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Sandra
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Hey there APJ! How are you doing?
Summer vacation has finally arrived in The Netherlands and this year we are blessed. The weather is so warm and sunny that we are in fact in a mini drought. Every day we are greeted in the mornings with the birds’ love songs and then we are rewarded with the musical chorus of crickets chirping in the evenings. This has been a truly stunning summer so far.
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Val the Cookie Queen
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Hey APJ Peeps
It is so damn hot here I can hardly think, let alone consider how my new bottle of Chanel N°18 smells. I had a large decant of the N°18 EdT, and I have enjoyed wearing it off and on over the last four months or so. And then the “enjoyed” turned into an absolute “I have to have a bottle of this stuff and I know it is not available any more so let’s get the EdP immediately I have heard such good things about it” mode.
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Sandra
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Hi there APJ?
How have you been?
I don’t know about you, but it has taken me years to come to fully appreciate Guerlain’s Shalimar and some of its flankers. I am not sure what put me off of it for so long, but about a year and a half ago it was as if a light switch went off in my head. The mental block was lifted and I started to savor the current version of the EdP. Continue reading
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Val the Cookie Queen
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Meanwhile, back at the APJ ranch ….
Hey there all you APJ friends, welcome back to the pleasure dome.
Did you miss us? I am sure I did a lot of things whilst we were gone, including enjoying not having a deadline to nearly miss every two weeks, but cannot remember what now. All good things come to an end and I’m back at it, albeit with my very own deadline now. Portia is running things a little differently, and it involves me having to be computer literate and learning how to insert pictures into the post all by myself. I took it for granted that Portia did everything for me, but that vacation is over. If you find yourself not reading this until Christmas you’ll know I am having issues. (By the way, http://www.australianperfumejunkiescom is the slightly altered address now, in case you have problems Googling us.)
I got my first tattoo to fill in the “no APJ” boredom. Have wanted one for ages and I finally got around to it. No surprise for those who know me, that it is an armadillo. It is the name and the logo of our bike and cookie business. I chose to have it on my ankle as the middle of my forehead would have been a bit too in your face, no pun intended. I would have liked it on my arm, but thought that might be a little too mid-life crisis. And I love the way it peaks out of my shoe. I cannot wait to have another one, which I have planned for the end of the summer. A crown. I am the Cookie Queen.
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Val the Cookie Queen
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Happy Spring or Autumn APJ!
Beginning of Spring and I woke up to a shitload of snow and minus temperatures. Headed off to take the 07.30 train to Vienna to meet up with Lady Jane Gray over brunch, calm my Oud Ispahan lemming, and go do a little sniffing on our Hermès to Haring day.
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Sandra
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Hello dear APJ readers. How are you all doing?
Life is quiet here at the moment. Loving the routine and no added stress this week. As I sit and write this post, the sun is shining and the sky is a brilliant blue. The trees and bushes are starting to bud and as I walk around doing all of my errands each day, I stop and smell flowers along the way. Not much is out yet, but give it a couple of weeks and it will be gorgeous. Continue reading
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Kate Apted
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Hello all you lovely APJ family.
I owe a huge thanks to Sam from I Scent You a Day. Had I not found her blog and lurked around for a while, I’d have never dusted off my mum’s perfume collection and found a few Avon gems. Sam is a huge Avon fan and her enthusiasm caused me to see what all the fuss was about. I hadn’t bothered with Avon since I was a tween. Bad quality and poor longevity put me off.
Deciding I liked Little Black Dress (LBD) after trying what sat on mum’s bureau, I ordered a bottle on sale. My version is the latest one with the black sticker on the back and the fully black cap, while mum’s is an original from the year of its release with the transparent glass body and a half black cap. Interestingly, I prefer my bottle. I will stand by my view that Avon scents trail off after 30 min to one hour, but in the case of LBD, the scent is what makes it worth buying. At the price it generally goes for, even online, I am happy to keep reapplying. Avon’s rollerball version is perfect for my handbag or travel. And it comes with body products! Win! Continue reading
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Val the Cookie Queen
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Hey APJ
I think it was around the end of 2012 that I read the APJ post where Portia announced that he was coming to Europe; along with the cities and dates that he would be around. So happy to see Vienna on the list, and not only that, I was actually gonna be in Vienna the day he was there. I emailed him asking if he’d like to meet up and I would bring cookies. We arranged to meet at the Café Mozart. I asked my daughter (the future BlondesWunder) to come along with me, as I was a bit out of practice at meeting random Aussie drag queens.
Vienna
Some of you know this story, you can skip the next bit. We had absolutely no clue as to what Portia looked like, nor if he would turn up in drag. It was a biting cold day as we stood outside the Café Mozart. As each person approached BlondesWunder and I would be staring like crazy women, wondering if it might be Portia. To no avail. We walked Into the Café to take look, but no one stood out as Portia Turbo Gear. Nope. Back outside we went. And then my phone rang, with and Australian calling code, Portia
telling us he was in the Café, over to the left of the entrance, and could be found wearing a M&S style vaguely Christmasy woolly. Which is of course exactly what I was expecting. I still laugh.
I know this picture has been used any times, we have no other one really from when I met Portia, but let’s look a little closer. Between Portia and my head, in the mirror is Hannah BlondesWunder taking the pic. To the right of Portia`s head, also reflected in the mirror, is Jin busy taking a few shots too. Behind the sugar shaker is the Chanel bag I had bought 31 Rue Cambon in a few months early. You might notice the bag is pimped with an armadillo sticker, and it was packed with cookies. And if you look really closely you can see that my ear is red. When I get nervous, or over excited, it does that. So annoying and a dead giveaway to those who know me. 🙂
“Its been five years, my brain hurts a lot …..“ Bowie
APJ had not even had its first birthday when we met. As we drank tea and talked I said to Portia, hey, I could write something for APJ huh? I thought maybe once or twice. He´s like yeah, totally. And now it has been five years to the very day. Tuesday 13 March 2013 – Tuesday 13 March 2018. Five bloody years of running around like the proverbial chipmunk on crack, wondering what to write, and if I can meet my deadline. It was on this day in Vienna that I became Cookie Queen. It truly changed my life, and opened so many doors for me, I wouldn’t know where to begin. Portia, please may I say another five?
Christian Dior Oud Ispahan – A Lemming
Before Christmas I met up with APJ`s Sandra and the lovely Lady Jane Grey. LJG gave me decant of seven or eight mls of Dior´s Oud Ispahan, and I have used the lot. I have wanted to get into this oud thing but never liked it. I find the stuff very interesting and was privileged to to try a number of pure ouds when I visited Ellen Covey in Seattle a few years ago. But never say never, and I have totally fallen for this Dior. I don’t care if it is real oud or not real oud, the perfume is gorgeous. And I want it. Do I want a whole bottle? You can bet your ass I do. But as I have grown older I have gained a little wisdom so here’s what I am gonna do. LJG has offered to refill my bottle. (It is now empty). If I continue to wear it the way I have been, then yeah, I will buy a bottle. Portia said they do 40ml bottles in Paris, anyone know if they do that I all the CD boutiques?
Thanks to every single reader and commenter over the years. I love the APJ Family.
Celebratory Bussis
CQ.
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Gabriella
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Hiya perfumed friends!
The other day when I was perusing my perfume collection I was thinking about how all the scents in my regular rotation have always been instant loves at first sniff. It’s not very often that I have to sample a scent for ages to work out whether it’s for me or not and even more rarely does a disliked perfume become a love after months or years of sampling as it Continue reading
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Sandra
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Hi dear APJ. How are you doing?
I have a strange question for you because usually I am the type of perfume lover who wears perfume for myself. Mainly taking into consideration the weather, my mood, my plans for the day before I spray with abandon.
My husband has always been open with me whether or not he enjoys a perfume. So has my son. They are both Continue reading
Australian Perfume Junkies 