beauty

Bottega Veneta Review, WINNER ANNOUNCED

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Hey gang,

Well it has been a lovely day here, sunny, warm and delightful. Better than most of our summer here in Sydney. We spent it extremely lazily, couching, Sleeping, a bit of house re arrangement then off to the Greyhound Races. Awesome day. We even had a couple of wins. I even have a lovely greyhound bitch as a pet, Gucci is her name, and also retrain greyhounds for living with families. So, yes, I do know about the awful and tragic way they are treated after their racing career is over, but it is getting better and we are making a difference, dog by dog. If you have any interest in rehoming a lovely greyhound please get in touch with Greyhound Rescue here in Sydney, Australia. Best pets ever.

My greyhounds

Recently I ordered a bunch of sample sized fragrances in sets from The Perfume Niche and in with my lovely samples came a couple of surprises. One of those was a small manufacturers sample of Bottega Veneta EDT and what a surprise. I had been reading gorgeous things about this particular fragrance and was fully prepared to fall in love due to its notes and the favourable stuff being written by all and sundry.

Photo Stolen from Fragrantica

When I first put it on though I was MASSIVELY disappointed because there was no fragrance there at all. I felt like I’d been completely cheated by all these awesome reports and thought that maybe the perfume world was playing an enormous joke on all of us no knowledge dunderheads, like the Emperor’s new clothes. So frankly I was a little bit peeved and went to the bedroom and used Gwen Stefani’s L LAMB body lotion on my arms so at least I could feel like I had something glorious upon my self. I was GRRR McGRRR. Off we trotted to the Greyhounds and I’d been there about half an hour and I started smelling this incredible sweet, floral leather scent and was looking around to see who had such ridiculously good taste in perfume, could it have been TSO Jin, Bestie Alice or one other of the crew? I asked and no luck. There was no one in the vicinity that fit my idea of scent whore, fume head or even perfumista, which made it even more intriguing, was it in fact one of the laddish blokes or swamp donkeyish girlfriends, could it be one of an elderly couple, that super hot drooly drooly poorly dressed handsome clueless guy. Then I leaned over in my chair to look further afield and a great big gust of glorious flew up my polo shirt. OMG! It was me. I smelled gorgeous, leathery and sweet all at once. This fragrance is not big but it is beautiful and persistent. I’ve now been wearing Bottega Vanetta for 6 hours and I smell better than ever. I could wear this baby for anything, this would be office, party, dinner, sex date, kids from school, walk down the back yard or watch TV scent, and it would not be out of place doing any of these. What a fragrance. Nobody is telling fibs when they praise this perfume, it is all that and a bag of chips. Try it only if you have spare money to purchase, you’ll buy it and be glad you did.

Now Smell This does an awesome review with some extra reading tags within, Fragrantica has the accords, notes and people reviews.

This weeks winner of our spectacular Giveaway Competition for

We are giving away approximately

1.5ml JINX by Tommi Sooni decanted spray sample

1.5ml L’Eau D’Ambre by L Artisan Parfumeur decanted spray sample

1.5ml City of Angels by Royal Apothic decanted spray sample

1.5ml Fantasia de Fleurs by Creed decanted spray sample

1ml Fig by Aftelier Perfumes remains of manufacturers sample spray

plus postage and packing to anywhere in the world

is Dionne. YAY!! DIONNE! WHOO WHOO!!

You have till Wednesday night to get in touch with an address so I can send you your prize. CONGRATULATIONS!!

To all our other contestants, Thank you. I love reading your stories and they all would have won in a perfect world. There will be another weekly GIVEAWAY COMPETITION next Thursday.

Aussie Fragrance Day.

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Hi all,

Well it’s Good Friday and the shops are ALL closed. OMG! Well almost all, we went a nearby Korean grocery store and got everything except bread, which we forgot because we are dumb asses. Happy and safe Easter to all those who care about such things.

Photo Stolen from HomesSchoolsOases

So I’ve taken the chance today to try a couple of recent purchases that arrived on my doorstep from within this glorious country, Australia. We have a burgeoning fragrance industry down here and Evie C and I would like to find as many companies, groups or even solo perfumers in Australia as we can and hopefully help to create more of a community. We’d like also to meet and talk to any that are interested and find out bunches about them all and how they got to be perfumers and where their dreams are taking them. I know our Aussie readers love to hear about our own and I’m pretty sure that all over the world they’ll be inspired.

This dream is not, of course, just for Aussie perfumers. We want to meet and grill them all.

HOPE by ONE SEED

A delicious citrus opening, so sweet, spicy and sparkly it (you know pear, rocket and parmesan salad where the pear has been dipped in lemon to hold its colour and then a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar? That is exactly what I’m smelling, my mouth is watering from this fragrance). They call this a meditative scent on their site but I feel perky and ready for anything. About 40 minutes later while the citrus is still playing descant quietly, the woods and vanilla have moved in, I don’t get lavender but my nose can be unresponsive at times. This is a bright and alluring scent, a constant intriguing dichotomy between the citrus and warm dark sweetness, it’s nearly 2 hours since first spritz and still powering away on my, usually scent hungry, skin. It changes its mood and tone constantly, offering different depths and layers of scent harmonies, now showing lime, now vanilla, now woods. I had no idea of how good this fragrance would be and am madly impressed, this could be the citrus I’ve been looking for to add to my fragrance wardrobe. I will spend a week trying my sample.

One Seed is a super cool crew from Adelaide, Australia that use 100% botanical, nothing synthetic and are organic-focused and GMO-free (genetically modified organisms) headed by Liz Cook (stay tuned for Evie C’s interview coming soon) that gives 10% of all profits to charities close to their hearts. Snaps! Here’s what they have to say about Hope.

Hope EDP

Hope eau de parfumPhoto Stolen from OneSeedCompany.com

Fragrance Family: Soft, mossy & magnetic.

A meditative blend of Australian sandalwood & dewy oakmoss, with a delicate undertone of lavender & cedarwood, and sunny citrus accents.

Top notes: bergamot, lime Heart notes: cedarwood, lavender, vanilla

Base notes: Australian sandalwood, oakmoss, musk ambrette

Hope available at ONE SEED in 50ml and 5ml bottles or you can get the complete 7 x 1ml sample set from ETSY for AUS$28

SANDALWOOD VANILLA by INNER EARTH

GOSH! Sandalwood, Vanilla and Patchouli! So simple, an oil based 10ml roll on but it is so damn gorgeous, and affordable beyond your wildest dreams. Like the sweet, woodsy, dry down of some very expensive big name perfumes (which is often my favourite bit and I wish it was stronger) but all at once and lasts eternally! I have been wafting discretely and delectably through the house and enjoying this big, quiet, cuddly, sweet, furry fragrance. After about 3 hours you are left with a vanilla candy ice cream. it’s now over 5 hours and I am still sweetly delicious, Sandalwood Vanilla has now an amber-ish, musky depth that is so quiet but still discernible. Honestly, I can’t get over how good this smells for so little money. You must try this.

Erin, the brain behind Inner Earth says

The Sandalwood Vanilla perfume oil is a blend of fragrance and essential oils in a light base of fractionated coconut oil. The notes are sandalwood, vanilla and patchouli. That’s it! Over time I have completely gotten rid of my spray perfumes and just use perfume oils … I find them a softer, more understated way of wearing perfume, plus they’re moisturising and easy to pop into your handbag 🙂

Photo Stolen from InnerEarthSoaps.com.au

Inner Earth Soaps are based in Bondi, Sydney, Australia (of Bondi Beach fame) and are famous for interesting and quirky bath soaps handcrafted in the traditional cold process method and use only sustainable palm oil. I came to them because I was looking for a non chocolate Easter present for my BFF Kath who has lost 35kgs (I know, AH MAY ZING!!!) and has to be careful not to fall back into bad habits. Trolling the web I came across the Inner Earth Ducky Soap and thought, ‘It’s almost a chicky” and so that’s what she got. It has already graced her enormous spa bath and passed all tests for cuteness, fragrance and cleanliness.

Photo stolen from InnerEarthSoaps.com.au

Thank you all so much for sharing what’s inside my mind today, don’t forget our GIVEAWAY COMPETITION is drawn tomorrow night, so easy and you could win a swag of perfumes to try.

I was supposed to have a special video tonight of my mate Margeaux and I doing a video review but there has been a technical hiccup, hopefully resolved by tomorrow.

In its place I offer you this extremely gorgeous 2 minute extravaganza featuring our own Nicole Kidman

Eau de Sud / Muscs Koublai Khan Reviews

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Hey gang,

Today I’m trying 2 new scents

Eau De Sud by Annick Goutal

eau-du-sud-annick-goutal-fragranticaFragrantica

 

Eau de Sud according to the Annick Goutal site, and I think they’re pretty spot on;

A symphony of citrus accords melts into slightly peppery and woody notes. Mandarin orange, bergamot, verbena, mint and basil. An invigorating trail of scent that recalls the creator’s voyages to Provence and Tuscany.

It is a 1996 unisex fragrance and both the mens and womens bottles contain the same stuff, usually you can find the mens at a much better price online. Citrus is not something I wear very much so I am looking to put one in the fragrance wardrobe. It starts out beautifully tart and crisp and whipish, at about the 15 minute mark it starts to warm for me, maybe the sandalwood and vanilla making an early appearance, it has maintained a pretty linear dry down and at 2.5 hours is barely there, almost just smelling a prettier me.

As always Fragrantica is my go to for the basic notes & accords with real people reviews and Now Smell This gives a more in depth and interesting review.

 

Musc Koublai Khan by Serge Lutens,

Sir Edward John Pointer, The visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon photo stolen from AGNSW

Muscs Koublai Khan by Serge Lutens is one of the fragrances often referred to on the scentbloggosphere as a reference fragrance for sexy, dark and dirtiness. There is said to be a great disparity between the bell jar original and the export versions and unfortunately I don’t have 2 for comparison and as I am using a sample from Perfume Niche there is no way of telling which one I have. Honestly though, I don’t smell anything even remotely sexual, dirty or dark. I smell deliciously deep patchouli, amber and musk, I think. It is warm and resinous like wood that’s just been waxed and polished but it does stay that way for hours, gloriously. I like Muscs Koublai Khan a LOT!! I think I will order 10mls and really give it a whirl.

Fragrantica has the important stuff and Confessions Of A Mad Perfumista and BoisDeJasmin offer 2 very different reactions to the whole mystery and mystique of this fragrance

What an awesome and fragrant week I’ve had. Just looking back through the stuff that I’ve sniffed and what you’ve read doesn’t even cover half of it. I think I should have asked Evie C if we could have called the blog ScentWhores or StinkPigs because it’s like having to write a food diary to show you how much you eat. Blogging has woken me to the fact that I am Scent-ual. I hope you are enjoying the ride.

It’s Thursday and that means GIVEAWAY COMPETITION time. you have to tell us the last perfume you tried that was full bottle worthy, why and did you buy it yet. The winner will be judged on Saturday night 7.3.12 around 10pm Sydney EST

We are giving away approximately

1.5ml JINX by Tommi Sooni decanted spray sample

1.5ml L’Eau D’Ambre by L Artisan Parfumeur decanted spray sample

1.5ml City of Angels by Royal Apothic decanted spray sample

1.5ml Fantasia de Fleurs by Creed decanted spray sample

1ml Fig by Aftelier Perfumes remains of manufacturers sample spray

plus postage and packing to anywhere in the world

ALSO you need to go and read TheCandyPerfumeBoy today he has been chhosing scents for that Nicki Minaj songstress that I LOVE!

Just for fun I’ve added this L’Instant Guerlain ad because…..

After Dinner Sniff

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hey Hey,

How are you all? All good here. Really, deliciously good and well and happy. I hope you are too, if not, it gets better.

A few mates were around for dinner the other night and I thought we’d try something fun and different. Usually it’s word games but TSO (the significant other) is ESL (English second language) so not really fun or fair for him. This night it was decided that I’d bring five very different fragrances out and we’d all get to chose four each, because that’s all our wrists and elbows covered, yeah? A special thanks to Alice, Jin and Sam for their help. Mwaaa

I have a confession to make, I was boozy. Not drunk but certainly unable to drive, speaking was OK thinking was fuzzy.

Photo stolen from Omag

Trying to be ever so scientific, and making a complete balls of it, I wrote our initials under the 5 scents and was to put the body placement after the initials, so each of us could put three words with each of our choices. To that point we were good. we all sprayed with gay abandon and gave our arms a minute to settle, then I realised I’d put Alice in my spaces and had to rework the whole thing. By the time we’d sorted me out the fragrances had shed their top notes and begun to live. We are none of us trained in perfume nor are we sophisticated when it comes to perfumes yet but this was a lot of fun and we all had a red hot go, and a laugh.

The perfumes

JINX EDP by Tommi Sooni (a pretty new Australian outfit that looks set for the big time)

Photo Stolen from Tommi Sooni

The group was most impressed with this one. It is the most perfumey to my mind. A lovely big floral opening with the aldehydes singing beautifully. All perfumes that open with aldehydes give me a Chanel No. 5 rush at the beginning that I LOVE. Like being strapped into a ride at a fun park, all the expectation of fun and fear but ready for anything. Jinx has a fig standing right in the middle of its high notes too and is a little more spicy in my nose than No 5, maybe its the ginger? This is an extremely wearable fragrance and pretty. After an hour on my hungry skin it is very close to the body, quiet enough that you could wear it to work even in a cramped office, but without being a clean or laundry scent. It has a vintage and rich feel with modern spice. For someone who wants to smell deliciously and nonchalantly gorgeous.

Some of our words were; Floral, Secretive, Lotion, Serenade, Cleaner, Soap, Fleeting, Soft, Moonlight

Photo Stolen from Tommi Sooni

Fragrantica has notes and no one on the first 3 pages of Google have reviewed other than to repeat manufacturers press releases.

FIG EDP by Aftelier Perfumes (Mandy Aftel is a perfumer and perfumery teacher)

Photo Stolen from Aftelier Perfumes

This is a big fat spicy fig with pastry and some booze. Oh my! This is sexy and powerful. The group though was polarised. It was a definate love/hate scent with one person having to wash it off. Honesty compels me to admit to this being my favourite sample of the night. I could not, and can not, get enough of it. Putting it back on to review now I am absolutely and utterly transported. Oh dear, FBW! A little update, after 6 hours I still have Aftelia Fig powering away, very linear, almost the same as when I spritzed but quieter. MMMMM

The group came up with these; (Dry) Sauna, Spicy, Warm, Dirty, 70’s, Heat

Photo Stolen from Aftelier Perfumes

Fragrantica can give you notes and history Olfactory Obsessed Purple Paper Planes both give almost the same polarised views that we had here after dinner, I love that.

MURE & MUSC EXTREME by L’Artisan Parfumeur

Photo Stolen from L’Artisan Perfumeur

This was really popular at our dinner table. I hadn’t tried it till now because it was the fragrance that everyone else wanted to try.To me it smells like expensive room freshener. Sorry. My skin and nose clearly reacts differently to my friends who raved about Mure & Musc Extreme. Interesting that two people at the table wrote vanilla and lemon but there’s no note of either, just Blackcurrant, Blueberry and Musk.

The table wrote: Young, Vanilla, Light, Beautiful, Lemony, Moody, Challenging

Photo Stolen from http://www.achat-grenoble.com

Fragrantica for the background Now Smell This tells about the whole Mure & Musc series, interesting reading.

UNE ROSE by Frederic Malle

Photo Stolen from Mecca Cosmetics

This is a famous, go to Rose scent. Talk about it includes the incorporation of the whole rose, petal, leaf, stem and root. It is deliciously dark to me and packs an enormous punch, I am LOVING how loud this fragrance is today. I remember the other night that this lasted well on my skin and though it changed over time, maintained its uneasy dark/light ambivalence. This is something you should try for your own pure enjoyment. I’m not sure I would purchase a bottle of Une Rose but I think a 5-10ml decant would get used in 12 months.

Some of the tables words: Strong, Bitter, Dark, Rose, Old, Amazing

Photo Stolen from Frederic Malle

Fragrantica for the details and Perfume Smelling Things does an awesome review including interesting perfumer notes

01 LE MAROC POUR ELLE by Tauer Perfumes (Niche perfumeries nice guy, sidelining in genius)

Photo Stolen from NosyGirl

This was Andy Tauer’s first fragrance and it is amazing that he could make this incredible scent. Le Maroc Pour Elle (Morocco for Girls) is a warm, woody and spicy floral, lasts forever on my skin and wanders through its life quite linearly till eventually I get to the base which is deep, dark and sweet. This fragrance is not for the faint-hearted, it is bold.

A very interesting blend from the table: Intriguing, Leather, Pooh, Calming, Wood, Spicy, Incense,  Rubbish, Fetid, Punchy

Photo Stolen from Tauer Perfumes

Fragrantica has this to say and Legerdenez wrote way back in 2006.

Here is a present for reading this far. I love this commercial. J’Adore DIOR

City of Angels by Royal Apothic

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hiya,

Thanks for dropping by.

Photo stolen from LayoutSparks.com

Recently at the Smell Good, Do Good sale (still going with awesome stuff available at knock down prices, NO POSTAGE COSTS) I purchased for a ridiculous price a nearly full bottle of 2010 release; City of Angels by Royal Apothic. It was the gorgeous Arielle from Scents of Self that I bought it from and she does a great review here. There has been so much sniffing, dabbing, spraying, whiffing, wafting and general stinkery going on here that I’ve not had a chance to really wear, let alone write about this little gem. And then in my head I go, “Is it a little gem?” I am ambivalent, utterly, and most unlike me, things around here are usually love/hate. There is little space in my head for gray areas. I am too busy (read lazy) for reevaluating and re-deciding stuff every time it crosses my path. Unfortunately I don’t have that kind of personality.

Photo stolen from Fragrantica

Having worn this three, maybe four, times now; to work and at home while at the computer I think i have a handle on it. The initial rush of this fragrance is entrancing, like a citrus burst in a fresh juicing shop. Interestingly, there is no citrus in the notes. Fragrantica gives only 3 notes; Sea Water, Eucalyptus, Jasmine. That’s it? I rarely wear a scent so light and floaty, so decidedly feminine, and now that I can read the notes it does make sense, but my nose still believes there’s some citrus there. Perfect for not interfering with restaurant, public transport or cinema patrons. City of Angels will not be remembered for being anything but a good solid go-to fragrance, you know you will smell good, and inoffensive.

Photo stolen from YourCaringAngels.com

After an hour it is all but lost to me but  last night after finishing my gig and saying goodbye to 2 of the girls, they stopped after kissing me because the second had asked what perfume I was wearing and the first chimed in about how lovely I smelled and what was it. One of my favourite bar men had commented earlier but I find an early compliment, though astonishing and delicious in itself, often happens before the sillage has settled to a decent circumference after application. Its the compliments later in the evening that really need to be recorded for posterity.

This is a cheapy, cheap fragrance, just $34 at Royal Apothic. The bottle is so gorgeous with its choice of splash or atomiser in your box. There is quite a fuss about atomisers but because I’m heavy handed with fragrance anyway, and this one is very light and fresh (without feeling like a laundry scent), I can’t imagine the bottle lasting me through Autumn.

Anthropologie says and I think it must have been in the Press Release because Fragrantica is verbatim.

City of Angels: a seaside breeze of eucalyptus and night-blooming jasmine (FRESH)

Photo stolen from LayoutSparks.com

I could totally see this being used by guys and girls as their go to work, dinner or a lazy weekend fragrance. It’s clean and fresh without being the usual bland nothing that that implies. The jasmine is so crisp and eucalyptus so clean that people even in the most stayed and cramped office situations would find little to complain of, yet lovely and lingering enough to keep you feeling that you are fully dressed, including perfume. It does linger, even though I couldn’t smell it at all after 2 hours. Late this morning when we awoke I was told that a trace of some yummy smell, not me, was there but close to the body. So that’s 17 hours. Impressive for something that initially feels so fleeting and wafty.

Thanks for reading what’s in my mind,

What’s in your mind? Do you have a go-to clean scent? Is there a memory or favourite clean scent story you’d like to share? I’d love to read it, so leave me a message.

Portia xx

SEX, FRAGRANCE and quick stuff I smelled this week!

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Sex and fragrance. There is a lot written about whether a scent is made with a man or woman in mind, whether it will work on either or both of the sexes. This note for her, this note for him, this combination for them. More and more I’m finding that scents are universal and I’m pretty sure the fragrance doesn’t care who is wearing it.

Photo stolen from canihelpyousir.com

It’s quite deliciously confronting when a woman wears a traditionally masculine fragrance and the boys make you take a second sniff, and look, if they have crossed over into girl germs territory. I like the dichotomy, especially something uber the-other-sex on a great, fun, clever and healthy specimen of personhood. It can give them an edge.

Photo stolen from allwomenstalk.com

Recently at one of my Turbo Trivia gigs I was gifted a cheapy mans fragrance that was sweet, floral and ambery. Way too cloying for my taste but I went to one of the butcher specimens of twenty something tradie manhood in the room and asked him if he would guinea pig it for me. Shock, Horror! He loved it! So much so that he asked if I decided on calm reflection that it wasn’t for me, could he have it. His girlfriend would LOVE him wearing it. It’s nice when people surprise you. And on him it WAS delicious. Everything that on me was shrill, headache inducing, tooth rottingly sweet and budget; on him, smelt like a deliciously gourmand million dollars, thank you very much. If you’re reading Chris, it’s yours buddy.

Photo stolen from

Photo stolen from Hethu’s Techno Babble

Also, making my partner in crime Evie C wear mens fragrances that I like on me, I adore them on her. They are WAY chic-er and it gives these tired and sometimes boring masculine fragrances new nuances and makes them bright and sparkly again to my nose. Which, as we’ve established, is functioning but not nose worthy.

Photo stolen from The Punch

THINGS I SMELLED THIS WEEK, QUICKIES!!

L’Eau d’Ambre by L Artisan Parfumeur; OMG! Launched all the way back in 1978 this is still the most gloriously deep and sweet amber with dark hints of posh nasty. Autumn is here and L’Eau D’Ambre is the perfect companion for it. Dead sexy.  Fragrantica, OlfactoriasTravels both have this to say, check them out too. This was one of my Smell Good, Do Good super cheap, no postage costs, amazingly awesome value, pick ups. I am SO happy with my purchase.

L’Aimant EDT by Coty; I already have the cologne in this and wanted to see if the EDT was different. Both of them are excellently like the Chanel No 5 but a little dirtier, they have impressive sillage and the L’Aimant EDT lasts for a lot longer than the current No 5 EDP that I have but equally to a vintage No 5 EDT. They are RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP!!! This is an awesome switcheroo. Created in 1927 and still good. Fragrantica, muse in wooden shoes both have their say. I’ve not smelled the vintage stuff so have no comparison point but I think these 2 versions of L’Aimant are yummy. And they’re so cheap that if you hate them on you they will always work as room freshener.

Tresor by Lancome; Hello big fat floriental!! This perfume was released in 1990 and you can feel the 1980’s breathing down its neck. That glorious spicy, sizzling, peachy floral extravaganza that is still a favourite at department store Lancome counters everywhere. It’s so wearable, juicy and gorgeous. This is perfume for the masses because, quite simply, it smells good. Here is Fragrantica, and Now Smell This does a wonderful fragrance review with knowledge far exceeding mine. Please check them out.

Hindu Kush by La Via Del Profumo; This is a power pack of memories. For years I had a partner who had moved back to India to run the family business. So for 10 years I was in and out of India quite a lot, and was fortunate enough to travel from Kerala to Kashmir, Macleod Gang to Chennai and much in between. This fragrance is a flood of memories for me, it was quite a shock to wear it and feel things long buried.

As AbdesSalaam Attar, owner of the compagny “La Via del Profumo” says on his website

Close your eyes and breathe in, Hindu Kush is like taking a walk in an Indian market, where clouds of incense smoke escape through the open doors of temples to be mixed with the perfumes of the east, ginger, cumin, nutmeg and pepper. Take a step inside and all is peace, silence and meditation, take a step outside and you find the crowd rushing here and there, noises and confusion.

This perfume is the real deal, a must try on any olfactory journey. Sanchez and Turin give it only four stars in their guide but I give it a 5 star rating. Awesome, majestic, dusty, dry, spicy and sweaty. It’s like gazing at the Taj Mahal or praying with the Dalai Lama or taking tea in the gardens of Deeg Palace or riding in a river boat drinking Kingfisher beer. All of these things and more are contained so let your mind wander as it will.

Thanks for sharing my fragrant thoughts,

I am so happy you dropped by, please leave me a message.

Portia xx

L’Eau D’Ambre, Tresor and L’aimant photos stolen from Fragrantica

Hindu Kush photo stolen from La Via Del Profumo

Samples and Decants, Who, How, Where, Why!

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Hi All,

Lovely crisp day here in Sydney, Australia. Autumn is closing in upon us and while not believing scents should follow the seasons, today I thought to start with something warming and deep. As a perfumista in waiting, I am still trying to get my nose around many scents and fragrances, still don’t quite understand how each note should be working or permeating a fragrance. Then, on top of that, because so much of fragrance is in fact science, as opposed to nature, the same way to reach a natural scent can be taken by millions of different routes, and is. Meaning that though the notes of a fragrance may say patchouli, it is often the idea of patchouli in its many incarnations rather than patchouli per se (Latin meaning; Of, in or by itself) that you are smelling.

Obviously the kind of knowledge that a blogger like 1000 Fragrances (sadly this blog is now closed) has is gained through a lifetime of study and experience. I am clearly not that person but I would like to have my nose across as many fragrances as possible so that my personal value judgment can have more gravitas. Evie C and I have been talking of doing a course in the near future also (more on that down the track) but until that time I want to smell as many scents as possible.

To do that, we perfumistas and perfumistas in waiting, or junkies, fumeheads, fragrance whores, etc etc often buy, instead of spending all our hard earned cash on a full bottle of everything we like, a smaller sample size (1-5ml), or decant (5-30ml), to test the water and see if we love it. Conversely, we may have sampled something and LOVED it, yet there would not be the chance to wear it more that once or twice a year so could not see the need for buying a full bottle (FB). Or maybe the scent is a reference scent, giving you the best (by popular opinion or your own) of a certain style of fragrance, or a note that you are interested in, by which to judge all others. Maybe you DESPERATELY want this fragrance but are just too poor to own it, there are fragrances out there going for thousands of dollars. I KNOW!! RIGHT!

Sometimes a fragrance IS great, you love it and want it but there are more pressing things on your must have list, maybe the bottle is ugly, dumb, grotesque, could be you like getting things in the mail from all over the world, or perhaps you are just plain old addicted. There is also the problem of discontinued or reformulated scents, you can get some of the most important ones if you go to decant sites but would never get the opportunity otherwise. Maybe you just live too far from New York or Paris and want to smell what others are currently talking about on the scentbloggosphere.

That’s just a few of the reasons. Anyway, my first introduction to the art of buying samples and decants was through The Posh Peasant, Abigail who runs it is friendly and helpful. Even if you can’t find what you’re looking for on her site, ASK HER, she has almost everything and will purchase for you if you promise to do a decent ($40-50) shop of her stuff when she gets it in for you. Fair enough! A new set arrived yesterday!! See below.

There are others that I use too now SurrenderToChance,  Lucky Scent, My Perfume Samples and The Perfume Niche and there are more but these are the guys I use regularly. You can even buy pre organised sets, which is awesome because they’ve done all the sniff work for you. Maybe you’d like to understand the way violets or heliotrope meander through a fragrance, on most of these sites you will find a set of perfume samples that are the best or unusual in their category. Simple? Yes. Do me, and you, a favour though. Don’t order a new set until your original set has arrived and you have smelt every one. Otherwise you’ll end up with HUNDREDS!!! Most of them unsmelt. Money is too hard to make for you to be so profligate. This is one place you should be careful, give yourself a perfume budget, then do your UTMOST to stick to it. The perfume wormhole is an addictive and expensive place to get lost. Fragrance is not like houses, there is no resale value.

Most of the smaller or niche Fragrance Houses now do a Sample Set, Sample Program or some such. I love my sample sets (mostly purchased) from Olfactive Studio, Olympic Orchids Artisan Perfumes, Aftelier Perfumes, SMELLbent, Parfum d’Empire, La Via Del Profumo, LUSH Gorilla Perfumes, Tauer and these are just the ones off the top of my desk currently.

One thing I do find is that perfume does not smell the same dabbed as spritzed. Many times I’ve been totally let down by a fragrance in dab form to be then astounded and dazzled by it when spritzed. I have found a super cheap bottle, plastic bag and mini funnel online store that lets you buy in smaller quantities that 10,000, from about 10 upwards. They do wholesale and retail and accept paypal! AWESOME!! Better still they send to Australia! which so many refuse to do, at very reasonable rates. Proud Style is the crew you’re after. They seem genuinely happy to have my business, a plus. I also use My Perfume Samples because they have a great small order selection of a few sizes for great prices and cheap postage.

Currently I am slowly working my way through the Perfume Posse “Perfume 101” list. It’s a great beginners who’s who of the perfume style, note and some super gorgeous must sniffs.

So here’s what arrived from the Posh Peasant yesterday!

5ml Hermes; Hermessence Ambre Narguille

2.5ml Estee Lauder; Youth Dew Amber Nude , Serge Lutens; Muscs Kublai Khan

1.5ml Serge Lutens; Clair de Musc, Bvlgari; Au The Vert Extreme

Also, 2 x 1ml gift with purchase CB I Hate Perfumes; Russian Caravan Tea, Serge Lutens; Daim Blond

This is a week of mornings for testing. YAY!!!

Today; Hermes; Hermessence Ambre Narguille. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow

Thanks for dropping by and sharing my (OMFG lengthy) fragrant thoughts.

Have a great day,

Portia xx

Gucci by Gucci pour homme, LUSH Fragrance sample pack

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hey Hey Hey

Today Evie C (AustralianPerfumeJunkies co-creator) and I had a super productive get together. There will soon be a widget so you can get email updates of our blog into your inbox (or spam perhaps) every day. that way you won’t have to come looking for us, we’ll find you! Evie C has been quiet till now as she is just settling back into Australian life after over 20 years absence globetrotting, first on her own and then with increasingly large family in tow. Evie will now be contributing every Monday and we are THRILLED that she has found a family home in which to put down firm roots.

We were chatting and trying on fragrances today, as we do when we get together, and were going through some of my previous posts and having a go at some stinkies that Eve had not encountered in her own search for fragrance perfection. She was a fragrant cloud by the time she left with Oud Caravan 3 by La Via Del Profumo on one elbow, City of Angels by Royal Apothic on same wrist (this review is coming up on Friday), Eau de Tommi Sooni 1 (EdTS1) by the Australian Tommi Sooni crew (I let Evie C have this sample because she was ENRAPTURED!!! It was like When Harry Met Sally in the diner), in her boobs we spritzed Casual by Paul Sebastian and lastly on her last remaining elbow it was Gucci by Gucci Pour Homme.

Gucci By Gucci Pour Homme with James franco

Above is the link to the advertisement which is worth seeing.

Photo stolen from perfumeseduction.com

I like this scent on me but it has this funny habit of disappearing on my skin for about 20 minutes after the top notes have faded, then it returns, a softly charming fragrance that is not controversial in any way, this is the right choice if you just want to smell good without making a fashion statement. An excellent office choice. It stays old-worldy and very barbershop throughout on my skin. I don’t get much floral, but that could be my lack of experience and knowledge.

On Evie C though we have a completely different story, it was GLORIOUS! So streamlined and grand, it was like a gorgeous art deco chrome and glass skyscraper of a fragrance. Almost mesmeric in its allure and very interesting, we would chat and keep coming back to smell her elbow. This should be a woman’s perfume, if Evie C is anything to go by. Evie is already like a Gucci/Ralph Laurent pin up woman, fresh and clever and beautiful. On me Gucci by Gucci pour Homme is quietly confident but on her it soars.

Here is what Scentrist had to say about Gucci By Gucci pour Homme, it is the only one I could find on a 3 page Google search.

Now, moving on, a few days ago arrived a package from LUSH. I had ordered the Gorilla Perfume Sample Set and 2 of their famous fragrances in Perfume Solid Stick Form!

My photo

My bestie BFF Kath W is a total LUSH convert and has been talking about their bath bombs and personal hygiene products for years. Even giving me LUSH gifts over the years which I took little notice of other than to be thrilled that she’d thought of me and then absently using her gifts, thinking more about the giver than gift. I was unaware that LUSH even did fragrance until one day, looking for something else, in the Sanchez/Turin perfume bible (Perfumes; The A_Z Guide) and I came across the Breath Of God reviewed by Tania Sanchez which got 5 stars and was called a smoked fruit fragrance and goes on to say, “Wearing it, I feel a sense of wonder that so late in the perfume game there still can be such profound invention”

Photo stolen from LUSH

Inspired by Simon’s travels to Tibet.

Simon created a masculine, musky fragrance, inspired by the incense, cedarwood, and sandalwood he smelled in Tibetan temples. He also made a lighter, floral feminine fragrance with lemon, melon and neroli for a ‘breath of fresh air’ – and then mixed them together. The (happy) end result was Breath of God.

Better together.

Breath of God is a divine perfume of two halves, the light, refreshing notes of Inhale and the smoky contemplation of Exhale; these are available exclusively on Gorilla Perfume, where you can get even closer to God.

Fragrantica says here

I have had the Solid perfume as a base after my three S’s today and had my nana nap with that on. Reapplying after my make up was done I also dabbed some of the Liquid on wrists, elbows, sternum and collar bones. When I came home transferring what was left of the sample Liquid into a fresh spray bottle to see if spritzing changed the outcome. It is a lovely scent with dark and light, wood and smoke, gas, incense, fruit and flowers and reminds me of my times in McLeod Gang in India’s Himalayas where the Dalai Lama has his compound (before it became the crazy tourist destination it has become and its streets going far down the hill and full of eco tourists, teachers that the Dalai Lama has brought in from every cultural corner of the earth to teach his second in command team to deal with the greater world and hordes of gap year trustafarians). It is evocative of happy, peaceful, interesting, exciting and adventurous times so I like it, maybe even love it, but I do not find myself enraptured, I will try it again next week, just for myself.

Tuca-Tuca is WAY more lovely to me, approachable, easy and fun. Unlike Breath of God which is an extreme fragrance.

I stole this directly from Fragrantica;

Like any good summer day, Tuca Tuca starts with a blast of fresh summer air, violet top notes accompany a rich floral feel from cassie absolute. As the sun reaches midday the warm vanilla and ylang ylang move the perfume into its middle notes and then, as the sun sets, we’re left with a slightly naughty violet leaf and vetivert bottom, the end to a perfect day!

I hope you’ve enjoyed tonights discourse. Tomorrow we’ll chat about learning of,  finding, and buying decants. Why you would, could and should.

Hopefully see you then,

Much love,

Portia xx

I am not affiliated in any way with any of the businesses in this post. All bolded sentences are stolen from other people’s sites.

Eau D”Epices by Tauer, Turbo Trivia

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Hey gang,

Very late chatting to you all this evening because I spent today organising my Turbo Trivia stuff. There were newspapers to read for current affairs,  some questions to finish, a bunch of weekly prizes for my Wednesday gig at Technology Park Hotel on Wyndham St, Alexandria, Sydney, papers to print, bag to organise, frock, hair and jewels to co ordinate, stockings and tights to have ready. You know? STUFF! None of it earth shattering or ground breaking but all necessary to keep my life and work moving along peacefully.

Tonight was AWESOME!! at Bar100, 100 George St, The Rocks, Sydney. We had 8 teams and a crew of friends and family there to play. I love the new room we’ve been placed in. Comfortable and fun.

Anyway, as I was slobbing around the house today doing all this stuff I spritzed, upon jumping out of bed to feed the boys breakfast, with old favourite Dreamer by Versace, which I’ve already reviewed here , because it’s such a comfortable frasgrance for me. Like an old chambray shirt or a comfy pair of high heels.

Later on, about lunchtime I felt like a freshen up. I went for a clean shirt smell. The boring, fresh, clean, floral/fruity nothing that is Paul Sebastian’s Casual for Women Parfum Spray. I don’t know why but this fragrance calls me quite regularly. When I first smelled it I thought it was nothing but air. It was about to go in the bin but before I bin a fragrance it gets one last chance in a wear for my nana nap in the afternoon. For me it’s the ultimate way to check a fragrance on myself. The drift off to sleep gives you a little zen time with the scent and sometimes (RARELY) I see something that I missed before. Such was my Casual experience. It is light and fresh and clean. It’s great for focusing and while being there it doesn’t take any of my mind, it just is, prettily dancing in and around me like a better smelling me. No mean feat, I’m here to tell you. Here is fragrantica‘s take and I couldn’t find one review done by a perfume blogger, even after reading 3 google pages! It has completely spun under the radar so I felt I should give you a heads up. I found this 4oz bottle on Parfum1.com for about US$17 and a tester (capless like mine) on FragranceX.com for about US$15 and if you use TAKE10 in the coupon box at checkout you get 10% off there.

MineStolen from FragranceX.com

After I’d done the 3 S’s (Shit, Shaved, Showered) this afternoon I was ready to put something that made a statement on. This fragrance would be, and was, worn for the evening as a glorious Trivia Hostess. Nothing bashful for night time, honestly, nothing bashful most of the time. I am a bit of a fragrance bomb, hopefully not to the point of asphyxiation to those near me, or down the street, but I love to be scented.

And the winner is!! My photo

It was a toss up tonight. I had the JPG Le Male in my sights, then flicked to Estee Lauder’s Beyond Paradise Blue, hand on the DSQUARED Wood (In my head I get, um, do I want to smell like a sauna today? Um, maybe tomorrow) and I reach for, of course!!! Eau D’Epices by Andy Tauer, he is my favourite perfumer. I LOVE his scents and I don’t have to respritz while out. His frasgrances linger deliciously on the edge of smelling for hours. Long after I have lost the ability to smell myself people can still drink in his glorious and heavenly aromas. I am Andy Tauer’s bitch. Can’t deny it. Not to say I have less of a place in my heart for the others, they have earned places in my collection for reasons and will be worn soon.

Here is what the site says

HEAD NOTES

An Indian basket of spices with cinnamon, cardamom, clove and corriander with red mandarines.

HEART NOTES

An opulent heart of orange blossom, jasmine, orris root and incense.

BODY NOTES

A woody cistus ladaniferus resin, softened with ambergris, tonka beans and vetiver.

Eau de parfum
50 ml, 1.5 FL. OZ.

A spicy unisex one of a kind.
Natural oils from spices such as cinnamon bark and cardamom orchestrate an opening that is vibrant, and warm. Citrus (red mandarins) soften the spices and prepare for the orange blossoms that bloom in l’eau d’épices together with another white flower: Jasmin. It is the absolute from Egyptian jasmine that softens the orange blossom absolute. Frankincense essential oil leads over to a classical Tauer base chord featuring ambergris, tonka, hints of vetiver and the woody warm perfume of cistus ladaniferus resin, resembling a walk in a pineta.

L’eau d’épices is a unisex scent, perfect for cool winter nights and developing wonderfully under a warm midyear sun.

Bold and this photo stolen from Tauer Perfumes site

The Non Blonde writes a symphonic review in Nov 2010, and PerfumeSmellingThings wrote in 2007 before it was even released! These writers get it, all the way down to the ground. all I smell is magic, they can explain it.

It’s a wonderment to me that you come and read,

Thank you,

Portia xx

Shopping Experience, The SA Counts (Dune by DIOR, Cuir Amethyst by Armani)

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Hey gang,

It’s been a lazy day here in dappled sunny Sydney, Australia. I had a super smart blog friend around to help me do some stuff and to teach me some basics that I am as yet uninstructed in. We got some done but before Julie, and her partner David, came over for our Sunday Bar B Q I had washed the keyboard, um, BROKEN!!! You spray the cloth not the keyboard. I have a new keyboard now.

Photo stolen from ECorner Secure Ebusiness Solutions

As we had to go out to get a new keyboard TSO Jin and I decided to troll the fragrance counter at our local suburban shopping center while out.

This can be a harrowing experience. Often the 16 year old sales person (absolutely gender non specific) will sneer down their prolapsed rhinoplasty at you and mumble a curt something unintelligible about your desired perfume try, as if you’re ruining their day by being interested in the product. Other times they are so desperate for the sale that you think they might get a bit stabby if you turn them down or dare walk to another counter. Even worse are the ambush marketers who come round behind you and spray you liberally and without warning, often with scents that burn holes in your clothes and singe your skin, if walking too near a cigarette smoking person you are liable to need an extinguisher. And just because you work at a cosmetics counter doesn’t mean you need to wear everything in the line, AT ONCE. What was the Golden Girls line? “Just because you put your make up on with a butter knife, doesn’t make you Tammy Faye Baker.” I wish I was a stronger person so I could cut all three of these people types where they stand with a withering two sentence cut, but no, every time they get me and I obsess about what I would, could or should have said. Sad, I know. First world problems? Definitely! Honestly, I don’t even have a hearty “Fuck you” in me sometimes.

Having said all this then it’s lovely to find an SA that is charming, interested and involved in their job. one that knows about personal space and limits, and boundaries. One who has obviously done most of their homework and can help you understand what you are smelling on the card and your skin, why the price point is where it is and maybe some extra items to help keep the scent on you. I will try just about anything the SA says to keep scent on my HUNGRY skin, I swear it eats everything. Like host, like skin, I suppose.

Today was such a day. We were dressed like Sunday arvo (Australian for afternoon) homeless looking for a berth, unshowered, unshaven and under dressed for a jaunt through the hallowed halls of perfumery. Yet, by happy coincidence, we were welcomed into the Armani counter at David Jones, Chatswood, (where I wanted to sample the Cuir Amethyst from the Prive series. Spectacular BTW I liked the card so much that I let her spritz me. On my skin, to DIE for, the leather has stayed front and center for about 2 hours and the amber and vanilla are singing along in the middle to background) as if we’d just jumped out of a helicopter with Tom Cruise at the helm. But as we made our way around found that she was not in fact the Armani girl particularly but a general dogs body and she was all over the place, helping, hinting, smiling, generally making the few customers in the area feel welcome and giving as much information as she had, even going as far as looking up the book for a new release. I was not shopping, but I will go back and order something from her because she earned it. Not this month though. Fragrantica has this to say about notes and accords, BoisDeJasmin has a far less than loving review, and is pretty indicative of the other reviews I read. I am still enjoying the fragrance though. Maybe my untutored nose is a blessing.

Photo stolen from Fragrantica

Moving on to the DIOR counter, as Jin was being served sample sizes at CHANEL, there was another lady, also smiling and wanting to help: rather than intimidate or push. Had I tried the new DIOR Homme Sport? So fresh, so manly? No, sorry, not interested today but can I please have a spritz of Dune on a card? Certainly but it’s women’s. Yes, I understood but do you think the perfume minds who wears it? Without even blinking she said, “All perfumes are unisex and it’s only tradition that has taught us otherwise.” She had clearly thought about it too, come to a fair conclusion and was happy to be able to set it out for me. I was so happy that I let her spritz me with a double whammy on my other arm.WhooooooEEEEEEYYY! Nearly blew my damn head off. WOW! What a perfume, what a punch. Fragrantica has it all here, the PerfumePosse has an excellent Dune review, I wish I was so eloquent. This is definitely FBW (full bottle worthy) a good 6 hours later and I can still smell gentle wafty reminders that I’m perfumed on that arm.

Photo stolen from Fragrantica

Oh my, these two perfumes are AWESOME alone but together they are EPIC!! Maybe you all know a fragrance that is a mash of these two that I am ignorant of? Leave me a message if you do.

Thanks for sharing what’s in my fragrant mind today. Hopefully see you tomorrow too,

Portia xx

I am not in any way affiliated with any of the businesses within this article.