unisex | The Scented Hound

April 23, 2012
by The Scented Hound 17 Comments

Incense Oud by By Kilian

If you look at my past reviews of By Kilian fragrances they are rather lukewarm. I approach my reviews solely on what my own likes and preferences are which means that I rate and provide comments on what I like personally. Given that, I guess I hadn’t sampled the right By Kilian fragrances for my tastes. I had the opportunity to sample and test some of the other fragrances in the line the other day at Saks Fifth Avenue when I had the opportunity to interview Kilian Hennessy himself as he was promoting his new “Asian Tales” collection.

Well, I fell in love, and fell in love hard with Incense Oud. Sometimes love is hard to define and I find that it is one of those scents that is hard to describe. When first applied you are met with what I would describe as a lightly green spicy blend which quickly turns over to a nice and mild oaky smokiness which remains throughout. Incense Oud is warm and slightly woody. It is a scent that envelops and wraps itself around you in the most luxurious of ways. Incense Oud is a very personal scent, when you wear it, you feel like it was specifically made for you. It sits close to the skin and provides you with a layer of comfort. I have to say that this is easily the most elegant of scents. It’s perfect for the evening and yet it was perfect for me when I went to the grocery store in a sweatshirt and khakis yesterday in the rain!

I’m happy to say that Incense Oud is now part of my permanent collection and I was lucky enough to have Kilian himself sign my bottle. Besides my love for the scent, the packaging is beyond elegant, both the bottle and the lock box which it resides in. Yes, I’m in love.

From the By Kilian website:

INCENSE OUD is built on the duality of two primeval scents – incense and oud.

Incense, largely considered a mystic perfume, is layered with oud, rose, cardamom and labdanum,creating a fragrance that is both mysteriously warm and stunningly modern.

Bone Rating: 5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent Type: Oriental – Spicy
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $395 for 50ml EDP

April 17, 2012
by The Scented Hound 6 Comments

Amber Oud by By Kilian

Oh my, an amber that didn’t work for me. I have heard nothing but rave reviews about Amber Oud…but again, oh my. First Amber Oud goes on sharp, it has a strong bite. It’s the oud mixed with the bay leaves I am guessing. I read from other reviews that this fragrance is sweet. I’m not getting any sweetness whatsoever. I was hoping that the vanilla would pop out to even out the sharpness of the scent. It materializes slightly, but never to the point of cutting that edge. After a bit, the sharpness dissipates and the scent retreats close to the skin. That’s fine, but all day long all that I was smelling was a sour note. And not even the amber warmed this for me. I am truly disappointed, but I will be giving this one another chance. Maybe it’s just my body chemistry! 😦

Amber Oud Notes:

Amber, oud, bay leaf, cedarwood, vanilla

Bone Rating: 2 out of 5 possible bones
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $395 for 50ml EDP

April 14, 2012
by The Scented Hound 2 Comments

Colonia Assoluta In Villa by Acqua di Parma

In Villa has been sitting on my shelf for several years. It’s has remained in the back of my collection for a long time. I thought I should dust off the bottle and give it another chance. There are a couple of things to note about this fragrance:

1. It comes with a bulb atomizer. If my recollection is correct, that was a huge selling point. It seems very glamorous. The reality is that it’s awkward to use.

2. This only comes in 200ml bottles. As a result, I have enough of In Villa to last 2 lifetimes.

OK, past that, what does In Villa smell like? It’s green. When applied, you get hints of citrus, and lots of cypress. The citrus quickly disappears and you just get the cypress. I am confused a bit, because the notes list cedar and to me cedar is more woody than green and as such, I think cypress, not cedar. According to the Acqua Di Parma website, this scent is rounded off with warm spicy notes. These spicy notes help to balance out the green to lessen the sharpness of the scent. In Villa is a very old-fashioned scent. It reminds me of scents from the 1970’s and has hints of barber shops smells. It’s pretty linear, lasts a long time and is a cologne that will not offend. That said, I find it a bit boring. Would I purchase this again (if I didn’t have a 200ml bottle)? Probably not.

In Villa Notes:

Top notes: lemon, bitter orange, bergamot, and cardamom
Middle notes: chilli pepper, jasmine, ylang ylang and rose
Base notes: white musk and cedar