Oyedo by Diptyque 2000

September 7, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Portia

Hey Hey Frag Family,

Today we are looking at a scent that Kate Apted sent me in a fragrant care package. One of the wonderful things about this ~~addiction~~ hobby is the joy of sharing and Kate was extremely generous. THANKS!! So I have a few new to me things that I’m snuffling happily.

Oyedo by Diptyque 2000

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Lime, Mandarin, Orange, Lemon
Heart: Caraway, Thyme
Base: Woody notes

You feeling down? A bit blue/ Dog tired/ Maybe you are just exhausted from running the rat race. Oyedo seems to be the perfect foil. Even though I’m at that 3/4 way through the year slump lately, plus being super busy, and turning my ankle somehow Oyedo makes me want to jump back into the fray.

Citrus backed by herbs that seem smooth as resins. A citrus with poopy, sweaty background.A citrus as vibrant and fresh as the farmers fruit markets on an early Saturday morning. Cool and alive and zinging. A jolt of lively scent that makes my eyes pop open and my body lighten its load.

Oyedo Diptyque farmers Fruit_market WikiMedia WikiMedia

The citrus stays right through the heart, still zingy like a mixture of their zests. The herbs really smell to me like they have labdanum or elemi helping them to stabilise and give a lovely smooth growl purring underneath the rest.

I can so imagine Oyedo being someones go-to spring or autumn scent and them using it to get everyone around them on board with fun and ideas. Longevity is pretty good and you stay quite fragrant for over two hours before the perfume softens off considerable. Basically the woody base is hardly relevant because the citrus/herbs/resins stay around getting softer and a bit dryer.

Oyedo Diptyque oranges flowers field pixabay PDI

Further reading: Scentualist and Now Smell This
Mecca has $108/50ml FREE Australian Shipping
My Perfume Samples has $2.50/ml

Citrus. Are you a fan? When do you wear it?
Portia xx

Carner Barcelona Floral Collection 2017

September 6, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Sandra

Hey there APJ! How are you all doing? Are you already changing seasons? It is still August as I write this and I am blown away that we have already entered autumn and all I can think is – stop it! It is only August! This is NOT supposed to be happening yet.

Carner Barcelona launched three new perfumes in 2017 starting the Floral Collection and described them as Three luminous perfumes that talk about love, passion and seduction through the flower, which has been and will always be the best expression of love.

Carner Barcelona Floral Collection 2017

Fragrantica

Besos by Carner Barcelona

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Italian mandarin, Madagascar pepper
Heart: Jasmine sambac, iris
Base: Benzoin, vanilla, musk

Carner Barcelona describes it as A come-hither kiss, sensual and deep that leaves you wanting more, Besos has an air of romance with a robust sprinkling of lust.

Besos which means kisses in Spanish is an aptly named perfume in my mind. It opens with a delicious mouthwatering citrus with a hefty sprinkling of pepper. It really is scrumptious and lasts for about an hour in this stage. The floral heart moves in and I get a predominantly jasmine powdered puff with the hint of spices humming along in the background. It rounds out a bit powdery, but not sweet at all. I find this romantic and billowy – it is a white blouse with long cuffs.

Fragrantica

Latin Lover by Carner Barcelona

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, ylang-ylang, magnolia
Heart: Violet, jasmine sambac, French narcissus, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Benzoin, Indonesian patchouli leaf, white musk

Carner Barcelona describes Latin Lover as a fine balance between smooth seduction and hot-blooded passion… What do you think of the name Latin Lover? I find it fun to be honest. Latin Lover opens up with a cocktail of flowers exquisitely tied in a bouquet. The flowers are so intricately intertwined that it is next to impossible to pick them apart. The narcissus and lily of the valley are inviting, intoxicating, yet tempered with the other flowers and patchouli – all of my senses are aware. Well worth a sniff in my books.

Fragrantica

Sweet William by Carner Barcelona

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: White pepper, cardamom, Chinese cinnamon wood, galangal
Heart: Dianthus, ylang-ylang, rose water, tobacco blossom
Base: Ambraromei, styrax, Tuscan iris, vanilla absolute

Carner Barcelona describes it During times of gallatry lovelorn bachelors sat to have their portrait painted with a red carnation, a sweet william, symbolizing their search for true love.

Sweet William is decidedly the more unisex leaning perfume of the three entries. With warm spices throughout the development of the perfume, this is also the most complex of the three. There is a sense of lush green, almost vegetal green, which has been warmed by the sunshine that mingles with the spices. It is a element of the unkown that captures my interest. Could it be the galangal that is keeps me thinking green? It is a rich perfume which lasts all day with intriguige – pulling me back in for a further sniff.

ParfuMaria has the collection starting at €95/50ml
Career Barcelona has 3 x 1.7ml Samples €15 (EU Only)

Summer vacation here was a mere six weeks and we had a wonderful fully packed vacation in Spain where we lapped up the abundant sunshine, warm sea air and water and friendly people. What have you all been up to? I would love to hear from you.

Sandra xoxo

Summer Scentsations: Heat Busters

September 5, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

TinaG

Hi gang!

Last year I struggled to find fragrances which I could wear on a daily basis, which cut through the ridiculous heat of summer. I gravitated towards modern watery aquatics and fruits. My mainstays were Hermès – Un Jardin Apres La Mousson, and L’Artisan Parfumeur – Mandarine, and the occasional blast of Serge Lutens – Borneo 1834 for sultry evenings.

I was discussing summer fragrances with friends recently – Here’s a list of a few that we talked about for our wish lists:

Summer Scentsations: Heat Busters

Fragrantica

Heeley – Sel Marin

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, lemon, green notes
Heart: Salt, sea water, sea grass, moss
Base: Musk, cedar, leather.

I’ve been craving more of this fragrance – I had a quick sniff last year when I was in the UK. There was something intimately sexy about it – underlying clean funkiness, like a salty sun-kissed person’s chest at the end of a very active day. A far cry from your regular ‘marine’ fragrance.

Fragrantica

Estée Lauder – Bronze Goddess

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, ginger, mandarin
Heart: Indian samba jasmine, coconut, jasmine
Base: vanilla, cashmere wood, musk, amber.

I know that this is a general favourite for summer, but both my friend and I weren’t all that familiar with it. We will get together and split a bottle when the next round hits the shelves. I think this would definitely cover off the tropical beach coconut vibe for a summer’s day.

Fr Fragrantica

CB I Hate Perfume – At The Beach 1966

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Coppertone, North Atlantic, wet sand, seashell, driftwood, boardwalk.

This transports me back to the days of kicking around the beach as a kid. I remember using Coppertone, usually SPF 2 of 4….. I don’t know how we didn’t get absolutely toasted. This perfume smells like a day at the beach. Totally. It’s brilliant.

Fragrantica

BeauFort London – Fathom V

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Juniper berries, tangerine, black currant, green notes, soil tincture
Heart: Thyme, lily, jasmine, ylang ylang, ginger, cumin, black pepper, mimosa
Base: Patchouli, vetiver, oak moss, salt, incense, atlas cedar, amber

My friend Kerri recently purchased the BeauFort London – Come Hell or High Water discovery set, which in itself is magnificent. It is a leather roll with generous 7.5ml travel sprays of each of their fragrances. I had been lusting after this for a while so I was both dead jealous and super excited to have a look at them. The green hit in the opening of Fathom V is a mix of bright freshly cut flowers and deeper greens, which we likened to walking into a cool florist shop. I need to spend more time with all of this range, they are both amazing fragrances and an intriguing aesthetic.

Fragrantica

Le Labo – Lys 41

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Jasmine, tuberose, lily, woody notes, vanilla, musk

Lys 41 is a beautiful cool white floral. The lily is subtly sweet and there’s nothing I find overpowering. There’s a time in the morning just before the sun rises where a blue-grey haze lights up the frosted panelling of my bedroom door. I’ve been finding myself spritzing Lys 41 at this time as part of a gentle fragrant wake up, and then re-spritzing throughout the day while the sun moves through its daily arc casting different shadows and colours through the house. I really enjoy it and I will definitely be bringing this routine over into the summer months.

You can get samples of most of the at Surrender To Chance

So how about you, APJ? What have your worn this summer, or are planning to?

Till next time,
Tina G

La Selle by Jerome Epinette for Byredo 2016

September 4, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Portia

Hey Ultra Rich Perfumistas,

These babies are expensive. So expensive my mind is having trouble grasping it. US$18.33/ml. Yes, you read that right. PER MIL.

Yes, I know they’re extrait but seriously, that is aspirational pricing out of this world. For the same price as 30ml of La Selle I can buy 2 x 100ml Serge Lutens with enough spare to buy a 7.5ml Byredo Roll On Oil in Mojave Ghost. So from a price point perspective they have set the bar extremely high, my expectations for performance, beauty and wit are through the roof.

La Selle by Byredo 2016

La Selle by Jerome Epinette

La Selle Byredo Fragrantica Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Black tea, cashmere
Heart: Leather, tobacco leaf
Base: Birch, oakmoss

Opening is that 21st century niche woodsy scent with the slight throat drying bite of tea. Within a minute the leather has made itself known and the familiar birch component, that dark charred wood and sweat smell, comes forth. La Selle keeps it friendly and welcoming and even the most birch averse will not be totally overwhelmed. Not listed but I smell honey and beeswax, there also is a soft fruitiness like banana peel.

La Selle is all luxury. If this is saddle leather it has never been on a horse and never known a horsemans bum. It has also been sitting in the shop for a decade because that new leather saddlery smell is gone leaving much more of the waxy resins and the fabric & stuffing.

PDI

La Selle is to die for. I have three large spritzes on my arm and it is sheer but surprisingly insistent. I am not allowed to forget that I’m wearing it. I get busy and halfway through a process it comes back and reminds me I’m wearing La Selle. It seems very sweetly resinous but I can’t pinpoint which ones. Also I’ve smelled the dry down, or very similar before, but I can’t bloody well remember where. It hangs around softly pulsing into tomorrow, dry but sweet, smooth and lightly creamy.

Aha! Light bulb moment. La Selle’s dry down is similar to Guerlain Samsara in dry down. Not exactly the same but boy are they related.

If I wore a single fragrance daily and had $550 to spend on 30ml of fragrance (about two to three months if I wear it exclusively everyday) then I would be seriously considering a purchase here. I’m not that guy though. Actually I’m being a bit silly. A CHANEL 15ml of No 22 is $225 currently so La Selle is exactly double that, I wouldn’t bat an eye at paying that for No 22 and I honestly think I’d get more wear from the Byredo.

PDI

Further reading: Colognoisseur
LuckyScent has $550/30ml and Samples

Would you pay that money for something spectacular?
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 28.8 – 3.9.2017

September 3, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

Portia

Hey Fumie Family,

Some amazing fragrances and friends this week. As always we are chock block full of fun stuff but it has also been tempered by a LOT of time at the computer organising to be away in India for two weeks. All the Trivia Q&A needed to be written and the blog pre-arranged and editing in the Contributors, who all worked really hard to get their months pieces in on time (THANKS GANG!!).

Scent Diary: 28.8 – 3.9.2017

Monday 28:

It’s 12.30am and I am watching The Defenders on Netflix. I should be asleep but am totally engrossed. He He he. Watched the last 3 eps tonight but I want MORE!! It is so good.

Bedtime now 3am. Spritzing Queen by Queen Latifah. Citrus, booze, vanilla and resins. It is thick and ropey with a meaty patchouli.

Woke up late to a soft vanilla wash of scent and jumped up to walk and feed the dogs. On our wander we found a brand new greyhound living in an apartment a block away. I was chatting to him but our dogs said a hurried hello and then their heads were snuffling something interesting on the ground. I love that more people are realising greyhounds are perfect apartment pets.

Today is dedicated to getting as much APJ blog stuff ready as possible so I can start writing my Trivia Q&A for the two weeks I’ll be in India.

Jin and I went for Yum Cha this morning and the rest of my day was spent computer bound. So much done. It’s looking good.

Wafting some vintage Bal a Versailles parfum on my neck. Smells great.

My head is not co-operating tonight. Q&A goes very slowly.

Tuesday 29:

2am all Trivia done and now I’m going to have a Boucheron Trouble bubble bath followed by a mega spritz of the Boucheron Trouble EdP. Then I’m going to bed.

You won’t believe this. woke up this morning and my OTHER foot is sore. Must have kicked the wall in my sleep. OUCHIE WaWa. I’ll walk it out today and hopefully everything will be good. Enjoying Trouble so much I spritzed it again.

Scott and I did office work and running around today. It was a full, fun day.

Watched Green Lantern again. Vintage Miss Dior EdT for bed. MMMMMMM

Wednesday 30:

What an incredibly beautiful morning. Sun is shining and it feels like a perfect spring day. I’m about to feed and walk the dogs then today will be spent at the computer organising APJ and some Trivia Q&A.

After lunch decided I needed something a bit rich and woodsy so Guerlain Santal Royal got a triple spritz to the chest. Exactly what I was looking for. A sweet, smooth, creamy wood/rose/oud combo.

It was one of my BFFs birthdays this week, Phil. So three of us got together to celebrate. We went to my favourite Chinese in Sydney Lui Rose in Concord. It was a special night with champagne, laughs, food and presents. Happy Birthday Phil! You’re amazing.

Tried to do some Trivia Q&A work but my mind wasn’t having any of it so Parfum d’Empire Equistrius and bed.

Thursday 31:

Tina came over this morning and we walked the dogs together.

Then we had fresh bakes scones with passionfruit lemon curd, raspberry jam or honey and fresh whipped cream. Tea was a blend of Peppermint Green Tea created by Suzanne R Banks. Perfect last day of winter fare.

You can see in the left of the photo that the Hawthorn is blooming currently. The ,local council decided it was best to sheer 6 feet of it just before it flowered, assholes. I grabbed these branches and brought them home where they are scenting the room a soft focus green white floral. Very pretty.

We then did some blog writing team work which was really interesting to smell how differently our skins make scent smell. Tina makes perfumes greener, fresher and more stark, my skin amps sweet and creaminess. Very interesting morning. We are thinking of making it a regular thing because it’s nice to read both sides.

We had a look at the new Serge Lutens 100ml bottle. It’s quite snazzy and feels great in my hand. Tina said it was a little big for left hand spritzing but right hand is cool. So Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin was my fragrance this evening. Cherry roses with a peppery zing and a creamy patchouli/honeyed backbeat.

Friday 1:

First day of spring. Walking the dogs was heavenly this morning in 17C sunshine. Wearing Penhaligon’s Ostara to greet the new season.

TRIVIA Q&A. All Day. Finished one weeks set of Q&A today.

After my bath I spritzed a new-to-me bottle of Annick Goutal Encens Flamboyant. WOWSA! What a cool and smoky incense, it even has a dusty Asian hill temple vibe. Officially blown away. Thanks MB.

Jin brought home Korean Fried Chicken with chilli and wasabi dipping sauces. It was a FEAST!

Tonight I finished a second set of Trivia Q&A, just the main body of the game, not the games and the Jackpots are all finished. Feeling like stuff is getting done.

For bed I’m wearing vintage Bal a Versailles parfum. Yep, I smell like a very luscious and expensive courtesan. YUMMY!

Saturday 2:

Woke up before the alarm. I love that blissful feeling of rising from sleep like a submarine. It’s a Neela Vermeire Creations Rahele kinda day. Its cool fresh flowers juxtapose perfectly against the spices and woods, and then all overlaid with large helpings of osmanthus. Stellar.

4.30pm still TRIVIA Q&A. I’ve been sitting at this damn desk for so long it feels like I’m growing into it. I’m getting up and taking the dogs for a wee.

Jin went to work tonight and there’s almost no food in the house so I’m getting Chinese Take Away from around the corner. As always I ordered enough for 5 people so we can have leftovers!

Was looking for Lolita Lempicka EdP to wear for me Chinese Food Run but came across Annick Goutal Grand Amour first and felt the need to spritz it instead. MMMMMMMM

Tonight I’m concentrating on getting the APJ Blog Posts finalised. Busy day tomorrow and then I only have Monday afternoon/evening to get stuff done.

Sunday 3:

It’s late. I’ve stopped functioning and have been staring at the computer for about 20 minutes without adding any content. Spritzing vintage Guerlain Mitsouko parfum and bed. Night. XX

Went for a pedi with my BFF Kath and bumped into my girlfriend Bec at the jewellery store she is managing (Currently single and ready to meet the man of her dreams. Do I have any well heeled straight male readers looking for a trophy bride with smarts?).
Yes, I bought a couple of pairs of earrings, they are so outlandish I couldn’t walk past.

Then it was Father’s Day so we went and celebrated her Dad, who is also mine via adoption. Here’s Mum Waples and I after our Creme Brûlée that jane made. we are both on a sugar high, he he he.

Work tonight at Austral Bowling Club with Anna-Maria and her family playing. Guess what? They won the $1,000 JACKPOT!

Today I wore Hermès Le Jardin de Monsieur Li. That citrus/white flower given extra zing with mint and a soft overlay of petrochemicals. Sounds awful but it is the perfect spring scent, fits the day beautifully.

OK, enough about me. How was your week? Do anything interesting or fun? Buy or try any new fragrances? Wear some of your faves? How about Father’s Day, did you do something special?
Please tell us all in the comments. We’re dying to know what happened for you.

Portia xx

Australian Tea Towel + Mixed Samples GIVEAWAY WINNER

September 3, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Portia

OOOPSIE! APJ!
I forgot to draw.

Here it is. Sorry it’s late.

Australian Tea Towel + Mixed Samples GIVEAWAY WINNER

Samples include:
DIOR Privée: Oud Ispahan
DSH Perfumes: Vanille Tonique
Yves Saint Laurent: vintage Y parfum
Annick Goutal: Heure Exquise
Victoria Minya: Hedonist
Bogue: MAAI
CHANEL: vintage Cuir de Russie EdT
Guerlain: Jicky PdT
Armani Prive: Cuir Noir
IUNX: Eau Blanche
Abdes Salaam: Ambergris Tincture

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Australian Tea Towel
A bunch of 11 samples & decants (Mainstream, Indie & Niche most around 1/2 full)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Wednesday 30th August 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winner was chosen by random.org

Alen Miron

The winner will have till Wednesday 6th September 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

Saturday Question: Respritz Happiness

September 2, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 48 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.

Saturday Question: Respritz Happiness

As you may know I have a very low level depression problem. It’s 98% of the time not even noticeable, just a quiet background hum of dis-ease or dis-quiet. After a childhood spent in therapy of one sort or another I have a few really simple coping mechanisms for the other 2% of the time. My depression is low level and though it can be sharply bleak and awful it’s usually caught at spiral stage. I’m not offering medical advice, just an insight into how my mind works.

One is cleaning. I get up and clean something, anything. It could be the kitchen bench, my bathroom mirror and vanity, grab the vacuum. Literally any cleaning. It derails my depression spiral and having done something positive and action based I’m usually back on track.

After Mum died I was finding it hard to even move off the couch or bed. The doctor said to me that if I could just get up and clean my teeth in the morning and before I went to bed at night then that would be a day not lost. Amazingly this small 2 minute moment of self care and hygiene would snap me out of my funk.

Anyway, I also discovered that spritzing perfume is also a magical depression derailer. A big old spritz of something I love or even better something new will take my mind away from the ill humours and put me onto a positively thoughtful track. It completely interrupts my sinking and helps me rise above.

Here are a couple of my favourite Respritz Happiness scents:

Fragrantica

Cacarel Liberté

Yeah, I talk about this one a lot. That zingy orange fizzy pop over a white musk/clean patchouli base is no great masterpiece but it does give me a joyful lift every time. I have hoarded a bunch of it for just such occasions but I also wear it when I’m happy.

Fragrantica

Serge Lutens Five O`Clock Au Gingembre

The opening spicy ginger tea makes me smile every time. There’s something totally engulfing about it that sends my mind on the happiest of neural paths. It remains pretty through the heart and base but it’s the opening that gets me every time.

Fragrantica

Guerlain Les Voyages Olfactifs 01 Paris-Moscow

SWEET! Zingy fruit and vanilla over a soft woodsy backdrop with a hint of white flowers. Paris-Moscow is so far removed from what I usually wear that it snaps me to attention. Very sadly I never bought a new bottle, thinking I had time, and then it was gone. Luckily I did find a partial bottle and I have some decants. Obviously I can’t spritz with abandon but there’s enough for now.

My Saturday Question to you is:

Who among you does this? Is it just me or do others among us use fragrance for more than just personal scenting? What fragrances do you use?

Maravilla by Daniela (Roche) Andrier for Bulgari 2014

September 1, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Portia

Hey Hey APJ,

I remember being in Paris the week these were released and they had a big stand in Galleries Lafayette and about six spritzers placed strategically. It was all very enticing and I did like a couple of the fragrances. Had they been around the €180 mark or less I would have bought at least one bottle but they were well over that and I’d already spent quite a lot of my ready cash. Since then though I have wished that I’d bought one of those space age bottles, just to have it in my collection.

Maravilla by Bulgari 2014

Maravilla by Daniela (Roche) Andrier

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Peach, jasmine, patchouli, Italian lemon, orange blossom

To start with I don’t think perfumistas are this ranges market. Certainly not this scent in the range anyway. I know there are a wide audience for this kind of scent and it’s pretty much what I smell 30 something shopgirls on their lunch break wafting. Fruity and sweetened with sugar crystals.

Fresh Fruit Splash Falling Water Orange PDI

What we have here is a fresh, fruity, lightly aquatic melange that is perky and quite frisky. It’s airy and a little dewy. The citrus is very soft focus and the very faint peach smells a little canned. There’s an amorphous white flower, completely cleaned of all indole and depth and the patchouli does not even register for me.

Maravilla would not be out of place in the Tocca range. They have a fairly similar line at about one fifth the cost or less. I think what you might be paying for here is a smoother blend and the fabulous bottle. A low key pretty perfume that is totally inoffensive to start and falls away to a soft focus white musk laundry scent to finish. Longevity is pretty good, you’ll continue to pump soft gouts of clean citrus clothes till work is finished.

WikiMedia

Harrods has £215/100ml (UK Delivery Only)
Some discounters now have it too.

What is one of your didn’t buy regrets?
Portia xx

Poivre by Michel Morsetti for Caron 1954

August 31, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Portia

Hey there APJ,

Today we are going old school. Caron has long been lauded as a house to revere. Their Tabac blond vintage extrait is enough to give even the most hardcore perfumista Stendahl Syndrome. I have quite a bit of their vintage Bellodgia and Infini in all forms, Nocturnes, Narcisse Noir, Parfum Sacre, Nuit de Noel and a sprinkling of others in samples and decants. There is even an old extrait bottle that has lost its label and I’ve given up deciding what it is and just wear it for the absolute pleasure it brings.

Poivre by Caron 1954

Poivre by Michel Morsetti

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Clove, Pepper, Red pepper
Heart: Carnation, Rose, Ylang-ylang
Base: Oakmoss, Opoponax, Sandalwood, Vetiver

Pepper and clove, zingy, dry, hot, smoky and ticklish in the back of my throat. It’s like fresh cracked black pepper and cloves. The bottle even looks like one of those clove studded oranges Mum would put in the bathroom over Christmas to give a spice/clean smell. The opening is big and surprising. Did you ever smoke those clove cigarettes? A bit like that but with added dryness.

This huge fanfare doesn’t stay at that level for long, maybe two minutes and then we start to smell a lessening in intensity and in swirls a mildly creamy ylang. It’s such a counterpoint to what comes before and really gives a smoothness, slightly banana peel and a little waxy. The rose and carnation are so much part of the clove that I’m finding real difficulty in telling them apart. Though the fragrance intensity has lessened still we have a fully fragrant spice bomb.

Poivre Caron Parfumo Parfumo

Even hours and hours later I still have cloves that are now lightly tempered by resins and a hint of dry grass. Longevity is out of this world and though not hugely projecting it still leaves a very interesting scent train (I can smell Poivre in the room when I walk out and back in again).

Further reading: Yesterday’s Perfume and Non Blonde
I bought my sample from Surrender To Chance but they don’t seem to have it anymore.

Do you have anything absolutely precious in your sample kit that you know once it’s gone you’ll never have again?
Portia xx

Yin & Ylang by Laurie Erickson for Sonoma Scent Studio 2014

August 30, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Erica Golding

Hello fragrance junkies all over the world!
It’s summer all up in my hemisphere, and I’ve just discovered a gorgeous perfume that I wager would be equally perfect to bring a breath of wanderlust to a chilly Aussie winter’s day. This morning, I am sampling:

Yin & Ylang by Sonoma Scent Studio 2014

Yin & Ylang by Laurie Erickson

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, blood orange, aldehydes
Heart: Ylang oil, jasmine sambac absolute, tuberose absolute, beeswax absolute, rose damascones, ginger CO2
Base: Mysore sandalwood, oakmoss absolute, patchouli, amber, vanilla, musk.

The lush roundness of tropical blossoms is shot through with an effervescent zing of bright freshness, while being grounded by a patient hum of gentle musky woods and amber. The balance is striking. This perfume takes the concept of Big White Floral and gives it a whole new edge and versatile wearability. The floral absolutes are exquisite and luxurious, while the sunshine citrus notes aren’t the least bit contrived or sharp. (I guess I should say Big Tropical Floral since ylang ylang is yellow, heh!) As the perfume continues to develop, a hint of oakmoss anchors the composition, conjuring visions of wild adventures in the forest.

Yin & Ylang was released in 2014, and I am so thrilled that I have discovered it even though I am a bit late to the party. This perfume is an absolute dream. I am insanely picky with floral fragrances, and this is just over the top magnificent. Hearts in my eyes over here! I have two more samples from Sonoma Scent Studios in my little package waiting for me to try, and I’m super stoked.

Yin And Ylang Sonoma Scent Studio Henri_Rousseau_-_Exotic_Landscape WikiMedia WikiMedia

Further reading: Now Smell This and Scented Hound
Sonoma Scent Studios has $21/5ml and samples

Have you stumbled upon a perfume recently that made you wonder “how the hell did this escape my radar?!” Tell me about your treasure excavations!

Love and light,
Erica