Categories
Fragrance Reviews

By Kilian Rose Oud Fragrance Review


* Rose Oud starts with a powerful punch of oud and rose mixed together.  It is strong and projects loudly.

* Oud is a resin from southeast Asian evergreen trees that have been infected by a mold.  It is rare, expensive, and highly prized in Indian and Arabic cultures.

* After wearing it a few times, I’ve noticed that top sometimes gets a little soapy on me as well, while most of the time it is Rose and Oud.

* As the scent calms down into the heart notes – the rose and oud stay present, joined by honey and cinnamon.  Oud acts as the base, with the sweeter notes making a nice contrast.

* The base notes mirror the heart with the addition of a bit more sweetness, with either butterscotch or vanilla coming in to play.  This is by no means an edible gourmand, but a quite pleasant sweetness combining with a more subtle rose and oud.

Summary:  Combining a classical female note, rose, with a classically male note, oud, is quite brilliant and the contrast makes this quite a unique and sophisticated scent.  Rose Oud is one of four oud scents from By Killian along with Pure Oud, Incense Oud, and the recently released Amber Oud.  A limited edition Extreme Oud is apparently only available in the middle east. This is a great nighttime fragrance as its way too much for the office.  It’s extremely sexy in a seductive, not sleazy, kind of way.  As the scent is quite expensive, you will definitely want to skin test it a few times before going for a full bottle.

By Kilian Rose Oud is available from Luckyscent, Aedes and Saks Fifth Avenue.

 

Categories
Fragrance Reviews

Bond No 9 New York Oud Fragrance Review

* New York Oud kicks off with a quite loud blast of oud and sweet plum.

* It is strong, quite strong, and lasts a long time.

* The sweet plum recedes and saffron comes into the forefront with the oud for a little while.   Then on me, I suddenly get Ivory Soap (on top of the oud).   I am not sure exactly of the notes – kind of sweet, but in an inedible kind of way.

* Projection on this is massive and it stays strong for several hours

* In the base, there is still the oud and saffron in the forefront.  On different wearings, I’ve also smelled patchouli and a light musk – but it’s still all about the oud and saffron.

Summary:  Bond No 9 is what I call, lovingly, a battery acid fragrance.  Once it goes on, it cuts through everything and takes control.  I wouldn’t say it’s linear (meaning the same from top to base) but it’s linear-ish, as if the main oud and saffron stay in the game with different players joining for a bried inning/appearance.  This is definitely not an office fragrance – save it for the nighttime.  If you find New York Oud too strong and want to stay in the Bond No 9 line, try their Signature Oud in the gold bottle.

Bond No 9 Royal Oud is available from Saks Fifth Avenue and Bond No 9 New York Boutiques.

 

Categories
Fragrance Reviews

Dolce and Gabbana Velvet Wood Fragrance Review

* Velvet Wood starts off with a punch of cedar wood and a little sweat (maybe cumin) mixed with sweet resins.

* The Velvet line is a new set of high-end, niche-quality fragrances from Dolce & Gabbana available only at certain stores.  These are not to be confused with the more mainstream D&G line.

* The scent turns left and goes crazy animalic and musk on me. It’s dirty, filthy, and sexy- but stops short at full-on raunch.  The first time I wore it I was thinking, this can’t be right, but after going through three samples I realized this was where it went.

* Also in the Velvet line are Patchouli, Vetiver, Love, Sublime, and Desire. Wood and the first two are marketed as masculine and the latter three are deemed feminine.  With that said, I can only imagine how sexy Wood would smell on a woman.

* The animal calms down and the base notes are a sweet leather with a subtle vanilla.

Summary:  Velvet Wood is a wild ride of extremes.  If you’ve never experience the top-middle-base notes development of a scent, this is a good one to start with – because the stages are SO distinct.  It’s almost like three fragrances in one.   The last scent that threw me for such an unexpected animalic curve ball was Chantecaille Kalimantan, which looks so delightfully demure but turns into such a filthy beast on the skin.  Definitely for the nighttime, Velvet Wood will attract attention from people in proximity.

Dolce and Gabbana Velvet Wood is available through select Saks Fifth Avenue stores.  If you are in the South Florida area, I recommend checking out the Dolce and Gabbana counter at the Bar Harbour Saks and asking for Maygan.

Categories
Fragrance Reviews

Phaedon Noir Marine Fragrance Review

 

* Noir Marine goes on with a brisk spicy peppermint that will wake you up with its strong projection.

* Phaedon is a new line of fragrances by Pierre Guillaume.  This was kept secret at first in attempt to keep the focus on the fragrances rather than the names involved.

* The peppermint stays present and is sweetened up with a really nice tobacco note.  The tobacco is not overwhelming or ‘old man’ish – its present and acts as a nice sweet transition.

* I do not like aquatic (water/ocean) fragrances, so when my friend recommended that I try Noir Marine, I laughed.  Throughout the life of the scent, I don’t get any aquatic notes at all… maybe that’s why it’s so dark (or noir)?

* After a few hours, the pepper winds down and the tobacco transitions into really warming and nice resins that last a long time.

Summary:  I was introduced to Pierre Guillaume’s Parfum line when I was in Paris last year and absolutely love Aomassia, Bois de Copaiba, and Un Crime Exotique.   Noir Marine fits into that line quite well.  The longevity is absolutely wonderful, with the sweet resinous base lasting more than 12 hours on my skin.  If you apply this an hour before work, this could be an office-friendly scent.  Otherwise, it makes for a great after-work pick-me-up that will last until the next day.

Phaedon fragrances are available from LuckyScent and The Perfume Shoppe.

Notable Scents – Page 56 – A DJ Ron Blog
Categories
Fragrance Reviews

By Kilian Rose Oud Fragrance Review


* Rose Oud starts with a powerful punch of oud and rose mixed together.  It is strong and projects loudly.

* Oud is a resin from southeast Asian evergreen trees that have been infected by a mold.  It is rare, expensive, and highly prized in Indian and Arabic cultures.

* After wearing it a few times, I’ve noticed that top sometimes gets a little soapy on me as well, while most of the time it is Rose and Oud.

* As the scent calms down into the heart notes – the rose and oud stay present, joined by honey and cinnamon.  Oud acts as the base, with the sweeter notes making a nice contrast.

* The base notes mirror the heart with the addition of a bit more sweetness, with either butterscotch or vanilla coming in to play.  This is by no means an edible gourmand, but a quite pleasant sweetness combining with a more subtle rose and oud.

Summary:  Combining a classical female note, rose, with a classically male note, oud, is quite brilliant and the contrast makes this quite a unique and sophisticated scent.  Rose Oud is one of four oud scents from By Killian along with Pure Oud, Incense Oud, and the recently released Amber Oud.  A limited edition Extreme Oud is apparently only available in the middle east. This is a great nighttime fragrance as its way too much for the office.  It’s extremely sexy in a seductive, not sleazy, kind of way.  As the scent is quite expensive, you will definitely want to skin test it a few times before going for a full bottle.

By Kilian Rose Oud is available from Luckyscent, Aedes and Saks Fifth Avenue.

 

Categories
Fragrance Reviews

Bond No 9 New York Oud Fragrance Review

* New York Oud kicks off with a quite loud blast of oud and sweet plum.

* It is strong, quite strong, and lasts a long time.

* The sweet plum recedes and saffron comes into the forefront with the oud for a little while.   Then on me, I suddenly get Ivory Soap (on top of the oud).   I am not sure exactly of the notes – kind of sweet, but in an inedible kind of way.

* Projection on this is massive and it stays strong for several hours

* In the base, there is still the oud and saffron in the forefront.  On different wearings, I’ve also smelled patchouli and a light musk – but it’s still all about the oud and saffron.

Summary:  Bond No 9 is what I call, lovingly, a battery acid fragrance.  Once it goes on, it cuts through everything and takes control.  I wouldn’t say it’s linear (meaning the same from top to base) but it’s linear-ish, as if the main oud and saffron stay in the game with different players joining for a bried inning/appearance.  This is definitely not an office fragrance – save it for the nighttime.  If you find New York Oud too strong and want to stay in the Bond No 9 line, try their Signature Oud in the gold bottle.

Bond No 9 Royal Oud is available from Saks Fifth Avenue and Bond No 9 New York Boutiques.

 

Categories
Fragrance Reviews

Dolce and Gabbana Velvet Wood Fragrance Review

* Velvet Wood starts off with a punch of cedar wood and a little sweat (maybe cumin) mixed with sweet resins.

* The Velvet line is a new set of high-end, niche-quality fragrances from Dolce & Gabbana available only at certain stores.  These are not to be confused with the more mainstream D&G line.

* The scent turns left and goes crazy animalic and musk on me. It’s dirty, filthy, and sexy- but stops short at full-on raunch.  The first time I wore it I was thinking, this can’t be right, but after going through three samples I realized this was where it went.

* Also in the Velvet line are Patchouli, Vetiver, Love, Sublime, and Desire. Wood and the first two are marketed as masculine and the latter three are deemed feminine.  With that said, I can only imagine how sexy Wood would smell on a woman.

* The animal calms down and the base notes are a sweet leather with a subtle vanilla.

Summary:  Velvet Wood is a wild ride of extremes.  If you’ve never experience the top-middle-base notes development of a scent, this is a good one to start with – because the stages are SO distinct.  It’s almost like three fragrances in one.   The last scent that threw me for such an unexpected animalic curve ball was Chantecaille Kalimantan, which looks so delightfully demure but turns into such a filthy beast on the skin.  Definitely for the nighttime, Velvet Wood will attract attention from people in proximity.

Dolce and Gabbana Velvet Wood is available through select Saks Fifth Avenue stores.  If you are in the South Florida area, I recommend checking out the Dolce and Gabbana counter at the Bar Harbour Saks and asking for Maygan.

Categories
Fragrance Reviews

Phaedon Noir Marine Fragrance Review

 

* Noir Marine goes on with a brisk spicy peppermint that will wake you up with its strong projection.

* Phaedon is a new line of fragrances by Pierre Guillaume.  This was kept secret at first in attempt to keep the focus on the fragrances rather than the names involved.

* The peppermint stays present and is sweetened up with a really nice tobacco note.  The tobacco is not overwhelming or ‘old man’ish – its present and acts as a nice sweet transition.

* I do not like aquatic (water/ocean) fragrances, so when my friend recommended that I try Noir Marine, I laughed.  Throughout the life of the scent, I don’t get any aquatic notes at all… maybe that’s why it’s so dark (or noir)?

* After a few hours, the pepper winds down and the tobacco transitions into really warming and nice resins that last a long time.

Summary:  I was introduced to Pierre Guillaume’s Parfum line when I was in Paris last year and absolutely love Aomassia, Bois de Copaiba, and Un Crime Exotique.   Noir Marine fits into that line quite well.  The longevity is absolutely wonderful, with the sweet resinous base lasting more than 12 hours on my skin.  If you apply this an hour before work, this could be an office-friendly scent.  Otherwise, it makes for a great after-work pick-me-up that will last until the next day.

Phaedon fragrances are available from LuckyScent and The Perfume Shoppe.