Nocturne. Ainslie Walker for Alexi Freeman

July 5, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Post by Ainslie Walker

Hello my favourite fragrant folk!

Earlier this year I developed a fragrance to accompany the scenic launch of Australian fashion designer, Alexi Freeman’s latest collection. The scent was released ambiently during the catwalk showing of White Noise trans-seasonal 2016 on the clifftops at MONA Museum, Hobart – possibly the most southern and most scenic catwalk in fashion history!

“As daylight shifts to the still of night, silhouettes move upon a cliff face. Ultra violet light reflects from pale, voluminous and translucent threads. Nearby vineyard fruits sweeten the air. Vapor escapes from shimmering bitumen. White leather treads, pulsing the earths surface. Light amber woods waft upwards carrying the salted air if the river towards us. Soon darkness reigns, broken only by the glimmer of the star filled sky”

MONA is one of the worlds most iconic Art Museums. I am honored to have been the first ‘fragrance artist’ to scent the iconic outdoor space. Here’s hoping there will be more scent events at MONA in the future! Over a few glasses of the local Pinot Noir I talked to owner, art collector David Walsh, discussing ‘scent as art.’ David finds wearing perfume “misleading.” He likes to smell the “natural scent of a person,” deeming it sexy, rather than “a false mask that wears off and is no longer there in the morning.” We discussed basic instincts and attraction in humans and the potential to find a lover attractive due to their natural odor and how wearing fragrance can potentially mess with proceedings and attract the wrong person! (The concept of odiferous ‘beer goggles?!’)

The event was curated by Brian Ritchie, ex-bassist for The Violent Femmes. Each day as he passed by me he opened his collar for a few squirts of Nocturne and a giggle. He loved it and even read it’s description out for the whole crowd!! (My teenage-90s-grunge inner child SQUEALED all the while, believe me!)

Morag from Aussie Fragrance Network Facebook Group came along to the show with her daughter and here she describes the evening:

“We walked uphill from the bitumen car park past lawns and sculptures. Looking out over the river we watched the mix of fashionistas and conventionally styled audience members drift in. We took our seats on heated benches beneath the ** installation, to wait for the fashion show to begin.
**not-allowed-to-mention-the-artist’s-name-due-to-marketing-restrictions

We basked in the change from daylight to night, watching the silhouette of gum trees against a darkening sky. The sculpture’s coloured lights shifted through the rainbow, whilst seamlessly melding with the sky.

All the while, the air was filled with colour, Ainslie Walker’s Nocturne. Rich, luscious fruits and florals – deeply velvet. Byron Meyer produced accompanying soundscapes which in turn carried ethereal gowns, white on white, floating and gliding past us: Alexi Freeman’s White Noise collection. Shorts and tank tops, beautiful gauzy dresses over bodysuits threaded with silver and textural contrasts of leather and perspex glowed under UV, surrounded by the darkness of night.

A feast for all the senses. A subtle fusing and truly experiential. A sensory experience full of provocation.

Wearing Ainslie’s Nocturne, I am transported to that evening and beyond. Because what I smelt that night was just the beginning. On the skin, the scent is much much more. After the voluptuous ripeness dissipates, there is a calm quiet center of gentle leather and musk. The easing into the night after a spectacular sunset.”

Nocturne. Ainslie Walker for Alexi Freeman

APJ READERS OFFER: contact Ainslie Walker to order sampler in card, including postage for $20

Nocturne limited edition candle from Ainslie Walker or Alexi Freeman’s Studio in Fitzroy, Melbourne.

Limited edition Nocturne parfum via emailing ainslie@ainsliewalker.com

PS big thanks to Morag for her support and story xx

Please tell me about a scent installation you’ve attended?

Xx Ainslie

All Photos donated by Ainslie Walker

Blood Orange Chocolat by Danielle Fleming for Note Fragrances 2016

July 4, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 37 Comments

Post by Azar

Hello APJ,

I tend to shy away from perfume brands that incorporate musical notes (or any reference to music) in their logos and advertising. I suppose this aversion has to do with too many years of teaching piano, too many cute “note” themed gifts, numerous tedious encounters with impossibly cumbersome, experimental notations and a general overdose (year after year) of trendy, interdisciplinary synesthetics involving perfume, performance art and music. Enough of that! Suffice it to say that I would never, on my own, have discovered the Note Fragrances brand, had it not been for my subscription to the sampling service Scent Trunk. (Sampling services are grist for yet another mill!)

Skipping the logo, the romance and the back-story, here are my impressions of Note Fragrances’ Blood Orange Chocolat:

Blood Orange Chocolat by Note Fragrances 2016

Blood Orange Chocolat by Danielle Fleming

For me, Blood Orange Chocolat is all about the sandalwood, specifically Australian sandalwood (S. spicatum or a very good likeness thereof – but “no quote me, I might be wrong”*). I do get an initial rush of blood orange, followed by a potent, lingering mélange of chocolate, tonka, hazelnut, honey and a short squeeze of lemon! But it is the edgy, spicy, raw and dusty mineral quality of S. spicatum (I doubt it is the buttery S. album or another sandalwood – once again “no quote me, I might be wrong”) that blasts this otherwise pleasant and unremarkable gourmand into an entirely different dimension and category. To my nose, Blood Orange Chocolat, despite its name, is not a gourmand fragrance at all. Instead it contrasts chocolate, hazelnut, honey and citrus against the fragrance profile of Australian Sandalwood.

There are various sandalwood oils around here and I don’t really need a chocolate-y, vanilla-sugared version of any of them. But I just have to have more Blood Orange Chocolat! Why? There is a distinct similarity between the dusty honeyed accord in this perfume and the scent that Gomez, the Pionus parrot, emits when he is happy or excited. How can I resist?

Wikipedia

I have to tell you, though, that not everyone around here shares my opinion. Daughter Lauren recently made the trek from New Hampshire to the PNW. One evening, with granddaughter Allie, we enjoyed a sniffing marathon. For both Allie, Lauren (and Brad too) Blood Orange Chocolat was nothing more than this: Sweet blood orange and chocolate.

From what I understand, Blood Orange Chocolat will not be released until September but you can contact Note Fragrances for more information.

Scent Trunk has $74/60ml

BTW – Happy 4th!

Are you wondering if this perfume would work for you or which sandalwood was really used to make the fragrance? Today you have a chance to find out!

Azar xx

*Andy Bumatai from the Daily Pidgin Show

Note Fragrances GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x 1.5ml decant of Blood Orange Chocolat by Note Fragrances
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 describe your favorite chocolate-y or gourmand fragrance

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 7th July 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 Sunday 10th July 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.

Orange Flower Soliflore by Dame Perfumery 2016

June 30, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hey there frag friends!

Robert H. here writing from my small island home in the Pacific Northwest. Today I am drenched in, and loving…..

Orange Flower Soliflore by Dame Perfumery 2016

Anytime I get a package from Arizona’s Dame Perfumery with new soliflores is a happy and exciting day indeed!

After Jeffrey Dame’s stunning photorealistic Gardenia soliflore from 2015, I was wondering how the hell he could ever top that, that is until now. You make it better by adding some photorealistic orange flower to the top, et voila!

This gorgeous soliflore opens with an enormous blast of pithy and bitter orange, flesh, peel, stem, leaves, blossoms and all. The scent of an orange being cut open on a warm sunlit terrace, your hands sticky and runny with the juice. Not just any orange however, this is a “Fruit Of The Month” quality citrus, you know….the ones you get at the holidays in the cardboard padded box? Six oranges for $30.00, fresh from the orchard, organic, unblemished, and just perfect. Yeah, THAT orange.

As you sit on your sun-drenched terrace and the smell of this magnificent fruit flows over you, you also notice the smell of the potted jasmine and gardenia starting to mix in, and underneath it all the sweet clean musk scent from the skin of your bronzed companion sitting right beside you. Or maybe the cabana boy? It’s your call!

Now I happen to know that Dame Perfumery knows how to do Musk really well, and if you haven’t tried his New Musk Oil or Cologne, go online RIGHT NOW and order some samples!! (Make sure you get the Gardenia as well). So mixing a touch of musk and gardenia with the glorious citrus is a stroke of genius. The result is a beautiful citrus-centric white floral that will make you roll your eyes back in your head. Sadly, the longevity is not terrific, but that’s actually just fine. The rollerballs are such a great deal that you can re-apply with abandon all day long, with no regrets at all!

Dame Perfumery has $35/10ml rollerball

Have you tried any of the Dame Perfumery range? Any other Orange flower perfumes that you absolutely adore?

Moisture Eating Virus?

June 29, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by Sandra

Hey there APJ! Hope everyone is doing well.

I am beginning to wonder if I have been infected with a new virus – the moisture eating virus that hits early September and then suddenly disappears again at the beginning of June. It had even gotten to the point before I started experimenting that my lips would bleed, the skin on my fingers would crack and bleed and my skin in general looked like an aged snake shedding its skin.

If you will allow me I will take you on my painful journey of being plagued with extremely dry and sensitive skin. It all began when I moved away from home at 18 to attend university. I moved to my first colder climate zone ever and was shocked to learn that I needed not only a warm comforter at night to keep me warm but that my skin would start experiencing dermatitis for the first time. Then I moved to Austria and everything went downhill from there. Not only did my skin worsen but I was also diagnosed with celiac which also comes with a plethora of skin issues. So, if you see me in the heat of summer – baking myself lazyly under the sun like the languid iguanas – it is for good reason – all my issues clear up in warmth and humidity and vitamin D! For the rest of the year I am stuck with spending my money on products that help me look like myself again.

Moisture Eating Virus?

What works for me? Perhaps I can help someone save time and money.

Lips:

Cicaplast Levres – Baume Barriere Reparateur
This lip cream goes on smooth and soft. It takes away any cracks or bleeds and is specifically made for those of us who have autoimmune issues like celiac. Put it on at night and wake up to baby soft lips in the morning. In the winter I carry it with me in case I need it.

Lucas Pawpaw Ointment
I always carry a tube with me because not only do I use it on my lips but everywhere where I have a problem and I put some on and it stops me from looking like a psych patient wanting to scratch non-existent bugs out of my skin.

Body:

Bioderma Atoderm Huile de douche
I buy the 1 litre bottles and the whole family uses this excellent shower and bath oil. My skin in silky smooth after I use this.

Bioderma Atoderm PO Zinc
I can clear up almost any dermatitis with this. Not only do I use it on my body but in the dead of winter when my face needs extra moisture I put this on at night.

Face:

La Mer
My face is a tricky one because most creams that I have tried have resulted in a serious dermatitis outbreak. Fifteen years ago I was introduced to the La Mer Creme de La Mer and the La Mer Concentrate, love them and use them daily, and I have to admit that I am quite nervous in trying anything new. If you have any recommendations for me I welcome them because perhaps a newer formula would have even better results.

Neck and chest:

Clarins Face Treatment Oil Santal and Blue Orchid.
Both are wonderful but I reach for the Blue Orchid in the evenings as I find it a bit more nourishing than the Santal which I use during the day.

Do you have dry skin? What do you use? I would be very grateful for more tips as summer is only three months here and then I have to get serious again.

Aroma M Oils by Maria McElroy

June 28, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Konnichiwa APJ!

After my last post featuring the Geisha Vanilla Hinoki EdP, it would be remiss not to mention the seductive oils from Aroma M. I now own both the Geisha Vanilla Hinoki Oil and the Geisha Noire Oil. Intimate, hypnotic and sensual, they warrant a post of their own. No misunderstanding here, Aroma M´s perfumed oils are not soft nor weak. Quite the opposite. They are breathtakingly intense and personal.

Maria McElroy spent seven years in Japan, and her recognition and gratitude for the culture inspired her line of the Geisha Oils. They are poured by hand into roll-on bottles and each bottle is wrapped in patterned Yuzen papers, handcrafted in Kyoto.

Aroma M Oils by Maria McElroy

The Geisha Noire and the Geisha Vanilla Hinoki Oils. Roll-on perfumes

Geisha Noire Oil by Aroma M

Black amber, sandalwood, tonka bean

This is a concentrated, heavy, dark smoky oil. And yet it is intimate, making it perfect for yoga or meditation. Far be it from me to tell anyone how much perfume to apply but be careful, this is poky stuff. Tenacious as heck, it lasts twenty four hours on me. See the notes? Divine but not angelic!

Geisha Vanilla Hinoki Oil by Aroma M

Bergamot, hinoki, lavender, leather, patchouli, amyris, cedarwood

A condensed, brighter, deeper version of the Vanilla Hinoki EdP. (Which I loved so much I just HAD to order the oil.) The bergamot weightier, the lavender sharper, the spices warmer, the hinoki clearer, Vanilla Hinoki is serene and restful. The rich sugarless smoky Moroccan vanilla surrounded by wisps of patchouli. Harmonious and soothing on its own, but a joyous explosion layered with the EdP.

Aroma M Perfumes offer a wonderful service and samples of everything and ships worldwide.

I don´t always want my fragrance to bounce off of others, hence my love for extraits, dabbing, and as of late oils.
I need to investigate oils further. Is perfume in the form of an oil something you like?

Tranquil Bussis
CQ

Moonlight Patchouli by Van Cleef & Arpels 2016

June 27, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 47 Comments

Post by TinaG

Standing at the Van Cleef & Arpels counter at Heathrow Terminal 3, I did something that every seasoned perfumer swears off doing. I bought a full bottle based on a sniff from a sprayed card, in the shop. But I was so taken by the strong buttery iris notes that I thought I was on a sure thing.

But now after coming home, the fragrance seems to be elusive and jumping around on me a bit. I’m having trouble working out whether it’s the fragrance, or if my nose has been tortured from the aircon on a long haul flight. I’ve been testing and testing this week but it’s no clearer…. So I’m looking for a bit of help.

Moonlight Patchouli by Van Cleef & Arpels 2016

Collection Extraordinaire

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cacao, patchouli leaf, woodsy notes
Heart: Iris flower, Bulgarian rose
Base: Fruity notes, leather, suede

The fragrance is Moonlight Patchouli by Van Cleef & Arpels, their newest in their Collection Extraordinaire. My opening impression of this is of a coca-induced buttery floral iris with a clean patchouli lightly placed underneath. Loving the iris! Loving the butteriness! The iris burns off over the first half hour and the fresh green patchouli steps up with a dry white wood. Reviews of Moonlight Patchouli so far seem to mimic the press release, hinting at light & dark aspects of the fragrance – similar to a full moon behind forest trees. For me it is warm vs cool – the iris & patchouli are cool, woods and coca/cacao being warm. At first this felt quite linear and seemed to disappear at 1/2 hour, but then there are flickers of resurgence of the iris and patch.

It’s at this point I wonder if I’m getting fatigued as the patch takes on a different tone, one which I can only describe as deep green and salty, firstly reminding me of seaweed then perhaps salt-chlorination. There’s a personal skin note in there as well, and it’s consistent – I’ve found it three times on different days. Interesting.

Pixabay

At around 4 hours the whole composition sweetens, I get musk lollies and lemon blossom & some fruitiness. The musk is both prominent and subtle – sounds contradictory, right? Not really – it’s like panning for gold. At first the sand looks homogeneous but give it a few swirls and it starts to separate, quartz sand, black sand, and teeny gold flakes saying ‘here I am’. The musk isn’t in the notes but with ‘skin-scents’ and sweet lolly I’m pretty sure there’s at least two.

At 8 hours an equally subtle leather appears, so gentle that I try to work out whether it’s the fragrance or if I’m getting scent transfer from my handbag. The sweetness has dissipated by this time so what we’re left with is a soft warm suede which is really lovely & snuggly.

Harrods has £126/75ml

Below there is a great way you can try & reply about Moonlight Patchouli
Can you help me work this fragrance out? Overall I think it’s beautiful and wearable, but I’m interested in your thoughts.

I’m giving away 5x 2ml decants of Moonlight Patchouli below, with a request for some feedback please!

Looking forward to it! Thanks!
Tina G xx