Portia

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

Bull’s Blood by Josh Meyer for Imaginary Authors 2012

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Hello Everyone,

These Imaginary Authors have been on so many blogs in the last year, I have been totally intrigued to try their stuff. To be honest, the sample set arrived months ago and has been sitting in my To Do list ever since. While we were doing the sample cataloguing they floated to the top of the pile again. My first is the one that has garnered the most praise and hoopla, start at the top I say.

Bull’s Blood by Imaginary Authors 2012

Bull's Blood FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured notes in one line:
Patchouli, Rose, Costus Root, Tobacco, Black Musk & Bull’s Blood

WOW! This is an experience. Maybe it’s the hype but I really smell that tinny taste you get when you bite your lip or if you have gingevitis from lack of oral hygiene during my 20s then when flossing you will get blood too. It is a very specialised taste and Bull’s Blood definitely has a smell of that taste. It’s interesting and confronting but not disgusting like Secretions Magnifiques can be. I feel like I am wearing the olfactory correlation to art, it makes me think and I am seriously moved by the strangeness.

Notes swirl here like a merry-go-round or a school of fish, turning beautifully and precisely and I am not going to ruin my trip by trying to parse the magic, though I do get wafts of patchouli, rose, sweet tobacco and musk throughout the frag life, it’s more about the kaleidoscopic pictures than each singular piece. Waves and waves of beauty, with an edge, a touch of something slightly off kilter that keeps it interesting, a fine line between absolute beauty and terrible disgust. I AM HOOKED!! Bravo Imaginary Authors, this is drama in a bottle.

BullFight Demonstration pbsPhoto Stolen pbs

It’s now tomorrow morning and there is still a sweet, bloody musk, quite strong lingering around my body. It is now very much like the opening of MKK. The staying power on this baby is extraordinary, I think it may be the costus that has stayed so beautifully. Maybe I am plagiarising but THIS is what Lady Gaga’s fragrance could have smelled like, did anyone else write this. Beautiful and weird. I am definitely in the market for an FB. I can’t believe how reasonably priced this wonder is.

Further reading SmellyThoughts and CaFleurBon looks at the whole range.
ImaginaryAuthors has $85/60ml (which is a bargain for niche so beautifully constructed)
You can also grab the 7 x 2ml sampler at Imaginary Authors Site (<<<JUMP)

It’s a great name isn’t it? Do you have a favourite freakily named frag?
Portia x

Sorry, I couldn’t bring myself to add a photo of a bullfight, they make me want to cry. I don’t judge or want to change the Spanish tradition but I can not look at them without stupid sad tears of shame and anger pouring down my face.

Fleur De Rocaille by for Caron 1993

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Hello GORGEOUS!!

I have quite a lot of the Caron fragrances. I like the way they smell, that they seem to be joined, the bottles and the packaging. There is something glamorous about the whole Caron thing that lures me in. I think it is a neglected icon that needs a Tom Ford to sweep in and resurrect their staus.

Fleur De Rocaille by for Caron 1993

FleurDeRocaille FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, gardenia, violet
Heart: Carnation, iris, rose, ylang ylang, lilac, jasmine, lily of the valley, mimosa
Base: Oakmoss, musk, cedar, amber, sandalwood

Fleur De Rocaille means flowering rock garden or flower of rubble. So, of course, I expected to be floated away on a hefty sparkling floral with stark and challenging depths that floated high and above a labdanum (rock rose) base. I expected goat, grass, greenery and twisted & tortured woods.

What did I get, the air at high altitude, it opens fizzy like a life saver mint which fits with how I expect the air to smell in a rock garden and then becomes the softest, sweetest and most fleeting fragrance I have in my memory. The note list reads like a 1980’s blockbuster and I am sadly deflated. Having said that there is a lovely section from about 30mins to 1.5 hours that to me is a soft lily, not the very fragrant ones, and some mimosa, after that I get sugar, something quietly green and amber but so sparse as to almost not be there. I wonder if this was made with the Chinese and Japanese markets in mind?

If you hate perfume but feel the need to have something on your dresser and that you must spritz before you leave the house then this is for you. You will not be overwhelmed, nobody will complain of you skunking even an elevator after a double quadruple spritz. I use the last 3 ml of my 5ml decant today in one wearing and only noticed that I was wearing fragrance intermittently, and no one else commented at all.

RockGardenDesigns amazing-home-designPhoto Stolen AmazingHomeDesign

Further reading UnseenCenser
FragranceNet has 100ml around $45
MyPerfumeSamples has $2/ml or $7/5ml which is what I bought

I love the Caron vibe but feel it’s fading, with the new regulations I wonder how these houses will survive. What do you think? Will we miss the old ways in 20 years or will the people then be immune to it?
See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Dsquared2 Fall Winter 2013/2014 Full Fashion Show

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

Hiya Huffers,

While the Dsquared fragrances don’t give me a huge wear life they are interesting and usually boundary pushers. This F/W 13/14 show is so classically beautiful but with wonderful and outrageous features that make it modern, so bang up to date. And so much of it elegant, beaded evening wear. Bravo! Sequins and glitter are back.

Dsquared2-FW13 FMVMagPhoto Stolen MFVMag

I like that they have followed the LV 12/13 over-large hat look. It’s fun, silly and sometimes fabulous. The jewellery is astounding BTW. Enjoy.

DSquared2_FW13 GloveLoveBlogPhoto Stolen GloveLoveBlog

Portia xx
Dsquared2 Fall Winter 2013/2014 Full Fashion Show (Feb’13)

Chile Vanilli By Brent Leonesio for Smell Bent

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Hello lovelies,

Make no mistake, I am a Smell Bent fan girl. I love their fun and interesting take on fragrance, their gorgeous Chairman and their price point. Smell Bent’s modus operandi is to spend all their money on the juice and little on the packaging, next to nothing on advertising. Now that is a sensible niche game plan to me, and it’s generating worldwide interest. Recently I dropped by the website a grabbed a couple of their perfumed oils.

Chile Vanilli By Smell Bent

Chile Vanilli FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Patchouli, Vanilla, Cinnamon

Firstly, I love the little oil pots from Smell Bent with their glass want applicator in the lid, it feels very new and ancient at the same time: this is how the Indian and Arabic oils are often presented and it’s really easy. Another wonderful thing about oils is that you get a longer wear time and slower development of the fragrance, though in Chile Vanilli’s case not really important because on me it wears quite linear. A lovely soft, warm blend that is perfect for Spring and Autumn. Today Sydney is a little brisk and I am feeling cuddled and coddled in a divine dry dessert fragrance that is delicious without being overly food-ish, though there are bakery moments towards the dry down. I think the patchouli, which is not excessive, keeps the composition grounded and earthy.

Smell Bent oils FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Though Chile Vanille is fragrant, it will not skunk those around you, especially in the oil form. I think it would be a perfect work, date, dinner scent where you want to smell fresh, clean, warm and inviting but not announce your perfumista status too loudly. In oil form there is less projection though any length of time spent somewhere and you will be smellable, soft but invasive.

For a complete list of the current, and often changing, Smell Bent choices go to the Smell Bent Site (<<<JUMP) my Chile Vanilli 8ml Oil was around $20, super good value for money!!

Here is a shot of the lovely, movie star good looking Chairman at Smell Bent, Brent Leonesio. If that’s not a good reason to go check out the Smell Bent Site then I don’t know what is.

Brent Leonesio FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Until tomorrow, Be Nice To Yourself.
Portia xx

150,000 VIEWS CELEBRATION GIVEAWAY WINNER!

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hello APJ Crew!!

I hope you enjoyed our giveaway. It has been really fun and THANK YOU all for your lovely well wishes. We are glad you all are loving APJ as much as we are. Let’s find out who won the FENDI Donna.

150,000 VIEWS CELEBRATION GIVEAWAY WINNER!

FENDI Donna 5ml 99perfumePhoto Stolen 99perfume

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

1 x 5ml mini FENDI Donna EdP
P&H Anywhere in the world

I review it for APJ HERE! (<<<JUMP)

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who leaves a CONGRATULATIONS in the comments section.

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 5th May 2013 9pm AusEST.
Winners were chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, put on a tray and TSO Jin picked them.

Winner EverythingHealth

SaffyIsHere!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!Ha Ha HA!! I am laughing that Jin picked you out after you giving me a nudge yesterday! Fabulous!!

You have till Wednesday 8th May 2013 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or I will give the prize to someone else.No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Thanks Everyone,
Portia xx

Safran Troublant by L’Artisan Parfumeur 2002

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 50 Comments

Hello Fellow Fume Heads,

Sometimes I read other people’s reviews and I am swept away by their incredible love, moment, articulateness or sheer joy at a perfume. It’s like the love is transferred by osmosis through their excitement. Safran Troublant is a case in point, I read a terrific post and could almost smell the fragrance while reading, at that same time I was ordering some splits from my favourite split enabler, Ruth K on FFF, and wondered if she had a bottle lying around that she would like to share 5ml of. Oh yes she did, in its old packaging and everything. YIPPEE!

Fragrantica has Bertrand Duchaufour and BaseNotes has Olivia Giacobetti responsible for creating Safran Troublant. Mystery!!

Safran Troublant by L’Artisan Parfumeur 2002

Safran Troublant FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Passion flower, sandalwood, red rose, vanilla, saffron, sugar and ginger.

What a terrific scent. It is so calm, collected and unpushy. When I wear Safran Troublant it encases me is a glorious and interesting magic that is sweet and delicious without being particularly edible, though foody it is. Does that make sense? The spicy rose, ginger and vanilla are what I smell most through the whole life of the fragrance but I think the saffron is just not a note I’m familiar enough with to really understand how it fits here. Sometimes people mention that there is a clean plastic-ish smell to it, well I often find that in roses too, are they the same? Is it a particular molecule that gives me this reaction? Dunno gang but I love it.

Safran Troublant Sugared Rose ediblecraftsPhoto Stolen EdibleCrafts

Some of the bloggers have called this a comfort scent, a warm blanket to wrap yourself in on a cool day but I find it much more aloof than that. It’s a cool Autumn day filled with rain here in Sydney and I am not feeling the warm wrap effect at all. Sweet, yes, warm, no. Rather a cool sweetness, a green sweetness, Safran Troublant feels like an expensive sweetness that relies on sophistication and prior knowledge to enjoy it fully. Like Bach, so pretty and intricate to listen to but when you start to study him it becomes a math equation, a geometric vision in sound. L’Artisan is often like that for me. Very pretty and wearable by almost everyone till you start to try and dissect what it is you love and it is so far out of my knowledge realms that all I can do is go back to, “I really enjoy how I feel when I wear it.” Curiously, I smell it for hours and hours but the people around me say it’s too faint to discern, interesting huh?

Safran Troublant Red Rose Girl LayoutSparksPhoto Stolen LayoutSparks

You will not skunk your colleagues or dinner guests even if you, like me, spritz with abandon. Safran Troublant is an introverted perfumistas scent, not that you are unsmellable but it flies under the radar.

Further reading GrainDeMusc and the reason I got my hands on some Safran Troublant was the recent post at Kafkaesque
L’Artisan Parfumeur has 100ml/$145
Libertine Perfumes in Australia has 100ml/$169 including postage in Australia. Good deal!
SurrenderToChance starts at $4/ml

Has it ever happened for you? Read a review and can’t help but buy the fragrance? Which fragrances have you done it for and are you happy with your purchase?
Till tomorrow we wish you only good,
Portia xx