unisex | The Scented Hound

July 13, 2015
by The Scented Hound 9 Comments

Nin-Shar by Jul et Mad Paris

WHAT I SMELL: Nin-Shar opens warm and lightly boozy with a creamed rose. It has a thick texture and a lovely milky radiance that when smelled warms the back of your throat. The perfume is lightly sweetened, but it can’t be called a sweet perfume. Instead, the rose, front and center, is wrapped around some beefy wood and an oud that blends masterfully with the rose rather than takes it over. Nin-Shar develops slowly as you wear it, but the nuances are so wonderfully subtle as not to jar the wearer. But what becomes a bit more predominant with the drydown is a cedar note that brings a marvelous natural note to the perfume. But after an hour or so, that cedar blends towards the back of the perfume. The perfume then adds a light layer of powder along with a very rounded juiciness to the mix providing for the perfect finishing touch to make this perfume the utmost in rose elegance. Overall the projection is impressive and the longevity is superb. Nin-Shar is a rose lover’s dream.

From the Jul et Mad website:

This very contrast is evoked in “Nin-Shar”. The purest and best quality absolute of Turkish Rose was employed here, revealing a rich, profound, strong, powerful multifaceted fragrance where soft, comforting, floral, powdery facets, intertwine with strong, green, balsamic, woody, earthy notes, a pure representation of the entire plant, from the soft, floral petals to the green leaves, stem and thorns, and all the way to the roots.

Top Notes: Bergamote, Liqueur de Rose, Essence de Davana
Middle Notes: Absolu de Rose Turque, Jasmin d’Egypte, Fraction Patchouli
Base Notes: Oud, Benjoin, Vanille Bourbon, Cèdre de Virginie, Santal, Absolu d’Encens

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A beautiful pink and cream-colored rose.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE NIN-SHAR: creamy, opulent, rapturous

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT NIN-SHAR: Colognoisseur, Chemist in the Bottle, Persefume

BOTTOM LINE: One of the three perfumes in the Les White collection, Nin-Shar is my favorite. But surprisingly enough, Nea, a fruity gourmand, which typically would not be something that I would normally gravitate to, comes a close second. But all in the collection are wonderful in their own right. I’m also not a big oud fan, but there is something about the rose-oud combination that is wonderful. On their own, the two notes can over dominate any perfume, but here they work their magic in perfect harmony.

Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Oriental Woody
Nose: Sidnoie Lancesseur
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $190 for 50 ml parfum extrait

June 22, 2015
by The Scented Hound 16 Comments

Afrika-Olifant by Nishane

WHAT I SMELL: Afrika-Olifant opens like an interesting incense and smoky mystery. I can’t help think of a wrestler walking through clouds of smoke at a WWE event as they walk in the arena. It’s spicy, rather sour and in your face without being heavy-handed. However, there’s a primal male sexuality that’s powerfully overt. The perfume screams SEX. After a few minutes, the leather makes it way in, but as if like a stranger snuck in through the back alley, come up behind you and you feel their presence but can’t see them. That initial rush of smoldering sex, starts to tone down after 10 minutes, but that doesn’t mean the perfume is any less provocative or subdued. The animalic, smoky, spiced and civet laden creation smolders like burning embers. The heat is there and if you get to close you’re going to get burned. After 30 minutes, the musk comes to the forefront, adding another layer of pure sex. Yes…this perfume is all about sex. And as I try to find in my mind descriptors, I just end up back with “damn this is pure sex.” In the end, Afrika-Olifant dries out to leave this layer of burning ash hinting at the power that came before but is now subtle, subdued, but still all that magnetic.

From the Nishane website:

Stimulates hidden desires… The fragrance opens with frankincense and myrrh. As animalic notes castoreum and civet settle down, leather and oud dominate the battlefield. Timid and audacious at the same time…

TOP NOTES: ambergris, frankincense, myrrhe, labdanum

HEART NOTES: castoreum, civet, leather, oud

BASE NOTES: muscenone, thibetone, muscone, civetone

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: As you can see from above, this perfume is all SEX. So many images conjure in my mind, but I’ll go for the G-rated version: the power, the leather, and the viral men of 300!

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE AFRIKA-OLIFANT: smoldering, sexy, primal

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT AFRIKA-OLIFANT: Fashion Lifestyle, Pierre de Nishapur

BOTTOM LINE: Afrika-Olifant is not an office scent and it’s not a fragrance for going on a picnic. It is for wearing when you’re out on the prowl or if you want to create an aura of mystery. In the end, the perfume leaves just enough of a trail to leave those around you wondering where that incredibly sexy smell is coming from. This is my first introduction to the Nishane line, a niche brand from Istanbul, but it won’t be my last because they have some incredible varying perfumes in the line. Duft Bluhten, an beautiful magnolia and gardenia creation is the polar opposite of Afrika-Olifant, but equally as wonderful. Actually, the pretty floral is probably more my style than this perfume which would be on my full bottle list if I was still single and needed to add a layer of testosterone to my Saturday night bar hopping wardrobe.

Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Oriental
Nose: Jorge Lee
Classification: Classified as unisex, but to me, this is completely masculine.
Expense: $230 for 50 ml parfum extrait. Sold exclusively at Twisted Lily in the U.S.

June 15, 2015
by The Scented Hound 10 Comments

The Peradam by Apoteker Tepe

WHAT I SMELL: The Peradam opens with a buttery, thickened and plasticine lily. There’s so much volume and weight to the perfume, but there’s an incredible smoothness about that it feels like a sheen of dense paint has been layered on my skin. Lily can go horribly wrong on my skin and it has a tendency to overpower. Here the lily, ever evident and deeply weighted, remains surprisingly subdued. After a slow progression, the jasmine, thick and bold, starts to bring an ever so slight ray of light to the perfume, but that’s not saying much as this is the most indolic jasmine that I have experienced in some time. The perfume is heady, thick, earthy, bold and spicy but surprisingly close to the skin. After another 20 minutes or so, the sandalwood makes it way in giving what I feel is like a layer of light sandpaper in which the perfume sits on. After an hour, all the notes soften and converge to reside in blended and mysterious harmony that’s topped off with a radiant and buttery finish. Where many fragrances leave their best for the beginning and then fade in beauty towards the end, The Peradam bucks that standard. Because as interesting and unusual as this goes on, hours afterwards, the warm, light and radiant finish is the quiet and reverenced beauty that is the star.

From the Apoteker Tepe website:

The Peradam combines the most precious materials in perfumery for a fragrance of unusual character, depth, and rarity.

According to the French author René Daumal, a ‘peradam’ is an object that only appears to those who seek it. For those who have been seeking the most precious and rarely experienced raw ingredients in perfumery, The Peradam combines a rare SCO2 extraction of Jasmine grandiflorum, real orris butter, and sustainably harvested Mysore Sandalwood into a fragrance that is warm, enveloping, uniquely addictive, and impossible to find elsewhere.

Notes: Madonna lily, Jasmine, Orris butter, Sandalwood
Profile: Floral, Jasmine, Indolic, Woody

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Unimaginable grief from the loss of a most beautiful of love.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE THE PERADAM: gothic, storied, evocative

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE PERADAM: None to be found as of yet.

BOTTOM LINE: The Peradam is a perfume with a story, as you can see from my description of what it smells like to me. There’s passion, decay, beauty and a quiet intensity about the perfume that’s very haunting. There’s a lot of emotion in this creation. I can’t say that for many perfumes and that makes it distinctively unique and all that more special.

Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $130 for 50 ml Eau de Parfum

Sample courtesy of Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique and Apothecary.