Iris Prima by Alberto Morillas for Penhaligon`s 2013

March 28, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 48 Comments

Hiya Fellow Fumies,

My mate Nick from Libertine Parfumerie sometimes sends APJ product for giveaways. A package from Nick is ALWAYS a sweet surprise and he is a lovely guy who wants to have a great range of fragrance for Aussies to choose from. Please, 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 10-15% cheaper!!! AMAZING!

Iris Prima by Alberto Morillas for Penhaligon`s 2013

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, pink pepper
Heart: Iris, jasmine
Base: Leather, sandalwood, vetiver, amber, vanilla, benzoin

Iris Prima has certainly cut the blogging world in half. There are some who know Penhaligon’s aesthetic quite well and got a lovely fresh and pretty iris-ish fragrance with light sillage and wearing close to the skin unless you spritz yourself wet. Many people because of the name Iris Prima and the story of the ballet had extraordinarily high expectations that Penhaligon’s would completely change its soft focus, easy wear self for something cutting edge and boundary pushing. Naah. This is the softest, least intrusive scent I have smelled from the line. I wonder if it’s aimed at children of wealthy families who want to be ballerinas?

The bergamot and pink pepper are exactly as you would expect them to be and very much how they are in 1.000 other fragrances released over the last 5-10 years, the very first spritz has a whiff of leather but that burns off quickly to reappear later. It’s a fun, fresh, zingy opening that is completely unoffensive and will not scare anyone away. Very general public wearing and nice. The iris is cool and ever so slightly carroty on my skin and I hardly notice the jasmine at all, either my skin eats it, I am anosmic or it plays a far away back up role. After that Iris Prima becomes a very soft wash of fragrance that doesn’t really have notes so much as it is a quiet and reserved, I want to say leather but it’s so muted that I can’t even call it a name warmed by a splash of vanilla.

I get about 3 hours of fragrance until I cannot smell anything at all other than me. I can see Iris Prima being a big hit for non perfumistas who want to smell something as they get ready in the morning but who work in fragrance free or very close working conditions. Iris Prima is soft enough to be a very pretty fabric softener remnant that you are wafting, no one will be skunked by you EVER.

I like my fragrance bigger but many of you might really love Iris Prima.

Funny follow up: I was wearing quite a bit of Iris Prima to write about it today. Tonight THREE separate people complimented me on my fragrance at work, one of them was the barmaid who I never would have thought to be a fragrance noticer. Genuinely and totally entranced by Iris Prima. Interesting that others notice Iris Prima and think it’s drop dead gorgeous.

Portia xx

Further reading: Another Perfume Blog and Olfactoria’s Travels
Libertine Parfumerie has $254/100ml delivered in Australia
First In Fragrance has €170/100ml and €5/4ml samples

Iris Prima GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 Major Winner who will get:
1 x Penhaligon`s Iris Prima 100ml bottle
(minus the Secondary Winners Prizes, the lid is wonky but spritzer perfect.)
P&H Anywhere in the world

3 x Secondary Winners who will each receive:
1 x 10ml decant of Penhaligon`s Iris Prima
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

Go to Libertine Perfumes<<<JUMP and find me one of their BATH PRODUCTS and the COMPANY…………….. NO DOUBLE UPS!!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie @PenhaligonsLtd Iris Prima GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2Ck #Perfume #Giveaway @LibertineParfum

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 30th March 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 3rd April 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.

Special THANKS to LibertineParfumerie for these amazing giveaways. Please visit their site because they are so generous and helpful. If you wonder why they are sometimes more expensive than the discounters or OS retailers it’s because they are the only licensed company selling their fragrances in Australia; where you know you are buying new, fresh and genuine product. The cost of importing, and buying the right to import, alcohol based fragrances (and having the right to send alcohol based fragrances throughout Australia, which are illegal to send in the Australia Post air system) is expensive and they must cover their costs to bring you these luxury goods.

Unnumbered Sparks by Janet Echelman March 2014

March 28, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hiya APJ,

This is an amazing, enormous, interactive art piece in the middle of an Canadian city, Vancouver. The sheer scale of what the artists have achieved is mind blowing and that anyone with a smart phone can get involved makes it triply special. This is future art. I feel blessed to live in a world where something like this is not only possible but happening. Done as a installment for TED 30th Anniversary in conjunction with Studio Echelman and Google Chrome.

Photo Stolen Hashslush (if this is your image and you are upset, comment, I’ll take it down immediately)

From the Janet Echelman site: Studio Echelman installed its largest, most interactive sculpture installation to date at the TED Conference’s 30th anniversary, March 2014. The monumental aerial sculpture spanned 745 feet between the 24-story Fairmont Waterfront and the Vancouver Convention Center, challenging the artist to work on her most ambitious scale yet – over twice the size of her largest previous sculpture.

The sculpture was presented with an original, interactive work created in collaboration with artist Aaron Koblin, Creative Director of the Data Arts Team in Google’s Creative Lab. At night the sculpture came to life as visitors were able to choreograph the lighting in real time using physical gestures on their mobile devices. Vivid beams of light were projected across a massive scale as the result of small movements on spectators’ phones.

The Making of Unnumbered Sparks

The Technology Behind Unnumbered Sparks

Hard Leather by Jerome Epinette for LM Parfums 2014

March 27, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Post by FeralJasmine

Sometimes civilized people have to agree to disagree. There is a lot written about the fecal aspects of LM Parfums’ Hard Leather. To which I say: Really? Seriously? Have these people ever actually smelled feces?

Hard Leather by Jerome Epinette for LM Parfums 2014

A Night in Hard Leather

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Leather, rum
Heart: Iris, honey
Base: Sandalwood, cedar, agarwood (oud), olibanum, vanilla, styrax

That is SO not what I smell. Initially, I smell clean, healthy barnyard, the kind you get with a really good oud. All the animals here are bursting with animal vitality, and you can smell it. The stroll through the barnyard lasts about 15 minutes on me. Then you come to the rough heavy wooden door into the tack room, and walk in among the leather. Through the scent of the wooden walls and the oiled and polished saddles and bridles hanging all around you, you smell a clean, vital male behind you. He is your wild lover, your animus, the one you’ve never confessed to anyone that you wanted, the one that you dream about and are sorry when you wake, the one you can only see out of the corner of your eye because he disappears when you turn to look straight at him. Dionysus. That’s what I smell.

Photo Stolen Fotopedia

If I were in charge, which I certainly am not, all men in my vicinity would wear Hard Leather at least occasionally. Ah, what a world it would be.

Does that mean that a woman can’t wear this scent? Not by a long shot. There is a honeyed vanillic softness to the leather that makes it lovely on women. Probably all of us have a Dionysus aspect if we admit it, and scent is a splendid way to channel your inner incubus.

So where does the talk about feces come from? I think it’s possible that some people smell all strong animalics as having notes of urine or excrement. I have heard similar talk about Muscs Koublai Khan, which has animal notes but no urine or poop to most of us. To noses of the Fresh’n’Clean type, anything that suggests nature may suggest dirt or even excrement. Or it may be a genetic difference in the way we smell things, which is known to exist with some scents. In this context I always think of Hermès: Vanille Gallant, a lovely vanilla-lily scent to many, a fishy disaster to some.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Further reading: The Scented Hound and
First In Fragrance have €295/100ml and €9/4ml Samples

So, sample first, by all means. You should always sample first, because your olfactory universe is not like anybody else’s. But if part of your own olfactory realm is out on the fringes, beyond civilization and governed only by natural law, the primal beauty of Hard Leather is likely to produce an interesting degree of shock and awe.

FeralJasmine

New Ad: Coco Mademoiselle by CHANEL with Kiera Knightly "She's Not There"

March 26, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Hiya APJ,

Kiera Knightly seems the perfect choice for advertising, gorgeous and quirky looking she is both elegant and seems to have a pretty good handle on fun. I loved her since Bend It Like Beckham and wish she was in more stuff that I see. well THANK GOODNESS for CHANEL who have created some wonderful ads for her to star in.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEIRA KNIGHTLY!!

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Coco Mademoiselle by CHANEL with Kiera Knightly “She’s Not There”

The Evolution of Keira Knightley

CelebBuzz.com

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Zelda by Shelley Waddington for En Voyage Perfumes 2013

March 25, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Zelda: NOT the Legend of Zelda

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

When this fragrance was brought to my attention, I already decided that it wasn´t for me. After years of computer gaming in my home I fall into the traumatized mother category. I could´t imagine anyone naming a perfume after a computer game, unless perhaps they were traumatized too? Despite hearing good things, it was not on my hit list.

Fast forward a few months to the legendary Blogger´s Meet in London. In the middle of eating a very nice plate of fish and chips I was handed a bottle of Zelda from the extremely charming Vanessa, her of Bonkers About Perfume fame. I gave myself a hefty spritz, which I promptly ignored. Nevertheless she packed me up a little sample to take home with me.

Photos supplied by Michael

I now have my own bottle.

A Perfume Trip

I spent several summers in the seventies and early eighties at Stonehenge and Glastonbury, in the days when they were free festivals. I remember very clearly (which is surprising) a particular psychedelic experience. We were sat on the stones of Stonhenge and as my friends and I spoke to each other the words came out of our mouths in sheets of colours. Each more vibrant than the other.

Each time I wear Zelda I have a comparable experience. I exhale, put my nose to my skin, and then inhale deeply. The notes unfold in layers like magic. First the spicy top layer, and then the thick magnolia and flowery layer, and then hidden under that you hit a smoky, musky, vanilla, sandalwoody and who knows what else accord. It stays layered on the skin. Absolute genius, and it doesn´t stop. It is deep and complex, and I wonder how Shelley Waddington came up with this. Be careful though it´s a twelve hour trip! Still there in the morning.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Zelda Fitzgerald (1900 – 1948) “I don’t want to live. I want to love first, and live incidentally.” – Zelda Fitzgerald

Zelda was inspired by Zelda Fitzgerald, quintessential flapper and inspiration for her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald. She lived her life to the full, but hovered on the edge of madness. She was a writer in her own right. Gone are my thoughts of computer games.

Zelda by Shelley Waddington for En Voyage Perfumes 2013

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Italian Bergamot, Spices, Iranian Galbanum
Heart: Magnolia Blossom, Garden Florals
Base: Amber, Musks, Vanilla, Peru Balsam, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Cedarwood, Oakmoss (Mousse de Chêne)

You can order from En Voyage Perfumes and they do samples too. I look forward to exploring more of the line.

Further reading: Jordan River at Australian Perfume Junkies and Smelly Thoughts

“Nobody has measured, not even poets, how much the human heart can hold.” Zelda Fitzgerald

Bussis
CQ

Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2014. 4 min Snapshot.

March 25, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Hiya All,

Fragrance is what takes up most of my brainspace but I also love fashion. Though I will never be rail thin, super rich or ever invited to be one of the Haute Couture clients (yes invited, it’s an invitation only experience) still I love the flamboyance and often unwearability of the runway shows and then later the trickle down effect where two or three seasons later I notice a particular thing that I thought ridiculous or totally innovative or terribly unfinished walking the streets and being sold on high streets everywhere.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Here is a four minute snapshot of Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2014. What did I notice? I loved the cut out fabric reminiscent of the cheap nylon curtains that we used to have in our garage as children. The sheer glitter knee high socks, asymetrical but unmatching fabrics, the single cut drape from a miniskirt front to floor length back, the gathered backs of the jackets which meant they float out as you stride. SO MUCH! I think Raf Simons is doing a great job.

Photo Stolen Style.com

Please enjoy a moment out of your day to see into the future.

Portia xxx

Hilary Duff With Love by Hilary Duff 2006

March 24, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Post by Katrina

Today’s perfume is often mentioned by perfumistas as one of the rare, extremely good Celebrity Scents, often put next to Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely and Covet, and above Kate Walsh Boyfriend and Queen Latifah’s Queen. That’s pretty high praise and at this price would make an excellent add on gift for the younger crew around you.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Hilary Duff With Love by Hilary Duff 2006

Rodrigo Flores-Roux and Stephen Nilsen

With Love by Hilary Duff is a warm oriental fragrance with loads of character. It evolves over time to reveal layers of different fragrant ingredients. Don’t be fooled by its celebrity ties with expectation that With Love will be a girly perfume. It is an oriental spicy fragrance and not sweet, fruity or floral.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives the following notes:
Top: Spices, mango
Heart: Cocobolo, mango blossom
Base: Amber, musk.

However, in this case Fragrantica has given a cut down list of notes and the mango and mango blossom should be mangosteen fruit and blossom. Other sources include Now Smell This where you can find a review of With Love by Hilary Duff gives notes of mangosteen fruit, exotic spices, chai latte, mangosteen blossom, cocobolo wood, balsam, incense, amber milk and amber musk.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Mangosteen should not be confused with mango. Mangosteen is an exotic fruit from South East Asia and is used in traditional medicine. With Love starts with top notes of mangosteen and spices. The mangosteen is quite intense and not very sweet or fruity. The astringent smell is a bit like cough medicine or liquor. In time the fragrance becomes creamy and the perfume evolves with musk, wood and smoky incense. As the layers fall away I’m left with a creamy vanilla musk on my skin and it smells beautiful.

Photo Stolen Flickr

I think the Scented Salamander says it amazingly: The perfume starts with the sparkling fruity notes of Mangosteen and Champagne then becomes very langourous and creamy. It soon smells like buttersctoch topping crystallized pineapple. Then the milky accord changes its nuances from butterscotch to coconut milk. A lush tropical bouquet of flowers makes its nuances felt. The sumptuousness and piquancy of sandalwood and Cocobolo wood make their entry. The base notes develop a warm Oriental accord. The very realistic and fine cedar wood becomes more prominent in the longer dry down as well as the musk and amber.

Hilary Duff’s With Love is a unique perfume and definitely worth a try, especially if you like spicy oriental fragrances.

FragranceNet has $11/ 30ml (unboxed)
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/2 ml

Come and visit Celebrity Perfumes for more celebrity perfume news and reviews.

Thanks Katrina x

MAC Cosmetics' Maleficent

March 23, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

WOW!

Can’t wait for the movie Maleficent by Walt Disney and now I can’t wait for the make up range from MAC too. LOVING the ad copy and the cosmetics look killer too. MAC available in June 2014

(source) via art8amby

IMDb

ROZY Voile d'Extrait by Vero Profumo 2014

March 22, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Dearest APJ Readers, Hangers On (please subscribe) and all Vero Profumo Aficionados.

ROZY Voile d’Extrait by Vero Profumo 2014

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Oriental rose, tuberose, currant buds and leaves, honey, spices, sandalwood, labdanum

A huge spritz and a long sniff and nine hours later, I am charmed. Did you expect anything else?

I am not Freddy from Smelly Thoughts who would really do this justice. I will however try.

It opens with a bright burst of cassis and a an atypical rose combined with tuberose undertones. By this I mean it does not scream rose. It’s gorgeous and not like anything I have ever sniffed. I know you want more information but I can’t do it that quick. Droplets of sandalwood are there too. But what has thrilled me the most is the last couple of hours. It is the softest, cosiest, creamiest honey I have ever experienced. It creeps up on you.
And no, it is nothing like any of the other Voiles.

The Rozy EdP is, however another story.

Don’t forget to enter our 300,00 views Acqua di Parma GIVEAWAY<<< JUMP

Bussis from the Campomarzio70 Happy Nose Days Vernissage!!

APJ 300,000 Views First In Fragrance Acqua di Parma!!

March 21, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 55 Comments

WHOOO HOOO APJ!

We have hit 300,000 views. An incredible landmark

THANK YOU to everyone who has been involved in any way in our very special family of fragrance freaks. Readers, Writers, Commenters, Contributors, Frag houses, Perfumers, Curators, Marketing people, Friends, Family: every one of you have made this one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. I am proud to be part of something so fun and global, you who are my friends through Cyber, the ones I’ve been lucky enough to meet, my besties and Jin. THANK YOU.

Photo Stolen ArtRock

When Michael & I were meeting the crew at First In Fragrance in Germany. Beate and the crew (Shane, Sabine, Margit, Katharina) were so amazing that they wanted to do something special for the Australian Perfume Junkies blog. I was saying “No No No, You’ve done so much, Been too generous already” but Beate decided that she was going to gift me with €165 worth of Colonia Intensa Oud by Acqua di Parma to use as a giveaway when we next did something exciting at APJ. It doesn’t get much more exciting than 300,000 views.

Also, did you know that a First In Fragrance sample is around 3-4ml and comes in a spray atomiser? They are very reasonable priced and send to the world. Go check their stuff.

www.ausliebezumduft.com
Aus Liebe zum Duft
Wuchsa
Bahnhofstrasse 10
D-76646 Bruchsal

Photo Stolen DreamHost

Colonia Intensa Oud by Acqua di Parma GIVEAWAY

Photo stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Citruses
Heart: Oud, Russian coriander, amyris wood
Base: Musk, leather

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

WINNERS WILL ONLY BE ANNOUNCED AT Australian Perfume Junkies<<JUMP Facebook Page

This week we will have 1 Major Winner and 4 Mini Winners who will receive:

Major Winner
100ml Bottle of Colonia Intensa Oud by Acqua di Parma (missing the other prizes)
P&H Anywhere in the world

4 x Mini Winners
1 x 10ml decant of Colonia Intensa Oud by Acqua di Parma
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Go to First In Fragrance <<<JUMP and find me a fragrance and one of its notes. NO DOUBLE UPS!!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie OUD by Acqua di Parma GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2wf #Perfume #Giveaway @Acqua_di_Parma

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 23rd March 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced ONLY ON FACEBOOK so go LIKE Australian Perfume Junkies<<JUMP Facebook Page.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 28th March 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.

Photo Stolen FanForum