Portia

Ma Folie de Noel (My Christmas Folly: Holiday no.6) by DSH Perfumes

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Hi Ho Fumies,

I have a beautiful friend, Natalie, from Another Perfume Blog who gave me this very delicious fragrance. I had tried it and loved it a while back and though she loves it too it wasn’t getting the wear it deserved in her perfume wardrobe. I can’t stop spritzing, like an addict, and get a rush of happy every time I do.

Ma Folie de Noel by DSH Perfumes

(My Christmas Folly: Holiday no.6)

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

Ma Folie de Noel (My Christmas Folly; Holiday no.6) DSH Perfumes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Star anise, whipped cream, incense

Star anise, Whipped Cream and Incense. The list is so short but Ma Folie de Noel is so much more than it’s featured accords. Sometimes simple is boring but not here. Dawn Spencer Hurwitz is a bit of a magician, in her capable hands we get an incense bomb that sits firmly in gourmand land, and though the incense is there through the whole ride it serves (on my skin) as a back ground to the lovely boozy and creamy extravaganza that I find completely reminiscent of an Egg Flip that my Mum used to make for us. I think I’ve written this somewhere before but can’t find where. Though it is star anise in the spotlight I get nuances of other fabulous spices like nutmeg, vanilla and a hint of Chinese five spice, the whipped cream has nods to caramel ice cream and there is a touch of brandy, maybe even a lovely rich honeyed scotch whiskey and always the cool wash of unburned incense floating underneath.

Ma Folie de Noel Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Egg Flip WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Though Ma Folie de Noel starts out big and lavish it softens out within an hour and after two hours I have a warm caramel glow left that stays around at that close level for ages. I miss the moment when I go back to smelling like only me but my guess is somewhere around the 4-5 hour mark. Ma Folie de Noel id totally wearable and I would say could even be worn in close working quarters, unless your office is frag phobic.

Ma Folie de Noel Dawn Spencer Hurwitz caramel-dessert PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Though Ma Folie de Noel is marketed as a Christmas scent I think we can skip all that and wear it year round, a cool evening in Spring would be equally as gorgeous. I have yet to try it in the full heat of summer but I’d like to, just to see.

Further reading: Another Perfume Blog and Fragrant Man
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz  site starts at $5 up to $70 and has a full range of ambient and body products to match.

Are there any frags you wear that are seasonal? Do you spritz beyond those seasons? Ever?
Portia xx

 

Armani Code – The Film featuring Chris Pine

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hi Happy Huffers,

Chris Pine, Star Trek actor and handsome man about town, is the latest screen idol to become embroiled in fragrance advertising. I love the mini movie, it has a great suspenseful and fun story with killer backing track and shot beautifully. I grabbed it from my fave up to the second fashion blog art8amby. Go check them out, mag covers, ads, everything fashion and fashion advertising vision.

Please enjoy,
Portia xx

Armani Code

Antoine Lie, Antoine Maisondieu & Clement Gavarry for Giorgio Armani

Armani Code Giorgio Armani FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, lemon
Heart: Star anise, olive blossom, guaiac wood
Base: Leather, tobacco, tonka bean

Armani Code - The Film featuring Chris Pine(source)

Armani Code – The Film featuring Chris Pine

Resina by Oliver + Co. GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hi there Fabulous Fragrantists,

We have had a lovely response to the Resina by Oliver + Co. GIVEAWAY. Thanks for getting on board and having a go. I think you’ll be mighty impressed with the brand. They are making interesting frags that skew a little different even to niche but are all easy wear and smell great.

Portia xx

Resina by Oliver + Co. GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Resina Oliver & Co. FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Tolu balsam, elemi, myrrh, labdanum, opoponax, jasmine sambac, incense, benzoin, coffee, christmas tree or flame tree, mace, rooibos tea, tonka bean, star anise

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will each get:
1 x 2ml decant of Resina by Oliver + Co.
1 x 2ml decant of Mousse II by Oliver + Co.
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 resins, incense or a fragrance that includes either that you happen to love.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Resina by Oliver & CO. GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2Ex #Perfume #Giveaway #Oliver&Co

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 20th April 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

WINNERS berryreviewPhoto Stolen berryreview

Azar, Christine W

The winners will have till Thursday 24th April 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.

The Osmotheque: Versailles: France 2014 Photo Essay

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 52 Comments

Hey Gang,

I wanted to share the most wonderful photo that was taken of Jean Kerleo, Patricia de Nicolai, Michael and I at the end of our incredible time at the Osmotheque. This is one of my life highlights. Meeting the perfumer, Jean Kerleo, that created 1000 and Sublime for Jean Patou and Knowing for Estee Lauder and Patricia de Nicolai, one of my favourite independent perfumers in a place that keeps many fragrances that have been lost and the memories of how they were produced. I cannot tell you enough how moving and magical the day was.

Jean Kerleo, Patricia de Nicolai M + P Osmotheque 2014

 

Anyone can book a course at the Osmotheque, we booked an English course (which was very easy to organise) and it was an incredible afternoon. Our contact was Florence Crenn info@osmotheque.fr and Florence could not have been more lovely or helpful. We organised to pay cash on the day but there are other ways to do it.

We chose to spend the morning at Versailles Palace and do the Osmotheque in the afternoon. Perfect choice. We caught a train from Paris to Versailles and then a cab from Versailles Palace to the Osmotheque. From the Osmotheque we walked to a different station to catch the train back to Paris, don’t buy a return ticket.

The Osmotheque: Versailles: France 2014

Well, how was our day? What went on? Jean Kerleo, ex Helena Rubenstein and Jean Patou perfumer and founder of the Osmotheque, was our host with the help of his buddy and translator Will. It was completely mind blowing and the work they do at the Osmotheque to archive and house the world’s most famous fragrances in their original formulations is not only extraordinary it is necessary for the continuation of perfumer knowledge. Also, the Osmotheque needs people like you and us to go and do the classes so they have money to continue the great work they are doing.

If you are a French speaker you can buy a ticket to many forum classes with the teachers at the Osmotheque, including Jean Kerleo and Patricia de Nicolai. If you have English you must book a class with an English speaking teacher. We were asked to pick a number of fragrances that we’d like to smell in their original form (L’Origan, Iris Gres, Shocking and Patou Pour Homme were among out favourites today) and your teacher will bring a few others that they think may be of interest (Suprise sniffs included nearly 60 year old deer musk, Crepe de Chine, L’Heure Blue and 1000). You get a 2 hour class and it was just Michael and I. One of the most incredible fragrance experiences of my life.

Michael Osmotheque 2014

Portia Osmotheque 2014

Jean Kerleo Osmotheque 2014

Jean Kerleo, Michael History.

I got the feeling throughout the day that Michael’s incredible ability to smell nuances and notes in fragrance got us so much extra lovely treatment. Jean Kerleo and Michael were really having a great old chat and I was a bit of flotsam eddying in their fragrant streams of consciousness. It was like watching two science geeks talking shop and I think I learned more in that afternoon about smells, scents, perfume and fragrance than in my whole life leading up to it. A lot of it pops back into my head if I am reading something on a blog that has something to do with their conversation. Finally a piece of puzzle will fit or a concept will become clear.

We got a touche wit every fragrance named and individually wrapped in a plastic paper bag. Also we bought an Osmotheque book each which is FULL of interesting and useful history and classification knowledge.

Original Musk Oil Tincture 1950s

Jean Kerleo Back Fridges Osmotheque 2014

Michael, Portia, Drinks 2014

Printemps Guerlain Window

Michael Worn Out Paris 2014

As you can see by the end of the day Michael was completely stuffed. Stuffed, satiated and full of the joys of adventure.

Want to read more about the experience? Bois de Jasmin and Versailles Tourism

The Osmotheque is a must do for any perfume lover. Get in touch with Florence Crenn info@osmotheque.fr

Portia xx

Getting Married In Heaven? A story

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Hello Fumie Friends,

I have a buddy. Her name is Wendy and she’s a really lovely, fun, smart woman. Every week I swing by her place and we go to Trivia together. Her husband has been unwell with one thing or another for decades and nowadays is wheelchair bound, needs twice weekly dialysis and in many ways is dependent on her. Every few days Wendy sends me a funny, mostly they are bits of silliness and I smile and move on. Sometimes they tickle my funny bone. It was Wendy’s birthday recently and though I am pretty sure she doesn’t read the blog I wanted to commemorate the day by putting up one of the stories she sent me.

I hope you like it too.
Portia xx

Getting Married In Heaven?

Wedding In Heaven Daimler_DB18Consort WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

On their way to the church to get married, a young couple was involved in a fatal car accident.
The couple found themselves sitting outside the Pearly Gates waiting for St. Peter to process them into Heaven.

While waiting they began to wonder; could they possibly get married in Heaven?

When St. Peter arrived, they asked him if they could get married in Heaven.

St. Peter said, “I don’t know. This is the first time anyone has asked. Let me go find out,” and he left.

Wedding In Heaven St_Peter_Martyr_ WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

The couple sat and waited for an answer…. for a couple of hours.
While they waited, they discussed the pros and cons. If they were allowed to get married in Heaven, should they get married?
What with the eternal aspect of it all? “What if it doesn’t work? Are we stuck in Heaven together forever?”

Yet another hour passed before St. Peter finally returned, looking somewhat bedraggled.

“Yes,” he informed the couple, “You can get married in Heaven.”

probably about 1475-6Photo Stolen Wikipedia

“Great!” said the couple. “But we were just wondering; what if things don’t work out? Could we also get a divorce in Heaven?”

St. Peter, red-faced with anger, slammed his clipboard on the ground.

“What’s wrong?” asked the frightened couple.

“OH, COME ON!” St. Peter shouted. “It took me 3 hours to find a priest up here!
Do you have ANY idea how long it’ll take to find a lawyer?”

Live Your Dream by Anna Sui 2009

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Hello Lovely APJ Family,

Today’s fragrance is said to be named for Anna Sui’s motto. It’s also the reason I bought it. If I was to really have a “MOTTO” it would probably be something as banal and obvious as this. Sometimes you have to remind yourself that what’s important is quality of life, and quality of life for me is remembering to make sure the life I live is as much MY dream as I can make it. Sure, there will always be some mean, ungrateful, torturous or awful people who like to come and besmirch your buzz, trample your dreams and grind your good deeds into dust. Those people are sent to try us. Without them we would not need to look for the good, it would be everywhere. So with all that rubbishy blather behind us it’s time to….

Live Your Dream by Anna Sui 2009

Live Your Dream Anna Sui FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Floral notes, white pepper, lily-of-the-valley, water lily
Heart: Jasmine, Bulgarian rose
Base: Sandalwood, tonka beans, musk, cedar, teak wood

Right. I bought this bottle back in 2009 or 2010 and it gets used only rarely but when I crave it I wear it for 3 or 4 days and then it goes away for 3 months or more till my next Live Your Dream inkling. My bottle is 30ml and I’ve not even used a quarter yet. Speaking of the bottle it is the campest, kitchiest thing with vintage roses/retro-molding, little girl cum Barbie doll stylings that has always struck me as a little Lolita-esque. This is a girl/woman bottle and I could imagine it being in the purse of Anna Nicole Smith types.

Live Your Dream Anna Sui Beyonce quleen1907 DeviantArtPhoto Stolen DeviantArt

So, what does Live Your Dream smell like? Lily, water, vases of lilies, greenery, fresh fruit (maybe pear or cantaloupe), rain, cold metal, cutting a bell pepper, plastic, lily of the valley (leaves and flowers), wet grass, air conditioned rooms are the impression the first few minutes give me. An unnatural, aromachemical melange that is sheer but weighty, very good sillage and projection for the first 2 hours until it calms to a dull roar. I love the way the industrial wet flowers give way to something only a little warmer that feels like it might be some resinous vanilla reinvention. This does not smell very real at any time, nor does Live Your Dream smell like there is very much money in the juice, it skirts the cleaning product aisle but never really goes there, it feels like it might though at any minute. It’s weird wearing a fragrance that you’ve had in your collection for a long while and for the first time trying to dissect it, instead of floating along and enjoying the ride.

Live Your Dream Anna Sui Peony PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Through the heart I get much more of a peony smell than rose or jasmine, it’s that lovely sweet and watery vegetal feel that fresh bunch of peonies from the florist have. Powder is here too, but more like the smell of some powders that the powder or texture of powder, still it makes me think powder. Then at around the 4 hour mark Live Your dreams stops smelling of anything in particular and becomes an incredibly soft murmur of wet, green, resinous wood that has no real distinctive notes but is more a close to the skin wash.

Live Your Dream Anna Sui Peony_nebula WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Reading this post you would think I don’t like Live Your Dream, but I REALLY like it, I love it. Live Your Dream fills a space that I crave.

FragranceNet has $26/30ml before coupon
My Perfume Samples have $1/ml

Are there some cheapies that you adore in your cupboard? How much wear do they get?

Resina by Oliver Valverde for Oliver + Co. 2012

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 46 Comments

Hey Hey Crew,

Before I went overseas this year I received a lovely pack, with excellent presentation, from Oliver & Co. and it is a four pack of their 10ml samples in what was called a Discovery Set. I bought them for €25 but can now find no samples on the site anywhere. Grrrrrr. Some things I love about the Oliver & Co. brand are their very clever FREE SHIPPING TO THE WORLD and their reasonable prices, €95 the highest for the Illustrated Series. That’s less than buying 100ml of Shalimar EdP by Guerlain in a Department Store.

Resina by Oliver Valverde for Oliver + Co. 2012

Resina Oliver & Co. FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Tolu balsam, elemi, myrrh, labdanum, opoponax, jasmine sambac, incense, benzoin, coffee, christmas tree or flame tree, mace, rooibos tea, tonka bean, star anise

Sweet, spicy and furry warmth is what jumps off my skin immediately with a herbal tea, accompaniment but more than anything I get lovely and interesting mixtures of resins, a full on version of the ones you stand in before and during ballet classes to give you traction. This is how Penhaligon’s Iris Prima should have opened and ended. It’s not often I feel I can smell the leaves and bark of the trees that the resins are procured from but here in Resina there is a definite waft of green that cuts through the sweetness, though sweetness is not meant in a cake or biscuit way but in a sweet wax way.

Resina Oliver + Co. WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Then the chocolate, very realistic chocolate, adds its song. The chocolate is a fun twist that never takes over and is only noticeable after the first while if you look for it. It’s not one of the notes though so I could be dreaming. My skin also throws a very slightly breathy jasmine and a little bit of curried star anise, but maybe it’s my using star anise in curies that provides the link. The copy says hypnotic, dense and carnal: I can see and smell all those images. It is densely packed with pieces that play togetrher in beautiful harmony, there is a certain fleshiness or humanity and a furry feel and i think it could become extremely hypnotic if someone you were already falling in love with wore Resina. It would imprint on your memory and is enough unlike any other scents in its style that you would be a stand alone scent memory.

Fragrant? Yes but not a seriously heavy scent for all its density. Wearable, sexy and interesting. I get good longevity too at around 5-6 hours before I’m left with a soft amorphous wash of nearly nothing.

LuckyScent has $145/50ml

Portia xx

Giveaway Kesha&CoPhoto Stolen Kesha&Co

Resina GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will each get:
1 x 2ml decant of Resina by Oliver + Co.
1 x 2ml decant of Mousse II by Oliver + Co.
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 resins, incense or a fragrance that includes either that you happen to love.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Resina by Oliver & CO. GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2Ex #Perfume #Giveaway #Oliver&Co

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 20th April 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 24th April 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.

 

CHANEL Prive Watch Coromandel Video

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Hello APJ Crew,

I know! This is way out of us plebeian income earners. Sometimes it’s nice to know not that you could have something but that there is a space in our world for such precious and beautiful artisanal work. Especially lovely when it comes from such a behemoth as CHANEL

Luxury-Insider says: “Mademoiselle Privé” watch, Coromandel dial in Grand Feu enamel. 18k white gold case, 594 snow-set dimonds (2.4 carats). Black alligator strap. Self-winding mechanical movement, 42-hour power reserve

Please enjoy the creation of wearable fashion art.

Portia xx

CHANEL Prive Watch Coromandel Luxury InsiderPhoto Stolen Luxury-Insider

MADEMOISELLE PRIVÉ Watch Collection: Coromandel – CHANEL

Blue Day: To Do List For Today

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 25 Comments

Hi APJ Family,

As we all know not everyday will be a FAB U LOUS one. Some days are full of seven thousand types of shit and heartache. Even if the day has been great doesn’t necessarily equate to happiness either. We are human, this is normal. We are not always dissectible emotionally. There are days when all we can do is count our blessings, be nice to ourselves and others and make it safely to the end of the day.

Some of my mates have a Facebook site dedicated to dealing with less that wonderful emotional rides. Here are some of the latest crop of pieces that resonated for me.

I hope they work as a hug to you all today.
Portia xx

To Do list

Everyone Else

I Love you self

Here’s the new DIOR Homme Cologne ad. I like it.

A Day In Paris with Denyse Beaulieu: Photo Essay

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 36 Comments

Heya Crew,

One of the most amazing things that has happened from finding the online fragrance blogging community, starting APJ and joining the Facebook fragrance groups has been the incredible people all over the world who I have been lucky enough to meet.

A Day In Paris with Denyse Beaulieu: Photo essay

Blogger, Author, Fragrance Muse & General Great Girl

Printemps Roof 2014 #1

Printemps Roof 2014 #2Printemps rooftop restaurant

Michael and I went first to the Printemps rooftop on our way to lunch. It’s a great way to get your bearings and see where everything else is around Paris. Sadly they were renovating the terrace and we could not go out. Still it was good for Michael to see. So where do you go when Printemps verandah is closed? Laduree of course.

Laduree Michael portia 2014Laduree (Michael doing his serial killer look)

Palais Royal Michael 2014Palais Royal Gardens

Then we met the very fun and elegant Denyse for lunch. If you haven’t read The Perfume Lover (available now in paperback $14 delivered at Book Depository) then you MUST!! It is the story of a romance which became a fragrance by Bertrand Duchaufour, Seville a l’Aube for L’Artisan Parfumeur. Denyse has written a book both personal and informative that was so fun and enjoyable that I’ve now reread it a couple more times.

Last year in Paris with Jin he had sussed out the best Korean restaurant in the city, a tiny little hole in the wall restaurant with seating for about 25 people and the full BarBQ set up called Seoul Opera (6 Rue Danielle Casanova). If you are in Paris walking on the Ave de l’Opera from the Hotel d’Louvre to the Opera turn left at the Kusmi Tea and it’s about 5 shops in. Unless you knew you would walk straight past it. Denyse had heard of it but never been so I was glad to take her to a Korean that Jin had found completely authentic, and delicious. I don’t know why we didn’t take any photos of lunch, it was super fun. Lovely to catch up with Denyse and hear her stories of life in fragrant Paris, love and writing. NOBODY can drop fragrant names like Denyse and she has a wicked fund of fabulous stories that had us sniggering like dirty little schoolboys. It would be SCANDALOUS if she ever wrote her stories down, like Jackie Collins for fragrance. Food was awesome and very reasonable, Jin had sent us a menu of 5 dishes and we left nothing.

Portia Jovoy 2014 #1

Denyse, Portia Jovoy 2014 #1

Denyse, Portia Michael Jovoy 2014 #1Jovoy

We then wandered up to Jovoy and Paris was putting on its kindest Winter face ever, remember that this was early February and we were expecting snow and freezing temps but to be honest it was merely cool and a jumper and scarf were all I needed during the days to be OK. The walk was beautiful and Denyse pointed out points of Interest for us. Michael was super thrilled as it was his first visit to Paris and he walked through in a completely fabulously overwhelmed daze.

Walking towards Place Vendome 2014

Place Vendome Michael 2014Place Vendome CdG

The crew at Jovoy are so friendly and could not have been more helpful or interested in making sure we smelled and understood EVERYTHING. My nose gave out after a couple of hours but Michael and Denyse were indefatigable. They both are very interested in the nuts and bolts of fragrance and they were very happy parsing and comparing. To be truthful I was COMPLETELY over sniffing at this point and couldn’t wait to get out of there. I went and stood out the front for about half an hour to calm the pounding in my head.

We were introduced to a lovely set of Parisian bloggers in Jovoy and Denyse was able to give us a preview of the newest L’Artisan offerings which smelled rather like 100% artificial candies to me. Not my favourite of their offerings in the new milieu.

Then Denuye took us to the IUNX shop in the Hotel Costes on Rue Saint Honoré where I happily grabbed Splash Forte, a favourite warm weather frag for me, Olivia Giacobetti has done a lovely job with the line and Michael picked that she was the perfumer straight away. Very cool call. While we were there a couple came in and bough 5 x 150ml bottles of fragrance, didn’t even bat an eyelid. I was completely thunderstruck.

Denyse Portia Costes: IUNX 2014Costes/IUNX

Then we had a lazy beverage in one of the suit bars near the Costes Hotel. It was a great place to finish our adventure before wandering Denyse to the Opera Metro. Isn’t she beautiful?

Denyse portia Goodbye 2014Opera Metro

It was pretty late and Michael & I had not done our Galleries Lafayette fragrance shopping yet. We both grabbed a bottle of DIOR’s Mitzah (I got the last 150ml bottle) and I also grabbed Guerlain’s Mon Precieux Nectar which I had wanted before last years visit to Paris but didn’t buy it then. FINALLY got it. We were so late and in such a rush that we only managed to capture these two pics. It was all extremely fun though. By then end of this we were absolutely exhausted.

Galleries Lafayette 2014

Galleries Lafayette Cieling 2014Galleries Lafayette

There you have it. A near perfect day in Paris with one of the fragrance world’s superstars. I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride. All photos were kindly donated by Michael and that’s why he is in so few of them, I know, he is rather lovely eye candy isn’t he?
Portia xx