beauty

Parfum d’Empire, Fragrance Reviews

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Hi Stinkophiles,

Today we are looking at 4 of the Parfum d’Empire range of fragrances. I’m glad I’ve had a couple of days to do this because they have been so delicious, interesting and fun to wear, not to mention totally enjoyable to look up on different sites all the reviews, chatter, science and mystery surrounding them. Considering how little we know about the perfumer Marc-Antoine Corticchiato there is a wealth of information about his fragrances, which has made my job easier and harder in equal measure. What to put in, what to leave out, what is true, fantasy, science, madness or necessary to give a complete picture? The samples were bought from the Parfum d’Empire website, all of them were purchased late 2011 and I had tried only a couple and from that have 2 unopened bottles awaiting a suitable opening ceremony.  I hope you enjoy this short journey through about a third of the range. This is not a favourite list it is merely a random snapshot of the magicians art of fragrance in one house. I will give you my first impressions in words then work through the fragrance as my often wonky nose takes me through each perfume. Come.

Eau de Gloire EdT

The first fragrance that Parfum d’Empire brought to the world in 2005, modeled on Marc-Antoine Corticchiato’s scent memory of his boyhood home Corsica, literally translated as Water of Glory and dedicated as an homage to all those who’ve left their homelands to go into the world and conquer. Especially to his own home island boy Napoleon Bonaparte.


Photo Stolen from telegraph.co.uk

Bracing, Citrus, Salt, Squeaky, Floral, Masculine

WOW! This opens with a powerhouse icy cold screech of bergamot, citrus twig and broken branch and briny sea air then the herbs and flowers come and take the edge off. As the rosemary, lavender and star anise waltz in they warm the scent slightly but still it stays cool and laid back. I don’t believe in fragrances for the sexes but I keep imagining Eau de Gloire on a very masculine man though I would love to see how it smells on a woman. There is a squeaky dissonance here, the trilling of the citrus which lasts well into the heart of the fragrance and the rumbling of the incense, anise, oakmoss and tobacco. Unfortunately my nose misses the tea and leather in the composition completely, maybe you will have more luck. At about 3-4 hours I get more soft and flowery notes over the various resins, this fragrance grows more interesting and textured as it matures. At 7 hours it is soft as butterfly kisses and almost as ephemeral.

Fragrantica gives you the low down but Olfactoria’s Travels really does this lovely fragrance justice.

Osmanthus Interdite EdP

The French missionary and plant hunter, Jean Marie Delavay in the mid 19th century “discovered” Osmanthus (O. fragrans), a native of the GuiLin area of China (GuiLin means “Forest of Osmanthus” in Chinese). Osmanthus is a fast growing “bushy” tree that can grow 20 feet tall and 8 feet wide with glossy leaves and clusters of small, highly fragrant, yellow tubular flowers. Traditionally a symbol of love and romance and one of the 10 famous flowers in China and Taiwan.

Photo Stolen from trax2

Green, Crisp, Fresh, Light, Cold tea, High florals.

Osmanthus Interdite, which means Forbidden Osmanthus, is like arriving late for the presentation of tea during the cooler days of  jasmine and rose blooming. Honestly, I don’t smell jasmine and rose as I know them in life, this is an aloof, cool and soft scent on my skin, not a clean scent but reminiscent of cleanliness. Discernible and noticeable without a fanfare or scream, this is no bombastic floral. It is an old perfumed leather pair of driving gloves kept in perfect condition but worn, used and loved. The leather notes are far gone but you still can almost smell them, do I make sense? Almost as if they have become soaked with the wearers tea scented perfume and bodily fragrance over time, on top of a soft floral fragrance impregnated into the leather pre-purchase. They work side by side to create an intriguing unisex dichotomy through the heart. At the 8 hour point and there is still a whiff of something lovelier than me, faint and clean.

Here is Fragrantica and Abigail at I Smell Therefore I Am gives a 5 star rating to this luscious juice. WOW!

Wazamba EdP

Wassamba or Wassahoumba is a percussion instrument or disc rattle played rhythmically in loud, penetrating pulses by dancers during ceremonies in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Made of gourd and white wood the Wassamba usually weights about half a kilo.


Photo Stolen from ancestralmemory.com

Char, Sparkle/fizz , Olive green, Incense, Bark, Intense

Once the initial screaming, burning rush of Wazamba cools it becomes another perfume, churchy and sepulchral. It reminds me of years spent in Roman Catholic churches and the theatre and drama of religion. I think it’s interesting that many ceremonies of religious and tribal spiritual cleansing over the world smell similar. Having never been to West Africa personally, a neighbour once bought back a good luck talisman in the form of a fragrant pillow of woven grasses with smokey herbs, spices and incense inside, this has almost the same smell. What a powerhouse of memory and reflection Wazamba has been for me. A fragrance that wanders through a thousand shades of itself, more a journey than a scent. You must try this. Wazamba gave its all for about 5 hours and then became a skin scent, discernible to my partner as something other but lost to me.

Fragrantica for the notes and accords, but you must take time to read the Perfume Shrine‘s review, it covers everything and more, that I wish I could have said. Snaps!

Cuir Ottoman EdP


Photo Stolen from settemuse.it

Heat, Medicine, Booze, Fire, Hot new patent leather, Rubber, Road tar

OMG!! This opens like a Banshee wailing on my skin. It’s infernal and smells like I imagine being in Paul Chenavard’s (1807-1895), Inferno di Dante would smell like if they were burning tyres and a road in the background while drinking Kentucky bourbon in a hospital. I can’t believe I am smelling these things and wish I had a fragrant Godmother here so I could talk it through. WOW! Awesome MC AWESOME! After about 15 minutes Cuir Ottoman starts to breathe a bit, there’s air between the notes and I have a moment to think, leather, sweet leather and the flowers have arrived. There is a softening and prettying of the abrasive opening, we are covered in luscious leather and blossom and root. By the one hour mark we have arrived at the seraglio, beautiful full lipped sweating women, incense, hookah, floral unguents, leather and horses. There is still a beautiful ride and drydown to dark vanilla and spice but that is hours and hours away.


Photo Stolen from believerwoman

The Scented Hound has done a lovely review of Iskander by Parfum d’Empire today also, go check him out,

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed our mini trek through the Parfum d’Empire range. I think I’ll do another set of four next month for you all,

Happy, fragrant and loving hopes for your day,
Portia xx

Parfum d’Empire: Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

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Hi Everyone,

A fragrance house and its makers story have inspired me again this week. Hopefully this tiny snapshot of the scientist, perfumer and artist Marc-Antoine Corticchiato whets your appetite for tomorrows fragrance reviews from the house, Parfum d’Empire.


Photo Stolen from parfumdempire

Marc-Antoine Corticchiato is the handsome, urbane looking man in the photograph we all find on the front page of the Parfum d’Empire site. Considering his good looks and ability, his obvious charm (from the French videos I watched, but didn’t understand) and that his fragrance house is a continuing financial and critical success I am surprised there isn’t more information about him flying around the scentbloggosphere. I have stolen wholesale and remixed outrageously from the 2 best sources I could find; an interesting and informative interview on CafeFleurBon that you will be well rewarded should you take the 5 minutes to read it and the media fantasy that may be reality on the Parfum d’Empire site.

Born in Morocco, Marc-Antoine Corticchiato’s family hails from Corsica and he grew up in the village of Cuttoli Corticchiato, deep in the Corsican maquis (as Corsicans refer to the local bushland) and in Morocco at the family citrus groves. A competition horse rider, at an early age he considered becoming a professional equestrian. It was not to be; thank all the Gods and goodness itself.

“As a child, I was not especially attracted by perfumes but rather by plant scents, because I was curious about the different smells of a plant (through) the day or at various time of the year, even of the season. I was also curious about the great variety of plant smells…. ” Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

This drive to understand mysteries of scent production in, and why this fragrance varies through the life of, aromatic plants led Marc-Antoine to study chemistry. He developed a new technique to analyse extracts of aromatic plants through carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR: an important tool in the chemical structure elucidation of organic chemistry; wikipedia) for his Ph.D., then training at the renowned École Internationale de Parfumerie de Versailles (ISIPCA).

Going on to work in a research laboratory focused on the analysis of aromatic plants and extraction methods, for years he “dissected” natural raw materials and acquired in-depth knowledge of them, their characteristics and various uses. His work has been publishing in international scientific reviews.


Photo Stolen from cafleurebon.com

His first blends were aromatherapy, teaching him to work towards therapeutic and olfactory goals simultaneously. He joined a Parisian perfume laboratory after carrying out this research for several years, where he found the opportunity to express his creativity more fully.

“Finally, I decided to create my own fragrances and I founded PARFUM D’EMPIRE in 2003 because I wanted to express my own vision of perfume…. I was inspired by all these Corsican people who have left their country to get a better life in different parts of the world…… The most well-known of  them is of course Napoleon… (who said) “Eyes closed, in the darkest night, if by some miracle I were transported to Corsica. I would recognise it immediately by its smell. “….. So do I.…. For all these people, the scent of the Corsican scrubland is still their favorite perfume.” Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

Through perfume Marc-Antoine expresses the emotion conjured by blends of the most beautiful raw materials, coveted for centuries for their refinement, aphrodisiac properties and use in sacred rituals. Even going so far as to set up a production unit for essential oils in Madagascar. It is the link between perfume, eroticism and spirituality that he has revived with his fragrance house Parfum d’Empire.

“Founding my own brand PARFUM D’EMPIRE was a real challenge!  I did it to be free to create with the noblest raw materials.…My perfumes are an invitation to explore the most complex and mysterious of empires: the realm of the senses.” Marc-Antoine Corticchiato


Photo Stolen from bilan.ch

Marc-Antoine also teaches at ISIPCA (Institut supérieur international du parfum, de la cosmétique et de l’aromatique alimentaire).

I wish I could find more but I think much of his interesting story must be hidden in French text, beyond my reach. Tomorrow though we will let the perfumes speak for themselves.

Thanks for reading, now it’s time for you to share. Do you have a Marc-Antoine or Parfum d’Empire story to share with us? We’d love to read it. Leave a message in the comments,

Portia xx

“A woman who doesn’t wear perfume has no future” Coco Chanel

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By Evie C.

A woman’s perfume tells more about her than her handwriting.
Christian Dior

A woman who doesn’t wear perfume has no future.
Coco Chanel

My perfume adventure is not going well.  I have discovered that I have neither the taste of Turin nor the omnivoric appetites of those perfumistas who post such regular and explicit reviews.  It seems my nose is tone deaf.  I should not be writing about perfume at all.

I googled perfume quotes in an attempt to find inspiration for this blog and the first two that appeared are above.   Coco Chanel’s seemed particularly ominous.

I started a new job today.   Before she left for the day one of my new colleagues sprayed herself with Paul Smith’s ‘Rose’.  Several people commented and it was indeed a lovely counterpoint to a long day but not something I would have wanted to be surrounded by all day.  I envied her that signature scent though, as it clearly had meaning for her and seemed a fabulous pick-me-up at the end of the day.

I don’t know how you all do it.  ‘Best-of’ lists and trying to settle on a favourite genre/note are clearly not the way forward.  I see now that one cannot be scientific about trying to identify a favourite.  Perhaps someone out there has broken a similar olfactory block?  Or perhaps some of us just don’t get it? Discuss . . .

BBC documentary “Guerlain; The Next Generation”, Terracotta Voile d’Ete Review

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Hi Fume Heads, Stink Whores, Perfume Junkies and all others,

Just had the most wonderful lunch with friends down at Blue Fish, Darling Harbour off Sydney Harbour, chatting away to a girl who I’ve met a couple of times and liked very much. Had NO IDEA that she was the girl to set up Le Labo bar here in Sydney, has met most of the world’s most recognisable perfumers and many noses, and wants to be my scent mother. Helping, teaching, exploring!! She has even offered to do some guest spots here on AustralianPerfumeJunkies. OMFG! I am blowing kisses to the universe and to my BFF Kath who started the conversation about AustralianPerfumeJunkies today over the most ENORMOUS seafood platter.

It’s Sunday and I’m dropping this in early to give Sydneysiders a chance to read and watch before dinner. Instead of writing about a perfume I thought we could all watch a story about a perfume house. In honour of it being a Guerlain documentary I am wearing Terracotta Voile d’Ete and if you want to know what it is like Denyse Baeulieu from Grain de Musc does history, scent and wearability. All I will say about Terracotta Voile d’Ete by Guerlain is that it is a soft spicy floriental with moderate sillage and lasting power, works all year round and is pretty cheap online at $50-$90 100ml EdT. Being a 1999 limited edition you will be the only guy/girl wearing it and it’s modern but not as you know it AND, the bottle is beyond fabulous, the most deliciously retro chic. Imagine this little beauty on your vanity, huh? I got mine from FragranceNet.com with 15% off for about $43.


Photo Stolen from Fragrantica

Denyse is also the author of “The Perfume Lover” which I am currently enthralled in. It’s a page turner about a memory of a magical night turned into a fragrance by one of the world’s most talented perfumers, Bertrand Duchaufour of L’Artisan Parfumeur. Quite a plot, that also happens to be based on the real life events that led to the creation of Séville à l’aube, the new perfume from L’Artisan Parfumeur. I hope we get a movie with Lucy Liu, Maggie Smith, Angela Bassett, George Clooney, Eric Bana, Zac Efron, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith too. That would be AWESOME!

Go to with abandon!!

Portia xx

Guerlain, The Next Generation

Just so you know. APJ is not affiliated with any businesses mentioned in our blog.

Miss Boucheron review, Competition WINNER ANNOUNCED

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Hey gang

I hope your weekend is treating you well. Life is good here in sunny autumnal Sydney, crisp and cool. We keep having Bar B Q’s in case it’s the last one before winter really digs in. I love Bar B Q’d sausages and mushrooms. We even ate outside in the sunshine

I’m wearing Miss Boucheron today for fun. It’s a fruity flowery nothing that was so discounted on the net that I blind bought a 50ml refill Eau de Parfum. The noses behind this scent have such good stuff in their repertoires that I felt justified in ignoring Luca Turin’s one star scathing dismissal of the whole product. Anne Flipo (2012 Lady Million Eau de Toilette, 2010 Acqua di Gioia, 2006 YSL  L’Homme, 2005 Fleur D’Oranger) and Dominique Ropion (2012 What We Do In Paris Is Secret, 2005  Carnal Flower, 2005 Alien, 2004 Pure Poison, 1991 Amarige) have such an outstanding history that I wanted him to be wrong. He’s not 100% wrong, in all honesty. It’s similar to plenty of other fragrances, has pink pepper, bergamot and pomegranate as its top notes and is supposed to go through the floral to white suede; but all I get is a waxy flower after a couple of hours that stays for a while, quite nice, and then gone.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a perfectly wearable scent and nobody will be hurt by your wearing of it. It was designed to be an inexpensive fresh fragrance to bring some younger custom to house Boucheron.  You will smell bright and flowery with a little musky & pink peppery sparkle. I will use this bottle up but will probably not buy another. I may become addicted to it though and have to. Never say….


Photo Stolen from supermodels.nl

Now Smell This has done a wonderful review back when Miss Boucheron first appeared, Fragrantica has the skinny.

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Here’s what you had to do and what you’ll be winning should you be our lucky contestant. I’m so sad we don’t have prizes for everyone who entered, thank you all for contributing. I enjoy reading your responses more than you could know. THANK YOU! We’ll have another giveaway next Thursday, see you then.

Please give us a short perfume memory in the comments about you, a friend, colleague or relative’s favourite old school perfume (pre 2000) WINNER Lindaloo for her beautiful Mum story.

1.5ml spray decant Casmir by Chopard
Manufacturers sample COURAGE by One seed
1.5ml Posh Peasant decant spray of Parfumerie Generale; Jardin de Kerylos
1.5ml Posh Peasant decant spray of Diptyque; Philosykos
1ml Posh Peasant decant of Ambre Russe by Parfum d”Empire

Tell your fave CELEBUSCENT WINNER Mark Evans for SJP’s Lovely

1.5ml manufacturers sample spray Haute Claire by Aftelier Perfumes
Aftelier Perfumes Apricot and Lemon Candle in a Tin
Gucci; 2ml decanted sample spray Gucci by Gucci pour homme
Estee Lauder; 2ml decanted sample spray Brasil Dreams
Jessica Simpson; 2ml decanted sample spray Fancy Nights
LUSH Cosmetics; 1.5ml decanted sample spray Orange Blossom

Plus postage and packing to anywhere in the world. You must get in touch before Wednesday 2.5.12 to claim your prize or I’ll give it to someone in the street!

Have a wonderful fragrant weekend all. Enjoy!

Portia xx

OPUS OILS JITTERBUG PERFUME PARLOUR: The Divine Collection Review

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Hey, Hey Gang,

When work is done and all in our house are asleep, a cup of sweet, milky instant coffee by my side, I love to troll the web at night. I will catch up on the many blogs that I read, follow links like a lemming, discover new fragrance, friends, trends and a world of stuff that would have been totally beyond my reach without the internet. Don’t get me wrong, I love to troll the net during the day too but at night it seems more personal and without the worlds distractions I feel that I can learn stuff.

Recently while trolling I was introduced to a niche perfume crew called Opus Oils Jitterbug Perfume Parlour. They look fun and sassy in their online store and fact sheets; like the coolest kids that you always wanted to be buddies with. There is a sense of loads of fun and in-joking, hours spent laughing while trying new experiments, names, fragrances. They have a great sample program so I decided to buy and try the Divine Collection samples. Their cross links with mysticism and historical spiritualism caught my eye, along with their 100% natural approach.

Picture Grizzli “Gods” Stolen from Wikimedia

What I found with these all natural oils was that they were much more sophisticated than I expected. More nuanced and not huge explosions of fragrance but a delicious waft here and there melting into my skin over hours, becoming a lovelier smelling me, but still discernible as other. These are intimate fragrances that could be worn for everything from meditation to work (unless they are absolutely fragrance phobic), but they also would be excellent dinner, theatre, booty call or Bar B Q scents. Not overwhelming, I don’t think people will find them offensively expansive. Also, being oils they will last ages because a little goes a long way.

Opus Oils Jitterbug Perfume Parlour opened August 2008 in Hollywood, CA, USA after Kendra Hart being a successful underground and above ground perfumer. Here’s a little (edited version) of what the site says:

Kedra Hart was one of the developers of The Apothecary at Barneys New York in Beverly Hils and founder of the natural perfume and aromatherapy line Precious Petals. She designs custom scents, teaches perfumery in LA and Paris and is blender and co-founder with Joshua Hart of Opus Oils Jitterbug Perfume Parlour.

“It’s hard to describe our Jitterbug Perfume Parlour when people ask,” says Joshua Hart, “I usually say it’s a cross between the movie “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls” and the book “Jitterbug Perfume”. Mix that with the TV show “Hart to Hart”, sprinkle it with “Moulin Rouge” and then add a dash of Flapper Speakeasy Culture. Yeah, I think that about says it all.”

The Divine Collection (100% all natural perfume)

These oil blends are made with essential oils and rare perfume oils from around the world. Specially formulated to assist you in making contact the God or Goddess energy that lies within you. Absolutely no synthetics are used in these Natural Perfume blends. Consisting of four aromatic treasures, all formulated with exotic and rare botanical essences, that can be worn alone or in layered combination. Nourishing to the spirit, they offer a positive, uplifting and natural alternative to the majority of mainstream perfumes on the market. 

I tried to capture my first impressions with single words and then give you an unfolding story.

ISIS: Hot, Steamy, Dark citrus, Dusky, Luscious. This was the first of the line I tried. The balmy citric myrrh is the initial scent I get but after about 15 minutes this delicious jasmine comes in and wends its way through. It took me by surprise when I got my first whiff while my mind was on the laundry, I thought someone was behind me wearing it. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Fragrantica gives featured notes as jasmine, myrhh, olibanum and coconut.

PAN: Clean, Sharp,Dank, Enticing earth, Funereal. Wow! This is the edge of the jungle, earth, deep and dark. Evening jungle in the cool season. I smell moss, clay, humus, animal. Aptly named, this is the scent I can imagine all smelling in E. M. Forster’s a Story of a Panic, first released in 1911, when Eustace becomes overwhelmed and shocked from his torpor. It is a sexy and inviting green. Fragrantica says I am smelling patchouli, vetiver, oakmoss, fir and violet leaf.

EROS: Vegetal, Herbs, Grass, Spice, Chilli. This smells to me like a spicy chicken salad with oregano, parsley, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. It’s a warm and cool fragrance, interesting and thoughtful.  Fragrantica gives me amber, mandarin orange and vetiver as the notes here but it feels much more alive and sparkling than that.

VENUS: Sweet, Balmy, Sexy, Salt, Medicinal. I know. Clearly my nose was elsewhere because the notes in Fragrantica say features rose, lotus, ylang-ylang, neroli, sea water and dark chocolate. I miss the flowers and chocolate completely. Maybe they’ll come along soon but after half an hour I am getting an awesome scent, just not floral or chocolate. This is the one I think is FBW out of the group. On my skin an interesting sweet and salty mixture. Very calm and sensual. This fragrance feels like the siren calling, like Venus herself from the sea to all the mariners. I would follow instinctively.

Thank you all so much for coming and having a squiz.

Do you have a natural perfumer that you love? Tell us about them in the comments. Anything and anyone new we can lock onto is interesting for us,

Portia xx

Figs! Olfactory Journey To Greece

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Hiya gang,

Figs are everywhere in perfume.

Photo Stolen from 123rf.com

The scentbloggosphere is also full of the fig journey. The Olfactoria’s Travels, Undina’s Looking Glass, and Now Smell This crews, among others, have all done splendid fig reviews. Recently I  looked at Aftelier Perfumes AH-MAY-ZING Fig and all this fig chat has had me intrigued. There are so many choices the mind boggles. What to do?

I went to The Posh Peasant and looked up figs. What caught my eye was a five pack of famous figs called Figs! Olfactory Journey to Greece. This way I could try the generally accepted best reasonably and if I LOVED some then I could think about a purchase. Genius! Here’s what The Posh Peasant says in their spiel;

Fig scented fragrances have been all the rage the past decade and for good reason. Some fig scents have a wonderful complexity of being both green/woodsy and slightly fruity. A good fig scent transports you to a fig grove in Greece (if you’ve ever smelled a fig grove you’ll know it’s one of nature’s most gorgeous scent creations).

Photo Stolen from PoshPeasant
What I’ve done below is give my initial thought words during top notes then gone on to discuss progressions.

Diptyque, Philosykos; Sharp, Twig, Torn bark, Earth, Leaves. This is a sparse and spare smell on me. Right from the moment I first wear it there is fig tree but not fig jam, and so much space between the scent that it is like you are dozing down the hill, in the shade, while up the hill the workers are picking the fruit, occasionally tearing leaves and maybe someone mowed the grass this morning and there has been a light sunshower after tilling some nearby earth. 6 hours later it is still there, linear and quite noticeable, which is surprising on my skin.

Hermes, Un Jardin en Mediterranee; Fresh, Sweet, Air, Sharp, Expensive wood, Roast chicken glaze. At first glance/sniff this feels like a fragrance I’d reach for regularly if it were in my collection. Bright, warm and inviting like toast and fig jam with a hearty meat smell like roast chicken fresh from the oven with a fruit glaze. As it warms up this is spicy fig jam. Of the 5 this is the best fit with our cool wet Autumn day in Sydney and my personal favourite.

Miller Harris, Figue Amère; Nutty, Citrus, Salty Fruit, Wood, Tangy Sweet & Sour. This is YUMMY! My nose is reading almost a Chinese banquet here. The fruit and leaves in Figue Amere are dried, salted, fried and flavoured, there is warm depth and it feels so extravagant and opulent. Like fig is not the main course here and is joined by the rest of the dishes. There is a note during the middle, unfortunately I can’t identify what, that smells like after salt water swimming shower sex.

Parfumerie Generale, Jardins de Kerylos; Warm, Fresh, Ozonic,, Fruit, Light but penetrating. It’s most fig smell during drydown, but a very dry fig, austere and cool. 1-6 hours later Jardins de Kerylos becomes a barely there hum on my skin, nicer smelling than me.

Jo Malone, Wild Fig & Cassis; Roots, Sap, Bitter, Leaves, Chewed grasses. This is a breath taking look at a pine logging camp of the unmechanised variety. I smell torn trees, earth, compost, grass and cowpats. A challenging, astringent, glorious riot of bitter green herbaceous life. This is what a Triffid would smell like.

Thanks for reading. Do you have a favourite fig? We’d like to know.

Portia xx

Casmir by Chopard Review

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Hey everyone,

While most blogs are talking about Spring arriving and getting out your citrus and softly, airy florals; here in Australia we are just starting to hit Autumn. The leaves on the Liquidamber in the front yard are starting to turn, the Camellias are flowering, the gardener will be coming every 3 weeks instead of fortnightly and the nights are turning chilly. Instead of wearing my summer round the house uniform of boxer shorts and singlets it is track suit, hoodie and sloppy Joe weather. YUMMY! Soon it will be pumpkin soup, roast beef, baked pasta with vegetables and savoury mince time. I love the cooler months because it’s easier to get warm that it is to get cool, without resorting to A/C, just add socks and a jumper. We also have really mild winters in Sydney so it’s not a hardship, it’s lovely.

CASMIR EDP by Chopard

The nose that created Casmir in 1992, Michel Almairac, had already made Joop! Homme, Escada Margaretha Ley and Paloma Picasso Minotaure and has gone on to create such lavish olfactory adventures as L’Eau de Chloe, Shiseido’s Zen Women, Bottega Veneta, Gucci Rush, Cabaret by Gres, and a bunch of the Bond No 9’s. So this is an early work, a peek into the history of, and helps build context for, an already extraordinary career.

Casmir is given 4 stars by Luca Turin. He calls it a Strange Oriental and talks about the discordance and “contrasts between the peach, lactonic top notes, the slightly flat, mimosa floral heart and the woody-animalic drydown…as daring as Rabanne’s La Nuit was in its day.”

Photo Stolen from PinkManhattan

The notes that Luca Turin speaks of and on Fragrantica do not serve as a guide for me, at all. Yes, my nose is sometimes crazy but in this I feel justified. Maybe I need to go eat a peach. I smell not the big gutsy hit of fruits but it feels like a sweet vanilla,  jasmine and orange blossom to me, with maybe a whisper of spices and cinnamon (TSO Jin smells watermelon)? Then it’s all about the base. Vanilla, Benzoin (?), Opoponax (brown sugary, honeyed resin) and Tonka Bean (spicy resinous vanilla) walk in and play sexy bitches for hours and hours. In the morning I’ll wake up with the sweet, dirty, disco smell of girl gone bad. This is a fragrance to send boys home crying and have men panting for more and trying to hump your leg. So reasonably priced on the discount store sites and packs a knockout punch. Certainly not for the faint-hearted, this will bring out the sexy siren in you. Don’t sniff or tsk at me, you know you love it and you also want this in your arsenal.

Photo Stolen from shopping.com

We haven’t yet spoken about the bottle. I love the bottle even though it is ridiculously awkward to spray from, takes up the same area as 4 other regular bottles and is outrageously the wrong side of kitsch. To me all this belies the gloriously sensual juice in the bottle. Like it’s a challenge to wear; pass the test of ignoring these problems to get the fragrant reward. Its worth it.

Brian on I Smell Therefore I Am does a wonderful review, light and shade, all angles covered and Pink Manhattan where I stole the print ad from loves Chopard’s Casmir.

Thank you so much for reading. What are your cool weather warmers? If you’re up in the Northern Hemisphere which of your favourites are being bundled away in anticipation of summer? Leave us a message and tell us. It will thrill us and make us feel like real bloggers.

Portia xx

The only ad I could find on YouTube was in German but you get the idea. The arch they go through reminds me of a couple of the wonderful places I’ve been in India.

Scent Science and WINNER Announced

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An introduction to the Science of Scent. This is an interesting short course in “how we smell” theories. Light and informative. Neil Morris and Luca Turin are both interviewed about their perfume practice and theories.

This weeks winner is receiving by mail.

1ml spray remains of manufacturers sample Eau de Maroc EDP by Aftelier Perfumes

1.5ml spray decant Mandgradore EDT by Annick Goutal

1.5ml spray decant Carriere EDP by Gendarme

1.5mml spray decant Muscho Nobile EDT by Nobile 1942

and a SURPRISE manufacturers spray decant of Bamboo Harmony by Kilian. Brand new and fresh off the press, sent directly from their HQ. This is part of by Kilian new Asian Tales fragrance range. I have kept the Water Calligraphy half of this amazing sample set for myself and had a small test spray of your Bamboo Harmony which seems to be a warm spicy aquatic to me on its only mini application.

The winner today is UNDINA from Undina’s Looking Glass.

I know you didn’t want to be entered Undina but I am also surpised and inspired by people who look like they have an amazing team working for and with them, especially when it is mainly their own hard work, perseverence and drive that has made their dream come true. If you really don’t want to win I will redraw but please do win.

Annick Goutal Reviews #II

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Following on from our mini life story and history of Annick Goutal on Wednesday, and our reviews yesterday, we have 3 more reviews and an extract from a fellow perfumista’s comments.

GIVEAWAY HERE

L’Eau d’Hadrien

This is citrus, but not the modern candied and tortured variety. Fresh, vibrant and alive citrus plucked directly from the tree, leaves too. Like a basket of citrus, all sorts, but warmed by the ylang ylang and sharpened by the cypress. It was the first fragrance made for the line back in 1981, apparently also an homage to Marguerite Yourcenar’s novel “Memoirs of Hadrien”, which I’ve not read, or heard of, but just ordered it from BookDepository for AUS$13 incl delivery to my door! Unfortunately, L’Eau d’Hadrien leaves me cold. Too nice, too colognesque, too nothing, yes it’s fresh and a little zesty but I want more. Sorry Annick Goutal, I know it’s your best seller and quite pretty but not for me.

UPDATE: Today while at group pedicure and lunch I gave my sample of L’Eau d’Hadrien to a girlfriend. We all tried it on, including me, and though it lasted less than an hour on us there was a delicious fresh dry down that I had missed before on just me. It was a soft and delicious skin scent. Sorry L’Eau d’Hadrien, you are better than I thought. Of course my friend was THRILLED!

Check out A Smelly Blog the comments are good too, Fragrantica here

The Annick Goutal site says

A symphony of glistening, refreshing citrus notes, orchestrated through the Sicilian lemon.
Creation date : 1981
Olfactory family : Citrus (Sicilian lemon, citron, grapefruit, green mandarine, cypress, aldehyde notes, ylang-ylang)

Ce Soir Ou Jamais (Tonight or Never)

This opens like the most delicious old fashioned rose, truly bittersweet, almost honeyed in its sweet intensity but packing a bark and leaf grain tartness. My BFF Kath’s father has roses that smell like this; sweet, dark and bitter all at once. I am not a soliflorous (I know, not a word) person. Give me a bouquet and then twist it a bit and then TURN THE SMELL UP! Make it enormous please. Which is why I am astounded at my love for this enchanting and bewitching rose soliflor. It is calm yet mysterious and lasts for ages on my skin, I can still smell delicious traces of it lingering next morning. It is polarising though. Last night while hosting Turbo Trivia I wore Ce Soir Ou Jamais and had 2 lovely unsolicited compliments and one, “OMG! What is that you have on? Yuck!.” Win some, lose some. I did have to remind the rude one that, in fact, I was wearing it for my own enjoyment and she could continue to wear her Avon (which I admit smelled really, REALLY good on her. It was yummy) for ever.

Perfume Smellin Things really understands the rose world and does a super review, Fragrantica is here.

The Annick Goutal site says

The scent of pure rose, breathtaking and elegant in its femininity
Creation date : 1999
Olfactory family : Floral (Turkish rose, ambrette seed, and a blend of essences kept secret…)

Eau de Camille

I love Eau de Camille too. I had a girlfriend during our teenage years and this scent reminds me of her every time I wear it. It begins sparse and almost spiky like cutting the ivy back every year at autumn and sweetens mildly as you get to know it and it warms on your skin, then gone. Not much longevity but pretty, vivacious and sparkly while it lasts nonetheless. Just like youth. Eau de Camille was the first fragrance that Annick Goutal created especially for her daughter Camille when she was 8 years old.

SweetDiva has this to say and Fragrantica

The Annick Goutal site says

Green, like an ivy garden, as fresh as a dewy morning
Creation date : 1983
Olfactory family : Floral, green (Ivy, privet tree, honeysuckle, seringa, cut grass)

Ambre Fetiche

I have never smelled Ambre Fetiche but I have a rave review from my comments strings. The lovely Dionne from BeautyOnTheOutside (BOTO) had this to say about it, I am now looking (lemming like) for a decent priced bottle but it looks discontinued around here.

A recent discovery for me was how much Annick Goutal’s Ambre Fétiche calms me down. I got a generous sample about a month ago from Dee, and put it on on a Monday morning when I was soooo sick of the gloom and overcast and snow (meanwhile a whole bunch of blogs were all “Let’s talk about perfume for spring while we skip through the daisies…” which didn’t help), and was majorly grumpy. Something about that amber/incense combo just made me slow down and find peace. The other part of the story is that I reapplied it Monday night to show The Engineer, he took one sniff and said, “I want you to buy that.” In my two years of being a perfumista, he’s never had that reaction before.

Bought a 100ml of it the following day.

If you need any more reason than that to go shopping Fragrantica has the details

The Annick Goutal site says

Classic and modern at the same time, a very textured and sensual interpretation of the amber.
Creation date : 2007
Olfactory family : Amber, Vanilla, Leather (Frankincense, labdanum, styrax – Benzoin, absolute of iris – Vanilla, geranium, patchouli, Russian leather)

I hope you’ve enjoyed our 3 days of Annick Goutal. it has been our pleasure to bring it to you.

Portia xx