Sydney Winter: Summer Reminders

August 11, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Fume Family,

I know that if you don’t live in australia you could be forgiven thinking that we never have a cold, wet or grey day. Well that’s simply not true. We know that our weather is very mild and are mostly able to get around in jeans and a jumper if it’s winter. Sydney though is a city of many moods and recently a few of my mates published beautiful non-sunny Australian photos on their social media. I thought you might like to have a look too.

Winter Barangaroo from Ferry by Kath Coulter

Winter Rain Off Bondi Beach by another great, longtime mate: Stafford Hamilton

Winter Sunset in Clunes by Melita white from Perfume Polytechnic

For those of us in Sydney, or indeed anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere, you’ll be past mid-winter by now and probably desperate for a reminder of what it feels like to be warm. Here are a couple of super summer reminders…..

Sydney Winter: Summer Reminders

Fragrantica

Fleur No 1 by 1000 Flowers

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Green notes, galbanum, narcissus, hyacinth, iris, magnolia, violet

Galbanum and the cool wash of florists fridge air meet in this sheer, clean, crisp fragrance that is all about how to beat the heat. It seems counter intuitive to wear something so Arctic-ly bracing but it has so many summer memories for me that it works to remedy my ennui.

Fragrantica

Granville by DIOR

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, lemon, thyme, rosemary
Heart: Pine needles, dyer’s gorse
Base: Black pepper, sandalwood, woody notes

Granville is one of the classiest colognes I know. When it was released I bought 2 x 10ml and went through the first in no time but completely forgot I had a second. Now its sweet herbal/citrus opening with cool, dry, cracked black pepper and a very soft whisper of breath or fur, I’m never quite sure which, is still with me. Wearing it tonight has me smiling in remembrance of sunlit warm days.

Fragrantica

Ormond Woman by Ormond Jayne 2002

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cardamom, coriander, grass oil
Heart: Black hemlock, violet, jasmine absolute
Base: Vetiver, cedar wood, amber, sandalwood

Strangely I find the herbs at the top of Ormond Woman warm and fleshy, I wonder if its the jasmine? There is something delightfully human under all the clean green and synth woodsiness. An oily warmth that makes the whole fragrance really comfortable and while it harks back to summer it also has the feeling of cuddling together under the bedcovers and keeping the cold at bay on a winters Sunday morning.

Fragrantica

Tropic of Capricorn by Olympic Orchids

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Mango fruit tincture, jasmine, frangipani, tuberose, magnolia, osmanthus, maile vine (a common component of floral leis), Bourbon vanilla, Africa stone (hyrax), ambergris, benzoin, New Caledonian sandalwood

I love the fetid, sensual, over ripe swamp that is Tropic of Capricorn. While everything else only list has been cool and green here we have fire and danger, excitement and lush tropical nightmares. This is what the animals of summer smell like, how pan might smell in his erotic goatiness. Tropic of Capricorn is the tribal community gathering, musical beat, the fire and the sacred ceremonies of indigenous people. Hot, heating and full of magical promise.

Sydney from the North Shore at Greenwich taken by my friend-since-Kindergarten, Tim Kelly.

What do you suggest as a memory of summer or if you’re in the northern hemisphere what is helping you beat the heat?
Portia xx

What’s Your SOTD?

August 7, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 29 Comments

Post by Portia

Heya Crew,

Anne-Marie is snowed under at work and feeling less than 100% so I’m filling for her today. Fingers crossed for her triumphal return in a fortnight. We love you Anne-Marie. XX

Anne-Marie, Scott & Portia at DIOR, Sydney

Anne-Marie, Scott & Portia at David Jones, Sydney

What’s Your SOTD?

SOTD, SOTE, SOTM, SOTBed???? This acronym had me completely baffled when I first hit the online scent world. It is used everywhere from blogs to Facebook pages and has now become so much part of the fragrance communities conversation that I forget at one point it was meaningless to me.

S.O.T.D. = Scent Of The Day

S.O.T.E. = Scent Of The Evening

S.O.T.M. = Scent Of The Morning

S.O.T.Bed. = Scent Of The Bed

So though Anne-Marie is not with us today I know she will be reading all our replies avidly so let’s include her by telling her exactly what fragrance we are wearing and which acronym applies.

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Coriander, Saffron
Heart: Gardenia, Jasmine, Magnolia, Rose, Ylang-ylang
Base: Amber, Musk, Vetiver

So as this post goes live it is S.O.T.E. for me, I have finished work, taken my drag and makeup off and have spritzed over my work scent for tonight which was Mohur by Neela Vermeire Creations with the original Agent Provocateur rose/saffron/woods in the pink egg (I really need to review this baby, it’s becoming a firm favourite. So I thought it was a patchouli frag HA HA HA!) If I was leaving a comment this is how it would look. SOT? acronym, Fragrance, Brief description.

SOTE: Agent Provocateur: Rose/saffron/woods bomb in the pink egg that smells like it has modern patchouli in it to me. Love how this seems to shimmer around me. I imagine people’s noses catching my sillage as I walk past and them looking up from whatever they’re doing to see who smells so good.

So please get on board and drop your Scent Of The Whatever into the comments.

Get work sorted and well Anne-Marie
Portia XXX

Mandarine by Olivia Giacometti for L`Artisan Perfumer 2006

August 6, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Fragrant Friends,

I’ve had this 5ml decant of Mandarine for years. It has about 1ml left in the bottom so I thought I would use it up this week. When the decant first arrived I used it a lot but when it got down to nearly nothing I thought it should be kept for reference purposes. So when I went to grab it and realising this is my last wear from the decant I began looking for a bottle but BUMMER, D/C. Thank goodness for FragranceNet!

I think I’ve told parts of this story before but it bears repeating, mandarines are special to me for a few reasons. They used to be a perfect play lunch in primary school and became a lunchbox fave through high school too. Then when in India and the whole culture shock drama plays out if I’m lucky enough to be there at mandarine time they are a welcome respite from Indian food and Varun used to go to extraordinary lengths to get them for me. Lastly and most recently Jin loves mandarines, he has a favourite type that comes with a sticker and he looks all winter and ONLY buys these. They are sweet and nearly seedless and come easily away from the rind. Mandarines and their scent have such joyful connotations for me so a fragrance based on them was bound to hit my sweet spot.

Mandarine by L`Artisan Perfumer 2006

Mandarine by Olivia Giacometti

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Green mandarin, Ginger
Heart: Frangipani, Yellow mandarin
Base: Orange, Red mandarin, White cedar

Mandarine is simple, fresh, bright and sparkling. It has a soft pithy fleshiness that works beautifully against the juicy mandarine ripeness. Though I miss most of the ginger it does feel like there are some aldehydes lifting and gently expanding the fragrance. The frangipani reads like of coconut undercurrent my skin too but I am pretty sure it is meant to be the frangipani.

What I am surprised about is that this isn’t a bigger hit. L’Artisan is pretty much a general public fragrance house nowadays and Mandarine seems like it would be very popular as a spritz and go refresher fragrance, it has a lovely holiday vibe without feeling like the now ubiquitous salty jasmine. Not mentioned in the notes but I think there are a fair number of laundry musks in the base too, which seem to be highly sought after in the non perfumista arena.

WikiPedia

Who would wear this? Well, me for one. Other than that I could see it being a really easy wear spring/summer go to or holiday fragrance. After an hour it does calm considerably so it would be very safe for work. Maybe Mandarine is just a bit too much like laundry softener or shampoo for the perfumistas but perfect for a gateway fragrance, or even a first step from the celebuscents. Mandarine is a little like a Guerlain Aqua Allegoria fragrance, maybe too close?

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and Bois de Jasmin
~~FragranceNet has $71/100ml before Coupon~~ SOLD OUT
Sephora Australia has AUD$145/100ml FREE Delivery

Do you know or love Mandarine? I’d really like to hear from you if you do, how do you wear it?
Portia xx

Lady Gaga + Gwyneth Paltrow Talk Fashion Disasters

August 5, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Post by Portia

Heya Fashion Forward Fumies,

Lady Gaga and Gwyneth Paltrow are about as polar opposite as you can imagine. Back in 2011 they were both on Graham Norton’s couch and the subject of fashion fails creeps up. The very last look of this clip is gold. They are both really charming and I love the way they work together. Comedy comes from such unexpected places.

How would you scent Gwyneth and Gaga? Let’s not say what they do wear but what their personalities match with. I reckon Gwyneth would wear something feminine, overblown and intrusive like Midnight Oud, Ysatis or Songes. Lady Gaga is surprisingly conservative under all that show so maybe something that opens really strong then softens to an elegant wash like Mitsouko, Maai or Jasmine Rouge.

Do please take a moment out of your busy life to enjoy this.
Portia xxx

The Graham Norton Show – BBC One

Lady Gaga on falls, ripped crotches and other disasters

12 Perfumes I Would Rebuy

August 4, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 62 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Fab Fumies,

Once upon a time you would see these Desert Island lists everywhere. It was a regular question on blogs and Facebook pages. It would be great for me because it would make me think about the fragrances that really matter in my collection. So let’s get hypothetical.

Let’s say you have downsized to a Tiny Home after your whole perfume collection was destroyed and are only allowing yourself 12 fragrance bottles in your new less expansive space (you can change one every time you finish a bottle, gift one away etc). You have bought an In-Cupboard-Drawer that will be the complete size of your collection and it fits 12 bottles exactly. You have no price restrictions only bottle number, what are the first 12 bottles you chose to have in your home?

12 Perfumes I Would Rebuy

Fragrantica

Aesthete by Le Galion: The Le Galion crew are woefully under appreciated. This sexy leather/saffron/incense with a lovely animalic backbone is the bomb. Elegant, wearable, inviting and distinct.

Amoureuse by Parfums DelRae: Freakiest damn sexy lily I ever smelled in my life. A golden witch brew that makes my head pop.

Fragrantica

Dia Woman Extract by Amouage: An animal in couture clothing. All the flowers over an oudh/incense base that sings on my skin all night long till the early morning when it growls and purrs.

Fantasia de Fleurs by Creed: I can’t think of a better jammy rose. Some times in my life just seem to call for Fantasia de Fleurs

Giverny In Bloom by DSH Perfumes: The greenest green I ever did smell. So much galbanum decorated with flowers to lightly soften the blow. I go through so much Giverny In Bloom that it’s nearly time I bought more…..

Mitsouko Vintage Extrait by Guerlain: If you knew how much of this I’ve stockpiled you would be appalled. That furry peachy floral oakmoss bomb that continues to fascinate and delight me every time.

Fragrantica

Mitzah by DIOR: Honeyed, spicy, amber rose overlaid with a glorious smoky incense both fiery and cooly aloof. LOVE IT!

Fragrantica

Mohur by Neela Vermeire Creations: Another spicy rose but this time cooler and more Asiatic. Every wear is slightly different and it tends to bloom differently at different temperatures.

Niki de Saint Phalle: A chypre with a softer floral hue through the heart. So wearable and is such a summer staple that works in all climes.

Olympic Amber by Olympic Orchids: Yes, I have about 30 ambers in my collection and this was the hardest to winnow down to one by there is something incredible simple and wearable about Olympic Amber, it’s the one I seem to reach for as my benchmark.

Shalimar Extrait by Guerlain: The one. Forever and ever. My favourite fragrance in the world. This case is by far my preferred way to apply too.

Truth or Dare by Madonna: I know. Don’t care what you think. This is one of my all time favourites. It gets hauled out and spritzed at least once a week. There’s quite a stockpile here but still I worry that it will run out.

Can I tell you honestly that this took me a while because I kept swapping things out and then feeling bad because some of my favourite perfumers, houses and frags would have meant a doubling up of notes or styles. In the end I had to stop myself second guessing by adding that each time a bottle emptied or was gifted away I could swap it out for a different scent. Suddenly it didn’t seem like I was choosing forever and my head stopped exploding. He he he.

OK, so it’s over to you. What are your 12? Don’t think too long, it’s merely hypothetical and not forever.
Portia xx

Goddess GIVEAWAY WINNERS

August 4, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Post by Portia

Woo Hoo! This was a really fun GIVEAWAY!! Thanks to Azar for her generosity.

Let’s find out who the winners are!
Portia xxx

Goddess GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WikiCommons

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
6 x 2ml decants of Azar’s Goddess Scents (NO you don’t get to choose)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Wednesday 3rd August 2016 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Hanna

Angela Pritchard

The winners will have till Saturday 6th August 2016 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.

Gardelia GIVEAWAY WINNERS

July 31, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Post by Portia

Hey Crew,

Thanks to Antonio for his generosity in letting me have some Gardelia to share with you. You are only getting the smallest amount because I don’t have very much and I’m greedily keeping some for myself.

Let’s see who the winners are.
Portia xx

Gardelia GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Gardenia, Jasmine, Rose, Tuberose, Frangipani, Magnolia, Civet, Cognac, Geranium

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x Sample Gardelia by Bogue (a smidge from my sample)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Saturday 30th July 2016 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Tracy

Anna Maria

The winners will have till Wednesday 3rd August 2016 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.

Child Perfume by Susan D. Owens 1990

July 30, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there APJ,

Over the years I am often told about a fragrance that is used by a bunch of the Hollywood stars as their signature scent, it’s even the first thing that Fragrantica mentions in its blurb. When I was told it though I always seemed to forget which fragrance it was, like my brain was totally disinterested in holding the information. I’d come home & wrack my brains to no avail. Anyway, I came across it on Surrender To Chance and it has the SAME Hollywood Stars bit, Ta DAAAA. We have a winner. Let’s see what al the fuss is about…..

Child Perfume by Susan D. Owens 1990

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Vanilla, Lilac, Magnolia
Heart: Jasmine, Tuberose, Violet
Base: Creamy musk, Rose, Mimosa

OOOOOH! Child Perfume opens with cool, sharp, waxy lilac and the most gorgeous jasmine. Jasmine with all the fat and breath and hefty, heavenly swathes of tuberose. So sharp it could be a cleaning product but also gorgeously alluring and intoxicatingly OTT. It’s reminiscent of the jasmine from my vintage Joy parfums, strident, strong and unstoppable. I’m surprised that Hollywood is wearing something so large and outrageous.

Pixabay

Jasmine is the Child Perfume star and everything else is merely a supporting player. Jasmine, jasmine, jasmine. Cool, slightly astringent, a little breathy and mildly narcotic. If you close your eyes, put your wrist to your nose and breath slowly in & out it becomes engulfing. Letting my mind drift in that state and I go on fabulous fragrant journeys that are pure fantasy, colours: green, purple, blue, ideas: swimming in a waterhole, in the breeze at the top of a hill, winter in Korea, caught in a summer sun shower, laughing around a table with my mates, visiting Val the Cookie queen in her home town in Austria and walking into the cool of a department store in summer. All of these things, and a few that I couldn’t hold onto, pass through my mind in 20 minutes of huffing this way.

Surprising longevity too. I can still smell a pretty, slightly sharp jasmine and some musks next morning.

Child Perfume is surprising and beautiful. I can see why the Hollywood stars love it.
From Beauty Habit: One of the most sought-after perfumes worn by devoted fans world-wide! Celebrity fans include: Khloe Kardashian, Maggie Smith, Jennie Garth, (she made the famous statement that child drives men wild!) Sigourney Weaver, LeeAnn Rimes, Madonna, Mandy Moore, Jennifer Aniston, Rebecca Gayheart, Christina Applegate, Ashlee Simpson, Britney Spears, Denise Richards, Lindsey Lohan, Tiffany Amber Thiesen, Tori Spelling and John Mayer. This is the original and authentic Child Perfume – not a copycat.

YouTube

Further reading: EauMG
Beauty Habit has the range from $68/10ml Rollerball
My Perfume Samples has EdP from $8/ml

Have you tried Child Perfume? What is your jasmine?
Portia xx

Amazone vintage by Maurice Maurin for Hermès 1974

July 29, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there Vintage Frag Fiends,

There is something really exciting about getting a vintage in the mail. That very first spritz, will it: have propellant, be real, still smell good, work for me? Those days when the top notes are gone off or completely missing can be a bummer. Recently this old chestnut showed up, it’s about 80% full and looks fresh as the day it was made. The nozzle smells great, exactly like a mossy frag from the 1970s should smell like. Come have a first spritz experience with me.

Amazone by Hermès 1974

Amazone by Maurice Maurin

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Cassia, Geranium, Hyacinth
Heart: Iris, Jasmine, Lily-of-the-valley, Rose
Base: Amber, Oakmoss, Vetiver, Cedarwood

OK, so we have propellant and the opening notes have been totally eclipsed by their greasy cold metal otherness. It takes a couple of minutes for the headache inducing, stomach churning mess to sort itself out. Then this bottle of Amazone has a dry grass, light geranium/spicy fruit rose and furry jasmine/oakmoss scent that softens, plushes out and gets more comfortable and lived in over the next couple of hours. I can easily imagine this appealing to the horsey daughters and youngish wives of a certain social strata as so many reviews allocate its fan base. Being a chypre its slightly floral heart and bone dry dry-down seem a little mature to me, sophisticated and cooly aloof. You can easily imagine the wearer to be wearing Shetland wool and corduroy or denim instead of cashmere, linen and silks. Yet another part of me can see someone, man or woman, in a sharp business suit using Amazone as their tasteful undercurrent of a point of difference.

The far dry down of vetiver, moss and woods is perfectly balanced and shimmers softly over my skin for hours and hours, tomorrow morning I will still have a whisper of wonderful to wake up to.

Hermès

From Hermès: Symbolic of a free, modern femininity, Amazone takes its inspiration from the mythical horsewomen who, according to legend, ruled over the shores of the Black Sea. A novel composed by Maurice Maurin in 1974 and orchestrated around blackcurrant buds, the fragrance is a green floral harmony in which daffodils, narcissi, galbanum, red fruits and vetiver take turns to shine.

Further reading: Yesterday’s Perfume and Non Blonde
Hermès have the modern variation and it still smells very nice but totally different.
Surrender To Chance has samples of the modern version from $3/ml

Which is your vintage or your Hermès?
Portia xx

Gardelia by Antonio Gardoni for Bogue 2015

July 28, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 28 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey There Stank Lovers,

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to get to hang out with Antonio Gardoni. Val the Cookie Queen organised a lunch in London’s Spittalfields at Poppies Fish & Chips. It’s a 1950s memorabilia restaurant and the food is YUMMY! Antonio was urbane, charming, funny and SEXY! We spent the afternoon laughing together in our corner of the table. Antonio also came along to the Perfume Lovers London where I was invited by the wonderful Lila to host A Night With Portia Turbo where we chatted about 12 amazing historic and modern game changing women and scented them. So my review will probably be tinged with my love for the guy.

Portia, Jin, Judith, Chris, Val, Antonio outside Poppies Fish & Chips 2016

Antonio (R) & Portia (L) inside Poppies Fish & Chips 2016

Val, Grant, Lila, Antonio, Portia at Perfume Lovers London 2016

Gardelia by Bogue 2015

Gardenia by Antonio Gardoni

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Gardenia, Jasmine, Rose, Tuberose, Frangipani, Magnolia, Civet, Cognac, Geranium

Gardenia opens vegetal and earthy, the booze is front and centre. Dazzling, indolic white flowers seem encased in a grassy compost. Though not noted my nose smells leather, smoke and birch but they could all be the civet and flower combination. One spritz is big, room filling and an earthy version of those enormous 1980s powerhouse diva frags.

As the initial explosion softens a spicy flower, like no other flower on earth, a spiky, snarling, singing Triffod. An alien plant form, ferocious and feral but gorgeous and alluring. Gardelia is the scent of Audrey II, the star of Little Shop of Horrors.

What happens then is the whole fragrance turns fluffy, cuddly, furry and sweet. It’s a complete transformation and continues to become a softly animalic, honeyed amber to dry down. Glorious.

The Mary Sue

From Bogue: GARDELIA is a project commissioned from Profumeria Sacro Cuore to celebrate their 50th anniversary. GARDELIA is created and formulated by Antonio Gardoni.
GARDELIA is a perfume extrait that raises a garden around a flower and from the earth grows following the tree’s lines up to their leaves in the sky.
50 of the best available natural ingredients have been used to celebrate a great flower.
Each GARDELIA bottle is made by hand from the glassmaker maestro Giorgio Giuman in the Murano’s island, Venice.
The over-cap of the GARDELIA’s bottle is hand-made in glass paste through lost wax casting with cobalt blue oxide.

Sacro Cuore Profumi has €850/50ml

Gardelia GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x Sample Gardelia by Bogue (a smidge from my 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 your favourite Independent Perfumer or Independent Perfume House

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Saturday 30th July 2016 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Wednesday 3rd August 2016 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.