beauty

L’Eau Du Navigateur by L’Artisan Parfumeur 1982

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Hey Hey All You Stink Junkies,

Don’t miss my VIDEO guest spot on the PERFUME POSSE today<<<JUMP

They were having a sale at L’Artisan Parfumeur, one of my favourite fragrance houses but I live in Australia. Then my girl friend Alice went to England. So I shopped like KER-AY-ZEEE!!

The first cab off the rank will be L’Ea Du Navigateur. Why? Because it’s fricken AWESOME! This is a slick, classy and elegant creation.


Photos Stolen boatbuildingindonesia

The Phinisi Spirit (Boat Pictured Above)
The highly valued spices, and the fabled spice route itself, actually originated on the islands of the Malay Archipelago, later known as the “East Indies” or spice islands. Spices from these small islands were transported along a well developed network of sea routes by even more impressive sailing vessels, ancestors to the modern Phinisi. (Plagiarised from boatbuildingindonesia)

Fragrantica gives these notes and accords all in one mine: coffee, spices, woodsy notes, floral notes, rum, resin, incense, tobacco, leather, cedar and myrrh

Photo Stolen L’Artisan Parfumeur

What do I smell? I smell a boozy, spicy, coffee; a warm and cheeky Jamaican Coffee, that you used to get after dinner in restaurants. There is wood, I get a salty tang too, the flowers are very quiet and each time I think I’ve nailed one it disappears on me. The resins after half an hour are boat reminiscent but warm like a salty amber, maybe it’s the leather accord and my nose is misreading it. Tar?

The myrrh has been there all along but it makes a centre stage appearance, quite profound for a note that I often find lurking rather than doing a diva turn on my skin, 2-3 hours in. After that last big note the whole melange goes very quiet, like the background smells of cargo at sea I imagine. Starting to smell myself in the mix too, like L’Ea Du Navigateur has found my scent and decided it works very well in the mix so it might as well use everything at its disposal to create a spellbinding and narcotic miasma.

I get zero of the smoke, tobacco and incense that others rave about, and that’s a shame, but I’ve only worn L’Eau Du Navigateur twice. I think there will be surprises wearing it for different things and in changing temperatures. Next morning, over 8 hours, there is still a trace of a better smelling me.

Back in 2006 PerfumeSmellin’Things review is excellent as is 1000Fragrances.

Get hold of a sample/decant because it’s so lovely. I can’t believe there isn’t more of a song and dance done about it. Maybe because it’s been around for 30 years.

Do you have a favourite L’Artisan Parfumeur fragrance I should try? Please leave me a note so I can,
Till tomorrow,
Portia xx

Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood 2005

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Hello gang,

The Olympics are on in London and I thought I’d do a bit about Anglomania by Dominique Ropion for Vivienne Westwood to coincide with such an auspicious time. I saw it at a local fragrance shop for an extremely reasonable price and snapped it up even though well aware of Luca Turin’s one star rating. “After an intense gourmand top note with too much going on. Anglomania poops out early and reveals a boring synthetic woody amber dry-down plus PVC raincoat” LT in The Guide, but I have disagreed with his sometimes brutal and scientifically biased carvings before, so I was still interested because I love Vivienne Westwood.

Photo Stolen thecultureconcept

Fragrantica gives the accords as:
Top: Cardamom, coriander and green tea
Heart: Rose, tender violet and nutmeg
Base: Leather, vanilla and amber

What do I smell on my skin?

POP! The opening is fun! The cardamom and coriander seem to already be having a chat with the vanilla as a huge burst of scent envelopes me. When the beginning lets a bit of air in there is a very pretty sweet green tea scent floating through, not like a cup of green tea but like thought of what a cup of sweetened green tea should smell like. Cardamom is the shining star though.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

I miss the rose and violet all together, clearly my nose is not yet attuned to properly parse the fragrance, but I do get the nutmeg, even went to the kitchen to check that it is what I am smelling, it’s there alright but like in an egg-flip milkshake (milk, vanilla, egg, ice cream, nutmeg then blend).

At about the 30-40 minute mark the vanilla and amber are really making their presence felt. Already I am feeling a soft, buttery leather scent come through too, almost suede-ish but no plastic. I’m expecting the powdery woody violets, or the roses to give that funny plastic that they can give, but no, not today.

Towards the 3 hour mark I have a very soft amber with an expensive leather couch. I think only now am I starting to get a hint of the cool powder of violet like a soft loaded powder puff. Maybe the vinyl that everyone else smells is that faint smell of oil based foundation I’m getting?

Anglomania Vivienne Westwood for womenPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

There’s no debating that this didn’t last for many reasons, it’s a solid, pretty and interesting scent but no masterpiece. It was badly advertised, with an image that says nothing and speaks to no one, not lovely or interesting enough for the women to find it aspirational and not sexy and obvious so the boys would buy it for their ladies. The ad is not even in your face enough so the gays, who adore Vivienne Westwood’s often out of control images and presentation, would see it as a collectors piece. It was seriously off my radar till I saw it so drastically reduced. Having put it in that terrible context though, I will wear it, in fact I’m going to wear it to work this week and gauge reactions.

STOP PRESS!! Wear more for roses. As I thought Anglomania was a little quiet there was a spritzfest before work. Left wrist and elbow then mash, 3 hefty sprays on my decollete and one on my scarf. POW!! Here come the roses, the wonderful rich and spicy roses from top to dry-down. Night 1 wear: 2 random compliments (one lovely person so enchanted and asking who made it and where to buy it).

TheCandyPerfumeBoy does a really excellent review but he smells the fragrance completely differently to what I get. I’m wondering if there’s been a reformulation because I get no rose or vinyl?
I found 30ml for $37 at GalaxyPerfume and the only other online place I could find it was Amazon.

Have you tried any of the Vivienne Westwood range of fragrances? Love her clothes? Hate them? Tell me I am agog.
See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

L’Eau De Tarocco EdC by Diptyque 2009

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hiya Sniffers,

I ordered a decant of L’Eau De Tarocco EdC by Olivier Pescheux for Diptyque because the name is SO good. The Water of Tarot. Tarocco is also an Italian blood orange so they are probably talking about this being a citrus water, and yes it is, but there is so much more here.

From the Diptyque site: A fruity Eau de Cologne that is sweet yet vibrant and spicy. It carries the exhilarating scent of the Mediterranean in winter and the freshness of fruit just plucked from the tree, plump and ripe.

Fragrantica gives these accords: Musk, Virginia cedar, saffron, ginger, cinnamon, incense, grapefruit, orange and tincture of rose.

Photo Stolen theproducehunter

WOOO, This starts with the green rind and zest swoosh of blood orange/grapefruit, also spicy and woodsy, but not the warm embrace of Sandalwood this woodsy is like setting up camp in the woods, with the incense, ginger and musk. It all seems to be front and centre in the first 3 minutes except the rose, and I haven’t a clue what saffron smells like. As you look for each note it is already there awaiting notice.

There does come a slight warmth after about 15-20 minutes but it’s like the smell of the white outside left after you have zested the whole orange, and it’s merely overlaid on top of the already extant scents. It may be the rose, which can sometimes have a warm fruity plastic smell (I know that doesn’t make sense but if you have smelled that particular rose facet you’ll never forget it).

The whole fragrance softens off considerably at around the 1.5-2 hour mark in the cool weather. There is still a citrus feel but the cinnamon, ceder and musks seem to take over and give a warmer, mulled quality to the whole, like it’s been basking in the sun and ripened to the point where there is only sweetness in the juice. By 3 hours I’m hunting around for a respritz, even though the fragrance hasn’t completely left my skin. Today at time of finishing writing I have been wearing L’Eau De Tarocco for nearly 5 hours and it’s faint but still discernible.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Diptyque site has 100ml at $98 & 200ml $135 except they DON’T SHIP TO AUSTRALIA!!! Clearly they don’t want my business.
SurrenderToChance does 1ml/$3 or 5ml/$12.60-ish

This is a lovely cologne, not groundbreaking but done very nicely. I could imagine this being suitable for anything from the office, dinner, after gym, date night or cinema.  L’Eau De Tarocco strikes me as refreshing in the warmer months but still completely wearable in the dead of winter here in Sydney. I wanted to buy a FB so I could have a Cologne Bath like BoisDeJasmine was spruking earlier this week. As you can see I tried to go FB but it will have to wait till I can get to a Diptyque counter.

It’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere, what colognes are you wearing and have you tried a Cologne Bath?

Portia xx

Oud Ispahan by Francois Demachy for DIOR 2012

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Hiya Scent-ualists,

A few weeks ago I was trolling around Facebook Fragrance Friends, a site mainly dedicated to the chat about what you’re wearing and how it is, who else has it, all sorts of great stuff for the fragrance junkie. It’s also a place where people do splits. I’ve never done one before so it was a totally new experience for me. One of the girls bought a huge bottle of Oud Ispahan (way too much to use in this lifetime) and we were allowed order 10 ml for the very reasonable price of 10 quid including postage!! From the UK! So, of course I was all over that like mould on cheese. It arrived on Friday and I have been spritzing away like crazy.

Oud Ispahan Dior for women and menPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these notes:
Top: Labdanum
Heart: Patchouli
Base: Sandalwood, rose and agarwood (oud)

Photo Stolen indonesianagarwoodoud

How does it wear on me? I find Oud Ispahan to be soft, subtle and skin scent-ish; a barely there whisper of grandeur harking back to the Arabian perfumery through 21st century processes. It is quietly tenacious, lasting well over 8 hours on me, and almost linear to my nose unless I am concentrating continuously. There is a journey but not in a grand adventure way. The bright and warm opening whispers sibilantly like a  secret, in a very human almost bed breath way. I think this the softest and cleanest oud accord I’ve smelled yet; like it’s been washed and dressed for company and it rumbles through the whole fragrance life. Now smelling of breath, leather, flesh but all very indoors, captured, domesticized and polished. While the amber/vanilla/patchouli are playing around at the party, I can’t really separate them because of my lack of knowledge but they are all outshone by the incredible heart of rose that everything else here hangs off. It’s like the rose is holding court and all else are bit players, but keeping with the theatrical theme, this rose is Machiavellian. It slides in and around giving a spicy, peppery, sparkly, lemony, fruity rose it is one rose of a thousand faces and facets. My nose thinks it has her pinned and vamoose, gone! replaced by something akin but subtly different.

Due to the awesome staying power of Oud Ispahan I can’t tell when it finally takes its leave but my head tells me that real dry down is an amber/oud sheer layer of extra lovely translucence that makes me smell subtly more desirable. Well, subtly more desirable to TSO Jin. I’ll be smiling all day.

Photo Stolen Ispahan.com

1000Fragrances does his usual excellent job of reviewing and PerfumeShrine does a super pre-release geography, accord and history lesson. Both are well worth looking up for interesting data.

I hope you are lucky enough to get to try DIOR’s Oud Ispahan. I like it a lot; it’s classy, beautiful, long lasting, sexy and interestingly it has good sillage. I can smell it in a room that I’ve vacated and come back to 15 minutes later.
SurrenderToChance starts at $3/ml but 5ml is only $12 and that is a great size to really get to know it. Of my 10ml I gave 3ml to a mate and have about 3ml left.  This will definitely become a full bottle when I get to a counter.

Have you tried Oud Ispahan? Any of the Couturier Collection? How do you rate them?

Thanks for dropping by, and/or leaving a message. I am so happy and grateful that you do. Have a lovely day, till tomorrow,
Portia xx
PS The video below has nothing to do with Oud Ispahan, it’s just a lovely DIOR mini movie for Miss Dior Winter 2012

Etro: SUNDAY QUICKSNIFF REVIEWS #12

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Heya APJ Family,

Click here for more graphics and gifs!

This week I’m doing something slightly different again. I recently received from SurrenderToChance a set of 3 Etro fragrances and I’ve been wanting to get them on the blog and thought that I can try all 3 in Quicksniffs and then do a full review on my favourite at a later date. So that’s what I’ma gonna do for you and give you the usual 3 sentences and a star rating. Follow the jump to find our Rating System Page (<<jump).

ETRO is a crazy fabulous Italian fashion house, check their site here <<JUMP

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

MESSE DE MINUT 1994. COR!!! Citrus explosion, almost like a spicy citrus souffle, sort of cake-ish but with a crackle of pettigrain that keeps the balance from getting too foody, though it is delicious enough to eat my arm. I’m not really a citrus fan, in my mind though my collection calls me a liar, but I really love this and think the Etro crew have done a warm citrus perfect for a sunny autumn, winter or spring day, like today was in Sydney, this felt perfect as it dried down to woods, fresh hewn. S=**** L=**** D=****

SHAAL NUR 1997. After the citrus has burned off I get herbal, spicy and wood. It is great but the flowers don’t appear on my skin in a starring role and Shaal Nur goes straight to an amber, patchouli and woodsy vetiver skin scent that plays so softly it’s almost miss-able that it’s more than me, but I lose the ability to smell it after 5 hours. This definitely has date night potential.  S=*** L=*** D=***

LEMON SORBET 1989. This, as you would expect, is also a burst of citrus, a bitter sweet cloud of cool herbal lemon gelato.  It is a good deal more linear and less cluttered than the other 2 Etros we are looking at today, almost linear but still with an interesting journey. Part of me loves the simplicity here, and it smells really good on me too, but I think it would be a better wear in the warmer months, perfect for you Northern Hemisphere people right now. S=**** L=*** D=***

I bought a pick 3 Etro Gateway Sampler from SurrenderToChance which starts at $7.99

I hope you’re all having a glorious weekend.
Thank you for being part of our APJ family.,
Portia xx

Guilty by Gucci 2010

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Hey Y’all,

Please go check the Perfume Posse because I’m guest posting today about Olympic Orchids and don’t forget to enter our Paloma Picasso Thursday Giveaway….

I was lucky enough to be given a bottle of Gucci Guilty recently by a friend who’d had it purchased for her but did not like it for herself, being a veteran Ma Griffe by Carven woman. I have coveted the bottle since I first laid eyes on it, thinking it an excellent branding exercise and lovely counter topper. I had high hopes for the juice because Gucci have done some great stuff in the past and I was hoping for a love. Come with me and we’ll discover Guilty together.

https://i0.wp.com/www.punmiris.com/images/secundar/o.11813.jpg Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these notes mandarin, pink pepper, peach, lilac, geranium, amber and patchouli.

Guilty opens warm pink pepper and peach on my skin, it’s a modern fruit-chouli and that should have me hating on it immediately but there seems to be some interesting depths here. A softly spicy, whisper of a fragrance that still manages some sillage and staying power, around 5-7 hours depending on what I’m doing. As the amber warms into the fragrance I also get a beautiful waft of crisp, fresh cut flowers so I am guessing the geranium is keeping the lilacs a bit extra green. The patchouli has been stripped naked and scrubbed clean till I can hardly notice it but still the dry down maintains surprising amber/vanilla warmth and is by far my favourite part of the fragrances life.

Honestly, this seems a little generic for the design house GUCCI for which the motto, Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten, is associated. This is very nice, pretty, wearable and inoffensive so where they got the steamy sex and name Guilty from we are left guessing. I will use this as my re-spritz in my bag and it will be drained in no time but will probably not purchase. Sorry GUCCI but you’ve let me down a little bit.

NowSmellThis and LashGirl were the only 2 reviews I could find on the first 4 pages of google for Gucci Guilty that weren’t Pour Homme Intense.

Thanks for coming and sharing my fragrant wanderings, hopefully see you tomorrow,

Portia XOX

Gucci Guilty

Paloma Picasso Mon Parfum 1984

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Hiya Fumies,

Today we are going to look at something I’ve had rattling around my fragrance cupboard on and off for years. I think it has been reformulated three or four times because every time I repurchase it smells slightly different and over time the packaging has changed too. Still with the same central lush 80’s big bang but slightly thinner. Considering though how many fragrances have come and gone since 1984 it is a wonder we can still readily buy Paloma Picasso.

Photo stolen herzmaschine

It is still a heady swirl of high octane powerhouse perfume, for me a cross between Chanel No. 5 and Aromatics Elixer. With a start point of spicy, sharp and sweet amped up by the aldehydes. As we move through the life of the fragrance the base seems to be pumping its dark and sexual tune nearly from the start with almost cameo like appearances from the rest of the notes that pop up and then submerge back into the background, only to do so again when you least expect it. Better than excellent sillage, in fact you will be your own scent cloud, and lasts, lasts and lasts till it smells like a dirty ho is in the next room undressing, then gone.

Photo Stolen perret-optic

Definitely not a close work environment scent unless you are the boss or your crew has a wear as much perfume as you like agreement. If you are wearing it to dinner give it at least 2 hours to breathe before you sit to eat and it will probably skunk the bus in the mornings too. This is a dressed up high heels and gown of a scent but could equally be worn outdoors where there are no perfume restraints. I like to wear it to bed, selfishly and for my own pleasure, while market shopping or cleaning the house with some pop music playing.

Fragrantica gives these notes & accords;
Top: Coriander, aldehydes, angelica and carnation
Heart: Ylang ylang, jasmine and hyacinth
Base: Oakmoss, patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver, tobacco, castoreum, civet and musk

Please check BoisDeJasmine and PerfumeShrine for the full story. They also have much more detailed note lists, maybe Fragrantica has the modern incarnations list?

FragranceX has the best selection I could find at reasonable prices, below Gift Coffret only around $60

THURSDAY GIVEAWAY

Our Thursday Giveaway this week is a gift from APJ guest blogger EmmaKate. She was lucky enough to win our prize at an event but the fragrance is way too strong for her to wear comfortably in public. Her loss is your gain because we are giving away this fantastic 50ml EdP (that has had 1 spritz taken by EmmaKate) and a 6.7 oz of Body Lotion. Below you’ll see a similar coffret valued at RRP $75, only the exterior is slightly different on ours.

Photo Stolen 99Perfume

How do you win? For this week only Australian addresses can enter. Sorry world but I can’t afford to send this one OS, it’s expensive! All you have to do is tell me somewhere that you would like to wear this gorgeous Paloma Picasso fragrance. Easy Peasy!!

Entries close by 9pm Saturday July 28 2012 Australian EST and winners will be announced in the Saturday night post. If you are our lucky winner you must get in touch with your address details by Wednesday August 1 2012 or I’ll give your prize to someone else or maybe keep it for myself, I’m running low. Communication via DM on Twitter (@OzPerfumeJunkie) or FB (Portia Turbo-Gear).

Alright gang, Thank You for dropping in and Aussies, GO TO IT!!
Portia xx

Frederic Malle LIVE Video Sniffs

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

Hello all you Perfumistas,

YAY!! YAY!! YAY!!

You’ve all been hanging out for one of our videos and we are slowly making a stockpile of them to bring out when the urge comes upon us. We are so lucky to have my gorgeous Scent Mother, Emma (who guest blogs here on APJ as EmmaKate) with me for this one. I hope you enjoy our little bit of perfume madness as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you.

Photo Stolen meccacosmetica

Today we look at 3 of the Frederic Malle series; Vetiver, Carnal Flower and Le Parfum De Therese. Emma talks us through them, their major accords, some history and we sniff one LIVE.

Photo Stolen meccacosmetica

As always I’d like to thank my BFF Kath for the video and editing and TSO Jin for making it embed ready.

Enjoy, Enjoy, ENJOY!!!
Portia xxx

SOIVOHLE by Liz Zorn: Reviews

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Hey Fragrantly Flawless Fumies,

Yesterday we talked to the amazing Liz Zorn of SOIVOHLE, (pronounced See-Voh) previously we did a story on SOIVOHLE and last week looked at Wild Ginger Chai. Today we are going to look at some more of the fragrances that come from this brand. I have to tell you in advance, I love this crew. I think the juice in every bottle feels like the culmination of a labour of love, as lovingly produced as a baby. They run the gamut of genres; classy, chic or confronting at different times and some of the names are enough to transport you by themselves.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

You’ll see some writing in italics, that is edited from the SOIVOHLE website.

ABSOLUTES (30-50% Concentrate)

UNDERWORLD – natural
An unusual pairing of vetivers from around the world, rich spice notes of cinnamon, ginger lily and clove, a touch of jasmine, roasted coffee, cocoa, rose leather and balsams, set into a  light vanilla oud tincture, sensual and a bit haunting

Photo Stolen historywillabsolvemike

OHHH The clove and cinnamon are divine here and I am already getting some vanilla right at the start, this is a bit like the first fizz of spices in the pan when you make a curry. Here we are at half an hour with no diminution in the opening notes, this is going to be a heartbreaker. In comes the jasmine curling lazily through the cloves with (I think) the vetivers, slightly peppery and earthy. At over an hour there is the clove still and the leather & balsams are warming into their places and the coffee is like the end of your cuppa, the cup is cold but you put your nose in and smell. This is such a multi faceted perfume that I think I’ll need to spend lots of time getting to know its moods. 5 hours on and I am getting spicy vanilla with a whisper of the dank oud below giving breadth. 9 hours and Underworld has become a skin scent, not discernibly anything except a better smelling me. Magic!

DEMI ABSOLUTES (18-22% Concentrate)

BOTTLENECK BLUES – mixed media
Inspired by the juke joint, jazz dive, blues hideaway and any place where the music is hypnotic and the atmosphere  so thick you could cut it with a knife. Not for the faint of heart Bottleneck Blues opens with a heavy dose of animalic musk,  rain dampened hay , earth  and bergamot  that evolves into a stunning array of ripe sensual summer flowers,Lilacs, Magnolia  and Roses, with a base of chypre moss, musk, absolute vanilla , labdanum and woods.

Photo Stolen stltoday

Bottleneck Blues first rush is like walking through the baking kitchen, vanilla, zest & cinnamon, and out across the yard into the hay barn. It’s not rushed, you’ve taken your time in each section. You find a sexually ready, fit and healthy man wearing really pricey fragrance, he’s had a few drinks and you can taste them when you’re kissing, then after your fling you go back across the yard into the kitchen and now they’re making caramel, you stay and watch the process for hours from a new chair and then you go.
I know my smelling doesn’t exactly match notes, I went back and checked the test bottle twice throughout my 4-5 hour journey before I slept.

JHANGO BAY – mixed media
Inspired by the early 20th Century Jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. Jhango Bay  is a fresh woody chypre with notes of Bay, Bergamot, Basil, Lemon,  A heart of Geranium, Ginger Lily,  Geranium Rose, Incense Rose  and a touch of Jasmine with Oakmoss, Cedar, Sandalwood and  a  mixed media  musk containing Ambrette Seed and Muscone  rounding out the base. This formulation was created with 99% natural materials.

Photo stolen keepswinging

A fresh burst of citrus, bay leaves and spice like a call to arms opens Jhango Bay. It maintains it sharpness with the snap of geranium and a spicy, cool rose accord. Then the strangest thing happens, I can only liken it to the first opening scent from a bottle of tomato sauce, it’s sweet and sharp but so good, unexpected and wholesome smelling. This is a winner. I am buying me some of this excellent juice.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our look at SOIVOHLE fragrances; for me it’s been a real treat. Don’t forget to cross over and have a look at the new SOIVOHLE range.

Love, Love, love to you and yours,

Portia xx