Muguet Porcelain by Hermès 2016

June 23, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Fragrant Friends,

Sandra did a great review for Muguet Porcelain recently. You might like to trot back and read a more in depth review. Special thanks must go to Gene at Sydney City Hermès who always makes sure I get a sample of the latest offerings. Ask for her if you’re in shopping, nobody knows the products better or is more charming.

Muguet Porcelain by Hermès 2016

Muguet Porcelain by Jean Claude Ellena

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Lily of the valley, green notes

So, I really like Lily of the Valley (LotV) even though it can sometimes skew bathroom deodoriser from my childhood, it was my mum’s favourite. So I’m always happy to read that there’s a new one on the market. We’ve had a small bunch of them lately: Miu Miu, Jessica Mauboy (Australian songstress) and every year for May 1st Guerlain produces a new and glam LotV frag.

Now, when I first smelled Muguet Porcelaine I thought it was a dead ringer for Jessica Mauboy’s Be Beautiful. Now I have them on side by side and while they do share some similarities they are not exactly the same. They both seem to be a combination of melon and LotV, both are green and crisp though Hermès has that famous JCE oily petrol slick note that I adore, both of them are cologne like in their longevity though Muguet Porcelaine does last longer.

An hour in and they are very similar to my nose, Muguet Porcelaine is a little dryer, packed with some extra LotV and galbanum, a hairs breath more nuanced but to the average nose it’s pretty much the same. Better noses than mine, of which most of you are, will probably pick up details I miss but as a price comparison Jessica Mauboy’s Be Beautiful is AUD$20 and Muguet Porcelaine AUD$325. I will buy a 15ml travel though because I love to have a couple of the Hermès in my just in case travel kit.

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Now Smell This
All Hermès stores have Muguet Porcelaine so go spritz yourself

Muguet Porcelain GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Muguet Porcelain by Hermès manufacturers sample (my blogging sample)
1 x sample Be Beautiful by Jessica Mauboy (from my bottle)
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

Tell us a fragrance that is springlike for you

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close TOMORROW Saturday 25th June 2016 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Wednesday 29th June 2016 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.

Love-In-A-Mist by Charna Ether for Providence Perfume Company 2016

June 22, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Post by Erica Golding

Greetings to my people!

I just want to say how thrilled I am that you all “get it.” Being able to connect with fragrance lovers all over the world is a precious gift, and I love you all! My life has been particularly charmed the last few years since discovering my heaven on earth, the storefront and perfume studio of Charna Ethier: Providence Perfume Company. Charna has just released her latest all-natural perfume, and it is absolutely breathtaking.

Love-In-A-Mist by Providence Perfume Company 2016

Love-In-A-Mist EdP by Charna Ether

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Wildflowers, mimosa, pink pepper, sandalwood, clover

You may have heard that last year, the Providence Perfume Company brick-and-mortar store was damaged in a fire. Repairs were swift, but the business has since relocated. A few weeks ago, I floated into the brand new Providence Perfume Company studio. The space is nothing short of enchanting. Brilliant light cascades onto precious fragrant gems. The ambience is welcoming, invigorating, soothing, and joyful all at once. I spent several hours starlit by my friend Charna’s exquisite company, inhaling serenity and chatting about our love of fragrance.

I left with the first full-size bottle ever sold of Love-In-A-Mist. This scent orbits around nigella damascena absolute, a rare essence displaying a gorgeously honeyed aroma. The sweetness is tempered by the floral lift of pink pepper and the cucumber-like shimmer of pure mimosa olessance. Sweet clover rounds out the spellbinding composition with a tender sentiment. Smoothly harmonious sandalwood hums with a subtle, peaceful tone at the base. On my skin, the pink pepper presents beautifully at the opening, while the mimosa and clover are the dominant notes through the heart of the experience. I simply can’t get enough of Love-In-A-Mist, I have been dousing it on frequently and I’ve bonded with it very strongly.

Pixabay

Love-In-A-Mist was intended to inspire memories of summer childhood romps. Running barefoot through a field of wildflowers, sun-warmed hair streaming and shining, the scent of hay hanging lazily in the air, the buzzing song of cicadas mingling with the tinkling laughter of little ones at play. Love-In-A-Mist is liquid poetry.

I am graced with the good fortune of mingling online with like-minded perfume enthusiasts, and I am even luckier to have had the opportunity to “Meet and Sniff” in person with several local kindred spirits. Above and beyond these incredible prosperities, for which my gratitude is infinite, I can’t begin to fathom the outrageous twist of fate that led me to the threshold of Charna’s perfumed oasis. She is a gifted, graceful, exceptionally talented artist whose spirit glows with genuine passion and positivity.

Providence Perfume Co.

Further reading: Scent Hive and Ca Fleure Bon
Providence Perfume Co. has $45/5ml Rollerball and larger

Have you experienced the euphoria of meeting a fellow fragrance lover in person? Or perhaps even a perfumer whose knowledge and enthusiasm inspired you? What was it like spending precious time with someone who understands our fascination and appreciation of the olfactory treasures that surround us?

Love and light to you all, until next time –

Erica

SNARK! Why Did They Even Bother?

June 21, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 63 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Fragrant Fumies,

Ainslie Walker is off doing amazing stuff so I’m filling in today, she’ll be back in a fortnight.

I thought you all might like a chance to unleash, a place to vent, a moment where you can really let us know what you think about some of the complete shit that has been released under then guise of fragrance. Now you must back up your snark with reasons other than it smells crap. Also if someone trashes your favourite that doesn’t mean your favourite has been invalidated, it means your favourite doesn’t work for someone else. Please don’t get snippy and thin lipped if Andy Tauer, Taylor Swift, Bertrand Duchaufour or DKNY get lampooned. This is a fun vent that we can all have a bit of a laugh about. Extra points go to well crafted snark, brilliant analogies, finely honed butchery and elegant put downs.

SNARK! Why Did They Even Bother?

Right, I’ll get you all started.

Insta-Ranges

Yes, you’ve all seen them. One minute VC&A, Armani, Givenchy, YSL, Oscar de la Renta, Bulgari et al have some fairly limp fruitchoulis on the market shelves next to their one big blockbuster hit from the 60s, 80s or naughties and next moment there are 12 deluxe fragrances in uber simple packaging with one of each frag style included; a musk, an amber, BWF, leather, cologne, aquatic raspberry lotus anise laundry detergent. For F*#ks Sake. Seriously, maybe three in the line are worth sniffing and the rest I wouldn’t use in the bathroom as deodoriser.

These are not the only protagonists in the drama either, it’s becoming more & more common in the niche realm too. Zero scents to 20 in 3 years. PLEASE!!

Surely it also makes no market sense to put all your poorly thought out, boringly designed, committee created dross in one foul swoop. Wouldn’t it make more sense to release two REALLY FREAKING GOOD THINGS and maybe add one every couple of years? Wouldn’t that lend a sense of anticipation, give people something to talk about, make us want and dream and imagine?

Coco Mademoiselle by CHANEL 2001

CocoMademoisell Fragrantica Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange, mandarin orange, orange blossom, bergamot
Heart: Mimose, jasmine, Turkish rose, ylang-ylang
Base: Tonka bean, patchouli, opoponax, vanilla, vetiver, white musk

Flankers

Now for this one I do understand the solid business sense behind it. Of course it’s easier to sell a mediocre scent if you piggyback the fame of your houses blockbuster scent from decades ago. I really like the idea of summer versions of the heavier offerings, even like the idea of a yearly release of something crated to enhance your wearing of the original. You know the original Opium or JPG Le Male were pretty full on in an office mid summer, I get it. Make an annual summer flanker in a fun bottle that can also become a collectable. Heaven!

Please don’t create a whole new scent, nothing to do with the magical original that you have slashed and burned till it is a whisper of its former glory and that no self respecting perfumista would use to light a Bar B Q, and link it to your cash cow. It drives me FREAKING WILD! Just two examples on the one scent are Coco Mademoiselle and Coco Noir, either of these are fine scents on their own and I would definitely have liked them a LOT more if they hadn’t been linked to one of the department stores glittering fragrant jewels Coco. ACK! Why? Imagine if they’d called it CHANEL Noir or Gabrielle, put it in that killer black bottle and I am 100% sure it would still have sold like hot cakes while not watering down the cache of the gorgeous original.

OK, so what gets your goat? Go crazy.
Please don’t be offensive or take offence on someone else comment, we are here to have a laugh today.
Portia xxx

Rena “Carol” Aulick-Lynn 1949 – 2016

June 20, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Post by Azar

Hello APJ,

One of the most commercially influential and probably least appreciated perfumers of the 20th and 21st centuries passed on January 30, 2016. Few of us fragrance junkies have ever heard her name but probably most of us have smelled her creations. We may even use the products that carry her perfumes on a daily basis.

Rena “Carol” Aulick-Lynn 1949 – 2016

Rena “Carol” Aulick-Lynn was born on July 7, 1949, the eldest daughter of a Kentucky tobacco farmer. As a child Carol loved all things musical, eventually becoming an accomplished vocalist, singing for radio commercials and performing as a member of the May Festival Chorus under the direction of Maestro James Levine. She was also an accomplished pianist and taught piano and music theory.

After various twists and turns of fate, Aulick-Lynn eventually found her path as a scientist and perfumer working for Proctor & Gamble. With P&G she studied perfumery all over the world and was subsequently promoted to Principal Perfumer/Scientist for the company. She later moved to Firmenich in New York as Perfumer and Director of Evaluation and then to Houston Texas, as the Director of Fragrance Development and Executive VP for Intercontinental Fragrances.

This remarkable woman loved adventure sports. In addition to sailing and flying sail planes she also raced trans am with the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America).

Tide

So – which fragrances did Carol Aulick-Lynn create? Some of her most recognized functional perfumes grace an extensive variety of household, beauty and hygiene products, including Dreft baby detergent, Tide detergent (probably the original and at least one flanker), Dash detergent, Secret and Sure deodorants and Dawn and Joy dishwashing liquids. Her last iteration of the Tide fragrance won the American Society of Perfumers award for Best Detergent Fragrance on the market.

Years of exposure to scented household, bath and beauty products have blunted my appreciation of the considerable artistry (yes, really) and manipulative science involved in their creation. Lately I’ve resolved that I will no longer turn up my nose at functional fragrances but instead approach them as I would “real” perfumes. I’ve found that there are some amazing beauties in the functional fragrance world that could easily hold their own (albeit a somewhat linear “own”) with many of what we snobbishly refer to as “fine” fragrances.

Recently daughter Lauren forwarded the video below. Not only is it hilarious but it has also given me a new perspective on my addiction to scent.

Here are a couple of questions, APJ: Is there a household product that you use just because it smells so good? How about a beauty product that you love or hate based on its fragrance?

Azar xx

Le Galion: Aesthete GIVEAWAY WINNERS

June 20, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there APJ Crew,

Great response this week. Good luck.

Thank you so much to the Le Galion guys. Le Galion has €140/100ml (Shipping is only €10, even to Australia!)

Portia xx

Le Galion: Aesthete GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Italian mandarin, artemisia, incense, saffron
Heart: Leather, guaiac wood, castoreum, oud, jasmine
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, white musk

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml decant Le Galion: Aesthete
1 x 1.5ml decant Le Galion: Snob
1 x 1.5ml decant Le Galion: Cologne Nocturne
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 19th June 2016 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Nemo

Claudia S.

Ems

The winners will have till Wednesday 22nd June 2016 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.

Dry Hair Shampoo

June 19, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by AF Beauty

Hello loves,

I am still on my hair journey with my keratin treatment and I am getting more and more used to it – but in an attempt to make the treatment last longer I have been using a dry shampoo about once a week to try and reduce actual washes. It’s not my first foray into dry shampoo, I’ve used it occasionally for a few years – but let me tell you – not all dry shampoos are created equal.

Dry Hair Shampoo

Speedy dirty (!) hair

Batiste

I am presently using one of the most popular dry shampoos on the market. They have seemingly a dozen different varieties, which I assume all are broadly the same but with different aromas. What drew me to it was that they have versions for different hair colours, good especially if your hair is dark and your shampoo usually white! Yes, this is Batiste Dry Shampoo – for brunettes. The various choices can be found at Batiste Hair.

I am quite impressed by this shampoo, I’d used the non-colour version before on a trial and it was equally as good. It is fine enough to distribute through the hair and not so thick that it feels clunky. My hair immediately looks better, cleaner and if I want to look like I’ve got clean hair for a day longer than might be entirely true, then Batiste does the job.

Recreate Yourself

My first use of dry shampoo was based on advice from my hair dresser, so I purchased one from him. It was this one by Matrix. This being my first use of dry shampoo, I did not know then what I know now, which is that this is up there in the royalty of shampoos. The application is super fine, my hairdresser told me to apply, rub the fine powder into the roots (to remove the oil) and then either brush or shake the hair out. The dry shampoo did an excellent job, leaving hair feeling a lot cleaner and refreshed without the claggy feeling that some shampoos leave behind. This will be my re-purchase.

Priceline

And lastly, a dry shampoo you’d expect to be up there, from Pantene. I quite like Pantene shampoo and conditioner – I can’t use it right now with Keratin treated hair, but it is well priced and does the job. So I thought I would be safe buying their dry shampoo. NOT SO! I used this a couple of times before I twigged exactly how bad it was – it made my hair feel very very dry and each wet shampoo after felt like I might never get my hair condition back. There was no obvious indicator of this at application – it was relatively fine, smelled pleasant and my hair did look clean. But there must have been some lingering action, because may hair felt quite nasty afterward, like a cheap wig. In the end I threw the remainder of the can away to avoid further use.

How have you gotten on with dry shampoos? I often use as a pre-styler for ‘big’ do’s – do you? What is your favourite?

And now I’m off to wash my hair! Till next time! X

Pia & Nick on Love To Smell

June 18, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello APJ,

I’d like you to meet two of my mates, Pia and Nick. They are both ardent frag peeps, have worked and do work in the industry, have excellent noses and senses of humour and are starting their own YouTube channel. The first few videos they are learning how to create content and there are some fabulous clunky moments of heads down, mumbling and awkwardness. Do please go back and watch the first three because you’ll get a real indication of how lovely and real they both are, like two kids set free in a TV studio and having a ball.

What happens here at Episode 4 is that the whole concept seems to coalesce into really fun, informative and engaging TV, so do have a look as they introduce a BRAND NEW bunch of frags from a very famous old independent perfumery.

Enjoy,

Portia xx

Love to Smell Episode 4: Amouroud

Aesthete by Vanina Muracciole for Le Galion 2015

June 17, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 27 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi Frag family,

Recently I have finally got around to opening some more of the stuff from Jin & my Europe trip in Jan/Feb this year. The boys at Le Galion, Nicolas & Enno, were so freaking generous when we were together in Paris. Jin & I went into the Tranoï Paris as guests of Le Galion and Nicolas scored me a Press Pass, it was terribly swish.

Nicolas and his partner Enno.

Tranoi Paris 2016 #4 Nicolas with Roberto Greco: creative genius behind Le Galion advertising and product.

Back to fragrance though, today I have one of the new creations from the house Le Galion,. That’s right. the guys are now creating new fragrances to sit alongside the resurrected vintage scents. Clever!

Aesthete by Le Galion 2015

Aesthete by Vanina Muracciole

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Italian mandarin, artemisia, incense, saffron
Heart: Leather, guaiac wood, castoreum, oud, jasmine
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, white musk

WHOA!!! I think I have sprayed overabundantly. Le Galion fragrances are usually so mild mannered but Aesthete has brought a big stink. Saffron, woods, balmy leather and a very cool incense stand out right from the start and the fireworks continue well into the second hour. Not overbearingly huge in a 1980s way but hefty and noticeable. If I believed in fragrance sexuality I would peg this leaning towards current ideas of masculine but do not be afeared ladies, it will smell glorious on you too. Liking it A LOT!

I’m not sure that it’s particularly groundbreaking but it is an interesting leather on me. Opens up with saffron & woods then quickly becomes a balmy leather with bells & whistles that I can’t place. A nicely vintage vibe.

Over 12 hours and still going, amazing! I smell beautiful this morning. It’s soft and intimate but discernible. A lightly musky balm, so smooth and with the merest hint of vanilla sweetness till i can’t smell it at all.

Le Galion has €140/100ml (Shipping is only €10, even to Australia!)

Le Galion: Aesthete GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml decant Le Galion: Aesthete
1 x 1.5ml decant Le Galion: Snob
1 x 1.5ml decant Le Galion: Cologne Nocturne
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Tell us have you tried any Le Galion fragrances? Which one interests you?

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 19th June 2016 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Wednesday 22nd June 2016 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.

Boy EdP by Olivier Polge for CHANEL 2016

June 16, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hi Fragrant Friends!

Heres I am writing from my small island home in the great Pacific Northwest….

Funny thing about this new Chanel…when I first wore it I was decidedly ambivalent about it. So I wore it the next day, just to be sure. And then the next day and and and…..now I am completely obsessed with it, and find myself reaching for it at some point almost every day!!!

Boy EdP by CHANEL 2016

Boy EdP by Olivier Polge

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Lavender, rose, lemon, grapefruit, rose geranium, orange blossom, sandalwood, heliotrope, vanilla, musk.
The CHANEL website also adds fern to the list.

Boy EdP is classified as an Aromatic Fougere. Now admittedly, the fougere family of scent is not one of my favorites, I find the notes to be scarce and repetitive, and they often go bitter/sour on my skin. However this new Chanel for the Les Exclusifs range is working out just fine and dandy, actually WAAAY beyond my expectations!

CHANEL

Named after one of Coco Chanel’s early lovers, Arthur “Boy” Capel, was a famous sportsman and self-made millionaire who was tragically killed in an auto accident on his way to a rendezvous with Ms. Chanel at Christmas in 1919. Their tempestuous affair lasted for twelve years.

Boy opens with a blast of sweet lavender and heliotrope, but the sweetness quickly dissipates as the herbal qualities of the fougere step forward surrounded by musk, and what I think of as the classic Chanel (Chanelade?) notes found throughout the perfume range.

Solidly unisex, with a feeling of a vintage Chanel, but given a contemporary twist from grapefruit and lemon giving this an almost cologne-like vibe.

Yes there might be better scents in the Les Exclusifs range in my opinion, but I would (and have already) gladly add “Boy” to my full bottle collection! Sorry….gotta’ go re-apply!

Wikipedia

Further reading: BLeauG and The Whale & The Rose
CHANEL has €320/200ml
Recently CHANEL stopped all sample/decant stores from selling their products so you must go in store to try boy

Do you have a favorite from the Chanel Les Exclusifs range??

Cardinal by James Heeley for Heeley 2006

June 15, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 27 Comments

Post by Poodle

I went to a Catholic grammar school. Many of my childhood memories are of being in church. Damn, it seems like there was always a reason to have to go to mass. I have to admit I hated it. We’d even be taken to church during school hours to practice singing so that at mass Sr. Carmeline would be happy and convinced that we were loud enough for God to hear. She was a large, scary woman and had this giant bell she would ring to get our attention. The bell meant business, let me tell you, but that’s another story altogether.

During Lent there wasn’t much singing but we had to go to the Stations of the Cross every week. To a kid it was dreadfully boring, but I loved Lent because there was more incense. Incense was my favorite part of church by far. I still love my incense perfumes in times of stress and when I mentioned Cardinal in my last post Portia asked me to tell you more about it.

Avignon was a blind buy for me and I fell hard for it. It was all dark. brooding, churchy incense. It was love. On my quest to acquire more incense fragrances I stumbled upon Cardinal and found another to love.

Cardinal by Heeley 2006

Cardinal by James Heeley

Fragrantica

Heeley gives these featured accords:
White Linen . Baie Rose . Black Pepper
Labdanum . Frankincense . Myhr
Vetiver . Grey Amber . Patchouli

Cardinal is a church incense but it’s more like church on a sunny winter’s day. I remember sitting in church and it was usually cold. If you were strategic you’d try to sit near a window. You wanted to be in that ray of sunlight streaming through the stained glass. It would offer some warmth which was hard to come by in those big, old churches. Cardinal is a lot like that. It has dustiness and cold damp stone notes along with the incense but there’s also that visible ray of sunshine.

Mount Pleasant Granary

It’s all about the aldehydes. They tend to brighten and freshen up a perfume and that’s exactly what they do here. Add to that the amber in the base and Cardinal becomes a much warmer, happier take on incense. My only complaint is with the lasting power. On my skin Cardinal isn’t a powerhouse and it doesn’t last very long. Some days I may get a couple hours out of it but not others. It does linger on clothing nicely. Your mileage may vary.

If you love Chanel No 22 as I do but have always wished the incense was a bit more pronounced then I think you might like Cardinal. If Avignon always seemed a bit too masculine to you then Cardinal’s floral notes and brightness might be just perfect. Yes, it’s still contemplative and calming but it’s also hopeful, like going into dimly lit church, lighting a candle, saying a prayer, and walking out into the sunshine.

Geograph.UK

Further reading: NST and Olfactoria’s Travels
Healey has €125/100ml and sends to the world
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $5.40/ml

Have you tried it? Do you like it? What’s your favorite incense?

Hugs
Poodle