Scent Diary: 4.12 – 10.12.2017

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Portia

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Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,

SO MUCH PERFUME this week. It seems I have spritzed every two hours.

Also loads of fun and excitement in the rest of my life. BIG week.

Scent Diary: 4.12 – 10.12.2017

Monday 4:

MONDAY morning! It started out sunny and warm while walking the dogs but just as we came home soft persistent rain appeared. It’s misty and warm rain, very nice.

Lunch with Jin at a Vietnamese place up the road.

Working tonight, filling in for one of my girls because tonight is Sydney’s gala Night of Nights; the DIVAs. Drag Industry Variety Awards. Every queen and her hairdo will be out to see who won and who lost. It used to be my favourite night of the year, something changed and now I don’t think I’ve been for a decade.

Annick Goutal Musc Nomade bubble bath, Keihl’s Original Musk lotion and Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur fragrance. It’s a musky moment here at Chez Turbo.

Great fun tonight at Stonewall filling in. It was nice to catch up with all the girls and have hellos. I didn’t stay to party but came home, had dinner, watched a movie and cleaned the kitchen.

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Now I’m sitting down to finish and send the Trivia Q&A. Just spritzed Parfumerie General Suede Osmanthe. I sit swathed in beauty.

Busy boy, busy life.

Tuesday 5:

I was up at sparrows fart to clean the apartment. Just the regular weekly vacuuming, bathroom (Jin cleans his own bathroom), kitchen and bin emptying. I had it all done by 9am, sat down and had a cuppa then got the dogs fed and out walking.

Wearing Goldfield & Banks Wood Infusion and loving myself sick.

Scotty is here. We got so much done today. Emails, Post Office, Bank, APJ Mailouts, Lunch and general chatter.

Bathed in Bath & Body Works Rainkissed Leaves, wearing Aedes de Venustas Palissandre d’Or. So pretty, a woodsy fragrance but the woods are tempered by a zing of pink pepper and the earthy smoothness of modern patchouli. Aides de Venustas are clever, they do fragrances that are interesting and extremely wearable, this is no exception. Not a big scent but quietly confident.

Wednesday 6:

Up early, well early for me. Dogs fed and walked, had a cuppa and off for a perfume adventure with my mate Tim. A couple of chest spritzes of Guerlain Meteorites from a decant to keep me fragrant till the real sniffing starts.

So first stop was the Annual CosMax SALE. It was quite fabulous. We were like kids in a candy store. I bought Guerlain Angelique Noire and Oriental Brulant, 2 x Burberry wet packs and a 30ml each JPG Classique and Le Male. There was SO MUCH great stuff I could have spent $2000 but only spent $360! YAY!

Then we went to the Estee Lauder Staff Shop where we bumped into Willa Zheng, ex APJ writer and all round good time girl. I bought 2 x Clinique Aromatics Elixir Shower Gels and Scott’s Xmas present, sorry can’t tell you in case he reads it.

Then home for a nap on the couch, then off to work tonight again.

I’m home now but tomorrow is a very early start. Good night.

Thursday 7:

3am bedtime. Original Lolita Lempicka EdP. Sweet liquorice cotton candy. Perfect to float off to la la land.

Woke up in a sweet violet liquorice fog, beautiful scent. Straight in the bath, even before feeding and walking the dogs, because I have a daytime Christmas party gig today.

What to wear for a daytime Christmas Party? Mugler Womanity! What else?

Came home and got undressed, had a little lie down. Got back up, fixed my makeup and went out to do tonights gig. This time I was wearing CHANEL Boy. It fit in perfectly over the Womanity and I got three lovely compliments on how good I smelled. YAY!

Now I’m home and completely stuffed.

A sneaky spritz of Tom Ford Ombre de Hyacinth before bed. NIGHT!

Friday 8:

Neela Vermeire Creations Pichola for a warm morning, full sunshine and not very humid. Perfect dog walking morning. The grevillias are blooming.

Jin and I were approved to buy a new townhouse nearby. This is a big deal. Having sold the Tasmanian properties we now have an excellent deposit for it. With it being so close it means there will be no travel to fix problems. It’s already tenanted with a family that loves it and doesn’t expect us to do a thousand improvements. Borrowing this kind of money makes me very jumpy and nervous and I relied on my Pichola to act as a calming agent, it did.

Parfum d’Empire Equistrius for a shot of gorgeous after lunch.

I can say honestly that my afternoon/evening was spent sleeping and watching TV. Nothing got done, no Trivia work, no house work, almost no blog work. It was blissful. I ate junk food, drank coffee, juice, water and was generally a slob. Currently re-watching The Crown on Netflix. Wonderful time, by myself with the dogs.

Saturday 9:

Arrivals Guerlain Lui & Insolence parfum

For the afternoon/evening I was wearing vintage Miss Dior parfum. Took Kath out for her birthday to our fave steak joint, Alice came too. It was bloody delicious. Afterwards we had ice-cream in cones YUMMMMM.

Bed Guerlain Floral Romantique from a decant.

Sunday 10:

Annick Goutal Songes inspired by a SOTD post this week. Great choice for this warm humid weather.

Jin and I grabbed charcoal chickens for Kath’s Birthday Lunch. It was a very nice morning hanging with the family.

O M G !! Walked into the house after work tonight and Jin had been cooking stuff. It stank. On top of that he had candles of all different scents burning to muffle it. My head exploded in a headache immediately. It was like being in a scent nightmare. I grabbed the dogs and fed and walked them as soon as I could to get some fresh air. Came back and it is much better, not perfect but bearable. PHEW!

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: My Three Next Full Bottle Purchases Will Be?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 94 Comments

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Portia

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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: Erica

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: My Three Next Full Bottle Purchases Will Be?

Do you have a wishlist? What’s at the top currently? Are you saving for some special things or are they going to be an impulse buy at the mall, or trolling the discounters late at night? Do you have separate wishlists for different things? Vintage, expensive, bargain, discontinued?

My Answer:

Still trying to work this list down to zero but instead of concentrating on fulfilling my list I tend to get distracted by new and shiny things. Especially if there is a sale or someone is selling a half bottle on the Facebook pages.

So here are my current Top 3 most wanted in bold. I can’t believe that Grandiflora Michel still isn’t in my collection, it’s a freaking masterpiece. SO, by New Year 2018 I’m going to try and own these 3 fabulous fragrances. Wish me luck.

Portia’s TO-BUY List Nov 2017

  1. Grandiflora Michel by Magnolia Grandiflora
  2. Oriental Mint by Phaedon Paris
  3. Sables by Annick Goutal
  4. Aedes de Venustas – Original
  5. Ambra di Luna by Ramon Monegal
  6. Ambra Mediterranea by Profumi del Forte
  7. Barkhane by Teo Cabanel
  8. Cuir Cuba Intense by Parfums De Nicolai
  9. Hedonist by Viktoria Minya
  10. Moon Bloom by Hiram Green
  11. Jasmin et Cigarette by Etat Libre d’Orange
  12. Lea by Calypso St. Barth
  13. Rozy Eau de Parfum by Vero Profumo
  14. Tobacco Rose by Papillon Perfumery
  15. Wit by Parfums DelRae
  16. No 18 EdP by CHANEL
  17. Bois des Iles EdP by CHANEL
  18. Dõjima by Mona di Orio
  19. Suède de Suède by Mona di Orio
  20. Tadzio by Homoelegans

 

My Saturday Question to you is:

My Three Next Full Bottle Purchases Will Be?

 

 

Tarragon and Bitter Orange Finishing Salts by Aftelier Perfumes

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

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Portia

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Hey APJ Peeps,

It’s no secret how much I love baths. I find a 15-20 minute soak in the tub more relaxing that almost anything else you can mention. It’s a short sharp shot of bliss that can be done whenever a window appears. Quite often I will do all my chores at the end of a night because the days are hectic. It may be 2 or 3am after a busy day, working at night, getting the blog stuff done and then doing a few loads of washing or cleaning the kitchen. A great way for me to go from supersonic to sleepy tired is to have a bath with a warm drink, dry, moisturise, scent and bed. My head hits the pillow and lights out till the alarm goes off in the morning for the dogs feeding and walking.

Why have I rambled on yet again about baths? Well, Mandy Aftel has made some incredibly luxurious eating salts that I naughtily used a capful of in my bath and O M G it was a transcendent experience. Talk about sending me into the stratosphere; amazing! You need hardly any to scent the whole bathroom very softly and it is calming and head clearing. Do it as you get in the bath. Beautiful. SHHHH! Don’t tell Mandy I did it though.

Tarragon and Bitter Orange Finishing Salts by Aftelier Perfumes

So, how are we supposed to use Tarragon and Bitter Orange Finishing Salts? Follow this recipe and your family will think you are the best cook in the history of all cooks. I use one fillet each but your crew may like more.

4 large Snapper Fillets
1 x lemon cut into very thin slices
2 TBsp butter
2 x parsley fronds chopped finely
1 x crushed large garlic clove
Pinch white pepper
Tarragon and Bitter Orange Finishing Salts

Baking Tray
Aluminium Foil

Pre heat oven to 180C
Mix butter, parsley, garlic and pepper together to make a paste
Tear 2 sheets of foil big enough to wrap 2 fillets each
Spread 1/4 of butter mix all over each fillet
Place fillets on shiny foil side
Put lemon slices top of fillets and close up the foil.
Pop onto bake tray and into the oven for 15-20 minutes (you know if your oven is a little slow or fast)

Make whatever salad or vegetable sides you like while fish is cooking

When the fillets come out of the oven they will be meltingly soft so be careful as you transfer to the plate
Add a sprinkling of Tarragon and Bitter Orange Finishing Salts
Add your sides

Serve and watch your family go crazy with excitement

I didn’t know this was going to be a post so no pictures were taken. SORRY!

Obviously your mileage may vary but this was a complete winner around here. Hopefully your crew loves it too.

From Aftelier only $15: Our sel gris is stone-ground by hand until it reaches a fine consistency; it melts into other flavors seamlessly, imparting a briny mineral richness. Sel gris French gray sea salt is hand-harvested from the clay-lined salt ponds in the Guérande region of France, giving it a soft grey color and mineral-rich moisture. These salts are not to be used during the cooking process, but rather to add a pop of flavor to everything from meat to salads to vegetables just before serving. These salts will lift the other flavors of a dish, making it special and delicious.

What a freaking great Christmas Gift for the friends and family that cook, and so affordable.
Portia xx

 

 

 

Vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 46 Comments

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Portia

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Hi Vintage Vamps,

There’s something incredibly special about vintage. Sure, I know people bang on about them changing over time and that you’re not smelling the perfumers original intent. BAH Humbug. I’ll enjoy fragrance any which way I like and please don’t try and ruin my fun. Chasing the elusive, finding a near perfect gem, wearing something never to be created ever again that has been kept sometimes for over a century. THAT is fun, exciting and special.

Vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, Lily, Lily-of-the-valley, Neroli, Orange blossom, Tuberose
Heart: Jasmine, Nutmeg, Rose, Ylang-ylang
Base: Iris, Vanilla, Vetiver, Frankincense

This is the cleanest vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC I’ve smelled. The aldehydes are still fizzy and a little oily as they rise off my skin in combination with the most magnificent bouquet. What can I smell? White flowers and creamy ylang over incense and a bunch of stuff I can’t place or name. What they smell like for me is CHANEL No 22.

I can tell you how it feels to wear it though. Carefree. Like a burst of warm sunshine on a gloomy day. Maybe the thrum of your blood through vines after a hearty belly laugh. Lunching with friends somewhere cheap and cheerful with a water view.

Warm winds, hot sand and a convertible car ride.

Sure, No 22 EdC is a glamour puss, bold and sophisticated. It does seem to me when I wear her that she may be all that but when it’s a 22 day she’s on holidays. It may be nearest beach or it could be the Greek islands, wherever no 22 lands she’ll be welcome.

Vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 3 winners who will receive:
1 x Vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC decant (from my bottle)
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 what your favourite CHANEL fragrance is

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 10th 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 14th 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

Top Five Hot Weather Fragrances: Gabriella 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

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Gabriella

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Hello perfumed peeps!

We’ve had quite sultry weather in Melbourne lately with temperatures over 30C for days straight. The heat has caught everyone by surprise, including me, as it usually doesn’t get this hot until January or February. The change was sudden too: one day I was in jumpers and coats and luxuriating in my dark rose and woody scents and the next day I’m sweltering in a sundress and wondering what perfume to wear. So, today I want to share my:

Top Five Hot Weather Fragrances

Fragrantica

Amyris Femme by Francis Kurkdjian for Maison Francis Kurkdjian 2012

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon leaf, orange leaf
Heart: Amyris, iris
Base: Vetiver, agarwood (oud)

The Parisian chic choice. Amyris Femme dazzles from the opening with bright and juicy lemon blossom coupled with soft iris and delicately spiced woods. It’s a joyous scent that is still incredibly elegant and poised.

Further reading: The Candy Perfume Boy
Mecca Cosmetica has 70ml/$228

Fragrantica

Carnal Flower by Dominique Ropion for Frederic Malle 2005

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, melon, eucalyptus
Heart: Ylang-ylang, jasmine, tuberose, salicylates
Base: Tuberose absolute, orange blossom absolute, coconut, musk

The sexy diva. Carnal Flower is the perfume equivalent of diving head first into a huge florist’s fridge brimming with creamy tuberose flowers. Lush tuberose is front and centre, but the eucalyptus provides a lovely green quality to the fleshy white blooms laced with a touch of coconut.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin
Mecca Cosmetica starts at 10ml/$84

Fragrantica

Lily by Florence Idier for Comme des Garcons: Olfactory Library 2000 (reissued 2017)

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Lily of the valley, freesia, syringa, dog rose buds

The lovely green one. I’ve struggled to find a good lily of the valley scent since the original Christian Dior Diorissimo was reformulated beyond recognition, but this may just be it. Here, the lily of the valley is very stemmy and verdant but devastatingly pretty.

Mecca Cosmetica has 50ml/$130

Fragrantica

Original Vetiver by Olivier Creed and Erwin Creed for Creed 2004

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Ginger, mandarin, bergamot
Heart: Vetiver from Haiti, Mysore sandalwood, Florentine Iris
Base: Musk, ambergris

The “It’s too hot for perfume” choice. Many vetivers tend to be on the heavier side but this is the soft caress of a feather on skin. Mandarin and bergamot keeps things bright and fresh with a touch of gentle iris and salty ambergris.

Further reading: Katie Puckrik Smells 
Libertine Parfumerie has $339/75ml

Fragrantica

Rosa Greta by Fabrice Pellegrin for Eau d’Italie 2017

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Litchi, white tea
Heart: Rose bud, Damascus rose infusion
Base: Cedarwood, ambrox

The summer office scent. Made to commemorate Greta Garbo’s disappearance from the paparazzi in the Amalfi Coast in 1938, Rosa Greta is joyful but still very elegant. Lychee and a gorgeous tea note lend a vibrancy to soft rose.

Mecca Cosmetica starts at 100ml/$204

So what are your favourite perfumes for when the mercury starts to rise?

With much love until next time!

G x

Sharing my Perfume Passion

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

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Sandra

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Hiya wonderful smelling APJers! How is everyone doing?

As many know, I have had a love affair with perfume since I was a child. I have other passions as well, such as travel, photography, sketching and music. I am not sure if it is the language or age, but I am obviously more comfortable in my skin now and where I would normally keep mum about my loves, I find myself expressing myself more freely. This is a great opportunity for me because it takes me to new places and I am meeting so many wonderful people.

A friend of mine approached me a few weeks ago to speak at an expat morning meeting at the school. About perfume! I was skeptical at first but decided to go ahead and it was a pleasant revelation for me of how open and curious people were.

Sharing my Perfume Passion

I decided to share my love of Neela Vermeire Creations. Big question was how to go about doing so. I adore Neela’s perfumes as they use some of my favorite notes and spices. The Netherlands is the place to live if you love flowers so my first stop was the florist where I discussed what kinds of flowers are readily available in November and they did a marvelous job. I chose to include fragrant flowers and not all are used in the NVC perfumes. We had lily, tuberose, freesia, ‘Yvette Piagaitte’ rose, ‘Free Spirit’ rose, a third rose which they could not name and finally stock also known as matthiola incana which is clove-like in scent.

I included fresh mango, cinnamon bark, cardamom pods, vanilla bean paste, essential oils of frankincense, sandalwood and jasmine and a leather clutch for its scent.

We kicked off the meeting by starting to sniff the various flowers. Many of the participants were astonished at how different each of the roses smelled.

There was the obvious love/hate reaction with tuberose. Interestingly though those from tropical climates loved the tuberose. We moved through the spices, oils and finally the fresh cut mango. Once that was done I sprayed Bombay Bling onto a tester paper and all were amazed that they could easily identify the mango and also the lychee. A friend of mine loved Trayee not for the incense but for the ganja which she could identify (I cannot). Several participants could identify cardamom or cinnamon.

In attendance was a man who did not know exactly what to expect but enthusiastically sniffed the flowers, spices and oils. When it came to testing the perfumes he was under the impression that a man could not possibly wear any of these perfumes. I convinced him to try Mohur as I find men can really rock its spicy rose with glorious sandalwood. He loved it and went away with the knowledge that perfume can be unisex and that it will smell differently on each and every one of us!

Each of the participants had a clear favorite so at the end of the talk I gave the participants samples of the perfumes they were interested in and a flower of their choosing. It was a lovely morning and I would like to thank the expat group for giving me this opportunity.

Neela Vermeire Creations Discovery Sample Set €55 

Do you have any inhibitions when it comes to talking about your perfume passion? What would you talk about?

Wishing everyone a wonderful start to December.

Oodles of fragrant kisses,
Sandra xo

 

(ED: All photos supplied by Sandra. Thank you. XXX)

Wood Infusion WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

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Portia

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Hey crew!
Thanks to the Goldfield & Banks peeps for their generosity we have a slew of winners today.
Portia x

Wood Infusion WINNERS

 

Goldfield & Banks give these featured accords:
Australian Exotic Woods, Sweet Orange, Iris Italy, Agarwood, Lavender Australia, Patchouli Indonesia, Musk, Amber

Goldfield & Banks has $229/100ml
City Perfume has $229/100ml (10% Discount Code: AFG17 and FREE AUSTRALIAN EXPRESS SHIPPING)

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 10 winners who will receive:
1 x spray Goldfield & Banks Wood Infusion decant
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Monday 3rd December 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

Ingrid

Lynda Allen

Shiva-woman

hage kay

Carolyn Kubea

Andrew

Kate Apted

Fazal

Melanie

Chocolate Marzipan

The winners will have till Thursday 7th 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 4 – 10 December 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 169 Comments

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Portia

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Hi APJ,

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

SOTD 4 – 10 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:

  1. Divine EdP
  2. Rouge Hermès
  3. Goldfield & Banks Wood Infusion
  4. Aedes de Venustas Palissandre d’Or
  5. Vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC

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

LAST WEEKS WINNER: MmkInPA

Go To It Crew.
Portia xxx

Scent Diary: 27.11 – 3.12.2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,

It’s heating up here in Sydney. Summer has arrived and this year it’s showing us a very humid face. Not horrible but it will take a couple of weeks to get used to.

Jin has been around the house sick so the upside of that is we get to hang together. Obviously the downside is that everyone turns into a 5 year old when they’re sick.

Scent Diary: 27.11 – 3.12.2017

Monday 27:

Woke up on my own time at 9.30am, fed and walked the dogs then made myself a big glass of 50/50 pomegranate juice & water. Excellent start to the day. Dabbed some modern Gres Cabochard parfum on this morning so leather has ben my jam for today.

Jin is home today and working tonight. It was a very pleasant surprise to have him around the house while I did the laundry and Trivia invoicing. We went on a quick grocery shopping trip and he cooked up a load of meals for the week. Brown rice, fried Tofu, steamed Bean Sprouts. Not really my thing but he is currently combating his fatty liver and we are trying to save a few dollars extra so we can travel lavishly in 2018.

It was a calm, lazy, productive day; beautifully warm and humid. The dogs spent most of the day on their beds indoors. They love it when Jin’s watching TV or one of us is cooking. They just lay there and sleep, occasionally looking up to make sure we are still around.

This afternoon, instead of working, I watched MiB II & III. Last week I’d caught a rerun of the original and it was so fun I wanted to enjoy the others. Excellent binge.

IUNX Splash Forte, Olivia Giacobetti’s under the radar incense masterpiece. Why the hell is it not the most talked about incense of all time?

TRIVIA Q&A. Guerlain’s Mitsouko EdT. Woo Hoo. I smell amazing.

Tuesday 28:

It’s 5am and I woke up to go to the toilet. While I was there Jin came home from work, so now I’m wide awake. Better finish my Trivia Q&A. A sneaky spritz of Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Ma Folie de Noel. Spicy citrus and milk.

Back to bed till 9.50am. OOOPSIE! I was supposed to have the dogs fed and walked before Scott arrived at 10. Oh well, he arrived and we walked them together. Then we office worked, went to the Post Office and Bank, did some decanting and had lunch.

Then dyed my beard, jumped into a L’Artisan La Chasse aux Papillons bubble bath and spritzed with Serge Lutens Datura Noir.

Went to have a nap and just as I was drifting off the bloody phone rang. Now I’m wide awake. GRRR! Smell amazing though.

It’s bloody hot here, sticky for getting into drag. I keep sweating. A good deal less glam in the warmer months.

Work was busy, we had a great time. Someone even commented how much they loved my Datura Noir! YAY!

Watching Netflix The Punisher. Pretty good

Before bed, Gres Cabochard parfum. Yeah, I’m worth it. He He he. smells fabulous.

Wednesday 29:

Up early (for me). Fed & walked the dogs, organised my backpack, jumped a bus and off on a big day out with friends. Fragrance? Vintage Miss Dior parfum. Yes, I smell like a million $$$.

Jumped a bus and a train to town and walked across the domain to the NSW Art Gallery where Lisa and I did the 11am gallery highlights tour. After, we went to the Mapplethorpe exhibition and did the midday tour. Both our guides were erudite and added so many extra titbits, some of then salacious scandal and others more to do with technique or timeframe. Two wonderful hours appreciating and learning. We then needed refreshment so swanned down to the Members Lounge where Lisa treated me to lunch.

We wandered back to the heart of Sydney for coffee and dessert in the David Jones Food Hall and then wandered the halls looking for fragrance and beauty. We swished over to Myer and Mecca (where I made my only purchase, the Diptyque Christmas Travel Set). Throughout the 4 hours of meandering we smelled maybe 50 or 60 scents and I think I ended up with 15 of them upon my person. It was a splendid effort and we both had a great time.

Then we coffeed and juiced, finding out that Same Sex Marriage had gone through the Senate with a YES vote and Monday it will go through the House Of Representatives. Fingers crossed. I admit we had a little cry. One of our days visual highlights was noticing that the Westfield Christmas Trees were GUM TREES! So good.

Then dinner with my frag friend Tim. He’s excellent company and we nattered away a couple of Burger filled hours. Laughing, sniffing and having fun.

Back home on a train and bus and walked the dogs. I’m BUSHED!

Jin had cooked a huge lot of roast pork and crackling. Seriously enormous. So much that I took some to BFF Kath’s Mum & Dad and another lot to Wendy, my trivia mate. You have NO IDEA how well he does it. The crackling is crunchy and mainly incredibly easy to chew, he buys and makes extra. There are a few super crunchy bits too which are my favourite. I feel like Rockbiter from The Never-Ending Story. The pork is moist, melt in your mouth delicious tenderness. For someone who grew up never knowing the joys of roast pork Jin has taken to it like a duck to water.

I’d like to take a moment to apologise for my lack of photos today. We were having WAY too much fun to spoil the moments with photos. So while it’s true that I’ve let you all down a bit, it was imperative that I live in the moment today and just float along.

Thursday 30:

Divine EdT

HOT here in Sydney, sweating.

Ran around all morning doing errands, had lunch at home with sick Jin who has tonsillitis AGAIN!

A card from Tara of A Bottled Rose arrived. HAPPY DANCE! I love postcards.

Bathed in Bath & Body Works Rainkissed Leaves, Jacomo Silences PdT to cool me down.

For work I put OODLES of Thierry Mugler Womanity on. It was a perfect heat beater and a few of the players at trivia mentioned how good it smells. YAY!

Vintage CHANEL Pour Monsieur for bed. HEAVEN!

Friday 1:

The humidity, even as early as our morning dog walk, is equatorial monsoon levels. Yet still I manage to be sweating buckets as I sit and type this. The CHANEL is still humming around softly but I need some coolant. Niki de Saint Phalle EdT to the rescue. It’s cooling, dry bones, arctic wash is exactly the refresher I need.

Jin has added a hacking phlegm filled cough to his tonsillitis. Poor little fucker. He’s on the couch with food and juice, out for the count.

Today is my only proper day off this week and next. I’m going to spend it getting myself ready for the week, catching up on eMail backlog that I’ve been ignoring since Tuesday and getting the blog and Trivia Q&A started for next week. Trivia first.

So Jin and I booked Anna-Maria, Scott and my Paris adventure Korean Air Tickets today. Also found five choices for Air BnB places to stay, now they get to choose which one they like best. It’s getting VERY fricken real right now. YAY! We are off to Paris in APRIL!

7.30pm and I’m feeling sweaty and unglamorous. The day has been wasted looking for Paris shit and I’ve hardly done a thing for REAL work. GRRR! Going to have a quick, cool bath and come back to the desk refreshed.

Nope, had dinner, walked dogs. It’s now 11pm and I’m about to start Trivia Q&A. What a wasted day.

It was nice to hang with sick old Jin though and watch some TV with him. We did go to Bunnings and get a replacement shower cord and come home and fix it, so not a whole day wasted.

Went to bed scentless, didn’t put any on after my bath. Needed a rest.

Saturday 2:

At around 1am I finally got to work and did half my Trivia Q&A.

Slept late. 10.30am I slumped up to feed the dogs and walk them. Jin was uncomfortably unwell so I slept on the couch under the ceiling fan. I keep forgetting to bring the pedestal fan up from the garage to put in the spare room. It needs some air movement to be comfortable in summer.

Diptyque 34 this morning. So smooth and comfortable. A slightly green white floral with lovely resinous underlay. Perfect warm weather fare.

After a HOT bath I headecstraight for the Hermès Monsieur Li. It’s oily citrus both balm and coolant.

Tonights gig was an eighties inspired Christmas Party for Seasonal Concepts. A design crew just outside the heart of Sydney in Redfern. I’ve known Ken the proprietor for decades and he regularly gets me in to be the Door Bitch because when I say Invitation Only everyone gets the point quickly. I went as Crystal Meth-Carrington and had a ball. I wore Yves Saint Laurent Opium Poesie de Chine, a summer version of the 1980s classic.

My BFF Kath picked me up from the gig and I went and had coffee with her and chatted for an hour before jumping in my car and zooming home to poor sick baby Jin.

It was late so I had a little bread roll with the last of the pork & crackling and some salad. Delicious!

Then I came to the computer to do blog stuff and now I’m ready for bed. I’m going to spritz some more Opium Poesie de Chine and then hit the hay. NIGHT!!

Sunday 3:

The dogs seemed especially pleased to see me this morning, we wandered a few blocks in the early humid heat and headed home. By the time we got there sick Jin was up and rumbling around the apartment coughing like a person with a very bad chest cold. Poor little man. I’m feeding him the Korean team and he has a backlog of heat in the microwave Congee (a thick rice soupy thing he loves and is full of goodness)

Rita, one of my mates (a stellar fundraiser, helper, organiser) is getting Christmas Hampers together for the less fortunate. She’s doing a drive to get food and small gifts together so people with less will have a little more. I raided my collection of hotel soaps, shampoos, conditioners and body lotions (perfect size for homeless), grabbed all my unwanted gifts and went shopping for some food. With $110 I was able to get a selection of Tinned vegetables, Twinings 10 pack teas, Biscuits, Chocolates, Sanitary pads and Tampons, Crisps and Nuts. I know that the crew will be mainly buying super healthy stuff but this is a Christmas Hamper, there needs to be some slightly luxurious fun stuff.

Bath in L’Artisan La Chasse aux Papillons and wearing Hermès Rouge again. Cool, sharp rose, creamy ylang and the insistent green snap of myrtle create something very different to anything else in my collection. Perfect to cut through the humidity.

 

 

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: What Are Your 3 All Time Fave Movies?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 140 Comments

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Portia

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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: Didn’t make 100 responses

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:

What Are Your 3 All Time Fave Movies?

OK, totally off topic but I feel like I’m in a film rut. Basically I watch a couple of oldies that I adore and the DC and Marvel series. It’s been a long while since I bothered to see anything much at the movies except the Kingsman sequel (awful but hilarious) and some dreck on planes.

A bit of background history. When I came back from the UK at the end of 2015 Mum kindly offered to have me back at our childhood home. My sister had moved out and taken all the VHS Video Cassettes except a very limited selection. Mum and I only really like a few of the movies but two of them could always be relied on for entertainment on so many levels. We must have watched my first two choices 40 times each or more in the 6 years we had before she died. I still love them and can watch them again and again.

My Answer:

The Colour Purple: 

The story of Celie’s life, a coming of age. Every time I’m completely and utterly captivated. Every character built and portrayed to perfection, cinematography, music, everything. Love it.

Stage Door: 

Rich girl Katherine Hepburn wants to be an actress so she slums it with the rest of the wannabe starlets in a hostel for young actresses. It’s a star studded cast with young Lucille ball, Ava Gardner, Ginger Rogers and a slew of others. Some of the funniest lines, arch zingers and some tender moments.

Muriel’s Wedding: 

You’d think because I was part of Priscilla it would be my favourite Australian film, nope. Muriel’s Wedding is freaking hilarious. Everything about it is perfection. It was shot in and around Sydney in places I used to haunt, has the most spectacle;ar cast and is a genius gem of 20th century Australian comedy.

My Saturday Question to you is:

What Are Your 3 All Time Fave Movies?