Mon Paris – Yves Saint Laurent: Video

June 25, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there APJ,

Something new from YSL! Once upon a time that would be the cue for great rejoicing and whispers of intrigue. Now the only way I know about it is because they have released their ad and it came up on my YouTube.

They are selling it as a modern chypre and while I applaud their audacity still I think I will reserve judgement till I can get my nose on some.

Mon Paris by Yves Saint Laurent 2016

Mon Paris by Olivier Cresp, Harry Fremont and Dora Baghriche-Arnaud

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Calabria bergamot, strawberry, raspberry, pear
Heart: Datura flower, peony, Chinese and Sambac jasmine, orange blossom.
Base: White musk (three types of it), ambroxan, patchouli (Indonesia and Guatemala)

Please enjoy the video. I think it’s gorgeous. What do you think?
Portia xx

Mon Paris – Yves Saint Laurent

Bas de Soie by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 2010

June 24, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Portia

Hiya Fumies,

For some reason I have always overlooked todays fragrance. Not sure why. Nothing about it has ever jumped out at me but I’d also never read the notes list. Having fallen truly, madly and deeply in love with Apollo Hyacinth by Eric Buterbaugh Florals it suddenly seemed necessary to try another hyacinth fragrance and Serge Lutens often creates the benchmark, so it was to his that I gravitated.

Bas de Soie by Serge Lutens 2010

Bas de Soie by Christopher Sheldrake

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Iris, galbanum, hyacinth, spices, musk

One year when we were kids my Mum splurged on a packet of Hyacinth bulbs. We were great gardeners, Mum & I, and spent whole weekends together creating and recreating the garden. Sydney is a funny climate and most bulbs get one year of fabulous and then rot in the ground. Anyway, this year the Hyacinths came up and were a beautiful blue, Mum was thrilled. Bas de Soie reminds me of the feeling that Mum & I had really achieved something to have these beautiful flowers to show for our efforts.

Bas de Soie reminds me of that spring. It’s alive, fresh, hopefull springlike green opening is so like the sap of freshly cut hyacinths. It has that glorious galbanum which smells both incredibly cool and aloof while also giving me a smooth, resinous, shiny and reflective smell. I am explaining it very badly but hopefully you understand.

Pixabay

Iris is green and only lightly powdery. Actually it’s like the cool spring morning air blowing through the lovely green and grey leaves of the iris, that makes the flowers shiver of their impossibly long stems. Then the startling cascade of colour, a positive riot of purples, yellows, oranges and pinks.

About 30 minutes in and then Bas de Soie changes. It warms through slightly, while still being green and light as air, maybe the spices and musk but it feels woody and earthy.

Now you will be fragrant, people will smell you, but there is little chance of your fragrance ever skunking anyone if you’re wearing Bas de Soie. It’s a very pretty floral. Maybe if CHANEL No 19 is a bit too severe then the friendliness of Bas de Soie could quite well be a better fit for you.

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Megan In St. Maxime
LuckyScent has $135/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/0.5ml

Do you have a hyacinth fragrance you love? Maybe something that smells so fresh and new?
Portia xx

Muguet Porcelain by Hermès 2016

June 23, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Fragrant Friends,

Sandra did a great review for Muguet Porcelain recently. You might like to trot back and read a more in depth review. Special thanks must go to Gene at Sydney City Hermès who always makes sure I get a sample of the latest offerings. Ask for her if you’re in shopping, nobody knows the products better or is more charming.

Muguet Porcelain by Hermès 2016

Muguet Porcelain by Jean Claude Ellena

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Lily of the valley, green notes

So, I really like Lily of the Valley (LotV) even though it can sometimes skew bathroom deodoriser from my childhood, it was my mum’s favourite. So I’m always happy to read that there’s a new one on the market. We’ve had a small bunch of them lately: Miu Miu, Jessica Mauboy (Australian songstress) and every year for May 1st Guerlain produces a new and glam LotV frag.

Now, when I first smelled Muguet Porcelaine I thought it was a dead ringer for Jessica Mauboy’s Be Beautiful. Now I have them on side by side and while they do share some similarities they are not exactly the same. They both seem to be a combination of melon and LotV, both are green and crisp though Hermès has that famous JCE oily petrol slick note that I adore, both of them are cologne like in their longevity though Muguet Porcelaine does last longer.

An hour in and they are very similar to my nose, Muguet Porcelaine is a little dryer, packed with some extra LotV and galbanum, a hairs breath more nuanced but to the average nose it’s pretty much the same. Better noses than mine, of which most of you are, will probably pick up details I miss but as a price comparison Jessica Mauboy’s Be Beautiful is AUD$20 and Muguet Porcelaine AUD$325. I will buy a 15ml travel though because I love to have a couple of the Hermès in my just in case travel kit.

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Now Smell This
All Hermès stores have Muguet Porcelaine so go spritz yourself

Muguet Porcelain GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Muguet Porcelain by Hermès manufacturers sample (my blogging sample)
1 x sample Be Beautiful by Jessica Mauboy (from my bottle)
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 fragrance that is springlike for you

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close TOMORROW Saturday 25th June 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 29th June 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.

SNARK! Why Did They Even Bother?

June 21, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 63 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Fragrant Fumies,

Ainslie Walker is off doing amazing stuff so I’m filling in today, she’ll be back in a fortnight.

I thought you all might like a chance to unleash, a place to vent, a moment where you can really let us know what you think about some of the complete shit that has been released under then guise of fragrance. Now you must back up your snark with reasons other than it smells crap. Also if someone trashes your favourite that doesn’t mean your favourite has been invalidated, it means your favourite doesn’t work for someone else. Please don’t get snippy and thin lipped if Andy Tauer, Taylor Swift, Bertrand Duchaufour or DKNY get lampooned. This is a fun vent that we can all have a bit of a laugh about. Extra points go to well crafted snark, brilliant analogies, finely honed butchery and elegant put downs.

SNARK! Why Did They Even Bother?

Right, I’ll get you all started.

Insta-Ranges

Yes, you’ve all seen them. One minute VC&A, Armani, Givenchy, YSL, Oscar de la Renta, Bulgari et al have some fairly limp fruitchoulis on the market shelves next to their one big blockbuster hit from the 60s, 80s or naughties and next moment there are 12 deluxe fragrances in uber simple packaging with one of each frag style included; a musk, an amber, BWF, leather, cologne, aquatic raspberry lotus anise laundry detergent. For F*#ks Sake. Seriously, maybe three in the line are worth sniffing and the rest I wouldn’t use in the bathroom as deodoriser.

These are not the only protagonists in the drama either, it’s becoming more & more common in the niche realm too. Zero scents to 20 in 3 years. PLEASE!!

Surely it also makes no market sense to put all your poorly thought out, boringly designed, committee created dross in one foul swoop. Wouldn’t it make more sense to release two REALLY FREAKING GOOD THINGS and maybe add one every couple of years? Wouldn’t that lend a sense of anticipation, give people something to talk about, make us want and dream and imagine?

Coco Mademoiselle by CHANEL 2001

CocoMademoisell Fragrantica Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange, mandarin orange, orange blossom, bergamot
Heart: Mimose, jasmine, Turkish rose, ylang-ylang
Base: Tonka bean, patchouli, opoponax, vanilla, vetiver, white musk

Flankers

Now for this one I do understand the solid business sense behind it. Of course it’s easier to sell a mediocre scent if you piggyback the fame of your houses blockbuster scent from decades ago. I really like the idea of summer versions of the heavier offerings, even like the idea of a yearly release of something crated to enhance your wearing of the original. You know the original Opium or JPG Le Male were pretty full on in an office mid summer, I get it. Make an annual summer flanker in a fun bottle that can also become a collectable. Heaven!

Please don’t create a whole new scent, nothing to do with the magical original that you have slashed and burned till it is a whisper of its former glory and that no self respecting perfumista would use to light a Bar B Q, and link it to your cash cow. It drives me FREAKING WILD! Just two examples on the one scent are Coco Mademoiselle and Coco Noir, either of these are fine scents on their own and I would definitely have liked them a LOT more if they hadn’t been linked to one of the department stores glittering fragrant jewels Coco. ACK! Why? Imagine if they’d called it CHANEL Noir or Gabrielle, put it in that killer black bottle and I am 100% sure it would still have sold like hot cakes while not watering down the cache of the gorgeous original.

OK, so what gets your goat? Go crazy.
Please don’t be offensive or take offence on someone else comment, we are here to have a laugh today.
Portia xxx

Le Galion: Aesthete GIVEAWAY WINNERS

June 20, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there APJ Crew,

Great response this week. Good luck.

Thank you so much to the Le Galion guys. Le Galion has €140/100ml (Shipping is only €10, even to Australia!)

Portia xx

Le Galion: Aesthete GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Italian mandarin, artemisia, incense, saffron
Heart: Leather, guaiac wood, castoreum, oud, jasmine
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, white musk

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml decant Le Galion: Aesthete
1 x 1.5ml decant Le Galion: Snob
1 x 1.5ml decant Le Galion: Cologne Nocturne
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 19th June 2016 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Nemo

Claudia S.

Ems

The winners will have till Wednesday 22nd June 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.

Pia & Nick on Love To Smell

June 18, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello APJ,

I’d like you to meet two of my mates, Pia and Nick. They are both ardent frag peeps, have worked and do work in the industry, have excellent noses and senses of humour and are starting their own YouTube channel. The first few videos they are learning how to create content and there are some fabulous clunky moments of heads down, mumbling and awkwardness. Do please go back and watch the first three because you’ll get a real indication of how lovely and real they both are, like two kids set free in a TV studio and having a ball.

What happens here at Episode 4 is that the whole concept seems to coalesce into really fun, informative and engaging TV, so do have a look as they introduce a BRAND NEW bunch of frags from a very famous old independent perfumery.

Enjoy,

Portia xx

Love to Smell Episode 4: Amouroud

Aesthete by Vanina Muracciole for Le Galion 2015

June 17, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 27 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi Frag family,

Recently I have finally got around to opening some more of the stuff from Jin & my Europe trip in Jan/Feb this year. The boys at Le Galion, Nicolas & Enno, were so freaking generous when we were together in Paris. Jin & I went into the Tranoï Paris as guests of Le Galion and Nicolas scored me a Press Pass, it was terribly swish.

Nicolas and his partner Enno.

Tranoi Paris 2016 #4 Nicolas with Roberto Greco: creative genius behind Le Galion advertising and product.

Back to fragrance though, today I have one of the new creations from the house Le Galion,. That’s right. the guys are now creating new fragrances to sit alongside the resurrected vintage scents. Clever!

Aesthete by Le Galion 2015

Aesthete by Vanina Muracciole

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Italian mandarin, artemisia, incense, saffron
Heart: Leather, guaiac wood, castoreum, oud, jasmine
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, white musk

WHOA!!! I think I have sprayed overabundantly. Le Galion fragrances are usually so mild mannered but Aesthete has brought a big stink. Saffron, woods, balmy leather and a very cool incense stand out right from the start and the fireworks continue well into the second hour. Not overbearingly huge in a 1980s way but hefty and noticeable. If I believed in fragrance sexuality I would peg this leaning towards current ideas of masculine but do not be afeared ladies, it will smell glorious on you too. Liking it A LOT!

I’m not sure that it’s particularly groundbreaking but it is an interesting leather on me. Opens up with saffron & woods then quickly becomes a balmy leather with bells & whistles that I can’t place. A nicely vintage vibe.

Over 12 hours and still going, amazing! I smell beautiful this morning. It’s soft and intimate but discernible. A lightly musky balm, so smooth and with the merest hint of vanilla sweetness till i can’t smell it at all.

Le Galion has €140/100ml (Shipping is only €10, even to Australia!)

Le Galion: Aesthete GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml decant Le Galion: Aesthete
1 x 1.5ml decant Le Galion: Snob
1 x 1.5ml decant Le Galion: Cologne Nocturne
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Tell us have you tried any Le Galion fragrances? Which one interests you?

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 19th June 2016 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Wednesday 22nd June 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.

Ulrich Lang GIVEAWAY WINNER

June 13, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Post by Portia

Hiya APJ,

Thanks to Ulrich for his enormous generosity. Whoever wins today will have some very exciting fragrant trials ahead.

Portia xx

Ulrich Lang GIVEAWAY WINNER

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mint, basil, sage, bergamot, tangerine, lime
Heart: Jasmine, geranium, violet, sesame, honey
Base: Patchouli, guava, moss, leather, amber, wood notes

Luckyscent has $120/100ml + Samples

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive these 2ml Carded Manufacturers Samples:
1 x Anvers by Ulrich Lang
1 x Anvers 2 by Ulrich Lang
1 x Aperture by Ulrich Lang
1 x Lightscape by Ulrich Lang
1 x Nightscape by Ulrich Lang
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 12th June 2016 10pm Australian EST
Winner was chosen by random.org

Suze

The winner will have till Wednesday 15th June 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.

Olympic Amber by Ellen Covey for Olympic Orchids 2011

June 11, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there Fabulously Fragrant Fumies,

One of the fragrances that I come back to again and again in my fragrant journey is from the Indie Perfumer Ellen Covey. Her fragrances are usually very compatible with my chemistry and this one in particular gets a lot of skin time. It’s the easiest and most likeable amber in my collection, wearable all year round but especially nice in the cool of evening.

Olympic Amber by Olympic Orchids 2011

Olympic Amber by Ellen Covey

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Labdanum, vanilla, benzoin, incense, resins, patchouli, woods

Originally this glorious, burnished beauty was made to be the base of other fragrances but once created Ellen decided it needed to be a fragrance all its own. Olympic Amber was born.

Vanilla, patchouli and lovely smooth resins waft straight out of the gate. It’s a dry sweetness, slightly bakery but more balmy. A crunchy toffee or caramelised sugar effect very reminiscent of the first crackling spoonful of creme brûlée. Crunchy and creamy, yes perfect analogy. Olympic Amber is hefty and I am fully fragrant but it manages to covey an air of spaciousness, not sheer but less dense somehow. Fragrant but not ferocious.

I could imagine this being the signature scent choice of a parent and this smell being part of what the children run to, a scent of comfort and safety. It’s as if Olympic Amber reminds me of something or someone who I felt safe around, there is no memory attached though or person.

Fairly linear, I enjoy the stability of knowing I’ll smell this good all day and evening. Perfect for extra long work, drinks, dinner days because longevity is out of this world. Spray Olympic Amber on your clothes and they will stay fragrant till the next wash. Even in the laundry basket, when I grab the clothes out I can tell if I had it on this past week from the delicious waft I get while putting stuff in the machine.

WikiMedia

Further reading: Perfume Posse and BOTO
Olympic Orchids has $18/5ml Travel Spray
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/0.5ml

What is your amber?
Portia xx

Oriza L. Legrand Sample Set

June 10, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Post by Portia

Heya Gorgeous People,

I recently bought the Oriza L Legrand Sample Pack. Sheesh! There are SO MANY fragrances in this line in only 4 years. 16 fragrances! That’s a lot. €38 for 16 x 2ml samples and FREE World Shipping is a rare opportunity to smell them all. So begins the rather daunting Oriza L Legrand adventure….. I’m going to test some for the first time and give you my 20 minute run of them in word association.

Oriza L. Legrand Sample Set

Oriza L Legrand

Heliotrope Blanc Oriza L. Legrand 2014

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange blossom, heliotrope, violet leaf
Heart: Almond, heliotrope, mimosa, iris
Base: Musk, heliotrope, rice, benzoin, tonka bean

Soapy, powdery, breathy and all together fabulous. Very waxy, a little bit make-up-ish and quite pretty. The green is squeaky under the powder and then the creamy nuttiness of almond comes through just enough to balance it out. There is something quite alcoholic about Heliotrope Blanc, the sharp tang of rice wine in amongst the maquillage. Once the breathy opening is gone all humanity leaves and we are left with a cold powder, a shimmering eye shadow and a waxy lipstick. Perfect for a Drag Queen, wearing it tonight.

Reve d’Ossian Oriza L. Legrand 2012

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Incense, aldehydes, maritime pine
Heart: Cinnamon, benzoin, elemi, tonka bean, guaiac wood, opoponax
Base: Balsamic notes, sandalwood, leather, labdanum, amber, musk

Sparkling incense, dry, desiccated and shimmering over a woodsy, dusty heart of resins. Hints of make-up and fur coats, cool winds and chanting monks. Reve d’Ossian reminds me of McLeodgang in the Indian Himalayas where the Dalai Lama and his monks live in exile. The smell of wet wood, dry incense, humanity and hope is all hidden in this beautiful gem. The dry down is sweeter and warmer, almost cozy but still holds the cool unburned incense smell inside.

Muguet Fleuri Oriza L. Legrand 2014

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Green leaves, grass, lily-of-the-valley
Heart: Galbanum, angelica, violet leaf, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Lily-of-the-valley, oakmoss, lily

If you like Muguet des Bois by Coty and are unafraid of ultra green, thick coiling ropes of galbanum then you may have found your fragrance. Muguet Fleuri is a cool, green, lotv powerhouse that bypasses all cleaning product references and goes straight for the ice cold metallic modern style. Backed by violet leaf and lily with a medicinal sweet/sharpness I find it arresting, aloof and vegetal, verging on bitter. Relentlessly green even as it fades to nothing. LOVE it.

Go check out Oriza L. Legrand Sample Set: 16 fragrances! €38 for 16 x 2ml samples and FREE World Shipping

Do you like the Oriza L.Legrand fragrances? Which of these piques your fancy?
Portia xxx