Shiloh (2006)
by Hors Là Monde

Woody and bittersweet. Citrusy floral in the opening. Quite a remarkable combination of accords from both Chanel no. 5 style aldehydes and classic chypre structures. The herbal textures with cedar really are pronounced on me and the airy sandalwood base is long and enduring. Part of me thinks that this is a spicier and woodier original L'Interdit. Very nice and I'd give it a thumbs up if the sandalwood wasn't do dull.

Something in it goes crazy when this scent hits my skin – If there are aldehydes in it, they are probably the culprits... this is not the way aldehydes usually react on me. It’s schreechy and something immediately smells a little nail polish remover and a lot unscented hairspray – with sparkles. The accord I smell is not terrible or even annoying, but it is quite uninspiring. Eventually, the fragrance does a heroic attempt to exhibit its rose and cedar and woods – this is unsuccessful to my nose because I get only a muffled rose and wood accord under that layer of hairspray. It seems that I am smelling the fragrance though a filter. I can tell that there are some very nice things going on under the hair spray veil, but they are muted and distant. I get almost no projection from Shiloh, but its longevity seems pretty good. Mind you, I find nothing wrong with the fragrance itself… It seems quite well made and refined under that strange veil… I think Tovah is right when she says that this is the kind of fragrance that has to “work with one’s chemistry.” It doesn’t work with mine.

It's certainly beautiful, but it's just too powdery. I love the rose, but if you're a person who finds fragrances going sweet or powdery or a bit too old, this one isn't for you. I was hoping that the bergamot, patchouli, sandlewood, etc., would override, but they don't. On the other hand, it is very rose-scented and pretty.

Only Michel Roudnitska could have created such a sensual, evocative fragrance and make it wear like a skin scent! Shiloh is warm and multifaceted like Amoureuse (by Roudnitska), woodsy like the dreamy Bois de Paradis (also by Roudnitska), with a lovely spiciness like the vivid Noir Epices (Roudnitska). It's a refined and gentle fragrance, that smells like dusk in autumn. Shiloh isn't dramatic or bold, and I think it may be one of those scents that simply has to "work with one's chemistry", but it does work with mine, and I love it.

Is this both aldehydic and a chypre? Love that aldehyde burst in the beginning, and I usually do not. This scent took me from the start, the very first time I tried it, and it's got me craving more. It's truly lovely! It's refined and mysterious...not brazen or harsh, a bit skin-like on me, sensual, subtley woody, and only the slightest bit sweet from the rose note. If you like close-to-the-skin scents with a little more character and a lot less scream, do try this. This may have just become my most favorite fragrance...