Sweet Anthem Perfumes – Meredith Smith, perfumer

February 24, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 53 Comments

Post by Azar

In the past ten years or so the Pacific Northwest has become a hot spot for niche and indie perfumers. Our unique northwest culture of creativity and innovation, our dreary wet winters (we’ve got to come up with something to do!) and the independent spirit of many of the residents all contribute to an atmosphere that encourages our local “noses” to flourish. Several PNW (Pacific North West) perfumers have developed international followings and have been written up and blogged about extensively throughout perfume-land. If I name a few of these perfumers I will be missing too many. Today’s post is an introduction to a PNW perfumer who is probably not as well known as some others but whose work is very popular nonetheless.

Sweet Anthem Perfumes – Meredith Smith, perfumer

Meredith Smith initially founded Sweet Anthem as a small press / independent publisher in 2001 while at college in Texas and closed the business when she went to study abroad in Eastern Europe. She began studying perfumery in 2005 while working as a graphic designer and web developer in Seattle’s Capital Hill neighborhood. Like many independent perfumers Meredith found composing a fragrance to be a natural extension of her love for creating music, visual art and poetry. Sweet Anthem evolved into an on-line perfume shop in 2007. Three years later she left the mass design industry and began working as a full time perfumer. In October 2011 Meredith and her husband Phil purchased a live/work residence where she opened her brick and mortar Sweet Anthem storefront and workshop at street level.

Photo9 Stolen Sweet Anthem Perfumes

I love visiting Meredith’s tiny shop on California Street in West Seattle. She offers her own perfumes for sale, maintains a small inventory of other niche and indie brands and teaches occasional classes in the basics of perfume composition. For more information about the Sweet Anthem product line and scent related services check out Meredith’s new website Sweet Anthem Perfumes

Recently Meredith added a sample service to her shop. I recently received my first of four installments from Sweet Anthem’s “SA List”. The “Spring Anthology” includes two 2ml samples of soon to be released EDPs – Poppy and Lolita, a 2ml sample of Alice and a perfume solid of an older favorite, Cath. While I have enjoyed a number of the Sweet Anthem perfumes for several years I found that these latest fragrances have taken a slightly more sophisticated turn.

Photo Stolen Sweet Anthem Perfumes

Poppy, a sort of gourmand-oriental, unfolds like a flower bud in time-lapse photography. The pointed clove quickly opens into a dark cocoa tinted with red flowers that I perceive as spicy carnations (Meredith points out that there is a trickle of saffron here as well). After a couple of hours the gourmand heart develops and finishes as a dry, smoky incense/opium fading to musk. While the name “Poppy” references the perfume classic Opium, I find this new scent to be kin to fragrances like DSH Café Noir and Olympic Orchids Café V, but lighter and drier. Poppy is a warm and spicy fragrance with good sillage and great longevity, a perfect scent for holing up in a cozy den, anticipating the arrival of spring.

Photo Stolen Sweet Anthem Perfumes

Lolita, on the other hand, is reminiscent of a warm spring afternoon, but without the muguet – thank you! (Don’t get me wrong, I love Lily of the Valley, but it seems to have become such a seasonal cliché.) Lolita opens with just a touch of black current, evolving to a heart of fragile and delicate cherry blossoms. I can barely detect the rosewood mentioned in the fragrance notes. The cherry blossoms linger for several hours eventually combining with and drying down to a salty sort of tonka bean. Lolita is more intimate than Poppy but seems to last just as long on my skin and, like the movie “Lolita”, the final impression of the salty cherry blossoms evoke a youthfulness far removed from innocence. Lolita will be mine as soon as she is available.

Photo Stolen sassisamblog

Sweet Anthem Perfumes US GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have ONE USA winner:

Who will receive:
A 2-season subscription to the Sweet Anthem “SA List” sampling program for one lucky US resident. The winner will receive two different sample sets. The “Spring Anthology” will be sent right away and the “Summer Anthology” at a later date (see the subscription FAQ on the Sweet Anthem Perfumes website).
P&H to the USA

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone in the USA (or who has a USA friend who’ll post it to them) 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

You must have a US address

AND

Leave a comment about a Sweet Anthem fragrance that you already know or about one that you would like to try

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie ~~Sweet Anthen GIVEAWAY~~ http://wp.me/p3PURw-2uA @sweetanthem #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 27th February 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org or some other more fun way at the discretion of Azar, our host for this giveaway
The winners will have till Monday 2nd March 2014 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.

Azar xx

Mixing It Up – Layering Scented Oils USA Giveaway WINNERS

February 17, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Post by Azar

Hello APJ,

This was meant to be for Valentine’s Day but stuff got in the way for Portia. Happy BELATED Valentine’s Day to everyone!!!

Azar xx

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

Today we will have two USA winners:

The first will receive:
A full, unopened 20 ml bottle (exp. 1/2018) of the Swiss Arabian CPO Noora (Divine Light).
P&H in the USA

The second will receive:
A sample set of 5 fragrance oils from Olivine Atelier
P&H in the USA

HOW DID YOU WIN?

Open to everyone in the USA 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

If you leave any comment about mixing and/or layering you will be eligible for today’s draw!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie ~~Scented Oil~~ GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2pM #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 13th February 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by

I placed all of the little slips of paper face down on the floor, stepped back and instructed Fender the dog to “touch”. I gave the command a second time and here’s how it panned out.

Photo Stolen thegarfieldshow-diary

JMR, winning the new 20ml bottle of Swiss Arabian Noora

Claudia wins the 5 sample set from Olivine Atelier

Congratulations to the winners!
The winners will have till Wednesdayday 20th February 2014 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.

L`Eau De Monteil WINNERS

January 18, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Dear APJ,

Thank you all again for the great comments and wonderful stories. Each of us should be writing our own memoirs!

Regarding the draw: As usual B-Azar pulled the winning names from the floppy sunhat.

L`Eau De Monteil WINNERS

Photo Stolen markmontanoblogs

Marion and Kandice

Please send your addresses to Portia at portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au

Azar xx

L`Eau De Monteil by Germaine Monteil 1995

January 13, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 63 Comments

Post by Azar

Hello APJ,

In early December one of my young piano students wanted to try playing the Christmas classic “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson. I rummaged through my semi-organized music library for an easy version but all I came up with was an old collection of Anderson’s own piano arrangements. The student took one look at “Sleigh Ride” and immediately decided it wasn’t for her. (She obviously was not yet convinced by my mantra “Fear No Musical Score”.) We looked at the other pieces in the collection and when I played a little bit of “Forgotten Dreams” (1954) we both knew we had found a good match.

Later that evening I looked at the music again. Every piece seemed to be a distillation of a memory. As I played “Forgotten Dreams” I found myself as a child in the 1950s, sitting in front of an old radio, listening to Leroy Anderson’s music. A sudden “fast forward” brought me to the mid 1990s when several of my piano students were learning to play the same music. With these ’90s musical memories came a recollection of fragrances I’d worn at the time. I recalled not only the scents but also the bottles, the boxes and where I had purchased them. While playing “Forgotten Dreams” one fragrance in particular came to mind:

L`Eau De Monteil by Germaine Monteil 1995

Forgotten Dreams

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Spices, orange blossom, sea notes, jasmine, powdery notes

Most perfume related sites and blogs list the creation of L’Eau de Monteil as either 1995 or 1996. I could swear I’d purchased a bottle a couple of years earlier than that. I couldn’t find any information on the perfumer who actually created the scent. The designer Germaine Monteil died in 1987. (I’ll be telling her story and reviewing more of her fragrances in an up-coming post).

Once again I went rummaging around, but this time in my even less organized perfume storage. I discovered my stash of L’Eau de Monteil, including three full 15 ml pure perfumes, one partially used 50 ml EDP and one full 100 ml spray still sealed in the box. It seems that L’Eau de Monteil had been a favorite!I picked up the used EDP and gave myself a generous blast and then dabbed on some pure perfume for good measure.

Again I found myself time traveling, but not to the 1990s, as I would have expected, but to my childhood in Florida and to a dark and eerily quiet, semi-tropical garden. I found myself crossing a bridge over a pond (or was it a stream?) the banks crowded with plants that I called “elephant ears” (.). The air was thick with the odors of moving water, jasmine, wet earth and sweet rotting leaves. The smell was at once fresh and spicy, earthy and very aquatic. This combination of scents was unique to this particular garden in 1957. I did not encounter the same fragrance again until I discovered L’Eau de Monteil sometime in the mid 90s and rediscovered it in late 2013, thanks to the music of Leroy Anderson.

Thousands of fragrances and pieces of music are created every year. It is inevitable that most of these and the dreams that inspired them will be lost or forgotten. That being said, it is wonderful and strange how one memory leads to another and yet another. I am forever amazed how music and fragrance can “fold” time and space (a memory from the sci-fi classic “Dune”) and return us to events and places of long ago to remember and relive our “Forgotten Dreams”.

Ebay and Amazon seem to be the only places left to find L`Eau De Monteil, you can still grab a BNIC 100ml for under $100

L`Eau De Monteil GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have TWO winners:

Who will each receive:
1 x 2ml decant of Germaine Monteil L’Eau de Monteil
1 x 2ml decant of a “mystery” fragrance
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

Do you have a perfume memory that you would like to share or a forgotten moment that came to life because of music or scent? Please leave comment to be eligible for today’s give-away

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie ~~L’Eau de Montiel~~ GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2ou #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 16th January 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org or some other more fun way at the discretion of Azar, our host for this giveaway
The winners will have till Sunday 19th January 2014 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.

Photos Taken by Azar unless otherwise stated.

Angelo Orazio Pregon Interview: Peety by O’Driu

January 1, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 136 Comments

Interview by Azar

CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAY<<<JUMP

Hello APJ,

In a recent APJ post, Peety, the new fragrance by O’DRIÙ, drew critical comments from almost every direction. Some people were amused or repulsed by the idea of adding their own urine to a perfume. Others were wary of O’DRIÙ’S marketing strategies.

Today I am excited to have the opportunity to ask questions and speak with the perfumer himself. Thank you so much, Mr. Pregoni, for visiting us here at APJ.

Angelo Orazio Pregon Interview: Peety by O’Driu

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Tobacco, jasmine, rose, sandalwood, tonka bean and pink pepper

In addition to a perfumer you are also a poet and a performance artist. O’DRIÙ is obviously selling fine fragrances in the luxury market. How do you reconcile the constraints and often-conservative outlook of luxury and niche with the freedom and innovation that is performance art? Have you ever had to “reformulate” your perfumes or your aesthetic to conform to the image of the luxury goods marketplace?
I believe that luxury or, if we prefer, the extreme version of tastes towards high cost products, is a phenomenon which is still fighting against illuminist’s wastes. Illuminism is the background of the same cosmopolitism; on the other hand it has drawn the attention towards the ideals of freedom of thought giving to France the cultural leadership in the western area.
Since then, the rational approach has been adopted for the aesthetic experience also, trying to bring back the reflection on the subject of the canon of beauty under an objective condition. This has led to a lack of aesthetic values and, as an effect of this, also led to the idea of “taste” as merely subjective.
So, subjective “tastes” could even sublimate the “classical” beauty… preferring something ugly but with the power to awaken emotionalism in the human soul.
The current, motionless fashion world is imbued by this idea of “taste” as it was an ultimate achievement which no one could leave from. By the way, Andy Warhol pointed out that the “pop” taste (the masses’ one) was going to be the new rule in taste! Well, fashion world seems uncertain between two opposite roads: persisting in a rigid vision about luxury or embracing the ultra-commercial consumerist horizon. As a Nose and as an artist I’m trying to go back to the subjective roots of taste, and to propose them as the real meaning of luxury.
I regenerated my thoughts starting from non western anthropological and cultural concept. From these ideas Peety has been conceived: an exclusive and luxury perfume, which (after ten drops of pee) becomes a not reproducible and “su misura” one; a creation which has truly “pop” marketing characteristics, as well as primeval, superstitious or magical meanings. Peety is my contribution to luxury and art: a fetish perfume!

Peety’s classical profile and the suggested addition of urine can’t help but bring to mind the portraits of Robert Mapplethorpe and the controversial 1987 photo series Immersion by Andres Serrano . Have you been at all influenced by the work of Mapplethorpe or Serrano?
Peety, the very first perfume which becomes a “su misura” after ten drops of pee, has given me the opportunity to put together cultural and artistic concepts, using perfume as a language, with an unpredictable “pop” energy.
Just a few day ago, Andy Cohen –a TV top manager and talk show host- collected Lady Gaga’s pee making a perfume from it, I think that it stems from a sort of viral spreading. Peety is someway a threshold: before of it, the creation of perfume using some pee was simply unproposable, after Peety it doesn’t create sensation anymore, it has become an anti-establishment paradigm. At the same time Peety consolidated a different kind of approach to smells and to their ancestral meanings. Peety is the past and the future of perfumery: it was launched in September 2013 and already it’s a part of perfumery history.
Each artist, somehow, plunges its roots in other artists issues. I have to say that I feel myself close to Urs Lüthi’s provocative work, and to its very first body art concept, full of irony and without signs of tragicalness.
Peety rejects at the same time the mawkish and sexualizing clichés of todays perfumery; it looks at the outer world, to the wide set of visual stimulus which continuously surround and tempt us, what ones could call “the urban folklore”.
This is why the Peety advertising generates a linguistic chaos: it embodies masculine and feminine, the Virgin and Lawrence of Arabia, Rudolph Valentine and a nun too.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Could you describe a few of the fragrance notes and a little about the chemistry of Peety? How did you know that urine would work better in this composition than in another?
Peety is a powerful and unexpected perfume. It opens itself with some liberty tones, between yellow tangerine, sweet orange and cinnamon. Then it changes, and we enter in a dance room with tangos and milongas, tobacco notes, castoreum, woods, pink pepper. Later, it finds the levity o a rose kissing a woman neck, or the elation of the jasmine, under the dark elegant black of a fine man.
An exotic smell of vanilla emerges from moss and patchouli, with ethnical stains which are made ancestral by the Tonka beans.
But the only way to achieve Peety’s complete roundness is adding ten drops of pee. Water, salt and the acid elements in urine react with alcohol and perfume ingredients; they slightly oxidize the perfume leading to some carboxylic acids generation, and this gives an original, unrepeatable “stain” to each Peety.
Now, one can smell fruits traces, while some animal notes give room to more pungent perceptions which complete and “close” the perfume. It’s important to say that, in no way, adding pee can link the final result to what one has eaten. Nevertheless, a strong psychical element exists when one uses this “added” version of Peety. It’s something like an unconscious self-satisfaction; it seems that this feeling modifies the way our brain controls secretions, changing our body odors, and making it more attractive.

Last question: I know that I can purchase samples of Peety at Surrender to Chance and from your O’DRIÙ websites. Will your fragrances be available soon from other retailers, online or otherwise?
Really? We don’t have any distributor for our samples! The only chance to have Peety and Eva Kant samples is to order them on our odriu.com store.
Indeed, Peety and Eva Kant samples are sent with an art work from me: it’s made in a very limited series, only 100 pieces. As in O’DRIÙ samples tradition, the cost is a very affordable one. We are focusing on the creation of an European network of retailers but or e-commerce works in almost the entire world -except a few countries- with the same price all over the world, handling & shipping included…
Finally, Azar, let me allow to thank you and Portia for giving me the opportunity to answer to your kind questions, and to thank your readers also, for their patience!

Peety is available from the O’Driu site €150/49ml

Surrender To Chance starts at $6/.5ml

Photo Stolen TheTruthAboutMummy

Peety by O’Driu GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have FIVE winners:

2 MAIN WINNERS who will each receive:
1 x 49ml Peety™ bottle
P&H Anywhere in the world

3 RUNNER UPS who will each receive:
1 x Peety™ Sample Kits
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ and tell us would you personalise the product or not and why.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie ~~Peety O’Driu~~ GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2lX #Perfume #Giveaway @ODRIUperfumes

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 5th January 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org or some other more fun way at the discretion of Azar, our host for this giveaway
The winners will have till Wednesday 5th January 2014 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.

Angelo Orazio Pregon Interview: Peety by O’Driu 2013

December 31, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Interview by Azar

Hello APJ,

Until Peety came on the fragrance scene in 2013, many of us had never heard of the niche house O’DRIÙ or of its creator/perfumer Angelo Orazio Pregoni. My first experience of Peety was a 1ml virgin sample purchased from Surrender to Chance. I discovered that my skin was in love with Peety and I couldn’t understand what an addition of urine could possibly contribute to what I perceived as already golden, animalic and spicy perfection.

Today I am excited to have the opportunity to ask questions and speak with the perfumer himself. Thank you so much, Mr. Pregoni, for visiting us here at APJ.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Your company name O’DRIÙ is an anagram derived from the Celtic word for “oak” and “druid” and you have described yourself as a shaman. How have these images of magic and ritual shaped your creative process and the evolution of O’DRIÙ as a niche brand?
Indeed, the brand name O’DRIÙ comes as a crasis of two words: “duir” – the keltic word for oak, and “vir”, a latin word which stands for “sapience”. But, as you know, the same Pliny “the elder”, described as the Druids performed the “ritual of oak and mistletoe” in its “Naturalis Historia”
Druids were the connecting elements and the depositaries of the keltic culture, one of the few connecting element in this people, so socially and politically divided.
After such an extraordinary length of time, Europe is a socially and politically divided nation, and I thought about a brand name which could symbolize an international vision on perfumery, an European and unifying one, which not necessarily had to go after French perfumery clichés.
So, O’DRIÙ wants to dig up ideas and concept that transcend the mere perfumes production!
Druids not only were like nowadays priests, they were philosophers, scientists, teachers and mentors also.
Somehow, I also wanted to transcend today’s perfumery boundaries, proposing an ancestral paradigm about smells, and opposing my knowledge and art rooted vision against the mass-market. I’m fighting to throw away “classical” banalizations which seem to rule the fragrances world.

Is there a perfumer (living or dead) whose work you especially admire? Who or what has influenced your decision to use scent as an artistic medium?
Giovanni Paolo Feminis, which is widely acknowledged as the very creator of “ACQUA MIRABILIS”. Looking at some of my production techniques I feel myself as I was a ‘700 perfumer. These were the days when one could, and it had to freely create! Raw materials were a few, so it needed to do one’s best, using each and every creative resource, as well as production tools and techniques. This is the scenario in which great intuition and great ideas come to life!
I also feel to be close to the Pierre François Pascal Guerlain modus operandi: as Guerlaine did, I also started creating “su misura” (bespoken) fragrances; only time will tell the O’DRIÙ business size, still it seems true to me that O’DRIÙ is an important linkage between the past and the future.

Who or what has influenced your decision to use scent as an artistic medium?
Art, in its most sublime meaning, is the aesthetic expression of human inwardness. My need was to depict the inner universe of the human being, going beyond every denomination, in a non-aesthetic and non-retinal way. My artistic vocation has been influenced by my background, my closeness to so many artists, I could say my DNA and my uselessness, because –first of all- an artist is useless, that is to say “vain” and yet dramatically fruitful.

Do you wear fragrance? This seems an odd question but I’ve been told that some perfumers rarely, if ever, wear anyone’s perfume.
Oh yes, my perfumes, specially the newest ones, that I’m near to launch: I want to understand how they “live” on my own skin! I don’t wear perfumes when I’m working at the laboratory. Sometimes I run something like a “social experiment” wearing an “antisocial fragrance” which I created for me: it creates a certain repulsion that –absurdly- seems to become fascination when the one who is speaking with you discovers that you are a “Nose”. At that time the incredible happens: this person “wants” to love my perfume, just because he knows about me. It’s like having a mystic fragrance: a different and a mysterious one!

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

O’DRIÙ releases fragrances strictly as limited editions. Is this solely an artistic decision or are there practical considerations as well?
Creating ultra-limited series of perfumes is –at the same time- a sign of craftsmanship and a way to push in the market my vision about the perfume exclusiveness.
Fashion stylists change their collections and this continuously regenerates their style. I never understood why perfumers don’t act in a similar way, proposing their fall/winter or spring/summer collections! Indeed, it seems that there is a tremendous lack of creativity in Noses, so they pretend their creations are “eternal poems”, while this is only a sluggish marketing strategy.

How does the availability of natural materials play into the creation of your perfume?
Nowadays, raw materials are available every day of the year. Yes, it’s possible to have even huge variations in prices, but the problem is not the availability one. My perfumes come to life in my mind: I don’t need to smell anything, and I don’t permit to materials to influence my creativity. I use materials, I bend them to my needs, not the opposite. I could use some basil and bergamot and just another essence to create a great perfume: may be oxidizing part of the basil with sunlight, or burning a part of the bergamot essence while freezing the other part…
At this point I could play, yes: play, feigning most common odors…
And the third essence could be pure and precious, this could be enough to create a great perfume: technique overcomes every unavailability.

Since its inception in 2011 O’DRIÙ has released 19 fragrances (that’s a lot!). What do you see in the future for O’DRIÙ (the company) and for your own vocation as an artist and perfumer?
A lot of them simply are expired… but you should add four more perfumes from the Perfhumance performance, then “Supercilium con una C” and “Subcilium” which came from “Mise en Abyme”. Sometimes, when I go back to smell them, I’m surprised. I’d want to regenerate some highly costly concepts, as the JMT (Jasmine Mean Time), in a inexpensive fashion, but without renouncing to quality! My efforts are aimed to create great perfumes with an affordable price. This is not possible simply following the traditional marketing processes, so I tried to change the rules with Peety and Eva Kant. Both Peety and Eva Kant are principally purchasable via our odriu.com store; there are also some perfumeries in Europe where is possible to test them, but the perfumes will arrive at our customers home as a mail order.
I’d like to have a production plant in USA also, so to cut production and export costs, but it will be possible only finding a partner… hopefully in this life!
As an artist, I have the particular need to create a new communication pathway in perfumery. From this point of view, Peety has been simply a phenomenon, due to its advertising and its related new visual concept. We are also in the creative process for the next step in Peety communication: a viral video which we want to issue on line… we expect it will be explosive!

TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW WITH A GIVEAWAY!!

Peety is available from the O’Driu site €150/49ml

Surrender To Chance starts at $6/.5ml

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

The destruction of Issaquah, WA, USA

December 23, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 43 Comments

Post by Azar

Hello APJ,

During the winter holidays we enjoy our cut Christmas trees and evergreen bows fashioned into wreaths and swags. Evergreens brighten up the dark winter days, scent the dry air and bring the beauty of the forest into our homes. The City of Issaquah, WA USA, my home for over 35 years, prides itself on its concern for the forests and proudly announces on its website the designation by the Arbor Day Foundation as a “Tree City USA”.

The Arbor Day Foundation awards the “Tree City” designation to communities who “meet their core standards of sound urban forestry management”. Sadly, preserving old, established urban forests does not seem to figure into The Arbor Day Foundation’s idea of urban forest management or into the City of Issaquah’s permitting plan that allows for what is simply “clear cutting” of established forests within the city limits.

Earlier this year the acre of forest upslope from our home was sold to a developer and permitted for one large spec house. I had seen this man in action before as he clear cut another lot in the vicinity. I was concerned about the forest, potential run off and the habitat that would be destroyed. I approached the city several times with my concerns and was assured that they would be monitoring every step of the process and would preserve as many of the large trees as possible. HA!

As the old trees were felled and their roots were ripped out by backhoes I felt like I was experiencing a personal assault or a physical trauma. The smell of “tree blood” was almost overwhelming. Eventually two large logging trucks hauled away the remains of the huge cedars and firs. What I describe below in a letter to the city is not an isolated incident but has been going on in Issaquah for sometime now. I knew that this “permitted” destruction of forests and habitats was nasty and wrong but I just didn’t know how horrible it was until it literally happened “in my own backyard”.

Azar xx

(ED: Dear Azar. This makes me sad. I think it should be shared so people can get angry enough to stop it one day. P xxx)

The destruction of Issaquah, WA, USA

Hello,

Issaquah promotes itself as a “Tree City USA” and posts that information on its website. I would like to know what it means to be a “Tree City” and wonder how Issaquah can consider itself to be tree friendly.

Over the past three days the acre of old cedars and fir trees adjacent to our property was permitted by the city to be basically “logged off” by a developer. I’m sure a few of these felled trees were growing here well before our house was built in 1969. I spoke with the city several times before this happened hoping that, in line with the tree cutting permit process, some of these large, old trees could be preserved. All that the city was able to manage was the preservation of one large fir, several small acer macrophyllum and a small cedar.

Yesterday the air outside was thick with the odor of cedar and fir sap. Huge piles of logs and limbs were everywhere. A large female bobcat and two almost fully grown kits were running around our yard in fear and climbing our trees, while the backhoe on the adjacent lot ripped the cedar roots from the slope. The day before a large buck wandered through our property looking frightened and puzzled. The whole scene reminded me of the destruction depicted in Hayao Miyazaki’s animated movie Princess Mononoke. How can the city of Issaquah consider itself to be environmentally friendly when it allows this kind of habitat destruction?

According to Issaquah’s website it looks like, with the loss of this acre of trees, we will now have 13 more tons of dust and gas in the atmosphere. I know it is too late, that the damage has been done and cannot be repaired, but I think someone on the city staff should come out here and take a look at this mess before the developer hauls it away! I would like someone on staff to see what the permitting process allows to happen in “Tree City USA”.

Sincerely,
Azar

Sirocco by Jean Carles for Lucien Lelong 1934

December 9, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 74 Comments

Post by Azar

Sirocco was created for the fashion house of Lucien Lelong in 1934 by the master perfumer and teacher Jean Carles (1892-1966). Carles was responsible for the creation of a number of other Lelong fragrances as well as for Tabu, Miss Dior, Ma Griffe and many other classic scents. He was also the driving force behind the development of the Givaudan Perfumery School.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

The House of Lelong was extremely influential in Paris in the 1920s and 30s. Several famous designers began their careers with Lelong including Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain and Huber de Givenchy. Lelong’s sense of style and fragrance have had a lasting influence on fashion to this day.

Sirocco by Jean Carles for Lucien Lelong 1934

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Coriander, sandalwood, musk, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, rose

The sirocco is a fierce, hot wind from the desert reaching speeds of up to 55 knots (about100k/h). The vintage version of Lucien Lelong’s Sirocco is aptly named. This fragrance, even in its EDC concentration, is a pungent oriental with top notes that include a triple dose of coriander tempered by lavender and magnolia. The startling opening develops quickly into a robust heart of rose, jasmine, amber and patchouli, drying down to opopponax, sandalwood, benzoin and musk. If you haven’t tried this fragrance or can’t imagine it, just think of Shalimar with an overdose of coriander or Emeraude on incense.

Photo Stolen Frank Kovalchek Flickr (Ed: The Wave in Arizone looks like the word Sirocco sounds to me)

My love for Lucien Lelong’s Sirocco began when I spilled it on my mother’s dressing table. It took several months for the air to clear. Since then I have always managed to keep a vintage stash on hand (the reformulated versions don’t interest me). In 50 years or so I’ve gone through at least three 7ml curly bottles of the perfume extrait as well as numerous hobnailed colognes. Right now I have about 16 ounces (480ml more or less) of vintage EDC on hand so I can easily spare two 2ml decants for a draw.

Further reading: Perfume Smellin’ Things and The Non-Blond
Ebay and Etsy have Lucien Lelong vintage bottles for reasonable prices still

Photo Stolen Kesha&Co

Sirocco by Lucien Lelong GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be two winners, who will receive

1 x 2ml decant of vintage Sirocco by Jean Carles for Lucien Lelong 1934
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

To be eligible leave a comment on Jean Carles or a vintage perfume/fashion creation that you love and also mention how you follow the APJs (by e-mail, WordPress, whatever).

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Sirocco Lucien Lelong GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-28h #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 12th Decemberber 2013 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Sunday 15th Deceber 2013 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

Azar xxx

Olympic Orchids GIVEAWAY WINNERS

November 30, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Hello APJ!

What a super response to the Olympic Orchids Giveaway! Of course you all know how excellent the Olympic Orchids stuff is so no surprise. I do hope you go and grab a couple of their gist boxes for yourself and friends.

Photo Stolen Olympic Orchids

Olympic Orchids GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:

1 x 1ml sample of Olympic Orchids Tropic of Capricorn
1 x 1ml sample of Olympic Orchids Seattle Chocolate
1 x 1 mystery sample or decant
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

To be eligible for the draw just mention how you follow APJ. Here are a couple of questions: Do you ever split gift boxes? Have you tried Olympic Orchids Patchouli Lovers Soap or the Amber-Labdanum All Purpose Oil? Comment on either of these questions and be eligible to win

HOUSEKEEPING (Beekeeping?)

Entries Closed Thursday 28th November 2013 10pm Australian EDST
Winners will be chosen by random.org
None of my furry or feathered friends wanted to help me draw the winner so I recruited Captain America (dressed in what appears to be a hazmat suit) to do the job.
Wearing those heavy gloves limited the dexterity of this local man of mystery. As a result he grabbed two names instead of one. The first one I saw was

NEMO

Congratulations Nemo! I hope you enjoy the samples of Olympic Orchids Tropic of Capricorn, Seattle Chocolate and the mystery frag.

The second name was

POODLE

who will receive a sample of Olympic Orchids Tropic of Capricorn, another OO sample (TBD) and a mystery scent as well. I will get these out to both of you as soon as I can. (Next time I won’t ask this guy to draw from the sunhat!)

The winners will have till Tuesday 3rd December 2013 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.

Azar xx

Olympic Orchids 2013 Gift Set

November 25, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 75 Comments

Post by Azar

Olympic Orchids 2013

How to Give a Gift Set

Giving chocolate, red roses or wreaths of evergreen boughs are popular ways to celebrate the holiday season. This year Olympic Orchids perfumer Ellen Covey has put together her 2013 Holiday Sets featuring fragrances that are reminiscent of these traditional gifts.

Photo Stolen Olympic Orchids

The Standard Olympic Orchids Gift Set includes three of her most popular 5 ml parfum sprays: California Chocolate, Ballets Rouge and Olympic Rainforest. The Deluxe Set comes with these fragrances as well as 1 oz. of Amber-Labdanum All Purpose Oil, a bar of hand made Patchouli Lovers Soap and a $25 coupon good toward the purchase of any 30ml parfum in the new packaging. The Standard Set is priced at $35 (easily a $45 value) and the Deluxe Gift Box at $45 (in my estimation worth at least $100).

Photo Stolen Olympic Orchids

I’m always bargain hunting, especially during the holidays. The Standard Set would make a wonderful surprise for a special individual or couple but I have other plans for the deluxe version. Please don’t think me “cheap”, but I could solve several gifting dilemmas, stuff a few stockings or be ready for any unexpected guests by simply breaking the larger set up into individual gifts. Here is my plan for Olympic Orchids‘s Deluxe Gift Set:

Olympic Rainforest might be for the brother who sails the San Juan Islands and works near the Olympic Rainforest.

California Chocolate would be much appreciated by an adult student, a total chocoholic.

Ballets Rouge could make a lovely gift for the sister with the rose garden.

Patchouli Lovers Soap is a “can’t miss” for my old (my age) activist, hippie friend.

Amber-Labdanum All Purpose Oil is perfect for the son who has totally fallen for the scent of this product.

And the $25 coupon? Well, maybe I’ll just give that one to myself! (I bet you saw that one coming.)

Photo Stolen kbaird

Olympic Orchids GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:

1 x 1ml sample of Olympic Orchids Tropic of Capricorn
1 x 1ml sample of Olympic Orchids Seattle Chocolate
1 x 1 mystery sample or decant
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Extra Chances?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Olympic Orchids GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2ex #Giveaway #Perfume @EllenCovey1

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 28th November 2013 10pm Australian EDST and winners will be announced in a separate post
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Sunday 1st December 2013 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.

Happy Holidays!
Azar xx