The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.


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Chanel Allure Homme

WHAT I SMELL:  Allure Homme opens with a fresh and intoxicating herbal mandarin and lavender that is peppered with hints of brown sugar.  It goes on sexy, invigorating and completely approachable.  The perfume soon mellows a bit from its’ exciting entrance, but it remains delightfully confident in it’s persona.   As the perfume continues to settle, the tonka and a light vanilla are the radiant center and help to create a smooth and creamy aura that begins to radiate ever so subtly.  After some time, the perfume matures a bit with a buzzing pepper coming into play along with a soft, but sweetened patchouli.  Allure is neither for the young or the old, but for any man who just wants to smell clean and fresh…and just fantastic.

From the Chanel website:

Difficult to define, impossible to resist. Crisp and clean, warm and sexy, ALLURE HOMME is the expression of a man’s charisma and inner strength. A fresh, spicy and woody composition that reveals the presence of the man who wears it.

Vigorous, fresh top notes of Mandarin and Coriander, subtly spiced, blend into clean, intense notes of Cedar. Venezuelan Tonka Bean and Cistus Labdanum combine for a sensual trail that’s heightened by Black Pepper from Madagascar.

Top notes:  Lemon, Peach, Ginger, Mandarin Orange, Lavender and Bergamot

Middle notes:  Pepper, Cedar, Patchouli, Vetiver, Brazilian Rosewood, Rose, Jasmine, Gardenia, Freesia and Anise

Base notes:  Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Coconut, Sandalwood, Amber, Benzoin, Leather, Musk and Oakmoss

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  Allure Homme is aptly named.  But I can’t help but call this fragrance a “go-getter” as there’s some real positive energy in the perfume and that when you wear it, it makes you feel as if you really can accomplish anything.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ALLURE HOMMEaffirmative, energized, easy-to-wear

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ALLURE HOMME:  I only found one review online, but the site was so full of obnoxious pop-ups that I won’t subject anyone to it.  I did find plenty of reviews for Allure flankers, but since this was introduced over 20 years ago in 1999, I guess it’s not that surprising that the buzz about Allure has long since passed.  Too bad, it’s such a wonderful perfume.

BOTTOM LINE:  Allure Homme is a good anytime perfume, which means it can be dressed up or down depending on your mood or situation.  And no matter how it’s used, you’ll always smell fresh and fantastic.  Plus, it’s not an “in your face” perfume which means that you’ll leave a quiet trail behind you when you wear it without offending anyone.  A perfume doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking to be wonderful.  Allure Homme is a perfect case in point.

  • Bone Rating:  4 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent:  Amber Woody
  • Nose:  Jacques Polge
  • Classification: Leans masculine
  • Expense: Starting at $80 for 50 ml eau de toilette


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Hermetica Eterniris

WHAT I SMELL:  Eterniris opens with a soft suede that’s lightly sugared and slightly creamy as the iris makes its way in with a buttery finish.  It’s incredibly soothing, yet full of life.  An herbal tone adds a dimension that moves the perfume towards the forest as a cedarwood follows right behind the mixture of herbs.  At this point, the perfume begins to warm and radiate and deepen.   As the journey towards the forest continues, the perfume moves more to the chypre with a dry powder that pushes the perfume off of the skin.  The perfume is unique, absolutely intoxicating and a rather stunning forcefield of a perfume because it seems to wrap you up in its enticing elixir.  After quite some time, a quiet and subdued rose pulses occasionally from the middle of the fragrance adding a floral note as the iris seems to be cocooned in the middle of the wood.  But lily of the valley is the floral center that keeps the perfume in the pretty with it’s soft and demure persona.  Much later, a light smoky incense oud begins to line the bottom of the wood.  Ever so soft, it provides the perfect base for the beautiful florals making Eterniris a serenely beautiful creation.

From the Hermetica website:

ETERN(ITY): endless time, a boundless, perpetual expanse, an unknown voyage. For a fragrance, it is about continually prolonging the olfactory thrill, patiently accompanying it with a trail, never losing the thread of iris, stretching it out. Eternity on the horizon, Eterniris immortalises a powdery, woody, refined, sensual ideal on the skin. As if in slow motion, suspended, radiating a magnetic force, ever so gently.

The Eau de Parfum Eterniris leads you in a most surprising composition: the concrete of iris plays a totally new duet with the oud oil. this perfume shows all its uniqueness and richness by revealing a white bouquet thanks to the lily of the valley molecule.

Complementary notes: pepper, bulgarian rose oil, jasmine, raspberry, cedarwood, geranium, orris, nutmeg, clove, musk, amber, vetiver, vanilla, tonka, myrrh, patchouli oil

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  An ancient wooden boat that has been infused with the smells of years of the selling of herbs, spices and flowers.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ETERNIRIS:  serene, wise, stunning

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ETERNIRIS:  None found.

BOTTOM LINE:  Eterniris is an incredibly beautiful perfume.  Its’ soft florals supported by serene incensed wood is just what’s needed for these continually chaotic times.

  • Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent: Floral Fruity
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense:  Starting at $100 for 50 ml eau de parfum

Sample courtesy of Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique and Apothecary.


4 Comments

Cartier – L’Heure Promise

WHAT I SMELL:  Promise opens with a soft and cottony musky iris that is quickly infused with a combination of herbs that are too light to distinguish or specify.  The perfume is so transparent and barely there that unless I stick my nose in my arm, I’m not able to smell much, if anything.  As the perfume develops, the lightest of wood draws the perfume back from the iris and musk and moves it to a light paper pulp.  But as soon as I say that, the iris comes gliding gracefully back to the center of the perfume.  Promise is a sheer fragrance where the iris is warmed by a light sunny sandalwood.  It’s beautiful, but it’s so barely there at the beginning that you wonder if you sprayed anything on at all.  Thankfully, as the perfume wears, it begins to grow, but it never deviates from the warmed iris that first came forward; except for the addition of a wonderful powder that helps the perfume to radiate in just the right way.

From the Cartier website:

It was time to capture a life full of fresh early mornings, Petit grain, FRESH HERBS at the dawn of intentions. Everything seemed possible – love, creation, belief. The time had come to embrace the day, comforted by self-confidence and honesty IRIS, and to fly or walk in the first glimmers of a spring of existence. The sheer newness was just waiting to be explored like an undiscovered continent bathed in hope, with the promise of cherishing the moment a little longer while everything remained quiet. Prolonging, preserving the moment: L’HEURE PROMISE by Cartier. An eiderdown of fragrance sandalwood, for leaving the night behind without affronting sleep. Outside, I sense, like a veil of tulle MUSK NOTES, my own deciding scent – that of my destiny unfolding and of an adventure that is anxious to take place.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  Iris colored tulle.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE L’HEURE PROMISE:  soft, elegant, sheer

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT L’HEURE PROMISE:  Perfume Posse

BOTTOM LINE:  L’Heure Promise is incredibly beautiful in a simply elegant way.  I would probably give the perfume a 4 bone rating, but this is so much of a skin scent that I would find it hard to do so given the hefty price tag.  But would I like to have this as part of my perfume collection?  That would be a definitive “yes!”

  • Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent: Floral Green
  • Nose:  Mathilde Laurent
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: $275 for 75 ml eau de toilette