Si by Christine Nagel for Giorgio Armani 2013

March 20, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by TinaG

The beautiful Australian actress Cate Blanchett won the 2014 Academy Award “Best Lead Actress” for her role in the movie Blue Jasmine. Cate is well known and loved in Australia, and particularly in Sydney where she was the Co Artistic Director of the Sydney Theatre Company from 2008-2012. I’ve never met her, but so many of my friends have and absolutely rave about what a goddess she is, stunningly gorgeous and radiant – elegance personified. In 2013 she became the ethereal ‘face’ of Giorgio Armani’s new perfume release

Si by Christine Nagel for Giorgio Armani 2013

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cassis
Heart: Freesia, may rose
Base: Vanilla, ambroxan, patchouli, woodsy notes

I was given a very generous ‘discovery pack’ of 7ml EDP and a body lotion recently. The juice itself I find is simple and uncomplicated and has a good silage and longevity, however the scent is borderline linear and doesn’t change appreciably on my skin as it dries down. On opening there is a sweet, sugary vanilla and berry stickiness that has a light floral background and this combination is persistent for about two hours. After this time the vanilla is less prominent, and it is all blackcurrant and rose with just a faint hint of something woody in the background. I’m starting to get worried about my nose – twice now I’ve tested perfumes which have patchouli listed in the notes, but I’ve not been able to find it. And I know what patchouli smells like, goodness, it is pretty distinctive as a stand alone oil… so not sure about that.

So after 3 hours, I’ve got a pleasant berry/floral vibe going on. I know ambroxan can be amazing on my skin, but I feel like I’m just waiting for that to kick in and give a twist, and at 4 hours maybe I’m getting hints of it however I’m still having to look hard. The scent becomes a touch more personal. It’s like being at a summer barbecue with friends, and at desert time having a generous helping of pavlova heaped with berries and vanilla cream, then after a while wandering off to a quieter spot for a 1:1 conversation.

All round, I do like it, but it is a sweet and dependable perfume – not sure what the question was, but the answer, sí (yes), is definitely not one borne from the throes of passion. I’ve worn it to work on days where I know I’m going to be ultra-busy and don’t have time for too many distractions. On these same days I’ve also opted for old-faithful flats instead of killer high heels, and worn something comfortable, and I’m not 100% sure I haven’t just grabbed the nearest bottle to dab on as I’ve run out the door.

Now, I’ve seen a similar question asked on another blog but I’m going to repeat it here because I’m interested – if you had to choose any perfume/s for Cate Blanchett to represent, which would you choose?

Tina G xx

Cate Blanchett and Anne Fontaine – A connection – Sì

Behind the Scenes Sì – starring Cate Blanchett

Sì – The film – Giorgio Armani

Snowcake by LUSH vs Cuir Beluga by Guerlain

March 20, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Post by Chairman Meow

Hi APJ,

Having read comments on akafkaesquelife that Lush’s Snowcake was longer lasting version of my beloved Cuir Beluga, to be had at a fraction of the price, I considered the gauntlet well and truly thrown, so off I duly trundled to find a sample. You heard it folks. Cuir Beluga and Snowcake are about go toe to toe for the title of World Champion Delicious Marzipan Fragrance, so LET’S GET RRRRRRRRRRRRRREADY TO RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRBUMBOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHL!!

Snowcake by LUSH vs Cuir Beluga by Guerlain THROWDOWN

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Marzipan, benzoin, rose, cassia and almond

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, tangerine
Heart: Immortelle, patchouli
Base: Vanilla, amber, suede, heliotrope

Bingbingbing! Snowcake sluggishly dances around Cuir Beluga with some evasive footwork while Beluga watches on with a bored expression… and BAM! Beluga uncorks a huge left hook out of nowhere, and Snowcake goes down like a lead balloon. Nothing more to see here, ladies and gentlemen.

These are mostly listed as essential oils in the ingredients list, with the implication that it’s a mostly “natural” perfume, as is Lush’s wont. Certainly natural is how it smells.

Snowcake, with its billing as a scent of marzipan, and name that promises a mouthwatering dessert in fact delivers, cruelly, sadistically, the scent green bananas. It goes on tart, grassy and replete with an uncomfortable urge to scrape the fuzz of unripe fruit off one’s teeth. What’s more, by the magic of whichever wacky esters are in this concoction, you even get the slightly ferrous whiff of bruised and oxidised banana peel moments later.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

The almond is there I suppose, morosely mooning about in the wings, crapulent from the night before, and does make a reluctant showing once the banana finishes its strangled chorus. It plays a short olfactory set and then passes out on stage in its own banana scented vomit. The only resemblance to Cuir Beluga that I could detect is when Snowcake is at the very end of its pitifully short life, one that makes the notoriously ephemeral Cuir Beluga appear a veritable Methuselah of perfumes, when it’s just an enfeebled, barely perceptible almondy-vanilla powder.

This would all be tremendous if Snowcake wasn’t thus named and was instead called “The Smell Of ‘Nanas Turning”, but as it is, it’s just a bit of a letdown for this confused reviewer. Am I missing something? Did the Aussies get a beta version of the Snowcake that everyone else is in raptures about?

No, I suspect the problem lies with me. The truth is, I’m quite partial to synthetic scents, with their durability and ability to transport me to fantasy olfactive landscapes, which is much harder to accomplish with natural scents. Actually, I’d say I’m quite the fan of artificial things in general. I prefer my chicken and corn soup laden with MSG. I’m looking forward to meeting my future robot manservant. I want my drag queens to look like caricatures of women.

And I like smelling stuff that smells better than the stuff it’s meant to smell like.
Pass me those bolt-ons will you, there’s a dear.

Chairman Meow x

Mitzah by Francois Demachy for Christian Dior 2010

March 18, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Post by Ainslie Walker

Hi APJ,

Named after Christian Dior’s friend and muse Mitzah Bricard and now sadly discontinued, from the first whiff today’s fragrance takes my breath away. I really don’t know why. Is that what the Dior website means when they describe it as “enchanting”? I’m definitely enchanted.

Don’t Forget to enter our Oriza L. Legrand Sample Sets GIVEAWAY

Mitzah by Francois Demachy for Christian Dior 2010

La Collection Couturier Parfumeur/La Collection Privée

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured acords in one line:
Coriander, rose, spices, cinnamon, labdanum, vanilla, honey, patchouli and incense

With Mitzah I’m reminded of a freshly baked red velvet cake. Deep red rose, warm vanilla, amber and spicy, balmy cinnamon. Pungent labdanum comes and go, in the first hour taking this fragrance into a far from innocent direction.

Mitzah could easily be unisex.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Something smolders, reminiscent of a café in a Parisian street. Coffee…fur-clad fashionistas, still up from the night before. Resinous incense from a nearby chapel in the air. Sultry yet sweet. A touch creamy. More and more amber and burnt toffee notes. Freshly scorched Crème Brulee? Brandy? Some say honey…I’ve never had honey that smelt like this. Vanilla and patchouli stay close to the skin, a soft, deep powdery touch amongst the smolder and amber. It’s hard for me to decide if the amber or frankincense is dominant. They dual fairly equally until the un-bitter end.

Wearing it, I wonder if anyone else around me can smell it? Every few minutes I find myself pressing my wrist to my nose. It’s addictive. I want more. I wish it were BIGGER. It’s rich, but not big. *Sob! It’s almost a little linear, not much movement or change, but I love it. It hugs and comforts, sophisticated, whilst still somehow remaining a little elusive with its unchanging wafts.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

I wear it to bed and sleep well, in a cave of sensual patchouli and sweet deep amber and incense. Just before I drop off there’s a sharp note of coriander seed amongst the mix. I think of Marrakesh for some reason. Longevity is good it’s still there in the morning, mainly the resins. Just there. Not screaming out or anything, just kind of lingering around.

I thought I’d test it further and head out for some exercise doused in it. As my body temperature increases I get slightly more toffee and incense, but I really think it remains pretty constant. Mitzah is subtle and noticeable at the same time. I kind of imagine Mitzah to be introverted, but noticeable. Consistent. Unique. Decadent and sensual. This fragrance is rich, soft and deep.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Mitzah is not so much a journey, she’s just doing her thing. In the background but holding a striking presence leaving some of us a little spellbound.

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Olfactoria’s Travels
Still available in Paris and rare DIOR stores and counters
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

Try it if you can, before it’s gone (or super expensive)…otherwise some say Serge Luten’s Amber Sultan makes a good substitute.

Ondine by Lisa Fong for Artemisia Natural Perfume

March 17, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Hi APJers,

Long ago, my then BFF and I (we were all of 17) were exploring some woods when we rounded a corner and saw in front of us a field of wild, naturalized daffodils and narcissus. It was breathtaking! We walked into this field and were surrounded by the beauty and the scent of the flowers. I see this long lost field every time I wear today’s beautiful fragrance…

Ondine by Lisa Fong for Artemisia Natural Perfume

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Narcissus, myrrh, floral notes

Ondine is the name of a Germanic water nymph and the Artemisia site says that this scent is meant to be the “fresh, sweet spirit of water”. I get no water at all from it, none, unless it’s the water that Narcissus looked into when he fell in love with his own image.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Narcissus, narcissus, narcissus is what Ondine is about. The first time I spritzed it on, my immediate reaction was “what a strange little perfume.” Now that I know Ondine better, this hasn’t happened again, but it always grabs my attention. The opening is very sharp with a hint of myrrh in the background. This myrrh is never strong and I lose it after about 3 or 4 minutes. The sharpness stays but mellows somewhat. There is also a delicate sweetness in the mix that stays until the end. Ondine is narcissus, both sharp and sweet until it fades away after about 4 hours, 3 in summer. It has more silage than I would expect from a natural, but I think it would be hard to offend anyone. I like that Artemisia makes it in a solid too so it’s easy to carry it with you and refresh as needed. Ondine is a perfume of springtime. It says – get up, get out, smile, life is good.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

From the Artemesia site: …100 percent natural Artemisia eau de parfums embrace the world of earth, roots and water, along with sweet floral notes. Each captures the essence of a natural, sensual experience and allows it to resonate as the perfume develops on each individual.
Ondine: Essences of narcissus and myrrh and sweet kewda attar relax the senses and unlock memories of river, lake and pond.

Ca Fleure Bon writes: Ondine reminds me of the last gasp of the paperwhites. The sweetness of narcissus combined with the resinous, almost dusty, smell of myrrh is balanced perfectly. There is something unusual about this scent that I can’t quite put my finger on. It has a smell that brings antiquities to mind, as if it were composed of the dust motes from an old perfume cabinet. Ms. Fong created this to be a scent reminiscent of rivers, lakes and ponds, named after the naiad Ondine, but we all have different perceptions of fragrance. This is a perfume I want my coats to smell like; worn and comfortable, but nicely scented.

Artemesia Natural Perfumes has Ondine EdP $68/17ml

This winter has been too long for many of us. What makes you think of spring and takes away the winter blues if only for a while?

Maya
xx

Magnolia Grandiflora Sandrine and Magnolia Grandiflora Michel 2013

March 17, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by SarahK

Hi APJ,

These are the first fragrances released by Grandiflora, a Sydney-based florist. Magnolia Grandiflora Sandrine was the final fragrance developed by Sandrine Videault before her untimely death last year. Originally scheduled for release in August 2013, its launch was delayed following Sandrine’s sad passing. Instead, it was released in early 2014 together with Magnolia Grandiflora Michel, which was developed by Michel Roudnitska, son of Sandrine Videault’s mentor at the start of her career. Ainslie Walker also reviewed these two fragrances here at APJ, Jordan River did a wonderful lead up on APJ too, but as these two scents were only recently released, and there aren’t many reviews of them yet, I wanted to offer my take too!

Magnolia Grandiflora Sandrine and Magnolia Grandiflora Michel 2013

Magnolia seems to be a popular note in perfumery currently, but these two scents are no bandwagon-jumpers. Do not try them expecting heady floral notes like those found in En Voyage’s homage to the magnolia, Zelda, or Guerlain’s powdery L’Instant. You won’t find anything like that here.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Lemon, grapefruit, white pepper, green notes, woody notes, watery notes and musk

Sandrine: This, to me, is a grapefruit fragrance backed by fresh (not marine) watery notes and some clean musk. Imagine you’re breakfasting on grapefruit and a glass of spring water. You’re sitting at a table covered by a starched white tablecloth on the airy, sunny terrace of a posh hotel somewhere Mediterranean. The grapefruit note feels natural, though the underlying musk has a touch of the functional, starchy ‘laundry musk’ about it. For me, that doesn’t detract from the scent – rather, it adds to the feeling of airy breezes and stiff white linen. That being said, there is definitely an aromachemical in here that gives me a feeling of being smacked across the bridge of the nose, and I wouldn’t be surprised if others found it headache-inducing. The fragrance is not complex, and is pretty linear, but it’s nicely done, aromachemical reactions aside. I am not a fan of 90s-era ‘ocean fresh’ calone/citrus scents, but I would find this very likeable if not for the nose-smacking.

Photo Stoilen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Grapefruit, lemon, bergamot, jasmine, ylang-ylang, rose, magnolia, vetiver, patchouli and musk

Michel: This opens as an aquatic floral and stays that way for a couple of hours. It’s a realistic waxy, green, watery – even slightly milky – magnolia and, like the real thing, smells better from a distance than up close. When I sniff my wrist, I have to confess that, owing to the lactonic note, I don’t love it at this stage, though the sillage is nice. It’s very different to Sandrine’s interpretation of magnolia. Where Sandrine is the evocation of a breezy, sunny and warm day, Michel is a magnolia tree after a cool rain shower. Over time, the milky aspect fades and by hour three I am left with a fresh green floral that I like much more. By hour four we’ve reached the base, where there is an easy-wearing echo of the grapefruit and woods (though none of the starchy aromachemical) found in Sandrine.

Both fragrances are unisex and have moderate-soft sillage, though they last a good 8 hours on my skin (but I have to say most fragrances do).

LuckyScent has both US$185/100ml
Peony Melbourne has both AUD$185/100ml

Have you tried either of the Grandiflora scents? Were they what you expected?

SarahK X

Oscar de la Renta GIVEAWAY WINNER

March 15, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Oscar de la Renta Essential Luxuries Collection GIVEAWAY WINNER

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

Today’s give-away is for one, brand new complete sample set (about 1.5 ml each) of Oscar de la Renta’s Essential Luxuries Collection, including the following fragrances: Oriental Lace, Santo Domingo, Sargasso, Granada, Coraline and Mi Corazon, all in a small satin monogrammed pouch

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

Leave a comment about what YOUR workplace or home smells like. (Comments on any of the fragrances in the Essential Luxuries Collection are also welcome.)

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie ~~Oscar de la Renta~~ Oriental Lace GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2ym #Perfume #Giveaway @OscarPRGirl

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 13th March 2014 10pm Australian EST

Thank yo so much for your wonderful descriptions of the scents of home and workplace. Azar B once again pulled the winner’s name from the hat.

Photo Stolen sistersavealot.com

Jackie

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
You have till Monday 17th 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.

Dot by Annie Buzantian and Ann Gottlieb for Marc Jacobs 2012

March 13, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 38 Comments

Post by Poodle

Dot, dot, dot…

This is not really a review but rather a tale of a perfume that I never thought I’d wear, never mind own.

Hubby went on a trip and got me a fragrant souvenir. I know I should have told him what to get but I was curious to see what he’d pick if left to his own devices. Well, he went to a Sephora and with some help from the SA, left with one of the newest releases at the time. Dot. Yes, the Marc Jacobs one.

Dot by Annie Buzantian and Ann Gottlieb for Marc Jacobs 2012

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords (different in words & pics):
Top: Red berries, honeysuckle, pitaya fruit (dragon fruit)
Heart: Coconut, jasmine, orange blossom
Base: Vanilla, driftwood, musk

So there I sat with a polka dotted bottle of my very own dreading the thought that I might have to wear it. I thought perhaps I could wear it once or twice and when he didn’t notice it I could shove it to the back of the shelf and forget about it.

I bravely spritzed one morning before work. When I stepped into the kitchen after getting ready, hubby noticed immediately and commented on my fragrance. I told him it was the one he bought and he was so pleased that he picked out something that smelled so good. Of course I was not thinking that. This was not what I wanted to smell like. Not. At. All.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

At work there was a random comment that something smelled good in the office but I knew it couldn’t be me so I dismissed it. Then I was followed down the hall by a coworker who wanted to know if it was me she was smelling. It was. She had to know what my perfume was. I was forced to admit I was wearing Dot. I even brought her a sample the next day.

The next time I wore it I received similar reactions and hubby comments on it every time.

To this day Dot continues to be one of the perfumes that I get the most compliments on.I’ve accepted that fact now even though I don’t understand it.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

There’s no point in trying to dissect the perfume note by note. It smells like a lot of other fruity florals to me. I would not be able to pick it out of a scented line up. It’s sweet and dripping with red berries, white flowers, and vanilla. It’s girly and a bit loud at first. Yet people seem to love it on me. It’s not “me”, but I guess I’m not wearing it for me. I’m wearing it because hubby bought it for me and it makes him happy. Once in a while you have to take one for the team I guess.

Do you have perfumes you wear because someone gave them to you or because they like them on you even though they’re not favorites of yours? Please tell me I’m not the only one.

Poodle x

Zelda by Shelley Waddington for EnVoyage Perfumes 2013

March 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by Jordan River

Her name was Zelda,

She was a showgirl,
But that was 60 years ago when she used to have show…

Well now she has a perfume!

It’s a neo-oriental (what?) for woman (what?) featuring a chorus line of notes who have learnt their choreography to Broadway standards.

Zelda by Shelley Waddington for EnVoyage Perfumes 2013

Notes
Top: Iranian Galbanum, Spiced Italian Bergamot, Spices
Heart: Creamy Magnolia Blossom, Garden Florals
Drydown: Cedarwood, Balsams, Mousse de Chêne, Sandalwood, Smoky Amber, Vanilla, Vintage Musks, Vetiver

I opened the bottle at the same time as I sipped on a cup of tea. My senses went awhirling and I thought I had discovered an exotic tea. I was awondering just how those leaves had found their way into the teapot. Not that Zelda smells like a tea note; that was just a trick of my taste and smell sensors. A dab and a spritz and my tea returned to English Breakfast while I was enveloped in warmth from this beautiful beautiful perfume.

The addition of spice to bergamot for the opening gave Zelda the warmth I was feeling. Persian Galbanum adds the green of spring at this stage. Let’s call that youth.

The show stopper is magnolia which breaks through a powdery cloud (the cloud is like very very expensive talc), taking the stage with big effects and affectations for about 3 hours with The Big Magnolia Show. Really it swirls around magnificently then retreats to the wings and retires while the smoke machine puffs amber, vanilla, balsams and Mousse de Chêne across the audience. The stage backdrop of trees is very choreographed; slow dancing real sandalwood trees surrounding a towering cedar with a stage floor of jazz-tapping vetiver grass.

I kept waiting for the magnolia to return but even a standing ovation (applause, applause applause, she lived for the applause) did not bring a bow. Zelda left the world’s stage at 48 years young. Let’s call that gone. Reapplication is the answer here if you want to smell the Magnolia Diva herself after 3 hours. The drydown will keep you entertained though to the 5 hour mark. A long enough show and like all good shows left me wanting more.

Now; for women? Nonsense. I am so rocking this floral. Neo-Oriental; yes it is an Oriental and yes it has just been released but it smells like vintage to me.

If this Art Deco perfume bottle could speak you would hear Zelda’s voice saying:

I give a damned good show.
– Zelda Fitzgerald

Zelda Fitzgerald. Photo Enchantment: Tarleisio

This 2013 ‘show’ has won an award: The 2013 Top Artisan Fragrance Salon Award; Silver in The Most Seductive Scent category.

Showgirl History
Before the days of Portia Turbo there was Zelda Fitzgerald, the first American flapper who pounded the boards in the 1920’s. As The Alembicated Genie tells it, Zelda was a woman…

too passionate not to burn so bright, too talented to ever go unnoticed, a free spirit too uninhibited not to thumb her nose at convention, only to be done in by the very conformity her fiery heart raged against.
– Tarleisio
– The Alembicated Genie

Shelley was inspired and elated; voilà Zelda!

EnVoyage has $US75/17ml in an Art Deco bottle

Further Reading
Scents of Self – Arielle’s experience
The Alembicated Genie – Liquid Filigree
Another Perfume Blog – sunny and dusky

The book mentions “white flowers perfuming midnight”, “sweet-smelling blossoms…and night-blooming vines

Zelda’s book mentions “white flowers perfuming midnight”, “sweet-smelling blossoms…and night-blooming vines”

There is a brightness and bloom over things; she inspects life proudly, as if she walked in a garden forced by herself to grow in the least hospitable of soils. She is already contemptuous of ordered planting, believing in the possibility of a wizard cultivator to bring forth sweet-smelling blossoms from the hardest of rocks, and night-blooming vines from barren wastes, to plant the breath of twilight and to shop with marigolds.
– Save Me the Waltz
– Zelda Fitzgerald

Jordan River XX

OLFACTORAMA AWARDS APRIL 5th 2013

March 11, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

OLFACTORAMA AWARDS

Le Prix des Amoureux du Parfum

Vero Profumo Mito Voile d´Extrait, one of five, nominated for the Olfactorama Prix de L´Enthousiasme 2013

I had French at school for five years. I also had two years of French tuition from a charming lady who taught me nothing except to love grenadine. Which is a shame really because now I sound like some Somerset farmer when attempting the odd French word. But I digress. For those of you who, like me cannot parlais a single word, here is a little information on the Olfactorama Awards. These were brought to my attention through my love of the Vero Profumo perfumes.

Vero Profumo´s Mito EdP won the 2012 Prix de la Virtuosité. (Most impressive niche fragrance)

After more than seven years in existence, hundreds of postings and comments, thousands of perfumes sniffed (and some bought!) five members of the French speaking Blogosphere founded the Olfactorama Awards. The awards would represent each year, the best of perfumery. They wanted to give a unique voice to this community, and a chance to define the passion and dynamism within it. Six organisers propose a selection of bloggers, both amateurs and experts, to be part of the Olfactorama Jury. There are 40 members of the jury this year.

The basic idea is to evaluate and select, by groups (both mainstream and niche) the best perfumes launched in the French market over the past year. Attention is also paid to the products and ideas that emerge from the perfume industry each year. This would include perfumed candles and room sprays, initiatives and enterprises related to perfume ………

The organisers establish a list of candidates and then ask the jury to select the ones they feel are the best for each group, which include:

MAINSTREAM PERFUMERY

Prix du Grand Féminin 2013

Prix du Grand Masculin 2013

NICHE PERFUMERY

Prix de la Virtuosité 2013 (award for technical and/or historical aspects)
Prix de l’Enthousiasme 2013 (award for emotional aspects)

APJ readers, if you have made it this far, well done. I am about to lose my mind writing all this factual information. I don´t want to make any mistakes. There are three more awards up for grabs too. Prix Atmosphère, Prix du Patrimoine Olfactif, and Prix de Focus. Take a look at http://www.olfactorama.fr or Olfactorama FB page for more information.
The sites are in French of course, but no problem. You can also see what/who has been nominated in the other groups.

The very helpful Juliette from the Olfactorama Organisation Team provided me with my information. She also explained why Mito Voile d`Extrait was selected:

“After much deliberation we came to the conclusion that Mito Voile d´Extrait was the most thrilling of Vero´s Voile range. Even if technically, this was already well realised, we believe that Mito invokes a deep emotional sensation with this version. And so we decided to nominate it for the Prix de l´Enthousiasme 2013.”

The nominations for the Prix de l´Enthousiasme 2013:

Vero Profumo – Mito Voile d´Extrait
Flash back – Olfactive Studio
Black – Comme des Garçons
Shanghai Lily – Tom Ford
Tam Dao – Diptyque

So if you will all excuse me, I need to pack. I am off to Milan to try out Vero Profumo´s latest creation – ROZY.
Well someone has to.

TTFN
CQ xxx

All photos supplied through Val from Musque-Moi!/Patrice Revillard

Oriental Lace by Calice Becker for Oscar de la Renta 2012

March 10, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 62 Comments

Post by Azar

A couple of months ago my daughter sent me a link to the July 3, 2013 Lauren Valenti/Styleite take on Oscar de la Renta’s Oriental Lace. This brief post included a number of comments, one of which likened Oriental Lace to the smell of “a piano teacher’s house”.

The notes listed for Oriental Lace on various websites include honey, bitter almond, cacao, wax plant (Hoya carnosa) and patchouli. I wondered what any of these scents had to do with the headspace of this piano teacher’s house?

The Smell of a Piano Teacher’s House

A lot of smelly things find their way to the first floor of our home where I maintain my music studio. In addition to the library of musty musical scores, anthologies, sheets and shelves of books there are the various musical instruments accumulated over 40 years of studio teaching. Each of these has it’s own peculiar odor. An inventory includes: Three violins and one viola smelling of lacquer and French polish, various bows and cakes of piney rosin, an old dusty harpsichord, two seven foot grand pianos – metallic and woody, a Persian setar (not a sitar), a Vietnamese dan bau, a couple of saxophones that reek of old brass and spit when the cases are opened (obviously I rarely play the saxophone anymore), a flamenco guitar, two ukuleles, a clarinet, various percussion instruments and an old accordion that reminds me of the scent of a long neglected closet in my grandmother’s house. In addition to the signature scents of these “tools of the trade” there are the often ripe odors of the younger students, the distinctly pungent smells of the high school girls and guys who come to their lessons directly from cross country and soccer practice and, of course, the scent of the piano teacher herself, oozing tuberose or some other powerful concoction. Add to this blend the odors from the upper floor – sandalwood incense, cooking odors, the smells of Fender the dog and Gomez the pionus parrot and you have my own L’Eau de Studio, the notes of which go something like this:

Turpentine, dust, mildew, paper, rosin, wood, salt, spit, sweat, tuberose, honey (from the pionus parrot), sandalwood, a general animalic, onions and toe jam.

Whoever made the Styleite comment was certainly not a student of mine! This person must have visited a piano teacher who baked buttery, almond cookies for her students (I don’t do that), wore a patchouli-scented shawl (not me), sipped hot chocolate (occasionally) and cared for an old, blooming Hoya carnosa (I’ve not been there).

Oriental Lace by Calice Becker for Oscar de la Renta 2012

Oscar de la Renta Essential Luxuries Collection

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Honey, almond, cacao, hoya carnosa, wax plant, patchouli

On my skin Oriental Lace opens with a greasy version of imitation butter. Thankfully that aspect is gone very quickly leaving something like buttered popcorn coated in vanilla-sugar and honey. After about 20 minutes the popcorn morphs into a honey-almond cookie and then to patchouli and what is probably Oscar de la Renta’s version of the scent of a blooming wax plant (the H. carnosa). This hoya-patchouli bouquet lingers for 10 or more hours finishing with a faint whiff of vanilla, cacao and butter. I’ve gone through a couple of samples but am not yet convinced that I need a full bottle of this gourmand, lightweight floral. There are five more Essential Luxuries in the collection, a couple that I like better than Oriental Lace and will probably review sometime soon. But for now, Oriental Lace is not a fragrance that is essential to my luxurious life as a piano teacher, although it is many times more appealing than L’Eau de Studio!

Further reading: Perfume Posse and Now Smell This does a great run down of the line
Oscar de la Renta has $150/100ml
Neiman Marcus has $150/100ml

Photo Stolen manoneileen