Calligraphy Rose by Trudi Loren for Aramis 2013

March 30, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

.
Hello Fragrant Friends!

This is Robert H. again, writing from my small island home in Washington state, exactly halfway between Seattle and Vancouver B.C. I am an inveterate fragrance lover, occasional writer, full-time business owner, world traveller, ex-Broadway singer, and happily married to an ever-suffering spouse who descends into allergic hell at the faintest whiff of perfume. Just my luck.

Calligraphy Rose by Aramis 2013

Calligraphy Rose by Trudi Loren

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Oregano, saffron, honeysuckle
Heart: Turkish rose, myrrh, styrax, lavender
Base: Labdanum, musk, ambergris, olibanum

Now it is no secret that I love rose scents (Actually a charter member of the ‘Rose-Ho’ club if such a club exists) so this had been on my radar for quite some time. Last year Calligraphy Rose could not be found for love or money, and it wasn’t until recently that it started showing up again on Amazon and various perfume websites.

Robert Herrmann

This ‘fume is an olfactory road trip back in time for me. Here is the story it tells……

September 1974. My then lover and I had flown all night (12 hours if memory serves) from San Francisco to Madrid, sat in the Madrid airport until almost dark, where we caught a small puddle-jumper to Marrakesh, arriving at about 11:00 pm local time. We were so exhausted we could hardly sit up as the rickety taxi sped up to our Riad in the Medina. After a hasty, casual check-in complete with the ubiquitous glass of mint tea, we collapsed into bed in our 2nd story room.

The next morning, waking up early I padded to the french door shutters that opened to the common breezeway, and was stunned by the instant assault on all my senses.

Wikipedia

The smell of roses. Roses and something green, vegetal, tropical, and slightly rotting. The blinding sunlight against the vivid electric blue tiles of the courtyard below me. The splashing sound of water in the courtyard fountain, and soft voices floating up from somewhere removed. The acrid smell of the leather tanneries just a few alleys away. Jasmine, citrus, clean laundry, musk, saffron and smoke from something…incense? Cooking fires? All of that but most of all, roses. Gorgeous, dewey roses. It was like a dream, or a waking hallucination if you will.

One spray of Calligraphy Rose transported me right back to that moment. This beautiful juice opens with a balsamic burn that goes right up your nose to your brain, and on to back of your throat. Overlaid with rose. The opening is BIG, just a few sprays go a very long way. Amber and smoke creep in, along with honeysuckle and spice. Myrrh, labdanum, olibanum. So many notes so well blended, it’s difficult to pick them out as they flit and dart through your consciousness. Not unlike the colors of an oriental tapestry. One you might find in a Riad in Marrakesh.

WikiMedia

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Persolaise
Feeling Sexy has it for AUD$70/100ml
FragranceNet has $92/100ml before Coupon

Do you have a perfume that affects you this way?

Dorina by Nejla Barbir for Dorin Perfumes 2015

February 24, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

I will be the first to admit that I can be very finicky when it comes to Iris-centric scents. I loves me some Iris, oh yes I do. Growing up, when the Iris’s came into season, we always had a vase full somewhere in the house, a tradition I have yet to outgrow. (Ditto with Tulips, but that’s another story). There are only a handful of Iris perfumes that I truly love. Dorina is very quickly moving up that list.

Maison Dorin was founded in the 18th century and became quite a favorite of the court of Versailles. As other perfume houses came and went, Dorin stayed ahead of the game, by constantly embracing new emerging technologies, ultimately building a lab in Paris that was the envy of competing perfume houses for decades to come. Re-energized by new owners in 1998, Dorin continues to produce gorgeous perfume, cutting no corners and never scrimping on the finest ingredients and beautiful bottles.

Dorina, released this year is classified as a floral woody musk and is Dorin’s tribute to the noble Iris.

Dorina by Dorin Perfumes 2015

Dorina by Nejla Barbir

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rice flower, rose, aldehydes
Heart: Iris, water jasmine, violet
Base: Vetiver, cedar, heliotrope, musk, tonka bean, iris, resins

For all the notes in the formula, Dorina smells like IRIS, or rather a dreamy sun dappled Monet watercolor of the perfect Iris. Floral? Yes and sweet at times but never cloyingly so. Just beautiful, deep and sensuous Iris, root! stem, leaves and bloom. Powdery but never loud and screechy, just resplendent with quality and that certain “je ne sais quoi” through and through.

Donated Robert Herrmann

From the Dorin site: “ON STAGE OR OUT ON THE DOWN, DORINA SPARKLES WITH THE LIGHT OF A THOUSAND FLAMES.”
This powdery iris fragrance has been created as a tribute to those most rare women who have become timeless icons.
Secretively screened from view by the opaque glass of the bottle, this sophisticated fragrance is the perfect accompaniment to every aspect of a talented and daring woman’s life. From home to the red carpet, she is elegant whatever the occasion.

With 28 perfumes in the range, I can’t wait to get my nose around some of the others!

Dorin has a Retailers Page where you can find your countries stockists

What are some of YOUR favorite Iris scents?

Pas De Mal(le)! EDP by Le Bienaimé Parfums

January 18, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hello Fragrant Friends!

“Everything Old Is New Again….”

Pas De Mal(le)! EDP by Le Bienaimé Parfums

Now this is a perfume that speaks directly to my heart!

I live in a community that takes recycling VERY seriously! At our local dump (tip) you not only drop off your trash, but also separate ALL your recyclables (up to 20 various categories) and there’s also a section called the “take it or leave it” if it can be reused, you can drop it off, and someone else can walk off with it at no cost. (Ron and I have found some great treasures, like a vintage Oleg Cassini Jackie O-style suit which we ended up selling for $600!)

So when I got word of a new European perfume house dedicated to perfume “upcycling” my fragrant heart went pitter-pat! I went to their website, loved what I saw, and blind-bought 2 bottles right out the gate.

The first one I’m wearing is “Pas De Malle” (a play on words meaning ‘Not bad’), an amalgam of different Frederic Malle perfumes that is far beyond “not bad” and more like “bloody brilliant”!

The perfume is composed of various amounts of the following:
Bigarde Concentree, Cologne Indelible, Lipstick Rose, Un Rose, Vetiver Extrordinaire, and a splash of Oud by Robert Piguet.

This was an easy buy for me, I LOVES me some Frederic Malle, and what is most interesting to me is how very vintage the perfume wears on my skin! Categorized as a woody floriental, it is indeed that. Powdery, floral, with a darkness that you can’t exactly put your finger on yet vaguely familiar. This is a wonderful unisex perfume. Who would wear it? Someone who doesn’t want to smell like anyone else. On earth. Ever.

Yup, that would be me. Renew, re-use, recycle, re-spray!
Check out their website Le Bienaimé

(Ed: LATE NEWS: “Annindraya Perfume Lounge” in Amsterdam. The owners name is Tanja Deurloo and she’s a total sweetheart, and made my transaction smooth as silk! RH)

Do you have a favorite Malle? (Besides Carnal Flower, because…well….Carnal Flower.)

Gardenia Soliflore by Dame Perfumery 2015

December 14, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

NEWSFLASH: Jeffrey Dame has opened shipping for the Dame Perfumery Oils to Australia. FREE SHIPPING!

Hello Fragrant Friends!

So what’s my SOTD?

Gardenia Soliflore by Dame Perfumery 2015

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives only the note gardenia.

-“What’s the matter? You don’t like Gardenias?”
-“They’re o.k”
-“So?”
-“So you don’t put them on just to…..go to someone’s apartment….for a late-night supper…”
-“So that’s how it is?”
-“That’s how it is.”
Lady Sings The Blues- Warner Brothers 1972

…..and after that first meeting, Billie Holiday wore gardenias for almost every performance for the rest of her life. It became her personal symbol, a flower that like her life blooms for a short while intoxicating everyone who catches the scent, and then once picked droops and dies.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

True gardenia is a scent that has been difficult for perfumers to capture, and I have any number of various bottles to prove that point….but THIS Gardenia by perfumer Jeffrey Dame is honestly the most photo-realistic gardenia it has ever been my pleasure to wear!

This is not your hot house gardenia, nor the one from the florist’s cooler, ubiquitous accoutrement for so many Prom corsages.

This is a flower blooming in a garden, in it’s natural environment, opening cool and green, medicinal, slightly indolic, but quickly settling down to……REAL Gardenia.

Even my spouse an avowed perfume allergen magnet turned to me yesterday and asked “Hey..did someone give us a potted Gardenia? Again? To kill?” (We don’t have the best of luck with gardenia plants…!”)

I stuck my wrist in front of his nose, he inhaled and smiled and just said “Wow!”

Wow indeed!

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Dame Perfumery has $35/10ml oil
Now available to Australia with FREE SHIPPING!

Have you tried the Dame Gardenia or any others from Dame Perfumery? What was your favorite?

Centrepiece by Sarah McCartney for 4160Tuesdays 2015

December 5, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hi APJ,

It was a Monday to remember. Late getting up and having to rush to a Doctor’s appt. Rushing out the door, but stop to grab my decant (thank you Lillian Betts Holloway!) of the new Centrepiece edp by perfumer Sarah McCartney.

Centrepiece by 4160Tuesdays 2015

Centrepiece by Sarah McCartney

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accordsin one line:
Honey, green tea, frangipani, musk, cedar, vanilla, sorbet, chocolate

OK. I get it. I was rushing so of course I tragically spill the the WHOLE decant all over my arm and clothes!

SOTD: Centrepiece by 4160Tuesdays. LOTS of it…..(read on…)

Well shit! No time to wash, so out the door I go and I smell FREAKING amazing!!! Holy cow, this is some GREAT stuff!

Now usually I don’t wear any scent for a medical appt. of any kind. Clinics get fussy if you do. So I thought “well…it is what it is.” So off I go.

I stop at my Cafe to check in and all I hear is “Oh my god is that YOU? You smell incredible!!” Ok. This is good.

I walk into the clinic and it’s the same thing. From every single receptionist, nurse, blood draw technician, and finally my beloved doctor, and he has a COLD for god’s sake!

Photo Stolen Flickr

From LuckyScent: Originally created from a chance selection of ingredients and accords that inspired relaxed, peaceful feelings, Centrepiece is that most fundamental of 4160 Tuesdays-style creations- lighthearted, inspired, devoid of typical haute perfume pretension, and downright lovely. Focused around the sweet, tropical floral note of frangipani, Centrepiece further adds to the indulgent (but never cloying) bouquet with sweet honey and creamy vanilla, balancing it all against green tea and rich but gentle cedar. The results are entrancing, an everyday-suitable, gently powerful white floral that soothes, seduces and relaxes in equal measure. Simply beautiful.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Further reading: Ca Fleure Bon
LuckyScent has $110/50ml
4160Tuesdays has £15/9ml

PS……..4160Tuesdays also has an extrait strength for sale on their website, and that’s the one I ultimately. All I can say is…..”Um…..well dip me in honey and color me joyous!”

So the moral of this story? Who the hell knows.

All I know is I do is that this ‘fume indeed smells amazing!!!

What is your 4160Tuesday?
Robert Herrrmann

Noir Exquis by Bertrand Duchaufour for L’Artisan Perfumes 2015

October 29, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hi APJ,

I cannot help but notice the irony in this…..
Imagine you are the owner of a successful Espresso Bar, located in a highly trafficked tourist destination for 13 years. All those years you’ve been searching for the perfect coffee-centric perfume to wear in the Cafe to no avail. A perfume that won’t clash with the scents of the shop. You’ve tried them all from designer to niche to uber-niche to “they’re SO niche that nobody knows their name and they only answer their phone once every two months……”

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Finally it’s time to sell the business and kick back a bit.

Then and only then, after 13 years with only two weeks left of ownership, the perfect perfume comes along.

Well, of COURSE it does. (Cue gnashing if teeth and rending of hair)

Noir Exquis by L’Artisan Perfumes 2015

Noir Exquise by Bertrand Duchaufour

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Chestnut, orange
Heart: Orange blossom, coffee, maple sap
Base: Ebony, heliotrope, vanilla, tonka bean and sandalwood

From L’Artisan: Noir Exquis is a work of contrast and the unexpected. The addictive note of coffee, combined with the warm and comfortable notes of maple syrup, glazed chestnuts and orange blossom, brings an intriguing juxtaposition to this fragrance. Rich and velvety, Noir Exquis connects these two persons during this moment beyond time and place…… Opulent and gourmand, Noir Exquis is a fragrance with a warm and charistmatic aura. Notes: Glazed chestnut, Coffee, Maple syrup, Macassar Wood

Noir Exquis is beautiful, and everything you could possibly wish for in an espresso cafe-friendly scent. Lush, dark, and creamy. A mellow coffee note (dark roast clearly!), threaded with notes of vanilla, chestnut, spices, and a gorgeous hit of maple sap.

Photo Stolen Flickr

A perfume meant to bring to mind a tête-à-tête, a secret rendezvous for two lovers in a dark Parisian Cafe, windows steamed up and the low hum of conversation from the other customers. A mostly untouched meal sits on the table, the lovers too enchanted by each other to eat anything. Hands entwined, the screeching jet-roar of the espresso machine from behind the bar, the loud grating sound of the coffee grinder. The smell of steamed milk, cinnamon, and coffee permeates the humid air. On the sidewalk in front of the cafe, a man sells roasted chestnuts in newspaper coronets, and every time the cafe door swings open the nutty smell from the chestnuts comes inside.

All of this, bottled.

THIS is the heart of Noir Exquise. And it is gorgeous.

Further reading: Megan In St Maxime and Bois de Jasmin
LuckyScent has $120/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $5/ml

Have you tried L’Artisan Noir Exquis?
Robert Herrmann XX