Scent Samples: Love & Loss

March 21, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

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TinaG

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Hi APJ,

My fragrance collection had a bit of a rough ride last year. I packed up my house & put everything in storage in May while I travelled overseas for 7 weeks, and then it stayed in storage while I found another place to live. It wasn’t until September 2016 when I got access to everything again. The full bottles and decants were fine, but there was substantial loss from my samples. This varied from leakage & evaporation, to label text disappearing.

Scent Samples: Love & Loss

Moral number one of this is: samples are intended to be used. They aren’t there for you to build a mini-Osmothèque style fragrance library, the vials aren’t that robust at the best of times. Use them, make notes, talk about them, and if you fall in love… buy the bottle.

So, I’ve sorted my samples, laid them out, & thrown out the empties. The ones which have leaked but still have juice left in the vial have been put aside for testing. So today I grabbed two as I walked out the door to give them a run through. These are Fueguia 1833 – Don Giovanni, and Castillos.

And – do you know what? I looked up Fueguia 1833’s current catalogue, and these two aren’t listed. Some time back I purchased full sample sets of Destinos and Special Projects, of which Castillos and Don Giovanni and were included as at March 2016. Now in March 2017, a year later, they’re no longer available – which leads us to moral number two: things change. What was available 6 months or 12 months ago, may be discontinued and therefore so much more difficult to access. And if you fall in love, you’re screwed.

So what do I do with these two samples? Do I treasure them,put them in tightly packed glass vials or on the shelf? I think we need to go back to moral number one: samples are intended to be used.

Here’s what I think of both:

Castillos – Destinos collection

Notes: Tuberose, Jasmine, Mate.
This is weird. The mate isn’t dried powdered green tea, it’s fresh and floral and slightly rotten, with the tuberose and jasmine rounding out the overall indole. It is old flowers in a jungle – damp, wet and lush but with that meaty heaviness which you can find in tropical plants. Would I wear it again? Maybe. It’s dried down to have a woody background note and what I think is a touch of ylang ylang.

Don Giovanni – Special Projects collection.

Notes: Tuberose, Civet, Jasmine
Interesting that I’ve picked up another fragrance with tuberose and jasmine in it today, and once again they are pretty sexy and indolic. The civet seems to me to be refined, its funky but without being feral and I think there’s a lemon note in there smoothing things over. Think: a woman who’s been with her lover all day, but has freshened up and got dressed to go out to a movie premier. She’s looking elegant but still has a slinkiness & smell of dangerous liaisons about her. Rawwwwrrrrr.

Have you ever mourned the loss of any fragrances from your collection?

Have a wonderful week!

Tina G xx

Lightscape by Ulrich Lang 2012

March 7, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

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TinaG

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Hi APJ, hope your week is travelling well so far.

It is a sultry rainy day in Sydney, and I’ve just turned the house upside down looking for my 1.5ml sample of ‘lightscape’ so I could wear it for the second time. I have a house full of bottles, decants and samples so 1) it was difficult to find and 2) it shows how determined I was. Standing with hands on hips, surveying the chaos, I glanced over to my side table – there it sat, almost looking at me with a faux-innocent “….What? I was here all along.” expression.

Right.

Grab. Spray spray spray.

Bliss.

Lightscape by Ulrich Lang 2012

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Galbanum, violet leaf, lemon
Heart: Iris, rose, violet, cyclamen, cedar
Base: Ambergris, tonka bean, cashmere wood, musk, ambrette (musk mallow)

I’m surrounded by the most wonderful green galbanum and that strange violet leaf note which is both floral and verdant at the same time. There’s a background buzz of lemon floating in and out and a touch of sweet dry wood. An ever so soft powdery iris starts wafting through at around 10 minutes. Fab.

I had a pre-conceived anthropocentric impression of lightscape, for no good reason; a city at night, all those white & yellow sparkling lights and flowing red through the veins of its streets. Maybe because of the NY connection. Wrong. This is the dappling of light through a sparse forest & the smell of crushed plants as you walk on through.

That effect lasts about an hour and from then the sillage settles slowly by degrees. I’m not quite sure when it morphs to the next dry down stage, it seems to sneak up on me – maybe 3 hours? It’s pretty – an elegant pink musk mallow being the star of the show, supported by tonka bean, more musks, and ambergris giving it a lived in skin effect. It’s alluring, confident and comforting.

I’m enthralled with this fragrance. It’s the type of perfume which has the potential to be part of life’s tapestry as it weaves its own stories into yours. I can’t wait to buy a full bottle, maybe during my visit to Los Angeles later in the year.

Further reading: Colognoisseur and EauMG
Ulrich Lang has $120/100ml has
First In Fragrance has €95/100ml + Samples

A big thank you to Portia for the sample of lightscape, along with nightscape, aperture, and anvers. Thoroughly enjoyed giving these a run through.

Have you ever worn a fragrance and immediately thought – yes, you will be mine…. ??

Till next time,
Tina G xx

Unicorns! OMG Unicorns!

March 1, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

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TinaG

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Hi APJ!

If you haven’t noticed, unicorns are so hot right now! I mean, they even have their own emoticon. Here’s a few colourful and fragrant ways to dive into all things unicorn.

Les Nez – The Unicorn Spell

I have to cast my mind back to sniffing this when in a violet rabbit hole. Their website elaborates: .. feels like a search for the unicorn in a dark, damp forest. The unicorn’s presence can be felt, the steam of her breath hangs frozen in the air, the trails shimmer under the quiet mist of her magical spell, but we can’t find her yet …

Lush Cosmetics – Unicorn Horn Bubble Bar

You can let yourself slip into a magical dreamland of unicorn and fairies with a Lush bubble bar, featuring notes of Lavender, ylang ylang and neroli. Shame, I don’t have a bath. Get it HERE

TinaG Photo

Golden Gaytime – Unicorn Breath

For those who don’t know what a Golden Gaytime is, it’s an iconic choc/toffee/vanilla/honeycomb ice cream. The Golden Gaytime pop-up bar in Topshop, Sydney, has a bar where you can order one with a special coating. I chose Unicorn Breath – edible sparkles, popping candy, vanilla crumbs, strawberry candy and musk sticks. You can also buy the coating in a can…..

Two Faced – Unicorn Tears

It’s a holographic lipstick by Two Faced. Seriously Want. Apparently it sells in Mecca. I don’t care if it doesn’t suit me, it’s *holographic*!! All the rage with the cool kids.

Unicorn Macarons

These are just too adorable to leave off the list. It’s a recipe. I’d put money on my attempt to make them looking quite different….

The Unicorn Hotel

Sydney even has its own Unicorn Hotel!! No, not really. The Unicorn in Paddington has been revamped under the watchful eye of the crew from Mary’s in Newtown (who do legendary burgers). I used to catch the Bronte 378 bus along Oxford Street and marvel at this classic Aussie pub. It’s nothing pretty to look at but good to see the beige tiled & curves walls out the front, like all good Aussie pubs used to have. Mind you my old fave, The Robin Hood in Waverley still has them too. Watch David Bowie’s video ‘Let’s Dance’ for a taste of what I’m talking about.

And last but never last, coz there will always be something Unicorn coming out…

Unicorn vs Robot Dinosaur Leggings

….. it could happen. And you’d need to be prepared to run for your life with these sleek leggings. WISH has the goods.

Have you succumbed to any unicorny goodness?

Till next time!

Tina G

Cologne Cashmere by Carla Chabert for La Manufacture 2015

February 7, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

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TinaG

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Hey APJ!

I came across La Manufacture through a gifted sample of Cologne Rare, and I was so impressed that I promised myself to purchase a few more of their colognes to try out. A major problem in accessing these was having them shipped to Australia – they don’t send directly. I needed to have them sent to Germany and brought back in personal luggage – not ideal, and difficult to replicate. However, as I have been enjoying these, I thought it was worth sharing my thoughts.

Cologne Cashmere by La Manufacture 2015

Cologne Cashmere by Carla Chabert

Le Manufacture gives these featured accords:
Bergamot, mandarin, guaiac wood, sandalwood, leather, velvet, amber, vetiver, marron glacé

This fragrance is a fantastic example of why not to underestimate something just because it’s a “cologne”. It changes through dry down with three distinct stages, and sticks to my skin for at least 8 hours in the summer heat – albeit as a skin scent after about 4 hours.

Cologne Cashmere opens with a fabulous juicy mandarin and bergamot. The bergamot borders more on the green side of the citrus rather than the smoky side and I think this is because it’s emphasised by a generous waft of dry woods that sweeps through and then deepens. After 15 minutes a cheeky little suede note slips in to the picture, having a certain peach aspect to it in a similar vein as Daim Blond or Bottega Veneta. There’s a touch of salty plasticine in there too, which I’ve sniffed out during the first hour a few times. Makes the fragrance feel lived-in.

PDI

At 1 hour you get a jumbled mix of woods. Close to the skin there’s a sense of a soft wood hollowed out by fungus and then dried, and a blond grassy note. I got a lovely surprise when I caught a whiff of sandalwood in the silage. It was a perfect representation, and it was a gorgeous match for a hot and humid day.

But wait, there’s more. I was entranced by a sweet note during the dry down which I likened to strawberry jaminitially. Because the first time I noticed it I was in a home environment, I passed it off as being an anomaly. However on closer investigation on the sample’s listed notes, there is something called a marron glacé right at the very end of the spiel – my brain disregarded this the first few times around because I simply didn’t know what it was. However, what I was overlooking was the source of my sweet impressions! Marron glacé is chestnut which has been crystallised and then coated in a glaze – and there it was in my fragrance – a yummy sticky jammy sugary chestnut. Bloody brilliant.

I’m fascinated by the way Cologne Cashmere changes from being primarily hesperidic, through to dry and woody, and end up with such an unusual gourmand. It’s been very fun to wear and I’m sorry to see my sample running dry.

Le Manufacture has €65/50ml and samples

What is your favourite cologne?

Have a fab start to the week.

xx Tina G

Un Jardin Après la Mousson by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2008

January 23, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

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TinaG

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Hi APJ!

In an effort to combat Sydney’s summer heat and humidity, I’ve been seeking out fragrances that I find refreshing. These have ranged through modern and retro aquatics, juicy citrus, and magnolia.

Un Jardin Après la Mousson by Hermès 2008

Un Jardin Après la Mousson by Jean-Claude Ellena

A new fragrance in my wardrobe is Un Jardin après la Mousson by Hermès. I can’t say what exactly made me race off to buy a full bottle of this, but one sniff in David Jones was enough to make me swoon – and so it’s now mine. The official blurb on this fragrance locates it somewhere unspecific in India, taking us to a garden which was in drought but has now been refreshed by monsoon rains. I’ve never been to India but I’ve experienced heavy tropical rains in Papua New Guinea, and the solid downpours can be quite punishing – here’s hoping that the imaginary garden of this fragrance survived the onslaught.

Un Jardin après la Mousson opens with a burst of warm spices and watery notes. Ginger, cardamom and black pepper waft up into the air. There’s a distinctive green melon note which develops at 5 minutes giving the watery effect but in a fruity and very mildly fetid way rather than anything specifically river/ocean/storm related. I really enjoy this combination, I have been finding that it cuts through the summer heat and provides a refreshing aura that even manages to get me through morning public transport in train carriages with no airconditioning. Urg. Speaking of punishing….

And, as far as fragrance development goes, it is fundamentally linear. At 3 hours, the pepper and melon have softened appreciably, and there is a light white floral accord that I find very subtle and pretty. Reapplying at 4 hours for me brings out the sweet aspects of cardamom and a touch of coriander seed in the background. I’m not sure I find much ‘vetiver’ in there. Longevity is good – there’s still tangible scent on my skin at +8 hours even without a respritz.

The joy in this fragrance for me is very much in the wearing. In the summer heat, it becomes more beautiful and “lived-in” with an added touch of salty skin and dry summer dust. I think this fragrance is wonderful on its own but it is enhanced though use, it’s meant to be worn and be part of a day rather than placed up on a pedestal and admired.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Olfactoria’s Travels
Hermès stores and department stores carry the Jardin range

What fragrances do wear to cut through, or compliment, the summer heat?

Till next time,
Tina G

5 Favourite Tea Perfumes

January 9, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 28 Comments

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TinaG

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Hi APJ!

It’s tea-time. I thought I’d share with you a quick snap-shot of a few of my favourite tea fragrances.

5 Favourite Tea Perfumes

BVLGARI – Eau Parfumée Collection

This collection of five fragrances is a touch-stone for anyone wanting to explore tea scents. Green, white, red, blue and black, they are all magnificent colognes. Au Thé Rouge, with pink pepper and roobios tea, is probably my favourite. It’s followed closely by Au Thé Bleu that replicates a sparkling blue summer sky in my mind, with oolong tea notes, lavender, iris, peppery shiso and has its longevity strengthened with the use of musks.

Comme des Garçons – Series 1 Leaves: Tea

CdG Tea is to Bvlgari Eau Parfumèe what saddle leather is to suede. With notes of lapsang souchong and thick mate (pronounced maa-tey) it is dark, smoky and heady. More for the experienced ‘tea’ lover. I absolutely hated it the first time I smelt it, but was so intrigued that I kept going back it it, and ended up buying a bottle. (Welcome to my world….)

Hermès Hermessence Collection – Osmanthe Yunnan

Well this could be considered a mix of two teas – herbal osmanthus flower, and black tea from the Yunnan Province, China. The osmanthus is the star of the show with its apricot floral notes softly supported by a gentle very slightly peppery black tea. It’s linear but beautiful. I wore this all the way through the Christmas/New Year period – light, elegant, easy in the summer heat and not overwhelming for social meet ups.

Baruti – Chai

Chai is the perfect comforting tea scent, with its milky mix of warm spices and a touch of rose in the dry down. It’s being inside on a rainy day all snuggled up with a blanket, fluffy jumper & great chai tea. Yuuuummmmmm!!!

Masque Milano – Russian Tea

This fragrance is a joy to wear, particularly because it has at least four distinct changes through the drydown – a treasured feature in my mind. I absolutely love the mint in the opening of this fragrance. It is black tea and spearmint, with hints of black leather closer to the skin. At 1 hour an incense comes through, and at two hours I find a wonderful dark honey note. Then at around four hours it goes funky & animalistic. Wow. Why do I not have a full bottle of this?

What are your favourite tea fragrances?

Have a great start to your week!

Tina G xx

Volume II: Precision and Grace by Geza Schoen for The Beautiful Mind Series 2015

December 26, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

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TinaG

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Hi APJ, hope you have all had a lovely start to the festive season.

I wrote briefly about one of my go-to perfumes in an article on Adelaide a few weeks back. This is Precision and Grace, Volume II of the Beautiful Mind Series. It is a great warm weather fragrance and a good all round travel pick-me-up. I’ve always finished decants when I’ve taken it away with me. “Finished” is not a word many perfume hobbyists use too often…..

I thought I’d revisit Precision and Grace with a bit more detail on the development of the scent on skin and why I enjoy wearing it so much.

Volume II: Precision and Grace by The Beautiful Mind Series 2015

Volume II: Precision and Grace by Geza Schoen

LuckyScent gives these featured accords:
Williams pear, bergamot, mandarin, lemon, Egyptian jasmine, plum, osmanthus, rose, mimosa, pink pepper, freesia, violet, sandalwood, myrrh, moss, amber

Precision and Grace is described as a Fruity Floral. That, in itself, is enough to send many a perfumista screaming and ducking for cover. But with descriptions, you have to start somewhere, right? It puts us in the ball park of maybe what to expect – it’s the quality that then defines the fragrance experience itself.

I always give this a few generous sprays, and it opens a slightly metallic lemon. Over the next 15 minutes or so, from this centre point softly emerges a beautifully balanced sphere of co-habiting notes – mandarin, pear, osmanthus and freesia primarily. The osmanthus and pear are really the stars on my skin. The pear is amazingly juicy and fresh, never wandering in to room-deodorant territory. And osmanthus…. Wow…. It is present with a glowing soft yellow radiance, calming and uplifting.

PDI

After about 1.5 hours, a jasmine comes through – nothing indolic, this is fresh as it would be still on the vine. The freshness is tempered with a plum note which drawn the scent down into slightly heavier olfactive territory.

There is something really special about the way this fragrance is balanced, each note is clear and real, but no divas, nothing pushing front and centre. I think that’s why I visualise a sphere, with the lemon surrounded by three main auras at first – floral, citrus, and fruit. You’ve got the precision in the photorealism, and grace in the balance, everything has a purpose and a place, working in harmony.

The fragrance changes ever so slowly, and at about 4 hours I find that a woody notes and dry sandalwood have appeared but I really didn’t have any hint of them coming. The dry down is subtle, and fragrance long-lasting at 8+ hours.

Further reading: Megan In St Maxime
LuckyScent has $165/100ml and samples

I enjoy wearing Precision and Grace very much. I find it is one of those which grounds and centres me – I suspect that is why I wear it travelling, when I’m working in unfamiliar territory and need to move through my day with a sense of happiness, kindness and purpose. And, of course, the grace to work around those unforeseen hiccups that you always come across on the move.

What is your go-to scent when you need to get things done?

Best wishes to all of you for a wonderful start to 2017! Lots of Love.

Tina G xx

APJ Crew: What We Loved In 2016

December 17, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

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Post by APJ Crew

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Hi APJ,

The end of the year hurtles towards us faster than I was ready for. A year filled with fun and adventure, a year fraught with political upheaval, a year of fragrance, travel, friends and families. For many 2016 has been the year of war, displacement, challenge, heartache and despair. Most of us have had a year of good and bad, a year of work, home and regular life with its ups and downs, drama and spots of magic that make it all worthwhile.

Here’s what the crew at APJ loved the most in 2016. Not all of it fragrant. I hope you enjoy a little look into what we rated high. The order is the order the pieces came into my inbox.

APJ Crew: What We Loved In 2016

Claire Vukčević

Honestly? Apart from perfume, the biggest discovery in 2016 was how brilliant Tretinoin is. Northing I’ve ever used before has had such an effect on my skin – small wrinkles minimized, pores reduced, overall skin texture improved. I love the stuff. I can’t find a doctor to prescribe it to me here, so I will have to source it out on the Internet – always a crapshoot, no? But still, it’s great and I will take the chance. For 2017, I am also excited about exploring a more extensive, Korean-style skincare regime. Next year will be all about getting that chok chok, or Korean glow. We’ll see. I just turned 40 and I think that Irish skin might have a finite stock of chok chok and that perhaps I used mine all up in 1997. Call me in 2018 to see how that works out for me.

Sandra

Hey APJ! Wishing ya’ll a very happy and safe holiday season and hoping that 2016 was a good year. 2016 has been tumultuous for me but we survived and we are currently setting up our house in Rotterdam. My favorites for 2016 are not necessarily new but new experiences for me.
Perfumes: Rahele by NVC, Galop and Muguet Porcelaine both by Hermes, discovering the pure decadence of Shalimar in all its variations and last but not least finally getting my hands on the gorgeous Dior Privee Bois d’Argent.
Movies: watching A Christmas Story with my son and hearing his squeals of laughter.
TV shows: I enjoyed Narcos and The Crown (I know – two wildly different shows!). Flowers: finally smelling a vanilla orchid.
Books: all the Robert Galbraith crime novels and rereading Roald Dahl books with my son.
Bring on 2017! Sandra xoxo

Week July 2016 #25 CHANEL Boy

Robert Herrmann

Phew. 2016. What a tumultuous year it was and all I can say is “Buh-bye 2016! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out! A year of highs and lows, and what got me through much of it was perfume. Always there at my beck and call…

In 2016 there were in excess of 1100 new releases averaging out to almost 100 a month. Did I try even 10% of them? Possibly, but not likely. There were some standouts that I ended up loving. So in no particular order, here’s what was new to me in 2016….

Boy by Chanel, a VERY unisex Fougere Cologne. Addictive.
Amouage Lilac Love, a truly gorgeous non-lilac lilac.
Amouage Opus X, “The Red Violin” in a bottle. A weird and wonderful rose.
Aroma M Voluptuous Nostalgia and Camillia Extrait, two of the finest contemporary but vintage-style perfumes. Gorgeous!
En Voyage Rainmaker, like walking through the Pacific Northwest rain forest. Amazing.
Dusita Infini, One of the finest oudh’s. Really. Even if you’re not an Oudh fan, try this, it’s stunning!
MFK’s Grand Soir, my new cold weather go-to. Gourmand heaven.
Zoologist Civet (releasing Dec.31st) exquisite. I can’t even.

Anne Marie

I had fun in 2016 exploring Cuban culture. I can’t remember what brought this on, but somehow I got interested in Cuban food, music, literature and of course, Cuban-inspired perfume. It’s easy to get carried away by a romantic idea of old Havana so the quite gritty novels of Cuban writer Leonardo Padura Fuentes brought me down to earth with a thump. Still, I taught myself to make mojitos, discovered the Lecuona Cuban Boys, and bought a Cuban cookbook (more read than cooked from, I have to admit). Of course bottles of Guerlain Pour Homme and Aramis Havana were obligatory!

Val the Cookie Queen

Seeing MUSE on the Drones Tour. After having attended hundreds of gigs in my lifetime, including so many in the mid seventies punk era, to see MUSE at aged 56 and be absolutely blown away was the definitive highlight of 2016.
Celebrating my grandmother-in-law`s 100th birthday gathering was a great privilege. She can still tell a joke to turn your hair white. We have had a close relationship for nearly 25 years. I love her.
Fragrance wise would be receiving a bottle of Hermès Doblis as a gift. The humorous side to this was having to Google it to see exactly what I had. It is the prize possession in my small ( but not as small as it used to be!) fragrance collection.

Erica Golding

2016 was the 10th anniversary of my favorite perfume house, NAVA (Nocturne Alchemy). They are poised to revamp their website and packaging over an extended winter hiatus, and like most fans I went on an ordering spree in December! My favorite 2016 NAVA release was the now Sold Out limited edition Icons II: Inferno, a luxuriously smooth and resonant amber oudh that is in a league all its own.
This year, the novel City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin was finally released, completing a long-anticipated trilogy. His writing is infused with vivid poetry and complex character development, elevating a storyline that could otherwise be classified as Sci-Fi. Deeply moving literary fiction, highly recommended!

TinaG

My travels this year took me to the Islay Festival, or Feis Ile, a whisky festival on the Scottish island of the same name. I fell in love with Islay, not only because of the wonderful people and magnificent whisky, but for the wild island itself. My cottage was 9 kms from Port Ellen along a windy single track road which took my past Lagavulin, Laphroaig and Ardbeg distilleries (for those who know their whisky) and then along little beaches & craggy coves. One of my favourite things to do on my way home was to pull in at one secluded beach, and sit for a while watching the local seals. It was ridiculously cool to hear them slapping the water, blowing bubbles, and chasing each other around. Just me & them, chilling out enjoying the last few rays of the golden evenings. Magical.

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Tina’s Ireland cottage

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Seal Bay

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Three distilleries near thecottage

Portia

What did I love this year? I particularly loved everyone who took time to read and comment here on APJ. Thank you. Loved all our contributors, I know how hard you all work to continually pull interesting posts out of the hat. BRAVO!
Perfume: The things I purchased most of this year in mls are Granville and vintage Miss Dior by DIOR, vintage Mitsouko by Guerlain and BOY + Misia by CHANEL. New niche faves for me have been Morn To Dusk by Eau d’Italie and Rahele by Neela Vermeire.
Travel: Jin & I had a great time in Japan, we also loved seeing Venice with Tara of A Bottled Rose and our friend Anna-Maria. Unforgettable times.
Books: The Herland Trilogy by Charlotte Perkins Gilman blew my mind, can’t stop thinking about it. Erin Watt’s Royal Trilogy is non-stop pot-boiling reading, could not put this terrible trash down and did nothing except read them for a week. When It Rains and How To Get There are two books by Australian writer Maggie MacKeller on her dealing with grief and moving on, all set against the backdrop of the Australia that I know & love.

What did you love about 2016?
Portia xx

Three Kings and Christmas Season Fragrances

December 13, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

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Post by TinaG

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Hi APJ!

Christmas is a week and a bit away yet, but somehow feels like it’s tomorrow. To help us get into the holiday season I thought I’d take a look at some traditional Christmassy scents. Hard to choose just one sometimes! But let’s take a look.

Three Kings Fragrances

Let’s take a look at what fragrances the three kings may have worn to match their scents.

Gold: Larmes Du Désert – Atelier des Ors
The beautiful sun-rayed bottles with flakes of real gold make wonderful perfumed snow-globes. Pick it up & give it a shake, preferably while standing in sunlight. What do they smell like? I can’t remember, I was too mesmerised by the sparkles.

Frankincense: Oliban – Keiko Mecheri
Frankincense is sometimes referred to as olibanum/oliban , and the perfume of that name by Keiko Mecheri has a fabulous, photo-realistic frankincense note which smelt like it had been grabbed straight from the burning censer. I’m gonna be bold and put it out there as a must-sniff for this incense note. Portia has done a lovely Oliban review

Myrrh: Parfum d’Empire – Wazamba
Wazamba opens resinous and sticky, almost a honeyed amber with an interesting apple note. This settles to a straight-up dry myrrh throughout the dry down. Myrrh is an interesting resin to burn, it has a cool greyness about it. Wazamba manages to capture this incense wonderfully.

Christmas Season Fragrances

Christmas in the southern hemisphere is VERY different to that up north so some thought needs to go into what to wear on the big day.

Winter: Guerlain – Aqua Allegoria, Winter Delice
Winter Delice is a walk through a European mountain forest, fir and pine. It it well balanced and eminently wearable. It is unfortunately discontinued but bottles do pop up from time to time.

Summer: CB I Hate Perfume – At The Beach 1966
This is a day at the beach, suntan lotion, salt spray and warmth. I’ve only sniffed this from a friend’s sample but it left such a strong impression of summer’s past – a great frag to try for a flashback.

What fragrances are you grabbing as we head directly into the holiday season?

Till next time!
Tina G xx

Adelaide, South Australia with TinaG + Photo Essay

November 21, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

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Post by TinaG

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Hi APJ,

I’ve been travelling a lot this year, and last week was for work in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. I thought I’d share my journey and fragrance choices for the trip, along with my travellers notes.

Adelaide, South Australia with TinaG + Photo Essay

Day 0 – For the flight down I wore Junky by Jardins d’Ecrivains. A friend gave me this sample a while ago but I hadn’t tried it before now. It’s supposed to have a cannabis note, maybe its fresh picked cannabis? It’s nothing I recognised. The fragrance felt a bit ordinary to me, a green based floral with iris & violet. Pretty, but I was expecting more. How we interpret the meaning in the name is probably the selling point, we’ve all got some level of addiction, don’t we?

Cocktail at 2KW

Dinner on the first night was at a trendy top floor bar and restaurant, 2KW. Scent for dinner was Daim Blond by Serge Lutens. I wanted to wear something with a backbone but not so much of a monster it affected other people or my enjoyment of the meal. This suede/peach frag was perfect for a casual but upmarket restaurant meal with colleagues (well, they are all friends, really).

Day 1 – I was a bit nervous going in to the work event so I chose Muschio, Santa Maria Novella, for its warmth and comfort. It was a great choice, gave me a bit of oomph to get through the day.

There was an dinner at Adelaide Town Hall that was semi-formal. I wore black on black with a brass coloured double chain long necklace and rock-star high heels from Nine West. It’s been ages since I dressed up and I felt totally uncomfortable. Haha! Swapped the heels for flats to walk there which was much better, and a respritz of Muschio helped. Fun night.

Day 2 – Adelaide was getting warmer as the week wore on, so Precision and Grace: The Beautiful Mind Series was my choice for today. It’s got a great fresh pear/jasmine/osmanthus thing going on, but I swear I get a blast of lemon in the opening as well. Perfect refresher. It has been the highest complement-receiver of any fragrance I own, and it did receive a comment on the day. Yay.

That afternoon a friend & I walked across town to the Haigh’s chocolate factory. The walk was 40mins each way (slightly longer with a few Pokémon critters to catch on the way back). I respritzed Precision and Grace as it was still 32 degrees centigrade out there…

Adelaide is know as ‘the city of churches’ and there is one in almost every corner in town. The city is very flat, and surrounded on each side by parkland, which made for a pleasant walk. Haigh’s was great, I got a bunch of their experimental chocs and factory seconds which they package up – only available at the factory, they don’t ship these out.

Chocolates at Haigh’s

Because of the Pokémon factor we only had 15 minutes to get changed before dinner, so in lieu of a shower I wore Borneo 1834 by Serge Lutens. It smelt bloody brilliant on dusty sun-kissed skin over the top of the base Precision and Grace musks. Damn sexy if I do say so myself.

Inside Casablabla

Drinks and dinner were down Peel Street in the city, a must-visit if you’re in town. My friend & I shared an alcoholic lychee iced tea at Casablabla, a mixed cultural tapas bar. Dinner with the crew was at a restaurant called Peel Street (same as the street name). Fabulous meals, like my fave the banana flower blossom salad, and it had amazing options for those on special diets because everything was made fresh.

Day 3 – The last day I went for another osmanthus-based fragrance, Inlé by Memo. I really like this as a travel scent, I wore it almost exclusively when travelling in South Korea with Portia & the crew two years ago. It’s light enough to fit most circumstances, but has an inherent beauty. The work day finished about 3:30 for us as we caught a cab for a flight back to Sydney.

So grateful for the opportunity to have experienced our sector work event in a great city with amazing people. I learnt so much.

Do you have a favourite travel fragrance?

Till next time.

Tina G xx

(Ed: Photos donated by TinaG unless specified. Thanks TinaG, they’re fab)