beauty

Pear + Olive (Ltd Ed.) by Slumberhouse 2012

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 41 Comments

Hey Hey Niche Nerds,

Have I got a niche for you!! Recently on FacebookFragranceFriends there was a split for a crew, Slumberhouse, that I have been reading murmurings about for a while and stumbled upon on Parfum1 where you can buy their gear. I like the aesthetic of the bottles, saw they were genuinely trying to buck the modern concept of department store mass marketed dross (much of which I adore), were following their hearts/dreams/desires and experimenting beyond the norm. All this piqued my interest, there had even been a couple of their handy 15ml bottles in my basket a few times when I’ve had to cull so my budget would still stretch to unimportant things like food and telephone etc. So when I noticed a split for their new Limited Edition Pear & Olive, that just by the way comes in the most desirable, OMG LUSTING MADLY, etched bottle, I did not resist.  Thank all that is good in this world because I have found something completely different to anything I’ve yet tried, this is the real deal folks….

Photo Stolen slumberhouse

From The Slumberhouse Site: Slumberhouse is a boutique cologne label in the heart of Portland, OR; created and inspired by urban and street culture, art, film and music – especially the new school of hiphop and graffiti artists. We are a group of young gents who march to our own beat, embracing an absolute disregard for other brands, trends and marketing cliches. Slumberhouse represents an unequivocal love for the art of fragrance making.

Featured Accords: Pear, cognac, chamomile, aglaia (Mahogany), olive, zdravets (Geranium oil from Bulgaria), massoia bark and calamus (Rush or reedlike rhizome)

Pear + Olive starts out with the most outrageously real pear skin accord and it just jumps off your skin it is almost smello realism, and is quickly joined by the smell of the flavour of your first bite of an olive for the day. My mind keeps telling me there is cheese, real full blue cheese that has been allowed to warm on a table, even though I know it’s not there. I feel like I have sat down with friends, a few red wines, cheese platter with pears and olives. It is completely intoxicating and the sweet pear and salty, tangy, vinegar-ish olive scents harmonise and then push against each other, then meld with this milky, blue cheese thing. It then goes all woody through the pears and olives and has that great herb and cream smell that chamomile tastes like in tea. It is so hard to describe this fragrance, I can say that it is entrancing and enticing; people will want to get in and have a really good whiff of you.

Photo Stolen carbdiva

This is the most complimented fragrance I have ever worn, on its first outing tonight I had 5 separate and unrelated compliments and 3 of those compliments included asking the whereabouts of more such delicious juice. Every one of said compliments happening over a 3 hour period.

Sillage is excellent, the scent bubble goes about 2 meters and lasts for hours. I am home from work and have written the blog, hung out with the crew here a bit and it’s nearing 2am. I put my Pear + Olive on at 6pm and there is still a gorgeously fragrant cloud of something totally unprecedented on and around me. I have already gone online and bought a 50ml bottle, Slumberhouse has cheaper International Postage Rates by more than half.

Do yourself a favour and at least get hold of a 1ml/$5 sample from Slumberhouse, or grab one when they get to the sample/decant stores.

Have you tried this line? What were your impressions? Please leave me a message, even if it’s just saying hello, we love to read from everyone who comes by and we reply to all comers.
Have a great day till we see you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Manifesto YSL 2012: Behind The Scenes and Ad/Movie

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Hey APJ Family,

Photo Stolen hollywoodreporter

This Ad/Movie for YSL’s new fragrance Manifesto was released on Wednesday and the Making Of Thursday. I think the ad terrible but the Making Of is lovely and much more interesting and Jessica Chastain makes a fabulous fragrance face, so beautiful and elegant.

Photo Stolen musicrooms

I am now wondering what the juice will be like……

BoisDeJasmin says in her review: Take Thierry Mugler’s Angel and dilute it with sheer, lemony jasmine till all you have left are the pastel colored outlines of the original gourmand patchouli. Shake it up, label Yves Saint Laurent, and you have Manifesto!
Featured Accords: Green leaves, bergamot, black currant, jasmine, lily of the valley, cedar, sandalwood, vanilla, and tonka bean.

Advertisement Manifesto YSL

Behind the scenes MANIFESTO YSL

Just short and sweet today, if you’d like to read a full post pop on over to the PerfumePosse where I am lucky enough to Guest Post on Fridays. It’s one of the world’s most read and loved blogs and each week I feel so honoured that they let me contribute. Please go see me there and leave a little Hello note so I know you’ve been.

What did you think of the Manifesto Ad and Making Of? Are you as excited to smell the product as I? Do you like the bottle? I’m thrilled that they’ve used such a glorious purple. Do tell….
Wishing you all the good stuff you wish for yourselves till we see you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Neroli Portofino by Rodrigo Flores-Roux for Tom Ford 2011

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Hi APJ Family,

Well I do love to eat and today I get to eat my words. I was on a blogging black ban of the Tom Ford fragrances because they cost more than my house and at David Jones, Sydney City they wouldn’t make or give me samples to test. I was like, “You want us to pay $600 for a bottle of your juice and I can’t even get a sample to try at my leisure? Are you FECKING BARKING MAD?” I was in there today though and policy has changed and they make you samples to take away and try, it’s very personal and Joel the SA at Tom Ford could not be lovelier or more helpful. I know he, and the juice, will charm me into penury, beautifully fragrant penury but penury nonetheless. The stench of poverty this season by Tom Ford.

I was out with my girlfriend Alice (Hi Girl!) and we were having a sample and spritz-fest and I told her about the last time I was at the Tom Ford counter and the ensuing debacle and she was all, “Let’s go see then, I’ll sort them out.” Well we get there, problem solve and Alice looks at the aqua bottle for Neroli Portofino and asks if she can have the bottle without the juice. Joel & I look at her as if she’s just laughed at an autistic child and then stolen her doll. “OOoh,” she says, “I love the aqua bottle but the juice just doesn’t do it for me.” Joel kindly made me a review set of the 6 fragrances available for sample at the time. I then used the pipette from Neroli Portofino to swipe my buddy Alice, 10 seconds later there was a soft MOAN from behind us and we turned to see RAPTURE…

ALL Photos Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords/notes:
Top: Bergamot and mandarin orange
Heart: African orange flower
Base: Amber.
MyPerfumeDiaries gives
Notes: bergamot, lemon, mandarin, lavender, myrtle, rosemary, orange bitter, Egyptian jasmine, neroli, orange blossom water, pittosporum, woody amber accord, ambrette seeds, angelica root.

The bottle is gorgeous, it’s true but the juice is even better. Tom Ford has not pushed any fragrant boundaries here. Neroli Portofino is a fine, fresh, spicy cologne style scent. All citrus and herbs mashed up into a very, VERY expensive smelling and quite fragrant whole. It is a really delicious sparkling version of an old favourite that I would happily part with my hard earned cash for because it lasts for AGES!! Finally a cologne-esque spicy, almost masculine white floral that I can wear and forget because I know that 6-8 hours later I will still smell glorious. What’s not to like here? And Tom Ford does an excellent skincare, bath and body set in the same fragrance meaning you can layer for even longer lasting, deeper and richer results.

I am now putting all sample/decant/online shopping on hold till I have the cash to get this wonderful fragrance. It’s an investment but I want Neroli Portofino to be my shared memory scent of Aussie Spring/Summer 2012 with Guerlain Lys Soleia. One salty, suntan, coconut-ish white flowers, the other green, herbal, amber white flowers. I feel an awesome summer ahead down here.

EayMG does a great review of the 2007 release of Neroli Portofino and MyPerfumeDiaries (which is Aussie BTW) has the new one.
Tom Ford counters everywhere have samples
SurrenderToChance does decants $6/ml

Isn’t it nice when the world changes to the way you want it? Has that happened for you in any way lately? Do tell, I love happy stories, I don’t think there are enough of them shared so here’s your chance in the comments below.

Thanks for dropping in,

Portia xx

PS My mate David C begged me to do some Tom Ford because he is LGBTI family and now I have, and will do so more because I am now able to sample the range.

Scandal by Roja Dove 2007

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Hey Hey High End Perfumistas,

My buddy Sheila Eggenberger from TheAlembicatedGenie sent me an atomiser filled with Scandal by Roja Dove recently. It was not on my radar, though Roja Dove is of course one of my heroes, and Sheila quite rightly thought that it should be.

Photo Stolen SydneyMorningHerald

Fragrantica gives these featured accords/notes:
Top: Orange blossom, lily-of-the-valley and bergamot
Heart: Tuberose, jasmine, freesia, rose and ylang-ylang
Base: Sandalwood, musk, orris root, resins, cedar and benzoin

What happens when I put it on? HELLOOOOO White Flowers! A big fat burst of white floral and citric goodness that has a little of the person about it but not a lot. Scandal doesn’t scream though, that’s not its way. There is a much more glamorous fragrance here. I am perfumed most definitely, it is excellent on the sillage and scent bubble and it gets noticed but it’s not burning out my nostril hairs and I think after the initial rush that you could wear it to dinner without spoiling your food, or the food of your dinner partner.

As this first lovely blast calms down there is room for the rose, a slightly spicy tea rose, to make its way to the front of the rest of the bouquet and already there is some powdery, resinous and woodsy undercurrent that stops Scandal from being too heady and floral though it is both of these things. Though Scandal is a big perfume I don’t feel like I am skunking anyone when I wear it, a graceful offering rather than a Fracas or Madonna’s Truth or Dare extravaganza (both of which I love BTW) which practically beat your surrounding noses to death trying to get their attention. Like Scandal is slightly grown up, a little more sure of the world and a place in it that fits a you sized piece of the puzzle. Though more than a nod to the past I think we have a fragrance of the future, definitely my future. I have been brought undone by this lovely floral and now think I want it often. Sheila is naughty giving a fragrance junkie the good stuff, but clearly has me pegged perfectly which can be nice, and is.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Scandal maintains its sillage and scent bubble indefinitely!! I can’t believe the staying power. I put it on 3 hours ago and we are still pumping the gorgeousness like it’s been on for 15 minutes.

So I double respritzed on my chest at 4.5 hours to go do a gig and my head nearly blew off. OMG!! It CAN be a weapon of mass destruction! On top of an unfinished wear it becomes super scent BOMB for about an hour, thank all that is merciful we are a ways from town or I would have skunked a whole 40th birthday party. HA HA HA! As it was I was most decidedly fragrant when I walked into the gig and still going strong on my farewells. Now nearly 5 hours later I am still powering away as I go off to bed.

Roja Parfums Scandal Pour Femme
Photo Stolen rojadove

TheCandyPerfumeBoy does a ripper review and Abigail @ ISmellThereforeIAm puts Scandal in her forever Top 10!

ThePoshPeasant has samples/decants from $5.50/ml
RojaDove website has 100ml EdP ₤195

As I use up one of my existent big white florals I think Scandal will have a place in my Frag Fridge, I am going to order a replacement decant until because this one is bone dry.

What is your favourite white floral? I like the idea of wearing them in Spring and Autumn, when is your best white floral time?

Loads of love till tomorrow,
Portia xx

FAME by Coty for Lady Gaga 2012

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Hi all you Little Fragrance Monsters,

So it’s not news that Lady Gaga has a fragrance released by her own The Haus Laboratories Paris and the historic house of Coty. You won’t be surprised to hear that it’s the first black Eau de Parfum. The bottle is pretty cool looking in pictures, like a Thierry Mugler cuff treatment or a freaky fascinator for the races. The ads have been wonderful homages and pastiches and have included enough excellent visual content, costume, make up, art direction and lighting to almost completely obscure the fact that we are being sold the same fruit tingle, soft jube, fizzy, fruity, 100% artificial pap that nearly every other celeb and quite a few of the expensive big boys are bottling and calling perfume.

WTF? Lady Gaga, you have let us down. Your promises of an olfactory adventure, the blood & semen accord, the outrage and scandal of your brilliant advertising that hits your target market dead on have all lead to this slightly fizzy dross? Oh yeah!! You know your target market. You know that this has been what is served to them since they started thinking fragrance, you want to sell stuff not make a gesture, not teach a lesson, not change the board but play to it. Smart! It’s not bad, just derivative and BORING Boring boring ZZZZZZZZZZzzzz

Instead of venting my spleen here I decided to do something different. I took FAME by Lady Gaga to Trivia last night thinking I would get the crowds reaction because many of my players are the target market, here’s how that turned out.

I was wearing FAME and the first thing that happened when I walked in was a question about my fragrance and a compliment on it. I had my dinner as everyone was arriving and was chatting and welcoming everyone over the next 40 minutes. As we got started on the trivia I asked if anyone would like to smell my pre Aussie release import of FAME and a surprising amount of hands went up. Thank goodness I’d ordered a 5ml  decant! So around the room I went spraying on a couple of wrists at each table and folks, the place smelled absolutely gorgeous. Those opening notes are really great en mass in a large room with no other scent distractions. Everyone was huffing away at themselves from 18 to 80 years old and it really smelled wonderful.

Even as they were leaving 2 hours later I was getting fragrant wafts of fruity fizz, not strong but still quite nice and everyone had really enjoyed being the first Aussies to get a go at it. Some even going as far as to say that they would definitely be purchasing a bottle when it is released here later this month. So what do I know? Bloody nothing obviously. It’s a hit across the board. All ages and sexes were entranced by FAME.

Fragrantica gives these featured accords: Belladonna, incense, honey, saffron, apricot, Sambac jasmine, tiger orchid

On me the opening zips, fizzes and sizzles and that must be the apricot and saffron, there is also a very clean white flower that has been completely stripped of its sensuality. After about an hour it becomes much quieter and stays quite linear after the initial rush. I feel that there is no base holding the fragrance down. I would have liked some real depth to centre it a little more. Somewhere in the 3-4 hour area it becomes too soft for me to notice much other than that it is not my skin but something sweeter, almost but not quite milk and fairy floss, or DAIRY DROSS. I can’t say after wearing it for 2 days that I hate it but I don’t love it and wish I had more of a reason to purchase the bottle, but no…..

What fragrance have you been let down by lately? You know, the build up and hype had you HYPErventilating till you tried it? Please leave me a message in the comments. I love this kind of insight.

I hope you’re having a great day, if not the good times will roll around soon enough so please endure the crap.
Love always,
Portia xx

All Videos and Photos stolen Fragrantica

Sui Love by Jean-Louis Grauby for Anna Sui 2002

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

.

Guest Post by EmmaKate

SUI LOVE

Sensational day to you perfumistas!

My life is currently going full throttle, no brakes, all change, so for this Guest Post I have chosen to share with you my adoration for Sui Love from Anna Sui from my dresser.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured notes:
Floral-fruity composition is in perfect harmony with warm musky and vanilla base. Sicilian bergamot, Japanese osmanthus, and passion fruit create an aery floral introduction into a gorgeous blooming garden of the middle notes: Italian violet, orange blossom, water lily, Egyptian jasmine, white rose and tuberose, spiced with a touch of pink pepper.

Australian christmas dinner by Daniel Forsell

This fragrance always reminds me of Christmas at my parents place. I LOVE Christmas, family and friends, good food, good wine and everyone in great spirits.There is a real tree, freshly cut gardenias, a fruit salad on the table and it is sunny and warm outside.

Sui Love makes me feel girly and happy. It is a feel good fragrance.

Photo Stolen pharmacymix

The passionfruit gives a fizzy aroma that is juicy and full bodied. The tuberose is grounding and provides the green feel to this particular perfume. There are lots and lots of other white flowers too, which lends what’s usually thought of as femininity to this perfume.

Not overly sophisticated but the perfect girly fragrance with a bit of depth and a little something extra.

FragranceShop has 50ml $30

See you next month,

EmmaKate X

Catch Of The Day – Bargain Betty’s

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Hey all you lovely Stinkophiles,

I know I keep harping about it but I love it when the Decant/Sample sites have sales. SurenderToChance are having a 40% off sale of some stuff that is clogging up their offices so the new stuff can come through, it’s on for a while longer so go check, but be quick because they are selling out of some of the good stuff. This is a superb moment to grab yourself a little known magical bargain, something you heard about but didn’t grab, a promise you made yourself and then forgot or maybe just an excuse to get a parcel in the mail. So I gave myself a budget and dived right in. Some of the offerings are from companies I’ve heard of, some from completely new ones that have launched and Titanic-ed and still others companies that I never even registered. If you wonder what the letter and star ratings mean go see our Ratings System Page

Yes, I write for Perfume Posse but I pay full price, or sale price, for all my decants, so this is not an ad.

Here are a couple of my purchases;

Love’s Sorrow Photo Stolen my.opera.com

Chagrin d’Amour EdP by Des Filles a la Vanille (Sorrow of Love) featuring notes of Geranium, Hyacinth and Amber. This smells so youthful and exuberant to me, I don’t understand the sorrow of love name at all. It has that fresh young lady smell of vanilla with soft flowers woven through, not a powerhouse but a lovely warm, intoxicating fragrance that lasts quite well if I respritz after an hour to give it an extra kick of itself. The amber of the dry down is soft and fluffy. S=*** L=*** D=***

Photo Stolen foodnetworkTV

Salina EdC by Tocca Aqua Profumata featuring notes of clove, orange, green leaves, purple freesia, iris, peach, raspberry and musk. I found loads of reviews complaining of the short lived nature of this fragrance but I found it an 8 hour masterpiece, and then to find out it retails online for around $35/100ml made me so damn happy. An excellent refreshing spritz that is everything a good EdC should be, bright, green, refreshing, floral, fruity (the fruit is not current super sweet fashion), interesting, unisex and to have this longevity on my skin, SCORE! S=**** L=***** D=*****

Photo Stolen dreamstime

Miele Rosa EdP by i Profumi di Firenze featuring Damascena rose, milk, incense and wild honey (I swear there is some oudh in here too). OK so Rose and Honey? I’m in! Add to that the dreamy lactonic undertones and incense like fizz of a Damascena rose and I am lost. Miele Rosa feels like an Arabian Swiss oil it’s so fantastically intense, especially when I’m huffing away with my nose almost against my arm. OOOOH HEAVENLY AMBROSIA!! Filled with organic roses and honey this was released as a limited edition in 2006. S=***** L=*** D=****

Photo Stolen taniamarieartist

Le Bateleur EdT by Dolce & Gabbana features aromatic top notes; aquatic heart notes; and a earthy vetiver and cedarwood base. This has been soundly panned as a boring sport/nothing new/why bother fragrance. I like it a lot. The woody salty opening that slightly sweetens on the skin as it warms with your body, the sexiness of the spices and the good rooty humus rich vetiver. I would like to smell this on my partner and am enjoying it very much on me. Perfect work scent, fragrant but not intrusive, reminiscent of some other stuff but feels really expensive on my skin, at SurrenderToChance they have 100ml for $42. S=**** L=*** D=****

I am having a really good time getting my sniff on, instead of buying 100 x 1ml samples I got a hoard of 5ml decants. It means I really get to live the fragrance over a few wears, which is how I like to do it. Have you huffed anything interesting this week? Been to the sales? Bought, done a split on, had arrive something you’d like to share and give us all a lemming, Please do comment, we love to hear your voices.

I just want you all to know how grateful I am that you visit. Thank You.

Portia xxDes Filles a la Vanill

Nuit De Noel by Ernest Daltroff for Caron 1922

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Hey Hey Fellow Fumies,

Nuit de Noel or Christmas Night, what we call Christmas Eve today, was created in 1922 by the founder of Caron and self taught perfumer Ernest Daltroff for, it is rumoured, his paramour of many years. There is so much hype about this fragrance that calls to me, Roja Dove and Karl Lagerfeld are said to wear only this fragrance at Christmas time, it was made for the flappers of the era and that the gold band on the original extrait bottle was a nod to their headbands are just 2 of the stories. Below you’ll see the original 30ml extrait with the shagreen case and box.

Rare Vintage 1oz. Caron Nuit De Noel EXTRAIT 30 Sealed Perfume With Original BoxPhoto Stolen eBay US$295 sealed

My bottle is the current reformulation so real sandalwood is rare and oakmoss is IFRA illegal which means the heart of Nuit de Noel is largely gone or replaced with analogous chemistry but still the opening is very special and the dry down lovely.

Photo Stolen PerfumeShrine

Fragrantica gives these featured accords/notes:
Top: Ylang-ylang, tincture of rose, jasmine
Heart: Sandalwood, oak moss
Base: Musk, amber
but fails to mention the De Laire’s “Mousse de Saxe” base <Jump to PerfumeShrine opus on it

As the initial boozy vodka like scream passes in about 10 minutes, the jasmine and ylang ylang play central starring roles with a soft hint of a spicy rose underneath. As I breathe down my top it warms up beautifully with a very human warmth that could be mink-ish (or bedhead-ish) overlaying the flowers, there is still a hint of animalic skank through the flowers and the base.

I started writing this review earlier today and haven’t had a moment to come back and organise my thoughts. It’s 3-4 hours later and there is still some floral action but the amber has arrived, a slightly sweet vanillic amber filled with oriental spices, sweet but not gourmand. After the first rush this is a quiet, fleshy floral that turns very warm and cosy. Its stamina is good too, around 6 hours before I lose track and I think it might be a quiet skin scent for a while longer, some mornings I can still smell something lovely but others nothing.

Photo Stolen howtogeek

As always ThePerfumeShrine does a wonderful review with plenty of history and BoisDeJasmin looks at the way the new EdT is different from the past.
FragranceNet has 50ml around $35

Photo Stolen thepunch

Many of the comments on blogs and walls say that this fragrance has nothing to do with Christmas, well I think it has way more to do with Northern Hemisphere rather than Southern Hemisphere Christmas. Above you can see Santa and some of his helpers relaxing after their biggest night of the year on Bondi Beach in Sydney on Christmas Day, the rest of us Aussie Christians are having a feast of some sort and huddling around A/C or lying in the pool. I’m going to wear it this Christmas anyway, if it’s good enough for Karl Lagerfeld it’s good enough for me.

At AustralianPerfumeJunkies we wish an easy life for all of you, filled with great health, enough wealth and happiness, whether it’s Christmas or not, whether you’re Christian or not, everyone!
See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Neela Vermeire Creations LIVE Video Sniff

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hey Y’all,

Don’t forget to pop over and see my Guest Post on PerfumePosse today. It is linked with today’s special treat.

Well I have a little treat for you today. I hope it’s a treat. No, it WILL BE a treat! Got it? Last week we had a Neela Vermeire Creations spectacular here on APJ. If you missed it and would like to catch up we had an Interview with Neela Vermeire and reviewed Trayee from the line.

Photo Stolen wikiperdia

Robert “Radium” Maxwell and I took some time out after a gig recently to come to olfactory grips with the Incredible Neela Vermeire line of fragrances. We had had a couple of bevies, and frankly, we are enthusiasts not perfume professionals. So we sprayed and sniffed our first time sniffing impressions of the top notes of all 3 Neela Vermeire Creation: Bombay Bling, Mohur and Trayee. What you get is more entertainment than information because though we are lovely sometimes I am a bit dim and Radium is so smart that few have any common ground with him anyway. So do please press on and watch the madness that is an AustralianperfumeJunkies LIVE Video Sniff and enjoy it for what it is. A fluffy bit of Friday night fun.

I can only hope it brings you as much pleasure as we had making it, which was a shitload.

Please go and follow @neelavermeire on twitter and Neela Vermeire Creations, Parfums Paris FaceBook page. She is so friendly and I can promise you won’t want to miss the exciting updates in the near future.
NeelaVermeireCreations was where I bought my 10ml x 3 frags Discovery Set for only 90 euro delivered anywhere in the world or you can get 2ml x 3 frags Try My India Set only 22 euro delivered!
LuckyScent has 55ml bottles $250

Thank you to my BFF Kath for the filming and editing; thanks too to TSO Jin for making it loadable form.
Take care of yourselves till we see you tomorrow,
Portia xxx

Spring Fling with Clayton Ilolahia 2012

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments
Guest Post by Clayton www.whatmenshouldsmelllike.com

Spring Fling

Hi AustralianPerfumeJunkies. Last month I met with your cherished author and we decided to do a blog swap for a post on spring fragrance. For me it is a season of renewal. I love watching the trees that line the city streets, which were stripped of their deciduous clothing by winter, regain their green foliage and celebrate the spring season with bursts of colourful blooms. With nature providing so much visual imagery and scent, it is easy to see why spring is such an exciting season in the perfume industry.

When Portia and I discussed this idea of hijacking each other’s blogs to give a round up of spring suggestions, I had this in mind; I wanted my list to be more than just flowers, I wanted the list to be about seasonal renewal. Each fragrance I have chosen breathes new life into a familiar theme.

Floral

Tom Ford Jonquille de Nuit

Are jonquils the new tuberose? There is always a market for white flowers and for this 2012 release; Tom Ford explores a waxy white floral with green undertones. Jonquille de Nuit is a refreshing addition to any white floral lover’s collection amongst the jasmines, tuberoses and gardenias.

Oriental

Chanel Coco Noir

Every time Coco is looking a little tired, Chanel dusts her off with a flanker. Chanel is describing their new Coco Noir as a luminous oriental. The twist comes at the start with a fresh burst of bitter citrus. As the floral heart moves on, the original Coco peeks out at you wrapped in powdery tonka bean.

Woods

Guerlain Homme L’Eau Boisée

I was a fan of the original and this latest offering by Guerlain is, in my opinion, the most interesting Guerlain Homme flanker yet. They’ve stripped out some of the sugary mojito juice in favour of an aromatic accord laced with wood. It’s an easy fragrance to wear, a great option for the aussie bloke (does he still exist?)

Chypre

Parfums MDCI Chypre Palatin

Many perfume fans are lamenting the death of the Chypre style since IFRA regulated the use of oakmoss in perfume. Modern chypres lack the mossy base provided by their unregulated predecessors. For Chypre Palatin, perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour cleverly reworks the Chypre concept to overcome the obvious. It’s a paradox of classic and new ideas. While Chypre Palatin feels so familiar at the beginning, Duchaufour takes chypre to a whole new place as the fragrance evolves.

Fougere

Christian Dior Eau Noire

While this is not a new fragrance it still continues to push the definition of a fougere. Described as an oriental fougere, Eau Noire was made for Dior by Francis Kurkdjian before he went off to do his own thing. It’s a kind of curried lavender, owing to the rich use of immortelle. I love to wear this in the warmer months.

Thanks for reading and I wish you all the very best for the spring season ahead. Let Portia and I know by commenting, if you have other suggestions for spring. Also, check out Portia’s list over at What Men Should Smell Like (www.whatmenshouldsmelllike.com)

Best,
Clayton

PS Here is a jump to our APJ Interview with Clayton if you would like to read further about this interesting, urbane, clever and sexy man.
All perfume pics from Fragrantica. Clayton supplied his portrait.