Portia

Boudoir by Vivienne Westwood, Eau de Tommi Sooni II

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Hey all,

Today started with a sleep in till the doorbell went and it was a delivery from RAFFY where I had FINALLY tracked down a small bottle of Boudoir by Vivienne Westwood. So still with blurry vision and bed breath TSO, Jin, and I opened the package and then marveled at the loveliness of the presentation. I quietly LOVE Vivienne Westwood, frankly she can do no wrong. And again she has not disappointed, both Jin and I got a squirt. HUGE!!! A big fat floral symphony, if ever a perfume was made for Drag Queens, Princesses and DIVA’s; this is it! Fragrantica has all the notes and comments, Perfume Smelling Things, Perfume Posse and many others can really do it critical and poetic justice.

Jin went out shopping, day off, and came back 4-5 hours later. I hadn’t been paying attention much to my scent because I was busy writing this weeks Turbo Trivia questions but when Jin got home he was still fairly REEKING of Boudoir, I, and my hungry skin, on the other hand had nearly eaten it all, just the merest whiffle as if someone was wearing it in the house next door, last week.

Give me a few days to wear this and take notice. The top is AWESOME! I think it will have to work extremely hard to keep up the ah may zing experience that I’m hoping for before it fades.

After my shower and becoming a lovely lady I decided to try a sample from Tommi Sooni, the Australian outfit from Victoria. I ordered a sample set including Tarantella (lovely but didn’t last on my skin), Jinx (yet to try), EdTSI (yet to try) and Eau de Tommi Sooni II (EdTS II) which is another glorious big fat floriental. So I didn’t get the airy or green bits they’re talking about. On me this smelt like a slightly crisp version of one of my favourites, Trouble by Boucheron. I know that it’s been panned and discontinued but I LOVE IT!

In EdTS II I get a hearty floral burst that lasts about 15-20 minutes and then the bouquet slowly slides into honey, amber and sandalwood which stays around quietly thrumming in the background like a bass guitar string in the wind, there for brief hello’s but below the radar until you focus on it; for hours. Almost like my skin has become this slightly more intoxicating,  delicious and interesting scent. YUM! I gave the smallest bit at the end of my sample to a girlfriend, Jane B, and it was HELL to let it go. Maybe FB? Not this month though, perhaps as an April treat to prepare for the cool of the Southern Hemisphere’s Winter?

Tommi Sooni’s website says;

An airy, green oriental fragrance; created by Tommi Sooni for men and women who seek a distinctive fragrance of balance and character – radiant yet alluring.

Rhubarb, bergamot and lemon notes ease into a heart of daphne, jasmine and ylang ylang. A rich base of honey, vanilla, amber and sandalwood firmly places this fragrance in the most exotic of perfume families.

Floral Oriental 100ml EdT Atomiser boxed $160.00

Stolen from Fragrantica

Thanks for reading my fragrant thoughts, although they were slim and random.

Much love,

Portia xx

My Boudoir Photo

EdTS II Photo stolen from Tommi Sooni site

Liberte by Cacharel, Red Jeans by Versace, Connexions by Lancome, Emilie by Fragonard,

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hey, Hey,

Well, as you can see it’s been a crazy wear everything but the kitchen sink day. This morning was warm and sunny so I jumped in the pool to do some laps, 500 metres, not much for swimmer types but plenty for me. I love the salty chlorine smell after a swim so I took in some soap and abluted in the pool, I know; totally weird. I got the bug for it last year when I, stupidly, did all bathrooms and laundry renovations concurrently, leaving me toilet, shower and bath-less, I did splurge on a portaloo though. It was quite lovely for about 3 weeks but got old for the next 3 weeks ending late March here in Sydney. Quite brisk for swimming.

After my swim I asked the significant other (TSO) Jin whether I should wear flowers, herbs, spices or citrus. Interestingly he ordered citrus. Not something I have a lot of in the fragrance wardrobe. So the day started with Liberte by Cacharel, The first time I wore this it SCREECHED at me and burnt a hole in my nostrils that penetrated deep into my brain and cooked it in the first 5 minutes, leaving a scent burn there for the whole night, interestingly the whole suburb could not smell it even though I felt like a stinky monkey, and I got 2 very sweet compliments.  After this first wear though I was so affronted by Liberte’s outrageousness that I wanted to do it all again. Unfortunately, the second and all subsequent wearings have started as a delicious sizzling fried orange scent that maintains its sqwuark of citrus while moving into a bouquet of flowers and then vanilla, patchouli and a murmuring of something lovely (maybe the vetyver or spices or remaining flowers) that I can’t define that stays for a while and then gone. 2 hours max.

Having to go to a buddy’s (Hiya lovely Phil) house for dinner with the (Kath, Jin, Amal) crew and needing something sweet but innocuous enough to eat dinner with I went for Versace’s Versus Red Jeans. I like the sweet freshness of this fruity floral that doesn’t last except to quietly whisper its drydown of soft, unsexy, musk & vanilla on my skin, no woods I’m afraid. Perfect for dinner. Yummy Nom Noms indeed with the warm Pumpkin, Pea, Goats Fetta and Pesto salad being my favourite taste adventure of the evening, great belly laughs and some sweet, easy drinking, white wine. Almost forgot to tell you all about the REIKI, um, no probably not.

Arriving home and being basically fragranceless I went for a scent that I recently bought blind off Ebay, Connexions by Lancome, in the kooky, weird ass, why did they do that bottle and casing. I love the lilac colour-way though but all else is skewed for me. I keep coming back to this scent because every time I put it on it gives me a different olfactory story. Today was a plastic bunch of flowers at first that became more lovely and then more plastic. This must have been reacting to the other scents still lurking around because it was awkward and a little dizzying today. Not a reaction I’ve felt before. I could also have been part of my sugar rush from tonight’s Chocolate Mousse dessert that was so divinely sweet that it left socks on my teeth. Honesty compels me to tell you that I felt a headache coming if I didn’t scrub so I hit the bath. Hot, hot, hot and bath salted with a book, Muse by Susan Irvine, that is quite confronting but has some interesting fragrance refs and that I noticed on someones blog, sorry I’ve forgotten where but thanks.

After my delicious soak I wanted something absolutely and utterly flowery and gorgeous. A friendly Trivia crew member from the “We Knew That” team was complaining of her inability to get a fragrance that she had found in France while holidaying a few years back sent to Australia. This is a definite down side of living so far away from the action. I instantly thought, PROJECT!! and swung into action. Not only finding the desired fragrance but getting it at a discount so excellent that she decided to get 2 bottles. WOW! Thought I, if it’s that good I will get some too. Thank you http://www.provence-shop.com/ for sending so speedily, and beautifully packed. So the bottles arrived and I sprayed a big fat spray of, OH MY GOD, this smells like my Mum did during her Paris by YSL days. Delicious, flowery and abundantly ambery and YUM YUM YUM. So it’s the day after Mum’s would be if it could be birthday and Emilie will be awesome. It is quite so. I’m sniffing my glorious self as I type. Good choice.

So by now it’s 3.30am here in Sydney so I’m off to sleep. Thanks for reading my fragrant thoughts.

Portia xx

All pictures stolen from Fragrantica except Emilie which I took myself because the packaging has changed. I think I need a light box.

TABAC Maurer & Wirtz

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Cheapy McCheap! and Cheerful.

So yesterday morning we awoke very late, it was almost time to rush out the door for pedicures and then Yum Cha (or YUMMY CHA CHA CHA!). No time to decide on anything really. Raining outside, meeting besties (big HELLO to Kath & Alice & Jin), no pressure. On went super comfy new sloppy joe, jeans, thongs. Perfume, fragrance, something?? Can’t think. Can’t think. Can’t think. Reaching…….
Maurer & Wirtz Tabac Original EDT spray, modern incarnation, comes back towards me in my hand. Really brain? Really hand? Clearly my mind and body have understood what my inner self would never have said. Spray on my thorax twice, one wrist, one elbow, mash. Wait and waft…………..

An Aromatic Fougere (pronounced Foo zair but the z is almost a j like the Chinese say Beijing) and if you want the notes then Fragrantica (http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Maurer-Wirtz/Tabac-1748.html) is your spot. Woody, herbal, floral, tobacco and aldehydic are the given accords there and on my skin I get a rush of citrus and herbs at the opening, it squeals a bit, then as my skin warms the fragrance (and it does, I can feel a warm reaction, a bit like Vicks Vaporub) then the powdery iris and lavender saunter in MMMMM. By the time I am at our destination Tabac is humming along nicely with the flora, woods and herbs all whiffling up my sloppy joe each time I move. This is a perfect warm but rainy day fragrance for the casual event. At lunch I am complimented by a discerning girlfriend who is gobsmacked that something so inexpensive can be this lovely. I concur. Hours later, snuggling with my partner I can still smell a tiny and very sexy hint of musk and vanilla. So good I’ve come in to reapply and go through the story again. Now, going back to see if it works, it would on me.

Photo Stolen from fragrantica.com

PS. Worked a treat!

Thanks for reading,
Portia xx

Welcome!!

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments
Hi there, welcome,
Before we go any further there are 2 of us currently who are the AustralianPerfumeJunkies, Evie, who is too gorgeous for words and will introduce herself to you ASAP and I,
Introductions first; My name, for all intents and purposes, is Portia Turbo. I am a Sydney-sider born and bred and had a sun filled childhood in modest middle class, schooled by Nuns and Jesuits, studied Fashion and briefly worked in the industry until, at about age 19, I became a professional Drag Queen and have been working in that capacity ever since all over the world; on stage (OMFG!! Everywhere), in film (Priscilla; Queen of the Desert), on radio ( OUTFM, 2DAY FM), in print (Outrage, Q), on TV (Raving reporter on MTV) and books (Mardi Gras). Currently I run Turbo Trivia nights at pubs and clubs around Sydney and feel like I’ve hardly worked a day in my life and am grateful that the universe continues to let me do what I love. Long have I suffered with potty mouth.
Currently I am not long in the perfume craving but wish to learn as much as I can.
There is some squirt bitch work in my past, distant now, working at the Guerlain counter during Xmas holidays at a small suburban department store in Sydney Australia. Since then I have been through the fragrance roller coaster; sometimes 50 fragrances, then 2, back up to 30, down to 6 and now, honestly you’d think me mental if I gave the number of different fragrances in full bottles, decants, and samples in my home.
I am fragrance omniverous, sluttish in my broad and sometimes good-taste-bypass buying. To smell EVERYTHING seems to be my current goal. Good, bad, indifferent, whatever. And hopefully, in the end, to be able to tell the difference. But of course its the journey I am enjoying, no destination in sight. I’m not niche centric, nor do I care if a celeb has brought it out, I have some pre existing favourites that you’ll get to meet but basically I’m a clean slate.
When one of my longest term friends, the ‘fore mentioned Evie, we spent many of our formative years together (in fact her family have virtually adopted me, and I am Fairy God Parent to all the next generation), returned to Australia after a 20+ year sabbatical all over the world (she’ll tell you herself) we decided to do an Aussie blog about perfume because at the time we couldn’t find what we were looking for down under to learn stuff from. We also like the idea of writing in a Southern Hemisphere time zone, so when we talk about spring there’s not a 6 month wait till the observation becomes valid.
We are hoping to hook you up to some really useful basic knowledge about perfumery, interview some noses, see some of what goes into the manufacture and promotion of perfume, find you good books on the subject, have some AWESOME competitions, direct you to interesting conversations or articles on blogs all over the world, tell you our thoughts and feelings on fragrance and the industry as we see it and a multitude of other outpourings that will, we hope, inspire, educate, interest, include, envelope and entertain you. There will be space for you to join the conversations too, you all know more than us anyway, I do beg though that there be a ZERO CYBER BULLYING code.
What letters do I have after my name that give me gravitas, none, sorry, kicked out of school at 15. What will we be offering that you can’t find elsewhere put better, researched with knowledge and years of history within the inner circle of the industry, I don’t know. I have a nose that can smell a bit and a mind that sometimes surprises me. Honestly, the sheer weight of perfume bloggery did give us pause for thought (and so much of it is excellent, progressive, informative and thought provoking), the exponential growth in the last 5 years is incredible, so even if we are just writing a journal for ourselves I would like to do that, and give our learning curve somewhere to come back to and follow later on, like a paper trail of our perfume history.
While I have no qualms about cash for comment, if we do ever become that kind of adventure there will be fair warnings. Having said that; cash for comment doesn’t mean you get us to lie, we will (I hope) always tell as much truth as we can and/or dare.
I just LOVE fragrance and would like to share my thoughts and learnings. The great thing for you is that hanging out with us is FREE! Exactly, nothing to lose, everything to gain, and maybe we’ll all make some super great friends along the way who also love fragrance in all its forms.
Other things I love include my amazing circle of friends from all over the world and all different walks of life, reading, cooking, a bath, greyhounds, homemaking, ironing (I KNOW!!), furniture, snack foods, sex, getting ready for work, swimming, pedicures, partners old and new, bed linen, gardening, sewing (actually I hate it but do it well), lying in bed after everyone has gone to work, the WWW, iconic imagery, dancing, my job, shopping, flirting, dinner parties, the feeling after you’ve cleaned the house before guests arrive, travel, art, cheese, etc etc etc
Welcome to the AustralianPerfumeJunkies.com blog, please come regularly and enjoy the ride.
Portia xx