L’Occitane Divine Cream: Week Two of Challenge

November 1, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Hello Gorgeous Australian Perfume Junkies,

So it’s the end of my second week of testing out the DIVINE CREAM by L’Occitane (See original post<<JUMP and the One Week Mark<<JUMP). I have been such a facial care Philistine for so many years that I had very low expectations of any results at all. I wonder how many of you have done our 2 week challenge?

L’Occitane Divine Cream: Week Two

Photo Stolen L’Occitane

From L’Occitane site :
Divine anti-aging care fights the signs of aging, so you can face up the passing of time with absolute serenity. The divine combination of organic Immortelle and Myrtle Essential Oils offers:
A complete regenerating care: Combined action to stimulate the production of collagens and improve skin microcirculation helps to reduce damage caused by time and restore substance and vitality.
A second youth: Myrtle essential oil stimulates within the skin, the action of the longevity protein- to help increase cellular vitality preserve the skin’s appearance.

The new, advanced formula combines the unique anti-aging properties of everlasting Immortelle flowers with the boosted effectiveness of 7 plant-derived active ingredients, that help fight signs of aging better than ever before.

Awarded the highest rated Anti-Aging Miracle Cream in the 2011 Anti-Aging Beauty Bible. Independently tested by a panel of women across the UK

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

My L’Occitane Divine Cream Experience

At the end of week one this is how I felt: How is the rest of my face skin? Already it is glowing. Softer, more supple and satiny. Divine Cream hasn’t given me a facelift but my skin does look and feel a lot more elastic, youthful and plumped. If you’d told me this would be the payoff of taking care of my skin for a week I’d have NEVER believed you.

Week Two has continued more of the same, my skin is glowing, pores seem to have tightened up, I’m not so oily as normal and my skin seems less sensitive. Something else I noticed, Divine Cream is an amazing base to put make up onto, it is easier to apply, goes on much lighter and smoother and stays better. The make up doesn’t clog up my skin so much and has been slightly easier to remove afterwards. That is a HUGE plus in Divine Cream’s favour.

My eyes are where I see real difference though, still not a facelift but the whole areas skin seems fresher and more youthful, plumper and the small lines I have are less deep. I’ve had no more sleep lately, in fact considerably less, am eating and exercising as poorly as ever and have done nothing else to spark this change so I must put it down to Divine Cream.

Others L’Occitane Divine Cream Experience

There were going to be three other testers for the two week challenge, sadly we had an early pull out because life got in the way. How did the other two enjoy the L’Occitane Divine Cream experience?

“I have enjoyed using L’Occitane Divibe Cream. Its immediate silky velvet application absorbed quickly and left my skin soft and well moisturised. A little goes a long way. Thanks for asking me to help out in sampling”

“Loving it! …better than what I’ve been using, and cheaper… I am seriously buying it when mine runs out.”

Photo Stolen BeautyStat

I hope you’ve enjoyed my 2 week trial of L’Occitane Divine Cream, did you join in and try it yourself? How did it go for you? Was your experience as good as ours, problems, perfection? Please tell us in the comments section below.

Portia xx

by Kilian: Garden of Good and Evil GIVEAWAY WINNER

October 29, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hey there APJ,

I think the stuff you had to do was too hard this week, sorry to those for which it was a nightmare, to those that went the whole hog and LIKED our APJ FB page, or were already LIKErs: THANK YOU!! We love and appreciate every one of you.

by Kilian: Garden of Good and Evil GIVEAWAY WINNER

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week there will be one winner, who will receive

1 Manufacturers Carded Sample Spray Pack of Forbidden Games, Good Girl Gone Bad and In The City Of Sin
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide. LIKE Australian Perfume Junkies on FaceBook. <<<JUMP
Leave a one word LIKE on the Australian Perfume Junkies feed on FB when you do or if you already LIKE so I can enter you.
Winners will be chosen from the FB feed, not from here.

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Monday 28th October 2013 10pm Australian EDST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen amberinblunderland

Damir Gašljević

CONGRATULATIONS!! The winner will have till Thursday 31st 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

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Versace Blonde by Versace: LIVE Video Sniff

October 27, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Hello gang,

Blonde by Versace: LIVE Video Sniff

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Gardenia, Pitosporum flowers,y violet, orange blossom, bergamot
Heart: Tuberose, daffodil, ylang-ylang, carnation
Base: Benzoin, sensual musk, civet, sandalwood

This 1995 Nathalie Feisthauer fragrance for Versace is one of my all time favourites,as you’ll hear it was designed by Gianni Versace for his sister, what a FABULOUS gift and the bottle is gorgeous too.

I have a couple of EdT bottles and some Parfum too. As fun and bright today on me as the first time I spritzed. I hope you enjoy a rather contemplative LIVE Video Sniff compared to the others. As usual I am taken by the moment and much of what I say is rubbish, but my love for Blonde is absolutely genuine. Great fragrance that has so many wonderful memories for me, every time.

Thanks to my BFF Kath for shooting and editing, thanks to TSO Jin for getting it blog ready. I am blessed in my great friends and lover.

Please enjoy the silliness,
Portia xx

Inside Hermès petit h – Episode n°1 + n°2 – Mini Movie

October 27, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Hey APJ Crew,

You all probably know how much I love Hermès, everything about the brand speaks to me and aqlso I have a lovely friend/SA who works in the Sydney store. Jean is the most elegant, friendly and knowledgeable of the SAs in Sydney, always smiling and can’t wait to show us the newest in everything.

Here is the first in a fun series from Hermès that I’ll be showing over the next few weeks. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have,

Love,
Portia xx

Photo Stolen MadisonMuse

Inside Hermès petit h – Trailer – Mini Movie

Inside Hermès petit h – Episode n°1 – Mini Movie

Inside Hermès petit h – Episode n°2 – Mini Movie

Photo Stolen Maegan Tintari Flickr

Melbourne Getaway + Peony Melbourne Photo Essay

October 26, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Jump across and enter our by Kilian GIVEAWAY<<<JUMP

Hey Hey APJ Family and Friends,
Last weekend BF Jin, BFF Kath and I took ourselves to Australia’s fashion and food capital Melbourne, though we bypassed the fashion food was definitely on the agenda. So was fragrance! More on that in a moment.

Melbourne Getaway

Kath had organised us a terrific 2 bed serviced apartment in Docklands in the 16th floor with views over Docklands, wheel and out to the sea. It was compact but super well laid out and the views, breeze and whole atmosphere felt wonderful. We hired a car and drove ourselves around and the weekend getaway has me both recharged and relaxed.
On Friday night we wandered around Docklands (a bit like Sydney’s Ultimo/Pyrmont area) and found Medici, an Italian eatery where we had Pizza and Antipasto with great service from friendly staff and it was surprisingly reasonable, then some more Docklands wandering before home to a long hot soak in the bath and bed.
Saturday morning we met a mate I lived with in London, an Aussie called Ben, and we reminisced for the crew. Breakfast at Time Out in Federation Square was fun and full of laughter, catching up after about 15 years it felt like Ben and I had never spent a day apart, it was really magic. Kath and Jin adored him and the breakfast was YUMMO! I had Eggs Benedict, my favourite breakfast ever, sorry I can’t remember what everyone else ate.

Peony Melbourne Photo Essay

Taking our leave of Ben we trotted out to Peony Melbourne, Australia’s best known and loved Haute Perfumery. I had written to the proprietor Jill and warned her of our coming and Clayton from What Men Should Smell Like had warned me that she is a beautiful, fun, vibrant lady who knows EVERYONE in the perfume world and more about fine fragrance than he or I will ever know.

Clayton was right on for the money. Jill welcomed us in and talked, coached, guided and wandered us through her vast and beautifully presented collection in the shop. Kath was trying fresh citric fragrances with amber nuances, Jin was hoping to find an oudh and I wanted EVERYTHING!!!

What did we end up buying? Kath found a lovely square black bottle called Haram
Jin had tried Mona di Orio’s Oud in Budapest and wanted to see if it was the one and Jill also introduced him to Creed’s Royal oud, which is my favourite of their whole line. Both hit his skin and they were worn and sniffed all evening and still Sunday morning there were traces of Mona di Orio’s lavish and luscious Oud hanging around and stuck fast to his watch band. I wonder which he will chose?

I was ready to shop and picked up some soaps by a brand that Victoria from Bois de Jasmin had written about recently, incense and a bottle of Naomi Goodsir’s Bois Encens. So freaking good that I could not leave it to languish in the Peony shelves. Review coming.

Special thanks to my BFF Kath for these fabulous photos, and to the lovely Jill at Peony Melbourne. They send all over Australia and have a super online range.

Biggest kisses from

Portia xx

by Kilian: Garden of Good and Evil

October 25, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hello lovelies,

If you have read any of the scentbloggospherre over the past few months you will probably have heard and read a LOT of chatter about the Garden of Good & Evil by Kilian range. The amazing offspring down the line of the Hennessy cognac empire that is part of LVMH, Kilian Hennessy, has done some pretty superb work that totally blew me away. My taste is for bolder and bigger fragrances so his initial series were very much my taste, his depth and sensuality in fragrance, the obvious correlations between his families cognac and his creations unmistakeable.

Photo stolen CognacExpert

Then he did his Asian Tales and now the Garden of Good and Evil, both in fabulous packaging and they have polarised perfumistas everywhere. Now it’s your chance to try the original three Garden of Good and Evil fragrances for yourself……

by Kilian: Garden of Good and Evil GIVEAWAY

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be one winner, who will receive

1 Manufacturers Carded Sample Spray Pack of Forbidden Games, Good Girl Gone Bad and In The City Of Sin
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Monday 28th October 2013 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 31st 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

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Good Luck Everyone,
Portia xx

L’Occitane Divine Cream: Week One of Challenge

October 25, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Hello Gorgeous Australian Perfume Junkies,

So it’s the end of my first week of testing out the DIVINE CREAM by L’Occitane (See original post<<JUMP). I have been such a facial care Philistine for so many years that I had very low expectations of any results at all. I wonder how many of you have taken the challenge and done the first of our 2 week challenge?

L’Occitane Divine Cream: Week One

Photo Stolen L’Occitane

Awarded the highest rated Anti-Aging Miracle Cream in the 2011 Anti-Aging Beauty Bible. Independently tested by a panel of women across the UK

My L’Occitane Divine Cream Experience

The first weeks experience starts with the very luxe golden box, shiny and new. Inside is a spatula, Divine Cream and an instruction manual (which I instantly binned because I’ve seen the video, it’s below). The bottle opened easily, fits in my hand well and has a lovely heftiness to it. I wish it were not glass though because it will smash on my tiles if I drop it and I’m barefoot after a bath, must remember to bring thongs into the bathroom just in case. The spatula is a good size but I wish the bottle had somewhere to click it on so I don’t have to keep the box, also mildly annoying.

The creams smell is soft floral clean and is quite thick, silky and rich feeling and way more creamy than my after shave balm, it does go on beautifully though with the face, neck, forehead and temple massage shown in the video. I do it exactly as they show it but I take 2-3 minutes to apply and then cover my ears, take three deep breaths and release them slowly. At the end I feel like I have done something wonderful, pampering and had a little selfish me moment. When your life is hectic it’s hard to find moments I can dedicate solely to myself, I feel a little centered after application of Divine Cream. The soft scent stays with me for about 20 minutes before either it goes or I become anosmic.

Photo Stolen Wikimedia

I have also been using the eye cream which comes in a sensational little pump pack so I know exactly how much to use, it is a little thinner and my skin drinks it up in under a minute. I wish I’d taken a before pic because though I am tired still my crows feet are less than normal, IN ONE WEEK!

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

How is the rest of my face skin? Already it is glowing. Softer, more supple and satiny. Divine Cream hasn’t given me a facelift but my skin does look and feel a lot more elastic, youthful and plumped.

If you’d told me this would be the payoff of taking care of my skin for a week I’d have NEVER believed you.

Next week we will hear from the other test cases and see how my skin finishes up.
Portia xx

28 by Le Cherche Midi GIVEAWAY WINNERS

October 22, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Hey Hey APJ,

What a great giveaway!! Special thanks to Le Cherche Midi for their super generous support of APJ by providing these giveaways, there’s another one coming very soon for another of their gorgeous fragrances so look out for that.

28 by Le Cherche Midi GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Le Cherche Midi

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week there are three winners, each will receive

1 x 5ml Manufacturers Travel Spray of 28 by Le Cherche Midi
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

To be eligible for the draw you had to go to Le Cherche Midi<<JUMP find a fragrance NUMBER and ONE INGREDIENT IN IT.

NO DOUBLE UPS

Then leave a comment with NUMBER + INGREDIENT and how you follow APJ.

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Monday 21st October 2013 10pm Australian EST
Winners will be chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen berryreview

Martin, Cheri, DkChocoMan

The winners will have till Thursday 24th 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.

Jasmine Summer by Liz Zorn for Soivohle 2011

October 20, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Hi There Indie Perfume Ho’s and lovers of the finest fragrance,

I like to think that Liz Zorn, the perfumer behind the Soivohle range, artist and general creative genius and guru, and I are buddies. I adore her perfumes and own quite a few now, also recently she put some of her artworks up for sale and I was lucky enough to grab the one made for this fragrance, Jasmine Summer. It is a fabulous little painting and reflects the perfume excellently.

Jasmine Summer by Liz Zorn for Soivohle 2011

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Jasmine, lime, fruity notes, white lily, orchid, vanilla, musk

Jasmine Summer is a sheer, very slightly fruity, floral that creates an elegant soft nimbus of the real deal of jasmine, as if you have it growing outside your window and in full bloom. It is heady and intoxicating but not indolic, not a sign of breath or animal. Though Jasmine Summer is sheer it has terrific sillage and projects fabulously for the first few hours. Through the whole fragrance life jasmine is front and centre, it opens sizzling and citric before mildly warming, it does sweeten up a bit but it’s not till a couple of hours have passed that vanilla comes out to play and then it isn’t fully featured till the end dry down where the jasmine and vanilla get funky with the musks.

Photo Stolen Inga Munsinger Cotton Flickr

For anyone who eschews jasmine or big white florals for their nasty sensual breathy indoles then Jasmine Summer could be a good place for you to come and sniff, this is super soft and clean jasmine with plenty of air around it. It is a little like sitting in a wedding in India with all the women sitting with jasmine in their hair and the cool of evening after everyone has eaten their fill and is now sitting around eating fruits and chatting quietly, awaiting the next event.

I also love how Jasmine Summer lingers, around 6-7 hours with the second half softer and more intimate, a come hither fragrance. Sweet sixteen or septuagenarian will love wearing this beautiful fragrance.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Further reading: Now Smell This and Best things In Beauty
At the SOIVOHLE site they have $25/15ml or $110/50ml (I love the 15ml bottles and often order a few as gifts
Surrender To Chance starts at $4/.5ml

See you tomorrow, until then take a few deep breaths and relax, just a little.
Portia xx

Voyage d’Hermès mini movie

October 20, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hello Gorgeous APJ Peoples,

We do a full Voyage d’Hermes review<<<JUMP but I thought you may like to watch the mini movie again, I think it supremely beautiful and love coming across it.

Portia xx

Voyage d’Hermès mini movie

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Amalfi lemon, spices, cardamom
Heart: Green notes, floral notes, tea
Base: Woodsy notes, Musk