WINNER SOTD 23-29 October 2017

October 30, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Portia

Hey there APJ,

Wonderful SOTDs, what excellent variety we all wear and love.

Thank you all for getting involved and being a part of the APJ Frag Family.

SOTD 23-29 October 2017 WINNER

Over 100 responses I will draw a Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
This week:
Bal a Versailles parfum
Eau d’Italie Morn to Dusk
Guerlain L’Heure de Nuit
Neela Vermeire Creations Pichola
Vintage DIOR Miss Dior EdC
Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Sunday.

WINNER: Sue Mills

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with your address please

Scent Diary: 23.10 – 29.10.2017

October 29, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 56 Comments

Portia

This week has been unbelievable APJ crew,

Can’t wait to share our adventures. Seriously, a spectacular week. Fragrance, Travel, Fun and Friends, maybe even a little Romance.

Scent Diary: 23.10 – 29.10.2017

Monday 23:

Jin woke me up with some roughhousing like teenagers. He went to bite my belly as I went to push his shoulder away and I ended up punching him in the eye. Poor baby, he was hurt. Now we are worried that it will look like we have a domestic violence problem while on our Anniversary trip. It’s funny but also worrying.

Running around this morning. Saw the Bank, the Post Office, the Mortgage Broker, talked to real estate guys. Home and packed the bags, had a Molton Brown Energising Seamoss bubble bath, used Madonna Truth or Dare Naked lotion and have spritzed Pierre Guillaume Praline de Santal. It’s a lightly salted woods and bakery scent, like a salted caramel but nuttier and woodsy. Bloody good shit.

While in the bath I used my brand new birthday mug from BFF Kath. Isn’t it gorgeous, from David Jones.

Also, there might have been some fragrant arrivals in the mail. We were a little worried because I’m running low on perfume. Thank goodness these arrived. All vintage. Eau de Gucci, Nina parfum and Miss Dior. YUM

Alright. We are leaving now. I will try and keep you all updated on our journey. You’ll get the best pics on Instagram @portiatbo so maybe we’ll see you there……

BLODDY HELL! Jin mixed up our times and we arrived as the plane was leaving the airport. Poor little fucker was distraught. I jumped online and got us new tickets with points but he was really upset. We went and had some dinner and a few Sojus.

We decided to walk home from the station. Beautiful night, cool but clear, new moon for new beginnings. As we wandered we made a side journey through a beautiful park that has fairy lights in the trees. Jin got down on a knee and gave me a box, all wrapped up. I opened it and it had a Royal Doulton Christmas decoration diamond in it. So beautiful, and a lovely gift. I can imagine us putting it on the tree every year and telling this story. Then came a little white box, inside were two diamond shaped chocolates. By now I had an inkling of what was going to happen. Butterflies buzzing around in my tummy.

Then he gave me a card. Within was a heartfelt and love filled marriage proposal. It was so bloody sweet. As I finished reading it out loud, the end getting a little shaky, I looked up to Jin and there was such light in his eyes. In his hands was an aqua box with white ribbon. It opened to reveal two rose gold, bezel set, 1/2 carat diamond stud earrings, one each to wear once we are married. Exactly as i pictured them in my dreams.

Jin was so excited and nervous, had worked so hard to make this moment, momentous moment, perfect. His heart was in his eyes and I know we love each other deeply, forgivingly and broadly. Of course when the diamonds come from Tiffanys the answer is always YES.

Big day. I’m bushed. A triple chest spritz of Hermès Muguet Porcelaine and I’m off to catch some ZZZZZZZs

Tuesday 24:

Woke up lazily and then started getting the engagement news out to the crew.Some VERY excited people full of love and best wishes. It was a terrific morning.

What better way to celebrate than with fragrance. I decided it had to be bright, uplifting and well named. Anna Sui Live Your Dream. A light filled lily/lily of the valley that seems perfectly chosen on this beautiful sunshiny early morning.

Later, wanting more lily, I overspritzed Cartier Baiser Volé. A drier, less plastic lily than earlier Live You Dreams.

Redox Bath Salts bath and vintage Guerlain Samsara EdT and EdP. I wanted to be serenely fragrant, to float above the travel and arrive still smelling gorgeous.

Arrived at the airport and bumped into our mate Elon who bought Pymble from us. Excellent catch up.

Stooped by Amuse Beauty inside the terminal, lovely selection of niche and beauty.

Wednesday 25:

Woke up at sparrows fart and Jin &I went around the corner for breakfast. It was yum.

The bus came and collected us and a bunch of other Ghan travellers. Our adventure officially begun.

I’m wearing vintage Nina Ricci Fleur de Fleurs parfum. It’s a soft focus floral, brightly aldehydic and not 100 miles from CHANEL No 5, softer though and more curvaceous. I wanted to be old school glam for our train embarkation.

The train is freaking fabulous, like something out of the movies. Wood panelled walls, cosy but brilliantly thought out ensuites, comfy bunk beds. First thing we did was hit the bar and grab an early champagne. PERFECT way to begin our adventure..

First stop Katherine Gorge. We chose the tour gorges boat cruise. Obviously I called it the TOO GORGEOUS Boat Cruise. We had an aboriginal guide who was full of information, history and knew all the creatures habits and their habitat. Unqualified success. We loved it.

Back to the train for dinner in the Dining Car. Food was excellent. We had a lovely couple to dine with, they were witty and charming with excellent anecdotes. We laughed all the way through the meal.

We were bushed so we came to our room and crashed.

Thursday 26:

I woke at 5.30am so jumped into the shower. Today felt so hot and I knew we’d be travelling so I wanted something calming. Fortunately CHANEL No 19 vintage parfum came to the rescue.

Ready early so we went down for breakfast at 6.30am. Our companions were much less interesting this morning. No worries, the food was spectacular.

Our excursion today was the Alice Springs Desert Park. Of all the choices we had I was so excited that we got to go here. It’s a cross between a Botanic Garden and a Captive Breeding Zoo. The only plants we saw were indigenous to the region and we got to see a live, free birds show with a magpie, Tawny Frogmouth, Wagtail, Barn Owl, Black Chested Buzzard and a surprise visit from a Black Kite. Apologies that I forgot to take pics, I was too engrossed.

Alice Springs Telegraph Dinner. This was a fabulous, unexpected event. A true blue Aussie BarBQ under the stars at the starting point for Alice Springs. The telegraph went across Australia from Adelaide to Darwin, there it became a submarine cable to Singapore. This way a telegram could go to England and a reply back to Australia in about a week. A far cry from the previous 6 months out and back on boats. Suddenly Australia was connected to the world in real time. A good analogy is the old snail mail and eMail.

The dinner was beautiful, the whole event like a huge rural wedding. We watched the sunset, ate, drank, chattered and then danced into the night under the moonlit, starry and cloudy sky. Jin and I danced together, with our new friends and the staff; it was terrific. I am smiling so much writing about it and remembering how much fun we had.

Friday 27:

Grabbed a mini of Guerlain L’Heure Bleu a packed it. Today it got a big wearing. In the soaring temperatures L’Heure Bleu managed to keep composed and elegant all day.

Sunrise from the Buffet Car this morning. Food was as good as the view.

Then we were off in a bus on our adventure for the day. Coober Pedi, the home of opals in South Australia. We did so much but I was so busy living I forgot to take photos, so fortunately Jin took some too. I can’t remember which each of us took but suffice to say we share the load.

This is an underground Serbian church, carved from the rock and painted with varnish to make it shine and help keep it intact. We lit a candle for our friends to have health, wealth and satisfaction.

Lunch was in an abandoned opal mine, also an underground, dug out. It’s really cool underground, instead of 40c it was only 23c. So we had a very comfortable lunch. These two girls are Carol and Robin, we spent quite a bit of time hanging out with them, really wonderful girls with great senses of humour.

This is the longest fence in the world. Built to keep the dingoes out of South Australia.

Coming back to the Ghan the train crew had set up afternoon drinks and canapés for us alongside the train. It was wonderful. A couple of the girls joined us and we had a very happy natter. It was a bit windy though so Jin and I took ourselves to the Bar Carriage.

Saturday 28:

This morning was our last Ghan breakfast sunrise. We met a beautiful couple and had an excellent feed.

This is one of our favourite couples, Margie and Iain. The whole trip we chatted and Jin got on particularly well with them.

Here we are with a few of the crew after disembarkation, waiting for taxis. It’s sad to be leaving this crew, we loved them all.

We went and grabbed our hire car, found our hotel and then decided we needed adventure. Jin’s favourite red wine is called Church Block by Wirra Wirra Vineyards. As they are only an hour from our hotel I decided we should pay them a visit. Jin LOVED it. We tasted all their reds from lightest to heaviest. We always have a case of their Church Block at home anyway so we ordered a couple of cases of other things that aren’t available commercially.

We also had some lunch there. It was an excellent afternoon excursion.

Tonight Jin wanted to go to the Adelaide Casino Fortuna Court Buffet. It was fun and yummy. He’s such good company, we talked, planned and ate our way through a couple of hours. Weekends are extra seafood so Jin was in his element. he polished off three plates of prawns alone!

Afterwards we went down to the gaming hall. I have very strict gambling laws on myself and Jin has taken them on also. $20 each is our spend. We can lose it any way we want, Jin prefers the pokies and I love roulette. We watched the roulette for about an hour and then decoded we’d have a go. I lost my chips in 4 goes, Jin had a chip on his lucky number 4 and it came in. BIG WIN. We immediately cashed his chips and he came out with nearly $100.

As we were going to the cashier we ran into Maria and Sam from the Ghan. We were all so excited so we went to have a drink together. It was so much fun that I forgot to take pics, sorry. It’s a bummer, we love these guys and are going to go to Melbourne especially to visit them.

Sunday 29:

Up early. We had breakfast in the hotel. It was pretty awful. No worries, it was close and easy. Tomorrow we’ll eat out.

Wandered around the city a very little bit this morning. Checked out our dinner choice in China Town, looks great. Hey, they have these on a bunch of trees here in Adelaide. So cool.

Hit the Adelaide Art Gallery which is currently having an indigenous artists show called Tarnanthi, which means renewal or beginnings. We started on the tour but the guide was not engaging so we ran away and Jin planted himself in the cafe. I had a question so was sent after another guide. OMG! This guy was clever, informed, passionate and had the most wonderful depth and breadth of knowledge. He was also amusing.

After the gallery we went to the German Hill Town Harndorf, about 30 minutes from the city centre. Wandering among the Sunday sunshiny revellers was fun. We saw loads of great local arts and crafts, had a HUGE lunch of goulash and schnitzel.

I particularly fell in love with this badly photographed lithograph piece but they didn’t have an unframed one. BUM!

We came home, had a nana nap and then met our Ghan girlfriend Carol for dinner. We took her for Korean Bar B Q, which she loved. We had a ball, she’s great company. Food and conversation were flowing beautifully. This is a terrible photo of her, sorry Carol.

So what’s happening in your world? Did you do anything Fragrant, Fun, Friends, Family or even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx

Saturday Question: Serge Lutens, Guerlain or Amouage?

October 28, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 101 Comments

Portia

Hello Fellow Fumies,

Every Saturday we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a $10 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Friday.

Last Weeks Winner: Only 74 Responses

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with the eMail you’d like me to send your Gift Card to.

Saturday Question: Serge Lutens, Guerlain or Amouage?

Three of the most revered houses in the Mass-tige line up. Most large department stores have a pretty good line up of all of them with a counter to themselves. Most perfumistas have a couple or a few from each of these houses and almost all of us lament the dumbing down of their products. They all have though inspired, frightened, delighted and made us question ourselves at different times in our journey.

This answer is just for today. You can change your mind at many time and no one will think twice about it. We are perfumistas, the most mercurial herd on earth.

Serge Lutens was the defining change for many perfumistas. The perfumes that really took us and shook use by the neck. Fragrances that changed the way the world smells perfume and one of the earliest radical niche brands. This awesome collection creative directed by one of perfumes most mythical creatures, Serge Lutens himself.

Guerlain has the history and though now owned by LVMH have the longest lineage. They also have some of the best stories focused around their products. Marketing jargon that has now become indelibly linked to out psyches and the way we smell the scents. The story of the Guerlain perfumers as interesting as the products.

Amouage also has a stellar history. The King of Oman wanting his country to again be the centre of the world for the best smelling perfumes, known for exquisite ingredients and a Middle Eastern/Asian focus that had only been dabbled in before. Suddenly the East, the real scents of the East, were being made available to the wealthy and perfumistas the world over.

My Answer:

Today I choose Guerlain. It has been with me since my Mum and some of her friends wore Shalimar in my childhood. The first perfume I bought her was Samsara.
My own deep love for Shalimar, Mitsouko, L’Heure Bleu and even many of the newer releases like Paris to Moscow, Mahora, AA Lys Soleia, Champs Elysees, Vega, Terracotta and even the current Mon Guerlain.
If I had to choose only one fragrance house it would probably be Guerlain but PLEASE don’t make me.

My Saturday Question to you is: Serge Lutens, Guerlain or Amouage and Why?

Sepia by Mandy Aftel for Aftelier Perfumes 2012

October 27, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Portia

Hey Hey Indie Lovers,

You probably already know the name Mandy Aftel. She writes books, creates perfumes, teaches natural perfumery, has a museum of perfume and is a general, all round great gal. The thing is, after the initial fanfare of a fragrance launch things go a bit quiet on the blog front for Indie perfumers. They don’t have enormous budgets and marketing teams, mostly they do it themselves with a couple of key helpers. Since I am wearing Sepia today I thought it might be a good time to remind you all about its beauty.

Sepia by Aftelier Perfumes 2012

Sepia by Mandy Aftel

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Blood cedarwood, Yellow mandarin, Pink grapefruit
Heart: Pink lotus, Strawberry, Jasminum grandiflorum, Cocoa, Coffee
Base: Tobacco blossom, Oud, Indole, Ambergris, Cepes (mushroom), Labdanum

Today’s review is from a bottle I paid retail for after falling madly in love with a sample Mandy sent me.

Sepia is a bit of a blockbuster on my skin. It is a warm and dusty, floral and powdery, woody, smoky, dry and sere fragrance. So much light and shade. It smells to me like rural Australia. I can close my eyes and smell the unbroken expanses of sun beaten, dessicated red-earth desert where the properties are 1000’s of square kilometers with sheep, wheat and cattle. Stark sun and shade, the dappling of eucalyptus beside a dam or creek.

PDI

Many of the smaller towns have been deserted in the last 50 years and stand silent, crumbling, with only their stone chimneys left like a mouth full of broken teeth. Our croplands have been bought by the big farming companies, overseas investors and the mining groups. Mum and Dad farms are becoming the rarity. Sepia is our Australian outback. A dream of how the perfect Australian outback was.

It is also lovely, wearable and surprisingly strong for a scent sold as a watercolour wash. After 3 hours it starts to smelling like attics and bookstores Sepia then warms and dirties towards dry down and remains as a skin scent remnant for hours.

PDI

From Aftelier Perfumes website;
Dry woods: Sepia is a tint, a watercolor wash, an atmosphere, a memory

Further reading PerfumeShrine and TheAlembicatedGenie
Aftelier Perfumes has samples from $7

Are you a Mandy fan like me?
Portia xx

Cotton Musk by Ramon Monegal 2011

October 26, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Portia

Hi there Fellow Fumies,

Ramon Monegal has been in his own business in Spain for 10 years, before that he worked for and then was in charge Myurgia and later Puig. He seemed to make a huge splash in the world frag markets in 2012 and for the next couple of years but lately I hear less and less about his house. It’s a shame because I really love his scents, the bottles and his whole aesthetic. Even todays offering of Cotton Musk, while being almost polar opposite to the fragrances I crave most, still wows me with its ethereal beauty.

Cotton Musk by Ramon Monegal 2011

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Ward rose, Gardenia, Frankincense, Vetiver, Madagascan vanilla, White musk

I bought my decant that I’m reviewing from on Surrender To Chance recently and it arrived yesterday. I cap sniffed about five scents and though not my personal style there was something interesting about Cotton Musk so that’s the one I spritzed.

Musk, vetiver and rose open the show, they smell sharp and chemical originally, like when you accidentally get a heavily scented shower gel in your mouth while bathing. It only lasts a few seconds before everything gets fluffy, soft and downy. Suddenly I am floating in a cartoon cloud all warm and cozy. The smell of fresh bedlinen in the morning after your first sleep in the cool of autumn, it still smells freshly washed and your body is warm and you have that safe feeling of home.

Cotton Musk Ramon Monegal jingdianjiaju2 minimalist bedroom-7 Flickr Flickr

Cotton Musk is all this but surprisingly it doesn’t feel friendly. There is a cool austerity that reigns through the heart and I think it’s the vetiver and incense providing a grounding point to stop the whole fragrance floating off into space. Plush but sober, it’s an interesting dichotomy but Ramon Monegal does it with such finesse. Really amazing is such a sheer fragrance.

The bouquet seems fairly space age and even as the vanilla moves through to a more prominent position it doesn’t warm or humanise Cotton Musk. As the fragrance sinks into your skin though it does grow from being a walk into a recently used laundry back to being the morning of an autumn sleep in clean sheets. With different pieces of the puzzle sitting forward it is quite a feat to get me thinking the same cozy thoughts I had in the opening. Bravo Mr Monegal.

Cotton Musk Ramon Monegal Crumpled-Bed-Linen-Sheets-Bedsheets maxPixel
PDI

Further reading: EauMG and Olfactoria’s Travels
LuckyScent has $185/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $5/ml

Do you like white musks in full laundry mode? Could this be your gateway?
Portia xx

Aria in F# Parfum by Christi Meshell for House of Matriarch 2017

October 25, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Erica Golding

Hello to everyone out there in the world of fragrance!

Recently, I was thrilled to witness the live creation of a 99% natural perfume, note by note, learning excitedly from every detail shared. The experience was about an hour and it just flew by, absolutely enthralling – I was hypnotized and filled with awe! Christi Meshell graced the famous group Facebook Fragrance Friends with the honor of this masterfully blended treasure, with members voting on their favorite materials that were then blended right before our eyes:

Aria in F# Parfum by House of Matriarch 2017

Aria in F# Parfum by Christi Meshell

Fragrantica

My notes below may not be perfectly accurate, but from what I recorded during the live event, Aria in F# is composed of:

Sandalwood Mysore (vintage and modern)
Amber accord
Styrax
Myrrh
Vanilla
Frankincense
Whiskey accord
Beeswax
Patchouli
Benzoin
Rose
Rooibos Tea
Jasmine sambac
Cinnamon (a non-skin-irritating variety)
Vetiver
Oakmoss
Ambergris tincture
Balsam fir
Leather accord
Orange blossom
Petitgrain
Mandarin orange
Ambrette seed
Musk
Gaiac wood
Black currant
Tonka bean
Rosewood
Tuberose absolute
Carnation
Pink pepper
Butter
Cocoa
Mimosa
Ylang ylang

The composition was built on a generous aliquot of vintage Mysore sandalwood as well as an equal volume of modern sandalwood. This genuine aroma is not super recognizable if you haven’t experienced it before. It has a powdery delicacy that sets it apart from the creamy, round sandalwood notes common in modern perfumery. After that, the materials that followed just had my heart leaping and aching with anticipation. The notes that I have listed at the end of this review speak to Christi’s dreamscape of materials and her gift of turning fantasy into reality.

WikiMedia

As for my personal impressions of this parfum, Aria in F# is very complex, but fascinatingly, resonates within a tight wavelength. For me, if Aria in F# was music, it would be a heartachingly harmonious strings orchestra. When my fragrance synesthesia associates a perfume with violins and cellos, it’s always a good omen! At the opening, I sense peaceful precious woods with a flashing, ethereal morning dew of rose, jasmine, and orange blossom. There is only one drop of carnation absolute in this parfum, but other notes lift and enhance and intensify this aroma such that I would go so far as to say that carnation features dominantly in this fragrance. Resins, amber, and incense are important to the blend, but they are uncharacteristically effervescent.

Overall, the parfum is deceivingly subtle on my skin, revealing hidden new facets with every anointment, and it lasts far longer than expected – especially for an almost purely natural work of art. I love this more every time I wear it, it’s fascinatingly passionate and tender.

PDI

I love how perfumers have been connecting with their fans to create semi-bespoke scents like this. Have you tried Aria in F#, or perhaps The Longing, or Destrier, or any of the other House of Matriarch fan collaborations? Which perfumer do you wish would create a fantasy perfume just for you?

House of Matriarch samples start at $22

Until next time, stay fragrant!
Love and light,
-Erica

First In Fragrance: Visiting Aus Liebe Zum Duft, Bruchsal, Germany

October 24, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 29 Comments

Val the Cookie Queen

Hey all you APJ Friends!

As you may or may not have gathered from my last post, I took off to Bruchsal, Germany with my husband (Chris) last week. I have wanted to visit ALZD/First in Fragrance (FiF) for years. So Chris and I made a deal. We would drive up there for three days, delivering my cookies in Salzburg on the way. One day perfume, one day downhill biking and hiking, one day Munich.

First In Fragrance

Visiting Aus Liebe Zum Duft, Bruchsal, Germany

ALZD/FiF was founded by Georg R Wuchsa in the year 2000. Hop over to the website First In Fragrance and you can read the history behind it all. I would be willing to bet that many of us have ordered, and still order fragrance samples from here. There is no better way to be able to try all of the hundreds of perfumes.

Filling Samples – How Does It Work?

There are four lovely ladies filling samples non-stop. All the samples are decanted from the original bottles. The sample is exactly what comes in the bottle. (I dunno if I am the only one to have noticed that sometimes carded samples do not smell the same as the perfume in the bottles.)

Of course many of the perfume houses are so small that they don´t do official samples anyway. There are around 2000, yep, two thousand, bottles to chose from. As the ladies look at the orders, they grab the bottles from the shelves and put them on a tray. Then back to the desk to fill the requested samples.
After completing several orders at once they return the bottles to their places, or at least that is the idea!! The orders are then beautifully packaged along with maybe some sweets, or little toys, perfumed feathers, and other little goodies. Making it a joy for anyone to receive, whether a small order or a big one. The girls fill at least 3000 samples a week.

ALZD/FiF now has a a beautiful range of cosmetics, and the Frederic Malle and Serge Lutens lines have recently been introduced. ALZD is now the online partner of the Austrian company http://www.naegelestrubell.at .

What did I buy? Travel sizes of Malle´s Iris Powder for me (I wish I had bought a big bottle, it´s divine), Dries Van Noten for the Blondeswunder, Monsieur for my personal trainer (He´s moving on from his 6 euro cologne ….!) and a BIG bottle of Portrait of a Lady for me. Finally. Chris came home with a bottle of Nasomatto´s Black Afgano. After getting over the initial disappointment of not being able to smoke it, he was quite happy. He never wears scent, but a few drops of this suits him really well. I have forbidden him to use more than half a spray at any one time. Two beautiful Diptyque candles joined the bag of goodies too.

It was an absolutely fabulous day. They have two canine noses, but only one was in the house. Beate Humbert, Georg´s right hand woman, has been with the company since day one. She took us through everything, from the offices, to the workplace and into the warehouse. Brilliant. Her son works there too, and it was their dog, Gatsby that was there. Chris split with him and took him for a walk, or perhaps the dog took him!

A million thanks to the whole ALZD crew it was such a brilliant day.

Following are pics, in no particular order. Chris took his camera and snapped lots of stuff. Had it been left to me you´d have had nothing. I suck at pics when I have to take them. Ask Portia.

Hallowe’en Bussis
CQ

SOTD 23-29 October 2017

October 23, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 108 Comments

Portia

Hi APJ,

I see these SOTD (Scent Of The Day) threads all the time on Facebook and they are really good conversation generators.

SOTD 23-29 October 2017

The idea is you’ll chime in through the week with whatever scent you are wearing. You don’t need to be super knowledgable, have high faluting tastes or be a published author to comment. Just tell us what fragrance you’re wearing, smelling, buying etc.

You probably won’t have time to write every scent, every spritz but whenever you feel the mood take you share your current spritz and a few things about it. Maybe you love/loathe it, want it, are excited by the notes/bottle/SA who sold it: WHATEVER! As always here at APJ, taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Last Weeks Winner: FIRST WEEK!

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with the eMail you’d like me to send your Gift Card to.

Go To It Crew.
Portia xxx

WINNER SOTD 16-22 October 2017

October 23, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Portia

Woo Hoo APJ,

This idea has been a winner. So excited to be reading what you guys are wearing all week. It also reminds me to go look out some of my neglected frag babies that you mention. Thank you all for getting involved and being a part of the APJ Frag Family.

SOTD 23-29 October 2017 WINNER

Over 100 responses I will draw a Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
This week:
Amouage Dia Parfum
DIOR Mitzah
Miller et Barter A Quiet Morning
Neela Vermeire Creations Rahele
Vintage CHANEL No 19 EdC
Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Sunday.

WINNER: MaggieCat

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with your address please

Scent Diary: 16.10 – 22.10.2017

October 22, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Portia

Hey Hey All,

In the week before a holiday I am seriously busy trying get everything ship shape. We did manage to have a life, eat out, wear a bunch of fragrances but I’m only 70% concentrating on living. The rest of my head is organising and planning, making lists and ticking things off.

Scent Diary: 16.10 – 22.10.2017

Monday 16:

Monday morning and my bladder woke me a couple of hours early. He He he he. I’m now wide awake so doing FaceBook, Australian Perfume Junkies and some other computer updates/comments/posts. It’s so calm at this time of morning I feel like more work gets done due to lack of distraction.

A couple of cheeky spritzes of the new DIOR PrivéeJasmine de Anglais from a decant. It’s a very pretty white floral, clean and uncomplicated. Reminds me of something else that I can’t put my finger on exactly, maybe an Annick Goutal?

Jin and I had our first Real Estate guys in to look over the apartment. They were very interested in the place but think we will not see as much for it as we hoped in the current market. Still, the money is not to be sneezed at. Apparently the market in our area is stabilising and maybe even dropping a little. That’s cool. Seeing another guy tomorrow, let’s wait for his appraisal.

Lunch at our favourite cafe. We shared a Burger with the Lot and some Chicken Salt & Vinegar Hot Chips. Delicious. Half each was exactly enough, we even left some chips on our plates.

Had a ONE HOUR LONG bubble bath in Radox Bath Salts and Bath and Body Works Rainkissed Leaves, like standing in a sprint rain shower in the garden.

Night Guerlain Champs Elysees EdP. Fruity violets, mimosa and dewy lilac fluffed up with powder. Perfect for writing my Trivia Q&A.

Bed The Different Company Oriental Lounge

Tuesday 17:

Scott came over for office day today. There was hardly anything to do so we chatted, had lunch with Jin and pottered around. It was a really no sweat, fun day.

Jin’s knee has turned to shit. Poor little bastard has done some ligament damage at work. He’s not a happy camper but we are keeping it iced and resting him as much as possible.

Super lavish bubble bath in La Chasse aux Papillons L`Artisan Parfumeur. Madonna Truth or Dare lotion and I can’t bloody remember what fragrance I wore. Sorry.

Diptyque 34 for Bed

Wednesday 18:

TRIVIA Q&A

Jin’s Korean Chicken Curry left overs for lunch. YUM! On toast! Added peas, so AUSSIE! SHHHH Don’t tell him.

Heeley Cuir Pleine Fleur, dry, velvety soft leather. So fricken luxurious.

Dinner with Jin who ordered enough for four people. Dooley’s Catholic Club in Lidcombe where Jin worked for a couple of years. Everyone was so happy to see him and there were shouts from the kitchen. Food was delicious. We ate most of it too. YUMMM

Jin was given a porcelain pendant from Neela Vermeire. It hung in his wardrobe until he got a new car. Now his car smells of Neela Vermeire Creations Bombay Bling. It’s very freaking cool. See him peeking in the rear view mirror, so cute.

Thursday 19:

Woke up to a Perfume delivery. We recently found a site selling 1 litre demijohns of Tom Ford. I created a split among the Aussie Fragrance Network crew, 900ml sold in under 24 hours. Woo Hoo!

BUT the Window Fix guy had left a card. GRRRR! Sure I’d been sleeping but a couple of good knocks on the door or buzzing the buzzer would have had me ready for action. Now I have to pay for him to come again. So bloody annoying.

It’s a Niki de Saint Phalle kinda day. Sometimes only a chypre will do.

I am so sad today. Keep having fits of tears. Why is the world going to hell? How can the Church and Politicians say they are for us, the people, then not cure poverty or end war? How are there kids growing up illiterate in 2017? Why is Health Care so ridiculously expensive? How did business get to rule us so effectively? Why do I have to ask 26 million people if Jin and I can be married?
If I feel like this, one of lifes lucky ones. How bad must it feel for the less lucky?
Helpless is how I feel, helpless to create change in a world that seems to have gone bad.

For my bath I used Boucheron Trouble, Madonna Truth or Dare lotion and I’m spritzing myself with Le Galion Sang Blue. As close to an eighties menswear fragrance as is possible in 2017, yet curiously modern. Got a lovely compliment from one of the barmen as he hugged me goodbye, “You smell so good”

Bedtime tonight? Bal a Versialles from my 15ml vintage parfum bottle. SO GOOD!

Friday 20:

Woke up this morning to the long awaited sound of rain. We have been bone dry all through winter and spring, this is a much needed drenching. I love the sound of medium level driving rain that sounds like it can keep the level up for hours, especially as I wake up in my own time, curled up warm and safe in bed under my duvet. Wonderful way to wake.

Morning spritz Histoires de Parfums Ambre 114. Simple crunchy amber, thick and luscious.

Chained myself to the computer and did Trivia Q&A and Blog Posts,. Drank LOADS of tea & coffee. Organised some giveaway stuff and generally made some headway with the list of to dos.

Had a spectacular order from Surrender To Chance arrive. Some fabulously interesting stuff to be reviewing and wearing. Woo Hoo! Now I have about 4 fragrances spritzed on different points of my body. Interestingly Ramon Monegals Cotton Musk seems to be the dominant player, who knew a white musk could be so insistent?

It’s late, the computer is going fuzzy as I try to read and blog. G’Night all. Radox Bath, then bed.

Saturday 21:

Bloody Hell! I thought after my bath, “I’ll just watch one episode of the Good Wife to wind down.” It’s now late and I’m spritzing Phaedon Tabac Rouge from a decant to sleep. Night.

Woke up to the Jehovah’s Witnesses buzzing my apartment block. Our intercom doesn’t let me hear what people are saying so I let them in, thinking it was a delivery. I told them that the JWs stole my sister and she won’t talk to me. Rang me the night before her wedding to tell me she was getting married but didn’t want me to attend. For the first time that I’ve told them this story they seemed genuinely moved, they apologised. It was a very nice moment but I still sent them on their way, nicely though.

Here are the boys at their favourite hour, feeding time.

In the saddle again early to get the blog organised.

We leave on Monday for a Ghan and Indian Pacific trip. Our six year anniversary present to ourselves. Neither Jin nor I are perfect. We are slobbish, sometimes grumpy, manipulative, unhearing or aggressive for no reason and we are full of human frailty. I’m really happy we’ve been able to navigate six years, there’s no promise of a happy ever after but I’ll gladly take a comfortable right now.

Covered in a bunch of fragrances and reviewing. I love this, so fun.

Kath and Scott joined Jin and I for dinner tonight. We had Chinese takeaway, so obviously I was thrilled. Loads of laughs and chattering away on topics from politics and religion through to fragrance, work, lives and families. It was such a fun night I completely forgot to take pics, sorry. Kath gave me this one of our food.

Back at the computer now blogging. FULL and fragrant. Good day.

Sunday 22:

Today I got a postcard from Val the Cookie Queen. What a freaking great surprise. Busses = kisses in Austrian

Chinese Reheats. Is there any better consumable anywhere? Throw it all into a saucepan together with some oil and water and mix it up. DE LIC IOUS!

Spritzed lavishly with Guerlain Champs Elysees tonight. I smell freaking gorgeous.

Worked tonight. Varun gave me a beautiful necklace for my birthday so I wore it this week. Isn’t it fabulous?

How was your week? Please share some things that went on: family, food, fun or fragrance. We love to read about your weeks too.
Portia xx