Contributors

NIVEA: When the blues hit, Nivea to the rescue

/ katesplace356115470 / 43 Comments

.

Kate Apted

.

Hey APJ community!

Now and then we all get hit by the blues. Life seems devoid of joy and the usual things we do for comfort lose all appeal. It has been one of those months, and worst of all, I have hardly any interest in perfume.

NIVEA 2015

When the blues hit, Nivea to the rescue

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, Bergamot, Lavender
Heart: Lily-of-the-valley, Rose, Freesia, Ylang-ylang
Base: Sandalwood, Musky notes

I devote an hour everyday to doing things fragrance related, such as taking a bubble bath in my latest shower gel, researching on my favoured perfume sites, catching up with perfumistas and/or re-sorting my collection. I haven’t even been doing that!

The only things I have been taking little sniffs of are related: my tin of Nivea cream that I never put on my skin, and my little sample of Nivea edt I bough a few weeks back. There is a gentle comfort to the Nivea scent that goes all the way back to when I was 8 years old.

I did try to wear Monsieur by Frederic Malle, but it made me kind of itchy in an internally restless way, so I washed it off. The smell of food has been off putting and actually made my appetite weaker than normal. I am definitely in the midst of something rather unsettling and only time will tell what it is.

Strangely, I am not inclined to sell any of my perfumes, yet a week ago, I put aside a stack ready for me to list on Facebook in various markets. Some bottles are even annoying me. My shower gels are unused and I have taken to using a bar of Allure (Chanel) soap I tucked away  for when I needed a soap with minimal scent.

See? I am not myself right now. I have faith I will come out of this and my zeal for perfume shall return. But in the meantime, I need to ride out whatever it is.

Just yesterday, my eldest, H, sprayed his usual haze of Lynx (or Axe) Australia around his body and I felt I had been gassed with WWI mustard gas. I had to leave the house for frezh air! It is a pretty decent oud-like scent and I have no qualms with him spraying with abandon.

So, back to the blue tin of Nivea cream. There is something so simple, so universally appealing about the vibrant dark blue tin with the bold white lettering. It is a piece of ‘home’ found the world over. The tin makes a marvellously alive sound as it is opened. And inside is the thick cream that used to remind me of the purest double cream I’d see at the dairy as a child. Then the scent… Oh, how does one even put that heavenly powdery, metallic, hyacinth smell to words?!

I guess I want to be around the familar; things that are pleasant, yet not overbearing or complicated. I don’t even need to think about the Nivea experience. I can visualise everything about it with hardly any effort.

What brings you comfort when the blues hit? Are there any scents you warm up to, or perhaps avoid?

May you shine on, you crazy diamonds,

Kate xx

Villanelle’s Vero’s

/ cookie queen / 16 Comments

.

Val the Cookie Queen

.

Well hello there.

I had not planned to write anything more about Vero Profumo.  However I had a message last week from someone asking me what I thought was Vero´s best work; something  I have been asked this many times over the years.  I never answered it, as there is obviously no correct response.  “Best work” is a a different question to the “what is my favourite Vero?” question,  another one that I am often asked.  I cannot answer the favourite question as whatever Vero I happen to be wearing is my favourite at that given moment.   And despite there being no factual reply to the original question, I do have an answer.   So what is her best work?

Villanelle’s Vero’s

Continue reading →

Heeley Blanc Poudre by James Heeley: Breath of Fresh Air

/ Sandra / 70 Comments

.

Sandra

.

Hiya APJ! How are you all doing?

I survived… The last day of school was on the 20th and we both came home and collapsed on the couch. Phew! What a year it has been so far.

Heeley is a relatively new perfume house to me. I tried Cocobello a couple of years ago and used up my decant quite happily. I never came across the Heeley brand in Rotterdam and therefore it slipped my mind. Imagine my surprise when I walked into a perfumery here in Basel and they had a small selection of his perfumes. I was looking for Iris de Nuit as I wanted to keep living in my iris bliss. Unfortunately they did not have it and instead offered his latest creation Blanc Poudre.

Heeley Blanc Poudre by James Heeley: Breath of Fresh Air

The Heeley website describes Blanc Poudre as follows:
“A powder white sensation
Originally inspired by French porcelain, this scent creates the feel and sensation of pure, white powder. A light floral and luminescent breeze passes over a cloud of fine, powdery whiteness. It’s apparent air of naked innocence, nuanced by an underlying warm, sensuality.
A Floral Bouquet
Cotton Flower, Rice Powder, White Musk, Vanilla, Sandalwood”

Even though the name of the perfume, Blanc Poudre, tells me that I am getting a powdery perfume, it is much more than that. It starts out as if I have dusted myself with a scented body talc. It is not talcum powder per se but something more complicated and elegant interlaced with white musk. I love this combination especially when it is scorching outside. Which by the way, it is blistering here this week (and there is no AC here).

What makes Blanc Poudre stand out for me is that there is a floral note woven together with the rice powder. Rice powder or flour does not necessarily have a scent. I suppose it entirely depends on the type of rice used. But what it does have is a sensual texture and pearly white colour. After reading that Heeley’s inspiration was fine French porcelain I can imagine holding an exquisite piece of Limoges.

After several hours Blanc Poudre has morphed into a luxurious skin scent dusted with vanilla and sandalwood. I bask in the drydown and hope to be able to smell like this all day long. Thankfully it has long staying power and gives me the sense of purity, cleanliness and freshness reminiscent of my recent trip to Lucerne with fresh and clean mountain air next to the lake.

Do give it a try if you like soft billowy powder scents. Do you like powder scents? Can you recommend other powder scents for me to try? Which Heeley should I try next?

Until next time.

Oodles of fragrant kisses,

Sandra xo

Day to Day Perfumes (My Dailies)

/ katesplace356115470 / 67 Comments

.

Kate Apted

.

Hey there, APJers!

I had to go to trade school for 3 years as part of my apprenticeship. The guys in my class were the best thing about my time as an apprentice. They would talk about their cars, but more specifically, their dailies. It is their short hand for the cars they use on a daily basis; the ones they don’t invest lots of time and money in as a hobby, but are functional and reliable.

Day to Day Perfumes (My Dailies)

I have a selection of scents I call my dailies. I can wear these at any time, to any place and I know they will work. They are beautiful and well loved in their own right, yet I know I can call on them without having to worry about my emotional attachment (or lack of) to them. They provide a sweet ride without maintenance or expectation.

IMG20190425132751.jpg

Photo by Kate Apted of her favourite daily fumes.

Continue reading →

IUNX L’Ether EdP by Olivia Giacobetti 2003

/ cookie queen / 17 Comments

.

Val the Cookie Queen

.

Hey APJ

I lived through my first radio broadcast, and was happy enough with it, despite the mistakes I made.

IMG_7933.JPG

The technics lady who was teaching me left me alone for half of the show assuring me I could do it.  She sat outside where I could get her in if I needed.    Coordinating the music with the faders, and talking into a microphone took some concentration, but I did it.   What nearly killed me was a deadlift training session that morning that caused my hands to bleed.  Honestly, you would have thought that I would have learned by now.   As a reward for surviving everything, I ordered my next IUNX perfume.

IUNX L’Ether EdP by Olivia Giacobetti 2003

Continue reading →

Iris, how I adore thee!

/ Sandra / 75 Comments

.

Sandra

.

Hi dear APJ. How are you all doing?

We had our first visitors this week. Friends drove all the way from Rotterdam and I was eager to show them around Basel and the surrounding areas. They saw that I still needed to finish certain things in the house and helped me accomplish everything over the four days. I feel blessed to know such kindness. They gave me the greatest gift – time.

Iris, how I adore thee!

Continue reading →

L’Instant de Guerlain and it’s many flankers.

/ katesplace356115470 / 8 Comments

.

Kate Apted

.

Hello there and welcome to APJ.

Do you get lost in the myriad of flankers? Guerlain is most certainly guilty of pumping out copius amounts of flankers each year, but it does not mean they are necessarily bad, inferior or unwelcome.

The lesser known series of L’Instant de Guerlain attracts very little attention in our community. Part of that is the fact they were issued almost a generation ago and are harder to source. I also suspect the range is now considered dated. But you can let me know what you think about that. I do, however, hope they will enter the cannon of Guerlain greats eventually.

Today, I want to showcase four from the series; simply because I own four and they are the only ones I have come across. They are L’Instant de Guerlain (LIdG) eau de toilette, eau de parfum, the Iris limited edition and L’Instant Magic.

L’Instant de Guerlain EdP

Continue reading →

IUNX Talc EdT by Olivia Giacobetti 2019.

/ cookie queen / 18 Comments

.

Val the Cookie Queen

.

Hey APJ

Remember I did that radio interview back in March?  I loved doing it so much that I asked the radio station powers-that-be if I could do my own show.  And they said sure, why not?  So here we are.  This coming Friday 7th June at 18:00 Central European Time will be my first broadcast.   I will have an hour at the controls, forcing my music on an unsuspecting public.  Well let’s be honest here, I will play the music and do the talking and there will be someone with me doing the technical stuff, theory being that I can learn as I go along.  After three or four shows I will be on my own.  First Friday of each month.  “Baking Bad with the Cookie Queen.”  I will share my SOTShow each time, without naming the perfume house because I am not allowed.  Talking of perfume I bought the 20ml travel size of IUNX Talc.

IMG_7852

IUNX Talc EdT

by Olivia Giacobetti 2019.

Continue reading →

Concrete by Comme des Garçons: Architecture + Perfume

/ katesplace356115470 / 35 Comments

.

Kate Apted

.

Welcome to APJ!

In researching the link between architecture and perfume, a lot is made of linking a smell with a place, or trying to recreate the scent of the inside of a building. I think it is too far a literal understanding of the two. I believe there is a more subtle joining that allows each their artistic and symbolic existence aside from the other, yet in mutual complimentarity.

Architecture + Perfume

Continue reading →