Portia

Scarlet by Cacharel

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Hello my lovelies,

I’ve had this video knocking around and kept forgetting to share it.

IndianWedding angpal.blogspot

Arrived safely in India, Stayed a couple of days in Delhi to do some shopping and organising for my mate Varun’s hotels and a new property the family is developing. Yesterday the main thing we did was buy lights for 2 floors of hotels and 3 residences. BEDLAM!!! Then to cap it all I drove the car about 20kms in peak hour traffic! I know, I am amazing. It was not without incident though, plenty of good natured swearing and screaming, a near car crash and a couple of whisper touches by other cars and some bikes. Hair raising but fun

Enjoy the video.

Portia xxx

Scarlett by Cacharel

Tea for Two by L’artisan: A Beauty Habit Love Story

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Heya Ladies and Gents,

Long before I tried this little pretty I was reading about it, Tania Sanchez gives it three grudging stars and writes, “Probably a better room fragrance than a personal perfume and, judged as an attempt at modernising the Oriental genre, completely trounced by Fendi’s … Theorema. Still, not bad.” in Perfumes, The Guide: so clearly she missed something that so many others love, and for a while I also missed its beauty. I had a couple of samples that got used but I wasn’t madly crazy for it. Then Undina from Undina’sLookingGlass sent me a generous decant in a spritz bottle and everybody’s love for it suddenly became clear. It is fresh and deep and nuanced, mysterious, glamorous and very beautiful. WOW!! What? DISCONTINUED!!!!

Isn’t it the same dreadful story we read, hear, find out at the counter. Here is my APJ post on Tea for Two written last year. Clearly, in my mind anyway, Tea for Two was either unable to be produced due to new IFRA regs or it was a crap seller, either way I was saddened and have been seriously eeking out my decant ever since. In truth trying not to bemoan its lack, or even think about having a bottle. Some things aren’t meant to be, right?

Tea for Two by Olivia Giacobetti for L’artisan Parfumeur: A Love Story

Tea for Two L'Artisan FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives the featured accords as:
Top: Bergamot, star anise, tea
Heart: Cinnamon, ginger, spices, gingerbread
Base: Honey, vanilla, leather, tobacco

Then something extraordinary happened while in LA at Scentsation. It was lunch time at BeautyHabit and most of the crew were off having the fabulous tacos and chips and OMG SO YUMMY!! Then someone mentioned that there was a Tea for Two Tester still in the tester section, off like a brides nighty was I. Spritz, Spritz AAAAAHHHH. This stuff is magic! Smoky, rich, resinous and milky spiced tea wafting gloriously, so I did the unthinkable.

Approaching one of the lovely sisters who run BeautyHabit, “Hi, you know this is discontinued, don’t you?”….. “Even if they bring it back they will definitely have to reformulate it to be industry approved now.”…. “Would you consider SELLING me this tester please?”….. “I understand that you don’t sell testers but this is a special case, discontinued, unrereleasable as is and one of my FAVOURITES!!”….. “No, you’re right. I understand. I know, sure. No worries, if you EVER decide to sell it please keep me in mind. You know I want to buy it, yes?”……. “Ok, thanks” Well, I tried, unsuccessfully but at least I could not worry that I hadn’t tried.

So we shopped, I purchased a Sarah Horowitz Parfum and an i Profumi di Firenze that I will write about later. Everyone had lunch and we got on the bus, laughing and talking about what a super day it was. Everyone received a gift from BeautyHabit and mine was the Pineider (one of my new fave brands) Estratto di Colonia. They even gave away a Serge Lutens BELL JAR!! These were serious prizes for amazed perfumistas! As the bus pulled out there was a bustle, rush and knocking on the door from outside.

The BeautyHabit girls had decided to GIFT me the Tea for Two!!!!!

Though I made light of it at the time I was and am deeply touched by their gift. I have worn Tea for Two quite a lot since acquiring it from BeautyHabit and it has not disappointed. It is the most worn so far since I got it and not just because it is a super killer scent but every time I spritz I think of the amazing time we all had a the Perfume Posse Scentsation.

So please, do me a favour. Next time you are thinking of an online shopping spree for anything fragrance or beauty related, try BeautyHabit(<<<JUMP) because they have an excellent selection, are fun, sexy, generous and ship to the world: and they went out of their way to put a super duper smile on my already smiling face.

See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Leaving for India! What fragrances did I pack?

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Hey Crew,

It’s time to pack bags and jet off again.I have written and sent all my Trivias to the girls. There are some REALLY curly Q&A this time ladies. The APJ family has worked overtime to make sure all their contributions are ready to launch while I’m gone, they’ve all been edited and pictures, notes and all the frills have been added and linked. THANK YOU GUYS!! My clothes are all washed, the beds are changed, food has been bought, prepared and frozen and I am almost ready to go. The plane leaves at 10.15 and I am writing to you from 2pm. How organised is that? Normally I’m throwing crap in my bags as we should be leaving.

incredible-india_1822 incredible-india-1 Taj Mahal

This trip I know there wont be much fragrance shopping like in Europe or LA sop I’ve decided to do a decant set for my travels 5ml & 8ml. It’s always so hard to choose and today is no exception. So what made the cut?

Ava Luxe Tuberose Diabolique Parfum
Caron Royal Bain de Caron
L’Artisan Parfumeur Cote d’Amour
Iunx Splash Forte Friction de Iunx
Jean Paul Gaultier Fleur de Male
Tauer L’Air Du Desert Marocain

I am also taking from Neela Vermeire Creations a bottle of Bombay Bling. How could I not? And a Vintage Chanel No 5 Parfum.

'Incredible_India'

So I just watched this video below and I’m crying like a baby, its been nearly three years since I’ve been back to India am I’m so excited to get back and see my buddy and his family and the magic that is India. I can almost smell it it’s so real in this little Incredible India ad. I can’t believe I’m going back……

See you tomorrow!!
Portia xxx

All photos stolen from the Incredible India Campaigns

Rêve by Van Cleef n Arpels 2013 Ad Campaign

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Hi APJ family,

This new fragrance launching May 2013. This girl in the picture, Anabela Belikova, is so fresh and pretty and doesn’t look like a bag of bones on heroin. I love her look and she makes me want to try

Van Cleef & Arpels Rêve Fragrance 2013 Ad Campaign

Reve Van Cleef & Arpels FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pear and neroli
Heart: Osmanthus, peony and lily
Base: Sandalwood and amber

Image via TFS. Stolen with huge thanks from art8amby

Camilla Akrans photographed top catwalker Anabela Belikova for the latest fragrance campaign from Van Cleef & Arpels, Rêve.

 

Mecca Balsam by AbdesSalaam Attar for La Via del Profumo

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Hello folks,

I was lucky while in Vienna to catch up with one a the scentbloggospheres most loved bloggers, Birgit from Olfactoria’sTravels. Sitting pretty at breakfast with the gorgeous Sandra they both plied me with samples and Birgit handed me the most fabulous bottle ever. I wish I had known that gift giving was a traditional perfumistas handshake, so embarrassed, but the girls are so wonderful that they didn’t even bat an eyelid at my gaucherie, for which I will be forever grateful.

Photo Stolen La Via del Profumo

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Labdanum, tonka bean, Arabic frankincense, raw tobacco, Indian tuberose, damask rose, incense, agarwood, benzoin

From the AbdesSalaam’s blog: In Mecca, the scents of Labdanum resin, of Benzoin, frankincense and of the precious Agar wood invade the streets together with the 4 million pilgrims who pour to the streets 5 times every day, walking to the great mosque like river. The trail of a million scents in the wake of the pilgrims at Mecca raptures the nose of the visitor and make this travel an unforgettable experience for a westerner little used to such a profusion of olfactory stimulus.

Mecca 22h22Photo Stolen 22h22

AbdesSalaam Attar is the name that perfumer Dominique Dubrana goes under to create his all natural, astounding fragrances. I have a little sample set of them on my desktop that I’ve almost used entirely and one of my favourites has always been the Mecca Balsam. The bottle Birgit gave me had the name Balsamo della Mecca on the base, in our excitement I did not put 2 and 2 together and realise that these two names could be one and the same. Oh joyous rapture, oh bliss eternal!! They are the same and I now have this extraordinary bottle on my desk.

Straight out of the atomiser and onto skin it is resinous and sweetly balsamic, bitter, herbal, dark and still light. Tobacco notes both sweet and burnt, burning, smoky. Oudh adding its cow poo/medicinal/acrid/beautiful voice and the whole is so complex and happening at once and big, brash, shouty. It picks you up by the hair and shakes you till your teeth clack like castanets, then it throws you to the ground a laughs at your incapacity. OK it doesn’t really do that but this is certainly experiential perfumery of a class that you will never find in department stores. This is the real thing and I love it. Loving it SICK!!

After an hour or so it calms to a dull roar, the size is considerable less but the fragrance is pretty linear, at this stage though there’s enough air between the notes that it’s not the bombardment of before. Now you have time and the ability to savour the resins and the flowers make a very quiet and pretty descant over the base notes of everything else. It softens and softens till gone, hours into the dry down.

Mecca Pilgrims abcPhoto Stolen ABC

Further reading PerfumeShrine and TheNonBlonde
La Via Del Profumo starts at €13.22/5.5ml up to €396.69/10gr of Attar
SurrenderToChance starts at $7/ml

Have you seen the website and do you have favourite names? They are all so evocative for me. Maybe you tried these fragrant masterpieces? What were your impressions?

Till tomorrow, take care of yourself and those in your orbit,
Portia xx

Clove Absolute by Washington Tremlett 2009

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Hey Hey Niche Nerds!!

My mate Michael who writes for APJ is often turning up with unexpected gifts of fragrant decants. A lovely and generous soul I am lucky to have such a buddy in the same city. Today’s perfume was a very large decant gift the other night and I have been spritzing with abandon. Thanks Michael!!

Clove Absolute by Washington Tremlett 2009

Clove Absolute FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Amalfi lemon, lime
Heart: Clove, heliotrope, rose
Base: Incense, vanilla, French labdanum, patchouli, musk

From Wikipedia: Cloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, Syzygium aromaticum. Cloves are native to the Maluku islands in Indonesia and used as a spice in cuisines all over the world.

Funny story! Well funny for me. I get a soy sauce smell in the first opening waft from Clove Absolute, it’s salty, tangy and a little bit burnt. Every time I spritz it the opening jumps up and takes me by surprise for about 5 minutes, it’s excellent. The cloves, lime and lemon then take over and already the vanilla pods are bursting through behind them. Though this is not the sweet biscuit and bakery scent that most gourmands are it certainly is foody. Is it possible to be foody and sensual concurrently?

My nose reads only the food elements at front and centre, everything else plays support and extra work. Clove Absolute has a definite Eastern-ness about it that is not perfume related but life smells related. There is also an oiliness, a sheen to it, a glistening, scintillating magic. I love to wear Clove absolute and have found myself reaching for it a few times since I was gifted a very generous 5ml, quite a bit of air in the atomiser now and I think it will be well and truly emptied through the Australian winter.

Dry down is sweet and warm, the patchouli/vanilla/amber/musk all mushed in together making a beautiful soft skin scent that lasts more than 12 hours completely smellable. I want to smell this on Jin but am too selfish to even give him one spritz of something I enjoy so much.

AWESOME!! You should try it.

Clove PlusEssentialPhoto Stolen PlusEssential

Further reading PerfumeSmellinThings and PerfumePosse
FirstInFragrance have Clove Absolute €140/100ml or €4 sample

Do you have fragrant fairies that gift you interesting new scents? I have a couple and they are often spot on with my taste but always opening my nose to new olfactory vistas.
See you tomorrow,

Portia xx

L`Humaniste by Sidonie Lanasseur for Frapin 2009

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Hey Hey APJ Family,

We have recently been cataloguing my samples, a long and tedious job that took nearly 6 days and still we had not got them all on the spreadsheet. You will be disgusted to know there are over 600 samples and decants in this house! I am beyond disgusted at my outrageous frag gluttony. The fact that they are not all opened or sprayed yet is what worries me most, I have these rare and often precious works of art and science just laying around unsmelt. TRAGIC!!

L`Humaniste by Frapin 2009

L`Humaniste Frapin FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon, bergamot, cardamom, pink pepper and black pepper
Heart: Juniper berries, nutmeg, thyme and peony
Base: Gin, oak moss and tonka

From Frapin site: It is to François Rabelais, the most illustrious member of the dynasty, that the house of Frapin has dedicated L’Humaniste. A shot of gin laced with citrus, spices and herbs anchored by soft tonka bean makes it as bracing and limpid as the curious, open minds of Renaissance men.

Fresh and sweet opening, it’s like the new millenium opening for fragrance: citrus and pepper with a green hint. Very pleasant and bright but hardly groundbreaking. That’s OK, it doesn’t need to be NEW and L’Humaniste is very nicely blended, the cardamom giving a very nice nod to Indian curry, in fact it reminds me a little of the sweet curry that my Mum would make for us, not the same but a lovely reminder.

L'Humanist Spicy Citrus MJsKitchenPhoto stolen MJsKitchen

As the fragrance progresses it has a lovely light depth, remaining quite crisp but with lovely shadowy undertones. I know I’m not going crazy for L’Humaniste and it reads like I’m a bit Ho-Hum but that would be a very wrong impression. This is a very solid, beautiful and interesting fragrance in the grand tradition of men’s aromatics but where I think L’Humaniste would truly shine is on a woman. I have sprayed my BFF with it and she commented that she would LOVE to wear this, it reminds her of Bigarade Concentree by Frederic Malle but less in your face, more wearable, softer. I agree, L’Humaniste is a very wearable unisex fragrance that could easily take you from brunch, to the gym, to the boardroom or to romantic dates and conquests.

Frapin VIPXO WeinQuellePhoto Stolen WeinQuelle

From Wikipedia: Frapin is a Cognac producer establishing their headquarters in the Fontpinot Castle at Segonzac, in the heart of the Grande Champagne region of France. The Frapin family has been established in the South West of France since 1270, initially as a family of wine-growers who became distillers and have continued in this tradition for 20 generations.

Further reading PerfumeSmellinThings and TheScentualist
LuckyScent has $145/100ml
SurrenderToChance starts at $3/ml

I love that the Frapin company has moved into fragrance and done such an excellent job of it, this is extremely well priced niche fragrance at its best. Which of the line have you tried?
Portia xx

En Passant by Olivia Giacobetti for Frederic Malle 2000

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Hello my lovelies,

While in Vienna recently Birgit and Sandra from Olfactoria’sTravels took me to the only known place on earth where they let you mix & match your Frederic Malle 3 x 10ml set when you grab it!! I think it was called Day Spa? Anyway, tell Birgit you are coming to Vienna and she will give you the address. Here is one of my lovely scores:

En Passant by Frederic Malle 2000

En Passant FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Lilac, surrounded by watery and green notes, cucumber and wheat

This morning in Sydney the weather is beautiful. Crisp, sunny, warm: it feels more like spring than Autumn 10am and 21 degrees celcius. I am writing a week ahead of today and Kath and I are doing the office work, well Kath is doing the office work and I am writing to you. As I went to spritz myself this morning I also gave Kath a healthy squirt too.

I love the pretty green sappy swoosh directly after the spritz, the cucumber and watery greens, it’s fresh, wet and slightly plastic. I find flowers often give me a plastic vibe, not a wet Tupperware stink but a slightly unreal-ness, lilac has it in spades. I could walk out the back door into a spring garden in my mind. This is crisp and elegant but in a less formal tone, less knowing than Chanel 19. A younger, free-er, lighter and happier version of one of my favourites, without being like it at all.

En Passant Fairy Lillucyka DeviantArtPhoto Stolen DeviantArt

It’s hard to get my head around how beautiful and delicate En Passant is, usually not my style at all but there is something alluring and beguiling about this little Frederic Malle stunner that keeps me coming back to my wrists again and again.. En Passant is seriously selfish, introverted fragrance. You won’t skunk anyone at the office or anywhere, you will give an aura of fresh vitality and exuberance.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Further reading ISmellThereforeIAm and PerfumePosse
MeccaCosmetica in Australia has $194/50ml (Free shipping within Australia)
BarneysNewYork has $155/50ml
SurrenderToChance starts at $6/ml

There is something magical and whimsical for me even in the name Frederic Malle. His scent curation adds a patina of glory to everything with his name on it. I wonder if I would find En Passant as alluring and interesting if it was by Woolworths Home Brand? Would I sneer at its trite simplicity? What do you think?
Portia xx