Elysium – Matt Damon + Jodie Foster August 9 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 23 Comments

Hey Crew,

Do you love the movies? I find cinemas hard to deal with. Firstly, I can’t press pause and grab food, wee, drink or interupt the movie in any way. Secondly, I hate crying in public and inevitably do in the cinema, or scream at scary bits, or laugh too loud at mildly funny bits. Thirdly, after about 50 minutes I get the fidgets, in a long movie that means I get up and leave the cinema for a while and come back unable to concentrate because I’ve lost the plot.

These two actors, there are a few more, though are such favourites of mine that I am chomping at the bit to go see this movie. Jodie Foster and Matt Damon!! OMG! Together in one film. HEAVEN! Can’t wait for August 9.

elysium g4tvPhoto Stolen g4tv

Please enjoy the Official Trailer.

Portia xx

Elysium filmofiliaPhoto Stolen filmofilia

Amouage Interlude Woman Perfume Review by Eliza

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 47 Comments

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Guest Post by Eliza

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Hello you lovely Perfume Peeps!

We are joined today by one of our fabulous APJ winners from the past who has written in praise of Amouage Interlude Woman. I’d like to thank Libertine Parfumerie for their incredible generosity in providing our giveaway today.

Amouage Interlude Woman Perfume Review by Eliza

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, grapefruit, ginger, tagete (marigold)
Heart: Rose, frankincense, jasmine, orange blossom, helichrysum (immortelle), opoponax, sandalwood, walnut, coffee, kiwi, honey
Base: Vanilla, benzoin, amber, sandalwood, oakmoss, leather, tonka, musk, agarwood

Eliza here from the US. The package arrived today. What treasures!!! I immediately sprayed on the Amouage Interlude Woman. Initial thoughts were herby medicinal, like echinacia, or chamomile, so I was not surprised to read that it lists tagetes (marigold) in the top notes. Then peppers and something floral. Within a few moments I could smell incense, which finally developed into frankincense and probably myrrh. Right now it is softening to a lovely warm scent with floral underpinnings. But I can still smell the woods, and a bit of the medicine. Incensey perfumes are not my cup of tea, but this is quite lovely.

Amouage Interlude W + M GIVEAWAY!!

Interlude parfumeriePhoto Stolen parfumerie

I have an idea! Well it’s not such a new idea, I’m sure someone else has done it before and better but here it is. If you enter this draw and win then you must write me a MINI REVIEW of one of the fragrances that you win. Cool? The same as Eliza did up the top. Around 100 words. You too can be an APJ GUEST POST WRITER!!

I have four sets of Interlude Man + Interlude Woman by Amouage to give away and some surprises.

If we reach 100 Individual Commenters I will also add a 5ml metal atomiser filled with L’Artisan Parfumeurs recently discontinued Coeur de Vetiver Sacre

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

There are FOUR packs to give away this week, the winners will receive
1 x AMOUAGE Interlude Man carded 3ml Manufacturers Spray Sample
1 x AMOUAGE Interlude Woman carded 3ml Manufacturers Spray Sample
1 x Special Surprise Manufacturers Carded Sample
with P&H anywhere in the world

If we reach 100 Individual Commenters I will also add an extra draw -1 x 5ml metal atomiser filled with L’Artisan Parfumeurs recently discontinued Coeur de Vetiver Sacre

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who is a follower of AustralianPerfumeJunkies via email (eM), Bloglovin” (BGL), RSS, or WordPress (WP) and please leave how you follow in your comment. Yes, you may become a new follower to enter! In fact, we encourage it.
All you need to do this week is go to LibertinePerfumerie and get the name of any product they sell that hasn’t been used in this draw before! NO DOUBLE UPS!! That’s it!! EASY PEASY!

So 3 things you need to qualify!
1) Follow AustralianPerfumeJunkies
2) Tell us how you follow
3) Leave a fragrance sold by Libertine Parfumerie with your comment (no double ups)

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie AMOUAGE Interlude GIVEAWAY!! http://wp.me/p2fQBU-1wJ @AmouagePerfumes

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 21st 2013 10pm AusEST and winners will be announced in a separate post then.
Winners will be chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, put on a tray and TSO Jin will pick them. He doesn’t even stop watching TV to do it usually.
The winners will have till Wednesday 24th 2013 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or I will give the prize to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Special THANKS to LibertinePerfumerie for the AMOUAGE Interlude Samples. Please visit their site because they are so generous and helpful. If you wonder why they are more expensive than the discounters or OS retailers it’s because they are the only licensed company selling their fragrances in Australia; where you know you are buying new, fresh and genuine product. The cost of importing and buying the right to import alcohol based fragrances (and having the right to send alcohol based fragrances throughout Australia, which are illegal to send in the Australia Post system) is expensive and they must cover their costs to bring you these luxury goods.

GO TO IT GANG!!!

See you tomorrow,

Portia xxx

A.N.Z.A.C. DAY 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Hi APJ Family,

Today is an important day in Australia. We join together to mourn, celebrate and congratulate the Australian & New Zealand Army Corps for their courage in war.

My Dad was a WWII vet, a bomber in the Air Force, who signed up underage and lost the use of his legs in the war. The rest of his life spent as a paraplegic. He would wheel in the ANZAC Day Parade until age and infirmity meant he couldn’t anymore and then they put him on the back of a truck and he would wave.

He was a good man and did his best, his jewellery/watch repair/gift shop was the original meeting place for the first Australian Paraplegic Games Team and he went on to win medals in a few sports. He married my beautiful, clever Mum who was his nurse at the Repat. hospital. He was my Dad and I wish I had known him better.

What fragrance will I wear to remember him, when I go to visit his plaque? Tabac Original by Maurer & Wirtz

I hope you all have a happy and enjoyable ANZAC Day, wherever you are.

Lest we forget.

Portia xx

anzac-07

LUSH Ultrabalm + Coriander, Green Chili, Walnut and Yoghurt Chutney Recipe

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

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Post by Val the Cookie Queen

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Greetings APJ Fragrance Fiends!

Lush. British slang term to describe something pleasing or desirable.

“I had the most lush meal last night.”
“That perfume is lush.”
“Look at him/ her …….. he/she is totally lush.”

LUSH ULTRABALM – by LUSH

LUSH Ultra Balm VegetarianLivingPhoto Stolen VegetarianLiving

Ingredients:

Organic Jojoba Oil
Candelilla Wax
Rose Wax

We´ll keep this short. This stuff is totally amazing. For a million things. Too long to list. You can look it up for homework.
Why am I writing about it? Well, for all you folks whose skin “eats fragrance”, or who just want their scent to last a little longer, Ultrabalm is the business.
If you know that already, then skip this and look at the recipe. For those who don´t, it´s simple.
Put a little of the Ultrabalm wherever you put your fragrance. Then put your fragrance on top. That´s it. Your perfume will last much longer. The very slight smell that the Ultrabalm has goes away.
I use it for any scent that I think of as an “anointing” scent. Rose, patchouli, amber, sandalwood, Tauer, Vermeire ………
But who cares?? Use it for whatever you want. I would never, ever be without it.

http://www.lush.co.uk

http://www.lushusa.com

http://www.lush.com.au

Coriander, Green Chili, Walnut and Yoghurt Chutney Recipe

CQ´s Occasional Fragrant Cooking Secrets

GreenChutney FoodVivaPhoto Stolen FoodViva

This stuff is awesome.

Good sized bunch of fresh coriander (some stems are OK)
Yoghourt of your choice (I like Turkish or Greek) – maybe about a half cup, maybe a bit more
Fresh green chiles (too taste, obviously)
10 or 15 walnut halves
Salt
(slices of thin red onion to decorate if you are feeling creative)

Plug in a food processor (!)

Chuck the whole lot (EXCEPT the salt) in a food processor. Process. Not at rocket speed. Bit by bit.
Not thick enough – add some more walnuts, not hot enough – more chiles (remembering it gets hotter over the hours and days) want it more creamy – add more yoghourt. Add the salt at the end, you´ll probably need a decent amount. Anything with chiles needs lots of salt. You don´t add it to the food processor because it makes the chutney turn runny. I like it to be thickish. But make it how you want.

This chutney dances on your tongue. Eat it with everything. Well maybe not cornflakes. Keeps in the fridge for a few days just fine. Smells lush.

Bussis
CQ

Series 3 Incense: Avignon by Bertrand Duchaufour for Comme des Garcons 2002

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

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Gabriella

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Avignon by Comme des Garcons 2002

Hello Everyone, Do we need to have a strong memory association or reference for a perfume to really move us? This is the question that popped into my head as soon as I tested Avignon by Comme des Garcons. Why? Because it moved me in such a way and yet, I couldn’t really fathom why. It’s an incense-based perfume and meant to be a fragranced homage to Catholicism. Many reviews, including the lovely Portia’s a few months ago, have emphasised the evocation of childhood memories of Catholic rites: days spent at mass surrounded by swinging censers and altar boys.

Avignon Mass Incense PoliticsDailyPhoto Stolen PoliticsDaily

But I’m not Catholic and I’ve always disliked incense. In fact, I avoided Avignon for many years, despite the glowing reviews for these very reasons. My scent impression of incense before trying the scent was of those cheap joss sticks they sell in two-dollar shops. And the closest I have come to being Catholic was having a serious girl crush on Josephine Byrnes in the mini-series Brides of Christ. For about a week or two, I thought how cool it would be to become a nun. (Ed: Josephine Burns and I were at the same drama school, lived in the same area and used to catch the train to and sometimes from school together. She was always the most beautiful young woman)

My fragrance loves tend to be white florals because I have spent my life surrounded by them. My grandmothers and mother wore white floral perfumes, Mum often had vases of lilies in the house and gardenias were a constant of my childhood summers. My first perfumes: Revlon’s Jontue and Cacharel’s Anais Anais built on that trajectory of association.

However, I also realise that we people who love perfumes can learn to appreciate and love new and different notes. But this, for me, is something different. As we sniff more and more, we can see beauty in the things that we once found ugly or appreciate a note that once we would have been happy to overlook. Perfume is an art form and as our noses become well trained, we can fall in love with something that we didn’t understand before. For a perfume to really well and truly move me though, to really feel like I am applying a second skin, I’d always thought it would need a strong evocation of something important or a strong memory.

And yet, that first drop of Avignon on flesh felt completely right. It was another lightbulb moment where I had the “wow” factor and I knew I’d end up buying a bottle.

Avignon FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

The perfume features notes of roman chamomile, cistus oil, elemi, incense, vanilla, patchouli, palisander, ambrette seeds.

For me, Avignon is all about the central theme of frankincense that undulates between smokiness, earthiness and brightness. It segues seamlessly on the skin between these different facets: the palisander bringing out the woody character, the patchouli amplifying the dark earthiness and the ambrette and chamomile giving the sense of brightness and joy. It’s quite a linear fragrance that moves softly and slowly on the skin. Its an introspective fragrance best suited to moments of quiet contemplation, evoking that sense of serenity you would need at times of prayer.

????????????????????????????????????????Photo Stolen ImpulseMagazin

And that’s why Avignon spoke to me so profoundly at a time in my life when everything felt discombobulated and stressful, Avignon took me to a place I needed to be. A place of tranquillity and reflection, a place where I could shut the door on the chaos that has been my life over the past month and I could just simply “be”. That is the magic of perfume.

For other more complete reviews, please see OlfactoryObsessed and Olfactoria’s review on PerfumeSmellin’Things
Luckyscent has Avignon for $US80/50ml.
SurrenderToChance has samples starting at $US4.59/ml.

Have you tried Avignon and what did you think of it? Have you ever tried a perfume that has completely floored you with it beauty and you can’t work out why?

With much love till next time!

M x

Believe by Britney Spears 2007

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

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Post by Katrina

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2007 was the year we saw Britney Spears suffer a very public breakdown. She spent time in rehab, shaved her head and lost custody of her children. 2007 is also the year that the Britney Spears fragrance Believe was released. Believe, one of the best perfumes from Britney Spears was released at a time when her life was in turmoil. Its times like this when you need to believe in the future. Britney managed to get through the tough times and get back in the spotlight for the right reasons appearing as a judge on America’s X-Factor in 2012.

Britney Spears Believe 2007

Believe FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrance notes from Fragrantica
Top: guava and tangerine.
Heart: honeysuckle and linden blossom.
Base: patchouli, amber and sweet praline notes.

The green Believe bottle is quite spectacular, shaped like a multi-faceted triangular prism.

Believe starts out fresh and juicy with a delicious opening of tangerine and guava. This perfume deserves more than a quick sniff because if you rely on first impressions you will miss the best of this fragrance as it develops into a warm and spicy scent. There are beautiful soft florals and the perfume opens up with earthy notes from the patchouli and amber. Believe feels comforting with an easygoing patchouli that is cozy and warm. The praline carries on a delicious quality to the fragrance.

(Ed: Believe uses a softened version of the Mugler Angel base and is surprisingly wearable)

Britney Believe HotCosmeticsPhoto Stolen HotCosmetics

I haven’t been able to track down the name of the perfumer of Believe. Basenotes have the perfume listed as unknown. If I developed this fragrance I would proudly put my name on it.

Further reading at Now Smell This
FragranceNet starting at $15.95/30ml
MyPerfumeSamples has $2/ml or $4/5ml

Watch my video review of Britney Spears Believe on my CelebrityPerfume YouTube Channel

For more celebrity perfume reviews visit my website Celebrity Perfume Store

Katrina xx

Daniel Craig Undressed – Adele – 007 Perfume?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 25 Comments

Hey Hey All,

Adele seems to have it all, including a quick rejoinder. My estimation of her has gone up a couple of notches after reading this. Her voice is such a magical thing I hope she stays around and grows old, rich and irrelevant instead of succumbing to drugs, madness or the 27 club as so many uber talents do. I have also dropped in, for your edification, the Skyfall video clip because Daniel Craig is a fabulous James Bond. Then down the bottom I added the 007 fragrance advertisement, OH DEAR!

Enjoy Adele and Daniel Craig.

Portia xx

Insecurities ADELEPhoto Stolen Facebook

Adele billboardPhoto Stolen Billboard

And a little present for you all, Daniel Craig on the beach, wet and in swim trunks. OMG!! Faint!

DanielCraig mynewplaidpantsPhoto Stolen MyNewPlaidPants

Eau de Cartier Essence d`Orange by Mathilde Laurent 2010

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Hello Lovely APJ Family,

Eau de Cartier Essence d`Orange 2010

EaudeCartierEssenced`Orange FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Oranges, bergamot
Heart: Violets
Base: Patchouli, cedar

I love the sparkly, fresh burst of opening here, all bright ORANGE! It’s so fun and frisky and perfect for warm weather wearing as the Northern Hemisphere heads towards summer. For us down here it is still eminently wearable on warm Autumnal days like today, we are rocking 25 degrees celcius and the sun is shining gloriously. The violets at the heart of Cartier Essence d`Orange are like woody and powdery soft whispers awaiting the magic of very clean patchouli and woods to round them out and make them more interesting. I love the barely there dry down, it really acts as if my skin smells better than it does, as if it has melded with my scent. Cartier Essence d`Orange becomes a shimmering subterfuge that makes it an excellent date night fragrance, especially if your skin needs to smell 100% on point for the late night playtime.

I am not swept away in a cloud of magical and wondrous memories, nor am I transported to other lands when I wear Cartier Essence d`Orange but it is a lovely scent, quiet and restrained, that gets quite a bit of skin time. I’ve nearly finished my second 5ml decant and ordered a FB online. Honestly, I am lucky to get 2 hours of full fragrance here but that whispering dry down is a killer on my skin and I love it.

OrangePatchouli mosleylanePhoto Stolen mosleyLane

Further reading NowSmellThis
FragranceNet has 100ml/$50
MyPerfumeSamples has $2/m but I bought $6/5ml Cer-Ay-Zee CHEAP!!

You better get a sample first, this may only be so good with my chemistry. If you have tried Cartier Essence d`Orange, what were your thoughts?
Portia xx

Kampot Pepper from Cambodia GIVEAWAY WINNER ANNOUNCED!

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Hello all.

We had a sensational response to the Cambodian Kampot Pepper Giveaway. Thanks to the amazing Jordan from TheFragrantMan and to all of you who participated. I love a little pepper in my food too, and in my fragrances.

Kampot Pepper GIVEAWAY WINNER ANNOUNCED!

Kampot pepperGifts – one bag of black and one bag of red Kampot peppercorns from Cambodia

HOW COULD YOU WIN

You had to leave a comment below telling us your favourite use of pepper in food, fashion or fragrance or Like The Fragrant Man on Facebook to be in the random draw.

WHAT YOU CAN WIN

One of 8 gifts consisting of one bag of red peppercorns and one bag of black peppercorns each so that you can taste the difference.

Included is P&P to anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Friday April 19th 2013 10pm AusEST.
Winners were chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, put on a tray and TSO Jin picked them while he was cooking Terriyake Sauce for our Nori Rolls. YUMMY!! Whenever he cooks it the house smells AH MAY ZING!

WINNERS berryreviewPhoto Stolen berryreview

Mim, SuzanneRBanks, Patricia (FB), Brie, Musette, Azar, Tomate Farcie, Tora (FB)

CONGRATULATIONS!! The winners have till Wednesday 24th April 2013 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or Portia will give the prize to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Excellent work everyone,

Portia xx