Noir Exquis by Bertrand Duchaufour for L’Artisan Perfumes 2015

October 29, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hi APJ,

I cannot help but notice the irony in this…..
Imagine you are the owner of a successful Espresso Bar, located in a highly trafficked tourist destination for 13 years. All those years you’ve been searching for the perfect coffee-centric perfume to wear in the Cafe to no avail. A perfume that won’t clash with the scents of the shop. You’ve tried them all from designer to niche to uber-niche to “they’re SO niche that nobody knows their name and they only answer their phone once every two months……”

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Finally it’s time to sell the business and kick back a bit.

Then and only then, after 13 years with only two weeks left of ownership, the perfect perfume comes along.

Well, of COURSE it does. (Cue gnashing if teeth and rending of hair)

Noir Exquis by L’Artisan Perfumes 2015

Noir Exquise by Bertrand Duchaufour

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Chestnut, orange
Heart: Orange blossom, coffee, maple sap
Base: Ebony, heliotrope, vanilla, tonka bean and sandalwood

From L’Artisan: Noir Exquis is a work of contrast and the unexpected. The addictive note of coffee, combined with the warm and comfortable notes of maple syrup, glazed chestnuts and orange blossom, brings an intriguing juxtaposition to this fragrance. Rich and velvety, Noir Exquis connects these two persons during this moment beyond time and place…… Opulent and gourmand, Noir Exquis is a fragrance with a warm and charistmatic aura. Notes: Glazed chestnut, Coffee, Maple syrup, Macassar Wood

Noir Exquis is beautiful, and everything you could possibly wish for in an espresso cafe-friendly scent. Lush, dark, and creamy. A mellow coffee note (dark roast clearly!), threaded with notes of vanilla, chestnut, spices, and a gorgeous hit of maple sap.

Photo Stolen Flickr

A perfume meant to bring to mind a tête-à-tête, a secret rendezvous for two lovers in a dark Parisian Cafe, windows steamed up and the low hum of conversation from the other customers. A mostly untouched meal sits on the table, the lovers too enchanted by each other to eat anything. Hands entwined, the screeching jet-roar of the espresso machine from behind the bar, the loud grating sound of the coffee grinder. The smell of steamed milk, cinnamon, and coffee permeates the humid air. On the sidewalk in front of the cafe, a man sells roasted chestnuts in newspaper coronets, and every time the cafe door swings open the nutty smell from the chestnuts comes inside.

All of this, bottled.

THIS is the heart of Noir Exquise. And it is gorgeous.

Further reading: Megan In St Maxime and Bois de Jasmin
LuckyScent has $120/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $5/ml

Have you tried L’Artisan Noir Exquis?
Robert Herrmann XX

Shiloh by Michel Roudnitska for Hors La Monde 2007

October 28, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by Trésor

My maternal grandmother lived in a quaint home, nestled in between two incredibly large hills with a small brook running down one side. Every so often we would gather iridescent stones that found their way to the tiny banks and pretend they were the scales of mermaid’s tails that had made their journey all the way from the Caspian sea to our little brook. We would take these stones into the house, clean them and place them inside the upstairs cabinet where she kept all of her finest china. She said they would stay there for safe keeping should the mermaids ever come looking in search for their missing glistening scales. These moments were some of the happiest of my entire childhood so you can just imagine my delight when I happened upon a fragrance by the name of Shiloh, authored by Michel Roudnitska for the French house of Hors La Monde that so flawlessly captured all of those exquisite iridescent colours I remember from those stones. All in one breathtaking journey though this perfume’s life on my skin.

Shiloh by Hors La Monde 2007

Shiloh by Michel Roudnitska

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Bergamot oil, Damask rose petals, Virginian cedar, patchouli, lemon, sandalwood, incense, green grass, oakmoss, vanilla, musk, wood notes

Shiloh opens upon my skin in the shape of an effulgent sensory orb, pulsating in hues of vibrant cinnabar, rust and gleaming tangerine that illuminate from within like holograms of fragrant fireflies, whizzing about as if captured inside a mason jar by a joyful child on a late summer’s eve. The aroma of a ripe and glowing citrus fruit, that which smells to my nose of lemon, graciously wafts her golden fragrance in excess as gossamer plumes of diaphanous incense smoke envelop the citric rays of aureate light and with them begin to paint the composition a shade deeper, a spirit guide into the embrace of red rose petals existing as soft sculpture in translucent velveteen. Her petals begin to gracefully bleed a mellifluous zephyr of black pepper and aldehydes which have taken form as the kaleidoscopically lambent shards of a nearby star. With each precious drop that leaves her petals the rose darkens into crimson and soon finds herself enraptured within an abating aura of patchouli who’s fragrant leaves are as smooth as silk and permeating the airspace with their exquisite balsamic aroma of rainsoaked flora and the earth from which they came.

Photo Stolen Flickr

As the composition dries down the roses and patchouli are laid to rest upon a bed of redolent Virginia cedar, creamy sandalwood and sensuous skin musks which dance upon the skin like phantasms of Bolshoi ballerinas illuminated in hues of auroral copper and gold. It is within this final act of spectral pirouettes that Shiloh finally becomes one with the skin.

Shiloh is a fragrance which wears closely to the skin, existing nearly as a skin scent the entire duration of its life. It is by no stretch of the imagination a weak fragrance but one that is meant for those you wish to draw close. Each time I wear Shiloh I tend to get about 6 hours wear before it trails into dancing wisps of ethereal musk, though I will admit that on warmer days I’ve gotten upwards of 9 hours before it was completely gone from my skin.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Further reading: Now Smell This and Non Blonde
LuckyScent has $125/50ml

Have you tried Shiloh?

Val CQ’s Easy Banana Bread Recipe (No Nut) 1985

October 27, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

After posting a picture of my banana bread on FB and being swamped with requests (three) to share the recipe I thought I would. This is the recipe I use when customers order banana bread, so why not? I live in a country where banana bread is not part of their baked goods culture, so I do not have a lot of competition. Nevertheless this is a great recipe. I have tweaked it over the years and cannot remember where I got the original recipe.

Easy Banana Bread Recipe (No Nut) 1985

It is moist and fragrant and delicious on its own. It toasts up a treat and is great with butter and lime marmalade. My therapist and partner-in-crime likes it with orange cream-cheese frosting. If you can get hold it guava jelly that would work too.

No great secrets, it is easy to make. Use the best ingredients you can. Baking does not magically turn crap into gourmet. Unless you are Rumpelstiltskin.

1 cup of unsalted and softened butter (225g)
1 cup of light brown sugar (180g)
6 large eggs (Yep – 6, that is not a mistake and best a room temperature)
2 cups of plain flour ( about 340g) (US call it all purpose flour)
2 tsps of baking powder (leveled off of course)
Good pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (about 1/4 tsp, you can use powdered nutmeg but I wouldn’t!)
Pinch of salt
3 ripe bananas. Lightly mashed. ( I have used all sizes to be honest, but tend towards larger ones. The recipe is quite forgiving though.)
2 tsps of vanilla extract (real please)

Please note, unlike many banana breads, there is no cinnamon or nuts. You can chuck in half a tsp of cinnamon if you want, but cinnamon in baked goods makes them all taste so similar. The minute amount of nutmeg gives it just a lift, and compliments the bananas beautifully. I do love nuts, but not in this. Only as decoration.

Before starting always prepare the pan. A 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Butter and flour it. If the pan is rusted and a hundred years old because you never use it, then lightly butter the pan and line it with baking paper first. Mash the bananas and have them ready, I add the vanilla to the mashed bananas. Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg in a bowl.

Preheat the oven to 180°c or 350°f. If you use a fan oven then drop it a few degrees, but you will know that yourselves.

1. Cream the butter and the sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer.

2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating really well after each addition. (They may look like they curdle a little as you get towards the fourth or fifth egg, but it does not matter. Keep beating!)

3. Add your dry ingredients a little at a time, and beat well after each addition. (I do it in 4 goes)

4. Add the bananas and vanilla and then just mix to combine. Don´t beat the living daylights out of it, a few lumps of banana is good.

5. Pour your prepared batter into the pan. You can decorate it with nuts if you wish to.

6. Bung it in the preheated oven.

7. Bake it until a skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. (This is not brownies, we do not want batter dripping off of or clinging onto the skewer, toothpick or whatever.) Baking time seems to differ, anything from 60 to 80 minutes. You will have to see yourself.

8. Cool the loaf for about 15 minutes in the pan then turn it out onto a rack an let it cool.

If you get a perfect banana bread, message me. I need an assistant.

Sorry that there is only picture of the finished banana bread, I didn’t know I was gonna post this!!

Banana Bussis
CQ

Curve Kicks by Liz Claiborne 2006

October 26, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Post by Azar

Hi APJ Pals,

Perfume junkies know that fragrance has a profound and powerful effect on emotions and memories. A perfume can literally make us happy, chemically force us into a state of bliss, put a spring in our step, a smile on our face and infuse our entire being with energetic optimism. Today I’m going to talk about a fragrance that does all of the above for me, my favorite cheap thrill in a perfume bottle – Curve Kicks for Women by Liz Claiborne.

Curve Kicks by Liz Claiborne 2006

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Melon, mandarin orange, cassia, pear
Heart: Peony, passionfruit, freesia, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, peach, vetiver, cedar

Kicks for Women is one of the 18 or so scents in the Liz Claiborne Curve Collection. That being said, parsing the notes in Kicks is really a meaningless exercise for me. Here is my experience of the fragrance.

Of all the cheapies in my collection Curve Kicks is my favorite. It has to be the least expensive fragrance I own and easily worth its weight in denatured alcohol. The price alone makes me smile, as does the bottle and the shiny metal can it comes in.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Kicks opens with a totally synthetic fruit cocktail featuring warm peach and orange fruit cooling rapidly to pear, melon and wet spring florals. It would be easy to dismiss this stuff as your average teenybopper body spray – but wait! At about thirty minutes Kicks jump starts my olfactory memories and returns me to mid 20th century Central Florida and the smell of the citrus processing plants. If you have ever experienced that overpowering fragrance (some call it a stench) you will, for good or ill, never be able to forget it.

Photo Stolen Pexels

After about an hour or so in the processing plant, Kicks begins a long, lovely eight-hour dry down toward a final, quiet, almost elegant combination of powdery sandalwood, vanilla, cedar and a breath of peach all wrapped in a subtle wisp of processed citrus steam. The conspicuous absence of even the slightest reference to patchouli sets Curve Kicks apart from its contemporary fruit-chouli sisters. To summarize: Curve Kicks for Woman is fruity, chemical sunshine mixed with powdery, sweet woods, diluted in perfumer’s alcohol and packaged in metal, glass and glitter.

FragranceNet has $17/100ml before Coupon

Today’s draw: I will be giving away two Curve Kicks for Women 5.4 ml minis, shipping and handling everywhere. To be eligible for the draw please let us know how you follow APJ and tell us a little about a fragrance that really MAKES you happy – a perfume that FORCES you into a state of happiness!

Photo Stolen manoneileen

Curve Kicks GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

Today’s giveaway: There are two prizes, one each.
Curve Kicks for Women 5.4 ml minis
P&H Worldwide

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 (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

To be eligible please tell us how you follow APJ

AND

Tell us a little about a fragrance that really MAKES you happy – a perfume that FORCES you into a state of happiness!

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 29th October 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Sunday 1st November 2015 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.

Estratto di Colonia GIVEAWAY WINNERS

October 26, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Post by Portia

Estratto di Colonia GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, green mandarin, lemon, sage
Heart: Jasmine, white rose
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, musk, amber

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x sample of Estratto di Colonia from my stash
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 25th October 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen prospectsplus

Rene Groyer (Via Twitter)

Kandice

The winner will have till Thursday 29th October 2015 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.

Mascara: I look like an idiot so you don’t have to: Mascara

October 25, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Post by AF Beauty

We’ve had a couple of mentions in previous comments about mascaras. I have never really subscribed to the idea of expensive mascaras because I have never really seen the benefit of spending $40 on black goo that I could otherwise buy for $20 at the local chemist. However, I have had a small epiphany.

Mascara, MASCARA, Mascara

I look like an idiot so you don’t have to

In previous comments the famous Maybelline Great Lash Mascara was mentioned, so I dutifully toddled off and purchased this one:

I chose the washable version thinking that having to scrape off a waterproof version might kill my eyes. In retrospect that may have been a better outcome!

My present gym routine involves a boxing class three times a week. I LOVE boxing – SO much fun! Generally I start with a full-ish face of makeup but by the time I’ve punched and kicked till scarlet, my makeup has done it’s best to disappear. One particular day, my boxing trainer was giving me side eyes and then looks bold and says, “you have black all down your eyes!” I totally styled it out and retorted, “It’s because I’m so tough!” And I am tough, but truth is; my mascara had let me down in a big way. Bummer.

So I started looking online for more info about a type of mascara called tubing mascara. I had read about it a few years ago, I knew Clinique did one and wanted to find some more options. The idea of tubing mascara is that the mascara goo forms a tube around each of your lashes and therefore will not smudge down your face. It can also be washed off easily without waterproof makeup remover. Sounds too good to be true, right?!

Luckily my research coincided with a spare 15 minutes I had at Sydney Domestic Airport where they have a new beauty store called Amuse that sells a variety of beauty brands. My research had led me to a MAC mascara called Opulash, so off I went to purchase.

I told the MAC SA (who was super nice and helpful) about wanting a tubing mascara and not wanting smudginess. She told me all MAC mascaras were non-smudging, I admit I inwardly scoffed. She also told me of a different mascara which she said was tubing called Extended Play Gigblack Lash. She was that nice that I took her at her word and bought the Extended Play even though I’d read about the other one. I admit, I was feeling hopeful, but my expectations were almost nil. However, I have been using this mascara now for a couple of weeks and have deliberately been applying pre-workouts to see whether it will smudge – and NADA. Not even a hint of it. This is an angels singing moment!

Because I go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week, this has been a real gamechanger. I don’t feel like I need to give my makeup more than a second thought and I have confidence now that I’m not going to look dishevelled in my makeup, even if the rest of me looks like a mess!

Have you heard of tubing mascara? What’s your favourite?
AF Beauty xx

Vetiver Dance 07 by Andy Tauer for Tauer Perfumes 2008

October 24, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by Portia

One of my mates Natalie from Another Perfume Blog (now defunct sadly) gave me a manufacturers sample of this one. I like vetiver very much and especially its many uses to hold land together and leech toxins from water. To be hgonest I’m a little surprised that it’s not being used more to help clean up the world’s waterways. Add to that the many amazing facets that perfumers can find through it, from green grass through to smoky oil and you have a versatile beauty.

Vetiver Dance 07 by Tauer Perfumes 2008

Vetiver Dance 07 by Andy Tauer

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Grapefruit oil, black pepper accords, green clary sage
Heart: Bulgarian rose, lily of the valley, Java vetiver oil
Base: Cedar, ambergris, tonka beans, citrus

Oily, bittersweet and green. Vetiver Dance opens in high style, large and flamboyant, a sheet of iced green water in the midday sun. A joyful blend between the shock and fun, caught between breathless disbelief and awaiting the bodies readjustment. The pepper is dry and also ginger-ish and the much hoped for lily of the valley punch way smoother and less provoking than expected.

When the vetiver gets a chance to shine it has the soft wetness of freshly mown grass and the dry rasp of punka fans. I’m surprised that chocolate isn’t a named note because my nose reads the fabulous creamy explosion of a warm, nutty Lindor ball. I wonder if it’s the tonka?

Then later Vetiver Dance warms right through while still maintaining its green-ness. I don’t know how it’s managed but warm and spicy bakery underpins the green woodsiness of the heart, like an unusual Asian taste meld that is surprising yet once you realise that this IS the taste you can relax into it and enjoy the two speed flavour ride. Do you remember your first sweet & sour dish?

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Vetiver Dance is beautiful. The thing is I find it very hard to place in my head someone who would wear it as their regular scent. Ultimately very unisex, not confrontational but slightly unorthodox, interesting through the whole lifespan and not like other vetivers. My thought is that it’s too quirky for mainstream but would a perfumista reach for it? I’d like to read from you if it is something in your collection and you wear it a lot. There is something more-ish about it, I’ve been wearing it for the last couple of days and will wear it again tonight for dinner, that will be the end of my juice. Then let’s see if I want to buy a 15ml in my next Tauer Explorer Set.

Been out for dinner with no respritz, so over 12 hours later and I’m still softly fragrant with a sweet/green rasp. Vetiver Dance sits close but is still gorgeous. I have no other vetiver scent in y waerdrobe with this kind of tenacity…….

Further reading: Non Blonde and Sorcery of Scent
IndieScents has $130/50ml
Tauer Explorer Set 3 x 15ml with FREE world shipping
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/.5ml

What is your Tauer, or your vetiver?
Portia xx

Estratto di Colonia by Pineider 2012

October 23, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Hey Hey APJ,

Jin & I discovered Pineider fragrances while in Italy in 2013. I instantly fell in love with Cuir Nobile and grabbed a bottle on the spot. Then while in LA for the Perfume Posse ScentSation Bus Tour while we were at Beauty Habit I WON a bottle of today’s offering, Estratto di Colonia. Yes, there is an enormous backlog of fragrances that I have not yet reviewed here…

Estratto di Colonia by Pineider 2012

Estratto di Colonia by Atelier Design & Fragrances

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, green mandarin, lemon, sage
Heart: Jasmine, white rose
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, musk, amber

It must be mentioned that the wooden box and locking system are beautifully presented and thought out. The tall and skinny bottle with the leather wrapped lid is cool and classy but FREAKING ANNOYING! A gust of wind and the damn thing falls. I leave mine in its protective wooden box. This is good because it keeps the juice safe but bad because the box gets shuffled to the back of the wardrobe and ignored in favour of more easily accessible frags. Yes, I know, totally first world problem. Just telling you.

There are a few frags on my dresser at the moment. One of them is Estratto di Colonia because I freaking love the fresh, fun citrus opening that is so energising, it’s like spritzing a 40 minute nana nap. The jasmine, musk and amber basically take over from there and while Estratto di Colonia feels simple, and is quite a simple cologne reinterpretation, still it wears so perfectly balanced and smooth for me that it seems elevated. It isn’t till we hit the base that I finally get a little whiff of a lightly citrus rose, sweet and fruity, that gives the amber and vanilla a boozy taint. I’m no expert but if you told me they’d used some Australian sandalwood oil in the mix I would totally believe you, it has a eucalyptic earthy twang right down the base.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

This spring sees it getting quite a bit of wear though so I will be through my 30ml well before summer. That’s another great thing, I love the 30ml bottles. Which of us perfumistas really need 100ml of anything else?

Beauty Habit has the range $115/30ml

I think Pineider may have distribution troubles. Only Beauty Habit seem to have it on the net so far, though it is available in Italy. I grabbed Cuir Nobile in Venice in 2013 and haven’t see the brand again except in Beauty Habit. It is worth finding though, the fragrances are amazing.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen sassisamblog

Estratto di Colonia GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x sample of Estratto di Colonia from my stash
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us what your cologne is

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Estratto di Colonia by Pineider GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-351 #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 25th October 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Thursday 29th October 2015 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.

Rose Anonyme GIVEAWAY WINNERS

October 23, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Post by Portia

Rose Anonyme GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Calabrian bergamot, Chinese ginger root, Turkish rose essence
Heart: Turkish rose absolute, Somalian frankincense, Oud accord
Base: Indonesian patchouli, Indian papyrus, Laotian benzoin

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x 5ml decant of Rose Anonyme from my stash
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 18th October 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winner was chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen markmontanoblogs

Anabel C.

Boris

Gina Tabasso

The winner will have till Tuesday 27th October 2015 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.

Skeleton Lake India: 3.30m Natural History Film

October 23, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by Portia

Another of these fun and informative mini films from the Atlas Obscuracrew. Today we learn of a lake in the Himilayas with and extraordinary amount of skeletons there. Is it a burial ground, war grave, diseased lake? We find some wonderful theories and perhaps even the truth in this short film brought to us by the most excited person ever, he’s so cute in his enthusiasm.

I hope you enjoy,
Portia xxx

Skeleton Lake | 100 Wonders | Atlas Obscura