Portia

Saturday Question: What Do You Love To Smell On Your Closest Peeps?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 53 Comments

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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: We didn’t reach 100

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:

What Do You Love To Smell On Your Closest Peeps?

I’ve been thinking about this a bit lately. My friends aren’t as into fragrance as I am. There are some notable exceptions though that are. It’s always interesting to me what they choose to spritz themselves with. There are some things that I love to smell on them and they instantly create a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart when I give them a hug and their wearing my faves for them.

So today I want us to talk about all our closest peeps, family, friends, significant others or even a mate at the office who sometimes smells particularly awesome.

My Answer:

Obviously Jin is the person I get to smell close up the most often. He is my partner, we live together, eat, socialise, shop and travel together regularly. Most days will have me in his orbit and close enough to grab a whiff. I get super happy when he wears Bottega Veneta original EdP. When I fell madly in love with it and was going to buy it for myself he decided he should get it so I could smell it on him. GREAT idea, it smells absolutely amazing on him and I always get a rush of pleasure when he is wafting it.

He also smells unbelievably gorgeous in Neela Vermeire Creations Bombay Bling. This is a double win for me because I get to sniff Jin smelling wonderful and it also reminds me of our beautiful friend Neela.

Fragrantica

My BFF Kath wears a few scents but two of them stand out for me particularly. Brecourt Haram (now called Farah) was something she fell in love with while we were on a trip down top Melbourne and had dropped into Peony Melbourne. She bought a bottle then and I was lucky enough to grab a couple on sale so keep her supplied. There is something glorious about Kath in honeyed spices drizzled over amber and patchouli. It smells fabulous. She also wears Givenchy Play but it never really registers on me, I know she smells good but it’s a background good.

Fragrantica

Another BFF is Alice, she has two scents that I instantly recognise as her when I go in for a hug. CHANEL Coco is one. The spicy oriental whoosh of it upon her lady like person is quite the oxymoron. Then she speaks and suddenly it all makes sense. Her other perfect scent is Emporia Armani She, this sweet citrus floriental actually is the smell of Alice. Somehow they managed to grab exactly what she should smell like and then make sure she got it. LOADS of it, she has truckloads of it just in case.

My Saturday Question to you is:

What Do You Love To Smell On Your Closest Peeps?

 

 

L’Insomnuit by Robert Piguet 2016

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

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Portia

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Hey Crew,

You may know how I love splits? It’s when one person buys a bottle, decants out portions and sells them on. They are a wonderful way to test a load of fragrances for not much more than the price of the juice. It can get addictive though and I regularly spend a hunk cash on them.

The past creative director of Robert Piguet, Joe GarcesI left some really happy memories. He came to Australia a few years ago as Piguet was re-establishing themselves as a fragrant player and held some super fun Master Classes. Joe told us stories of the creation and recreation of the piglet line and how each fragrance came about. It was fun but also riveting listening, he knew how to engage us and answered questions. I already loved Bandit and fracas but this opened a whole new world for me and the others present.

So, when Robert Piguet launches something new I try to get to it as soon as possible.

L’Insomnuit by Robert Piguet 2016

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Plum, Bergamot, Fir balsam
Heart: Orris absolute, Iris concrete, Oud
Base: Cedarwood, Cypriol, Tonka bean absolute, Sandalwood

Tonka, fir and iris compete for opening honours. A very interesting dry, sweet, powdery, woody mix that doesn’t remind me of anything else as it opens. It seems to be its own thing. Basically a wood extravaganza but slightly bakery-esque. The iris is very dry, slightly cardboard, and a little earthy but the interesting juxtaposition of the tonka sweetness (I think there is some vanilla too) and the creamy sandalwood make it so unusual to me.

From the notes I thought this next pic would be exactly what the fragrance would smell like but L’Insomnuit is far more interesting than that.

PXHere

 

Oudh? I don’t smell any oudh, like seriously zero oudhishness. The plum also passes me by.

There is a recurring moment through the heart of L’Insomnuit where I am suddenly reminded of Eau d’Italie Morn To Dusk. A similar golden treacle heft, so dense and gooey, thick and rich. Not the same but the feeling is similar and equally as extravagant.

For anyone who likes vanilla but is bored of how it is usually sent out in the 21st century this could be a nice not quite so super sweet option. Longevity is excellent, sillage moderate to good. I’d love to smell this on a really manly man in wrestling outfit, suit or overalls. It would definitely be an attractant.

WikiCommons

Further reading: Fragrance Daily
Libertine has $299/100ml FREE Australian Delivery
Surrender To Chance has samples from $5.50/ml

Do you have a favourite Piguet?
Portia xx

 

 

100ml La Fille de Berlin by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

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Portia

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Heya APJ Crew,

Lots of people have been bitching about the brand new bottle and I understand that nobody likes change. I also understand that if you have a set of Serge Lutens bottles that this is not going to fit. What did you do when you changed to CDs? Yes. This is the excuse you needed to get a new set. I do like that price per ml has gone down. I think that is really classy of Shishedo, when every body else is aspirational pricing their arses out of my ballpark. Serge Lutens is still making a fabulous, affordable product. Now I can uberspritz my La Fille De Berlin with no thought to running out.

When the new bottle was first available in Paris I got my bottle but things have been so hectic around here I didn’t get time to write you my thoughts.

La Fille de Berlin by Serge Lutens 2013

La Fille de Berlin by Christopher Sheldrake

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rose, geranium
Heart: Palmarosa
Base: Oakmoss, honey, patchouli

Cherry roses and pepper on opening with a softly metallic twang. Interesting how quickly it dries out. On Tina’s skin it stayed a crisp snap of cutting of a rose stem, violet and geranium – much cooler, where my skin the honey has taken over almost immediately and you can definitely smell the dryness of palmarosa. Smells expensive. So many Serge Lutens are freaky – this misses out on the freaky and is a very expensive rose + glam. Unusually for Serge, the honey is clean and not so animalic. We’re not smelling any of the bees or the wax on either of our skins.

La Fille de Berlin makes me smile. The rose is deep and burnished and a little bit boozy.

So fragrant yet La Fille de Berlin isn’t in your face, it manages to be quite a heavy perfume but restrained. It hits my dressed up evening button but I’ve also been enjoying wearing it in the warm spring daytime air around here.

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and EauMG
Mecca has some $171/50ml and $294/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $6/ml

What do you think of the new 100ml bottles?
Portia xx

Ambre Mythique by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier 2016

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

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Portia

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Hey Hey Amber Lovers,

It’s turning cooler in the northern Hemisphere and we are still having cool nights in Sydney. A fragrance that seemed to miss getting much attention last year when it was released Ambre Mythique is another wonderful amber from a house that does them so well.

Many of us went through an amber stage very early in our perfumista career so we tend to think we have tried everything and what the hell could they do different or better than some of our favourites? I think that the MPG gang have succeeded in adding a new twist, also for those AMBER HATERS this could very well be the change in amber that’s needed to get you across to the dark side.

Recently I grabbed this out with Rasei of Forte & Manlé and Kerri while at lunch and the both agreed that Ambre Mythique is a very special amber.

Ambre Mythique by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier 2016

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top:  Bergamot, Geranium, Coriander, Frankincense
Heart: Myrrh, Lavender, Cistus
Base: Patchouli, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Tonka bean

Nowadays MPG feels sadly neglected, good call to finally get around to updating bottle and lid. This new look is a cool reimagining of their gaudy old style, while a little of the whimsy remains.

The opening is a herbaceous twist in the amber theme, very interesting, like they’ve done complimentary sprays on each arm of a fougere and an amber fragrance. Totally enjoying the dryness over the crunchy sweet amber that is also cut by the patchouli. I am LOVING this. Quite unique.

PDI

Amber and other incense-y resins make very nice warm and cool juxtapositions, a little bit animal and funky too. Honeyed and furry. The whole fragrance is plush and lavish from beginning to end. Amber Mythique even smells great in warm weather,  currently Sydney is around 26C (79F) and I feel like I’m wearing the freshest amber ever. The lavender is a surprise and reappears intermittently throughout my wear right through to dry down.

Comfortable and unusual, safe for work but interesting enough to spend 3 hours on the couch enjoying the ride.

Further reading: Perfume Posse and Megan In St Maxime
LuckyScent has $190/120ml and Samples

Do you amber?
Portia xx

Baie Rose 26 by Frank Voelkl for Le Labo 2010

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

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Portia

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Hi there Niche Nerds,

Todays fragrance was released as the Le Labo Chicago city exclusive. You may remember that I find the Le Labo adventure somewhat wankerish. The whole, we’ll mix it for you in store so it’s fresh shit doesn’t wash for me. Just because the ingredients haven’t been blended yet doesn’t make them any fresher, AND it takes months for the damn fragrances to settle properly after you buy them. It’s all a big fat GRRR for me.

Nevertheless when Le Labo get it right they do make some fairly spectacular frags.

One of my mates was doing a decant cleanout and I was lucky enough to buy this baby from them. There’s only about 2-3ml left in a 15ml so it has been well loved.

Baie Rose 26 by Le Labo 2010

Baie Rose 26 by Frank Voelkl

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Rose absolute, Pink pepper, Musk, Cedar, Aldehydes, Ambrox, Clove, Pepper

Victoria from Bois de Jasmin taught me something in my reading today, “baie rose means pink pepper in French”. AHA! So not only is Le Labo doing its usual name it something and have it smell like something else trick but there is also a pun in action. Clever. Funnily, both the pepper and rose are front & centre for most of the scent.

So here we smell the interesting by-play between rose and pink pepper.

The opening is all rose and metallic sparkling aldehydes shimmering over the pink pepper. It’s a meaty, thick and dense scent that also manages to feel lightweight and airy. Haughty and powerful are the two words that keep coming to my mind while wearing Baie Rose 26, also masculine (which is weird because I try not to subscribe to frag gender unless it punches me in the face wit it).

PDI

Baie Rose 26 is cool, in both the frosty and fun refinement explanations. It has a space age feel about it and a metallic twang, the best way to present roses in my mind.

I get fleeting correlations to other roses CK Contradiction Woman, Amouage Opus X and Oriza L. Legrand Royal Fillet. Not same obviously but there are resemblances.

The musk, ambrox, wood dry down is far less exciting that the first hours of Baie Rose 26 life. It doesn’t implode into banal but it isn’t a showstopper. A comfortable, safe scent that lasts and lasts with a hint of rose.

PDI

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Non Blonde

Did you ever get to try this beauty?
Portia xx

Criminal Elements Sample Pack GIVEAWAY WINNER

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

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Portia

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YAY!

Another great giveaway! Thanks Corey from Criminal Elements for sending us this ridiculously gorgeous sample pack. Can’t wait to see who wins it.

 

 

Criminal Elements Sample Pack GIVEAWAY WINNER

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Criminal Elements Base Elements Sample Pack
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 1st October 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winner was chosen by random.org

Jaybee

The winner will have till Sunday 8th October 2017 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit

L’Insoumis by Lalique GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

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Portia

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Hey there Fumies,

Thank you so much to Kate at Sweet Fern for being so generous. Go check out their stock. Great range.

 

L’Insoumis by Lalique GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 5 winners who will receive:
1 x 2ml spray L’Insoumis by Lalique Manufacturers Carded Sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 1st October 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

Neva

Gina

Fazal

Greg

Bradley P Woolslayer

The winners will have till Sunday 8th October 2017 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit

Scent Diary: 25.9 – 1.10.2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

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Portia

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Hi there APJ Crew,

It has been a week of complete opposites. The pro and con advocates for Equality are getting meaner and the whole event has turned into a slow bone crushing depression releaser. Currently I’m appalled at a large section of both sides of the argument and I hold our elected government officials personally responsible for the whole rotten mess. To be constantly equated with predators, rapists, pedophiles and beastialitists by the church, Radio & TV chat guests, politicians and people in the street is becoming unbearable. That’s the worst of it but seriously, to have a nation debate whether Jin and my 6 year relationship is as valid as theirs is galling, to say the very least.

Why aren’t I equal?

On the flip side there has been loads of fun, friendship, fragrance and food. Jin has been the Rock of Gibraltar, standing strong, cool and silent against the onslaught and a perfect companion through birthday and illness.

Scent Diary: 25.9 – 1.10.2017

Monday 25:

SICK!! I am hideous. Coughing, runny nose, sweating, AWFUL. Cancelled my Birthday Party. Too sick.

Did get some beautiful postcards though.

Bath in Guerlain Shalimar and wore DSH Perfumes Ma Folie de Noel

Jin and I had dinner and opened some presents. It was quiet, chill and sweet.

Wrote Trivia Q&A

Tuesday 26:

Woke up and walked the dogs with Jin.

Met Scott at the coffee shop and then we office worked.

Wore OODLES of Penhaligon’s Savoy Steam. It is the weirdest smelling stuff but utterly addictive.

I thought it was going to be a triumphant return to work in drag but I’m still coughing and sneezing too much. Two Cold & Flu tablets and I’ll be able to go host as a guy. I’m a bit sad because there are new coats to wear.

It was a really fun night. I love my Tuesday crew.

Tonight someone I’ve loved for years reached out. We have been friends and he stayed with me for a while, then we lost touch except for sporadic cyber communication. It was really nice to have a messenger conversation.

Wednesday 27:

It’s early morning and I can’t sleep. Just watched the Kathleen Hanna story on TV. WOW! She is amazing. So many levels, what a brain. Totally inspiring human being.

Woke up and walked the dogs in a lovely cloudy morning. The air was crisp and smelled like greenery, almost no traffic on the roads and so peaceful.

Spent a second day in Penhaligon’s Savoy Steam. 

Today was a total write off. I dozed and dallied. Tried to focus on work but was crap at everything so I threw in the towel until about 10pm when my cold and mind started to unthaw.

I did see this picture on my friend Haans V Siver FaceBook page. I love the soft, pastel beauty of the sky, skyscrapers and sea juxtaposed with the hard lines and darkness of the Steve Irwin and other watercraft. For me it looks like some of those huge surreal prints that used to be in living rooms.

Steve Irwin by Haans V Siver Sept 2017

Thursday 28:

Morning. My head is fuzzy.

The walk was really good with the dogs. It cleared my head a bit walking through the cool, breezy, cloudy morning with the boys. Birds are chirping everywhere and as you walk through the suburb all the smells of spring flowers catch me by surprise. Beautiful.

Jin is working nights this week so I get to spend some day time with him, which is really nice.

Trouble by Boucheron bubble bath and fragrance. YUM!

At the end of Turbo trivia tonight I got a selfie with my fave barman Aaron. What a honey.

Friday 29:

Jin has today off so we visited the banks. Just making bookings for next week to refinance his mortgage. I quite like visiting them now that I know a little bit about how they work.

Afternoon met Rasei Fort of Fort & Manly at Becker Minty in Kings X. Have you ever been there? What a collection of fabulous homewares and fragrance. I may have had a sneaky spritz of the new Trudon scent by Cire Trudon. WHOA! Super green. YUM!

Then we trotted across to Redfern and met the ever glam Kerri who is on her first day of holidays. We sniffed some stuff and chattered while I had lunch and they had coffees. It was really nice.

Jin came and met us as lunch was breaking up and we went and got him a beer at the local pub. Then we went to the cinemas to see Kinsmen II (Freaking hilarious, laughed all the way through) and afterwards dinner.

Saturday 30:

At around 3am the dogs were alarmed by a possum and caused a huge ruckus. That was the end of sleep for me. I jumped up, grabbed a drink and hit the computer. Feeling like I can get a couple hours more sleep now at 6am I’m off to bed till dog feeding time at 9am.

Vintage Guerlain Mitsouko EdT & Parfum today.

Lunch at our fave Korean BarBQ with Alice, Kath & Tina. It was really fun and good to be hanging out together. Food was excellent, as always, though they were out of their sensational mash potato.

I put both photos in because TinaG looks so cute in the first and Alice & Kath look really lovely in the second. Not one shot had all of them looking so good.

Jin and I visited one of his exes who has become my buddy too. Paul lives around the corner and we popped in for tea and cake quite late this afternoon. He has been struck down with a similar cold to mine except it had him down for the count for three weeks, he’s still coughing 100 times worse than I am.

Tonight we popped down to the local supermarket and I grabbed some ham and cheese and then we came home and I made waffle sandwiches. YUMMO!

For bed I spritzed Hermès Muguet Porcelaine. Lily of the Valley seemed to be what I craved and the Hermès was a perfect, slightly melonish choice. Pretty.

Sunday 1:

Woke up this morning feeling like a bus hit me so I went back to bed and slept till 11am. Now I feel so much better.

Hung around the house. Wearing Miller et Bertaux A Quiet Morning.

For work I wanted something bright and summery with a deeper base than most of those frags. I choose Neela Vermeire Creations Rahele. Citrus & osmathus up top, leather down the back and much much more.

 

So, how about your week? What happened to you or your crew? Tell us stories, we love to read them.
Portia xx

Saturday Question: What Perfume Do You Wear At Home?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 94 Comments

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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:

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:

While I was away I noticed a comment on one of our APJ posts and it got me thinking. I can’t find it now but the gist of the comment was “I only wear that fragrance inside my own home when I know I’ll have the house to myself.” CURIOUS! So then that led me to thinking about my own perfume wearing and I think there are some scents I tend to wear wholly and solely for my own enjoyment.

Also, because I associate a fragrance with someone or that fragrance has a very specific era.

Let’s not limit this to ONLY wear because you won’t wear it outside for whatever reason. What do you LOVE to waft around the house in by yourself, what brings you great joy just by having it there to spritz for yourself?

My answer:

Vintage Opium by Yves Saint Laurent

Yes, I know it’s absolutely gorgeous but Opium is my BFF Kath Mum’s fragrance. Yes, I loved it well before meeting her but I feel so naughty wearing her signature in  the world. Her 100%, doesn’t even own another perfume, signature. It’s getting harder and harder to find the good stuff for her but I have a small backup supply. Mum prefers to spritz so I’ve kept this original beauty for myself, you have no idea how bloody fabulous it smells.

 

Black Saffron by Byredo

This is a freak show but I love it. I do wear Black Saffron outside the house but then the magic of the ride is a bit lost on me. At home I get to really enjoy the way it works. My mate Pia Long expressed it best, “Starts out fruity floral and ends up road dirt.” Yep, nailed it. A very nice innocuous opening and you end up being tarred and tarmac. Nothing is quite like it.

Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia by Guerlain

Guerlain hasn’t really done an Aqua Allegoria with such a personality since Lys Soleia. It’s a tropical ylang and lily combination backed by vanilla and a slight dry palm and salt air giving it interest and depth. I wear it around the house all year and it instantly gives a happy sheen to the day. Particularly good for making cleaning day smell beautiful.

My Saturday Question to you is:

What Perfume Do You Wear At Home?

 

L’Insoumis by Fabrice Pellegrin for Lalique 2016 + GIVEAWAY

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

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Portia

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Hi there FUMIES,

Sweet Fern has given us some beautiful Lalique samples to give you. While TinaG was over the other day we decided to both wear this beauty and were totally surprised at how different it smelled on us. It was a really interesting experiment.

L’Insoumis by Lalique 2016

L’Insoumis by Fabrice Pellegrin

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Basil, Bergamot, Rum
Heart: Clary sage, Lavender, Black pepper
Base: Patchouli, Haitian vetiver, Moss, Clearwood™

Citrus but burnt off really quickly, pine, lavender and a creamy patchouli giving the impression of orange blossom.

Historically hyper-masculine – a rich gym locker room. Can imagine 35+ men in suits on the train and in offices smelling like this – clean shaven, fresh cut, Armani suit. Not much different to the same style of masculine colognes of the 80’s. Its not breaking down any new barriers – a sensible, simple masculine fragrance fully wearable by both sexes. Perhaps a bit old school for a perfumista, but in the right environment a perfect fit.

On Tina, it is a lot sharper and more herbal, and on me it’s a lot sweeter and creamier and much more like a historic scent.  On both of us, it smells really good.

Sweet Fern has $175/100ml

L’Insoumis by Lalique GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 5 winners who will receive:
1 x 2ml spray L’Insoumis by Lalique Manufacturers Carded Sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us where you would wear this beauty.

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 1st October 2017 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Sunday 8th October 2017 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit