Curve Kicks GIVEAWAY WINNERS

October 30, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey Gang,

Thanks to Azar for another fun giveaway. Let’s see who the lucky winners are.
Portia xx

Curve Kicks GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Melon, mandarin orange, cassia, pear
Heart: Peony, passionfruit, freesia, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, peach, vetiver, cedar

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

Today’s giveaway: There are two prizes, one each.
Curve Kicks for Women 5.4 ml minis
P&H Worldwide

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 29th October 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo stolen brooklodge

Amy Orvin

Lindaloo

The winners will have till Sunday 1st 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.

Curve Kicks by Liz Claiborne 2006

October 26, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Post by Azar

Hi APJ Pals,

Perfume junkies know that fragrance has a profound and powerful effect on emotions and memories. A perfume can literally make us happy, chemically force us into a state of bliss, put a spring in our step, a smile on our face and infuse our entire being with energetic optimism. Today I’m going to talk about a fragrance that does all of the above for me, my favorite cheap thrill in a perfume bottle – Curve Kicks for Women by Liz Claiborne.

Curve Kicks by Liz Claiborne 2006

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Melon, mandarin orange, cassia, pear
Heart: Peony, passionfruit, freesia, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, peach, vetiver, cedar

Kicks for Women is one of the 18 or so scents in the Liz Claiborne Curve Collection. That being said, parsing the notes in Kicks is really a meaningless exercise for me. Here is my experience of the fragrance.

Of all the cheapies in my collection Curve Kicks is my favorite. It has to be the least expensive fragrance I own and easily worth its weight in denatured alcohol. The price alone makes me smile, as does the bottle and the shiny metal can it comes in.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Kicks opens with a totally synthetic fruit cocktail featuring warm peach and orange fruit cooling rapidly to pear, melon and wet spring florals. It would be easy to dismiss this stuff as your average teenybopper body spray – but wait! At about thirty minutes Kicks jump starts my olfactory memories and returns me to mid 20th century Central Florida and the smell of the citrus processing plants. If you have ever experienced that overpowering fragrance (some call it a stench) you will, for good or ill, never be able to forget it.

Photo Stolen Pexels

After about an hour or so in the processing plant, Kicks begins a long, lovely eight-hour dry down toward a final, quiet, almost elegant combination of powdery sandalwood, vanilla, cedar and a breath of peach all wrapped in a subtle wisp of processed citrus steam. The conspicuous absence of even the slightest reference to patchouli sets Curve Kicks apart from its contemporary fruit-chouli sisters. To summarize: Curve Kicks for Woman is fruity, chemical sunshine mixed with powdery, sweet woods, diluted in perfumer’s alcohol and packaged in metal, glass and glitter.

FragranceNet has $17/100ml before Coupon

Today’s draw: I will be giving away two Curve Kicks for Women 5.4 ml minis, shipping and handling everywhere. To be eligible for the draw please let us know how you follow APJ and tell us a little about a fragrance that really MAKES you happy – a perfume that FORCES you into a state of happiness!

Photo Stolen manoneileen

Curve Kicks GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

Today’s giveaway: There are two prizes, one each.
Curve Kicks for Women 5.4 ml minis
P&H Worldwide

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.

To be eligible please tell us how you follow APJ

AND

Tell us a little about a fragrance that really MAKES you happy – a perfume that FORCES you into a state of happiness!

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 29th 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 Sunday 1st 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.

Estratto di Colonia GIVEAWAY WINNERS

October 26, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Post by Portia

Estratto di Colonia GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, green mandarin, lemon, sage
Heart: Jasmine, white rose
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, musk, amber

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x sample of Estratto di Colonia from my stash
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 25th October 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen prospectsplus

Rene Groyer (Via Twitter)

Kandice

The winner will have till Thursday 29th 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.

Estratto di Colonia by Pineider 2012

October 23, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Hey Hey APJ,

Jin & I discovered Pineider fragrances while in Italy in 2013. I instantly fell in love with Cuir Nobile and grabbed a bottle on the spot. Then while in LA for the Perfume Posse ScentSation Bus Tour while we were at Beauty Habit I WON a bottle of today’s offering, Estratto di Colonia. Yes, there is an enormous backlog of fragrances that I have not yet reviewed here…

Estratto di Colonia by Pineider 2012

Estratto di Colonia by Atelier Design & Fragrances

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, green mandarin, lemon, sage
Heart: Jasmine, white rose
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, musk, amber

It must be mentioned that the wooden box and locking system are beautifully presented and thought out. The tall and skinny bottle with the leather wrapped lid is cool and classy but FREAKING ANNOYING! A gust of wind and the damn thing falls. I leave mine in its protective wooden box. This is good because it keeps the juice safe but bad because the box gets shuffled to the back of the wardrobe and ignored in favour of more easily accessible frags. Yes, I know, totally first world problem. Just telling you.

There are a few frags on my dresser at the moment. One of them is Estratto di Colonia because I freaking love the fresh, fun citrus opening that is so energising, it’s like spritzing a 40 minute nana nap. The jasmine, musk and amber basically take over from there and while Estratto di Colonia feels simple, and is quite a simple cologne reinterpretation, still it wears so perfectly balanced and smooth for me that it seems elevated. It isn’t till we hit the base that I finally get a little whiff of a lightly citrus rose, sweet and fruity, that gives the amber and vanilla a boozy taint. I’m no expert but if you told me they’d used some Australian sandalwood oil in the mix I would totally believe you, it has a eucalyptic earthy twang right down the base.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

This spring sees it getting quite a bit of wear though so I will be through my 30ml well before summer. That’s another great thing, I love the 30ml bottles. Which of us perfumistas really need 100ml of anything else?

Beauty Habit has the range $115/30ml

I think Pineider may have distribution troubles. Only Beauty Habit seem to have it on the net so far, though it is available in Italy. I grabbed Cuir Nobile in Venice in 2013 and haven’t see the brand again except in Beauty Habit. It is worth finding though, the fragrances are amazing.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen sassisamblog

Estratto di Colonia GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x sample of Estratto di Colonia from my stash
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us what your cologne is

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Estratto di Colonia by Pineider GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-351 #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 25th 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 29th 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.

Rose Anonyme GIVEAWAY WINNERS

October 23, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Post by Portia

Rose Anonyme GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Calabrian bergamot, Chinese ginger root, Turkish rose essence
Heart: Turkish rose absolute, Somalian frankincense, Oud accord
Base: Indonesian patchouli, Indian papyrus, Laotian benzoin

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x 5ml decant of Rose Anonyme from my stash
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

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

Photo Stolen markmontanoblogs

Anabel C.

Boris

Gina Tabasso

The winner will have till Tuesday 27th 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.

Rose Anonyme by Jérôme Epinette for Atelier Cologne 2012

October 19, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there Frag Family,

I bought a big decant of this beautiful baby when it was released in a split. For some reason then I ordered another, maybe I forgot I’d ordered the first. Anyway, most of the second one is sitting here and I think you should all get a chance to smell it.

Rose Anonyme by Atelier Cologne 2012

Rose Anonyme by Jérôme Epinette

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Ginger, oud, patchouli and rose are the stars of Rose Anonyme’s opening. I’m surprised how dry and desiccated the fragrance feels. Interesting how sheer yet curiously dense the combination feels, like a particularly opaque silk chiffon. I know it’s not mentioned in the notes but I get a lovely carroty iris note through the heart and it feels very leathery.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Rose Anonyme is tenacious, it lingers at pretty much rose, leather and base notes for the rest of the ride. The rose is curiously overwhelmed on my skin. Like it’s a back up singer creating a lovely baseline to add the stars above, ironically the stars are in the base. A lovely model in the rose/oud/leather line up. I like JHaG’s Midnight Oud and DIOR’s Oud Ispahan better for me, they seem to be more engaging and create much more excitement within me. Not knocking Rose Anonyme, it is beautiful in its way and if I hadn’t already lost my heart to the others it may have been FBW.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

Further reading: Chemist In A Bottle and Non Blonde
Neroli Budapest has 45000ft (AUD$225)/200ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

Want to try Rose Anonyme? Read on….
Portia xx

Photo Stolen sassisamblog

Rose Anonyme GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x 5ml decant of Rose Anonyme from my stash
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us what you would like to buy a 10ml split of

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Rose Anonyme by Aftelier Cologne GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-4jo #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 4th 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 8th 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 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?

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.

Mona di Orio Oud Giveaway WINNERS

October 12, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by Portia

How I love the Mona do Orio fragrances,

We have three winners today, I hope one of them is you. As always, thank you for being part of the APJ Fragrance Family. We love you all so much.

Portia xx

Mona di Orio Oud Giveaway WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pettigrain, green mandarin, elemi
Heart: Nagarmotha, patchouli, osmanthus
Base: Oud, Atlas cedar, musk, ambergris

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 2ml Oud by Mona di Orio sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 11th October 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winners will be chosen by random.org

Photo stolen thegarfieldshow-diary

lionceau

Rene Groyer (via Twitter)

Lindaloo

The winners will have till Thursday 15th 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.

Oudh Osmanthus (Oud) by Mona di Orio 2011

October 9, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 32 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there Fragrant Family,

I can’t remember exactly but I think it may have been 2013 and Jin, my BFF Kath and I were in Melbourne for the weekend and we dropped by Peony Melbourne for a sniff and a chat with proprietor Jill. The shop is lovely, loads of choice and there were so many fun things to sniff. We went to the Mona di Orio section because Violette Fumee had just been released and I was dying to get my sniff on it. It was right then that Jin started to get excited, he’d just spritzed Oud (now called Oudh Osmanthus). By far the most expensive in the Mona di Orio stable at that time and way out of his budget, but he was smitten. I heard about Oud quite a bit over the next couple of months.

Oudh Osmanthus (Oud) by Mona di Orio 2011

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pettigrain, green mandarin, elemi
Heart: Nagarmotha, patchouli, osmanthus
Base: Oud, Atlas cedar, musk, ambergris

So what I did was buy Jin a 10ml decant in a split well in advance of our anniversary thinking it would be an excellent amount to test with, which hadn’t arrived a week out. PANIC! So I ordered him a FB which arrived on the day. PHEW! When the split finally arrived I used it a couple of times and put it aside, where it has sat ever since. I recently found it while cleaning.

How does it smell? The softest, most sueded of ouds, a resinous opening both warm and herbally earthy. The barnyard is not in your face but beyond the line of some trees, they are flowering and have a fruity/white floral scent that could be jasmine and ylang or could be mango and banana. It’s heady and intoxicating stuff yet manages to retain a winsome primness, quite the dichotomy.

The oud smells expensive, and in a market saturated that is saying something. Mona di Orio’s Oud is a cool classiness, a restrained power, an elegant sufficiency but no more. Yet again Mona di Orio creates a fragrance that is less about its name than the notes combining to create a ring efftect. Imagine that you have a large perfect emerald cut cognac diamond and around it the jeweller has cleverly set a mass of tiny yellow topaz: the topaz serves to give the diamond depth and highlight its deep burnished lustre. The whole piece becomes even more beautiful.

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and EauMG
Peony Melbourne has Oud $525/100ml with FREE Australian shipping
Parfum1 has Oudh Osmanthus $395/75ml (Currently $395 is AUD$548)
Surrender To Chance has Oudh Osmanthus samples starting at $6/.5ml

Want to try it? See below.
Portia xx

Photo Stolen TheTruthAboutMummy

Mona di Orio Oud Giveaway

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 2ml Oud by Mona di Orio sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us a Mona di Orio you’d like to try, or one you own and why you love it

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Oud by Mona di Orio GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-4n1 #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 11th 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 15th 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.