Divine EdP by Richard Ibanez and Yann Vasnier for Divine 1986

October 13, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Heya BWF Freaks and everyone else too!

The other day at lunch with my buddy Cassandra and she passed across a decant of something I may have heard about but seriously had no recollection of, we had eaten and it was super sniffa time: this was maybe the 10th or 15th frag that had been spritzed on touches. It was like my whole body went en pointe.

Divine EdP by Divine 1986

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Tuberose, peach, coriander
Heart: Orange blosson, rose, spices, patchouli, gardenia, jasmine
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, musk, oakmoss

Divine is the most aptly named fragrance I’ve come across in ages. WOWIE!! Straight out of the spritzer and WHOOOSH Big White Flowers and peachy/coriander skank bomb. The tuberose is excellent and lushly indolic, I am surprised there is no ylang here because I am reminded of its sensual lushness, maybe it’s the orange blossom/tuberose melange. So this smells like money, good old fashioned money spent on VERY sexy ladies who dress well and swear like truck drivers. A wall of old school glamour from when fragrance was used as a weapon in the arsenal of the huntress. Divine is what movie stars of a certain age must still be wearing.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Sold as a chypre (Arielle at Scents Of Self writes that a Chypre is defined by a lack of florals) so my conclusion is then FlOriental. With a super Double WOW! So reminiscent of bygone fragrances, deep and soft and satin sheened fragrant magic. The heart stays BWF on me but slowly I can smell the bases creeping in, underneath to bolster but not obscure. The creeping and sneaking continues until suddenly you’re left wondering how the dark green woodsy vanilla has overcome the spicy, sensual florals and now are in charge. The white flowers are still there though, just quietly humming along and adding a breathy counterpoint to one of the prettiest drydowns still left in modern perfumery.

Photo Stolen HollywoodDreamLand

Wear time 6-8 hours and heat helps Divine bloom even more invitingly, though it wears beautifully in the cool also and will be gorgeous in the snow. This is a BIG perfume in a genre nearly forgotten. People say it’s high, dressy evening but I will be more likely to wear it selfishly for cleaning, shopping and other drudgeries that need a glamorous something to help me endure them. Divine may become my paperwork fragrance.

Further reading: I Smell Therefore I Am and EauMG
Divine has an online boutique that sends to the world. I just went and bought 20ml Parfum for 140€ shipped to Australia.
LuckyScent has refillable 50ml goldtone atomisers $120
Surrender To Chance starts at $3/ml

Have you tried this? Can you believe it?
Portia xx

Kidnapped For Christ – Official Trailer

October 13, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Hiya APJ Family and Friends,

This is the story of Escuela Caribe, an evangelical Christian reform school that kidnaps young adults and through abuse and regimentation tries to change them. I am appalled and so sad for these kids, imagine your parents feeling that this is the answer to homosexuality instead of love and acceptance. I’m sorry but I see very little of Jesus in the actions of the adults here. There is nothing scarier than evil done in the name of good. My memory of Jesus teachings was to love yourself, your brother, neighbour, family, the world and everything in it. LOVE everybody and let God judge.

Sorry if this is preachy or offensive to anyone. I think that this should be known about and talked about and stopped.

Sometimes the world makes me so sad that I’m left feeling absolutely helpless: awash and drowning in the sadness caused by this kind of horror.

Thank you Tamsin Simmill for bringing this movie to my attention.

Further reading: Abuse In The Name Of Christianity<<<JUMP

Rive d’Ambre (Atelier d’Orient) by Olivier Gillotin for Tom Ford 2013

October 12, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Hello Ford Fans,

Tom Ford is an icon in his own right nowadays and still is doing amazing stuff in so many directions. When you look at some of the designers fragrance division it is so obviously a money grab whereas the Tom Ford fragrance line, produced with Estee Lauder, mostly sails so far above the rest that they feel like they deserve to be this expensive. Though to be fair if they were a third less the price I would probably own FBs of them all instead of just one. Are you reading Tom? So midway through 2013 the Tom Ford crew released a set of four new frags under the Atelier d’Orient subcategory

Rive d’Ambre (Atelier d’Orient) by Tom Ford 2013

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Citruses, amber, bergamot, bitter orange, tolu balsam, lemon, cognac, cardamom, tarragon, mint

Boy! There has been some terrible reviews for Rive d’Amber. If you adore Tom Ford’s fragrances for their enormousness then Rive d’Amber will leave you howling for more. To be as honest as I can I too am a little disappointed. The open is so lavish and citrus-y, it’s flirty, fun, fizzy and day-glo brightness is enough to chase the blues away, seriously. What a stunning opening. As the initial heat burns off there is a lovely green-ness that works beautifully with the citrus to bring some light and shade. So good, I enjoy it immensely.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

Sydney is in 30+C heat today and Rive d’Amber fits the bill exactly for about 30 minutes when it becomes a very soft amber with just a hint of citrus memory floating through, so soft a skin scent that lets my skins fragrance shine through, like they are working in tandem. After two hours I’m basically left with a very soft wash of nothing, I think Mona di Orio did the same idea but much better carriede out in her Vanille. Rive d’Amber is not a bad fragrance but it’s also not the way I want my scent to live. I’m going to give the rest of my decant to one of Jin’s friends, I know she will love it for exactly what it is. For me, please pass the Neroli Portifino.

Photo Stolen Jennifer McCready… Flickr

Further reading: Kafkaesque and Notable Scents
Tom Ford is available in some Department Stores next to the Estee Lauder counter
Surrender To Chance starts at $4/.5ml

Thanks for dropping by,

See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Niche & Mainstream Manufacturers Sample GIVEAWAY OCT13

October 11, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 37 Comments

Hey There APJ!!

I have a bunch of 10 carded and boxed Manufacturers Samples that I have tried, written about and loved or not. They are lying around in my office and will never be looked at again. A couple of them are only half full but others are only 2 spritzes used or brand new that I have doubles of. So what better way to share the love than a FABULOUS GIVEAWAY!!

Niche & Mainstream Manufacturers Sample GIVEAWAY

Photo Stolen hemodernhome

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

The winner will receive one each of these Manufacturers Samples:

Flash Back by Olfactive Studio
Acqua Di Gio Essenza by Giorgio Armani
Accord 119 by Caron
Jour d’Hermès by Hermes
Esvedra by Laboratorio Olfattivo
Coco Noir by CHANEL
Modern Muse by Estee Lauder
Guilietta by Tocca
Angeliques Sous La Pluie by Frederic Malle
Treffpunkt 8 Uhr by J F Schwartzlose Berlin

P&H Anywhere in the world

Photo Stolen Feedio

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.

All I need is you to say a perfume on your wish list, and why, and how you follow for you to be eligible for the draw.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie PERFUME SAMPLE GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-246 #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 13th October 2013 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, put on a tray and Jin will pick a winner (unless he asleep or studying then I’ll use random.org).
The winners will have till Wednesday 16th October 2013 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.

Good Luck everyone,

Portia xx

Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise Prank Video

October 11, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hello APJ Crew,

This came into my inbox the other day. They are remaking the 1976 Sissy Spacek film Carrie. So in an outrageous and absolutely terrifying prank the gang put together a coffee shop and wired it up for some horrifying Hollywood halloween drama. You have to see this short clip. It’s not scary but the patrons in the coffee shop are shitting themselves. FAB U LOUS!!!

Photo Stolen IMDb

Photo StolenIMDb

I hope you enjoy….

Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise Prank Video

Fragrances for Feeling Good: Michael Bublé

October 10, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Hiya Happy Huffers,

So one of my fave singers is Michael Bublé. I don’t find him sexy or hot but he seems to be sweet and has an endearing way about him in his work. Like he knows he is not the coolest but that his amazing voice completely overrides everything else, he also seems to have a sense of humour. V Important!

Photo Stolen Man Alive! Flickr

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

What does Michael Bublé have to do with fragrance? Nothing really except I wanted a reason to write about a couple of my “Feeling Good” fragrances that I love to spritz at any time.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Amoureuse by Parfums DelRae seems to be a constant winner for me lately, a lovely spicy lily and white flower with some water and honey skank. I just can’t get enough of its feral beauty and have used nearly half a bottle since I got it from Madeleine’s unloved box. I don’t understand why Amoureuse makes me smile but every time I spritz, there it is. Pearly whites aglowing.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Bellodgia EdP and Parfum by Caron are a super stand by glamour set. The EdP gives projection and the Parfum gives glossy, glowing depths. This carnation, white flower and musky woods oldie still packs a punch in its newest incarnations and if you can get some vintage you are in for a very special treat. If Feeling Good is about feeling invincible, powerful, glamorous and elegant then Bellodgia fits the bill.

Photo Stolen Price Rite

Shalimar EdC and Parfum are a killer combination. There is something very bright about the EdC that gives it an extra sparkle above all the other Shalimar strengths, pair that with a couple of dabs of vintage Shalimar Parfum and you know it’s going to be a bumpy night full of fun and outrageous high jinks. A little secret, I hate cleaning, but when I wear the Shalimar combo it goes by in a cloud of extra special glamour.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Aromatics Elixir Perfumers Reserve Extrait by Clinique has been doing loads of work in the last couple of months, though we are warming up here in Sydney it is still being dabbed so preciously. The whole experience of taking the pedestal box lid off, getting the magnificent dark glass molded into a fabulous flower at the front bottle out, tilting, dabbing, breathing in that first fabulous moment of fragrance. It all conspires to make me happy. A beautiful fragrant ritual, and the extrait lasts for hours and hours on me.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia by Guerlain gives fabulous tropical fruits, lily, ylang and vanilla with the teensiest touch of green. It is a super fun Feeling Good scent that is mainly tropical paradise but also harks back to Hollywood glamour. I also love the Aqua Allegoria gold tone cage on the bee bottle, it’s so cool and classic but a wonderful modern reinvention too. Thierry Wasser did such a good job with Lys Soleia

Last time I looked all of these fragrances were available to sample at Surrender To Chance

Michael Bublé – “Feeling Good” [Official Music Video]

Burberry Body (Rose Gold) by Michel Almairac 2012

October 9, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hello Perfume Junkies,

Over the last couple of days the conversation on FFF (Facebook Fragrance friends) has been quite spirited, I asked if anyone has any mainstream designer fragrances in their closets. Considering the FFF crew are about as hard core a bunch of perfumistas as you’ll find anywhere in the world I was expecting to be chided mildly, ignored or snidely dissed. What I did not expect was an overflowing of love for the designer genre and mainstream in general. Fullsome praise for the YSL, DIOR, CHANEL, Mugler, many of the make up companies like Estee Lauder and even some of the celebuscents. It was a general and obviously cathartic experience and heaps of people let their dirty little fragrant secrets out as if holding them in was hurting.

Burberry Body (Rose Gold) 2012

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Wormwood, peach, freesia
Heart: Iris, rose absolute, sandalwood
Base: Cashmere wood, vanilla, amber, musk

In my reading I have discovered that this is the original Burberry Body in a new bottle, the notes are exactly the same. The first rush is all synthetic peach, a bright, sharp and plastic peach with freesia adding a swoony accompaniment and some green that could be wormwood but just as easily could be something coniferous. One the whooosh of the opening everything settles down to play nice and the whole composition seems to fade to a fancy, wet, shimmering, hum of fruity floral. To be honest I would love Burberry Body Rose Gold in a soap or laundry softener, it has that clean, fresh, breezy attitude and I can imagine it being an excellent workhorse of a fragrance, a spritz and forget, long lasting, fragrant nothing in a fun bottle, though I bet it’s really annoying to try and keep upright.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

As we wend our way into the heart I can smell the extra rose facets, pretty, murmuring rose-ish, fruity and spicy like a garden rose, I get the correlation though Burberry Body Rose Gold is a nod to it not a realistic replication and behind the rose is a hint of metal, as if you’ve just put a cold spoon in your mouth. The iris and sandalwood are playing way down low, I can’t pick them. The dry down is a soft focus sweet, but not cloying, still fruity wood with a bunch of clean musk, the vanilla only a hint. Through the heart I do get hints of peony though, that sweet, watery, green floralcy that they get as you cut them and put them in a vase, there are moments of real prettiness in Burberry Body Rose Gold that are better than you expect.

Photo Stolen Akban Martial arts academy Flickr

It reads like I don’t like Burberry Body Rose Gold, which is a false impression because I do like it. I don’t love it, probably will not buy a bottle when my decant is finished and think that Burberry can afford to do better, BUT there is definitely a place for Burberry Body Rose Gold. It’s ageless, easy wear fragrance that will not be too strong even if you are a wicked oversprayer. You can spritz it in the morning and know that you’ll still be softly fragrant for drinks after work. Spritzed into your moisturiser or body lotion/oil it will give you a clean fresh feeling all day, there are way worse offerings that cost a lot more.

Photo Stolen Rie Shimizu Flickr

Further reading: Now Smell This and Beauty Basics
FragranceNet has $45/60ml in the Limited Edition EdP
My Perfume Samples starts at $2/ml but I got the $7/5ml

Have you or do you wear Burberry Body Rose Gold? Have you tried it?
See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Fragrance Oils GIVEAWAY WINNERS

October 9, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Hello APJ,

Great response, as only you guys can give. Thanks for getting on board and enjoying the fun. Sadly Jin was fast asleep when I remembered to do this so Random.Org it was.

Fragrance Oils GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

We will have 2 winners for this draw. It would be more but postage is outrageous! Each winner will receive

1 x 1ml sample vial of all 5 Fragrant Oils (Almond, Carnation, Geranium, Honey, Peony)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

All I need is you to tell me your favourite perfume note and how you follow for you to be eligible for the draw.

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Tuesday 8th October 2013 10pm Australian EST
Winners will be chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, put on a tray and Jin will pick a winner (unless he asleep or studying then I’ll use random.org).

Photo Stolen shannonmayer

Mihaela U, Gilda

CONGRATULATIONS!!The winners will have till Friday 11th October 2013 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.

Thanks All,

Portia xx

CHANEL Bois des Iles by Ernest Beaux 1926

October 6, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 35 Comments

Hello Fume Heads,

Not so long ago friend and APJ reviewer Michael was over and he was wondering about Bois des Iles (Wood Islands or Islands of Wood) so I went and grabbed my decant. Though I’d spritzed it a couple of times and have a few wonderful memories of wearing it on our holiday this year, I had never taken time to understand the beauty behind this CHANEL princess of a perfume.

CHANEL Bois des Iles 1926

Photon Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, bergamot, neroli , coriander, mandarin, peach
Heart: Jasmine, rose, lily of the valley, orris, iris, ylang-ylang, lilac
Base: Vetiver, amber, sandalwood, benzoin, vanilla, opoponax, musk

Bois des Iles fizzy, fun and fruity opening with a slightly green bent opens up bigger than expected, I know it doesn’t last but the first few minutes could be the slightly muted grand entrance of an 80s blockbuster, so much going on in a fleeting snippet like watching the cars zoom off at the start of an all day car race. After the fireworks Bois des Iles settles into a still slightly zingy, spicy, floral bouquet but sadly on my skin I completely miss the oft talked about and loved gingerbread accord. I get jasmine and ylang ylang as my stand out performers, though the rest are there it is as harmonious background with a quietly insistent sweet woody baseline.

Photo Stolen FoxHarbor

Later we welcome the musky woods with vanilla and various resins in the base. This is the sandalwood dream I remember of early Samsara, a smooth creamy, buttery sweet sandalwood with none of the camphorous/eucalyptus squeaky dryness of modern sandalwoods or the thin artificiality of many of the reinventions through science. Interestingly, Kafkaesque writes that Jacques Polge’s modern Bois des Iles is an imagined sandalwood, an accord created without the use of sandalwood, WOW and Double WOW! A sensual, soft yet lingering masterpiece.

Bois des Iles will forever remind me of Paris, Jin and my journey there earlier in 2013, our friends Aaran & Gerard hosted us while we were there and in their home was a beautiful stained glass double door panel by a very famous glass artist, sadly he sold it recently, and the wonderful art deco/industrial piece is what I was most astonished by in his home while wearing Bois des Iles. Made around the same time, I think, as the glass doors cum art wall piece it all felt very elegant at the time and now that I’ve done some homework the resonances are striking.

From the CHANEL site: Paris, 1926. ‘Art deco’ is all the rage, exoticism fascinates, and jazz stirs passions. People dream of faraway lands and precious woods. Once again, Coco Chanel shakes up the history of perfume by launching the first woody fragrance for women. An intoxicating, enveloping, warm, sensual, spiraling scent. It’s all there: the precious woods, the opiate scents and magnificent, languid flowers. The fragrance is a mysterious, faraway continent in itself.

Further reading: Kafkaesque and Olfactoria’s Travels
Available exclusively in the CHANEL Fragrance and Beauty Boutiques
Surrender To Chance has Bois des Iles EdT from $4/ml and Parfum from $6/.25 ml

What was your Bois des Iles experience? Have you, or do you want to try it?
See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Karl Lagerfeld Interview – CHANEL S/S14 Ready-to-Wear

October 6, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hi Gang,

Karl Lagerfield has been inspiring and creating since before I went to Fashion School. His name is synonymous with innovation, elegance and lately with wearability: one of the most credible designers who I think will go down in history as one of the greats. Here he talks about the CHANEL Spring and Summer Ready To Wear collection for 2014. I like him and his take on fashion.

Photo stolen Jerine Lay Flickr

Please enjoy.

Portia xx

CHANEL Karl Lagerfeld Interview

Spring-Summer 2014 Ready-to-Wear CHANEL show

Australian Perfume Junkies

Olfactory Opinions from Oz

Portia

Divine EdP by Richard Ibanez and Yann Vasnier for Divine 1986

Divine EdP by Divine 1986

Kidnapped For Christ – Official Trailer

Rive d’Ambre (Atelier d’Orient) by Olivier Gillotin for Tom Ford 2013

Rive d’Ambre (Atelier d’Orient) by Tom Ford 2013

Niche & Mainstream Manufacturers Sample GIVEAWAY OCT13

Niche & Mainstream Manufacturers Sample GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

HOW DO YOU WIN?

HOUSEKEEPING

Fragrances for Feeling Good: Michael Bublé

Michael Bublé – “Feeling Good” [Official Music Video]

Burberry Body (Rose Gold) by Michel Almairac 2012

Burberry Body (Rose Gold) 2012

Fragrance Oils GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Fragrance Oils GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

HOW DID YOU WIN?

HOUSEKEEPING

Mihaela U, Gilda

CHANEL Bois des Iles by Ernest Beaux 1926

CHANEL Bois des Iles 1926

Karl Lagerfeld Interview – CHANEL S/S14 Ready-to-Wear

CHANEL Karl Lagerfeld Interview

Spring-Summer 2014 Ready-to-Wear CHANEL show