Something Beautiful by Jocelyn Fullerton for Cult Of Scent

April 17, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Independent Perfumery Lovers,

A few weeks ago we had Jocelyn Fullerton over at my place to take us through her beautiful range of fragrances. There is a half written piece on the day waiting for me to finalise it (Sorry Jocelyn). A few things struck me during the day but I was most impressed with Jocelyn’s excitement and enthusiasm for fragrance, her broad knowledge and talent for relating an engaging story that told of the creation of her scents. It was a lovely day.

The scent that I wear most from the Cult of Scent line so far is …

Something Beautiful by Cult Of Scent

Something Beautiful by Jocelyn Fullerton

Cult Of Scent gives these featured accords:
Orange blossom, Neroli, Tonka, Honey, Amber

From Cult Of Scent: Something Beautiful began with a story of dawn kisses under an orange tree and was brought to fruition by spring nights filled with music, candlelight, passion and laughter.

Calming, angelic, elegant, refreshing, lively, sparkling, comfortable, summer, clear, happy. These are the words that run through my head while wearing Something Beautiful.

Breathy white flowers float effortlessly over citrus and a sweet amber. The citrus is main player for a while after I spritz but orange blossom is present already and I think I detect a whisper of jasmine and some other flower, maybe lily? There are lightly fruity touches too that peek through the bouquet and later the honey/amber and something coniferous waft gently in and warm it down to fade.

WikiMedia

I can easily imagine Something Beautiful as a perfect wedding scent. It’s joyful bursts of citrus and the elegant swish of white flowers, soft yet insistent, would make an excellent pairing with either the traditional wedding in a church (or whatever the religious centre is called in your religion) to a windy, sunlit day at the beach. Beyond gorgeous and I think it would be so memorable. Better still it’s completely unisex, you could both be rocking it.

Today I hosted my first TUPPERWARE party coming back into the business after a 6 or 7 year hiatus. Something Beautiful helped me rise above the nerves and get straight to the excitement. Well not COMPLETELY rise above my nerves, I was sweating like a farm hand at the summer round ups but Something Beautiful huffed out of my top and I remembered to breathe and that everyone here was on my side. The party went splendidly and I have one booking, hopefully 2. If you’re in Sydney and want a party leave a comment below and I can come hang with you and your buddies for a couple of hours. Just so you know I do EXCELLENT scones and it makes a wonderful snack at the party.

Cult Of Scent has 3 sizes starting at $35/8ml

If you like to dazzling opening of a cologne but the herbs and mossy patchouli bases get you down the I heartily recommend you get your hands on Something Beautiful. It really is perfectly named and I have quite a bit of air in my 8ml already.

Portia xxx

Sable & Soleil by Pierre Guillaume for Phaedon 2016

April 15, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 29 Comments

Post by Portia

Woo Hoo Crew,

More NEW stuff from my perfumer crush Pierre Guillaume. This arrived today and I couldn’t wait to get it on my skin!!

Here’s some more Pierre Perfume Porn to get you in the mood….

Sable & Soleil by Phaedon 2016

Sable & Soleil by Pierre Guillaume

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Lemon blossom, jasmine, African geranium, coconut milk, sandalwood, vanilla, tonka bean, white musk

Salt. Driest opening for a fragrance I ever smelled. Salt and then some melon, a little oily, seaside breeze, hot day.

Jasmine and citrus over the driest ache in my throat. It’s like the ache of yearning. Yearning for something just out of reach but in your sights. Awkward lactones create a shadowed, shady counterpoint that gives the crisp sea breeze a depth. Maybe a wander through the carpark by the beach, awaiting the arrival of your friends or even an ice cream from the truck, yes there is a metallic edge.

Briny. That’s the word I’m looking for. Briny, lightly sunburned, happy and tired. Fresh sea water and healthy bodies.

Sable & Soleil is not what I was expecting. If you think that you’ll be getting a Guerlain Lys Solea, a Jil Sander Sun or a Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess then think again. They are pretty and vibrant. Pierre Guillaume has created a mood and depth that is lovely but slightly dark. Compelling.

lavanyasrecipes

Sable & Soleil GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winner who will receive:
1 x 2ml Sable & Soleil manufacturers sample
1 x sample Indian Wood by Perfumerie Generale 2016
P&H Worldwide

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged. 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 (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) so I know.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us if you’ve tried any of the Phaeton range?

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 17th April 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 Thursday 21st April 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.

Cologne? What Does It Mean?

April 14, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Post by Lindaloo

Hey Hey APJ,

Recently on APJ we had a very pertinent question about the different uses of the word cologne in fragrance. One of our regular readers and commenters came up with the best description I’ve ever seen of the differences.

Here’s what dictionary.com says:
Cologne
1: Noun: a mildly perfumed toilet water; eau de Cologne
2: Noun: an industrial city and river port in W Germany, in North Rhine-Westphalia on the Rhine

Cologne? What Does It Mean?

Wikipedia

Lindaloo says:
Good reasons that the word “cologne” can be so confusing. Sometimes it does mean a name for men’s scents versus women’s, as it hard to convince an average man that a scent labelled as anything other than cologne is only for women.
Other times it refers simply to the the strength of the scent — EdP/parfum has more fragrant oils compared to EdT/toilette compared to EdC/cologne. Often it is more complicated in that different strengths are different in what aspects of the scent they emphasize.
Then there is “cologne” as a style of scent, ie lots citrus and herbs at the start moving to a mossy drydown. So traditional cologne starts off very refreshing and moves to a cool dusty base. With the current restrictions on oakmoss, drydowns often involve different elements.
So Atelier colognes are EdP strength but a cologne structure.

Atelier Cologne

Surrender To Chance has a great range of Atelier Cologne samples and minis.

Have you been to Cologne? What is your EdC?
Portia xx

Indian Wood GIVEAWAY WINNER

April 11, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Post by Portia

Hey hey Crew!

You guys were totally into this giveaway, no surprise, I love PGs work too. He was really excited that we showcased him on the weekend, look out for his new Pheadon one coming up soon here on APJ too.

Portia xx

Indian Wood GIVEAWAY WINNER

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Sandalwood, vetiver, moss, spicy mint, nutmeg, cardamom, coconut milk, lemon zest

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 2ml Indian Wood manufacturers sample
P&H Worldwide

HOUSEKEEPING

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

amberinblunderland

ELLEN M.

The winner will have till Thursday 14th April 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.

Tasmania! Two Days Away: Photo Essay

April 9, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there Fragrant Fumies,

This week my mate Alice & I decided to take a moment out of our lives and go down to the island off the bottom of Australia. It’s called Tasmania and it is beautiful.

Tasmania is 68,401 km² and has around 500K people. Let’s compare that to South Korea at 96,920 km² and 49M (July 2015 est.). Yes, it’s a quiet out of the way place full of beautiful mountains and rivers, small towns and larger ones, friendly people and an enormous amount of history, quite a lot of it as brutal and unforgiving as the winds that whip up direct from Antarctica.

What better way to commemorate such a journey than to do a Photo Essay and have you guys along on the trip.

I know you are absolutely agog to know what fragrances I took. EASY! I grabbed my Hermès 15ml travel size of Vanille Galante, a vintage Youth Dew, something I didn’t even look at and what’s left of my Oriental Brulant that I wore for the whole 2 days and LOVED!

Here are the pics of our adventure! All the gorgeous scenery ones were taken by Alice and I took the rest.
Portia xxx

Tasmania! Two Days Away: Photo Essay

Ready for TAKE OFF! One of my besties, Alice, and I off to look at Tasmania. YAY!

Hotel Grand Chancellor in Launceston. Trip Advisor gave it VERY mixed reviews but we found it comfortable & clean and the staff very friendly.

I know, but I love BUFFET BREAKFAST!!!

Serendipitously it was Farmers Market Saturday Morning and we had a wander through. The produce was unbelievably gorgeous and Alice bought some local wines, meringues and fresh picked, unsprayed raspberries! Happy Girl. We also grabbed some spicy sunflower and pumpkin seeds for our BFF Kath.

Home made chocolate whiskey meringues. WINNER!

Spicy Pumpkin & Sunflower Seeds.

That will be Pinot Gris for the sexy bitch please.

Launceston has a wonderful olde worlde feel to it, we really liked the atmosphere and the people. It’s a cool town for a funky bunch.

On the road again. We hired a car and drove ourselves. Way more fun.

Sing Us A Song……

April 8, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi APJ,

Life is hectic. Happily hectic. So much going on right now. Filling in for a couple of the girls at Trivia this week, so 5 nights in drag, right now I’m in Tasmania with one of my besties to have a look around for Friday & Saturday. Add that to a whole host of regular life stuff and I am also going back to Tupperware starting next week. I know, but I really do love the extra challenge.

What did I spritz today? I had a vintage Dive by Ungaro arrive this morning. You can bet your sweet ass that I triple spritzed my chest and WhoEEEEEE, boy did I drift away. Amazing, I could light up a town on my fumes.

Sing Us A Song……

So, long story short I’m putting up a song today. A video. One of the voices I’ve grown up with is Billy Joel. I love his music and sometimes I like to spritz myself heavily with a fragrance and put the music up a little loud, close my eyes and drift away. Piano Man is a perfect song for that. A few minutes to absolutely let all the troubles of the world go and I’m back i the game, refreshed, clear headed and often with an elusive answer.

Flickr

Try it, it may work for you too.

Here’s today’s choice.

Billy Joel performs “Piano Man” with Kevin Spacey, Boyz II Men, Natalie Maines, Josh Groban, Gavin DeGraw, Tony Bennett, LeAnn Rimes and Michael Feinstein during the ceremony where he was honoured with the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song on November 19, 2014 at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C..

You may want to watch it the first time and then spritz, close your eyes for the second round.
Portia xx

Billy Joel & Guests – Piano Man

Mohur Extrait GIVEAWAY WINNER

April 8, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Post by Portia

SHIT! Sorry APJ,

Sandra and I completely forgot about drawing this giveaway! You all are so great and got really involved.
Let’s find out who our lucky winner is.
Good Luck everyone!
Portia xxx

Mohur Extrait GIVEAWAY WINNER

Sandra

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cardamom, coriander, ambrette (musk mallow), carrot seeds, pepper, elemi
Heart: Iris, jasmine, rose, violet, almond, leather
Base: Sandalwood, amber, woody notes, patchouli, agarwood (oud), benzoin, vanilla, tonka bean

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x sample pack of all of Neela’s creations including a tiny bit of the Extrait
P&H Worldwide

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Tuesday 5th April 2016 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org

HighestSelf

Helen Burrows

The winner will have till Monday 11th April 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.

Indian Wood 11.1 by Pierre Guillaume for Parfumerie Generale 2016

April 7, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 28 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there APJ,

I meant to have this review out to you by last weekend but stuff got in the way. Sorry. As you know I’m madly in love with Pierre Guillaume so you’ll be getting a review coloured by my adoration.

Beaute-Test

I know, it’s rude how gorgeous he is. My experience of one afternoon was that in life he is sweet as pie, funny, charming and naughty. There is a brilliance to him that I found quite dazzling. he quickly put me at my ease and we talked for a while. Yes, besotted.

Indian Wood 11.1 by Parfumerie Generale 2016

Indian Wood 11.1 by Pierre Guillaume

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Sandalwood, vetiver, moss, spicy mint, nutmeg, cardamom, coconut milk, lemon zest

The Parfumerie Generale site gives an ingredient list: Alcohol, Parfum (Fragrance), Aqua (Water), Limonene, Linalool, Citronellol, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citral, Coumarin, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Benzyl Salicylate, Geraniol.

Chai! I smell chai, in the pot being made by my last partners maid in Gurgaon, just outside New Delhi, India. Sweet, milky, spicy and warming but with a green facet that gives it a papery rasp and picks Indian Wood up. Interestingly I am finding it very hard to parse the notes, though I’m sure someone better at that particular trick could do it, and after a couple of wears I’m finding myself thinking of Indian Wood in the opening as chai and then Indian Wood. A smell unto itself.

Yes, as Pierre’s way is, this is a sweet fragrance. Not sugar sweet though. His sweetness comes from the sweetness of milky woods, piquant spices and the warm memories of cooking with Mum.

Through the heart Indian Wood dries out and becomes a solid, smooth, resinous and sheer cloak. I feel wrapped safely in a cocoon of softest wool that is spiderweb light yet warming and tough.

If you are already a fan of Pierre Guillaume’s work then you’ll love this new warmer and spicier extension on Harmatan Noir from 2006. If you don’t like his style then I can’t imagine Indian Wood winning you over, though I have been wrong before…..

First In Fragrance will have Indian Wood very soon

kbaird

Indian Wood GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 2ml Indian Wood manufacturers sample
P&H Worldwide

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us if you like Pierre’s work? Is there a favourite already or are you awaiting the one?

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 10th April 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 Thursday 14th April 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.

Cologne Nocturne GIVEAWAY WINNERS

April 4, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Post by Portia

Hey APJ,

We have 4 winners today. I hope you guys love the Cologne Nocturne, I think it’s gorgeous.

Portia xx

Cologne Nocturne GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, lemon, palisander rosewood
Heart: Clary sage, rosemary, thyme, lavender, spicy notes
Base: Cedar, patchouli, woody notes

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 4 winners who will receive:
1 x decant of Cologne Nocturne by Le Galion
P&H Worldwide

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us what is your favourite Cologne?

HOUSEKEEPING

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

markmontanoblogs

TIM

SUN MI

NEVA

DAMIR

CONGRATULATIONS!! The winners will have till Thursday 7th April 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.

Amouage Gold pour Homme by Guy Robert for Amouage 1998

April 2, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Post by Portia

Heya Bargain Hunters,

Recently there was a very excited thrill through the frag community. One of the biggest discounters, FragranceNet, was having an end of year clearance on eBay. I think they were getting rid of the years returns and calling them 95% full. The postage was a bit of a bummer to Australia but still the deals were so good it was hard to pass up. (I sent mine to a mate in the USA who sent it on at a fraction of the cost) So, what did I buy? Extra Niki de Saint Phalle 60ml splash in a beautiful bottle, a 100ml Parfum de Peau by Montana that still has enormous amounts of outrageously naughty bits and for a steal a lidless 100ml of …

Amouage Gold pour Homme by Amouage 1998

Amouage Gold pour Homme by Guy Robert

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top Dog rose, Lily-of-the-valley, Frankincense
Heart: Orris root, Jasmine, Myrrh
Base: Amber, Oakmoss, Musk, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Cedar, Civet

Disclaimer! I wore this the night it arrived and I may have overspritzed. Jin got in the car and within a minute was asking what fragrance I was wearing because it’s disgusting and so big and reminds him of the smell they spray in old peoples homes to get rid of the old people smell. His head was pounding so badly from it that he had to take headache tablets and open his window to full. Poor boy.

I on the other hand am swept away by Amouage Gold Man.

YouTube

On opening I get a fabulous blast of incense, the rose and lily of the valley play backing roles and were they not mentioned in the notes list I’d be hard pressed to pick them. What I smell is an animalic frankincense that is like a 1000 x blast of the little pebbles you can buy in the Middle East markets. Patchouli and woods are present after a few minutes and white flowers but not specifically jasmine, my nose also picks some daffodil/narcissus. There is something CHANEL No 5-ish about Amouage Gold Man that I like very much.

Then the whole fragrance turns beautifully soapy on me, expensive, waxy soap like in the 20th century. I’m not sure what the notes are now, the scent has become Amouage Gold Man for me now. A conglomerate scent that is sexy and big but not overbearing (Jin would beg to differ). I find it a very comfortable scent to wear. Intricate, harmonious and nuanced; like lying on a silk, hand knotted rug from Kashmir and still being able to smell the market you bought it in and remembering the people who are fun to bargain with and smile so happily.

Wikipedia

Next morning I still have traces of Amouage Gold Man lingering, buzzing over my skin. Soft woods and resins of no name that have now melded with my own scent; me but not me. Better by far….

Further reading: Non Blonde and Candy Perfume Boy
Libertine Parfumerie has $415/100ml and FREE Australian Delivery
Peony Melbourne has $415/100ml and FREE Australian Delivery
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/0.5ml

What is your Amouage?
Portia x