Hey there APJ Peeps, Family, Friends and all Newcomers,
We have moved sideways across the WordPress world and if you were following through WordPress you’ll have to follow again please. Sorry for the bother, this was a completely unexpected by product of the move and I’d have warned you all in advance had I known.
So please re-follow. we miss you.
Portia xx
Photo Stolen KingadowProductions
Hello Fabulous Fragrance Fiends,
Last weekend I was at Melbourne airport with Jin and had some time to kill so we dropped into the L’Occitane store there. I haven’t really paid much attention to L’Occitane since 1994 while at the Cannes Film Festival I grabbed some for my Mum and Sister and sent it back to Australia. Sadly, by the time I returned from living in the UK they had finished their bottles and hadn’t kept them so I could repurchase next time I was in Europe. Since then L’Occitane has arrived in Australia and has loads of stand alone stores in large cities, airports and also in department stores. Olivier Baussan founded the company in 1976 because he wanted to create a company that celebrates and preserves the traditions of his home region of France: Provence.
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
From the L’Occitane site:
L’OCCITANE is anchored in Provence, where fragrant fields of lavender are a continual reminder of the region’s natural bounty. Each of our ranges is inspired by ingredients harvested from the south of France and the Mediterranean. Our products offer the many benefits of these ingredients, while translating the traditional savoir-faire of the regional artisans.
In the time of the Byzantine Empire, the south of France was a region called “Occitania”. The name “L’OCCITANE” is derived from this, meaning “woman of Occitania.” L’OCCITANE symbolizes this woman, her beauty and her relationship with nature.
Photo Stolen L’Occitane
So while we were there I spritzed one of their new La Collection de Grasse fragrances Vanilla and Narcisse and I liked it so much that I decided to get in touch with the L’Occitane crew here in Australia and ask for some review samples.
If a product or company can be judged in any way by the front line of people that you talk to on the phone then L’Occitane is a winner. Everyone I spoke to was thrilled that I would call, was interested, enjoyed their product and that I wanted to write about L’Occitane for the blog. We talked fragrance but the one thing they wanted me to try was Divine Cream, apparently the most talked about new product to hit the stores and gaining huge market share already. Sure they would send me some fragrance but even more they wanted me to try this amazing product that works better than anything else they’d tried. No, I didn’t have to write about it, yes they understand I do fragrance, please just try it and tell us how you like it. OK, guinea pig Portia into action.
I don’t know if I’ve told you before but I take extremely poor care of my skin, spending so much time with a full face of TV make up and taking it off with grape seed/olive/baby oil, in the bath I am a soap and water cleaner of my face, shave with Gillette shave products, after shave balm by Nivea and that’s the extent of my beauty routine. I have been blessed with good skin and mostly small pores. What I thought I could do though is spread the product out through some of my friends and see their reactions to it too.
There will be four of us trialling for 2 weeks and I’ll give you weekly updates, sound good?
Katie: is my office helper/life organiser two days a week, has 2 lovely daughters and an Architect husband. I think she may be just under 30.
Kath: My BFF who works as an Executive Assistsant to the CEO and CFO of a business involved in English Language Studies at Macquarie University. Kath will be 40 next year.
Natasha: Another very close friend Natasha was my Tupperware manager and mentor. She coached me to being the No 1 Tupperware Demonstrator in Australia & New Zealand in 2007. Tash is a single Mum of three mostly grown up boys and is just over the 40 mark.
Portia: Me a Drag Queen, Homestay Provider and Perfume Blogger who is now 45.
From L’Occitane site :
Divine anti-aging care fights the signs of aging, so you can face up the passing of time with absolute serenity. The divine combination of organic Immortelle and Myrtle Essential Oils offers:
A complete regenerating care: Combined action to stimulate the production of collagens and improve skin microcirculation helps to reduce damage caused by time and restore substance and vitality.
A second youth: Myrtle essential oil stimulates within the skin, the action of the longevity protein- to help increase cellular vitality preserve the skin’s appearance.
Awarded the highest rated Anti-Aging Miracle Cream in the 2011 Anti-Aging Beauty Bible. Independently tested by a panel of women across the UK
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My question is, “Have any of you tried L’Occitane Divine Cream?” If so, how was it, did it give you better feeling and looking skin, would you purchase or repurchase? I do understand that this is a cream not surgery but did you feel that it had benefited you in any way?
Here are the most interesting to me of the Marie Clare video report on the L’Occitane Divine Cream. Enjoy.
Portia xx
I have started at #2 video because the first one was just a bit ad-ish.
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Post by Poodle
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Hi APJ,
When she was younger she had to sit far away because that’s all she could afford. In her teenage years she spent hours locked away in her room listening to his albums and dreaming of what she’d say when she met him. Now she was up close and he would be right there in front of her, close enough to make eye contact. Everyone would say she was too old for a crush on a rock star but what fun is life without a little fantasy?
She brought a bouquet of roses to toss on the stage. The night was cool so she had worn her leather jacket but the rain earlier in the day was making it feel a but humid. As she was waiting for the concert to start she began to wonder if it would become too warm. The roses were cradled close to her chest now and the seats around her filled with people. She was definitely feeling warm and with the heat rising from her body she could smell the roses and the leather. Traces of perfumes she had worn before swirled around her, released from her jacket by the rising temperature.
Photo Stolen Todd Shaffer Flickr
The house lights dimmed. The scent of roses and leather intensified with the rising temperature. The music started to play and then, there he was. So close but really still so far. She lost herself in the moment. Sure, she was too old for schoolgirl fantasies but for that moment she relived them all. She’d almost forgotten about the roses which she was practically crushing now. She held them up to him and when she was able to hand him the bouquet their eyes met. He was singing to her. At least that’s what she wanted to believe, that he was hers for that moment in time. She hugged her leather jacket closer, cradling herself in its warm, musky softness.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Bergamot, blood orange, rose, jasmine, gardenia, iris, sandalwood, musk, leather
Whips and Roses is a perfume that I have loved from the very first sniff. When I first got a sample of it I was smitten. I tried to forget it but the memory of it stayed with me. Eventually I just broke down and got a full bottle. It might just be my favorite rose scent. It’s not a fussy floral nor does it smell like some of the classic leather scents. The name describes it perfectly. It does smell of leather and roses. It’s the first perfume that truly smelled like leather to me. It’s not powdery at all which is how some leathers are to my nose. Whips and Roses reminds me of walking into a leather goods store or the smell of looking at fine purses.
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
The rose isn’t fresh or powdery. It’s the smell of roses past their prime in a bouquet of flowers, some of which have wilted and died. There is an almost green, humid quality to the scent as well, maybe thatʼs the jasmine or gardenia peeking through. Something about this perfume feels almost melancholy or perhaps bittersweet. I could probably pick the notes apart more if I really tried, but I never want to do that when I wear it. It’s a scent I just like to lose myself in.
Like the other Kerosene scents I’ve tried this one has good projection and longevity, which are two wonderful qualities to me. I’ve worn it to work but I wear almost anything to work. Most people might not find this a good office scent although if applied with a light hand it might work. Give it a try if you like your roses a little darker and heavier. If you love the smell of leather but find a lot of leather perfumes are too powdery this might work for you. Probably more of a cool weather choice for most people but that green, humid quality to it makes me reach for in in summer as well and it really blooms on me.
Photo Stolen T.Kiya Flickr
Further reading: Perfume Posse and Memory of Scent
MinNY has Whips & Roses $140/100ml with FREE USA Shipping
Surrender To Chance starts at $4/ml
So far I’ve loved all the Kerosene scents I’ve tried. I’m hoping that trend changes because if I keep falling in love it’s going to be tough on my wallet.
Poodle x
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Post by Val the Cookie Queen
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You Need a Scents of Humour to be a Perfume Junkie
(or Are We All A Few Decants Short Of A Full Bottle?)
Grüss Gott Fellow Junkies!!
Photo Stolen DeviantArt
I am heading of to Greece in about 5 hours. Yes, I have procrastinated writing this for days. Days of trying to decide which perfumes to take with me. I mean, come on!! Now, I am guessing at this but I reckon most folk think about their wardrobe, swim wear, evening wear, how many pairs of shoes to take ….. Not giving themselves brain meltdown over fragrance. Please correct me if I am wrong. I wake up in the night in the throws of postmenopausal dreaming, and lie awake going through my scent wardrobe in my head. Now, I would have though that was really quite sad BUT since Portia introduced me to several fragrant groups, I can see that I am not alone. (How many times a day do YOU think of perfume, huh?????)
What I have found most intriguing is people´s SOTD ………. I read through them all in absolute fascination. At first I thought, “Holy Cow!”, people have nothing better to do than post what perfume they are wearing?? So many perfume I have never heard of, perfume fodder to keep me Googling my heart out.
So on the assumption, and the law of fragrant averages, that someone might be interested in what I am taking on vacation, here we go.
After much deliberation, including contemplating taking nothing at all (so as to give my nose a break – yeah right, hahaha!) this is my final decision.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Taking a full bottle of this. Just in case there is an air strike, or world crisis of some sort. This is the one perfume I would not want to be without. Ever.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
This is sweet, sexy and animalic. The perfect in-the-sun scent. I will dab this because I don´t want to upset the other guests. The ones with 8 different bikinis and matching sarongs.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Elegant. Sophisticated. Statement making without fumigating the place. Makes me feel ladylike. A rarity.
(Thanks Ms O!!)
So off to the airport, leaving a stylish trail of Vero Kerne´s Mito behind me.
Photo Stolen wallpapers
In the words of one of the few famous Austrians, “I´ll be bäck.”
Soon to be on the beach BUSSIS!!
CQ xxxxxxxxxx
PS A couple of mls of UBAR – one never knows ……… 🙂
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Post by Gabriella
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Hello fragrant friends! Today’s post is inspired by something I saw recently on the Vampy Varnish makeup blog. The blogger had photographed and diarised her hair and makeup trends from an early age to the present. I thought it would be fun to present and discuss five perfumes from my past that are meaningful in some way and chronicle a bit of my perfumed history….
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
It’s 1984 and I am the tender age of nine. My family and I are in Hong Kong en route to England for my uncle’s wedding and for some reason, it’s decided that I am old enough to have my first fragrance. I remember the scene more than Jontue itself. It’s late at night and I am amazed that shops are still open, there’s the buzz and hum of the bright neon signs and the slightly salted smell of the humid night air. I’m feeling very grown up (despite my now cringeworthy sartorial choice of a orange tie-dyed jump suit to match my Mum’s one in blue). Jontue, with its powerful green and white floral elements felt exciting. Looking back, it did indeed set a trend as this remains my favourite genre.
FragranceNet has Jontue in its current formulation from $14/2.3oz EdC before discount
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Anais Anais was my signature for years and years. The scent of birthdays and Christmases past, often being accompanied by the beautiful matching soap and body cream. It remains a favourite to this very day, the bright green lily and hyacinth combination is irrevocably part of my identity.
Anais Anais is available at most department stores and online sellers.
Fragrance Shop has the EdT starting at $23/30ml before discount
Surrender To Chance starts at $3/ml
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
My first real obsession was makeup, not perfume. My teenage years marked my first tentative foray and back then, Clinique was the brand of choice as it was seen as a safe option for young girls. The brand’s Raspberry Glace lipstick was my premiere purchase, only to be worn on weekends and most probably washed off with the Clinique 3-step skincare regime that was all the rage. Clinique of course, offered gifts with purchase which is how I discovered Aromatics Elixir. It was the scent associated with Christmas for me, as I would stock up at that time of year to get the gift. The woody aromatic chypre was so unlike anything I’d usually wear and so exciting and daring. When I found out that I was to be presented with a prize in my final year of high school, something I had waited five years for, I chose to wear this scent. Dabbed naughtily (against school rules) under my navy and white school uniform, it will forever be a scent of achievement and power for me.
Aromatics Elixir is available from most Clinique counters
Beauty Encounter has the parfum starting at $11/4ml
Surrender To Chance starts at $3/ml
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
I was 17, I had finished school and we were spending our first Christmas away from home on a holiday in Hawaii. It was an exciting time both because the future was full of possibilities and Hawaii had more makeup and clothes and stuff to buy than I’d ever laid eyes on. By this time, Dior and Chanel and Guerlain were the brands of makeup I now chose to spend my hard earned savings on and a purchase of the latter in Hawaii was accompanied by a sample of Samsara. The beautiful combination of jasmine and sandalwood reminds me of the New Year’s Eve party at our hotel. Everyone was eating, drinking and dancing and having a great time, the air was twinkling with fairy lights and the smell of anticipation.
Samsara is available at most department stores.
FragranceNet has the EdT $36/50ml before coupon
Surrender to Chance has samples starting at $3/ml
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
I had started to dabble in a perfume hobby by the time the Frederic Malle range had launched in Sydney, but it was Lys Mediterranee that really pushed me over the edge. The green slightly salty, tropical lily was perfection on my skin and I knew I had found something stupendous and magical.
Lys Mediterranee is available at Mecca Cosmetica starting at $142/3 x 10ml
Surrender to Chance has samples starting at $6/ml
What did you think of my list? Did I name any favourites? What scents have a historical importance to you?
With much love till next time!
M x
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Post by Azar
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International Flavors and Fragrances (through various incarnations) has been in the business of creating scents and tastes for every imaginable application since 1833. In the late 1960’s the Hungarian born, Israeli perfumer, cosmetologist and entrepreneur Judith Muller (1935-2012) chose IFF to develop a fine fragrance designed for the mass market as well as for her personal and business clients (including El Al Airlines). Her flagship fragrance, Bat-Sheba, named after the biblical beauty, would be one of the first perfumes created by the IFF employee, soon to be super star perfumer, Sophia Grojsman.
Photo Stolen hetek.hu
Bat-Sheba appeared as two distinct scents, Exotic Oriental and Woody Modern. A number of other fragrances, including Judith, King David and Shalom, were produced in Muller’s Mt. Carmel plant and exported to 17 countries.
Judith Muller’s perfumery enjoyed over twenty years of success until the sudden death of her husband/business partner forced her to stop production and close her Haifa operation. She moved to Tel Aviv in the late 1990’s where she continued to create bespoke and private label fragrances for personal and corporate clients. Eventually she relocated to Budapest, remaining creative and vibrant as ever, returning at last to Israel just before her death in 2012.
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
Sophia Grojsman, the nose who is credited with the creation of Bat-Sheba, was born in Belarus in 1945. She was educated as a chemist in Poland and immigrated to New York in1965 where she began working for IFF as a lab assistant to Ellie Fox. Eventually IFF realized her talent. She was encouraged and mentored by world-renowned perfumers Ernest Shiftan and Josephine Catapano. Her long and productive career at IFF included her appointment as corporate VP in 1998 and the creation of over 30 of the most successful and well known fragrances of our time, including Eternity by Calvin Klein, Prescriptive’s Calyx, Paris by Yves Saint Laurent and Tresor by Lancome.
So much more can be said of these legendary women and we all know the story of passion and betrayal, murder and atonement surrounding the biblical legend Bat-Sheba. Now what about the Perfume Bottle?
Judith Muller designed gorgeous, collectable bottles for her exotic, evocative perfumes.
Most of these bottles from the Haifa period were shaped like tiny, ancient amphorae painted with one of a kind, watery, organic patterns. The patterns and coloring of every bottle was different, ranging from muted and silky mauves to brilliant, sparkling purples and golds.
I have several full bottles of different Judith Muller perfumes and perfume “trinkets”. These lovelies should have been displayed but instead have been squirreled away for years in my cool, dark perfume storage. The Exotic Oriental fragrance has been described as a dry, dusty floral chypre with a honeyed heart.
Photo Stolen myprettypaints
I am offering a draw for two winners, each will receive
2ml decants of Bat-Sheba Exotic Oriental.
P&H Anywhere in the world
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.
To be eligible for the draw just leave a comment on a favorite commercial perfume bottle and how you follow APJ.
Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Bat-Sheba GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-25k #Perfume #Giveaway
Entries Close Thursday 17th October 2013 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Sunday 20th October 2013 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.
Hello Lovely and Luscious Fragrant Friends,
Another super draw this week and Thank you to so many of you who got involved. I loved reading your wish lists and hope that you had a good time organising your thoughts for the inevitablew Christmas Question, “What Do You Want?”
Photo Stolen angkorone
The winner will receive one each of these Manufacturers Samples:
Flash Back by Olfactive Studio
Acqua Di Gio Essenza by Giorgio Armani
Accord 119 by Caron
Jour d’Hermès by Hermes
Esvedra by Laboratorio Olfattivo
Coco Noir by CHANEL
Modern Muse by Estee Lauder
Guilietta by Tocca
Angeliques Sous La Pluie by Frederic Malle
Treffpunkt 8 Uhr by J F Schwartzlose Berlin
P&H Anywhere in the world
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.
All I need is you to say a perfume on your wish list, and why, and how you follow for you to be eligible for the draw.
Entries Closes Sunday 13th October 2013 10pm Australian EDST
Winners will be chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, put on a tray and Jin will pick a winner (unless he asleep or studying then I’ll use random.org). So I used Random.org.
Photo Stolen amberinblunderland
CONGRATULATIONS!! The winner will have till Wednesday 16th October 2013 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.
Heya BWF Freaks and everyone else too!
The other day at lunch with my buddy Cassandra and she passed across a decant of something I may have heard about but seriously had no recollection of, we had eaten and it was super sniffa time: this was maybe the 10th or 15th frag that had been spritzed on touches. It was like my whole body went en pointe.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Tuberose, peach, coriander
Heart: Orange blosson, rose, spices, patchouli, gardenia, jasmine
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, musk, oakmoss
Divine is the most aptly named fragrance I’ve come across in ages. WOWIE!! Straight out of the spritzer and WHOOOSH Big White Flowers and peachy/coriander skank bomb. The tuberose is excellent and lushly indolic, I am surprised there is no ylang here because I am reminded of its sensual lushness, maybe it’s the orange blossom/tuberose melange. So this smells like money, good old fashioned money spent on VERY sexy ladies who dress well and swear like truck drivers. A wall of old school glamour from when fragrance was used as a weapon in the arsenal of the huntress. Divine is what movie stars of a certain age must still be wearing.
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
Sold as a chypre (Arielle at Scents Of Self writes that a Chypre is defined by a lack of florals) so my conclusion is then FlOriental. With a super Double WOW! So reminiscent of bygone fragrances, deep and soft and satin sheened fragrant magic. The heart stays BWF on me but slowly I can smell the bases creeping in, underneath to bolster but not obscure. The creeping and sneaking continues until suddenly you’re left wondering how the dark green woodsy vanilla has overcome the spicy, sensual florals and now are in charge. The white flowers are still there though, just quietly humming along and adding a breathy counterpoint to one of the prettiest drydowns still left in modern perfumery.
Photo Stolen HollywoodDreamLand
Wear time 6-8 hours and heat helps Divine bloom even more invitingly, though it wears beautifully in the cool also and will be gorgeous in the snow. This is a BIG perfume in a genre nearly forgotten. People say it’s high, dressy evening but I will be more likely to wear it selfishly for cleaning, shopping and other drudgeries that need a glamorous something to help me endure them. Divine may become my paperwork fragrance.
Further reading: I Smell Therefore I Am and EauMG
Divine has an online boutique that sends to the world. I just went and bought 20ml Parfum for 140€ shipped to Australia.
LuckyScent has refillable 50ml goldtone atomisers $120
Surrender To Chance starts at $3/ml
Have you tried this? Can you believe it?
Portia xx
Hiya APJ Family and Friends,
This is the story of Escuela Caribe, an evangelical Christian reform school that kidnaps young adults and through abuse and regimentation tries to change them. I am appalled and so sad for these kids, imagine your parents feeling that this is the answer to homosexuality instead of love and acceptance. I’m sorry but I see very little of Jesus in the actions of the adults here. There is nothing scarier than evil done in the name of good. My memory of Jesus teachings was to love yourself, your brother, neighbour, family, the world and everything in it. LOVE everybody and let God judge.
Sorry if this is preachy or offensive to anyone. I think that this should be known about and talked about and stopped.
Sometimes the world makes me so sad that I’m left feeling absolutely helpless: awash and drowning in the sadness caused by this kind of horror.
Thank you Tamsin Simmill for bringing this movie to my attention.
Further reading: Abuse In The Name Of Christianity<<<JUMP
Hello Ford Fans,
Tom Ford is an icon in his own right nowadays and still is doing amazing stuff in so many directions. When you look at some of the designers fragrance division it is so obviously a money grab whereas the Tom Ford fragrance line, produced with Estee Lauder, mostly sails so far above the rest that they feel like they deserve to be this expensive. Though to be fair if they were a third less the price I would probably own FBs of them all instead of just one. Are you reading Tom? So midway through 2013 the Tom Ford crew released a set of four new frags under the Atelier d’Orient subcategory
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Citruses, amber, bergamot, bitter orange, tolu balsam, lemon, cognac, cardamom, tarragon, mint
Boy! There has been some terrible reviews for Rive d’Amber. If you adore Tom Ford’s fragrances for their enormousness then Rive d’Amber will leave you howling for more. To be as honest as I can I too am a little disappointed. The open is so lavish and citrus-y, it’s flirty, fun, fizzy and day-glo brightness is enough to chase the blues away, seriously. What a stunning opening. As the initial heat burns off there is a lovely green-ness that works beautifully with the citrus to bring some light and shade. So good, I enjoy it immensely.
Photo Stolen DeviantArt
Sydney is in 30+C heat today and Rive d’Amber fits the bill exactly for about 30 minutes when it becomes a very soft amber with just a hint of citrus memory floating through, so soft a skin scent that lets my skins fragrance shine through, like they are working in tandem. After two hours I’m basically left with a very soft wash of nothing, I think Mona di Orio did the same idea but much better carriede out in her Vanille. Rive d’Amber is not a bad fragrance but it’s also not the way I want my scent to live. I’m going to give the rest of my decant to one of Jin’s friends, I know she will love it for exactly what it is. For me, please pass the Neroli Portifino.
Photo Stolen Jennifer McCready… Flickr
Further reading: Kafkaesque and Notable Scents
Tom Ford is available in some Department Stores next to the Estee Lauder counter
Surrender To Chance starts at $4/.5ml
Thanks for dropping by,
See you tomorrow,
Portia xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 