Friday Night Fragrance Choices: Cartier, CHANEL, Hermès, L’Occitane?

September 25, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Hello Party People,

It’s Friday night. You’re dressed up, looking fine. You’re off with your crew or your partner to do something fun, foody, outrageous, or a film. There’ll be loads of interaction with someone or a group and while you have all the other bases covered there is always the burning question: What fragrance do I wear? I have put together a short list of some long term faves and reasons why I would choose them.

Friday Night Fragrance Choices

FUN!

OK! So it’s a party night, the gang is getting ready and you want to be a super scent siren with the whole world’s nose leading straight to you. How can you stand out from your mates and be the Queen Bee of fragrant memories? Firstly, choose something very different from what the rest of your friends wear. I’m figuring if you are reading this for information (rather than pleasure) that you are young or new to perfume and that many of your friends are probably wearing fruity/floral/patchouli fragrances that are extremely popular and at a reasonable price point. Let’s step outside that box then:

Queen by Queen Latifah: So think oranges, vanilla, booze and resins. This super cheap thrill is totally different from the current fruit/choulis, is fun and flirty, lasts forever and smells awesome. Queen Latifa had her nose on the prize while creating Queen, sultry and sexy, yum.

Petit Fracas by Robert Piguet: Here we have an old favourite, Fracas, remade in a 21st Century way by adding loads of chocolate and pear. Still an outrageously glamorous white floral but with a depth and breadth that Fracas lacks. In Petit Fracas you will definitely smell head and shoulders above the crew but be such a fun burst of fragrance that it will fit with them too, and you’ll probably cause a small disturbance wherever you go.

Oriental Mint/Noir Marine by Phaedon: Here we have something totally different to anything the crew will be wearing I bet. Cold salty sea water, mint, leather and a bunch of resins (I also detect a lovely creamy dark chocolate not mentioned) all combine to make a super alluring, fizzy, fun waft of fresh, but not your 1990s fresh, this is twisted by Pierre Guillaume into something new and very exotic but still so fun. The mint is not too outrageous but it does add a wonderful sizzle.

FOODY!

Here is a different kettle of fish (pun intended) because now you are trying to be alluring across a table but don’t want to skunk the room or hamper the enjoyment of everyone’s food. What you wear to dinner needs to be subtly insinuating and has to last all night because after dinner you’ll want a bit of a walk or a cuddle and that’s when your fragrance needs to do the hard work, making you the most delicious and desirable thing your date, or crew, has smelled all night. This is tricky but let’s look at a couple of options:

Épice Marine by Hermès: Created by Jean Claude Ellena and Breton “pirate chef” Olivier Roellinger it is both totally and completely not foody. Being a soft focus salt, spice and woodsy fragrance it will be both alluring and unexpected once the dinner is over and you really get close enough to smell your scent. I find Épice Marine to be an epic stayer, still pumping out its magic hours and hours later.

Vanille & Narcisse by L’Occitane: OK, so this one has become a go-to spritz as I walk out the door for everything. Cool or warm, dressed up or down, anytime Vanille & Narcisse seems to fit. Not overpowering or weird it is a comfortable scent that will work wonders at dinner, no matter who you’re with. If it’s someone special then let lovely sensual vanilla do all the hard work, you just enjoy your meal and company.

L’Heure Convoiteé II by Cartier: For me L’Heure Convoiteé II Cartier wears like a beautiful cool crystal dream made up of lovely powdery carnation and iris. Itr doesn’t say it in the notes but I get amazing wetness, and some slightly metallic twang. So otherworldly and not so strong to overpower your meal but still enough ooomph to be noticed. Meant as a summer scent but I love to wear it in the dead of winter too.

OUTRAGEOUS!

Centre of attention fragrance, traffic stopper, blow the back of your head off fabulousness? It’s your party, you are being feted, book launch, presentation at an event, wedding, or so many other reasons. This is the fragrance that you want bookmarked by every nose in your orbit. Every time they smell it you want YOU to be the scent memory. A glorious diamond of a scent that will make you shine.

Bombay Bling! by Neela Vermeire Creations: I love how Bombay Bling opens with a supersonic blast of fruit and sweetness, morphs into a sweet bouquet and then grinds down to a woody/earthy dark and sexy thing that will have everyone sniffing around you curiously. All the stages are lovely and exotic, you will smell killer from go to whoa and if you need to stand out in a crowd then Bombay Bling! will definitely get you across the line. If serious money smelled captivating, this is what it would smell like.

Jardins d’Armide by Oriza L Legrand: One of my pick ups in Europe earlier in 2014 and what an excellent choice, Jardins d’Armide is a cool iris, floral, powdery and animalic wonder that smells drop dead gorgeous on me and always garners attention. You really have to live up to this amazing scent and it will help to lift your game, just deep breaths of Jardins d’Armide.

FILM!

2-3 hours sitting so close your arms and legs are touching, here subtlety is the key. A whisper of lavish loveliness that will draw your partner in to your neck for some sniffing. A great way to get them close enough to kiss.

Splash Forte by IUNX: I have worn Splash Forte through the heat of India in summer, the cool of French winter and in Sydney’s summer and autumn. In that particularly sparse way that Olivia Giacobetti has it is a beautiful, haunting, modern masterpiece. That’s my opinion anyway. Spices, herbs, woods and a very naughty musk. All done just below the radar in terms of projection, your partner will smell you but won’t be aware how devastatingly your fragrance is playing and luring them into your light. Excellent close wear, silent assassin.

Ma Folie de Noël by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz: Seriously scrummy, sweet spiced cream and incense. Opens big but pretty soon is a soft edible waft from your shirt whenever you move or your wrists every time you gesture. If this doesn’t get your date to snuggle in closer then you are with some poor bugger who has anosmia. Be extra nice to them and enjoy the film and your fragrance selfishly. MMMMMM This is the good stuff.

What do you wear for Friday nights? How do you like to spend them?
Portia xx

Travel Scent Choices: Singapore + South Korea Spring 2015

April 13, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

Hey Y’All,

As you may know Jin is changing jobs so to celebrate this sudden rise in fortunes we are bringing our 2015 holiday forward from November to now, we leave on Wednesday. OH YES WE DO!

Photo Stolen TripAdvisor

First stop is one of my long time buddies places in Singapore, hey Julie! I have never done a holiday in Singapore before; though my last partner Varun & I spent 36 hours in the airport because he didn’t have a visa while we were on our way to India. You would think we had a bad time, we did not. It was crazy fun, that Changi Airport is enormous.

Photo Stolen TripAdvisor

Then we go on to South Korea to visit Jin’s family. Cherry blossom time will just be finishing but I think they will still be slightly in flower. It’s Jin’s Dad’s birthday so we are taking them for their first holiday in years, two days on the west coast of South Korea. They think this is a ridiculous extravagance but Jin is hiring a car and we’ll drive 3 hours each way, fully across South Korea, and spend one night at a pension (not even a hotel because that would be too much). They are adamant that this kind of frivolity should be avoided and that we should be putting our money to better use. Fingers crossed they have a good time, Jin has really been working hard on TripAdvisor to get it just right for them.

Travel Scent Choices: Singapore + South Korea Spring 2015

So spring will be WARM in Singapore and mild in South Korea. I need a small range of fragrances to get me by till I can hit the stores and buy Misia by CHANEL. It’s the only fragrance on my To Buy List right now and I know they’ll have it in both Singapore and Seoul. So I’m thinking 5 frags, 2 bottles and three decants. It’s only 12 days.

Travel Scent Choices: Bottles

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

L’Heure Convoiteé II Cartier: This arctic, powdery, furball of a carnation/iris is so fabulously elegant and lasts all day. I can spritz and go and know I’ll smell freaking killer until I shower. I also love that it has it’s own sturdy leather pouch which means I don’t have to worry about it in my checked luggage.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

La Chasse aux Papillons L`Artisan Parfumeur: 7.5ml Rollerball (not pictured). Nick from Libertine Parfumerie gave me this one to test because they are brand new in 2015 and I thought what better place to try it than on holiday. Space will be tight, I need something small and easily accessible and the bottle feels surprisingly hefty. I also find that rolling La Chasse aux Papillons makes it last longer on my skin.

Travel Scent Choices: Decants

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Misia CHANEL: Yes, my decant is almost drained already. Makeup and leather together so beautifully, a delightfully powdery and lightly soapy wash of pure elegance. I can’t tell you what a zing this gives me whenever I spritz, it’s not just its own scent but the memories of all the other scents that it reminds me of through its life and you know what? I love it so much that I’m going to wear it on the plane.

Photo Stolen BaseNotes

Manto di Rugiada i Profumi di Firenze: I keep forgetting to wear this lovely green, resinous amber. It’s light enough for spring and will smell gorgeous on the cooler evenings. Softly nuanced and beautifully blended I always enjoy my ride. There’s a couple of ml left in my decant, I might as well use them up.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

07 Vetiver Dance Tauer Perfumes: One of my mates Natalie from Another Perfume Blog (now defunct sadly) gave me a manufacturers sample of this one. I like vetiver very much and Vetiver dance has been sitting in my Must Try box for ages. I’m taking it with me so I can spend some time with one of the few Andy Tauer fragrances that I’ve not smelled.

What do you think of my choices? What would you pick if you had to take 5? It’s not forever, only a fortnight, so it’s not a really big decision. it is fun planning and choosing though.

Portia xx

L'Heure Convoiteé II by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2011

March 28, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hi there Fragrance Fiends,

Every time I wear this beauty I am transported to Prague in winter where I bought it with Jin. You would think it a summer only fragrance but it was wonderful in the super cold too. For some reason I never got to Prague when I lived in London in the 1990s, even though my mates would go there often, it was always on the bucket list and going there with Jin made it extra special. Even if L’Heure Convoiteé II smelled like shit, which it most definitely does not, I would still love it for the memories it conjures.

L’Heure Convoiteé II by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2011

Les Heures de Cartier

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Carnation, iris, powdery notes

Cool, stark, crystaline and beautiful. The opening of L’Heure Convoiteé II would be the perfect fragrance for the cold girl from Frozen, ever since I saw the film every time I spritz the song Let It Go runs through my head. People compare it to Bellodgia by Caron and while they are cousins L’Heure Convoiteé II is cooler, less spicy and hot. They are carnations done in opposite directions for me, Bellodgia is thick, rich and nuanced with warmth and spice burning fiercely inside but L’Heure Convoiteé II is stark, linear, sharp and poised, a crystal Queen on the outside that becomes less intimidating as she makes her way through the story.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Clove holds the heart of L’Heure Convoiteé II, clove and iris sharp and earthy, an interesting dichotomy and though it’s not mentioned I think the musk is a lot of what feels fluffy but not human, clean and clear like an washing machine with a brand new rug thrown in for its welcome wash before you add detergents. L’Heure Convoiteé II is the clean lines of modern buildings like Howard Roark’s designs in the Fountainhead or the Brutalist beauty of the Seidler House in Sydney.

Photo Stolen ModernHeritage (Problem using this image, please get in touch)

The clove becomes woodsy towards the end of the L’Heure Convoiteé II ride and the rest of the notes give me a lovely spicy rose weaving through. Still cool and very classy but more welcoming, is there some very dry pepper hiding here? Oooh I like it, I think I’ll respritz and live it all again.

Further reading: Grain de Musc and Olfactoria’s Travels
Cartier stores and some large Department Stores have Les Heures de Cartier
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6/.5ml

Do you like the Cartier Hours Collection? Have you tried any? What about other Cartier frags?
Portia xx

Cartier – L'Odyssée and Making Of Documentary

December 14, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hello Beautiful People,
If ever there was a time where my writing was superfluous, this is it. Please enjoy these 2 Cartier movies. you may have seen one or both before but it’s worth having another look.

Photo Stolen thesnapassembly

Until we see you tomorrow please be good to yourselves and those around you,
Portia xx

(This is a Re-Blog from 24 November 2012)

Cartier – Behind the scenes of L’Odyssée

Cartier – L’Odyssée Mini Movie

Feral Favourites

April 24, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Post by FeralJasmine

I love wildness, and consider it the source of some of the best possibilities we carry in us, hence my screen name. When it comes to perfume, though, you can encounter some serious pushback about wearing your wildness, so to speak, on your sleeve. I often see scents designated “not office-appropriate,” and this distinction makes sense, but there are times to cut extravagantly loose and let your inner wildcat roar.

This evening, for instance. Never mind the tasks that still have to be completed before you head home, and the chores that await you there. Suppose, this time, you didn’t do that. Suppose you rushed home, tore off your clothes and anything else that constrains you, sprayed a carefully chosen something on yourself, and rolled around in a kind of catnip ecstasy. What would it be?

Feral Favorites from FeralJasmine

I have a number of rolling-in-catnip scents, so I’ll keep my descriptions brief:

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

VINTAGE OPIUM by Yves Saint Laurent
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Coriander, plum, citruses, mandarin orange, pepper, jasmine, cloves, west indian bay, bergamot
Heart: Carnation, sandalwood, patchouli, cinnamon, orris root, peach, lily-of-the-valley, rose
Base: Labdanum, tolu balsam, sandalwood, opoponax, musk, coconut, vanilla, benzoin, vetiver, incense, cedar, myrrh, castoreum, amber

The alpha and omega, the Bitch-Goddess, the sexiest perfume I know of. I have a precious stock of the earliest bottles, not just pre-IFRA but pre- any costcutting that reduced the Mysore and musk component. Glorious. I would never dream of layering it, and would no doubt be struck by lightning if I tried that.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

HARD LEATHER by LM Parfums
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Leather, rum
Heart: Iris, honey
Base: Sandalwood, cedar, agarwood (oud), olibanum, vanilla, styrax

A lovely sexy vanillic leather that manages to be firmly male and lusciously female at the same time. A perfume that invokes both Dionysus and Aphrodite is not to be ignored.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

VINTAGE PANTHERE by Cartier
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Tangerine, grapefruit, pepper, ginger, incens, rose
Heart: Jasmine, gardenia, tuberose, freesia, orris, narcissus, ylang-ylang, vetiver, nutmeg
Base: Oak moss, Tonka, patchouli, sandal, civet, musk, amber, vanilla, cedar

The tuberose that roars. So intense that I’ve seen it referred to as “crass.” I beg to differ. Imagine a passionate night in a breezy bedroom in Mexico, with a huge bunch of tuberoses that have never seen the inside of a cooler tossed across a pillow, and you have the general idea. The modern version is quite genteel and doesn’t deserve skin time on a wild night.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

VELVET GARDENIAby Tom Ford
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange, gardenia
Heart: Jasmine, rose, honey, beeswax, plum, lily of the valley, tuberose
Base: French labdanum, incense

This tragically discontinued Tom Ford captures to perfection the hint of death that hides within the vibrant life of a gardenia. When I remember growing up in Louisiana, and the sensuality of the climate, I want Velvet Gardenia. A few good sprays and I’m seventeen again.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

NOIR DE NOIR by Tom Ford
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Saffron, patchouli, rose, tuber, oakmoss, vanilla, oudh

Another Tom Ford, a lovely rose with a delicious truffle note. When your mood is more languid than wild, this one will suit.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

TAWAF by La Via del Profumo
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Jasmine sambac, rose, opoponax, narcissus, myrrh

The growling jasmine from AbdesSalaam. The source of my screen name, it smells to me like an a Indian wedding night.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

MUSCS KOUBLAI KHAN by Serge Lutens
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Civet, castroneum, cistus labdanum, ambergris, Morrocan rose, cumin, ambrette seed (musk mallow), costus root, patchouli

A little sweaty, a little cuddly, profoundly sexual with notes of profound innocence, this is a genius creation. It will carry you from the earliest wild thought right through to the afterglow, or give you all of that at once.

A favorites list is always a moving target, and all I can say is that, today, these are the seven sexiest perfumes that I can think of. But the id contains an endless supply of wildness (mine does, anyway) and needs its outlet, so if you favor other perfumes for your wildcat moments, do tell…

FeralJasmine x

L`Heure Mysterieuse XII by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2009

March 14, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Hello my lovelies,

You may remember that last year in Prague I bought L’Heure Convoiteé II and at the time Jin quite liked L`Heure Brilliant VI and so I have been trying to get him a sample of it from a Cartier store for over a year now. Yes, I know I can buy a sample at Surrender To Chance but I really wanted him to have the full Cartier sample experience. In the hopes of finding a sample at the source Neela Vermeire took me to 13 Rue de la Paix, Paris on my recent visit. Sadly there were none but the gentleman who manages the store was extremely affable and gave me a couple of other samples, there was also the most gorgeous security guard I’ve ever seen, quite a movie star.

L`Heure Mysterieuse XII by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2009

Les Heures de Cartier

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Jasmine, patchouli, coriander, elemi, incense, nutmeg

A patchouli bomb where the patchouli and nutmeg get together with everything else and make me smell bitter chocolate at the open, then the elemi and coriander take over giving me bitter, sour, green that is both intriguing and slightly disgusting, not like Secretions Magnifique but there is something mildly revolting that I can’t stop sniffing. You know when a fit and healthy person sweats at the gym? Though you know it’s sweat so kind of yucky, yet still to cuddle up with them if they’ve arrived home unshowered can be very darn sexy and it doesn’t matter if you muss them up because they are heading for the shower anyway. L`Heure Mysterieuse XII is that kind of scent, a nod to the sweetest of scents, healthy sweat. Before, during and after.

“An invitation into secrets, the scent of a whisper, heady and lascivious.” Mathilde Laurent, Cartier perfumer.

Yes, that’s what I’m getting, a breathy invitation to entanglement over coffee. This is a sexy scent that sometimes during its story can smell a bit ripe, over ripe even, humanity about to go nasty. Then not too far into the heart it changes completely, still humans in the picture but now the smell of a wood fire, the warmth and woods, smoke and cooking, the herbs & spices are playing lovely counterpoint and still this lovely sweatiness floating in and around. Do any of you get this clean skank? I would never have believed that L`Heure Mysterieuse XII was a Cartier if I didn’t get it straight from the shop in Paris. Amazing, fun and NAUGHTY! I have worn this now 3 times and every time I am astounded at the implied raunch.

L`Heure Mysterieuse XII stays pretty linear and does more of a fade than a change after it hits the smoky woods with spicy, sweaty humanity breath overtones except to add more patchouli and a hint of leather onto the pile. Lasting power is good at 9+ hours of fragrant, sillage soft and scent projection quite close but very discernible and towards the end it’s only the softest and most subtle suede, gorgeous. I think I now need to make Jin wear it to see if it has the same feral overtones on another body that I’m not sniffing up so close to.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Further reading: Pink Manhattan and Bois de Jasmin
Cartier stand alone stores and some Cartier counters in department stores carry the range
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6/.5ml

I have enjoyed my L`Heure Mysterieuse XII wearings immensely and if it wasn’t so damn expensive in Australia at AUD $405 I would have rushed down to Cartier and grabbed one already, maybe next holiday.

Have you yet tried any of Les Heures de Cartier? Did you have a favourite? What about the elegant aesthetic? Would you love a bottle?
Portia xx

Cartier La Panthère Fragrance 2014 Ad Campaign

February 27, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Hey hey APJ!

As you know I love some of the images that fragrance has given us over the years. Every now and then another one strikes me as particularly good, interesting, pretty or like today’s offering, in tune with what it’s trying to sell and the company it is being sold by. I like the feline, glamour night feel to this particular ad.

Cartier La Panthère Fragrance 2014 Ad Campaign

Of course I get most of my images from one of the best and most on time blogs there is: By art8amby

Peter Lindbergh photographed the campaign with Erin Wasson. (source)

Enjoy,

Portia xx

Photo art8amby

Eau de Cartier Essence d`Orange by Mathilde Laurent 2010

April 19, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Hello Lovely APJ Family,

Eau de Cartier Essence d`Orange 2010

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Oranges, bergamot
Heart: Violets
Base: Patchouli, cedar

I love the sparkly, fresh burst of opening here, all bright ORANGE! It’s so fun and frisky and perfect for warm weather wearing as the Northern Hemisphere heads towards summer. For us down here it is still eminently wearable on warm Autumnal days like today, we are rocking 25 degrees celcius and the sun is shining gloriously. The violets at the heart of Cartier Essence d`Orange are like woody and powdery soft whispers awaiting the magic of very clean patchouli and woods to round them out and make them more interesting. I love the barely there dry down, it really acts as if my skin smells better than it does, as if it has melded with my scent. Cartier Essence d`Orange becomes a shimmering subterfuge that makes it an excellent date night fragrance, especially if your skin needs to smell 100% on point for the late night playtime.

I am not swept away in a cloud of magical and wondrous memories, nor am I transported to other lands when I wear Cartier Essence d`Orange but it is a lovely scent, quiet and restrained, that gets quite a bit of skin time. I’ve nearly finished my second 5ml decant and ordered a FB online. Honestly, I am lucky to get 2 hours of full fragrance here but that whispering dry down is a killer on my skin and I love it.

Photo Stolen mosleyLane

Further reading NowSmellThis
FragranceNet has 100ml/$50
MyPerfumeSamples has $2/m but I bought $6/5ml Cer-Ay-Zee CHEAP!!

You better get a sample first, this may only be so good with my chemistry. If you have tried Cartier Essence d`Orange, what were your thoughts?
Portia xx

Top 10 Spring/Autumn Fragrances 2013 Perfume Review

April 6, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 36 Comments

Hello Gorgeous APJ Family,

So the seasons are a turning and there are Spring posts everywhere, the thing I notice about Spring and Autumn is that they share similar weather in many places, especially Sydney. We are still living in summery moments but there have been some blustery cooler days, and the nights are getting very chilly. So really I am offering up a Mid Season Mixture of things that are currently getting pretty high rotation on my skin. They are on the desk and within easy spritz reach, though the Amyitis has just been returned from the outer realms

Photo Stolen ScenicReflections

Photo Stolen LilaDaley

Youth Dew Amber Nude by Tom Ford for Estee Lauder: Amber Nude gets let out of its box quite a bit lately, I don’t know why particularly but I crave that gorgeous opening that warms into amber so quickly.

Cedrat Intense by Nicolai: I think it might have Ruth K on FFF that told me to get my hands on some of this. So I grabbed 30ml unsniffed and WOW!! I’m surprised that wasps and bees don’t land on me expecting a feed. Gorgeous and fresh citrus scent.

Amyitis by Mona di Orio: Every so often the Amyitis bottle will ask me if I’m SURE I don’t adore the juice inside and it comes back out, gets worn a few times and then gets put away in favour of Chanel No 19.

Indus Oil by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz: This surprising little temptress has me opening the box and putting a little roll of oil on a wrist or back of hand every second day currently. The flavour of Chai Tea, though I get powdery iris too.

Dries Van Noten by Frederic Malle: There are only the dregs of this 5ml sample left and I still haven’t done my post about it properly. I put it on and sit there for ages enjoying its perfect, warm, uncluttered beauty. What a fragrance, so simple to my nose but absolutely welcoming. A hug filled with love.

Sandflowers by Montale: This leaked about 2/3 of its 100ml flying home from Europe so the box is impregnated with Sandflowers. My office smells distinctly of it and there is always a salty, briny waft as I enter. What a wonderfully weird beauty this is, without being unwearable. How did it get in the Montale line up? This smells best for me when there is sun shining, or the promise of it.

Courage by One Seed: Courage is an unusual, exquisite beauty, that follows no leader. It is warm, dark, interesting and sometimes a little challenging. An all natural maverick that doesn’t smell like natural, or mass production. Intense and lovely.

Interlude Woman by Amouage: I bought a small bottle of this from the lovely Birgit in one of her cupboard clean outs. I was only mildly impressed with it initially but as I wear it more it has become a bit of a siren, trying to lure me into penury. Perfect for the cooler days to snuggle into.

Trayee by Neela Vermeire Creations: I cannot deny that Neela and I are buddies but I don’t go a week without spritzing one of her magical masterpieces. At the rate I’m tearing through this decant it could be FB sooner than anticipated. Trayee is a great mid season spritz.

Essence d’Orange by Cartier: I love the spare citrus burst here with loads of air and space between the notes. This is easy wearing freshness that I keep coming back to just for a fun spritz.

Photo By Sandrine Dulermo & Michael Labica Photographer

There you have it, my current Mid Season Top 10.

Want more Spring Posts? Try Grain de Musc, Now Smell This, Bois de Jasmin, and Perfume Posse

See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Shopping In Prague, Czech Republic

January 26, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Hey Ho Gang,
As you can see Jin and I have been doing our bit for the Czech economy. The DUNE Esprit de Parfum and Guerlain Vetiver were our first buys from a wonderful and quite mad perfume lady who reminded us of Sophie from “2 Broke Girls” a total hoot called Evita!!

Next day we went to Yves Rocher because my mate Birgit from Olfactoria’s Travels sent me a Vanilla Noire recently and I am totally loving it. Now it has a sister.

Cartier, another Birgit enable, came as a 4ml sample with some stuff I bought and it’s been rolling around me head awaiting a European tour. Jin is falling in love with VI but no one so far has had a sample for him to live with and I refuse to let him spend that kind of money without a few wears. Even though we are on holiday and he pouted, beautifully, for nearly a whole afternoon. The Cartier crew were fabulous with us coming back 3 days in a row before we bit the bullet.

Jil Sander Sun is a complete impulse buy and I am so happy that I did, it’s full of youthful memories of days spent at the beach with the family.

Lastly, Jin saw Bottega Veneta for 20% off and couldn’t resist. It smells beyond amazing on him and I have loved my 2 large decants to dregs so it will be getting double skin time at Chez Turbo. That was from Sephora at the main Prague Railway Station. The girl there was so friendly that we decided she deserved a sale.

We also spent some sniffing time at a parfumeurie called Madeleine which was awesome fun with Boris but the prices were beyond our ability. it’s a shame.

We are having a great time. Tomorrow we are in Vienna, going to dinner with Birgit and her husband.
I hope you are all really happy and well too.

Portia xx

Australian Perfume Junkies

Olfactory Opinions from Oz

Cartier

Friday Night Fragrance Choices: Cartier, CHANEL, Hermès, L’Occitane?

Friday Night Fragrance Choices

FUN!

FOODY!

OUTRAGEOUS!

FILM!

Travel Scent Choices: Singapore + South Korea Spring 2015

Travel Scent Choices: Singapore + South Korea Spring 2015

Travel Scent Choices: Bottles

Travel Scent Choices: Decants

L'Heure Convoiteé II by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2011

L’Heure Convoiteé II by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2011

Les Heures de Cartier

Cartier – L'Odyssée and Making Of Documentary

Cartier – Behind the scenes of L’Odyssée

Cartier – L’Odyssée Mini Movie

Feral Favourites

Feral Favorites from FeralJasmine

L`Heure Mysterieuse XII by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2009

L`Heure Mysterieuse XII by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2009

Les Heures de Cartier

Cartier La Panthère Fragrance 2014 Ad Campaign

Cartier La Panthère Fragrance 2014 Ad Campaign

Eau de Cartier Essence d`Orange by Mathilde Laurent 2010

Eau de Cartier Essence d`Orange 2010

Top 10 Spring/Autumn Fragrances 2013 Perfume Review

Shopping In Prague, Czech Republic