Portia

Scent Diary: 20.3 – 26.3.17

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Portia

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Scent Diary: 20.3 – 26.3.17

Monday 20:

Luxumbourg has an excellent cafe/chocolatier on the Place Guillaume. we had afternoon tea there and wrote postcards.

I might have bought these in a corner perfumery with a 20% discount. YAY!

Tuesday 21:

Arrived in Paris around lunchtime. We are staying in a new to us hotel near the Arc de Triomphe. Coming out of the Metro on the escalator and being hit with one of the world’s most recognisable landmarks is pretty spectacular.

Obligatory Serge Lutens flagship store visit. Bought Jin a new MKK because he is going through his bell jar rather quickly and got Scotty something too for house minding our place. SHHHH.

Near the Louvre Museum they had a memorial to all the homeless that died in Paris last year. Hundreds of them, not all with names, were represented by a flowering plant. We laid a rose and said a prayer for one who died on Jin’s birthday. Very moving tribute and a woman danced through the memorial to French provincial music played by a smell band.

Yes, went to Guerlain Champs Elysees store but did not purchase. they still have Liu if you’re looking for it.

Dinner with Nicolas & Enno from Le Galion and Aether. They are bloody wicked company and we laughed and chatted the night away. So glad we are mates with such clever, passionate men about life, work and fragrance.

Scored the brand newest Aether scent and will be doing a giveaway when we get back so you can try it too. Based on the smell of hot metal and made with only captured molecules Methaldone is really good stuff. Freaky, wearable and smells good to me.

Wednesday 22:

Since 2013 Jin and I have reminisced about having crepes for breakfast one morning in a market with our mates Aaron & Gerard. They were delicious and it was a great thing to do. Jin decided we would repeat the adventure and painstakingly worked out where the market was and on which days it is open. They were as good as we remembered and it was fun to go back.

Then we went inside Notre Dame. We have been outside a few times but never went in. This time we went in and lit candles for friends & family. Beautiful.

Here I wear the Eiffel Tower as a hat. This is the bridge near Princess Diana’s tunnel where she died. Still sad.

In the afternoon we went to the Grand Palais and saw the Rodin exhibition. Really interesting look at an artist that I know not very much about. We learned a bit but more than anything I loved that he was a great sketcher and we saw a lout of his drawings/inks and that captured my imagination more than anything else.

Jin called this the Beyonce Single Ladies statue. We bloody lost it and all the French matrons looking at us like we were from outer space as we laughed and did Single Ladies singing & dancing impersonations.

Thursday 23:

Ahhh, Galleries Lafayette. I know that Printemps is posher but the shiver of excitement I feel whenever we shop beneath that glittering dome is worth more than anything. Yes, bought the Hermes Collection Colognes. The Hermès SA loaded us up with extras too and made me SWEAR I’d come back and shop with her. Indeed I will.

We saw the Pissaro exhibition, excellent. Seeing the way he grew as an artist. There were all sorts of wonderful pieces in the pointillist, separatist, impressionist genres but interestingly he also had a sideline in simple watercolour and gauche paintings that were really easily sold by his art dealer. That was the way he paid the rent and fed his family. It also meant he could pursue his grand pieces. The last ones were so magnificently painted that they looked like the light was streaming out of them, as if backed by light boxes. Unbelievable.

We tried to go to the Louis Vuitton Foundation but there was no exhibition on. Having paid for the best tickets available we were a bit grumpy. The building is a ridiculous conglomeration of hideous architecture wankings anyway. What a pile of shit.

 

Friday 24:

OMG! Jin and I flew to Milan in the early morning, had some lunch and then met a few of the frag crew in clouding Val the Cookie Queen. We then went in to Escxence. It is enormous, filled to the gills with perfume houses. So many of them brand new and hardly any of my most loved.

Charles de Gaulle had an interesting selection of Mass-Tige fragrances including Diptyque, Amouage, Lutens and Goutal.

Val the Cookie Queen is mortally afraid of photographs, weird because she’s so beautiful.

Nick (I’m sorry I didn’t get a pic with Pia too) Gilbert and Lucasz from Chemist In A Bottle

Antonio Gardoni of Bogue and Francesco from Luckyscent

Adam & Francesco from LuckyScent, Vero Kern, Neela Vermeire and up the back Judith Fox, Val CQs best friend (and psychotherapist). This is my favourite Esxence pic by far.

It was so overwhelming that I only allowed 3 houses to give me their sample sets. I already love Miller & Bartaux, their product is weird and wonderful while remaining perfectly wearable.
Atelier des Ors is a favourite of Ainslie Walker and I know Megan their rep.
Brand new and winner of the worst brand name ever Homoelegans, I liked one of their frags particularly, more on that later.

We finished the day with a bunch of great mates for dinner. They all really needed a quiet wind down and we found a spectacular candlelit restaurant close by that served wonderful food for very decent prices. Petit is the name and they worked hard to make it a special evening for us all.

Saturday 25:

Started my morning at the Milano Savoy with Aussie milliner to the stars Naomi Goodsir. I bloody love her.

This years offering is Nuit de Bakelite. It’s green with a tuberose heart. The closest analogy I can make is a 21st century Niki de Saint Phalle EdT.

The Duomo. The Pope was in town, he missed us by minutes.

Neela and Jin. The display was gorgeous at the NVC stand and Neela was swamped by people all day, every day.

At Campo Marzio 70. I might have bought a Kiki Extrait at retail, so good.

Farewell to Vero Kern & Antonio Gardoni with Val the cookie queen.

I might have got this to…….

Sunday 26:

Up early for a farewell breakfast with Val the Cookie Queen and Judith. Saying goodbye to people we love is shit.

We dropped into Esxence to see Neela and she gave us a bottle of Bombay Bling to photograph on our travels in Milan today. BIG responsibility. Jin is up for the challenge.

A cup of tea with Neela before bed. The fragrances she creates are as warm, wonderful and delicious as Neela herself. I love her passion and perfectionism.

So what has happened in your week, fragrant or otherwise?
Portia xx

Soulle Ambar by Shelagh Foyle for Floris 2013

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Portia

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Hey there crew,

Libertine Parfumerie sent me their Winter 2017 Season Update. I have a bunch of some of their new-to-Australia and brand spanking new stuff to look at. I think that they have newly brought Floris onboard in 2016 as one of their houses so that’s really exciting. Not having spent much time with the brand, except a quick sniff through in Fortnum & Mason last year, it will be good to get to know them better. I’m pretty sure that Floris are not marketing to me personally as a consumer, the brand seems a little safe and buttoned up British but I will be happily shown to be wrong.

Soulle Ambar by Floris 2013

Soulle Ambar by Shelagh Foyle

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, galbanum, pineapple, mastic/lentisque
Heart: Pink pepper, geranium, jasmine, mellow/sweet clover
Base: Amber, vanila, musk

Soul Ambar is a new one to Australia and as I love amber in fragrance I think Paige from Libertine thought it might be a good place for me to start. Let’s see….

Woo Hoo! Sweet citrus with a pineapple hit is a wonderful, fun, uplifting opening the segues beautifully into smooth, glossy green galbanum. The fruits don’t leave exactly but become something harmoniously part of the green.

A burst of pink pepper, a real, fun, pepper grind of it. While having that fun pink pepper fizz it comes along and dries Soulle Ambar out. The fruit punch is still extant but now playing chorus with the bouquet. Flowers come together in a softly cool florist melange that gives me thoughts of fresh cut peonies and greenery.All this action has taken place in under half an hour and I feel the real heart has arrived. Without being mean the heart reminds me of the opening of some of the Tocca perfumes. It has that similar wet non floral bouquet, but here it’s in the heart and lasts very effectively.

WikiCommons

Soulle Ambar is a floral green scent through the heart. Nothing groundbreaking or sensational but a comfortable, floral, green that feels beautifully crafted and with enough of a story to have some interesting light & shade.

At about the 40 minute mark the amber/vanilla comes through as a light undercurrent of warmth, it takes centre stage but Soulle Ambar maintains a fresh green hint till I lose the scent completely.

I don’t think this is made with die hard perfumistas in mind. It’s a fine fragrance, smells good and would be an excellent choice for a person whose main aim is to be prettily fragrant. I could imagine buying it as a gift for my non perfumista friends and them using it solely as a spritz & go all day scent till the bottle was empty and then buying it again.

Flickr

Libertine Parfumerie has $179/100ml and FREE Australian Delivery
First In Fragrance has €72/50ml + Samples

Have you spent any time with Floris fragrances? Any that you like, love, own?
Portia XX

Trolling The Internet?

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Portia

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Hi there Late Night Shoppers,

I have a confession to make. Sometimes I get the urge to surf the net at ridiculous hours looking for lost fragrant loves, super new stuff, blogs and bargains. Other times I may have read a particularly good blog post, used a decant/sample that I fell madly in love with, got a bee in my bonnet and it’s like a compulsion. I can get lost in these random loops and searches for HOURS!

Sometimes if I have a day off, nothing planned and Jin is at work I can spend 10-15 hours lost in the fragrant WWW.

I have a name for these explorations….

Trolling The Internet

Trolling The Internet doesn’t mean you go around being a troll. Nope. It’s like trawling but it sounds most like trolling. It comes from 1980s GaySpeak when we’d go trolling the bars. We’d be seeing our friends, having some drinks (and drugs back then), looking for love, dancing and sometimes even working. Yeah, being Sydney’s version of a club kid was really fun.

So now I’ve just changed venues and addictions I suppose. Now it’s cups of tea/coffee, seeing mates in blogs and searching for the next fragrant buy, swap or sale.

One of the great things about Trolling The Internet is that you can do it anytime, wearing a suit or pyjamas, get your fix and then hit the hay.

How many of you die similar or same? Do you ever worry about your internet time, spending, being inside? Do you ever need to break the cycle? What do you do to sl;ow or stop these behaviours or are you totally cool?
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 13.3 – 19.3.17

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Portia

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Hey there Fragrant Family,

This week sees more of Europe. More buddies, more scent and much more diary.

Scent Diary: 13.3 – 19.3.17

Monday 13:

OK, 5.30am wake up. NOT relaxing. We’re off to Berlin via Prague on the trains. Plenty of time to flake out. I should be reading my book but the scenery has me spellbound.

Guerlain Mitsouko EdT for the journey. It was an excellent accompaniment. Jin was bathed in L’Occitane Cedrat L’Homme yesterday and I could still smell it on his clothes in the train. So sexy and cuddly.

Dinner in Berlin and Jin got a beer nearly as big as his head.

Tuesday 14:

I bought a decant of Louis Vuitton Turbulences away with me and was totally going to wear it today but was ambushed in my choice by vintage Miss Dior parfum, which is a perfect Berlin morning fit.

Jin has booked us into the Melia Hotel on Friedrichstrasse, right next to the railway and river. We have a tiny little balcony which overlooks both, heaven. It’s a businessman’s hotel with an impressive buffet breakfast included and the room is very nice, even has a bath so I had a delicious soak before bed tonight.

Today we are doing the Hop-On Hop-Off bus. As we are only here for one full day as a Berlin taster we thought it best to get as much of the tourist stuff ticked off the list as possible. We have also been given a list of Nicolas Chabat from Le Galion and his partner Enno’s favourite spots in Berlin. Fingers crossed we get some time for a couple of them too.

We saw pieces of the Berlin Wall. A stark reminder about how destructive politics is.

Then we climbed to the walking parapet of one cathedral where I proceeded to have a vertigo meltdown. Sweats, knees buckling, delusions of the floor moving and heart thudding uncontrollably. Basically a panic attack at height. Jin kindly captured the moment.

Nivea has a dedicated shop here and I’m dying to go in but they weren’t open yet.

Gallery! We spent hours wandering the halls. Here are some of the artworks we loved.

We may have gone back at night when the Nivea shop was open and bought the Nivea EdP.

Wandered past the Brandenburg Gate

and down to the Holocaust Memorial. SO spooky at night.

Then burgers.

Now I’m going for a bath and then bed.

Wednesday 15:

Busy morning. Jin has hired a car, so we’ll go get it. O MG! Can we talk upgrade? Eurocar was supposed to give us a VW Golf but somehow we ended up with a Mercedes Sports Car with only 700kms on the clock. Jin is like a 17 year old kid, so freaking excited. We are now a driving holiday! Touring, YAY!

Wearing Yves Rocher Rose Oud again.

Then we met Ann from Perfume Posse and her partner Thomas for coffee and a sniff. We went to Parfumsalon Berlin and met proprietor Mario who is a perfumista himself. It was wonderful chatting to someone who really cared about the fragrances in his stock.

Newest Profumi del Forte called Mythical Woods. New packaging too. Very modern.

Yes, I purchased. When I first smelled Tabac Tabou I was woefully underwhelmed. The 2016 run though speaks volumes to me. Fabulous.

Added the current Sables by Annick Goutal on my arms. WOW! Jin hates it but I adore it.

Back to the hotel, pack, leave for Hamburg! Jin hit 190km/h and I am in a testosterone packed teen movie nightmare. He he he. He’s a pretty good driver, I went to sleep and let him at it.

Ahhhhh, Hamburg is bloody gorgeous. We are staying well outside the city but no problem. A group (up to 5 people) daily ticket across all public transports is under 12 euro! We caught buses, metro, trains and ferry. BEST way to feel like part of the community.

One thing we noticed about Hamburg is how much more multicultural it is than other cities visited this trip, all the skin shades represented in every block of walking. Feels like home. We are most comfortable here.

I don’t have a photo but the Hamburg Ferry 62 is a fabulous round trip at dusk, included in your public transport card.

Thursday 16:

Even the view from our outskirts hotel breakfast room is tranquil and serene. It’s the Holiday Inn, make sure you ask to be in the tower block part. We paid an extra 10 euro a day for a room twice the size and with a spectacular view. Bathroom is a bit tired but clean.

Today i wore my decant of Camelia Intrepide by Atelier Cologne. Lovely softly sweet, dry tea scent. A bit powdery and warmed through by resins. Great choice for Hamburg, pretty and discrete without being boring or plain.

Bloody Hell. Ran around the whole day.

We wanted to do a free walking tour but the guide gave us the shits so we fled. If you’re in Hamburg do the Red Umbrella Tour.

We did also go to the Hamburg Museum of Art & Design. I’m sorry I didn’t take more pictures for you, it was amazing. (Applied arts museum with ancient & modern artifacts, from Japanese pottery to Bauhaus furniture.)

We found Jin a Korean restaurant. If he goes a week without it he gets very restive. I can’t remember name or place but it’s the only one on Trip Advisor that gets a good review. we liked it also.

Friday 17:

Drove to Hanover and met my mate Celia. We spent the day laughing, eating, sightseeing and Niki de Saint Phalle-ing.

I wore Yves Rocher Rose Oud again.

Jin posing as the stocking ad woman outside the new Rathaus.

Niki de Saint Phalle donated over 400 pieces of her art to the city of Hanover. It has become a playground for fans of her art and the new modern art museum has dedicated its front room to her. Not just the colourful nanas but some much darker Big Shot pieces where she has shot paint at half formed sculptural works.

I also loved this Walls Have Ears piece.

In the parks drifts of crocus & daffodil have been planted and are all coming out in bloom. I made Celia and Jin go out there and be fools but I think it works as a bit of whimsy.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
Excerpt from “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” (also “Daffodils”) by William Wordsworth

Saturday 18:

I’m not sure why but I couldn’t sleep last night. So at 5am I got up to have a shower and got onto the computer to do some blogging. It’s good, I’ve caught up with my photos for the last couple of days and got other stuff in order. Jin is snoring rhythmically in the background. BLISS!

Spraitzed myself silly with Ambergreen by Oliver & Co this morning. Excellent freaky green choice.

Arrived in Rotterdam to see Sandra, Sean and Esperanza for lunch. Then Jin had a nap and the rest of us went walking through town, ending up back in our hotel room just chilling till dinner. We were met by Carl at Jamie Oliver’s Italian and had a wonderful night. For dinner I wore a multiple spritz of vintage Miss Dior parfum.

I’m bushed now, here are some pics.

Sunday 19:

Up early and off to Luxembourg via Brussells. We are out seeing the town.

Jin REALLY wanted Belgian waffles. Obviously he got them.

While Jin was eating his waffles I went biscuit crazy. Spent a fortune.

Honestly I was excited to be eating chips & special tasty mayonnaise. No idea why I am looking grumpy.

So we get to Luxembourg, take a bus and find Place Guillaume II. If you’re a perfume lover then you’ll get why I was so excited about that.

Now, tell me about your week please. Anything interesting or fragrant? Purchase or plan?
Portia xx

Thought For The Day from Harry Winston

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Portia

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Hi All,

Here are two looks from long ago in the 20th century. Below that you’ll see a Harry winston quote that I have unwittingly lived by most of my life.

This post is just a gratitude post for how amazing my life is and has been, and to show you what I was doing long before perfume took over my brain….

Sitting at the desk in a cloud of Guerlain Mitsouko vintage EdT. It’s so beautiful  my mind floated back to my younger years in the big shows and how fortunate I was to often be in the right place at the right time. It also inspired me to look for pictures where i’m wearing gold, doesn’t Mitsouko smell golden?

 

Thought For The Day from Harry Winston

So what fragrance takes you back in time to the glamour years of your life? Do you earn stares or shun them?

Be well and waft on,
Portia xxx

Halfeti by Christian Provenzano for Penhaligon`s 2015

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Portia

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Heya Niche Nerds,

I done’t remember this little beauty being released. Clearly I must have read about it somewhere but the name rings zero bells at all. Nick, my mate from Libertine Parfumerie sent me a sample to try and he usually knows what I’ll like so let’s give it a test run together.

Halfeti by Penhaligon`s 2015

Halfeti by Christian Provenzano

The Penhaligon’s story goes: All respectability forgotten, we have travelled far, as far as Turkey! And here in Halfeti, the red roses appear black so intense is their magic. Here, the British Levant Company traded in the opulent treasures of the Ottoman merchants to secure the pick of the crop.

Libertine gives these featured accords:
Top: Grapefruit, Bergamot, Green notes, Armoise, Cypress
Heart: Cumin, Nutmeg, Violet, Saffron, Rose, Jasmine, Muguet
Base: Leather, Oud, Amber, Resins, Tonka, Vanilla, Sandalwood

Dry leather, nutmeg, oud and some sweet resinous funk open Halfeti. I know that Val the Cookie Queen would not enjoy wearing it because the familiar oud/woods/leather trope is front and centre. Here it’s dark, sharp, smoky and animalic. A very masculine leaning woodsy concoction. So nothing incredibly groundbreaking but expansive and powerful for a Penhaligon’s scent, who are usually so quietly reticent.

Obviously I can imagine this on a man but in my head I wonder what sort of woman would wear Halfeti? She would have to be strong willed, happy to break the mold, probably unknowingly walking through life causing change and creating new roads for people to follow. Halfeti strikes me as a comfortable fit for a woman unafraid of being judged, happy in her choices and able to command. There you go, some scent inspired ramblings.

WikiCommons

Longevity is excellent and once the fireworks burn off a sweet, soft and comfortable woodsiness encapsulated within a soft focus vanilla/amber will hum above your skin for hours.

So, do I like it? Yes, I like it a lot but I have something quite similar and I can’t pinpoint what it is, or was. Don’t worry, it will come to me at 4am.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Fragrance Daily
Libertine has $329/100ml plus FREE Australian Delivery

What fragrances do you think of for people who break the traditions?
Portia xx

 

 

Scent Diary: 6.3 – 12.3.17

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Portia

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Hey Hey APJ,

It’s HOLIDAY week. I will try to get pics and stories onto this Scent Diary but when away it gets hard. Doing my best.

Scent Diary: 6.3 – 12.3.17

Monday 7:

BLOODY HELL. Today was BUSY! Finished work last night then came home to finish all the APJ posts. DONE at some ungodly hour. Spritzed some Niki de Saint Phalle and was asleep before the top notes had gone to heart.

Up early, spritzed Equistrius by Parfum d’Empire, saw Jin’s buddy Matt and then to the dentist for a check and clean. All good.

We were going to get public transport to the airport tomorrow but I rang my mate Lyndall and now we are having a Town Car collect us and drop us at the door. Pickup at 4.45am

Then it was Pedicure time. Red with white sparkles for the holiday. Tres festive. Before you say anything, YES, I know I have hairy Hobbit feet. No, I am not waxing them anymore, I like them. Don’t you think it’s more subversive to have painted nails as a hairy dude?

Home and cleaning the house. Dinner at 7pm. Jin made the makings of Vietnamese Rolls and the crew devoured them. It was a wonderful farewell dinner and we had ice creams and tea for dessert. Our friends are so wonderful and Jin made the most delicious dinner. THANK EVERYTHING for the dishwasher. Two loads and done.

Tuesday 8:

MORNING! Packed our bags, did this bit of blogging, having an Annick Goutal Encens Flamboyant bubble bath & spritzing IUNX Splash Forte and then (hopefully) getting 2 hours shut eye.

OUCH! That 4.20am wake up call was a killer. We are off.

Wednesday 9:

Flying. South Korea

Managed to gran the Guerlain Eau de Cologne Travel Set at Incheon Airport. I saw that it had come out but never in my wildest dreams expected to have it. YAY!!

Arrived in Prague!

The Front Desk women are friendly and helpful, sending us to this restaurant nearby that is so famous and full of locals that we had to go for a walk till our table was ready.

The old Town Square clock tower.

Thursday 10:

Prague.

Jin has picked us a perfect hotel, as usual. It’s an original Prague guest house, very olde worlde, 300m from the Central Rail Station and walking distance to everywhere.

 

Breakfast room in the hotel. Very glam.

Tea at the Opera House Cafe. Booked tickets for a classical mixed bag in the main hall tomorrow night.

Wandering the streets and every turn features beautiful old towers and roofings.

OK, so Jin & I thought we were wandering along the Danube but we were mistaken. Prague sits on the Vltava River. Even though we are dummies the walk was wonderful.

The Charles Bridge with its life sized christian statutory and a greyhound that people touch, so it shines golden against a drab background. People rub the loyal dog hoping to return to Prague one day.

Very interesting statue of fallen angels, screaming people and some pompous, smug, political looking guy seated at the front.

Jin loves to travel local when we are overseas. It’s only about AUD$5 a day for a metro, bus and tram ticket

Goulash for lunch with dumplings. YUM! Came with a beer each. Jin ordered cabbage salad and I grabbed some fries. All for the princely sum of AUD$20 for two.

At 3pm we though we better have a nap. I woke up at 10pm and now it’s 10.30pm. It;’s been great fun blogging but I think I’ll wake Jin and we can have a late night Prague ramble.

We just got home and Jin’s FitBit tells us we walked 19.6km today. BLOODY HELL! No wonder my feet are sore.

Friday 11:

BIGGEST DAY this holiday. Up at sparrows fart. Breakfast, wander the town, Mucha Museum, which was really good. Excellent video that taught us both so much about his life and works.

Then we bused off to Kutna Hora. First stop the creepy Bone church where some crazy bastard exhumed all the excess bones and made them into art. The story is a little more convoluted but sheesh, FREAKY!

Next it was St Barbara’s Cathedral. A very glam Gothic structure with towers and buttresses et al.

Next door is an old Jesuit college turned into a Modern Art Gallery. HIGHLIGHT!!

Jin loves Opera but there was none to be had during our stay. I bought us tickets to hear the Prague opera house String Octet play a mixed bag of classics. There were even a few that Jin knew so it was an excellent choice. Very nice evening and the opera house is lavishly decorated by Mucha. The first pic is a VERY excited Jin before we went in, how freaking cute is he?

Back home to our hotel. We really loved it and recommend it to you should you be staying in Prague. Reasonably priced, comfortable and so clean we thought the bathroom was brand new!

Saturday 12:

We were up bright and early again to get the 7.15am train but the hotel being only a 5 minute walk from the station made life easy. We bought first class tix so the first thing we got was a glass of Czech Bubbly! Posh.

Train travel is so civilised. No waiting in airports, dealing with customs, more roomy and there’s a BUFFET CAR!!

Arriving to see Jin’s brother and his wonderful family was so much fun and they had too much catching up to do. Sorry for the lack of photos but I will tell you that Jin comes alive around these guys. He’s always a great guy but here in the company of his family there is an extra light.

We had a very special dinner at the poshest hotel in town. I even bought a bottle of Moet to make it really special. Then all the adults proceeded to get smashed on wine and soju. I went to bed and they went out and got completely stonkered at the local casino.

Sunday 13:

The upshot of that big night out was this.

The sweetest looking snorchestra ever. Like a steam train running through the bedroom. This Sleeping Beauty is definitely a Beast.

Perfume? I knew you were going to ask. Bought a bottle of Yves richer Rose Oud and have worn it non-stop since. Jin is wearing to too. A really easy high pitched rose and soft focus synth oud. Like a poopy pot pouri. Sounds awful but it is terrific.

So what’s been going on for you this week? Anything fragrant or fabulous you’d like to share?
Portia xx

 

Ultramarine Blue by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz for DSH Perfumes 2015

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Portia

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Hey All,

A while ago when I got the DSH Chroma Sample Set I grabbed every dabber out and had a quick sniff. It is fun finding the instant likes, loves and loathes. I will admit that Ultramarine Blue jumped into the WTF category. It was so interesting, unusual and confronting. No, I’m not sure why because it really smells like the beachside in summer but with an undercurrent of menace. Anyway I filed it away under Must Revisit and thought you might like to come along on the ride with me today to see if it lives up to its

Ultramarine Blue by DSH Perfumes 2015

Ultramarine Blue by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Chamomile, cassis, cumin, ozonic notes, musk, sea notes, orris root, petitgrain, sandalwood, violet woodsorrel

OK, so I decanted the whole vial into a spritz and did the whole 18 blasts on the back of my hand and forearm. WHOA!! No turning back now.

Salty citrus, briny seas, a herbal greenness that feels both freshly chopped and mulched. The cassis is green and biting, like pulling ivy off the wood fence and scrunching it up in the summer after swimming in the pool. There’s nothing easy about Ultramarine Blue. I find it disturbing and challenging. Imagine oversalting cucumber, add a little under the boardwalk bilge-e-ness, tear some rose leaves and dig in a super heated grass mulch pile. Then you can smell exactly what my nose is giving me from Ultramarine Blue.

PDI

Doesn’t sound appealing does it? Well, while it’s not exactly my fragrant cup of tea I do love the way it moves through the pieces of the story. Dawn has a deft way with ingredients that means even though it’s not a spritz & go frag it is compelling and keeps drawing my nose back to my hand.

After an hour or so Ultramarine Blue becomes driftwood. it’s absolutely beautiful. Calm, tranquil and an unruffled seaside escapade in the glorious sunshine.

DSH Perfumes has loads of sizes and variants of Ultramarine Blue starting at $6

Want something unusual, interesting, refreshing and ultimately peaceful? I think you might like to try Ultramarine Blue.
Is there an aquatic that you love?
Portia xx

1000 EdT vintage by Jean Kerleo for Jean Patou 1972

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Portia

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Hey Hey Vintage Fragheads,

1000 was a fragrance I had basically ignored. Joy was my Patou fragrance and at some point I had a Sira des Indes too but though it was lovely it didn’t float my boat at the time and I sold it on. Back in 2014 my mate Michael & I went for a 2 hour private class at the Osmotheque in Versailles, Paris (the suburb, not the palace, walking distance though) and when we got there out tutor was none other than Jean Kerleo himself. It was the most fabulously surreal afternoon and I will never forget it. The photo below is taken when Patricia de Nicolai came in to thank us and very kindly tell us it was time to leave. We’d still be there had she not.

1000 EdT vintage by Jean Patou 1972

1000 EdT vintage by Jean Kerleo

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Osmanthus, violet, apricot
Heart: Jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, rose, geranium
Base: Sandalwood, patchouli, oakmoss

A floral chypre! Yep. My knowledge of chypre (sketchy at best even though I love them) is that they have no flowers because Cyprus (or Chypre as it’s also known) is all about citrus, foliage, conifers and herbs. Anyway, so many of my chypre loves have flowers who am I to bitch?

This bottle was a recent eBay purchase and I already have some pristine vintage parfum so I have a pretty good base line to mark it from.

The osmanthus, violet and apricot in the opening are there if I look for them, particularly the violet and I would have picked fruit but not that it was apricot and would add there also seems to be a low-key slug of citrus. Aldehydes too, giving a softly oily radiance to everything.

Wikipedia

The hearts bouquet is basically overrun by the base with only a passing reference to roses that I can pick and without notes I probably would have missed them too. Not incredibly creamy sandalwood and furry oakmoss seem the stars of the show for me and I am 100% OK with that. After reading NST review I realised that there are also animalics that I was totally nose deaf to, having smelled Jean Kerleo’s remaining musk tincture the memory jumped out at me again. Heavenly.

1000 is dressed up and ready to rumble, what I really want to do is triple spritz my chest and go grocery shopping or clean the car. The sheer weight of its glamour would be excellent as a backdrop to the turbines of tedium.

PDI

Further reading: Now Smell This and Non Blonde
The current 1000 is available in department stores and on the discount sites.
Surrender To Chance has EdP & Parfum samples starting at $6/ml

How about you? Ever wear the really flashy good frags to light up the everyday?
Portia xx

Europe 2017: Jin & Portia’s Big Adventure

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 37 Comments

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Portia

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Hey there APJ,

Jin and I leave for our holidays on Tuesday, yes tomorrow. Bags are packed. Friends over for dinner tonight and Jin has done a huge plate of meat & veg that we all make our own Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls from. He is an artist at it and it’s one of my favourite things he does. So fresh, healthy and delicious.

europe_topography_map_en Europe 2017

Europe 2017: Jin & Portia’s Big Adventure

So where are we off to? Here’s a run down of our dates & cities. It’s mainly a driving holiday with a couple of short flights added in for ease and comfort. So the dates are the nights we spend in each city. All dates are in March. Everything in bold is a city we have never been to before, exciting.

8/9/10: Prague, Czech

11/12: Zilina, Slovakia

13/14: Berlin, Germany

15/16: Hamburg, Germany

17: Hanover, Germany

18: Rotterdam, Netherlands

19/20: Luxembourg

21/22/23: Paris

24/25/26: Milan, Italy

27/28/29: London, UK

So that’s where we’ll be. Should you be in any of this cities or nearby and like a catch up, food, sight seeing or a sniff then please tell us where you are in the comments below and we’ll try and organise something.

What frags am I taking? I’m not sure but I’m very tempted to take only Parfum d’Empire Equistrius and Patou 1000.

Here we come Europe, can’t wait to see you.
Portia xxx