V Intense GIVEAWAY WINNERS

November 23, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Post by Portia

Thanks go to Nick & Paige from Libertine Perfumerie. I cannot stress enough how great they are or how supportive they have been of APJ. If you’re thinking of buying a Big Ticket Fragrance Gift this year then they are the ones to see. Free Delivery in Australia for orders over $100 and they will be sending till December 21st.

Portia xx

V Intense GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Saffron, roses, plum, incense, sandalwood

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml V Intense decant by Robert Piguet
a couple of extras
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 23rd November 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winner were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen shannonmayer

Helen Burrows

Aelfrik

Anna Maria

The winner will have till Thursday 26th November 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.

V. Intense by Aurelien Guichard for Robert Piguet 2014

November 20, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Post by Portia

Hiya APJ,

This little baby was released in 2014 with little or no fanfare, I didn’t even know about it. The crew at Libertine thought it so good, especially now that it’s available in Australia, that a few of you should get to try it! So Paige and Nick gave me a bottle to wear and share. WOO HOO!

I speak often of my mate Nick from Libertine Parfumerie. Please, even if you don’t enter today’s competition, go and have a look at the amazing fragrant beauties that Libertine Parfumerie has for sale, you will be astounded. Nick will be sending out deliveries in Australia till the 21st December!!! How good is that? Using couriers in the last few days.

V. Intense by Robert Piguet 2014

V. Intense by Aurelien Guichard

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Saffron, roses, plum, incense, sandalwood

Plum! a sweetened berry-ised plum but plum none-the-less. A sexy, lightly fizzing plum that is flanked by a sparkling, fruity rose and underpinned by the smooth waxy feel of saffron creating a modern and fun take on the old Visa. Here Visa’s fruit punch, creamy ylang and patchouli are recreated in a way that I think would be a perfect gateway fragrance for newbies and younger perfumistas hoping to make a jump from wearing department store fruit-chouli.

Is it intense? Past the first 20 minutes not really. The fizziness smooths out beautifully into a softly sweet and resinous fragrance, more nuanced than the regular department store fare but definitely taking its cues from them. More like an expensive confectionary than cake-ish sweet. I could imagine the boys who like their fragrances a bit sweet would enjoy V Intense too, anyone who wears 1 Million, Aventus or Casmir will find a certain happy familiarity when they spritz V Intense. Without being totally innocuous Piguet have straddled the general public/niche line very nicely here, V Intense is wearable and interesting fragrance.

The base is warm and cosy, a vanilla/resin/musk with faintest traces of fruit and incense/smoke. It wafts under the radar for hours & hours.

Further reading: Fragrance Daily
Libertine Parfumerie has V Intense online now $299/100ml

Want to try it? See below,
Portia xxx

Photo Stolen AllSteele

V Intense GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml V Intense decant by Robert Piguet
a couple of extras
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged. 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.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us Robert Piguet fragrance story or why you’d like to try V Intense

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie V Intense by Robert Piguet #GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-4pA @Giveaway @LibertineParfum @RPParfums #Perfume

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 23rd November 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 26th November 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.

Joy vintage parfum GIVEAWAY WINNER

November 16, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Post by Portia

JOY! So well named. One of my great fragrant loves and surprisingly easy to wear. Can’t wait to see who wins,

Portia xx

Joy vintage parfum GIVEAWAY WINNER

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Tuberose, rose, ylang-ylang, aldehydes, peach, green notes
Heart: Jasmine, iris root, Bulgarian rose, lily of the valley, orchid
Base: Musk, sandalwood, civet

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Joy vintage parfum sample
a couple of extras
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 15th November 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winner was chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen amberinblunderland

Francesca Belanger

The winner will have till Thursday 19th November 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.

Joy vintage parfum by Jean Patou 1929

November 13, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 28 Comments

Post by Portia

Recently I found on the eBay a Joy parfum black snuff bottle, still sealed with string and baudruche (animal intestine seal then, onion skin now) intact and was lucky enough that no one else saw it, well there were two other bids and they were small. I got my perfect vintage sealed beauty for about the cost for 2 people to eat a mid sized meal at McDonalds, including shipping. Oh happy day.

Joy vintage parfum by Jean Patou 1929

Joy vintage parfum by Henri Alméras

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Thick, heavy, oily and sparkly fruity floral with a susurrus of freshly cut greenery. A minute in and suddenly there is air, the fragrance breathes and as it does fresh sliced over ripe peach stands above the white flowers before being engulfed by them. The rose is ever present and waltzes through bolstering and linking the fragrance, giving it a richness, working with peach and greenery to create an almost photo realistic rose and then it’s all gone into the heady melange that makes Joy so fabulous, and joyous.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

Once I’m past this point Joy becomes itself only, parsing it and cutting it into pieces feels like a very undignified way to treat such a fragrance. What I do now and for the rest of the ride is float on it, drift with one of perfumeries most enduring and seamless creations. The heart of Joy is a mesmerising dream of sumptuous rooms, rich parties, long pearl necklaces, hand finished tailored suits, granite entryways and stainless steel. If ever a fragrance felt like something a protagonist in a novel would wear Joy feels like a perfect fit for Ayn Rand’s lead character in Atlas Shrugged, Dagny Taggart.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: Now Smell This and Non Blonde
Fragrance Shop has EdT $35/25ml
Surrender To Chance has samples of the parfum starting at $7/.25ml

Want to try it? See below.
Portia xx

Photo Stolen AllSteele

Joy vintage parfum GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Joy vintage parfum sample
a couple of extras
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us your Joy story or why you’d like to try the parfum

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 15th November 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 19th November 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.

ARAMIS Calligraphy GIVEAWAY WINNER

November 13, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Post by Portia

Totally exciting giveaway, thanks Azar for being so generous. You are a star.

Portia xxx

ARAMIS Calligraphy GIVEAWAY WINNER

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 2ml decant of the 3 Aramis Calligraphy Series fragrances
Calligraphy
Calligraphy Rose
Calligraphy Saffron
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 12th November 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winner was chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen HighestSelf

Jessi

The winner will have till Sunday 15th November 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.

Aramis Calligraphy Series

November 9, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 61 Comments

Post by Azar

Hello APJ,

The art of calligraphy is the stylized rendition of a word or text. Just so, the Aramis Calligraphy fragrances are stylized versions of classic middle-eastern perfumes.

About two months ago the three beautiful EdPs in the Aramis Calligraphy Series landed in the discount bins of several on-line retailers. As far as I can tell these brand new, in the box bargains are authentic. Has the line been discontinued? Did the initial targeting of the middle-eastern market prove to be a mistake? Whatever the case may be, it is now possible to purchase 100 ml for less than a third to slightly over half of the original prices.

Let me tell you a little about the series. To start, the bottles are adorned with the stunning calligraphy of Lebanese graphic artist Tarek Atrissi. His artwork represents the name of the jus in each bottle – “Calligraphy”, “Rose” and “Saffron”.

Aramis Calligraphy Series

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Aramis Calligraphy by Trudi Loren – 2012
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cardamom, lemon, cinnamon
Heart: Myrrh, saffron, rose
Base: Patchouli, amber, musk, agarwood

This first fragrance impresses me with a spare, astringent opening that quickly morphs to a woody, rosy lemon scent. As Calligraphy dries I cannot detect any of the rich, dense barnyard or medicinal aspects that characterize many oud oils. I don’t get a lot of amber either. The base notes are quite woody but extremely light, just a breath, really. From beginning to end (no more than 8 hours) this is an understated and shy scent, perfect for the man (or woman) who doesn’t want to come on too strong but who would like to be remembered as aloof, elegant and refined.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Aramis Calligraphy Rose by Trudi Loren – 2013
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Oregano, saffron, honeysuckle
Heart: Turkish rose, myrrh, styrax, lavender
Base: Labdanum, musk, ambergris, olibanum.

Calligraphy Rose opens with a fresh, green, resinous rose that quickly warms to caramel, perhaps the result of the combination of styrax and the other resinoids with the ambergris and saffron. Eventually a powdery, masculine herbal effect makes it clear that this fragrance, despite being suffused with rosy incense from top to bottom, was designed to be unisex. Calligraphy Rose lasts forever on clothing and about 12 hours on my skin. It is much bolder than the first Calligraphy but manages to maintain the elegant and refined vibe of the original.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Aramis Calligraphy Saffron by Clement Gavarry – 2014
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, marigold
Heart: Saffron, Turkish rose absolute, lavender
Base: Tonka absolute, styrax, vetiver

About a year ago Portia referred to this fragrance as “an extremely sensual glamour puss”! Calligraphy Saffron is SO glamorous that it won the Fragrance Foundation’s Perfume Extraordinaire Award for 2015. Saffron opens with bright marigold and saffron. A little sharp, a little earthy perhaps, but not for long. In no time this beauty starts pumping out more saffron, styrax, rose and tonka , becoming richer and warmer as the hours go by – eight to twelve on my skin and much longer on clothing. Like the other two fragrances in the series the sillage is relatively discrete – for a “glamour puss”!

Today’s Giveaway: One winner will receive a set of three 2ml decants representing the Aramis Calligraphy Series. To be eligible for the draw, please tell us how you follow APJ and let us know why you think fragrances similar to the Calligraphy scents end up in the discount bins.

Azar xx

Photo Stolen AllSteele

Aramis Calligraphy Series GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 2ml decant of the 3 Aramis Calligraphy Series fragrances
Calligraphy
Calligraphy Rose
Calligraphy Saffron
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 how you think fragrances like the Calligraphy scents end up in the discount bins

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Aramis Calligraphy Series #GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-4rx @EsteeLauder #Perfume @Giveaway

Entries Close Thursday 12th November 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 Sunday 15th November 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.

L’Occitane Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc GIVEAWAY WINNERS

November 9, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Post by Portia

Thanks to Lesley and L’Occitane Australia. They have some excellent Christmas Gift packs currently if you’re looking for something fragrant and reasonably priced for gifts, or even a self-splurge.

Let’s see who our lucky winners are!
Portia xx

Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Citruses, black currant
Heart: Iris pallida, Florentine iris, ylang-ylang, peach, fig
Base: White musk, cedar

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml decant Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc in the funky new atomisers
a couple of extras
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 8th November 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winner were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen thegarfieldshow-diary

Jackie b

Odbayar

DESPINA VNT (via Twitter)

The winner will have till Thursday 12th November 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.

Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc by L’Occitane 2015 + NEW 10ml Decants

November 6, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there APJ!

Here is an easy Iris, brought to you by my mate Lesley at L’Occitane Australia. If you have drama with iris as a not I think this could be your gateway drug. I like it a lot, there is considerable air in my bottle already so I thought I should share the love today

Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc by L’Occitane 2015

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Citruses, black currant
Heart: Iris pallida, Florentine iris, ylang-ylang, peach, fig
Base: White musk, cedar

Sparkly blackcurrent and citrus, sharp and sweet but not sickening. Fun but a gentle fun, not let’s go crazy. A really nice use of blackcurrent that only hints at its often challenging super screechy urinous roar and the citrus meets powderish iris with a cool pithy cloak that cools Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc considerably after the opening fanfare. The peach has a nice nod to Mitsouko and even the fig is noticeable: giving its softly milky fruit ripeness to the mix. Iris here giving both cardboard, root and airy fresh breadery (I invented a word!).

Maybe I’m having a good nose day or maybe previously I have merely been along for the ride but opening and heart notes all seem to be in order and accounted for. This is lovely and very enjoyable for a couple of hours. The white musks in the base are nothing new, a clean and simple old theme that is very nice but not nearly as interesting as the opening and heart. Totally wearable though and excellent for work or movies. Perfect gift for a person who likes fragrance but is not a hard core perfumista.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Sunday Girl
L’Occitane Australia has $84/75ml or $12/7.5ml and a whole range of corresponding product

In other news I just received these freaking amazing 10 ml Decant Bottles from China.

Thing is, I need some people to volunteer to try them for me before I buy hundreds, so I’m going to fill 3 with Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc and I will send them to you in little baggies. I would love it if you’d throw them in your bag, spritz, use, handle, show everyone and then give me feedback on how well they performed. You into it? See below. To re-use them pop some white vinegar in and squirt it through then squirt loads of fresh warm water. Leave them to dry and go again.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen AllSteele

Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc 10ml Decant GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml decant Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc in the funky new atomisers
a couple of extras
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us an iris fragrance that you love and why.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc @LOCCITANE #GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-4ro @Giveaway @LOCCITANE_au @LOccitane_FR

Entries Close Sunday 8th November 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 12th November 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.

Vintage Parfums: GIVEAWAY WINNER

November 2, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Post by Portia

Heya Crew,

Hotly contested tonight. I wish you all could be the winner. Really excited that one of our newest APJ Family members has won today.

Portia xx

Vintage Parfums: GIVEAWAY WINNER

CHANEL, Guerlain, DIOR, Rochas

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x sample of all six vintage fragrances in extrait/parfum
CHANEL No 5
CHANEL Coco
DIOR Diorissimo
Guerlain Mitsouko
Guerlain Shalimar
Rochas Madame Rochas
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 1st November 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen amberinblunderland

Latai

The winner will have till Thursday 5th November 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.

CHANEL, Guerlain, DIOR, Rochas: Vintage Parfums

October 30, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 48 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there APJ Crew,

I have a great penchant for vintage frags and particularly love to find parfum or extrait versions of them. Lately I have had a few really amazing finds and wins and I’d like to share the vintage largesse with you. Below are links to APJ reviews of each fragrance and an approximate year of production, the ones without years means I can’t find the correlating bottle years and/or there is no Batch Code. The samples will not be huge but you’ll get enough to have a couple of decent wears (or one really lavish one) so you have a mental reference when you see these lovelies in stores, on eBay or blogs.

These are the good stuff but I also have had a few fakes and dummy bottles come through too. Many times the seller doesn’t know or care enough about fragrance to tell the difference, a good fake can fool the average seller & headspace technology has made it easier to copy and then other times they are bad people. I have also started to notice that they are topping up their 1/2 full bottles with perfumers alcohol, REALLY annoying because you get kind of the right scent but the open is really alcoholic, which can feel like top notes going. Maybe one in 20 that I buy are not 100% genuine.

CHANEL No 5 (1970-87)
CHANEL Coco
DIOR Diorissimo (1987)
Guerlain Mitsouko (1990)
Guerlain Shalimar (<1980s)
Rochas Madame Rochas

Photo Stolen kbaird

Vintage Parfums: GIVEAWAY

CHANEL, Guerlain, DIOR, Rochas

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us which vintage fragrance you wish you had a free unlimited lifetime supply of and why

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 1st November 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 5th November 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.