Apollo Hyacinth by Alberto Morillas for Eric Buterbaugh Florals 2015

December 12, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there Fragrant Family,

There are some perfumers whose name will make me prick up my nose in anticipation. A name that I know, though usually cannot pinpoint what it is they did that I love. Alberto Morillas is one such, he has done some of my all time favourite fragrances and a slew of my mates signatures through the years. Let’s talk Byzance by Rochas, M7 by YSL, Mugler Cologne, Kenzo Flower, BVLGARI BLV Pour Homme, BVLGARI Man, Lanvin Oxygene and the original Salvador Dali. These are just my favourites from the plethora of major blockbusters and some very good, well created flops and some absolute shite that I wouldn’t clean my driveway with.

Apollo Hyacinth by Eric Buterbaugh Florals 2015

Apollo Hyacinth by Alberto Morillas

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Neroli, pear, galbanum
Heart: Hyacinth, lily of the valley, angelica
Base: Haitian vetiver, oakmoss, cedar

Apollo Hyacinth opens with unruffled calm. Natural fresh cut fruit sweet and the pear smells cool, ripe and juicy: there’s even a hint of the dry and tarter skin. Galbanum smooths the opening giving green resinous porcelain, breath steals in and suddenly the sweetness becomes a litle candied.

Our heart has arrived and it’s a bouquet, fresh, green and stark. An angular, other worldly bouquet that says broken twig, lichen, moss and the gel like sap of aloe vera. There is peace and calm in Apollo Hyacinth, a breath of fresh air and a humid hothouse in the cool of evening. The energy of healthy soil and growing plants. The angelica adds a wild waywardness that the other flowers never possess, it’s enchanting, riveting. Like hyacinth is all grown and ready to rock.

Lasting power is unbelievable, though after 4 hours you have to be close to notice. Next day, 20+ hours later I can still smell the tiniest trace of sweet oily green that is only smellable with my nose against my arm. If it was a sexual tryst though whoever my lucky partner was would be getting a waft from me that is freaking gorgeous, I’m me and I want to root me.

Apollo Hyacinth is 100% unisex, a beautiful, billowing cloud of fresh green and white flowers. I cannot think of a place where you would feel mismatched were you lucky enough to own this glamour frag. SERIOUSLY WANT!!

Further reading: Perfume Posse and Scented Hound
Eric Buterbaugh Florals has EdP $300/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $5/.5ml

Aren’t the bottles stellar? How lavish. Do you want one yet?
Portia xx

Shalimar by Guerlain: Back To My Favourite

December 11, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 33 Comments

Post by Portia

Hiya Frag Fiends,

Shalimar has been my enduring fragrant love. Since it was the fragrance of my Mum for years and some of her friends continued to wear it right through our childhood. Then working a couple of summers at the fragrance counter in a suburban mall, Carlingford Grace Bros. and getting to know a slew of fragrances it still held sway as the most beautiful of them all. Even now after being down the fragrant worm hole for years I still come back to Shalimar regularly and every time I do I quietly ask myself why I ever needed to stray from its billowing extravagance.

Shalimar by Guerlain 1925: Back To My Favourite

Shalimar by Jacques Guerlain

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Citruses, mandarin orange, cedar, lemon, bergamot
Heart: Iris, rose, vetiver, jasmine, patchouli
Base: Civet, musk, tonka bean, opoponax, leather, incense, vanilla, sandalwood

All I knew of Shalimar through my childhood was that it smelled incredible: its sweet, lemon ice-creamy vanilla over a hefty dollop of animal warmth, woodsy incense and plush leathers was so alluring and engulfing.

Named for the Shalimar gardens of Lahore (and Kapurthala’s homage) but the back story is of the love of Shah Jahan for a princess from the Persian nobility who he fell in love with, married and made her his favourite queen, after she died giving birth to their 14th child he nearly bankrupted his kingdom building the Taj Mahal as her crypt. The second time I was at the Taj Mahal the whole experience was so overwhelming that I needed to sit on the steps leading into the park and have a little moment. Yes, I was wearing Shalimar.

Above is a picture of my Shalimar collection. Only the bottles of open boxes are shown, quite a few remain unopened because they are doubles, I have decants or they are discontinued and having/holding/looking at them is as good as smelling them. One of my parfums is not parfum at all (maybe EdC?) and another smells like it has been stretched with perfumers alcohol. The rosebud bottle is still sealed as are the 16oz watchface bottle and the little parfum on the navy box. The batwing bottle that is 1/3 full is my 4th bottle of EdT over the years, I really want to buy one of the newest but feel naughty as I have 2 backups bought at extremely reasonable prices when buying this one. What is interesting is that though the Shalimars are all different, they are so similar that if you’re wearing them for pleasure rather than parsing and blogging they are all pretty much one. No matter what era though the lemon ice-creamy fizz with the vanilla and an animal growl fits me like a glove. My number one.

Further reading: Erica Golding at APJ and Portia on EdC at APJ
FragranceNet has EdT $49/90ml before Coupon
Surrender To Chance has EdP samples from $3/ml

What is your number one?
Portia xx

When Adele was Jenny: Graham Norton Show

December 11, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Post by Portia

OK APJ,

Things I love include people with everything who are prepared to have a laugh and who happily help to make others lives a little bit more magical. Adele is a superstar, from this piece I get that she is also a funster with a sense of humour. How she changes a bunch of impersonators lives and gives them a little tiny piece of magic that they can have forever is so lovely and endearing. The impersonators are all ….. well, watch this, enjoy it, it made me so happy for the women and for Adele. I hope we have her singing and being herself for a very long time.
Portia xxx

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Adele at the BBC: When Adele wasn’t Adele… but was Jenny!

Ballets Rouges by Ellen Covey for Olympic Orchids 2012

December 10, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there Independent Perfume Lovers,

It’s no secret how much I love Ellen Covey’s work as a perfumer. There are numerous full bottles of her work around here but only 2 have made it to the 30ml Parfum strength spray; they are Olympic Amber and Ballets Rouges. So it’s weird for me to discover that I have only briefly mentioned Ballets Rouges and never done a complete post on it. TBH I thought I had done one.

Ellen Covey wears a lot of hats. She is a perfumer, scientist, runner, loving partner and general great girl who lives in the USAs Pacific North-West, near APJs Azar (they are great friends). I think I’ve missed a few of her astounding talents too, yes overachiever dot com. Her range of fragrances is one of the broadest, from very pretty florals through to the beastly Dev series, and so many of them speak to me. They are 100% original, even something as ubiquitous as amber becomes an intriguing and marvellous new genre once Ellen gets her teeth into it.

Ballets Rouges by Olympic Orchids 2012

Ballets Rouges by Ellen Covey

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, bergamot, mandarin orange, red thyme
Heart: May rose, rose, ylang ylang
Base: Musk, oakmoss, patchouli, labdanum

Ballets Rouges is the ultimate rose soliflor for me. Yes it has the smell of roses on the bush, it also has the smell of the earth that the roses grew in, the humus, fertilisers, mulch, add to that the smell of the cut stem and the torn leaf and on top of all that it has the smell of life and living to my nose. There is something of the uneasiness of finding yourself alone in the dusk dark swampy forest and yet it has all the joyful pleasure of a sunny summer meadow. Bright and dark simultaneously, Ballets Rouges is everything I love about Independent Perfumery: it has not followed a formula, never been panel tested, is full of gorgeous ingredients that are probably banned in 27 languages and it has a wonderful big voluptuousness and scent story.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

There was much talk around the release of Penhaligon’s Iris Prima and how it was lovely and floaty yet completely failed to capture the agony beneath the facade that ballerinas project. It was all about the pastel glamour that 6 year old girls dream of when they want to be dancers. In Ballets Rouges Ellen has captured the stark beauty of a rose, the glittering deep plum sparkle of the dream and also managed to capture the gruelling and monotonous solo hours of perfecting the art, the heartache of watching your feet turn to pain wracked bleeding caricatures of themselves, the relentless drive and dark heart of ballet. Ballets Rouges is a little insight into The Black Swan.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

It’s open of green and scintillating herbaceous citrus which quickly morphs into a dark plum and citrus scented rose, still on the bush and planted in a freshly turned and fertilised bed, you have excised some of the dead heads so there is a brittle green of torn leaf and the wet/dry oxymoron of cut stem. I am fully and divinely fragrant, Ballets Rouge is not the scent for close quarters it’s a prima and needs its space to shine. As we progress the dark heart warms through considerably. While we never lose sight of the starring rose the oakmoss, amber and musks come in and form a magnificent corps, dancing around and through till full dry down around a day later.

Orchidscents has parfum travel $18/5ml
Olympic Orchids has samples and EdP $120/100ml

Have you tried Ballets Rouges? What is your rose?
Portia xx

So…? GIVEAWAY WINNERS

December 7, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Post by Portia

I had a great time trying these budget beauties. Hopefully our winners will get equal or more joy from them.
Portia xx

So…? GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen So…?

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Blackcurrant, pineapple, citron
Heart: Lily of the valley, freesia
Base: Vanilla, musk, woody notes

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive one of the following each (no, you don’t get to choose):
1 x 30ml So…? Sensual EdT (discontinued but fun fruitchouli)
1 x 30ml So…? Kiss Me EdT
1 x 150ml So…? Kiss Me Body Spray
P&H Worldwide

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 6th December 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen prospectsplus

Robert H

Bianca B

Jaybee

The winners will have till Thursday 10th December 2015 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.

Louis Vuitton City Guide App

December 6, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Post by Portia

Hi there Fellow Fumie Travellers,

Landing in a new city is both thrilling and daunting. Yes, you want to have your own authentic holiday experience but you also don’t want to miss a few of the reasons where you are going is popular, right? Jin is our Master Holiday Planner. He does the research, finds the hotels online and then goes into the Travel Agent armed with his top 3 and the best prices he can find online, he scopes the area and picks a few Must Do attractions and the rest of the time we walk. Yes, you read it here first folks, we WALK, often 12 hour days walking. He also prefers to take the local public transport, every time we reach a destination he says, “See, we are SO LOCAL” and he is happy. How can you deny such simplicity? I certainly can’t.

Travelling with him is fun and exciting, always full of wonderful adventures. My travelling was always about meeting friends, hanging out and once upon a time doing the club scene. Both ways are fun.

Here is a FABULOUS new helper for those that love to travel. Thank you Louis Vuitton.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton City Guide App

So…? + So…? Kiss Me by So…?

December 4, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Post by Portia

Recently I was contacted by Tara of Portobello PR who are looking after the So…? range in Australia. This is not a brand I’ve heard of though they have been around for 20 years. Tara asked if I’d like to try any of the range and I really am overwhelmed here at the moment with releases but there was something super friendly and engaging about her email that had me replying, “Yes, send me some through.” They arrived the other day and Scott & I had a sneaky spritz, we went in with no expectations and…..

So…? and So…? Kiss Me by So…?

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

So…? by So…?

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Tangerine, orange blossom
Heart: Rose, jasmine, ylang-ylang
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, amber

SURPRISE!!! Balmy resins, orange blossom, creamy ylang and vanilla. So…? smells a LOT like something my Mum wore at some point. I can’t place it as any of the regular scents I remember her owning or spritzing but the scent jolted me back to her warm embrace faster than the speed of smell. Even though you can tell So…? is a reasonably priced fragrance up close with your nose to your arm from a short distance it all combines beautifully into a smooth, satin soft Fl-Oriental with a slightly dressy overtone. It’s better than some of the $150+ niche being brought out and is basically free. Beauty HQ has $13.50/30ml

Photo Stolen So…?

So…? Kiss Me by So…?

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Blackcurrant, pineapple, citron
Heart: Lily of the valley, freesia
Base: Vanilla, musk, woody notes

Remember the opening of Enchanted Forest by the Vagabond Prince? Imagine that but toned down for a mass market youth audience. While not being something I want to wear I can tell that it will go down a treat with the younger crew. It’s a freaky synthetic screech of fruit at the top with pineapple and blackcurrant vying for which is sweeter, the heart escapes me but I do get a squeaky vanilla and some generic musks in the base. Not groundbreaking but quite nice, especially for the price. To be fair, it’s similar to many of the current designer and mid market beauty offerings and I bet it grabs compliments.

So…? can be purchased at Beauty HQ http://www.beautyhq.com.au/, and instore at larger Priceline.
Check out their UK website

Want to try them? See below……
Portia xxx

Photo Stolen AllSteele

So…? GIVEAWAY!

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged. Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) so I know.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us a budget fragrance that you love

Extra Chance? (tweet once ONLY please)
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie So…? With Attitude #GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-4tL #Perfume @Sowithattitude

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 6th December 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Thursday 10th December 2015 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.

How to Set a Provençal Table by L’OCCITANE

December 4, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Post by Portia

Hey APJ,

OMG! Christmas is nearly here! It’s time to think table settings. It has to be fabulous so everyone can go WOW when they arrive but easy to remove so you can eat dinner and have stuff to hand around on the table. L’Occitane has some good, simple, effective and cheap ideas here that anyone could take inspiration from. I hope you enjoy this little film, I’m definitely inspired.

Portia xxx

Photo Stolen YouTube

How to Set a Provençal Table: L’OCCITANE

Need some last minute, well priced Xmas ideas? L’Occitane Au can help. No, I’m not affiliated or paid by the company, LOVE the L’Occitane products though. XX

Tommi Sooni: R.I.P.

December 3, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey APJ Crew,

Recently I grabbed out my bottle of Eau de Tommi Sooni I and was happily spritzing when I thought it was time to revisit the house for the blog. They’re an Aussie crew making lovely vintage inspired fragrances for the modern perfumista and I had been a bit quiet about them, so I went looking and they seem to have disappeared. Gone!

Tommi Sooni: R.I.P.

The only person I ever had contact with from Tommi Sooni was Steven Broadhurst, he was a very pleasant man in my few dealings with him and I really got the feeling that he was 100% devoted to creating a polished, modern, high end independent Australian niche perfumery. The best way I could think of to remember them and their beautiful fragrances was to get all the Tommi Sooni artworks that I could find together and make a post about them, in their own ways as interesting and glorious as the frags.

FragranceX still has Eau de Tommi Sooni I and Jinx for sale AUD$248/100ml

R.I.P. Tommi Sooni, you were too lovely for this world and the air will be a little less fabulously fragrant without you to augment its beauty.
Portia xx

Most Photos Stolen Fragrantica

Libertine Parfumerie SAMPLES!

November 30, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Post by Portia

WOW! APJ Crew,

For a while now I have been begging Nick and Paige at Libertine Parfumerie to start selling samples. It’s the only way to really try a fragrance before you buy it, a couple of days on your skin.

Libertine Parfumerie SAMPLES!

So the guys have organised a way that you can sample their wares before laying down big money. I love the idea, and I bet you will too. This way, even if you are far from the Australian metropolises you can still get your sniff on and keep up with the trends.

So, how does it work?

You get to pick 4 x 1ml spray samples of almost anything in the range at Libertine Parfumerie for $39. There’s a $10 postage fee too but should you be buying anything over $100 that is waived.

Go check out Libertine Parfumerie if you’re in Australia and would like to sample before you splurge.

Portia xx

Australian Perfume Junkies

Olfactory Opinions from Oz

Portia

Apollo Hyacinth by Alberto Morillas for Eric Buterbaugh Florals 2015

Apollo Hyacinth by Eric Buterbaugh Florals 2015

Apollo Hyacinth by Alberto Morillas

Shalimar by Guerlain: Back To My Favourite

Shalimar by Guerlain 1925: Back To My Favourite

Shalimar by Jacques Guerlain

When Adele was Jenny: Graham Norton Show

Adele at the BBC: When Adele wasn’t Adele… but was Jenny!

Ballets Rouges by Ellen Covey for Olympic Orchids 2012

Ballets Rouges by Olympic Orchids 2012

Ballets Rouges by Ellen Covey

So…? GIVEAWAY WINNERS

So…? GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

HOUSEKEEPING

Robert H

Bianca B

Jaybee

Louis Vuitton City Guide App

Louis Vuitton City Guide App

So…? + So…? Kiss Me by So…?

So…? and So…? Kiss Me by So…?

So…? by So…?

So…? Kiss Me by So…?

So…? GIVEAWAY!

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

HOW DO YOU WIN?

HOUSEKEEPING

How to Set a Provençal Table by L’OCCITANE

How to Set a Provençal Table: L’OCCITANE

Tommi Sooni: R.I.P.

Tommi Sooni: R.I.P.

Libertine Parfumerie SAMPLES!

Libertine Parfumerie SAMPLES!