AVON

Bauhaus Influence on Perfumery

/ katesplace356115470 / 30 Comments

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Kate Apted

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Hey there APJ good lookers!

Bauhaus celebrates its first centenary this year. Its influence is all around us in all aspects of life. Quality products with pleasing aesthetics for the everyday people. It is an ethos seemingly embraced by many of our most prominent industry leaders. Think of Ikea, the humble Nissan car, Apple’s take from Braun household item designs and the ubiquitous road sign typography. But what effect, if any, did the Gropius managed movement have on perfumery?

Bauhaus Influence on Perfumery

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Weimar_Germany_Bauhaus-University-10.jpg© CEphoto, Uwe Aranas

Continue reading →

Little Black Dress by Barbara Zoebelein for Avon 2001

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 25 Comments

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Kate Apted

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Hello all you lovely APJ family.

I owe a huge thanks to Sam from I Scent You a Day. Had I not found her blog and lurked around for a while, I’d have never dusted off my mum’s perfume collection and found a few Avon gems. Sam is a huge Avon fan and her enthusiasm caused me to see what all the fuss was about. I hadn’t bothered with Avon since I was a tween. Bad quality and poor longevity put me off.

Deciding I liked Little Black Dress (LBD) after trying what sat on mum’s bureau, I ordered a bottle on sale. My version is the latest one with the black sticker on the back and the fully black cap, while mum’s is an original from the year of its release with the transparent glass body and a half black cap. Interestingly, I prefer my bottle. I will stand by my view that Avon scents trail off after 30 min to one hour, but in the case of LBD, the scent is what makes it worth buying. At the price it generally goes for, even online, I am happy to keep reapplying. Avon’s rollerball version is perfect for my handbag or travel. And it comes with body products! Win! Continue reading →

Boring Stuff that Smells AMAZING!

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hey there crew,

Every day, or every couple of days, I do a whole bunch of things. They are my routine. I clean down the kitchen benches, shower, wash clothes, cook, drive, drink tea and coffee and a whole shemozzle of stuff. Problem is, I am a sensualist. What I’m looking for is a ride, a story, moment or a fantasy. An experience. One of the best ways I know how to make the hum drum routine zing is with scent, here are a few of my faves.

Boring Stuff that Smells AMAZING!

Footworks Cracked Heel Cream AVON

AVON Footworks Cracked Heel Cream: My feet are the pits underneath. Years of sport, dance, clubbing, high heels and neglect meant that by the time I was 25 my feet were cracked and bleeding on the underside. Thick soles, cracks and calluses had become agony and I thought it was my lot in life to be continuously grating dry skin from under my feet. Till someone sold me some AVON Footworks. Yes, I had used others but the positive effect was negligible, something in Footworks really works. The smell is smooth and balmy with a hint of chemical flowers and musks. I put it on religiously after every bath and shower and wander around in little cotton socks. The difference is unbelievable.

aromachologie-volumizing-shampoo-33017

L’OCCITANE Aromachologie Volumizing Shampoo for Fine and Normal Hair: So you know, I pay full price $35/500ml for this baby. It’s made with and smells like 5 essential oils; artemisia, petitgrain, sweet orange, rosemary, palmarosa. Yes it leaves my fine, sparse hair shiny and squeaky clean but the smell? The scent is freaking terrific. I lather up and leave it on for about a minute while doing other stuff so I can keep smelling the super green citrus burst, both calming and energising.

Aramis Soap On A Rope

Aramis Soap On A Rope: If you want to remember what old school Aramis smelled like then the Aramis Body Shampoo On A Rope is your friend. The smell is absolutely and utterly divine. That amber leather floral filled to the brim with gorgeous greenery and spices dancing around the center. It also hold a million memories because this was the first grown up bottle of scent my Mum bought for me. It makes a fabulous base for any of your leather or green fragrances, amping the herbs and woods. So beautiful.

White Vinegar
White Vinegar: I really don’t like the smell of most household cleaning products, I want my house to BE clean. Smelling clean is not important, and I also dislike left over cleaning smells that affect the way I smell the fragrance I wear and the ambient fragrances I choose to use. White Vinegar, boiling water and a dash of disinfectant takes away all the nasty smells and leaves everything squeaky clean. It’s better for the environment and doesn’t eat away your bathroom or kitchen. We also use it instead of fabric softener.

anastasia kasumi tea JPG

Kasumi Tea Anastasia: Recently the tin has been made over by Jean Paul Gaultier in very typical JPG nautical stripe & tattoo style. The current tin we have open on the kitchen bench is less modern in design but the orange zest and sweet fruit notes in this black tea are a real winner. It’s one of Kasumi’s oldest and most popular blends, fragrant and delicious. Perfect to lift lifes sometimes monotone days into sparkling rainbow brights.

So what are your Boring Stuff that Smells AMAZING? What do you use to make the daily grind smell better?
Portia xx

BBC Perfume Documentary Part 3 "The Smell Of The Future"

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

Hey Hey

Over the last two Sundays we showed the “Something old, something new” Part 1 BBC Perfume Documentary and “Bottling The Memory” Part 2 BBC Perfume Documentary. Today we”ll be able to watch the last of these 3 wonderful documentaries. You’ll need to grab a cuppa/juice/wine and maybe some breakfast/lunch/dinner and settle in for an hour, there are no ad breaks but you can pause and come back through your Sunday.

Shem el Nessim Grossmith FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Grossmith, Axe and Avon. From the royal houses of the middle east to the ghettos of Brazil we are taken on a tour of innovation through some very different price points and customer bases. I particularly enjoy this very glammed up go to whoa fragrance build as we follow Ann Gottleib the AXE fragrance evaluator as she tries to predict a Brazillian blockbuster. Cool video.

Enjoy,
Portia xx

BBC Perfume Documentary Part 3 “The Smell Of The Future”

Charisma Cologne by Avon 1968

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

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Post by Ainslie Walker

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This afternoon, I feel like Miss Marple of the fragrance world.

The first fragrance I ever loved and owned as a child in the 80s was something contained in a little amber and pink, gingerbread house shaped bottle. I have just unearthed it from my mothers attic and opened it, expecting terrible things, when to mine and her surprise, on opening, out came a blast of something ‘Chanel number 5-esque’!!?? My mum actually had a stash of Chanel number 5 Eau De Cologne back then, and she exclaimed “Oh, you must’ve topped up from MY bottle!!”

It WAS quite feasible…. but I needed to clear my name…

Inspecting the underside of the bottle it read “AVON Charisma Cologne”. Intriguing. I went straight to the WWW and found the description listed as;

Floral, musky, aldehydic, powdery, animalic, balsamic

Charisma Cologne by Avon 1968

Charisma Cologne Avon #1

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, bergamot, peach, neroli, hyacinth, coriander
Heart: Iris root, carnation, jasmine, rose, narcissus, ylang-ylang, lily of the valley
Base: Sandalwood, amber, civets, musk, tonka bean, vanilla, styrax

WOW! To think I was enjoying green spicy florals even back then! It explains A LOT!! Not to mention that this fragrance was packaged in a gingerbread house for young girls –almost shocking!!

Avon’s Charisma was obviously heavily inspired by Chanel. For reference, Chanel number 5 Eu De Cologne, is listed as;

Woody, powdery, aldehydic, musky, white floral, amber, animalic

Chanel No 5 Eau de Cologne Chanel FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Boom! I run for my Chanel number 5– a 100ml bottle of the eau de cologne from the late 60’s/early 70s, (which indeed was mums) which smells much stronger, smoother and heavier on the anamalic and rosey-powder ingredients than the Charisma, but still overall very similar, and surprising, considering the obvious price and branding differences. I would like to think the No 5 I have is full of beautiful naturals, due to its manufacturing date, and this could be why it is more rounded and full smelling.

I read on, many people compare Charisma to Coco, but I have none here to compare, from memory, this sounds feasible, but did not come straight to my mind. Coco is also balsamic, so perhaps.

Coco was launched in 1984. HANG ON, that was 16 years after Avon’s Charisma, which came out in 1968…..would Jaques Polgue actually have ‘borrowed’ some ideas from AVON?!?!?!?!

Coco Chanel FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Either way we perfume lovers must realize, that what can come from a tacky brand or cheap novelty bottle, may in fact be almost identical ingredients as what some of the more “high end/exclusive” brands contain. Don’t judge a perfume by it’s package, price or branding, shut your eyes and smell- you and your bank balance may get a pleasant surprise!

Ainslie Walker X

SUNDAY QUICKSNIFF REVIEWS #10

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hello Perfumistas,

Click here for more graphics and gifs!

Every Monday morning the Sunday QuickSniff Review page is opened and each time I spritz during the week and am near the computer I’ll give a 3 sentence review with a rating out of 5 each for, well, see the key after the reviews. These can be samples I’ve bought or had sent to me by friends, or a FB that I may fully review later, or have done before and want to remind you of its existence. It gives me a lovely Sunday to hang with friends away from the computer, I hope your Sunday is great too.

DZING! by L’ARTISAN PARFUMEUR 1999. On my skin I get warm shiny pleather-ish, dirty hay, play-do, new formica, then a kind of aqueous ginger, something like a recently lifted lotus root, still wet. Then we get back to the plastic, leather and resins with a late showing of caramel. Interesting, but I think I like the way Jacomo Art Collection #2 takes the idea further in a slightly different pentameter. S=*** L=*** D=**

IN BLOOM by REESE WITHERSPOON for AVON 2009. Another from my AVON mate Penny, YOO HOO Gorgeous!! This is an aquatic fruit and white flowers, it’s nothing new or particularly gripping but it is quite pretty. A perfect scent for anything really, totally inoffensive, and the price is great. Amazon has 50ml $12. S=** L=*** D=**

COMME DES GARDCONS EdP 1994. WOW! This opens on me with a huge hit of clove and cardamom, phew! Nearly blew my head off and it is beautiful, maintaining an interesting spice and wood combo for hours that weaves around itself rarely hitting the florals. No wonder this caused such a sensation when released; and is still available.  A 5ml spray decant was on special at ThePerfumedCourt S=**** L=*** D=****

ROUGE by HERMES 2000. Rouge is the reinterpretation of 1984’s Parfum d”Hermes, they have modernised and freshened the old blockbuster in a very palatable way that will probably have outraged the old guard but enticed a younger market. The iris opens cool but it doesn’t take long for the scent to warm up bringing the ylang-ylang and woods in a breathy, sensual mix that already heads towards its spicy amber base, kept inedible by the myrtle green, that lasts around 4 hours till gone. EssentialMall has 50ml under $70 S=**** L=*** D=***


Photo Stolen from shirtsays

Scent, Obviously the number 1 priority here is how does it smell. My reviews are completely subjective and will differ widely from your own experience with the scent but it’s a good starting point. As yet I am not a trained perfumer so any and all descriptions are merely that, descriptions. There are plenty of blogs that offer technical details and chemistry, in 3 sentences I’ll pass.
Longevity, This is a biggie for me because like enfleurage where flower petals are left in fats to steal the scent, my fatty body works the same and eats it up, yum. So for a scent to last well on me, it will probably last a whole day on you and need a radioactive decontamination shower to defuse it from your skin.
Desirabilty, Wrapped up in this is scent, price, house, history, longevity, packaging, availability and a billion other things.

Photo Stolen from bittbox

* in any of these being the, “You couldn’t pay enough to spray this God awful stink on me again, it smells like public toilets in India, long time fridge malfunction while on Summer holiday and the vile stench of poverty all rolled into one.” You are putting innocent people in danger if you wear this.
** means it’s a nothing, wearable, boring, maybe the price is prohibitive for what you get or it’s ubiquitous. You should definitely get a sample of this to stop a buying boo boo.
*** is a perfectly good product that smells good and lasts a while at a decent price. You should definitely think about trying a sample or squirt but should you miss out your life will continue. Sample size worthy.
**** is the one you try, want a lot but can wait for a birthday/Christmas. It’s better than most of the stuff you’ve sniffed and may fill a void in your library. This is also an excellent decant product 5ml will get you through the season and maybe buy it next year.
***** meaning, stop reading this, grab your cash, credit card (or partners), roll the elderly or rob a petrol station and purchase this product. NOW! If you don’t have this fragrance you could die.

The sniffing around your house been good? What have you tried and how did you rate it?

Portia xx

Wild Ginger Chai by SOIVOHLE Winner Announced

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Hey All,

I have a full day of Liz Zorn and SOIVOHLE coming up soon but I received an order from them and can’t stop spraying myself with Wild Ginger Chai, then I come to review it and its been finished. No mention on the website, and I only bought 11ml thinking I would be sensible for a change.

STOP PRESS, false alarm!!! No not gone but that part of the site is currently down. Liz just return emailed about my query and said it will be back up July 24, with the release of some new stuff. Yippeee! If you want to be kept in the SOIVOHLE loop here is a JUMP to their Facebook Page. Which will also give you links to their blog updates.

I love the queer start, like it’s going to be a hot stinking mess. As it opens on my skin the ginger and vanilla seem to grind against each other for the first 5 or so minutes like rubbing corduroy the wrong way, not a bad feeling, just unexpected. When the honey floats through the shape of this masterpiece begins show itself. Really masterpiece you ask? I have had this on me at some point during the last 4 days, 2 of those days I wore nothing else. OMG!! So I don’t get a tea like the Bvlgari’s, but there is a jasmine/orange blossom like lactonic note here and the spicy milk accord does nod vigorously towards the smell of chai being cooked out of the milk in India, which is a totally different smell to ours, there is also still a quiet kick of ginger right through but like a gingerbread man, slightly doughy. Wild Ginger Chai continues to grow and change, but not distinctly, as it fades away to a soft and wearable sweetish vanilla This all takes around 4-5 hours till I completely lose the ability to smell it. Cor! It is soooo good. Excuse me while I respritz.

Wild Ginger Chai Soivohle for women and menPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica said,
Wild Ginger Chai by Soivohle is an Aromatic Spicy fragrance for women and men…launched in 2012….and features vanilla, tea, honey and spices.

MAKING TRUE CHAI
Indians bring the water to the boil in a saucepan on the stove, throw in their tea leaves, sugar/honey and special tea spice mix (called Chai Masala) to taste, every home is different. As the water changes colour they add milk, I prefer quite a bit, then let the mix almost boil again and it’s ready. Strain into cups and serve with warm biscuits, yummy. Surprisingly, Indians drink this in all seasons, even the hottest part of summer.

THURSDAY GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Our giveaway was open to blog followers only this week, we are now well over the 100 followers mark so I decided to add an extra little prize for our 100th follower, COOL huh? Thank you to all our contestants, so glad you all jumped on board for this one.

You were all put on a paper, folded, put on a plate and picked by Jin (repeating; this was not a game of chance, you had to be a blog follower and tell us your fave post this week). Here’s what was on offer for the major prize

5ml decant spray Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf
3ml decant spray Beloved by Amouage
2ml manufacturers sample Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens
1ml sample vial Fleur de Glace by Olympic Orchids
1ml manufacturers sample Outspoken by Fergie for Avon
P&H anywhere in the world

All measurements are approximate

For our 100th follower we have 2 things I love and 2 that were meh! I hope you like them all.

2ml decant spray Gujarat by Olympic Orchids
2ml decant spray Commes Des Garcons EdP
1ml manufacturers sample Honey Blossom by The Beehive
1ml manufacturers sample In Bloom by Reese Witherspoon for AVON
P&H anywhere in the world

All measurements are approximate

Photo Stolen propercourse

THURSDAY GIVEAWAY- Laniersmith

100th FOLLOWER- anutu13

You have till Wednesday July 18 9pm Australian EST to get in touch with your addresses so I can send these off. PM me on Twitter @OzPerfumeJunkie or Facebook Portia Turbo-Gear If you don’t I’ll give your prize to someone else.

Photo Stolen bitrebels

Thank all for coming around, I have a special thank you video. It’s just a bunch of Brazilian male models saying Hola. Do please enjoy,
Much love and highest hopes for your health, wealth and happiness,
Portia xx

THURSDAY GIVEAWAY

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 36 Comments

Hi gang,

We’ve had a couple of weeks off the Thursday Giveaway because I was over it. Now it’s back. This giveaway is open to anyone who follows the AustralianPerfumeJunkies blog.

What do you have to do to win? Easy! Just tell us which of the posts this week was your favourite. We’ll go through and randomly pick one. This is not a game of chance, you must answer the question to fulfill the criteria, but it’s not a writing contest either. Got it?

You have till around 10pm Saturday July 14 Australian EST. Should we not hear from the winner in a week we will give the prize to someone else. Fair enough? You bet!

Here’s what’s on offer:

5ml decant spray Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf
3ml decant spray Beloved by Amouage
2ml manufacturers sample Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens
1ml sample vial Fleur de Glace by Olympic Orchids
1ml manufacturers sample Outspoken by Fergie for Avon
P&H anywhere in the world

All measurements are approximate because they’ve been used as review samples

I love to do giveaways. It’s the only way I have of saying Thank You physically. We are so glad that you come back so often and read our mad passion for fragrance. When you like, follow or comment we do little air pumps and there are high 5s all round. Every time we reach a goal it is BIG news here.

Our next goal is to have 100 people following the blog. We aren’t far off but would love your help. How can you help? Well, you can follow us yourself, tell your friends about us and ask them to follow if they’re interested, facebook, tweet or retweet our updates and posts. That would be AWESOME!

Much love and wishing you only the good stuff you wish yourselves,
Portia XOX

PS Pictures Stolen lavanyasrecipes and kbaird

SUNDAY QUICKSNIFF REVIEWS #9

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hey Hey Scentsationalists,

Click here for more graphics and gifs!

Every Monday morning the Sunday QuickSniff Review page is opened and each time I spritz and am near the computer I’ll give a 3 sentence review with a rating out of 5 each for, well, see the key after the reviews. Just some sniffs written quickly, it’s Sunday, I’ve been relaxing with my buddies, dogs and partner. I hope you’re having a good one too.

These can be samples I’ve bought or had sent to me by friends, or a FB that I may fully review later, or have done before and want to remind you of its existence.

OUTSPOKEN by FERGIE for AVON. My mate Penny (Thanks Penny, you SUPERMUM!!) gave me this, she is an AVON lady; honesty compels me to tell you that I expected it to be utter crap and it’s nothing new, can’t hold a candle to Chanel, Guerlain or Serge Lutens, but for the price this is AWESOME! As soon as the squeaky opening settles it is a soft aqueous white floral with a very respectable woods and leather dry down; gone in 2-3 hours on me. This is a good scent if you are on a budget, it wont skunk, is wearable at any time and in most situations, you could pay a lot more and get worse. Around $20 for 50ml S=*** L=** D=**

VIVA LA JUICY by JUICY COUTURE 2008. A youth oriented, slightly fizzy, fruity gourmand that is not bad on my skin!! Less irritating than many in its style, has some depth and follows an interesting course from super sweet fruit, through white flowers to soft amber/caramel base over a decent amount of time. Not my thing but I can see where it’s better than many of its peers and will probably use up this sample. A 3ml spray decant from MyPerfumeSamples only $6 S=*** L=**** D=**

FLOWERBOMB by VIKTOR & ROLF 2005. OK This is the same stuff but with all the irritants put in that they left out of Viva La Juicy. One of the currently ubiquitous fruit-chouli army, on (and to) me HORRIBLE!! but I know it’s a really big seller so it must work for some. I will be giving this away in our Thursday Giveaway. A 5ml spray decant from MyPerfumeSamples $9 S=* L=*** D=*

OBSESSION MEN by CALVIN KLEIN 1986. This is an ex-tester bought supercheap, Thanks Amanda! The citrus and spice at the top of this old chestnut are like stepping back in time to when I was studying fashion and this was what people wore, the general public went crazy for it and it still sells. Until today I’d never put it on my skin but POW right in the sniffer! I know America has a thing for clean smelling fragrances but Obsession has always had a sexy backdrop of fleshy, aroused manliness to me. FragranceNet has 15ml for under $12 S=**** L=*** D=***


Photo Stolen from shirtsays

Scent, Obviously the number 1 priority here is how does it smell. My reviews are completely subjective and will differ widely from your own experience with the scent but it’s a good starting point. As yet I am not a trained perfumer so any and all descriptions are merely that, descriptions. There are plenty of blogs that offer technical details and chemistry, in 3 sentences I’ll pass.
Longevity, This is a biggie for me because like enfleurage where flower petals are left in fats to steal the scent, my fatty body works the same and eats it up, yum. So for a scent to last well on me, it will probably last a whole day on you and need a radioactive decontamination shower to defuse it from your skin.
Desirabilty, Wrapped up in this is scent, price, house, history, longevity, packaging, availability and a billion other things.

Photo Stolen from bittbox

* in any of these being the, “You couldn’t pay enough to spray this God awful stink on me again, it smells like public toilets in India, long time fridge malfunction while on Summer holiday and the vile stench of poverty all rolled into one.” You are putting innocent people in danger if you wear this.
** means it’s a nothing, wearable, boring, maybe the price is prohibitive for what you get or it’s ubiquitous. You should definitely get a sample of this to stop a buying boo boo.
*** is a perfectly good product that smells good and lasts a while at a decent price. You should definitely think about trying a sample or squirt but should you miss out your life will continue. Sample size worthy.
**** is the one you try, want a lot but can wait for a birthday/Christmas. It’s better than most of the stuff you’ve sniffed and may fill a void in your library. This is also an excellent decant product 5ml will get you through the season and maybe buy it next year.
***** meaning, stop reading this, grab your cash, credit card (or partners), roll the elderly or rob a petrol station and purchase this product. NOW! If you don’t have this fragrance you could die.

Have you sniffed at all this week? What was it and how did it smell?

Portia xx