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Portia
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Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,
CHRISTMAS! Fragrance, friends, chosen family. There were adventures and excitement enough for a month.
Scent Diary: 25.12 – 31.12.2017
Monday 25:
Jin came home from work at 5.30am and we had our Christmas moment then.It was lovely. He got some cool Aussie Bum undies, Petrol Cards to fill up his real present which was a car earlier in the year and a couple of T-Towels from his Parramatta Ells football team. I scored 9 pairs of my favourite glasses from Italian brand Campo Marzio in myriad colours, Jin imported them from the South Korean shop in Seoul. VERY freaking cool present buying.
I wanted to smell yummy for the mini Christmas so Rouge Hermès. It was a good choice, soft white floral with a few bells & whistles. Not to mention how Christmassy the bottle looks.
Dogs got a new chew toy each, fed and walked.
While Jin slept I went to Kath’s Mum & Dads to meet Kath and have a quiet christmas morning hang out. We did presents there too and Dad was Jin’s Secret Santa so he got 2 bottles of Spanish Rosé, Lindt chocolate balls and a Bunnings Gift Card.
Lunch with the rest of Kath’s family. It was nice to wander in, eat, do presents and leave. SO EASY!
Home and Jin was awake so we hung out and watched some shit movies together. Dinner was leftovers. HAPPY afternoon and night.
Tuesday 26:
Serge Lutens Clair de Musc from a decant. Yes, I do have a bottle but found this old 5ml decant that needed finishing. Going clean and fluffy for Boxing Day.
Off to Kath’s Mum & Dad’s place for early Boxing Day shenanigans. We stayed to have lunch with everyone and then split. From there I went and collected Wendy and Jin, she and I all hung out into the early evening. We ate a scruffily delicious cheese, ham & fruit platter while watching How To Train A Dragon and drinking lashings of tea.
10 hours later I can still smell soft musk wafts from Serge Lutens Clair de Musc but I’m wanting something else. Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely has won the day and I’m basking in its comfortable glow.
Wednesday 27:
We were woken by the apartment block across from us at 6.40am, they were having a right old barney. Screaming and fighting. It was pretty crazy but not up to their usual standards where I call the police. It raged on for 30 minutes.
Being wide awake I went and got the dogs and they came and snoozed with us on the bed. I’m changing the sheets today so no worries.
Feeling so lazy. It’s hot and humid. How about some James Heeley Esprit du Tigre?
This afternoon I added vintage Miss Dior EdT to go see Jumanji with Eve, Lola and Jin. I admit to being fairly unexcited to see it.
O M G! Jumanji was freaking EXCELLENT!! Cannot tell you how much I enjoyed it. The Rock and Jack Black totally steal this fun romp of a film. I was on the edge of my seat through quite a lot of it and laughed heartily.
We came home and had some lunch with a delicious McLaren Vale Spanish inspired red wine and then watched most of Happy Feet till Lola started falling asleep. To be honest, I don’t drink very often so the heavy red wine sent me off to bed to sleep it off too.
Jin woke me at around 8.30pm when he came to bed and so now I’m up and awake. About to walk the dogs on this cooler summer evening. I thought a triple spritz of Peau d’Allures by Starck a perfect choice, green, boozy, swampy with a lovely ruinous undertow. This bottle was a gift from my friend Tim and I adore it.
Thursday 28:
Fort & Manlé Charlatan this morning. Maybe because I showered yesterday it smelled a bit funkier, a little pissy and hairy mannish. It was a good ride.
Yum Cha with Kath, Alice, TinaG and Tim. It was nice, chatty and fun.
You’ll note Alice was wearing the birthday earrings Jin picked out for here. SO CUTE!!
Came home and crashed on the couch. Ate Christmas Cake with cream and custard and watched Daniel Radcliffe in 2013 film Horns. It was OK, one thing I did notice was that after a minute he became this new character and had successfully sloughed off Harry Potter for me.
Jin came home and we had pizza for dinner while watching The Danish Girl (2015) with Eddie Redmayne. IMDb gives this blurb: “A fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda’s marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili’s groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.” Heavy and deep, we were moved by their plight and Gerda’s unstinting love.
For bed I gave myself a solid dousing in Niki de Saint Phalle. It’s parched greenery helps to dry this muggy night.
Friday 29:
It was already warm this morning when I walked the dogs. They were puffing so much that I brought them home after only walking around the block. They gratefully came inside afterwards and sat on their beds in the cool.
Thinking tropical I went for Guerlain Lys Soleia. It was a good fit.
Hung out with Jin, Kath and Mum and had a swim with Kath in this outrageously muggy heat. It’s drier than the last couple of days but trying to get stuff done means I’m sweating much more.
Jin and I had KFC for lunch that we grabbed on the way home. It was freaking delicious.
After that I basically fell into a food coma and didn’t snap out of it till 9pm. While food coma-ing I started watching Luther on Netflix.
BTW, did you notice Netflix has been removing content? A few times this fortnight I’ve gone to rematch stuff and it’s disappeared. BUMMER!
Tonight I wear Sarah McCartney 4160 Tuesdays Up The Apples and Pears. Fun and freaky. LOVE it.
Saturday 30:
Stayed up VERY late watching Luther on Netflix. Idris Elba is my new celeb crush. Let’s get him to make a fragrance. I’ve put on some Gres Cabochard parfum in his honour.
So I fell asleep watching Luther and woke up with a mouth that tasted like the bottom of a cat litter box. GAH! Awful, ran straight for the bathroom to clean my teeth.
Feeling a little more human after feeding and walking the dogs. L’Artisan Batucada got some skin time today. I don’t understand why this is not lauded as a freaking genius perfume. It smells like a Pine Lime Splice, an Australian ice block with pine lime icy coat and creamy vanilla ice cream inside, with a hint of coconut. Batucada is YUM!
Went and had a coffee and baklava with my mate Nikki but TOTALLY forgot to take a photo. We chattered away a very happy hour.
Back home and doing some blogging for next week. Wearing a melange of scents.
Cool bath. No bubbles, just Radox Bath Salts.
Alice sent me this genius Scarf Knot map.
Sunday 31:
2am and I’m for bed. Tonight I’m wearing Estee Lauder Beyond Paradise Blue to bed, from the teardrop bottle that I love so much. That cold gasoline opening that melts into a white floral waterfall with lightly creamy and lavender touches.
It’s New Years Eve. I have a bunch of running around and organising to do but before I get started on all that I’m meeting Kath at her Mum & Dads for a SWIM!
Today I’m rocking Tom Ford Jasmine Rouge. It requires respritzes every two hours but that’s part of the fun!
Tonight I’ll be at Parramatta RSL ringing in the New Year with my besties Kath and Phil. Can’t think of a better way to do it. Can’t decide on my fragrance for tonight yet but I’m thinking Madonna Truth or Dare or Mugler Taste of Alien.
I would like to thank everyone involved in Australian Perfume Junkies. If you write, read, comment or are in any way involved THANK YOU for making 2017 a really wonderful year. Got to meet a few more of you too this year which is always special.
Wishing you and your crew a fun and fragrant 2018 chock full of all the good stuff and hardly any of the other.
It’s YOUR turn. What’s happening in your world?
Did you do anything Fun or Fragrant, with Friends and Family or maybe even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? How is or was your New Year?
Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 
Ha! I am watching Luther as well! And yes, Netflix is dropping shows AND increasing the price here in the States 😦
It was a week of food and get togethers for me…while Christmas was quiet chez Marzipan we had two days of eating extravaganzas. First, a get together with my childhood friend of 50 years at my favorite local Indian restaurant…all you can eat buffet and I ate three large plates. The next day my parents came up and we went to an Irish Pub where I ate Guiness beer battered fried cod and homemade french fries (fish and chips) and bourbon pecan pie and a chocolate lava cake…plus my parents brought up all sorts of European sweets- stollen and two different types of spice cookies (one is hard and shaped like a windmill with almond slivers in the back the other is shaped like a heart, soft and filled with apricot jam and topped with dark chocolate). Also, forgot to mention that there were six chocolate covered marzipan logs under the tree which were properly devoured in less than three days….yikes!!!! I think my New Year’s resolution needs to be to give up sugar!
thank you for that scarf knot…I am going to try it…have been knitting up a storm and while I am a beginner I can make hats and scarves.
Happy New Year ,everyone….stay safe and warm or cool depending on where you are 🙂
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Hey CM,
You are my first comment replied to for 2018! YAY! So happy it’s you.
O M G! You are a machine. Good on you for getting through that enormous pile of food over a two day period, very impressive.
Thanks,
Back at you.
Portia xx
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CM … chocolate covered marzipan logs are the best aren’t they? Happy 2018 to you and al the other marzipans
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Oh yes they are!!!! Delicious! happy new year to you as well!
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Happy New Year to everyone! I wish I could stay up to celebrate, but I sleep early and get up early these days!
Wearing Amouage Epic to mark the day anyway. Beach tomorrow with probably Eau de Sunscreen. Peeuw.
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HA HA HA Eau de Sunscreen! Hilarious
Happy New Year JackieB,
Portia xx
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Yes to Idris Elba celeb crush. His voice is so damp sexy, and everything else about him 😉
I love batucada, have a sample and need a full bottle ASAP.
Happy new year to you and Jin!
I’ve started watching some Korean tv shoes that are on Netflix. I find myself laughing so much and relating to the humour.
Estée Lauder paradise was the perfume I wore in high school. Haven’t smell it or tried again since them!
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They have Korean shows on Netflix? With subtitles?
O M G Latai, you know that our TV is usually on Korean shows but with ZERO subtitles. I just smile and nod, take in about as much as I would with normal TV and leave with no memory of it.
Beyond Paradise is fabulous, the blue version of it is like a hit of gasoline over white flowers.
Portia xx
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Happy New Year, Portia. Your writing is delight and has made shitty Trump year 2017 in US better. Also I couldn’t figure out that scarf knot to save my life.
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Hey KateSpritz,
Thank you. You have officially made my day.
Trump, you know I am still in the denial stage of his presidency. Sorry you’re going through this.
HA!, Maybe try it first on someone else? Once you get the knot it’s super easy,.
Portia xx
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Happy New Year! We are staying in tonight, everyone has the sniffles. I am so happy to have discovered APJ in 2017. Having no IRL perfumista friends it’s nice to have some here!!
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Hey MMKinPA,
GET WELL SOON!
A NYE in the house doesn’t sound awful at all. It sounds homey and wonderful.
It’s nice to have you as part of the APJ Family. So glad you found us too.
Portia xx
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Happy New Year everyone! It has been a week of naughty eating, but I’m gathering that most of us are in the same boat. Tonight for NYE this trend will continue, with some cheese fondue, and Heure Exquise.
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SunnyDay,
What a fabulous choice for new year, Heure Exquise is fabulous.
Eat up!
Portia xx
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Happy New Year, Portia, and thank you for your brilliant and always entertaining scent diary throughout the year and your generous giveaways.
Haven’t seen any of the movies you mentioned. Have seen a few Luther episodes because I also have a crush on Idris Elba (who hasn’t?). The guy is way too sexy for his shirt!
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Heya Ingrid,
Having you in the crew is a joy for me, glad you’re here.
Jumanji is definitely worth a look for an amusing, light hearted romp.
O M G! Idris makes me breathless. What a guy. I wonder what he’s like in real life? Defoe too sexy for his shirt, sadly Luther doesn’t get him naked enough.
Portia x
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Thank you, Portia, for sharing your fragrant doings throughout the week. What scents did you wear most often this year?
I was glad to be reminded of The Danish Girl, a movie I had forgotten about and would like to watch, or maybe read the book. Something to add to the to-do list for 2018.
I’ve spent the past few days tidying post-Christmas. Took time to sort and organize samples and decants. Found a few that had evaporated or turned so had to toss a good-sized handful. Set aside a pile of manufacturer samples that I will pass on to friends IRL who I hope to convert to the ways of perfume.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a forgotten decant of Niki de Sainte Phalle perfumed bath oil. Beautiful stuff, making a happy end to a fragrant 2017.
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Hey there Tiffanie,
Welcome, it’s a selfish joy writing so when people take the time to tell me they enjoy it I feel less insular. Does that make sense? So thank you.
The Danish Girl was beautiful but harrowing. Do watch it, I think the book would be too intense for me.
He He He recruiting new perfumistas should be one of the tenants of your addiction. Good luck. How annoying to find samples and decants empty, or a brown sludge at the bottom of a vial. If you get a little perfumers alcohol I’m told you can bring these babies back to life.
Woo Hoo! The Niki de Sainte Phalle perfumed bath oil is gorgeous, very cheap at FragranceNet still I think.
It will be good to hang with you here in 2018.
Portia xx
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Nikki St Phalle NEVER fails to deliver deliciousness
. You need a bottle in your life lol.
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Agree wholeheartedly
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Thank you Portia for sharing. Batucada is amazing!
A good week here, on last two days of holidays #dietstartstomorrow ha ha
Have some perfume purchases on the way which is exciting. Hurry up aust post!
Off to see Jumanji this arvo. Will see if I enjoy it as much as you Portia xo
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Hey Melanie!
Batucada IS amazing, why has it been so neglected by perfumistas?
HA HA HA #dietstartstomorrow You have no idea!
Enjoy Jumanji, it was a complete surprise how much I enjoyed it.
Portia xx
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Is Batucada very heavy on the coconut? Is it still being made ,or discontinued?
Is it available at Myer/ DJs?
Questions ,questions, so many questions!!!
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Thanks to the orange clown named Trump who did his best to ruin America as well as the rest of the world this year, 2017 was horrible. One of the good highlights of the year is always a perfume and I recently got mildly used Lutens Sarrasins Bell Jar (kind of a backup) so the year is ending on a little positive note. Sarrasins is probably my most fav. Lutens though other favorites include La Fille de Berlin and Chene.
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In between all the shopping and chores I’ve continued rewatching Psych, – TV series like this one are my comfort blankets. I’ve still got a ton of unwatched 2017 premieres to see but somehow I don’t want to start them, not yet, at least.
I need to get me some Batucada, it sounds delicious!
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Hi Portia, HNY to you and Jin xx
I always look forward to your scent diaries! I have been working straight through Xmas and New Year, and in between binge watched MindHunters on Netflix, very interesting TV, cant wait for season two. The Crown will be next.
Also finished reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, need to read the whole lot now! Cant wait for my one week holiday on the 7th January, need it desperately.
See you soon Portia xxx
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I somehow missed this email, but a belated happy New Year everyone! Here in the US, I’m trying to focus on the politically positive. One down. We kinda have survived. But it’s been bad. On an up note, we canceled plane tickets and kept working on the house we are moving into, spent holidays visiting with local friends and family, and New Years with friends. We picked olives off our trees, cured them and gave as presents (save a few jars that I literally go through in three days!!!). No one gave me anything frgrant, but I heartily remedied that with loads from Solstice Scents, and Memoirs of a Tresspasser, and Anubis among my cache. So it’s been fragrantly good. Here’s hoping that everyone stateside makes it another perilous three, and to everyone else, health, wealth, happiness, and all scented goodness!
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