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Portia
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Hey Hey Perfume Junkies,
OK I’m adding a THUNKED section here too. It’s becoming an APJ obsession and I love the idea of us using our fragrances and hoiking the vial, decant or bottle. Thunk is the sound of an empty hitting the bin so you must empty it for the thunk to count.
Anything worthy of comment, either good or bad, that’s passed under my nose through the week will get a short write up. If I think something is terrible, shamefully lazy, greedy or stupid and you should know about it, it will be said. As always YMMV.
I’d love it if you get involved: agree, respectfully disagree, have any thought-out opinion and want to share, do so in the comments below. The point is starting a conversation.
New Sniffs + Thunked: 7.3.2019
Over 50 responses I will draw a Secret Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
Last Weeks Winner: Amy
eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with your address please
New Sniffs:
Sung by Alfred Sung Shower Gel
Not really a New Sniff as such because I have the fragrance but the shower gel is a softened aldehydic narcissus. Very pretty, not overpowering and leaves a subtle scent trail on my body afterwards.
Heart of Darkness by Providence Perfume Co
Full of light and the rebirth of spring. Zingy and lilting lavender with a charry incense and shady side of a tree woodsy smell. I am reminded of the dry down of Mitsouko but done in a 21st century Indie way. Gorgeous.
Moss Gown by Providence Perfume Co
Green, sappy, torn branches, leaves and the rich, reminiscent scent of a grass heavy compost heap. Perfectly named.
La Fin Du Monde by Etat Libre d’Orange
Not exactly a New Sniff but I’m wearing this lovely from Greg’s collection. It’s all the notes but also smells like cooking rice to me.
Thunked:
Dr Bonners Almond Soap
Woo Hoo! I love to thunk a shower gel. It has been quickly replaced by a Sung Shower Gel in a tube.
Niki de Sain Phalle EdT
YAY! I thunked a bottle. Only 13ml but nevertheless. It’s a BOTTLE! This was last week but I forgot to mention it.
Have you tried any of these? How did they work for you?
Portia xx
oh, that Sung shower gel sounds delish. I do love a narcissus…
Actually, so do both the Providence scents.
Only one new thing this week: Heeley’s Iris de Nuit that I’m wearing now. Violets and iris and angelica, and that smoothed out feeling that you get when touching powdered skin. Perfect for a grey-skied rainy day. But probably also glorious in the heat. (I’m almost regretting picking up some Heeley samples: my almost-empty FB wishlist is growing again…)
One tiny sample thunk: Au couer de desert. Fortunately, another just arrived!
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Iris de Nuit is a nice one isn’t it?
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Very much so! Really smooth, quite dry, cool but not iced.
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Iris de Nuit is really nice but I have an issue with the longevity of Heeley’s perfumes. What else did you try?
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Are there any that stick around longer for you? Any you really wish they did? I can smell Cardinal on fabric for about a day, and I got about five or six hours from the Iris on skin on a cool, damp day, but I do spritz his scents quite generously. (I’ve made quite a dent in the big bottle of Chypre 21 I bought a couple of years back.)
Eau Sacrée: love it. Vetiver Veritas: erm, I snagged a bottle on ebay already.
Phoenicia: not tried it yet. Sel marin: still thinking about a bottle of this one day if I can find one at a good price, or sort out a split. 100ml bottles seem so excessive. St Clements I’ve tried before, and that really does do a vanishing act on me.
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The citrusy ones are very light – Sel Marin, St. Clemens but also Cuir Plein Fleur and Hippie Rose I could hardly smell after a while. I suppose they are meant to be sprayed generously.
L’Amandiere and Bubblegum Chic had a better longevity but they are Extraits. I’d go for one of them.
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I love Sel Marin and on me it lasts. Hippie Rose is more fleeting. Phoenicia is intense and long lasting on me.
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Hey Crikey,
I love Heeley and own Cuir Plain Fleur and the Tigre one.
They last and smell fabulous.
Sung is very nice, and about US$4 at FragNet.
Portia xx
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I’ve got a Sung perfume somewhere !!!!! Can’t remember which one. I’ll have to look for it.
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I hope its the original, SO GOOD Matty,
Portia xx
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I thunked 2 samples from 19-69 and as I sit here to recall them, it’s tough. Kasbah was one and it’s the standard patchouli/vanilla/amber/sandalwood thing that has been done and re-done ad infinitum for as long as I’ve been wearing scents. The second was Chines Tobacco which was very much like Kasbah but with some red pepper and vetiver. It felt like someone said, “Heh. Let’s throw some trndy ingredients together and slap on mid-range ($175) price tag and call it a day.” I have more to sample from this line but am in no hurry to get to the other 5.
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I really really like Capri, so that one might be worth a try. Purple Haze has a great violet note.
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Thanks, Amy! 😀
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WOW Cee,
You know on my mate Michael Kasbah was a standard amber/patch scent too but on me it smells so different to anything else I own, it is much freakier and left of centre.
So interesting how our skins react.
Portia x
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I love shower gel but my mom wears Sung, and I hate it. I curl my nose every time I smell her. As a kid she wore Jovan Musk and I felt the same but now I wear it! Maybe I will change in 30 years if I live that long. I can’t remember the last time I thunked something. Too much to use. But I enjoy the sound of yours hitting the baskets!!!!
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Bummer about the Sung Gina,
I finally grabbed your Gina. I think I’m going to send them in separate lots so more chance of at least one arriving.
Portia x
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Moss Gown sounds like my cup of tea, but I haven’t tried it. No thunking this week, but maybe I’ll empty my sample of Ambre 114 this evening.
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OOOH! Ambre 114 is a very nice one. I have a bottle of it, YUM!
Portia xx
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No thunks for now but i really need to get my nose on that ELDO La fin du monde (cooking rice, hmm i’m hungry already 😆😆). Congratz Amy 👌🏻👌🏻
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Thanks!
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HA! Hilarious Alen,
Portia xx
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I’m not familiar with your new sniffs Portia, but I find perfumes that smell like trees, wood, leaves, and grasses not for me. I always wonder if it’s partly because I am very allergic to grass and weeds?
My new sniffs were vintage Mackie (90s floral with all the good stuff), Juliette has a Gun Romantika (big musky floral, reminds me of Naciso Rodriquez), and 4160 Tuesdays The dark heart of old Havana (gourmand medicinal oriental).
I’ve been wearing a lot of Chanels lately, No 5 this week. They bring familiarity and comfort during times of stress.
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OOHH! You’ve had some LOVELIES on your skin this week.
Can’t go past the good old CHANEL No 5 Kathleen, it’s a doozy.
Portia xx
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Portia, congrats on the thunking of a bottle of Nikki but I bet you have a backup bottle 😉 I know how much you like it.
Heart of Darkness sounds fascinating. I love the novel very much and I am curious to find out how it depicts the somber atmosphere.
I’ve thunked only one sample last week – Penhaligon’s Savoy Steam.
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Neva, I love the novel too and my response to you ended up below LOL 🤣 😂
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And I messed up the quote too…oy vey!!
“The most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself- that comes too late- a crop of unextinguishable regrets ”
This is what happens when I comment on my phone 🤣🤣🤣
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Wonderful book. I don’t remember the quotations anymore which means I’ll have to read it again soon. I don’t mind. I have also his novel The Secret Agent which I haven’t read so far. Do you know it?
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Oh yes I do! In college I tried to get my hands on anything he wrote and I did indeed read the Secret Agent. I found his writing to be compelling and thought provoking and was always amazed that English was not his first language. I was also a huge fan of Thomas Hardy back in those days. Now that I am older I prefer authors with a more light hearted touch , with my favorite being Alexander McCall Smith.
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Talking about English not being his first language, Nabokov rules in my opinion 😉
I’m not familiar with Alexander McCall Smith. Can you recommend something to start with?
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The very first book I read by him was The Right Attitude to Rain. It’s the Isabel Dalhousie series. He has about 4 or 5 series including the one Portia mentions below. I will research later and get you the first book of the Isabel series and post later.
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Neva, the Sunday Philosophy Club was the first one.
I also enjoyed the Corduroy Mansion series and the 44 Scotland Street series by the same author. He is quite prolific.
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Thank you 🙂
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Brigitte,
is Alexander McCall Smith the ladies detective agency series?
I loved a couple of those.
Portia xx
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YES! But that is only one of his series…there are many others…all wonderful!
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Neva,
A couple of years ago I was told that Niki de Saint Phalle was being DCd. There is enough juice here to last 25 lifetimes.
SAVOY STEAM! How I love it, that sizzle of aldehydes and citrus.
Portia xx
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I adore Niki de Saint Phalle so much. I thank you Portia for mentioning your love for it. Love at first spritz as well. Is it discontinued? I have 2 bottles but will order another bottle with my next fragrance.net order then.
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Portia- if and when I ever win another draw all that I want is 1/10th of your 25 lifetimes of Niki….one tiny vial for memory’s sake 🙂
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HA! Definitely. Please remind me Brigitte.
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Hey Portia. Sung sounds amazing. I used to wear Sung EdP for years and then I could only find the EdT and that was the end. That was one of my most complimented perfumes. You smell wonderful.
Sandra xo
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Sandra,
How is the Basel life going? You starting to settle in sweetheart?
Portia xx
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Amy, congratulations on your win!
Haven’t tried any of these, Portia, but Moss Gown and Heart of Darkness sound beautiful.
No new sniffs this week. I gave my FB of Alien Eau Sublime to my mum: it’s lovely but honestly, I don’t wear it often enough. I think I’ve also thunked a sample but can’t remember what it was 🙂
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That’s one of my all-time favorite reads. My lit paper in college was on Heart of Darkness….
” Destiny. My destiny! Droll thing life is- that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose. The most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself- a crop of unextinguishable regrets. ”
Love that quote!!! Conrad was a master.
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Oops! That reply was supposed to be for Neva! Sorry, Diana, don’t know how it ended up here!!!
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I don’t mind, Brigitte, and I agree, the book is a masterpiece.
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another Conrad fan 🙂
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Thanks!
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Yeah, Moss Gown was a winner. They both were Diana,
YAY for giving castoff frags to Mum. They get so excited you even thought of them, yeah?
I miss mine.
Portia xx
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My Mum is choosy, I’ve yet to see if she likes AES enough 🙂
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Niki!!!! Blast from the past and a huge love of mine in the 80s …. another story attached to that one! Haven’t smelled it in eons.
Would love to try Heart of Darkness for the name alone.
Got my PPP so satisfied my insatiable appetite and tried them all, thereby thunking two, Woodcut and Pink Haze
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You are THUNKalicious Brigitte,
WOW! Two down already.
Happy belated Birthday my love.
Portia xx
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Thank you so very much for EVERYTHING!!!! I am having so much fun with it all….btw, it’s an early bday present…my real bday is the end of next month 🙂
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PHEW!
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Another Taurus, yay 🙂 when exactly, Brigitte? All the most important people in my life were born in the last decade of April. I have almost every day covered with birthdays 🙂
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the twenty ninth…ha! you are a Taurus too? I have all the traits including the bullishness-LOL! But I am very loyal too and a lover of all things sensual.
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We’re close 🙂 I’m May, 1st.
I bet you’re a great woman, Brigitte. Tauruses usually are 🙂
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Wow, we are only two days apart! I hope you will buy yourself some beautiful fragrant treats and allow a break on the no buy. We can be partners in crime 😉
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You bet I will 😀 Not too much, but I will.
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La Fin Du Monde by Etat Libre d’Orange smells like cooking rice? I think you have a bottle, too. Does this mean your bottle does not give rice vibe as much as Gregg’s?
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I bought Greg’s bottle Fazal. So it’s my only bottle. It does give me rice.
Portia xx
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No thunks this week, but ordered some samples of Tauerville and tested Vanilla Flash today. A boozy, non-sweet vanilla, not bad. Still have to test Incense and Rose Flash…
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I’m so curious about Rose Flash. Let us know how you like it, Tanja.
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I have the roll ons of Incense Flash, Vanilla Flash and Amber Flash…all great fragrances at very great prices.
and off topic but I left a comment on your blog (along with a visual) on how to open your vintage no 5 lacquered container so that you can see exactly how much juice is in there.
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Thank you. Good tip
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YAY for ordering the Tauer stuff. I love reading that people are buying his stuff. What a pioneer.
Portia xx
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I agree…what a pioneer.. L’Air du Dessert Marocain is phenomenal! Hajusuuri gifted me the mini and I drained it in two seconds flat (well , not really, but it was a pretty quick thunk cause I wore it a lot!!!)
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Love Moss Gown. The others this week I don’t know. Thanks for the perfume prize! I’ll email you now.
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Woo Hoo! WINNER!
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PPP wheeee. Congratulations.
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Old Herbaceous reminded me that the son and I also thunked a Jo Malone Red Roses soap this week…I don’t know what he does but he must do some serious lathering in the shower because all of our soaps get used up so fast (except Mr. Marzipan’s who only uses unscented all natural soaps…boring…..LOL!)
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There’s a joke.
Two Nuns in the bathtub.
One Nun says, “Where’s the soap?”
The other Nun moans and says, “Yes, it does”
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🙂 🙂 🙂
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Naughty girl😂
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I’ve tried Fin du Monde, and I think you can guess what my opinion was from the fact that I sold it. Not for me. I haven’t tried any of the rest of yours, although Sung was my wife’s favourite for a while. She seems to be into white florals, but sh’e now move on to Ophelia as her go-to.
This week I thunked five bottles. Three got sold, one went to the op shop, and I actually finished a bottle myself! Mind you there was only a smear left in it when I bought it at a flea market; I thought the bottle might be saleable. It’s what I’m wearing today: Samsara EdP. The batch code dates this to November 1990, about a year after it was released. There was a brief fresh, green opening, but it has barrelled through to the base notes very quickly. I’m mainly getting amber, tonka and sandalwood now. I quite like it, but that’s pretty much academic now.
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That early Samsara was AMAZING!! How lucky you were to grab it greg,
LOVING your Fin du Monde, thank you.
Portia x
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Hey Portia, Heart of Darkness sounds very worthy of a sniff.
New sniffs for me Caroline Herrera 212 VIP – a pretty, vanilla, musk with a touch of booze.
2nd try of Dsquared2 She Wood – which is really interesting. I was going to gift it away. Lovely lemons and violets, amber and woods. Worthy of another wear.
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I bought a bottle of She Wood six years ago and I really wore it a lot. Now there’s some 10 mls left and I intend to sell it because I feel I won’t wear it again. Wish you were closer, I’d be happy to give it to you.
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Thanks Neva – that’s a lovely offer. If we were closer we could enjoy cheese and wine while we swap perfumes xx
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That would be wonderful, Melanie 🙂
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Hey Melanie,
I love it when you’ve put something in the MAYBE pile and come back to find it’s a definite yes. My wallet cries but I am always thrilled.
Portia xx
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I’m a total disgrace lately. Always turning up late. 🤗Life has been overtaking my internet time. Boo. Ha.
Anyway. A few new sniffs this week. PG Mécanique du Désir. Yum yum, like it a lot. Aldehydic and greenish. I swear I can get a suede hit off this.
Montale Gold Flowers, nice but won’t need more than a tester. Money saved.
Francesca Bianchi Sex and the Sea. Want! Beachy but not overly sweet. Kind of a dry texture but all the lovelies you need in a beach scent. With added filth😉
Err, I forget what else. Duh.
I had another day yesterday in Palindrome III from your pressie, Portia. Yet another want. I loooove it. I haven’t tried any of your sniffs this week. Couldn’t possibly keep up with this particular Jones.
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The PG sounds like my cup of tea. Alehydic and greenish – yes! Sex and the Sea you’ve already mentioned in the other thread and that one goes to my “to try” list too.
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Hey Cassieflower,
We are thrilled whenever you get here, no time limit.
I’ve never heard of PG Mécanique du Désir! Is it new?
Sex and the Sea is one that a few people whose noses I really trust are loving. May have to grab some myself.
So happy that Palindrome III is your jam,
Enjoy,
Portia xx
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Yes, the PG is from 2018.
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