CHANEL: Coco Mademoiselle: Mini Movie + Making of

January 4, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Heya.

We are cleaning the Perfume Room and giving it a new paint job. Also I am culling my collection, it’s so freaking painful I can’t write, sorry. It’s quite a BIG DEAL so over the next couple of days I am dropping in some Video stuff that I’ve found interesting, educational or took me outside my box. Some of it is ONE TOPIC but some will also be TOTALLY OFF TOPIC!

CHANEL: Coco Mademoiselle: Mini Movie + Making of

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Kiera Knightly, CHANEL, beige catsuit, motorbike and a super dooper budget shot in what looks to me like Paris. YES PLEASE!!

Enjoy!
Portia xx

Coco Mademoiselle: Behind The Scenes – CHANEL

Coco Mademoiselle: The Film – CHANEL

Vulnerability: Brené Brown at TEDxHouston

January 3, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Hello lovely fragrant people,

We are cleaning the Perfume Room and giving it a new paint job. It’s quite a BIG DEAL so over the next couple of days I am dropping in some Video stuff that I’ve found interesting, educational or took me outside my box. Some of it is ONE TOPIC but some will also be TOTALLY OFF TOPIC!

Photo Stiolen TEDxHouston

Vulnerability: Brené Brown at TEDxHouston

Today I am introducing you to someone who changed the way I think about how I live my life. You may know I have had some low level depression over the years, nothing dramatic, just a buzz of blue flying low for a while that would disappear as it had come. Part of what my problems were was exactly what Brené Brown talks about here. Opening myself up to being vulnerable. Now Brené Brown wasn’t the first person to give me this blueprint for a happier life, though she does put it better and more amusingly than others, but as I was already beginning the road to change when I heard her speak the resonance was incredible. Give this smart, funny, insightful person a few minutes of your time and she may help you change outmoded behaviour patterns that you are using, or maybe just because it’s a very entertaining watch.

From Wikipedia
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, under the slogan “ideas worth spreading”.
TED was founded in 1984 as a one-off event. The annual conference began in 1990, in Monterey, California. TED’s early emphasis was technology and design, consistent with its origins in the Silicon Valley.

TED Site <<<JUMP for anyone inspired, anywhere in the world, who would like to go and be a part of these amazing talks.

Please enjoy the amazing……..

Brené Brown at TEDxHouston

La Myrrhe GIVEAWAY WINNERS

January 1, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Heya APJ,

Val the Cookie Queen tells me that the winners of the La Myrrhe giveaway are

Devon H

Carolyn

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! The winners have till Saturday 4th January 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.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 APJ

December 31, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 51 Comments

Bittersweet Hellos Fellow Fumies,

The year is ending. Another chapter closed and no matter how good or bad 2013 was we can never go back there again. We have had a fantastic fun year at APJ with nearly 20 regular contributors and some very exciting extras. Thank you all for coming and reading, commenting, chatting, bringing us into your daily routine or contributing, you have all helped make Australian Perfume Junkies something I am extremely proud of. A team effort.

There will be some changing and rearranging through 2014, a little facelift, more reviews, more life and even more fabulous giveaways and competitions.

I, Portia, am grateful that you are part of this little family. You all make my day, every day, with this magic space we have created….

Photo Stolen Jian Awe Flickr

Please have a Happy and Safe New Years Celebration. Waft into 2014 ready for success, health, wealth and happiness. It may not happen but if you are ready then it will be more fun.

Many of us are less than happy at this time. Take the time in 2014 to help yourself heal. Our warmest and most heartfelt hug to you all. It won’t always be this bad but it may not get better soon, push through and forward. Stick around, if nothing else our rampant ramblings here at APJ may give you a smile now and then.

I have been cleaning out the Perfume Room, there will be a huge cull soon and a Sale list. Here is a snap of most of the collection, there are 4 boxes that didn’t fit on the table. I am bragging but also heartily ashamed of my gluttony. It will slow in 2014……… Maybe…….

So farewell 2013 and WELCOME 2014.

Photo Stolen DeselmsTeam

The incredible story of how leopard Diabolo became Spirit: Doco

December 30, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Hey APJ,

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Today we are going way off topic to animal communication and interaction with humans. This is a 13 minute story of Diablo the black panther and his life change to Spirit. There is a certain amount of Woo Woo and other stuff I’m not 100% on board with but the results speak volumes, and that’s enough for me.

Enjoy

The incredible story of how leopard Diabolo became Spirit

Smell Bent Holiday Limited Editions 2013/4

December 30, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hey Niche Nerds and Indie Lovers,

Every year Brent Leonesio from Smell Bent and his crew create a madcap/wonderful range of seasonal scent specialties, this year has been no different and I ordered myself a set of the 4ml EdTs this year to see what the buzz would be about. I have reviewed my favourite 3 from the 5 piece set today, they are the most Pop-Out-And-Surprise for me. They are available for purchase till February 2014 but don’t wait, they are awesome…

Smell Bent Holiday Limited Editions 2013/4

Gimme A Break

Smell Bent gives these featured accords:
Silky patchouli, smokey wood, sheer jasmine and sultry musk drenched in sticky honeycomb

My skin amps the musks in Gimme A Break and it smells like a hookers Christmas panties, tenacity is extreme. I spritzed it last night at around 10pm and have had 2 swims since then yet still I can smell dirty patchouli, jasmine and musks. I think it doesn’t smell as intended on me, but maybe it does. Naughty!! It is excellent under other fragrances too to reinvigorate a thinner reformulation, my Mitsouko modern smells positively vintage with it.

Pere Noël Coward

Smell Bent gives these featured accords:
Sweet immortelle, atlas cedar, jasmine, fir balsam and pinon sap

Dry, dusty, woodpile with the teeniest hint of syrup and a nod to the sauna. Pere Noël Coward is intensely woody and I feel like a lumberjack when I wear it. Oddly disconcerting but fun, wearing this is like playing dress ups. Brent has a way of making the most deliciously nuanced and interesting fragrant rides. I am not a person for whom the season normally matters for frag wearing but I am going to save my Pere Noël Coward for Europe in Jan/Feb where I think it will be perfection, right now it’s opening is almost a caricature. I get around the 5-7 hour mark in summer here.

Snobirds

Smell Bent gives these featured accords:
Orange flower, aged amber, candied resins and dark patchouli spiced with cardamom and golden ginger

Snobirds is my favourite of the 2013/4 Holiday set. Gourmand, spicy, amber with cake-ish depths and glace fruit heights. You want to smell delicious, edible and sexy? This is your friend. Bakery with a sensual backbeat, I received my set about 3 weeks ago and Snobirds has seen more wear than the others put together. YUMMY McYUMMY!

Smell Bent has the 5 in a 4ml each Travel Set for only $28,
add their current Frankinsmellie as an extra and it only comes to $33 (that is what I grabbed)

Wishing you a wonderful, joyful, peaceful and profitable 2014, filled with good health, great friends and some of whatever it is that you like.
Portia xx

Holiday Wishes 2013/4: DIOR, CHANEL mini movies

December 30, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hiya Holiday Campers,

Here are a couple of the beautiful Holiday Wish series the big guns are putting out this year. They are getting less outrageously gorgeous each year and a bit generic, these are two of the better offerings.

Holiday Wishes: DIOR, CHANEL

Dior Holidays wishes 2013/4

Photo Stolen Jerine Lay Flickr

CHANEL Holiday Wishes 2013/4

Fragrance Bros: Daver’s Bookshelf: Essence & Alchemy by Mandy Aftel

December 29, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hiya Fumie Friends,

Photo Stolen Book Depository $18 with World Wide Delivery

Today we are meeting Davers from the Fragrance Bros who will be talking Essence and Alchemy by Mandy Aftel. I hope you enjoy meeting him and seeing his take on a book that was so interesting , sometimes way over my head and full of re readable bits that I needed to digest and then come back to.

Hope you are loving your holidays.

Portia x

Oud Luban by Mandy Aftel for Aftelier 2012

December 28, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Hey Gang,

Mandy Aftel, of Aftelier Perfumes, is one of our favourite Independent perfumers here at APJ. She is American small batch perfumery at its finest. Not only is she a great perfumer but also writes books about fragrance creation, notes and their many sources, chemistry, uses and functions (Essence and Alchemy) and another on its way soon. There is also a book on living your life well (The Story Of Your Life). On top of all this through my interactions and the general interactions of everyone I’ve spoken to Mandy Aftel is a great girl, filled with the joy of life.

Oud Luban by Mandy Aftel for Aftelier 2012

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Elemi resin, orange, blood orange, olibanum
Base: Agarwood (oud), opoponax, benzoin, patchouli, resins

The opening of resinous citrus is intense and vegetal, the sweetest oudh I’ve yet smelled and very much like putting your nose into citrus pith after eating the meat near a freshly turned, healthy compost heat and a waxy flavourless lip balm feeling of both softness and being caged. I also get a grated carrot, fresh, vegetable but sweet scent that is always unexpected but inviting.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/theklan/10655976393/player/a32bb85234

I am spared almost any barnyard, poo or band aid, but now I’ve thought band aid I do get a little of it. It’s a hint and may be because I thought it as it’s never featured in previous wearings. Oud Luban is like an Oudh Lite. It’s pretty, wearable and sensual. I am reminded of the smell of Art Galleries, airy, light, dusty and waxed. The resins offer a sweetness that is also earthy but earthy is a bad analogy, Sky/Earth, tree-ish. But a tree still alive and growing. Oud Luban is the scent of the freedom of climbing trees, and scrub and bushland. Humanity there is too as Oud Lubin becomes softer, warmer, I am a spicy skinned sensual adventurer. Towards dry down my skin smells a bit boat-ish, that salty sweet smell of woods/resins/leather/saltwater but the one constant through the whole crazy ride of Oud Luban Extrait is how sexy it lets me feel. The end is not certain as Oud Luban sinks gently into my skin and I am sure it’s not all gone after 5 hours and a swim, but maybe I do smell this good.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

Further reading: SmellyThoughts and The Alembicated Genie
Aftelier Perfumes has 3 extrait sizes $6/.25ml sample, $55/2ml mini, $195/7.5ml

What are your favourite Independent fragrances? Do you wear any of Mandy Aftel’s creations? Are there some I should seek out?
See you tomorrow,

Portia x

L’Instant de Guerlain EdP by Maurice Roucel for Guerlain 2003

December 27, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Hello Frag Nerds,

Sometimes while swanning around the department store I go check out the frag counters even though we don’t get all the good stuff that the world gets. Sometimes I get a lovely surprise when we have the goods and I spritz away. Never have I ever even thought about spritzing todays fragrance, I don’t know why but it always gets overlooked. well, my buddy Birgit from Olfactoria’s Travels recently sent me a care package and inside was a 5ml boxed manufacturers sample of…

L’Instant de Guerlain by Maurice Roucel for Guerlain 2003

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, mandarin, red apple
Heart: Iris, magnolia, ylang ylang, jasmine
Base: Musk, honey, vanilla, benzoin, amber

So right out of the gate I get a sweet, resinous toffee that is sticky and sweet, all warm sugary deliciousness. Citrus and most of the flowers are bypassed in favour of a very edible candy/confectionary scent that is reminiscent of a thing we have in Australia called a Musk Stick. They have been one of my favourite lollies since childhood but Jin wont eat them because he thinks it’s like eating soap. There is definite soapy reference in L’Instant and it has a clean feel without all the usual connotations of blandness and the current overuse of laundry stylings in fragrance. Though they are not the same I am reminded of JPG Le Male a bit, L’Instant has that same hefty, dense, sweetness that is both insistent and moreish. A hint of baklava even, mmmmmmmm

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Guerlain is so good at this stuff. Clearly the success of L’Instant became a beacon to celebuscenters everywhere. The style and warm vivacity that is so deliciously enjoyable here is reflected in many of the celeb offerings of the last 10 years. Guerlain does it better, of course. I’m surprised there is no almond note because I can smell some yummy toasted almonds too.

L’Instant is pretty, sweet and very easy wearing. The bottle is beautiful and I can understand why it’s a big hit for Guerlain. You could give this to someone 16 or 86 and they would both smell beautiful wearing it. Longevity on my skin is under 4 hours of fragrant and then another couple of hours of very soft base notes that really do give me a vanilla, amber, almond blur. Lovely.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: I Scent You A Day
Beauty Encounter has $52/50ml
My Perfume Samples has EdP starting from $3/ml to $9/5ml

Do you ever get a pleasant surprise from something you’ve bypassed for years? Tell me, I love to read your stories too.
Portia xx