parfum | The Scented Hound

September 22, 2012
by The Scented Hound 14 Comments

Weekend Quick Reviews

It is definitely harder to write about something that you don’t have strong feelings about. If you either love or hate a fragrance it seems that the words just flow. As the following scents will be put to rest in my samples box because they don’t invoke love or hate, I thought I would try something different and so some very short reviews. I’m not sure how helpful they may be, but let’s give it a shot!

HOTHOUSE FLOWER BY INEKE

WHAT I SMELL: Ineke’s Hothouse Flower opens with a burst gardenia and green tea. The fragrance then blooms into a warmer gardenia with hints of fig.

Hothouse Flower Notes: Earl Grey Tea, green foliage, cypress, gardenia, galbanum, fig, frankincense, guiaiacwood, musk, corn silk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: very grandmotherly

Bone Rating: 3 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Floral
Classification: Feminine
Expense: $95 for 75ml EdP

SANTALUM SLIVERS BY KEROSENE

WHAT I SMELL: Kerosene’s Santalum Slivers opens with sweet juicy orange, like orange concentrate orange juice. It then turns to more of an orange/lemon cleaner like composite.

Santalum Slivers notes: vetiver, musk, sandalwood, bergamot, grapefruit, lemon, orange, rose, pepper, hay, cucumber and cedar

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: a very clean house

Bone Rating: 3 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Citrus Aromatic
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $140 for 100ml EdP

GERANIUM POUR MONSIEUR BY FREDERIC MALLE

WHAT I SMELL: Frederic Malle’s Geranium Pour Monsieur opens with a blast of camphoric mint…strong, strong mint. It’s very powerful and overwhelming at first, almost toxic in its volume. When it dies down it becomes a bit spicy and warm. It’s a familiar scent that seems powered through chemicals.

Geranium Pour Monsieur notes: mint absolute, peppermint oil, Chinese geranium oil, rhodinol, anethol and floralozone, CO2 and cloves oil, white musk, ambroxan, sandalwood, resinoid incense and Siamese styrax benzoin

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: classy barbershop tonic

Bone Rating: 3 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental Floral
Classification: Masculine
Expense: $240 for 100ml EdP

BOTTOM LINE: All of these are semi-interesting compositions that just don’t work for me. Hothouse Flower is not for men and Geranium Pour Monsieur would not work for most women. Santalum Slivers is nice, but there is something there that leaves me a little cold, but I do love Kerosene’s artful bottles!

August 29, 2012
by The Scented Hound 21 Comments

Chypre Rouge by Serge Lutens

If a fragrance is golden, amber or red, I want to check it out. Add oakmoss and Serge Lutens, I have no choice but to check it out!

WHAT I SMELL: A strong coffee/tonka bean spiced opening (some say it smells curried, I can see that too). The top notes are listed as pine needle and thyme, but what I find is that it’s incredibly gourmand, like some chocolate latte spiced drink or what you smell when you walk by a Yankee Candle Company (if you don’t know this smell, it is overpowering and a little goes a long way). I find this opening very interesting and intriguing, but I am wondering if I want to smell like that all day. This opening last for a while, but when it begins to dissipate, the dusty oakmoss which I love so much starts to surface along with a honeyed fruitiness. But the fruit is not sweet, the oakmoss keeps it grounded and earthy. This phase is strong at first but slowly mellows and Chypre Rouge begins to hug closely to the skin. What I was left with after many hours was a layer of light sweet berry which then strangely moves into a barely detectable incense.

Chypre Rouge Notes: thyme, pine tree needles, honey, bees wax, jasmine and fruity resins, patchouli, moss, amber, musk and vanilla

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: What I was expecting was a full-bodied Moulin Rouge can-can kind of scent. Rouge/Red to me means loud and vibrant. Instead I found this to be a calming, close to the skin, lovely chypre scent that starts off with an outrageous bang. To illustrate, the opening is pure Pepe Le Pew, while the remainder is his beloved object of affection

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE CHYPRE ROUGE: bipolar, unique, mysterious

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT CHYPRE ROUGE: SmellyThoughts, Now Smell This, I Smell Therefore I Am

BOTTOM LINE: This may have show up on my full-bottle want list for the fall. My only concern is that it disappears on me quicker than I would like. More testing is definitely needed…and that’s a good thing!

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Chypre Fruity
Classification: Unisex
Nose: Christopher Sheldrake
Expense: Approximately $125-140 for 50ml EdP

July 11, 2012
by The Scented Hound 13 Comments

Keiko Mecheri at the Beach

My hubby Mark and I had a wonderful trip to the beach this past weekend. Getting away for a little sun and fun for four days was the perfect way to re-charge our batteries. Rehoboth Beach, DE is nice from the standpoint that it’s small enough so that it isn’t too crazy and crowded, but its big enough to have some fun shops and great restaurants. I now have a nice tan and about five extra pounds around my waist thanks to good eating and drinking.

As mentioned in my last post, Rehoboth Beach also has a niche perfumery, Penny Lane Perfumes. For such a small town, this is a great treat. As it’s been a few years since being in Rehoboth and this was my first trip to Penny Lane Perfumes. I’ll be back.

The Penny Lane Scent Bar

Mark and I sauntered into the store mid-afternoon on Sunday after being out on the beach for most of the day. When we arrived, we were greeted warmly by Cassandra, who manages the store. The store’s not big, but it’s perfectly setup with a scent bar and some beautiful displays. Once I got over my initial excitement of being there (which means that I acted like I had major ADHD by getting distracted by shiny bottles, etc.), we sat down at the bar and got down to business. As we were the only two in the store at the time, we let Cassandra lead us down the road to various fragrance families, starting with florals, then moving too some citrus scents, etc. Again as I was being ADHD, I was ready to start purchasing at first sniff!

The lovely Cassandra

In all, Cassandra sat with us for about 2 hours. By the time we were finished sniffing,my nose and throat were raw. But I could live with that. We had a wonderful time and we felt very special by the wonderful treatment we received. So you are asking yourselves, “what did you buy?”. We’ll I’m almost to that point. Both Mark and I ended up finding 3 fragrances that we wanted to test before we purchased:

Mark’s choices:

L’eau Froide by Serge Lutens
Sanguine by Keiko Mecheri
Grand Siecle by Parfumerie Generale

Steve’s choices:

Damascena by Keiko Mecheri
Vanilla et Coco by E. Cordray
Brulure de Rose by Parfumerie Generale

Are we in Paris?

After spritzing ourselves with our three choices, we headed over to the Mexican Restaurant down the block for happy hour priced Margaritas (which means that we had more than one each). We sat at the bar sniffing each other’s arms, trying to decide which we liked best. The bartender gave us a strange stare until we let her in on what we were doing and she joined in and gave us her opinions. After about an hour, we trekked back to Penny Lane Perfumes and told Cassandra what we decided on. To our surprise, we both fell in love with our respective Keiko Mecheri fragrances!

In all, it was a great and fun experience. And here’s a tip for all perfumistas; you’ll never feel guilty about spending money on fragrance if you include your spouse in your excursion! Thanks again to Cassandra for her wonderful assistance. If you ever get a chance to get to Rehoboth Beach, DE, be sure to check them out!

Well let’s get down to the nitty-gritty, why did I choose Damascena? here’s my review:

WHAT I SMELL: Damascena isn’t a complex fragrance. When first applied, it seems rather sweet and a little herbaceous. That sweetness is punctuated by juicy black current. It remains in this stage for some time. It’s almost edible without being heavy and it’s fresh and fruity without being artificial. As it dries, out comes the rose. It’s a modern rose that’s light and slightly sweet. It’s funny though, each time I wear this, it takes on a slightly different tonality. On the first day I wore this it reminded me a great deal like Kilian’s Rose Oud in its drydown. For men, some rose scents can come across as too feminine and some may argue that Damascena may as well. To me, I believe that it can work for both men and women alike.

Damascena Notes from Keiko Mecheri website: Dades Rose, May Rose, berries notes, musk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: When it first goes on, Damascena reminds me of a lovely garden; but a garden that’s not too formal or tended. In the garden, the roses and currents are a bit wild and overgrown and are fragrant in the morning sun and dew. The sweetness of the scent is pure happiness and joy.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE DAMASCENA: fruity, sweet, fresh

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT DAMASCENA: Raphaella’s Roses