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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
A lovely slow and lazy river of a week. I found it hard to focus on anything much. Still, there was a LOT of perfume spritzing, some exercise, friends, work, food and Jin. A fine week of regrouping and reflection, sometimes that’s what we need, right?
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Portia
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Hey Hey Perfume Junkies,
I’d love it if you get involved: agree, respectfully disagree, have any thought-out opinion and want to share, do so in the comments below. The point is starting a conversation.
Anything worthy of comment, either good or bad, that’s passed under my nose through the week will get a short write up. If I think something is terrible, shamefully lazy, greedy or stupid and you should know about it, it will be said. As always YMMV.
Thunk is the sound of an empty hitting the bin but there is some leeway here, selling or gifting away can also count.
We also want to know what you have tried or thunked each week too, please share in the comments below. You don’t need to be a hardcore perfumista to join in, just give your impressions. Others will join in with their impressions too, everyone has a slightly or hugely different experience with scent. That’s part of the fun.
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
Wedding is done & dusted. We have had many adventures, guests are leaving and I’m BUSHED! We still have Jin’s nice & nephew but basically life is back to normal.
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Post by Portia
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Hello Fume Family,
I know that if you don’t live in australia you could be forgiven thinking that we never have a cold, wet or grey day. Well that’s simply not true. We know that our weather is very mild and are mostly able to get around in jeans and a jumper if it’s winter. Sydney though is a city of many moods and recently a few of my mates published beautiful non-sunny Australian photos on their social media. I thought you might like to have a look too.
Winter Barangaroo from Ferry by Kath Coulter
Winter Rain Off Bondi Beach by another great, longtime mate: Stafford Hamilton
Winter Sunset in Clunes by Melita white from Perfume Polytechnic
For those of us in Sydney, or indeed anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere, you’ll be past mid-winter by now and probably desperate for a reminder of what it feels like to be warm. Here are a couple of super summer reminders…..
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Green notes, galbanum, narcissus, hyacinth, iris, magnolia, violet
Galbanum and the cool wash of florists fridge air meet in this sheer, clean, crisp fragrance that is all about how to beat the heat. It seems counter intuitive to wear something so Arctic-ly bracing but it has so many summer memories for me that it works to remedy my ennui.
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, lemon, thyme, rosemary
Heart: Pine needles, dyer’s gorse
Base: Black pepper, sandalwood, woody notes
Granville is one of the classiest colognes I know. When it was released I bought 2 x 10ml and went through the first in no time but completely forgot I had a second. Now its sweet herbal/citrus opening with cool, dry, cracked black pepper and a very soft whisper of breath or fur, I’m never quite sure which, is still with me. Wearing it tonight has me smiling in remembrance of sunlit warm days.
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cardamom, coriander, grass oil
Heart: Black hemlock, violet, jasmine absolute
Base: Vetiver, cedar wood, amber, sandalwood
Strangely I find the herbs at the top of Ormond Woman warm and fleshy, I wonder if its the jasmine? There is something delightfully human under all the clean green and synth woodsiness. An oily warmth that makes the whole fragrance really comfortable and while it harks back to summer it also has the feeling of cuddling together under the bedcovers and keeping the cold at bay on a winters Sunday morning.
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Mango fruit tincture, jasmine, frangipani, tuberose, magnolia, osmanthus, maile vine (a common component of floral leis), Bourbon vanilla, Africa stone (hyrax), ambergris, benzoin, New Caledonian sandalwood
I love the fetid, sensual, over ripe swamp that is Tropic of Capricorn. While everything else only list has been cool and green here we have fire and danger, excitement and lush tropical nightmares. This is what the animals of summer smell like, how pan might smell in his erotic goatiness. Tropic of Capricorn is the tribal community gathering, musical beat, the fire and the sacred ceremonies of indigenous people. Hot, heating and full of magical promise.
Sydney from the North Shore at Greenwich taken by my friend-since-Kindergarten, Tim Kelly.
What do you suggest as a memory of summer or if you’re in the northern hemisphere what is helping you beat the heat?
Portia xx
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Guest Post by Dionne
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Hey you great-smelling crowd, you!
It’s an honor to be here at Australian Perfume Junkies, and many thanks for Portia for inviting me to write a post. I’m the odd duck of Portia’s guest bloggers, as this is coming to you from the Great White North, aka the Canadian Rockies, where it’s white and hoarfrost-y and brisk as all get-out right now. However, my lovely mother-in-law was Australian, so I’m sorta-related through marriage and hoping y’all will grant me pretend-Aussie status. (It’s on my bucket list to visit someday.)
My initial plans for a first review got thrown out the window upon the arrival of an anticipated sample about two weeks ago. At the end of October I’d bought myself a larger bottle of Réglisse Noir, a stunning licorice floral that is one of the most unique and elegant perfumes in my collection, and figured I‘d throw a sample of Fleur No 1 into the cart for curiosity’s sake. Both perfumes are from the line 1000 Flowers, a Canadian indie brand created by perfumer Jessica Buchanan. The artisanal perfume scene is not as big in Canada as it is in Australia but we’ve got some neat lines, and in my opinion Jessica is a nose worth watching.
I don’t typically sample green frags anymore, as I did a massive exploration of the note about a year and a half ago at the request of my other half, The Engineer, who is a sucker for the smell of freshly-cut grass. After several months and lots of vials, I found my top three (Silences, Bel Respiro and Heure Exquise, if you’re wondering) and figured I was done. Boy was I wrong. Fleur No 1 is different from anything I’ve tried before, and changed my top three greens to a top four. This is a big deal for me, because I like things all neat and tidy, and “trio of greens” sounds so very prime number-ish and aesthetically pleasing, but what could I do? Fleur just wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Green notes, galbanum, narcissus, hyacinth, iris, magnolia and violet
So, how does this beauty smell? There’s an initial hit of galbanum similar to the beginning of Silences, but it’s a bit softer in Fleur No 1. After about ten minutes the spring flowers join in, mainly narcissus and hyacinth, with just a hint of earthiness. Envision a child clutching a freshly picked bouquet of flowers snatched out of the bulb garden that she really wasn’t supposed to pick complete with lots of leaves and the root ball still attached and she’s trailing clumps of dirt into the house and aren’t they pretty and I picked these for you because I love you mummy…………. yeah, that’s pretty much it. (I sound like I’m speaking from experience, don’t I?)
Photo Stolen Pixabay
Further reading CaFleurBon
1000Flowers eBoutique sells Fleur No 1 15ml @ $33.75. They also have a great Sample Program
IndieScents also stock 1000 Flowers
In my experience there are pretty perfumes, and there are interesting perfumes, but not a lot of pretty perfumes that are also interesting. Fleur No 1 walks that tightrope and does it beautifully. And I’m happy to report that due to some shameless begging on my part, Sons #2 and #3 are putting this under the tree for me for Christmas. Wheeee!
Till next month,
Dionne x
Australian Perfume Junkies 