RICHARD LÜSCHER BRITOS Terroir 44°N 03°W EdP by Andy Tauer 2013

December 11, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 28 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Before we start please hop over to my piece on Olfactoria´s Travels for an introduction to Richard Lüscher Britos (RLB) and their fabulous natural perfumes.

Yuletide Greetings APJ Peeps

RICHARD LÜSCHER BRITOS (RLB)

Terroir 44°N 03°W EdP by Andy Tauer 2013

Photo Stolen Olfactoria´s Travels

RLB´s Terroir 44°N 03°W is drop dead gorgeous. Forget everything you ever knew about naturals. What is it with Swiss chemists? I know of two.
Albert Hoffman and Andy Tauer. They both created potions that last a very long time, whether used internally or applied externally. The average trip, olfactory or otherwise,
being between eight and twelve hours. Terroir 44°N 03°W lasts about ten hours. I was stunned. I thought naturals had a short life span. But this is a Tauer.

Andy says 44°N 03°W is free of any isolate and consists exclusively of essential oils, resins and absolutes. It includes wild mountain lavender harvested in the
The Cévennes, a mountain range in south-central France,hence the coordinates), black pine resin, the green fragrance of juniper, and of course, a hint of rose oil!
Thie lavender smells nothing like any lavender I have ever smelt. It´s fruity and herby and soft. Creamy, vanilla-y and lemony. I don´t start to even recognize lavender until a few hours into
the trip. (Check out Andy Tauer´s blog for an in-depth write up on his Cevennian lavender picking adventure.)

French mountain air. In a bottle. Stunning. Astonishingly divine. And no, it´s nothing like any Tauer I have ever tried.

http://www.richardlüscherbritos.com (You´ll need to brush up on your German folks!)

I had the honour of being invited to the launch for RLB by Andy Tauer and Vero Kern, followed up the next day by tea at Tauerville. Spoilt, I know. Here´s a few piccies.

May you have a peaceful holiday season, wherever you are.

Bussis under the mistletoe.
CQ

Voiles d’Extraits by Vero Kern 2013

November 27, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Hey APJ

1973. The teacher asked us to research a famous person and present a project in class. I chose Andy Warhol. My mother bought me a book to assist me with the work. It was minus about 30 pages. She had removed them, finding them way to controversial for me. That encouraged me to dig deeper. Edie, Nico, The Factory, Interview, The Velvet Underground.

On October 27th 2013 Lou Reed died. I spent the following days pondering how much his music, both with The Velvets and solo, had helped to shape a part of who I am. Not only with music and fashion and art, but with perfume too. My journey started with patchouli and Tabu. (I skipped Charlie – haha!)

Voile d’Extrait Photo by Herb Ritts given to APJ by Vero Kern

Voiles d’Extraits by Vero Kern 2013

Vero, Voiles and The Velvets.

Vero Kern´s perfumes do to me what the Velvets did and still do. They pierce my very soul. The Silver Fox said, when writing about .vero.profumo. “Once worn they own and haunt.” I can´t keep away. I wear other perfumes, I am a perfume junkie, but I come back to Vero´s creations every time.

Stylish, dark, hip, borderline scents. I never have been mainstream.

Voile d’Extrait Photo by Herb Ritts given to APJ by Vero Kern

The VOILES are a variation on a theme but still the Kiki, Onda, Rubj and Mito that we know. These perfumes are created in a different concentration to the pure extraits, but are just as deep and rich. They satisfy the need to spray, whereas the extraits are to be dabbed.

RUBJ Voile Featuring orange blossom, Egyptian jasmine, musk. Heavenly.
KIKI Voile Including lavender, caramel, musk. A have to try for those who dislike lavender. It is velvety and addictive.
MITO Voile Magnolia, cypress, and a stunning tuberose (which does not feature in the EdP), lemony, bitter, it is perfection.
ONDA Voile Dark. Intimate. Honey, vetiver, nutmeg, pepper, ginger. Venus in Furs.

Voile d’Extrait Photo by Herb Ritts given to APJ by Vero Kern

Try them if you get the chance. Take a walk on the wild side.

CQ xxx

The Voiles are available at Jovoy Paris, Marie Antoinette Paris, Bloom London and Campomarzio70 Rome. Which does´t help toomuch outside of Europe but where there´s a will there´s a way!! Lisa from Campomarzio70, .vero.profumo´s distributor told me that they will soon be in other exclusive shops. I will keep you posted.

Vero Kern sent me samples of the four Voiles. Vielen Dank.

Ashoka by Bertrand Duchaufour for Neela Vermeire Creations 2013

November 13, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Namaste Fragrant Friends!

It is hard not to be influenced by what you read, especially regarding a keenly anticipated new perfume, as Ashoka surely was. The fourth fragrance from Neela Vermeire Créations. I was so impatient to try it that I dropped Neela Vermeire herself a message, asking if I could beg, steal or have a sample. I was thrilled to receive a positive answer and in no time at all Neela had packed me up a small fragrant package and sent it on it´s way. It is clear to see that Neela herself is a perfumista, because she enclosed not only a spray sample, but a dab sample too! That really thrilled me. It offers me a much more intense impression of perfume. Top notes are so beautiful, and often fleeting and they linger on a little longer when dabbed.

Ashoka by Bertrand Duchaufour for Neela Vermeire Creations 2013

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Surrender To Chance gives these featured accords in one line:
Lotus, rose, water hyacinth, fig leaf, parsley leaf, Osmanthus absolute, cassie absolute, iris, incense essence, Jasmine sambac, fig milk, geranium, ylang-ylang, Fir balsam absolute, myrrh, cedarwood, sandalwood, vanilla accord, ambre gris, birch, Haitian vetiver, leather, styrax, heliotrope

Readers, as Jane Eyre would say, it was not love at first sniff. Exactly my point. The general impression that I had picked up was that it was, hmmmm, simpler, more approachable, soft, user-friendly …… Absolutely not. In fact, the exact opposite. It is so deep, and multi-faceted, that I have not been able to put pen to paper until nearly three weeks after starting to wear it. I have drained both samples. Love at first sniff, is of course, absolutely exciting and creates an instant lemming. This is a little like listening to music for me. If I love a song on the first hearing I find that I tire of it quite quickly. Instant perfume love does´t always last. I am generalizing of course, but it is often the case. What follows are the feelings I have after wearing the perfume until empty!

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Ashoka opens with an incredibly beautiful and bright burst of fig which is heavenly. It does´t take on a milkiness until about ten minutes in, if not more. There are so many other things going on, that I don´t have the words to describe them. Nor doI wish too. I don´t really care to dissect perfume. Firstly, I cannot do this, and secondly it takes away from the seductive pleasure, which is why I wear perfume. Suffice it to say though, I can detect a an enduring rose, especially with dabbing it. A soft leather accord slowly creeps in, mingling with it all. Now I am only just learning to detect leather notes, and had I not seen this listed, I don´t know if I would have noticed it for what it was. It is voluptuous and sumptuous, and makes the complete perfume an absolute delight. Indeed a fulfillment, which is what I believe Emperor Ashoka discovered on his road to conversion journey into Buddhism. How magnificently Neela Vermeire and Bertrand Duchaufour managed to convey this emotion.

Photo Stolen Dimitry B. Flickr

My parents split up in 1970 and my siblings, mother and I went to live with my grandmother for a few months. (London) My grandmother was an incredibly amazing, open-minded woman, who spent most of her life as a single-parent, divorcing back in the early fifties. She had a lodger living in her home at the same time as we were there. This lady was married to an Indian gentleman. He was a businessman and spent a lot of time away, visiting every few weeks or so. We never went into their room, located on the upper floor of my grandmother´s home. It was a great mystery to us kids! We would occasionally pass them going up or down on the stairs. Mr Ray, for so was his name, always smelled wonderful. Naturally I have no idea of what he used to smell that way. Whatever it was, some of it is in Ashoka. I can see myself as a ten year old small girl, captured by this elegant gentleman´s bouquet. He used to bring me sandalwood figures. How I wish I had kept them. Ashoka awoke a slumbering memory. I can only say thank you, and the three week journey was a trip!!

Photo Stolen Paolo Crosetto Flickr

I have slowly grown to love it.

Thank you Neela Vermeire Créations for the opportunity, and the magic it created.

H. G. Wells wrote of Ashoka in his book The Outline of History, “Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history, their majesties and graciousnesses and sereneties and royal highnesses and the like, the name of ASHOKA shines, and shines, almost alone, a star.”

You can buy Ashoka at
Neroli Budapest 59,800Ft/60ml
LuckyScent $260/60ml
Surrender To Chance starts at $7/.5ml

A perfectly named perfume.

Namaskar
CQ

Alahine by Jean-Francois Latty for Teo Cabanel 2007

October 30, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

I spend a lot of my time in kitchens, both at work and in the home. Much as I love to always wear perfume, I can´t. There is nothing that smells worse to me than things baking and perfume together, not to mention perfume and garlic. Ugh. (I once nearly killed myself mixing an Amouage with 7 hours in the kitchen, but that´s another story!) When I finish baking, I usually head off to deliver, which is where a solid perfume comes into play for me. Turning up covered in freshly spritzed perfume is just not my thing. That is not to say that I don´t enjoy having people take notice, (I have worn Rubj EdP to church!) but along with freshly baked goods, it really is not a good mix.

Which is exactly why I enjoy Alahine, the solid perfume. I can put it on anywhere without it being immediately obvious. I must admit it took me a while to look into Teo Cabanel. I am sad (and embarrassed) to say I thought it was some sort of natural line that might have been sold in a health food store! I have no idea as to where I got such a peculiar notion. When I tried this at Bloom´s in London I realized what I had been missing. The House of Teo Cabanel, has been established for well over 100 years, firstly in Morocco, and later in Paris. Their fragrances cannot be purchased along with your wheatgrass juice.

Alahine by Teo Cabanel 2007 Solid Perfume

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured acciords:
Top: Bergamot, ylang-ylang
Heart: Jasmine,orange blossom, pepper, rose of Morocco
Base: Iris, cistus, patchouli, benjoin, vanilla, sandalwood, musk

Alahine is really quite seductive.. A blend of all things lovely; bergamot, jasmine, Bulgarian rose, Morroccan rose, iris, patchouli, benzoin, vanilla, sandalwood ……… Just edgy enough to be different from other bog standard perfumes, but not enough to upset anyone. That makes the solid perfume ideal. Especially in the cooler months. As it says on the Teo Cabanel website, it has been designed to apply to pulse points, décolleté and bare shoulders. (Well, my shoulders aren´t too bare here in the winter, but you get the picture.)

Photo stolen Wikipedia

It takes a few seconds to melt into the skin and then slowly releases the most delicious fragrance. Slowly being the key. After about half an hour you are wrapped in a warm blanket of ambery, spicy, sumptuousness. Now at this point I really must add, do NOT be fooled by this solid perfume. It is strong stuff. Pure perfume. That means it is very easy to overdose on it. You need the smallest amount. Not to be applied liberally, tempting as it is.

I like to dab my fragrances. Not always, but often. It makes me feel refined and debonair, ripped jeans and all.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Alahine is absolutely affordable, comes in a heavy brass, square shaped box which is perfect for the handbag, where mine lives. It means I am never without a perfume. It can´t leak, break, or spill. It comes with 2 x 2 grammes of the solid perfume. Which is a lot more than it sounds!

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and Olfactoria’s Travels
Teo Cabanel has €65/solid, €95/50ml & €120/100ml

Photo Stolen Teo Cabanel

When I received my package from Teo Cabanel I was delighted to find a beautifully packaged set of the entire Teo Cabanel perfume collection. Can´t do better than that!

Back to the oven.
Bussis.
CQ xxxx

Val’s Travel Fragrances: Vero Profumo, Serge Lutens, Frederic Malle, Amouage

October 16, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 28 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

You Need a Scents of Humour to be a Perfume Junkie
(or Are We All A Few Decants Short Of A Full Bottle?)

Grüss Gott Fellow Junkies!!

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

I am heading of to Greece in about 5 hours. Yes, I have procrastinated writing this for days. Days of trying to decide which perfumes to take with me. I mean, come on!! Now, I am guessing at this but I reckon most folk think about their wardrobe, swim wear, evening wear, how many pairs of shoes to take ….. Not giving themselves brain meltdown over fragrance. Please correct me if I am wrong. I wake up in the night in the throws of postmenopausal dreaming, and lie awake going through my scent wardrobe in my head. Now, I would have though that was really quite sad BUT since Portia introduced me to several fragrant groups, I can see that I am not alone. (How many times a day do YOU think of perfume, huh?????)

Val’s Travel Fragrances

Vero Profumo, Serge Lutens, Frederic Malle, Amouage

What I have found most intriguing is people´s SOTD ………. I read through them all in absolute fascination. At first I thought, “Holy Cow!”, people have nothing better to do than post what perfume they are wearing?? So many perfume I have never heard of, perfume fodder to keep me Googling my heart out.

So on the assumption, and the law of fragrant averages, that someone might be interested in what I am taking on vacation, here we go.

After much deliberation, including contemplating taking nothing at all (so as to give my nose a break – yeah right, hahaha!) this is my final decision.

RUBJ – by Vero Kern

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Taking a full bottle of this. Just in case there is an air strike, or world crisis of some sort. This is the one perfume I would not want to be without. Ever.

MUSC KOUBLAÏ KÄHN – by Serge Lutens

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

This is sweet, sexy and animalic. The perfect in-the-sun scent. I will dab this because I don´t want to upset the other guests. The ones with 8 different bikinis and matching sarongs.

LE PARFUM DE THÉRÈSE – by Frederic Malle

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Elegant. Sophisticated. Statement making without fumigating the place. Makes me feel ladylike. A rarity.
(Thanks Ms O!!)

So off to the airport, leaving a stylish trail of Vero Kerne´s Mito behind me.

Photo Stolen wallpapers

In the words of one of the few famous Austrians, “I´ll be bäck.”

Soon to be on the beach BUSSIS!!

CQ xxxxxxxxxx

PS A couple of mls of UBAR – one never knows ……… 🙂

Drag Queens, Cookie Queens and Chanel´s Coromandel

September 25, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 25 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Drag Queens, Cookie Queens and Chanel´s Coromandel.

Or How I met Portia Turbo-Gear of AustralianPerfumeJunkies.

Photo Stolen AlexDonald

Fragrantica gives these featured accordfs:
Top: Bitter orange,citruses, neroli
Heart: Jasmine, rose, patchouli, orris
Base: Musk, woodsy notes, benzoin, olibanum, incense, vanilla, white chocolate

I know that this fragrance was named after the exquisite Chinese lacquered wood screens in Coco Chanels house, but I prefer to think of it as having been named after the Coromandel Coast, the name given to the southeastern coast of the Indian Subcontinent. Much more suited to the rich, patchouli, amber, incensed based Eau de Toilette. It belongs to the luxurious collection of Les Exclusifs de Chanel. Nose is Jacques Polge. It´s classed as a fragrance for women. That is so not true. It is equally suited to a bloke. But we know all this stuff don´t we? It´s been covered so well – Olfactoria, Bois de Jasmin, …….

I saw on APJ, early January 2013, that Portia and Jin were headed to Europe, with a list of dates as to when and where they would be. Well, as fate would have it, the pair of them were in Vienna on the same day as I was visiting the city. I dropped them a mail, offered a bag of fresh baked cookies, and we had a date!

Now after seven years in Amsterdam, there is nothing that can really phase me. However, I got my daughter and her friend to come along too. I had never had a blind date with an Australian drag queen before, and a little moral support never goes amiss eh? We arrived a little early, hit the Chanel Exclusif counter, where I doused myself in Coromandel. Meeting point was Café Mozart, downtown Vienna. A very beautiful, very Viennese coffee house. We had absolutely no clue as to who we were looking for, having not stalked the pair online to see what they looked like. We went into the cafe, looked around, saw no one that looked like they were waiting for us, and went out again.

I was carrying a Chanel bag, complete with camellia, in which I had the cookies packed up. A dead giveaway, or so I thought. We went outside to wait. It was damn cold. Not knowing if Portia would be in drag or not, we stared down every woman that walked by. Is it? Isn´t it? We had such a laugh. I finally texted them and asked if I had been stood up. Portia texted back “Inside grey Christmas jumper left near window, standing:” And there they were. Portia dressed in a Marks and Sparks looking sweater with a kind of Scandinavian christmas tree pattern. And I was looking for Dame Edna? Epic fail. (Portia had been outside, and seen us, and thought that anyone carrying a Chanel bag was too posh for them, and went back inside – is that a double epic fail??)

It was as though we had know each other for years. ( Portia has the gift of making you feel loved right away!!) I told my daughter she could leave. No, no, no …… no way. She was absolutely staying put. Wouldn´t miss it for the world!! Portia and Jin had also spritzed themselves, with Coromandel and Cuir de Russie. Great minds ……. In amongst the conversation, which ran at about a hundred miles an hour, I said maybe I could write a piece for the blog sometime. Not planned, never thought about it, absolutely no perfume writing skills …….. in fact, after 20 years of speaking bad German, and losing a lot of my English vocabulary, I didn´t really know if could string a sentence together. But here I am!!

We went onto the Chanel store together. I bought a bottle of Coromandel. We drove the shop assistant into lid-flipping insanity, and I had to grab my new friend Portia by the hand and drag him out the store. I had a feeling he was going to show the poor Austrian assistant what a colorful vocabulary I was sure that he had!! Each time I wear Coromandel, I am zapped back to that day, and to the short time we had with Portia and Jin. The memories with some perfumes are so etched into our brains that we cannot get rid of them. In this case it is awesome!!

Some that say that the longevity of Coromandel is not so good. Why do you think it comes in that half gallon bottle? Spray it on guys, lots of it and all over. Works a treat. I am in the minority. I love the huge bottle. It´s just so damn satisfying. It is an EdT and should be treated as such. Spritz baby spritz.

Portia opened a new chapter in my life. Not only with APJ. Through him I met two absolutely wonderful perfumistas living on my doorstep. My horizons have been widened, my circle of friends increased, my perfume collection has grown.

Is today September the 25th??? HAPPY BIRTHDAY PORTIA!!!

Photo Stolen 43things

A thousand bussis, to the sky and back.

Val xxxxxxx

Mito by Vero Kern for Vero Profumo 2012

September 11, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 29 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Hi all you APJs.

I thoroughly enjoy reading Olfactoria´s occasional “Finding Hidden Beauty” blogs. The Vero Profumo perfume house and indeed Vero herself surely fall into the Hidden Beauty category. Your average person is not going to hear of these magnificent perfumes. That makes her hidden doesn´t it? One of the positives of being a perfume junkie, searching out the best and rarest of gems.

Mito by Vero Kern for Vero Profumo 2012

A Verdant Oasis

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Jasmine, galbanum, oakmoss, magnolia, hyacinths, champaca, cyprus, citrus

There has been much written about Mito. It is so rich and green and sparkly and mossy, uplifting and elegant and gorgeous.
What more can I add? Velvety, magnoliay, cypressy …………. A Verdant Oasis.

My girlfriend drives an Alfa Romeo Mito and is a brilliant photographer. The coincidence was just too good to pass up. Now then, where would be a place beautiful enough to do justice to Ms Kern´s creation, without having to drive to the Tivoli Fountains, her source of inspiration?

SALZBURG! Delivering cookies and taking pictures all in one go.

First location. Pferdeschwemme Fountain/Horse Wash. Built in about 1693. Purpose was to wash the horses before they returned to the stables. Downtown Salzburg. Now a beautiful fountain, and filming location of “My Favourite Things” in The Sound of Music. Perfect.

As we were finishing off with this location, a street band made up of a group of South Americans walked by. Much to my surprise, my usually rather
quiet and artistic friend, leapt upon the unsuspecting tuba player, and insisted that he stop and let her put Mito into his tuba. After waving her hands around
to be understood, and then placing him in the correct position, she quickly took a few shots. To be honest he didn´t really know what hit him. She wanted to place
the bottle deeper into the tuba but he was having none of that. He then demanded a kiss (I obliged, on the cheek, haha! ) and scuttled off as fast as one carrying a tuba can, to catch
up with his bandmates. Job done.

Next stop Residenzbrunnen/Residenz Fountain. (After an iced caffeine top up. It was 35 degrees and we had been taking pictures for over 2 hours)
This is a serious expression of Salzburg´s opulence. Ascribed to Tommaso de Garona (nod to the Italians!) and constructed at the wish of Bishop
Guidobald Thun from 1656 to 1661. It is 15 metres high. This is one amazingly beautiful fountain.

Photo Stolen VisitSalzberg

Salzberg Cathedral
(Maria took a pit stop here to splash water at the horses whilst singing “I Have Confidence”)

So it was a wrap. Dayle Ann Clavin, photographer, was done. Five hours, a little sunstroke and a lot of fun. Not to mention classy pictures.

Vero Kern creates. Creates for us. Bearing a little of her soul each time. And I for one am indebted to her.

I truly cannot wait to try the Mito Extrait.

Further reading: Perfume Posse and Now Smell This
LuckyScent has $215/50ml
Surrender To Chance starts at $6/.5ml

So perfume lovers, be thankful for what we have the opportunity to share in.

Bussis
CQ

CQ`S Cooking Tips #3: Hommus + Pesto

August 28, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Cookie Queen’s Infrequent Cooking Tips No 3

Hommus + Pesto

Hungry APJs? I greet you.

I am expecting five visitors from England and have been running round like a chipmunk on speed.

Photo Stolen SeagullSteve

Turning my 20 year old bodybuilding, XBox playing son`s bedroom into a room for an 8 year old girl to have for a week. No mean feat I can tell you. Changing my teenage girl´s room into a small haven for the mum and dad I was stunned to find that there was actually a carpet on her floor. I had forgotten she had one. Two young lads coming along too, but I have bunged them in the attic. Washing, cleaning and of course cooking!!
Yay!! I can do that. Fast. Simple and bloody good. If I do say so myself.
It goes without saying that I baked a few cookies in the morning, and no, I will never share the recipes for them.

Since it is still warm here, and our southern hemisphere friends are getting ready for summer, I have made hummus and a batch of pesto, perfect summer food.

HUMMUS (Hommus for Aussies)

Photo Stolen ExclusivelyFood

Soak about half a kilo of chickpeas for a few hours or overnight.
Cook them for about 50 minutes in the pressure cooker. Turn off and leave to cool down.
I then swirl them around in the water, lightly running them through my fingers, to remove the skins.
Pour the skins and water away. Keep doing it until most or all of the skin is gone. It really does make a difference to
the end result.

So now ……..
About 4 cups of cooked chickpeas
1 cup of tahini (sesame paste)
Juice of 2 or 3 lemons
A hefty amount of finely chopped garlic
A decent amount of salt
7 tablespoons of iced water

Put the chickpeas into a food processor. Process until mashed up.
Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt. Process some more.
Drizzle in the iced water, and then process/puree for 3 or 4 minutes.

Job done. (You can do the whole lot with a fork if you don´t have a mixer. It will just be coarser.)

Put into a nice serving bowl, drizzle with olive oil and decorate with whatever – chilies, parsley, cracked black pepper.

DO NOT ADD OIL WHEN MAKING THE HUMMUS ………. that is a western practice.

Serve with nice bread, raw vegetables, whatever. This is so good you will never buy it again. You can use canned chickpeas of course,
but cooking your own has the edge.

So that´s supper out the way.

BASIL PESTO

Photo Stolen ThePleasuresOfThePalate

Rinse out your food processor and make the pesto now. Please don´t buy pesto from the store. Ugh.

Around 2 cups of chopped basil
Maybe about half a cup of pine nuts
Half a cup of grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Crushed garlic to taste (anything fro 1 – 6 cloves!!)
Salt
Olive oil
Fresh squeezed half a lemon, maybe a little zest if you fancy

lemons-1.jpg
http://bluebutterfliesandme.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/75/

Put everything into the processor except the oil and lemon juice.
Process away, scraping down the sides.
Then drizzle the olive oil in until you have whatever consistency you like – hard to say how much, half a cup, more??
Add the lemon juice right at the end. It literally brightens it, and freshens it up. Beautifully. And fragrantly.

Put it into a jar, sealing it with a layer of olive oil.

Cook up a pot of linguine or spaghetti. Drain. Put a huge dollop of pesto into the bottom of a nice
serving bowl and put the noodles on top. Mix in well. Maybe grate some extra Parmesan on top.
Done. Serve with a large plate of sliced tomatoes and some goat´s cheese. Lunch is served.
There will be pesto leftover. Put it into a jar, and seal it with a layer of olive oil to keep it fresh.
Keeps for a while.

I suggest that when working with this much garlic, that you don´t apply any perfume until you have
finished and showered!! You all know what I think of perfume and garlic.

Let me know how you like it.

Bussis
CQ

Rouge Avignon GIVEAWAY WINNERS

August 20, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hey there APJ crew,

We had a great response for Val the Cookie Queen’s Rouge Avignon draw. All the entries have been collated, cut, folded and drawn. I hope you get as much fun out ofd these draws as we do.

Portia xx

Rouge Avignon GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Gautier Poupeau Flickr

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

There are 3 prizes this week. Each winner will receive:

1 x Rouge Avignon by Phaedon 2013 Sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

All you needed to do was tell us how you follow and exactly why this juice might float your boat!

CQ’s lovely daughter Hannah picking a winner

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Midnight Sunday 18th August 2013 in Austria.
Winners were chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, I then put all the names into my long dead armadillo and three winners were drawn by Hannah. Alright?

Photo Stolen berryreview

Nadja

Azar

Belle

The winners will have till Wednesday 21st August 2013 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.

Bussis from the CQ

xxxxxxxxxx

Rouge Avignon by Pierre Guillaume for Phaedon 2013

August 14, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 78 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Hi APJ,

I received a text from my daughter last week: “Stole two spritzes of your new perfume. I feel like I could conquer the world and just hop on a plane and go anywhere I want.” No fear of her turning into a perfumista then!

Rouge Avignon by Phaedon 2013

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Raspberry, ylang-ylang
Heart: Rose, cacao pod, hinoki wood, tuber
Base: Vetiver, sandalwood, musk, amber

Oxana at Bloom Perfumery, London tucked a big sample of this into my bag as I left her shop. I had never heard of Phaedon, although I know Pierre Guillaume of course.

From Phaedon: A Gothic composition, as opulent and dark as the shadow of the Papal Palace looming over nations and centuries… The carmine red of the papal stole is conjured with a fleshy, spicy rose facetted by ylang-ylang and raspberry. In the heart notes, waxed woods, cocoa bean, black truffle and earthy smoky vetiver lure us into the private apartments of the Supreme Pontiff. Gilt moldings and religious ornaments glint in the firelight while gray tendrils of smoke rise from a censer burning sandalwood chips mixed with musk and amber.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

So you know what – it´s pushing 40°c here in Austria so let´s skip the usual banter.

Rouge Avignon shocked me with it´s splendour. It´s unusual and beautiful enough that someone may well ask what you are wearing, but you don´t need an instruction manual to understand it. It’s a gliding, seamless scent and it will be a stunning fall to winter fragrance, but it is beyond fine now too. I feel an addiction coming on.

Photo used with permission: Dayle Ann Clavin Photography

Rose. Red. Opulent. Velvety. Ylang ylang. Spicy rose. Earthy rose. Gorgeous, succulent, but never gourmand raspberry. It is so vibrant and cerise and strangely pretty. But don´t be fooled, it mingles with amber and vetiver and sandalwood and musk. To all that you may indeed add a little smokiness. Dark and sparkly. The fruity note is always there though, hiding in the shadows. I could see Ann Boleyn wearing this. Quite medieval.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

So you wanna try it? Thanks once again to Oxana at Bloom perfumery in London Town, I can give away three samples of it. But hey – no – not for nothing.

Rouge Avignon GIVEAWAY

Photo Stolen myprettypaints

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

There are 3 prizes this week. Each winner will receive:

1 x Rouge Avignon by Phaedon 2013 Sample
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. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

All you need to do is tell us how you follow and exactly why this juice might float your boat!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Rouge Avignon by Phaedon GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p2fQBU-1QS #Perfume #Review #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Midnight Sunday 18th August 2013 in Austria and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, I will then put all the names into my long dead armadillo and three winners will be drawn. Alright?.
The winners will have till Wednesday 21st August 2013 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.

Bussis from a melting CQ

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