London Scent Shopping and Serial Killers 2013

July 24, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 34 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

London Scent Shopping and Serial Killers

CQ´s way to Bloom Perfumery

I headed to London a couple of weeks ago for a wedding and to purchase two Vero Profumo fragrances. There are times when ordering online is just perfect, and others where I chose to wait until I can purchase from a shop. I saw that Vero´s perfumes were available in Harrod´s and in Bloom Perfumery in Spitalfields. Concept Scents Store. In the East End of London. No question in my mind where I was heading.

I stayed with at 23 Cranley Gardens in Muswell Hill with a couple of girlfriends. They were kind enough to take a few days off work, so off we went first thing on Monday morning. I was über-excited. Finally I could stop stretching my samples of Rubj EdP and Mito. We jumped off the bus in Spitalfields, and walked through the beautiful covered market, although newly renovated, it has been there since about 1887.

So we arrived. 4 Hanbury Street, London. Walking into the shop, felt like landing at the bottom of the proverbial rabbit hole. It smelled absolutely divine. I have not been into that many perfume stores, but enough to know that this one was special. It gave me the same feeling I used to get when I would discover small indie/reggae record stores off the beaten track when I was much younger. That feeling of having discovered something totally unique, cool, and not for the masses.

Oxana, the delightful owner, came to greet us. Originally from Moscow, she has now lived in London for about seven years. After making sure that my two Vero fragrances were there, we started to talk. I wondered how she had ended up selling Vero Profumo.

Oxana: “Yes, I met Vero a couple of years before I decided to open the boutique. er passion and great craftsmanship at making her perfume creations has influenced me somewhat. I eventually thought that there should be a place (just normal, not elitist like the Harrod´s establishment) where people can buy the very best of modern perfume made with creativity and passion. It´s disappointing how much the generic mass market perfumes get promoted and how little people know about the finest niche brands- Hopefully I am making my small contribution to change that and that independent perfumers get more attention.”

From Bloom

Oxana also told me that a Russian lady will have about 7 fragrances in her collection. If not full bottles, then at least decants. I found that very interesting actually, because that is about the number I regularly wear over a year. No counting samples I try of course, but how many of them do I go onto purchase?

The shop is elegantly simple. Perfumes I knew of, and those I had never heard of. I intend to work my way through, sniffing all of them. There are hand written labels on the perfumes giving the list of top, middle and base notes. There are small black glass jars next to some of the perfumes, and these contain only the base notes. Brilliant. If you don´t care for the base notes then you know you can move onto something else. (A bit like allowing special customers to smell my vanillas!!)

I left the shop elated, and fell exhausted into the iconic Poppie´s Fish and Chips restaurant, situated conveniently right next door. The best fish and chips in the world.

So APJ, this is CQ´s direction now. Scents from the here and now. For blogging at least. Because I do love other scents too!

Serial Killers? The first to recognize why this was a part of my fragrant trip, will receive a nice fat sample of Phaedon`s Rouge Avignon, my new love. Courtesy of Oxana.

If you’d like to shop at Bloom UK Website(<<<<JUMP)

Rock on and lock your doors at night.

CQ supplied all the photos from her iPhone

CQ`S Cooking Tips #2 TABBŪLE Variation

July 10, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

COOKIE QUEEN`S INFREQUENT COOKING TIPS No 2

VARIATION ON A TABBŪLE THEME

Hey Aromatic Friends!

My lunch today. With a side of avocado and grilled mushrooms. Not pictured. :)))

I spend most of the time making and baking cookies these days. That makes it kind of tough on my family as there was a time when they got awesome home cooked meals every day. Fortunately, due to their great upbringing, they all cook for themselves and sometimes even for me! But I still love to prepare food. But I want it to be healthy, quick and damn good. After all, I do have a reputation to keep up.

I love Turkish, Greek and Middle Eastern food. So today boys and girls, we are going to have a tabbouleh inspired dish.

Tabbouleh is arguably, originally from Syria and Lebanon. The Levantine Arabic word “tabbūle” is derived from the Arabic word “taabil” meaning seasoning. Use of the English word first appeared in the 1950s. Useless information fact of the day – the largest recorded dish of tabbouleh weighed in at 4,324 kilos!

I throw together tabbouleh type dishes a lot, no skill needed, unlike baking where it is useful if you have an idea of what you are doing!

Photo Stolen bonappetit.com

Ingredients of the day:

Bulghur, couscous, or Havuçlu Piyale Kuskus* (this is fat round balls of couscous that swell up to be the size of peppercorns – totally cool!)
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Feta cheese, or cheese of choice
Tons of chopped basil
Tons of chopped parsley
A good amount of chopped mint
Decent olive oil (if you can afford good perfume, you can afford good oil)
Lemon peel/zest
Lemon juice and/or balsmic vinegar (I use white but red will do)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Thin slices of red pinion
Pomegranate molassess*
Tahini* (Use the white)

* get this stuff in a funky supermarket, or a middle eastern grocery store. It´s damn cheap and adds style and fragrance.

Prepare the grain according to whatever instructions are on the box. Traditional tabbouleh uses very little grain and more herbs. But use whatever you want.
Let it cool of course.

Chop the tomatoes, peel, de-seed and chop the cucumber, chop the cheese into chunks, then chuck it all into the bowl with the bulgur or whatever. Add all the chopped herbs, the more the merrier, but if you don´t have many then who cares? When all else fails you can always use dried oregano!! Stir it all up. Add a few good glugs of olive oil, throw in a little lemon zest, add some lemon juice ……… taste it, then add however much vinegar you want. Season with salt and pepper to taste, obviously. Before you serve it, drizzle it with pomegranate molasses. If you have not tried that yet, you must. It is sour and delicious and adds such a wonderful flavour. (It´s good on green salad too, and more …..) My daughter elegantly pours tahini onto everything at the moment. That works too. If you like it, do it. I decorate it with thin slices of red onion, but not too much. Onion breath plus perfume ………… Ugh.

Photo Stolen maresfoodandfun

Doesn´t matter if it´s winter or summer. It is always a welcome salad. I made a version for Christmas this year, and we barbecued on the balcony. Winter? Who cares.

So there you go. It is not rocket science. If you are sat there thinking, wow, that sounds nice, then get off your arses and make it. Add it to your repertoire. It never fails to impress. Off you go then.

Bussis
CQ xxx

Le Maroc Pour Elle By Andy Tauer 2005

June 26, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Scented Summer Solstice Salutations!

I spent my summers between 1977 and 1982 at the Free Festivals at Stonehenge and Glastonbury. In the days before it cost to go to the massive festival that is now Glastonbury and the days before wire fences around the Stones. Only the mud was the same. Hawkwind, Gong, Benjamin Zephaniah. We would go for three weeks in a row, sometimes more. On Solstice morning we would watch the Druids performing their rituals, and sit on the stones listening to distant music and waiting for the sun.

It was the Welsh Teepee People who were the first to arrive at the festivals. A community of people who lived year round in teepees. Drop-outs, alternative folk, people looking for another way of life. To me they were beautiful, otherworldly, mystical ……..
What really left a lasting impression on me, was the smell as you were in the area of their encampment.
Patchouli, sandalwood, rose, jasmin, woodsmoke, amber, incense. My love for these notes remain with me until this day.

Photo Stolen SacredHome

No 01 Le Maroc Pour Elle by Andy Tauer 2005

Early in 2012 I received a sample of Le Maroc Pour Elle. I was not prepared for it. I grabbed a couple of squirts as I ran out the door to go shopping. A kaleidoscope of fragrance and memories stunned me. No fragrance had ever made me cry. Until now. I put my nose to my arm, and yes, I did inhale. Glorious. Time traveling. Deep into my past. Unreservedly sumptuous.

Heaven knows how Andy Tauer came up with this; I can only put it down to the fact that he is a chemist! Because I am sure I never saw him in a teepee.

http://www.dayleannclavin.com Photo taken especially for APJ

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarins, lavender
Heart: Moroccan rose, jasmine
Base: Atlas cedar, balm of oriental woods, patchouli, sandalwood

Le Maroc Pour Elle is such an intense experience, that you need to let the notes breathe. Skin to air. It is the ultimate summer scent. I have said it before. Mr. Tauer is an artist. You can´t cover up a painting and the same goes for his creations. Let them out. They develop layer after layer. This isn´t a winter fragrance. I really look forward to warm, sunny days, when this is at it´s best. Use sparingly. It´s very pure. You need to annoint yourself with this.

It is absolutely feminine. Womanly. Erotic. High class hippiedom.

I would guess there is a good bit of magic in there too. If Le Maroc Pour Elle had been around in 1977 it would have been illegal.

Photo Stolen Photpedia

Further reading: The Non Blonde and Perfume Smellin’ Things.
Tauer Perfumes has €83.40/50ml
Lucky Scent has $130/50ml and samples
Surrender To Chance starts at $7/ml

Until next time, stay cool.

Bussis
Val CQ xxx

Rubj: Extrait de Parfum by Vero Profumo 2007

June 12, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Rubj: Extrait de Parfum by Vero Profumo 2007

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Sweet orange blossom from Morocco, in a mellifluous shimmery dress of the finest notes of musk, earnestly courted by tempting Egyptian jasmine & cumin.

I fell in love with Rubj EDP on New Year´s Eve. I had saved my sample for that evening. So I knew it would only be a matter of time before I had to try the Ruby Extrait. Every time I attempted to get a sample, they were temporarily unavailable. Very annoying. So after writing my last APJ piece on the EDP, I thought, that´s it. I am waiting no longer. I ordered it right then and there, untested. So the waiting game began. I am sure all you APJs and other readers are familiar with the sensation? Adrenalin starts to pump, and our ears become sensitive to the sound of every UPS van within a 5 mile radius!! It only took 4 days, and that included a weekend. I snatched the package and put it into my wardrobe, to be opened in the evening when I wasn´t knee-deep in dough.

I ordered the 7.5 ml bottle. One and a half teaspoons. Gulp.

Such a petite, pretty, feminine bottle. And, luckily for me, the fragrance is ravishing. It won´t please everyone. Which as some of you know, is just the way I like it. It might be a good idea to try it before buying. I don´t want to encourage buying blind. On the other hand, the thrill is exhilarating!

Photo Stolen CrystalMountain

On my skin it starts out very softly. As it heats up it conjures up strawberries, incense (the hippie kind), saltiness, menthol, rose, musk and ice lollies (the fruity sweet and sour kind). Utterly warm and sensual, and perhaps a little wanton. Not straight up sexual, like the edp. It is kind of radio-active. My whole body glows from it. Ambrosial. Wholly unique. I know of nothing else like it, but I am just at the beginning of my perfumista journey ………..

Photo Stolen KarmaYogaCenter

Don´t confuse the Rubj EDP with the Rubj Extrait. Related but definitely not identical.

I am chuffed to bits that I bought it. The cat that got the cream. Thank goodness vanilla extract runs a little cheaper!!

You can find more thoughts on Rubj from Olfactoria, Bois de Jasmin, The Candy Perfume Boy
VeroProfumo has an info page with worldwide stores.
LuckyScent has $235/7.5ml or $325/15ml
SurrenderToChance starts at $10/.25ml

Bussis
CQ

RUBJ EdP by VERO KERN 2007

May 29, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Sensual greetings APJs

If I wasn’t a small part of this perfume subculture, I feel very sure I never would have heard of, let alone smelled, the incredible creations of today’s perfumer, who is so amazing..

RUBJ Eau de Parfum by VERO KERN 2007

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured notes:
Top: Neroli, passsionfruit, mandarin, bergamot
Heart: Cumin, Basil, African orange flower, tuberose
Base: Virginia cedar, oakmoss, musk

If I wasn’t a small part of this perfume subculture, I feel very sure I never would have heard of, let alone smelled, the incredible creations of Vero Kern. Vero Kern takes time to create her fragrances. Time to develop them. She says that it scares her; launches every six months. Claiming scents are new, but in fact they are just rehashes of old ones. She gets bored of continually seeing many of the same ideas behind new releases.

Vero Kern Photo Stolen luzernerzeitung

Vero Kern has a spirituality about her (to me) which becomes more apparent in mature women. I love it. She inspires me. A creative artist. Plus she always looks fabulous! Awesomely cool. I want to be just like her as I get older.

I watched part of an interesting interview with her. Ms Kern say she likes to put “something that is a little bit disturbing” into her fragrances. A note that people cannot identify. Sometimes it may disturb in a positive way and sometimes in a negative way. She goes on to say, “A characteristic perfume has to have this disturbance, otherwise it is flat.” She tries to avoid this certain flatness. “For the eccentric and flamboyant.”

RUBJ is everything but flat.

Photo Stolen Pinterest

RUBJ is what I would have wanted on my wedding day.

This is über-sensual. Depending not on the intellect or the spirit. Carnal, fleshly, exquisite, beautiful, unchaste. A fragrance so enrapturing and captivating, I am smitten. Voluptuous. Gorgeous. What more can I say?

Further reading PerfumePosse and Olfactoria’sTravels
LuckyScent has $220/50ml EdP
SurrenderToChance has the original 3 EdPs in the range as a sampler from $14/3 x .5ml

I expect 7.5 mls of RUBJ Extrait in the post tomorrow. Untested. Because sometimes you just have to.
(Ed: Editing this post inspired me to buy the Rubj EdP in LA at Scentsation. You are a wicked temptress Val. XXX)

Love
CQ

ZARA SPORT 421

May 15, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Good day all of you APJs!

ZARA – A Spanish success story. A clothing and accessories store. Louis Vuitton fashion director Daniel Piette described Zara as “Possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world.” Possibly. Although I have my doubts.

ZARA SPORT 421 by – who knows?

(So far out of my comfort zone I need oxygen ……. )

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica call it an aromatic spicy fragrance for men. Featuring musk, mandarin orange, thyme and pepper.

A story in three parts.

PART 1

My son invited me to go shopping with him, about a month ago. Never one to turn down a date with him, off I went. All I had to do was buy him lunch. (A Chanel bag would have been cheaper!) Just before heading home he asked me to nip into Zara and grab him a bottle of Zara Sport 421. “You want me to do whaaaat??? Over my dead and mangled body!! I will not. If you want it you will have to get it yourself.” So he did. With much muttering as to what a snob I was ……

PART 2 (next day)

“Mmmmmm, that smells nice son.” Mucho laughter from him. “It´s Zara, Mum.”
“Aaaaaargh!!” I cried in agony. “Maybe you would like to write about it!” he chuckled.

Sweet smelling son.

PART 3 (A few weeks and several random compliments later)

Here I sit. Zara 421 is really quite nice Nice is not a word I like to use, but it is perfect for Zara 421. Soft, musky, slightly orangey and spicy. Warm. I cannot pretend to pick any notes out, because I can´t. Maybe there aren´t any that are readily identifiable. But I like it. It´s staying power is about three hours. Would I recommend it? Well, if it was a choice of Axe, Lynx or Zara? Then yes, definitely the Zara 421. There are three in the Sport Range. Zara Sport 421, Zara Sport 675, and Zara Sport 615. Am I going to try the other two? Am I hell. My son says the 421 is the only good one. That is enough for me.

Photo Stolen dorechina2009

It is only available in certain Zara stores, and it is NOT available online. I guess that makes it pretty exclusive huh? ;))) The fragrances run at about 12 to 20 Euros. Totally affordable.

See James? You owe me lunch.
Bussis until the next time.
CQ

LUSH Ultrabalm + Coriander, Green Chili, Walnut and Yoghurt Chutney Recipe

April 24, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Greetings APJ Fragrance Fiends!

Lush. British slang term to describe something pleasing or desirable.

“I had the most lush meal last night.”
“That perfume is lush.”
“Look at him/ her …….. he/she is totally lush.”

LUSH ULTRABALM – by LUSH

Photo Stolen VegetarianLiving

Ingredients:

Organic Jojoba Oil
Candelilla Wax
Rose Wax

We´ll keep this short. This stuff is totally amazing. For a million things. Too long to list. You can look it up for homework.
Why am I writing about it? Well, for all you folks whose skin “eats fragrance”, or who just want their scent to last a little longer, Ultrabalm is the business.
If you know that already, then skip this and look at the recipe. For those who don´t, it´s simple.
Put a little of the Ultrabalm wherever you put your fragrance. Then put your fragrance on top. That´s it. Your perfume will last much longer. The very slight smell that the Ultrabalm has goes away.
I use it for any scent that I think of as an “anointing” scent. Rose, patchouli, amber, sandalwood, Tauer, Vermeire ………
But who cares?? Use it for whatever you want. I would never, ever be without it.

http://www.lush.co.uk

http://www.lushusa.com

http://www.lush.com.au

Coriander, Green Chili, Walnut and Yoghurt Chutney Recipe

CQ´s Occasional Fragrant Cooking Secrets

Photo Stolen FoodViva

This stuff is awesome.

Good sized bunch of fresh coriander (some stems are OK)
Yoghourt of your choice (I like Turkish or Greek) – maybe about a half cup, maybe a bit more
Fresh green chiles (too taste, obviously)
10 or 15 walnut halves
Salt
(slices of thin red onion to decorate if you are feeling creative)

Plug in a food processor (!)

Chuck the whole lot (EXCEPT the salt) in a food processor. Process. Not at rocket speed. Bit by bit.
Not thick enough – add some more walnuts, not hot enough – more chiles (remembering it gets hotter over the hours and days) want it more creamy – add more yoghourt. Add the salt at the end, you´ll probably need a decent amount. Anything with chiles needs lots of salt. You don´t add it to the food processor because it makes the chutney turn runny. I like it to be thickish. But make it how you want.

This chutney dances on your tongue. Eat it with everything. Well maybe not cornflakes. Keeps in the fridge for a few days just fine. Smells lush.

Bussis
CQ

14 Noontide Petals GIVEAWAY COMPETITION WINNER!!

April 14, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hey Everyone,

What a super great giveaway this has been. We had heaps of interest and Val the Cookie Queen has asked me to Thank You all for your excellent suggestions. She had never heard about an ANZAC biscuit and will be trying to make them this week. I told her thin and crispy around the edge, a little doughy in the center. How do you like your ANZEC Biscuits?

GIVEAWAY COMPETITION WINNER!!

Photo Stolen SmellyThoughts

THE PRIZE

1 x Noontide Petals sample by Andy Tauer

P&P Worldwide

HOW COULD YOU WIN?

You had to leave a comment telling us your favourite cookie or cookie ingredient. That’s IT!

This is CQ’s daughter (isn’t she super gorgeous)

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday April 14th 2013 10pm AusEDST .
Val the Cookie Queen and her crew will do the draw honours. The names will be placed on the same sized papers, folded similarly, placed in a bowl and a winner picked.

AND THE

Photo stolen winner nodepositforum

ADAM GRIFFITHS

CONGRATULATIONS Adam, you have till Thursday 18th April 2013 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or Portia will give the prize to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Bussis
CQ and Portia xxx

14 Noontide Petals by Tauer 2013

April 10, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 93 Comments

Guest post by Val the Cookie Queen

14 Noontide Petals by Tauer 2013

Photo Stolen SmellyThoughts

Top: Bergamot, aldehydes, Bourbon geranium
Heart: Rose, ylang ylang, tuberose, jasmine
Base: Patchouli, frankincense, vanilla, sandalwood, iris, styrax and vetiver

We are stuck in Narnia here in Europe. April and so damn cold. I would have preferred to have tried Noontide Petals on a gorgeous Spring day. Not a hint of Spring in sight.

About 18 months ago I ordered a Sample Set from Tauer Perfume. Five fragrances of my choice.

Photo Stolen TauerPerfumes

After 10 days I still had no samples. I emailed Tauer Perfume, and within minutes I had an email back from Andy himself. He apologised profusely that the precious package had gone missing. He sent a replacement package himself, and registered it, and I had it 48 hours later. How nice is THAT??

Two weeks ago I mailed Andy again, on the off chance that he would send me samples of Noontide Petals. Three days later there were samples on my doorstep with a handwritten note from Andy. What a privilege. I had never tried a brand new fragrance with the intent of writing about it.

I test perfumes on Monday when I am alone in the shop preparing cookie dough. I sprayed it on with great excitement. Very sparingly because I know that Tauer´s are very intense. Shock Horror. I did not like it. Perfume Junkies, I was so upset, and angry. Yes angry. Can you imagine that? I was in a freaking bad mood the whole day. I wanted to like it so badly. I did indeed get a little bergamot. But it was short lived and left a weak soapy smell behind.

The second testing of Moontide Petals. Ah ha. I used more. Better. A burst of very bright bergamot. I could almost see the sun! It did have a swirling feel about it, kind of up and down. Bubbling aldehydes. I could understand them a bit now. (I watched a 30 minute lecture on aldehydes before trying this scent!! Never too late to learn.) Nearly glittering! OK. NOW I know, this is eau de toilette! Duh.

Photo Stolen CavalierSwim

Third time. A man-sized spray!! Hurray! I like it. What a contrast to the first tentative mini scaredy cat spray!! This time it was so bright and light and lovely, it was another experience. After about 40 minutes, I noticed jasmine, vanilla and frankincense popping their heads up. Especially the vanilla. Suddenly there is rose. It comes and goes. I know there are other notes in there too, but I am not experienced enough (yet) to pick them out. And truthfully I don´t know if I even want to. This fragrance lasts such a long time and is so soft, and beautiful.. Yep, beautiful. Definitely not so full on as some of the earlier Tauer scents, with the well known Tauerade base. This is elegant and understated. But certainly no weakling. What I love about Tauer is their tenacity. That is why I love them in the summer. The perfect swimming scent. Because it is still there after lots of dips in the lake. Noontide Petals will be my swim scent of 2013. It is light in a bottle.

Andy Tauer is an artist, and it takes time to understand what it´s all about. Moral of the story? Don´t under spray an artist`s work, otherwise you miss half the colours!

Now, if only the White Witch of Narnia would use this, I believe it would melt the winter away. It is an alluring, appealing and an original scent for the Spring.

Further reading ISmellThereforeIAm and PerfumeShrine
TauerFragrances has 1.5ml manufacturers samples US$5.30

GIVEAWAY COMPETITION!!

THE PRIZE

Want to try Noontide Petals for yourself? I have a sample to give away. And if you don´t live in a place where the pony express takes a month to get to, I might well put a cookie in too.

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You have to leave a comment telling us your favourite cookie or cookie ingredient. That’s IT!

For an Extra Chance you can Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie http://wp.me/p2fQBU-1tn Noontide Petals new Tauer perfume GIVEAWAY

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday April 14th 2013 10pm AusEDST and will be announced in a special post that day.
Val the Cookie Queen and her crew will do the draw honours. The names will be placed on the same sized papers, folded similarly, placed in a bowl and a winner picked.

The winners will have till Thursday 18th April 2013 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or I will give the prize to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Bussis
CQ xxx

Patchouli Noir Osmo by Sylvana Casoli for Il Profumo 2006

March 27, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Guest Post by Val The Cookie Queen

PATCHOULI NOIR OSMO BY IL PROFUMO 2006

Hi to all you new APJ friends.

It was 1973 when I got my first full bottle of perfume. Miss Dior. Little knowing at the time of it´s ultra cool status. Mum was a Guerlain/Chanel lady. She taught me that it didn’t matter what I wore, as long as I smelled good and expensive! I also learned from her that as I got older, I would be able to wear more grown up perfumes. Which was, of course the reason, that she would not let me spray my thirteen year old neck with copious amounts of Mitsouko.

Photo Stolen KalleoSoaps

This would explain why she was not a happy camper when I changed, to straight up patchouli oil in about 1976. Scored from my local headshop, it was thick enough to need a paintbrush to apply it, and stained my neck a dark yellow. She informed me that I smelled as if I had just stepped out of the local whorehouse. (I wonder to this day on what that was based.) It was around the same time, as I walked through the streets of Bristol, with my boyfriend, (he too drenched in the stuff) that two bobbies on the beat stopped us. They seemed to take great delight in informing us that people who didn’t take baths, and those who smoked wacky backy, were partial to patchouli oil. Wow! Brilliant that a scent could cause such a strong reaction.

So began a lifelong love of patchouli. And the cops were right. I became a perfume junkie.

I don´t buy my oil from headshops any more. There is just the one oil that I use.

Picture stolen from Lucky Scent

LuckyScent lists just five notes in a line:
Mint, cedarwood, patchouli, poppy, vanilla

With my eyes closed, I inhale deeply. I am transported back to another time. It calms me, relaxes me, and gives me a feeling of well being. And it´s legal. (Despite wearing, owning, and loving many other fragrances, it is always the heavy patchouli smells that get me the compliments) This stuff is soooo smooth an soft and gorgeous. It is perfect to layer with other fragrances as it is a fixative. Patchouli belongs to the mint family, and the short lived hit of mint in this patchouli is fabulous. The vanilla delectable. The hint of cedarwood sublime. A little goes a long way. I have had my bottle for more than 5 years. It only gets better. It ages like a fine wine.

LuckyScent has 100ml/$165

Straight up patchouli. You either love it or hate it. As my girlfriend says, “Whatever blows your skirt!“ And Patchouli Noir blows mine sky high.

I had a splendid time with Portia and Jin in Vienna in January. We went together to the Chanel Les Exclusifs counter, where I bought a bottle of Coromandel. Finally. I wanted to write about it, Portia beat me to it. But as my daughter said to me ,what more can you say than: “It´s freaking awesome!“? Patchouli and Miss P??? Was I not warned it would get me into trouble?

Bussis

Cookie Queen