Opus III by Karine Vinchon Spehner for Amouage 2010

February 10, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Portia

Hello Fragrance Family,

Yes, I know i’ve come late to the Library Collection. I don’t know why but earlier I found them boring or awful. Ever since I fell madly in love with Opus IX in Vienna while shopping with Val CQ, Sandra, Anna-Maria and Jin last year. I bought it on the spot at full retail without even thinking about it because it’s so damn gorgeous. So i thought I better give the rest of the set a respritz and Bloody Hell, they are wonderful.

Opus III by Amouage: The Library Collection 2010

Opus III by Karine Vinchon Spehner

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Carnation, Broom, Mimosa, Nutmeg, Thyme
Heart: Jasmine, Orange blossom, Violet, Ylang-ylang
Base: Ambrette, Benzoin, Gaiac wood, Musk, Papyrus, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Cedar

The opening is sharp but mellowed by a smoothly waxy violet leaf with sizzling, spicy green-ness and already the creamy ylang is present. Opus III is a chunky violet/waxy/lipstick and hairspray fragrance that for me smells like I imagine kissing one of the glamorous Hollywood stars in the 1940s & 50s. It’s all cool fresh and floral up top and I’m surprised there’s no narcissus because I am getting some raunchy vegetal something, probably the jasmine, ambrette and orange blossom. Woody dry down is dry and resinous, lightly sweet. Charmingly innocent.

Flickr

One of the reviews I read mentions the word sleek and suddenly the whole fragrance makes real sense to me. Opus III is a sleek and flawless beauty that still manages to be friendly and approachable. Very easy to wear and love.

My imagine takes me to a well heeled businesswoman at the top of her game. Confident and talented in whatever role she’s in. A likeable, generous boss who also manages to get the job done. Though Opus III is happily unisex smelling this is my vision.

PDI

Further reading: Now Smell This and Australian Perfume Junkies
Libertine Parfumerie has $487/100ml with FREE Australian Delivery

What fragrances have you dismissed and returned to love?
Portia xx

Myths Man + Woman by Amouage 2016

August 25, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 27 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi There Fragrant Fumies,

Amouage has been at the top of my Mass-tige fragrant houses for a long time. It sits up there with Serge Lutens. Exclusively priced, beautifully produced, readily available in big city department stores and their stand alone stores. I am always ambivalent about new fragrances from my faves. Excited and pleased because there’s something new to try yet fearful and worried in case they have made something I hate. Obviously not every fragrance works for me, even if the house is a huge favourite. These sample sprays, bought from Surrender To Chance, have been here for a while but every time I go to spritz them I am called away or sidetracked in some way.

Finally, I’ve spent a couple of days with these babies, come smell with me.

Myths Man + Woman by Amouage 2016

Myths Man by Amouage

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Chrysanthemum, Iris
Heart: Rum, Rose, Vetiver, Elemi resin
Base: Labdanum, Ash, Leather

Plush leather and a dewy sharp citrus opens flawlessly before the dry, cool iris and elemi wash over it. I’ve read that the chrysanthemum is strong opening for others but I get none of it, leather and resins through the heart with a dry, lightly salted vetiver. Myths Man continues to dry through its wear till the base is cold, desiccated BarBQ ash and old, cracked and crushed, unloved leather driving gloves.

Myths Man is a solid, beautifully blended fragrance, a very wearable, safe, comfortable scent. I can easily imagine it becoming the go-to of wealthy young business people. Ones who love to smell good and also have a little bit of glam theatre on their bureau.

Surrender to Chance has samples starting at $4/0.5ml

Myths Woman by Amouage

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Narcissus, Violet leaf, Galbanum, Chrysanthemum
Heart: Carnation, Patchouli, Ambergris
Base: Leather, Moss, Musk

This one has come in for a lot of snark. I was expecting it to be a virtually unwearable mess. It’s not, for me anyway. Galbanum and narcissus together in the opening are pretty ferocious. Dark, waxy and foreboding with a slight taint of dirty vase water. Crystal clear, sappy and balmy Amouage Myths Woman is how I imagine a tree spirit would smell, the patchouli has a really interesting earthiness that is offset by the imaginations recreation of animal/sea salt ambergris.

Myths woman has a hint of the small batch indie perfumer about it, yet most of the rough edges have been smoothed away and it smells in the end like high end niche at its best. Slightly challenging, beautiful and mysterious. As always longevity is epic and I can smell Myths Woman at lunch next day.

Libertine Parfumerie has Myths $399/100ml (FREE Delivery in Australia)
Surrender to Chance has samples starting at $4/0.5ml

Because we love you all so much here at AustralianPerfumejunkies we have a GIVEAWAY!
Portia xx

Myths GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Sample Myths Man by Amouage
1 x Sample Myths Woman by Amouage
P&H Anywhere in the world

These are remains of 2ml samples bought from Surrender To Chance used for reviewing

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

Tell us your favourite Amouage fragrance or which one you’d like to try

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Saturday 27th August 2016 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Wednesday 31st August 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.

Amouage Love GIVEAWAY WINNER

October 19, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Post by Portia

Thanks to Amouage and Nick from Libertine Parfumerie for this amazing giveaway. Can’t wait to see who’s won,

Portia xx

Amouage Love GIVEAWAY WINNER

Photo Stolen Amouage

Amouage has room sprays £55

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Amouage Love Room Spray Tester (No box, 90% full)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 18th October 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winner was chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen sistersavealot

puhfume

The winner will have till Thursday 22nd October 2015 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.

Amouage Love Room Spray

October 16, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 38 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there FUMIES!

My mate Nick from Libertine Parfumerie is a lovely guy who wants to have the best range of niche fragrances for Aussies to choose from. A short while ago I was in his warehouse and he handed me one of the Amouage Room Sprays. WOW! Definitely special enough to be fine fragrance, probably not IFRA compliant. SO GOOD!

Amouage Love Room Spray

Photo Stolen Amouage

Opening bright sparkly citrus Love quickly hits its stride with deep patchouli woods, dark oud and a sweet resinous rose. I can’t place the green herbaceousness but it could be mint and coriander, there is also a dry hay bale in a barn feel. I have worn Amouage Love as a fragrance too, it sinks into my skin beautifully creating a sheer wall of spice market in a forest. When Love burns down its vanilla/patchouli/oud/woods base is still lovely, especially when melded with my skin chemistry.

Trouble is Jin doesn’t like something in the base, it irritates him. My loss is your gain.

Amouage has room sprays £55

Photo Stolen AllSteele

Amouage Love Room Spray GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Amouage Love Room Spray Tester (No box, 90% full)
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 (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) 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 an Amouage fragrance you love and why

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Amouage Love Room Spray #GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-4nQ #Perfume @AmouagePerfumes @LibertineParfum

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 18th October 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Thursday 22nd October 2015 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.

Journey Man by Alberto Morillas + Pierre Negrin for Amouage 2014

October 3, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there Frag Family,

There is no secret how much I admire Christopher Chong his curatorship of Amouage and think him excellent company. So when I first tried Journey Man, with its spectacular box and signature Amouage man bottle in ruby and gold I was saddened by my lack of instant and all moving lust. Expectation is a funny thing, sometimes I hype stuff in my head so much that they can never live up to the dream. It’s a bit of a killer actually so I thought it a good idea to grab a sample from my mate Nick at Libertine Parfumerie recently so I could revisit the fragrance with less expectation….

Journey Man by Amouage 2014

Journey Man by Alberto Morillas + Pierre Negrin

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Sichuan pepper, Bergamot, Cardamom, Neroli
Heart: Juniper berry, Frankincense, Geraniol, Tobacco leaf
Base: Tonka bean, Cypriol oil, Leather, Ambrox

Journey Man smells quite like a lot of other niche offerings for men, a hark back to the woodsy tobacco and smoke fragrances so popular for men in the designer genre. If GUCCI hadn’t forgotten how to make perfumes this could easily have been in their line-up and it sometimes through its life smells like it should have come from Tom Ford. I know we try to shy away from sexual mandate here at APJ but Journey Man really feels rugged, rough and ready yet smooth and cozy. Through the sharp and bitey pepper which tickles my throat just like it does in food, the tobacco that has a faintly green resinous quality and the brand new leather and woodsy burn the whole fragrance feels calm and unruffled. I can imagine a thousand would be lumberjack hipsters showering, trimming and combing their beards, moisturising, gelling, clear mascara-ing and spritzing from this uber glam bottle before dressing in their office attire in their walk through robes.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

By the time these imaginary hip gents made their way to work they would be a softly focused spicy tobacco that fades to lightly salted leather/woods throughout the day. By the time they hit the gym after work there will be a barely there, mixed with their own manly odours, whisper of the woodchoppers life left to entice the gentlemen gym junkies. Tired, pumped and freshly showered they would emerge like lumberjack butterflies from the gym to hang loudly and obnoxiously with a jar of beer at their local cruise and booze joint, eyeing each other off and making coded conversation till someone takes their physical fancy.

First line from intended? “You smell amazing!”

Below is my buddy Darren, he is EXACTLY what I’m talking about when I think of Journey Man. Darren is recently 100 days clean and his Instagram @bobbydazzler_ has photos and videos of him showing his joy at being clean and his abhorrence of wearing clothes. I swear 99% of the shots are him either standing or dancing in his jocks. Pretty freaking hot actually, go see.

What I’m left withof Journey Man next morning is a faded something, still woodsy and a little resinous. Very nice to wake up to. MMMMMMM

Further reading: What Men Should Smell Like and Non Blonde
Libertine Parfumerie has $445/100ml with FREE Australian Postage
LuckyScent has $345/100ml
Surrender To Chance have samples starting t $4/.5ml
Currently US$345 = AUD$495. That’s a saving of around AUD$50!

What is your favourite Amouage?
Portia xx

Ubar by Robertet for Amouage 2009 remix

August 31, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Hi hi hi APJ,

I recently rediscovered an Ubar decant and have been spritzing madly. It is on equal footing with Interlude Man as my favourite Amouage and please don’t ever make me choose. Both are so freaking good and when I wear them I feel that I could rule the world.

Ubar by Robertet for Amouage 2009 remix

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Tangerine, orange, litsea cubeba, violet leaf
Heart: Jasmine, orange blossom, ylang-ylang, tuberose, freesia, lily-of-the-valley, palisander rosewood
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, patchouli, vetiver, copahu balm, black amber

Ubar is a rarity, a gorgeous spiced white floral and woods extravaganza that is so chock full of ingredients that it’s hard for me to distinguish them. Ubar wears like it’s its own scent and nothing like anything else ever created. Ubar is like soup simmering on the stove: the whole house is filled with the smell of soup and as ingredients get put in the pot if you’re chatting in the kitchen then you’ll be able to pick some of them even if you haven’t seen what went in and if you look in the pot you’ll see some of the ingredients rise and fall. If though you are in your bedroom and the smell is wafting temptingly towards you then all you can smell is the melange, the soup itself. Maybe garlic will be noticeable or beef or tomato but everything else becomes a part of the soup. That’s how I wear Ubar.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Ubar starts out sharp green and citrus but already you can smell the base underneath them and the white florals just waiting behind the scenes to jump out at you and whirl you away on a veritable cloud of bouquet. The patchouli, resins and sweet vanilla all create the most stridently glorious dry down that hums away for ages on my skin and all the way to tomorrows bath or shower I can smell the magic that is Ubar.

When I think about it Ubar seems to be a cold weather fragrance, and I do love it to warm me up, but to really experience Ubar best you need to wear it in stifling heat. It blooms unbelievably and shows a whole other side to its luscious self.

Today is the last day of summer in the north and winter here in Australia. Perfect time at both ends to wear Ubar.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Where do I wear Ubar? I love to give myself a big spritz and do very mundane things like cleaning, clothes washing and grocery shopping. I get funny looks sometimes because I’m so obviously scented for an EVENT yet there I am buying milk, bread and a bag of tomatoes. Fuck It! Fragrance helps me to celebrate the fact that I’m alive, helps me to waft on fabulously even through the most hum drum moments because I am the star of my life. So are you, go live life AND hug yourself from me.

Further reading NowSmellThis and PerfumeShrine
FragranceNet has $185/100ml unboxed Before Coupon
Posh Peasant has $4.50/.5ml

What fragrance makes you feel like the tedious is fabulous?
Portia xx

EDIT: Originally I had Creations Aromatics as the perfumers but the Amouage crew told me it was Robertet so I have fixed it.

Sunshine by Amouage 2014: Meeting Christopher Chong

December 16, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Post by Ainslie Walker

Tea with Christopher Chong, Nick Smart and Portia

When Portia invited me to meet Christopher Chong of Amouage I was obviously there in a flash!! Libertine Parfumerie‘s Nick Smart and his team from Agency De Parfums had allocated us a 30 minute time slot to chat about Amouage and introduce a new fragrance.

We left 2 hours later!!!!

Starting out ceremoniously, we were served tea amongst beautiful flower arrangements and the new brightly packaged Midnight Flower candles and room sprays. With the 4 ambient fragrances – Hope, Smile, Love and Happy Christopher shares the positive memories of his dog Georgi, who sadly passed away. The scents contrast with the sophisticated Amouage back catalogue, yet hold resemblance amid the depth of emotions behind them. With 50% of the sales going to the guide dog foundation it has been a healing project for Christopher who much prefers nights in, in his home in London’s Battersea with his dogs rather than going out.

Christopher’s role as Creative Director of Amouage means he sets the story, mood, tone and suggests ingredients he wants included and then briefs a perfumer of his choice. He is not a nose, however has worked with top perfumers including Bernard Ellena, Alexandra Carlin, Emilie (Bevierre) Coppermann. Nathalie Feisthauer, Alexandra Carlin and Violaine Collas.

Christopher then told us about Sunshine, releasing in December in Australia exclusively

Sunshine by Amouage 2014

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Artemisia, black currant, almond
Heart: Osmanthus, jasmine, magnolia, vanilla
Base: Juniper, patchouli, papyrus, white tobacco

Packaged in yellow, gold and white and nestled in an eggshell blue and gold wooden box, Sunshine immediately screams of a new direction for Amouage, a more mainstream idea and Christopher Chong mocking all the brands that have been influenced by (or even copied) his innovations.

It’s creamy white goodness engulfs me…

Sunshine starts sweet as if an excited infant with mouth full of a fruit and marzipan-loaded wedding cake has breathed in my face in delight. It’s somehow juicy and powdery at the same time. I can also smell a bunch of balloons. I am thinking happy and celebratory thoughts while wearing this. Weddings, fairs, rollercoasters and jolly things like that. It’s bright, big white floral and gourmand for sure. But is it sunshine? The sun is definitely out, but I’d almost say its balmy late afternoon sunshine, not the scorching middle of the day sun we have here in Australia.

Osmanthus provides an enchanting and slightly exotic twist that somehow levels the swarm of sweetness engulfing me. It’s now as if the sunshine is surrounded by some thick deep and cosy cumulus clouds that we peer through olfactively. Osmanthus is a relative of lilac and has a similar kind of creamy powderyness to its scent. They do seem like cousins, smellwise, with Osmanthus being fruitier to me, somewhere between peachy mango and dried apricot in its heart. Osmanthus flowers can be creamy white right through to orange, but for perfume its the orange flowers that are used.

There is heavy waxy floral jasmine component evident throughout. Milky notes are waxy almond and nutty.

Sunshine’s slightly oriental tendancies and magical twists of Artemisia give it depth and keep it interesting. Its unisex for sure. Drydown seems to go forever (eight hours plus!) and at the end of the day my shirt still smells strongly, smoldering more and more…in fact getting quite sexy in contrast to its opening.

At the end of our time together Christopher signs our Amouage discovery box gifts and we leave him, exhausted, but giggling the whole ride down to planet earth via the lift!!

Ainslie Walker xxx

All the clear photos donated by Ainslie Walker, all the shit ones by Portia x