Portia

Au Bord de L’eau by Fabrice Pellegrin for L`Artisan Perfumer 2017

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Portia

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Hi there Punsters,

Just so you know Au Bord de L’eau means “At the water’s edge”. It’s not a joke on the way it sounds when I say it, A Bordello. Or is it? That is the top of my mind now that I’ve seen the name written as a heading on my WordPress editing board. Yep, I am an 11 year old boy hiding in a 49 year old drag queens body.

It’s been interesting to see the new directions L’Artisan has forged since the Puig buyout. While not totally sold on the kooky animal head lid set I do love a couple of the new Natura Fabularis privée line, 32 Venenum and 9 Arcana Rosa. Haven’t smelled them all yet but those two were very nice.

Au Bord de L’eau by L`Artisan Perfumer 2017

Au Bord de L’eau by Fabrice Pellegrin

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Bergamot, lemon, violet, musk, orange blossom, rosemary

Sharp citrus opens, it’s tart and lip puckering at first then mellows quickly into a sweet and fizzy version of itself. Orange blossom and musk keep the journey into the heart of the fragrance smooth. Refreshing, without all the modern wet or cucumber tropes. The orange blossom is only ever so slightly breathy, mainly it is clean and suede-ishly plush. There is something of a summer storm about Au Bord de L’eau, all bright and light and then a cooling, breath of wind rushing ahead of the clouds. The fragrance cools just a little.

Au Bord de L'eau L`Artisan Parfumeur Vincent_van_Gogh_-_Landscape_from_Saint-Rémy WikiMediaWikiMedia

A green herbaceousness creeps in and makes everything interesting. It could well be rosemary but it has no rosemary smell as I know it. Certainly doesn’t speak to me of the bush or on potatoes and lamb, honestly I would be more inclined to call it a smooth basil scent but that could easily be the way everything, especially the iris, has been placed around it. No matter what it is I think you’ll find Au Bord de L’eau a very easy wear, spritz and respritz summer fave that will take you from board room to dinner date comfortably.

Au Bord de L'eau L`Artisan Parfumeur Rosemary WikiMediaWikiMedia

For a cologne style the longevity is quite good and on clothes it is tenacious.

Just to be clear, Au Bord de L’eau doesn’t smell like A Bordello at all.

Further reading: Colognoisseur and Love To Smell
Sweet Fern has $189/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $3.89/ml

Are you excited by the new things Puig is doing with the L’Artisan range?
Portia xx

Khanbaliq by Enrico Buccella for Sigilli 2013

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Portia

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Hello lovers of Underrated Fragrances,

Somehow Sigilli has slipped through the cracks. The fragrances mainly come from the early 2000s but Khanbaliq was released in 2013, it’s the most modern offering from the house and not all of the fragrances are available on the Sigilli website anymore.

Jin and I discovered the brand in Venice on our first big holiday together. There is a maze of shops behind the Piazza San Marco and somewhere in there is an extremely well stocked little perfumery, run by two sisters. I purchased Pyrgos at that time but since have wished that I grabbed a couple of others.

Khanbaliq by Sigilli 2013

Khanbaliq by Enrico Buccella

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bitter orange, ginger, cinnamon, coriander
Heart: Cloves, plum, fir, pine tree, peony
Base: Peony, violet, ambergris

Spicy oranges and a slightly bitter chocolate smell. Pine and my nose is telling me patchouli, a breathy and earthy smelting that could be the ambergris. A weird dissonant herbaceous green and mentholated woodiness wars with the citrus and fruits. It’s an interesting fragrant contrapuntal effect. Unusual without being challenging, straight through the heart.

PDI

 

My surprise in Khanbaliq is that while projection is not enormous it is still very good at changing the smell around me. It also fills the room when I leave and return. Insidious, it seems to march off my skin and try to fragrantly populate whatever area i’m in.

A really good nod to some older fragrances. Breathy indole, some animals and a beautiful bouquet tempered by greenery. I am surprised there are no white flowers mentioned because Khanbaliq gives the feeling they are in there somewhere.  Though the nod is to vintage I feel that it may be the clarion call of a style we are about to see i the fragrant world. A return to having some ass in our fragrances.

WikiMedia

According to Wikipedia: Khanbaliq (or Dadu) was the capital of the Yuan dynasty, the main center of the Mongol Empire founded by Kublai Khan in what is now Beijing.

First In Fragrance has €95/100ml
Surrender To Chance have samples from $3.50/ml

Beach Hut Man by Elise Benat for Amouage 2017

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Portia

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Hi there Niche Nerds,

When I heard the name Beach Hut Man I laughed out loud. Not because it’s funny but because I was so surprised. The new direction that Amouage is going in is interesting. No one can say that Christopher Chong is afraid of change, experimentation or surprise. Having built up a stable of hefty, Arabic inspired, gloriously fabulous perfumes in the Amouage house he then moved to produce the Library series. They took me a while to get but others were much faster learners. Now he is bringing The Midnight Flower Collection which started with Bracken.

Beach Hut Man by Amouage 2017

Beach Hut Man by Elise Benat

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mint, orange blossom, galbanum
Heart: Vetiver, moss, ivy
Base: Myrrh, patchouli, woody note

interesting, like a chic mint patty being eaten while sitting on the damp grass under a tree near the compost heap. There’s also a note I’m smelling quite a lot in modern niche that is woody, warm and slightly electric. It’s a funny note because it jumps over everything else for me, thank goodness I really like it. Something warm and cosy about sit yet largely space age. Maybe it’s the idea of the smell of burning sand and baking driftwood?

Beach Hut Man Amouage wreck_wood_metal_rusted_weathered_decay_beach PXHerePDI

I really like how Beach Hut Man smells. It has this electro mint thing, a green, dank, earthy space smell and this weird woody/salty/glassy smell. Interesting.

One thing it doesn’t smell is finished. There felt like no synchronicity was ever reached, no full melding and blending of the parts. It’s like they are warring factions, unresolved and unhappy to be in the same perfume. I’m no perfumer, or even a real connoisseur, but Beach Hut Man smells slightly lazy and/or amateur to me. (Ducks) It smells like a newly minted indie frag, a boundary pusher, a slap. It in no way smells like a super smooth finished product from a mass-tige brand sold in department stores. Maybe that’s why I like it so much. It’s raw, a bit rough, weird and eminently wearable.

Beach Hut Man Amouage beach pivabayPDI

Will I wear my decant? Yes, I’m so bloody intrigued that I’m taking it with me on holidays. By the time you read this I’ll probably have bought a bottle.

Further reading: Persolaise and Brooklyn Fragrance Lover
Libertine has $435/100ml FREE Australian Delivery
Surrender To Chance has samples from $4.59/0.5ml

Are you interested in trying this one?
Portia xx

Incense Rose by Andy Tauer for Tauer Perfumes 2008

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Portia

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Hiya Fragrance Lovers,

Andy Tauer was my first niche perfume buy. He holds a special place in my heart because he was a pioneer. He let us see into his process of creating fragrance via his blog and opened a whole new world of ideas. What he was creating was revolutionary. That was the early days of niche and indie perfumes. We are so spoiled by a unbelievable onslaught of newness that I think it’s important to remind you all of some historically great perfumes that may become swamped and overlooked. Incense rose is one such, I’ve had this bottle ever since Andy first brought out the 3 x 15ml Explorer Set. Not sure why I never reviewed it. Remiss.

Incense Rose by Tauer Perfumes 2008

Incense Rose by Andy Tauer

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Clementine, Cardamom, Wild rose
Heart: Castoreum, Orris root, Frankincense
Base: Myrrh, Patchouli, Vetiver, Texas cedar

Sweet roses and jams, a zingy, bright and slightly green opening. All the citrus cut through pretty quickly by incense and iris but that just serves two highlight the fizzy drink nature of the top notes and ground them. For something that smells so strong initially Incense rose is remarkably diffuse smelling too. It’s huge but not overpowering or ferocious, more like a big friendly but well behaved dog.

06 Incense Rose Tauer Perfumes Incense_coils WikiMediaPDI

 

As the wood slides in under the rosy animalic incense, it seems to dry Incense Rose out. This is my favourite part of the fragrance. Still lightly sweet florals with a hint of urinous but now it’s contained in a box. I get mental images of wooden walled saunas.

Longevity is excellent and for the first hour or so the scent is quite large, then it dips back to a soft focus blur of scent. Still sweet rosy but now much attenuated and it’s incense with the upper hand and grassy woods.

06 Incense Rose Tauer Perfumes Incense_coils WikiMediaWikiMedia

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and I Smell Therefore I Am
Men’s Biz has $209/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $4/0.5ml

What is your Tauer of preference?
Portia xx

SOTD 30 October – 5 November 2017

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Portia

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Hi APJ,

I see these SOTD (Scent Of The Day) threads all the time on Facebook and they are really good conversation generators.

SOTD 30 October – 5 November 2017

The idea is you’ll chime in through the week with whatever scent you are wearing. You don’t need to be super knowledgable, have high faluting tastes or be a published author to comment. Just tell us what fragrance you’re wearing, smelling, buying etc.

You probably won’t have time to write every scent, every spritz but whenever you feel the mood take you share your current spritz and a few things about it. Maybe you love/loathe it, want it, are excited by the notes/bottle/SA who sold it: WHATEVER! As always here at APJ, taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
This week:
Guerlain Mitsouko EdT
Pharrell Williams Girl
The Different Company Oriental Lounge
Vintage Fendi original
Vintage YSL Opium EdT
Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Sunday.

 

Go To It Crew.
Portia xxx

WINNER SOTD 23-29 October 2017

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Portia

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Hey there APJ,

Wonderful SOTDs, what excellent variety we all wear and love.

Thank you all for getting involved and being a part of the APJ Frag Family.

SOTD 23-29 October 2017 WINNER

Over 100 responses I will draw a Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
This week:
Bal a Versailles parfum
Eau d’Italie Morn to Dusk
Guerlain L’Heure de Nuit
Neela Vermeire Creations Pichola
Vintage DIOR Miss Dior EdC
Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Sunday.

WINNER: Sue Mills

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with your address please

Scent Diary: 23.10 – 29.10.2017

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Portia

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This week has been unbelievable APJ crew,

Can’t wait to share our adventures. Seriously, a spectacular week. Fragrance, Travel, Fun and Friends, maybe even a little Romance.

Scent Diary: 23.10 – 29.10.2017

Monday 23:

Jin woke me up with some roughhousing like teenagers. He went to bite my belly as I went to push his shoulder away and I ended up punching him in the eye. Poor baby, he was hurt. Now we are worried that it will look like we have a domestic violence problem while on our Anniversary trip. It’s funny but also worrying.

Running around this morning. Saw the Bank, the Post Office, the Mortgage Broker, talked to real estate guys. Home and packed the bags, had a Molton Brown Energising Seamoss bubble bath, used Madonna Truth or Dare Naked lotion and have spritzed Pierre Guillaume Praline de Santal. It’s a lightly salted woods and bakery scent, like a salted caramel but nuttier and woodsy. Bloody good shit.

While in the bath I used my brand new birthday mug from BFF Kath. Isn’t it gorgeous, from David Jones.

Also, there might have been some fragrant arrivals in the mail. We were a little worried because I’m running low on perfume. Thank goodness these arrived. All vintage. Eau de Gucci, Nina parfum and Miss Dior. YUM

Alright. We are leaving now. I will try and keep you all updated on our journey. You’ll get the best pics on Instagram @portiatbo so maybe we’ll see you there……

BLODDY HELL! Jin mixed up our times and we arrived as the plane was leaving the airport. Poor little fucker was distraught. I jumped online and got us new tickets with points but he was really upset.  We went and had some dinner and a few Sojus.

We decided to walk home from the station. Beautiful night, cool but clear, new moon for new beginnings. As we wandered we made a side journey through a beautiful park that has fairy lights in the trees. Jin got down on a knee and gave me a box, all wrapped up. I opened it and it had a Royal Doulton Christmas decoration diamond in it. So beautiful, and a lovely gift. I can imagine us putting it on the tree every year and telling this story. Then came a little white box, inside were two diamond shaped chocolates. By now I had an inkling of what was going to happen. Butterflies buzzing around in my tummy.

Then he gave me a card. Within was a heartfelt and love filled marriage proposal. It was so bloody sweet. As I finished reading it out loud, the end getting a little shaky, I looked up to Jin and there was such light in his eyes. In his hands was an aqua box with white ribbon. It opened to reveal two rose gold, bezel set, 1/2 carat diamond stud earrings, one each to wear once we are married. Exactly as i pictured them in my dreams.

Jin was so excited and nervous, had worked so hard to make this moment, momentous moment, perfect. His heart was in his eyes and I know we love each other deeply, forgivingly and broadly. Of course when the diamonds come from Tiffanys the answer is always YES.

Big day. I’m bushed. A triple chest spritz of Hermès Muguet Porcelaine and I’m off to catch some ZZZZZZZs

Tuesday 24:

Woke up lazily and then started getting the engagement news out to the crew.Some VERY excited people full of love and best wishes. It was a terrific morning.

What better way to celebrate than with fragrance. I decided it had to be bright, uplifting and well named. Anna Sui Live Your Dream. A light filled lily/lily of the valley that seems perfectly chosen on this beautiful sunshiny early morning.

Later, wanting more lily, I overspritzed Cartier Baiser Volé. A drier, less plastic lily than earlier Live You Dreams.

Redox Bath Salts bath and vintage Guerlain Samsara EdT and EdP. I wanted to be serenely fragrant, to float above the travel and arrive still smelling gorgeous.

Arrived at the airport and bumped into our mate Elon who bought Pymble from us. Excellent catch up.

Stooped by Amuse Beauty inside the terminal, lovely selection of niche and beauty.

Wednesday 25:

Woke up at sparrows fart and Jin &I went around the corner for breakfast. It was yum.

The bus came and collected us and a bunch of other Ghan travellers. Our adventure officially begun.

I’m wearing vintage Nina Ricci Fleur de Fleurs parfum. It’s a soft focus floral, brightly aldehydic and not 100 miles from CHANEL No 5, softer though and more curvaceous. I wanted to be old school glam for our train embarkation.

The train is freaking fabulous, like something out of the movies. Wood panelled walls, cosy but brilliantly thought out ensuites, comfy bunk beds. First thing we did was hit the bar and grab an early champagne. PERFECT way to begin our adventure..

First stop Katherine Gorge. We chose the tour gorges boat cruise. Obviously I called it the TOO GORGEOUS Boat Cruise. We had an aboriginal guide who was full of information, history and knew all the creatures habits and their habitat. Unqualified success. We loved it.

Back to the train for dinner in the Dining Car. Food was excellent. We had a lovely couple to dine with, they were witty and charming with excellent anecdotes. We laughed all the way through the meal.

We were bushed so we came to our room and crashed.

Thursday 26:

I woke at 5.30am so jumped into the shower. Today felt so hot and I knew we’d be travelling so I wanted something calming. Fortunately CHANEL No 19 vintage parfum came to the rescue.

Ready early so we went down for breakfast at 6.30am. Our companions were much less interesting this morning. No worries, the food was spectacular.

Our excursion today was the Alice Springs Desert Park. Of all the choices we had I was so excited that we got to go here. It’s a cross between a Botanic Garden and a Captive Breeding Zoo. The only plants we saw were indigenous to the region and we got to see a live, free birds show with a magpie, Tawny Frogmouth, Wagtail, Barn Owl, Black Chested Buzzard and a surprise visit from a Black Kite. Apologies that I forgot to take pics, I was too engrossed.

Alice Springs Telegraph Dinner. This was a fabulous, unexpected event. A true blue Aussie BarBQ under the stars at the starting point for Alice Springs. The telegraph went across Australia from Adelaide to Darwin, there it became a submarine cable to Singapore. This way a telegram could go to England and a reply back to Australia in about a week. A far cry from the previous 6 months out and back on boats. Suddenly Australia was connected to the world in real time. A good analogy is the  old snail mail and eMail.

The dinner was beautiful, the whole event like a huge rural wedding. We watched the sunset, ate, drank, chattered and then danced into the night under the moonlit, starry and cloudy sky. Jin and I danced together, with our new friends and the staff; it was terrific. I am smiling so much writing about it and remembering how much fun we had.

Friday 27:

Grabbed a mini of Guerlain L’Heure Bleu a packed it. Today it got a big wearing. In the soaring temperatures L’Heure Bleu managed to keep composed and elegant all day.

Sunrise from the Buffet Car this morning. Food was as good as the view.

Then we were off in a bus on our adventure for the day. Coober Pedi, the home of opals in South Australia. We did so much but I was so busy living I forgot to take photos, so fortunately Jin took some too. I can’t remember which each of us took but suffice to say we share the load.

This is an underground Serbian church, carved from the rock and painted with varnish to make it shine and help keep it intact. We lit a candle for our friends to have health, wealth and satisfaction.

Lunch was in an abandoned opal mine, also an underground, dug out. It’s really cool underground, instead of 40c it was only 23c. So we had a very comfortable lunch. These two girls are Carol and Robin, we spent quite a bit of time hanging out with them, really wonderful girls with great senses of humour.

This is the longest fence in the world. Built to keep the dingoes out of South Australia.

Coming back to the Ghan the train crew had set up afternoon drinks and canapés for us alongside the train. It was wonderful. A couple of the girls joined us and we had a very happy natter. It was a bit windy though so Jin and I took ourselves to the Bar Carriage.

Saturday 28:

This morning was our last Ghan breakfast sunrise. We met a beautiful couple and had an excellent feed.

This is one of our favourite couples, Margie and Iain. The whole trip we chatted and Jin got on particularly well with them.

Here we are with a few of the crew after disembarkation, waiting for taxis. It’s sad to be leaving this crew, we loved them all.

We went and grabbed our hire car, found our hotel and then decided we needed adventure. Jin’s favourite red wine is called Church Block by Wirra Wirra Vineyards. As they are only an hour from our hotel I decided we should pay them a visit. Jin LOVED it. We tasted all their reds from lightest to heaviest. We always have a case of their Church Block at home anyway so we ordered a couple of cases of other things that aren’t available commercially.

We also had some lunch there. It was an excellent afternoon excursion.

Tonight Jin wanted to go to the Adelaide Casino Fortuna Court Buffet. It was fun and yummy. He’s such good company, we talked, planned and ate our way through a couple of hours. Weekends are extra seafood so Jin was in his element. he polished off three plates of prawns alone!

Afterwards we went down to the gaming hall. I have very strict gambling laws on myself and Jin has taken them on also. $20 each is our spend. We can lose it any way we want, Jin prefers the pokies and I love roulette. We watched the roulette for about an hour and then decoded we’d have a go. I lost my chips in 4 goes, Jin had a chip on his lucky number 4 and it came in. BIG WIN. We immediately cashed his chips and he came out with nearly $100.

As we were going to the cashier we ran into Maria and Sam from the Ghan. We were all so excited so we went to have a drink together. It was so much fun that I forgot to take pics, sorry. It’s a bummer, we love these guys and are going to go to Melbourne especially to visit them.

Sunday 29:

Up early. We had breakfast in the hotel. It was pretty awful. No worries, it was close and easy. Tomorrow we’ll eat out.

Wandered around the city a very little bit this morning. Checked out our dinner choice in China Town, looks great. Hey, they have these on a bunch of trees here in Adelaide. So cool.

Hit the Adelaide Art Gallery which is currently having an indigenous artists show called Tarnanthi, which means renewal or beginnings. We started on the tour but the guide was not engaging so we ran away and Jin planted himself in the cafe. I had a question so was sent after another guide. OMG! This guy was clever, informed, passionate and had the most wonderful depth and breadth of knowledge. He was also amusing.

After the gallery we went to the German Hill Town Harndorf, about 30 minutes from the city centre. Wandering among the Sunday sunshiny revellers was fun. We saw loads of great local arts and crafts, had a HUGE lunch of goulash and schnitzel.

I particularly fell in love with this badly photographed lithograph piece but they didn’t have an unframed one. BUM!

We came home, had a nana nap and then met our Ghan girlfriend Carol for dinner. We took her for Korean Bar B Q, which she loved. We had a ball, she’s great company. Food and conversation were flowing beautifully. This is a terrible photo of her, sorry Carol.

So what’s happening in your world? Did you do anything Fragrant, Fun, Friends, Family or even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx

Saturday Question: Serge Lutens, Guerlain or Amouage?

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

Every Saturday we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a $10 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Friday.

Last Weeks Winner: Only 74 Responses

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with the eMail you’d like me to send your Gift Card to.

 

Saturday Question: Serge Lutens, Guerlain or Amouage?

Three of the most revered houses in the Mass-tige line up. Most large department stores have a pretty good line up of all of them with a counter to themselves. Most perfumistas have a couple or a few from each of these houses and almost all of us lament the dumbing down of their products. They all have though inspired, frightened, delighted and made us question ourselves at different times in our journey.

This answer is just for today. You can change your mind at many time and no one will think twice about it. We are perfumistas, the most mercurial herd on earth.

Serge Lutens was the defining change for many perfumistas. The perfumes that really took us and shook use by the neck. Fragrances that changed the way the world smells perfume and one of the earliest radical niche brands. This awesome collection creative directed by one of perfumes most mythical creatures, Serge Lutens himself.

Guerlain has the history and though now owned by LVMH have the longest lineage. They also have some of the best stories focused around their products. Marketing jargon that has now become indelibly linked to out psyches and the way we smell the scents. The story of the Guerlain perfumers as interesting as the products.

Amouage also has a stellar history. The King of Oman wanting his country to again be the centre of the world for the best smelling perfumes, known for exquisite ingredients and a Middle Eastern/Asian focus that had only been dabbled in before. Suddenly the East, the real scents of the East, were being made available to the wealthy and perfumistas the world over.

My Answer:

Today I choose Guerlain. It has been with me since my Mum and some of her friends wore Shalimar in my childhood. The first perfume I bought her was Samsara.
My own deep love for Shalimar, Mitsouko, L’Heure Bleu and even many of the newer releases like Paris to Moscow, Mahora, AA Lys Soleia, Champs Elysees, Vega, Terracotta and even the current Mon Guerlain.
If I had to choose only one fragrance house it would probably be Guerlain but PLEASE don’t make me.

My Saturday Question to you is: Serge Lutens, Guerlain or Amouage and Why?

 

 

Sepia by Mandy Aftel for Aftelier Perfumes 2012

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

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Portia

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Hey Hey Indie Lovers,

You probably already know the name Mandy Aftel. She writes books, creates perfumes, teaches natural perfumery, has a museum of perfume and is a general, all round great gal. The thing is, after the initial fanfare of a fragrance launch things go a bit quiet on the blog front for Indie perfumers. They don’t have enormous budgets and marketing teams, mostly they do it themselves with a couple of key helpers. Since I am wearing Sepia today I thought it might be a good time to remind you all about its beauty.

Sepia by Aftelier Perfumes 2012

Sepia by Mandy Aftel

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Blood cedarwood, Yellow mandarin, Pink grapefruit
Heart: Pink lotus, Strawberry, Jasminum grandiflorum, Cocoa, Coffee
Base: Tobacco blossom, Oud, Indole, Ambergris, Cepes (mushroom), Labdanum

Today’s review is from a bottle I paid retail for after falling madly in love with a sample Mandy sent me.

Sepia is a bit of a blockbuster on my skin. It is a warm and dusty, floral and powdery, woody, smoky, dry and sere fragrance. So much light and shade. It 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. Stark sun and shade, the dappling of eucalyptus beside a dam or creek.

Sepia by Aftelier Perfumes outback cattle farm PixabayPDI

Many of the smaller towns have been deserted in the last 50 years and stand silent, crumbling, with only their stone chimneys left like a mouth full of broken teeth. Our croplands have been bought by the big farming companies, overseas investors and the mining groups. Mum and Dad farms are becoming the rarity. Sepia is our Australian outback. A dream of how the perfect Australian outback was.

It is also lovely, wearable and surprisingly strong for a scent sold as a watercolour wash. After 3 hours it starts to smelling like attics and bookstores Sepia then warms and dirties towards dry down and remains as a skin scent remnant for hours.

Sepia by Aftelier Perfumes outback hills PixabayPDI

From Aftelier Perfumes website;
Dry woods: Sepia is a tint, a watercolor wash, an atmosphere, a memory

Further reading PerfumeShrine and TheAlembicatedGenie
Aftelier Perfumes has samples from $7

Are you a Mandy fan like me?
Portia xx

Cotton Musk by Ramon Monegal 2011

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Portia

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Hi there Fellow Fumies,

Ramon Monegal has been in his own business in Spain for 10 years, before that he worked for and then was in charge Myurgia and later Puig. He seemed to make a huge splash in the world frag markets in 2012 and for the next couple of years but lately I hear less and less about his house. It’s a shame because I really love his scents, the bottles and his whole aesthetic. Even todays offering of Cotton Musk, while being almost polar opposite to the fragrances I crave most, still wows me with its ethereal beauty.

Cotton Musk by Ramon Monegal 2011

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Ward rose, Gardenia, Frankincense, Vetiver, Madagascan vanilla, White musk

I bought my decant that I’m reviewing from on Surrender To Chance recently and it arrived yesterday. I cap sniffed about five scents and though not my personal style there was something interesting about Cotton Musk so that’s the one I spritzed.

Musk, vetiver and rose open the show, they smell sharp and chemical originally, like when you accidentally get a heavily scented shower gel in your mouth while bathing. It only lasts a few seconds before everything gets fluffy, soft and downy. Suddenly I am floating in a cartoon cloud all warm and cozy. The smell of fresh bedlinen in the morning after your first sleep in the cool of autumn, it still smells freshly washed and your body is warm and you have that safe feeling of home.

Cotton Musk Ramon Monegal jingdianjiaju2 minimalist bedroom-7 FlickrFlickr

Cotton Musk is all this but surprisingly it doesn’t feel friendly. There is a cool austerity that reigns through the heart and I think it’s the vetiver and incense providing a grounding point to stop the whole fragrance floating off into space. Plush but sober, it’s an interesting dichotomy but Ramon Monegal does it with such finesse. Really amazing is such a sheer fragrance.

The bouquet seems fairly space age and even as the vanilla moves through to a more prominent position it doesn’t warm or humanise Cotton Musk. As the fragrance sinks into your skin though it does grow from being a walk into a recently used laundry back to being the morning of an autumn sleep in clean sheets. With different pieces of the puzzle sitting forward it is quite a feat to get me thinking the same cozy thoughts I had in the opening. Bravo Mr Monegal.

Cotton Musk Ramon Monegal Crumpled-Bed-Linen-Sheets-Bedsheets maxPixel
PDI

Further reading: EauMG and Olfactoria’s Travels
LuckyScent has $185/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $5/ml

Do you like white musks in full laundry mode? Could this be your gateway?
Portia xx