‘Golden Shock’ Christmas Makeup Collection 2014 – Application Secrets

November 16, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Hi there Fashion Face Crew,

I don’t know if you’ve ever worn high fashion make up? I have rarely in my life used them because for stage we need something a little more heavy duty, the man to woman trick is hard on make up and we are at heart (working Drag Queens anyway) blokes.

Recently I bought TinaG some DIOR cosmetics for her birthday. The thrill of shopping for these incredible products in their out of this world packaging was exquisite. I kept texting her saying how excited I was buying her presents and how lucky she would feel when she used the purchases. It was a total home run of a present, Tina’s eyes lit up and I knew her thrill was equal or greater than mine. Good feeling, great gift.

Photo Stolen DIOR

Here is a step by step How To for the hottest Xmas 2014 make up look from DIOR. Definitely you will be party ready in this gorgeous, shimmering face.
Portia xx

‘Golden Shock’ Christmas Makeup Collection 2014 – Application Secrets

Gardenia Flower by Sheila Massetti for Perfume & Skincare Company

November 15, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Hi APJ,

Sometimes when I’m in the bath or shower I have to make a difficult choice, “Do I use this product and cut out a swathe of fragrances that will not be happy marriages, do I use this product and bugger the consequences or will I use something else” (yes, I know that my life is incredibly low stress and that I have my priorities skew whiff). This is a serious conundrum. I recently put a bar of the Perfume & Skincare Company Gardenia Flower Pure Vegetable Glycerine Soap in the bathroom and the next day Jin (who rarely mentions my bathroom choices for us) said it was his favourite so far. It’s soft and silky, quick foaming and leaven my skin feeling fresh but not tight, we use it on our faces and bodies. For only $8 it’s a complete bargain too.

It does mean though that I can not test fragrances after using it because I have a distinct smell of gardenia up to 3 hours after my bath. So I have been wearing a few white flower scents, especially the soaps companion…

Gardenia Flower Extrait by Sheila Massetti for Perfume & Skincare Company

I know I’ve written about this fragrance before but sometimes you all need to be reminded of things. Here is what I wrote in the previous post about the Perfume & Skincare Co range:
GARDENIA: Gardenia is one of the scents I am repeat applying, not only is it a killer soliflor fragrance that people “get” straight off the bat, but it is a huge compliment getter. Every time I wear it at least one person asks what, who, how and how much. One night I had 4 people do this. Now if you wear scent often you will know that 4 people in one night do not ask about fragrance that you are wearing, it was uncanny. If you love white flowers and gardenia especially, then this fragrance will be for you too.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

What I know now that I did not know back then is that you cannot steal the fragrance from a gardenia, it needs to be recreated in the laboratory. Also, that many people try to do a gardenia but most of them simply do not understand how a real life gardenia smells. Sheila Massetti gets it. There’s the creamy, fatty facet: the petrol facet: the breath and shit facet, the bleu cheese facet, the sensual erogenous facet and a hundred other pieces to the puzzle. Gardenia Flower captures all of these and gives the closest photo realistic rendering of a gardenia I have yet found. Simultaneously clean and feral, divine and damned, Sheila Massetti has created the gardenia fragrance at the pinnacle of the heap.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Perfume & Skincare Company has $10/5ml Sample Atomisers, $8/Pure Vegetable Glycerine Soap – 160g and a range of other great products.

Did I mention they are an Aussie company from New South Wales hinterland?

Portia xx

Portia MeetUps USA November 2014

November 14, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Heya APJ!

By now we are all in the USA! Hopefully we will get to see some of you at these great events.

I have some amazingly fabulous news. Jin, Kath and I will be coming to the grand old USA in November. I had such an incredible time at the LA ScentSation Bus Tour last year that I wanted to bring the two most important people in the world to me, to meet YOU! Yes, you read right, we will be doing a MeetUp in THREE USA cities.

Jin & I at Kings Canyon in Australia, photo taken & donated by Kath

A word of warning. There will be no drag this year. You will be meeting Dude Portia. Not as brightly dressed but just as loud, naughty, proud and sensational.

MeetUp USA November 2014

There will be loads of great stuff to sniff, we’ll get to mingle in the rarefied ambience of like minded people and indulge our often secret passion. It’s nice to be able to talk about your fragrant wardrobe without people rolling their eyes, smirking and looking at you oddly. It is also nice when people don’t gasp when they hear the price of your scent of the day. Yes, we fumies need moments of togetherness to remind ourselves that we are frag hags, not freaks.

I know you can’t WAIT to find out where we’ll be and when so here is a little breakdown of out journeys fragrant MeetUp events!

SCENT BAR L.A.

Wednesday NOVEMBER 19 2014

Killian Hennessy

MeetUp 5-7pm

I have just had a email from my LA husband Steven Gontarski (soon to be Turbo) and another few from co-owner of Scent Bar Franco Wright. We don’t have a firm date yet but it will be Monday 17, Tuesday 18 or Wednesday 19 November. As soon as I know I’ll make another post. You’ll see below that there is someone VERY special coming and we are hoping to do both on the same day!!!

The Scent Bar crew will be putting on some champagne and snacks and of course their usual good humour for our MeetUp. If I know the guys, and I do, there will be plenty of amazing and informative discourse too. Tom Pease from Perfume Posse will be in the crew on the day, he is such good fun and has an excellent nose so it will be grand to hang with him too. So if you love fragrance but don’t really know anything (like me) it’s a great way to expand your knowledge, or if you know HEAPS drop in and help educate us.

Steven, Tom and I will be picking two of our favourite winter scents and all of us will get to smell, critique and live our personal stories of these frags. Then hopefully you will tell us what you think of them too. (Unless the special guest BELOW is there, then it will be all about him)

More than anything though this is a fun get together where we can get to see you all in real life, have a laugh and smell some beautiful scents together.

There will also be an incredibly special guest at the Scent Bar during the same week: Killian Hennessy the founder of the by Killian line of fragrances and grandson of the founder of Hennessy Cognac. We will be treated to a meet and greet and he will gladly autograph your by Killian purchases too.

BARNEYS + NEIMAN MARCUS CHICAGO

Monday NOVEMBER 24 2014

MeetUp 1.30pm Barneys (Beauty Downstairs)

Woo Hoo! Here we meet up with Musette on her BIRTHDAY! Yes, it’s a Posse MeetUp for Musette’s Birthday. We will be doing mainstream niche at Barneys (1.30pm meet), onwards for some designer fragrance at Neiman Marcus (3.30pm-ish) and then all going for a lazy ole Birthday cocktail and some nibbles nearby (5.30pm-ish).

Musette and I will pick some winter fragrances for us all to try and discuss together. Chicago will not be as structured as the other cities but we will be able to do some fragrance testing, chat with like minded perfumistas, have some laughs and generally get out of the daily grind and into some fabulous fumes.

Did I mention it was MUSETTE’s BIRTHDAY!!!

OSSWALD N.Y.C

Saturday NOVEMBER 29 2014

MeetUp 2-4pm

Josie Plumey and I have been ping ponging emails. I have a crush on her, so freaking beautiful and I think she may have a very sharp sense of humour, dry and sharp.

Josie, Clement Pinard and I will pick a couple of our favourite Winter Fragrances and we can all chat about feelings they inspire, progression, their relative merits or otherwise. I think it will be a fun time with frag heads chatting scent. Nothing grandiose or pushy, just a fun afternoon talking and sniffing. Maybe expending or sharing your knowledge. I’d love to hear your thoughts on a few of my faves, even if you HATE them.

A little extra surprise: Birgit from Olfactoria’s Travels will be coming along to Osswald for the event too.

TWISTED LILY BROOKLYN NYC

Sunday NOVEMBER 30 2014

MeetUp 11am-1pm

Thanks to Carlos J Powell who is NYCs leading Goodsmella we are also going to drop in at Twisted Lily, which is affiliated with Parfum1. Carlos and I will be picking a couple of winter favourites and doing LIVE Video Sniffs. It should be a complete HOOT!

There’s a reason I wanted to go to this store and Carlos greased the wheels.

Last year for our Anniversary the only thing that Jin had shown any interest in at all during our shopping forays was Mona di Orio’s Oud. Yes, he has good taste. So I went shopping. I received an email from Stamatis Birsimijoglou apologising that they were out of stock but that I would get the Oud as soon as it came in. OMFG! DRAMA! So I wrote explaining that I needed it in time for the anniversary and that I would look elsewhere.

Could I find it? HELL NOOOOOO. Stamatis wrote me back though informing me that he had run a bottle to ground and that it would be shipping soon if I still wanted it. He even gave me a loyalty discount and it arrived in time. So, I really wanted to meet the crew and say thank you in person.

COME MeetUp WITH US PLEASE

SO! Where will we see you? Please come and hang out with us if you’re in or near a city we are visiting.
Portia xxx

Easy Itinerary

SCENT BAR LA Wednesday NOVEMBER 19 2014 with Killian Hennessy MeetUp 5-7pm

BARNEYS + NEIMAN MARCUS CHICAGO Monday NOVEMBER 24 2014 MeetUp Barneys (Beauty Downstairs) 1.30pm

OSSWALD N.Y.C Saturday NOVEMBER 29 2014 MeetUp 2-4pm

TWISTED LILY BROOKLYN NYC Sunday November 30 2014 MeetUp 11am-1pm

Cate Blanchett Speech

November 14, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hi hi Happy Huffers,

Here is the lovely Cate Blanchett, you may know her from the Giorgio Armani blockbuster fragrance ads for Si, or even as an Oscar winning actress. Here Cate is invited to do a eulogy for one of Australia’s most controversial and loved Prime Ministers.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

This is a speech for the ages. All encompassing but from a personal place. Filled with honest good humour and excellent reminiscences it also highlights so many of the achievements made by one of our greatest Prime ministers.

Enjoy,
Portia xx

Cate Blanchett thanks Gough Whitlam

Sniffapalooza 2014: Breakfast

November 13, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Post by Poodle

On a dreary day in October I boarded a train bound for NYC to attend my second Sniffapalooza. I wasn’t nearly as nervous this year. The city is far less intimidating when you have a native New Yorker to lead you around.

The official start of Sniffa was Saturday morning but I was barely off the train on Friday evening and Daisy had me on the subway heading for some sniffing and shopping. Needless to say, I wasn’t in town two hours and my purse was already lighter. But that’s another post for another day.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s, I mean, Bergdorf’s

Sniffa began on Saturday with breakfast at Bergdorf Goodman which is less about food and more about the newest perfumes along with some old favorites. There were about 20 perfumes presented in the two hour breakfast. They don’t call it Sniffapalooza for nothing. There is a lot to sniff. More than your thinking. I had planned on doing a photo essay but my camera had other plans and decided to stop working so I’ll recap some of the scents for you. From my notes here are some fragrant highs and lows.

The new Shalimar Souffle was disappointing.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Annick Goutal has released a perfume celebrating NYC called Vent de Folie. It’s supposed to be inspired by Central Park. The scent is very green, fruity and fresh. I can’t say it smells like New York to me but it is a perfume I could see selling well. I did get a compliment on it just the other day at the football game so even if it doesn’t smell like New York it does smell good.

I loved the new Diana Vreeland perfume bottles but haven’t tested the scents enough to form an opinion.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Kilian Hennessy of By Kilian was there in person and he introduced the scented jewelry collection along with the three perfumes in the new Addictive State of Mind collection. The jewelry is lovely as are the perfumes. I think I may have found a By Kilian to love with Intoxicated. It’s all coffee and booze with some smokiness. I came thisclose to buying a bottle. I had fears over the lasting power so I decided to wait and sample it some more when I was thinking more rationally. It’s easy to get caught up in the frenzy that is Sniffa. Light My Fire didn’t light mine although it did have some fans at our table. Smoke for the Soul was one of the stranger scents of the day.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Another scent worth sniffing is Gardenia by Robert Piguet. It’s not a screaming, in your face white floral and it’s far more interesting than the name implies. It has much more going on than just gardenia. There are notes of ylang-ylang, leather, and vanilla. I could see myself wanting more of this one. It’s not too feminine and has a great warmth to it.

There were more perfumes as well but it would be too much to list them all here. It’s amazing how much you can sniff in the course of two hours. Breakfast definitely whets the appetite for shopping right after on the fragrance floor. The rest of the day was filled with lunch, more presentations, sniffing, and shopping. The day was fabulous and I came home with lots of samples, a few bottles, and a few new friends. I’m looking forward to next year.

Hugs
Poodle

Mamluk by Sonia Espelta and Laura Santander for Xerjoff 2012

November 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Post by Trésor

I have a fascination with gold. To me there is something so powerfully mesmeric about the opulent splendor of visions graced by the hand of Midas. Anything from the lustrous sheen of a treasured piece of jewelry to the scintillating hue of a lover’s skin bathed in a radiant aura of summer sunlight, just before the star collapses into dusk. I am enraptured. For ages I’ve been on a ravenous hunt for fragrances which mirror the essence of this exquisite ore and very few have fully realized my desire. Very few except for Mamluk.

Mamluk by Sonia Espelta and Laura Santander for Xerjoff 2012

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Musk, osmanthus, jasmine, amber, benzoin, vanilla, bergamot, agarwood (oud), honey, caramel

Mamluk opens in a most extraordinarily ebullient sequence of rich, highly sacchariferous honey and a lemon who’s skin seems almost bio-luminescent in its vivid incandescence. It is a prismatic pas de deux, illuminated citron trapezing alongside the toothsome honey’s molten gold as if in a cosmic light show. There is a fleeting animalic undercurrent, the very faintest whiff of urinous vapors making way for scintillating flashes of an almost candied oud.

Photo Stolen Flickr

This is not the challenging, fecal oud found by the tola in prolific collections of connoisseurs but oud envisioned as an utter confectionery delight. Beneath the oud lay a bed of blossoming jasmine flowers, their indolic form bathed in the oozing fluid luxuriance of decadent and flowing caramel. It’s sumptuous amber hue held in glorious juxtaposition with narcotic white petals, all the while maintaining a perpetual radiance which never quite disappears despite being ensconced in an exorbitantly dulcet density.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

As the composition progresses your sensory experience is permeated with the dazzling facets of a beautiful crystalline musk that calls to mind the scent of salty, sun soaked skin but as seen through the fractured light of broken crystal. It bounces and refracts in the most peculiar way that leaves me in a state where I am transfixed, my wrist glued to my nose. The hours pass and the composition gains a speherical quality and becomes exquisitely diffuse until finally it registers at a faint hum of honeyed sweetness just above the skin.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

A word to the wise: this is one potent elixir so I implore you not to go guns blazing with the atomizer. A single spray (or two if you’re a hedonist like me) will do, trust me. When I first received my bottle I sprayed at least 6 times and thought I just might just drown in those gilded, thrashing tides of honey. This darling has quite a gorgeous, fairly powerful sillage and wears like iron. I get a good ten to twelve hours, quite impressive if I do say so myself.

Further reading: Kafkaesque and Perfume Posse
First In Fragrance have €247/50ml
Surrender To Chance have samples starting at $7/.5ml

So tell me, my sweet honeybees, what are your favourite fragrances for those who’ve an appetite for the olfactory manifestation of this precious ore?

Trésor xx

NEWS!! Oliver & Co. Discovery Set 11-16 November ONLY!

November 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Hey hey Fumies,

A really special deal, limited time only, on a new house that I find incredibly interesting.

Portia xx

Oliver & Co. Perfumes Discovery Set

DISCOVERY SET – 2# ONLINE EDITION OF 20

THE SET INCLUDE 7x10ml GLASS SPRAY VIALS OF:

ILLUSTRATED SERIES

M.O.U.S.S.E
LA COLONIA
VETIVERUS
RESINA
M.O.U.S.S.E II

NEBULAE SERIES

NEBULA 1
NEBULA 2

AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY – FROM 11st TO 16th NOVEMBER
LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON. ONLINE EXCLUSIVE.
THIS ITEM CAN’T BE PURCHASED ON PHYSICAL STORES.

Oliver & Co. has 7 x 10ml Discovery Set €60,00<< JUMP

Polvere Per Bianchire le Carni by Santa Maria Novella

November 11, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 28 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

The company, we´ll call it the SMN Pharmacy, was founded in 1612. I am sure most of you know of their stunning fragrances but maybe not the skin care and other things that they offer, including shampoos and deodorants for your pets! The SMN Pharmacy in Florence is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been into. You enter through a most unassuming door and it opens up into a multi-roomed Aladdin´s cave.

Photo Donated Val CQ

They have candles, liqueurs, teas, supplements and even ceramics. I seriously wanted to buy everything!

The store is also a favourite of Neela Vermeire from Neela Vermiere Créations. I purchased the almond hand cream, highly praised by Birgit from Olfactoria´s Travels and the Polvere Per Bianchire le Carni recommended by the immaculate sales assistant. It is a natural facial scrub, or perhaps a delicate facial exfoliator is a better description. At 20 euros it was quite affordable.

Polvere Per Bianchire le Carni by Santa Maria Novella

Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella in Firenze

Photo Donated Val CQ

That´s ground up orris root, a little rice powder, and a touch of fragrance to you and me, not to forget a little lupin if I read the box correctly. I am sure the Medicis themselves probably used it. It certainly can´t have changed much in the last 400 years. It is 105 grammes of legal white powder in an utterly gorgeous cardboard box. Enough for a lifetime!

It smells lovely but I cannot for the life of me describe the smell. It is so unique that I could pick the product out in a blind test. Very simple to use. You take yourself out about a teaspoonful, not heaped and mix it with a little water. Massage onto a damp face and rinse off. Take out more than a teaspoonful and mix it to a paste and use it as a mask. As simple as that. Your skin will be beautifully soft and ready for moisturizing. It leaves the skin quite luminous and with regular use would probably lighten the skin a little. Which is perfect
if you are looking for an alternative to arsenic.

As I understand it you cannot order online. They do however have shops on 5 continents, and many multibrand stores where their products are sold. Do take a look at their homepage to see if there is one near you. If you are ever in Florence it is an absolute must see.

Have a good week APJ Peeps.

Bussis
CQ

Rosa Ardiente by Kenneth Cory for On The Nose

November 10, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 37 Comments

Post by Azar

“We take fragrances into our bodies and feel them as much as understand them.” Kenneth Cory

Hello APJ,

Kenneth Cory is an artist, writer and perfumer working in San Francisco, CA. The powerful and subtle beauty of Cory’s scented creations are a testament to his understanding of the primal connection of fragrance to emotion and memory. The seven fragrances listed in Kenneth Cory’s Etsy shop (https://www.etsy.com/people/kennethcory) are more than aromas. Each has an almost corporeal or physical presence. In my experience his perfumes actually feel like the smooth petals of a flower or the light translucent touch of a veil of fabric.

Today I am reviewing my husband Brad’s favorite On The Nose perfume, Rosa Ardiente.

Rosa Ardiente by Kenneth Cory for On The Nose

Photo Stolen On The Nose

Here are the perfumer’s listed notes:
Top: Bitter Orange, Saffron, Pink Peppercorn, Ginger, Himalayan Cedar
Heart: Moroccan Rose, Jasmine Sambac, Calamus, Beeswax Absolute
Base: Cistus, Black Musk, Vanilla Australian Sandalwood, Frankincense

My first impression of Rosa Ardiente is that of a deep, red rose suffused with the warm tones of saffron and beeswax complimented by the darker, herbal complexity of cistus. Brad’s first impression is quite different from mine, featuring a bright citrus, pink pepper, a light rose, the beeswax and a lot of cedar. After about 30 minutes the perfume (a 33% concentration) evolves on my skin to saffron and amber, drying into a tangy citrus spiked with frankincense and ginger. Brad’s experience of this phase of the fragrance seems to be overwhelmed by cedar and amber. Both of us find that Rosa Ardiente begins to hug the skin at about one hour, eventually fading to an ephemeral wash of cedar, frankincense, musk and sandalwood, disappearing completely after six hours of wear.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

I find it fascinating that saffron and beeswax play such a big role in my appreciation of this fragrance. I can barely detect the cedar element that is central to Brad’s experience of the scent, except, of course, when I sniff his skin instead of mine. Unisex fragrances like Rosa Ardiente are fun to share and compare (a lot of mutual arm sniffing). Sharing fragrances can also be budget friendly as one bottle serves to delight more than one person. The two of us actually share several fragrances including the Amouage Interlude Man that is technically Brad’s but has somehow managed to find its way to my dressing table.

Have you have tried Kenneth Cory’s perfumes?

On The Nose has an ETSY store that sends worldwide

Azar xx

Photo Stolen sassisamblog

Rosa Ardiente GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get:
1 x 1ml sample vial of Rosa Ardiente (generously provided by Kenneth Cory)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO 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 so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Tell us about YOUR favorite shared (unisex?) fragrance OR tell us about a perfume you will NEVER share with anyone.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie On The Nose: Rosa Ardiente by Kenneth Cory http://wp.me/p3PURw-3lO GIVEAWAY @KPCNose #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 13th November 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org or some fun way
As Portia is away on Holidays we will release winners when possible, keep an eye out.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Violet Disguise GIVEAWAY WINNERS

November 10, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Hey Hey APJ,

I really enjoyed getting to know Imaginary Authors Violet Disguise a bit better. It will now definitely go into high rotation around here. Two lucky winners will get to test drive it too. Let’s see who they are.

Portia xx

Violet Disguise GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Plum, Violet, Dried Fruits, Balsam, Amber, Evening Air, The Month of May

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get:
1 x Violet Disguise decant from my bottle
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Go to IndieScents and tell me any fragrance they sell online and a note that it contains…….. NO DOUBLE UPS!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie http://wp.me/p3PURw-3jJ Imaginary Authors GIVEAWAY @indiescents #Perfume #Giveaway @IAParfumerie

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 9th November 2014 10pm Australian ESTd
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen markmontanoblogs

Sister Mary

Jaybee

I am running extremely behind. Please send me your addresses and I’ll get these out when I return from the USA.

The winners will have till Thursday 14th November 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.

Australian Perfume Junkies

Olfactory Opinions from Oz

beauty

‘Golden Shock’ Christmas Makeup Collection 2014 – Application Secrets

‘Golden Shock’ Christmas Makeup Collection 2014 – Application Secrets

Gardenia Flower by Sheila Massetti for Perfume & Skincare Company

Gardenia Flower Extrait by Sheila Massetti for Perfume & Skincare Company

Portia MeetUps USA November 2014

MeetUp USA November 2014