Mond

Ahh...Mond. My initial assessment of Mond was "colored" by the sleight of hand played by Slumberhouse owner and perfumer Josh Lobb with his joke about releasing "Red" Grev. I was completely pulled in by his online joke about Red Grev and was non plussed when he revealed the "joke" and released Mond instead. To be honest, I was put off by the joke, but of course jumped on my purchase of Mond because it had been spoken of by Josh for a long time, and I absolutely love his perfumes with a passionate love. Josh had previously described Mond as a "pumpkin vetiver" fragrance but the actual Mond that was released doesn't and didn't say another word about vetiver which caused additional head scratching among the Slumberhouse faithful. With all that said, I'd like to share my thoughts and feelings about the actual fragrance released by Slumberhouse called, Mond. I love autumn and I adore autumn fragrances. I've purchased many fragrances that have autumnal themes with varying degrees of enjoyment. I can honestly say Mond is my very favorite of all the autumn fragrances I own or have ever tried and decided not to own. From the standpoint of it's overall accord, it is VERY DENSE. There are after all according to Josh, 73 different ingredients in this fragrance. To my nose Mond smells like a perfect autumn day in a perfect autumn village in a perfect novel that takes place in autumn. It's idyllic and better than the reality of daily life, so it lifts me to a higher plain of enjoyment. This happens with a handful of fragrances for me and one of them at the top of that list is Mond. I've seen that some feel Mond smells like potpourri, or a fall candle but I couldn't disagree more. This is of course a personal opinion and highly individualized for each person's life experiences. My experience with potpourri is positive and there are some notes in Mond that could also be used in potpourri. However, there are many, many additional notes in Mond, and the way they are blended takes this fragrance in a much different direction than either potpourri or a fall candle, IMO. I smell the pumpkin, the cherry, the grape, the cinnamon, the whipped cream, the hay, the raspberry, the tobacco, the wine. I also recognize other notes, especially in the opening that I can't specifically identify, that give the overall accord of Mond a cornucopia of positive endophine's in my brain and takes me to a place that I absolutely love to be. I don't see how I could enjoy this fragrance more than I do. It is a complete joy to wear. Many thanks to Josh Lobb for the years he spent in developing this formula and fragrance. It is a masterpiece in my opinion. Highest recommendation from me for the brilliance that is Mond.

My bottle of Mond was just delivered this morning, and I’ve been wearing and comparing it all day. I’m very pleased, and this may become a favorite among my tobacco-centric perfumes. It really is a beautiful and addictive scent for tobacco lovers. I find it a bit closer to the skin than many other of the classic Slumberhouse scents, but that makes it more versatile and wearable for most occasions. It is not a skin scent, by any means. My favorite part of the wear is the freshly baled hay in the dry opening, mixed with drying golden tobacco leaves. It smells of fall to me, and the farm, and apple picking in the low, warm afternoon sun. Primarily, I smell the crisp hay and tobacco, and the other notes are more subtle within that structure, peeking forward after a little while of wear. This accord softens a bit after some time and allows a light bit of stewed fruits of apples and cherries and plums to come forward, with just a touch of golden honey weaving through, to accompany the dry notes. There is a little Slumberhouse booziness, and a bit of wood, too, but again, nothing is too pronounced, and all the notes are perfectly balanced. Nothing overtakes the hay and tobacco, and it is not really a sweet perfume. The closest comparison I can make is to James Heeley Cuir Pleine Fleur, perhaps mixed with a bit of Phoenicia or Zoologist Camel in the drydown. It is nothing like Tobacco Vanille in the slightest, I don’t know how that got voted in, but it is wrong. It also does not resemble Kiste, which is a very syrupy, peachy compote, nor Sova, which is much stronger with beeswax, and quite a bit sweeter. Mond does however, fit right in with the Slumberhouse catalog, and it shares the Slumberhouse DNA with these perfumes.

I really love this one. It is lovely, and rich and like my other Slumberhouse scent it lasts forever on the skin. A perfect fall compliment to Kiste (which I wear all summer long, it shines in the summer). Perfume itself gets a 9/10 (is anything perfect after all?) But wow. The old heavy lovely, and unique bottles are gone and the replacement is incredibly generic, and feels cheap in the hand. If I hadn't bought it from Luckyscent I'd have suspected I'd been sent a counterfeit. . And... no box. The new bottles come in a cheap (feels like dollar store) "velvet" bag. Since I store my perfumes in their boxes that makes this one a pain in the butt to store. For the price, and the beauty of the juice itself, it really is disappointing.

I used to have a couple of beehives in an old apple orchard meadow in the middle of a NW forest on an island in the Puget Sound. This is sitting on the grass under an apple tree in front of my hives with a glass of red wine after a sunny afternoon of checking on the girls, with the waxy medicinal smell of propolis on my hands, honey sticky in my hair, and a warm August breeze off the ocean picking up the scent of the sapping Douglas firs. The hive is settling down after their disturbance, and I’m listening to the low hum as I watch the gatekeeper bees fan their wings and waggle their sisters back home heavy with pollen and nectar.

I do NOT find this sweet. Now it isn't bitter at all, but there's a world between the two. On me this is pipe tobacco, and some stewed apples. It has much of the same DNA as Kiste, I think they share the same tabacco note. But where that is syrupy and melting this is much more in the background. More structured almost. It feels right for fall, and very put together. I'm afraid I may have to buy a bottle.