Perfume Power Suit GIVEAWAY WINNERS

December 27, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Heya Sniff Buddies,

What an amazing giveaway Azar has put together for you all. Can’t wait to see who won this lovely treasure trove.

Portia xx

Perfume Power Suit GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get a sample each of these 6 fragrances:
Rosarium Blends Dom
Vintage Karl Lagerfeld’s KL (carded)
Vintage Lucien Lelong Sirocco
Olympic Orchids Olympic Amber
Annick Goutal Grand Amour (carded)
Rasasi Amber Ood CPO
P&H to the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

Open to everyone in the world 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 so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Leave a comment about YOUR power perfumes, which scents do you wear to boost your confidence or are there perfumes that make you feel invincible?

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie http://wp.me/p3PURw-3tF #Perfume #Giveaway @AnnickGoutal_FR @EllenCovey1 @KarlLagerfeld @RosariumBlends

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 25th December 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by pulling names fby B-Azar from an old Santa Hat

Photo stolen LifestyleSolutions

AllGirlMafia

Rene Groyer (via Twitter)

Congratulations! The winners will have till Sunday 28th December 2014 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

CHANEL No.5 parfum by Ernest Beaux for CHANEL 1921

December 26, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Hiya APJ Crew,

I hope your Christmas/ Holiday Season has been fun. Our Christmas Day was very relaxed. We vowed to not leave the house and had our mate Matt (Jin’s BFF) over for lunch and presents.

Today was Boxing Day and I started out the day in recent but not current Shalimar EdP. It was a perfect accompaniment to the organising potato salad, drive, present opening and lunch at Kath’s family home with parents and nieces. We had a wonderful time with Jin manning the BarBQ and doing a delicious sliced & marinaded steak, bacon rashers, onion and breakfast sausages. We had yummy sesame seed knot rolls, garden salad and potato salad, served with lashings of left over ham off the bone. Lunch was really fun and it’s always excellent to catch up with Kath’s family who have adopted me since my parents died and my sister stopped communication. I love them because they are good people who time seems to fly when I spend it with them. I love them because when we’re together I am home.

Then we went for a SWIM!! Sadly I forgot to take pics today, sorry. Here is one that Kath took

I had grabbed a vintage 7.5ml bakelite purse spritz of CHANEL No. 5 parfum as I ran out the door, knowing we’d be swimming. It was the perfect after swim spritz.

CHANEL No.5 parfum by Ernest Beaux for CHANEL 1921

Photo Stolen CHANEL

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, bergamot, lemon, neroli, ylang-ylang
Heart: Jasmine, rose, lily of the valley, iris
Base: Vetiver, sandalwood, vanilla, amber, patchouli

I enjoyed it so much that tonight I spritzed again and I wanted to share my joy in wearing this maybe 1970s or 80s parfum. It gushes out of the gate with a dark fizzy aldehydic rush that is more animalic and growlier than the current parfum, but maybe my parfum is a little old because the opening is slightly muddled compared to the clear bell of fruity fizz that my modern one exhibits. Sexier and more luxurious than the current version (which I also love BTW) there is something cozier and more feral about the vintage.

Today added to the salt, sun and chlorine, mixed with the joyful summer holiday air of a Sydney Boxing Day (the day following Christmas Day when once servants and tradespeople would receive gifts, known as a “Christmas box”, from their bosses or employers) it was the perfect blend of sophistication and joyous animal delight.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

You know I can smell very little of the singular notes in CHANEL No. 5 parfum, for me it is a gorgeous and complete smell where the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts. Not only the smell, which was one of my Mum’s scents, but also the fabulous history and all the women who have been given, who have bought, who have lived a little part of the No 5 fable. It feels like you are part of a crew that can be smelled as they waft by in almost every country in the world. From that brilliant genius and dastardly racist Gabriel Coco Chanel, through many of the world’s most beautiful and talented women in advertising, the G.I.s that bought it for their girls from 31 Rue Cambon through the tawdry days when it became a drug store perfume and now back out the other side where CHANEL is again one of the eminent fashion houses and CHANEL No. 5 is an affordable buy into that magical dream.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Bois de Jasmin
Essential Mall Australia has $148/7.5ml modern parfum refill
Surrender To Chance has vintage CHANEL No. 5 samples starting at $10/.25ml

What do you feel when you wear CHANEL No. 5? Which fragrance leads you into a fairytale?
Portia xx

DSH Perfumes: Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

December 25, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Post by FeralJasmine

Quick mentions: new favorites from DSH

Sorry Junkies, I got a very late start on this post and have to make it brief, but I wanted to mention a few things that I’m enjoying during this lovely holiday season. It’s no secret that I admire Dawn Spencer Hurwitz and, although I’ve only sampled a small part of her compendious and addictive line, I have some loves there. So here are a few that seem especially suited to the holidays:

DSH Perfumes: Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

DSH Perfumes: Cimabue

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Neroli, nutmeg, cardamom, bergamot, amalfi lemon, bitter orange, clementine
Heart: Carnation, jasmine, geranium, tuberose, beeswax, saffron, clove, cinnamon, rose
Base: French labdanum, sandalwood, opoponax, benzoin and vanilla

I seem to recall hearing somewhere that Cimabue smells like Safran Troublant to some people. I’m not one of them. Certainly the rose and saffron are there, but the cardamom is pronounced in Cimabue, while its lovely companion notes prevent it from going dusty, as cardamom is prone to do. Spicy and sweet, it’s a delicious holiday treat. The sillage is particularly delicious, and I only wish that it were a bit stronger. Many of the DSH perfumes hug their wearer closely, and I could stand a bit more potency myself.

DSH Perfumes: Mahjoun

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bitter almond, cardamom, cherry blossom, lavender, lemon, orange
Heart: Bulgarian rose, fig, hazelnut, honey, nutmeg, orange blossom, sugar date
Base: Amber, cedar, cinnamon, clove, olibanum, sandalwood, Arabian myrrh

This one is pure rich luscious honey. To my surprise it doesn’t have much beeswax or hive scent, which I think of as the natural adjuncts to honey. Just all honey all the time. Listed notes include citrus, cedar, and Amber, but mostly I just smell honey. I like it by itself, and I also like to spray it over more austere ambers to give them a touch of holiday sweetness and joy. If I’m in the mood for a real hive scent, I may dab on a trace of beeswax absolute and overspray with Mahjoun.

Photo Stolen DSH Perfumes

DSH Perfumes: Vanilla Cinnamon

DSH Perfumes gives these featured accords in one line:
Cassia, Cinnamon Bark, Cinnamon Leaf, Clove Leaf, French Vanilla, Spice, Sweet, Sweet Cream, Vanilla, Vanilla Absolute, Vanillin

DSH has just started offering room scents, and this is the only one that I’ve tried so far. It’s offered in a regular or small travel-sized reed diffuser. The notes are summed up in the name, but it is somehow much lovelier than I expected. It’s also rather light and subtle, a far cry from the “cinnamon bun” scents that make the air at the mall so gooey. I love it on the coffee table, and I’ve been known to use one of the reeds to dab a bit on my wrist before drinking my morning coffee. Yum. You need to try this one if you have any taste for vanilla scents.

DSH Perfumes site has a wonderful selection of fragrances and an excellent Sample System starting at as low as $4

A joyous winter solstice to all of you, enjoy the long dark fragrant nights, and make sure to find a little of the quiet repose that winter seems made for.
Have you tried any of the DSH Perfumes?
FeralJasmine x

Vierges et Toreros by Antoine Lie + Antoine Maisondieu for Etat Libre d`Orange 2007

December 24, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by Trésor

It is my honest opinion that all of the best things in this life are dichotomies. Be it the vivid contrast of petals of crimson velvet and piercing, sinister thorns or the magnificent juxtaposition of a beautiful woman wearing a luxuriant piece of jewellery with her lover’s threadbare t-shirt. It’s a marvelous balance as one entity seems to bless the other with splendid context. Rarely is this concept more evident than in one of my most beloved tuberose elixirs, a study in the contrast of unbridled eroticism and graceful fragility of pulchritudinous vestal blossoms. Rarely is it so poignant as in Vierges et Toreros, a positively bewitching brew from the house of Etat Libre d’Orange.

Vierges et Toreros by Etat Libre d`Orange 2007

Antoine Lie + Antoine Maisondieu

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Bergamot, nutmeg, pepper, cardamom, ylang ylang, tuberose, leather, animalis, costus, patchouli, vetyver

The inception of Vierges et Toreros is something of a cataclysm, a bracing lightshow of sizzling black pepper and the undeniable titian hue of rich bergamot. The two collide with effervescent calamity, unapologetic and resolute in their tumultuous flight of combat. This sequence, harsh and captivating, makes way for a tremendously sexy accord of leather. Leather which I can only describe as possessing the naughty and immaculately subversive redolence of a man’s leather jock strap after a rather ambitious wearing. It’s unctuous, sweaty and blackened with oozing tar. An obsidian harness binds the blooming and narcotic tuberose that follows and defiles her virginal petals with exquisite filth.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

As she spirals downward into an atramentous underground she begins to erupt flares of icy menthol and releases a petrol fog as if to celebrate her newfound state of being. There is an auerate glimmer of sweet nectar upon the petals of ylang ylang that have been showered with scintillating particles of warm nutmeg and enveloping cardamom; a masterful juxtaposition which ricochets the ambience of this composition into an entirely different realm. The mood has changed and the vapours rising from my skin now call to mind the intangibly beautiful erotic essence that rises from the bodies of two people who have just made love. Gone is the bondage and, it is now a luminous stratosphere of tenderness and warmth; the afterglow. In this base lays a smoky note of vetiver, cradled upon the most beautifully delicate patchouli leaves. It is this stage that is my favourite, each element of the composition can be traced by their illuminated tendrils that are traipsing soulfully through the olfactory fantasy. Now, with the volume lowered to an opiate hum is where I simply sit and take in the soft symphony playing out before myself and revel in the aromas until it finally fades into oblivion.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Vierges et Toreros lasts about 6 hours on my skin and wears quite beautifully with a sillage that is pronounced but not at all overpowering. A funny little side note: I often receive compliments when I wear this particular potion from just about everyone you could imagine. The last time I wore it both the receptionist at my dentist’s office and the man who prepared my drink at the coffee shop told me I smelled beautiful. Based upon that I can safely say it’s not just me enjoying another strange perfume, it’s actually pleasant to those around me as well. Trust me, that’s not always the case. Give Vierges et Toreros a go if you’re looking for a new twist on tuberose or just want to try a fragrance who’s beauty lays in how they are just a bit rough around the edges.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Further reading: Smelly Thoughts and Bois de Jasmin
Parfum1 has $85/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4.75/ml

Have you tried this so called masculine tuberose? What did you think?
Trésor xx

Breathe: Afternoon Of A Faun: Etat Libre d’Orange

December 21, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Sometimes APJ,

You can merely tread water and breathe, stand still, look around you for a moment and breathe. Three deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth. It’s interesting how this small thing can put a little perspective on the world you inhabit. It gives you time to remember that no matter how bad your predicament, others are much worse off. It also gives you a moment to say thank You for something, anything, the one thing good you may be able to recall.

Tonight I am wearing

Afternoon Of A Faun by Ralf Schwieger for Etat Libre d’Orange 2012

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Bergamot, pepper, cinnamon, incense, immortelle, orris root, myrrh, leather, benzoin, rose, jasmine, oakmoss

I like to spritz like crazy and just sit somewhere quiet and breathe in the green peppery leather that is both warm and cool on my skin and works perfectly in winter and summer, giving almost entirely different rides in disparate temperatures.

Today it’s been a fizzy green citrus floral that burned down to a slightly sweaty leather/woods/incense feel after wearing it to work. Now I’m home and changed I enjoyed the ride so much I am doing it again.

Double spritz on chest and Breathe

Breathe

Aaaaaaah. Heaven.

I have been a super bitch this week. It’s the end of a completely fabulous year and I am tired, we are all cramped in this apartment, there is still masses of unpacking undone, Christmas is upon us and to be honest, I am a cranky ole bitch. It’s been a don’t even look at me the wrong way this week because I will gut you with a look and feed your entrails to the dogs with my words. Jin came and had a quiet word to me tonight about it and he is right.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

breathe

verb: breathe; 3rd person present: breathes; past tense: breathed; past participle: breathed; gerund or present participle: breathing

take air into the lungs and then expel it, especially as a regular physiological process.

“she was breathing deeply”
synonyms: inhale and exhale, respire, draw breath, puff, pant, blow, gasp, wheeze

Photo Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Chemist In A Bottle and The Non-Blonde
LuckyScent has $149/100ml
Etat Libre d’Orange has €110/100ml (Delivers to the world)
Surrender To Chance starts at $4.50/ml

What do you do when the world overwhelms you?

I could do with some hints……
Portia xxxx

I have written about Afternoon Of A Faun before and it was 22 December 2013!! How freaky is that?

Candles by Peppermint Grove Australia 2014

December 21, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hi Crew,

I happened to wander into one of my favourite Sydney fragrance and beauty stores SWS Spring with Jin and a couple of our mates after dinner, as always when greeted by Moody the proprietor I asked, “What’s New Moody?”

A brand new Aussie candlemaker has emerged in December 2014?? Brand new, need to see and sniff? OK

Candles by Peppermint Grove Australia 2014

The Peppermint Grove Candles come in two sizes $17/60 gram and $40/350 gram with a very pretty bow on the front of ribbed glass reusable vessels, so girly. They are not on the website yet but you can call and order and they will send them out. GREAT idea for last minute Christmas Shopping. So reasonably priced and they come in beautiful boxes and have a metal cover or base.

Peppermint Grove Australia Candle Scents

Black Orchid and Ginger

Burnt Fig & Pear (Interesting and fun)

Freesia & Berries

Gardenia

Lemon, Basil & Mandarin

Lemongrass & Lime (If you like the way spas often smell, you’ll love this. Clean and natural smelling)

Oceania (My personal favourite, you can smell the salty sea breeze)

Patchouli & Bergamot

Vanilla Caramel

Wild Jasmine & Mint (Very nicely done on a vanilla base, I would burn this in my home)

Photo Stolen SWS Spring

Phillip & Graham, our dinner partners that night and long term mates, with Jin

Site:
SWS Spring

Address:
SWS SPRING
48 Dixon St,
Haymarket Chinatown
Sydney NSW 2000

Telephone:
+61 2 9212 7356

Ask for Moody, he’s the sweetest ever,

Portia xx

Dries Van Noten by Bruno Jovanovic for Frederic Malle 2013

December 20, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Hiya Wafty Wanderers,

Here’s my point of view. It is merely supposition and has no direct basis in fact or information received. If Estee Lauder has bought Frederic Malle then things are going to change. There is a little twinkle in my brain saying Malle would rather sell his company than change the formulas to IFRA comply. Estee Lauder on the other hand will go through and do the best possible reform they can at the best price, get IFRA approval and take it to a whole new mainstream level. I repeat, this is all supposition….

In other news I think Dries van Noten would be a perfect Christmas scent, modern and old fashioned come together beautifully here. It may have pushed Azuree out of the way this year….

Dries Van Noten par Frederic Malle 2013

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Sandalwood, guaiac wood, tonka bean, vanilla, saffron, jasmine, musk, bergamot, lemon, nutmeg, cloves, patchouli, woody notes and peru balsam

Last year when I tried Dries van Noten I was instantly in love, then I did not buy a bottle because other more pressing things took over my head and up till now it had not happened. So while I was in Chicago, filled with the fear of reformulation I decided to plunge on the 50ml bottle.

Here’s what I wrote in my last review, I think it sums up Dries van Noten perfectly:

…Warm marshmallow sweet and slightly spicy vanilla open(ing) that smells so familiar, like someone I love is nearby, even though I’m sure that I’ve not smelled this mix before. Every time I wear Dries Van Noten it has instantly calmed and unruffled me….

Each previous time I have worn Dries Van Noten for the purpose of reviewing it has grabbed my head and asked me to just sit and enjoy its beauty. The whole fragrance feels extremely uncluttered, though it is dense. It goes through a milky, nutmeg stage that reads egg flip to me. An egg flip was dinner sometimes when we were young and made as a great treat for us kids, whole egg, nutmeg, vanilla, ice cream and milk. It was huge and delicious. Nowadays when I (remember) how strict Mum’s budget was I think that maybe she was eeking out her ration by giving us a liquid dinner out of, at that time, extremely cheap materials. I’ll never know now but my sister Jodie and I would feel so great on an egg flip night.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Simple, warm, comfortable and yummy. Dries van Noten is the most deliciously wearable oriental fragrance. Simple yet complex and it moves me in unexpected ways. It’s like a cocoon of scent that I can curl up in, feel safe and peaceful and remember simple times. Also 100% wearable outside the front door and nobody will be skunked or outraged. If you are after boundary pushing, freaky, “can’t believe they put this shit in a bottle” then move along, you will hate Dries van Noten. If, on the other hand you are all about smelling fantastic then give it a whirl.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Further reading GrainDeMusc and Patty at PerfumePosse
Frederic Malle starts at $125/3 x 10ml (I think this is IDEAL for splitting)
SurrenderToChance starts at $6/ml

Have you tried dries van Noten? Did it send you or bore you to death?
Portia xx

What were your most reached for fragrances in 2014?

December 19, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Hey Hey Fumies!!

The other night I was reading Perfume Shrine and they had this question. I found it so interesting what everyone had worn. We talk a LOT about the newest, freakiest, skankiest and get really hardcore on the blogs every year but to see what everyone really wears, in real life, is great.

So I’d like to put it to you APJ.

What were your most reached for fragrances in 2014?

My first answer is what I put up on Perfume Shrine but that was written off the top of my head and I have been thinking hard about the answer. What I will do is put up my previous answer and the more realistic one…

Hey There,
I LOVE these questions. Would you be terribly offended if I asked the same question at APJ?
Here are my most reached for..
Shalimar by Guerlain
Fleur de Male by Gaultier
Coco by CHANEL
Mohur by Neela Vermeire
Liberte by Cacharel
Portia xx

Perfumeshrine said…
Portia,
you’re very welcome to repeat this on Australian Perfume Junkies! Thanks for adding your contribution here. And so please tweet me the link when you’re done so I can RT 🙂

After consideration answer:
Shalimar by Guerlain
Amoureuse by Parfums DelRae
Ombre Mercure by Terry de Gunzburg
Mohur by Neela Vermeire
Liberte by Cacharel

I did wear Fleur de Male and Coco quite a bit but Amoureuse and Ombre Mercure were really easy, elegant and unusual things to wear for work, so I would often grab them through the whole year.

Now it’s your turn. What were your most reached for fragrances in 2014?

Portia xx

"Reincarnation" film by Karl Lagerfeld ft. Pharrell Williams, Cara Delevingne & Géraldine Chaplin

December 19, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hey Crazy Cats,

One of my favourite European royalty stories is the Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) of Austria. When I first visited Vienna in the 1990s the story was much less Disney-ised than it is now. She was considered a bit crazy, headstrong, ungrateful and had some wonderfully naughty escapades. Now they gloss over the madness and make her out to be a misunderstood saint. I liked her better before, more real, more human.

Karl Lagerfeld and the CHANEL crew have come together with some pretty top flight names, Pharrell Williams, Cara Delevingne & Géraldine Chaplin. It’s kind of stupid but also very engaging and fun. The clothes are spectacular in themselves, everything else is background anyway. Sadly, the song is not single worthy, but it is oddly cool.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen GooglePlus

“Reincarnation”

Film by Karl Lagerfeld ft. Pharrell Williams, Cara Delevingne & Géraldine Chaplin

Snake Oil by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (BPAL)

December 18, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Post by Erica Golding

Greetings, my beautifully fragranced friends!

Those of you who know me a little may have noticed that I have a special place in my heart (and in my collection) for perfume oils. When it comes to iconic fragrances with a loyal cult following, no perfume oil comes close to the magnetic, addictive potion that is Snake Oil by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (BPAL).

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Vanilla, oriental notes

BPAL is mysteriously coy when describing Snake Oil, listing the official notes as: “A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla.” This modest preview can never prepare you for the intensely sensual, spicy, powdery, deep character of this shameless temptress. The first impression can be challenging, as is often the case when a perfume is singularly unique and passionate.

The aroma is truly haunting, possessing those who become ensnared in the trail. I always struggle to describe the mystifying spices, hint of precious woods, swirl of thick amber vanilla, and the resinous depth. It elicits reactions from strangers, friends, family, and lovers alike – from the subtle extra attention to the unrestrained exclamation, “what are you wearing? You smell amazing!”

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Snake Oil ages like fine wine, becoming smoother, deeper, richer, and more viscous as the years pass by. The powdery amber settles, the spices harmonize, the resinous incense gains density, and the vanilla thickens with an insatiable seductive power. Fans boast the year of their Snake Oil vial with swelling pride, with the earliest vintages (circa 2003 – 2004) being the most rare, cherished, and exquisitely aged to perfection. BPAL switched their perfume bottles from cobalt blue to amber glass in 2005, and also discontinued their 10ml bottle size soon after, so cobalt and 10ml Snake Oil bottles are particularly valuable. Good luck finding one – those who own these treasured ampoules aren’t likely to release their clutches!

Photo Stolen DailyMail

This perfume oil is incredibly attractive, anoint your skin and prepare for unexpected flirtation! I would recommend it to others primarily as an evening fragrance, but I don’t follow rules when it comes to conventions such as where and when. So, personally, I flaunt Snake Oil in full force whenever and wherever I damn well please!

Photo Stolen BPAL

Further reading: That Smell
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has $17.50/5ml

Have you tried Snake Oil? Do you have a favorite perfume oil, perhaps one from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab?
I hope you have a lovely scented day,
Erica