CHANEL No 19: The Furriest Green

February 13, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Portia

Hey APJ,

We talk a lot about the rigid backed, aloof and cool angel that CHANEL No 19 is but rarely does anyone speak about the furriness. While wearing it today I had this FUR-piphany. Though I love 19 in all weathers it seems to bloom particularly well in the heat. It’s as if the usually buttoned up girl blossoms and blooms into a voluptuous siren of a woman and calls to one and all in alluring cadences.

CHANEL No 19 by Henri Robert 1971

CHANEL No 19: The Furriest Green

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Galbanum, Hyacinth, Neroli
Heart: Iris, Jasmine, Lily-of-the-valley, Narcissus, Rose, Ylang-ylang
Base: Oakmoss, Leather, Musk, Sandalwood, Cedarwood

I’m guessing my current bottle is somewhere 1980s or 1990s. It’s the silver plastic 50ml EdT with the gold trim. The opening is quite high pitched and the base lasts well into 4 hours fragrant.

Sparkling citrus and green, furry galbanum. One of my favourite fragrant openings. At once sheer and dense, like being completely encased in a green bubble made of coolest, smooth marble. It’s a wake up shock, a welcome surprise every time.

PDI

Here’s the problem, I refuse nowadays to spend time parsing the notes in the heart. What I do is sit here and enjoy the scent of CHANEL No 19 in its entirety. The bouquet in 19s heart is fresh and crisp, it smells buttoned up and ready at action stations. How could you be anything less than efficient and in charge when you smell like this? Hardly seems possible.

Then the base slowly, sinuously, darkens this crystal display with creamy sandalwood, animal musks and furry oakmoss. Here is where CHANEL No 19 captures my heart and holds it in thrall. Somehow while maintaining its regal dignity the whole fragrance becomes comfortable, cuddly and comforting. Like the 6pm bell has sounded and Miss Hard Assed Executive has let down the French roll, undone an extra button on the blouse, swapped 4″ for 2″ heels and headed off to hang with the family.

PDI

Further reading: Anne-Marie at APJ and Portia at APJ
CHANEL counters worldwide have No 10 EdT. Mine was a vintage eBay buy

Do you CHANEL No 19?
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 6.2 – 12.2.17: Cruise Week

February 12, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Portia

Hey All,

The connectivity on board the ship has been spotty. I have tried to keep up but it hasn’t been so easy. Here is a little look into the wonderful fun we’ve had aboard Explorer of the Seas.

Scent Diary: 6.2 – 12.2.17: Cruise Week

Monday 6:

So we are cruising happily along. Weather is glorious and I’m a little pink from sun. I don’t know if you’ve ever cruised before but I’m finding it incredibly relaxing. Jin and I are usually up very early and fit in as much as possible in every day, running all over countries and continents on our holidays. This is exactly the opposite. Get up, shower, breakfast, relax by the pool, read, chat till Trivia time. Lunch is served and the choice is really good, we all eat way too much and then have some more relaxation or wandering the ship. This morning we did a Stretch Class and then walked about half a mile before breakfast, I feel really good for having done it.

Divine EdP was my fragrance choice today. I love its retro bombastic white floral, spicy fabulousness and it wears so well on board a cruise, transporting me back to the glamour years of fragrance.

Tuesday 7:

I’ve had a bit of a drama. I thought I’d packed my extra fragrances in my suitcase and just four in my wetpack. I left the other bag of frags on the table and so I am a 4 frag traveller. It’s kind of a bummer but the four I have are pretty special. Divine EdP, Vaninger by Oliver & Co, Vintage Miss Dior Parfum and modern Mitsouko EdP.

Today became a Vaninger day and it was a perfect accompaniment to hanging loose on board.
Tonight we saw the shipboard show, “Boys In The Band” and the three men were sounding and looking fabulous in front of the Explorer of the Seas house band. About 15 minutes in I realized that one of the guys was a mate of mine Lee, or LittleX as I better know him. It was nice to see him doing so well. Totally entertaining show, we all loved it and then at the end he came out to say hi. The girls swooned.
After the show I went up and danced for a few hours on the Promenade Deck and then in the Night Club. Haven’t done that in years. LOVED every minute, couldn’t wipe the smile of my face.

Wednesday 8:

Woo Hoo, Neumea. Miss Dior parfum today because I thought we were going to the most glamorous port. It was cool and rainy and we couldn’t really do much except see the local shops. The beaches were closed because of shark activity and the Museum was closed because it’s Tuesday. As we were only doing the 6 bus stops we missed seeing the beautiful French Colonial houses and their tree lined avenues. Neumea was not a win really.

When we returned we watched Storks on the big screen over the Pool Deck. This crew is easy to travel with, everyone gets along and we all contribute.

We all remained in fine spirits even though Neumea was crap and dinner was the usual mad hoot. We keep getting 11 out of 15 in our Trivia games, it’s becoming a thing.
Later on we went to the cinema and watched Sully. Lovely movie. Tom Hanks is so easy to watch in any role for me.

Thursday 9:

At 1am suddenly I had the biggest craving for food. The only thing open 24 hours is the coffee shop on the Promenade Deck. So I went down there and grabbed some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and a can of Sprite. He He he. YUMMY!

This morning was ultimate lazy. We met for breakfast early because it was the Port Villa stop. The weather was too rough though for ships to maneuver in the harbor so we stayed at sea and will go there tomorrow. I didn’t want to leave the ship anyway, I bloody love it here. After breakfast we went to the pool deck and had cocktails, at 9.30am. SO decadent.

Wore Mitsouko EdP today and it was a perfect fit. Did a double spritz for dinner and wafted while I ate.
We did three games of trivia, wandered the ship, ate, drank, laughed and rested.
I got to talk one of our party through the basics of blogging tonight before I got started chatting with you guys. It was nice.

Friday 10:

At sea. Can’t remember much. Looked at the shops, drank booze, ate, read, slept, relaxed.

Did meet up with one of my mates Aunties and Grandmas for drinks on the Promenade Deck. Julie, Aunty Barbara sends love. We had a hoot.

Mitsouko EdP again. Love it so much.

Saturday 11:

Isle of Pines. OMG! I freaking loved it so much. Went swimming in the lagoon, wandered around a bit and then came back to the ship and read my book. HEAVENLY day.

Sunday 12:

This morning Eve, Debbie and I snuck down to do ANOTHER Trivia. We hadn’t had any luck till today but finally we scored the win. EXCELLENT!! Won Explorer of the Seas highlighters.

Saw the Ice Spectacular. It was fantastic and we loved it. It was all smiling, hand clapping fun.

Divine EdP was the fragrance of the day, perfect.

What did you get up to this week? Anything exciting?
Portiaxx

Opus III by Karine Vinchon Spehner for Amouage 2010

February 10, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Portia

Hello Fragrance Family,

Yes, I know i’ve come late to the Library Collection. I don’t know why but earlier I found them boring or awful. Ever since I fell madly in love with Opus IX in Vienna while shopping with Val CQ, Sandra, Anna-Maria and Jin last year. I bought it on the spot at full retail without even thinking about it because it’s so damn gorgeous. So i thought I better give the rest of the set a respritz and Bloody Hell, they are wonderful.

Opus III by Amouage: The Library Collection 2010

Opus III by Karine Vinchon Spehner

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Carnation, Broom, Mimosa, Nutmeg, Thyme
Heart: Jasmine, Orange blossom, Violet, Ylang-ylang
Base: Ambrette, Benzoin, Gaiac wood, Musk, Papyrus, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Cedar

The opening is sharp but mellowed by a smoothly waxy violet leaf with sizzling, spicy green-ness and already the creamy ylang is present. Opus III is a chunky violet/waxy/lipstick and hairspray fragrance that for me smells like I imagine kissing one of the glamorous Hollywood stars in the 1940s & 50s. It’s all cool fresh and floral up top and I’m surprised there’s no narcissus because I am getting some raunchy vegetal something, probably the jasmine, ambrette and orange blossom. Woody dry down is dry and resinous, lightly sweet. Charmingly innocent.

Flickr

One of the reviews I read mentions the word sleek and suddenly the whole fragrance makes real sense to me. Opus III is a sleek and flawless beauty that still manages to be friendly and approachable. Very easy to wear and love.

My imagine takes me to a well heeled businesswoman at the top of her game. Confident and talented in whatever role she’s in. A likeable, generous boss who also manages to get the job done. Though Opus III is happily unisex smelling this is my vision.

PDI

Further reading: Now Smell This and Australian Perfume Junkies
Libertine Parfumerie has $487/100ml with FREE Australian Delivery

What fragrances have you dismissed and returned to love?
Portia xx

Emeraude Agar by Jerome Epinette for Atelier Cologne 2016

February 9, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Portia

Hey Hey APJ,

Do you remember Coty’s Emerald? Well I love it, even in its modern form, but in the interests of full disclosure I rarely wear it anymore. As soon as I saw the name of todays fragrance I couldn’t wait to get my sniff on it. Add to that the lovely green (my favourite colour) of the label and it being brand new to the Atelier Cologne Metal Collection and I was practically panting. Not too far from the truth in the very hot summer we are having here in Sydney, Australia.

So I’ve poured the whole sample vial on at once, arms and chest.

Emeraude Agar by Atelier Cologne 2016

Emeraude Agar by Jerome Epinette

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Angelica, Bergamot, Black pepper
Heart: Eucalyptus, Geranium, Turkish rose absolute
Base: Gaiac wood, Malayan oud, Mysore sandalwood

Black pepper with a tinge of green over bro-woods is my initial thought. In the rose/oudh category this little baby is leaning to the masculine but in a 21st century niche woodsiness that speaks to me of gym changing rooms and boozy middle management on Friday night. TBH I was expecting more from the note list. Very little Angelica on me, the Eucalyptus passes me by and the geranium fails to even add its perky kick in any meaningful way.

I just read that back and it reads like a diss. Nah, not a diss. I quite like the way Emerald Agar smells but it’s hardly a boundary pusher or even feeling very niche OR it feels like all the lazy formulaic niche. Maybe I’m just feeling bitchy in the 41C humid heat.

PDI

The sandalwood is a very nice approximation. Creamy, soft, supple sandalwood like running your hand over one of those beautifully carved and polished wood bowls you see in country style stores for extravagant prices. Add that to the plethora of other wood in the base, and the super subtle hint of oudh, it’s my favourite part of the whole experience. Lasting power is good for an Atelier too. I could imagine a one fragrance person going through a bottle of Emerald Agar in the cooler months of the year in record time and even have it work well into the summer. If you told me there was ambergris in the base here I’d believe you, salty driftwood dry down with a creamy smooth overlay, seriously the end is wonderful.

Flickr

LuckyScent has $130/30ml
Surrender To Chance has $4.80/ml

Can you be tempted by name and bottle? Does the colour of the packaging ever help you decide?
Portia xx

CHANEL: Scented Journey

February 8, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Sandra

Hi there sexy smelling APJers

About a week before I left Vienna I was sniffing my way through the new Eau de Parfums of the Chanel Exclusives when a lovely SA came up to me and asked if I would like to go on a Chanel Scented Journey. Intrigued, I signed myself up and asked a friend to come and join me.

Not knowing what I was about to embark on, I went in open minded and happy to get away for a little bit of scented fun. Now, I will be perfectly honest here, I did not come out and tell her that I was going to write a post about it, nor did I tell her that I looovee perfumes and have more than 2 bottles at home. I thought it might make her uncomfortable and clam up. I did ask permission to take one picture of her with the essences in front of her and she agreed (no close up of the box was allowed).

CHANEL: Scented Journey

So, to begin with she asked me several pointed questions about my scented memories or what I find to be the perfect scented experiences. We spoke a bit about flowers and colours and then we dove right it.

Now, if you think that this is all hogwash and you do not want to read any further, I understand completely. However, take into consideration the most amazing Chanel box that came out full of essences that Chanel uses in its perfumes. My jaw dropped when I saw what lay before me and I wanted to go through each and every one of the mini bottles. Unfortunately, that is not how it works. Taking into account my answers, she had me go through 10 essences where I had to guess what I was smelling and then give an opinion on how I liked it.

Well, after about half an hour of sniffing and swooning or cringing, she walked away for 5 minutes and then came back with what she thought would be my perfect Chanel perfumes. I was told that Beige or Boy would be to my liking. Now, she hit the nail on the head with Beige as I already have gone through a bottle of it and still love it. But Boy? Unfortunately she did not have any samples of Boy left but she gave me samples of several of the other perfumes to test at home.

You may wonder if I walked away with anything. Yes, sure did – after several wearings I fell in love with Misia EdP as I find it a tad rounder, less sharp in the opening and overall more tenacious than the EdT which tends to fall flat on me after about an hour of wear. I received a decant of Boy from a dear friend and will be giving it a full wearing when it warms up a bit here and wonder if she got that one right too.

If you have the opportunity to take the Chanel Scented Journey, please do. It was such a joy being able to see the essences lined up like that and actually smelling some of them. I would love to hear if you have had the chance the smell the new EdPs and what you think of them.

Till next time,
Big smoochy woochies,
Sandra xxx

Cologne Cashmere by Carla Chabert for La Manufacture 2015

February 7, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

TinaG

Hey APJ!

I came across La Manufacture through a gifted sample of Cologne Rare, and I was so impressed that I promised myself to purchase a few more of their colognes to try out. A major problem in accessing these was having them shipped to Australia – they don’t send directly. I needed to have them sent to Germany and brought back in personal luggage – not ideal, and difficult to replicate. However, as I have been enjoying these, I thought it was worth sharing my thoughts.

Cologne Cashmere by La Manufacture 2015

Cologne Cashmere by Carla Chabert

Fragrantica

Le Manufacture gives these featured accords:
Bergamot, mandarin, guaiac wood, sandalwood, leather, velvet, amber, vetiver, marron glacé

This fragrance is a fantastic example of why not to underestimate something just because it’s a “cologne”. It changes through dry down with three distinct stages, and sticks to my skin for at least 8 hours in the summer heat – albeit as a skin scent after about 4 hours.

Cologne Cashmere opens with a fabulous juicy mandarin and bergamot. The bergamot borders more on the green side of the citrus rather than the smoky side and I think this is because it’s emphasised by a generous waft of dry woods that sweeps through and then deepens. After 15 minutes a cheeky little suede note slips in to the picture, having a certain peach aspect to it in a similar vein as Daim Blond or Bottega Veneta. There’s a touch of salty plasticine in there too, which I’ve sniffed out during the first hour a few times. Makes the fragrance feel lived-in.

PDI

At 1 hour you get a jumbled mix of woods. Close to the skin there’s a sense of a soft wood hollowed out by fungus and then dried, and a blond grassy note. I got a lovely surprise when I caught a whiff of sandalwood in the silage. It was a perfect representation, and it was a gorgeous match for a hot and humid day.

But wait, there’s more. I was entranced by a sweet note during the dry down which I likened to strawberry jaminitially. Because the first time I noticed it I was in a home environment, I passed it off as being an anomaly. However on closer investigation on the sample’s listed notes, there is something called a marron glacé right at the very end of the spiel – my brain disregarded this the first few times around because I simply didn’t know what it was. However, what I was overlooking was the source of my sweet impressions! Marron glacé is chestnut which has been crystallised and then coated in a glaze – and there it was in my fragrance – a yummy sticky jammy sugary chestnut. Bloody brilliant.

WikiCommons

I’m fascinated by the way Cologne Cashmere changes from being primarily hesperidic, through to dry and woody, and end up with such an unusual gourmand. It’s been very fun to wear and I’m sorry to see my sample running dry.

Le Manufacture has €65/50ml and samples

What is your favourite cologne?

Have a fab start to the week.

xx Tina G

Black Afghan by Mad et Len 2016

February 6, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Portia

Hello lover of NEW!

Recently the LuckyScent Unboxing Day pack arrived. I love to buy them because usually half the things in them are stuff I would never go out and try. Part of that is living on the other side of the world but another part is the sheer enormity of fragrance released. I had not even heard about this brand until I saw the pack. Things slip under everyone’s radar when we’re busy living life. So, I trust the LuckyScent guys to do a lot of my culling for me and send me the newest, best and most saleable from their ranges.

This time I was particularly interested in the new Atelier Cologne stuff but what a nice surprise to meet a new brand also. This is my favourite from the Mad et Len range from sniffing the samples in the pack, come and do my first full wearing with me.

Black Afghan by Mad et Len 2016

LuckyScent

Panful gives these featured accords:
Leather, Musk, Resins, Woody notes

From LuckyScent: Welcome to the dark side of musk- midnight-black velvet layers of oud-tinged mystery with fiery spice lurking beneath the surface. This is fragrance as a holy garment, a cloak of powerful sensuality to connect you to a different plane of reality. You don’t wear Black Afgan- you let it envelop you.

Slightly poopy oudh with a nose tingling chilli, black pepper and cinnamon zing (I have no idea if these are the spices used but they do smell present to me). I don’t know about a holy garment, I would expect more smoke and incense, a cloak of powerful sensuality would have more animalics that smell sweaty, fleshy, sweet and raunchy but I mainly get poop and a little medicine. The heart smooths everything out and I question if there’s a white flower present?

I am wondering if the ride might be different spritzed? Hang on a sec while I decant my sample

PDI

A softer open when sprayed, cleaner, clearer, less poopy and more floaty. Once the coolness burns off there is much more of a honeyed resin smell, as if it’s been warmed but not yet smoking. You know when you walk around the spice markets and come across bags and bags of resins? When you walk into that shop you get a smell like this. It’s dry, warm and enveloping. The leather comes through and dark lightly decal woods. Spritzing is a whole different beast. More interesting but less confronting. Beautiful.

Smoke and leather with mild oudh-ishness to finish. I’ve really enjoyed wearing Black Afghan. It’s strange that there are no other reviews, it’s worth a sniff.

PDI

LuckyScent has $165/50ml and samples

Do you ever get the LuckyScent Sample Packs? Have you then ever bought a FB from one?
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 30.1 – 5.2.17: Sample Week

February 5, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Portia

Hey Crew,

So it’s Monday and I just realised last night I’m going on a cruise on Saturday. By the time you read this I’ll be deep in the South Pacific living it up. It was a mad scramble, as always, so the posts will be scarce. Not empty but less full definitely.

Sample Week Scent Diary 30.1 – 5.2.17

Monday 30:

Woke up this morning in a panic. I’m leaving on Saturday for the South Pacific Cruise and NOTHING is organised for my trip. I have to write 3 weeks of Trivia Q&A and get the blog set so you all have something to read while I’m off. It’s sample week so I did a huge 12 spritz of Atelier Cologne Camelia Intrepide. Very pretty floral tea scent, a creamy tea. Super fresh but comforting and with enough bells and whistles that I’m kept interested while writing Q&A. I spent so long at the computer my eyes went googly.

Then, because I was at the end of my tether, Kath, Alice, Jin & I went and tried a new pizza place that wins prizes in Napoli. The food was really good but it was just too hot to have any fun. I thought Jin was going to expire.

Having just had the most fabulous cold Lolita Lempicka bubble bath I decided to spritz Annick Goutal Les Colognes Neroli. About 2ml of it. Pithy orange peel and maybe cardamom?
One downer is that I’ll probably only get one more bubble bath from the LL.
More Trivia Q&A and off to bed in another glorious cloud of Annick Goutal Les Colognes Neroli, and that’s my 5ml done.

Tuesday 31:

OMG! So freaking hot. We let the dogs sleep inside with us last night. They’re well behaved and quiet on their inside beds. I took a couple of pics for Undina from Undina’s Looking Glass, hope you like them. BTW It’s Undina’s 6th blog-versary. Drop on over and say hi, you’ll get to meet her handsome owner Rusty.
Jinx (Jin’s dog) is the top shot and he’s saying, “Leave me to sleep please Daddy.”
Paris (my baby) is already awake and chewing his newest rope toy. Few things make him so happy as a new toy.

Jin surprised me with pancakes for breakfast, made from scratch and served with brown sugar and lemon juice. MY FAVOURITE!!! This is the Sunday dinner Mum used to make us when she ran out of money. We never knew and thought it was the biggest treat ever, still do. Look how pleased Jin is at making such a surprise. He’s having Maple Syrup on his.

I had to go get my sea sick pills, sleeping tablets, sunscreen and ginger tablets for the cruise. While I was there I grabbed a tetanus injection too, just in case. He took my heart rate and was so surprised at how perfect it was and then asked me to weigh myself which was only 113KGs. I was expecting 125KGs. So though I’m no skinny Minnie it felt like a real win. Anyway, as I was waiting for my script to be filled I noticed this Elizabeth Arden Cherry Blossom Green Tea tester and as I was scent naked proceeded to give myself 6 big blasts. Punching well above its $10/50ml price tag I found it a lovely dry floral tea. It gives me the same ache in the back of my throat that a cuppa of Green Tea does and smells quietly creamy and refreshing. Sadly it was gone after an hour but for that money…. NOPE. I did not purchase.

Tonight for work emptied a sample vial of Emeraude Agar by Atelier Cologne on my arms & chest. Opening very pepper & bro-woods generic, dry down is lovely salty driftwood and creamy sandalwood. I can’t believe it has ended up so gorgeous. Review to follow. 6 hours later I’m still gorgeously fragrant.
Sending off a sample of Oriza Legrand Reve d’Ossian and while making up the pack gave myself a spritz. Perfectly posed Catholic liturgical incense BOMB! Love it. Why didn’t this beauty get more love?

Wednesday 1:

Today is all about getting stuff done. All the invoices, postage, tidying the house and doing the laundry pre-holiday. All of it today. This morning I’m wearing Black Afghan by Mad et Len, a pepper rich, woodsy oudh. It came in a LuckyScent Sample Pack. Review to follow.

In the afternoon I decided something cooler was in order and recently I had an Amouage Opus III arrive. When these beauties first came out I found them less than thrilling. In a full 180 degree turn I now I seem to have suddenly realised their magic, since falling so heavily for IX & X. IX being a full retail purchase last year, couldn’t wait because I loved it so much. Opus III is a chunky violet/waxy/lipstick, smoke and hairspray fragrance and a fair whack of green/resinous animalics.

Duck dinner with TinaG & Alice (A F Beauty) because I’m cruising on Saturday. We had soups, a whole duck as pancakes and then San Choy Bow, desserts. Excellent farewell. Jin has officially stolen my L‘Occitane Cedrat L’Homme and it smells terrific on him. An aquatic wood, yum.

Thursday 2:

Cleaned the house, washed the linen and some last minute clothes, blogged and organised and did stuff that took forever but feels like I’ve only slightly dented the list. Have worn so much fragrance today for blogging purposes and now at 4pm I’m sitting in the middle of a fog of Surrender, the Dominique Durban creation for Surrender To Chance. BLOODY HELL! It’s the thickest, most chewy jasmine I ever smelled, unbelievable petrochemical opening that becomes this incredible jasmine soliflore. You MUST get some.

Friday 3:

FINISHED all posts for APJ while I’m gone by 10am, that’s about 5 hours ahead of my planned schedule. BIG relief.
Fragrantly I’m wearing Spiritus/Land by Miller & Bertaux. Ginger, pepper, incense and woods. It’s beautiful. This crew is woefully unrecognised for their lovely work.
Now some minor cleaning, packing and organising. Tonight Jin & I are going to wander down the road to town and get some dinner, maybe have a wine, come back here and snuggle on the couch watching TV.
Here are my Travel Fragrances for the cruise….

Back:Mohur EdP, Divine EdP, Mitsouko EdT, Vaninger, Stash, Miss Dior parfum, Niki de Saint Phalle EdT, Bombay Bling EdP
Front: Epice Marine, Cuir d’Ange

You’ll notice every one of these is a manufacturer travel size of 30ml or less. Please take note perfume creators. If you make it small, I will buy it. 15 – 30ml is perfect for travel, respritzing and having handily in handbag or backpack.

Saturday 4:

Sunday 5:

3 Best 2016 Fragrance Buys

February 3, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Portia

Hello Fragrant Family,

We have suddenly jumped into 2017 and we’ve had some time to reflect. I’ve been madly going through my fragrance wardrobe to find things that need to be culled. Already 31 full bottles and some excess lotions have found new homes and I’m pretty chuffed about that. Hopefully I can sell or gift at least another 70 so my cull will reach 100.

Obviously the cull will merely make space for more fragrances. It’s a vicious cycle and Scott & I have a theory that it’s the hunting & buying that brings me the most pleasure anyway. Especially the vintage stuff.

Anyway, in my cleanup I’ve found a bunch of my 2016 fragrant purchases and was wondering which of them I get the most wear and enjoyment from.

3 Best 2016 Fragrance Buys

Here are my regulations for the choice:
1: Only bought in 2016, release or manufacture date irrelevant.
2: Must be a bottle, can be used or new at purchase time.
3: Can not be a backup
4: Can not be a replacement

So here are my 3 Best 2016 Fragrance Buys

Fragrantica

Morn To Dusk by Eau d’Italie:
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, lily of the valley
Heart: Vanilla
Base: Musk

Crunchy vanilla with a few bells & whistles. Probably too simple for most perfumistas and could very easily be a perfect ambient scent rather than fine fragrance but I love it. So warm and enveloping. It really does last from Morn To Dusk too and goes through some cool to warm and then lightly fleshy to end.

Fragrantica

Monsieur Li by Hermès:
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Kumquat, jasmine, mint

I know. Most of you didn’t adore this baby. JCEs Hermès swansong, but it smells good on me and people notice it and comment favourably. It is the perfect spritz and go, or spritz and sit. Today I wore it while paying bills and it kept me calm as my available cash reserves dwindled. No mean feat.

Fragrantica

Sang Bleu by Le Galion:
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Galbanum, orange, bergamot, lemon, wormwood, rosemary, eucalyptus, geranium, jasmine, rose, violet, pink pepper, carnation, cedar, patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver

The Le Galion crew make wonderful fragrances. Why the hell isn’t EVERYONE madly in love with their shit? Sang Bleu is as perfectly composed as the rest of the line, smells great but not challenging and lasts well throughout a hectic day. Not to mention how lovely the bottles are visually and tactilely. Sang Bleu is a unisex cologne loaded for romance.

So of all my fragrant buys in 2016 these three have the most air in them and are most regularly used around the house on personal scenting time.
What are your 3 Best 2016 Fragrance Buys?
Portia xx

Celestial Rose by Ramón Béjar 2014

February 2, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Portia

Hello Rose Freaks,

Having had a boxed sample of this fragrance on my desk winking at me since Josie at OSSWALD NYC gave it to me as a GWP in 2014 I finally felt compelled today to open it and have a sniff.

You can come along on the ride too.

Celestial Rose by Ramón Béjar 2014

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Artemisia, bergamot
Heart: Turkish rose oil, geranium, peach
Base: Turkish rose, musk, amber

Rose, geranium, broken rose stem and torn leaves. Clean, clear rose that is very upper register.

OK, so the opening of Celestial Rose reminds me strongly of Perfumers Workshop Tea Rose. All of a sudden I’m a kid again and I can’t remember who it was but someone I knew wore it back then. It’s a funny sensation of memory because recently I was out with a drag girlfriend and she smelled of the most fabulous roses. Upon asking what she was wearing, expecting it to be a high end niche beauty she replied Perfumers Workshop Tea Rose. It smelled freaking amazing on her and all night I kept coming in for sniffs.

PDI

When I asked some mates one in particular agreed that it could be a reminder but told me to wait for the velvety, luxe dry down. Yes it went velvety and yes it is lovely but I still have the Perfumers Workshop Tea Rose playing in the background 5 hours on. Admittedly the whole fragrance has softened and become creamy musk and amber but still the roses are there catching my attention and singing softly.

Do I love Celestial Rose? Nope. I do really like it though. If you are after a luxurious 21st century version of Perfumers Workshop Tea Rose then this will definitely hit the spot. Add to that the spectacular bottle and maybe…… but nah. Not this one.

Further reading: EauMG
Feeling Sexy has $279/75ml (a special New To Australia price till Jan 31 2017)

How do you like your roses?
Portia xx