review | The Scented Hound

March 2, 2016
by The Scented Hound 7 Comments

Limited Edition New Release: Stones by Atelier de Geste

WHAT I SMELL: Stones opens with a bright, dry and uplifting galbanum. It’s beautiful and earthy, very vegetal and pulsating with life. There’s a great deal of movement with the perfume as it seems to breathe, move and dance across my skin. The perfume resides in this lyrical state for quite some time which is just fine with me as it’s incredibly beautiful. After around 20 minutes or so, the perfume adds an additional earthiness of moss. A woody vetiver, which was there from the beginning, starts to take root at the center of the perfume. Still very radiant, the perfume continues to feel very alive as it adds a minty ginger to the composition. After some more time, the perfume begins to dry and become more powdered, but still ever radiant. Stones is an incredibly beautiful perfume.

Notes: Galbanum, Geranium, Physalis, Tomato, Pine, Ivy, Lotus, Ginger, Vetiver, Moss, Lichen (nightshade), Vetiver root, Muguet flowers

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A mossy and earthen forest that’s tinged with rays of cooled sun.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE STONES: lively yet serene, earthen

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT STONES: None to be found.

BOTTOM LINE: Stones is the more earthy cousin of Chanel No. 19. The opening is breathtaking and it ends up as this equally as pretty earthy powdered beauty. Stones is a limited edition of 200 hand painted bottles, each which is numbered and signed. Stones is easily full bottle worthy.

Bone Rating: 4.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Aromatic
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $125 for 50 ml Eau de Parfum

Sample courtesy of Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique and Apothecary. Opinion my own.

February 29, 2016
by The Scented Hound 13 Comments

New Release: Hermann A Mes Cotes Me Paraissait Une Ombre by Etat Libre d’Orange

WHAT I SMELL: Hermann A Mes Cotes Me Paraissait Une Ombre or Hermann, as it will be known from this point forward, opens up quite musky with a tingling pepper and a rather aqua-esque green. But soon enough, the perfume moves to a dusty and brown vetiver. The perfume feels artificially clean, but at the same time artificially earthy. After a bit more, a light incense covers the perfume with shards of a sweetened floral patchouli which provides the perfume’s central core. Overall, the perfume feels like it was manufactured in a factory next to the industrial detergents. Need I go on?…OK…if I must. Moving forward, the moisture is completely sucked out of the perfume and there’s a steely gray and metallic sharp edge that makes Hermann feel like it sits on a linear plane, like a flattened laser beam that crosses the horizon. Of course, as soon as I start writing that, the perfume begins to soften and lightly powder. At the same time, Hermann becomes incredibly dry; so much so, that breathing it in makes you feel as if your sinuses are about to cave in. As the perfume is a play on shadows, I have to say that it leaves you with an aura and an “alternative self” because it does feel as if the perfume follows one as a shadow. I gave Hermann several wearings and each time it made me head to the sink to look for my heavy-duty medical soap and scrubber. Unfortunately, it left me with a shadow that I just couldn’t shake.

From the Etat Libre d’Orange website:

Who goes into the forest beside you on the darkest night? In Victor Hugo’s poem, “What were considering the two riders in the forest” (What Were Thinking Two Horsemen in the Forest), the narrator says “by my side, Hermann Seemed to me like a shadow. “

We all-have shadows, at night-even in the dark forest. May you call yours by Reviews another name: your invisible friend. Your consciousness, your soul, your maybe-even complementary ego. Your shadow Could Have a name, like Hermann. Or your shadow Could be your perfume. This is your companion. You can argue with your companion, you can challenge your companion, you can test the boundaries of your own attitudes. You can debate the finer point of existence. Purpose you can not lose this companion, not ever.This is your alternative self. As you move through life and contemplate ict Meaning, you ask unanswerable questions. When you’re overwhelmed with Uncertainties, look to your shadow. Maybe you’ll get a response. Maybe not. At least you’ll purpose-have an interesting conversation.

Buds of cassis, black pepper, galbanum, calypsone, geosmine, incense, Pepperwood, Petalia, rose absolute, patchouli, ambroxan …

Do you really want to smell like this guy?

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Soap on a rope. It always sounds like a good idea, but they end up ugly and cracked and tend to be over-perfumed.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE HERMANN: sharp, dry, caustic

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT HERMANN: The Candy Pefume Boy, CaFleureBon, Colognoisseur

BOTTOM LINE: OK…I have the feeling that Herman is going to either be a love it or hate it perfume. I shared this with my hub and he really liked it. But I have the feeling he likes it is because there’s something very old school 1970s nostalgic about it. I’m not sure what it is, but I know I have experienced this perfume a long, long time ago. And I have no desire to go back.

Bone Rating: 2 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Woody Aromatic
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $149 for 100 ml Eau de Parfum

February 24, 2016
by The Scented Hound 9 Comments

New Release: Le Quatrième Parfum by Coolife

WHAT I SMELL: Le Quatrième Parfum initially opens up smoky warm only to be quickly met with a boozy, but green sharpness. Almost gourmand at first, the perfume rapidly begins to lighten as the air meets the perfume; as if a genie had been let out of the bottle. For being so balsamic, the perfume is rather light and ethereal. As the perfume continues to develop, there’s a light sweetened honey that appears as a layer to the smoky notes. After a bit, the patchouli makes it way to the center, but it’s ever so soft and it feels as if it’s wrapped within a fruited tobacco and incense. After some more time the patchouli continues to grow along with a coating of vanilla, but it always remains contained, subdued and at peace. Le Quatrième Parfum is a perfume that will help you to believe that all is right with the world.

From the Coolife website:

Designed to engage with the root chakra, our most physical energy center, Le Quatrième Parfum is the fourth fragrance created by Pauline Rochas and Carole Beaupré. In homage to our ancient connection with earth, Le Quatrième is grounding, erotic, and lush. It captures passion and draws out that exquisite moment of connecting with our roots. Known as Muladhara in Sanksrit, the root chakra is the border between animal and human consciousness. Like the deep and sturdy roots of a tree, the root chakra is the stem of life, the smoldering origin of our sexuality, seated at the basal end of the spine. Le Quatrième conjures the scent of rum, an invigorating liquor blended in the heat of the islands, intertwined with smoky, organic tobacco leaves. This deep, Oriental fragrance stimulates the body at its base, with essences of Myrhh and Resinoid, Indonesian Patchouli, and Peru Balsam. Heady top and mid notes of aphrodisiac honey, vanilla, and plum intoxicate the senses, stirring a tempest within the body. Muladhara is the chakra of scent, our most primal sense. Le Quatrième manifests the power of fragrance, entrancing strangers and rapturous lovers to linger in your presence, luxuriating in romantic union. With a balanced root chakra, you are at once sensual and instinctual, magnetic and in control. Surrender to the allure of Le Quatrième and, with the energy of the earth surging through your body, you hold the key to the realm of desire.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: serenity

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE LE QUATRIÉME PARFUM: calming, warm, peaceful

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT LE QUATRIÉME PARFUM: None to be found as of yet.

BOTTOM LINE: If you’re looking for a perfume that really puts the ease in easy, Le Quatrième Parfum is an incredibly relaxing and centered perfume that doesn’t try to be anything more than it is. And what it is, is a beautiful and peaceful perfume full of positive and calming energy.

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Oriental
Nose: Yann Vasnier
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $175 for 50 ml Eau De Parfum

Sample courtesy of Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique and Apothecary. Opinion my own.