Portia's Christmas Giving Guide 2014

December 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Hey there gang,

Yes, 2 weeks till Christmas! Crazy how it comes up so quickly. I have been thinking long and hard about things I would like to gift my friends and family with, some are fragrant, some not.

Portia’s Christmas Giving Guide 2014

Candles

What candles do I burn in my house? These are the ones I burn and the ones I gift. A candle is an excellent gift because it lasts for ages, they are lovely and for people who already have everything they need a candle is something they may not think to buy themselves. I like to have my bath with candlelight whenever possible, so glamorous.

MudAustralia Candle #1: Ainslie Walker: Our very own Ainslie Walker designed and produced these gorgeous candles for MudAustralia. They have a beautiful scent with a white floral/woody tone that clears out all the bad juju in my house/apartment in about 30 minutes. The porcelain container can be re-purposed as a vase or glass and you can buy candle refills too. This lush and creamy candle fragrance gives me a rich satisfying fragrance in the whole apartment and comes in a super great range of colours too. Everyone that I have gifted one of these to has fallen instantly in love with it.

Diptyque 34 Boulevard Saint Germain Candle: Mecca Australia: When I need something calming and soothing in the air that won’t overwhelm but will allow me to really centre myself then I choose the 34 Boulevard Saint Germain Candle by Diptyque. This is what I used to scent my house while it was for sale and one of the things that ALL the prospective buyers said was that the house smelled beautiful. I have had this candle for over a year and use it often, there is still about a quarter left, that is serious lasting power.

34 Blvd St. Germain celebrates the brands 50th anniversary since their original boutique opened in Paris. Green notes, moss, blackcurrant, fig leaves, exotic spices, fresh flowers, woods

Soap

Yes, most of you know I have a ridiculous collection of soaps too. Here are two that I use regularly and a new brand I discovered in the USA recently at Twisted Lily.

Rancé Acqua di Colonia Soap: Rancé Soaps: Billed as Made Originally for Catherine di Medici, that may even be true. What really matters though is how freaking LAVISH you will feel when you use Rancé Acqua di Colonia Soap. Super creamy and scented with mainly citruses, white flowers and spices. If ever you need to feel like the king or queen of your world then this is the soap that will send you on your way.

Tabac Original Soap by Maurer & Wirtz: All Beauty: Yes, I bang on about this one quite a bit. I love it. Gorgeous scent, lathers beautifully, leaves my skin feeling soft and clean. Anyone who has touched my skin can tell you that soap has not ruined it over the years (nor has all the other stuff I’ve done to my poor self), it’s as soft and supple as it was in my teens, just stretched a bit tighter. Did I mention Cheap As Chips? Unbelievably good value.

NEW!!! Sandalo Soap by Ortigia: Twisted Lily: I have not used this yet but the packaging is exquisite, so glamorous with its heavy silver card and picture of a Rajasthani elephant. The whole presentation is luxurious and the Italian form Ortigia is also very reasonably priced. 4 x 100g bars of glycerine soap that smell heavenly.

From Twisted Lily: The essential oil of this exotic tree with narcissus, cedar, teak, vetiver, rose and jasmine. Rich, complex and sophisticated. Bars of pure vegetable glycerine; wonderfully translucent, naturally coloured, and generously fragranced with the cool and spicy Sandalo perfume

Books

The Perfume Lover by Denyse Beaulieu is one of my all time favourite fragrance books. Filled with fragrance, romance, insider perfumer information and a wonderful stary of a woman finding herself, and some company along the way. Great read. I have read it twice now.

Buy The Perfume Lover from Book Depository in paperback for around AUD$16 delivered to your door.

The Perfect Scent by Chandler Burr is the story of two fragrances from opposite ends of the spectrum. Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely and Hermès Un Jardin sur le Nil come to life as you read the book. It’s an eye opening insiders fast track and a really great read. I started rereading this on my holiday but there was no time, I will complete it this week.

Buy The Perfect Scent from Book Depository in paperback for around AUD$20 delivered to your door.

Revelation!: Reveal Your Destiny With Essential Oils by Suzanne R Banks is a really interesting look at creating a new life for yourself with Essential Oils. Aroma-Life-Therapy that gets you to become more mindful and present in your own space through scent, personal and ambient. It’s all about the naturals and very natural specific, shunning chemicals and synthetics, to use the energy of the plants and nature to help propel you to a higher level. Our very own APJ contributor Suzanne R Banks is a published author!! COOL!

Buy Revelation! Reveal Your Destiny With Essential Oils from Amazon for $3.30 on Kindle, also available as a book $11

Oh, My God, Am I Alright? by Michael El-Bacha is the ‘coming out’ story of a young confused man growing up in the Western Suburbs of Sydney to strict Lebanese Christian parents. From the outside looking in, Michael El-Bacha seemed like any other Lebanese boy from a large family with strong values and an appetite for football, fast cars and chicky babes. But after his parents notice that Michael is not like other ‘typical’ Lebanese boys, he is whisked off to Lebanon to marry his first cousin. Young Michael struggles to deny his true sexuality and leaves his young bride and infant child to find his identity. He embarks on a downward spiral until losing a lover leads him back home. Sex, drugs, homosexuality and love potions are what make this tale of self-discovery so tantalising. Michael’s story will make you laugh, cringe and cry.

Do you know any kids/adults on the cusp? Maybe they need a story like this to ease the heartache of coming out? Extra plus? I have a whole chapter! Michael was my friend when much of this was happening for him.

Buy Oh, My God, Am I Alright? from The Bookshop Darlinghurst AUD$20

Hopefully this has helped you in your Christmas Shopping in 2014.
Portia xx

PS> Just so you know, I love these products because they are really good. Yes, I am affiliated with some of the people who have produced these lovely gifts. They are my friends and I am justifiably proud of their efforts, no one is paying me to write about them. Fingers crossed they are thrilled I wrote about them and that some of you go buy their shit.

GAY? Homophobia?

December 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Hi All,

These are the BEST WTF rants about homophobia I’ve ever seen.

Nat Baimel amusingly points out the deficiencies of hate talk.

Then Morgan Freeman chimes in.

Perfect.

Portia xx

OUT With The GIVEAWAY WINNERS

December 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Hey APJ,

Another wonderful giveaway hosted by Azar. These are super wonderful and I hope whoever wins them gets loads of pleasure from their prizes.

Don’t forget to check out Azar’s online up and recycling store offering all kinds of goodies for sale at thier online shop Random Acts of Recycling<<JUMP.

Portia xx

OUT With The GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 Winners who will each get:
1 x bottle mentioned below, NO you don’t get to chose.
P&H USA Mainland ONLY

Fragrance Republic 01/02 Vapeur de Tubereuse by Julie Masse, 2013.

15 ml EdT, new

Jacomo Silences by Gerard Goupy and Jean Claude-Niel, 1978.

30 ml vintage EdT, no box

Nicole Miller Frenzy by Caroline Sabas, 2009.

15 ml new in box.

HOW DID YOU WIN?

Open to everyone in the USA mainland 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 so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Leave a comment about anything you collect

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie http://wp.me/p3PURw-3qZ #Perfume #Giveaway @NicoleMillerNYC @FragranceRepub #Jacomo

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 11th December 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by pulling names from a sunhat (Update: Fender was eager to choose the winners today so we didn’t do the sunhat! He touched his nose to the names)

Laurels – FR 01/02

dremybluz – Silences

Janet in California – Nicole Miller Frenzy

I had nothing to do with Fender’s choices. I simply put the names in a row on the floor (face down just in case – he is smart dog) and he picked the winners in the above order.

I will send these out as soon as possible but, with the holiday mail as it is, the winners might not receive their prizes until after Christmas.

Azar xx

The winners will have till Sunday 14th December 2014 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.

New York City with Jin, Kath & Portia 2014 + Photo Essay

December 7, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 33 Comments

Hiya APJ Crew,

We are home!! Three weeks whirlwind tour of the United States of America went by like a fabulous, crazy, fun filled, roller coaster ride. One of the most action packed and intense holidays of my life. So much so that when I look at my pics there are hardly any!! Basically these are all the shots I took. Though trying to keep these in chronological order I think they have moved around and it was all such a blur that I honestly can’t remember what happened when.

Starting with NYC because it was the easiest to grab photos from. I hope you enjoy the ride.

Portia xx

New York City with Jin, Kath & Portia 2014 + Photo Essay

At night we met up with Brian who helped us find our way to dinner on the tube. We went to Lombardis (?) Pizza and dined with the lovely Lucy R. It was an excellent way to meet NYC.

We thought it was important to see the Statue of Liberty so caught the Statten Island ferry early on Thanksgiving Day. It’s FREE! Got some great shots and had some fun and silly time together on the trip. I was a bit tired and grumpy at this point.

For Thanksgiving Dinner we had the buffet at The Roosevelt Hotel where we were staying. The Roosevelt is a great choice for a hotel in NYC if you want some where central and reasonably priced. DO NOT go there if you like to take baths, they are DISGUSTING and they flake & peel while you’re in them. We did get 2 upgrades because of the baths and ended up in a suite with a view ( the bath was still freaking shit though). Thanksgiving Dinner with the two most important people to me in the world, pretty special. We all gave thanks for each other and our incredibly blessed lives. BTW I had the best Apple Pie of my life here, nothing before it even prepared me for how incredible it was going to be.

The staff at the Roosevelt were excellent, at every point we were treated with courtesy and friendliness, I recommend you stay there if you like to shower.

Jin had a secret New York City agenda that we were unaware of until we arrived. He had to see Carrie Bradshaw’s stoop from later series of Sex and the City. While there he also wanted desperately to lean on the pole and have a Marlboro Light (even though he doesn’t smoke. This resulted in head spins and delirium). There was a very lovely young girl doing exactly that and Jin asked if he could have one of her ciggies. One happy boy…. Around the corner is the Magnolia Bakery where Carrie would sit and have cupcakes so off we went to indulge. We did get to Friends building but I forgot to take a picture.

All this stuff is right near Christopher Street, the home of the Gay Rights Movement. It was here that the famous Stonewall hotel was where the Lesbians and Black Drag Queens took on the NYC Police and rioted. Interestingly it was the day of Judy Garland’s funeral.

That evening we wandered through Central Park and got 40 minutes in the Guggenheim. I took them to the first floor where we saw some very interesting Impressionist works from the Thannhauser Collection, Wang Jianwei: Time Temple sculptural pieces and ZERO: Countdown to Tomorrow 1950s–60s. Clearly we didn’t spend a lot of time with them but it was nice to see a couple of impressionist works that were new to me, particularly a Picasso, Woman Ironing (La repasseuse): Paris, 1904.

Photo Stolen Guggenheim (Problem using image, get in touch)

OSSWALD welcomed us with open arms. Josie and Clement were incredibly kind, helpful and funny. It was a fantastic get together. Birgit and Michael of Olfactoria’s Travels, Poodle who is one of our APJ North American correspondents, Brian, Gaia and Ori of The Non Blonde, Abdulla and Miryam (working for the Qatar consul in Dubai on their honeymoon), Francesca, Daisy of CoolCookStyle, Arielle from Scents of Self, Kevin Guyer (ex CHANEL), Patty (FleurDeLys) and others. I am so embarrassed to have forgotten a couple of names, please PM me with them because I would love to put you in.

What did I buy? Long have I had Cozé by Perfumerie Generale on my radar so I bought a 30ml (bravo for the smaller sizes Pierre G) and Liquer Charnelle by Huitieme Art in 50ml, also Pierre G.

Then we hit Bergdorf Goodman. I had a mission. The CHANEL counter. When I told the girl in CHANEL in Sydney the Pure Perfume is not a real term but a marketing invention she refused to serve me so I thought FUCK HER! Hideous creature! So it was a New York City must do. The Parfum &Eau are now happily in my collection. BLISS!

On our last day in NYC Carlos J Powell of the Goodsmellas and Peace, Love & Perfume and I organised to meet up in Brooklyn at Twisted Lily. We wanted to do a couple of LIVE Video Sniffs, check them out if you get a chance. we are complete freaking idiots. What a great time.

Eric who owns the store was friendly and welcoming and the range is excellent.

I met my next boyfriend too, Rich from Goodsmellas, hubba hubba!

Straight from Twisted Lily we returned to the Roosevelt Hotel, checked out and then I bought this signed Lithograph and we left the USA till next time. What a wonderful city NYC is, chock filled with Ah May Zing people and places. This is just a mini snapshot, we did SO MUCH MORE!

Be well crew,
Portia xx

All photos my own unless specified.

CHANEL: Métiers d’Art 2014/15 Paris-Salzburg Show + Making of

December 7, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Heya Fashionistas,

It looks like New Romantic is even newer! This is one of my all time favourite fashion trends and I am thrilled to see it back on the runways. Thanks CHANEL and Karl Lagerfeld. This time it’s fun, quirky, silly and beautiful. The jewellery alone is enough to elicit a gasp. Here I’ve given you the edited version and the making of.

Enjoy.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen ThisIsJaneWayne (Problem using image, get in touch please)

CHANEL: Métiers d’Art 2014/15: Edit

CHANEL: Métiers d’Art 14/15: Making Of

View the full film of the CHANEL Métiers d’Art 2014/15 show at http://youtu.be/4X86geNxxlA

Eternity (Woman) by Sophia Grojsman for Calvin Klein 1988

December 5, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Hi there Perfume Junkies,

Recently we showed the return of Christy Turlington (Burns) who was the original Calvin Klein Eternity model in 1988 return with husband Ed Burns as the faces of a new steamy 2014 Eternity campaign. I was so impressed with them bringing Christy back that I went and bought a brand new 30ml bottle to show my support.

Eternity (Woman) by Sophia Grojsman for Calvin Klein 1988

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Citrus, green notes, sage, freesia, mandarin
Heart: Jasmine, narcissus, rose, violet, lily-of-the-valley, lily, carnation
Base: Heliotrope, sandalwood, musk, amber, patchouli

To be honest I was expecting it to be terrible, absolutely disgusting and completely unwearable. Having bought it (for almost no money at a chemist) I was then surprised that I unwrapped it immediately to have a sniff.

Fresh citrus blasts its way out of the bottle, a joyful reminder of a hot summers day dream of fresh citrus fruit salad lightly sugared. When the flowers come through they are a 100% faux bouquet, very synthetic, but not bad for all that. Eternity is a simple seeming, light but noticeable, clean fragrance that already has hints of the amber/sandalwood in the base. There is a lightly peppered feeling, cracked black rather than wet bell, through the heart too that is very appealing. I can remember smelling Eternity on people in the 90’s, it captured the fragrant zeitgeist (funny that that word is also used in the Perfume Shrine post) of its time perfectly and I think we are seeing a return to this style of fragrance. They are not scent similar but I think the Serge Lutens, Laine de Verre, is a modern take on Eternity and its cohorts, that 100% synthetic feeling.

Photo Stolen Calvin Klein

Luca Turin blasts Eternity thus, yet still gives it 3 stars: I have always though Eternity a copy of something not worth copying, Jardins de Bagattelle. Smelling them together now I can see why JdB, while arguably better, was a flop and Eternity a success. They art both unpleasantly screechy and soapy but at least Eternity does not pretend to be demure. LT

The rose is not rose-ish for me but I do get a spicy fruit/berry accord that could very well be a nod to rose? Yes, there is a very soapy vibe going on through late heart and dry down but it feels nice, wearable and I can see it still being extremely popular with the mainstream wearing public.

If you are only into niche and indie fragrances, want your scent to be filled with naturals or totally freaky then you will need to look elsewhere. Here we have a scent that will keep you smelling freshly showered and laundered all day, a slightly chemical wash that may not have people stopping and asking you what you’re wearing in the street but they may think that you are clean, neat and healthy and it will make a great weekend or work scent where you don’t want to stand out but would like to be fragrant. On these front Calvin Klein’s Eternity delivers in spades.

Further reading: Perfume Shrine
FragranceNet has $25/30ml (before coupon)
My Perfume Samples have $2/ml up to $7/5ml

Did you ever get on the Eternity scent bus? Was there ever a Calvin Klein fragrance that you did wear?

Portia xx

DIOR Homme Genesis mini movie

December 5, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom

WOW!

From DIOR: “A black and white voyage of hypnotic beauty.
A new genre of film presents the Dior Homme composition in a way that no other fragrance has ever been seen. Poetic and in-depth, modern and sophisticated, it allows itself the luxury of stopping time.”

Photo Stolen DIOR

Here is Australian Perfume Junkies look at the original DIOR Homme

DIOR Homme 2011 by Francois Demachy for DIOR

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lavender, sage, bergamot
Heart: Iris, amber, cacao
Base: Vetiver, patchouli, leather

Beauty Encounter currently has $51/50ml
My Perfume Samples starts at $2.50/ml

Dior Homme Genesis – The art of fragrance creation

Rose Praline by François Robert for Les Parfums de Rosine 2008

November 30, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Howdy Crew,

Remember I told you that Michael Edwards (Fragrances Of The World book) had done a wonderful gifting of many of his fragrances, here is another from that generous haul. I saw three Parfums de Rosine bottles and they called to me. The first two I have been incredibly lucky with but Rose Praline skirts the unwearable for me.

Rose Praline by François Robert for Les Parfums de Rosine 2008

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cardamom, bergamot, rose oil
Heart: Geranium, dark chocolate, rose, tea
Base: Amber, musk, sandalwood, cacao

François Robert, the perfumer, has had an interesting fragrance creation history including five of the Bex London frags, a bunch of the Rosines, Mary Greenwell Plum and Lanvin’s Vetiver.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

OOOH! Green, sweet and warm is how Rose Praline opens, a wet and sticky sweetness cut through by green. They are at an awkward standoff, both seeming to push against the other making the opening a very interesting and surprising start to a fragrance. They have used a note that vintage Dana Ambush used, I don’t know what it is but I find it mildly nauseating, not enough to scrub but up close it is queasy making for me. At elbow length from my nose it’s lovely, a gorgeous waft of dark, rich, spicy rose, up close though it smells like the water left after leaves & flowers have been left to rot in the vase. GACK! Ha Ha Ha! How hilarious, I really can’t stand it up close, it makes me so uneasy.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Later through the lifespan of Rose Praline a lovely dry tea-ish hint comes through. Like tea pre hot water, a dusty, dessicated feeling in the scent that next to this voluptuous, full to overblown rose is a tonic and calming raft. Like a drum softly beating time to the rest of the orchestra and keeping the crew stable.

It’s next morning and the one thing left on my skin is the weird/funky/sour note from Ambush. I woke up lying on that arm and Rose Praline is still quite intense. Maybe this bottle is on the turn or maybe the stresses of selling, moving and organising and the bad eating habits attendant have skewed my chemistry. Maybe because I haven’t been gluing wrist to nose in writing mode but merely enjoying the fragrance at a distance on previous wears. Maybe I’ve found a fragrance that is less than perfect for me, it happens.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Parfums des Rosine has €78/50ml
First In Fragrance has €78/50ml
Aedes de Venustas has $145/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $5/ml

Have you tried Rose praline? Any of the Rosines?
Portia xx

Making of Idylle Mini Movie – Guerlain

November 30, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Aha! How are you Scented Scallywags?

I never saw this Idylle mini movie, I wonder if it ever came to Australia?

Here we discover the backstage mini movie story for Idylle by Guerlain directed by Jaco Van Dormael and then I’ve added the finished commercial too.

Idylle by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2009

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Freesia, tincture of rose, litchi, raspberry
Heart: Jasmine, peony, lilac, lily, lily of the valley
Base: Patchouli, musk

Photo Stolen Perfume Posse

Enjoy

Portia xx

Making of Idylle Mini Movie – Guerlain

Guerlain Idylle commercial

Prelude to Love by Calice Becker for by Kilian 2008

November 29, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Hi hi hi Sniffas,

While in London earlier in the year my mate Tara (of Olfactoria’s Travels) gave me a set of the by Killian samples. It’s beautifully presented in a little velvet pouch of 2ml vials. On my return from traveling I searched high and low and couldn’t find the damn thing, then I forgot about it in the way you do. While cleaning up stuff in anticipation of our move I discovered the baggie in a small cardboard box that had been packed and put to the side with a bunch of other stuff from the trip. I would swear I looked in the box thousands of times……

Prelude to Love by Calice Becker for by Kilian 2008

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Seville orange, Amalfi lemon, bitter orange
Heart: Ginger, neroli, rose, cardamom, orange blossom, freesia, pink pepper, lavender
Base: Iris, Cypriol oil, musk, Russian leather

Basenotes gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, orange, lemon
Heart: Ginger, neroli, orange blossom
Base: Florence iris

The glorious, pithy citrus tinged with green is juicy and ripe. It is the warmest cool fragrance, with a very interesting oily/petrol taint that I find peculiar and inviting. Like pashing/snogging a recently showered and cologned mechanic. There is something extremely lived in about Prelude To Love that makes it more than a cologne, it’s a cologne involved in a sexual tryst, even to the lightly breathy orange blossom and neroli in the heart.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

As an aside: I was standing next to a gardenia hedge early this evening and the absolutely gorgeous/disgusting fragrance emanating from the flowers was completely engulfing, I was transported into a world of scent, shut my eyes for a moment and just breathed in the luscious, lascivious, overwhelming fragrance.

Prelude To Love is nothing like that but it does have elements of that sweetly erotic, human in close contact but cleanly washed idea. Freshly washed flesh but in a hairy nook or crevasse that always maintains the humanity.

Photo Stolen Pinterest

Then, not long after I am swept away by an extremely pretty floral, it’s a bouquet, thick, rich and heavy. That’s what’s so weird about Prelude To Love, though it feels a bit cologne-ish, the heft and nuance seem too deep and mercurial for it to be put in such a simple category. This cologne has cajones. A honeyed, animalic sweetness runs under the whole life of the fragrance that has me smiling as I get huffs, very, very nice to wear. I can see why Prelude To Love is still so popular.

Prelude To Love is fabulous, you can tell it is the best. You want similar results but for a fraction of the price? 4711, even the newest formulation, is a very good bright citrus cologne. You will have to reapply more frequently but isn’t that half the fun?

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Olfactoria’s Travels
LuckyScent has $155/4 x .25oz Travel Spray Set
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/.5ml

Do you love the by Killian range? Is there a favourite amongst them for you? I love sweet Redemption and Back to Black, Prelude To Love is wonderful, I’m pretty sure though that there are 6 other citrus frags in my wardrobe that I’d reach for first.
Portia x