Golden Oldies: Worn For Life

October 23, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 27 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

Hi all

What is the perfume you have worn the longest in your life?

Golden Oldies: Worn For Life

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Neroli, bergamot, green notes
Heart: Iris, narcissus, rose, lily of the valley
Base: Sandalwood, leather, vetiver, oakmoss

I’ve worn Chanel No 19 on and off for … ahem … something like thirty years. I don’t know how I could afford it but I bought my first 50ml bottle of the EDT in the mid-80s when I was a student. Between then and 1991 (still a student) I went through that bottle and bought two more. I still have them all; the first completely drained, the latter two are nearly used and rather on the turn now. (Why did I buy a third before the second was drained? I can’t remember.)

In later years I added more bottles of the EDT and EDP to my collection. I still wear it No 19. It’s the perfume I’ve worn the longest, more than half my life.

In those early years I also bought Estée Lauder White Linen, Lancome Magie Noire, Laura Ashley No. 1, and Eau Sauvage (two bottles). Later, after I moved cities, I remember buying Paloma Picasso, Patou Joy, Estee Lauder Pleasures, and Eau de Givenchy. The last was a souvenir of a trip to the UK and Europe in 1996. I bought it in Paris. Squeee!

Flickr

This was all before I had started having children in 1998, and ceased spending money on perfume for several years.

I don’t wear any of those regularly any more. I’ve moved on from the Lauders, as you do. Paloma Picasso has some sad memories. Magie Noire I wear occasionally still. Joy I never really liked and still don’t. I bought it to celebrate the fact that I could actually afford a perfume once touted as ‘the most costly perfume in the world’. By 1993 it wasn’t, but I loved the idea of it. Eau de Givenchy has to compete every summer with a clutch of other eaux, though it is still the best of the bunch probably.

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Grapefruit, mandarin, bergamot, mint, red fruit
Heart: Ylang-ylang, honeysuckle, pure jasmine, narcissus, tuberose, lily-of-the-valley, rose, cyclamen, orris root
Base: Sandalwood, musk, cedar, oakmoss

Anyway – I’m wondering what is the perfume you have worn the longest, and which you still wear? What is the perfume to which you keep returning, no matter how many other perfumed paths you have explored?

Does this long-standing choice suggest something fundamental and abiding about your taste? Note, for instance, that my early perfume collection contained no gourmands, and no orientals except Magie Noire which is part-chypre anyway. Note also that I skipped the marine/ozonic perfumes of the 90s altogether. Thank God. I’d rather squirt L’Eau d’Issey in my eye than wear it on skin.
Or, have you completely left behind all your early perfume explorations and discarded those early, embarrassing bottles?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Until next time, keep spritzing everyone!
AM

Introducing ALTAIA: Marina Sersale and Sebastián Alvarez Murena

October 22, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by Catherine du Peloux Menage

Hello Gorgeous APJ Friends,

ALTAIA is the second perfume love child collection of Marina Sersale and Sebastián Alvarez Murena, whom I met at a beautiful dinner organized by Mecca, the brand’s distributors, to introduce ALTAIA to Australia.

Marina and Sebastián’s first joint creation is Eau d’ Italie, which began as a single scent to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Marina’s family’s hotel Le Sirenuse in Positano on the Amalfi Coast– listen to the story here

Bertrand Duchaufour composed the first much-more-than-a- simple citrus Eau d’ Italie in 2004, then went on to make moody, metallic and stone violet-leaf-iris Sienne L’Hiver, rich rose and incense woody oriental Paestum Rose and the intensely orange blossom grapefruit-green Jardin du Poète. Alberto Morillas, Daphné Bugey and Annick Ménardo created the rest of the range. The packaging and bottles in bright vibrant colours are guaranteed to cheer gloomy spirits before even smelling a single note. At AUS$169 or $200 depending on your choice, they are also on the affordable side.

Introducing ALTAIA

Marina and Sebastian’s second collection, ALTAIA, is spare, elegant and contemporary in presentation. The story behind the range is as captivating as the scents. ALTAIA or A Long Time Ago In Argentina was created after the two discovered that their families had been connected 140 years before they met and fell in love in Italy in 2001.Their great-great-grandfathers, an Englishman and an Argentinian had worked together in Argentina in the 1860s. Sebastián grew up in Buenos Aires and Marina in London and Italy before their fated meeting in Positano.

The three EDPs by Daphné Bugey which launch the collection bring together stories from the past and present.

Fragrantica

By Any Other Name is of course a rose, evoking memories of Marina’s mother’s first proposal of marriage aged 16, in the rose garden of Sudeley Castle in England. Gentle rose and osmanthus intertwine and weave in and out of each other in a soft, slightly fizzy blend. They are supported by the musks in the base and invisible (to me) cedarwood. This is no big bold punch-right-between-the-eyes rose but there is no girly pink lollywater effect. Pretty but with substance.

Fragrantica

Don’t Cry For Me revisits Sebastian’s memories of Buenos Aires. Again, it’s soft and airy, an almost dreamlike sweet jasmine, no indolic raunch here. Freesia, sweet cherry blossom (which I can’t pick) and jasmine ,blend with a touch of powder (heliotrope?) and a cloud of soft pink musk and gentle woody notes. Nostalgic and sophisticated.

Fragrantica

Yu Son is love in an Italian citrus grove. For starters, it’s choc-full of mandarin, bitter orange and greenness (is that the green tea in the note list?). On a humid summer when you’re looking for interesting cool, not cologne cool, this would be perfect. It’s got sweetness from orange blossom, a dry iris note gives it backbone and woods bring richness and persistence.

The range will be available at Mecca Cosmetica stores and Mecca online exclusively from 8 November $277 for 100 mls. Eau de parfum.

Which of the three will you try first?
CdPM

Salome by Liz Moores for Papillon Artisan Perfumes 2015

October 19, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Post by Erica Golding

Warmest fragrant greetings to you all!

Tonight, I am luxuriating in an addictive perfume that I actually did not care for upon first impression. Have you ever given a scent a second chance, trying to unlock its mysteries and nuances? I am so thrilled that I didn’t give up on:

Salome by Papillon Artisan Perfumes 2015

Salome by Liz Moores

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bitter orange, bergamot
Heart: Turkish rose, orange blossom, tobacco, carnation, jasmine, hyrax
Base: Styrax, vanilla, hay, patchouli, oakmoss, cumin, birch, castoreum

Let’s just put it out there: Salome is a cumin-saturated, purring, sexually charged explosion! The cumin dominates with amplified intensity on my skin, accented by the animalic musks, creating a panting, sweaty body odor accord that’s definitely not safe for work on me. 😉

This growling feral opening delayed me from even skin testing my gorgeous giant decant, which was a gift from my goddess Barbara. I would unscrew the sprayer and sniff the tubing, considering swiping a drop for a skin test, and couldn’t even will myself that far! Where was the jasmine, or orange blossom, or bergamot? All I could sense was the cumin, but as an adventurous soul, I was surprised that I was wimping out.

So one evening, I just said, screw it. Let’s go! Onto my wrists she went. Admittedly, the first skin test confused me. The cumin and the furry animalics still roared, but underneath I could also sense a dazzlingly gorgeous perfume – a classic bouquet of tender blossoms, with oakmoss and the distinctive vintage tone of a bygone era.

I almost gave up after that first test. But then I couldn’t stop coming back to the decant just to sniff the sprayer. I started wearing it on occasion as an evening scent after my child went to bed. Slowly, my addiction to the entirety of this masterpiece began to blossom. It wasn’t long before my craving became an obsession. Now, I can’t get enough!

The cumin truly does ignite on my skin, and Salome is too daring and sexual for me to consider wearing it casually. However, I am deeply enamored with its dirty, prowling sensuality as a private indulgence. If you love Bogue Maai and Absolue Pour Le Soir, this is one step further – if you dare!

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Bonkers About Perfume
LuckyScent has $160/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/0.5ml

Have you ever become obsessed with a perfume that didn’t work for you at first?

Love, light, and scented hugs,
-Erica

With Guerlain’s Sylvaine Delacourte in Paris + Photo Essay

October 18, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Post by Ainslie Walker

Hello Fragrance lovers – something very special for you today!

Sylvaine Delacourte’s story is of hard work and perseverance. Currently Guerlain’s Artistic Director of Fragrance, an inspiring pioneer, in an historically male dominated industry. She has instigated change and innovation within Guerlain’s traditional curtains.

I attended Atelier Il Était Une Fois prior to the meeting, smelling 25 original, discontinued Guerlain fragrances. A beginner when it came to Guerlain, my visit to Paris was certainly rectifying this. Basics covered and now who better to bring me up to speed than Sylvaine Delacourte!?

With Guerlain’s Sylvaine Delacourte in Paris

Australian visit announcement!

AW: From the beginning, tell me about your career?

SD: I was a makeup artist! Knowing nothing about perfume I joined Guerlain, became a trainer in makeup for France and internationally, then Product Manager.

AW: How did you progress into fragrance?

SD: I became curious. I worked for the most beautiful perfume brand in the world. There was no in-house training for perfume so I attended Cinquième Sens and it was a revolution! My teacher Monique Schlienger was inspiring. I fell in love with perfume. I started to buy books and bottles – my collection was enormous!

I asked, “If I can study perfume, after I will create training for Guerlain.” I was given 2 years, paid, to learn perfume.

I attended Isipca, Firmenich and many more! I spent one week with Jean Claude Ellena.

I kept my word and created perfume training for Guerlain. I was the first person to do sales training about perfume at that time.

AW: From trainer to perfumery?

SD: Jean Paul Guerlain invited me for lunch. Handing me 3 blotters, he said “I’m creating a fragrance” I replied, “I am a beginner, I know nothing!” He insisted, I made my choice and he said, “I feel exactly the same.” It was Heritage. He said “stop what you’re doing and come work with me.”
I became evaluator, technological coach and psychological coach. [Laughs]
We did many perfumes together; from after Samsara, to Champs Elysees – a turning point: I was quite alone in that project, working with Olivier Cresp from Firmenich, nobody knew -it was secret and it was chosen to launch!!

JPG was upset about Champs Elysees, “Sylvaine, go into marketing, it will be good for you.” He developed Coriolan and Mahora – good perfumes but commercial disasters.
Guerlain was not in good health, I was asked to come back, “we have to launch a perfume, it must be a success!”

I developed one with Maurice Roucel and won against JPG and other perfumers it was L’Instant de Guerlain I cosigned with Maurice. Next, I won Pour Homme and after I won a floral, Insolence.

Finally I was made Director of Creation.

AW: Your current role?

SD: I control all the tools and language about perfumes we transmit to beauty advisers, press and marketing. I know all the steps of the perfumer; I know what’s inside. I know how to talk about it, so I know perfectly the message we need to give.

AW: Bespoke Fragrances?

SD: Since 2006 I’ve made 35 bespoke fragrances. I have 6 to make now! I created a 2-hour consultation with psychoanalysis, olfactive tests – I make them anosmic, almost in an hypnotic state to find positive smells from their life.

AW: Working with Michael Edwards?

SD: He is very cute. He comes many times, yes, to see me – twice a year to talk new products and their pyramids. He asks, “Are you ok with this category,” first. He is very professional and serious, does not take risks. Very kind -a gentleman. He understands perfectly the fragrances.

AW: Two fragrances most special to you?

SD: They are all my babies, but 2 are very important:

L’Instant de Guerlain for Women as it was tough at that time. I cosigned with Maurice Roucel, I was in the spotlight and it meant a new life for me.

Cuir Beluga I made for myself, it is me! It is my perfume! Cuir Beluga is the most beautiful fragrance I have created. It is difficult to stay at that level. This will be by my gravestone!

AW: Working with Thierry Wasser?

SD: I worked with Thierry on 3 fragrances before he joined Guerlain, when he was still at Firmenich, Quand Vient La Pluie, Iris Ganache and Guerlain Homme.

La Petite Robe Noir, the original, was an exclusive. When Thierry joined Guerlain he said in an elegant way “I have kidnapped your formula to make it more international!” [Smiling]

AW: Difficulties as a woman?

Always fighting as a woman – I did not want to be in the spotlight but when you do something you are proud of, you want to be recognized. Now, everyone in the team is important.

AW: “Musk-inade,” working with musk -L’Instant Magic days!

I am very fond of musk! It is very comforting, elegant, refined, and warm. Some are difficult to catch. You must blend a bouquet musks for everyone to smell it. It’s not easy to work with musk, it hugs close to skin, and it’s hard to make it extraverted. Musk is tenacious but has no trail. We have to add trail to the musk.

AW: Raw materials you like / don’t like?

I love vanilla, mimosa, heliotrope, iris and violet. I love vetiver and patchouli. Vetervyl acetate, heliotropin and hedione.

I work on delicacy and subtlety. I like to work raw materials in contrasting ways e.g. Cruel Gardenia – I made Gardenia like lace, very delicate and subtle. I made vanilla fresh and green in Angelique Noire. Rose Barbare’s rose is not romantic or fresh but dark, musky, nutty.

I don’t like indole – too animalic for me!

Oud I find the hardest – I don’t like it. Thierry loves working with that kind of note. I am happy he takes care of this!

Sylvaine Delacourte Australian Visit:

Sylvaine visits Australia November 3rd – 5th, launching L’Art et la Matiere collection, David Jones, Sydney.

Sylvaine oozes such passion for the brand and fragrances; specifics roll off her tongue without hesitation. She will share her remarkable knowledge to attendees. In addition she will host workshops, where VIP’s will create their own floral fragrances.

– 3rd November 6:30pm / 5th November 4pm instore at DJ’s.
– Perfume Creation Workshop $65, 4th November 10am / 5th November 1pm

BOOK through Sydney Perfume Lovers Meetup Group online or David Jones.

Thankyou for reading! Hope to see you there!
Ainslie X

Peety by Angelo Pregoni for O`Driu 2013

October 17, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 52 Comments

Post by Azar

Hi there fellow Junkies!

In 20 13 I wrote a review of O’Driu Peety and a subsequent two-part interview with O’Driu’s controversial perfumer Angelo Pregoni. Several readers were put off, maybe even pissed off, at the suggestion of adding pee to perfume. At the time, adding bodily fluids to fragrance smacked of a middle school science project and seemed an ill conceived, sophomoric attempt at marketing. In retrospect I see that the reference to pee served its purpose, drawing attention to the House of O’Driu and to the talents of Pregoni – not an easy thing to do in an industry that has so many accomplished perfumers and where at least 1,600 new fragrances are introduced every year!

Peety by Angelo Pregoni for O`Driu 2013

Peety Revisited – The Truth be Told

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Jasmine, rose, tobacco leaf, moss
Heart: Mandarin orange, bitter orange, amber, cinnamon, pink pepper
Base: Patchouli, sandalwood, tonka bean

Three years on I am still enjoying Peety – without any adulterants. On me it is a gorgeously warm, animalic oriental, the perfect scent for autumn or for any time I want to feel good. I don’t care about Pregoni’s antics or what he believes in (and the same goes for Coco Chanel) – I just love the perfume and appreciate the talent that created it. And Unlike many of my other indie and niche fragrances, Peety never goes into storage. It is out for use all year long.

That being said, I am not focusing here on defending Peety or the talents of Pregoni, or ranting against attempts to marginalize someone or something because it doesn’t fit into a prescribed template. My reason for revisiting Peety is that I’ve come to realize to what extent other peoples’ opinions affect me. Sadly, up until today, I have been wearing Peety secretly – not admitting how much I adore this stuff and what I really think of Pregoni’s talent, for fear I too will be marginalized or sniffed at.

Flickr

I have always considered myself outspoken, but the Peety thing made me realize that I carry around plenty of irrational fears revolving around not being liked, “friended” or appreciated for who I really am…but how can anyone know who I really am (and what I really like) if I’m afraid to say what I think? It seems this kind of honesty often involves some risk – either to the sense of self or to the sensibilities of others.

LuckyScent has $180/50ml + Samples

Azar xx

Petty GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 2ml spray decant of Peety by O’Driu
1 x 5ml decant of vintage Eau de Rochas
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us if you ever find yourself intimidated by the knowledge of a perfume expert or the consensus of a crowd – so much so that you keep your ideas and opinions to yourself? Does the prospect of defending your favorite fragrance or navigating a gauntlet of criticism take the wind out of your sails or, like the Union Civil War naval officer David (James) G. Farragut, do you simply say “Damn the torpedoes…go ahead…full speed!”

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Wednesday 19th October 2016 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 23rd October 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

L’Attesa by Lucca Maffei for Masque Milano 2016

October 16, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

L’Attesa by Lucca Maffei for Masque Milano 2016

Hello beautifully fragrant friends,

I know I’ve talked about it before, that magic moment when you discover a scent that absolutely sweeps you off your feet. A scent that makes you just HAVE to sit down before you fall down in an orgasmic faint. In other words, swoon-worthy.

L’Attesa by Masque Milano 2016

L’Attesa by Lucca Maffei

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, neroli, champagne
Heart: Iris, orris root, tuberose, ylang-ylang
Base: Sandalwood, oakmoss, leather

Yup. That would be the effect that Masque Milano’s L’Attesa had/has on me.

Luca Turin in writing about this magnificent scent said last spring (and I paraphrase):
“…an excellent iris (I cannot think of a better one available today)….”

And boy-howdy it is SO iris, or rather IRIS (IN ALL CAPS) and it lasts on my skin a very long time. On and on, A veritable over-abundance of iris in the very best way possible. So. Iris? Check. Gorgeous? Check. Long lasting? Check. FBW??? Check.

Luca Maffei, the nose behind this fragrance is a niche-fragrance genius having authored such perfumes as Néa and Garuda for Jules Et Mad, the exquisite Rose De Taif edp AND extrait for Perris Monte Carlo, and Cologne Intense for Houbigant among many others.

PDI

L’Attesa (the wait) is exactly that. With three different types of iris, it’s simply anticipation amped up X 1000. Luxurious, smooth as hell, rich and deep. To me, it brings to mind the minutes before a clandestine midnight meet-up in a private hothouse, two glasses of champagne just poured and tested for taste, the fizzy bubbles tickling your nose with that glorious yeasty fermented odor.

The hothouse is full of blooming iris and white flowers, and orange trees, their scent mingling in the warm moist humid air with the perfume of hundreds of bouquets.

A sexual encounter is ensured in a setting like this, so you lay your well-worn leather jacket on the bark-chip pathway creating a place for love making, the leather scent mixing with the smell of just-tilled gardens, rooty, earthy, and fecund.

You hear some soft steps on the gravel path outside. The hothouse door opens. And there is your lover.

The night has just begun.

Flickr

Further reading: Colognoisseur and
LuckyScent has $165/35ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $7/0.5ml

Have you tried L’Attesa? What other iris fragrances do you love?
Robert Herrmann x

Immortelle de Corse by Claire Chambert for L`Occitane 2011

October 16, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Post by Claire Vukcevic

G’Day lovely-smelling APJ people!

Have you ever nicked a perfume from your parents or siblings? I have. Well, I’m too scared of my father to lift his Terre d’Hermes parfum. But I’ve mentally placed post-its on it just in case, you know… My mother has no interest in perfume, but like any good mum, is given loads of it and stacks it all up at the back of her wardrobe.

Now, I used to joke that the only perfume I’d be likely to inherit from my mum would be a half-used bottle of Eternity. But it turns out that she only likes No. 5, and so I was free to take her vintage No 19 EDT, vintage Je Reviens, and a bottle of Opium that she tried to persuade me not to take “because it must be 40 years old at this point and no good at all.” Ha!

Also among the bottles I re-housed for her was L’Occitane’s Immortelle de Corse. I had never heard of it. A quick search on eBay, however, told me that it’s pretty rare and that people pay up to €200 for it. But I don’t think I’d ever sell it because it’s G…G….G…Gorgeous.

Immortelle de Corse by L`Occitane 2011

Immortelle de Corse by Claire Chambert

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Corsican immortelle
Heart: Honey, rose, black tea
Base: Corsican immortelle, benzoin, iris, musk

I’m a big immortelle fan, to the extent that I grow it in my garden and own pretty much every perfume iteration of the note. To me, it smells in turn of delicious hay, tea, leather, maple syrup, honey, booze, curry, and sometimes dried grass. It is not a simple, one-dimensional smell, so that’s why I think it’s not redundant to own more than one fragrance that features it.

PDI

Initially, Immortelle de Corse smells like whiskey mixed with Acacia honey. The rich booziness that rolls off the topnotes remind me somewhat of the Scottish whiskey note in Like This, which also features immortelle, but with less smoke and gingerbread, and more of a simple, liquid honey.

There is a maple syrup-like chewiness to the honey that’s pitched halfway between amber and burned sugar, but the accord never comes off as heavy or sickly. Immortelle can be slightly cloying, but here the potential clinginess of the maple-honey note has been cut with notes of black tea, which introduce air and smoke.

There is also a dry, powdery iris evident in the drydown, which joins with the delicious smell of sun-baked hay and benzoin to make you think of lazy harvest afternoons, smoking on a shady veranda and looking contentedly at all the haystacks you’ve just built. Basically, it’s a cornucopia of harvest smells – wine must, honey, booze, hay, and tea.

Longevity is great – about 6 hours on me, when it fades into a leafy, curried warmth that is pure immortelle. The kind of person I see enjoying this would be a fan of other autumn harvest fumes such as Botrytis, Volutes, and Frapin 1270.

Wikipedia

Angel Muse by Quentin Bisch for Thierry Mugler 2016

October 11, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

All Hail APJ Earthlings,

MUSEology

Muse: Drones Tour 2016

I went to Vienna earlier in the year to see MUSE on their Drones Tour. I knew that it would be good but had no idea that it would blow my mind. It opened with futuristic soldiers complete with glowing blue eyes, patrolling the perimeter of the 360°rotating stage. Drones in their docks suspended from the ceiling ready to fly around the hall. Retractable silk banners hanging, acting as cinema screens.

The band came on dressed in black, as opposed to their normal prominent and flamboyant outfits. Matt Bellamy, lead singer and guitarist was uncharacteristically chilled, letting the incredible and perfectly synchronized production shine. This was a thrill ride of the most epic proportions and I cannot forget it. Six months later and I am still playing MUSE at top volume. One of my top three gigs and I have been to hundreds.

Angel Muse by Quentin Bisch for Thierry Mugler 2016

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Grapefruit, pink pepper
Heart: Hazelnut, whipped cream, rose
Base: Vetiver, patchouli

Browsing through the perfumes at the airport last week I picked up Muse, a Mugler production and relative to the iconic Angel. Not wanting to kill my fellow passengers on the blue and yellow Lego flight I was about to take, I spritzed it on paper. A hefty sniff coated the inside of my nose for the next ten hours. (I was inspired by Clare of the Take One Thing Off Blog, and of our own APJ, and the Candy Perfume Boy to do so.)

WikiMedia

MUSE is a Walnut Whip of wizardry. A splendid burst of patchouli droplets, each wrapped in effervescent grapefruit and pinkness. Joyous and mouthwatering, heartwarming and sparkling. It glides into a swirling creamy nutty heart, as light as a marshmallow, tinged with a green orange. Divineness. The underlying vetiver stops Muse from becoming too sweet, as it smoothly glides into the base teaming up with vanilla and the ever-hovering patchouli. A kaleidoscope of enjoyment. I have been wearing it non-stop. Madness. 🙂

MUSE pushed me outside of my comfort zone. Available everywhere, a flanker, mainstream. Who would have thought it? I bought the 30ml Cosmic Pebble bottle, which sounds like something off of a Hawkwind album. We have come full circle. It´s available all over the world. Comparatively cheap and worth a shot. You just never know.

#HateToLove Angel Muse Making of – Mugler

Further reading: Candy Perfume Boy and Now Smell This
David Jones has AUD$99/30ml

Which Muse would you prefer to be around darling hearts, sweeties?

Angelic Bussis
CQ

(Ed: All photos donated by Val unless specified. Thanks lady. XX)

L`Heure Diaphane VIII Cartier: Les Heures de Parfum by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2011

October 10, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Post by TinaG

“Alice: How long is forever?
White Rabbit: Sometimes, just one second.”
Alice in Wonderland

Hi APJ,

Life can get hectic, whether it’s as a result of factors external or internal, work, family, home life – bring too many activities together without some space between, and everything starts to get compounded. When it’s all too much, I occasionally look for the immediacy of headspace which a beautiful fragrance can bring. Often these times lie in the realms of Hermès Hermessences, but I was given two samples of Cartier’s Les Heures de Parfum by the beautiful Tara of A Bottled Rose, and I found both to be just lovely.

Cartier

The Les Heures de Parfum line of fragrances have been created by Cartier’s perfumer, Mathilde Laurent. I knew so little about Cartier overall that I did a bit of research into the Les Heures collection, and their slimline bottles affixed with roman numerals. The samples I had to hand were of I L’Heure Promise (that prefix is a roman numeral “I”), and VIII L’Heure Diaphane. I thought my sources were sketchy when I couldn’t locate a V, and found a XIII which you won’t see on any regular clockface…. The fragrances themselves felt delicious, specifically chosen and placed at a point in time with purpose and not simply running up numerically for the sake of completeness. I liked it. Here’s a glimpse of Diaphane for you.

L`Heure Diaphane VIII Cartier by Cartier 2011

L`Heure Diaphane VIII Cartier: Les Heures de Parfum by Mathilde Laurent

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Rose, peony, litchi

VIII L’Heure Diaphane spritzes on light and fresh, rose-centric underpinned with greenness. Uplifting and refreshing, its star attraction is a wonderful peony note. If you’ve never smelt peony, it is quite rose-like, but somewhat truncated from a full “rose” spectrum. There are some stronger pink-red rosy hints in here as well but seem selective. The notes for L’Heure Diaphane are peony, rose and lychee, simple and complimentary, but together create a fragrance which is profound and elegant. The overall effect is one of a shimmering fluid-like quality, not watery as such but has a subtle movement like spiders web in a breeze. I can detect a slight pepperiness which is most likely as aspect of the peony, and rose notes accentuate rather than overwhelm.

It makes me feel: languid, gentle, intelligent, cheeky, proud, caring, efficient – all the things which get pushed to one side to meet deadlines, deal with annoying people, get frustrated with news and world events – just for example. It might sound simplistic but it is clarity and breathing space, perfect for the workplace or a weekend at home. Almost totally linear and worn close to the skin it is both a diamond and silk all wrapped up together, which can either be shown off or held to the heart.

Cartier

Further reading: What Men Should Smell Like and Grain de Musc
Saks Fifth Avenue has $285/75ml
Cartier stores and large department store counters also stock it.
Surrender To Chance have samples starting at $6/0.5ml

“You say, go slow…. I fall behind. The second hand unwinds….”
Cyndi Lauper

What fragrances have you found which provide an essential grounding in your daily life?

Till next time,
Tina G xx

Scent Of Revenge

October 9, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

Hi all

I’m not an admirer of Guerlain’s La Petite Robe Noire. Its cherries and berries are too sweet for my taste, and I have no energy for all its forms and flankers. I’m not going to list the notes. All the LPRNs smell the same to me anyway.

I do love the series of animated video ads though. Sassy, witty, they are just so fun to watch. Here’s one – from the Eau de Parfum Couture – but there are several others.

La Petite Robe Noire – EdP Couture – GUERLAIN

Then I got curious about the original song, written by Lee Hazlewood and recorded by Nancy Sinatra in 1966. Here’s the music video, also from 1966:

Nancy Sinatra – These Boots Are Made For Walking (1966 Original)

For her sexiness and that knowing look in her eye, this is a smooth, flawless performance from Nancy. She’s not going to be brought down by that loser of an ex-lover. She’s up on her feet and those little black boots are aimed where they can do the most damage. If we follow Nancy’s lead we have to acknowledge that you enjoy revenge most when you can laugh at your enemy. ‘Ha!’ she laughs. ‘Ha!’ indeed.

Scent Of Revenge

PDI

Revenge may be sweet but it can also be corrosive. If you let it take over it will consume you. So you may as well have a laugh as you walk all over that useless bastard, and get on with your life.

What would make a good revenge perfume? Ah, this is where I’m interested in your thoughts.

For my money, La Petite Robe Noire will not do. It’s too conventional and too risk-averse. Wit and intelligence are forsaken for easy populism. Once you’ve had your cry, once you’ve wallowed in your comfort fragrances, you need something to get you back on your feet and spritzing in the face of the enemy.

I’d go for a chypre or something in that line of country. There is nothing maudlin about Chanel No 19, for instance. It won’t let you out of the house with a blotchy face or unwashed hair. In YSL’s Rive Gauche you can forget about all the socks you sorted and the cupcakes you baked.

My top choice is Dior’s spicy oriental chypre, Dioressence. It has the essential ‘Ha!’ we see in Nancy: the flick of the hair, the chin in the air, the confident grin of disdain.

Those are my thoughts, but ANYTHING that sharpens your heels will do. So he hated Thierry Mugler’s Angel? Wear it! He liked you in some soft floral like Chloe? Forget it. Wear what YOU want. Chanel No 5 reminded him of his granny? Wear it! (Anyway, his granny was one classy lady, wasn’t she? She probably always thought you were too good for him.)

Bye for now everyone – I’m looking forward to reading about YOU would spritz in the eye of your Ex. Ouch!

Angrius Feminus (Iratus mulieres),
Anne-Marie

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Scent Of Revenge

La Petite Robe Noire – EdP Couture – GUERLAIN

Nancy Sinatra – These Boots Are Made For Walking (1966 Original)

Scent Of Revenge