The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.

Tag Archives: unisex


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Zoologist Cockatiel

WHAT I SMELL:  Cockatiel opens with a combination of muted fruit and tangy champagne which quickly moves to a warmed powder.  It’s lightly sweet and lightly candied as if it was concocted from an old confectioner of years past that can now only be found in tourist centric candy stores in mid-America.  As Cockatiel flaps its wings, an undercurrent of musk pushes out from the center to the bottom of the perfume.  It has a bit of a dull feel accentuated by a woody vanilla.  Here, the perfume smells a bit like wet socks that have been sprinkled with powder.  But that quickly dissipates and turns wholly to a soured spicy powder.  Cockatiel is different, but I’m not sure if different in this case is a good thing.

From the Zoologist Perfumes website:

Australian spring arrives, bearing dazzling frocks of yellow blossoms to dress the bare golden wattle trees. Clouds of sweet honeyed fragrance, caught upon the breeze, carry an invitation inland, where a flock of cockatiels happily take up the celebration. Emerging from dusty nests, the birds are ready to preen and prance. On a wobbly stage of branches, vivid crests bop to the rhythm of their joyous songs. After a final encore, the flock takes flight. Alighting in a nearby field they share a delightful brunch, buzzing with the thrill of their stunning recital.

Zoologist Cockatiel exudes joy. A sunny burst of yellow acacia offers a friendly welcome. Dots of raspberry and tart rhubarb suggest a hint of mischief, like a pair of rosy cheeks beneath a golden plume. Finally, soft notes of musk and vanilla enfold the vibrant Cockatiel, like downy feathers cushioning the brashness of this cheeky bird.

Top Notes: Champagne, Raspberry, Rhubarb
Heart Notes: Acacia, Powdery Notes, Cashmeran
Base Notes: Guaiac, Patchouli, Vanilla, Musk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  Ye Olde Candy Shoppe.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE COCKATIEL:  soured, confectionary, muted

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT COCKATIEL: No written reviews found.

BOTTOM LINE:  Cockatiel is an interesting perfume in that the first half of its development it does provide the wearer with this mix of muted sugar and powder that gives the feeling of a bird flapping its wings.  However, the drydown becomes flat, somewhat sour and a little dull.

  • Bone Rating: 3 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent: Floral Woody Musk
  • Nose: Sven Pritzkoleit
  • Classification:  Unisex
  • Expense:  $175 for 60 ml eau de parfum.  Also available in 10 ml travel spray.


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Amouage Opus XII Rose Incense

What would Valentine’s Day be without the obligatory review of a rose perfume?  I aim to please, so let’s see what Amouage has in store for us on this special day dedicated to love…

WHAT I SMELL:  Rose Incense opens with a lightly warmed incensed rose that quickly starts to bloom with a metallic edge.  It’s as if a full bodied red rose has been sliced with an ancient sword and with such deft and swift action it has left remnants of the metal infused with the rapturous rose.  The perfume is full of depth and mystery as it continues to enfold itself in an aura of light incense.  The rose, metal and smoke seem to smolder with an ambery warmth, but I feel at this time as if it is a prelude of what is to come.  But that transition is slow to come, or should I say that the journey is a thoughtful and meditative one.  The perfume does sweeten just a little with hints of vanilla weaving in and out, but that seems to evade me because it feels as if sometimes it’s there and other times it doesn’t reveal itself.  However, what does happen in the end is that the vanilla begins to meld into the perfume to make for the most delicious creamy rose and incense forcefield.  The vanilla, along with a beautiful sandalwood help to escort out the metallic note which to me makes for a much more soft and welcoming wear.

Notes from the Amouage website:

ODE TO CHILDHOOD INNOCENSE

I should like a Rose, crimson and joyous. Velvety petals draped in clear, religious Elemi and coated in the sensual smoke of Olibanum Hyperabsolute – they remind me of our pure emotions, as we fell in love for the first ever time. I remember of Damascus Rose Water, flawless like our smiles; and caramel-coloured Incense Absolute, sweet like those hours lost in the depths of our imaginations.
What remains when our lives come to pass?
With bewitching and metallic streaks of Black Ink, I shall write down the memories of our love.
Moments, images and sensations of bitter Myrrh.
Vanilla is sweet, Sandalwood takes me to heavens of silk but Cedarwood reminds me of reality, dry, brittle and dense like Suede.
Inspired by the uncertainty of the ‘Rosebud’ mystery in ‘Citizen Kane’, Rose Incense is an ambery and pointilliste constellation of gleaming moments whose beauty compels us to believe that only childhood memories are real.
Perfumer: Bruno Jovanovic
    • Top Notes: Elemi, Olibanum (Frankincense) Hyper Absolute, Black Ink Accord.
    • Heart Notes: Damascena Rose Water Essential, Suederal, Frankincense Absolute.
    • Base Notes: Myrrh, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Cedarwood.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  The perfumer’s Citizen Kane inspiration is perfect with a beautiful rose, the metallic blades from the sled and the incense to magnify the sled’s destruction…ROSEBUD.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ROSE INCENSE:  calm, serious, mysterious

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT INCENSE: The Velvet Life

BOTTOM LINE:  As part of the Library Collection, Rose Incense is a perfume that may not be incredibly unique.  However, like most Amouage perfumes it is a rose cut above the rest with quality and an execution that far surpasses many of the other rose/incense combinations that you will find on the market.  Any Valentine would be so lucky to be wearing this today.

    • Bone Rating:  4 out of possible 5 bones
    • Scent:  Floral Amber
    • Nose: Bruno Jovanovic
    • Classification: Unisex
    • Expense: $360 for 100 ml eau de parfum


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Jusbox Perfumes Spring Dance

Winter here in the Yucatan of Mexico is heaven.  Low humidity, moderate temperatures and lots of sun make for perfect indoor/outdoor living.  For some reason, this year, the weather is acting a bit strange just as it seems to be for others around the world.  Today, albeit cool, it’s rainy and overcast and just a bit gloomy.  So I thought why not “think spring” and review a perfume that sounds perfect for the upcoming season.  Let’s see if it does the trick to lighten the mood of the day…

WHAT I SMELL:  Spring Dance opens with a lightly sweet lemony grapefruit that quickly turns to neroli.  I don’t see neroli within the notes, but it seems to be there front and center. There’s a softness to the perfume where right from first spritz there’s a dusting of musk that blankets the perfume and keeps the citrus and the subsequent florals wrapped in fuzzy warmth.  As the perfume develops, a full bodied and rounded jasmine begins to emerge.  It’s very pretty and I find it to be rather comforting.  After some more time, a honeysuckle squeezes its way in.  What was once soft and inviting now has a bit of a bite, but that’s not a bad thing because it makes the perfume just a little more interesting.  The perfume then settles in to a lightly warmed jasmine infused musk.  Spring Dance did a fine job in lifting my spirits, but the sun just came out too.

From the Jusbox website:

Spring Dance is an olfactory concert that celebrates life as an expression of beauty and power, in the moment of its inception. Spring Dance is an emotional composition in which the top notes of grapefruit and LMR Tunisian rosemary open to an ensemble of LMR jasmine sambac absolute and honeysuckle, extolling the blossoming of flowers that saturate the air with a fragrance that is both powerful and gentle at its heart. The elegant rhythms of dry amber and musk are the base notes in an olfactory harmony in which wellbeing and balance are the libretto of an extraordinary opera. Spring Dance is an olfactory counterpoint that interweaves the canon of perfumery art with a contemporary and innovative technique. The allegro of the top notes, which are clean, fresh, soft and discreet, is inserted in a structured and very persistent olfactory intrigue.

Perfume Notes: 

Top: Grapefruit, LMR Tunisian rosemary

Heart: Honeysuckle accord, LMR jasmine sambac absolute

Bottom:  Dry amber, musk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  A green gauze wrap.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE SPRING DANCE:  safe, pretty, innocuous

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT SPRING DANCE:  None to be found.

BOTTOM LINE:  Spring Dance is pretty, it’s pleasant, it’s nice…

  • Bone Rating: 3 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent: Floral Musky
  • Nose:  Dominique Ropion
  • Classification: Unisex, but leans feminine
  • Expense: Approximately $165 for 78 ml eau de parfum.

*Jusbox is an exclusive range of perfumes whose concept is based on the similarity between perfume and music. Music is the key inspiration for all of their fragrances.  Each of the perfumes is accompanied by a playlist of music associated with the perfume.  In the case of Spring Dance, Vivaldi comes to life.  To play the playlist, go to the Spring Dance page on the Jusbox website.

Sample courtesy of Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique and Apothecary.