parfum extrait | The Scented Hound

August 10, 2015
by The Scented Hound 18 Comments

Antonia by Puredistance

WHAT I SMELL: Antonia opens with an absolutely heady and exhilarating rush of full floral lushness with the beautiful ylang-ylang front and center. The perfume is luxuriant and rather waxy and it sits on the deepest powdered galbanum that seems to push the florals off of the skin. Antonio makes my head swim with its feminine power. There is nothing demure about this lady; but don’t get me wrong she is a lady in every sense of the word. The perfume transforms, but not dramatically or with any sharp or sudden turns or edges, instead, she slowly moves from the brightest and dryest green to more of a warm and lightly soapy symphony of florals. Antonia is a ravishing beauty from the very beginning when the rush of the green florals radiate from the first spritz and continues for hours to come. When you wear this perfume, you are in Antonia’s world and it’s as beautiful of a world as you’ll ever experience.

From the Puredistance website:

Created by Master Perfumer Annie Buzantian in New York, Puredistance ANTONIA is a highly original green floral with a great lushness and warmth of heart, but at the same time pillowy and gentle as can be. Key in the creation of ANTONIA is the image of a strong, positive, but at the same time gentle woman.

The perfume is neither modern, nor old-fashioned. Puredistance ANTONIA is a timeless perfume with a feel of innocence, yet feminine and confident. She grabs you with gentleness and faithfully stays with you, tenacious, but never overwhelming.

Ingredients: Jasmine, Rose Essence, Ylang Ylang, Orris, Ivy green, Galbanum, Vanilla and Vetiver.

Ziegfiled Girl – 1920s

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: All woman; all-powerful in her beauty and sexuality.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ANTONIA: magnificent, heady, voluminous

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ANTONIA: Olfactoria’s Travels, Undina’s Looking Glass, Kafkaesque

BOTTOM LINE: Puredistance is turning out to at the top of the list of my favorite perfume houses. Their perfumes are works of art in that they are exquisitely refined and of the highest quality. Where other perfumes develop with harsh twist and turns, their perfumes transform and reveal the loveliest of secrets with a whisper. Puredistance wants to ensure their perfumes are perfection, and because of this new introductions to the line are far and few between. But when they do release a new perfume, its pure magic as evident with their latest release, White.

Bone Rating: 5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral
Nose: Annie Buzantian
Classification: Feminine
Expense: $160 for 17 ml parfum extrait or $270 for 60 ml. Note that Puredistance has some fantastic promotions on their website!

July 13, 2015
by The Scented Hound 9 Comments

Nin-Shar by Jul et Mad Paris

WHAT I SMELL: Nin-Shar opens warm and lightly boozy with a creamed rose. It has a thick texture and a lovely milky radiance that when smelled warms the back of your throat. The perfume is lightly sweetened, but it can’t be called a sweet perfume. Instead, the rose, front and center, is wrapped around some beefy wood and an oud that blends masterfully with the rose rather than takes it over. Nin-Shar develops slowly as you wear it, but the nuances are so wonderfully subtle as not to jar the wearer. But what becomes a bit more predominant with the drydown is a cedar note that brings a marvelous natural note to the perfume. But after an hour or so, that cedar blends towards the back of the perfume. The perfume then adds a light layer of powder along with a very rounded juiciness to the mix providing for the perfect finishing touch to make this perfume the utmost in rose elegance. Overall the projection is impressive and the longevity is superb. Nin-Shar is a rose lover’s dream.

From the Jul et Mad website:

This very contrast is evoked in “Nin-Shar”. The purest and best quality absolute of Turkish Rose was employed here, revealing a rich, profound, strong, powerful multifaceted fragrance where soft, comforting, floral, powdery facets, intertwine with strong, green, balsamic, woody, earthy notes, a pure representation of the entire plant, from the soft, floral petals to the green leaves, stem and thorns, and all the way to the roots.

Top Notes: Bergamote, Liqueur de Rose, Essence de Davana
Middle Notes: Absolu de Rose Turque, Jasmin d’Egypte, Fraction Patchouli
Base Notes: Oud, Benjoin, Vanille Bourbon, Cèdre de Virginie, Santal, Absolu d’Encens

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A beautiful pink and cream-colored rose.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE NIN-SHAR: creamy, opulent, rapturous

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT NIN-SHAR: Colognoisseur, Chemist in the Bottle, Persefume

BOTTOM LINE: One of the three perfumes in the Les White collection, Nin-Shar is my favorite. But surprisingly enough, Nea, a fruity gourmand, which typically would not be something that I would normally gravitate to, comes a close second. But all in the collection are wonderful in their own right. I’m also not a big oud fan, but there is something about the rose-oud combination that is wonderful. On their own, the two notes can over dominate any perfume, but here they work their magic in perfect harmony.

Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Oriental Woody
Nose: Sidnoie Lancesseur
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $190 for 50 ml parfum extrait

June 29, 2015
by The Scented Hound 2 Comments

Stercus by Orto Parisi

WHAT I SMELL: Stercus opens rather funkalicious, with a biting citrus and earthy wood that has a burnt edge to it. Actually, I was expecting a more roughened opening, but even though there’s a bite and sharpness and saltiness to the perfume, it’s not the monster that I was expecting. The sharpness starts to fade in a few minutes and it feels as if the perfume does as well. After 5 minutes, it’s all but a whisper. Hmmmm, I have the feeling that there’s more in store, I just have to be a little patient. Just as I expected, after around 10 minutes, the perfume starts to grow. It’s much saltier, and slightly sour. It’s also a bit green and reminds me of weedy stems. According to the Twisted Lily website, Stercus is the latin word for feces. Interesting, I’m getting less feces and getting more sweaty armpit. What I always find interesting about perfumes that are intended to mimic or represent bodily fluids, functions, etc. are never repulsing (for the most part), but instead are intriguing, magnetic and primal. While Stercus is interesting, as it continues to develop it becomes more woody and the salty and carnal nature of the perfume is rather sexy. It’s not a big perfume however, instead it’s rather like a subdued force field of pheromones. I wonder if this was worn by a large Buck, how many Does it would attract?! Wait, did I say that this perfume is not big? After over an hour it really begins to project and when I smelled it, it coats the back of my throat…to include a rather celeryish vegetal smoky edge. Interesting indeed. Finally, after a couple of hours, the perfume mellows to a slightly salty and slightly powdery floral musk while maintaining a healthy projection. What an interesting ride this has been.

The Orto Parisi website doesn’t list any notes. However, check out their site as it’s rather intriguing.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Sexy, sweaty skin.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE STERCUS: salty, pheromonal, intriguing

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT STERCUS: Kafkaesque, The Sartorial Silhouette, Pierre de Nishapur

BOTTOM LINE: Perfumer Allesandro Gualtieri’s vision for Orto Parisi, like the Nasomatto brand, intrigues me and I was very interested in sampling the line. So far, the only other perfume in the line to make its way past my nose is Brutus, which is an interesting take on citrus and wood. I can’t wait to check out the others!

Bone Rating: 3 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral Woody Musk
Nose: Allesandro Gualtieri
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $195 for 50 ml Parfum Extrait

Sample courtesy of Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique and Apothecary