottles of Dior Poison, a large bottle of Rochas Femme, a huge bottle of Eau de Joy (in the box) and others.  And no one else was looking at the perfume.  I was in heaven until I lifted the first bottle to my nose.  Nothing.  I could not smell anything.  I asked the hub if he could smell anything and he said yes.  I lifted the top off another bottle and a woman from the other side of the room said that it smelled wonderful.  I could not smell anything.  I put a dab on my skin.  Nothing.  As much as I have heard of the perfumes, I wasn’t familiar enough with them, and I needed to smell them to see what I really thought.  So I relied on my husband to describe.  Well, as sweet as he was, all I could get from him is, “it smells like old lady” or “it smells like metal.”

So this brought me to my lesson learned…I had my phone with me.  If I would have been thinking, I would have opened up Fragrantica to look up the fragrances so I could see their notes.  I know what I like and I could have gotten a better sense of what I should get even without being able to smell them.   Of course I didn’t think of that until after I had left the sale!

So given that the prices were OK and that I didn’t have a fortune to spend, I had to make some choices.  So I managed to walk away with a vintage bottle of Cabochard parfum, a small bottle of Must de Cartier parfum and a large 50ml bottle of vintage Lanvin Crescendo (all of them unopened) and of course, none of which I could smell.  Thankfully that problem is starting to change now but I’m not going to review them until I have my full nose back as I don’t want to read them wrong.  As for the bottle of Rochas Femme (it had to have been a 200ml bottle)…I could kick myself for not getting it.  If only I had used Fragrantica at the sale!

In any case, more to come on my new purchases and some other vintage fragrances that I have recently come into.  I don’t know what it is with my interest with vintage fragrance during this time of the year.  Maybe it’s because I find that vintage scents have the wonderfully comforting familiarity from my childhood and when it’s cold and nasty outside, smelling and surrounding myself with them makes me feel good.

Don’t worry, I’ll be back.  Not sure when the nose will allow for it; but we’ll be back!

xoxoxoxo

Steve


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French Cancan by Caron

It’s cold and wintry outside and I just am wishing that I was back in Mexico basking in the sun.  Well that may not be possible, but at least I can be inside basking in the glow of a beautiful fragrance.  So in my 2 Year Anniversary Post, I mentioned that it seems that 2014 is going to be the “Year of the Woman” and that I have been leaning towards some lovely traditional floral scents.  For some reason, the perfume gods were calling me towards a blind buy purchase of Caron’s French Cancan.  I’m glad they came calling…

frenchcancanWHAT I SMELL:  French Cancan goes on big and rich with an almost honeyed jasmine.  It’s deep and warm like a heavy veil that’s made of fine spun silk.  After just a short time, the slight powderiness of the fragrance adds a sophisticated gauze to the heady concentration.  French Cancan doesn’t morph much and beside the jasmine, the notes are indistinguishable, and some might even say that the jasmine isn’t all that pronounced over the rose and other florals.  Finally, towards the end, the warmth settles into the base and there is a bit of spice and dryish oakmoss that peppers up the fragrance to give it a bit of an edge so that’s it not just left as plain and pretty.  The only downside to this lovely fragrance is the short life span.  My body doesn’t usually eat up fragrances but for some reason this does.  I do believe that it may something with Caron fragrances as the same thing happens to me with my beloved Nuit de Noel.

From Luckyscent:

This floral fragrance’s name alone fashioned a traditional image of Paris: Lighthearted and joyful. Created in 1936, this scent is a seducing burst of white flowers.

Notes:  Jasmine, lilac, violet, lily of the valley, rose, orange blossom, patchouli, iris, sandalwood, amber and oakmoss

Dottie and Jim are out on the town with Midge and Bob. Dottie is wearing her new perfume, French Cancan. How suburbansophisticated of her!

Dottie and Jim are out on the town with Midge and Bob. Dottie is wearing her new perfume, French Cancan. How suburbansophisticated of her!

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  I know that French Cancan should induce images of what it’s named for.  To me a fragrance that is titled French Cancan would be over the top and more out of control.  This on the other hand reminds me of one of those fragrances that a woman in the 1950s or 1960s would buy because of what the name entails.  French Cancan is something a bit bigger, bolder and naughtier for the general housewife, but is still safe enough to wear without causing too much of a ruckus.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE FRENCH CANCAN:  pretty, happy, suburbansophisticated

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT FRENCH CANCAN: Bois de Jasmin, The Black Narcissus, Eiderdown Press

BOTTOM LINE:  I love it.  French Cancan is nothing remarkable or groundbreaking. What it is though is pretty, accessible and just plain fun to wear.  Oh, and I love that little perfume bottle oh so much!!!

  • Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Floral
  • Nose:  Ernest Daltroff
  • Classification:  Feminine
  • Expense:  $100 for 7.5ml Parfum


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Chypre Mousse by Maison Oriza L. Legrand

chypre-mousse0WHAT I SMELL:  Chypre Mousse opens with a moistened mushroomed note mixed with dirt and earth.  There’s an undercurrent of mint, but overall the earthiness reigns as it smells like you just unearthed the fresh moss from the forest.  After around five minutes the greener aspects of Chypre Mousse move aside for a dryer sage and oak moss, yet there still remains an undercurrent of mint and it’s moving more towards spearmint.  The fragrance starts to dull (when I mean dull, I don’t mean that it’s boring, I mean that it begins to flatten) and moves toward a layer of minty earth that is being dried by peaks of the sun.  After around 20 minute or so, a slight tobacco note comes into play adding to the drying effect.  Moving along, the tobacco note seems to become a bit sweeter and a bit more balmy and at this point the fragrance begins to hug your skin.  In the end Chypre Mousse becomes a faintly mintish and rather herbaceous earthy fragrance that has some surprising longevity and projection.

From the Maison Oriza L. Legrand website:

After the first rainfall in September nature exude scents of humus, peat and wetland.
This is the time for a promenade in the woods to enjoy the freshness after the heat of summer.
Autumn encourages us to contemplate, to observate nature that gently prepares us for the coming winter and its frostbite.
The mossy paths, precious jewels of the undergrowth, are brightened by the last rays of sun.
Cyprus-Moss evokes in us our surrounding nature which soon will be covered by the first fall of snow.
Smell of damp undergrowth of scorched leaves and the scent of moss before picking mushrooms and chestnuts.
Chypre-Mousse, a Fragrance of the House Oriza L. Legrand launched in 1914 for the dandies of this world!
Top Notes tonic & balsamic: Wild mint, clary sage, wild fennel & green shoots.
 
Heart notes aromatic & flowing properties: Oakmoss, Galbanum, Angelica, fern, wild clover, Mastic & Violet leaves.
 
Backgrounds Notes mossy  & leathery: Vetiver, Pine Needles, Oak Moss, Mushroom fresh Humus, Roasted Chestnut Leather, labdanum & Balms.

Medieval Apothecary

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: What I envision a medieval perfume would smell like from the local apothecary; herbaceous and earthy.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE CHYPRE MOUSSE:  ancient, earthy, medicinal

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT CHYPRE MOUSSE: Kafkaseque, The Silver Fox, The Alembicated Genie

BOTTOM LINE:  I could not wait to get my hands on this when the wonderful Kafkaseque sent me a sample.  I am a sucker for a chypre and I knew that I would love this too.  How surprised I was when I found this to be interesting, but not something that I would ever wear.  In fact, after putting some on and starting my review, I went to the gym and found that the fragrance mixed my body heat magnified the medicinal qualities of the fragrance almost making me nauseous.  I was trying to figure out what was in the composition that was bothering me the most and I found that here is a tinge of a “Ben Gay” in Chypre Mousse that really is off-putting.  I will say thought that I LOVE that bottle!