Heya APJ
Last weekend Jin and I were out doing some fixing for the kids at the apartment, afterwards as a Thank You for helping I took Jin to Sydney’s Chinatown because they are open late and the food is yummy. As we were walking towards the restaurant I spotted a shop that I have never noticed on my previous Chinatown forays. Bright pink facade and looking full to the brim of frou frou I couldn’t resist a peek inside and was astounded to see walls lined with fragrance both personal and ambient! It is like an Ali Baba cave.
SWS Spring: Chinatown Sydney
Our hosts were two charming and handsome gentlemen. Moody K is the proprietor and his partner (whose name has slipped my mind and I lost the card, maybe Tam?) both showed us around their lovely store. Here is Jin with them both, isn’t he a damn cutey!
I got a pic with the boys too and you can see in the pics how crowded with goodies the store is. Every time you turn your head there is another fabulous thing or brand that you were not expecting. Business was brisk even at 9pm on a Friday and we had about 8 other people shopping while we were.
Sorry about this shot, I was so freaking excited to see a table and stand filled with Penhaligon’s, L’Artisan Parfumeur, Rance and other companies that have left my memory. Quite a detailed inventory from all these houses and some great Christmas ideas.
This side is more about ambient scenting and there were loads of candle, diffuser and oil choices. If you look in the left hand corner you can almost see a few frag bottles hiding away there and some Penhaligon’s above them.
A L’Occitane wall, yes a whole wall. I got to try some of the fragrances that I was unfamiliar with and it’s nice to see that they had a good stock of the Christmas L’Occitane boxes (We’ll be giving away three of those next week here on APJ). Here we are in front of the L’Occitane, Jin looking handsome and suave, me looking like myself happy and a bit vacant.
What did we leave with? 3 x Voluspa candles, some Tokyo Milk Shea Butter lotions and a Tokyo Milk fragrance. Only the fragrance is for us the rest are Christmas presents.
Where Do You Find SWS Spring?
Address:
SWS SPRING
48 Dixon St,
Haymarket Chinatown
Sydney NSW 2000
Telephone:
+61 2 9212 7356
What Are Some Of Their Brands?
Annick Goutal
Fragonard
L’Artisan Parfumeur
L’Occitane
Rance
Tokyo Milk
Tesori d’Orient
Voluspa
and many more…
Australian Perfume Junkies 
That place is an Aladdin’s cave, how lucky you found it!
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Hey fruitful,
It is beyond amazing and I thought I knew all the frag hot spots in Sydney. Clearly not. They were super friendly too.
Portia x
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Thanks for the article. I’ll be in Sydney next year and it will be on my must see list.
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Jan Last,
When you come to Sydney we can meet in Chinatown and go together.
Portia xx
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Hello Treasure Hunters,
What a blast! I know there has to be a wonderful shop like SWS Spring around here somewhere, but where??? The best kind of shopping is finding a surprise full of even more surprises.
Azar xx
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TOTALLY! Azar we were just on our way to have dinner and WOW a very happy surprise. I am a little scared to go in alone.
Portia x
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Makes me wish I were in Sydney right now.
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Or in a shop full of perfume right now. Good perfume, though. Our only local dept. stores for sniffing carry only the most mainstream stuff. I want the excitement of wandering from one thing to another wishing that you could try dozens of them.
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We are here and awaiting your company to do just that FeralJasmine. Come on Down Under. Or better still meet us in Paris the first week of Feb 2014, London the 2nd week Feb 2014 or Las Vegas and NYC in November 2014.
Portia xx
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That looks like a wonderful store stocked with all kinds of good smelling things! And I’m sure it was an extra special treat to discover it the way you did.
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Hey MaryK,
One of the fun things about Jin is that he is always up for adventure, even something as mundane as a frag shop becomes special. we had a ball.
Portia x
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Great find Portia!
I love that you were saying “thank you” to Jin for his help and Ooops! found this little treasure trove of perfumed awesome 😀
Gratitude is its own reward…
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Now that you mention it, it is a little spooky isn’t it. I am blessed to get to feel grateful often with Jin, he’s a pretty good egg. Not to say I haven’t felt like bloody murder sometimes He He he.
Portia xx
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Oh Goody! Just down the road from the ABC where I work. Will have to pay a visit and say Portia and Jin sent me. :-* Of course I can see them taking all my hard-earned cash 🙂
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Donelle Talintyre,
They are lovely and yes, you will leave poorer. My only advice is make a budget and stick to it.
What do you do for old Aunty?
Portia xx
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What a fun little surprise that must have been to find that store. We need a store like that near me. Perhaps I should just open one myself. Lol.
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Oh POODLE!! How amazing would that be. Do you have the clientele that would support it in your area? Maybe if you had a small shopfront and an online presence? I would buy from you.
Portia xx
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