Month: March 2012

Auburn & Andy Tauer’s Dark Passage? Really?

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Good Day to you,

This morning I woke to send TSO on his way with a hearty yoghurt, chopped banana, cereal and full cream milk day starter with side order of strong coffee and then flopped back into bed. Ah… luxury of luxuries a sleep in.  Raining outside, I could hear it on the tin out the back, snug in bed. Heaven! My mate Phil rang and we chatted for a while about the blog, him, work, back operations etc and at the wonderful hour of 11am I was finally ready to leave the cocoon and fly.

How to start such a day? Well, for me there was no other choice but Andy Tauer’s Auburn, which I received as a sample with my first Tauer order (see below) and then was so mesmerised by its amazing smell, sillage (distance the fragrance travels from your body, scent circumference said like say arjze) and longevity that I bought FB. It’s amazing how long this gorgeous scent lasts, between 7-8 hours on my scent hungry skin without any re-spritz. AWESOME!

The  Tauer website says

Auburn is the melody of warm cinnamon in accord with a citrus tree in rich bloom.
The softest sandalwood melts into dry amber and subtly adds depth to the perfume.
A warm spicy tobacco closes the oriental round dance and starts it again.

You can read The Perfume Shrine Now Smell This and Tara has done a guest spot on Olfactorias Travels. These will tell you the whole story of the creation of the 3 Pentachord fragrances and help you pick one for yourself.

My personal Andy Tauer story doesn’t start till around September last year when the Pentachords were all anyone on the scentbloggosphere were writing about. I was looking for interesting niche perfume brands to give as Christmas gifts for super discerning family. It had to be good quality, small run, critically acclaimed and slightly off the beaten track, In my reading I had found a review of “L’Air du desert marocain” in “Perfume: The Guide” by Tania Sanchez and it looked perfect. I was hoping to impress.

Off I went to the Tauer (this will link you direct to the Tauer Samples page because the 5 piece sample set is a wonderful way to test the waters) site and picked “L’Air du desert marocain” and also “L’eau d’épices”.  The site said around a 10 working day send time to Australia from Switzerland where Andy is based; (of course if you read his blog you’ll see he is rarely there) so I continued my hunt, pretty sure that these would be my purchases. It got to late November, a decent window, and I decided to order them but, Murphy’s Law, somewhere in the mail system or customs they became bogged. Oy Vey! So on nearly Christmas Eve I could only vent my frustration in one place, I wrote To Mr Tauer. It wasn’t a screaming email but I was distressed at having no gifts.

Well, blow me down but Andy Tauer himself replied overnight with a heartfelt and genuine apology filled with regret. It was quite a reminder that there are people who care deeply about what they do and understand customer service, and people; so I printed off his apologies and put them in the Christmas Cards of the unfortunately presentless. They were awed that I’d gone to the trouble to track such goodies down and that they were now in possession of a missive from a perfumer. Andy Tauer is constantly talked about as perfumes nicest guy on blogs everywhere BTW. In the end they arrived and are loved.

Andy Tauer is also involved with the…………… actually, I’ll let him tell you. This was lifted wholesale from Andy Tauer’s blog. I am a backer of this film, not because I’m a good person, because I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to get some Dark Passage, the fragrance made ONLY for backers of this film. I will have it, and if you don’t become a backer, YOU WON’T!

Check the bloggosphere, it is awhirl with critiques, reviews, comments and chatter, mostly about Andy Tauer’s Dark Passage. Which frankly makes me dirty bitch snigger up my sleeve. Andy Tauer’s Dark Passage. NAUGHTY!! Did he think of that? I hope so because I love it.

There are only 7 days to get this offer and then GONE FOREVER!!

your support makes the difference…

March 13th, 2012

Today, I am asking you for your contribution to help us finance the production of Brian Peras’s film project ONLY CHILD, featuring Grace Zabrinski, through the kickstarter campaign. But I do not ask you to just give money. No, I came up with a lot of specials and fragrant goods for you, to reward you for your support, some of them ONE TIME specials, available only now until end March. I make fragrant soaps, 30 days LIMITED perfume DARK PASSAGE, sneak previews of LORETTA and even my products available. All this without one cent profit from all these offerings.
This is among other things how I support Brian Pera’s Kickstarter campaign, and I invite you to support it, too. And not to miss the unique opportunities offered.

Actually, it is only by our perfume loving fans that we will manage to get this movie produced. Thus, your support matters.

It is very easy: Visit the kickstarter page, select your combination of fragrant or other goods, and then follow the process that will bring you in the end to Amazon. Only if the funding goals are reached, only then, you will be charged by amazon and get your promised goodies later. If we fail, nobody gets anything. Thus: Spread the message, please.

You can get the  fragrance DARK PASSAGE, edp, 7 ml, in a  nice purse spray, offered only now until the end of March (29th) and then it is gone. You can combine it with a 7 ml purse spray of LORETTA, the fragrance. This is a sneak preview of the fragrance that will launch end autumn 2012. You can be the first to sniff my first fragrance where tuberose plays a major role! And you may even combine all this and more and get a fragrance from my entire line, at a discount that rocks: For a pledge of 300$ you can get 7ml purse sprays of LORETTA, DARK PASSAGE, MIRIAM, all three soaps (rose, mandarines ambrée, tuberose scented Loretta soap) and one fragrance, full bottle,  from my line, your choice. You can’t beat that.

Thus, yes. We need your contribution. And for this I made a tuberose scented soap that is just wonderful. As is the tuberose rich fragrance, Loretta, a slightly fragrance, rich, sensual. I use a lot of the “real stuff” in there: Tuberose absolute. A honey like, dark orange absolute that is unbelievable rich and voluminous. Together with rose oil, rose absolute, orange blossom absolute and many other naturals, it blends into a perfume that is one of the richest I have ever done.

Today’s picture shows you such a natural tuberose. I took the pictures in 2005 and fell in love with its natural fragrance that is overwhelming. It took me a while… but when I saw Loretta, the film, I knew that tuberose is her flower. So to say.

You can experience why before all others. Thank you for your support.

Bold and Pictures STOLEN FROM ANDY TAUER’S BLOG

Auburn a picture of my own.

Eau de Joy Vintage & L by Gwen Stefani

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Hey all,

One of the interesting things, for me, about being a complete novice at something as ubiquitous as perfume is that I am not yet swayed by price point, other opinions or publicity. If something smells good to me, excellent! And because I am so poorly trained to understand the why and wherefore of fragrance and am still basing my opinions of completely olfactory sensation, I like almost everything. EXCELLENT!! Today I was reading Beauty On The Outside who had taught herself to like a fragrance that she had shied away from due to her perception of it as toxic. A very interesting experiment. As yet I have not come across a toxic reaction, though there are some things that I can’t smell and think they are air but TSO Jin can.

Anyway, a short while ago Birgit from Olfactoria’s Travels tweeted that there was nothing so good as wearing Vintage Shalimar Parfum by Guerlain to do the shopping. Serendipitously, that morning one of my BFF girlfriends the lovely Miss Alice had had a sleep-over and we were talking about Shalimar and she had never smelt or worn it. WTF!! As a smart, sexy, earning and fashion forward babe it had totally dropped under her radar. So instead of spritzing her with an EDT or EDP I went straight to the glorious 15ml parfum from 1983. I’m not sure if it’s the best Shalimar vintage but it is AH MAY ZING! and so off we trotted to do a mall and grocery shop smelling like the hard core, super frivolous, naughty, sexy, in your face DIVA’s that we are, while wearing thongs, jeans and T’Shirts. It was empowering.

The reason I bring this up is because I received in the post yesterday a vintage bottle of Eau de JOY by Patou. I can’t find the date by looking up serial numbers unfortunately (if anybody can help date it I would be most grateful) but it smells glorious. Fragrantica has the story, the notes and an enormous list of reviews. Perfume Shrine has a wonderful article that covers all the stuff you need to know. I will say though that the perfumer Henri Alméras was spot on when he made this luscious, stately and irrepressible perfume in 1926 for his loyal customers.

My Mum had a HUGE bottle of JOY Eau de Cologne it was a big square splash bottle and to me it signified the height of glamour and luxury, the whole house would smell of it when Mum would fume up to go out at night. There was so much glamour attached to this iconic bottle that I used to play with it, until one day (Quell surprise!) the still 1/3rd full bottle fell from my hands in the bathroom and smashed on the tiles. OH HEAVENLY AROMA. Oh screaming Mum. Wooden spoon or belt? I can’t remember but I do remember the look of “You will pay dearly for this,” that I was subjected to.

Ironically, today I couldn’t wait to wear it so even though it was bathroom cleaning day I splashed on the Eau de JOY Vintage and scrubbed till the sweat poured off me, wearing what was once known as the most expensive perfume in the world. It was truly JOYous, an Ode to JOY and any other nasty pun you have handy. Of course the bathrooms were spotless for about 6 hours but for a bit of that I stood at the door smelling my Eau de JOY and loving them.

This afternoon I thought I would try something that has been sitting in my wardrobe for a while. L by Gwen Stefani was released back in 2007 and was tepidly received by critics; Robyn at Now Smell This offers a fair indication and review; Fragrantica has all the notes and info and a totally mixed bunch of reviews.

So I used the Shower Gel, Body Lotion and EDP. The body lotions fragrance is yummy too BTW. I felt that this was a peachy version of Lovely by SJP. I liked it, the scent stuck around all night but was not intrusive. I felt pretty but not heart breaking in it and when I got home Jin stopped mid hello and said he liked whatever I was wearing very much. So for me it was win, Win, WIN!

Thanks for sharing some time with me, please leave me a comment so I know who has dropped by.

Have a lovely and fragrant day,

Portia xx

Versace; Dreamer + Profumo; Oud Caravan No. 3

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Hey gang!

I am so excited that over 150 people have clocked in to have a look over the weekend till now. Awesome. I hope you all felt suitably welcome. You are.

Today my fellow Bloggette Evie and I went to the Picasso exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales with Kath (my bestie and sister by non legal but just as binding familial adoption) & Will (Eve’s handsome, dashing husband and friend). It was great, of course Picasso was a genius and changed the way we look at art, very long though, my brain had gone into meltdown so the last 2 rooms are a blur. I wish they had cut the exhibition in half and I could have paid twice to see early and late work, which would have been good because in the end he was homage-ing and deriving from himself anyway.

I was recently reminded of an old favourite perfume of mine by…

Chandler Burr | Five Favorite Scents | August 2004

The Dreamer | Versace

After all those goddamn, tired out, hairy chested, cliché macho, standardized masculine fragrances you find out there, you have to wonder: Who the hell at Versace was the genius who came up with The Dreamer? First, this is so utterly not your father’s aftershave that it smells like it fell to earth from the strange, powdery stellar globulous pictured on its box. Like Angel, The Dreamer startles you. Smell Eau Sauvage, and you think, “Oh, men’s cologne.” (Ho hum.) You smell this thing, and not only do you not think men’s cologne (because you can’t possibly), you think “My God!…” and then “What the hell is it?!” “It” is, first, absolutely mouthwatering. It is walking through a French pastry shop next to a spice market in southern Thailand. Then there’s ice cream, gun powder, fruit candy, hot cocoa, marshmallows, blood orange peel, and probably some DDT. It is the most mesmeric fragrance I know.

I think it’s interesting that Chandler (one of my heroes) Burr was so delighted with something I love, but also that he mentions Angel next to it. When I first met Dreamer and Angel’s brother A*Men, we were hostessing a party at one of Sydney’s still extant hot spots, Home Nightclub (one of Stephen Craddock’s extravaganzas like Home-sexual or Hey Homo). and two fragrances were being released on the same night. Armed with about 1000 5ml give-aways and testers, dressed up to the elevens we mindlessly sashayed through the heaving crowds, doling out freebees. Well A*Men got caught in my nostrils and throat and stayed lodged there for weeks. Even the merest whiff of A*Men would send me flying in the other direction at high speed. So I bacame part of the Versace Dreamer camp and many of our friends and cronies took sides one way or the other, not viciously but definitely. So back then I had a bottle and drained it, not understanding the finer nuances but loving its scent none the less.

The reason I write of this is because I wore it today to see Picasso and hang with my buddies. It was there, but not invasive, all day till I took my bath at 3.30pm to get ready for work. I am so glad that I have a bottle of Versace Dreamer in my Fragrance wardrobe, for its good memories and associations as well as its awesome and delicious smell.

When I got back home today there were 4 parcels at my door awaiting inspection. They were all very, VERY interesting. One box held a rebuy of one of my favourites; Trouble by Boucheron. Next came a small pack of LUSH fragrances (sample pack and 2 stick frags-we’ll talk about them soon). A vintage bottle of JOY by Patou with a smidge left in the bottle via ebay (yes, I have a whole page to write you about it, don’t worry).

Lastly was an exquisitely packed coffret from Dominique Dubrana of La Via del Profumo who does an amazing array of natural, aromatherapy, order your own and even vegan fragrances. Hit the link and have a look, I think the 6 pack coffret is a super good testing deal and looks right out of a Middle Eastern movie done in Hollywood. Just so you know I will be trialing Hindu Kush, Tartar Leather, Sharif, Tabac, Mecca Balsam (just sniffing at bottles this seems to be most me) and African Night.

What came with them though is so astounding to my senses. Oud Caravan No.3. a VEGAN fragrance.

Here is what Dominique Dubrana of La Via del Profumo has to say on the site

It is an authentic Oud, wild and full fledged, hose animalic notes have been at last tamed. Real Oud is not a perfume for all. It is not an easy scent to wear, you must have a lion’s heart. He is somehow like the mythical Dragon, if your inner force is too weak you will not bear it.
In the Oud Caravan N°3 the Dragon has been briddled and saddled, made ready for you to ride him. Oud is the perfume of the Bedouin princes of the desert. I have tempered with exotic fruitty notes the aspect of excessive power that caracterize the head notes of a good Oud.

My aim was to smooth and temper the initial notes and to control their energy in order to make the scent real Oud accessible to a greater number.

I have not been a dedicated perfumista long enough, nor have I read enough to be able to give you the notes and chemical balances. What I can give you is my smell experience

Oud Caravan No. 3 starts on my skin smelling like the tack room of an extremely well kept, run, maintained and busy horse stud. There is animal, hay, leather and leather polish, horse and horse apples (shit, but that special grassy, herbivore, almost cow pat shit), smoke and maybe just outside the door a small garden of fragrant plants that waft in with the breeze, did I say honey? If Andy Tauer’s Lonestar Memories smells like a saddle that a cowboy has just left after a long summer day riding, this is the tack room of an estate after muster, in the afternoon as the heat starts to fade and everybody is ready for a strong cup of tea before dressing for dinner.

The initial rush fades after about half an hour and I am here with a scent that smells like healthy man working in the sun as a gardener or labourer. Sexy, masculine and ready for action. Even on me, the girliest chubby dress up kink ever! And I’d like to welcome the flowers too now please, I am enjoying this immensely and think you should definitely try Oud caravan No. 3.

So a COMPETITION to win this magical triumvirate.

A 1/4ml sample of La Via del Profumo “Oud Caravan No. 3”

A 1.5ml sample of Tommi Sooni “Tarantella”

A 1.5ml sample of Boucheron “Trouble edt” (now sadly discontinued, panned and greatly reviled. I LOVE IT!)

Please leave a note underneath in 55 words or less telling us your first pricey fragrance splurge. I will leave the competition open till March 30th 2012 and will put everyone’s name in a hat and draw randomly. Judges pick is final. I’ll announce winner 31st March 2012  and the winner will need to get in touch with address details so I can send your lovely prize,

Thanks for reading my fragrant thoughts.

Portia xx

 

Versace “Dreamer” photo stolen from Fragrantica click link to see the notes and some history and reviews

My photo of the La Via del Profumo coffret

La Via del Profumo “Oud Caravan No. 3” photo stolen from La Via del Profumo

Boudoir by Vivienne Westwood, Eau de Tommi Sooni II

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Hey all,

Today started with a sleep in till the doorbell went and it was a delivery from RAFFY where I had FINALLY tracked down a small bottle of Boudoir by Vivienne Westwood. So still with blurry vision and bed breath TSO, Jin, and I opened the package and then marveled at the loveliness of the presentation. I quietly LOVE Vivienne Westwood, frankly she can do no wrong. And again she has not disappointed, both Jin and I got a squirt. HUGE!!! A big fat floral symphony, if ever a perfume was made for Drag Queens, Princesses and DIVA’s; this is it! Fragrantica has all the notes and comments, Perfume Smelling Things, Perfume Posse and many others can really do it critical and poetic justice.

Jin went out shopping, day off, and came back 4-5 hours later. I hadn’t been paying attention much to my scent because I was busy writing this weeks Turbo Trivia questions but when Jin got home he was still fairly REEKING of Boudoir, I, and my hungry skin, on the other hand had nearly eaten it all, just the merest whiffle as if someone was wearing it in the house next door, last week.

Give me a few days to wear this and take notice. The top is AWESOME! I think it will have to work extremely hard to keep up the ah may zing experience that I’m hoping for before it fades.

After my shower and becoming a lovely lady I decided to try a sample from Tommi Sooni, the Australian outfit from Victoria. I ordered a sample set including Tarantella (lovely but didn’t last on my skin), Jinx (yet to try), EdTSI (yet to try) and Eau de Tommi Sooni II (EdTS II) which is another glorious big fat floriental. So I didn’t get the airy or green bits they’re talking about. On me this smelt like a slightly crisp version of one of my favourites, Trouble by Boucheron. I know that it’s been panned and discontinued but I LOVE IT!

In EdTS II I get a hearty floral burst that lasts about 15-20 minutes and then the bouquet slowly slides into honey, amber and sandalwood which stays around quietly thrumming in the background like a bass guitar string in the wind, there for brief hello’s but below the radar until you focus on it; for hours. Almost like my skin has become this slightly more intoxicating,  delicious and interesting scent. YUM! I gave the smallest bit at the end of my sample to a girlfriend, Jane B, and it was HELL to let it go. Maybe FB? Not this month though, perhaps as an April treat to prepare for the cool of the Southern Hemisphere’s Winter?

Tommi Sooni’s website says;

An airy, green oriental fragrance; created by Tommi Sooni for men and women who seek a distinctive fragrance of balance and character – radiant yet alluring.

Rhubarb, bergamot and lemon notes ease into a heart of daphne, jasmine and ylang ylang. A rich base of honey, vanilla, amber and sandalwood firmly places this fragrance in the most exotic of perfume families.

Floral Oriental 100ml EdT Atomiser boxed $160.00

Stolen from Fragrantica

Thanks for reading my fragrant thoughts, although they were slim and random.

Much love,

Portia xx

My Boudoir Photo

EdTS II Photo stolen from Tommi Sooni site

Liberte by Cacharel, Red Jeans by Versace, Connexions by Lancome, Emilie by Fragonard,

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hey, Hey,

Well, as you can see it’s been a crazy wear everything but the kitchen sink day. This morning was warm and sunny so I jumped in the pool to do some laps, 500 metres, not much for swimmer types but plenty for me. I love the salty chlorine smell after a swim so I took in some soap and abluted in the pool, I know; totally weird. I got the bug for it last year when I, stupidly, did all bathrooms and laundry renovations concurrently, leaving me toilet, shower and bath-less, I did splurge on a portaloo though. It was quite lovely for about 3 weeks but got old for the next 3 weeks ending late March here in Sydney. Quite brisk for swimming.

After my swim I asked the significant other (TSO) Jin whether I should wear flowers, herbs, spices or citrus. Interestingly he ordered citrus. Not something I have a lot of in the fragrance wardrobe. So the day started with Liberte by Cacharel, The first time I wore this it SCREECHED at me and burnt a hole in my nostrils that penetrated deep into my brain and cooked it in the first 5 minutes, leaving a scent burn there for the whole night, interestingly the whole suburb could not smell it even though I felt like a stinky monkey, and I got 2 very sweet compliments.  After this first wear though I was so affronted by Liberte’s outrageousness that I wanted to do it all again. Unfortunately, the second and all subsequent wearings have started as a delicious sizzling fried orange scent that maintains its sqwuark of citrus while moving into a bouquet of flowers and then vanilla, patchouli and a murmuring of something lovely (maybe the vetyver or spices or remaining flowers) that I can’t define that stays for a while and then gone. 2 hours max.

Having to go to a buddy’s (Hiya lovely Phil) house for dinner with the (Kath, Jin, Amal) crew and needing something sweet but innocuous enough to eat dinner with I went for Versace’s Versus Red Jeans. I like the sweet freshness of this fruity floral that doesn’t last except to quietly whisper its drydown of soft, unsexy, musk & vanilla on my skin, no woods I’m afraid. Perfect for dinner. Yummy Nom Noms indeed with the warm Pumpkin, Pea, Goats Fetta and Pesto salad being my favourite taste adventure of the evening, great belly laughs and some sweet, easy drinking, white wine. Almost forgot to tell you all about the REIKI, um, no probably not.

Arriving home and being basically fragranceless I went for a scent that I recently bought blind off Ebay, Connexions by Lancome, in the kooky, weird ass, why did they do that bottle and casing. I love the lilac colour-way though but all else is skewed for me. I keep coming back to this scent because every time I put it on it gives me a different olfactory story. Today was a plastic bunch of flowers at first that became more lovely and then more plastic. This must have been reacting to the other scents still lurking around because it was awkward and a little dizzying today. Not a reaction I’ve felt before. I could also have been part of my sugar rush from tonight’s Chocolate Mousse dessert that was so divinely sweet that it left socks on my teeth. Honesty compels me to tell you that I felt a headache coming if I didn’t scrub so I hit the bath. Hot, hot, hot and bath salted with a book, Muse by Susan Irvine, that is quite confronting but has some interesting fragrance refs and that I noticed on someones blog, sorry I’ve forgotten where but thanks.

After my delicious soak I wanted something absolutely and utterly flowery and gorgeous. A friendly Trivia crew member from the “We Knew That” team was complaining of her inability to get a fragrance that she had found in France while holidaying a few years back sent to Australia. This is a definite down side of living so far away from the action. I instantly thought, PROJECT!! and swung into action. Not only finding the desired fragrance but getting it at a discount so excellent that she decided to get 2 bottles. WOW! Thought I, if it’s that good I will get some too. Thank you http://www.provence-shop.com/ for sending so speedily, and beautifully packed. So the bottles arrived and I sprayed a big fat spray of, OH MY GOD, this smells like my Mum did during her Paris by YSL days. Delicious, flowery and abundantly ambery and YUM YUM YUM. So it’s the day after Mum’s would be if it could be birthday and Emilie will be awesome. It is quite so. I’m sniffing my glorious self as I type. Good choice.

So by now it’s 3.30am here in Sydney so I’m off to sleep. Thanks for reading my fragrant thoughts.

Portia xx

All pictures stolen from Fragrantica except Emilie which I took myself because the packaging has changed. I think I need a light box.

TABAC Maurer & Wirtz

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Cheapy McCheap! and Cheerful.

So yesterday morning we awoke very late, it was almost time to rush out the door for pedicures and then Yum Cha (or YUMMY CHA CHA CHA!). No time to decide on anything really. Raining outside, meeting besties (big HELLO to Kath & Alice & Jin), no pressure. On went super comfy new sloppy joe, jeans, thongs. Perfume, fragrance, something?? Can’t think. Can’t think. Can’t think. Reaching…….
Maurer & Wirtz Tabac Original EDT spray, modern incarnation, comes back towards me in my hand. Really brain? Really hand? Clearly my mind and body have understood what my inner self would never have said. Spray on my thorax twice, one wrist, one elbow, mash. Wait and waft…………..

An Aromatic Fougere (pronounced Foo zair but the z is almost a j like the Chinese say Beijing) and if you want the notes then Fragrantica (http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Maurer-Wirtz/Tabac-1748.html) is your spot. Woody, herbal, floral, tobacco and aldehydic are the given accords there and on my skin I get a rush of citrus and herbs at the opening, it squeals a bit, then as my skin warms the fragrance (and it does, I can feel a warm reaction, a bit like Vicks Vaporub) then the powdery iris and lavender saunter in MMMMM. By the time I am at our destination Tabac is humming along nicely with the flora, woods and herbs all whiffling up my sloppy joe each time I move. This is a perfect warm but rainy day fragrance for the casual event. At lunch I am complimented by a discerning girlfriend who is gobsmacked that something so inexpensive can be this lovely. I concur. Hours later, snuggling with my partner I can still smell a tiny and very sexy hint of musk and vanilla. So good I’ve come in to reapply and go through the story again. Now, going back to see if it works, it would on me.

Photo Stolen from fragrantica.com

PS. Worked a treat!

Thanks for reading,
Portia xx

Welcome!!

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Hi there, welcome,
Before we go any further there are 2 of us currently who are the AustralianPerfumeJunkies, Evie, who is too gorgeous for words and will introduce herself to you ASAP and I,
Introductions first; My name, for all intents and purposes, is Portia Turbo. I am a Sydney-sider born and bred and had a sun filled childhood in modest middle class, schooled by Nuns and Jesuits, studied Fashion and briefly worked in the industry until, at about age 19, I became a professional Drag Queen and have been working in that capacity ever since all over the world; on stage (OMFG!! Everywhere), in film (Priscilla; Queen of the Desert), on radio ( OUTFM, 2DAY FM), in print (Outrage, Q), on TV (Raving reporter on MTV) and books (Mardi Gras). Currently I run Turbo Trivia nights at pubs and clubs around Sydney and feel like I’ve hardly worked a day in my life and am grateful that the universe continues to let me do what I love. Long have I suffered with potty mouth.
Currently I am not long in the perfume craving but wish to learn as much as I can.
There is some squirt bitch work in my past, distant now, working at the Guerlain counter during Xmas holidays at a small suburban department store in Sydney Australia. Since then I have been through the fragrance roller coaster; sometimes 50 fragrances, then 2, back up to 30, down to 6 and now, honestly you’d think me mental if I gave the number of different fragrances in full bottles, decants, and samples in my home.
I am fragrance omniverous, sluttish in my broad and sometimes good-taste-bypass buying. To smell EVERYTHING seems to be my current goal. Good, bad, indifferent, whatever. And hopefully, in the end, to be able to tell the difference. But of course its the journey I am enjoying, no destination in sight. I’m not niche centric, nor do I care if a celeb has brought it out, I have some pre existing favourites that you’ll get to meet but basically I’m a clean slate.
When one of my longest term friends, the ‘fore mentioned Evie, we spent many of our formative years together (in fact her family have virtually adopted me, and I am Fairy God Parent to all the next generation), returned to Australia after a 20+ year sabbatical all over the world (she’ll tell you herself) we decided to do an Aussie blog about perfume because at the time we couldn’t find what we were looking for down under to learn stuff from. We also like the idea of writing in a Southern Hemisphere time zone, so when we talk about spring there’s not a 6 month wait till the observation becomes valid.
We are hoping to hook you up to some really useful basic knowledge about perfumery, interview some noses, see some of what goes into the manufacture and promotion of perfume, find you good books on the subject, have some AWESOME competitions, direct you to interesting conversations or articles on blogs all over the world, tell you our thoughts and feelings on fragrance and the industry as we see it and a multitude of other outpourings that will, we hope, inspire, educate, interest, include, envelope and entertain you. There will be space for you to join the conversations too, you all know more than us anyway, I do beg though that there be a ZERO CYBER BULLYING code.
What letters do I have after my name that give me gravitas, none, sorry, kicked out of school at 15. What will we be offering that you can’t find elsewhere put better, researched with knowledge and years of history within the inner circle of the industry, I don’t know. I have a nose that can smell a bit and a mind that sometimes surprises me. Honestly, the sheer weight of perfume bloggery did give us pause for thought (and so much of it is excellent, progressive, informative and thought provoking), the exponential growth in the last 5 years is incredible, so even if we are just writing a journal for ourselves I would like to do that, and give our learning curve somewhere to come back to and follow later on, like a paper trail of our perfume history.
While I have no qualms about cash for comment, if we do ever become that kind of adventure there will be fair warnings. Having said that; cash for comment doesn’t mean you get us to lie, we will (I hope) always tell as much truth as we can and/or dare.
I just LOVE fragrance and would like to share my thoughts and learnings. The great thing for you is that hanging out with us is FREE! Exactly, nothing to lose, everything to gain, and maybe we’ll all make some super great friends along the way who also love fragrance in all its forms.
Other things I love include my amazing circle of friends from all over the world and all different walks of life, reading, cooking, a bath, greyhounds, homemaking, ironing (I KNOW!!), furniture, snack foods, sex, getting ready for work, swimming, pedicures, partners old and new, bed linen, gardening, sewing (actually I hate it but do it well), lying in bed after everyone has gone to work, the WWW, iconic imagery, dancing, my job, shopping, flirting, dinner parties, the feeling after you’ve cleaned the house before guests arrive, travel, art, cheese, etc etc etc
Welcome to the AustralianPerfumeJunkies.com blog, please come regularly and enjoy the ride.
Portia xx