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Post by Azar
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Judith Muller: Bat-Sheba
Three Legendary Women and a Perfume Bottle
International Flavors and Fragrances (through various incarnations) has been in the business of creating scents and tastes for every imaginable application since 1833. In the late 1960’s the Hungarian born, Israeli perfumer, cosmetologist and entrepreneur Judith Muller (1935-2012) chose IFF to develop a fine fragrance designed for the mass market as well as for her personal and business clients (including El Al Airlines). Her flagship fragrance, Bat-Sheba, named after the biblical beauty, would be one of the first perfumes created by the IFF employee, soon to be super star perfumer, Sophia Grojsman.
Photo Stolen hetek.hu
Bat-Sheba appeared as two distinct scents, Exotic Oriental and Woody Modern. A number of other fragrances, including Judith, King David and Shalom, were produced in Muller’s Mt. Carmel plant and exported to 17 countries.
Judith Muller’s perfumery enjoyed over twenty years of success until the sudden death of her husband/business partner forced her to stop production and close her Haifa operation. She moved to Tel Aviv in the late 1990’s where she continued to create bespoke and private label fragrances for personal and corporate clients. Eventually she relocated to Budapest, remaining creative and vibrant as ever, returning at last to Israel just before her death in 2012.
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
Sophia Grojsman, the nose who is credited with the creation of Bat-Sheba, was born in Belarus in 1945. She was educated as a chemist in Poland and immigrated to New York in1965 where she began working for IFF as a lab assistant to Ellie Fox. Eventually IFF realized her talent. She was encouraged and mentored by world-renowned perfumers Ernest Shiftan and Josephine Catapano. Her long and productive career at IFF included her appointment as corporate VP in 1998 and the creation of over 30 of the most successful and well known fragrances of our time, including Eternity by Calvin Klein, Prescriptive’s Calyx, Paris by Yves Saint Laurent and Tresor by Lancome.
So much more can be said of these legendary women and we all know the story of passion and betrayal, murder and atonement surrounding the biblical legend Bat-Sheba. Now what about the Perfume Bottle?
Judith Muller designed gorgeous, collectable bottles for her exotic, evocative perfumes.
Most of these bottles from the Haifa period were shaped like tiny, ancient amphorae painted with one of a kind, watery, organic patterns. The patterns and coloring of every bottle was different, ranging from muted and silky mauves to brilliant, sparkling purples and golds.
I have several full bottles of different Judith Muller perfumes and perfume “trinkets”. These lovelies should have been displayed but instead have been squirreled away for years in my cool, dark perfume storage. The Exotic Oriental fragrance has been described as a dry, dusty floral chypre with a honeyed heart.
Photo Stolen myprettypaints
Bat-Sheba GIVEAWAY
WHAT CAN YOU WIN?
I am offering a draw for two winners, each will receive
2ml decants of Bat-Sheba Exotic Oriental.
P&H Anywhere in the world
HOW DO YOU WIN?
Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.
To be eligible for the draw just leave a comment on a favorite commercial perfume bottle and how you follow APJ.
Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Bat-Sheba GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-25k #Perfume #Giveaway
HOUSEKEEPING
Entries Close Thursday 17th October 2013 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Sunday 20th October 2013 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.
Australian Perfume Junkies 
I like that Midnight in Paris bottle. I follow by e-mail. 🙂
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Hi Patty P!
I love the M in P bottles too. And I even like the fragrance.
You are in the draw!
Azar xx
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I just bought a bottle of Feerie blind because I was smitten with how it looked! I follow by email.
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Hello Jaybee,
I love the top of this bottle and the blue color. I am not familiar with it, had to look it up and now want one too. Do you like the juice? You are IN!
Azar xx
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Thanks Azar! The juice is nice enough – a sweet berry/violet that I wouldn’t ordinarily buy, I must admit – I’m a vanilla type girl – but I think it will do me well for summer. xx
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Nina Ricci L’air du temps. Gotta love Lalique!
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Hi Willa,
I’m a sucker for Lalique. Thank you for entering this draw!
Azar xx
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Wow, those watercolour glass bottles, I love them!
I have a vintage rosebud bottle of L’Heure Bleu, when it is empty I shall keep it. There is something special about the glass stopper too, when you dab and not spray.
I follow by email.
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Jackie B!
Don’t you dare get rid of THAT beauty! You are lucky to have one of those vintage bottles. You are so eligible for this draw!
Azar xx
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oh, for eff’s sake, Azar! I can’t get the damn RSS feed, my WordPress is telling me I’m ILLEGAL and…well, you know I follow the livin’ daylights out of you – I just don’t know via which media. So there. I’m here, I’m weird! And a techno-noob. And I love this story about Ms Muller’s life and career. You know the bottles I love the best? Those Romea d’Ameor ones, with the little tassles. Don’t like a ‘lot’ of bling on a bottle but I love an elegant step-cut crystal like those and Cartier. Oooh! And those Ramon Monegal bottles. Have you seen those? Some of the most elegant bottling around. Oh! and Chanel, of course. Timeless.
There. Aren’t you glad you asked? 😉
xoxoxoA
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You are a SCREAM Musette and I love you dearly.
Portia xx
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Hi Musette,
WOW! An illegal techno-noob! Is that funny or scary? I don’t think I’ve attained “illegal” status yet but if it weren’t for Portia this post would be hand written and delivered by the USPS.
I had to look up the Romeo d’ Ameor and the Romon Monegal bottles. I especially like the shape of the RMs. All your favs are so classic and you are IN!
Azar xx
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Oops, Musette, you are ILLEGAL and must be hauled back to the other side of the perfume border and forbidden to come around niche frags ever again! Always good to hear your voice (so to speak,) and I never know what you will be up to the next time I see your name. Congrats on your new role as a techno-illicit. Keep in touch!
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I still love the old 4711 bottles – an absolute classic that almost anyone recognises! (I hope that qualitifies, even though technically it’s a cologne?)
I follow by email.
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Roslyn,
The old bottles of 4711 and their labels are beautiful. Colognes count here! You totally qualify.
Azar xx
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Rochas produced one of my favourite mass-market bottles: ‘Alchimie’. And their octagonal ‘Madame Rochas’ bottle with its stepped and beaded cap is quite elegantly lovely, I think, and also cleverly suggests the juice (that used to be) within. (I follow by email.)
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Hello Kesbah,
I have the Madame Rochas you describe and the Alchimie is on my short list. What do you think of the Alchimie fragrance?
Azar xx
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OH! You are in of course.
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When Alchimie was released I was into green chypres and orientals – and I was a snob, so I wrinkled my nose at its big vanilla sweetness. I thought it inelegant, and not a proper perfume for a grown-up. But now that I and my tastes have matured, I suspect that I’d enjoy Alchimie very much indeed!
I’m thinking now of that saying about youth being wasted on the young…
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Amen, Kesbah! It seems that every time I go on Fragrantica to check out a fragrance that isn’t “laundry-fresh,” at least one snide commenter will say “Old lady scent” or similar. Good thing they don’t know yet what fun we have as our tastes expand! But then, as Portia once pointed out to me, these same young ladies will be on the blogs in twenty or thirty years, complaining that you can’t find good fruity florals or laundry musks any more.
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Nina Ricci classics!!! Nothing more elegant 🙂 🙂 Love your L`air post!! Have a collection of those lovelies that are very dear! and yt hard-worked in retail in order to buy 🙂
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PS I follow a la e-mail and blog!!
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Hi Hotlanta!
You are fortunate to have such a great collection! Perfume bottles can be almost as addictive as their contents. Thank you for entering the draw!
Azar xx
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Hello, I follow by email. I used to have all Judith Muller perfumes many moons ago. The bottles are exquisite and sadly they have been lost over years.
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Hello Sharon!
You obviously loved the JM fragrances. Did you have a favorite? Thank you for entering the draw.
Azar xx
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I would love to look at one of these exquisite bottles. Of bottles currently on the market, I think I like the heavy lovely-to-hold flacon that Hedonist comes in. I follow by email.
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FeralJasmine,
Hedonist looks stunning. I have been watching that one since it showed up on US sites and have been saving up for it. What do you think of the fragrance?
Azar xx
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I really like it. It is definitely an evening fragrance, and requires discretion in the spraying. I should also add that I live in a very arid climate and atmospheric moisture level definitely affects a scent’s tendency to spread. Hedonist might be a real sillage-monster in a damper climate. But is that such a bad thing? After all, we are mature and entitled to claim a little airspace
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If we’re talking mass-market, I really like some of those VC&A bottles – in particular Feerie! Niche, I really love the Tableau de Parfums bottles. I follow on Bloglovin’ and will give you a tweet! 🙂
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Hi there Susan! Another vote for Feerie! Do you like the fragrance as much as the bottle? And how about the Tableau de Parfums? Have you tried each of these?
Azar xx
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Oooh pretty!
I’ve heard of these but they were never availible anywhere so I never went searching…sounds lovely! I follow by email.
I like lots of different bottles–Feerie especially, also Lutens bell jars, L’Artisans, Lolita Lempickas, Bulgari Black’s hockey-puck bottle, DK Black Cashmere river rock, classic Carons like Nuit de Noel, Narcisse Noire, all of them really….Possibly my favorite bottle is Ginestet Botrytis.
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Great list mim! Feerie seems to be favorite. I like the concept of Ginestet and their “bottling” too.
Azar xx
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I have been so curious about these fragrances, thank you so much for sharing! My favorite (right now) commercial bottles are the Bvlgari Jasmin Noir line lay down travel sprays because they are sleek, they feel good in the hand, the details are very well done, they are like little fragrant eggs. I follow by email. Thanks again for the generous drawing!
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Hello Mary P,
I love bottles that feel good in the hand! I have a regular bottle in this line and will see if I can find the “eggs”. Thank you and you are IN!
Azar xx
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Sorry Azar, I meant also to thank you for sharing the contents of that gorgeous bottle.
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You are very welcome, Kesbah! And yes! One of the few things that’s great about getting older is that we don’t have to worry about appearing to be mature! We have arrived!
Azar xx
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I currently love the bottles for Ylang by M. Micallef and Hedonist by Viktoria Minya. I also LOVE the Hedonist perfume, but luckily for my pocketbook my skin eats the fragrance so that keeps me from spending $$$$ on the perfume. Thanks for sharing! (I follow via email.)
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Hello Kandice,
I have been wanting to try Hedonist for awhile and will definitely sample first! I agree that the bottle looks beautiful. You are IN!
Azar xx
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I like the Feerie bottle too. I also love bottles with bling or beads in them like Tauer’s Carillon pour un Ange or Hedonist. I love how they rattle around inside and sparkle.
I follow by WordPress and just general lurking.
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Hi Poodle,
What do you think of the Feerie scent? I like the blingy, beady, sparkly bottles too. So far Feerie and Hedonist seem to be favorites.
Azar xx
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Just saw the new Marc Jacobs “Honey” bottle.Its so eye catching and fun to look at and smells great. I follow by e mail and will tweet the competition @ReneGroyer
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Rene!
I was waiting for someone to mention Honey! These Marc Jacobs bottles are cute, cute and cute! You are in twice!
Azar xx
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I am a fan of the mini bottles. When I was a teenager there was a perfume store that sold inexpensive minis and I still remember how elegant some of them were 🙂 Lucked out a few years ago and got the Patou Ma Collection – love the cute bottles. I follow on e-mail.
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Hello Elizabeth,
I’m a fan of minis too and that Patou Ma is quite a collection! Many of the tiny bottles are much more exquisite than the full size versions. Judith Muller made mini keychain and necklace bottles as well as traditional minis. I have a few of these in my collection. You are IN the draw!
Azar xx
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I am firmly in the Feerie camp for new bottles. The scent does nothing for me though. I love the old Guerlain rosebud stopper bottles! Follow by email.
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Hi Maya,
Another Feerie! Too bad the scent does not work for you. I have no idea what it smells like and can only go by reviews. Those old Guerlain rosebuds are real treasures, though. Do you have one of those?
Azar xx
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I mostly sample, so I unfortunately don’t own very many lovely bottles myself. That said, the one that pops into my mind first is J’Adore with its gorgeous simplicity. I also liked the bottle for Marni, since I am a sucker for polka dots 🙂 I follow by email.
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Hi Nemo,
Marni’s polka dot bottle looks classy and fun at the same time! Most of my bottles are older or vintage. I tend to sample more now than I did years ago and so am not always familiar with the new gorgeous bottles. You are IN!
Azar xx
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DNEM Azar,
Great story and the fragrance itself reads delish. Good luck everyone.
I loved the Faerie bottle so much I bought it even though the fragrance isn’t my thing. The Aromatics Elixer Perfumers Reserve bottle is beautiful, the Annick Goutal ribbed bottles, Mugler’s Alien, Casmir, the Burberry plaid ones and I still think you can’t go past the Shalimar parfum pedestal bottle.
Portia x
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Great list, Portia! The Shalimar pedestal has to be the top! I just remembered another old fav of mine, the KL fan bottle! I like the fragrance too and still wear it. What does Feerie smell like anyway?
Azar xx
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I follow by email and thanks for this great draw! My favorite bottle has to be L’Air du Temps double dove, but closely followed by the Shalimar fan shaped flacon and THEN by the black art deco Liu bottle.
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Hi Sally M,
Your favorites are so beautiful and so different from one to another! As I read the comments I keep thinking of more cool bottles. Animale did a bottle with a lightning bolt stopper. Also, I like the Brooks Brothers Black Fleece in the chunky white bottle, unfortunately it is one of the few fragrances I am really allergic to. Thank you for entering this draw!
Azar xx
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I follow via WordPress. For my favorite commercial perfume bottle, I will have to say the R2D2-like contraption for Hermes Voyage d’Hermes is pretty cool.
Thanks for the draw!
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hajusuuri! What a great way to describe the Hermes Voyage bottle. It never occurred to me but it really is like R2D2! You are IN!
Azar xx
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https://mobile.twitter.com/ATabbyperson/status/389958628809011200
I try to be an elegant young lady, but in the end Thierry Mugler’s Angel bottle and Kenzo’s Elephant bottle are the coolest. I follow by email. Thank you for this lovely giveaway!
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Hi Belle,
Both great bottles and the scents are wonderful too. I even like the Kenzo box! Some of the boxes are almost as much fun as the bottles and the perfumes. I mentioned the KL fan bottle. It came in a wonderful grey hard plastic box.
Azar xx
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Great story Azar! Thanks so much. As you know ‘m not a perfume wearer but I did use to love Miss Dior………
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Thank you, Suzanne. It was fun to write! The early Miss Dior bottles were pretty cool too! Even though you don’t wear perfume do you want to be included in the draw (just to sample this scent if you win)?
Azar xx
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I follow by e-mail. 🙂
I don’t have a favorite commercial perfume bottle . It could come in a hollowed out potato for all I care, as long as it smells good.
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Great attitude, Tsurera! I just read a post and comments on another blog about the “story” of a perfume, ie its bottle, presentation, and marketing, and some people (especially perfumers) thought that without the whole “story,” ie buying full bottles of their perfume in their wrapping, you can’t really know the perfume. Bah! There are too many on the market, including some niche and indie, that are all story, and the juice would never sell a bottle if you smelled it independent of hype.
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tsurera and feral J,
I just read that post too! I love beautiful bottles and colorful packaging and as a result have occasionally been “sold” and succumbed to marketing with a blind buy that I later regretted. As a result I have vowed to sample every scent I’m drawn to (by advertising or by friends reviews) before purchase. If a cheap sample or decant or super bargain bottle isn’t offered I don’t need it. Well, in truth, I don’t really need any of it, do I? The fragrance, the bottle, the packaging, the story … Oh dear!
tsurera! You are IN!
Azar xx
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I follow by email. I love the Vol de Nuit “propeller” bottle. I also have fond memories of the Lucien Lelong bottles which always reminded me of war clubs (I was a tomboy). Other than that, I’m a sucker for the plain, classic bottles like Chanel. Thanks for the draw.
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Hi Julie F,
I’m a fan of those old Lelong bottles too and have them in various vintage sizes, mostly containing my favorite Lelong fragrance, Sirocco. Never thought of them as war clubs, though. Now that you mention it I can see how the larger ones (8 oz bottles) could actually do some damage! You are IN!
Azar xx
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Hi Mom –
I like the Harajuku bottles you send me. The mini Christmas one that doubled as an ornament was really cute:)!
-Lauren
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Yeh! Lauren!
Yes, those Harajuku bottles are really sweet. I was thinking of other perfumes you might like. Let me know if you have a new (or old) favorite. Annick Goutal Songes, maybe?
Regarding contests: I can’t enter you in this draw but Ellen Covey has one going on right now for a really nice prize. I know you like her Olympic Orchids scents so check out “perfumenw” !
Love and lots of xxxx’s
Mommy Azar
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I like the M. Micallef bottles. I will also admit to liking the Bond No. 9 bottles. Long ago I had a bottle of Emeraude (not a spray) that had a beautiful gold cap sort of shaped like a little crown. That was before I was into perfume as much as I am now, and I didn’t keep it – really regret that now! Haven’t seen the Hedonist bottle in person but think it is beautiful from viewing it online. I am in the US.
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Forgot to say that I follow via RSS (Feedly).
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Hi Mary K,
I regret so many bottles that I just got rid of. I don’t know what I was thinking at the time. I may still have an Emeraude bottle around somewhere but I don’t have any of the Bond bottles and only Micallef samples. Now I’m remembering yet another bottle that I’ve loved and fortunaely saved. The mint colored pressed glass Germaine Monteil, L’Eau de Monteil. Have you seen that one?
And yes, Mary, you are IN!
Azar xx
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No, I haven’t seen the mint colored L’Eau de Monteil bottle. It sounds beautiful.
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Hi, I follow you via email (lubaska at hotmail dot com). I like bottles of Guerlain – especially Shalimar, but also Mitsouko and L Heure Bleue. Thanks. I am in Europe…
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I tweeted about: https://twitter.com/Klubka/status/390241542499094528
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Hello Lubka K,
Those Guerlain bottles are all so beautiful! Thank you for entering the draw! Twice!
Azar xx
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I love the Givenchy Organza bottle, the discontinued Organza Indecence bottle is even more beautiful. I also have to mention Womanity by Thierry Mugler and Alien Liquer and Taste of fragrance bottles! I also love them! I love so many bottles it’s hard for me not to make write a list!
I follow via e-mail! Thank you very much! Wish you all the best! I also tweeted! ^_^
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Hi Mihaela U,
Those Organza bottles are lovely. I agree that it is really hard to make a list of favorite bottles’ let alone chose just one. Another I like is the old Lentheric Confetti bottle, frilly glass with a bow stopper.
You are in Twice!
Azar xx
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Lentheric Confetti bottle is a very beautiful and artistic bottle. Thank you for telling me about it. I had no idea a perfume bottle could so adorable! ^_^
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What an incredible backstory on this creator of perfumes and thank you for introducing the line! I follow you by email, bloglovin (gypsygoddess66) and would love the opportunity to try this. Thank you
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I’m so glad you enjoyed this, Sherry! Judith Muller and Sophia Grojsman are talented artists who have enriched the lives of perfume lovers everywhere. I’m sure there is a much bigger story behind the brief one I told here. You are IN the draw! By the way, do you have a favorite commercial perfume bottle?
Azar xx
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I too love the look of Feerie. I also love the look of Lolita Lempicka; anything whimsical lures me in! 🙂 I follow by bloglovin.
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Hello Annamaria,
I love the look of EVERY Lolita but haven’t tried one of them! What do you think of the scents?
You are IN!
Azar xx
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Oh, you must try one! Not everyone loves them, but they are worth trying at least for reference. My favourite is the original, with its dark anise and violet tempered by sweet powdery clouds! I also like the peppery bite of Si Lolita, which has an interesting clover-shaped bottle.
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Thank you for the tip, Annamaria! I think I will start with the original.
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I second AnnaMaria’s thoughts. the original is LOVELY.
Portia x
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I follow via WordPress, and my favorite commercial perfume bottle is that classic, Shalimar.
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Hi fleurdelys,
That pedestal Shalimar bottle is gorgeous, especially when it is full!
Thanks for joining the draw.
Azar xx
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I didn’t enter this give away as I already have a bottle of this. Yes still in the box and cellophane . A 2oz Exotic Oriental Eau de Toilette.And how did I get it…I won it when I was a contestant on Tony Barbers Sale of the Century but the early version of it. It would be 40 years old now but kept in the dark and under the house where it cool. Do I dare open it and use it.
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OMG!! How lucky are you. You could wear it, keep it or sell it. I reckon half the Perfumistas on FFF or Aussie Fragrance Network would give their left leg for a plastic coated box of this.
Portia xx
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WOW! This is kind of like opening a really old bottle of wine, one with a provenance. You can continue to store it, take the risk and have a perfume opening party or sell it to someone else with the provision that you get to “taste” a little yourself. If it is any help, I’ve opened an Exotic Oriental of the same age (still in cellophane) and it smelled great.
Azar xx
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There were actually three different Bat-Sheba perfumes released in the late 1960s, so it can be confusing which version of Bat Sheba someone is talking about. (ED: Advertising edited out, please talk to us about our amazing advertising rates if you’d like to) Great post!
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Darling do you have any shalom for sale?
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Do you have any shalom to purchase?
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i want to know if there is any other musk oil that is like the one made by Judith Muller. it is the most beautiful musk oil in a roller hand painted bottle. to this day the fragrance is still in the bottle the same as the first day opened many years ago. it has not tainted in all the years i have had it. i have not been able to find a true musk oil that compares anywhere so wondering if anyone can provide me with a name of one i could look into.
wont let me copy the image of the hand painted roller bottle.
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