Saturday Question: What Is Your Favourite Fragrance House?

May 20, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 170 Comments

Portia

Hello Fellow Fumies,

I have had an idea. Well, actually I’m copying 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 events each week. Taking sides never meant taking offence and everyone kept it respectful and light.

I’d like to carry on that tradition, maybe 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 150 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card. 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.

Last Weeks Winner: hajusuuri

Send me an eMail to portia _ turbo at yahoo dawt com dawt au

Saturday Question:

What Is Your Favourite Fragrance House?

Definition of Fragrance House today is pretty simple. Any brand, independent, designer, niche, artisanal that makes fragrance for personal scenting. You might like to talk about your favourite multinational designer house or your round the corner independent perfumer. No judgement on your choice, everything is grist for our APJ Saturday Question Mill.

Also, we are asking the question for today. Right now. this is not an enduring answer that we will hold you to in future. Don’t think too heavily about it but do please have some reasons why.

My answer:
OK, so the houses I have the most full bottles from are Guerlain and CHANEL, followed closely by Serge Lutens, DIOR, Patou, Amouage and Rochas. The thing is though, the question is What Is My Favourite Fragrance House and I think the answer this week, subject to change on a whim, is DSH Perfumes.

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz makes such an enormous range of scents from the sharpest green to the densest orientals. Her deft hand in creating luminous scents with ingredients that many independent perfumers make dull quagmires of dreck with is astonishing. Across the most enormous range of styles and hefts my personal experience of DSH Perfumes has been excellent.

Somehow DSH Perfumes fit my personal smell and add to it beautifully. Though not ALL the range is perfect the ratio of hit to miss is astounding. She is fearless and unafraid of risk, does not make to a room full of test dummies but creates beauty for beauties sake.

So my question to you is

What Is Your Favourite Fragrance House?

Citron d`Erable by Atelier Cologne 2016

May 19, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Portia

Hi there APJ,

On Google translate the meaning of Citron d`Erable is Lemon of Maple, whatever that means. It is not, as I originally heard it, Citron Terrible. OOOPSIE! Citron d’Erable is sold as a Limited Edition among the Atelier Cologne Collection Azur and comes in a darker than azure bottle. I like the simplicity of the Atelier flasks, they are very cool and slightly nerdy/hipster. When I see them in the coloured glass I think of the person who has a single bottle of fragrance at any one time. In my imagination that fragrance bottle probably sits on a bathroom counter or bedroom bureau and adds a feeling of industrial intimacy in an often minimalist environment. That splash of interesting, flamboyance even, in a stark and modern taste void.

Citron d`Erable by Atelier Cologne 2016

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Maple syrup, Calabrian bergamot, Sicilian mandarin
Heart: Chinese sichuan pepper, Eucalyptus, French blackcurrant
Base: Maple wood, Cedarwood, Sequoia

This fragrance was originally produced in 2016 for Canadian Sephora exclusively. It seems that it made the cut to the range but could still be a Limited Edition. It’s only just landed in Australia so I’m pretty excited to have a sample that the Libertine Parfumerie crew sent me. Thanks guys.

Citron d’Erable opens with a startling citrus, so strong and fizzy. I spritzed on my chest and even from there I was surprised by the enormity of it and wondered if I may have overspritzed. Luckily within a few seconds the screech had subsided and a luscious citrus, like a multi citrus juice or freshly cut oranges, limes, lemons, mandarines or grapefruit came through. It’s delightful and warmed through by the maple syrup slowly over the next 10 minutes.

PDI

The citrus doesn’t leave though, it stays and becomes sweetened by blackcurrant. Bittersweetened actually. It provides interesting counterpoint to the citrus & maple. That’s kind of where Citron d’Erable stays on my skin. It wafts around for quite a while only getting slightly drier and woodsier towards dry down.

If you are a fruity fragrance fan this will definitely be your jam. You like the Escada frags? This is a posh version of their screech. I’m thinking it might lure some who are not so impressed by the genre as well. It feels like an expensively created shimmery fruit fragrance.

PDI

Further reading: Colognoisseur
Libertine Parfumerie has $199/100ml with FREE Australian Shipping

How does a warm citrus for cooler weather sound to you?
Portia xx

PG25 Indochine by Pierre Guillaume for Parfumerie Générale 2011

May 18, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Portia

Hey Swett Scenters,

As you know I madly adore Pierre Guillaume. He makes a bunch of fragrances I love and a few noses that I really admire claim he’s as good as I think he is. That’s enough for me. He seems to be able to make what we modernly think of as a masculine idea, the woods, and create this non bloke=ish, sweet and gourmand event with them. THEN, to add to the joy these woodsy notes remain wearable by both sexes. The sweetness never eclipses the basic woodiness and once on masculine skin WOW! So beautiful.

PG25 Indochine by Parfumerie Générale 2011

PG25 Indochine by Pierre Guillaume

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Cambodian pepper, Sri Lankan cardamom
Heart: Thanaka wood, Laotian honey
Base: Benzoin Siam

Sweet, honeyed amber is my opening impression. It doesn’t take long though for dry black ground pepper to sneak in underneath and lift the thickness, creating some counterpoint. It’s still filled with a golden glow though and warms me right through. Pretty and comfortable for our cooling temps.

Indochina wears as a sweet peppery amber that gets woodsier as it dries down. I find the honey clean and sweet with only the softest hint of animals. I love how through the day as I personally start to smell a little lived in the fragrance moves and grows more human with me. It never becomes nasty or growly but does lose some of its new minted, just showered feel.

I had a few compliments on this tonight. One of the club workers kept coming over to smell me and tell me all the things it made her think of, plus a couple of other random compliments. A clear winner.

Who could wear Indochina? Anyone who likes their woods sweetened or their honey clean. It is a very intimate scent without the usual siren calls of sexiness. Very dressed up or casual, no problem. Initially sillage is quite prominent but after about an hour & a half it becomes a much closer sweetness. An excellent scent for wearing to undress.

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Scented Hound
LuckyScent has $125/50ml + Samples

Do you have a favourite Pierre Guillaume fragrance?
Portia xx

Mon Guerlain GIVEAWAY WINNER

May 18, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Portia

Woo Hoo APJ!

Thanks for getting involved this week.

Let’s see who won,
Portia xxx

Mon Guerlain GIVEAWAY WINNER

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 5ml Mon Guerlain EdP Boxed Mini
1 x 30ml Mon Guerlain Body Lotion
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Wednesday 17th May 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winner waschosen by random.org

Anna Maria

The winner will have till Wednesday 24th May 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

Mon Guerlain by Thierry Wasser and Delphine Jelk for Guerlain 2017

May 15, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 43 Comments

Portia

Hey Hey Frag Heads,

Well, hasn’t there been uproar on the scentbloggosphere around this one? Guerlain’s first stand alone pillar fragrance since the Limited Edition turned regular range Terracotta Le Parfum and L’Homme Ideal, both arriving in 2014. It seems though that this one was to be launched in the grandest of old styles like back in the 20th century. All over Europe and Australia the bus stations, buses, cinema ads and TV showed Mon Guerlain. They picked a controversial celebrity, Angelina Jolie, to be the face of it and then made her a silhouette. It all seemed like we had returned to the golden age of fragrance and because of all the hype, it being a Guerlain and the strange lack of hype for anything else they’ve done except those fun cartoon ads for La Petit Robe Noire (how CHANEL didn’t think of that I’ll never know) we were all expecting a masterpiece, a stroke of genius. Could it be the new Jicky, Shalimar, Mitsouko or Samsara? How could anything live up to such wild expectation?

Mon Guerlain by Guerlain 2017

Mon Guerlain by Thierry Wasser and Delphine Jelk

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives thee featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Provençal lavender
Heart: Paradisone®, Jasmine sambac, Coumarin
Base: Iris, Tahitian vanilla, White sandalwood

OK, I need to tell you that I bought my bottle of Mon Guerlain 100% for the bottle. I had sniffed it in passing and found it to be a fairly predictable rehash of most of what is on the market currently. Sweet, candy like cordial with little to help it rise above the celebuscented fairy floss storm except the bottle, which I adore. So, while in a small corner perfumery across the road from Luxembourg’s central station earlier in the year they had a 20% off Guerlain sale. Could I resist? No I could not. With my purchase I was also gifted a 5ml Boxed mini of Mon Guerlain EdP and a 30ml Mon Guerlain Body Lotion. Both of which are up for grabs in our giveaway tonight.

Once I had bought it I was able to wear it on my own, had time to really enjoy it and get to know the personality buried under the uninspiring scent it feels like in the mall or airport. Suddenly I found myself not only enjoying wearing Mon Guerlain but choosing it over other favourites.

I am reminded strongly of recently D/Cd Guerlain beauty Oriental Brulant with added Lavender. Mon Guerlain sparkles with lavender and it makes the whole fragrances gourmand-ness less stickily sweet and adds a historical linkage to one of its all time most popular scents Jicky. Not the same as Jicky but a passing reference to Guerlains history. The dry down is a 21st century Guerlinade reinvention with the same or similar vanilla in pride of place, cooled by iris and creamed by sandalwood.

Is Mon Guerlain a masterpiece? No, not in my opinion. Is it a modern LVMH money making adaptation of a Guerlain? Yes. Some of the heart has been removed but the soul remains.

Further reading: Scenthurdle and I Scent You A Day
David Jones Australia has $102/30ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $4.25/ml

Want to try it? Now’s your chance.

Mon Guerlain GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 5ml Mon Guerlain EdP Boxed Mini
1 x 30ml Mon Guerlain Body Lotion
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 in the comments which Guerlain fragrance is your favourite?

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Wednesday 17th May 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 24th May 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 8.5 – 14.5.2017

May 14, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 29 Comments

Portia

Hello Frag family,

This week has been blissfully uneventful. I love the quiet, fragrant, hum drum of living.

Scent Diary 8.5 – 14.5.2017

Monday 8:

Whirlwind morning. Dogs to vet. Vet looked over them for annual check up. Nails clipped, injections done, teeth checked, heart, condition etc. We took in stool samples to be checked and had to give some Paris wee. Sounds awful but actually having all the checks done is kind of cathartic, relinquishing control to someone who knows.

Update on Finbar the Australian Noisy Minah: We took him to the vet and they said our best course of action was to leave him with them and they’d hand him over to WIRES who would finish his raising and facilitate his release back into the street he was found on. Jin was really upset that I let them take him but the fact is they are trained to do this. We were doing our best but basically flying blind. This was 100% the best possible outcome.

Jin then had to collect his brand new, 8kms on the clock, Harley-Davidson. There was so much rigmarole that I thought was already done and health with. Also, a Harley doesn’t run the same as the Ninja, it’s all automated, keyless, electrically powered. The honour and reverence the man showing Jin how to deal with it all was as impressive as the machine itself. Then I followed jin on his new bike to our lunch date. He was so nervous and excited it was heaven. My boyfriend the middle aged bad ass.

Safely at lunch with one of my besties Phil we laughed and chattered an hour away. Food Court at Rhodes. Everyone got what they wanted and we all came back together to eat. Phil got Japanese soup, Jin got Chinese soup and dumplings and I had a Turkish open kebab. Sorry I didn’t get a pic we were chatting too much.

My choice of fragrance for the day was Michael Bublé By Invitation, I really go crazy with the spritzing for this baby. The zingy fruity opening which is slightly red pepper to me too goes almost directly to the nutty praline base and stays there for hours. It’s probably terrible and full of cheap ingredients but it smells good to me and people around me like it enough to comment favourably. As you can see I’m nearly a third of the way through my bottle.

The new season of Sense8 is on and we have watched the first three episodes. Bloody hell! It is fast moving, faster than the last season. Blink and you miss key plotlines. It is stunningly visual and so intricately thought out. More than oce Jin & I have been sitting watching it, clutching our pillows or blankets and swearing like sailors. It’s so engrossing, we feel like we are part of the action, like we are the ninth joined person.

Tonight I’m wearing the very last of my sample of M Micallef Marine Vanille. At LuckyScent they are having a sale and with the discount I could not put off my purchase a second longer. It is winging its way to me as we speak. YAY!! Apologies, I think I bought the last one because now it’s Sold Out.

LuckyScent

So now it’s Q&A for me till some ungodly hour. See you tomorrow.

Tuesday 9:

Again, slept just before the Q&A finish line. Up at 8am to get them finished and out to the crew. Really am going to have to start putting my foot down and spend a couple of hours Monday day setting my weeks Trivia up so all I have to do in the night is write the Q&A. To get me through I have 7 spritzes of Clinique Aromatics Elixir on. I am a fragrant chypre cloud, and loving it.

Scott came over today. We opened ALL the mail, Paid ALL the bills. My desk and Inbox are clear of bills. Having also spent a bit on fragrance this week I will need to work a few weeks to pay my cards back down but it is a nice feeling to have the outstanding all in one place.

We met up with Millenia to give her all the Bingle Balls stuff and we had Sushi Train for lunch. I love catching up with him.

Hit the Post Office, the Stationary Supply place (OfficeWorks) to buy ink and the bank to yell at them AGAIN (it’s habitual, the cringe when I walk in the doors)

Dyed my beard, bathed and fragranced myself with Perfumerie Generale 25 Indochine. Sweet peppery amber that gets woodsier as it dries down. I find the honey clean and sweet with only the softest hint of animals. Pretty and comfortable for our cooling temps. WOW! I had a few compliments on this tonight. One of the club workers kept coming over to smell me and tell me all the things it made her think of, plus a couple of other random compliments. A clear winner.

Wednesday 10:

Woke up early, turned the alarm off and then sleep till 10am. HEAVEN.

The sun was shining so I popped on a singlet and walked thew dogs, catching some much needed Vitamin D so my body can function properly. Somehow it never seems to run as efficiently if I don’t get a jolt of sunshine every week.

Today I’m wearing some vintage Guerlain Samsara extrait. The memories this mad, beautiful, completely over the top fragrance brings me of my Mum are so strong today they’re palpable. I’m not sure if it was 1989 or 1990 that Australia got Samsara but the year it was released I was working as a holiday squirt bitch for one of our local department stores. My counter was Guerlain, Oscar de la Renta, Worth and Nina Ricci. Knowing my Mum loved Shalimar I thought Samsara the obvious next step because it was brand new and outrageous. I bought her the gift set for Christmas and she was thrilled, the house and her car smelled of Samsara for months. Happy, happy memories.

Not very long ago I found this almost full original extrait on eBay. I paid WAY too much for it but it is perfect, absolutely and utterly pristine. What price joy and nostalgic reminiscence?

Not sure if you know this but I LOVE to cook soup. It’s easy, healthy and delicious. Also, when I make a big vat of it there’s enough to share with friends, that also makes sure that some people get extra veg in their lives. This week I cooked Pumpkin, Potato and Capsicum Soup. The only other things in there are Onions, Garlic, Wostershire Sauce, Pepper, Pure Cream and about 300g of Podravka Hot Vegetable Relish for kick. I cook it, blend it and leave it overnight in the fridge then reheat on the stovetop and serve with buttered wholemeal toast. YUMMY!

For work this evening I wanted something really grand and beautiful. What else but Neela Vermeire Mohur EdP? There is a regal elegance to Mohur that always makes me feel like I’m floating far above the rat race. Roses, spice, incense and a soft background hum of oudh. You can see I’m on my last of the original bottles, I reckon there’s already 6 or 7ml gone. Don’t worry, I have a backup bottle in the new design.

Tonight for bed I have multi spritzed Le Galion Cologne Nocturne. One of the best lavender based colognes I have ever smelled with longevity like an EdP. Such a great house that rarely gets a mention. I wish everyone would try their beautifully crafted fragrances, not groundbreaking but perfectly produced with quality ingredients. I’m ready to grab some ZZZZZs. Nighty night.

Thursday 11:

Morning. Weather is unseasonably warm today. Wearing Olympic Orchids A Midsummer Nights Dream today. I think the names has changed but this old 2ml spray still smells unbelievably gorgeous.So much depth with sparkles of light and glimmers of radiance. The darkness warms through in the heart and suddenly it’s a burnished amber.

Visited Mum Waples in rehab today. She seemed really chipper and walked to the dining room by herself without stops for breathers. It’s a small but significant win. They have her doing exercises too which is making her more confident on her feet.

LUSH Rose Jam bubble bath today. How can something so cheap be so bloody wonderful? Stepping into the bath makes me smile like a fool and sitting in there surrounded by rose scented bubbles is absolutely the most relaxing and posh experience. Can’t tell you enough how happy it makes me.

Vintage Madame Rochas EdC is my evenings fragrance. An aldehydic floral by Guy Robert that I find a perfect feminine adventure with very modern masculine dry down. It’s quite the contradiction. Lasts forever, like a modern heavy hitting EdP.

NEW Carpet in the Kings Park Tavern tonight. They are making so many positive changes. The food has gone up 10 notches, the rooms upstairs are being renovated, the staff seem happier and more ready to please. I’m hoping for another 15 magical years there. Fingers crossed.

For bedtime tonight I’m wearing Oliver & Co Vaninger. As you can see it’s pretty popular around here. MMMMMMM The zingiest ginger cut through with the depth and sweetness of vanilla. There’s other stuff floating around too. Weird but wearable beauty.

Friday 12:

Jinx (Jin’s dog) has been favouring one of his front feet. Yesterday he wouldn’t even put pressure on it and I was worried. Today he’s at the vet having X-Rays so we can dismiss any concerns. Greyhounds are funny dogs. When they are racing dogs the only affection they get is from the vets, so in later life they always look on a vet visit as a happy occasion. They basically run up the stairs to the surgery and once inside they are so calm and placid.

Afterwards walking home I looked up and saw this unbelievably red Liquidambar. Autumn is here in Parramatta in full throttle. Love how fiery this particular tree looks.

I wanted something warm and pretty to match my Autumn mood so went for Andy Tauer Eau d’Epices. It’s a perfect match. All that spice ready to sizzle in the pan, oranges and amber.

Went and saw Kath’s Mum for lunch. Just as I came in she was leaving a home safely lecture at the Rehab clinic, then they staff pounced on her and did the blood, drugs and heart check. It was over in a minute.

Paris spent the whole day missing his friend Jinx.

Tonight Jin and I had enormous amounts of KFC. It was freaking delicious. Hanging out with him is easy and cool fun, we watched a few episodes of the new season of SENSE8. OMG! Seriously compulsive viewing. On the edge of the couch, grabbing our cushions and screaming at the TV. Super fun really. Wish you all could have been here with us, perfect night.

After all that I rang Arielle Shoshana to enquire about getting one of her bottles of fragrance sent to Australia. I figure if Arielle is doing it then the juice will be freaking amazing. I think we have a plan.

For bedtime I decided I needed some vintage so Miss Dior EdT. MMMMMM Night Night. X

Saturday 13:

This morning dawned cool and slightly foggy. I felt like some watery roses and then added to myself that powdery roses would be just the thing. Perfume DelRae Coup de Foudre hits all three spots and it was eerily quiet on the Parramatta streets at 8am on a frosty Saturday morning. Though I was dog walking I was hardly even present, what took almost my whole attention was the sheer perfection of Coup de Foudre and how magical it made the morning smell and thus feel.

When we got home Jin was stirring a little so, being Saturday and knowing that if he has the dogs with him he’ll get another 2-3 hours of sleep, I allowed them up with him on the bed. Jin’s working a few night shifts now so after today I’m the only one sleeping in the bed before it gets changed tomorrow. One sneaky morning, and look how happy they all are.

Jin got up around 11am and we went out for burgers. I’ve been craving Grill’d Burgers all week, and their chips share plate with Potato, Sweet Potato and Zucchini chips with three yummy sauces, Sweet Chilli Mayo, Herbed Mayo & Chipotle Mayo.

I hope you’ll excuse me today. I’m going to sloth around the house and get some Trivia Q&A started for the week.

Wearing multiple spritzes of the original Carolina Herrera EdT from the 1980s. Mine is somewhere from there till the box changed in the early 2000s, but it is a beat up old tester with the gold shoulders. She is ferocious! I love it.

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Amber, Apricot, Bergamot, Jasmine, Lily-of-the-valley, Moss, Musk, Orange blossom, Sandalwood, Tuberose, Ylang-ylang, Civet

So I started watching Netflix new Archie comic in life, Riverdale, and it’s so good that I find myself up at 2am watching and have come in here to break the trance so I can clean my teeth and go to bed.

Sunday 14:

Wishing all the Mums out there in APJ land a great big THANK YOU. We do know how much work goes into being a Mum, even though we are usually ungrateful shits who only care about ourselves. Sorry for all the pain and drama, worry and angry we’ve caused you all. Without you we’d be nothing.

This family, this Mum, the mum of my best friend who took me in for all important occasions when my Mum died. Like every family they have ups & downs, sometimes even sideways. Without their steadying influence, love, care and the ultimate gift of their time I would definitely not be here to tell my tales today. The family spoiled her rotten and she deserved it. EVERYONE came, including Jin who had to dash off to sleep before the photo. This photo is what love and gratitude looks and feels like, to me.

I’ll be wearing Guerlain Shalimar, vintage extrait and modern EdP, to remember my Mum today. I miss her every day.

So, tell me about your week. Do anything fun or fragrant? Share it with us below in the comments.
I love to read your stories too.
Portia xxx

Saturday Question: What Are Your Two Go-To Scents?

May 13, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 183 Comments

Portia

Hello Fellow Fumies,

Last Weeks Winner: Sadly we only made it to 113 comments. I did try and bump it along by replying and replying again. Fingers crossed for this week.

Saturday Question:

What Are Your Two Go-To Scents?

OK, so let’s get the playing field clear this week so your head doesn’t explode. We are talking currently. What are the two fragrances that you grab and spritz right now when making a clearly defined scent decision is either too brain consuming or more worry than it’s worth. The days where you just need to smell good, no questions asked, and probably will only notice what you’re wearing a few times throughout the day in between business.

Usually a Go-To will also not hijack your train of thought while you’re in a meeting or art gallery. It needs to be nice and smell good but not dominate the conversation or thought process. Maybe you wear it to the movies or dinner so it doesn’t cloud the sensual pleasures of letting yourself go completely to the moment.

Remember, we are talking about right now. What do you reach for instinctively, with no questions asked.

My answer:
Lately my two most spritzed when on the go have been

Fragrantica

Lolita Lempicka EdP

It’s so easy to wear. A gentle fun fizz to begin. Sweet liquorice and violet in the heart and a softly sweet vanilla woodsy base. Projection is moderate, the story is very nice but not overwhelming and I can focus on other things while wearing it. Yet, should I take a moment to sniff myself I smell lovely, comfortable and yummy.

Fragrantica

Parfum d’Empire Equistrius

I know, this is a funny choice for a Go-To. What happened was I fell madly in love with this fragrance. Obsessed. Went through two 5ml decants quite quickly. It just seemed to fit me so perfectly. Anyway, I saw it selling on a friends Sale Doc overseas and purchased it but it took weeks to get here and I completely forgot my purchase. At the same time I also saw it on another friends Sale Doc and thinking I hadn’t bought it yet I grabbed that too. While both of those arrived yet another Sale Doc had it from a mate that was selling hers for an unbelievably low price, so you know what I did right? So having such largess and loving it to bits I will often multi sprite as I leave the house. It’s still beautiful to me, I love its iris plus the works attitude and it stays relatively back seat till I consciously sniff.

So my question to you is

What Are Your Two Go-To Scents?

Gucci Guilty Absolute by Alberto Morillas for Gucci 2017

May 12, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Portia

Hey there Designer Frag Fiends,

Normally a 21st century message about a Gucci flanker would draw single eyebrow raised type archness from the grand perfumista community. Stick of shocks the word on the scentbloggosphere is that this newly released creature is Da Bomb! Even noses I’ve revered forever are calling this a return to Tom Ford time form for Gucci. High praise.

I did try it in the Duty Free area on our latest jaunt and found it nice enough. What I didn’t realise was that when I was buying some stuff in Luxembourg the SA had given me a sample to take home. YIPPEE!

One thing I have noticed is that this is an incredibly well priced fragrance. Kudos to the creative director at Gucci, Alessandro Michele, for keeping it so affordable. The scent is Coty group, does anyone know if they have the whole Gucci line under lock & key or is this new?

Gucci Guilty Absolute by Gucci 2017

Gucci Guilty Absolute by Alberto Morillas

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Woodleather®, Goldenwood®, Nootka cypress, Patchouli, Vetiver

Woodsiness, a little bit sharp like pine. Behind the crisp new planks of wood it’s smoky and dry. Very niche smelling and the leather is expensive clothing leather, finished and new. Though Gucci Guilty Absolute is fragrant there is a modern sheerness that reminds me of the way a Jean Claude Ellena Hermessence would smell if he chose to do this style. There’s something spare and unearthly about the treatment of woods and leather here.

During the heart I also get metallic and oily hints, like old, well used machinery running but not working. Also sawdust, you know how mixed wood sawdust has a dry and dusty wood smell? Like that.

Gucci

When the patchouli arrives it is waxy and clean, a very nice background noise that adds a smoothness to Gucci Guilty Absolute.

I bet this is a major hit for Gucci. Everyone could wear it, easy to wear, smells expensive and refined. I can imagine school kids, office workers, ladies who lunch and gym bodies all spritzing and wearing Gucci Guilty Absolute beautifully.

Further reading: Persolaise and Brooklyn Fragrance Lover
Gucci Australia has $108/50ml

What was the last Gucci scent you liked or bought?
Portia xx

Citrus Ester by Amélie Bourgeois and Anne-Sophie Behaghel for Aether 2016

May 11, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Portia

Hiya Frag Freaks,

Modern is the catch cry of Aether, these guys use nothing but captured and created molecules in their scents. A far cry from the old school beauty of naturals and their multifaceted wearings. Here we have industrial scent for the 21st century that manages to remain beautiful, interesting and wearable. When the range first came out I judged them to be ghastly without ever trying one, just because of the concept, but every time I wear one my incredulity falls away and I’m swayed towards their concept.

I grabbed this sample from Surrender To Chance.

Citrus Ester by Aether 2016

Citrus Ester by Amélie Bourgeois and Anne-Sophie Behaghel

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Grapefruit, rhubarb, methyl pamplemousse

Sharp sweetness, ferociously clean, cold spoon on tongue, clean sink, fresh air, metal, citrus, ropey greenness. I have never smelled citrus done like this. Captivating and obnoxious. HA! A non animalic grapefruit with a never grown in the earth rhubarb.

I can imagine people who loved L’Eau d’Issey in the 1990s but found it too of its time to continue wearing it will love Citrus Ester. It’s a modern reimagining of the classic but with added sugar and airiness.

Great staying power and fresh to the last whiff, but a different to what we’re used to fresh. This fresh is still invigorating, doesn’t really move around much, nods to cologne as it flies past in a space ship.

Perfect work scent, I can especially imagine it being an excellent after gym scent. Once your body has heated up with a workout, you’ve showered off but this over your bodies innate humanity will be excellent.

PDI

From Aether: CITRUS ESTER. IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, IT WAS ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WORLD. ONE OF THOSE DAYS THAT SEEMS TO STRETCH OUT FOREVER, AND YOU ARE NOT QUITE SURE THERE IS GOING TO BE A SECOND. THE MOMENT QUIVERS WITH ENERGY. AN ENERGY GHOST, BRIGHT (METHYL GRAPEFRUIT) AND CARING, TINGED WITH A SLIGHT TASTE OF PRIMORDIAL FRUIT (FIRASCONE, RHUBAFURANE). LIFE, THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE.

Further reading: BL’eauG
Aether has AUD$145/50ml and delivers to the world
Surrender To Chance has samples from $3.60/0.5ml

Do you like the idea of a fragrance made entirely of captured and created molecules?
Portia xx

Le Sillage Blanc GIVEAWAY WINNER

May 11, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Portia

Hello APJers,

Thanks for getting involved.
Let’s see who won.

GOOD LUCK.
Portia xxx

Le Sillage Blanc GIVEAWAY WINNER

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Orange blossom, Neroli, Tobacco, Artemisia, Galbanum, Leather, Ambrette, Patchouli, Oakmoss

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Carded Manufacturers Sample of Le Sillage Blanc (Hopefully I can find the card)
1 x Porcelain Esxence Bracelet (Perfect fragrant handbag jewellery)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

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

Hage Kay

The winner will have till Wednesday 17th May 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