Il Mondo di Odore

Musk, Sandalwood, Nutmeg, Cardamom, Ginger, Clove, Mandarin, Cedar and Cypress. One of my favorites from Sonoma Scent Studio. This is a musk dominant scent served up a tad different. I won't go as far as to say the rendition is arid, but ( on me ) projects a dustiness that I have come to thoroughly enjoy. Sienna Musk falls in between sensual and just plain smelling good for the sake of smelling good. I don't claim to have a wardrobe full of terrific musk representatives, but enough of my collection have musk as part of the drydown. Some I like, some I'm ambivalent to, but what they all have in common is that none smell as good as this one. It's true that Sienna Musk doesn't simply use the musk note in a base-accord setting. It opens as a spicy woody with that unconventional musk permeating the opening accord and beyond. From the onset, you will become aware of how well this is blended. It's very rich, yet still has room to expand and breathe a little...

As an Italian kid growing up in a big inner city back east, I came up Roman Catholic and was schooled in a neighborhood parochial parish with nuns as teachers. Yes....they hit me with large rulers, chalkboard pointers and whatever else may have been handy. I was a  mischievous lad who, to please my very devout mother, was an altar boy for a few years. Before I was thrown off the altar boy crew for a non-appreciated practical joke, I found that servicing weddings and funerals was lucrative for a kid my age. It was easier than caddying at the local golf course or engaging in assorted , nefarious ventures my crew seemed to gravitate to at the time. Girls, cigarettes and beer were the order of the day for testosterone filled teenagers.....and not necessarily in that order. Catholic mass and other services exposed me to incense. That familiar smell would fill the church and thin streams of smoke would spiral upwards from the incense holders. The aroma would waft its way slowly throu...

Laurie Erickson is someone I have come to like and respect, so I was bummed to visit the SSS site and find that she is temporarily taking a break due to severe tendon pain stemming from her wrists. All of us here at Il Mondo wish her nothing but the best and a speedy recovery. Get well Laurie and know that our thoughts are with you.

Aldehyde, Jasmine, Clove, Sandalwood, Labdanum absolute, Vetiver, Amber. First, allow me to say that I thoroughly enjoy Laurie's creations and I've yet to wear one that wasn't good. There's a particular strand of DNA that runs through Sonoma Scent Studio. It's a very identifiable marker and naturally it's outwardly apparent. Champagne de Bois is certainly no exception. This is viscous and has serious presence. When I hear the word "Champagne", I can't help but think of frivolity and a certain degree of lightheartedness. You will not get either with Champagne de Bois. What you will get however is a terrifically tenacious scent reeking of ambery dew and spicy wood. The aldehyde in the opening is extremely effective in clarifying the accompanying notes. There's also an underlying waxiness to not only the top accord, but the entire composition. This is a substantial introduction and one I love every time I smell it. The clove rendition ...

Laurie seems to have a skilled hand when it comes to employing labdanum. It's a theme running through the line and continues to give substance and heft to each creation. This tobacco oriented release is as good as the others in her line that I have sampled and reviewed. I enjoy tobacco scents, but in truth, there aren't that many that have that certain something it takes for me to wear them regularly. That is....until I tried this....... This reminds me of a full bodied tobacco that is perfect for autumn and winter. Do you like pipe tobacco? Imagine sitting on planks of hewn cedar and you are downwind from a cannister of unlit pipe tobacco that has wispy cherry overtones. This aura dominates the entirety of the composition, but is made possible with the assistance of oriental and earthy notes. Once again, the normal heavy hitters I am accustomed to overtaking a transition, stay in stand-by mode and assist only in giving the composition fullness. The tobacco theme that unfo...

Quickly becoming a favorite house of mine, Sonoma Scent Studio's Vintage Rose has accomplished pleasing me with a Rose fragrance....and THAT.....is a feat since I have yet to smell a dedicated Rose scent that I thought had any real merit. Let me rephrase; I love a rose note in quite a few masculines. When it's in tandem with other complimentary notes, I find rose to be an awesome addition and complimentary note to the composition. The same goes for feminine fragrances featuring rose that are blended with other notes. As a dedicated note, I cannot say I like soliflore's. Rose, by itself, always seems to come off smelling fake or even plastic-y to my nose. Even numerous Rose dominant scents ( feminines) that aren't soliflore's have this effect on me, but not so with Vintage Rose. Sonoma has tempered the note with sweet and gritty additions of plum and amber, labdanum, sandal,cedar, vetiver and tonka. None of the additions steal the limelight from the star, they si...

This house puts a smile on my face. My first sample of Ambre Noir was a nice experience and now Winter Woods is proving to be as good or even better. As a fan of wood, I'm disappointed more often than not when it comes to masculines sporting the name WOODS in their name and description. Winter Woods is a very smooth rendition of wood with just the right amount of smoke to make this smell downright sexy. You must be ready for thick and dense in order to appreciate Laurie Erickson and in Winter Woods, you get not only that, but hints of animalics as well. The Guaiacwood opens Winter Woods and has a balsamic quality to it.  Laurie made sure this was a woody by incorporating not only Guaiac, but Sandal and Cedar as well. Unlike the drier versions of other woodies, Winter Woods has a lush and moist rendition going on in it. Imagine a warehouse of different and assorted timbers that went up in a fire. What I smell are the ones that didn't burn because they couldn't. The...

If Ambre Noir is any indicator, I may be forced to explore this House thoroughly in the future. Galamb supplied me recently with some excellent "smellies" ( as he likes to call them) and Ambre Noir was among the numerous samples he generously sent me. Thanks again bro..... My first aesthetic impression is of DSH ....due to bottle sizes and the overall size of the house itself. The site gives me that cozy, niche house feel with high expectations. I have a proclivity for scents with some gravitas that come in 15 and 30ml bottles. I only wish more niche did the same. On me, Ambre Noir is exactly that. This is an amber with some very nice guests invited to the party. Not overtly heavy, nor too dark, Noir's rendition of amber would work on both genders and opens with an mildly herbaceous amber that also gives a nod to anamalics. The Olibanum and castoreum work very well astride the labdanum and the result is a thickened, golden amber that has enough balls to be macho, yet ...