Maria Candida Gentile: Flight of the Bumblebee Series 2014

November 3, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Niche Nerds,

One of the names that is revered yet rarely spoken of on blogs or FaceBook is Maria Candida Gentile. Whenever I post her soft focus incense and woods creation Exultat as my SOTD it gets a round of applause and people always note how much they love her work and then it’s back to radio silence. Sideris is the crowd pleaser that is most often referred to and though I’ve had these decants here for a while they had become lost in the crowd. During a week of Shop My Samples recently, where I tried to use up or rediscover unloved samples & decants, they popped into my hand and I card spritzed the three of them. They seem like they need a closer look, you can have a first on skin experience with me today, come on….

Maria Candida Gentile

Flight of the Bumblebee Series 2014

Fragrantica

Kitrea by Maria Candida Gentile

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Honey, lemon and bergamot
Heart: Fruity notes
Base: Amber, beeswax

Cool citrus, sparkling and bittersweet. Like home made lemonade. Kitrea even has that sticky feeling you get on a hot afternoon when you’ve drunk too much fizzy. Imagine if a Guerlain Aqua Allegoria had a backbone and thorns, that’s how Kitrea wears for me. It smells grapefruit-esque and a tiny little but pissy but with a warm, calming, grounding base of animalic amber. This is by far the most Idie smelling of the three.

Fragrantica

Leccò by Maria Candida Gentile

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Honey, labdanum
Heart: Lily, tuberose
Base: Siam benzoin, pepper, beeswax

Leccò opens a little hair spray and greenery, it’s weird, awkward, like the notes are attacking each other and don’t quite want to be in the same fragrance. I think it’s the lily against the pepper . Interestingly after about 2 minutes it segues into a dreamy, smooth, plush fragrance, quite retro feeling but done with sharp modernity. The feeling is like walking through a large, well manicured garden in the drizzling rain but you are rugged up cozy and warm. Funnily I am reminded of tomato leaves and compost with this creamy underlay. Intriguing but weird.

Fragrantica

Syconium by Maria Candida Gentile

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Honey, milk
Heart: Fig
Base: Sandalwood, beeswax

Honey and milk open as resinous woods, if you told me this was frankincense or labdanum I’d agree. Not the sweet or feral honey that niche often presents Syconium is sweet warm honey milk before bed. Restful, comforting and calming, the fruit comes across as a little sugared porridge. Totally wearable, unchallenging and it smells great. After a while Syconium becomes a sheer skin scent, like a layer of gossamer glamour over my own scent. Very nice.

From Maria Candida Gentile site: In the music piece “Flight of the bumblebee” by Nikolaj Andreevic Rimskij-Korsakov the main character is magically transformed into an insect in order to reach, unseen, his father the king and declare that the news of his death were not true. It is a flight that expresses the desire to live and opens the door to hope for a brighter future. This collection of three new perfumes takes its name from that flight and shows the bumblebee as a bearer of a message.

Further reading: Colognoisseur
Maria Candida Gentile has €32/15ml or €14/7ml

Do any of these read tempting to you? Do you like any of Maria Candida Gentile’s work?
Portia xx

Fêtes Persanes by Cecile Zarokian for MDCI Parfums 2016

November 2, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Post by Sandra

Hey there fellow perfume lovers! Hope ya’ll are doing well.

The pea soup has arrived in Vienna, as it does every year, end of October. The mornings are dark and lately have become murky. My son’s bedroom window overlooks the cathedral steeple and every morning we open up the blinds to see if the steeple is shrouded in thick undulating fog. It is either the pea soup or David Copperfield has managed to sneak into Vienna over night and make the St. Stephen’s cathedral disappear as a Halloween magic trick!

But with all of this looming grey comes the start of my favourite season in Vienna. Namely Christmas! The city goes whole hog and decorates the streets, shop windows, grocery stores with dazzling lights and brightly coloured ornaments. It takes them several weeks to set up which is great for building up the anticipation.

This year I have found a wonderful perfume to accompany me during this transitional phase in the city.

Fêtes Persanes by MDCI Parfums 2016

Fêtes Persanes by Cecile Zarokian

Fragrantica

Fragranticagives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, black pepper
Heart: Rose, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves
Base: Guaiac wood, vanilla, cedar, patchouli

This is a beautiful spicy oriental fragrance that smolders quietly for hours shifting ever so slightly so that the embers can finally die down leaving me warm and cozy.

The perfume starts out quite spicy with a large dose of black pepper and a hint of the spices that are to come. The pepper is thankfully not abrasive or sharp nor sneeze inducing. After spending the summer with family members who are pepper aficionados (seriously – they import pepper corns from all corners of the world – and yes, they do all taste different), I really appreciate the way that Cecile Zarokian has incorporated pepper throughout the entire development of the perfume.

There is a sprinkling of cardamom and cinnamon – but not too much. It never veers into the gourmand territory of a sweet fragrance. The spices bring to mind a celebration where family members gather around together to feast and catch up.

Several hours in the rose is making a debut with just a few tendrils reaching my nose. But with it comes the guaiac wood, cedar and patchouli. Truthfully I do not detect much vanilla but perhaps my skin is just amplifying the woods. The drydown is my favourite part of Fêtes Persanes with the woody notes really whispering and teasing all of my senses. I would love to sit down in a room full of lit candles, surrounded by my family and friends basking in the glow of a big celebration.
sandra-fetes-persanes-by-mdci-parfums-xmas-vienna-2016-3

Further reading: Now Smell This and Colognoisseur
LuckyScent has $250/75ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $6/0.5ml

Please give this a try – MDCI Parfums have a marvelous selection of perfumes offering something for all tastes.

Do you have a favourite pre-holiday season perfume?

Let me leave you with some images of fog and grey and holiday décor set up.

Sandra xoxo

(Ed: Photos donated by Sandra unless specified. thank you princess, they’re lovely)

Pure eVe by Celine Ellena for The Different Company 2011

November 1, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hi there Fragrant Friends.

This week I’ve been wearing the hell out of a light-as-air almond powdery beauty that is what I imagine angels must smell like….

Pure eVe by The Different Company 2011

Pure eVe by Celine Ellena

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes
Middle: Flax, mimosa, white rose
Base: Cedar, musk, candied almond, sweet notes, dried fruits: TDC gives: Calisson (A French cookie made of candied almond, sweet notes and dried fruits)

When I was a kid growing up, one thing that always enchanted and mystified me were my Mom’s four silk scarves from Hermés. Often redolent with leftover traces of Joy or Maja edp, these not-to-be-touched-by-small-hands towel sized (to tiny me) pieces of fabric heaven were as light as a cloud, yet felt like pure magic, smooth and silky, softer than anything else in my child-sized world. When my mom would let me handle them, it was always a wondrous and very special moment. When she passed away twenty years ago, these silk scarves were the very first thing I put in my suitcase to take home. They are with me still.

Originally released as Pure Virgin and subsequently renamed as Pure EvE, wearing it is soft and sheer, a skin scent meant for you alone. The perfect wear-it-to-bed scent (especially when married to a perfume allergic sneeze-fest, as I am). Ironically mimosa, which is so prevalent in the dry-down is also know as “shabkhosb” in contemporary Persian which translates to “night sleeper” alluding to the flowers that close up at night.

WikiMedia

And given that the nose behind it is Celine Ellena, that makes it pretty much a slam-dunk for me, as I love her father’s (Jean-Claude) work. Sheer and breezy olfactory watercolors clearly run in the family….

Opening with the champagne-like sparkle of the aldehydes, this gorgeous unisex edt brings to mind soft freshly laundered sheets drying in the sun and gently waving in a soft summer’s breeze. The flax bring an earthy base to the scent all the while supporting the gorgeous floralp notes. The scent of the Calisson provides the cookie-like almond and sweet notes, and the musk wraps it all up in a pure white dare I say virginal, cashmere blanket.

This is a perfect scent to wear all year long for work or play. In the cooler months, you will be a walking tray of cloud-like soft Chantilly Creme and when the warmer months roll around you’ll smell positively as fresh as a laundered crisp white shirt.

Wikipedia

Further reading: Now Smell This and Daly Beauty
The Different Company has €95/50ml
LuckyScent has $135/50ml + Samples

Have you tried Pure eVe? Are there other “fresh” powdery scents that you absolutely love??
RHX

Civet by Zoologist Perfumes GIVEAWAY WINNER

November 1, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hey Crew,

What an incredible response. You must be loving the Zoologist brand.

Don’t forget it may be up to 8 weeks before being sent out because we are waiting for the fragrance to be bottled. Our winner is the lucky recipient of one of the first bottles of Civet to be done. SO EXCITING!

Thank you to Robert Herrmann and Victor Wong from Zoologist.

Civet by Zoologist Perfumes GIVEAWAY WINNER

Zoologist gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Black Pepper, Lemon, Orange, Spices, Tarragon
Heart: Carnation, Frangipani, Heliotrope, Hyacinth, Linden-blossom, Tuberose, Ylang
Base: Balsams, Civet*, Coffee, Incense, Labdanum, Musks*, Oakmoss, Resins, Russian Leather*, Vanilla, Vetiver, Woods

*Synthetic notes, Zoologist does not use animal products.

Civet will be available December 31st 2016 from the Zoologist website, and you’ll find a list of stockists there as well.

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 11 ml Civet by Zoologist travel spray
(It will be sent as soon as Civet is bottled, yes we are THAT far ahead)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Monday 31st October 2016 10pm Australian EdsT
Winner was chosen by random.org

Arlene Buekis in South Africa!

It may be up to 8 weeks before being sent out

The winners will have till Friday 4th November 2016 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit

Egoiste by Jacques Pole + François Demachy for Chanel 1990

October 31, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by Claire Vukcevic

Hello APJ peeps!

My husband came to me the other day and told me that he’d seen Burberry Touch for Men for €20 at a local pharmacy and was thinking of getting it. I held my hand up in the universal sign language of “Lemme Stop You There”, remembering the last time he bought perfume on his own (Dior Sauvage, oh the horror, the HORROR), and glumly handed him over a big bottle of Egoiste. “You wear men’s perfumes?” he asked me, confused.

Egoiste by Chanel 1990

Egoiste by Jacques Pole + François Demachy

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Coriander, Mahogany, Mandarin, Rosewood
Heart: Carnation, Rose, Cinnamon
Base: Amber, Leather, Sandalwood, Tobacco, Vanilla

Yes, husband. Yes, I do. When perfumes are as good as Egoiste, women will purloin them and claim them as their own. He doesn’t even know about my Dior Homme Intense habit yet.

Anyway, the great thing about my act of supreme generosity is that Egoiste now lives in our downstairs loo, where it gets splashed on with gay abandon onto the husband, me (whenever I go in there), and my two children upon whom I use it as a body spray. The very act of bringing it out into the light has meant that we are all currently luxuriating in the fabulousity of Egoiste.

Flickr

Egoiste opens with a tight little nubbin of spice, its mandarin orange oil, cinnamon, rose, and lemon notes swirling together to form an effervescent coca-cola accord that never fails to lift the spirits. Sometimes the rose becomes very big, sometimes I barely notice it, as I think it knits itself into the smooth rosewood and tobacco very cleverly.

The new version is definitely weaker and thinner than how I remember it smelling in the late 1990’s, when I recall it being a big hit with several boyfriends. To my nose, the tobacco has been amped up, and it is the crumbling, dusty sort that can smell a little like earth and dried leaves – similar to the tobacco note in Journey Man.

Thank God, though, that the sandalwood in the drydown is still the rich, sweet, spicy gingerbread sandalwood that I love so much in Bois des Iles and Mona di Orio Vanille. Before I moved from Montenegro to Ireland last summer, I sent all my perfumes on ahead of me (strapped to donkeys, over the Alps), and I found I missed my sandalwoods the most. My Egoiste is therefore a bottle I bought in Montenegro a week before I left, procured solely to give me comfort during that tumultuous time of my life, and I clung to it despite the sweltering 40 degree heat. Of course, reunited with my perfumes back in Ireland, I kind of forgot about Egoiste. Until now.

Longevity is ok – about 4 hours and definitely not as strong or as rich as the older versions. It’s perfect for men AND WOMEN who love big, spicy woods perfumes with a coca cola twang and a creamy drydown. For me, it’s pure cold weather comfort in a bottle.

Flickr

Further reading: What Men Should Smell Like and Bois de Jasmin
CHANEL counters everywhere have Egoiste, go grab a free spritz

What about you guys? Do you wear and love any perfumes from the other side of the gender aisle?

Slán!

Claire

Claire also writes for Take One Thing Off

What Perfumes Remind You Of Mum?

October 30, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 84 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Fancy Fragrance Freaks,

Today I’m feeling a bit nostalgic for my Mum who died back in 2001 of leukaemia. She was an excellent Mum, not perfect of course but perfect for me. Sometimes when I’m cooking the meals she used to regularly make, there was a rotation of about 10 regular dinner meals and a couple of extra special ones, grocery shopping or cleaning the house I will be struck again by what a huge hole she left when she went. Questions that Mum always had the answers to, little bits of quiet advice or even the yelled loudly kind, I still miss them all.

So I thought we could all get in the mood and remember our Mums together through our shared hobby, fragrance.

What Perfumes Remind You Of Mum?

Mum loved fragrance. Not in a perfumista way but in an “It feels so glam to spritz with abandon” way. Never one to spritz the air and wander through mum wanted it on her skin and her scarf, a blazing scent trail riding slightly ahead and half a block behind. Why? Well my Dad was a notoriously stingy bastard and when Mum worked in their Jewellery and Watch shop as the saleswoman for the first few years of their marriage she made Dad get in Gifts as well. These included everything from Lladro and Wedgwood to Fragrance. Because it was good business for the shop person to be wearing the scents they sold the reps would give Mum bottles to liberally spritz and she fell in love with that luxury. For the rest of her life she always had a couple of fragrances in the house and one respritzer in her purse.

So which ones stand out in my memory? I have touched on most of these before in comments and posts but I thought it high time I brought them all together.

Fragrantica

Anais Anais by Cacharel: This was only a one bottle fragrance for Mum because we all laughed so hard at her wearing Anus Anus. It does stand out in memory though because of that. Can’t remember the smell at all.

Fragrantica

CHANEL No 5: Mum LOVED No 5 all the way through her life. It was the ultimate signal of luxury for her and that love has rubbed off on me. It was her “Going Out” fragrance for the big events. If ever Dad was winning awards, or charity events, her golfing dos or big birthdays it would be the waft throughout the house. I remember her hugging us goodbye and introducing us to whatever babysitter we had and CHANEL No 5 was the scent.

Fragrantica

Giorgio Beverly Hills: HA! Even thinking about Giorgio makes me remember Mum’s cars. In my later teen years it was the respritz bottle in her handbag and the car would smell so strongly of it your clothes would basically be dry cleaned in a 10 minute drive. No matter what fragrance I was wearing I’d get out of the car smelling like Giorgio.

Fragrantica

Samsara by Guerlain: I remember buying mum Samsara one Christmas with my pay check from being a Squirt Bitch at the Department Store as a Christmas holiday job. She was so thrilled that I had bought her fragrance and I remember her bragging to her girlfriends at the shop when they noticed her scent. I felt a million miles tall.

Fragrantica

Shalimar by Guerlain: Shalimar wasn’t just my Mum’s perfume, a whole bunch ofd the crew wore it and sometimes sitting in the living room with them was like being in the middle of a Shalimar fumigation. It’s the fragrance I most relate to Mum even though she had other loves. Whenever I spritz its magical oriental dream I am immediately taken back to days when there seemed almost no cares other than swimming, running, biking and eating delicious home cooked meals.

There were a few more but now I want to hear what your mum wore please?
Portia xx

CHANEL Les Exclusivs EdTs GIVEAWAY WINNER

October 30, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Post by Portia

Heya Fumies,

Great response. Fingers crossed for all of you. Thank you Esther at David Jones Sydney City Store CHANEL Counter. We love you.
Portia xx

CHANEL Les Exclusivs EdTs GIVEAWAY WINNER

Fragrantica

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x manufacturers carded sample of CHANEL Misia EdT
1 x manufacturers carded sample of CHANEL Jersey EdT
1 x manufacturers carded sample of CHANEL Coromandel EdT
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Saturday 29th October 2016 10pm Australian EdsT
Winner waschosen by random.org

Calshopper

The winners will have till Wednesday 2nd November 2016 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit

NEW!!! Civet by Shelly Waddington for Zoologist Perfumes 2016

October 29, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 138 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hey there Indie and Niche Nerds,

News of a new release by Victor Wong’s Zoologist Perfumes is ALWAYS cause for celebration. More so this time as the release is scheduled for New Years Eve day, Dec. 31st, 2016. So break out the confetti and champagne, because Zoologist has hit it out of the park yet again.

Hot on the heels of Bat (2015 Art & Olfaction award winner- Independent Perfume category), and most recently the stunning Nightingale and Macaque, Zoologist returns to continue the theme of popular animal musks started with Beaver (2014/ reformulated 2016) with this latest release. It’s called Civet.

Civet by Zoologist Perfumes 2016

Civet by Shelly Waddington

Zoologist

*Synthetic notes, Zoologist does not use animal products.

Authored by Shelly Waddington, award-winning creator of En Voyage Perfumes and Zoologists earlier 2015 release Hummingbird, Civet is a glorious musky woody floral, that brings to mind vintage French perfumes from the 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. Shelly Waddington is an olfactive storyteller of the first degree, her perfumes always take me on a journey, and Shelly does vintage scents extremely well (Zelda, Fiore Di Bellagio among many others). Civet is absolutely no exception!

This is Josephine Baker running out the stage door after a performance on her way to a small hidden Parisian Boite to continue the night with dancing and cocktails and a bevy of admirers men and women both, vying for her attention. Her fur stole is flying behind her, and she is still slightly sweaty from the show, but covered in a sexy, sultry perfume which doesn’t mask the skin-smell of sweat, just makes it all the more alluring and enticing.

Flickr

Floral, feral and in-your-face gorgeous, this is the scent that will end up perfuming crumpled sheets in a bedroom, and staying on the skin of a lover who will spend the day drinking endless demitasse of espresso trying to erase the mental fog of the night before, hoping for a future assignation. The scent of coffee with its slightly chocolate and bitter aroma rises from the small cup and mixes with the smell coming off his skin and clothing, reminding him of the previous nights love making…languid, hot, and absolutely unforgettable.

Bravo Shelly, and bravo Zoologist Perfumes!

Civet will be available December 31st 2016 from the Zoologist website, and you’ll find a list of stockists there as well.

Civet by Zoologist Perfumes GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 11 ml Civet by Zoologist travel spray
(It will be sent as soon as Civet is bottled, yes we are THAT far ahead)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us what you liked about this review, or if you have any favorite Zoologist perfumes?

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Monday 31st October 2016 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Friday 4th November 2016 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit

What Flower Is This?

October 28, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there Floral Fumies,

Today I have a question for you all.

What Flower Is This?

Anyone know what this freaking amazing smelling flower is? Ultimate night blooming super sweet white floral with a hefty dose of indolic skank.

Jin and I were walking the dogs down the main road near where we live and as we were wandering this waft flew at me, strong enough to make me stop in my tracks. I thought it was a jasmine from far away but as we got closer the scent became thicker and more tropicall. We could smell the bush half a block away and when we finally came across it we walked past because it was so unassuming. Then as the scent started to fade we went back to have a look.

Anyone who can help please comment below. It smells so amazing that really want to have it one day when we have a backyard again.

Thanks,
Portia xx

OK all, I have some answers for you. My mate Kerri found the bush at Gardens Online and sent it through.

RONDELETIA AMOENA

Type: Shrub

Family: RUBIACEAE

Origins: Guatemala and Mexico

Light: Full sun/Light shade

Wind: Wind/Salt tolerant

Growth: Fast

Frost: Tender

Evergreen: Yes

Native: No

Height: 5m

Width: 5m

Gardens Online

CHANEL Les Exclusifs EdTs

October 27, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 39 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello CHANEL-ophiles,

I was looking through my sample drawer the other day and noticed I had some of the CHANEL EdT carded manufacturer samples. Seeing that that are now discontinued for the EdP I wondered if you’d like to have them as reminders of that which went before? Thank you to the gorgeous Esther at David Jones Sydney City Store for her friendly and informative service, it’s always a pleasure buying CHANEL with you.

CHANEL Les Exclusifs EdTs

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Powdery notes, violet, iris, orris root, Turkish rose, Grasse rose, Laos benzoin, tonka bean

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Tonka bean, rose, musk, lavender, jasmine, vanilla, grass, wildflowers

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accordfs:
Top: Bitter orange,citruses, neroli
Heart: Jasmine, rose, patchouli, orris
Base: Musk, woodsy notes, benzoin, olibanum, incense, vanilla, white chocolate

CHANEL Les Exclusivs EdTs GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us which is your favourite CHANEL fragrance or the one you’re most interested to try?

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Saturday 29th October 2016 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Wednesday 2nd November 2016 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit