Portia

Shit Fragrance Heads Say: Fragrance Bros. Video

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Heya APJ,

I love the Fragrance Bros. they do loads of fun videos, great reviews, they host splits and have built up a really wonderful community around them. Here from Daver we hear a bunch of stuff that frag heads say, if you didn’t think we had a vocabulary to ourselves then this video should dispel your misconceptions.

Fragrance Bros LogoFragrance Bros.photo

Also, if you understand more than 30% of the conversation then you are already firmly entrenched in perfumista-hood. Welcome to the clan. We are weird but we smell great.

Enjoy the video,

Portia xx

Metamorphosis, an Hermès story: Video

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

G’Day Gang,

I love how the big companies put out these fun films. Yes, their products are amazing, and yes I covet so many of them. See below pictured Ostrich Birkin. What I really love about these fils is that there are a wealth of creatives and artists making them. So much wonderful scope for the making of magic. That’s one of the reasons I search so many of these video-ettes out for you all, so they continue to have a need for artists to make magic. Oh, and because they are also fun stress relief.

Enjoy.

Portia xx

Hermes_Ostrich_Birkin_Bag WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Metamorphosis, an Hermès story

Luci ed Ombre by Giuseppe Imprezzabile for Masque 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Shhh! Niche Nerds?

Something NEW? Something FABULOUS? I don’t know either. It just arrived and I want to test run it with you. Let’s do it together. Yes, I know, you need three or four wears to get a feel for a fragrance, sometimes your chemistry or the temperature is wrong, i know. Come on, let’s do it anyway and see how it is. It will be fun, even if it’s absolute shite, doesn’t matter…

Luci ed Ombre by Giuseppe Imprezzabile for Masque 2013

Luci ed Ombre Masque FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Incense
Heart: Moss, Tuberose, jasmine, ginger
Base: Patchouli, cedar, olibanum

The opening incense is warmer and sweeter than expected, a very spicy resinous and honeyed incense that matches none in my collection. So pretty and exactly a smell I could imagine myself wearing regularly. I just went and checked. Luci ed Ombre reminds me most of a Korean incense I have but it lacks the bitter undertones. My skin often skews fragrances a bit sweeter and I am glad in this instance because Luci ed Ombre is magic on my skin. I also get some sweet fruit in the mix like a canned peach or nearly over ripe, sun warmed mango straight off an Aam Wallah’s cart in India. The tuberose and jasmine are clean until you hit the full on heart and then we smell some breath, not a lot but enough to warrant mention, and the ginger playing back up after its zing in the opening is still a very pretty counterpoint to what is largely a resinous fragrance with what may be the moss acting as a mediator. Patchouli? I’m not really getting patchouli, this could very easily be me as we al know my sniffer is regularly off point, but I did do a comparison with my patchouli essential oil and there is no resemblance for me in Luci ed Ombre. Maybe it’s a super clean version aromachemical and I can’t get it.

 Luci ed Ombre Masque Mango Wallah Kiran Jonnalagadda FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Do you ever think something is absolutely heart stoppingly gorgeous but worry that it might be a little generic? This is my worry here. A couple of times while Michael & I were overseas I would pass him something that I was swooning over and he was totally meh, that’s just this aromachemical or that boring overused note and though I am quite good at trusting my own judgement sometimes when the magic is taken away, the sparkly washed matte, it can not be replaced or reignited. One of the things stopping me becoming a serious perfumista who knows all the notes and aromachemicals is how much understanding the process may dilute my total enjoyment of fragrance overall, that WOW Factor of a first inhale that is all about the joy. It would make me sad to lose that.

Luci ed Ombre Masque Tuberose Carolyn Jewel FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

So my vote here is GORGEOUS! A winner and as soon as I finish this decant a split or FB in my future, probably very near future.

Further reading: Now Smell This has the ad copy as an introduction to the range
First In Fragrance has €150/100ml + Samples
LuckyScent has $215/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/.5ml

Have you jumped in and tried any of the Masque fragrances yet. I see there are some reviews on other sites about different scents in the range. Do you think it will be the next big thing?
Portia xx

 

Chenonceau by Marlen Harrison for King`s Palace Perfumery 2014 + GIVEAWAY

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Hi All you Fraggir Friends and Family,

Today we are having a look at one of my mates new ventures, and I knew he was bringing out a range but had no idea he was also the perfumer. WOW! Marlen sent me three fragrances to experience and today we will look at the first of them that I’ve tried.

Chenonceau by Marlen Harrison for King`s Palace Perfumery 2014

Chenonceau King`s Palace Perfumery FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Vanilla, cacao pod, tonka bean, iris, musk, amber

Right, it comes in a lovely velvet pouch. A 5ml roller ball and is a fragrant oil. Recently I was at lunch with my friend Natalie from Another Perfume Blog and we decided to test it together and we both a had a few other beauties to test the same day. I didn’t let her know that I was testing Chenonceau for a mate or even that I had any interest other than intellectual and of course fragrantical. Well, I swiped a little bit across the back of my hand and we didn’t need to dive in and smell because it bloomed like no tomorrow there in the cafe. In fact, instantly the cafe smelled like a fabulously elegant bakery and people looked to see where Chenonceau’s amazing scent came from. Mixed in with the coffee, food and humanity Chenonceau carved right into the groove and took over.

Chenonceau King`s Palace Perfumery postcard Roger Wollstadt FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

A dry, dusty vanilla that is a cake browned browned on top. I don’t know if you ever made Tea Cakes with your Mum but that is exactly the memory I get from Chenonceau. Jin says it smells like the warm cuddly inside of a house in freezing winter and I agree, there is a firey heat burning and drying out the air, coffee and cake or toast with lashings of butter and an old granny rug. It’s furry and human, a little bed head-ish and sweet like just out of a hot bath skin drying in front of the fire or heater.

How does so much wonderful image come from a swipe of fragrance? There are the bee’s waxy resins that I use on the table to keep it water proof and healthy, face powder, pine cones, fake snow that you spray on the windows, the warmth of a kiss and the exciting prelude before it, chesterfield sofa. My mind whirls with lovely images for a few minutes and then the fragrance calms and I smell much less intense, a warm soft place of comfort, a place to rest and read or just breathe. It’s fluffy and powdery goodness will delight you if it’s the kind of fragrance you like, which I do.

Chenonceau King`s Palace Perfumery Chateau_de_Chenonceau WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

After the initial fireworks Chenonceau calms to a perfectly wearable scent that will last you 8hours or more and the price is so ridiculously affordable AND you are doing good too.

From King’s Palace Perfumery: Chenonceau, a gourmand, unisex blend of vanilla, chocolate, and ambery musks inspired by the infamous castle on the water in France’s Loire Valley. Chenonceau is a hand-blended, unisex fragrance oil (alcohol, phthalate & paraben free) made from both natural and manmade ingredients sourced from the USA, UAE, Reunion, France, Australia and India.
In keeping with King’s Palace Perfumery’s charitable mission, 10% of all Chenonceau purchases will be donated to The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, https://www.michaeljfox.org/.

Further reading: Now Smell This introduces the line
King’s Palace Perfumery has an ETSY store and a 5ml Rollerball is only $22

giveaway TheTruthAboutMummyPhoto Stolen TheTruthAboutMummy

Chenonceau GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will each get:
1 x 1ml sample of Chenonceau oil by King`s Palace Perfumery
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 palace garden, a perfume that makes you think of history or a fragrant oil that you happen to love.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Chenonceau by King`s Palace Perfumery GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2Mn #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 11th May 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 15th May 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.

Portia xx

 

 

CHANEL featuring Kristen Stewart: Making of

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Lovely APJ Peeps!

Here is a sneak peek at the creating of CHANEL’s newest Kristen Stewart advertising. Though I am no great fan of Kristen in this particular piece she shines and Mr Karl Lagerfield taking the shots and art directing make the whole piece feel like a historical event. I am loving the Americana in the fashion and enjoyed the video immensely.

I hope you do too.

Portia x

chanel-designer-fashion-zipper Jerine Lay FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

CHANEL featuring Kristen Stewart

Métiers d’Art Paris-Dallas advertising campaign: Making of

Tuberosa by Enrico Buccella for Les Voiles Depliees 2013(?)

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Hiya Fragrance Feinds,

You may remember my post about Michael & my time at First In Fragrance and how much fun we had, how welcoming they were and how much stuff we bought. It was a wonderful couple of days and we couldn’t have smelled more if we tried. Believe me, we tried!

First In Fragrance 2014 #8Beate, the most wonderful, warm and clever lady.  SO knowledgeable.

By the end my nose was broken, completely burned out. Today’s fragrance was one I tried after complete and utter burnout, it sang to me through my anosmia and filled me with joy.

Tuberosa by Enrico Buccella for Les Voiles Depliees 2013(?)

Tuberosa Les Voiles Depliees FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange, neroli
Heart: Tuberose
Base: Amber, patchouli

From the man who brought us the Cerchi Nell’Acqua and Sigilli lines and created Alambar for Laboratorio Olfattivo comes his newest line Les Voiles Depliees. A sensibly priced range that comes in blocky, sleek, modern, funky 50ml bottles. The bottles are not beautiful nor particularly comfortable to hold, and the labels are less than glamorous too with no company name just the fragrance. It all seems like the prototype has been put out on the sale racks, I feel something decidedly unfinished about the whole experience.

I tell you what though, take the fat, square plastic lid off and give yourself a squirt. Just one will be enough. And SWEET! This is the loveliest soapy orange that I’ve ever smelled, there is a lolly-ish tinge to it too that reminds me of pink musk sticks and a synthetic squeal that makes me think of hairspray. I am smiling while sitting here typing. Having worn Tuberosa for about an hour tonight already I am well into the tuberose heartland, it’s super sweet and still green, there is a run your finger down a daffodil leaf, sappy green-ness that is both waxyTuberosa Les Voiles Depliees Tuberose Wikipedia and verdantly lush. This tuberose is fun and flirty with a sensual warmth floating through the heart. Cleaner than I usually like, not a lot of breath or bed head, and wearable without ruining dinner.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Longevity is great, even on my usually scent hungry skin I’m getting over 5 hours fully fragrant. Nice journey, though the patchouli is so clean I hardly even notice it, no I don’t notice it at all unless there’s a smidge hiding beneath the amber which isn’t a large player either. Tuberosa is a white flower highlight fragrance, not a soliflor because there is a byplay between the tuberose and orange, I also get some lovely banana reminders (like those banana lollies) and whispers of other tropical fruits.

I’m pretty sure that Tuberosa is built around aromachemicals with only a very few naturals or isolates mixed through but still it is pretty, fun and totally wearable. I layered it after a good couple of hours with Chillum by La Via Del Profumo and together they were a fabulous match. All the dirt and raunch that has been removed was back with a vengeance. AWESOME!

First In Fragrance has €60/50ml and samples

Have you tried the line? Do you know any of Enrico Buccella’s work? Does any of it stand out for you?
Please chat with me, I love to read your views.
Portia xx

 

DIOR Addict 2014 Ad Campaign + Review

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Heya Fragrance and Visual art lovers,

Sometimes the advertisements are even more iconic than the scents. Did I just write sometimes? Anyway, here is a fabulous set up: Russian catwalk model Sasha Luss, photographed by Ryan McGinley for Christain DIOR. I grabbed this from one of my favourite fashion online mags: art8amby.

Dior Addict 2014 #2

Dior Addict 2014 #4

Dior Addict 2014 #1

Dior Addict 2014 #3(source)

DIOR Addict by Thierry Wasser for DIOR 2002

Dior Addict Dior FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin leaves, mulberry flowers
Heart: Night queen flower, Bulgarian rose, orange flower
Base: Bourbon vanilla, sandal wood, Tonka bean

Victoria at Bois et Jasmin sums DIOR Addict up perfectly: While my relationship with Addict is ridden with ambivalence at best, I would rather be intrigued by a fragrance than bored.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Perfume Posse
FragranceX has $104/50ml
My Perfume Samples starts at $3/ml to $9/5ml

Did you run away screaming, roll your eyes or move in for a closer sniff? Have you walked past again and again over the last 12 years? Aren’t you the least bit curious?
Portia xx

The Incredible Power Of Concentration – Miyoko Shida: Video

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Hey Y’All,

Here’s another amazing piece I re-found in my YouTube trawlings. While you may have seen Myoko Shida before sometimes it pays to watch incredible control and ability, the zone in action, to remind you that there is such a thing and that we’ve all been there. Many people call it flow, where you are creating and everything falls into place exactly. This is a perfect example of it for me and when I watch this video I am reminded how life should be like a swan in the water. Graceful to the eye but paddling furiously underneath.

Be well and peaceful, even if it’s just for 2 minutes, today. Close your eyes and think only about your breathing for 10-20 breaths, analyse them, slow them and make it feel like you’ve filled all the way down to your stomach with air before releasing slowly. Then slowly open your eyes and senses to the world again refreshed.

Portia xxx

 The Incredible Power Of Concentration – Miyoko Shida: Video

Miyoko Shida ex uaPhoto Stolen ExUa

NEWS! NEWS!! Kentucky Bourbon Rose by SOIVOHLE 2014. Limited Edition

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments
Hello lovelies,What a wonderful bit of excitement this is. Liz Zorn has done a short run of 25 bottles of extrait and we are the first in with the news. Thanks Linda for the tip off. Below is stolen directly from the SOIVOHLE website and if you are buying here is the contact email sales@soivohle.comPortia xx

Kentucky Bourbon Rose

This Saturday is Derby Day. To be precise Kentucky Derby Day. To celebrate my Kentucky roots and birth state I am releasing Kentucky Bourbon Rose on Saturday. This is a Numbered Edition of 25/4.5ml bottles.

soivohle-image.jpg

We will have a pre-order period beginning today. Included in all pre order packages will be an  early release 11ml atomizer of our Spring 2014 Limited Release: Magnolia 826 eau fraiche. Magnolia 826 will be available mid-May.

If we sell out during the pre-launch all orders will ship with the Magnolia 826.

Orders placed with a May 3rd or later date stamp will not have the Magnolia 826.

There are only 25 bottles in this edition that was created over a period of years. A fine Kentucky Bourbon was tinctured with organic Mexican Vanilla Beans to create the carrier/base for the parfum.

Rose Absolutes from Morocco, Bulgaria and Egypt were blended with a harmonious accord of spices including a touch of clove and cinnamon, with a natural oakmoss accord that included green and brown oakmoss. The concentration is +50%.

To insure that this is a truly artistic work there was no formula kept, no notes taken or measurements of any kind recorded other than the amount of carrier to materials used.

Kentucky Bourbon Rose will never be made again..

Jasmine Awards Australia 2014 + Photo Essay

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 71 Comments

Hey there APJ,

Imagine, it’s the 21st of January 2014 and I get an email from Jordan River of The Fragrant Man, and a contributor here at APJ. Normally an effusive writer, even in emails, I was surprised to get this “These are the Australian Jasmine Awards for Fragrance writing” and a link. Now I love hosting awards ceremonies, or even chaperoning nominees, and the whole general hubub of excitement that these things generate. Through the years I have been nominated for many awards and won a few too but I find the whole experience debilitating. Australians may understand me when I write Ja’mie from We Can Be Heroes, played by Chris Lillie. For everyone else when awards come knocking I turn into a freak. I pretend to the world they mean nothing but inside I do a complete about face and it becomes my whole universe, eating me up night and day and when it comes to the awards presentation I am so invested that losing can send me into a downward spiral. Let’s just say I prefer not to put myself in that position.

On the other hand, what a splendid opportunity for the rest of the APJ crew to get a spotlight moment. I zipped off an email to everyone that writes for us to send in their posts as entries. I didn’t note that the author had to be in Australia to be considered so a few of the crew entered but were very politely told no. I’m not sure how many did enter but Ainslie Walker put in a few of hers, she couldn’t decide on one and I told her my favourite post so she put that in and a couple of others. Then we basically forgot about the whole shebang.

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Jasmine Awards Australia 2014

Then Ainslie gets a reminder that she has been nominated and asked if she was coming, to which she asked if she could take me. Everything always feels safer, easier and more fun with a friend and at that time we hoped Chairman Meow would be joining us also (BUM, she couldn’t make it). It was all arranged, right down to our outfits and fragrance choices both of which changed on the morning of course. Did I mention MORNING? 8 am. I know that doesn’t sound early to you all but I’m not home and out of drag till 11pm, I need to do my blogging and generally wind down so it’s usually around 3am I hit the hay. 8AM dressed. ready, in town at venue is basically unheard of for me.

When we walked in, Ainslie in an aqua parachute silk dress with rolled over shoulder sleeve slits and a huge Vivienne Westwood bag in matching aqua and purple looking super elegant and spiffy and I in a black skivvy, jeans a deep, deep aqua sports coat and bright aqua longline handmade shoes it was clear that we were OTHER. Fiona Keogh greeted us and showed us where to sit, bummed I didn’t get a photo of the girls together, thanks Fiona for being a sweetheart. What we walked into was a fashion plate show of extremely thin, gorgeous mainly women in cocktail dresses, hair perfect, makeup as heavy as a drag queen with that totally natural look and all about the tonal shadings and tricks. WOW! We’d walked onto the set of Dynasty.

Without doing a head count there were about 100-120 uber fabulous people in the room and they all seemed to know each other. We were lucky enough to be at great seats on a central table towards the back with a view of the stage, room and butterflies within as well as Darling harbour directly over our shoulders. We shared with some lovely people who made us feel very welcome right from the start, Rozy was on Ainslie’s right and Koula Zerefos was on my left. I wish I had taken notes but what they do has completely fallen out of my head, as have the names of the other groups at our table SORRY!

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You may not have noticed in the photo essay but Ainslie WON!!! Yes, we have a Jasmine Award winning writer here at APJ. There were 6 awards and Ainslie took home Best Blog Post for her Tom Ford: Meet-Up with Matthew Tyler: International Director of Tom Ford Beauty post. WOW! Other winners were from tomes as illustrious as Vogue Australia

The whole event was totally fun and Ainslie was perfect, so poised and confident. As you can see she also managed to schmooze most of the room including the judges, hosts and fashion and beauty icons from some of the biggest magazines and houses. A complete triumph and my pride for and in Ainslie is boundless.

Ainslie + Portia Jasmine 2014

2014 Jasmine Awards – Winning Articles

Jasmine Award for Journalistic Excellence
Sigourney Cantelo
‘Distilling Provence’ Vogue Australia
July 2013

Best In-depth Feature on Fragrance
Sigourney Cantelo, Vogue Australia
Distilling Provence

Best Short Feature on Fragrance
Aimee Leabon, Prevention magazine
Heaven Scent

Best Visual Story on Fragrance
Sarah Brooks-Wilson, Instyle Magazine
Instyle Fragrance Awards 2013

Best Practical Guide to Fragrance
Sigourney Cantelo, Vogue Australia
Scents of Style

Best Online Feature on Fragrance
Kristina Ioannou, dropdeadgorgeousdaily.com.au
Eaux so In Love

Best Blog Post on Fragrance
Ainslie Walker, AustralianPerfumeJunkies.com
Tom Ford Meet Up

This is just the beginning Ainslie Walker.

Portia xx