review | The Scented Hound

August 7, 2013
by The Scented Hound 21 Comments

Encens Mythique D’Orient by Guerlain

WHAT I SMELL: Encens Mythique D’Orient opens with an aldehyde and astringent pop, followed by bitter green. It’s initial opening is rather uninspired and kind of meh. So far this doesn’t feel “Guerlainy” to me. After about five long minutes I start to detect some incense, albeit ever so light and discreet. Encens Mythique D’Orient then become a bit sweeter, but sweeter with a sour tinge. Overall its very translucent. So much so, that I can barely smell it when I bring my wrist to my nose. Very strange…after around 10 minutes, I get what smells like a pencil. Actually, it’s not pencil shavings, but instead the smell of a pencil and its lead after you just finished sharpening it. After a couple more minutes, add a light sugar on top of the pencil. Thankfully at this point, the fragrance starts to blossom with the advent of some rose. Again, it’s restrained, but seems to have a bit more projection. After around what seems to be along 20 minutes I actually start to like this. The mix of rose and incense becomes intoxicating and is warm and full-bodied when I lift my wrist to my nose. Behind the sheer is some wonderful musky beef, but somehow with the beef Encens Mythique D’Orient manages to remain translucent. By now, it does feel “Guerlainy.” I like that.

From the Guerlain website:

Notes: rose, aldehydes, saffron, pink pepper, vetiver, patchouli, notes of undergrowth, ambergris, incense

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A veil. You want it to reveal itself, but it keeps you somewhat at bay.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ENCENS MYTHIQUE D’ORIENT: translucent, warming, mysterious

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ENCENS MYTHIQUE D’ORIENT: Kafkaesque, Smellythoughts, The Alembicated Genie

BOTTOM LINE: I like this, but don’t love it as much as the wonderful Rose Nacree, one of the other fragrances in the Les Deserts d’Orient collection. But that won’t keep me from spritzing some more on.

CONFESSION: I was going through my mess of samples and I believe that this came from the wonderful Undina. Thanks Undina. If it did not come from Undina, whoever sent me this with love, I am so sorry for such sloppy housekeeping! New Years resolution number 1013: organize and track my samples!

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental Woody
Nose: Thierry Wasser
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $190 Euros from the Guerlain website for 75ml EdP

August 4, 2013
by The Scented Hound 21 Comments

China White by Nasomatto

WHAT I SMELL: At first application, I get some sweet wood, a few aldehydes and then in fast succession an incredibly light rose and some incense which starts to dry out the scent rather quickly. Funny, the fragrance almost retreats after putting it on and you’re left wondering if it’s going to just quickly fade away. After 10 minutes, all I get from China White is lightly sweet and sharp woody incense. After 20 minutes, thankfully, the floral aspects start to come back making this more palatable in my book by giving it more dimension. Oh wait, they just went away again…or are they back again?? China White can’t seem to make up its mind. After about 30 minutes, add something that smells a bit like hair spray. I’m not quite sure if that’s really necessary!

China White Notes – The Nasamatto website doesn’t list the fragrance’s notes. Fragrantica doesn’t list the notes as well, but provided the following: Nasomatto China White was presented in 2008 as a floral-woody fragrance for women, composed of powdery notes of fresh flowers and woody accords.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Comme des Garcon Avignon’s little cousin who is a bit more shy and just a tad sweeter.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE CHINA WHITE: quiet, restrained, light

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT CHINA WHITE: Eiderdown Press , Worse Than Weeds, Nathan Branch

BOTTOM LINE: I like it and I don’t like it. China White makes me feel a bit schizophrenic. Every time I sniff my wrist it’s either all incense (I don’t just like incense) or its a combination of floral and incense (I like it like this)… but enough already, make up your mind so I can love it or leave it.

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Floral Woody Musk
Nose: Alessandro Gualtieri
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $165 for 30ml Parfum Extrait

August 3, 2013
by The Scented Hound 10 Comments

gs02 by biehl parfumkunstwerke

The other day I was lucky enough to receive some samples of the biehl parfumkunstwerke line of fragrances. They recently have been made available in the US market and I had yet to have any introduction to them, so I was excited to check them out. My plan was to provide a review on biehl parfumkunstwerke’s gs03 which is their newest release, but for some reason I was strangely drawn to sample gs02 (released in 2007) instead. Maybe notes like castoreum and descriptors like “erotic” had something to do with it!

WHAT I SMELL: gs02 opens with an herbal orange/citrus note which is clean and somewhat astringent. Quickly, gs02 begins to develop a bit of a sour note and in the background there lurks some castoreum, which gives the fragrance a bit of dirtiness…but it remains in the background. I keep waiting for the leather, but it’s not quick to make its appearance and when it does, it too lurks in the background unwilling to really pounce. After about 15 minutes, gs02 becomes more woody and after almost 30 minutes, the fragrance warms and becomes more radiant. It’s funny, gs02 blends seamlessly and it’s incredibly restrained which makes this a wonderfully mysterious and hypnotic scent.

From the biehl parfumkunstwerke website:

charisma. determination. arrogance can be erotic after all.

head: aromatic, spicy.
the liveliness and elegance of absinth, Campari, orange, thyme, angelica roots

heart: leather perfectly combined with castoreum, rounded off very erotically with

base: ambergris, tonka been, vanilla

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A sly fox.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE gs02: sexy, subtle, confident

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT gs02: That Smell (I couldn’t find any others)

BOTTOM LINE: gs02 is lovely and a bit sexy, but very subtle. I believe this would be a good fit if you need a great office scent that would translate well into the after work happy hour.

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Leather
Nose: Geza Schon
Classification: Unisex – but leans masculine
Expense: $195 for 100ml EdP

Sample provided by Hypoluxe, official distributor of biehl parfumkunstwerke products.