Sung

For lovers of white flowers and jasmine above all, this is a an epiphany! Too bad we ignore who’s the nose behind this, but his mastery of all compounds is just perfect. This is, actually, an ante litteram version of Sheldrake’s Sarrasins for Lutens, which brags about containing the highest concentration of jasmine absolute, and certainly so! Sung is brighter, where Sarrasins is dark, thanks to adding hiacynth and galbanum to the concoction, which gets slightly sweeter on the base notes, thanks to some vanilla and amber, but not without a green twist. They are, at the end, close cousin frags, after having been kind of twins through the middle notes. Bravo, Sung! NOTE:I am comparing the dry-downs of both. Sarrasins becomes as indolic as it gets, sensual but not for everybody. Sung, on the contrary, becomes fresher, as the green and flowery notes are back into action.

To me this smells like going into a greenhouse with flowers all a bloom mixing with the damp soil and green moss with a deep touch of warm damp humidity in the air. The close you can get to the smell of spring.

Perfect green floral IF the hyacinth were dialed back.. Too much hyacinth = Bank of England. sowwy

Having boasted of this vintage beauty's aromatic strength in my other perfume reviews, I felt it only politically-correct to justify why, here. Both ladies and men's fragrances in the 1980's were particularly sharp, across the board. Giorgio Beverly Hills, Chanel, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent--nearly all of their top-sellers had the power in a single spray to the pulse points to either turn all eyes in a room onto the wearer, or to sedate an elephant in a single whiff. Formulated in '86, Sung was far from the exception to this principle. It's a prime example of a pure, white floral eau de toilette that holds the sillage of a concentrated parfum. I'm reminded so well of my preferred Haus of Elizabeth Taylor's Gardenia. It's a well-focused stroll through your finest garden of spring lilies, in full bloom, with no syrupy fruits that seem to control the market for younger wearers today. Opening up with dominant lily-of-the-valley and hiacynth, Sung is a fresh, dominantly green formula whose citrus notes add a subtle boost (as though they need it) to the top white florals that remain delightfully steady, even in the drydown. Incidentally, the oakmoss, amber and veniver notes listed in the base of this Fragrantica entry are ones I can barely register, even late into the drydown. As a cautionary note, it's worth mentioning that Alfred Sung's Sung remains today, just as boldly in the 1980's, one of those many fragrances that require an extremely minute amount to bring out the beast within this exquisite bottle. Know that it's not aldehydic or "soapy," but a sharp and fresh bouquet of spring orchids that may not appeal to the young chicks wanting something that resembles candy, fruit juices or sweet citrus. Overall, for the flower-lover, though, it's a dream-come-true!

On me, the sweet Hyacinth blasts then it very quickly settles to a mostly carnation and amber scent, strong but not overwhelming and a very warm smell that is spicy clove-ish enough not to be cloying. I've smelled it on others though and it can smell strong, harsh and chemical. 4 friends tested and compared it together over several hours and it was hard to believe it was the same fragrance we were wearing. I'd try wearing it on skin for several hours before buying since it seems to change up so much depending on who is wearing it.