Isis by Kedra Hart for Opus Oils

June 13, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

YAY! Fragrant Friends,

Back in May 2013 when we did ScentSation Bus Tour in LA with Perfume Posse our very last stop of the day was Opus Oils. It had been a BIG day and we were tired and footsore. Many of us had spent our very last penny and the thought of one more perfume emporium seemed like it was one too many.

Then we were met by the incredibly luscious Kedra Hart who looks like every mans dream of womanity. Pretty, curvy, floaty and sensual, Kedra was also so totally sweet that the whole crew felt revived just by being in her presence. I smelled a couple of the fragrances but this one nearly blew the back of my head off. It was instant and has turned out to be lasting love…….

Isis by Kedra Hart for Opus Oils

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Opus Oils give these featured accords in one line:
Frankincense, Myrrh, Sandalwood, Blue Lotus Absolute, White Water Lily Absolute, Jasmine Absolute

Petrol, flowers, incense. Dark, thick and dirty but in there is glory: eye rolling, heart afluttering, transcendent glory. It’s like Metropolis, The Fast & The Furious, Wizard of Oz and The Passion of Christ are all melded into one fragrance. Heavy scent that drifts in layers about me, like walking through clouds of treacle that is glutinous and sparkling in the sunshine. Isis walks the fine line between gorgeous and disgusting so beautifully, seamlessly. It has me on the edge of my seat through the whole wear, every time. Will it dip over into the dark side but of course it never does.

Photo Stolen Flickr

You know that moment when you first crush a jasmine flower in your fingers? When the smell is so overpoweringly potent? Here Kedra has taken the moment that you pull away, it’s the moment when it stops being too much but all of a sudden magically becomes beautiful. The absolutes are heady, powerful stuff and then later in the wear they are subtly tempered by the sandalwood, which brings a pleasing creamy softness.

The incense has been in the mix all along but it’s not till the very end that I can really smell its cool, aloof, resinous and light smokiness. More like the Japanese incenses than the Catholic ones I grew up with it is a lovely counterpoint to what has gone before.

Isis has lasting power long beyond most of the natural perfumes I’ve worn, still leaving soft white floral and resinous traces next morning, not big but different to my smell. a very light gloss on top of my skin.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: Fragrance Belles and Oh True Apothecary
Opus Oils has EdP $75/30ml

Have you dipped your toes into the Opus Oils perfumed waters?
Portia xx

Sample Pack

June 12, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 47 Comments

Hey there Crew,

I have a bunch a samples & decants that sit here tested but now in the discard pile. There are many reasons for being there. Maybe I bought a FB, it had an issue that renders it unwearable, I hated it, I liked it but have something similar, I LOVED it and completely forgot about it, I’ve moved on. So many reasons, so MANY samples. They are all used a bit but they have heaps for testing and trying, all are at least 2ml and most are spritz. I know you’re going to love at least something in this pack.

Most of these samples have been purchased from Surrender To Chance in 2015

SAMPLE PACK

222 by Le Galion Manufacturers Sample
Aoud Heritage by Montale
A La Rose by Maison Francis Kurkdjian
EO3 by biehl parfumkunstwerke
Surrender by Surrender To Chance
Tudor Rose & Amber by Jo Malone
Forbidden Games by Kilian
Kiss of Agnayi by Primiordal Scents
Rose de Grasse by Aerin Lauder
Eclair de Tubéreuse by Il Profvmo
SnoBirds by SmellBent

Please help me with a little clear out.
Portia xx

Photo Stolen TheTruthAboutMummy

SAMPLE PACK Giveaway

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x SAMPLE PACK
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 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. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us what single 2014/5 fragrance you would like to sample if there were no money constraints and you were given the chance

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie SAMPLE PACK GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-330 #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 14th June 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 18th June 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.

Acqua di Giò – The Film starring Jason Morgan – Giorgio Armani 2015

June 12, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Hey Hey Crew,

Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water Jason Morgan comes along and heats it up. Acqua di Giò was created by Alberto Morillas in 1996 and has been massively popular ever since. It’s favoured by sporty suits in Australia and still smells good on the right person.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Jasmine, Lime, Mandarin, Orange, Lemon
Heart: Cyclamen, Freesia, Hyacinth, Coriander, Marine notes, Peach, Mignonette, Rose, Violet
Base: Amber, Oakmoss, Musk, Patchouli, Cedar

This is Jason Morgan, you can watch him in the video below. It’s worth the watching.
Enjoy
Portia xxx

Acqua di Giò – The Film starring Jason Morgan – Giorgio Armani

DIOR Giveaway Winners

June 8, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Hiya APJ Frag Family,

Seems we hit a jackpot with a giveaway you all really loved. I’m glad.

Let’s see who scored.

Portia xx

DIOR Giveaway Winners

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Fève Délicieuse + Cuir Cannage + Oud Ispahan DIOR manufacturers samples
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us a favorite DIOR fragrance, from any of their ranges and any vintage

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Christian DIOR Privée GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-330 #Perfume #Giveaway @Dior

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 7th June 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winner was chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen HighestSelf

TIM

CONGRATULATIONS!! The winner will have till Thursday 11th June 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.

Portia’s 15 Must Smell Fragrances + Coupon Code!

June 7, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Hey Hey APJ,

It would make me extremely happy if you’d jump on over and check out the newest post on My Perfume Samples. Writing for My Perfume Samples has given me a really great new outlet for fragrance writing and this fortnight we decided to think about some of the most important, or best in category, fragrances that have maintained a lot of what they were originally famous for. Obviously some have changed a bit over time due to cost, availability and regulation of components but here are 15 fragrances we believe that are still excellent reference points.

There is also a huge $15 DISCOUNT CODE

Portia’s 15 Must Smell Fragrances + Coupon Code!

So please jump across and check the list out on My Perfume Samples<<JUMP. Leave a message with something you think should be there or a favourite from the group so we can have a bit of a natter about it, I’ll be dropping in regularly over the next week to answer any and all comments.

Be well, waft on.
Portia xx

DIOR: Fève Délicieuse + Cuir Cannage + Oud Ispahan

June 5, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 62 Comments

Hi there Perfume Junkies.

The other day Ainslie Walker trotted into DIOR flagship store in Sydney, while there and chatting to our fave DIOR SA Jolanta they started talking about APJ and Jolanta asked where I’d been hiding. So between them they cooked up an idea to get me the newest DIOR releases in their fabulous miniature bottles, which are scale to the real deal. I think they hold 5 or 8ml which is heaps for becoming addicted to their delicious juices. When I went to see Jolanta myself a couple of heavy duty DIOR shoppers came in so we didn’t really get to say more than Hello & Goodbye but I’m going to go in very early one day and have a natter.

DIOR Privée

Francois Demachy has created these beauties for the Privée range. Though not astoundingly new or highly envelope-pushingly-original what I love about the DIOR Privée range is their cool and classic classiness, beautifully blended and nuanced fragrances that fit into my life seamlessly. Sometimes I wish I was a one frag kinda guy so I could purchase an enormous DIOR Privée bottle and drain it to the dregs. I have a fewof the smaller bottles and now that Granville is discontinued I really want to grab some of that too.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

DIOR: Oud Ispahan

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Labdanum
Heart: Patchouli
Base: Sandalwood, rose, agarwood (oud)

Oud Ispahan is a slightly boozy sweet floral leather. A toffee coated leather opening that blooms beautifully into a brand new, extremely luxe handbag smell drenched in roses and a light dusting of oud. It feels like a very posh version of a 1980s fragrance marketed to men. Totally wearable and yummy. I have a bottle of Oud Ispahan bought in Paris, every time I wear it I am transported back to Winter Paris.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

DIOR: Cuir Cannage

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange blossom, ylang ylang
Heart: Leather, jasmine, rose, iris
Base: Birch, juniper, leather

Cuir Cannage is leather, sweet leather. A gorgeous creamy leather that pays as much homage to flowers as it does to the treated skins of dead animals. The iris, ylang, white flowers create a sumptuous bouquet that is brilliantly offset by the dry rasp of leather and birch and the sharpness of the juniper. This softly, softly leather approach is quite prevalent in modern perfumery and I like it very much. If I owned a bottle of Cuir Cannage I think it would see a lot of skin time.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

DIOR: Fève Délicieuse

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Venezuelan tonka bean, vanilla, caramel, cocoa, pralines, woody accords

If DIOR were trying to out-Guerlain Guerlain then Fève Délicieuse is what I would dream they could accomplish. I’m talking about Old School Guerlain, where you could smell a beautiful growling beastie hiding beneath the sweet bakery. Here we have all the sweetness of modern gourmand tempered by tonka and woods, which serve to create a lovely baseline that hints heavily at animal. I’m surprised honey isn’t one of the featured notes. This is exactly how I would like to smell.

DIOR Giveaway

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Fève Délicieuse + Cuir Cannage + Oud Ispahan DIOR manufacturers samples
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us a favorite DIOR fragrance, from any of their ranges and any vintage

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Christian DIOR Privée GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-330 #Perfume #Giveaway @Dior

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 7th June 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 11th June 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.

Justin Bieber + Lara Stone – Calvin Klein Jeans Spring 2015

June 5, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Heya APJ Family,

No matter what you think about Justin Bieber, he has charisma and having been to his concert in Sydney a couple of years ago I think he also has some talent. The show was fun and he danced his pretty little ass off. I like him even more now he’s doing all the stuff a regular wealthy teenager/young adult does, and doing it large.

I hope you like this little bit of B&W advertising. I think it’s cool.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen Calvin Klein

Justin Bieber + Lara Stone – Calvin Klein Jeans Spring 2015

Nature GIVEAWAY WINNER!

June 1, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Thanks Gang for joining in. I’m excited to be sending out the remnants of my sample. I hope you love Nature. I’ll add a couple of extras in too.

Portia xx

Nature GIVEAWAY WINNER!

Nature Yves Rocher Fragrantica Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords in one line:
Freesia, Jasmine, Lily-of-the-valley, Mandarin, Peppermint leaf, Rose, Daphne, Cedar

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Nature by Yves Rocher (left from my own gift from Ainslie)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us a favorite green fragrance, in nature or perfumery

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 28th May 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winner chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen FallOutFactory

Patty Pong

The winner will have till Thuesday 2nd June 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.

Sharp by Richard Ibanez for Andrea Maack 2010

May 31, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hi there APJ,

When I first fell in love with the Andrea Maack range I remember there being a lot of chatter about it being derivative and boring. There were some bloggers and some of my mates who seemed very upset about this brand. I’m sorry but I never felt them to be either boring OR derivative. First to admit I’ve not smelled everything ever produced, also first to admit my memory is shot but few houses hit me as hard in the heavenly eye roll and full body purring shiver as Andrea Maack’s do. There are two FB in my collection Silk and……..

Sharp by Richard Ibanez for Andrea Maack 2010

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives this list of featured accords:
Orange blossom, angel skin, sweet vanilla, white musk, soothing softness

To my nose Sharp has a remarkably complex fragrance story. The orange blossom is not at all as expected, like they have added some herbaceous spiciness, and the vanilla is an inedible warmth that is fuzzed up by the musk. At once bright and cozy like the smell of brand new polar fleece with dirty, morning bed-hair. Sharp is feral and cuddly, pithy, furry, smooth and enfolding.

Sharp has a sweet indolic weirdness that is at once repulsive and alluring up close but merely pretty and inviting from further away. The name Sharp seems to be a complete misnomer here and I wonder if that is intentional? Sometimes when I wear Sharp my feeling is as if I’ve been up in an attic rummaging and my hair is thick with dust and old air,. Other times the feeling given is that I’m cuddled up in front of a fire near a recently beeswaxed table and the fires heat is warming the scent through the room and I feel warm, safe & loved. There’s even something of dog paws.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

I get a nearly linear lifespan that weaves rather than evolves but as it dries down Sharp by Andrea Maack is sweet vanilla dribbled over musk, the feral has disappeared and it’s all about clean (but not too clean, there’s still an element of humanity).

Who would I spritz with Sharp? That’s hard to say, I think some of my friends who like fragrance very much but aren’t perfumistas would love this as a go-to daily scent regime. Certainly the art connection, lack of ready availability, simple, stylish bottle and the reasonable price bracket would make it a good choice for them. Considering they would pay around these prices for a bottle of designer/department store fragrance Andrea Maack’s scents are a much better and more interesting buy.

Photo Stolen Geograph

Further reading Persolaise and ConfessionsOfAPerfumeNerd
First In Fragrance has €85/50ml
LuckyScent has $135/50ml

Have you tried the Andrea Maack fragrances? Do you think it makes sense to add olfactory experience to visual arts?
Portia xx

DIOR Secret Garden IV: Rihanna

May 31, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom

OMG!

If you loved the previous DIOR Secret Garden movies then be aware that they are day compared to this vision of night. Rihanna is the model and both she and the soundtrack are beautiful and ethereal and menacing. She is like the perfectly dressed and presented evil queen wandering through her deserted palace in the black of night.

Photo Stolen YouTube

Unbelievably gorgeous….
Enjoy,
Portia xx

Dior Secret Garden IV featuring Rihanna – Versailles