Camel extrait de parfum by Christian Carbonnel for Zoologist 2017

December 27, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Erica Golding

Hello and loving winter greetings to you all, whether you’re steaming in the southern hemisphere or shivering up north with me!

Here’s a beauty that has already received a tsunami of glowing praise, and I’m here to offer up my thoughts. I’ve got a sample of Zoologist Camel!

Camel extrait de parfum by Zoologist

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Dates, dried fruits, rose, olibanum, amber, jasmine, myrrh, orange blossom, incense, cedar, cinnamon, musk, agarwood (oud), sandalwood, tonka bean, vanilla, vetiver, civet

I have sampled a few Zoologist offerings, and they’ve been fun and unique, but this is the first one that has me breathing deeply with ecstasy! I’ve noticed by reading reviews that this perfume seems to vary quite a bit from person to person, and my experience is unique as well.

On my skin, Camel opens with a delicious ripe red fruit accord, which makes me think of sweetened pomegranate juice. This sweet fruit-forward cloak is intense and addictive, and completely dominates the majority of the wearlength on me. I can practically taste the sensual delight! It’s juicy, really it is. When I over-apply with fervor, I can faintly detect the oud, but only at the beginning and not very noticeably. The resinous notes are very quiet to start, and have a crackling dry quality thanks to the woody frankincense and cedar. They warm up a bit more once the fruits have calmed, but overall Camel is really a fruity perfume on me.

Flickr

LuckyScent has $135/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $4/0.5ml

So there you have it, Camel is a softly delicious fruity delight for me! Have you gotten your nose on this perfume yet? What is it like for you? Everyone seems to report back different impressions, it’s fun to read them as they pop up!

Love and light,

-Erica

2017. Music, Films, Book and Fleur de Lalita by Dusita

December 26, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 105 Comments

Val the Cookie Queen

Happy Feast Of St Stephen APJ

It has been one fabulous year for music, I have a deep rooted love for the older stuff, Velvets, Stooges, MC5, Doors, Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd, Bowie etc etc. But I love pop music and crank up the commercial music in the car too. Mostly though I listen to my music on headphones in the gym. It motivates and inspires me to get right into both cardio and weights. So what have I been mainlining this year?

Cookie Queen 2017. The Music, The Films, A Book

Plus A Boxing Day Perfume Giveaway

MUSE. Everything.
Imagine Dragons. Going to see them next May,
Placebo. Never get sick of them.
Rag and Bone Man. Human. Love this hip-hop, rap, grime influenced stuff. He has such a wonderful voice.
London Grammar. Although they have been around for a few years, I only came across them in 2017. Check out there amazing cover of Chris Isaac´s “Wicked Game“.
Eminem. Eminem. Eminem. The new album Revival. His recent 5 songs for the BBC with Skylar Grey. I’m dying. It makes every nerve in my body stand on end.
(And Blondeswunder wants to marry him. I want to see him. Would travel.)
The Lumineers. Everything.
Lorde. Everything.
Stormzy. Gang Signs and Prayer. English rapper. First grime album to reach number one. Great for pushing weights.
Foo Fighters. Never tire.

IMDb

Two films stick out. Both of which I went to twice.
“Hell or High Water” A Neo-Western crime thriller. With Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Gil Birmingham. Superb music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.
Brilliant cinematography.
“The Party“. A British black comedy. A sharp satire of love and politics. Very very good.

Books.
Just one. Philip Pullman. His dark materials Trilogy. Twenty years later than most, but just in time for his new trilogy, The Book of Dust. Part one, La Belle Sauvage. I read other books, but these were my highlights.

My good friend Kirk, who has featured several times in posts, found himself hanging out in Jovoy this year, and seems to have been buying rather a lot of `fumes. I believe young perfumista status has been reached. I claim all responsibilty. I began to train with a personal trainer five months ago, coincidentally Kirk was with me when I started. He showed an interest in the perfume conversation we were having. As Kirk conveniently purchased a bottle of Malle´s Monsieur the next day, we grabbed him some samples. Now he’s spiralling.

Fleur de Lalita by Dusita 2017

Fragrantica

Which brings me to my Giveaway. I missed the Parfum Dusitas party last year. Getting to try every new thing is just not possible. Pissara Umavijani was kind enough to send me a couple of travel sized samples of her new creation Fleur de Lalita. It will not be launched until next year. A very lovely white floral, including jasmine, with a bitter galbanum threader through them. It slowly dries down to a soft sandalwood and tonic base. It is very elegant, quite feminine and beautifully done. I have a 7.5ml travel atomizer to giveaway.

Happy New Year to the APJ Family.
Bussis
CQ

Fleur de Lalita GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Fleur de Lalita 7.5ml travel atomizer
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us in the comments: Music, films, books? What have you been listening to, or reading or watching

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 28th December 2017 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
I´ll chuck all the names into my dead armadillo basket and pick one out.
The winners will have till Sunday 31st December 2017 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

SOTD 25 – 31 December 2017

December 25, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 136 Comments

Portia

Hi APJ,

I see these SOTD (Scent Of The Day) threads all the time on Facebook and they are really good conversation generators.

SOTD 25 – 31 December 2017

The idea is you’ll chime in through the week with whatever scent you are wearing. You don’t need to be super knowledgable, have high faluting tastes or be a published author to comment. Just tell us what fragrance you’re wearing, smelling, buying etc.

You probably won’t have time to write every scent, every spritz but whenever you feel the mood take you share your current spritz and a few things about it. Maybe you love/loathe it, want it, are excited by the notes/bottle/SA who sold it: WHATEVER! As always here at APJ, taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
This week:

Thierry Mugler Womanity
Oliver & Co Vaninger
Neela Vermeire Creations Trayee
Etat Libre d’Orange Yes I Do
Evocative Perfumes Vanille Tonique

Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Sunday.

Last Weeks WINNER: Jyotsna

Go To It Crew.
Portia xxx

Manguier Métisse GIVEAWAY WINNERS

December 25, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Portia

Hey Hey Crew,

Another excellent giveaway. Let’s see who won.
Portia xx

Manguier Métisse GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Manguier Métisse by Pierre Guillaume

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Fruity notes, mango, tea, sugar, frangipani, woody notes, powdery notes

LuckyScent has $125/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $5/ml

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 3 winners who will receive:
1 x Manguier Métisse decant (from my decant)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 24th December 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

Sue Mills

Saffyishere

Undina

The winners will have till Thursday 28th December 2017 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

Merry Christmas 2017

December 25, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Hi APJ,

Whether you celebrate and believe or not, the idea of Peace On Earth and Goodwill To All People cannot be overlooked. It’s so simple and should everyone try to incorporate it in our lives the world would be a happier and safer place.

No matter your colour, creed or favourite fragrance the whole APJ Crew wish you a safe and peaceful Christmas period.

For those doing it tough emotionally this year
LifeLine Australia Call them on 13 11 14
BeyondBlue Support Call them on 1300 22 4636

If you are in immediate danger or know of someone who is Call 000
Australia National 1800RESPECT Domestic Violence Call 1800 737 732

Scent Diary: 18.12 – 24.12.2017

December 24, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Portia

Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,

Leading up to Christmas week here. Getting as ready as we can and trying unsuccessfully to fit hangouts with everyone in. It has been fun wrapping everyones presents and seeing them during the daytime, when normally they’re all working.

Scent Diary: 18.12 – 24.12.2017

Monday 18:

WOW! 10am and 28C. I woke up in a sweat even though the fan is on. Muggy too. Still I want to feel pretty today so a triple spritz of SJP Lovely. Never fails to bring a smile to my face and in summer is perfectly bracing. I feel chilled through.

Wendy came over today so Jin could help her organise her new computer. We had lunch and chattered, then they watched TV while I ran some errands. It was a lovely day.

Then visited Kath’s Mum who was not in a good way at all. Hugs and tears all round.

Jin and I then went and got Baklava from Sydney’s best and most famous Lebanese sweet shop, Abla’s. Baklava is the universal cure all.

SO HOT, it’s like my skin is burning in hot water. I’m bringing the fan in here. It’s so hot that I don’t even want fragrance on me.

Tuesday 19:

Scott and I worked through the 42C heat and it nearly broke us. Bloody hell. 1pm drives to the bank, post office and around about left us sweating and panting.

It is so hot I made a cool Radox Bath Salts Bath. Instantly my whole body started to feel like it could function again and thought became possible. Getting out afterwards into the superheated air was like walking through warm treacle.

I wore CHANEL Boy tonight to work. It got a couple of random compliments but honestly I couldn’t smell it after the first hour or so. It seemed like more than our fair share of crazies were out last night. Had a rather unsavoury contretemps at the RSL with a slightly unhinged person. It all ended with his eviction and was a little unsettling but no harm done to anyone.

Bedtime; So hot and sticky (31C at 1am) I’m sweating just sitting at the computer. We do have the AC on dry mode which has cooled the living room and Jin, the dogs & I will sleep there. Dogs on their beds, Jin & I on the couch. Neela Vermeire Pichola. It’s plush, creamy white floral over green and resinous base is a perfect heat beater.

Wednesday 20:

WOW! Got a fabulous nights sleep. The whole four of us slept till 9am and then Jin had to go for a medical appointment and I fed & walked the dogs. Got their nails clipped at the local vet at the same time. It was bloody hot out thee and we arrived home panting, me sweating as well.

What better heat beater than Frederic Malle Geranium Pour Monsieur?

It was so cooling I respritzed again after lunch while opening this years Christmas Cards. There has been a drought this year and I did only about 10. If one of these is from you then you are a freaking HERO!! Seriously. I love getting them.

Visited Kath’s Mum in hospital in the afternoon and she seemed sunnier, if no better. Having just been for a walk there was a healthy flush and twinkle in her eye. She already had visitors so we didn’t stay overly long.

Jin cooked Korean Chicken Curry and we had it with Brown Rice. He is a wonderful cook and I love it when we eat together. Today we also watched this cute TV show about otters that didn’t like water and how they got retrained to love it.

Tonight Alice has grabbed tickets to the closing night of an original Australian theatre production. Called the Bodybag it’s a spoof on the Bodyguard. Can’t wait to see it. The producer and star is a mate of mine Trevor Ashley, well know around the Drag Scene as Cleopatra Coupe.

Tonight I’m wearing Teone Reinthall’s Antarctica from a decant. It is outrageous in this heat and has nothing to do with the cold icy turn the name suggests to me. It’s very furry and I’m enjoying it immensely.

Bloody Hell The Bodybag was hilarious. We laughed so hard. Excellent show. Here we are before & after

Thursday 21:

Blessed relief. Woke up today to a sensible 24C and some cloud cover. It’s still like walking through a pool, humidity wise, but at least the air isn’t burning my lungs like a sauna. The dogs were 100% more lively on our walk this morning.

Wearing Hermès Eau des Merveilles again. Such a splendid summer staple.

Went and saw Kath’s Mum, with Kath. The doctor was trying to get a canal out and all of a sudden it was rivers of blood. GAK! Poor Mum. I did ask if they would PLEASE get the nurses to do all the needles, canals and blood relateds from now on. They are SO MUCH BETTER at doing it all.

Then Kath & I went shopping for a while. It was nice to just aimlessly hang out, she’s good company.

Jin and I FaceTimed today while he was working. Isn’t he the cutest thing EVER! It’s weird that we both look so serious, and it was an accidental capture, but I thought you should see him in his work clobber.

Salt-Anne sent me a beautiful pic of a similar Niki de Saint Phalle bottle so I sent her a pic of mine. So beautiful.

Tonight I went to dinner at the Kings Park Tavern. A farewell for one of the teams that have played since before I started there. It was a lovely evening, food was excellent and we had a wonderful time. Bittersweet because I probably won’t be back without my Thursday booking. Very sad. We had so much fun I forgot to take a photo. GRRR!

For bed I popped on some Mona di Orio Oiro, a powdery white floral with soft creamy ylang & amber holding it steady. It smells luxurious and very elegant.

Friday 22:

Up early to feed and walk the dogs. It’s freaky outside, cloudy, not very hot but so humid that I feel wet. Big day out today with friends so I’m going to jump a train and get it started ASAP. Wearing Diptyque 34.

First friend I organised to meet today is Phil. He has a brand new new office and I had an Office Warming gift for him. Then we asked across town to see “Rembrandt and the Dutch golden age: masterpieces from the Rijksmuseumat” at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. It’s a special exhibition and I have been looking forward to it. The exhibition is a really good size, not too much so you leave with brain overload and a very nice selection of the genre. We found our guide lacked the ability to engage us, which was a shame. She knew ALL the facts and rattled them off impeccably but I felt no personal attachment to the works, and gained only a little knowledge under her onslaught. Then we went down to the Members Lounge and lunched. It was really nice.

Met Evie in Macquarie St and we had sidewalk drinks and chatter. She is such good company and wet had OODLES of catching up to do. Then we headed off to the NSW State Library to see “The Sydney Morning Herald’s photography exhibition Photos1440: the best published and unpublished images by Sydney Morning Herald photographers from 2015 to the present.” It was spectacular. Some interesting, moving, shocking and heartwarming photos. All beautifully shot and gave us so much to chat about as we wandered. We also managed to squeeze in a fun Aussie Pop Culture exhibition too. All for FREE!

Jumped a train to Kath’s, we had to go do some Bunnings shopping. It’s our major hardware chain and has everything, for the Non Australian readers. Just some planters and soil for a repotting job. Before we got there though I finagled Kath into visiting one of my favourite warehouse reduction places, Victoria’s Basement. A homewares heaven. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to go there and come out empty handed. It was super fun. I even managed to have a bunch of bowls jump off their precarious perch. We saved three but one hit the floor and became shards.

Met Jin outside Kath’s apartment because he works around the corner. We had to do some last minute shopping and grab some of the food necessary. Dinner was at our second favourite Sushi Train and then Jin treated me to a shared dessert (triple chocolate mousse cheesecake: To Die For and of probably) and extra chocolate at Guylian. It was so fabulous and decadent.

Bubble Bath with L`Artisan Parfumeur La Chasse aux Papillons.

SOTBed Issey Miyake A Scent in outrageous amounts. Just kept spritzing and respritzing till I was a fumigation machine.

Saturday 23:

Jin and I were up early and I had a quick spritz of Guerlain Mitsouko EdT.

Walked the dogs, visited Mum at the hospital, did some early morning shopping.

Came home and Jin has started cooking the pork for Christmas. He also does extra crackling and that is superb.

A lovely lunchtime nap. We have the AC on dry so instead of supercooling the air it takes the hot sting and the water out. It leaves our living room a haven and runs at less than half the cost. We have the dogs on their beds and we take the couch. We didn’t even bother to leave the TV on, just a cool quiet room to sleep in.

Found out today that the hotel that has finished Turbo Trivia after about 15 years will be bringing in a new crew after new year and moving it to a better area. I’m glum.

What better way to beat the glum than triple spritz some perfume? One of the newest DIOR Privee, Souffle de Soie from a decant. Review coming soon.

In the evening I went into town and Kath & I went on our annual prawn buying expedition to the Sydney Fish Markets. We catch public transport down on the 23rd night, grab some dinner and shop. The markets are open for 36 hours in the lead up to Christmas and usually they are jam packed. Tonight was not so busy and we even got harbourside seats for dinner and watched the sunset. It was unbelievably beautiful. I could have stopped there for another hour and just chattered away.

Tonight for bed I spritzed The Scent Of Departure DPS Bali. A fun coconut-centric tropical perfume filled to the brim with yellow and white flowers over a vanilla base.

Sunday 24:

Woke up and gave the house a vacuum, boy cleaned the bathroom, fed and walked the dogs. Gave myself some healthy spritzes of Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Teazzura. A cooling, dry, tart and lightly creamy sweet concoction that lasts about an hour, two if I’m lucky. In this heat I’m getting about 40 minutes before I’m left with a soft laundry musk and a sparkle.

TinaG dropped by on her way to family Christmas and we had Sue’s Christmas Cake and fresh cream with Fortnum & Mason Royal Blend tea and Wirra Wirra Mrs Wigly Sparkling Moscato. Jin was awake and we had a lovely festive time.

Did some blogging in the afternoon but it was pretty lethargic, it’s too hot for prose. Felt the need for some divine beauty this evening so Fort & Manlé’s Charlatan got a lovely wear in the heat.

Made tomorrows Potato Salad, cut the Pork & Crackling and then lay around the couch under the fan till walking the dogs tonight.

It’s YOUR turn. What’s happening in your world?

Did you do anything Fun or Fragrant, with Friends and Family or maybe even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx

Saturday Question: Of your 2017 scent purchases, which did you wear most?

December 23, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 90 Comments

Portia

Hello Fellow Fumies,

Every Saturday we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a $10 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Friday.

Last Weeks Winner: Sadly we only made 63 comments last week.

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with the eMail you’d like me to send your Gift Card to.

Saturday Question:

Of your 2017 scent purchases, which did you wear most?

Most of us shudder as we think of how much money we spend on fragrance in all its forms each year. This addiction is expensive, wasteful and hardly environmentally friendly. Yet still the thrill of the chase, the spend, the bargain and the vintage keeps us plowing through our cash reserves as if money grows on trees. Trolling the WWW at night to read reviews, search out deals, catch up on the FaceBook boards etc inevitably leads to sample, bottle, set purchases.

One of the guys I know online asked this question and it REALLY got me thinking. What have I used from this years spectacular haul? Has there been a favourite that I reach for constantly, or even often?

What I realised was that though I keep buying new bottles on the back of loving a sample or decant, what I wear the most are my collection and samples/decants. When I’m not trying oodles of new to review then I like to be reminded of the bottles I love, give them an airing and reconnect.

My Answer:

There are a couple of ways I can answer this because quite a biot of my fragrant spend goes to buying extras of discontinued fragrances that I adore and whenever I see a bargain snap it up. So vintage parfum atomisers of Miss Dior, Mitsouko, Samsara, Shalimar and Bal a Versailles along with Silences PdT & Niki de Saint Phalle EdT are regular purchases and they get worn a LOT!

If we are talking buying of new bottles then I think that there are two that have seen a bit of use

Serge Lutens: La Fille de Berlin: The very first week that the new bottles came out in the Palais Royale store I rang Elvire and had her send my package via a mate in Europe. The 100ml bottle is lovely, I really like the way it feels and spritzes. It arrived here through the cooler months which meant La Fille de Berlin went into instant rotation and got some serious skin time. Roses done right with a honeyed sweetness that always feels like raspberries to me.

Penhaligon’s: Ostara: Having gone through a good sized decant and seeing a new bottle for sale at a reasonable price I finally caved and bought Ostara. It has been a spring staple for me in 2017, so fresh and bright. Yellow/white flowers and a weird earthy undertone. It’s pretty and unusual. Can’t work out why it wasn’t a bigger hit.

My Saturday Question to you is:

Of your 2017 scent purchases, which did you wear most?

Ummagumma by Bruno Fazzolari 2017

December 22, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Portia

Hi there lovers of NEW!

Ummagumma arrived in the December LuckyScent Sample Pack. People whose noses I admire have praised it unconditionally and with great gusto. I admit to be excited at this new release from and independent perfumer making interesting and beautiful fragrance.

Ummagumma by Bruno Fazzolari 2017

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Saffron, Carnation, Chocolate, Tobacco, Leather, Labdanum, Sandalwood, Cedar, Frankincense, Tonka bean, Vanilla

Imagine. It’s 42C (107F) and I am wearing Ummagumma. Chocolate, tobacco and labdanum. It’s thick, rich and ropey and I have brought to the table sweaty fat man to add to the cacophony. Choc/amber done majestically. Ummagumma smells a little like something I can’t quite place.

It’s about 2 hours later now and Ummagumma has lost most of its potency. What remains is a soft focus, vanilla heavy amber. It is clean and sweet, but not confectionary sugar sweet, resinously sweet. A comfortable amber that doesn’t really live up to the explosive extravagance of the opening or the name. Ummagumma sounds like it’s going to maintain its fragrance like gum does as you chew it for hours. Not here. Maybe I was over-expecting because I did read Claire’s post at Take One Thing Off.

I also think that I may be paralleling this work with unfavourable comparison to the way Pierre Guillaume does sweet amber heavy scents. Now I question myself, would I buy this if I were sniffing in a store? The answer feels like it might be a yes. It is lovely and the opening spectacular.

Not a bad dry down scent, very nice, extremely wearable, comfortable and unchallenging. Second and third wearings have shown me that it is a seamless and smooth blend. The ingredients smell expensive and lavish to me (though I have no real knowledge of ingredients or costs) and I find myself enjoying the ride much more. Sadly, that’s the end of my sample, I have my eye on the Portfolio Discovery Set now.

LuckyScent

Further reading: Take One Thing Off and Colognoisseur
LuckyScent has $125/30ml
LuckyScent also has $30/Portfolio Discovery Set: 5 x 1.7ml atomizer vials

Have you tried any of the Bruno Fazzolari fragrances?
Portia xx

Manguier Métisse by Pierre Guillaume for Huitième Art 2010

December 21, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 25 Comments

Portia

Hi there APJ,

It’s interesting how a new brand will come out with three or four fragrances and often only one or two get any interest generated on the scentbloggosphere. So much so that when I saw the name Manguier Matisse my immediate thought was, “Ooooh! New Huitième Art. Must try that immediately.” So I bought a Surrender To Chance decant. On further delving I discover it was in the original release back in 2010. So I figured, if I’m a complete fan and don’t know it, then how many of you have never had time to adore this beauty?

Manguier Métisse by Huitième Art 2010

Manguier Métisse by Pierre Guillaume

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Fruity notes, mango, tea, sugar, frangipani, woody notes, powdery notes

Interesting, Manguier Métisse means Mango Tree.

Opening gives me mango tea, radiant style, creamy white floral backdrop. Imagine if original Gucci Guilty Femme (2010) was mango centric, used the best quality ingredients and was smoothed by a softly laconic creaminess. There, you have it. That is exactly how Manguier Métisse smells to me. It perfectly presents the dreamy idea of sitting in the shade of a flower gardens Mango Tree in the tropical, humid heat.

PDI

This is not the big band creamy tropical lasciviousness of Annick Goutal’s Songes but more like a summer flanker of Elie Saab Le Parfum (2011), yet I find it a more sophisticated, elegant scent. Less such you in the nose to get your attention and more come hither, just a little bit closer.

Manguier Métisse maintains its heart scent for hours, very linear, until as it fades a nondescript woodsiness underplays the creamy florals.

Ultimately wearable and I’m really liking it in the heat of Sydney summer but I bet it could wash away the winter blues in a moment.

Further reading: Confessions of a Perfume Nerd
LuckyScent has $125/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $5/ml

Manguier Métisse GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 3 winners who will receive:
1 x Manguier Métisse decant (from my decant)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us a scent you use in winter to remind you of summer

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 24th December 2017 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 28th December 2017 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

Helicriss by Sylvaine Delacourte 2016

December 20, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Kate Apted

G’day APJ family,

The weather in the southern states of Australia has not been particularly ‘spring-like’ lately. I finally got around to separating my scent collection into four piles; one for each season. I am beginning to think this somewhat futile an exercise, simply because I never know what each day will be like. As a result, I dig into my other piles for more temperate offerings. It is pretty much back to disordered mayhem. I did, however, find a little 7.5ml bottle of summery sunshine I’d completely forgotten I had!

Way back at the beginning of the year, I ordered Sylvaine Delacourte’s sample set. I quite liked the range, but I found them a little quiet in general. Musk based, with each scent promoting a different facet based on Ms Delacourte’s memories. I was drawn to the powderiness of Florentina and the smooth ylang ylang of Lilylang. The most interesting I found was Helicriss. So, over the winter months, I ordered travel sizes of four of them. In time, they got lost amongst all my smaller sized bottles. The one it seems I had used the most of, though, was Helicriss.

Helicriss by Sylvaine Delacourte 2016

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, cinnamon, rosemary
Heart: Grapefruit, lemon, tonka bean
Base: Immortelle, patchouli, benzoin, musk

What is so enticing about this one? It has a very unusual blend of notes to produce a musky curry. There is no doubt immortelle is a major note, but it is the blend of patchouli, grapefruit, benzoin and the musk that gives it a firey heat. I am grateful this is a skin hugging scent. It would be completely headache inducing if it projected Poison or Angel like. It is the constant reminder of the scent just being there that makes it pique my curiosity.

PDI

I have absolutely no idea how others find it. Thirty minutes after applying, the curry accord dies down to leave a warm, aromatic rosemary and musk. So, by the time I leave the house, Helicriss has already begun its metamorphosis into a herbally musk. No one has ever made mention of this scent at all, so I guess it is polite enough to wear around others. Interestingly, of the entire range, which does lean to a slight ballet-pink-feminine feel, I think this would smell heavenly on a man. There is one guy at work I am hoping I can get to spray this on himself. After months of helping him search for THE scent, I secretly suspect Helicriss is it.

When I used Helicriss over winter, it always gave a feel of dried grass, hay and the dense heat of the midday humidity of an Australian summer day. It has a dusty, wind like sense that makes me yearn for a sudden rainstorm. I am unsure how Helicriss will fare over the blistering heat of summer, but now that it has joined my spring pile, I’ll get to find out. In the meantime, Helicriss will bring sunshine on a temperamental grey spring day.

PDI

Further reading: Now Smell This and Scent for Thought
LuckyScent has $160/100ml and Samples

Which scents suggest, or are indicative of, summer months in your country?
K xxx