Atelier des Ors

Musc Immortel by Atelier des Ors: Midsummer Nights

/ Sandra / 10 Comments

.

Sandra

.

Hey there APJ! How are you doing?

Summer vacation has finally arrived in The Netherlands and this year we are blessed. The weather is so warm and sunny that we are in fact in a mini drought. Every day we are greeted in the mornings with the birds’ love songs and then we are rewarded with the musical chorus of crickets chirping in the evenings. This has been a truly stunning summer so far.

Atelier des Ors: Musc Immortel

For the last couple of days I have been basking in the glow of Atelier des Ors Musc Immortel. It is currently limited to Harrods in London, but I am hoping that it will soon be available to the rest of the world.

Fragrantica lists the notes as: grapefruit, clary sage, iris, patchouli, haitian vetiver, cypriol oil or nagarmotha, ambrette, musk and immortelle. Musc Immortel was created by Marie Salamagne in 2017.

When I spray Musc Immortel it opens with gorgeous herbaceous clary sage which is tempered with a cool blast of slightly bitter grapefruit. The grapefruit never veers too citrusy which is just perfect for me as I cannot handle citrus notes. Then Musc Immortel turns vegetal, herbal and balmy. I am off to a wonderful start.

It is when the iris note hits my brain cells that I can conjure up visions of all the glorious bearded irises that I have been able to see this spring. Iris is proving to be one of my absolute favorite notes. Iris perfumes can be powdery and sometimes sweet. However, the iris here is warm and earthy but not sweet, almost texturally tangible with its velvety smooth components. Because of this tactile quality, I find Musc Immortel quite sensual.

While the opening is beautiful, it is with the addition of patchouli that a slighty sweet woody vibe enters. I used to think that patchouli was not a note I could carry off very well, however, as I age, I find it much more appealing. The patchouli used in Musc Immortel is earthy and warm sending the iris into the background only momentarily. Vetiver is a difficult note for me but together with the patchouli I find that the bracing grassy notes that I normally associate with vetiver are no longer there. This vetiver is so incredibly smooth, green with a light touch of hinted citrus. Could it be the quality of vetiver that Atelier des Ors uses that makes the difference?

The long and irresistible dry down of Musc Immortel gives us a dusting of immortel. This rounds out the perfume bringing me comfort and the sense of light or the heat of a sultry summer day moving into the night. This is yet another sensorial delight for my nose and brain. This is an iris perfume kissed by woods and warmth. Adding to this sensual delight is the addition of musc. There is quite a lot of purring musc in this which makes the perfume sing.

I will treasure Musc Immortel until my sample is gone. Thank you to Megan from Atelier des Ors for sending me my sample and for giving me the opportunity to live with this for a few days.

I will wait with baited breath for this to come into wider distribution. Please Atelier des Ors, hear my pleas, this is something that should be shared and not limited.

How do you deal with limited perfumes? Do you seek them out? Or do you dismiss them outright because of their exclusivity?

Wishing you all a wonderful August wherever you are.

Oodles of fragrant kisses,

Sandra xo

Atelier des Ors GIVEAWAY WINNER

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

.

Portia

.

Het Crew,

You all are amazing. Thank you all so much for getting involved and being a part of the APJ family.

HUGE thanks also go to Megan In St Maxime who works for Atelier des Ors and gave me the set to give.
Portia xxx

Atelier des Ors GIVEAWAY WINNER

Fragrantica

Kate Apted

You have till Monday May 1st 2017 to get in touch [portia (underscore) turbo (at) yahoo (dot) com (dot) au] with your address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit

Atelier des Ors Sample Set

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 56 Comments

.

Portia

.

Hi there APJ,

On Friday a fortnight ago I wrote about the newest Atelier des Ors, Iris Fauve. The house is wonderful and Megan who is their PR woman gave me a full set of samples for one lucky APJ reader. So here’s a quick run down of each scent in the collection, then move on down to the GIVEAWAY section and have a go.

Good luck,
Portia xxx

Atelier des Ors Collection

Fragrantica

Aube Rubis by Atelier des Ors 2015

Top: Bergamot, Grapefruit, Black currant
Heart: Sage, Violet, Iris
Base: Patchouli, Haitian vetiver, Praliné

 

Cuir Sacré by Atelier des Ors 2015

Top: Juniper berry, Cardamom, Cypress
Heart: Frankincense, Saffron, Cedar leaf
Base: Vetiver, Cypriol, Leather

Opens with sharp woodsy incense, like a cold incense stick. Interesting hints of an Indian meal too and slightly soapy. Gosh, they never do anything by the book at Atelier des Ors. The range is happily skew wiff, a sideways slant on each major note. Interesting how they do that without making weird stuff, all extremely wearable. When the leather arrives it is softly and bound by a salted vetiver, like a posh handbag in an Indian restaurant at a temple by the sea. Lastly it sits at plush suede.

Larmes du Désert by Atelier des Ors 2015

Top: Elemi resin, Frankincense, Cypress
Heart: Patchouli, Gaiac wood, Cedarwood
Base: Citric notes, Benzoin, Wolfwood

The resins open sweet and churchy. Woods back this up and keep the whole fragrance grounded. I love this and think Tears of the Desert a perfect name, like the resinous sap tears of those dry, twisted shrubs that produce such exquisite fragrance.

Lune Feline by Atelier des Ors 2015

Top: Cinnamon, Cardamom, Pink pepper
Heart: Cypriol, Cedarwood, Styrax, Cachalox, Wolfwood
Base: Tahitian vanilla absolute, Peru balsam, Musk

Cardamom, vanilla and a softly sizzling pink pepper open. It’s a luxurious beauty and smells like it cost money to create. A smooth milky opaqueness with little hints of booze and greenery. A light fizziness gives me memories of ice-cream spiders when I was a kid.

Rose Omeyyade by Atelier des Ors 2015

Top: Pink pepper, Rosebud, Raspberry
Heart: Patchouli, Gaiac wood, Brown sugar
Base: Sandalwood, Oud, Amber

A very interesting gourmand, fruity rose backed by a deep and mysterious oriental oud base. Clever and beautiful. The patchouli is that interesting clean plastic variety and it usually makes me squirm but here it is so perfectly and precariously balanced that I just want to sniff more and more and more. Excellent.

Go see the Atelier des Ors, Iris Fauve post if you want too.

 

Atelier des Ors Sample Set GIVEAWAY

CLOSED Thursday April 27 8am AEST

Scent Diary 17.4 – 23.4.17

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 36 Comments

.

Portia

.

Hey there Frag Crew,

This week I was hoping for a quiet, relaxing, get shit done and maybe even get ahead of the game but then …… life. So instead of calm & collected it ended up being crowded and cluttered. HA! Loads of fun though, filled with food, friends, a rally and I got some really yummy scents on my skin too.

Scent Diary 17.4 – 23.4.17

Monday 17:

Easter Monday morning and the weather is beautiful. Sunshine is out and we took the dogs for their morning walk. I thought 1889 Moulin Rouge by Histoires de Parfums would be a good choice. It was very nice wandering the quiet North Parramatta streets at 9am.  That sweet iris/rose lipstick pluminess was most noticeable this morning, really front & centre. On previous wears it has smelled less intense. I quite like the sweet musky dry down too. Pretty. Bought it from Sonya in one of her sales, thanks girl.

Jin’s been on the couch snoozing and watching re-runs of Gilmore Girls and I find myself strangely drawn to it in a way I never was when it was current. Fortunately he went back to work tonight. Structure will help him back on track.

My evening has been spent swathed in the magic that is Atelier des Ors Aube Rubis. OMG! Where has this sensational beauty been my whole life. Freaking gorgeous.

Monday is Trivia Q&A and Blog day/night.

Tuesday 18:

It’s around 1am. I’m halfway through my Trivia Q&A but I’ve been listening to music, hanging on FaceBook and generally dithering. I’m thinking of spritzing fragrance and my mind instantly went to Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur EdP. Fiendishly good, fruity roses, spice, greenery, incense and oud. Now I’m ready for questions. I’m a bit surprised at how much air is already in my latest bottle, I love it so much and usually overspritz like crazy, serves me right.

YAY! It’s 4am and my Trivia Q&A are done, dusted and sent to the crew. PHEW! More Mohur and a late night snack before bed.

This was the perfect autumn morning for walking the dogs. Sunny and warm, hardly anyone around at 9am. The dogs loved it and I found camellias in bloom. I wanted something barely there this morning so went with Parfumerie Generale 4.1 La Musc & La Peau. It’s pretty and fresh, softly soothing and perfect for sunshine.

For work tonight I’m wearing Burberry Brit Woman EdT & Extrait because I feel the need for sweet. I don’t know why I’m putting it back in its box. Seems to be my current craving.

Wednesday 19:

Another glorious Sydney Autumn day.  I’m wearing a couple of dabs of vintage Guerlain Shalimar extrait.

Jin has finally finished his retraining to be an electrician on the NSW Country Trains. It’s a promotion to full team member and a pay rise. He is trying to brush it off as inconsequential but this is a really big deal. It was supposed to take 6 months but due to unforeseen work circumstances the whole crew has been held back. One really good thing is that Jin will be getting the pay rise backdated from the start of the year. That means that quite a bit of the extra money spent to go back to Slovakia and all the things he paid for and facilitated while helping the family deal with our sister in laws suicide will be covered by that lucky windfall. He left the house today in a cloud of vintage CHANEL Antaeus, I think he’s going to be OK.

For work this evening I chose Amouage Opus X. The arctic rose and screechy hairspray fragrance full of woods, ylang and resins. Perfection.

Thursday 20:

Thursday morning and I’m up early in the cool of the half light. I’ve been trolling the net and found some wonderful bargains but held myself firm and only put my name down for a split of Amouage Bracken Woman. I got the dogs inside and they are both curled up on their beds in the living room while I tap away at the keyboard in my office. There’s a coffee in hand and the lingering taste of breakfast cereal in my mouth, wondering if I should also do toast but then think I’ll have that as a morning tea after my 9am dog walk.

The weather is cooling considerably and I’m wearing a decant sent to me by my mate, the gorgeous Robert Herrmann who is a moderator at FaceBook Fragrance Friends and now writes reviews at CFB, when he did a giveaway here on APJ no-one collected the prize so he sent it to me. It’s Tom Ford Vert Boheme, greenest of the green and curiously fitting for an autumn morning. As you can see there is quite a bit of air in the bottle. I like it a lot.

Had a scream tonight as the madcap hostess for a Guerrilla Anti-Fashion Parade as a protest against Levi Strauss using dock workers in Madagascar that are being paid $40/month. Levi’s has 7 factories on Madagascar. The company ICTSI that runs the docks gets $200/container moved, the Dock workers get 2 cents. Their safety gear costs 3 months pay so they never buy it and many of them have to live & sleep under a nearby bridge between shifts.

Levi Strauss is actually a great company with an excellent ecological and workplace agreement history. In 2016 they were ranked #1 in the world for their supply chain code of conduct. Unfortunately the dock workers don’t come under that umbrella and are being treated abominably. The few workers, 43 in all, who have been trying to get better conditions were all fired. It’s a shemozzle and we think that with a multinational like Levi Strauss on board they could help to push ICTSI and governments in the right direction.

Feel free to pop into your local Levis store and tell them how disappointed you are in their ethical double standards in Madagascar.

What fragrance was I swathed in for the evening? Reem Acra EdP. Big, radiant white floral with all the bells and whistles. Done with a very clear nod to vintage but in a super modern way. You can get it for a steal on the discounters now.

Friday 21:

Big day off today. Up, breakfast , fed & walked dogs, got ready, spritzed DIOR Mitzah, out the door by 8.30am to meet my mate Evie for a morning stroll through the Art Gallery of NSW and a guided tour of some of their permanent collection, then to the dentist, had a wander around the department stores (bought the Mon Guerlain Shower Gel and learned how to get my Diptyque Rose de Mai squirter to work, tried 32 Venenum by L`Artisan Perfumer) then hanging with Alice and having Peking Duck!! We are not quite sure what Alice had in mind with the chips but it looks like she is trying to make a chip moustache. We ate the WHOLE DUCK between us.

Amazing day but now I’m pooped. Walked nearly 14,000 steps today. That’s a lot for lazy old me.

Saturday 22:

SATURDAY! I promised myself to Jin this morning. He has been working nights since Monday and it’s his first day off. Today we are going to be able to celebrate his promotion. So I grabbed the makings of French Toast. It’s one of his all time favourite breakfasts and it’s so easy to make. Today I’m adding some off the bone ham, a big dollop of fresh made guacamole and a mushroom, onion, ham stir fry.

I’m just about to take the dogs for a walk. The day is cool and lovely, I’m multiple spritzing Lolita Lempicka EdP down my shirt before I go. On the walk I came across these amazing flowers on a large shrub fully in bloom, heavenly.

Jin’s best friend Matt called and is taking him out to the Rugby League this afternoon so I get to blog and nap. YAY!!! Aren’t they cute in their Parramatta supporters outfits? Such boys.

Then tonight I’m taking him out for Korean BarBQ. A real date night, first one since I went on the cruise in February. Poor Jin was so tired, he fell sound asleep in the car on the way home, snoring and all.

Sunday 23:

WOW! How is it Sunday already? This week has sped by.

This morning we organised to catch up with mates. Sydney really turned on the most spectacular autumn morning for us and I made Jin take a photo out the car window.

I wore my vintage Jean Patou 1000 EdT. Perfect accompaniment to a morning a fun.

We had Pedis & Yum Cha. Kath & I had our feet attended to, then Jin and Phil joined us for lunch in the food court.

Fell asleep and missed my make up cues. Went to work at Austral Bowling Club as a guy wearing Guerlain Moscow. It also has a bit of a Mon Guerlain vibe.

Hung out there with Anna-Maria and her husband Johnny. Anna-Maria was Jin and my 2016 travelling companion through Europe, you might remember that we all met up with Tara of A Bottled Rose?

So how was your week?
Try any new fragrance? Rediscovering old one?
Do something or go anywhere exciting? Watch any good TV or read a book?
Come on, share. I love to know what you all have been up to too.
Portia xxx

 

Iris Fauve by Marie Salamagne for Atelier des Ors 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

.

Portia

.

Hey there Niche Nerds,

Atelier des Ors is one of Ainslie Walkers fave modern houses. While she was writing regularly for APJ I knew she would grab the newbies and give us a post about them. It meant there was a house I could totally ignore. So it was really fun at Esxence to meet New Zealand born blogger Megan from St Maxime, who also does PR for the company, so she could personally take me through the range. While I was there with Pia and Nick and I got Fume Royalty’s blow by blow account of why the scents are so good as well as the PR spin.

Iris Fauve by Atelier des Ors 2017

Iris Fauve by Marie Salamagne

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, cinnamon, iris
Heart: Patchouli, Haitian vetiver, cypriol oil or nagarmotha
Base: Myrrh, musk, labdanum, liatris

Iris! the opening of Iris Fauve is that cool, crisp, cardboard and autumn air cleanness that I associate with the best and most beautiful iris-centric scents. Slight citrus and patchouli background noise and a lightly salted grassy green vetiver but iris above all.

My mind is throwing me pictures of the layers of puff pastry, as if as I go down into the heart of the fragrance there are tiny, wafer thin layers of iris root with warm scented air rushing over them that create this comfortable, cosy iris scent. Light enough to capture the Asian market yet full enough to satisfy me Iris Fauve seems to have depth and breathtaking lift.

After the first 15 minutes Iris fauve seems to melt into my skin and become one with my fleshy humanity, a welcome whisper of beauty lying just above the skin. Here it seems to have a leatheriness too, hints of Cuir d’Ange and Cuir de Lancome, those softly and elegantly produced well loved gloves.

People that I respect are saying that this is an iris masterpiece, while I won’t go that far I think if you have previously found yourself iris-averse then maybe this treatment could change your mind. I get zero of the bread/carrot/earth on my skin that iris so often throws.

Flickr

Further reading: Colognoisseur and Non Blonde
Peony Melbourne carries the range
Surrender To Chance has samples from $4.25/0.5ml

Do you know the Atelier des Ors fragrance house? What are your favourite Iris perfumes?
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 20.3 – 26.3.17

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

.

Portia

.

Scent Diary: 20.3 – 26.3.17

Monday 20:

Luxumbourg has an excellent cafe/chocolatier on the Place Guillaume. we had afternoon tea there and wrote postcards.

I might have bought these in a corner perfumery with a 20% discount. YAY!

Tuesday 21:

Arrived in Paris around lunchtime. We are staying in a new to us hotel near the Arc de Triomphe. Coming out of the Metro on the escalator and being hit with one of the world’s most recognisable landmarks is pretty spectacular.

Obligatory Serge Lutens flagship store visit. Bought Jin a new MKK because he is going through his bell jar rather quickly and got Scotty something too for house minding our place. SHHHH.

Near the Louvre Museum they had a memorial to all the homeless that died in Paris last year. Hundreds of them, not all with names, were represented by a flowering plant. We laid a rose and said a prayer for one who died on Jin’s birthday. Very moving tribute and a woman danced through the memorial to French provincial music played by a smell band.

Yes, went to Guerlain Champs Elysees store but did not purchase. they still have Liu if you’re looking for it.

Dinner with Nicolas & Enno from Le Galion and Aether. They are bloody wicked company and we laughed and chatted the night away. So glad we are mates with such clever, passionate men about life, work and fragrance.

Scored the brand newest Aether scent and will be doing a giveaway when we get back so you can try it too. Based on the smell of hot metal and made with only captured molecules Methaldone is really good stuff. Freaky, wearable and smells good to me.

Wednesday 22:

Since 2013 Jin and I have reminisced about having crepes for breakfast one morning in a market with our mates Aaron & Gerard. They were delicious and it was a great thing to do. Jin decided we would repeat the adventure and painstakingly worked out where the market was and on which days it is open. They were as good as we remembered and it was fun to go back.

Then we went inside Notre Dame. We have been outside a few times but never went in. This time we went in and lit candles for friends & family. Beautiful.

Here I wear the Eiffel Tower as a hat. This is the bridge near Princess Diana’s tunnel where she died. Still sad.

In the afternoon we went to the Grand Palais and saw the Rodin exhibition. Really interesting look at an artist that I know not very much about. We learned a bit but more than anything I loved that he was a great sketcher and we saw a lout of his drawings/inks and that captured my imagination more than anything else.

Jin called this the Beyonce Single Ladies statue. We bloody lost it and all the French matrons looking at us like we were from outer space as we laughed and did Single Ladies singing & dancing impersonations.

Thursday 23:

Ahhh, Galleries Lafayette. I know that Printemps is posher but the shiver of excitement I feel whenever we shop beneath that glittering dome is worth more than anything. Yes, bought the Hermes Collection Colognes. The Hermès SA loaded us up with extras too and made me SWEAR I’d come back and shop with her. Indeed I will.

We saw the Pissaro exhibition, excellent. Seeing the way he grew as an artist. There were all sorts of wonderful pieces in the pointillist, separatist, impressionist genres but interestingly he also had a sideline in simple watercolour and gauche paintings that were really easily sold by his art dealer. That was the way he paid the rent and fed his family. It also meant he could pursue his grand pieces. The last ones were so magnificently painted that they looked like the light was streaming out of them, as if backed by light boxes. Unbelievable.

We tried to go to the Louis Vuitton Foundation but there was no exhibition on. Having paid for the best tickets available we were a bit grumpy. The building is a ridiculous conglomeration of hideous architecture wankings anyway. What a pile of shit.

 

Friday 24:

OMG! Jin and I flew to Milan in the early morning, had some lunch and then met a few of the frag crew in clouding Val the Cookie Queen. We then went in to Escxence. It is enormous, filled to the gills with perfume houses. So many of them brand new and hardly any of my most loved.

Charles de Gaulle had an interesting selection of Mass-Tige fragrances including Diptyque, Amouage, Lutens and Goutal.

Val the Cookie Queen is mortally afraid of photographs, weird because she’s so beautiful.

Nick (I’m sorry I didn’t get a pic with Pia too) Gilbert and Lucasz from Chemist In A Bottle

Antonio Gardoni of Bogue and Francesco from Luckyscent

Adam & Francesco from LuckyScent, Vero Kern, Neela Vermeire and up the back Judith Fox, Val CQs best friend (and psychotherapist). This is my favourite Esxence pic by far.

It was so overwhelming that I only allowed 3 houses to give me their sample sets. I already love Miller & Bartaux, their product is weird and wonderful while remaining perfectly wearable.
Atelier des Ors is a favourite of Ainslie Walker and I know Megan their rep.
Brand new and winner of the worst brand name ever Homoelegans, I liked one of their frags particularly, more on that later.

We finished the day with a bunch of great mates for dinner. They all really needed a quiet wind down and we found a spectacular candlelit restaurant close by that served wonderful food for very decent prices. Petit is the name and they worked hard to make it a special evening for us all.

Saturday 25:

Started my morning at the Milano Savoy with Aussie milliner to the stars Naomi Goodsir. I bloody love her.

This years offering is Nuit de Bakelite. It’s green with a tuberose heart. The closest analogy I can make is a 21st century Niki de Saint Phalle EdT.

The Duomo. The Pope was in town, he missed us by minutes.

Neela and Jin. The display was gorgeous at the NVC stand and Neela was swamped by people all day, every day.

At Campo Marzio 70. I might have bought a Kiki Extrait at retail, so good.

Farewell to Vero Kern & Antonio Gardoni with Val the cookie queen.

I might have got this to…….

Sunday 26:

Up early for a farewell breakfast with Val the Cookie Queen and Judith. Saying goodbye to people we love is shit.

We dropped into Esxence to see Neela and she gave us a bottle of Bombay Bling to photograph on our travels in Milan today. BIG responsibility. Jin is up for the challenge.

A cup of tea with Neela before bed. The fragrances she creates are as warm, wonderful and delicious as Neela herself. I love her passion and perfectionism.

So what has happened in your week, fragrant or otherwise?
Portia xx