Portia

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Samples GIVEAWAY WINNER

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Portia

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WOO HOO APJ,

This one was a good one. Thanks to Maison Francis Kurkdjian for sending extras in my pack.
Portia xx

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Samples GIVEAWAY WINNER

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x MFK 745 carded manufacturers sample
1 x MFK Oud carded manufacturers sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Wednesday 26th July 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winner was chosen by random.org

Sue Mills

The winners will have till Wednesday 2nd August 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

Maison Francis Kurkdjian: Oud + 754 Samples

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 34 Comments

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Portia

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Hey hey APJ,

When I recently bought some perfumes from Maison Francis Kurkdjian he sent me some samples. I thought I’d pass them on. I’ve spritzed them just to mini review.

Portia xx

Maison Francis Kurkdjian: Oud + 754

Fragrantica

Oud by Maison Francis Kurkdjian 2012

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Oud, cedar, patchouli, elemi, saffron

Citrus, resins and woods backed by the most family friendly oud ever.If you hate oud then this could definitely be your gateway fragrance. A subtle, melding with your own scent, fragrance that adds a touch of allure to how you normally smell.

Fragrantica

754 by Maison Francis Kurkdjian 2012

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon
Heart: Lily-of-the-valley, sweet pea, freesia
Base: Sandalwood, white musk

754 is a very nice modern reinterpretation of the ozonic/aquatic genre. It brings the whole idea bang up to date and manages to make salted lemons, a crystallised bouquet and woodsy white musks smell amazingly new and interesting. I can already smell the gym locker rooms filling up with this magic scent.

MFK Samples GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x MFK 745 carded manufacturers sample
1 x MFK Oud carded manufacturers 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 which of these two would be your favourite just by review and notes

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Wednesday 26th July 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 Wednesday 2nd August 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: 17.7 – 23.7.2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 23 Comments

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Portia

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Hey APJ,

Most of my week was taken up with sewing and creating new stuff for a gig on Friday night. there were also great moments and fun with friends and fragrance. Honestly I’ve been too swamped to take photos or really document my week in any detail, sorry. You’ll see some of the main protagonists though.
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 17.7 – 23.7.2017

Monday 17:

TinaG is still in hospital but looking 100% improved. This is the view from the end of her corridor, doesn’t Sydney City look like a fairytale and how blue is the sky. We went and hung out in the patients common room, Alice joined us and we had a really nice visit.

From the hospital Alice & I went off to the Estee Lauder Staff Shop. I was hoping to find some discontinued Tom Ford frags, particularly Ombre de Hyacinth but there was only a small selection. I only walked away with Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess travel set and Tom Ford London, which became my SOTD along with a few other things I spritzed while there. Alice grabbed a few bits and bobs but was particularly pleased that her HOLY GRAIL moisturiser was $50 cheaper there. So happy chappies all round.

Jin was working so I grabbed dinner. I thought you should know that while we do eat fabulous foods from around the world generally, SOMETIMES we love to eat rubbish. So tonight I didn’t even want to leave the house so Dominoes Pizza delivered. Thin & Crispy Hawaiian, Pepperoni, Spicy Chicken and a Garlic Bread. Tasted so good and filled me up YUM!

Trivia Q&A writing night. I started earlier today and got quite a bit done before my usual start time. Wearing more Atelier Cologne Tobacco Nuit to write questions and I’m about halfway through my 10ml decant. It’s a really lovely wearable fragrance that doesn’t steal my concentration when working but smells good in the coffee breaks.

Tuesday 18:

Today was a write off. BUSY running and getting shit done. Sewing the foam bits for my new headdress and work.

Morning: Guerlain Black Perfecto

Work: Cacharel Liberté

One exciting thing happened. I finally got a little cuddle with one of my long term crushes at work tonight. He He he. Poor boy spent the whole time saying his girlfriend would be furious. He should bring her next time so she would know that it was all in the fun of an evening and not being unfaithful.

Bed: Miller & Bertaux A Quiet Morning

Wednesday 19:

Weather is perfect. Dog walk was warm, sunny and uneventful.

My mind is preoccupied. Friday night I have a gig that has decided it will be a Super Hero Party. I don’t know if any of you have noticed but all the superheroes are buff. No fatty superheroes. So I’m having to create my own version of a superhero. I’m calling her Super Chunky. Maybe Super Ceded. Anyway, I’m off to get the gear to create this new hero. GAK! Wish me luck.

My search for a superhero fragrance today is CHANEL Antaeus. This stuff is SOO good.

Jin loves Krispy Creme. Today I bought him a box. Well, I say I bought it for him but four of them are for me. One each of the fancy ones. Jin’s favourites are the regular ones but he will force himself to eat fancy if they’re there.

A Guerlain Shalimar bubble bath and then spritzed lavishly with Guerlain Shalimar EdP for work.

Wendy and I had dinner together before Trivia at Greystanes Hotel. We had 8 teams to start with tonight and it was a fabulously fun evening. I really love the crew that comes to play there and the food is FABULOUS!

Thursday 20:

SEWING!!!!

Roger & Gallet Cedrat bubble bath, Guerlain Mitsouko EdT & parfum.

SEWING and HOT GLUEING!

Friday 21:

Sewing. My pointer finger has two hot glue blisters. Ouchie WA WA.

Morning: MORE Guerlain Mitsouko

Tonight was the big gig. Sydney Stingers, the gay waterloo team are fundraising for their 2018 France Gay games Adventure. I had a new frock and new wig for the night and drenched myself in Madonna Truth or Dare. No, I only have this photo from the night and it’s not in the new outfit! GRRR!

Saturday 22:

Miller et Bertaux A Quiet Morning

RECOVERING!

Jin and I got Chinese food and watched Despicable Me.

Tonight is one of my BFFs, Scott’s, BIRTHDAY! I hate house parties but I love Scott so I felt honour bound to drop in and say hi. It was a fabulous party with the backyard turned into a Disney Fairy Garden and the Disney Princesses as the houses backdrop.

Sunday 23:

Lay in bed, walked dogs, went to Pedicures with my mate Rose. YAY! We wandered IKEA afterwards and I got some incidentals.

After Pedis we grabbed some lunch and went visited our other mate Phil and hug at his place for a while.

Then home, bath and work. I had a lovely Robert Piguet Bandit bubble bath, used Amouage Dia lotion and Guerlain Black Perfecto EdP. Was swamped with fragrant compliments and everyone LOVED the new hair. I hope you do too.

 

OK, you’ve read my week, time to tell us about yours please. Big, little, good or bad; share a story with us. We love to read about you.
Portia xx

Saturday Question: What 5 Would You Take?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 106 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

Once a week here on Australian Perfume Junkies 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 generally 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.

If we get over 100 responses I will draw a $10 Surrender To Chance Gift Card. If we get over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card, that should buy you a couple of ml or pay your postage. Every comment will get a place in the draw, so if you comment purposefully on your own or another comment you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw the winner on Friday and the winner will be announced in next Saturdays question.

Saturday Question: What 5 Would You Take?

This is not a new question but hopefully the way I’ve posed it will be a little different. Every time I do one of these questions the answers change so it always makes me ponder joyfully.

OK, so you’re renovating your house and you have to move out for a month. It’s an Insurance Job so they’re putting you into a Serviced Apartment for one month. You’re really happy about that but there’s a downside. There’s only room in the bathroom for your ablutary stuff and 5 bottles of fragrance. It’s not forever, right, and you only have to choose for your current weather so that cuts down the crossover. What 5 Would You Take?

What 5 Would You Take? My answer

It’s winter here so I’m going to pack mainly stuff I love for cold weather and one “pretend it’s summer” scent.

Fragrantica

Keiko Mecheri Un Jour d’Ete:

This winter my “pretend it’s summer’ scent has been Un Jour d’Ete. Its creamy summer vibe has kept it on my desk as a Go-To for months now and as the weather gets cooler I seem to be reaching for it more often. Citrus, coconut and amber meld seamlessly in this beachy beauty. It’s perfect summer scent and works equally well as a reminder.

Guerlain Tonka Imperial:

This beautiful baby came into my collection recently from another collectors wardrobe. Thick, rich, ropey gouts of gorgeous in a sweet/dry sillage that instantly warms me through. Tobacco, tonka and incense over dry woods and almonds and all the Guerlain sweetness without fairy floss-ish-ness. A very gentlemanly gourmand.

Serge Lutens Arabie FragranticaFragrantica

Serge Lutens Arabie:

One of the earliest of my Serge Lutens, this bottle has only recently made its way out from the back of the frag cupboard. It is love all over again. What a fabulous perfume. Cloves, spices, fruit mince and resins all come together to offer a pre-oud look at fragrance from the Middle-East. Smelling more like a dessert market than a desert market to our 21st century noses.

DIOR Mitzah:

Aaaah Mitzah! So bold and head turning. Spicy honeyed roses with patchouli and a resinous growl. She is such a queen of a fragrance. Sometimes I wish there were only 20 bottles in my collection so I could wear my favourites much more often. This enforced month would be heavenly.

Divine EdP Divine FragranticaFragrantica

Divine EdP:

I am not quite sure why but there is little said of the Divine Parfums range. My favourite is the original EdP but I also have the extrait. When I want glamour then Divine EdP fits the bill perfectly. A spicy peach tuberose with a very vanilla mossy dry down Divine EdP is from the 1980s but shows remarkable restraint for the era. Don’t worry, you’ll be fully fragrant all night long but not in the super bomb standards of the day.

 

So, my question to you today: What 5 Would You Take?

Tobacco Nuit by Jerome Epinette for Atelier Cologne 2016

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

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Portia

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Hiya Fragrant Friends,

My mates at Libertine Parfumerie sent me a bunch of samples recently. One of the scents I really liked a lot is Tobacco Nuit. Don’t forget, we Aussies get FREE Australian Shipping from the Libertine crew and they throw in generous samples.

Tobacco Nuit by Atelier Cologne 2016

Tobacco Nuit by Jerome Epinette

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top:  Italian clementine, Coriander, Cumin
Heart: Labdanum, Tobacco blossom, Uzbek incense
Base: Atlas cedar, Brazilian tonka bean, Indonesian patchouli

Bittersweet citrus smoothed by soft waves of coriander and labdanum wash out of the opening. The cumin plays a very background role, merely adding a worn-in feeling rather than a sweaty jock strap. Tobacco Nuit smells extremely luxurious and balmy. Rich, dark and woody with chocolate facets and resinous sweet cool glassiness. I am reminded of the way Mona di Orio created perfumes, there is a rich, seamless haughty arrogance to Tobacco Nuit that has me smiling and enjoying it’s grandness. I can see it becoming a firm favourite of the 21st century dandies, should they ever get to try it.

Tobacco Nuit Atelier Cologne Savile_Club_New_Bar_2 WikiCommonsWikiCommons

I’m really surprised that there is no honey mentioned in the note list but it may be the way that the tobacco, patchouli, tonka and labdanum combine. Whatever it is Tobacco Nuit feels thick, lustrous and buffed to a high sheen.

Through the heart I can feel the scent drying out and becoming more woodsy, and warmer. Like sitting in a cold room where someone lights a fire. That moment when the big logs are alight and all the kindling gone, suddenly there is this clean warmth and the room smells amazing.

Longevity is excellent, better than many EdPs, and even after a bath I have remnants of Tobacco Nuit, just the amberish warmth of utter dry down. Gorgeous from start to finish.

Tobacco Nuit Atelier Cologne Tobacco Flower Taber Andrew Bain flickrFlickr

Further reading: WMSSL and Colognoisseur
Libertine Parfumerie has $299/100ml (FREE Australian Shipping)
First in Fragrance has €175/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3.50/ml

Have any of the Atelier Colognes called your name?
Portia xx

 

Rose Alcane by Amélie Bourgeois and Anne-Sophie Behaghel for Aether 2016

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

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Portia

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Hiya Frag Heads,

The Aether brand is created scent for the 21st century that manages to remain beautiful, interesting and wearable. Modern is their catch cry, these guys use nothing but captured and created molecules in their scents. Every time I wear one of their perfumes I’m more swayed towards their concept.

I grabbed this decant from Surrender to Chance recently.

Rose Alcane by Aether 2016

Rose Alcane by Amélie Bourgeois and Anne-Sophie Behaghel

Rose Alcane Aether fragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Rose, green notes, metallic notes

Lick a cold spoon, put your hand into the fibrous up to 80% recycled glass insulation batts and smell a vintage fur coat in a florist. Now you understand how the opening of Rose Alcane is. A freaky fabulous melange of weird, and it doesn’t stop here. As all that burns off the rose becomes more prominent, but not a garden rose, not the glamorous rose of La Fille de Berlin or Mohur, not even the sweet rose of LUSH Rose Jam, patchouli intense Agent Provocateur or heady, oud filled Montale offerings. Here the rose is made of crystal, with metal thorns on torn stems and leaves.

The guys at Aether have discovered the Space Rose and brought it back from a galaxy far, far away. No, they have in fact been to the Rose Center for Earth and Space by Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest, New York and used the modern stylings to centre their fragrance on.

This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID highsm.04003. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information.WikiCommons

After about 30 minutes the whole of Rose Alcane warms through. I’m picking up a salty woodiness and hints of jammy rose, hot sand and super clean stainless steel kitchen bench tops.

If you really love to smell roses in the garden and expect your fragrance to mimic that then you need to go elsewhere. Rose Alcane is a future fragrance now. I would love to smell this on people that wear suits to work, it would be sensationally ironic, and I also think it would fly under the fragrance radar because it smells so decidedly other.

Rose Alcane by Aether NGC 2244 Rosette Nebula WikiCommonsWikiCommons

Further reading: Scented Salamander and BL’eauG
Aether, First In Fragrance, Harvey Nichols and Twisted Lily all stock Aether
Surrender to Chance has samples starting from $3.60/0.5ml

What do you think? Love your rose a bit freaky?
Portia xx

 

Black Perfecto GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

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Portia

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Hey there APJ,

Thanks to the lovely Guerlain SA at David Jones Sydney City Store for his generosity.

Let’s see who our winners are
Portia xx

Black Perfecto GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Sour cherry, almond, black tea
Heart: Rose, liquorice
Base: Leather, musk, patchouli, tonka bean

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 3 winners who will receive:
1 x Black Perfecto carded manufacturers sample
1 x Mon Guerlain carded manufacturers sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Wednesday 19th July 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

ESG23

Laura

Monsie Beaton

The winners will have till Wednesday 26th July 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

Black Perfecto: La Petit Robe Noir by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 29 Comments

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Portia

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Hey there Frag Crew,

Recently while purchasing Black Perfecto the SA asked me if I wanted extras for a giveaway! I was so freaking chuffed that she recognised me from my previous begging visits. It was nice, she was nice and I got Black Perfecto. Now honesty compels me to mention that I only bought it because of the bottle. Yes, I’m disgusting but cum’on, it’s freaking gorgeous.

Black Perfecto by Guerlain 2017

Black Perfecto: La Petit Robe Noir by Thierry Wasser

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Sour cherry, almond, black tea
Heart: Rose, liquorice
Base: Leather, musk, patchouli, tonka bean

So yes, Black perfecto opens noxious, the first minute is quite overwhelming. Once the crazy settles I’m left with a plastic and sour cherry that surprisingly leaves the taste in my mouth of a cherry flavoured tea infusion. The almond is real and the liquorice noticeable too. It’s kind of medicinal, like cough mixture and band aids. I like how the whole fragrance dries out in the heart like biscuit base.

AND THEN IT HITS ME

Black Perfecto smells and tastes like the slices of mass made cherry cheesecake that look so incredibly delicious in the window and are invariably a slightly plastic version of the real deal.

PDI

Is Black Perfecto bad? Nope, I like it. Will I ever go through my 50ml? Probably not. To be honest I think Mon Guerlain a much better fragrance and I would choose to spritz it ahead almost always.

That bottle though! It is PERFECTO!
Portia xxx

Black Perfecto by La Petite Robe Noire – GUERLAIN

Black Perfecto GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 3 winners who will receive:
1 x Black Perfecto carded manufacturers sample
1 x Mon Guerlain carded manufacturers 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 which bottle in your collection is your favourite.

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Wednesday 19th July 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 Wednesday 26th July 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 10.7 – 16.7.2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 36 Comments

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Portia

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Hey Hey Fumie Family,

Busy week and lots of great scents. It seems I’ve been playing catch up for a short while because living is completely taking over my plans for a lazy life. Thank goodness I have such a great team of mates to help buoy me.

Scent Diary 10.7 – 16.7.2017

Monday 10:

It’s 2am on Monday morning and I have a sinus headache. Been boiling the jug and putting near boiling cloths over my face and breathing, a modicum of relief and the only thing that really works for me. I’ve turned the heater on in our bedroom and will pop a Panadol before jumping into bed. No SOTBed tonight, it would be wasted on my ouchy nose.

Bloody Hell. I forgot I have to take the car for Smash Repairs. It’s 7am.

Who that has a choice gets up at 7am? Bloody hell. I’ve been like a zombie. Only now fully caffeinated can I look at the world with bright sparkly eyes. So, the car is at the Smash Repairs, my insurance company (NRMA) which I’m usually quick to denigrate have been freaking awesome. They include in my cover a FREE Taxi to the FREE Hire Car and back when the job is done. I got lucky with my lady (Hey Barbara) at Hertz too. She was going to give me some HUGE monster car but I talked her down to a little KIA with only 700km on the clock. YAY!

TinaG has been in the hospital 18 days. I went in today with a mission to get her at least down to the restaurant, we went one step further and got her out into the cool sunshine. You’ll notice I gave her an Hermès bag to attach to her drip so she can feel glamorous and loved. The bag came filled with teas from around the world and some frags for her to sniff should the mood take her. On the way back to her room we had a sneaky Gelato.

My body is suffering overload today, it just wants to sleep. I had a Disco Nap when I got home and woke a little refreshed.

Here is the moon as i walked the dogs last night. It seemed much more eerie and atmospheric in real life.

Q&A, I sat down and got all the Jackpot, Games and organised the basic 20 questions for the whole week. Then my mind went blank and I was finding it really hard to concentrate so I downed tools and set the alarm for 5am, or so I thought……..

Tuesday 11:

So, I actually set the alarm for 5pm! Woke up at 7am and jumped out of my skin. Went straight to the desk and started doing my Q&A. It was a MAD SCRAMBLE and I’m not sure it was a particularly good job but it was the absolute best I was capable of.

Scott and I in the office today. Wearing Lolita Lempicka Au Masculin to help me focus and loving it. We got loads done today and I’m really pleased.

Tonights ablutions included Olympic Orchids Amber Labdanum Bath Oil, Madonna Truth or Dare Naked lotion and DSH Perfumes Ma Folie de Noel. All the amber and all the trimmings. I feel like it’s Christmas in July!

Wednesday 12:

Someone texted me at 7am. I leave my phone on in case of friend-mergency so when people do early stuff it wakes me. GAK! Got up and grabbed Paris. We went for a cuddle in the spare room. Greyhounds are so warm, best winter cuddle buddies.

At around 8am I was ready to start the day and grabbed my new bottle of Serge Lutens Five O’Clock au Gingembre. This bottle’s opening dies off very quickly leaving a soft fruity melange that lingers for a couple of hours. It’s around regular L’Artisan strength, someone pulled its teeth.

Had lunch at Sushi Train with my BFF Kath who is camera shy. Good catch up.

Then had a cuppa with fellow fumie Cassandra. It was really nice to see her after quite a while. We laughed and chattered half an hour away.

Ainslie Walker and I then met up with TinaG at the hospital and had an ice cream and cuppa together. Ainslie gave us the first sniff of her latest fragrance release for a crew at the Strand Arcade in Sydney. It’s all terribly exciting and a wonderful new adventure for her. Smells AH MAY ZING!

Left there in plenty of time to drop my hire car off so I could go get my car from the smash repairs but then TRAFFIC! Arrived at Hertz at 5.07pm and it was empty of people, gates shut and chained. GAK!! Thank goodness NRMA were able to extend my hire car for another day. No worries.

Tonight was a roller coaster. Jin cooked Dumpling Soup. O M G! So good. He also did this weird but delicious Sweet & Sour Chicken dish.

Then while walking the dogs, DRAMA!

Seems to have smoothed over now but it was like a flash flood.

Thursday 13:

More Serge Lutens Five O’Clock au Gingembre this morning. We got the rental car back, went and looked at UGG Boots (fail) and then lazed around the house till I had to start getting ready for work.

Bath time included B&BW Pretty As A Peach bubbles, Amouage Dia lotion and Amouage Dia Extrait. I forget how freaking enormous Dia is between wears and 5 sprays could be a little excessive. OOOPSIE!

For bed I’m spritzing Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur EdP. Night all.

Friday 14:

Had to go to town today to visit my dentist. Dr Ryan Nevin is a superstar, best known as Dentist McDreamy, and I’ve known him since he arrived in Sydney in 1996. I love to see him and he’s really good at keeping teeth in my head. We have been fighting to save about 6 of them for years and have only lost two. My decades as a drug addict that took little to no care of his teeth, or any other part of myself, did nothing to hurt the teeth themselves but badly affected my gums. We wage war on gingivitis, one we are mostly winning. Today Ryan was mightily pleased, so was I.

My idea to go wander the halls of Gallery NSW were crushed underfoot by busy friends, one of whom had me in for next week. So I jumped on the train and went home.

Once home, Paris & I curled up and napped for two glorious hours.

Jacomo Silences PdT accompanied me through my day. I spritzed at 9am and it still lingered through to 10.30pm

Walking the dogs was a complete joy tonight in the very frosty air and the sky seemed to go on for eternity. We only walked about a kilometre but I came home warmed through and invigorated.

Then I cleaned the house, chatted to Neela Vermeire for an hour and blogged all night long.

For bed I doused myself in Carner Barcelona Rima XI. Sweet, dry, sugar coated amber biscuits. MMMMMMM

Saturday 15:

BRRRRRR! It’s chilly this morning.

Mates Alice & Sam went and did a huge workout nearby in Parramatta Park so I told them to come over afterwards for a Morning Tea of Scones, Passionfruit Butter (Courtesy of TinaG. YUMMY!), Apricot Jam and freshly Whipped Cream with as much tea as everyone could drink. It was a perfect wake up and later when Jin got out of bed he finished them off. How cute are Sam & Alice in the photo? I looked at it and smiled, their great gorgeous personalities shine through brilliantly.

You know it’s these tiny moments of fun that make life worthwhile. I wish you could all come have a morning tea at mine.

Bathtime I finished Hermès Eau de Mandarine Ambrée in the bubble bath. I really liked the way it smelled and am going to miss it.

 

SOTD turned out to be Black Perfecto by Guerlain. Review and giveaway to follow.

Dinner tonight at my favourite Chinese restaurant in Sydney, the Liu Rose in Concord. Kath, Sam and Alice came with me to celebrate Alice’s new job! Woo Hoo! We had pink bubbles, Peking Duck, San Choi Bow, Shredded Beef, Crispy Skinned Boneless Lemon Chicken and Egg Fried Rice. Loads of laughs and so much to talk about. Bloody hell, how does anyone keep up with all the excellent TV being made this season?

Spritzed loads more Black Perfecto by Guerlain before bed. I’m not entirely convinced but maybe I will be. At dinner Alice said she LOVED it.

Sunday 16:

Got up late and walked the dogs. Wearing Black Perfecto by Guerlain again. The opening is noxious but once it settles it’s not so awful. HA! Actually, it is rather nice through the heart and dry down. Nothing special or groundbreaking but it smells good.

Bath time today I used B&BW Warm Vanilla Sugar for my bubbles, Madonna Truth or Dare Naked lotion and Atelier Cologne Tobacco Nuit fragrance from a decant. Review coming next week. How did I miss this beauty, so good. I can see a FB in my future.

Work was super fun. First I bumped into our beautiful greyhounds’ trainer Charlie & his wife. They are super beautiful people and I love to flirt with Charlie who has no idea I’m doing it but laughs because I’m an idiot.

Then the crew were so much fun I wanted you to meet them all.

Last but not least, here am I saying time to put this show to bed for another week.

 

OK, you’ve read my week, time to tell us about yours please. Big, little, good or bad; share a story with us. We love to read about you.
Portia xx

Saturday Question: Sample Size & Format

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 33 Comments

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Portia

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Heya APJ,

Taking an idea from Olfactoria’s Travels. Once a week there used to be a Question. Everyone would chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it would be a generally fun event each week. Taking sides never meant taking offence and everyone kept it respectful and light.

Saturday Question: Sample Size & Format

Today we are joined by Lillibet who has a Saturday Question

Portia can we have one about the ideal sample size and format (i.e. spray or dab)? I’d be really interested to know what everyone thinks.
Lil Xx

My Answer:

Hey Lillibet,

I like to get 3+ good wears out of a sample. Two or three wears of four spritzes on the back of my hand usually and one full body wear with the remainder. So when I’m buying samples I usually go for the 2ml Spray option, and my go-To for that is Surrender To Chance. If I’m lucky enough to see someone splitting a thing I’m interested in or if it sounds fun I’ll buy a decant of 5ml-10ml.

When I get a smaller dab vial it will be transferred into a disposable plastic spritz bottle and I’ll get a couple of wears out of that. It never seems enough to get a real knowledge of how a fragrance performs and I often wish for more..

So, my question to you is:

What Sample Size & Format Do You Prefer?