Un Zeste de Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine 2002

October 31, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

Heya gang,

Les Parfums de Rosine is sadly neglected, I’m not sure if its their dated packaging which frankly looks 1960s drug store, their bottles which go only with Tiffany lamps and antimacassars and remind me of lace curtains or the little cutesy curtain ties with fringy bobs. The fragrances are solid and delicious, interesting and sometimes boundary pushing. Michael fell madly in love with a couple of the men’s scents while we were at the flagship store in the Palais Royale in Paris and bought a couple of bottles, including their discontinued men’s extrait. Now Michael’s nose is impeccable, if he says the juice is good then you better believe it.

Un Zeste de Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine 2002

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Amalfi lemon, orange, dried fruits
Heart: Jasmine, rose, tea
Base: Musk, holly, amber

Citrus, fresh cut and cool; a slightly pithy cut that has a dried apricot overtone and already there is the bite of tea in fragrance when Un Zeste de Rose opens on my skin. A dryness that smells of loose leaf tea in the packet. This then is a softly peach-coloured tea scented rose with nuances of fruits and a green acerbic backdrop that doesn’t make me think of leaves but twig, cut twig or stem of a rose from the garden.Maybe this rose is headed for a vase in your house, it could be dewy or you could be smelling the cool water in your cut crystal rose bowl.

A rose full of fragrance, a lightly spicy tea scented rose through the heart and I am surprised that there is no honey mentioned in the notes. Maybe the honey factor comes through the amber/musk combination? I don’t know but it is smooth and lovely. Actually, there is a lovely creaminess to Un Zeste de Rose that is like a fresh green and cream, mmmmmmm.

Much younger and more youthful that their marketing suggests Un Zeste de Rose is crisp and light enough for everyday wear. Lasting power is good too but after about 2 hours Un Zeste de Rose wears very close to your skin, as soft as a body lotion.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Scent for Thought
First In Fragrance has €78/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Un Zeste de Rose is no huge groundbreaker but I think its creamy tea, honey and green-ness make it special. Extremely wearable and would make a great gift.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen sassisamblog

Un Zeste de Rose GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get:
1 x 5ml Un Zeste de Rose decant
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 so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Tell us about a rose fragrance that wins you over, or a memory of someone who wore one well

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie http://wp.me/p3PURw-3je Les Parfums de Rosine GIVEAWAY #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 2nd November 2014 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 6th November 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.

My Perfume Samples – New Atomisers

October 31, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Hey there APJ Crew,

When I’m looking for mainstream, and some niche, fragrances my first stop will be My Perfume Samples. I love that they get cheaper if you buy more than 1ml, often by more than half! They are reliable, packaged beautifully and the range is really good of stuff you often can’t get at the niche sample stores.

My Perfume Samples – New Atomisers

The crew at My Perfume Samples have recently changed to plastic atomisers so I wrote asking why they would do this and if there had been appropriate testing done to make sure their precious cargo was not being contaminated. Here’s their response….

From My Perfume Samples: The plastic atomizers that we use are completely sterile and safe. The plastic used in our atomizers is food grade plastic. It has been approved to package water and food products so it is completely safe to hold the perfume that you will spray on your skin.
We tested the atomizers for several months, carrying samples in our bags, purses, storing in our vanities and a number of other places before introducing them to our customers. We wanted to be sure that the fragrances retained the same exact scent as when we decanted them into the sample bottle. Once we were able to confirm that the smell of the scent in all of our samples was retained over many months in a number of storage conditions we began using them to decant customer orders.
We do not re-use the atomizers on different scents and do not recommend refilling an atomizer with a scent different from the one originally decanted into it. Some customers have expressed success doing this and reuse the plastic atomizers with their own fragrances however, we have not tested this with the plastic or glass atomizers.
We believe the plastic atomizers to be superior to the glass that we previously used because they are food grade, easier to screw open and closed, have a wider mouth for refilling, the spray is more consistent and we have far less damage occurring in transit.

Here are some of their great prices:
Light Blue Femme by Dolce & Gabbana: $2/ml up to $7/5ml
Sensuous Nude by Estee Lauder: $2.50/ml up to $7.50/5ml
Tubéreuse Criminelle by Serge Lutens: $3.50/ml up to $10.50/5ml
Velvet Rose & Oud Cologne Intense by Jo Malone: $5/ml up to $15/5ml

I think those prices are incredibly reasonable.

Portia xx

1270 Frapin GIVEAWAY WINNERS

October 27, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Hey Crew,

Thanks for jumping on board this one. I hope you all are loving our spectacular giveaways lately. I think there are a good cross section of products we are getting out there for you to try. As always we do it with you in mind as a thank you for you support and love.
Portia xx

1270 Frapin GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Dried orange, pineapple, hazelnut, resins, dried plums, cocoa, tonka, coffee
Heart: Lime blossom, linden tree, pepper, spices, dried fruits
Base: Wood, Guaiac wood, white honey, vanilla

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get:
1 x 5ml 1270 by Frapin decant
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Tell us about a sweet or boozy fragrance that makes you smile, either because you wear it or because it has happy associations

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie http://wp.me/p3PURw-3hb 1270 by Frapin GIVEAWAY #Perfume #Giveaway @LibertineParfum

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 26th October 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen quiltelegance

Undina (via Twitter)

Bradley Woolslayer

The winners will have till Thursday 30th October 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.

In Bed With David Gandy

October 26, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Here you go APJ,

Some unashamed EYE CANdY in the form of David Gandy sporting his own range of M&S underwear.

You’re welcome,
Portia xxx

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

David Gandy’s underwear collection for Marks & Spencer

Mademoiselle Guerlain by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2014

October 25, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Heya Lovers of Fine Fragrance,

Today I want to look at a decant I’ve had lying around here for a while but never seem to get to. Why has it lain forlorn and unloved? Who knows, sometimes it happens around here. What I did do yesterday after my bath though was spritz myself and WOW! So I spritzed again for work and now I am wearing it again. Masterpiece? Naah, but enjoyable? YES

Fragrantica says: Mademoiselle Guerlain is chic, elegant, cheerful Parisian scent. It is launched in 2014 in the exclusive Guerlain collection, but in fact it is the same fragrance as La Petite Robe Noire 2 from 2011 in a new bottle and a new name.

Mademoiselle Guerlain by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2014

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Galbanum, bergamot, lemon
Heart: Iris, orange blossom, marshmallow
Base: Vanilla, leather, white musk

There hasn’t been very much written about Mademoiselle Guerlain except to announce its coming and to tell us its history. As you may know I love Guerlain and most of their offerings work for me on some level so I was super dooper excited when told they were going to re-release the LPRN2 that I was 100% sure would be a million times more me than LPRN original, which I like very much most days but sometimes it’s like being suffocated by a macaroon.

Photo Stolen Flickr

I have spent a couple of days wearing Mademoiselle Guerlain now. Its green opening is at once sticky and cool, like the first gulp of a soft drink on a warm day. Refreshing but not thirst quenching. Interesting……. This initial frisson sadly lasts too briefly and the sugar enters like Pez or pastilles wrapped in marshmallow. Reads as if it’s TOTALLY disgusting, right? It’s not, it is sweet and fun and youthful, though not particularly sophisticated. Slowly the orange blossom, vanilla and iris bloom together underneath the sweetness and now you can feel that the whole fragrance has a lovely depth, here is where Mademoiselle Guerlain becomes a Guerlain. Something better than its contemporaries, frankly it is beautiful. Lavish but subtle, you won’t skunk people with Mademoiselle Guerlain unless you are in a fragphobic environment. Fragrant but not imposing or intimidating, Mademoiselle Guerlain will never be mistaken for a 1980s BIG WHITE FLORAL. Pretty and delicate, lovely and wearable through the heart I feel that Mademoiselle Guerlain could have been a best seller if offered in a less expensive flaccon and size.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Dry down is an intimate, musky and fluffy confectionery barely tempered by a hint of leather, after 6 hours I am still softly fragrant and putting my head into my top to smell I can definitely get wafts. Nothing stands out to me at this point but it’s a sweet and attractive wash rather than discernible notes. Nothing earth shattering but very nice, wearable in that modern sweet white musk way. I guarantee that Mademoiselle Guerlain will be a hit if you gift it, even to the least interested in fragrance, as long as they like sweet fragrances. There is nothing new or confrontational in the dry down for them, it could very well be a better quality celebuscent ending.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Further reading: Perfume Shrine
Guerlain Flagship Stores and some large Department Stores have Mademoiselle Guerlain
My Mademoiselle Guerlain came from a split, thanks RuthK
Surrender To Chance have samples starting at $3.30/.5ml

Did you ever try La Petite Robe Noire 2 when it was available? Are you a fan of the original La Petite Robe Noire? What do you think of the Bee Bottle and pink juice?
Portia xx

1270 by Sidonie Lancesseur for Frapin 2010

October 24, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 30 Comments

Hi there Perfume Junkies,

How are you all? Hopefully happy and well. If not happy, remember emotions are like rain, you can’t control them and they will pass, hugging you from here. XXX

We have talked about 1270 on APJ before, have loved its sweet, shimmery, boozy fun. I was going through stuff and found a really big decant that had come from Dalbir at Aussie fragrance Network on FB me ages ago. What better way to celebrate a find than to share it around.

1270 by Sidonie Lancesseur for Frapin 2010

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Sweet and sugared glace fruits, dipped in booze and pepper, fizzy, fun and fabulous. I am finding myself more and more in love with the fruity sweet frags lately. How did I come so late to this?

A little of the fun of Angel and Liberté but softer and gentler. A small reminder of a Serge Lutens boozy fruit opening too. Yet for all these reminders 1270 manages to be its own animal, something young and lovely that will grab you in its sugared embrace and sweep you off to the ball, there’s even an animalic honey. You want to smell a little like the masses but BETTER? 1270 offers a gold plated version that dries down to a lovely sweet vanilla for me.

Photo Stolen Flickr

If you are a serious perfumista who wants a three ring circus and all the bells and whistles I think this is about as close as a sweet fruity frag will take you, for anyone who merely wants to smell sweet and intoxicatingly alluring then 1270 should be on your list, to be honest you’ll probably want to buy a pallet of it.

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Another Perfume Blog
Libertine Parfumerie has $199/100ml (with FREE postage in Australia)
First In Fragrance has €110/100ml and samples
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

I think you should at least give 1270 a whirl, you may just be surprised,

Portia xx

Photo Stolen sassisamblog

1270 Frapin GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get:
1 x 5ml 1270 by Frapin decant
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Tell us about a sweet or boozy fragrance that makes you smile, either because you wear it or because it has happy associations

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie http://wp.me/p3PURw-3hb 1270 by Frapin GIVEAWAY #Perfume #Giveaway @LibertineParfum

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 26th October 2014 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 30th October 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.

"Straight" Would Be The Minority! [Short Film]

October 24, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Hi there APJ Crew,

Imagine if your preconceptions are rerouted. Gay is normal and straight is feared, outcast, rejected and freakish. It is hard to visualise because we have never seen it but here in a 19 minute short film it all is. Played out as truthfully and darkly as real life often is for gays.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

Cried my eyes out, this piece is haunting me as a near parallel to my own and my best friend through schools youth. Luckily it never got so bad as this for me but my friend Jason was picked on mercilessly by years above and below.

Please watch this and share it with your kids, families, siblings and friends. It may just stop one person from being victimised for something they have no control over because it is predestined by birth and genetics. We are all equal, no matter who we love, what religion we follow, what colour our skin, what sex we are or how we earn our living. We should all be equal in the eyes of the law and the eyes of our community.

With love to you all,

Portia xx

Imagine A World Where Being “Gay” The Norm & Being “Straight” Would Be The Minority! [Short Film]

Evocative Perfumes GIVEAWAY WINNERS

October 20, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hey there Crew!

Firstly: THANK YOU to the incredible generosity of Mark at Evocative Perfumes. Please go and check out his site and try some of his marvelous creations. You will be well rewarded for your time and money, these fragrances are lovely.
Good Luck everyone.

Portia xx

Evocative Perfumes GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get:
1 x Evocative Perfume Oil Sample Sets (Aquarelle, Imogen, Olibanum, Evelyn’s Rose, Fleur de Magnolia)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Go to Evocative Perfumes and tell me any fragrance they sell online and a note that it contains. NO DOUBLE UPS!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Evocative Perfumes GIVEAWAY @EvocativeParfum http://wp.me/p3PURw-3hl #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 19th October 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen prospectsplus

Damir Gašljević (via Twitter)

Sun Mi Fontaine

The winners will have till Thursday 23rd October 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.

Jersey by Jacques Polge for CHANEL 2011

October 19, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Hey Hey Happy Huffers,

Recently I spent the day with Ainslie Walker, we did a bunch of things. Saw the Eames on Eames films at the Sydney Film Festival where the US furniture makers’ grandson showed us some of the amazing and ground breaking work that the Eames’ did in a totally different media, from toy trains and their workshop to a Washington DC Aquarium they designed that never was built, sadly because it looked totally fabulous. If it comes to a cinema near you don’t miss it.

While we were out we went and sniffed out the Les Exclusifs de Chanel range where I was seriously contemplating a Cuir de Russie Extrait purchase when Ainslie started to wax lyrical about her great love for Jersey, a scent I had previously sniffed and dismissed as meh and yawnsville. I made my position very clear, spritzed with CHANEL No. 22 and we went on to see if they had a few specifics left from the mass sacrifice of the Tom Ford line. It’s a couple of weeks later and I have been thinking that Ainslie wouldn’t own a BOTTLE of something totally inferior, so I grabbed a sample out and spritzed…

Jersey by Jacques Polge for CHANEL 2011

Les Exclusifs de Chanel

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Tonka bean, rose, musk, lavender, jasmine, vanilla, grass, wildflowers

CHANEL Jersey is nothing like I remember it being. Bigger and more voluptuous than my memory, also a surprise was that Jersey skews ever so slightly masculine. KEWL! I like to cross the boundaries.

Lavender opening is fresh and delightful, it has a fresh cut flowers from the garden green-ness and something softly resinous that seems to smooth the whole composition like a piece of worn to a pebble glass found on a beach in the cool of morning and rubbed against your cheek. After a short while Jersey warms a little on my skin and becomes very comfortable and slightly lived in, soft and intimate but still noticeable that I’m fragrant. I think Jersey is one of those fragrances that feel small but are in fact really good projectors and leave a wonderful sillage. After spritzing and going to make a cuppa, when I come back to my office there is a decided vanilla/lavender smell in the room, like I’ve just spritzed a room spray. Very nice, subtle and elegant.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

There is a clean, comfortable and fresh aspect to Jersey that is very much like wearing your favourite T-Shirt, freshly washed and direct from the line. The colour is slightly faded and the fabric floats on your body, there but not there, a whisper of Jersey fabric that is both part of you and not. Jersey fragrance is similar, infinitely more wearable for me than Hermessence Brin de Reglisse, it is a warmer, smoother version of a lavender-centric fragrance. I could imagine Jersey becoming quite addictive.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Through the life of Jersey the lavender makes guest reappearances paired with different notes. at one point creamy vanilla/lavender, then later green/lavender, then lightly spicy rose/lavender. Then combinations of more than two notes, it’s an intricate duck & weave pattern that keeps me on the edge of my nose for hours.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and The Candy Perfume Boy
CHANEL boutiques have Jersey
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Did you try Jersey? Is CHANEL a house you click with or aspire to?
Portia xx

I Wanna Be Like You – Robbie Williams & Olly Murs

October 19, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Heya Frag Lovers,

This is SO off topic but I want you all to have a big smile on your face for Sunday. Here are two of my favourites absolutely hamming it up for the Graham Norton Show. I hope you get as much joy from it as I have.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Love
Portia xx

I Wanna Be Like You – Robbie Williams & Olly Murs