Portia

Madonna: Truth or Dare

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hi Fellow Fumies,

Madonna. Released her first single “Everybody” in 1982. It became a dancefloor hit in the underground clubs of the USA and, soon after, the world but it wasn’t until “Burning Up” was released that we in the Australian club scene heard of her. I remember seeing the video of Madonna writhing around on street asphalt looking like Marilyn Monroe and wearing loads of plastic bracelets. We instantly, guys and girls, adopted this look and a million shades of it and took our 15 year old selves out to the streets and clubs of Oxford St in Sydney. It was the era of acid trips, no doze and spumanti, disco was dying and Madonna seemed to step up to the mark and take its place effortlessly. After the sexy slow groove of the 70’s we wanted faster, more confrontational, heart racing music formulas and video hits. Here it was; and with her wicked, so slutty, don’t give a toss, finger up at the establishment, messed about attitude we were hooked.

Photo Stolen wikipedia

We were her slaves, even personally being part of 2 Madonna tribute shows. The peak of my Madonna madness came while she was doing the Girly Tour. It was her brother Christopher’s birthday and a group of us were asked to perform at the party. It is surreal standing next to your idol and singing Happy Birthday with her, to her brother on a stairwell overlooking a room full of Sydney’s most beautiful movers and shakers. Christopher and I picked the chocolate dipped strawberries off the cake and threw then to the heaving throng. I was extremely let down by Madonna at that party, she was tired and clearly just wanted to get the hell away from the madness but stayed, maybe for Christopher, and looked bored out of her brain. This was after a MONSTER world tour so she had earned tired.

Photo Stolen frenchculturesf

Madonna has been not stop in your face to the point where I can’t remember a time without her musically. Having also been there for every movie, yes even the ones we fans would prefer to forget about, we were thrilled when she nailed Evita so well. Trailing along in the wake of her oft times disastrous personal life through the lenses of the paparazzi Madonna has become so entrenched in our psyches that it’s often like we know her better than we know the people in our street, making it easy and painless to gossip about her, which brings her more into our world. Everybody has a Madonna moment to share, be it a disastrous date movie, early bedroom hairbrush singing, rollerblade track, wedding waltz or a zillion others, just bring her name up at a dinner party, everybody has a story.

Now I’m the first to admit that lately there has been a whiff of desperation about our Madge; the need to stay current, creative and controversial starts to look like a hard slog when you’ve been doing it for over 30 years. Every time she has brought out a new album in the last few years I have felt a little more embarrassed for her. Staying young forever is clearly thinning her out, in all ways.

Photo Stolen rollingstone

So, about 20 years after I would have expected it, Madonna has finally made her first foray into the world of fragrance. She has chosen the house of Coty as her scent mother, which strikes me as both extremely clever; for their enormous marketing and distribution powers, their long running work with many big celebrities; Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, Celine Dion, and our very own Kylie Minogue are just some of the Coty celebs, but also in all honesty on the flip side I would have hoped Madonna might have gone and found a more niche brand perfumer and really rocked our socks off. I suppose the lure of making big profits ran roughshod over the siren call of making the best. As yet Madonna’s fragrance Truth or Dare has not made it to our shores but by a lovely stroke of luck my friend Jay was over visiting in the USA teaching shoe design and cobblery last week and he just happened to drop by Macy’s, where there just happened to be a friendly sales assistant who just happened to let him have the free gift with purchase tote AND clutch, as long as he bought the BIG bottle. So Jay dutifully bought me 75mls of Truth or Dare and I am so grateful.

Photo Stolen allaboutmadonna

Design wise I love the gold and white box with its embossing. It looks cool and, for want of a better word, classy. As a side note an Australian artist RJ Williams (his work has hung in the Art Gallery of NSW and Museum of Contemporary Art) is currently suing Madonna for her use of his copyrighted symbol. Upon opening the first thing you notice about the bottle is its unusual hexagonal shape with the look of beading around the perimeter. It is stark and neat, comfortable in your hand, the little gold tone crown on top like the head of a scepter or a scaled back Westwood-esque world. The whole bottle has heft and could even be a nod to Deco. I really like it, while being a much calmer piece that I ever would have expected Madonna to put her name to it does fit.

Photo Stolen style.mtv

So history and design aside, the most important thing in a perfume, in my eyes anyway, is the juice. Madonna asked perfumer Stephen Nilsen who is the nose behind Vera Wang’s 2011 Lovestruck, SJP’s 2009 Dawn, and Bond No 9’s 2008 Andy Warhol Union Square for a white floral tuberose fragrance reminiscent of Robert Piguet’s 1948 Fracas that her mother wore. Having lost her mother while she was very young Madonna wanted to bring her memory back in olfactory terms while still giving her a massive update and facelift.

How does it smell? Buttery tuberose, creamy gardenia and neroli open in a big fat mouth watering HELOOOOO! I can hear my arteries clanging shut and wouldn’t be surprised if this fragrance could cause blood pressure problems it is so full of delicious fatty flavour. OMG! Madonna has blown my nostrils

As the initial blast calms down to a dull roar there is a peeking in of the lovely benzoin, which gives us a sweet and balsamic, slightly milky vanilla, and I love it when the Casablanca lily starts to hum in the background. I’m sure it’s there but I am not getting any jasmine in the heart, I’ll wait a while, maybe it’s a late starter. The tuberose, vanilla and gardenia pump gloriously through the heart of this perfume backed up by Casablanca, amber and, I think, musk with little softening of the after initial rush scent so far at 5 hours. I am thrilled that Madonna has done such a good job here. Sweet but not sickly, vanilla but not foodie, white flowers done with distinction.

Good for perfumistas, Madonna fans and the general public. A winner.

Photo Stolen fabsugar

I hope you have enjoyed this lengthy look at Madonna’s Truth or Dare,

Much love,

Portia xx

Vivienne Westwood “Boudoir” Review, Thursday

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Hi gang,

I  have had a long running fascination with the incredible Vivienne Westwood. What a creative genius she is. Punk, Bondage, Pirate, Mini Crini, Plaid, Tartan, Safety Pins, Hand Painting Slogans, she has driven fashion forward in her own way, seemingly on her own terms, battling to live and eat for many years and now Dame on her throne. Down the bottom is the latest Vivienne Westwood Red Carpet video released on Tuesday this week. YUMMY!

Diane Kruger in Vivienne Westwood Couture
Cannes Film Festival 20.5.12

BOUDOIR by VIVIENNE WESTWOOD 1998. Boudoir is designated Floral-Chypre in the notes but it is so much more than the sum of its parts. Yes, it is a big fat floral with some of the Chypre inclusions but what really makes Boudoir stand out is the skanky, slut guts of it all. It’s like wearing ELdO Secretions Magnifique with Caron’s Bellodgia so no one will notice. How do I know this? I am wearing said frags for that very reason and it is a dead ringer for Boudoir. I’m coming back to finish this post tomorrow, then we’ll see…

Photo Stolen from lambre

OK. They are not the same. There is a definite correlation though. Boudoir is ripe, overblown flowers, panting in the heat of your body with woods and spices sparkling and popping, this with musk, vanilla, sandalwood and patchouli pumping out a deep, sweet, buttery base over the top of a very slightly rank, unwashed, just been f#@ked senseless and am marinating in my own juices till I can get to a shower feel caused by the coriander, musk and cardamom, I think. All the filth is way down deep here, you have to look for it compared to Secretions Magnifique/Bellodgia. This is more a blowsy housewife than a feral Beryl.

If you can get your hands on some Boudoir it is definitely worth a sniff. As always Vivienne Westwood has put a tiny shockwave through it, just to keep you on your toes. It is a wonderful, sensual ride. Party night perfect.

Photo Stolen from global.rakuten

NB Keep some in your purse for emergencies, if you have to do the walk of shame you can attribute your good girl gone bad scent to Boudoir.

March at the Perfume Posse does a super great 80’s remembrance post about Boudoir. Fragrantica has the low down.

THURSDAY GIVEAWAY COMPETITION

This week instead of doing one big giveaway I thought I’d do 2 small ones. Both winning parties will receive

1ml Rasheeqa Concentrated Perfume Oil
1.5ml Vintage by Kate Moss EdT Spray Decant
1.5ml Hermessence Vanille Galante EdT Spray Decant
Plus P&H anywhere in the world

What do you have to do to be in the running to win these lovelies? Tell me a fragrance by a fashion house that you particularly love. That can be anything from Dior, YSL, Chanel to Alexander McQueen, Juicy Couture, Stella McCartney, even ADIDAS if that floats your boat. If they do clothes and fragrance they are fair game.
Winner will be drawn Saturday 26.5.12 Australian EST after 9.30pm. If you don’t get in touch with your details by midnight Wednesday 30.5.12 I’ll give your prize to someone else. As St Murphy didn’t get in touch last week anatu13

Wishing you all peace and lovely scents all around,
Portia xx

Vivienne Westwood The Red Carpet Collection by Wonderland May 22 2012

Hermes, Hermes, Hermes Reviews

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Hey Hey Junkies,

Hermes, Hermes, Hermes; even the name sounds exquisite. Doesn’t it. Images of saddlery, silk, leather, shoes, clothing, bags.

Logo Stolen from madisonmuse

I had an Hermes tie once. It was lovely. Pale blue background, horses (not the proud stallions, no, these were the 14 hand 8 year old gelds of domestic pony clubbers) being ridden by very ordinary young men dressed in cream shirts and beige or fawn moleskins, some daringly sporting braces in red. this is my memory of the tie and if I could remember who I lent it to they could probably vouch for it’s accuracy, these ties were made to last. A friend also gifted me the Hermes box that a queen sized cashmere rug had traveled home in. It was placed around the apartment, and then house, like a piece of art, till it was destroyed in a minor domestic accident that had me hyperventilating and palpitating and everyone else trying not to laugh.

A couple of weeks ago I wandered into Sydney’s Hermes store to grab a squirt of their fragrances. I looked like a complete bogan, worn out jeans, holy jumper, thongs. Every piece that was visible had once been a designer piece that has lasted me years and though I look like a tramp, these clothes are so part of me I am finding it hard to let them go. there was a blond, buff, sparkly toothed vision smiling at me as the door was opened, looking for all the world like Hermes the messenger of the Gods had had his golden locks shorn and coiffed. It was astounding. His welcome was as warm as if I’d walked in wearing an Hermes suit he had personally sold to me.

Photo Stolen from giantbomb

I asked to see the fragrances. “Mens or womens?” he asked casually.
“Do you think they care who wears them?” me. There was no wide eyed surprise just a moment to distill and a bigger smile, “What would you like to try?”
“Herm Essence,” I reply in Australian. He touches my arm to get my attention and says softly in the correct tones, “Our Hermessence range is great, you’ll love it,” and opens a drawer with testers. It was done so nicely and without fanfare. I am grateful to him and will purchase on Saturday, as a Thank You.

Recent arrivals in my Mail Box included 3 Hermes 15ml mini bottles from Olfactoria’s Travels wardrobe cleanout. They are all so different and wearable. I am enjoying them all.

Kelly Caleche EdT 2007 Jean-Claude Ellena. This is a surprising leather that smells on my skin like the leather, glue, colours and stitchery inside the back of brand new high heels, never worn, straight from box and tissue paper. The flowers and fruits big moment are all over for me so quickly, around 15 minutes, and then play such a light backing track to this almost patent leather smell. Kelly Caleche has been worn on my chest for the last 2 days and I have enjoyed it immensely.


Hermessence Vanille Galante EdT 2009 Jean-Claude Ellena. Vanille Galante has a sharp, dark, almost camphorous, awkward and riveting scorched pot-pouri beginning that burns the hairs out of my nostrils. As it mellows down to a softer tone the vanilla peeks out, then hides, then peeks out again in an interesting waltz with the flowers and woods. Maybe I smell cognac wafting from somewhere, like I’ve left a balloon on a table near the fire, or maybe the perfumers notes mislead me but now it’s in my head I can almost taste it. Sadly, while I have enjoyed wearing Hermessence Vanille Galante, this will probably never reach any kind of high rotation because other Vanillas in my library live better for me.

Les Colognes Hermes Eau de Gentiane Blanche EdC 2009 Jean-Claude Ellena. This smells of ivy, fresh cut hedges on gardener days and humus, the flowers and incense are cool and stark the most bare, green, haughty and aloof you can imagine. This is a bracing spring splash in a salt water pool, that OOH as you go in but as your body adjusts and acclimatises to the water it becomes comfortable, deliciously refreshing. There is a warmth in this fragrance that filters in as your skin mellows and softens it. Les Colognes Hermes Eau de Gentiane Blanche is my favourite of the 3, I will wear this frequently.

Here is Hermes World Home Page that can direct you to any of their country websites. FragranceShop has some great deals on Hermes fragrances.

Do you have a favourite Hermes fragrance or a story of your introduction to the Hermes brand? Please share with us, often the comments are more interesting than my posts and I love reading your fragrant thoughts. Currently I am torn between Santal Massoïa or Jardin en Méditerranée as my Thank You buy for that sweet Hermes God working in the Sydney Store. HELP!

Much love,

Portia xx

CHANEL, Cuir de Russie Review

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Hello Gang,

Photo Stolen from londonprettyboy

I have a friend who is generous beyond belief. She is also one of the scentbloggers I read religiously because we see such different things in the fragrance, and because clever is an understatement. Undina from Undina’s Looking Glass is also a great community person, ie reads a lot of blogs, writes thoughtful and thought provoking comments often, helps out and does it all with a cyber smile.

I received a fair satchel of lovelies recently from her in the mail and inside was a fragrance I’ve long read about, desperately wanted (yes I’m the guy who has been bidding against you all but only to a certain amount, which is why you all win) but have not tried yet. Till today.

CHANEL Cuir de Russie (CdR)

Photo Stolen from Fragrantica

When I sprayed myself today with Chanel’s Cuir de Russie I was expecting a bear, to be picked up, shaken, savaged and left for dead in a steaming, spreading puddle of fear related incontinence. There has been so much written about this extreme, hard to love, hard to get fragrance that I was slightly nervous, just in case I was overwhelmed.

This is the Les Exclusives modern range not the mid 1920’s Ernest Beaux original. Ernest Beaux was the perfumer behind Chanel No 5 also a few years before.

Picture Stolen from finearts1

Honestly, 15 minutes after I sprayed I had to come back and check the decant spray to make sure I hadn’t misread. This is one of the softest and most elegantly refined perfumes I’ve ever tried on myself. On me it is powdery iris and lovingly cared for driving gloves from last season, maybe even a little blonde mink-ish, it’s soft too, a whisper of rich beyond our wildest imaginings. It seems like Hollywood, but not the actresses; the lovely parts they played in those magnificent sets and gowns. Pretending to be the rich, elite, decorous daughters and wives of the extreme upper classes, instead of the children of migrant/itinerant/working class people that most of them were. This scent is all sensual evenings with a fire, a delicate waft perhaps in restaurants, theatre or cinema. On reflection, this is a great treat-yourself-to-the-best office fragrance, not a sillage monster or powerhouse fragrance. Only the people that you want close enough to you to reap the reward will be any the wiser that you smell terrific. This is the fragrance you do checklists with catering staff, book holidays, shop at Paspaley or seduce your next husband while wearing.

Photo Stolen from abeilles10

BOTOBlog (Beauty On The Outside) has a fabulously fun CdR conversion story. NSTPerfume (Now Smell This) does a wonderful job giving you history, notes and story. Fragrantica also has some great information.

Thanks for dropping in, I hope all is lovely where you are.
If it’s not, it gets better,

And Undina, Thank You.
Portia xx

MONDAY!!!

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Hi Everyone,
I know you are expecting an Evie C adventure but sometimes life gets in the way. Evie C is going to take a short think tank break and will be back on board soon. I have the list of interview questions and will get my interview hat on soon but right now it seems a little overwhelming so instead I will dedicate the next couple of Mondays to off topic stuff. Maybe a blog I’ve read that has inspired, interested or instructed. A piece of music, fashion, art or video that caught my attention. Something worthy, in my eyes.

Click here for more graphics and gifs!
GIF Stolen from picgifs

So I love this video piece, it has a bunch of great music, images, ads all mashed together. Some of the music and visual editing is kinda bumpy but to me that ads a home made nerd-at-desk appeal. Having spent an amazing mindless evening with one of my already legendary heroes, the inimitable Grace Jones, back in 1995 at Heaven, London I love the mini showcase of her surrealist imagery that so many people born after 1985 will have completely missed, it happens later in the video. There are also some really camp retro references that you’ll either remember or be astounded by.

Please enjoy my first sideways Monday offering.

Portia xox

SUNDAY QUICKSNIFF REVIEW #2

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hiya all,

I wear a lot of perfume and write about surprisingly little of it, hard to believe isn’t it? Last week I decided to try something new. The Sunday QuickSniff Review page is opened on Monday morning and every time I spritz and am near the computer I’ll give a 3 sentence review with a rating out of 5 each for, well, see the key after the reviews.

DECLARATION by CARTIER 1998. Firstly I find it hard to believe that Declaration has been around for so long flying under my radar. A four star Luca Turin rave calls it, “perhaps the most widely imitated fragrance since Cool Water, almost every modern masculine owes something to it… brisk, abstract, refreshing, a touch flinty and altogether euphoric.” I love it but am surprised it was aimed at men only, women should be wearing this hardcore aqueous scent too. FragrantX has 50ml around $33 (using TAKE10 coupon) S=**** L=*** D=****

HALLE by HALLE BERRY 2009. This is so inexpensive and I was blown away by the fragrance, honesty compels me to admit I was expecting a catastrophe. Warm, rich, intoxicating citrus floral opening that goes all sweet vanilla and chocolate on my skin and stays around. Ms Berry worked for a year with Coty to get this how she wanted it. FragranceNet has 50ml around $25 S=**** L=*** D=**** (extra for price point)

POUR HOMME by VAN CLEEF & ARPELS 1978. I remember having a sample mini of this when I was a boy that my Mum and I procured from a department store counter. It has probably been reformulated since then but it smells just like I remember. Bright and dark, citrus, flowers, herbs, woods, smoke, leather like a cornucopia of delicious dichotomy; you get the squeaky citric astringent opening that kind of hums through the whole event, the warmth as herbs and flowers swing in with an underlying resinous, woody, leather depth that gives Pour Homme gravitas. FragranceShop has 100ml around $33 S=***** L=**** D=*****

RASHEEQA by SWISS ARABIAN Concentrated Alcohol Free Perfume Oil. It’s supposed to be a rose floral but this rose is the sweetest, most fruity floral rose that never existed and has blown the back of my head clear off. Such a dense fragrance, like a wall of scent, that it is hard to pick much out at all except sweet to the point of over-ripe fruit, not sizzling though. There is a jarring discord here that is both entrancingly gorgeous and repellent which has me ambivilant, I will wear this to work and see the reactions. 20ml at Zahra’s Perfume $20 S=*** L=***** D=***

VINTAGE by KATE MOSS 2009. I love this bottle, to me this looks like the brown crystal that was so glorious and popular in the 1960’s and is a classy addition to my dresser. The juice though is not Vintage at all, just the most boring aqueous crap that smells like nothing and fortunately lasts about 20 seconds. Kate Moss, you have let us all down; thank goodness it was so cheap. 30ml $16 on CheapSmells S=* L=* D=*(for the bottle ONLY)

Photo Stolen from shirtsays

Scent, Obviously the number 1 priority here is how does it smell. My reviews are completely subjective and will differ widely from your own experience with the scent but it’s a good starting point. As yet I am not a trained perfumer so any and all descriptions are merely that, descriptions. There are plenty of blogs that offer technical details and chemistry, in 3 sentences I’ll pass.
Longevity, This is a biggie for me because like enfleurage where flower petals are left in fats to steal the scent, my fatty body works the same and eats it up, yum. So for a scent to last well on me, it will probably last a whole day on you and need a radioactive decontamination shower to defuse it from your skin.
Desirabilty, Wrapped up in this is scent, price, house, history, longevity, packaging, availability and a billion other things.

Photo Stolen from bittbox

* in any of these being the, “You couldn’t pay enough to spray this God awful stink on me again, it smells like public toilets in India, long time fridge malfunction while on Summer holiday and the vile stench of poverty all rolled into one.” You are putting innocent people in danger if you wear this.
** means it’s a nothing, wearable, boring, maybe the price is prohibitive for what you get or it’s ubiquitous. You should definitely get a sample of this to stop a buying boo boo.
*** is a perfectly good product that smells good and lasts a while at a decent price. You should definitely think about trying a sample or squirt but should you miss out your life will continue. Sample size worthy.
**** is the one you try, want a lot but can wait for a birthday/Christmas. It’s better than most of the stuff you’ve sniffed and may fill a void in your library. This is also an excellent decant product 5ml will get you through the season and maybe buy it next year.
***** meaning, stop reading this, grab your cash, credit card (or partners), roll the elderly or rob a petrol station and purchase this product. NOW! If you don’t have this fragrance you could die.

I’m so grateful you’ve dropped by, I hope you’ve enjoyed these short and sharp looks at some of the stuff I’ve sprayed myself with this week. Is there anything you have sprayed on you that you’d particularly like to share. we’d LOVE to read it,

Portia xx

Yves Saint Laurent Revolution Movie, WINNER ANNOUNCED

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are having a super great weekend. Today a group of us went for Pedicures and Yum Cha. I am currently sporting Lime Green toenails and a HUGE belly, so full it hurts.

THURSDAY GIVEAWAY COMPETITION!

To be in this weeks Competition Giveaway you had to leave a short comment on your favourite gamekeeper, in life, film, novel or story, or if that was too hard just a Hello in the comments. We had a great bunch of stories, gamekeeper and otherwise.


Photo stolen from WildBunchAdventures.com

Here are the 6 great prizes

1.5ml spray decant of Annick Goutal’s Passion
3ml spray decant of Fracas for Men by Robert Piguet
1.5ml spray decant of Eau Mega by Viktor & Rolf
1.5ml spray decant of Bud Parfums Gamekeeper
by Kilian Water Calligraphy manufacturers sample (remains)
Aedes de Venustas EdP manufacturers sample (remains)

Plus P&H anywhere in the world.

AND THE


Photo Stolen from sistersavealot.com

is StMurphy, who is the gamekeeper: you must get in touch by Wednesday 23.5.12 or I’ll give your prize to someone else.

YVES SAINT LAURENT REVOLUTION

As my nose is still out of action this movie has nothing to do with Perfume or Fragrance. It is the Yves Saint Laurent Revolution lipstick ad. 1000 types of fabulous, like a Burton cartoon, maybe it is. Probably not. So the Making Of comes first and then the movie proper.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did,

Portia xx

Denyse Beaulieu: The Perfume Lover

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hi Snifffters,

I have recently finished Denyse Beaulieu’s book “The Perfume Lover”. Denyse has been a long time blogger on Grain de Musc and a perfume afficianado, teaching “Understanding Fragrance” courses in London, living and working in Paris. She is a bit of a hero and writes many of her blog posts in English and French.

Unfortunately I am a bit under the weather today and my nose has gone on strike for smelling because it’s already full.

So instead of talking about perfume, I thought perhaps that I would tell you a tiny smidge about Denyse’s book. I found it a delightful and entrancing page turner, teaching me a lot of history, some of the perfume making process, and a whole bunch of side related trivia that you have to be on the inside track to know. Like a perfumed version of a rag trade novel. Behind this font of knowledge though is the story of how a perfume came to be from a vivid recollection of youthful dalliance Denyse had enjoyed in Spain, some of her loves through time and the scented thread holding all together.

Many of you don’t read novels, I know. This is such an easy read that few of you will find it in any way challenging. You may learn some new vocabulary though, which will stand you in much better stead next time you are faced with a pushy salesgirl or the incredible gamut of fragrances available currently. It will also give you some hints of great perfumers and the companies they have created for, who to look out for and what they put into the juice. All knowledge is power, right. For you ladies your buys will look more savvy and for the gentlemen the same holds true. Imagine being able to surprise a loved one with something they’ll cherish or brag about your own splendid choice of fragrance.

Buy The Perfume Lover (after the jump) from Book Depository in hardcover for around $21 delivered to your door. It is also a sensational gift. I was going to write this about a fortnight before Mother’s Day because it is a perfect book for gifting. Beautifully bound, writing not too small, light and entertaining while still informative.

It has inspired me to go and find a couple of the mentioned perfumes too.
Is there a book I need to read about perfume that you adore, please leave it’s title and author in the comments.
Much reading pleasure to you,

Portia xxx

Bud Parfums “Gamekeeper” Review; Thursday GIVEAWAY COMPETITION

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 34 Comments

Hello everyone,

Evie C’s super interview with Howard Jarvis on Monday reminded me I haven’t reviewed any of the samples I ordered from Bud Parfums. What a ning-nong I am sometimes, so I thought as a part down-payment on my full Bud Parfums story I’d give you a sneaky peek at one of my favourite scents from the range.

GAMEKEEPER

“Then, one day, a lovely sunny day with tufts of primroses under the hazels, and many violets dotting the paths, she came in the afternoon to the coops and there was one tiny, tiny perky chicken tinily prancing round in front of a coop.
The keeper, squatting beside her, was also watching with an amused face the bold little bird in her hands. Suddenly he saw a tear fall on to her wrist.
And he stood up, and stood away, moving to the other coop. For suddenly he was aware of the old flame shooting and leaping up in his loins, that he had hoped was quiescent for ever. He laid his hand on her shoulder, and softly, gently, it began to travel down the curve of her back, blindly, with a blind stroking motion, to the curve of her crouching loins. “Shall you come to the hut?” he said, in a quiet, neutral voice.”
‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ by D.H.Lawrence


Richard Ansdell’s English Gamekeeper  via goldenagepaintings

This is how Gamekeeper is introduced on the Bud Parfums website and strangely it fits. There is the creak and crack of citrus branch, also the fruit, juice and leaf, humus rich oakmoss, warming resinous labdanum, the musk and clean bright patchouli round the whole lovely, sexy concert out. In truth I don’t know what palmarosa oils smell like so I can’t attest to their inclusion (apparently it smells like Geranium Leaf and is used instead of endangered Rosewood). The fragrances don’t really form a pyramid within Gamekeeper, they are more like tendrils of scent interwoven that spike up occasionally through the life of the scent story, you think they’ve gone but back they come changed, lightened or darkened, in different combinations. This is like a book where firstly you are introduced to all the characters, then throughout they are placed together in different groupings or sometimes nearly alone.

Although this is marketed as a masculine, and there are moments of truly manly cologne-ish glory, this seems to me like a fragrance that would work deliciously and decorously on women, there is a flapper feel to Gamekeeper. It’s very sexy, almost sexual, and has a light skank alert that I find riveting. As if the fragrance has gone inside the cottage with them to partake in the fun but not stayed till the end.

The website and Fragrantica give the same information.

If you go to the Bud Parfums website choose any size refill and it will take you to the fragrance lists. Also, bottle purchase is separate, such a wonderful idea, so you get to choose. AWESOME!

I’ll finish up this review with the first gamekeeper to steal my heart, Rupert Graves played D H Lawrence’s sublimely delicious gay gamekeeper in the movie Maurice. I spent years searching for just such a specimen, and while the search was rewarding in and of itself, the closest I have ever come is now a blogger himself, the one who inspired me to start writing this blog. I hope he’s reading.

Rupert Graves, Maurice 1987 Stolen from IMDb

Another excellent and enjoyable week here for me, I hope for you too, and we’ve looked at a lovely bunch of fragrances. Here’s you chance to win a small selection of them. In fact, this week there are 6 great reasons to enter our….

THURSDAY GIVEAWAY COMPETITION!

In honour of our Annick Goutal Review we are putting a 1.5ml spray decant of Annick Goutal’s Passion in
From Sunday Quicksniff Reviews 3ml spray decant of Fracas for Men by Robert Piguet
and 1.5ml spray decant of Eau Mega by Viktor & Rolf
Evie C did a lovely interview with Howard Jarvis from Bud Pafums so a 1.5ml spray decant of Bud Parfums Gamekeeper
and lastly, the remains of my by Kilian Water Calligraphy manufacturers sample
and Aedes de Venustas EdP sample from the Extraordinaries That Arrived By Post

Plus P&H anywhere in the world.

How do you win? Simply leave a short comment on your favourite gamekeeper, in life, film, novel or story, or if that’s too hard just leave a Hello in the comments. I do love to read your contributions though so do try.

If you win you must get in touch by Wednesday 23.5.12 or I’ll give your prize to someone else. As TARA didn’t get in touch last week her prize will go to Penny Cascio.

See you all tomorrow,

Portia xx

Extraordinaries That Arrived By Post #1

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hello all you lovely Fume Heads,

Photo Stolen from inetgiant.com.au

I love to go to the post box and find something there that’s not a bill, don’t we all? Sometimes though the post box turns up unexpected, interesting, heartening or WOW! Forgot I won/bought/snaggled this. So I want to write about some of the ones that really took my breath away lately, for different reasons..

LE PARFUM DE THERESE.

Photo Stolen from mimifroufrou

Today I went to the box and there was a mail bag from the USA. Tatiana had sent me a surprise sample of Frederic Malle’s Le Parfum De Therese, the fragrance Edmond Roudnitska created in the early 1950s for his wife Thérèse, and it was hers exclusively. In March I had confessed never smelling it on Patty from the Perfume Posse’s review, which was a fun read but definitely not a loving one. I am constantly amazed at the generosity shown in the worm hole de scent (why have I never heard of a fragrance called D Scent, that’s funny) by people who are continents away that I’ve never met. AH MAY ZING! From this fragrance I get roses, broken branch, fresh cut ripe melon and humus in the first rush. It doesn’t really change a lot after the first 15 minutes on my skin, it is mainly fruity floral but not sweet like many of today’s perfumes, ripe and fresh with an underlying strength like feminine women who have made a choice to be so while living, working, loving and generally getting on with the joys and heartaches of modern life.. As apposed to what I had read this smells to me of rise above, fly over, be magic. I know, I’m not making sense but I have been transported. Not for long though, 90 minutes gone. Respritz and begin again.

SEPIA.

Photo Stolen from perfumepharmer

From my reading on other blogs I was expecting this to be an aquatic airy whisper, so spare that my nose was going to miss it completely. What a surprise; Aftelier’s newest scent Sepia is a bit of a blockbuster on my skin. It is warm and dusty, floral and powdery, woody, smoky, dry and sere and smells to me like rural Australia. I can close my eyes and smell the unbroken expanses of sun beaten, dessicated red-earth desert where the properties are 1000’s of square kilometers with sheep, wheat and cattle. Many of the smaller towns have been engulfed in the last 50 years and stand silent, crumbling, with only their stone chimneys left like a mouth full of broken teeth. Sepia is the outback. It is also lovely and surprisingly strong. Thank you Mandy Aftel, something I never would have thought to wear or want in my library. Still powering at 3 hours, now smelling like attics and bookstores. I purchased this sample from Aftelier when buying a FB of Parfum de Maroc, should have ordered FB of this too. On my must have list.

AEDES DE VENUSTAS EdP.

Photo Stolen From edgeboston

I won this from Grain de Musc, blog queen turned author Denyse Beaulieu who wrote The Perfume Lover. What a divisive fragrance Aedes de Venustas has turned out to be. People are loving and hating it all over the scentbloggosphere and there seems to be no Meh factor at all. Dividing them is price point (US$225 per 100ml) and rhubarb accord reality. Mum used to grow rhubarb and cook it with apple in a pie that Dad loved, I can’t remember the taste because it would have to be smothered with ice cream for my sister and I to eat it. So no preconceptions here. What I smell is sharp, tomato leaves/broken ivy/squashed ants but offset by an underlying smell of powdery warmth like tame domestic birds have, mixed with apple and something that could be the vetiver or cold incense, after it’s burnt. I find that I’m divided, it is interesting and I would love a bigger sample which I will now invest in. Good longevity even on my skin, 4 hours and still pumping bitter and sweet softly in equal measure.

WATER CALLIGRAPHY.

Photo Stolen from aedes

I received this generous sample set from by Kilian in the best marketing ploy ever, join his facebook page and he will send you a sample of his new scents as and when they come out. Water Calligraphy by Kilian is like writing with water on a hot stone, like buttery tea, chewed grass, human boob milk and baby in the next room. It is nothing and everything. If you are rich and want the best of a slew of watery scents at about eight times the price, or maybe you just love Kilian, the ridiculously gorgeous bottle, the glamour or want to look like you are living the dream; then I say go for it. He has definitely shown everyone else that he can do the same better and it is more complex than any of the others. But we’re talking levels of air here. I get about 2.5 hours of smelling it before it’s lost to me but TSO Jin can smell a difference still.

There are more but I’ll save them for another day. If you have something you’d like me to sniff, consider me your Aussie nostril. Just ask and I’ll send you my address. Nothing makes me happier than going to the mailbox and finding a packet.

Photo Stolen from free-graphics

Should you want something in your mailbox, don’t forget tomorrow is THURSDAY GIVEAWAY COMPETITION. There’s some wonderful stuff in the pack tomorrow, so see you then,

LOVE, Love, LOVE,

Portia xxx