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Post by Portia
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So my mate Ainslie Walker sent me this and through it I was smiling like a fool. It’s SO FREAKING CUTE! Nearly 5 minutes of CuttleFish Facts done in such an entertaining way that you will definitely want to pass on the link. Who knew that CuttleFish were such quiet little creatures of such excellent factoids? Certainly not me.
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
I hope you enjoy True Facts About The CuttleFish as much as I did.
Thanks Ainslie,
Portia xxx
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Post by Portia
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Hey Hey APJ,
This has been totally fun. Thank you all for getting on board and thank you especially to Nick at Libertine Parfumerie. We love you buddy.
Portia xxx
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Blood orange, bergamot, mandarin orange, peach, pink pepper
Heart: Rose, geranium, neroli, dewberry, cassis
Base: Vanilla, cacao, olibanum, amber, musk, patchouli, sandalwood, brown sugar
This week we will have 4 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml Empressa by Penhaligon’s (decants from my bottle)
P&H Anywhere in the world
Entries Closed Thursday 3rd September 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org
Photo Stolen propercourse
The winners will have till Sunday 6th September 2015 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.
Please Aussies, go and have a look at the amazing fragrant beauties that
Libertine Parfumerie has for sale, you will be astounded.
Lately Nick’s buying power has become so good that some (not all)
of his products are the same numerical value
as you would buy them for in the USA,
that means with the current Aussie dollar that they are in fact
20-30% cheaper!!! AMAZING! Currently €195 is AU$309!
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Post by Portia
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Hey there APJ,
Lately we have been unpacking boxes and I’ve bought some new plastic decant cases to house my ridiculous collection in. Jin found them for me at Bunnings (our hardware hangars) and they’re meant for tradesmen to put their bits & pieces in for easy access.
Photo Stolen Bunnings
Well, now my decants are easy access. Yes this is only the first of two. Yes I will need a smaller one also for all my 2-3ml decants, anyway…..
While doing the reorganising I found a couple of my old loves that have been packed for over a year….
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Carnation, rose
Heart: Jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, violet
Base: Musk, clove, vanilla, sandalwood
Tonight I had a bath with a couple of drops of my original Bellodgia Bath Oil. You have no idea how lavish it feels to be submerged in a bath and to smell only the sweet, crisp, warmth of Bellodgia wrapped around you like a cashmere shawl. Quite overwhelming and it sent me off to fairy land. As you can see in the pic below I am very sparing and have only used a small amount of my 15ml, one drop in the bath is enough.
Bellodgia has been reformulated many times and I did try the new one in the square bottle recently. It’s very nice but has lost quite a bit of what I feel makes Bellodgia so special. If you’ve never tried the old you will still think it very lovely and so do I if I think of them as separate entities.
I love the opening, so rich with promise and pungent. The crisp minty/clove/carnation/rose crackle cutting through the hearts floral vanilla bouquet and to a rich warmly spiced dreamscape of woodsy vanilla at the end. The lasting power is extraordinary and one hefty vint-ish EdT spritz over my already lightly scented skin and a couple of vintage parfum dabs are all I need to sail through an evening and into morning smelling ferociously good.
Photo Stolen EssentialMall
If you want to read a full appraisal please go check my earlier Bellodgia post on APJ, it gives a much fuller account of the ride but tonight I really want to enjoy the gorgeous full Bellodgia experience without taking it apart and stealing a little bit of the magic. Tonight is all about the ride that Ernest Daltroff created for us to take. I’m going right now…
Further reading BoisDeJasmin and Olfactoria’sTravels
EssentialMall has the purple leather encased 30ml EdT for $51
SurrenderToChance has a selection of Bellodgia samples
How is your decant and sample collection housed? Don’t you just love my plastic packers?
Portia xx
Hello Stink Monkeys!!
In 2012 L’Heure Bleue had its 100th birthday. In honour of that extraordinary milestone Thierry Wassser and the Guerlain team put together a fabulous set of three new fragrances built around the L’Heure Bleue magic but in essence dedicated to different hours of the day and the only one that made it the regular range is…….
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
White musk, orange blossom, iris, heliotrope, jasmine, rose, sandalwood
I have been trying to get this post written for years. I buy a decant and wear it for a day or two, get ready to write my post and “swoosh” the damn decant disappears. Clearly I have been putting them down and in a rush to clean, for one reason or another, the decant gets put away. WELL….. I found one of my earliest L’Heure de Nuit decants (I think) from a Ruth K split. It’s the softest violet grey colour in a smaller decant, so pretty.
Of course the Guerlain mini bee bottle is reason enough to wish for this fragrance but what does it smell like? OMG! How I love this magical fragrance. It is candied violets and musk sticks, sugar plum fairies and hearts desire.
Photo Stolen Flickr
Sheer, smooth and elegant. A cool, sweet smelling beauty that is light as air and hefty as a bowling ball. The first hours sillage is really amazing, especially considering how soft the fragrance feels to wear. I know the notes don’t list licorice or anise but I smell them softly woven through the flowers, lightly rooty and diaphanous white floral that really conjures up the feeling of evening in the placid cool of winter Paris, where the air is crystal clear and you are warmed in your long-johns and puffer jacket. MMMMMM. The sense of quiet expectation hinted at in L’Heure Bleue is fully realised in this modern lilac reinterpretation. Sweet, floral, magical expectation. On a night like this……
Jin having a hot banana chocolate waffle dusk Paris Jan 2013
Longevity is out of this world. I spritzed L’Heure de Nuit at around midnight last night, it’s nearly 2pm and I still have a sweet and creamy fragrance dolloped over a wash of much nicer than laundry musks. It’s still clean and fresh smelling and when I stick my head into my T-Shirt and the freshness is mixed with my after sleep man smell the whole fragrance is really yummy.
Further reading: Candy Perfume Boy and Alembicated Genie
Guerlain counters at larger department stores or Guerlain stand alone stores stock L’Heure de Nuit
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6.50/ml
Did you get to try L’Heure de Nuit?
Portia xx
Hello Stink Monkeys!!
In 2012 L’Heure Bleue had its 100th birthday. In honour of that extraordinary milestone Thierry Wassser and the Guerlain team put together a fabulous set of three new fragrances built around the L’Heure Bleue magic but in essence dedicated to different hours of the day and the only one that made it the regular range is…….
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
White musk, orange blossom, iris, heliotrope, jasmine, rose, sandalwood
I have been trying to get this post written for years. I buy a decant and wear it for a day or two, get ready to write my post and “swoosh” the damn decant disappears. Clearly I have been putting them down and in a rush to clean, for one reason or another, the decant gets put away. WELL….. I found one of my earliest L’Heure de Nuit decants (I think) from a Ruth K split. It’s the softest violet grey colour in a smaller decant, so pretty.
Of course the Guerlain mini bee bottle is reason enough to wish for this fragrance but what does it smell like? OMG! How I love this magical fragrance. It is candied violets and musk sticks, sugar plum fairies and hearts desire.
Photo Stolen Flickr
Sheer, smooth and elegant. A cool, sweet smelling beauty that is light as air and hefty as a bowling ball. The first hours sillage is really amazing, especially considering how soft the fragrance feels to wear. I know the notes don’t list licorice or anise but I smell them softly woven through the flowers, lightly rooty and diaphanous white floral that really conjures up the feeling of evening in the placid cool of winter Paris, where the air is crystal clear and you are warmed in your long-johns and puffer jacket. MMMMMM. The sense of quiet expectation hinted at in L’Heure Bleue is fully realised in this modern lilac reinterpretation. Sweet, floral, magical expectation. On a night like this……
Jin having a hot banana chocolate waffle dusk Paris Jan 2013
Longevity is out of this world. I spritzed L’Heure de Nuit at around midnight last night, it’s nearly 2pm and I still have a sweet and creamy fragrance dolloped over a wash of much nicer than laundry musks. It’s still clean and fresh smelling and when I stick my head into my T-Shirt and the freshness is mixed with my after sleep man smell the whole fragrance is really yummy.
Further reading: Candy Perfume Boy and Alembicated Genie
Guerlain counters at larger department stores or Guerlain stand alone stores stock L’Heure de Nuit
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6.50/ml
Did you get to try L’Heure de Nuit?
Portia xx
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Post by Portia
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My mate Nick from Libertine Parfumerie sometimes gives APJ product for giveaways. A package from Nick is ALWAYS a sweet surprise and he is a lovely guy who wants to have the best range of niche fragrances for Aussies to choose from. Please Aussies, even if you don’t enter today’s competition, go and have a look at the amazing fragrant beauties that Libertine Parfumerie has for sale, you will be astounded. Lately Nick’s buying power has become so good that some (not all) of his products are the same numerical value as you would buy them for in the USA, that means with the current Aussie dollar that they are in fact 20-30% cheaper!!! AMAZING! Currently €195 is AU$309!
So today we have a FIRST DAY OF SPRING DOWN UNDER GIVEAWAY! Thanks Nick.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Blood orange, bergamot, mandarin orange, peach, pink pepper
Heart: Rose, geranium, neroli, dewberry, cassis
Base: Vanilla, cacao, olibanum, amber, musk, patchouli, sandalwood, brown sugar
OK! So yes, I can see why people are likening Empressa to Coco Mademoiselle but I think that sells it short. Yes, zingy fruits & citrus open the mix but I think the pink pepper gives it a sizzling lift. The heart is not as creamy in Empressa but sharper, and more interesting for it. Maybe I just want to like it better because I love the mother-of-pearl packaging, the acid green ribbon & box liner and think that Penhaligon’s have done a terrific job on the production. But like it better I do. It reminds me more of Enchanted Forest with that supersonic berry/ivy combo.
Empressa sparkles and scintillates in a way that CHANEL’s CM never did on my skin. It’s young and frothy, vibrant and fruity and not too far removed from the mainstream aimed at under 25s. Yet somehow it manages to be above them. The blending seems really smooth which surprises me given the high octane nature of Empressa, there really doesn’t seem to be a baseline till well past the heart. It’s all sugar coated fruits and a fluorescent bouquet only cut through slightly by the squeaky green of the ivy. Then on my skin it kind of fades away, very little base at all.
Great party frag.
Further reading: Sophie Says and Candy Perfume Boy
Libertine Parfumerie has $279/100ml with FREE Australian Postage
First In Fragrance has €195/100ml + samples
Want to try it? See below,
Portia xxx
Photo Stolen AllSteele
This week we will have 4 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml Empressa by Penhaligon’s (decants from my bottle)
P&H Anywhere in the world
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 (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) 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 go to Libertine Parfumerie<<JUMP and pick a fragrance from the Penhaligon’s line and one of it’s notes there NO DOUBLE UPS!!
Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Empressa by @PenhaligonsLtd GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-4e4 #Perfume #Giveaway @giveaway
Entries Close Thursday 3rd September 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Sunday 6th September 2015 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.
Hi hi hi APJ,
I recently rediscovered an Ubar decant and have been spritzing madly. It is on equal footing with Interlude Man as my favourite Amouage and please don’t ever make me choose. Both are so freaking good and when I wear them I feel that I could rule the world.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Tangerine, orange, litsea cubeba, violet leaf
Heart: Jasmine, orange blossom, ylang-ylang, tuberose, freesia, lily-of-the-valley, palisander rosewood
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, patchouli, vetiver, copahu balm, black amber
Ubar is a rarity, a gorgeous spiced white floral and woods extravaganza that is so chock full of ingredients that it’s hard for me to distinguish them. Ubar wears like it’s its own scent and nothing like anything else ever created. Ubar is like soup simmering on the stove: the whole house is filled with the smell of soup and as ingredients get put in the pot if you’re chatting in the kitchen then you’ll be able to pick some of them even if you haven’t seen what went in and if you look in the pot you’ll see some of the ingredients rise and fall. If though you are in your bedroom and the smell is wafting temptingly towards you then all you can smell is the melange, the soup itself. Maybe garlic will be noticeable or beef or tomato but everything else becomes a part of the soup. That’s how I wear Ubar.
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
Ubar starts out sharp green and citrus but already you can smell the base underneath them and the white florals just waiting behind the scenes to jump out at you and whirl you away on a veritable cloud of bouquet. The patchouli, resins and sweet vanilla all create the most stridently glorious dry down that hums away for ages on my skin and all the way to tomorrows bath or shower I can smell the magic that is Ubar.
When I think about it Ubar seems to be a cold weather fragrance, and I do love it to warm me up, but to really experience Ubar best you need to wear it in stifling heat. It blooms unbelievably and shows a whole other side to its luscious self.
Today is the last day of summer in the north and winter here in Australia. Perfect time at both ends to wear Ubar.
Photo Stolen Pixabay
Where do I wear Ubar? I love to give myself a big spritz and do very mundane things like cleaning, clothes washing and grocery shopping. I get funny looks sometimes because I’m so obviously scented for an EVENT yet there I am buying milk, bread and a bag of tomatoes. Fuck It! Fragrance helps me to celebrate the fact that I’m alive, helps me to waft on fabulously even through the most hum drum moments because I am the star of my life. So are you, go live life AND hug yourself from me.
Further reading NowSmellThis and PerfumeShrine
FragranceNet has $185/100ml unboxed Before Coupon
Posh Peasant has $4.50/.5ml
What fragrance makes you feel like the tedious is fabulous?
Portia xx
EDIT: Originally I had Creations Aromatics as the perfumers but the Amouage crew told me it was Robertet so I have fixed it.
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Post by Portia
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WOO HOO APJ! Thanks for getting involved. Another wonderful giveaway, you are lucky. I hope life is treating you well where ever you are.
Portia xx
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Citruses, violet leaf, freesia, magnolia, soil tincture, papyrus, vanille, amber, lemon tree, lime (linden) blossom
WHAT CAN YOU WIN?
This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 3ml Andrea Maack Sampler (I have used them a bit, about 2ml in each)
Dark
Smart
Craft
Silk
Sharp
P&H Anywhere in the world
Entries Closed Sunday 30th August 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winner was chosen by random.org
Photo Stolen sistersavealot
The winner will have till Thursday 3rd September 2015 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.
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Post by Portia
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Hi there Fragrant Family,
When Michael Edwards of Fragrances Of The World fame had his cleanout this was one of the fragrances he gave me. I had liked it very much from my original Parfum d’Empire sample set (that I can’t find on the site anymore). So my review today is based on an older bottle like the top picture in the review. I have no idea if the fragrance has been reformulated for the new bottle but I’ve read nothing on the boards to indicate there has been a change.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, amalfi lemon, lavender, rosemary, neroli, tangerine, myrtle
Heart: Tea, star anise, licorice, immortelle
Base: Leather, tobacco, olibanum, french labdanum, oakmoss
The first fragrance that Parfum d’Empire brought to the world in 2003, modeled on Marc-Antoine Corticchiato’s scent memory of his boyhood home Corsica, Eau de Gloire is literally translated as Water of Glory and dedicated as an homage to all those who’ve left their homelands to go into the world and conquer. Especially to his own home island boy Napoleon Bonaparte.
Photo Stolen HistoryFiles
The first words that jump into my head when wearing Eau de Gloire are Bracing, Citrus, Salt, Squeaky, Floral, Masculine. Yes, I know we don’t deal in masculine/feminine archetypes here but Eau de Gloire definitely skews towards what my upbringing has defined as a masculine scent, which does not minimise how spectacularly it will perform on the girls so please don’t get up in arms.
Eau de Gloire opens with a powerhouse icy cold screech of bergamot, citrus twig and broken branch and briny sea air then the herbs and flowers come and take the edge off. As the rosemary, lavender and star anise waltz in they warm the scent slightly but still it stays cool and laid back. I don’t believe in fragrances for the sexes but I keep imagining Eau de Gloire on a very masculine man though I would love to see how it smells on a woman. There is a squeaky dissonance here, the trilling of the citrus which lasts well into the heart of the fragrance and the rumbling of the incense, anise, oakmoss and tobacco. Unfortunately my nose misses the tea and leather in the composition completely, maybe you will have more luck.
Eau de Gloire comes and goes from my ability to smell it, very interesting, but when i concentrate I can. It’s like it hides from me to make me seek out its loose billowy freshness. At about 3-4 hours I get more soft and flowery notes over the various resins, this fragrance grows more interesting and textured as it matures. At 7 hours it is soft as butterfly kisses and almost as ephemeral.
Photo Stolen Parfum d’Empire
I hadn’t worn Eau de Gloire for a while but last night when I wore it to work there were three compliments on my fragrance throughout the night. One of whom I am making a small decant for because her eyes were shining with enthusiasm. I think we have a new perfumista in our midst.
Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Chemist In A Bottle
Parfum d’Empire has €120/100ml
Libertine Parfumerie has $199/100ml and FREE AUSTRALIAN SHIPPING!
Surrender To Chance has samples that start at $3.50/ml
What have you worn lately that people have noticed?
Please treat yourself well, it’s hard to be happy when there’s someone being mean to you the whole time.
Portia xx
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Post by Portia
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Heya Crew,
I’m not sure if this film is new or old. What it is is fabulous. I loved it and hope you all do too.
Shot on location in Hawaii, the campaign features Tyson Ballou and Natalia Vadianova
Portia xx
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Pomegranate, Persimmon
Heart: Champaca flower, Lotus, Black orchid
Base: Amber, Creamy accord, Mahogany wood
Australian Perfume Junkies 