Portia

JAZZ by YSL, Thursday GIVEAWAY COMPETITION!

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Hey all,

What a week we’ve had here at AustralianPerfumeJunkies. As the weather cools here we are probably doing temperature crossovers with the Northern Hemisphere.

When I was a teenager still in Fashion School but working weekends I bought myself a bottle of JAZZ by YSL. Although I’d had different fragrances before from family and friends this was the first time I felt like I had a scent of my own. I still keep a bottle but much of the oomph seems to have left it over time and reformulation sadly. There is still a lingering thrill though when I put it on, a frission of excitement when that spicy, sparkly, herbal squeak as you spray that is both warm and cool hits your nostrils, its steady progression through musky, resinous florals to its leather, earth and woods base. More people should wear this lovely 1986 Woody Aromatic by Jean-Francois Latty for Yves Saint Laurent, a lovely fit for discerning men and women everywhere, not to mention dirt cheap online. And being so yesterday hardly anyone will recognise it, it will be your own scent as it has been mine on and off for over 25 years (OMFG! How did that happen?). When I wear JAZZ, then as now, you can bounce rocks off my self confidence. JAZZ is the scent of centre, the cool calm feeling of being in the right place at the right time and knowing the right thing to say. Although there were plenty of other times I wore JAZZ when things went regularly, or horribly wrong, more often than not it was JAZZ that was there during my early wins.


Photo Stolen from shoppingheavendotnet

This week we’ve done some interesting stuff and we’d like to share some of our discoveries with you in our Thursday GIVEAWAY COMPETITION!

How to enter?

Please give us a short perfume memory in the comments about your first scent that you really feel you owned, that you felt supremely comfortable in.

As we met the Opus Oils Jitterbug Perfume Parlour and their all natural Divine Collection I thought I’d give the rest of my Venus perfume oil sample for you to try.

Then we talked about Miss Boucheron EdP, how about a 1.5ml decant spray so you can have a go at that

Guerlain Terracotta Voile d’Ete was our next target so a 1.5ml decant spray of that also

And then we had our huge 2 day special on Parfum d’Empire so you can have what’s left of my Cuir Ottoman and Ambre Russe manufacturers samples, which were generous to begin with (I have Full Bottles, I’m not depriving myself)

plus postage and packing to anywhere in the world

We want to thank you all for returning each day. Today after you’ve entered the draw please enjoy the 1992 ad for JAZZ by YSL.

Much love and hope for your well being,

Portia xx

Parfum d’Empire, Fragrance Reviews

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Hi Stinkophiles,

Today we are looking at 4 of the Parfum d’Empire range of fragrances. I’m glad I’ve had a couple of days to do this because they have been so delicious, interesting and fun to wear, not to mention totally enjoyable to look up on different sites all the reviews, chatter, science and mystery surrounding them. Considering how little we know about the perfumer Marc-Antoine Corticchiato there is a wealth of information about his fragrances, which has made my job easier and harder in equal measure. What to put in, what to leave out, what is true, fantasy, science, madness or necessary to give a complete picture? The samples were bought from the Parfum d’Empire website, all of them were purchased late 2011 and I had tried only a couple and from that have 2 unopened bottles awaiting a suitable opening ceremony.  I hope you enjoy this short journey through about a third of the range. This is not a favourite list it is merely a random snapshot of the magicians art of fragrance in one house. I will give you my first impressions in words then work through the fragrance as my often wonky nose takes me through each perfume. Come.

Eau de Gloire EdT

The first fragrance that Parfum d’Empire brought to the world in 2005, modeled on Marc-Antoine Corticchiato’s scent memory of his boyhood home Corsica, literally translated as Water of Glory and dedicated as an homage to all those who’ve left their homelands to go into the world and conquer. Especially to his own home island boy Napoleon Bonaparte.


Photo Stolen from telegraph.co.uk

Bracing, Citrus, Salt, Squeaky, Floral, Masculine

WOW! This opens with a powerhouse icy cold screech of bergamot, citrus twig and broken branch and briny sea air then the herbs and flowers come and take the edge off. As the rosemary, lavender and star anise waltz in they warm the scent slightly but still it stays cool and laid back. I don’t believe in fragrances for the sexes but I keep imagining Eau de Gloire on a very masculine man though I would love to see how it smells on a woman. There is a squeaky dissonance here, the trilling of the citrus which lasts well into the heart of the fragrance and the rumbling of the incense, anise, oakmoss and tobacco. Unfortunately my nose misses the tea and leather in the composition completely, maybe you will have more luck. At about 3-4 hours I get more soft and flowery notes over the various resins, this fragrance grows more interesting and textured as it matures. At 7 hours it is soft as butterfly kisses and almost as ephemeral.

Fragrantica gives you the low down but Olfactoria’s Travels really does this lovely fragrance justice.

Osmanthus Interdite EdP

The French missionary and plant hunter, Jean Marie Delavay in the mid 19th century “discovered” Osmanthus (O. fragrans), a native of the GuiLin area of China (GuiLin means “Forest of Osmanthus” in Chinese). Osmanthus is a fast growing “bushy” tree that can grow 20 feet tall and 8 feet wide with glossy leaves and clusters of small, highly fragrant, yellow tubular flowers. Traditionally a symbol of love and romance and one of the 10 famous flowers in China and Taiwan.

Photo Stolen from trax2

Green, Crisp, Fresh, Light, Cold tea, High florals.

Osmanthus Interdite, which means Forbidden Osmanthus, is like arriving late for the presentation of tea during the cooler days of  jasmine and rose blooming. Honestly, I don’t smell jasmine and rose as I know them in life, this is an aloof, cool and soft scent on my skin, not a clean scent but reminiscent of cleanliness. Discernible and noticeable without a fanfare or scream, this is no bombastic floral. It is an old perfumed leather pair of driving gloves kept in perfect condition but worn, used and loved. The leather notes are far gone but you still can almost smell them, do I make sense? Almost as if they have become soaked with the wearers tea scented perfume and bodily fragrance over time, on top of a soft floral fragrance impregnated into the leather pre-purchase. They work side by side to create an intriguing unisex dichotomy through the heart. At the 8 hour point and there is still a whiff of something lovelier than me, faint and clean.

Here is Fragrantica and Abigail at I Smell Therefore I Am gives a 5 star rating to this luscious juice. WOW!

Wazamba EdP

Wassamba or Wassahoumba is a percussion instrument or disc rattle played rhythmically in loud, penetrating pulses by dancers during ceremonies in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Made of gourd and white wood the Wassamba usually weights about half a kilo.


Photo Stolen from ancestralmemory.com

Char, Sparkle/fizz , Olive green, Incense, Bark, Intense

Once the initial screaming, burning rush of Wazamba cools it becomes another perfume, churchy and sepulchral. It reminds me of years spent in Roman Catholic churches and the theatre and drama of religion. I think it’s interesting that many ceremonies of religious and tribal spiritual cleansing over the world smell similar. Having never been to West Africa personally, a neighbour once bought back a good luck talisman in the form of a fragrant pillow of woven grasses with smokey herbs, spices and incense inside, this has almost the same smell. What a powerhouse of memory and reflection Wazamba has been for me. A fragrance that wanders through a thousand shades of itself, more a journey than a scent. You must try this. Wazamba gave its all for about 5 hours and then became a skin scent, discernible to my partner as something other but lost to me.

Fragrantica for the notes and accords, but you must take time to read the Perfume Shrine‘s review, it covers everything and more, that I wish I could have said. Snaps!

Cuir Ottoman EdP


Photo Stolen from settemuse.it

Heat, Medicine, Booze, Fire, Hot new patent leather, Rubber, Road tar

OMG!! This opens like a Banshee wailing on my skin. It’s infernal and smells like I imagine being in Paul Chenavard’s (1807-1895), Inferno di Dante would smell like if they were burning tyres and a road in the background while drinking Kentucky bourbon in a hospital. I can’t believe I am smelling these things and wish I had a fragrant Godmother here so I could talk it through. WOW! Awesome MC AWESOME! After about 15 minutes Cuir Ottoman starts to breathe a bit, there’s air between the notes and I have a moment to think, leather, sweet leather and the flowers have arrived. There is a softening and prettying of the abrasive opening, we are covered in luscious leather and blossom and root. By the one hour mark we have arrived at the seraglio, beautiful full lipped sweating women, incense, hookah, floral unguents, leather and horses. There is still a beautiful ride and drydown to dark vanilla and spice but that is hours and hours away.


Photo Stolen from believerwoman

The Scented Hound has done a lovely review of Iskander by Parfum d’Empire today also, go check him out,

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed our mini trek through the Parfum d’Empire range. I think I’ll do another set of four next month for you all,

Happy, fragrant and loving hopes for your day,
Portia xx

Parfum d’Empire: Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

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Hi Everyone,

A fragrance house and its makers story have inspired me again this week. Hopefully this tiny snapshot of the scientist, perfumer and artist Marc-Antoine Corticchiato whets your appetite for tomorrows fragrance reviews from the house, Parfum d’Empire.


Photo Stolen from parfumdempire

Marc-Antoine Corticchiato is the handsome, urbane looking man in the photograph we all find on the front page of the Parfum d’Empire site. Considering his good looks and ability, his obvious charm (from the French videos I watched, but didn’t understand) and that his fragrance house is a continuing financial and critical success I am surprised there isn’t more information about him flying around the scentbloggosphere. I have stolen wholesale and remixed outrageously from the 2 best sources I could find; an interesting and informative interview on CafeFleurBon that you will be well rewarded should you take the 5 minutes to read it and the media fantasy that may be reality on the Parfum d’Empire site.

Born in Morocco, Marc-Antoine Corticchiato’s family hails from Corsica and he grew up in the village of Cuttoli Corticchiato, deep in the Corsican maquis (as Corsicans refer to the local bushland) and in Morocco at the family citrus groves. A competition horse rider, at an early age he considered becoming a professional equestrian. It was not to be; thank all the Gods and goodness itself.

“As a child, I was not especially attracted by perfumes but rather by plant scents, because I was curious about the different smells of a plant (through) the day or at various time of the year, even of the season. I was also curious about the great variety of plant smells…. ” Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

This drive to understand mysteries of scent production in, and why this fragrance varies through the life of, aromatic plants led Marc-Antoine to study chemistry. He developed a new technique to analyse extracts of aromatic plants through carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR: an important tool in the chemical structure elucidation of organic chemistry; wikipedia) for his Ph.D., then training at the renowned École Internationale de Parfumerie de Versailles (ISIPCA).

Going on to work in a research laboratory focused on the analysis of aromatic plants and extraction methods, for years he “dissected” natural raw materials and acquired in-depth knowledge of them, their characteristics and various uses. His work has been publishing in international scientific reviews.


Photo Stolen from cafleurebon.com

His first blends were aromatherapy, teaching him to work towards therapeutic and olfactory goals simultaneously. He joined a Parisian perfume laboratory after carrying out this research for several years, where he found the opportunity to express his creativity more fully.

“Finally, I decided to create my own fragrances and I founded PARFUM D’EMPIRE in 2003 because I wanted to express my own vision of perfume…. I was inspired by all these Corsican people who have left their country to get a better life in different parts of the world…… The most well-known of  them is of course Napoleon… (who said) “Eyes closed, in the darkest night, if by some miracle I were transported to Corsica. I would recognise it immediately by its smell. “….. So do I.…. For all these people, the scent of the Corsican scrubland is still their favorite perfume.” Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

Through perfume Marc-Antoine expresses the emotion conjured by blends of the most beautiful raw materials, coveted for centuries for their refinement, aphrodisiac properties and use in sacred rituals. Even going so far as to set up a production unit for essential oils in Madagascar. It is the link between perfume, eroticism and spirituality that he has revived with his fragrance house Parfum d’Empire.

“Founding my own brand PARFUM D’EMPIRE was a real challenge!  I did it to be free to create with the noblest raw materials.…My perfumes are an invitation to explore the most complex and mysterious of empires: the realm of the senses.” Marc-Antoine Corticchiato


Photo Stolen from bilan.ch

Marc-Antoine also teaches at ISIPCA (Institut supérieur international du parfum, de la cosmétique et de l’aromatique alimentaire).

I wish I could find more but I think much of his interesting story must be hidden in French text, beyond my reach. Tomorrow though we will let the perfumes speak for themselves.

Thanks for reading, now it’s time for you to share. Do you have a Marc-Antoine or Parfum d’Empire story to share with us? We’d love to read it. Leave a message in the comments,

Portia xx

BBC documentary “Guerlain; The Next Generation”, Terracotta Voile d’Ete Review

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Hi Fume Heads, Stink Whores, Perfume Junkies and all others,

Just had the most wonderful lunch with friends down at Blue Fish, Darling Harbour off Sydney Harbour, chatting away to a girl who I’ve met a couple of times and liked very much. Had NO IDEA that she was the girl to set up Le Labo bar here in Sydney, has met most of the world’s most recognisable perfumers and many noses, and wants to be my scent mother. Helping, teaching, exploring!! She has even offered to do some guest spots here on AustralianPerfumeJunkies. OMFG! I am blowing kisses to the universe and to my BFF Kath who started the conversation about AustralianPerfumeJunkies today over the most ENORMOUS seafood platter.

It’s Sunday and I’m dropping this in early to give Sydneysiders a chance to read and watch before dinner. Instead of writing about a perfume I thought we could all watch a story about a perfume house. In honour of it being a Guerlain documentary I am wearing Terracotta Voile d’Ete and if you want to know what it is like Denyse Baeulieu from Grain de Musc does history, scent and wearability. All I will say about Terracotta Voile d’Ete by Guerlain is that it is a soft spicy floriental with moderate sillage and lasting power, works all year round and is pretty cheap online at $50-$90 100ml EdT. Being a 1999 limited edition you will be the only guy/girl wearing it and it’s modern but not as you know it AND, the bottle is beyond fabulous, the most deliciously retro chic. Imagine this little beauty on your vanity, huh? I got mine from FragranceNet.com with 15% off for about $43.


Photo Stolen from Fragrantica

Denyse is also the author of “The Perfume Lover” which I am currently enthralled in. It’s a page turner about a memory of a magical night turned into a fragrance by one of the world’s most talented perfumers, Bertrand Duchaufour of L’Artisan Parfumeur. Quite a plot, that also happens to be based on the real life events that led to the creation of Séville à l’aube, the new perfume from L’Artisan Parfumeur. I hope we get a movie with Lucy Liu, Maggie Smith, Angela Bassett, George Clooney, Eric Bana, Zac Efron, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith too. That would be AWESOME!

Go to with abandon!!

Portia xx

Guerlain, The Next Generation

Just so you know. APJ is not affiliated with any businesses mentioned in our blog.

Miss Boucheron review, Competition WINNER ANNOUNCED

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Hey gang

I hope your weekend is treating you well. Life is good here in sunny autumnal Sydney, crisp and cool. We keep having Bar B Q’s in case it’s the last one before winter really digs in. I love Bar B Q’d sausages and mushrooms. We even ate outside in the sunshine

I’m wearing Miss Boucheron today for fun. It’s a fruity flowery nothing that was so discounted on the net that I blind bought a 50ml refill Eau de Parfum. The noses behind this scent have such good stuff in their repertoires that I felt justified in ignoring Luca Turin’s one star scathing dismissal of the whole product. Anne Flipo (2012 Lady Million Eau de Toilette, 2010 Acqua di Gioia, 2006 YSL  L’Homme, 2005 Fleur D’Oranger) and Dominique Ropion (2012 What We Do In Paris Is Secret, 2005  Carnal Flower, 2005 Alien, 2004 Pure Poison, 1991 Amarige) have such an outstanding history that I wanted him to be wrong. He’s not 100% wrong, in all honesty. It’s similar to plenty of other fragrances, has pink pepper, bergamot and pomegranate as its top notes and is supposed to go through the floral to white suede; but all I get is a waxy flower after a couple of hours that stays for a while, quite nice, and then gone.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a perfectly wearable scent and nobody will be hurt by your wearing of it. It was designed to be an inexpensive fresh fragrance to bring some younger custom to house Boucheron.  You will smell bright and flowery with a little musky & pink peppery sparkle. I will use this bottle up but will probably not buy another. I may become addicted to it though and have to. Never say….


Photo Stolen from supermodels.nl

Now Smell This has done a wonderful review back when Miss Boucheron first appeared, Fragrantica has the skinny.

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Here’s what you had to do and what you’ll be winning should you be our lucky contestant. I’m so sad we don’t have prizes for everyone who entered, thank you all for contributing. I enjoy reading your responses more than you could know. THANK YOU! We’ll have another giveaway next Thursday, see you then.

Please give us a short perfume memory in the comments about you, a friend, colleague or relative’s favourite old school perfume (pre 2000) WINNER Lindaloo for her beautiful Mum story.

1.5ml spray decant Casmir by Chopard
Manufacturers sample COURAGE by One seed
1.5ml Posh Peasant decant spray of Parfumerie Generale; Jardin de Kerylos
1.5ml Posh Peasant decant spray of Diptyque; Philosykos
1ml Posh Peasant decant of Ambre Russe by Parfum d”Empire

Tell your fave CELEBUSCENT WINNER Mark Evans for SJP’s Lovely

1.5ml manufacturers sample spray Haute Claire by Aftelier Perfumes
Aftelier Perfumes Apricot and Lemon Candle in a Tin
Gucci; 2ml decanted sample spray Gucci by Gucci pour homme
Estee Lauder; 2ml decanted sample spray Brasil Dreams
Jessica Simpson; 2ml decanted sample spray Fancy Nights
LUSH Cosmetics; 1.5ml decanted sample spray Orange Blossom

Plus postage and packing to anywhere in the world. You must get in touch before Wednesday 2.5.12 to claim your prize or I’ll give it to someone in the street!

Have a wonderful fragrant weekend all. Enjoy!

Portia xx

OPUS OILS JITTERBUG PERFUME PARLOUR: The Divine Collection Review

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Hey, Hey Gang,

When work is done and all in our house are asleep, a cup of sweet, milky instant coffee by my side, I love to troll the web at night. I will catch up on the many blogs that I read, follow links like a lemming, discover new fragrance, friends, trends and a world of stuff that would have been totally beyond my reach without the internet. Don’t get me wrong, I love to troll the net during the day too but at night it seems more personal and without the worlds distractions I feel that I can learn stuff.

Recently while trolling I was introduced to a niche perfume crew called Opus Oils Jitterbug Perfume Parlour. They look fun and sassy in their online store and fact sheets; like the coolest kids that you always wanted to be buddies with. There is a sense of loads of fun and in-joking, hours spent laughing while trying new experiments, names, fragrances. They have a great sample program so I decided to buy and try the Divine Collection samples. Their cross links with mysticism and historical spiritualism caught my eye, along with their 100% natural approach.

Picture Grizzli “Gods” Stolen from Wikimedia

What I found with these all natural oils was that they were much more sophisticated than I expected. More nuanced and not huge explosions of fragrance but a delicious waft here and there melting into my skin over hours, becoming a lovelier smelling me, but still discernible as other. These are intimate fragrances that could be worn for everything from meditation to work (unless they are absolutely fragrance phobic), but they also would be excellent dinner, theatre, booty call or Bar B Q scents. Not overwhelming, I don’t think people will find them offensively expansive. Also, being oils they will last ages because a little goes a long way.

Opus Oils Jitterbug Perfume Parlour opened August 2008 in Hollywood, CA, USA after Kendra Hart being a successful underground and above ground perfumer. Here’s a little (edited version) of what the site says:

Kedra Hart was one of the developers of The Apothecary at Barneys New York in Beverly Hils and founder of the natural perfume and aromatherapy line Precious Petals. She designs custom scents, teaches perfumery in LA and Paris and is blender and co-founder with Joshua Hart of Opus Oils Jitterbug Perfume Parlour.

“It’s hard to describe our Jitterbug Perfume Parlour when people ask,” says Joshua Hart, “I usually say it’s a cross between the movie “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls” and the book “Jitterbug Perfume”. Mix that with the TV show “Hart to Hart”, sprinkle it with “Moulin Rouge” and then add a dash of Flapper Speakeasy Culture. Yeah, I think that about says it all.”

The Divine Collection (100% all natural perfume)

These oil blends are made with essential oils and rare perfume oils from around the world. Specially formulated to assist you in making contact the God or Goddess energy that lies within you. Absolutely no synthetics are used in these Natural Perfume blends. Consisting of four aromatic treasures, all formulated with exotic and rare botanical essences, that can be worn alone or in layered combination. Nourishing to the spirit, they offer a positive, uplifting and natural alternative to the majority of mainstream perfumes on the market. 

I tried to capture my first impressions with single words and then give you an unfolding story.

ISIS: Hot, Steamy, Dark citrus, Dusky, Luscious. This was the first of the line I tried. The balmy citric myrrh is the initial scent I get but after about 15 minutes this delicious jasmine comes in and wends its way through. It took me by surprise when I got my first whiff while my mind was on the laundry, I thought someone was behind me wearing it. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Fragrantica gives featured notes as jasmine, myrhh, olibanum and coconut.

PAN: Clean, Sharp,Dank, Enticing earth, Funereal. Wow! This is the edge of the jungle, earth, deep and dark. Evening jungle in the cool season. I smell moss, clay, humus, animal. Aptly named, this is the scent I can imagine all smelling in E. M. Forster’s a Story of a Panic, first released in 1911, when Eustace becomes overwhelmed and shocked from his torpor. It is a sexy and inviting green. Fragrantica says I am smelling patchouli, vetiver, oakmoss, fir and violet leaf.

EROS: Vegetal, Herbs, Grass, Spice, Chilli. This smells to me like a spicy chicken salad with oregano, parsley, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. It’s a warm and cool fragrance, interesting and thoughtful.  Fragrantica gives me amber, mandarin orange and vetiver as the notes here but it feels much more alive and sparkling than that.

VENUS: Sweet, Balmy, Sexy, Salt, Medicinal. I know. Clearly my nose was elsewhere because the notes in Fragrantica say features rose, lotus, ylang-ylang, neroli, sea water and dark chocolate. I miss the flowers and chocolate completely. Maybe they’ll come along soon but after half an hour I am getting an awesome scent, just not floral or chocolate. This is the one I think is FBW out of the group. On my skin an interesting sweet and salty mixture. Very calm and sensual. This fragrance feels like the siren calling, like Venus herself from the sea to all the mariners. I would follow instinctively.

Thank you all so much for coming and having a squiz.

Do you have a natural perfumer that you love? Tell us about them in the comments. Anything and anyone new we can lock onto is interesting for us,

Portia xx

THURSDAY GIVEAWAY COMPETITION X 2

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Hey everyone,

We’ve had a great week at AustralianPerfumeJunkies so our giveaway will reflect that with some super fun stuff for you to sniff in not one but TWO COMPETITION GIVEAWAYS!!! How to enter?

Please give us a short perfume memory in the comments about you, a friend, colleague or relative’s favourite old school perfume (pre 2000).

The old school perfume we covered this week was Casmir by Chopard, a 1.5ml decant spray.

In honour of Evie C’s first major interview this Monday gone with Liz Cook from Australian Natural Niche Perfume crew, ONE SEED. We are adding most of a generous manufacturers sample of my personal favourite One Seed fragrance so far, COURAGE. This scent is so extraordinary that I went FB and have used maybe 4 spritzes from the sample, there’s still at least 4ml left.

After our Posh Peasant; FIG! Olfactory Journey to Greece special we are putting in 1.5ml Posh Peasant decant sprays of Parfumerie Generale; Jardin de Kerylos and Diptyque; Philosykos

Photo stolen from shopping-premiereavenue.com

To top it all off we are adding in a 1ml Posh Peasant decant of Parfum d”Empire; Ambre Russe (I ordered this sample forgetting I’d ordered a FB that turned up almost next day. I know, right)

plus postage and packing to anywhere in the world

In March we had a Celebuscent Competition that Maureen won but has not been in touch to receive her winnings. The go was that she had till that next Wednesday to get in touch but did not. While hoping that Maureen is happy and well, her loss is your gain folks. As a second COMPETITION GIVEAWAY this week you must only tell your fave CELEBUSCENT, easy!

My Photo

Aftelier Perfumes; 1.5ml manufacturers sample spray Haute Claire + Apricot and Lemon Candle in a Tin (one of my Smell Good Do Good buys that Mandy Aftel kindly gave to the cause)

Gucci; 2ml decanted sample spray Gucci by Gucci pour homme

Estee Lauder; 2ml decanted sample spray Brasil Dreams

Jessica Simpson; 2ml decanted sample spray Fancy Nights

LUSH Cosmetics; 1.5ml decanted sample spray Orange Blossom

plus postage and packing to anywhere in the world.

All measurements are approximate and the winners will be judged around 10pm Australian EST this Saturday 28.4.12 and you will have till Wednesday 2.5.12 to get in touch. GO TO IT Y’ALL.

Much love, and gratitude for your coming and reading.
We feel blessed that so many of you bother.
THANK YOU,

Portia xx

Swiss Arabian Fragrances

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hey gang,

Admission time! We have aptly named the website. I am a complete PERFUME JUNKIE! If it smells good to me I am happy like a kid. Very sad when I don’t like it and give a fragrance 4 goes before it’s put away. Be it Chanel, Aftelier, Lutens, Jessica Simpson, Guerlain, Tauer, Gorilla, Gwen Stefani, Boucheron or any other of the myriad perfume and fragrance producers worldwide. Slowly but surely I am making my way through them with new and exciting things arriving every week. This week there was a large, well taped box with picture stamps all over it.

Reading Perfume Posse recently there was an article about Swiss Arabian perfumes, apparently the Avon of the Arab world. I had seen them when I had stumbled on the Zahra’s Perfumes site (but been a little scared to purchase even though, or maybe because they are so reasonable) in my search for a now discontinued Hamil Al Musk oil called Musk Alwaz that a neighbour had brought back for me. After reading Musette’s story on Noora I was completely energised and went to with abandon. They had taken 6 weeks to arrive down here in Australia so they had left my memory banks and were a lovely surprise. These descriptions are edited from the site.

Rasheeqa Concentrated Perfume Oil (20ml) Alcohol Free $20

Rasheeqa : Concentrated Perfume Oil (20ml) Alcohol Free (Ladies) (free shipping & handling for this item)
Rasheeqa, personifies gracefulness found in women of royal descent. A woman poised in her love, embellish with wholesomeness, splendour, and grace—taking us to the voyage of metapphorical grandeur, of Arabic past, present and future. She is an epitome of womanhood.

Top: Rose
Heart: Water fruits, Maguet, Rose, Jasmine, Hyacinth
Base: Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Orris, Musk, Amber

Noora : Concentrated Perfume Oil (20 ml) Alcohol Free $12

Noora : Concentrated Perfume Oil (20 ml) Alcohol Free

Noora, meaning `divine light; concentrated Mukhalat perfume from Al Arabiya Al Swissriya, shines in its brilliant illuminating design bottle with floral fruity neo oriental fragrance, bringing energy in our life. Oriental and rounded notes with profound modern harmonious theme.

Top: Orange, Tangerine, Ylang ylang, Plum, Honey
Heart: Ginger, Lily, Iris, Tuberose, Rose, Jasmine, Hyacinth, Saffron, Shamamatul Amber, Blackcurrant
Base: Patchouli, Sandalwood, Musk, Dehn el ood, Vanilla, Chocolate, Civet

Mukhalat Jumana Concentrated Perfume Oil (20ml) Alcohol Free $35

Mukhalat Jumana : Concentrated Perfume Oil (20 ml) Alcohol Free

This perfume is a rich oriental Agarwood based Floral blend with a top note of pure Turkish Rose and a body of Indian & Combodian Agarwood.

Top: Freshness of Galbanum, Apple, Hycainth, Bergamot, Lemon & Spiced up cinnamon
Heart: Carnation, Hints of Clove, Rose, Jasmine & Violet Notes
Base: Delicate woody, Powdery note of Balsam, Musk, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Ood & Amber

I have been wearing this one to bed, its heavy narcotic intensity wafting over me as I drift off to sleep is soothing, and mesmeric, as I slow my breathing down. The Turkish Rose here is sweet enough to be Turkish Delight over the top of the ouds deeply resinous, animalic & fungal stench it makes an interesting dichotomy.

Mukhallat Al Walid Oudh Blend Oil 1 Tola $15

There is no write up or proper pictiure in the Zahra catalogue for this perfume oil. I bought it because it caught my eye. It is a 10ml-ish decant into a very interesting octagonal, gold floral printed glass bottle with a plastic dabber stick inside and a gold tone lid with a glass jewel on top.

Dark, deep, balmy, fecal sweet. This is extreme perfumery. Imagine Indiana Jones smelling like this towards the end of one of his adventures. Horse, dirt, shit, sweat, leather, blood and sex; it’s all deliciously here.

We’d love to read your fragrant oil stories in comments,

Portia xx

Figs! Olfactory Journey To Greece

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Hiya gang,

Figs are everywhere in perfume.

Photo Stolen from 123rf.com

The scentbloggosphere is also full of the fig journey. The Olfactoria’s Travels, Undina’s Looking Glass, and Now Smell This crews, among others, have all done splendid fig reviews. Recently I  looked at Aftelier Perfumes AH-MAY-ZING Fig and all this fig chat has had me intrigued. There are so many choices the mind boggles. What to do?

I went to The Posh Peasant and looked up figs. What caught my eye was a five pack of famous figs called Figs! Olfactory Journey to Greece. This way I could try the generally accepted best reasonably and if I LOVED some then I could think about a purchase. Genius! Here’s what The Posh Peasant says in their spiel;

Fig scented fragrances have been all the rage the past decade and for good reason. Some fig scents have a wonderful complexity of being both green/woodsy and slightly fruity. A good fig scent transports you to a fig grove in Greece (if you’ve ever smelled a fig grove you’ll know it’s one of nature’s most gorgeous scent creations).

Photo Stolen from PoshPeasant
What I’ve done below is give my initial thought words during top notes then gone on to discuss progressions.

Diptyque, Philosykos; Sharp, Twig, Torn bark, Earth, Leaves. This is a sparse and spare smell on me. Right from the moment I first wear it there is fig tree but not fig jam, and so much space between the scent that it is like you are dozing down the hill, in the shade, while up the hill the workers are picking the fruit, occasionally tearing leaves and maybe someone mowed the grass this morning and there has been a light sunshower after tilling some nearby earth. 6 hours later it is still there, linear and quite noticeable, which is surprising on my skin.

Hermes, Un Jardin en Mediterranee; Fresh, Sweet, Air, Sharp, Expensive wood, Roast chicken glaze. At first glance/sniff this feels like a fragrance I’d reach for regularly if it were in my collection. Bright, warm and inviting like toast and fig jam with a hearty meat smell like roast chicken fresh from the oven with a fruit glaze. As it warms up this is spicy fig jam. Of the 5 this is the best fit with our cool wet Autumn day in Sydney and my personal favourite.

Miller Harris, Figue Amère; Nutty, Citrus, Salty Fruit, Wood, Tangy Sweet & Sour. This is YUMMY! My nose is reading almost a Chinese banquet here. The fruit and leaves in Figue Amere are dried, salted, fried and flavoured, there is warm depth and it feels so extravagant and opulent. Like fig is not the main course here and is joined by the rest of the dishes. There is a note during the middle, unfortunately I can’t identify what, that smells like after salt water swimming shower sex.

Parfumerie Generale, Jardins de Kerylos; Warm, Fresh, Ozonic,, Fruit, Light but penetrating. It’s most fig smell during drydown, but a very dry fig, austere and cool. 1-6 hours later Jardins de Kerylos becomes a barely there hum on my skin, nicer smelling than me.

Jo Malone, Wild Fig & Cassis; Roots, Sap, Bitter, Leaves, Chewed grasses. This is a breath taking look at a pine logging camp of the unmechanised variety. I smell torn trees, earth, compost, grass and cowpats. A challenging, astringent, glorious riot of bitter green herbaceous life. This is what a Triffid would smell like.

Thanks for reading. Do you have a favourite fig? We’d like to know.

Portia xx

Casmir by Chopard Review

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Hey everyone,

While most blogs are talking about Spring arriving and getting out your citrus and softly, airy florals; here in Australia we are just starting to hit Autumn. The leaves on the Liquidamber in the front yard are starting to turn, the Camellias are flowering, the gardener will be coming every 3 weeks instead of fortnightly and the nights are turning chilly. Instead of wearing my summer round the house uniform of boxer shorts and singlets it is track suit, hoodie and sloppy Joe weather. YUMMY! Soon it will be pumpkin soup, roast beef, baked pasta with vegetables and savoury mince time. I love the cooler months because it’s easier to get warm that it is to get cool, without resorting to A/C, just add socks and a jumper. We also have really mild winters in Sydney so it’s not a hardship, it’s lovely.

CASMIR EDP by Chopard

The nose that created Casmir in 1992, Michel Almairac, had already made Joop! Homme, Escada Margaretha Ley and Paloma Picasso Minotaure and has gone on to create such lavish olfactory adventures as L’Eau de Chloe, Shiseido’s Zen Women, Bottega Veneta, Gucci Rush, Cabaret by Gres, and a bunch of the Bond No 9’s. So this is an early work, a peek into the history of, and helps build context for, an already extraordinary career.

Casmir is given 4 stars by Luca Turin. He calls it a Strange Oriental and talks about the discordance and “contrasts between the peach, lactonic top notes, the slightly flat, mimosa floral heart and the woody-animalic drydown…as daring as Rabanne’s La Nuit was in its day.”

Photo Stolen from PinkManhattan

The notes that Luca Turin speaks of and on Fragrantica do not serve as a guide for me, at all. Yes, my nose is sometimes crazy but in this I feel justified. Maybe I need to go eat a peach. I smell not the big gutsy hit of fruits but it feels like a sweet vanilla,  jasmine and orange blossom to me, with maybe a whisper of spices and cinnamon (TSO Jin smells watermelon)? Then it’s all about the base. Vanilla, Benzoin (?), Opoponax (brown sugary, honeyed resin) and Tonka Bean (spicy resinous vanilla) walk in and play sexy bitches for hours and hours. In the morning I’ll wake up with the sweet, dirty, disco smell of girl gone bad. This is a fragrance to send boys home crying and have men panting for more and trying to hump your leg. So reasonably priced on the discount store sites and packs a knockout punch. Certainly not for the faint-hearted, this will bring out the sexy siren in you. Don’t sniff or tsk at me, you know you love it and you also want this in your arsenal.

Photo Stolen from shopping.com

We haven’t yet spoken about the bottle. I love the bottle even though it is ridiculously awkward to spray from, takes up the same area as 4 other regular bottles and is outrageously the wrong side of kitsch. To me all this belies the gloriously sensual juice in the bottle. Like it’s a challenge to wear; pass the test of ignoring these problems to get the fragrant reward. Its worth it.

Brian on I Smell Therefore I Am does a wonderful review, light and shade, all angles covered and Pink Manhattan where I stole the print ad from loves Chopard’s Casmir.

Thank you so much for reading. What are your cool weather warmers? If you’re up in the Northern Hemisphere which of your favourites are being bundled away in anticipation of summer? Leave us a message and tell us. It will thrill us and make us feel like real bloggers.

Portia xx

The only ad I could find on YouTube was in German but you get the idea. The arch they go through reminds me of a couple of the wonderful places I’ve been in India.