The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.

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New Release: Sarah Baker Loudo

WHAT I SMELL:   Loudo opens with a fizzy bergamot that is quickly met by warmed white chocolate followed by something that smells like woolen mittens that have a bit of a salty worn patina.  The woolen mittens then turn to the sock drawer as the perfume now takes on a combination of wood and cotton with the tinge of the lightly creamy chocolate still lingering overhead.  But soon after, a light sueded leather comes forward.  At this point, the leather dominates and moves all of the other accords to the side.  The perfume is warm and comforting and approachable in that it carries with it familiar scents of many of the comforts of home.  Slowly, the perfume begins to radiate and pushes off the skin as the leather begins to dry.  And I’m not sure if my nose is deceiving me, but there’s a very light buzzing peppermint that seems to pop in and out.   After a long time, the leather begins to retreat, leaving a soft and pretty orange blossom to take it’s place sitting atop a woody semi-sweet flattened vanilla.  At this point, the perfume softly hugs the skin in the quietest of ways.  Loudo is a wonderfully interesting and a delightful journey of a perfume.

From the Sarah Baker Perfumes website:

Playful and sweet with the flavors of childhood appetites, it dries down to something seriously grown-up. Proustian aromas and a nostalgic glimpse of a beloved game encountered in the attic, realizing years later it was the seed of your adult prowess; the sensual, sexy and clever you.

Notes: bergamot, neroli, petitgrain, black cherry, cypriol, orange blossom, white chocolate, Laos oud, Suyufi agarwood, musk, amber, vanilla

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  A cozy farmhouse kitchen laden with all the comfort smells infused in the home.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE LOUDO:  comforting, nostalgic, unique

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT LOUDO:  The Sniffer, CaFleureBon, Stephan Matthews

BOTTOM LINE:  When I first heard that Loudo was an oud perfume, I couldn’t conjure in my mind how Sarah Baker would interpret it as it seems we all have been overly ouded over the past many years.  Thankfully, Sarah’s use of oud makes it the center of the perfume, but not one that is overt nor dominating.  The oud here translates more to the leather.  And the white chocolate, black cherry carry the perfume to the slightly gourmand.  In all, there’s something incredibly comforting about Loudo in that wraps the wearer up in a quieter and more simple time.  And as far as I’m concerned, a oud/leather scent that is a comfort is something that’s very welcomed.

  • Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent:  Woody
  • Nose: Chris Maurice
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: $155 for 50 ml parfum extrait


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New Release: Frassaï El Sur Collection – El Descanso

2020 has been a difficult year, one which I’m sure most would say they would rather put behind them.  I thought about doing a year end list of recommendations for Christmas earlier this month, but I just wasn’t feeling the spirit of the holidays.   So instead, I decided to look ahead to 2021 and the promise of a new year.  And thankfully, Frassaï has just released a trio of perfumes as part of their new El Sur collection.  All three perfumes in the collection, El Descanso, Cuir Pampas and Rosa Sacra are wonderful in their own respective ways and I will be reviewing all three in the upcoming weeks.  But today, I thought I would start off with probably the most unique perfume in the collection, El Descanso.

WHAT I SMELL:  El Descanso opens with a breath of lemony green and a warm and dry ambrette that is soon met with a lightly nuttied grain.  Right from the first spritz, the perfume feels earthy without the dirt and soil, but in the abundance that the earth can bring in grains and grass.  The perfume begins to grow in volume, but it remains in the grassy field as starts to warm in a late afternoon sun.  After some time, a layer of puttied mimosa hovers over the wheat like grass which makes the perfume more rounded.  The addition of the mimosa is ever so slight and it adds just the right amount of sweetness to the natural splendor of the grass.  As the perfume continues to slowly develop, a spice is added along with an ambery sandalwood.  Still natural in the grass, the perfume now is deeper in its warmth and radiation with just a tinge of green.  El Descanso is a perfume that can bring the golden warmth to the day no matter what the weather is like outside.

From the Frassaï website:

In Argentina’s Sur, the golden wheat fields stretch with confidence into the limitless horizon. Time is ripe and the skies have been generous with their abundant rains. Not far, an alazan horse grazes under the shade of an ombú tree, the echo of the pampas beating in its hooves. Tribes of sparrows find their way back to their nests, lulled by the wind that lingers on the whispering plains.

Notes:

Top: Ambrette, Galbanum

Heart: Bran absolute, Ombu leaves

Back: Cedarwood, Sandalwood

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  Golden wheat fields drenched in the sun.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE EL DESCANSO:  original, comforting, calming

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT EL DESCANSO:  Colognoisseur, CaFleureBon

BOTTOM LINE:  I love perfumes that will carry you away to a far away land without every leaving your own home.  El Descanso does just that.  It’s a wonderfully easy perfume to wear and every time I wear it, small nuances appear that reveal a new bit of mystery from the plains of Argentina.  El Descanso is absolutely lovely.

  • Bone Rating:  4.5 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent:  Woody
  • Nose:  Irina Burlakova
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: $175 for 50 ml. eau de parfum


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Oriza L. Legrand Gentry Jockey Club

WHAT I SMELL:   Gentry Jockey Club goes on the skin with a warm and comforting bergamot with soft touches of iris and rose. It buzzes with vibrancy, yet at the same time retains a sense calm and a sense of security.  A light leather soon enters, but like the florals, it too remains soft and inviting.  To warm the perfume even more, an ambered hue of sandalwood is injected which begins to dry out the opening softness of the perfume.   I’m not sure what is responsible for the next movement, but a light earthy element is brought in.  It’s a combination that feels like earthy and mossy soil which has been dried in the sun.  A birch note helps to give it a slightly burnt edge as if in the distance you can smell the remains of recent fire.  This is where the perfume settles in for bulk of its wear, it radiates and pulses as continues to grow with some intensity resting in a dry burnt wood and hay consistency.

Feast day at the racecourse: ribbons and hats in the wind, the elegant look at the fiery horse, the one that will lead to victory …
The air perfumes the leather of the horses treading the hot sand and the smell of blond tobacco.
Jockey Club, the perfume of victory …
 
Top notes:  Italian bergamot – Ylang of the Comoros – Saffron
Heart notes:  Iris Pallida – Bulgarian rose – Leather notes – Patchouli – Birch essence
Background notes:  Real Sandalwood from India – Tonka Bean – Ambrette – Ambergris – Vetiver Haiti

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  Gentry Jockey Club smells less like a race track and more like what I envision a medieval farm to small like…dirt, hay and scorched earth.


THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE GENTRY JOCKEY CLUB:  rustic, earthy, dried

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT GENTRY JOCKEY CLUB:  None found.

BOTTOM LINE:   Gentry Jockey Club remains true to the roots of the Oriza L. Legrand brand.  It has a nostalgic sensibility, but feels modern at the same time.  If you like the smokiness of birch tar you’ll probably like this.  To me however, after some time, the perfume just gets too smoky on me.

  • Bone Rating:  3 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent: Woody
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense:  120 Euros for 100 ml Eau de Parfum