Blond

I've been trying to find a way to word this for awhile but I really can't figure it out. I love this more each time I wear it. The first time I wore it I got the impression it was aromatic, fresh, dry and woody. It really gave me the impression of being out in the country, airy, kind of hay vibes tempered with sweetness. Outdoorsy without being bitter or dirty. These things are still true as I've worn it more, but there is something else about this. I really really love it and I really what to get a bottle of it, but the projection/longevity leave something to be desired. I'll give it a few more tries to see if it's worth it for me. Honestly really beautiful, I think it would make a great summer fragrance because of the outdoorsy image it creates, but probably would also suit rest of the year as well -it's very versatile. Love 8.5 almost 9/10

This fragrance is just perfection to me. It’s all about the osmanthus, orris and leather on me with everything else acting as enhancements. It’s delicate and ever so slightly sweet, with apricot coated osmanthus (maybe coming from the cantaloupe because I can’t actually smell any, it seems to be acting as an enhancement to the osmanthus) creamy orris butter and a soft, pale suede. It’s just gorgeous but subtle, something to be shared up close or enjoyed alone. I don’t get anything like SATS by FB as someone else mentioned, probably because almost all of the notes are different. Nothing about this is beachy or salty skin-like in my opinion. It’s elegant and dreamy but with a touch of sensuality combined with innocence. It smells very pure, like it’s full of lots of naturals. I really love Hans Hendley’s style.

Sexy Suede. Another Hans Hendley beauty, this time it’s an orris centered, buttery smooth scent with a natural musk and some summer florals. I’m not picking up the melon note. I don’t know how he does it. Leather and suede are often problematic notes for me. But this smells natural—reminds me of my favorite suede boots—and I can imagine many opportunities to enjoy it. Performance is acceptable before turning a skin scent. I think I need to stop testing Hendley creations. I want everything I try from him.

Damn, I fell for this perfume hard. The osmanthus in this is bomb, I love it. It has Good Girl Gone Bad vibes, but not the same fragrance. More papery and musky, I haven't smelled an osmanthus/orris combo like this I don't think. I'm a sucker for osmanthus so I should have foreseen that I would be all over this one. Yumm. I literally want to eat my arm, it doesn't smell like food but it's just mouthwateringly beautiful and of course there is that association with apricots and peaches.

Hmmmm.... I smell "Sex & The seeeeeea" by Francesca Bianchi :)))))) and it's almost identical with that coconut, tan lotion, immortelle, ambergris, and splash iris. No melon here but more of coconut and civet. Since "Sex & The sea" is one of my favorites, "blond" now became my favorite cause both now smell identical although "blond" is lighter abit with less oyster and civet and no pineapple detected (unlike S&TS). This is quite impressive but not a new creation.

The latest release from Hans Hendley at Hendley Perfumes is Blond, a nuanced mix of a few notes that I wouldn't prefer on their own but that Hans has nonetheless crafted into a very interesting perfume. Big picture-wise, Blond has the aroma of a floral/leather/musk with some sweetness. The cantaloupe is the biggest standout note, followed by the suede, then musk, then the floral/powder trio of osmanthus/jasmine/iris and finally sandalwood as something that remains only in the background, it seems. While most of the notes suggest a cold-weather fragrance, the creation is decidedly a year-round-pleasant option, with some power but still an overall balance of lightness and heaviness, somewhere distantly between an animalic leather fragrance and a freshie, the floral/leather mix being enhanced, frankly, by the use of the cantaloupe and musk. At the line's standard pricing of $150 for 50ml, it's a fair price for niche craftmanship and a scent that franky is unlike anything I've smelled. Floral leathers are interesting, and one that I love that comes to is Coach Leatherware No. 1, but that's vastly different from Blond. Blond is yet another creation by Hans that impresses me. I've been most blown away by Fume so far but frankly trying Blond inspires me to go back and retry his other works still in production--Rosenthal, Amora, and Mown. Blond is certainly worth a try, even for those averse to leather or iris. It's just a subtle blend that produces a nice perfume, simply put. 7 out of 10

Strange, subtly powdery floral with enough leathery tang to make it something else again. As with all Hendleys, a really original smell-scape with a sense of real nature, and natural things in it - but quieter and much less bombastic than some of my other favourites from the house. I almost get very dry, green tobacco from it - there's a sense of hay and sunlit grassland, the real outdoors. It's beautiful and genuinely intriguing - like others here I can't think of many other scents it reminds me of, but evokes a host of places and times in my mind. Performance is sadly not as good as some of the others (Fume! Bourbon! Mown! which all go on for HOURS) ... on me, too, this is skin scent only within 3h, but a gorgeous golden afternoon's enjoyment all the same. Most definitely worth testing and for those who want a sun-dappled hike in the fresh air, it may very well end up perfect. Truly impressive stuff.

I wouldn't call this powdery or really floral; it's very very very dry with a dehydrated osmanthus, tons of suede, a hint of sandalwood. It's a skin scent after three sprays with no projection. It smells like a suede coat off the rack.

I smell delicious suede/leather and orris root. If you enjoy those notes, you'll love this! -

There is no doubt that Hans Hendley is quite a talented autodidact perfumer as well as an absolute gentleman, but he wasn't exactly treading entirely new ground with Blond. It's so round and plush and pretty, and has this quenching, mouth-watering quality, particularly in its opening stages, and I do appreciate the inventive inclusion of calone to this theme. However, this osmanthus-meets-iris-meets-suede concept has already been covered by Christopher Sheldrake in SL's Daim Blond, which just feels like pure poetry, whereas this is more of a pleasant sketch in comparison (this is even disconcertingly called Blond).

i imagine its the melon, the orris and the ambergris striking an accord that makes it smell like a dainty white floral. it works, for the most part, in that it's unique enough to work, but for mine, it doesn't do enough. it comes across as a 'top only' scent, without any evolution or change. i know i must sound pretentious and snobby, but i have a shitload of perfumes that i need to bring with me back 'home' and i view every perfume in a 'is this worth the luggage costs?' manner.

i got the sample pack and this is the one that has spoken to me the most so far. i did think there was a white floral in the mix (i thought it was either tuberose or something similar), but i'm totally wrong. it was a pleasant scent, nothing wrong with it, and it does warrant subsequent tries. the others haven't really spoken to me, but this one, possibly...

I agree that this is forgettable. The melon overdose (is that calone?) at the beginning is strongly reminiscent of chlorine, and throws off the balance from the more delicate osmanthus. The end result is an aquatic nuance ruining the beautiful stone fruit accords of osmanthus. Once the melon passes, its a mostly generic osmanthus+jasmine+musk+ambergris. I don't get much orris. There are far more exciting suede+osmanthus pairings--the OG SL Daim Blond runs circles around this.

Like others have stated this is very cosmetic/lipsticks etc. Powdery, bright, and unfortunately forgettable. It almost smells like a hair product of sorts or the way a high end salon might smell but without the ‘wet/drying’ hair vibes. This is lacking the character I look for so it’s a pass on my end. I don’t get much in the way of sandalwood, ambergris or suede because this smells like a vaguely sweet ‘blonde’ perfume. I appreciate the blending. It’s fantastic in that sense but it does nothing to move me like some of the heavier scents in Hans’ line. This is difficult as a man to pull off and feel like it matches my energy. Amora does that beautifully as does Rosenthal. Blond is just too vaguely feminine for my tastes.

On me this is Orris butter mostly: Lipstick-y woody orris, with maybe a hint of floral but not much, and a slight leathery feel. It dries down to powdery iris. Blonde is very pretty, but mostly a skin scent with pretty much no projection at all from the start. I like it, but I have about five powdery irises already, so won’t get more. Still, Hendley perfumes have so far been all wonderful and his pricing is fabulous and the packaging when you buy is minimal to reduce waste, the bottles are elegantly understated and it comes to you like a gift from a friend. I even received a lovely hand written note from the perfumer himself, which is getting rarer in this world.