Perfume | The Scented Hound

March 24, 2013
by The Scented Hound 22 Comments

Haute Claire by Aftelier Perfumes

About a month ago, I was lucky enough to be the winner of a Mandy Aftel of Aftelier Perfumes drawing. This was a real thrill as I have not really delved into the realm of natural perfumes and after hearing Freddie from Smellythoughts rave about the Aftelier fragrances I knew that I would be in for a lovely surprise. As part of the drawing I was able to choose 3 miniature perfumes from Mandy’s collection. Based on notes that I love and review of others, I decided upon Wild Roses, Secret Garden and my favorite of the three which I’m reviewing today, Haute Claire. Of course, Mandy couldn’t have been sweeter and actually sent me a few more samples along with the minis. My package arrived in the most exquisite box and the 3 perfumes were housed in these sweetly small bottles in their own little carrying case. As wonderful as the juice always is, the packaging just adds that something extra that makes it so much more special. Mandy obviously understands this to perfection! Now, these fragrances are masterful in their composition and you can immediately tell that they are blended perfectly and my nose is not sophisticated enough to really give the justice due with words, so please bear with me.

WHAT I SMELL: In the bottle it smells strong and biting and dare I must say, a little musty (galbanum?). Once you apply it, that strong and musty opening makes way for an orange and ylang ylang intoxicating delight. It somehow is fresh and cool and warm at the same time. It is substantial in that there is a depth, an almost layering of various notes that seem to rise and sink back each time I put my arm to my nose. I have always thought of natural perfumes in the sense of earthy and oily. This breaks that thought in that it is like a 1200 count egyptian cotton sheet; substantial, smooth and ultra luxurious. Haute Claire is thick and ripe and the honeysuckle sticks to the back of your throat. It’s not sweet, but it’s pungent with a thick and palatable consistency. I love to be intoxicated by a perfume and this does the trick in spades. After quite some time in the end you are left with a wonderful warm green vetiver fragrance. The vetiver is deep and luxurious and this is coming from a man who typically doesn’t care for vetiver scents.

From the Aftelier website:

Haute Claire is both crisp and soft, cool and warm. The fresh edgy greenness of galbanum is offset by the creamy floral of ylang ylang edged with honeysuckle. The green and floral notes harmonize in perfect pitch, with neither dominating the other. A warm base of vetiver and vanilla provides a soft finish of sweet grass.

Top: galbanum, Mexican lime, wild sweet orange, ylang ylang co2.
Heart: honeysuckle absolute, ylang ylang extra, clary sage.
Base: vetiver, ethyl phenyl acetate, vanilla absolute.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: The perfume that I believe Mother Nature herself would be wearing as her signature scent.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE HAUTE CLAIRE: intoxicating, rapturous, wise (you can tell that Haute Claire was composed with a great deal of experience, knowledge and wisdom)

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT HAUTE CLAIRE: smellythoughts, EauMG, This Blog Really Stinks

BOTTOM LINE: This was a wonderful surprise for me. I can’t thank Mandy enough for the opportunity to experience her artistry. I am thinking at this point that a mini of Haute Claire will not suffice. Thankfully, Mandy has 30ml EdP bottles for sale too!!! Please do check her website and all the wonderful fragrances and other products at www.aftelier.com.

Bone Rating: 5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Green
Nose: Mandy Aftel
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $50 as tested, 2ml perfume

January 1, 2013
by The Scented Hound 28 Comments

Happy New Year…and a Belated 2012 in Review

Ahhhh, 2012 is finally over and 2013 is finally here! I hope that everyone had a wonderful and safe New Year’s Eve. Ours went out with a bang as we went to see Cheyenne Jackson with the National Symphony Orchestra performing songs from the “Mad Men” era at the Kennedy Center. It was hands down the best concert that I have experienced in many years and Cheyenne Jackson is an extraordinary talent. It was a wonderful way to end 2012.

I meant to post this listing prior to the end of the year, but I always seem to be running late these days. Like some of the other wonderful bloggers out there, I will comment on some of the perfume like and dislikes for the year. However, as I can’t claim to be privy to all of the new releases, my opinions will include both new and existing discoveries.

Best Fragrance Find of the Year:

George Sand by Nicolas de Barry – OK, I have raved about this numerous times and I’m sure that you are all tired of hearing my praises about this fragrance, but this has to be my favorite for the year. It is my comfort scent and the one fragrance that I just can’t get enough of. Although it was previously labeled under Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier, it now is part of the Maison de Haute Perfumerie Nicolas de Barry collection. I like being in love!

Runners up: Spiritueuse Double Vanille by Guerlain and Trayee by Neela Vermeire Creations

Favorite Fragrance House of the Year:

Parfum d’Empire – Wonderful niche perfumes at a very reasonable cost. I own more Pd’E perfumes than any other fragrance house. Iskander and Azemour les Orangers were my mainstay this past summer and I am itching to add Wazamba and Aziyade to my collection. The wonderful oakmoss base on these fragrances is so smooth and luxurious. Big yummy! Which then leads to…

Biggest Disappointment of the Year:

Musc Tonkin by Parfum d’Empire. This was a blind buy that was based on my love of their perfumes and the fact that it is a limited edition. I wore this again the other day and once again it left me cold. Does anyone want to purchase a slightly used bottle?

Best Marketing of the Year:

By Kilian smartly sends out samples of their new releases to all their Facebook friends. Smart, smart, smart. I wish more perfumers would do the same. Although I understand that the LVMH, by Kilian’s parent company, has more money than most fragrant houses which makes this easily possible.

Arquiste is a close 2nd in this category. The ever so cute Carlos Huber is out there constantly stirring up publicity.

Anyone who says they’re not influenced by marketing in the least is in my opinion very self unaware. We all get sucked in to a degree.

Best Packaging of the Year:

By Kilian again has the most remarkable and beautiful packaging. The “In the Garden of Good and Evil” clutches are absolutely breathtaking. Unfortunately they come at a high price and the perfumes were underwhelming at best.

Best Fragrance Personality of the Year:

I don’t know if I labeled this category correctly, but this honor goes to Neela Vermeire. Her warmth, friendliness, support and personal attention is only matched by the trio of magnificent perfumes that were developed for Neela Vermeire Creations with Bertrand Douchaufour. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for 2013.

Worst Blind Buy of the Year:

We all do it on occasionally, but for me it was Royal Pavillon by Etro. I purchased this for a song and I can see why it was such a deal. This fragrance is like fingers on a chalkboard to me. Unfortunately my better half likes it and wears it on occasion. When he does, I can’t stand being in the same room.

Biggest Scrubber of the Year:

Orange Star by Tauer Perfumes. I know this is an either you love it or hate it perfume. For me, I can still smell it in my head months after testing it and the memory can still make me nauseous.

2012 Me Against the World Award:

I think that 90% of the fragrance world loved Seville a l’Aube by L’Artisan Perfumeur. For me it was just a sour mess.

Best Online Retailer of the Year:

Is there any question that Lucky Scent remains the king of niche perfume retailers? I love their service and love their site and their ever increasing stock of interesting niche perfumes. Unfortunately, my wallet suffers continually at their hands! I hope to one day soon visit the infamous Scent Bar!

OK, I could go on and on with lists and my thoughts on the best and worst of the year, but I have to go put my New Year’s ham in the oven and get my first day of 2013 going. All the best to my perfume friends in 2013! I look forward to the year’s journey ahead with you.

Steve

November 28, 2012
by The Scented Hound 24 Comments

New York City – Part 1

My better half always has a work related trip in New York City right after Thanksgiving every year. Lucky for me, I tag along and we end up having a wonderful time with friends and just generally running around the city. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and after getting checked in the hotel (we stayed at the Sanctuary right between Times Square and Rockefeller Center…the perfect location) we had our cocktails and went to go see “The Heiress” starring Jessica Chastain and Dan Stevens (from Downton Abbey fame). The show was excellent and as we had 2nd row seats we felt like we were intimately involved in the show. From a celebrity standpoint, I always wonder if the stars look like what you think they look like or if they are different from what you expect (short, tall, etc.). Both Jessica and Dan were exactly what you would expect…Jessica was playing dowdy so it was hard to see if she was really pretty.. but Dan was handsome, but not overly so. End of Day 1.

The Sanctuary Hotel, NYC

Day 2 was reserved for shopping. So off to Soho we went in pursuit of perfume. My hubby is incredibly supportive and had no problem dragging him along store to store. After a little lunch, we headed to Lafco, the official boutique for Santa Maria Novella. Beautiful store, full of wonderful SMN products from fragrance to liquor. This was the perfect place to find gift baskets for anyone of either sex. Of course, I was eyeing the colognes and was all about the Patchouli until I put some on my skin and was told by my better half that it smelled of tar and cleaning product. I had to agree. So off we toddled to MiN NY only a block away.

The cast of The Heiress

So what I had been hoping for was to get my hands on the new Parfum d’Empire limited edition Musc Tonkin, only to be told that they weren’t supposed to be receiving any until next week! OK next… then I wanted to check out the new Frapin Speakeasy fragrance by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato since I seem to love all his work, thus my interest in Musc Tonkin as well. Strike 2..they said they wouldn’t have that in until next week as well. What I was introduced to was Terrasse a St.-Germain by Jul et Mad which went on light and green, only to turn into a wonderfully warm and beautiful sandalwood and patchouli scent (I hope to have a review on it soon). So after doing some more sniffing, we once again toddled off down the road to go check out the new Osswald store. In the meantime, after popping into other stores….

CELEBRITY SIGHTING: In some obscure Japanese clothing/container store we ran into Jake Gyllenhaal. Jake is exactly what you would expect… tall, bushy beard, pretty eyes and was dressed semi grungy. This was a good celebrity sighting!

On to Osswald, only to find that they were closed on Sunday! What store is closed on the busiest shopping weekend of the year??!!!

Yours truly looking kinda fuzzy…happy with new purchase!

Now the great thing about NY is that you can walk for miles and it never feels like you are walking for miles…so we left Soho and decided to walk over the Village and check out Aedes De Venustas, which is a surprisingly wonderfully small and intimate store. They did have another one of my “must check out” fragrances in stock, the new Arquiste Boutonnneire gardenia fragrance for men. Unfortunately, it was much too gardenia for this guy, but given the right temperature (summer temps), it may be a bit more appealing. I made the decision that Serge Luten’s Chergui was too my liking, but if I was going to spend money, I decided that it was going to have to be for something less readily available. I even checked out the new non-art bottled Agonist “Black Amber” and if you are looking for an amber with a serious punch, you need to check it out. In the end, I was drawn to something that I had already reviewed and loved and bought my self my first Frederic Malle…Portrait of a Lady. By this time my nose was tired from the day’s olfactory overload. In the end, we went out for a lovely dinner and called it a night.

Next post…Bergdorfs, Barneys, more shows and another celebrity sighting! Oh..and my visit to the Art of Scent at the Museum of Art and Design!