Perfume Review | The Scented Hound

April 13, 2015
by The Scented Hound 14 Comments

Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur Extrait

WHAT I SMELL: Mohur Extrait opens with this deep and dreamy lightly peppered and spice haze. The notes dance and swirl in an incredible kinetic motion, but in the most mysterious way. It’s as the perfume want to make itself hidden until it decides it’s time to reveal its true self. In other words, the perfume is incredibly quiet in its opening and it’s impossible to pick out individual notes. The dancing notes bring forward ambered floral and exotic spices all the while remaining dreamy and enticing you with subtle whisps of temptation. The warm florals mixed with the subtle spices are as intoxicating as I have ever experienced. After some time, the mysteriously quiet kinetics begin to open. But this box of jewels will not open quickly; a case of jewels might blind one if opened without care. After some more time, a light creaminess is added to the mix of the spiced florals. And soon enough, a lovely spiced rose quietly moves to the center of the mix. It’s creamy, warm and dreamily enrapturing. In the end, Mohur Extrait wraps you in this warm embrace of lightly powdered radiating spiced rose wrapped up in the most exquisite sandalwood. How come the perfumes that I love so much are so hard to describe? Maybe it’s because their beauty defies words.

Mohur Extrait Notes: Cardamom, coriander, ambrette, carrot seeds, pepper, elemi, iris, jasmine, rose, violet, almond, leather, sandalwood, amber, woody notes, patchouli, agarwood (oud), benzoin, vanilla, and tonka bean.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: The loveliest pearl; majestic, luminescent and a beauty to behold.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE MOHUR EXTRAIT: quiet, thoughtful, cultured

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT MOHUR EXTRAIT: Perfume Shrine, CaFleureBon, EauMG

BOTTOM LINE: The original Mohur Eau de Parfum is incredible; but this limited edition Mohur Extrait is utterly divine and a testament to the incredible art of creating a great perfume. Neela and Bertrand once again have created magic. If only this came in a smaller size so more people could experience it.

Bone Rating: 5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral
Nose: Bertrand Duchaufour
Classification: Unisex towards feminine
Expense: $445 for 50 ml parfum extrait

Sample courtesy of Neela Vermeire Creations.

April 6, 2015
by The Scented Hound 24 Comments

New Release: Puredistance WHITE

WHAT I SMELL: WHITE opens with this incredibly warm and sensuous soft bergamot. The opening is absolutely dreamy, serene and incredibly subdued. There’s a floral component, but it’s really hard to distinguish as the perfume is more of a glow than a singular note. WHITE is everything that perfume should be. It wraps you into its spell with a sheer and hazy trail of stately beauty. The perfume is slow to develop, but instead, reveals ethereal nuances, the first of which is a radiating veil of a sheer rose over this exquisite woody vetiver. After quite some time, WHITE starts to intensify in its projection, but all the while continuing to maintain a force field of warm and rapturous beauty. To my surprise, the perfume stays in this exquisite state for a long time, only revealing the most spectacular smooth and creamy sandalwood. In WHITE, there are no harsh edges, just a melding of the finest ingredients. Words escape me.

From the Puredistance website:

The main idea behind the creation of Puredistance WHITE Perfume has been to create a perfume so beautiful and positive that it gives the wearer an instant flow of happiness. We asked Master Perfumer Antoine Lie (who also created Puredistance BLACK for us) to create a white and golden dream; an intimate escape from harsh reality. It took Antoine Lie one year to complete the magic formula, using the best and most expensive ingredients in the world. The result is a one-of-a-kind perfume made to enhance your mood through intense, but comforting beauty – if you like it, a warm and natural happiness will be yours!

Ingredients: Rose de Mai from France, Tonka bean absolute from Venezuela, Orris absolute from Italy, Sandalwood from Mysore, Bergamot from Italy, Musk, Vetyver from Haiti and Patchouli from Indonesia.

The Royal Palace of Brussels

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: The most beautiful chandelier; full of light, beauty and magnificence.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE WHITE: luxurious, captivating, cultured

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT WHITE: Chemist in the Bottle, CaFleureBon, Bonkers About Perfume

BOTTOM LINE: Puredistance is known for their thoughtful and elegant creations. WHITE is perfumery at its best and is easily my favorite from the line. That’s quite the statement because all of their perfumes are incredible in their own right. My suggestion: If you want to live the perfume dream, WHITE is the perfect place to start. C’est magnifique!

Bone Rating: 5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral
Nose: Antoine Lie
Classification: Leans feminine
Expense: Launching April 20th. $170 for 17 ml parfum extrait.

Sample courtesy of Puredistance Perfumes.

March 25, 2015
by The Scented Hound 7 Comments

Etat Libre d’Orange Cologne

WHAT I SMELL: Cologne opens with a clean crisp warmed bergamot and blood orange. It’s tangy and sparkling without being overly juiced. An orange blossom soon joins the mix of this nice and easy composition. Not too sweet and not too sour, the perfume maintains this perfect balance of carefree wear. After around 10 minutes a musk comes into play. It’s not too clean and it brings in some added dimension. However, it does make the fragrance seem more like Febreeze than a perfume. After another 5 minutes, a sugared element comes forth making the orange blossom more prevalent and it helps to dissipate the musk. And then a bit later, the jasmine comes in to give the cologne a really nice boost of fresh florals. In the end, Cologne stays in this easy to wear mode that works at being fresh, without being too fresh.

Composition: Blood orange, orange blossom, bergamot, jasmine, musk, leather…

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Welcome to L.A. The ease of sun and casual living with a hint of a wicked underbelly.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE COLOGNE: easy, wearable, one-off

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT COLOGNE: CaFleureBon, Colognoisseur, Perfume-Smellin’ Things

BOTTOM LINE: I like Cologne but I don’t like it. How’s that? I like it because it takes the standard citrus perfume and make it a little bit dirty. Unfortunately, the musk gets in the way; and it seems to be random. At times, the musk isn’t present, then all of a sudden it comes charging through. Take away the musk and you have a winner.

Bone Rating: 2.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Woody Spicy
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $149 for 100 ml Eau de Parfum