Portia

Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade by Quentin Bisch for Etat Libre d`Orange 2016

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

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Portia

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Hi there APJ,

Recently I went and hung out with my mate Bronwyn of Gascoigne & King Candles. I did some Xmas shopping with her and 7 of my buddies got Gascoigne & King candles. PERFECT gift. Anyway she passed me this sample because she is also the distributor of Etat Libre d’Orange here in Australia. Well, I looked at the beautifully packaged sample and thought, “Those freaking bastards at ELdO want me to make a complete tit out of myself when telling people what frag I’m wearing.” Seriously guys, I’m just a unilingual dude that wears dresses from down under. This kind of long French name, any long name really, kills my joy in a scent. So I was already halfway ready to hate it just because of the name.

Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade by Etat Libre d`Orange 2016

Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade by Quentin Bisch

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Labdanum

Smells like labdanum incense. Unbelievably gorgeous. Simple yet complex, wearable, challenging. Glorious.

Then name and the ad are irrelevant (and pretty rubbish) but the fragrance is bloody good.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Colognoisseur
LuckyScent has $95/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $5/ml

Have you tried Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade?
Portia xx

Super Sample Pack GIVEAWAY Jan 2017

giveaway hemodernhome

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade 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 an Etat Libre d`Orange fragrance you like or love….

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Saturday 28th January 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 1st February 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.

Favourite Fragrance Note?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 45 Comments

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Portia

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Hi there Fumies,

There are a few notes in fragrance that if I see them in a note list I definitely want to give them a sniff. Not all the fragrances that have these notes in them work for or on me. As a starting point though I am much more willing to try some new thing with these babies in on my skin. I’m WAY more inclined to order a sample or seek it out actively.

Favourite Fragrance Note?

Fragrantica

Amber

OK, probably no surprise to most people who read APJ regularly but Amber is one of the notes that I look for in note lists. Recently Fragrantica changed their note list icons and it took me a while to recalibrate my swift glance. Fortunately Amber wasn’t changed hugely. Now if I see Amber in the name of a fragrance then I’ll spray myself without even looking at the note list, not clever but often fun.

Some ambers I really love are: Ambre Cerulean by Huitieme Art Parfums, L’eau d’Amber by L’Artisan, Ambre Russe by Parfum d`Empire, Olympic Amber by Olympic Orchids, Amber Queen by A Dozen Roses, Ambre Narguile by Hermès, Chergui by Serge Lutens and Ambra del Nepal by I Profumi di Firenze. Obviously not a complete list, this is off the op of my head.

Fragrantica

Incense

Growing up Catholic and attending primary school with Nuns and secondary school with Jesuit Priests my early years were awash with incense. Then as late teens bloomed, in fashion school and my friends began to become more multicultural I got to smell incenses from around the world. Nowadays I have a cupboard full to overflowing of incense gathered from visiting many countries. From the cheapest to the quite expensive and I love them all. Put a hefty dose of incense into a perfume and I will try to get my nose on some ASAP.

Some of my adored incenses: Avignon by Comme des Garcons, Trayee by Neela Vermeire Creations, Oliban by Phaedon, Fille en Aiguilles by Serge Lutens, Encens Flamboyant (Shower Gel) by Annick Goutal, Bois d’Ascese by Naomi Goodish, Interlude Man by Amouage and Vintage Opium by Yves Saint Laurent. Trayee Neela Vermeire Creations

Fragrantica

Oakmoss

I think I am hyper-nosmic to oakmoss and its facsimiles. Even the merest smidgeon and it overtakes most fragrances for me. A good thing in my eyes because I love its soft, furry, green smokiness. In my nose a little bit of oakmoss makes every fragrance more stunning and desirable. If I see the word oakmoss in a note list I can be about 95% sure that it will be a winner only skin and that pretty soon there’ll be a FB and a backup in the cupboard.

Oakmoss-centric frags in my wardrobe: Mitsouko, L’Heure Bleue & Vol de Nuit by Guerlain, Chloe (1975), Antaeus by CHANEL, Niki de Saint Phalle, Magie Noire by Lancome, Bandit by Robert Piguet, Miss Dior by Christian Dior (1947), Farouche by Nina Ricci and Eau de Gucci (1993)

So, over to you. What note or notes ring your bells when looking through note lists?
Portia xx

Scent Diary 16 – 22.1.17

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

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Portia

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Hi Hi Fragrant Fumies,

I thought it might be fun to add a scent diary. Over at Muse In Wooden Shoes Mals86 has been doing one for years and I always love reading her updates and SOTDs. Now I’m not promising to write every single fragrant thing I wore because most weeks it’s testing 20 and wearing 10 for pleasure, so you’ll get a snapshot. This is a trial though so maybe it will continue or maybe it will bore me to shit.

Scent Diary 16 – 22.1.17

Monday 16:

Morning Jin & I went and fixed some lights at the Redfern flat that Kath lives in, 37C at 10.30am SHEESH. I wore Eau Parfumee au The Noir by Bulgari, a cool leather/tobacco/tea and has a deliciously dark quality.
All afternoon, and at Indian for dinner in Harris Park with one of Jin’s ex flames Paul, I wore Kai EdP. A surprisingly good choice even though I got a massive headache halfway through dinner. In the evening writing Trivia Q&A I still had Kai remnants so I drowned that in Atelier Cologne Tobacco Nuit which opened  very nicely but I totally ignored it in my Trivia immersion.
Finished writing Q&A about 3am and gave myself a lavish triple spritz of Armani Privé Cuir Amethyst, which resulted in blissful, languid sleep.

Tuesday 17:

So today is 41C (106F) and humid. Not my ideal weather but luckily Jin discovered that our A/C has a dry mode. It uses about 1/3 the energy of regular cooling A/C and makes the room feel 15 degrees cooler. A mate gave me 10ml of original Sables by Annick Goutal. Immortelle, pepper and tea? As I was wearing it I thought it must be tobacco and honey with some vetiver, goes to show how much I know.
In the early afternoon I spritzed a little Niki de Saint Phalle on my hand and enjoyed it beauty while having a cup of tea and writing blog posts, including one on the ease of its very own loveliness.
For work I chose the lavish, radiant white floral of Reem Acra. It’s easy to wear in the heat, smells fab. It smelled so good I wore it to bed too.

Wednesday 18:

We got to 42C (108F) today and it says humidity is under 30% but it feels way higher so I continued the Reem Acra. My Fundraising gig cancelled this morning. They told everyone else except me. Thank everything I eMailed to check details last night. So I’m spending the day blogging and doing the clothes washing. You can imagine the scene: I’m sitting at the desk in boxers spritzing and sniffing, breaking off regularly to go grab clean clothes to hang and fill the next cycle. TBH it’s very relaxing except for the sweat running down me in rivulets. Above is a pic of the fabulous laundry that Jin built in our apartment, small but really well planned and easy to use. The baskets are Top for whites, Middle for yellow, orange, red, purple, brown, Bottom for green, blue, grey, black. Reds are currently washing and about to hit the lines on the balcony.

Once Jin got home we took the dogs to my BFFs Mum & Dad’s house around the corner for a cooling swim, blessed relief. OMG! In this photo I look like Demis Roussos. After the swim I spritzed some Niki de Saint Phalle and Jin cooked dinner.
Before bed I lavishly applied Bombay Bling by Neela Vermeire Creations. So much fruity fun on open. I was asleep before the heart set in…..

Thursday 19:

Quiet day at home. For Christmas BFF Kath had Vegemite named for us. There are 4 large jars Jin, Seo, Portia & Turbo. This week I opened the first of the set TURBO! We have a sourdough loaf that I’ve been toasting for my Vegemite in the mornings. When people say it’s the little things, sometimes they’re right.
Morning I lavishly spritzed Monsieur Li by Hermès. Floating on a cloud of citrus and greenery. Perfect for our cooler weather today.
We had a drama today, Jin’s dog Jinx ate a poo bag full of poo. BLOODY HELL! Freaking out? You bloody bet I was/am.
My bath time bubbles were provided by Robert Piguet’s  Bandit Shower Gel and followed by Bandit fragrance for work. We had a full house, excellent night

Friday 20:

Walked the dogs in the AM and it is hot and sticky here already.
Going to lunch with Natalie from the now defunct AnotherPerfumeBlog so to brave the heat I’m wearing Geranium Pour Monsieur by Malle. It’s cool minty greenness will hopefully help me remain fresh in this fiery furnace. Sadly lunch got the can because Sydney decided to rain so I did some stuff around the house, paid bills, post office run, groceries etc

Geranium Pour Monsieur Frederic Malle Need refill
Jin came home and we had KFC in the lounge watching TV. I had a Korres Guava bubble bath and tonight I’m wearing Mandragore Pourpe by Annick Goutal. Its sweet minty fresh opening is deliciously green, spicy and tingly pepper/geranium heart and ambers warm base.

Saturday 21:

I was watching a British program on Netflix last night and into this morning. Lovesick. Compulsive viewing, I feel like they’re my mates and I’m watching them go through life & love drama. Anyway, 3.30am I go clean my teeth and can smell no fragrance upon my person so I grabbed Coup de Foudre by Parfums DelRae and spritzed like crazy. Fizzy roses and a greeny/yellow that I thought was narcissus but who knows…

Pedicure by myself today and I really enjoyed the tranquility. I think it’s only the second time in nearly a decade. I wore Eau Parfumée au Thé Noir by Bulgari, its smoky tea and woods were a perfect fit for the acrid bustle of the nail joint. Don’t you love my hairy Hobbit feet?
Update on Jinx the dog. Passed the poo bag in his poo today. Was NOT allowed a second go at it. ARGHHH.

For the afternoon I have had a boxed sample of Celestial Rose by Ramon Bejar on my desk for ages, since December 2014 when I was in NYC and Josie at OSSWALD gave it to me as a GWP. I finally tried it today and it’s a torn green branch and rose. A little bit Tea Rose by Perfumers Workshop.
For bed I spritzed vintage Madame Rochas EdC. A perfectly fresh yet cosy floral aldehyde bomb that was zinging along happily till I started the ZZZZZZZs

Sunday 22:

Original Agent Provocateur in the morning. Yep, I was a rose BOMB! with herbal sidelines. I would have SWORN that this had patchouli in it but nope.
Jin came home and slept through the day so I occupied myself with watching The Crown on Netflix. I know you’ve all seen it and that you’ve all told me but OMG what a fabulous series, I’m completely and utterly enthralled and madly in love with every character. HEAVEN!

Fragrantica

Work tonight and I wore Madonna Truth or Dare. White flower extravaganza.

What a week, how was yours?
Portia xx

CHANEL: Le Baudruchage

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

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Portia

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OK Folks,

Great to see you, as always.

Have you ever wondered about the piece of skin that they put around the neck of perfume to keep the air out? Me too. So it’s called a Baudruchage and it used to be animal, then became vegetal and I think it’s a petroleum product now.

YouTube

Anyway, here is a fascinating mini movie about how it’s done.
Enjoy.
Portia xxx

CHANEL: Le Baudruchage

Seeker by Liz Cook for One Seed

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

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Portia

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Hello Indie Perfumery Lovers,

A while ago Liz sent me this sample to try, which I promptly lost and it has only now resurfaced in my New Year Cleanup. PHEW! So finally I get to tell you about it.

Seeker by Liz Cook for One Seed

One Seed

One Seed gives these featured accords:
Coriander, coconut, vanilla, roasted basmati rice, oakmoss, ambrette seed
Oganic sugar cane ethanol, 100% natural fragrance (natural and organic plant extracts), purified water

Food. My instant correlation in the opening was food. Ice cream in fact. One minute later you can smell the rice and coconut, it’s like a Penang Curry. Deliciously fragrant and my mouth is watering like I’m really going to get my favourite Thai dish. HA! I have a huge happy smile on my face and wonderful memories of going to our fave Thai restaurant in Gordon that looks like nothing, very simple. The food though is abundant, consistently excellent and cheap as chips. The staff are all so friendly and we drive nearly an hour to eat there nowadays. We always get a second order when we are there now to bring home as dinner in two nights time. Yes, we are quite in thrall and have had years of dinners there with so many friends, often just Jin and I will go alone.

Wikipedia

From One Seed: Seeker is a youthful scent created for the young and the young at heart. It is for endless adventures, for seeking truth in all things. Featuring fresh greens and delicate mossy notes entwined with milky coconut, vanilla and the scent of salt on damp skin.

So Seeker is an incredibly happy fragrance for me, the memories flowed for hours. Even as it softened to dry down Seeker still smells like happy memories but they turn more Indian and religious as the fragrance seems to become smokier and darker, more filled with humanity and all the way to the end rice steam. The musk mallow does excellent work as a fleshy backdrop, this frag rocks. You’ll never pick that it’s a natural.

One Seed has $85/30ml EdP
One Seed has a fabulous Sample Set. All 7 fragrances x 2.5ml atomisers

Is there a foody smell you love or wish was part of a fragrance?
Portia xx

Vintage Opium GIVEAWAY WINNER

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

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Portia

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Hey crew,

This has been a super fun one for me, let’s see who our winners are.
Portia xx

Vintage Opium GIVEAWAY WINNER

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Coriander, plum, citruses, mandarin orange, pepper, jasmine, cloves, West Indian bay, bergamot
Heart: Carnation, sandalwood, patchouli, cinnamon, orris root, peach, lily-of-the-valley, rose
Base: Labdanum, tolu balsam, sandalwood, opoponax, musk, coconut, vanilla, benzoin, vetiver, incense, cedar, myrrh, castoreum, amber

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 2 winners who will receive:
1 x Vintage Opium by YSL Sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

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

Gina Tabasso

Jc Loh

The winners will have till Sunday 22nd January 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.

Niki de Saint Phalle

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

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Post by Portia

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Hey there vintage fumie friends,

Travelling around winter South Korea recently I was astonished at how perfectly Niki de Saint Phalle’s eponymous fragrance worked in almost every situation. I took a 30ml spray bottle and went through more than half of it on a ten day journey. There is a soft furriness to its green chypre that makes it more cosy than CHANEL No 19 and less fancy lady than Robert Piguet’s Futur, in the cold weather. You may notice on APJ I often write about fragrances being wearable and unchallenging, on many blogs that would be a derisive pointer to bland uninteresting fragrance but from my point of view a fragrance must be wearable in my life. Sure I have a few that I spritz at home for my own freak flag enjoyment but when I venture forth I want to wear my scents as a comfortable cloak not ammunition.

Niki de Saint Phalle

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Artemisia, mint, green notes, peach, bergamot
Middle: Carnation, patchouli, orris root, jasmine, ylang-ylang, cedar, rose
Base: Leather, sandalwood, amber, musk, oakmoss

Sadly I am finding it harder and harder to track down any of the spritz bottles of Niki de Saint Phalle and am kicking myself for not buying a dozen of them when I noticed they were getting harder to find. GRRRRR. It will be decanting into atomisers for the rest of my life. Oh well, not really a hardship.

So Niki de Saint Phalle is a chypre. Full of softly furry green-ness. To be honest I can’t pick most of the notes. Artemisia, galbanum, carnation, leather and oakmoss are the things I notice but everything else seems to sit in a background chorus. Once upon a time though the note list used to include tagetes (marigolds) now THEM I can smell and a light salt coating. Dry and austere it’s amazing how many moments it’s perfect for. Currently I’m sitting in my office and it’s a 41C day, Niki de saint Phalle cuts through the humidity and takes me to a cool dry thicket near a stream. Cool and fecund, I can smell the earth, greenery, woodland creatures or birds must have a nest nearby because the soft furry, powdery musk of creature babies is here and the smell of tree made shade.

WikiCommons

For real luxury grab the Shower Gel too, it makes the most unbelievably gorgeous bubble baths. Then when you spritz there’s already a soft layer of Niki de saint Phalle to layer over.

Further reading: Non Blonde and Yesterday’s Perfume
FragranceNet has AUD$31/30ml before coupon
The Perfumed Court has samples starting at $3/ml

Five years ago I wrote about Niki de Saint Phalle here at APJ, and have written of it elsewhere. It’s a staple around here.

Do you have a go-to, fits anywhere scent? Maybe one that’s getting harder to find?
Portia xxx

 

Vintage Opium by YSL

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 30 Comments

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Portia

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Hi Crew,

My BFFs Mum only wears vintage Opium. It’s her fragrance and when they totally changed the juice she was devastated. So for the last few years my job has been to seek out vintage Opium and give her a bottle at any gift giving event that she has used up her previous bottle. She’s spritzing her way through about 150ml per annum currently. Obviously it’s no hardship for me to trawl the internet and various FaceBook page Sale Docs in search of her precious, actually it gives me focus some nights when I’m up late but too zonked out to do anything productive.

Yes, I have had a couple of fakes come through and one that had obviously been stored poorly because most of that fabulous top had been scorched away leaving only the base minus. I thought it was a fake but rarely do fakes have bases so fabulously perfect and long lasting.

Not long ago one of the Aussies on Aussie Fragrance Network and I did a frag swap. Can’t remember what I sent but in return I got the most pristine vintage Opium and I’m chuffed.

Vintage Opium by YSL 1977

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Coriander, plum, citruses, mandarin orange, pepper, jasmine, cloves, West Indian bay, bergamot
Heart: Carnation, sandalwood, patchouli, cinnamon, orris root, peach, lily-of-the-valley, rose
Base: Labdanum, tolu balsam, sandalwood, opoponax, musk, coconut, vanilla, benzoin, vetiver, incense, cedar, myrrh, castoreum, amber

There is quite a bit written about Opium and how freaking lavish it is. What it smells like to me now is Kath’s Mum. Here we are at Christmas after lunch. She is a rare and wonderful woman who took in a 30+ year old orphan and gave me a place and a family to call home on big events. When Jin came along she didn’t even bat a eyelid but welcomed him wholeheartedly too. Since then she has grown less able to provide the kind of enormous family event she is used to producing and we (Jin & I) have taken the Christmas reins and now they all come to us. Birthdays etc are now done at one of the local clubs or restaurants because it’s WAY easier.

So this is what Opium smells like to me. It smells like welcome and unconditional love.

Further reading: Yesterday’s Perfume and Kafkaesque
eBay sometimes has bargains, FB Sale docs are best

 

giveaway hemodernhome

Vintage Opium GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 2 winners who will receive:
1 x Vintage Opium by YSL 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

Tell us a vintage perfume on your sample wish list

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 19th January 2017 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Sunday 22nd January 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 of Sydney at Carriageworks 2017 + Stuff

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

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Portia

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Hellooooo APJ,

Yesterday in Sydney was glorious, so I filled it with really fun stuff. Some of it fragrant and most of it friends. My only apology is that for most of it I was having such a good time that there are no photographs. BUMMER! Oh well, I have memories.

Scent of Sydney at Carriageworks 2017 + Stuff

The day started early with dog feeding & walks. It’s been so hot at nights that Jin has made the boys inside beds and they sleep in the living room, with us, under the fan and with the A/C Dry Mode on. It doesn’t do much cooling but it does get rid of the humidity and runs at about 1/3 the A/C usual energy use. Here they are loving their indoor beds.

Once the dogs were done Jin was going to check his diving equipment and I had bought him a new wetsuit for Christmas. He and a couple of girlfriends were going to Clovelly/Gordon’s Bay to do that so I asked my BFF Kath to meet me there so we could have a paddle, get some rays and have brunch. It was good to get the psoriasis on my legs into the sea water and they already are showing signs of improvement. Here we are at brunch. MMMMM

Here’s the view from the carpark. Yeah, this was the shit view but I was too busy doing stuff to take another shot. SOZ!

After that Kath, Jin & I went back to Kath’s so he could fix some stuff at the apartment. Jin went home and I went around the corner to meet my next adventure.

Then TinaG, APJ writer and one of my longest term friends, organised a get together at the sydney Festival’s Scents Of Sydney at Carriageworks. I love this venue and we ran Turbo Trivia here for years in the cafe/restaurant behind me in the pic below. Good memories.

WORLD PREMIERE
SYDNEY FESTIVAL PRESENTS

SCENT OF SYDNEY

CAT JONES

As a first impression, smell is one of the most basic forms of identification. Can you really know a city by the way it smells? In this work, artist Cat Jones distills more than first impressions and seeks to capture the real substance of Sydney – its stories of landscape, democracy, resistance, competition, and extravagance. In a series of conversations and debates you are invited to create an olfactory portrait of our city and contribute your ideas and stories of Sydney’s identity.

Scent Of Sydney EXHIBITION

7 – 29 JAN 10AM – 6PM
Closed on Mondays.

TALKS

10 JAN 6PM Democracy
11 JAN 6PM Landscape
17 JAN 6PM Artist Talk
18 JAN 6PM Competition
24 JAN 6PM Resistance
25 JAN 6PM Extravagance

Scents Of Sydney was a very interesting idea and FREE. Take 12 people who are Sydney based catalysts of change. All each one to tell their story and how they helped create change or awareness, then think of a group of scent notes that express or remind you of that time in the journey. SUPER interesting right, all across our multiplicity of cultures, wealth and history here. The scents were brilliantly thought out and really captured the spirit of the stories.

So the scent was in an oil wiped around the inside of the cup, excellent delivery system. You could listen to some of the story and pick the cup up at different times to rem,ind you of their scent.

Each story was played continuously through headphones and each cup had three attendant headphones so a maximum of 36 people could be listening at any time. There was also a central seating circle where discussion was happening with one or more of the producers, artist, festival peeps etc. My only problem was the length of the stories. Bloody hell. After 4 of them I was exhausted of my will to live so I crept out and awaited the others.

I found a sweet man called Jackson who lent me his phone charger and sat down by a mirror for some chill time as the phone juiced up. There I took photos of myself & surrounds and uploaded them to social media because narcissist.

We sat down for a delicious afternoon tea with Rose and Tina. Rose went off to see some dance that was also part of the Festival of Sydney 2017 and Tina & I walked to the train and caught our way home. On the way we saw this splendidly painted row house and couldn’t help but add it to our selfie list.

That lovely man Jin picked me up from the station and we had delicious Thai reheats for dinner. YUMMY!

So how was your weekend? Do any thing fun and/or fragrant?
Portia xx