Pitti Fragranze 12 + Idiosyncratic Perfume Behaviour

September 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 27 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Pitti Fragranze 12

Hello Fabulous APJ readers.

I am going to Florence on Thursday to attend the Pitti Fragranze 12. This is the international perfume fair event that brings the best, and perhaps not the best, in artistic perfumery to the beautiful city of Florence. New fragrances will be launched, older ones revisited. To say I am excited would be an understatement. I have and Australian Perfume Junkies Press Pass. Honoured.

Photo Donated Val

I look forward to the opportunity of trying new fragrances and mingling with perfume folk. I have also attended bike shows, both in the US and in Europe. Which has nothing to do with perfume. Or does it? My husband is a bike freak and I a perfumista. But does that mean that every bike or every perfume at these shows is good? It does not. One has to search for what is best for you and THAT is the thrill of attending. We go well informed but eyes open for something to blow our minds. The older I get the less mind I have left to blow. 🙂

Val the Cookie Queen’s X Special batch of Lavender Pitti Shortbread

FULL MONTY WORTHY?

Idiosyncratic Perfume Behaviour

Photo Stolen IMDb (any problems tell us)

I try many fragrances but wear only a small selection. Trying means spraying wrists, elbow crooks, you know how it goes. Walking round with your nose surgically attached to your wrist kind of thing. Wearing means going The Fully Monty and being comfortable with it. And the truth of the matter is I am scared to death to do that with most frags. I was talking to Portia the other day and he was surprised when I told him that I only wear seven or eight perfumes. The rest are just wafting from my wrist, waiting to see if they make the grade. I know, I know perfume is subjective. I am way to scared to grab a scent and spritz with wild abandon. I own very few full bottles comparatively speaking. Like most of us I have a fair number of decants. This fear of going the whole nine yards does nothing at all to curb my perfume obsession, but I am überpicky. Mention woody notes and I´m gone ……..

FMW this year included:

All .vero.profumo. fragrances in all forms
Chanel. Cuir de Russie and Bois de Iles – Edt and Extrait, Coromandel, 31 Rue Cambon
Malle. Eau de Magnolia
Serge Lutens. Boxeuses, Rose de Nuit, Cuir Mauresque
En Voyage. Zelda
Amouage. Opus III, Beloved, Ubar

I have a list of at least 25 to check out in Florence. I reckon, law of averages, there might be a FMW bottle amongst them?

So dear readers, do you go the whole caboodle with everything, the whole shebang, no fear involved regardless? I would be very interested
to know.

I will report back.

Ciao
CQ

Sample Selection GIVEAWAY WINNER

September 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hey hey APJ,

Today we have such a generous draw from Azar who has cleaned out her doubles in the sample closet. Whoever gets the prize today will have weeks of new scents to try. WOO HOO!
Portia xx

Sample Selection GIVEAWAY WINNER

Gomez Photo Donated Azar

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 Winner who will get:

The draw includes a VM Hedonist sample, an Elektra sample, at least one Amouge carded sample and more good stuff. I’m not trying to unload things I don’t like, not used or rejected samples but new packaged and carded samples and a few fresh decants, I just want to give away duplicates!
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

Open to US RESIDENTS ONLY 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

Reveal, if possible, approximately how many samples you have laying around your house, place of business, in your car, purse wherever. Have you developed a workable plan to store your samples? Let us hear about it!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie APJ Sample Selection GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-38D #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 11th September 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners were chosen by Gomez the parrot

Photo Stolen amberinblunderland

TRACY

The winners will have till Sunday 14th September 2014 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.

Love's Baby Soft by Dana 1974

September 11, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Poodle

Once upon a time in the 80’s there was a girl who loved perfume. She really believed perfumes were magical. She saw the ads in the magazines and thought she had found her secret potion. It said that the nicest things happen when you wear it. The photo suggested if she wore it she’d soon be dancing cheek to cheek with a cute boy. The silly girl was me and I simply had to have Love’s Baby Soft. If I had it my teenage crush would notice me. I just knew it.

Love’s Baby Soft by Dana 1974

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Geranium, lavender, jasmine, rose, patchouli, vanilla, musk

Like many others I was wafting clouds of Love’s Baby Soft when I was a tween and young teen. I believed that it would transform me from dorky, shy wallflower to the girl the cute guy I liked would ask to dance. Sadly, it never seemed to work but I still kept spritzing and hoping.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

(The ads for Love’s Baby Soft in the 70’s were actually rather creepy and I’m glad the ones in my Seventeen magazine were more about school girl crushes than pedophiles and Lolita. Honestly, I’m not sure what the heck they were thinking with those older ads. Who was the target audience for those? But I digress…back to crushes and magic potions.)

Love’s Baby Soft was that first perfume lots of girls got in their Christmas stocking. If you haven’t guessed from the name, Baby Soft is powdery. It’s a fluffy, flowery, pink cloud of a perfume. It seems almost silly to try to review it and pick apart the notes even though it’s a pretty scent. There’s rosy powder, soft florals, a bit of clean musk, and a slight plasticky note which makes me think there’s some heliotrope in it.

Photo Stolen Flickr

If you like Flower by Kenzo or other powdery florals there’s a chance you were a Baby Soft girl at some point. It’s familiar and comfortable. Compared to the fruity stuff aimed at today’s youth, Love’s Baby Soft smells far more grown up even with that baby powder note. I think it’s got a powdery feel similar to vintage scents but is by no means of the same quality. It’s cheap and fun. I still wear it and especially like to wear it to bed. If it were repackaged and renamed I think it would have a lot of fans. I think a lot of people secretly like it but hate to admit it because they think they’re too old for it. I say, wear what makes you happy.

Further reading: Now Smell This and The Awl
FragranceNet has $3.50/15ml

Love’s Baby Soft made me think perfumes could be magical even though I didn’t get that dance I’d hoped for. Sometimes I think I was just young and silly. Sometimes I think not much has changed. Perhaps there’s part of us that always seems to be searching for that perfume that transforms us and makes us feel stronger, prettier, confident. Did you have a magic potion when you were younger? Do you still wear it?

Poodle X

Coven by Andrea Maack 2013

September 10, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Post by Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers

Bright blessings of another scented day fellow fragrance worshippers. I wonder if I will surprise you with the focus of my adoration today. It is a truly ecumenical day when a nun sings praises to a witch’s brew!

Of course nothing wicked this way comes. This is a perfume, a consumer product like any other niche-ish fragrance release, with the toil and trouble being that of Icelandic visual artist Andrea Maack and an uncredited perfumer. Ineffable is fine by me, I’m a woman used to mystery. But how does it smell?

Let us spray!

Coven by Andrea Maack 2013

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Woody notes, green grass, soil tincture, oakmoss, whiskey, spicy notes

I’m happy to report that the delicate instrument the good Lord placed in the centre of my face registers no essence of newt or tincture of bat, however this fragrance could well be the smell of their habitat. Such an onrush of sappy and bitter green. There is grassiness and a light but distinct touch of galbunum, but the strongest and most lasting impression is of dank earth notes to rival Demeter Zombie. Yet where Zombie achieves a suitably claustrophobic and menacing accord, all the green in Coven conjures a convincing outdoorsy and airy loaminess of an evergreen forest with oakmoss growing thickly. Is that a waft of brimstone through the trees? Or just the sulphurous breath of Maack’s volcanic homeland?

Photo Stolen Flickr

Now there be spirits! Notably whisky, which in keeping with the scent story is peaty like my favoured Islay single malts. This boozy heart warms the composition and beats strongly for hours along with a vanillic Peru balsam and the tickle of cassia and a peppery capsicum. The initial green and earthy character recedes only slightly, the duet of fecund earth and peaty aqua vitae has a balanced progression. Over the hours what at first seems to be a trick of my nose gathers strength and becomes an undeniable sweet and floral tone. It is a lovely and unusual drydown.

The longevity of Coven is exceptional, lasting on skin overnight and on clothing for days. Whereas this tenacity could be unwanted in many perfumes, I was happy still to carry the scent of this enchanted forest clearing.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Unless excessively applied, I can’t think Coven would be out of place in any situation. It’s possible many people will not recognise this as personal fragrance, perhaps mistaking it for lingering air from outdoors. But if he does ask, don’t tell the Bishop its name. Men of his ilk can sometimes not see the forest for the trees.

Naturally I am heartily in favour of a scent that is unique, dark, earthy and green. I pray that Coven shows respect in its name to communities of women engaged in ritual and devotion, leading healing and caring lives connected to the rhythms of days, seasons and natural cycles. There is much to admire in that.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

The equinoxes approach us (vernal in the Southern, autumnal in the Northern hemisphere), what an ideal time to try such a fragrance as we celebrate the warming fertile earth or give thanks for its fruits as it cools.

Further reading: Persolaise and Colognoisseur
Libertine Parfumerie has $185/50ml including FREE delivery in Australia
LuckyScent has $135/50ml + samples

Do you have a scent for rituals?

Bless, and blessed be!
Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers.

Roxana Villa @ Beyond Aromatics Conference: Seattle

September 10, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Hi all you Independent Fragrance lovers,

I just got news that my buddy, the lovely Roxana Villa from Roxana’s Illuminated Perfumes, will be presenting a talk on Saturday at the Beyond Aromatics Conference: Seattle. I am so jealous of all you PNW Americans, please go along and enjoy hearing one of the world’s most beautiful and successful natural perfumers speak about her way of creation.

Photo Donated Roxana Ville

We have talked about Roxana’s Illuminated Perfumes quite a bit here at APJ because they are freaking sensational. Really beautiful, primal uses of natural ingredients that will whisk you away to the enchanted forests of your dreams. You can jump to the Roxana’s Illuminated Perfumes site for more information on Roxana and her sensational fragrances.

Photos Stolen Roxana’s Illuminated Perfumes

The Tree of Life: A Mystical Approach to Botanical Perfume

Talk by Roxana Villa at Beyond Aromatics Conference: Seattle

Engaging both the rational and the creative mind as a rainbow bridge leading to the formulation of botanical perfumes using a threefold structure.

Learning objectives:
History of Perfume
The parallels of making botanical perfume and the path of the alchemists
Essential oils and the elementals
Inspiring the imagination and intuitive mind

Photo Stolen Photos Stolen Roxana’s Illuminated Perfumes

Spring into MYER, Sydney City – Launch of Gallerie de Parfum

September 10, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Righto!!

It seems we are loaded with wonderful, fun, exciting and new learning experiences Spring 2014. We have the SOLD OUT 1 Day Masterclass with London’s Karen Gilbert: evaluator from IFF and perfumer for many brands on September 20, Michael Edwards Masterclass last week and Meet-Up and now a new reason to get excited, the launch of a new niche counter in Myer; Gallerie de Parfum.

Spring into MYER, Sydney City – Launch of Gallerie de Parfum

HOSTS: Nick Smart (Agency de Parfum), Portia Turbo (Tranny About Town)

WHERE: Gallerie de Parfum counter. MYER, Sydney city

WHEN: 5.30pm September 24 2014

COST: FREE

How about a sneaky champagne after work? Why not come and play perfume with us?

A mini masterclass from Nick Smart and Portia Turbo on our three favourite scents each in the Gallerie de Parfum. It will be a fun way to get to know some perfumes that you may have missed, meet some other lovers of fine fragrance and most of all it will be an excellent wind down after a stressful day of whatever it is you do. Nick and I will be picking some fragrances that we have in our collections and talking you through them, it’s always nice to share our passion.

We are having 10 people at this event so be very quick.

Sensationally lavish goodie bags valued at over $100 for anyone who buys a 100ml fragrance from the range.

Also, there will be a FULL BOTTLE of L’Artisan Parfumeur: Explosions d’Emotions Range GIVEAWAY for one lucky shopper.

Olympic Orchids by Ellen Covey – Assisting the Sorceress

September 8, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 38 Comments

Post by Azar

Olympic Orchids by Ellen Covey

Labor Day Reflections – Assisting the Sorceress

I have no doubt that Olympic Orchids Perfumes are magical. Ellen Covey’s success as an indie perfumer is grounded in her creative spirit and reinforced by her extensive knowledge of fragrance materials, countless hours at the perfume organ, carefully considered artistic marketing and her commitment to the time consuming and repetitive tasks associated with any successful enterprise. While I have no illusions about my ability to create a fragrance, I do know that I can handle the time consuming and repetitive. In my experience even the most glamorous jobs can dull with repetition. I have also learned that it takes a relatively high level of discipline to successfully perform the same small motor task over and over again without losing focus or precision (both lessons learned from 60 years at the piano). I am certain that my talent for the tedious could be put to good use on a fragrance sample assembly line.

Unfortunately, many of today’s independent perfumers and niche fragrance houses cannot be bothered to offer samples. The labor and expense involved in filling, labeling, packaging and posting the samples is not seen as cost effective. These guys rely on their websites, social media and the blogging community to sell their perfumes. Why go to all the trouble of offering samples when new customers can be so easily manipulated into blind, full bottle buys. I have succumbed to this strategy more often than I care to admit. As a result I have come to appreciate and support the perfumers who offer their customers a sniff.

Photo Donated Ellen Covey

About a month ago I visited my friend Ellen with the express purpose of putting together samples. Before we began she took me on a tour of her bamboo grove, orchard and gardens. She opened and shared some newly arrived absolutes and then we headed upstairs to the atelier where we tested (and Ellen tweeked) several soon to be released fragrances. After all the fun we finally set to work putting together samples of California Chocolate.

I am no stranger to decanting and labeling but have had no previous experience with the solo assembly line. Ellen gave me the simple tasks of labeling tiny plastic bags, labeling and filling vials and packaging the samples in the bags. She monitored my progress and gave me helpful suggestions along the way. A pipette gun with disposable tips and a rack for vials made working the line a lot easier. My first adventure in serious sample production was rather slow and clumsy but I know, that with practice, my speed and precision will improve. As a reward for the work both Brad and I were treated to a fabulous salmon dinner prepared by Ellen and Michael followed by an amazing dessert of ice cream, guava sauce, whipped cream and figs freshly picked from Ellen’s garden. “Nice work if you can get it…Emoji”.

Azar xx

Photo Stolen myprettypaints

Sample Selection GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 Winner who will get:

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie APJ Sample Selection GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-38D #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 11th September 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will probably be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Sunday 14th September 2014 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.

Vintage Dioressence by DIOR: GIVEAWAY WINNER

September 8, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Hey Happy Huffers,

Thanks for getting involved with our draw. This was clearly a big winner because we had loads of comments. Though I didn’t respond this week I did read them ALL, and enjoyed your stories and memories immensely. Thanks for sharing, I loved it and I bet a whole bunch of our readership did too.

Portia xx

Vintage Dioressence by DIOR: GIVEAWAY WINNER

Problem using this photo? Tell me I’ll pull it down

Fragrantica give these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, orange, fruity notes, patchouli, green notes, bergamot
Heart: Carnation, tuberose, cinnamon, violet, orris root, jasmine, ylang-ylang, rose, geranium
Base: Musk, patchouli, benzoin, vanilla, oakmoss, vetiver, styrax

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 Winner who receive:

1 x spray decant of my Vintage Dioressence, courtesy Michael Edwards
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID 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 about a vintage in your closet with a story? Or even a vintage you remember smelling once upon a time.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Vintage Dioressence by DIOR GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-33y @Dior #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 7th September 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winner was chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen HighestSelf

Julie Ohara

The winner will have till Thursday 11th September 2014 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.

La Haie Fleurie du Hameau by L`Artisan Parfumeur 1982

September 7, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Hey All you Fragrance Lovers,

GOSH! 1982, this frag came out while I was still in school. 1982 was the last year I was in the Top 10 of my year and just before I went seriously “Off The Rails” as they called it back then. I think by then my Mum had bought me an Aramis and a mini of VC&A Pour Homme, maybe by then I had even had Polo. That doesn’t count wearing all my Mum & sister’s fragrances though.

La Haie Fleurie du Hameau by L`Artisan Parfumeur 1982

La Haie Fleurie du Hameau by Jean Claude Ellena

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Jasmine, orange blossom, narcissus, ylang-ylang, honeysuckle, vanilla, oakmoss

It’s been super busy around here lately. The house has a For Sale sign out the front and we have been working like House Elves to have it super schmick for the auction. I feel as though I’ve neglected you all a little this weekend, sorry, my head is full to overflowing with stuff and I can’t find a damn thing in the house because so much is packed away in storage. So while I am wearing as much fragrance as ever I am wearing it to forget thought, as a mini mental holiday rather than to run through notes and journey while wearing it. There has been a LOT of gardening going on and every time I work in the front I am completely engulfed in the glorious scents of Erlicher jonquils and King Alfred daffodils.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia Photo Stolen AusGardener

Here is another of my lucky gifts from Michael Edwards, and when I spritzed it tonight it was exactly that gorgeous heady, narcotic and indolic magic that I smell while working in the garden. Mesmerisingly beautiful, as I was driving to work and the few first minutes before I was swept up in Trivia I was absolutely gobsmacked by how lovely. An older bottle with the round cap I think the flowers are totally gorgeous and opulent.

What an excellent rendition of narcissus, I can easily smell how this young man could have fallen so deeply in love with his own beautiful perfection and wanted to smell only that until he wasted away, engulfed or perhaps became merely a breath of indolic air.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

While it is not terrible long lasting, at about 2 hours fragrant and maybe another 2 of very quiet floral vanilla wisps, I found it a wonderful fragrant ride. Extremely pretty and I felt lovely, sometimes a fragrance can make me think I am quite gorgeous. Transportive. Suddenly I am a girlish waif, happy and carefree on a sunlit hill covered in daffodils. It’s like the scene in Death Becomes Her when Meryl Streep takes the potion, except I spritz it.

Further reading: Perfume Smellin’ Things and Perfume Shrine
Surrender To Chance has samples that start at $4/ml

Did you ever get to smell this lovely white and yellow floral?
Portia xx

MAC Cosmetics x The Simpsons 2014 Ad Campaign

September 7, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

OMG!!

MAC is constantly coming up with super fun stuff but this is the BEST idea in ages. I can’t wait for this set to hit Aussie stores, just so I can check that it’s real. I love MAC and I love the Simpson’s. How totally excellent that they have been married in make up. Too Freaking Good

Portia xx

MAC Cosmetics x The Simpsons 2014 Ad Campaign

As always my first in fashion blog supplied the piece: art8amby

To celebrates the 25th anniversary of The Simpsons, MAC Cosmetics is launching a limited edition range of make-up inspired by our favourite cartoon family. The colourful range includes Nacho Cheese Explosion yellow lipglass, false lashes, a powder peach blush and Marge Cuti-cles nail stickers.

The limited edition collaboration will hit stores and online starting September 04th. (source)