B.Balenciaga by Domitille Bertier for Balenciaga 2014 + Ad Campaign

Hiya Happy Huffers and Fashionistas,

Not due to be released till mid October 2014 the whisper and advertising mill is already full steam ahead. Balenciaga, once super proud fashion house and fragrance purveyor could be ready to take center stage again with this new piece of magic….

B.Balenciaga by Domitille Bertier for Balenciaga 2014

B. Balenciaga Cristobal Balenciaga FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lily of the valley, Pea, Violet leaf
Heart: Orris, Cedar
Base: Cashmirwood, Ambrette (Musk Mallow)

Looks like Balenciaga has gone out on a limb to bring us something green and woodsy. Could this be prefacing a change in the wind for mainstream fragrances? Fingers crossed, because I am totally excited already and can’t wait to try it.

Portia xx

B.Balenciaga by Domitille Bertier for Balenciaga 2014 Ad Campaign

Rising model Anna Ewers is the campaign face for Alexander Wang‘s first fragrance for Balenciaga, B.Balenciaga. The campaign was photographed by Steven Klein and styled by Vanessa Traina. (source)

Korea 2014 GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Hey Hey Scent Jockeys,

Thanks for all getting so involved in this crazy giveaway. I know its not fragrance but it will still be super fun for our two lucky winners to get their Korea packs. So, let’s go….

Korea 2014 GIVEAWAY WINNERS

etude house fresh cherry tint EbayPhoto Stolen Ebay

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will each get:
1 x Etude House Fresh Cherry Lip Tint
1 x mixed bag of 6 Etude House, Skinfood & Shu Uemura samples
1 x pair faux LV socks
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID 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

Please tell me a memory that involves a travel fragrance experience or a beauty product someone brought back from overseas for you.

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 8th June 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Winners brooklodgePhoto Stolen brooklodge

LizK

LubkaK (via twitter)

The winners will have till Thursday 12th June 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.

DIOR: Secret Garden III – Versailles – The Film

Hi Ho APJ,

I love this series of DIOR Secret Garden videos. They are so ridiculously lavish and show us bits of Versailles that the regular visitor never gets to see.

I grabbed the photos from my go-to fashion blog art8amby and the film from YouTube
I hope you enjoy the glamour as much as I do.
Portia xx
Dior Secret Garden III 1  art8amby
Dior Secret Garden III 2  art8amby

Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin are once again working together with model Daria Strokous and high end label Dior to create the brand’s latest Secret Garden campaign. (source)

DIOR: Secret Garden III – Versailles – The Film

Eau d'Epices by Andy Tauer for Tauer Perfumes 2010/14

Hey Hey APJ,

Today I wanted to look at one of my first Indie fragrance buys. It was not too long after I found you all here online, maybe 6 or 9 months and all everyone seemed to be talking about was this mystery genius Andy Tauer. First I grabbed a Sample Set which was used to the dregs and then I took the plunge, some LDDM for my BFF Kath and Eau d’Epices which ended up with me. Wonderful. Then it was discontinued and I put it away for special, bringing it out rarely to enjoy and savouring every drop in each spritz. Now it’s back in the shops….

Andy TauerAndy TauerNed Flanders TangenitalPhoto Stolen The Tangential

Eau d’Epices by Andy Tauer for Tauer Perfumes 2010/14

Eau D'Epices Tauer Perfumes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cinnamon, cardamom, clove, coriander, red mandarin
Heart: Orange blossom, jasmine, orris root, incense
Base: Cistus ladaniferus resin (French labdanum), ambergris, tonka bean, vetiver

The opening rush of Eau d’Epices is so fabulously extravagant, like every note in the fragrance from top to bottom needs your attention immediately and is shouting to be heard. You need to spritz and walk for about 30 seconds so you are not overwhelmed. It’s a wonderful, outrageous and fun opening that brings a huge smile to my face whenever I reach for Eau d’Epices. Once the initial fireworks are over though we are left with a very pretty spicy citrus that really does have a juicy mandarin as its center piece and I love its reminder of my times in India. Whenever the local cuisine got too much for me in my early days of going to India my then partner Varun would go and find me mandarins, such a simple thing but it really felt like a connection to home and my culture shock would abate.

Eau d;Epices Watercolour Tauer

Often the words soapy are leveled at the heart of Eau d’Epices and I can see where the connection is made but for me the heart is more like a floral bouquet and make up, the spices are cool and awaiting the pan by this time, with the iris and incense adding another cooling layer, and the orange blossom/jasmine are pretty and tamed, not clean but certainly not sensual sirens either. Here I find no breathiness or body, Eau d’Epices is cool and aloof and not a big projection bomb. Yes, I am fragrant and it is lovely but after the first hour there would be no problem wearing it even to work, soft enough to be a moisturiser fragrance and more a wash than perfumed. There is still enough heft to be noticeable and if my shirt billows I get a fabulous puff of Eau d’Epices that sends me back to smiling swoon mode.

What happens then is a slow fade to Tauer-ade. That sweet, spicy, resinous long lingering magic that has some swooning in delight and others screaming for a shower. Luckily on my skin it is warm, lipstick-ish and I think very sensual. That’s good news because I will smell like ultimate dry down for hours, even having lingering remnants next morning. Perfect!!

Eau d'Epices Tauer William_Turner Goethe's_Theory WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

From Jeffrey Dame: As an aside, the formula is exactly the same as from 2010. If your current sample smells a little fresher and more “toppy” with the fragile top notes more evident it is because this sample was made less than 30 days ago.

IndieScents has $135/50ml (with FREE North American postage)
First In Fragrance has €105/50ml
Posh Peasant has samples starting at $6/ml

Which of the Tauer’s have you loved? Were you excited to read that Eau d’Epices is back?
Portia xx

PS All photos unattributed donated by Jeffrey Dame

Korea 2014: Photo Essay

Hey Crew,

I hope you are all happy and well. So we are back from our Korean adventure and it was hectic! I have had to spend the return week recovering from the amount of stuff we packed into 17 days. There is no way I could show you the whole trip and all that happened because it was just too full on.

So here is a mini view of some of our highlights, obviously I couldn’t include every meal but some of my favourite stand outs were Korean Bar B Q beef (bought for us in a very chi-chi restaurant in Yangsan) and pork (in a tiny street food restaurant in Gangnam near the Zaha Hadid designed arts centre). We also fell in love with the Lotte Burgers and Paris Baguette. The rest of the crew had loads of extra fresh seafood and pronounced it wonderful and I even ate some of the fish we caught on our fishing trip.

As we were with a local, Jin my partner was born and raised in Korea, we had the inside skinny on what was good and crap so we went to a couple of important temples, Jeju Island which is the honeymoon destination of Koreans where newlyweds wear couples outfits (super cute). We were also lucky enough to go to the JSA (Join Security Area) in the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) between North & South Korea which was both incredible and frightening because we went into the border house where talks happen and crossed over into North Korea, we were supposed to be there for 15-20 minutes for photos etc but the armed guards who were escorting us got new information and we were ushered out after only about 2 minutes, the guards and our guide becoming very nervous and agitated. Jin could only catch some of the conversations but there was a drama and we needed to be out PRONTO. It was all quite disturbing but so amazing to have been there. If you are in Seoul; there is a small tourist market for trips there, ask your Concierge.

We also did a bunch of shopping. South Korea has an amazing array of excellent makeup and fragrance chains of their own (Etude House, Skinfood and Japan’s Shu Uemura) and every time I shopped they gave me some testers of their other products, which brings us to

giveaway manoneileenPhoto Stolen manoneileen

Korea 2014 GIVEAWAY

etude house fresh cherry tint EbayPhoto Stolen Ebay

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will each get:
1 x Etude House Fresh Cherry Lip Tint
1 x mixed bag of 6 Etude House, Skinfood & Shu Uemura samples
1 x pair faux LV socks
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

Please tell me a memory that involves a travel fragrance experience or a beauty product someone brought back from overseas for you.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Korea 2014 Beauty Product GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2PW #Beauty #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 8th June 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 12th June 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.

Korea 2014: Photo Essay

Korea 2014 Jeju Island Weather Stone

Korea 2014 Jeju Asses

Korea 2014 Jeju Love Seat Jin:Portia

Korea 2014 Jeju bird

Korea 2014 Jeju from hotel

Korea 2014 Korean Flags

Korea 2014 Dior Counter1

Korea 2014 City Lights

Korea 2014 Zaha Hadid Art Centre

Korea 2014 Jin & Portia shopping

Korea 2014 Suspension Bridge

Korea 2014 Matthew, Portia, Jin Wet Willy

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All photos donated by Kath, Matt and Portia.

I hope you enjoyed this little look into our trip. Sadly I was so busy seeing and doing that I didn’t capture enough vistas or places of interest. Also you’ll notice that there is often someone at the table using their iPhone, this is ONLY allowed after mains are finished and the time I would remember to take a snap.
Portia xx

 

 

Neela Vermeire Creations 4 x 8ml Discovery Set

WOO HOO!

Now you all know what a huge fan and friend I am of Neela Vermeire. You also may remember that I am such a devoted fan I went and met her and her husband T with Jin in 2013 and then hung out with her again this year in Paris with Michael. We chat as often as we can on Skype and I love her to the core of my being.

Last time we were together I questioned the luxe value of her samples and discovery set. Well, she told me that it was a problem already being dealt with by the company and that I had to wait and see what was on the cards for later this year. I am extremely pleased to announce the most elegant and lavishly presented…..

Neela Vermeire Creations 4 x 8ml Discovery Set 2014

Neela Vermeire creations 4x8ml #1

Neela Vermeire creations 4x8ml #2

Neela Vermeire creations 4x8ml #3

Neela Vermeire creations 4x8ml #4

Yes, it now has 4 x 8ml. Your gateway to incredible fragrances created by Bertrand Duchaufour with Neela. Every one a tantalising taste of India done in a very French style, an amazing quartet and each one very different from the other. In my nose these are the diamonds in Duchaufour’s work and Ashoka recently won the Art & Olfaction Award for Independent Perfume. A huge honour and Neela is completely chuffed.

Neela-Vermeire-WET-WILLYNeela & I in Paris 2014

If you don’t know about Neela Vermeire’s fragrances here is some further reading:
Ashoka: Val the Cookie Queen on APJ and Portia on APJ
Bombay Bling: Val the Cookie Queen on APJ and Portia on APJ
Mohur: Portia on APJ
Trayee: Portia on Perfume Posse

Do you want one of these lovely sets?
Currently sending to Europe and the USA at €100 including postage
Write to Neela Vermeire Creations<<<JUMP because the EBoutique is currently under reconstruction. You can buy Discovery Sets and Bottles from NVC directly.

I will definitely need to spend some more time with Trayee now I have this set. I promise a review in the not too distant future.

Portia xx

CHANEL "Paris-Dallas" Collection: Savoir Faire 2014: Making of

Woo Hoo Fashion Fragrance Lovers,

CHANEL seems to be powering ahead still under the guidance of Karl Lagerfeld. Seriously I think he is a machine, able to change tack and style effortlessly and still bring us outrageously extravagant showings season after season. I can’t think of anyone who has been on the fashion scene this long who can match him, can you?
Portia xx

chanel-paris-dallas BelloBlogPhoto Stolen BelloBlog (any probs using this image please get in touch)

Making of the CHANEL “Paris-Dallas” Collection: Savoir Faire 2014

Details of the CHANEL “Paris-Dallas” Collection: Organza, Feathers, Pleats

Holiday Destinations?

Hey there crew,

We are in South Korea and having a ball. Actually, by now we are flying home

Righto!
So I am running INCREDIBLY late with stuff for this holiday and my mind has turned to mush. Instead of writing a post I thought I could ask you all for your input:

Question_Mark_CloudPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

What destinations are on your holiday list? Where have you been that you’d like to return to or where would you LOVE to go? What do you prefer, an active, exciting holiday, lazy relaxing holiday? Is it shopping, sniffing, eating, scenery, friends or adventure?

Sleeping On The Plane Ian McKenzie FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

My answer: As you know I love to travel. What seems to happen is I either go to visit friends or go to check a new place and see as much of it as I can. When traveling with Jin that means being up at the crack of dawn and falling into the bed a couple of hours before the next dawn. We see Museums, walk the streets and get lost, find cafes. catch public transport and as Jin so eloquently puts it, “We act so local”.

One of things I like to have is a breakfast buffet, it’s so much better to tromp downstairs and grab food, that’s where I do my Post Card writing and Jin plans the days adventures. I prefer a 4* but will happily sleep No Star if the Breakfast is good.

Where do I like to go? Well, numerically I’ve spent the most visits to India, I think 15 or 16 trips now and every time India makes me want to go back again. When they wrote Incredible India they weren’t joking. Followed closely by the UK, I lived there for a couple of years in thew 1990s and have been back numerous times for all sorts of reasons from work to weddings.

Where have I not been that is on the list, I’ll give you my Top 5 Want To Destinations1. South America: Yes the whole damn continent. Recently Jin and I bought motorbikes to prepare for a trip following The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara.
2. Madagascar: The lovely island off Africa that DreamWorks made into a MUST SEE on my list.
3. Canada: I know, you’d think I would have been there but as yet it hasn’t happened. I had my fingers crossed for this November but the gods saw other things in my lifeline. that’s cool, I’ll get there.
4. Russia: Sadly they are going through some madness there but one day I will get to Russia, with love. Imagine me in full drag tramping through the major cities of Russia. Yes, me too!
5. Israel: The center of so many of the world’s faiths, filled with the icons of my childhood religious upbringing. It would be interesting and informative to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.

Tell me about your travels or your “I Wish” list?
Portia xx

Louis Vuitton Presents Travel Books Vietnam by Lorenzo Mattotti

Hey All,

I’m traveling through South Korea but back in 2008 a whole group of us went to Vietnam to celebrate my birthday. Friends, Aunties and an Uncle. It was a super terrific few weeks and we saw Vietnam from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi and it was incredible.

Louis Vuitton Vietnam PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Enjoy Louis Vuitton’s take on a marvelous country that we all hope to revisit someday.
Portia xx

Louis Vuitton Presents Travel Books Vietnam by Lorenzo Mattotti

Your Good Books for Traveling?

Hey there crew,

We are in South Korea and I reckon having the time of our lives.

Righto!
So I am running INCREDIBLY late with stuff for this holiday and my mind has turned to mush. Instead of writing a post I thought I could ask you all for your input:

Question_Mark_CloudPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

What Book Recommendations Can You Give Me For Bus, Train, Plane or any Public Transport? Do you choose technical stuff so you can learn on the trip, self help or growth books, a thriller or a novel, maybe an autobiography? Please give me an insight into your travel reading past and future? Is it fragrance, travel, silliness or maybe you like those crossword books?

Sleeping On The Plane Ian McKenzie FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

My answer:
I love to read while I’m traveling. On this trip I have packed 3 books:

The Golem and the Djinni Helene Wecker BookDepositoryBookDepository AUS$17 Delivered Worldwide

The Golem & The Djinni by Helene Wecker: A coming of age story about freedom I think.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen R Covey BookDepositoryBookDepository AUS$17 Delivered Worldwide

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey: I like to see where I can improve my output always

Raising Steam Terry Pratchett BookDepositoryBookDepository AUS$24 Delivered Worldwide

Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett: Crazy DiscWorld nonsense. Freaking love it.

So, what do you read when you travel?

Portia xx