Vintage Cabochard Parfum by Bernard Chant for Gres 1959

April 12, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Hey Vintage Fumies,

Recently I was lucky enough to find a 2/3 full bottle of the vintage Cabochard parfum in its gorgeous black & white pedestal box. It wasn’t cheap but it wasn’t outrageously expensive either and I had long wanted to own a bottle for myself, having sampled earlier in my fragrant life.

Vintage Cabochard Parfum by Bernard Chant for Gres 1959

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, spices, tarragon, fruity notes, sage, lemon, asafoetida
Heart: Orris, jasmine, geranium, rose, ylang ylang
Base: Tobacco, vetiver, oakmoss, coconut, musk, patchouli, amber, sandalwood, leather

Bernard Chant: Cabochard 1959, Aramis 1966, Aromatics Elixir 1971. A trilogy or family of fragrance. His three masterpieces, all similar but riffing different elements. If you want to know what a car looked like then, below is a 1959 Cadillac.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Now my top notes are slightly rusty, not in a big way but they have changed from the sample I had worn. I will have to use this up in the next year or so and I don’t think that’s any great hardship. The fruity sparkle is herbaceous, aromatic and dense. Imagine being in the storeroom of an Indian bazaar, the spark and buzz of faulty electrics, fruit and veg in waxy cardboard boxes, sizzling spices, bitter herbs, and the scent of dozens of boxes of sandalwood soap. That’s as full on as you can imagine, heavy, hectic, psychedelic scent that manages to be all this and warm & classy too. That is quite a feat to keep something so big from flying out of control.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

The flowers are a bouquet and I can’t pick any of them out, not really pick them out though I get flashes of ideas of flowers. It doesn’t matter anyway because already the base notes are coming through: sandalwood, tobacco, patchouli, leather and oakmoss are the ones I can detect but what I really smell is Cabochard. It’s the base of Cabochard that IS Cabochard to me. A gravel voiced granny with a fabulous high end leather handbag, a cigarette, hair done and nails painted and attitude. She’s lived and loved her life, and is reveling in her twilight years. A little bit creakier but mind as sharp as a tack and still ready for fun, a drink and a laugh.

Photo Stolen YourStyleJourney

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Perfume Shrine
My bottle from Ebay
FragranceNet has modern EdP $28/100ml before Coupon
Surrender To Chance has Vintage Parfum $6/.25ml

Do you have a vintage you love? Something that has changed in its newest form or is it gone altogether?
Portia xx

Louis Vuitton: Singapore City Guide

April 12, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hello Intrepid APJ Travelers,

As you may know Jin has accepted a new job and we have bought a new abode. Very exciting times and because we are unsure of when we’ll next be able to travel (probably January 2016 UK & Europe) we have decided to bring our November family visit forward to NOW, leaving Wednesday. We’ll do a few days in Singapore, where neither of us have stayed other than the airport, with one of my longtime girlfriends Julie and then go on to South Korea to celebrate Jin’s father’s birthday. We are taking them away to the West side of South Korea for a couple of days, their first holiday in years.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

So I thought it best to give you a glimpse of Singapore through the eyes of Louis Vuitton.
Do please enjoy,
Portia xx

Louis Vuitton Presents the Singapore City Guide

Montaigne by Richard Fraysse for Caron 2007

April 11, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hi there Frag Family,

Caron is a fragrance house that is very hit and miss for me. A bunch of my all time favourite fragrances are from them. With Bellodgia I have a horde of the parfum as well as an ample stash of the EdP. Infini, Parfun Sacre, Nocturnes, 119, Nuit de Noel, Tabac Blond and Royal Bain are all in my collection and that’s a LOT from one house. There are a bunch that don’t work though, and they REALLY don’t work, so it’s always nice to find a new one that does. My frag buddy Scott and I were shopping the importer sale the other day and we spied a Caron I’d not yet tried…..

Montaigne by Richard Fraysse for Caron 2007

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Jasmine, coriander, bitter orange, mimosa, tangerine
Heart: Narcissus, black currant
Base: Sandalwood, amber, vanilla

So my batch code tells me my Montaigne is a 2007, so re-released with the reformulation and I think it did not do so well. It’s certainly not one of the Caron’s you read or hear much love for, Victoria at Bois de Jasmin delightfully scathing of the sandalwood accord and the frag in general. Her nose is 100 times better attuned to picking such things and I miss the screech completely. Maybe my bottle has had a lot longer to settle?

Opening spritz has me smelling this fabulous fruity hairspray and makeup scent, there’s something completely over the top and carnival about Mointaigne, it feels irrepressible to me. It’s so perfumey it’s almost a caricature of perfume. honestly the notes bear very little resemblance to what my nose and brain smell. I get a high octane, 100% synthetic, dance all night, laughing, singing along, party girl scent. If ever a scent swang from the chandelier then Montaigne is it.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Part of me is just laughing inside at how much fun someone wearing Montaigne could have.

Basically Montaigne wears pretty linearly for me, hairspray, nailpolish, makeup mixed with fun fruity tingles and a very thin dry down with a little amber/woods but really it is just a soft wash of sweet woods with a shade of fruit. This wash wafts softly around me for a few hours, longevity is quite good.

Further reading: Perfume Posse and EauMG
Beauty Encounter has $45/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4.50/ml

Do you have a Caron favourite? Tell me…. and why?
Portia xx

Costume National GIVEAWAY WINNERS

April 11, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

WOO HOO! Thanks for getting involved APJ, this is a particularly good giveaway. Thanks again to the whole crew at Libertine Parfumerie. You guys are amazing.

Portia xx

Costume National GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive one of these sets:
1. 10ml Rollerballs of Cyber Garden and Pop Collection
2. 10ml Rollerballs of Scent Intense and Homme
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

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, find any Costume National fragrance and ONE of its notes…. NO DOUBLE UPS!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Costume National Rollerball #GIVEAWAY @LibertineParfum http://wp.me/p3PURw-3Mn #Perfume @CoSTUMENATIONAL

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 9th April 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo stolen prospectsplus

Connie

Gregory Young

The winners will have till Monday 13th April 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.

Patrick & Wayne: Magnolia Grandiflora

April 10, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hi there APJ,

I don’t have a perfume post for you tonight. Life has been very hectic around here and somehow there is no post for now. OOOOPS! Jin & I have been out to dinner with a couple of totally top blokes that I have been friends with for 20 years and some other long standing friends. Though Jin & I have been together for 3 years still they’d not met him. So to make it happen they organised a dinner party. Roast goats chees stuffed figs wrapped in prosciutto and drizzled with honey & balsamic vinegar. Slow cooked curried chicken breasts with cous cous and sugar snap peas with a spicy jus. Chocolate souffle with raspberries and clotted cream. Fabulous drinks served to suit each course and basically a heaven night out.

Patrick & Wayne: Magnolia Grandiflora

Through the whole dinner though I was mesmerised by the perfection and beauty of the centerpiece, a couple of dinner plate sized magnolias from the front garden. Their ginger, lemongrass, citrus, vanilla and sweat scent wafting over towards me and completelyt breaking my train of thought again and again throughout the evening.

I stole one and brought it home. Here it is in the kitchen.

Perfection.
Portia xx

CHANEL S-S 2015 Eyewear Campaign: Making Of

April 10, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Hey Hey APJ,

This season Karl Lagerfeld has chosen Kristen Stewart again to be part of his campaign. I love a bunch of the looks they’ve given her and I think she pulls off androgyne with aplomb. She has a great face for the glasses too.

I hope you enjoy this little look behind the scenes.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen CHANEL.com

CHANEL S-S 2015 Eyewear Campaign

Kristen Stewart

Gabriella's Top 5 Forgotten White Florals 2015

April 9, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Post by Gabriella

Hello perfumed peeps!

I’ve been in a bit of a fragrance funk lately. Not much of my collection has inspired me and rummaging round the sample box and sniffing new releases have failed to set my world on fire. To get me out of this sad little rut, I decided to explore some white floral scents that have been overlooked, ignored or forgotten by the blogging community or the fragrance world at large. Happily, I have discovered some lost gems that have given me my perfume mojo back. Today, I’d like to share a selection of those with you, so I present:

Gabriella’s Top 5 Forgotten White Florals 2015

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

1. Gardenia Grand Soir by Pierre Guillaume for Parfumerie Generale 2010

Fragrantica lists these notes in one line: w
White gardenia and sandalwood

The graceful gardenia. The reaction of the blogosphere was decidedly ho hum about this and I think the words “Grand Soir” were to blame. People were expecting opulence from Mr Guillaume and while the scent is not a huge overblown gardenia, I still think it’s absolutely wonderful. Here, the flower is stripped of all of its voluptuous elements: it’s a portrait of the flower’s bud at dawn, all green innocent and pure before the sun breaks and the blooms unfurl into all their heady glory. The gauzy flowers are tempered by a soft, milky sandalwood that amplifies the creamy elements and gives almost a beachy feel. The magic of this is that it is a quiet, contemplative and elegant rendition of a flower that is usually all vava-voom and femme fatale.

Further reading: Grain de Musc and CaFleureBon

First in Fragrance has EUR 95/50ml

Surrender to Chance starts at $9.99/ml

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

2. Hanae by Yann Vasnier for Keiko Mecheri 2000

Fragrantica lists these notes in one line:
Citruses, white flowers, wild berries, yuzu and crystalline musk.

The unexpected delight. Hanae been around for years, but I just happened to discover it for the first time the other day wandering round a local department store. The scent is meant to evoke spring in a Kyoto garden and it does just that brilliantly. A melange of crystalline white petals is accentuated by the delicate citrus tones of yuzu and a hint of white musk. A fragile, delicate scent that it just pure happiness in a bottle.

Further reading: Makeupalley and Scent of Abricots

Peony Melbourne has $219/75ml

Luckyscent has samples at $3/.7ml

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

3. Lily by Florence Idier for Comme des Garcons (Series 1, Leaves) 2000

Fragrantica lists these notes in one line:
Freesia, lily-of-the-valley, rose and syringa.

The uncomplicated beauty. Comme des Garcons are recognised for their quirkier creations and it’s usually the Series 2 Incense range that gets all the love. Lily is fact that the house can do simple and pretty and still come up trumps. It is a startlingly beautiful rendition of lily of the valley, something I had given up trying to find once Diorissimo was reformulated. The lily of the valley here has a verdant and very fresh quality, evoking tiny white buds after a rainshower. Rose, green notes complete the scent that has an invigorating quality akin to having a cool shower on a hot summer day.

Free Ebook “The Tarot and Essential Oils” by Suzanne R Banks

April 8, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Suzanne R Banks

Free Ebook “The Tarot and Essential Oils”

by Suzanne R Banks

I’m not sure if I’ve already told you about this free ebook stacked with recipes, and little stories about how you can use essential oils to invoke the energy of the tarot? To get your book –

1. Click Here<<JUMP

2. Join my mailing list, and confirm your subscription.

3. Download your book from the link provided.

4. Enjoy.

I compiled this book from my series on the tarot, and with a little editing for flow, it’s an easy read. I follow the major arcana cards from 0 The Fool, right through to XXI The World. This is a great book for those of you who like to work from recipes as you get to know what each essential oil (and tarot card) is like. It’s also great for more experienced blenders who need a little inspiration.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

I promise I don’t send out many letters, I know how annoying it can be receiving lots of subscription emails everyday.

Thanks so much for your continued support!
Suzanne R Banks xxx

Suzanne R Banks Blog
Suzanne R Banks Aromatherapy
Suzanne R Banks FaceBook

Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Amazon USA Amazon AU Amazon UK

Le Galion timeline…a history lesson in Sydney

April 7, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Post by Ainslie Walker

Nicolas Chabot (Ex-Dior/Givenchy/Estee Lauder-Paris) has painstakingly resurrected Le Galion Parfums. Nine original fragrances (tweaked for IFRA) were rereleased last year after a 30-year hiatus following Paul Vacher’s death in 1975. I met Nicholas at Libertine in Sydney where we sniffed through the historical collection recreated by nose Thomas Fontaine.

Le Galion timeline…a history lesson in Sydney

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Le Galion was named after the seafaring vessels symbolic to Paris and has had quite some journey since 1930 when Prince Murat (Napoleon’s brother-in-law) founded the brand. In 1932 he created 222 based on sandalwood, myrrh, styrax, leather, vanilla, cedar and lavender. It remained unreleased until now, locked in an old box, abandoned. I love the soapy sandalwood note.

In 1935 Paul Vacher purchased Le Galion after already co-creating fragrances for Lanvin (Arpége, Rumeur and Scandal with Andre Fraysse) and working with Marcel Guerlain. In 1936, his first release for Le Galion, Sortilége, became iconic and remains the jewel of the brand. An extrait is to be launched later 2015. The 1960’s advert stated: “Sortilége, the fragrance that makes women faithful. To their fragrance.” Sounding so “Madmen” I absolutely love the back catalogue of Le Galion perfume adverts, and am keen to collect them.

Vacher, well known for his soliflores, released two in 1937: Tubereuse is feminine, sweet and green and predated Robert Piguet’s Fracas by 10 years. Mandarin, orange and galbanum sparkle with pink pepper and pear. Tuberose, rose, orange blossom and raspberry are sweeter middle notes. Cedar, amber and musk make up the base, a common pattern in Fontaine’s formulations.

Photo Donated Ainslie

I fell for Iris, the second soliflore, instantly. It’s buttery iris and green mimosa notes are enhanced with bergamot, citron, hibiscus lily, rose, galbanum and Fontaine’s cedar/ musk/ amber base. I could bathe in it!

By the 1950’s Vacher was considered a master of perfumery alongside Ernest Beaux, Ernest Daltroff, Jacques Guerlain and Edmond Roudnitska. It was the French “golden age of perfumery”. In 1946 he created Miss Dior and in 1963 Diorling for Dior fashion house. For 30 years following Le Galion provided raw materials to Dior Parfums also producing the concentrate for Miss Dior.

Photo Donated Ainslie

In 1947 Special for Gentlemen was released, it was also the same year the stiletto heel was invented. Unique notes of citrus, lavender, cinnamon, amber, labdanum, oakmoss, patchouli mix with vanilla, castoreum, birch and opoponax. Easy to wear, distinctive and far from linear.

La Rose released in 1950 is not a soliflore, with notes of bergamot, violet leaf, rose, ylang-ylang, peach, water, lily, cedar, patchouli, vanilla and musk. To me it is sweet and dew drenched.

Beautiful and head turning, Snob was released in 1952 as “the most exclusive perfume in the world.” Containing Australian sandalwood, jasmine, rose, saffron, cedar, musk, mandarin, bergamot, apple, orange blossom, iris and tagetes.

Whip, released in 1953, predates Eau Sauvage by 13 years and yet has remarkable similarities. Tarragon, lavender and cardamom, jasmine, violet and iris, galbanum, oakmoss, patchouli, vetiver and leather give this real masculine beauty.

Eau Noble from 1972 contains citrus, spice, sage and leather, evidence the sexual revolution was in full swing! An extrait will be released in 2015.

Photo Donated Ainslie, taken by Clayton

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Colognoisseur
First In Fragrance has the Le Galion range €140/100ml

Which of the range would you like to try? Have you seen Le Galion’s fabulous vintage adverts? Do you own any vintage bottles from the brand?
Ainslie Walker xx

NEW! Costume National 10 ml Rollerballs

April 6, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 29 Comments

Woo Hoo APJ Family,

I was at the Libertine Parfumerie New Season Launches last week. There is so much great new stuff out this time I got carried away. It was quite the Aussie beauty biz room, Sydney Morning Herald Lifestyle Liftout Beauty Editor, Vogue Living Beauty Editor, Beauty Directory Editor, Elysée Collective PR Director, Libertine Parfumerie Director and me. I felt like I was swimming with the big boys and they were all really fun & sweet, it was a great hour with champagne, chi chi sparkle water and sweet nibbles.

Nick smart, as always, the host with the most took us through some great new things and new ways of packaging things. It seems the Rollerball is back in a big way, L’Artisan and Costume National especially. There were new Penhaligon’s, Dear Rose, Creed has a new LE golden bottle, Le galion, Cire Trudon and heaps of other stuff I can’t even remember.

So, long story short: Nick has given me some Costume National Rollerballs valued at $59 each to give away! I’ve made up 2 sets. Set 1. Homme by Dominique Ropion with Scent Intense by Laurent Bruyere and Set 2. Cyber Garden by Ennio Capasa + Antoine Lie with Pop Collection by Dominique Ropion. How freaking cool? So each pack is worth $118!

Go To It Crew!
Portia xx

Photo Stolen YouTube

Costume National 10 ml Rollerballs GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please go to Libertine Parfumerie<<JUMP, find any Costume National fragrance and ONE of its notes…. NO DOUBLE UPS!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Costume National Rollerball #GIVEAWAY @LibertineParfum http://wp.me/p3PURw-3Mn #Perfume @CoSTUMENATIONAL

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 9th April 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Monday 13th April 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.