La Selle by Jerome Epinette for Byredo 2016

September 4, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Portia

Hey Ultra Rich Perfumistas,

These babies are expensive. So expensive my mind is having trouble grasping it. US$18.33/ml. Yes, you read that right. PER MIL.

Yes, I know they’re extrait but seriously, that is aspirational pricing out of this world. For the same price as 30ml of La Selle I can buy 2 x 100ml Serge Lutens with enough spare to buy a 7.5ml Byredo Roll On Oil in Mojave Ghost. So from a price point perspective they have set the bar extremely high, my expectations for performance, beauty and wit are through the roof.

La Selle by Byredo 2016

La Selle by Jerome Epinette

La Selle Byredo Fragrantica Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Black tea, cashmere
Heart: Leather, tobacco leaf
Base: Birch, oakmoss

Opening is that 21st century niche woodsy scent with the slight throat drying bite of tea. Within a minute the leather has made itself known and the familiar birch component, that dark charred wood and sweat smell, comes forth. La Selle keeps it friendly and welcoming and even the most birch averse will not be totally overwhelmed. Not listed but I smell honey and beeswax, there also is a soft fruitiness like banana peel.

La Selle is all luxury. If this is saddle leather it has never been on a horse and never known a horsemans bum. It has also been sitting in the shop for a decade because that new leather saddlery smell is gone leaving much more of the waxy resins and the fabric & stuffing.

PDI

La Selle is to die for. I have three large spritzes on my arm and it is sheer but surprisingly insistent. I am not allowed to forget that I’m wearing it. I get busy and halfway through a process it comes back and reminds me I’m wearing La Selle. It seems very sweetly resinous but I can’t pinpoint which ones. Also I’ve smelled the dry down, or very similar before, but I can’t bloody well remember where. It hangs around softly pulsing into tomorrow, dry but sweet, smooth and lightly creamy.

Aha! Light bulb moment. La Selle’s dry down is similar to Guerlain Samsara in dry down. Not exactly the same but boy are they related.

If I wore a single fragrance daily and had $550 to spend on 30ml of fragrance (about two to three months if I wear it exclusively everyday) then I would be seriously considering a purchase here. I’m not that guy though. Actually I’m being a bit silly. A CHANEL 15ml of No 22 is $225 currently so La Selle is exactly double that, I wouldn’t bat an eye at paying that for No 22 and I honestly think I’d get more wear from the Byredo.

PDI

Further reading: Colognoisseur
LuckyScent has $550/30ml and Samples

Would you pay that money for something spectacular?
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 28.8 – 3.9.2017

September 3, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

Portia

Hey Fumie Family,

Some amazing fragrances and friends this week. As always we are chock block full of fun stuff but it has also been tempered by a LOT of time at the computer organising to be away in India for two weeks. All the Trivia Q&A needed to be written and the blog pre-arranged and editing in the Contributors, who all worked really hard to get their months pieces in on time (THANKS GANG!!).

Scent Diary: 28.8 – 3.9.2017

Monday 28:

It’s 12.30am and I am watching The Defenders on Netflix. I should be asleep but am totally engrossed. He He he. Watched the last 3 eps tonight but I want MORE!! It is so good.

Bedtime now 3am. Spritzing Queen by Queen Latifah. Citrus, booze, vanilla and resins. It is thick and ropey with a meaty patchouli.

Woke up late to a soft vanilla wash of scent and jumped up to walk and feed the dogs. On our wander we found a brand new greyhound living in an apartment a block away. I was chatting to him but our dogs said a hurried hello and then their heads were snuffling something interesting on the ground. I love that more people are realising greyhounds are perfect apartment pets.

Today is dedicated to getting as much APJ blog stuff ready as possible so I can start writing my Trivia Q&A for the two weeks I’ll be in India.

Jin and I went for Yum Cha this morning and the rest of my day was spent computer bound. So much done. It’s looking good.

Wafting some vintage Bal a Versailles parfum on my neck. Smells great.

My head is not co-operating tonight. Q&A goes very slowly.

Tuesday 29:

2am all Trivia done and now I’m going to have a Boucheron Trouble bubble bath followed by a mega spritz of the Boucheron Trouble EdP. Then I’m going to bed.

You won’t believe this. woke up this morning and my OTHER foot is sore. Must have kicked the wall in my sleep. OUCHIE WaWa. I’ll walk it out today and hopefully everything will be good. Enjoying Trouble so much I spritzed it again.

Scott and I did office work and running around today. It was a full, fun day.

Watched Green Lantern again. Vintage Miss Dior EdT for bed. MMMMMMM

Wednesday 30:

What an incredibly beautiful morning. Sun is shining and it feels like a perfect spring day. I’m about to feed and walk the dogs then today will be spent at the computer organising APJ and some Trivia Q&A.

After lunch decided I needed something a bit rich and woodsy so Guerlain Santal Royal got a triple spritz to the chest. Exactly what I was looking for. A sweet, smooth, creamy wood/rose/oud combo.

It was one of my BFFs birthdays this week, Phil. So three of us got together to celebrate. We went to my favourite Chinese in Sydney Lui Rose in Concord. It was a special night with champagne, laughs, food and presents. Happy Birthday Phil! You’re amazing.

Tried to do some Trivia Q&A work but my mind wasn’t having any of it so Parfum d’Empire Equistrius and bed.

Thursday 31:

Tina came over this morning and we walked the dogs together.

Then we had fresh bakes scones with passionfruit lemon curd, raspberry jam or honey and fresh whipped cream. Tea was a blend of Peppermint Green Tea created by Suzanne R Banks. Perfect last day of winter fare.

You can see in the left of the photo that the Hawthorn is blooming currently. The ,local council decided it was best to sheer 6 feet of it just before it flowered, assholes. I grabbed these branches and brought them home where they are scenting the room a soft focus green white floral. Very pretty.

We then did some blog writing team work which was really interesting to smell how differently our skins make scent smell. Tina makes perfumes greener, fresher and more stark, my skin amps sweet and creaminess. Very interesting morning. We are thinking of making it a regular thing because it’s nice to read both sides.

We had a look at the new Serge Lutens 100ml bottle. It’s quite snazzy and feels great in my hand. Tina said it was a little big for left hand spritzing but right hand is cool. So Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin was my fragrance this evening. Cherry roses with a peppery zing and a creamy patchouli/honeyed backbeat.

Friday 1:

First day of spring. Walking the dogs was heavenly this morning in 17C sunshine. Wearing Penhaligon’s Ostara to greet the new season.

TRIVIA Q&A. All Day. Finished one weeks set of Q&A today.

After my bath I spritzed a new-to-me bottle of Annick Goutal Encens Flamboyant. WOWSA! What a cool and smoky incense, it even has a dusty Asian hill temple vibe. Officially blown away. Thanks MB.

Jin brought home Korean Fried Chicken with chilli and wasabi dipping sauces. It was a FEAST!

Tonight I finished a second set of Trivia Q&A, just the main body of the game, not the games and the Jackpots are all finished. Feeling like stuff is getting done.

For bed I’m wearing vintage Bal a Versailles parfum. Yep, I smell like a very luscious and expensive courtesan. YUMMY!

Saturday 2:

Woke up before the alarm. I love that blissful feeling of rising from sleep like a submarine. It’s a Neela Vermeire Creations Rahele kinda day. Its cool fresh flowers juxtapose perfectly against the spices and woods, and then all overlaid with large helpings of osmanthus. Stellar.

4.30pm still TRIVIA Q&A. I’ve been sitting at this damn desk for so long it feels like I’m growing into it. I’m getting up and taking the dogs for a wee.

Jin went to work tonight and there’s almost no food in the house so I’m getting Chinese Take Away from around the corner. As always I ordered enough for 5 people so we can have leftovers!

Was looking for Lolita Lempicka EdP to wear for me Chinese Food Run but came across Annick Goutal Grand Amour first and felt the need to spritz it instead. MMMMMMMM

Tonight I’m concentrating on getting the APJ Blog Posts finalised. Busy day tomorrow and then I only have Monday afternoon/evening to get stuff done.

Sunday 3:

It’s late. I’ve stopped functioning and have been staring at the computer for about 20 minutes without adding any content. Spritzing vintage Guerlain Mitsouko parfum and bed. Night. XX

Went for a pedi with my BFF Kath and bumped into my girlfriend Bec at the jewellery store she is managing (Currently single and ready to meet the man of her dreams. Do I have any well heeled straight male readers looking for a trophy bride with smarts?).
Yes, I bought a couple of pairs of earrings, they are so outlandish I couldn’t walk past.

Then it was Father’s Day so we went and celebrated her Dad, who is also mine via adoption. Here’s Mum Waples and I after our Creme Brûlée that jane made. we are both on a sugar high, he he he.

Work tonight at Austral Bowling Club with Anna-Maria and her family playing. Guess what? They won the $1,000 JACKPOT!

Today I wore Hermès Le Jardin de Monsieur Li. That citrus/white flower given extra zing with mint and a soft overlay of petrochemicals. Sounds awful but it is the perfect spring scent, fits the day beautifully.

OK, enough about me. How was your week? Do anything interesting or fun? Buy or try any new fragrances? Wear some of your faves? How about Father’s Day, did you do something special?
Please tell us all in the comments. We’re dying to know what happened for you.

Portia xx

Australian Tea Towel + Mixed Samples GIVEAWAY WINNER

September 3, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Portia

OOOPSIE! APJ!
I forgot to draw.

Here it is. Sorry it’s late.

Australian Tea Towel + Mixed Samples GIVEAWAY WINNER

Samples include:
DIOR Privée: Oud Ispahan
DSH Perfumes: Vanille Tonique
Yves Saint Laurent: vintage Y parfum
Annick Goutal: Heure Exquise
Victoria Minya: Hedonist
Bogue: MAAI
CHANEL: vintage Cuir de Russie EdT
Guerlain: Jicky PdT
Armani Prive: Cuir Noir
IUNX: Eau Blanche
Abdes Salaam: Ambergris Tincture

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Australian Tea Towel
A bunch of 11 samples & decants (Mainstream, Indie & Niche most around 1/2 full)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Wednesday 30th August 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winner was chosen by random.org

Alen Miron

The winner will have till Wednesday 6th September 2017 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

Saturday Question: Respritz Happiness

September 2, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 48 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.

Saturday Question: Respritz Happiness

As you may know I have a very low level depression problem. It’s 98% of the time not even noticeable, just a quiet background hum of dis-ease or dis-quiet. After a childhood spent in therapy of one sort or another I have a few really simple coping mechanisms for the other 2% of the time. My depression is low level and though it can be sharply bleak and awful it’s usually caught at spiral stage. I’m not offering medical advice, just an insight into how my mind works.

One is cleaning. I get up and clean something, anything. It could be the kitchen bench, my bathroom mirror and vanity, grab the vacuum. Literally any cleaning. It derails my depression spiral and having done something positive and action based I’m usually back on track.

After Mum died I was finding it hard to even move off the couch or bed. The doctor said to me that if I could just get up and clean my teeth in the morning and before I went to bed at night then that would be a day not lost. Amazingly this small 2 minute moment of self care and hygiene would snap me out of my funk.

Anyway, I also discovered that spritzing perfume is also a magical depression derailer. A big old spritz of something I love or even better something new will take my mind away from the ill humours and put me onto a positively thoughtful track. It completely interrupts my sinking and helps me rise above.

Here are a couple of my favourite Respritz Happiness scents:

Fragrantica

Cacarel Liberté

Yeah, I talk about this one a lot. That zingy orange fizzy pop over a white musk/clean patchouli base is no great masterpiece but it does give me a joyful lift every time. I have hoarded a bunch of it for just such occasions but I also wear it when I’m happy.

Fragrantica

Serge Lutens Five O`Clock Au Gingembre

The opening spicy ginger tea makes me smile every time. There’s something totally engulfing about it that sends my mind on the happiest of neural paths. It remains pretty through the heart and base but it’s the opening that gets me every time.

Fragrantica

Guerlain Les Voyages Olfactifs 01 Paris-Moscow

SWEET! Zingy fruit and vanilla over a soft woodsy backdrop with a hint of white flowers. Paris-Moscow is so far removed from what I usually wear that it snaps me to attention. Very sadly I never bought a new bottle, thinking I had time, and then it was gone. Luckily I did find a partial bottle and I have some decants. Obviously I can’t spritz with abandon but there’s enough for now.

My Saturday Question to you is:

Who among you does this? Is it just me or do others among us use fragrance for more than just personal scenting? What fragrances do you use?

Maravilla by Daniela (Roche) Andrier for Bulgari 2014

September 1, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Portia

Hey Hey APJ,

I remember being in Paris the week these were released and they had a big stand in Galleries Lafayette and about six spritzers placed strategically. It was all very enticing and I did like a couple of the fragrances. Had they been around the €180 mark or less I would have bought at least one bottle but they were well over that and I’d already spent quite a lot of my ready cash. Since then though I have wished that I’d bought one of those space age bottles, just to have it in my collection.

Maravilla by Bulgari 2014

Maravilla by Daniela (Roche) Andrier

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Peach, jasmine, patchouli, Italian lemon, orange blossom

To start with I don’t think perfumistas are this ranges market. Certainly not this scent in the range anyway. I know there are a wide audience for this kind of scent and it’s pretty much what I smell 30 something shopgirls on their lunch break wafting. Fruity and sweetened with sugar crystals.

Fresh Fruit Splash Falling Water Orange PDI

What we have here is a fresh, fruity, lightly aquatic melange that is perky and quite frisky. It’s airy and a little dewy. The citrus is very soft focus and the very faint peach smells a little canned. There’s an amorphous white flower, completely cleaned of all indole and depth and the patchouli does not even register for me.

Maravilla would not be out of place in the Tocca range. They have a fairly similar line at about one fifth the cost or less. I think what you might be paying for here is a smoother blend and the fabulous bottle. A low key pretty perfume that is totally inoffensive to start and falls away to a soft focus white musk laundry scent to finish. Longevity is pretty good, you’ll continue to pump soft gouts of clean citrus clothes till work is finished.

WikiMedia

Harrods has £215/100ml (UK Delivery Only)
Some discounters now have it too.

What is one of your didn’t buy regrets?
Portia xx

Poivre by Michel Morsetti for Caron 1954

August 31, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Portia

Hey there APJ,

Today we are going old school. Caron has long been lauded as a house to revere. Their Tabac blond vintage extrait is enough to give even the most hardcore perfumista Stendahl Syndrome. I have quite a bit of their vintage Bellodgia and Infini in all forms, Nocturnes, Narcisse Noir, Parfum Sacre, Nuit de Noel and a sprinkling of others in samples and decants. There is even an old extrait bottle that has lost its label and I’ve given up deciding what it is and just wear it for the absolute pleasure it brings.

Poivre by Caron 1954

Poivre by Michel Morsetti

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Clove, Pepper, Red pepper
Heart: Carnation, Rose, Ylang-ylang
Base: Oakmoss, Opoponax, Sandalwood, Vetiver

Pepper and clove, zingy, dry, hot, smoky and ticklish in the back of my throat. It’s like fresh cracked black pepper and cloves. The bottle even looks like one of those clove studded oranges Mum would put in the bathroom over Christmas to give a spice/clean smell. The opening is big and surprising. Did you ever smoke those clove cigarettes? A bit like that but with added dryness.

This huge fanfare doesn’t stay at that level for long, maybe two minutes and then we start to smell a lessening in intensity and in swirls a mildly creamy ylang. It’s such a counterpoint to what comes before and really gives a smoothness, slightly banana peel and a little waxy. The rose and carnation are so much part of the clove that I’m finding real difficulty in telling them apart. Though the fragrance intensity has lessened still we have a fully fragrant spice bomb.

Poivre Caron Parfumo Parfumo

Even hours and hours later I still have cloves that are now lightly tempered by resins and a hint of dry grass. Longevity is out of this world and though not hugely projecting it still leaves a very interesting scent train (I can smell Poivre in the room when I walk out and back in again).

Further reading: Yesterday’s Perfume and Non Blonde
I bought my sample from Surrender To Chance but they don’t seem to have it anymore.

Do you have anything absolutely precious in your sample kit that you know once it’s gone you’ll never have again?
Portia xx

Yin & Ylang by Laurie Erickson for Sonoma Scent Studio 2014

August 30, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Erica Golding

Hello fragrance junkies all over the world!
It’s summer all up in my hemisphere, and I’ve just discovered a gorgeous perfume that I wager would be equally perfect to bring a breath of wanderlust to a chilly Aussie winter’s day. This morning, I am sampling:

Yin & Ylang by Sonoma Scent Studio 2014

Yin & Ylang by Laurie Erickson

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, blood orange, aldehydes
Heart: Ylang oil, jasmine sambac absolute, tuberose absolute, beeswax absolute, rose damascones, ginger CO2
Base: Mysore sandalwood, oakmoss absolute, patchouli, amber, vanilla, musk.

The lush roundness of tropical blossoms is shot through with an effervescent zing of bright freshness, while being grounded by a patient hum of gentle musky woods and amber. The balance is striking. This perfume takes the concept of Big White Floral and gives it a whole new edge and versatile wearability. The floral absolutes are exquisite and luxurious, while the sunshine citrus notes aren’t the least bit contrived or sharp. (I guess I should say Big Tropical Floral since ylang ylang is yellow, heh!) As the perfume continues to develop, a hint of oakmoss anchors the composition, conjuring visions of wild adventures in the forest.

Yin & Ylang was released in 2014, and I am so thrilled that I have discovered it even though I am a bit late to the party. This perfume is an absolute dream. I am insanely picky with floral fragrances, and this is just over the top magnificent. Hearts in my eyes over here! I have two more samples from Sonoma Scent Studios in my little package waiting for me to try, and I’m super stoked.

Yin And Ylang Sonoma Scent Studio Henri_Rousseau_-_Exotic_Landscape WikiMedia WikiMedia

Further reading: Now Smell This and Scented Hound
Sonoma Scent Studios has $21/5ml and samples

Have you stumbled upon a perfume recently that made you wonder “how the hell did this escape my radar?!” Tell me about your treasure excavations!

Love and light,
Erica

Hot House Roses for Knackered Queens

August 29, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Val the Cookie Queen

Beloved APJ Readers!

It´s 21.30 and my APJ deadline has been and gone and I am late. I just got back from work where I have been prepping the cookies for the up-and-coming Cookie Run. That is four days of work, several hours a day. As of today I have the BlondesWunder helping me. For money, not love. It cut my work load immensely. In my last post I mentioned a new My Indigo store had opened in Innsbruck and this week another opened in Vienna. Wipes brow. That makes uhm, thirteen stores.

As I pondered this post and what to write about it made me wonder, why do y’all read APJ? Why do we read perfume blogs in general? Fun, information, humour, updates? I don´t read as many as I used to. I have my favourites and there are a couple I will not even give a click to, because I dislike them SO much. But you´ll never know which ones, hahahahaha!! I totally enjoy the English perfume blogger scene as I have got to know many of them in person, not least of all A Bottled Rose and Bonkers About Perfume. The three of us regularly chat and share our joys and worries, personal challenges and probably some tears too. I could not imagine my life without them.

PDI

It has been extremely hot here, up in the centigrade thirties. I have been wearing Serge Lutens la Filled de Berlin and Malle´s Portrait of a Lady. A lot.

Hot House Roses for Knackered Queens

La Fille de Berlin by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 2013

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rose, geranium
Heart: Palmrosa
Base: Patchouli, moss, honey

I wonder if it is a little dramatic to say that this is my very favourite of all the Lutens? Jammy, rich and smooth. Rubescent. There is a slight greenness to it, but it is rather understated. It dries down to such a musky, richly honeyed amber and lingers for hours. I have only recently started to wear it. It has been BlondesWunder´s signature for the last three years and for that reason I left it alone. I bought a 50ml bottle for her a few weeks ago, before they are sold out. But now it´s mine. As Tara says LaFdBisthebombdotcom.

Portrait of a Lady by Dominique Ropion for Frederic Malle 2010

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Turkish rose, raspberry, blackcurrant, cinnamon, clove
Heart: Patchouli, sandalwood, incense
Base: Ambrosian, benzoin, white musk

As far as I understand it this is a fairly divisive perfume? I wonder if people are wearing it in the wrong temperatures? POAL needs heat and skin and lots of both. The materials used are superb. Don´t be put off by the long list of notes. The main players are rose, patchouli, frankincense and the sticky resinous feel of maybe labdanum? Earthy, mature, and strong, it bleeds confidence. In amongst the warmth of rose and patchouli is a damp incense. Like breathing in the chill of a cement floored cellar. Melds into the skin. Very beautiful.

WikiMedia

So for whatever reason you read and mingle with the APJ crew, we´re thankful for every one of you. Do you like your roses in the heat?

Knackered Bussis
CQ

(Ed: Photo credits to Val unless specified. Lovely huh?)

Australian Tea Towel + Mixed Samples GIVEAWAY

August 28, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 47 Comments

Portia

Hey there Fellow Fume Family,

I have a Brand New Australian Tea Towel that was supposed to be a gift but I can’t remember who to. There are also a bunch of samples & decants that need rehoming. Can you please help me out and take this lot off my hands?

YAY! If you said yes, see below for how to win.

Australian Tea Towel + Mixed Samples GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Australian Tea Towel
A bunch of 11 samples & decants (Mainstream, Indie & Niche most around 1/2 full)
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.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us what fragrance you would MOST like to try from the set

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Wednesday 30th August 2017 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Wednesday 6th September 2017 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

Scent Diary: 21.8 – 27.8.2017

August 27, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Portia

Hey Ho APJ,

The kids are gone home and while I did not cope with having them here I do miss having them around. As always the week is full of friends and fragrance. It has felt pretty low key really but as always a million and one things to do.

Scent Diary: 21.8 – 27.8.2017

Monday 21:

Cooked home made hamburgers for all of us as brunch. Jin and the kids slept in till 10am so I got a few precious hours of peace.

We took Sindy to the doctor and the good news is that she is good to travel, ears healed perfectly.

Wearing some Agent Provocateur EdP. Those dirty roses make me smile.

Then we took the kids to Harry’s Cafe de Wheels in Parramatta where they were DISGUSTED at how we serve and eat pies. Potato yes but mushy peas and gravy, BLEAUGH! I’m with them. Give me pie, potato and sauce please.

Went for farewell Korean BarBQ with the kids, Jin, Kath, Alice and Rose. Perfect farewell except after we ate I was being a dickhead and skipping with Daniel when my foot landed on some broken pavement and went over badly. GAK! It’s all wrapped in bandage and Dencorub (heat balm) right now.

Tuesday 22:

2.30am and all the trivia Q&A is done and sent. I didn’t think I was going to get it done before falling asleep. This is a big win for tonight.

Spritzing old export bottle of Serge Lutens Feminite du Bois. So much more ginger than the modern one, and a little darker.

Today I basically slept and recuperated before work.

Wore more Serge Lutens Feminite du Bois to work but no one noticed.

Wednesday 23:

My foot hurts. Diptyque 34 Boulevard Saint Germain today. It’s sunshiny but cool weather and I think 34 BSG a perfect counterpoint.

Wore more of it to have dinner with Wendy and play some Turbo Trivia with April Fools up at Greystanes Hotel.

Thursday 24:

My foot still hurts but I was able to walk the dogs 4 blocks up and back down the street. It was slow but it felt a lot easier than yesterday. The dogs couldn’t believe how much time they got to sniff everything and were extremely grateful, looking to see if I was OK with them smelling a lamp post for 20 seconds. Though the walk was less km long they both came home completely bushed and went straight to sleep.

Funeral today for the Dad of one of my school years girlfriends. We were partnered for two or three of the middle teen years and I was constantly at their house. It was a Mecca for a small crew of us and I think we will all be there today. So glad to see them but sad for the occasion. I thought Jacomo Silences would be the perfect funeral scent.
Beautiful church service, the readings were particularly well done. Sat in the pew with the crew and got to see most of the family and friends. It was as good as a funeral gets.

Evan came over to sniff fragrances after that. My initial idea was to take him though the DIOR back catalogue. We did those and moved onto other stuff. It was totally fun. He’s good company.

Work was BUSY! So rowdy. We had a ball. Now I’m shattered.

Double spritz of Guerlain Mitsouko EdT and bed. night.

Friday 25:

It was supposed to be a day of lunching and sniffing with Tim, Kerri and Michael then off to see the Archibald with Mark but I wasn’t sure my ankle would make it through the day and I don’t want to hurt it again with only a week and a bit till India. So I stayed home and blogged the whole day away. Got 5 posts done! AMAZING!

Jin came home and we went out for Syrian dinner. Kebabs, hummus, garlic sauce, chips and tabouli. It was really yummy and Jin paid, which is always nice. I took him for Messina Ice Cream to say thanks. Poor bastard was up at 3.15am this morning so he hit the hay at 8.30pm.

Walking the dogs was a step;car pleasure tonight. We had to go slowly because of my foot but it mean we could really drink in the scents of night blooming jasmine. The area is swarming with vines over front and side fences and every time I walked past a gust of indolic jasmine would roll over us. Heavenly.

Doused in a sample of Fig Tree by Sonoma Scent Studio tonight. EXCELLENT Fig.

Yin And Ylang Sonoma Scent Studio Fragrantica

Saturday 26:

My ankle is starting to feel better. The swelling has decreased quite a bit and I’m walking without strapping. I think another few days and I’ll be happily back in heels and running around like a mad woman again. PHEW!

It’s BFF Kath & my BIL Mark’s birthday so we are going around to Mum & Dads for afternoon tea. I grabbed a Wild Berry Baked Cheesecake to take around and it was a hit. We all had great fun but I forgot to take a photo, SORRY! Loads of laughs and fun.

Wore Eau d’Italie Morn to Dusk and it’s crunchy vanilla caramel was a perfect mixer.

Our long time buddy Glen is going home to Canada to help care for his Mum who is in early stages of Alzheimers. We will miss him terribly. Tonight we all went for a farewell dinner because we can’t make it to his grand farewell party. It was a lovely, bittersweet evening. Kath, Jin and I went along with Glen to the Balkan and the food was fantastic, as always.

Sunday 27:

Woke up and spritzed Atelier Cologne Tobacco Nuit. Perfect lazy Sunday fragrance, even though my day will not be lazy.

Brunch with some of the girls I grew up with. Bec was my girlfriend for a couple of years, Catriona and her younger sibling were constant mates and we’d all wag school together, Eve you see here regularly. It was Din Tai Fung and catch ups. Conversations across a plethora of topics and a bunch of laughs. How lucky I am. Life would be so much less rich without all these beautiful friends. Really diverse lives lived across the globe so thoughtfully and interestingly yet we come back together and chatter like magpies. It’s as if no time has passed.

Work tonight. Hopefully my leg will be well enough next Tuesday to get back in my high heels, I miss dressing up.

Tonight I wore Aftelier Parfum de Maroc. Spicy swirls around saffron and rose over quite an animalic base. It smells like the dreams of souks.

What about you? How was your week? Do anything interesting, fun or fragrant? Tell us in the comments. We love to read your stuff too.

Portia x