"14°S 48°E” EdP Natural Terroir Perfume by Vero Kern for Richard Lüscher Britos 2013

June 10, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 37 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Hi APJ,

Malvin Richard, Lukas Lüscher and Serena Britos (RLB) contacted Vero Kern with regards to creating a fragrance for their project. Unique fragrances, created around and characterized by certain landscapes, plants and people. Hence “Terroir”. (Please jump to Olfactoria’s Travels and read the account of my visit to the launch!)

I wondered how Vero Kern got involved in this fascinating project, so I asked her! They did not know each other. RLB contacted Vero when they were looking for perfumers for their project. They knew of her from various press articles and blogs. Conveniently, they all live in Switzerland too! Vero fell in love with the concept from the beginning. especially with their Terroir philosophy. She felt that it fit in very well with her personal goals in perfumery. It was a distinct advantage of course that Vero had started her scent career with aromatherapy. Working with
natural materials requires experience.

“14°S 48°E” EdP Natural Terroir Perfume by Vero Kern

for Richard Lüscher Britos 2013

MADAGASCAR “14°S 48°E” – Confidence in the Unknown

Please look at the website: it explains clearly here the three levels of each fragrance. Each of the Terroir perfumers were briefed; the materials they would chose needed to correspond with these levels, the core of the Terroir concept.

Vero´s choices included:

Top: Green mandarin, Bergamotte, Citron
Heart: Ylang Ylang (the main star of 14°S 48°E) Frangipani, Pink Pepper
Base: Vetiver, Cacao, Vanille, Tolu

“Madagascar is known for its incredible biodiversity …… a melting pot of cultures …… the Ambanja forests …….”

The Terroirs are only made from natural raw materials.

Now is the part where I should tell you how it smells. I have been wearing this more on than off for the last five weeks. Walking around with my nose glued to various parts of my body is not the best way to enjoy this glorious fragrance. I realized that when my daughter walked into the room and commented on the lovely vanilla smell. I couldn´t detect that in close proximity. There is a killer burst of sour citrus as the beginning which is totally invigorating. It slides seamlessly into a quite spicy and slightly bitter bouquet, balmy and relaxing. Ylang Ylang buzzing around like a bee. The vetiver is earthy. The vanilla cunning!

My first try out of 14°S 48°S was in the winter. It was nice, but something was being held back. It is completely different in the heat. It thrives in the warmth and releases its aromatic secrets more willingly. I don´t have much experience with naturals, but I would say this is quite tenacious as it lasts, liberally sprayed, about 6 hours on my skin. The flaçons are fabulous.

I am sat here in a big cloud of it: a huge .vero.profumo. fan (have I ever mentioned that) and it has been an absolute pleasure to be able to try some of Vero Kern´s other work. A million thanks to the fabulous Vero for her help and photo and to Lukas for the generous samples.

All naturally yours
CQ

Photos Donated by Val CQ

“14°S 48°E” EdP Natural Terroir Perfume GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will each get:
1 x “14°S 48°E” EdP sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

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

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please leave a comment with a reason as to why the Terroir interests you.

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Friday 15th June 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
I will crack out my dead armadillo, which did not come from Madagascar, pop the names into it, and get one of the kids to pick one.
The winners will have till Tuesday 19th June 2014 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.

Korea 2014 GIVEAWAY WINNERS

June 8, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Hey Hey Scent Jockeys,

Thanks for all getting so involved in this crazy giveaway. I know its not fragrance but it will still be super fun for our two lucky winners to get their Korea packs. So, let’s go….

Korea 2014 GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Ebay

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will each get:
1 x Etude House Fresh Cherry Lip Tint
1 x mixed bag of 6 Etude House, Skinfood & Shu Uemura samples
1 x pair faux LV socks
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell me a memory that involves a travel fragrance experience or a beauty product someone brought back from overseas for you.

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 8th June 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen brooklodge

LizK

LubkaK (via twitter)

The winners will have till Thursday 12th June 2014 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.

Korea 2014: Photo Essay

June 6, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 35 Comments

Hey Crew,

I hope you are all happy and well. So we are back from our Korean adventure and it was hectic! I have had to spend the return week recovering from the amount of stuff we packed into 17 days. There is no way I could show you the whole trip and all that happened because it was just too full on.

So here is a mini view of some of our highlights, obviously I couldn’t include every meal but some of my favourite stand outs were Korean Bar B Q beef (bought for us in a very chi-chi restaurant in Yangsan) and pork (in a tiny street food restaurant in Gangnam near the Zaha Hadid designed arts centre). We also fell in love with the Lotte Burgers and Paris Baguette. The rest of the crew had loads of extra fresh seafood and pronounced it wonderful and I even ate some of the fish we caught on our fishing trip.

As we were with a local, Jin my partner was born and raised in Korea, we had the inside skinny on what was good and crap so we went to a couple of important temples, Jeju Island which is the honeymoon destination of Koreans where newlyweds wear couples outfits (super cute). We were also lucky enough to go to the JSA (Join Security Area) in the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) between North & South Korea which was both incredible and frightening because we went into the border house where talks happen and crossed over into North Korea, we were supposed to be there for 15-20 minutes for photos etc but the armed guards who were escorting us got new information and we were ushered out after only about 2 minutes, the guards and our guide becoming very nervous and agitated. Jin could only catch some of the conversations but there was a drama and we needed to be out PRONTO. It was all quite disturbing but so amazing to have been there. If you are in Seoul; there is a small tourist market for trips there, ask your Concierge.

We also did a bunch of shopping. South Korea has an amazing array of excellent makeup and fragrance chains of their own (Etude House, Skinfood and Japan’s Shu Uemura) and every time I shopped they gave me some testers of their other products, which brings us to

Photo Stolen manoneileen

Korea 2014 GIVEAWAY

Photo Stolen Ebay

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell me a memory that involves a travel fragrance experience or a beauty product someone brought back from overseas for you.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Korea 2014 Beauty Product GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2PW #Beauty #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 8th June 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 12th June 2014 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.

Korea 2014: Photo Essay

All photos donated by Kath, Matt and Portia.

I hope you enjoyed this little look into our trip. Sadly I was so busy seeing and doing that I didn’t capture enough vistas or places of interest. Also you’ll notice that there is often someone at the table using their iPhone, this is ONLY allowed after mains are finished and the time I would remember to take a snap.
Portia xx

Ainslie Walker wins Australian Jasmine Award 2014! My Story

May 20, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Post by Ainslie Walker

Jasmine Awards 2014

STOP PRESS!!!!

Ainslie Walker wins Australian Jasmine Award 2014! My Story

I had no idea what I was doing, back in January, when I entered the Jasmine Awards 2014. I’d received an email from Portia, but I’d not heard of them before, though, I’m relatively new to the fragrance world.

I mentioned entering the awards to my beauty PR friends a few weeks later and they were like “OMG do you know Vogue writers and Instyle writers win/enter that?” I shuffled off, embarrassed to have accidentally sent my rogue writings into some kind of “professionals only” competition. Eek!

I did a bit of research about the Jasmine Awards and found out:
They began in France 20 years ago, and were set up, to recognize the ongoing contributions of journalists to the fragrance industry. The Jasmine Awards are the most highly recognized and prestigious awards for fragrance journalism, internationally, and are held in France, Canada, USA, the UK and Australia. The first Australian Jasmine awards were held in 2003.
“The Jasmine Awards recognize journalistic excellence in the fields of literary and visual achievement for articles on the subject of fragrance. Journalists are acknowledged for communicating their specialist knowledge and information of fragrance to the public, as well as promoting further discovery of fragrance to readers.” (Jasmine award website)

In Early April, an invite arrived for the breakfast ceremony. I thought, “I’ll go if I can take Portia, it will be a hoot!” I got the OK, and suddenly the next week we were going!! Portia picked me up at 7am(!!). In the car, I said, “You don’t think I could actually win, do you?”– Neither Portia nor myself remember his response (…still FAR too early in the morning), but I think we both just thought “NO WAY” and talked about something else.

We arrived at Darling Harbor and were seated by Fiona Keogh, of Star PR, the organizer. The place was gorgeously laid out and filled with chatty industry types- all beautifully presented and seeming to know each other…we got a few “who are they?” glances, but were undeterred. It was then I picked up a brochure of the day and saw my name in print. HOLY SHIT! I suddenly started to SWEAT and the ceremony began.

There were 6 categories, with the following criteria:

• Best In-depth Feature on Fragrance Award – for the best in-depth feature in a printed publication (minimum 501 words)

• Best Short Feature on Fragrance Award – for the best short article in a printed publication (maximum 500 words)

• Best Online Feature on Fragrance Award* – for the best online article on fragrance published on an online beauty portal or beauty website ONLY

• Best Blog Post on Fragrance Award* – for the best personal blog post on fragrance published online (please note: entries must be written in a personalised style and in the 1st person)

• Best Practical Guide to Fragrance Award – for the best ‘how-to’ style article in a printed publication or online

• Best Visual Story on Fragrance Award – for the best visualisation of a fragrance story or pictorial feature in a printed publication or online

The ceremony started and the first prize was drawn. Suddenly “best blog post” was announced AND WAS ME!!! Squeals from Portia kept me conscious as I headed to the stage, my blog post projected, on the wall. Margaret from Fragrances Of The World presented the award. I was given a box containing the trophy, a huge bunch of flowers and a big purple envelope containing a big cheque! Ushered to the side for photo’s, finally Portia was in front of me – it was real! We were laughing in disbelief and sooooo excited. I was shaking. THANK GAWD Portia was there. What an absolute surprise!!

The awards have led me to consider fragrance journalism. How we put smell, perfumes and fragrance into words for readers to “see”. How we describe the senses: taste, smell, and art. It’s kind of tricky, but if we manage it, readers can gain an insight and an understanding that would normally perhaps, not be able to put into words on their own.

The words we read from fragrance journalism can draw from within us – an agreement on notes/ingredients/images provoked? Point out something we recognize as familiar, a memory, for example, until we can almost smell that perfume being described….and burst to go try it.

Articles can direct us into what to buy or wear for a particular occasion, season or outfit. Fragrance journalism is what helps the fragrance industry make those billions of dollars every year. And I guess that’s why the perfume industry recognizes the efforts of those behind these articles.

They’re not “news” as such, they won’t save the world, but they express creativity, and spread the beauty and magic of fragrance.

Perfumes and fragrances are one small luxury, that worldwide have always been used by humans to put a little extra spring in their step, attract some attention and or express themselves – I like to think that fragrance journalism can do the same – put a little spring in the step of the reader as they start their day at work, finding it in their inbox, or reading a magazine whilst on a train for example.

TF was the first ever fragrance blog I wrote. It came about by sweet coincidence. Portia, who had been invited to the TF meet up, but was too busy to go, so said I could go along in his place, as long as I wrote something for APJ. I said I’d never written anything before, and he said “don’t worry it will be fine!!” I had recently met Catherine, the meet up organizer, so I agreed to help out. It seemed I had accidentally fallen into something I am good at! Isn’t it funny how life maneuvers you? This was September 2013, I have written fortnightly ever since for APJ and love being part of the team.

For us folk in Australia, far far away from Paris/Grasse, stores like Harrods, Selfridges, Barneys etc, with their giant beauty halls, many fragrances are hard to experience and get our hands on, especially with such strict customs and postage laws here. I believe this is why APJ has become so popular and the network of people involved incredibly tight. I am proud and thankful to be a part of it and thank you all for your support, comments and incredible encouragement. It’s a win for us all!

Ainslie Walker x

Photos donated by Ainslie Walker

Institute for Art and Olfaction Awards 2014: Saskia Wilson-Brown Interview #2

May 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Post by Azar

Today the Australian perfume Junkies are thrilled to have the opportunity to talk with Saskia Wilson-Brown, the founder of the LA based Institute for Art and Olfaction. Winners are listed HERE<<<JUMP

This is the second in the Saskia Wilson-Brown Interview Series: Please have a look through the first: The Institute for Art and Olfaction: Saskia Wilson-Brown Interview #1

Institute for Art and Olfaction Awards 2014

Saskia Wilson-Brown Interview #2

Regarding the 2014 Art and Olfaction Awards: What made you decide that the world needed another awards night and why about fragrance?

Ha! A fair question. The world does most definitely not need another awards night. However: Independent and artisan perfumers need some support, and so we decided it would be a good idea to help provide it, in the way we were most capable of doing so. We are going to try to be more about curation than competition.

Both panels of judges are made up of some of the best-known noses in the world! How were you able to put these panels together and how long did it take?

To be honest, it was merely a question of asking! All of the judges were happy to participate, and extremely supportive. It took a few months to put the panel together, and I am extremely grateful to them for the time and energy they put into the process. Very very caring and honest people, all of them, and not an inflated ego in sight. The big question is: Would they consider doing it again. Ha.

The IAO website goes into detail about the Awards selection process and judging criteria. Did the finalists receive written evaluations/adjudications of their work?

No, unfortunately, there is only so much time in the day, we simply couldn’t offer that sort of feedback. We already asked a lot of the judges: The preliminary judges all smelled every submission. That’s just under a hundred perfumes, and I wasn’t prepared to ask them to write evaluations for every perfume, as well.

We built the awards on the film festival model, and we basically stuck to that formula, but adding the anonymity factor to ensure fairness as ours is such a small little world, at the end of the day. Generally speaking, it’s not my first time running a big initiative like this, and my rule of thumb is this: Know your limits, stick to the plan, don’t ask for more than people have time to deliver.

However, as the awards expand, we will try to build in more feedback mechanisms. One of the things I feel most guilty about in our first year is that we just didn’t have the time to email all the submitters who didn’t make it to the the finalist round. I have submitted to things before, and I know what it feels like to get a nice email, versus just… silence. In fact, I just recently got a very kind rejection letter from a big institution, and it made the experience much less disappointing. So that’s something we need to fix for next year.

Was there one moment at the Awards Ceremony (or the after party) that you found especially funny, surprising or touching?

Well, the whole thing was a blur, for me, to be honest. It was a lot of work and there were a lot of moving parts. I did really enjoy having my friend Tom Green on the drums – it added a little bit of irreverence, and the audience all called out ‘drum roll Tom’ when the presenter was about to announce a winner, which was pretty fun and goofy. All our presenters were incredibly amazing, as well. Ashley Eden Kessler, Ilene Hoffman, Hank Jenkins, Sarah Horowitz-Thran, Steven Gontarski, James McHugh, Koan Jeff Baysa and of course Adam Eastwood and Franco Wright from Lucky Scent. Another thing I loved was the smell-and-repeat. It was a silly idea I had, playing off the Hollywood premiere trope of having a step-and-repeat logo wall where famous people step, pose and repeat for photographers. It ended up being quite fun. We sprayed it with the finalist perfumes, so as people entered the Goethe Institut they could catch a whiff of what this was all about.

The first Art and Olfaction Awards will be a hard act to follow. What have you learned from the First Annual that you can use in 2015?

Here is what I am taking from the first year: Avoid the big egos, support the people who support you, allow more time for submissions to arrive, allow more time for the judges to judge, and thank the people who make this happen over and over again.

Finally – I really enjoyed the seven questions you posed to the finalists and their revealing answers! To paraphrase one of your own questions: What excites you about your life right now?

I find the major mistakes I seem to be making on a daily basis to be particularly exciting. When I was younger and more malleable, I used to be quite serious about snowboarding. The big lesson in snowboarding is that if you’re not constantly falling down, you’re not learning. It’s trite, but it’s true.

Photo of Saskia donated by Institute for Art & Olfaction

Thank you so much, Saskia, for taking the time from your very busy schedule to share your thoughts with the APJ. We are looking forward to another great year with the IAO, filled with exciting projects and educational opportunities.

Azar xx

Main website: www.artandolfaction.com

Join the mailing list: http://eepurl.com/q_CZT

Facebook: facebook.com/artandolfaction

Twitter: twitter.com/artandolfaction

For in-person visits and snail mail:

The Institute for Art and Olfaction
3023 W. 6th St.
Los Angeles, CA. 90020
Phone: (213) 616-1744

Saskia invites interested persons to drop by and also attend an open blending session, class or event.

Info here: http://artandolfaction.com/calendar/

Book sessions on Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-sessions-may-tickets-11361465449

Institute for Art and Olfaction: Saskia Wilson-Brown Interview #1

May 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Post by Azar

Institute for Art and Olfaction

Saskia Wilson-Brown Interview

Saskia, what led you to the idea of an Institute for Art and Olfaction?

I was interested in perfumery, and I was hoping to learn about perfume, but was unable to travel to France or the UK for an extended period of time. So I thought, well, why not set up a space to learn here in LA? That, and I also wanted to see how to incorporate scent into a fine arts context- which ultimately I felt there was little support for. In other words, I set it up for fairly selfish reasons, but also because I felt that it was a travesty that creative people didn’t have access to this very creative medium. I felt like if my artist friends knew what could be accomplished with scent, they’d use scent in their practices. And then there was a bit of the egalitarian in me that railed at the inaccessibility of it all.

How has your background as an artist, filmmaker and independent producer shaped the development of the IAO?

I think it has helped inasmuch as being an outsider to the perfume industry has allowed me to approach it in a way that makes sense for other outsiders. Having said that, it’s been an extremely steep learning curve, and knowing now how little I knew then, it was a bit naive and/or gutsy of me. Sometimes, though, that’s an advantage, no?

Do you consider your primary function at the Institute to be that of an educator, an impresario/promoter, an artist or something else?

Probably more of impresario/promoter aka cat-herder. I try to bring in people more qualified than I am to oversee the education and do the art projects. On an oblique but related note: The difference between being a producer and being a production assistant is merely a question of perception.

Scent as performance art has become a popular means of artistic expression. Scent infused video/art installations, stories told with fragrance, dance and music as well as exhibits of colors and odors are among the many interdisciplinary projects that include olfaction. What kind of innovations do you see the IAO bringing to this already crowded stage? Are there any collaborative projects on the IAO horizon?

We just finished a big project where we recreated a failed scent concert from 1902 by a man called Sadakichi Hartmann, so we’re well aware of the history for this trend – it goes back a long way. Just check out the research being done around scent obsession in the Victorian era! The most maddening thing to me is when people call themselves innovators when the very idea they are proposing has been tried a hundred times, for a hundred years. It just shows them to be bad at research, and maybe a little too good at self-promotion.

So – knowing that, being VERY aware of how little what we do can truly be called innovative – we’re very careful not to bandy those big words around, and not to overstate what we do. However, we are keen to support people who we feel use scent in their practices in a meaningful and conceptual way – and are on the lookout for truly innovative ideas.

A big challenge for us is finding projects that get beyond the gimmick of scent, and truly reach something that rises to the realm of high concept, fine art, the human condition, or the outer fringes of technology or philosophy. Luckily, there are some incredibly talented people out there, some of whom we are working with already and some of whom we are keen to work with. Nothing we can announce just yet, unfortunately.

(Azar: I have to interject here that I absolutely agree! As a part of the 1980s performance art scene I was aware that a lot of what we did was simply offer a 20th century perspective on the work of earlier artists and poets, in particular the French Symbolists. In those day, though, the grant money seemed to flow in direct proportion to the number of disciplines we could involve and the amount of moral or cultural outrage we could elicit. It is so refreshing to see that your approach is so much more honest and truly artistic.)

There has been flurry of interest this spring surrounding Le Laboratoire’s development of the “oPhone” by Dr. David Edwards. The “oPhone” and a projected “olfactory social network” will launch on July 10. What kind of applications could you imagine for this device or for an “olfactory social network”? What role, if any, would this kind of technology play in future IAO projects?

It’s all very exciting! Technology will of course play a vital role in future projects, but – again – functional technology is one thing, but the concept underpinning it is the crux of the issue, for us. We hope to get to the place where the projects we work on/with access something beyond the tools they make use of. Put another way, if all you ever did was make paintings about the fact that you were able to paint, or cooked food that merely demonstrated the fact that you were able to cook food… Well… It would get boring.

There is MORE>>>>> Later today Azar talks to Saskia Wilson-Brown about the Institute for Art and Olfaction Awards 2014.

Main website: www.artandolfaction.com

Join the mailing list: http://eepurl.com/q_CZT

Facebook: facebook.com/artandolfaction

Twitter: twitter.com/artandolfaction

For in-person visits and snail mail:

The Institute for Art and Olfaction
3023 W. 6th St.
Los Angeles, CA. 90020
Phone: (213) 616-1744

Saskia invites interested persons to drop by and also attend an open blending session, class or event.

Info here: http://artandolfaction.com/calendar/

Book sessions on Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-sessions-may-tickets-11361465449

Chenonceau GIVEAWAY WINNERS

May 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Hey there APJ Crew,

I have been so excited about this fragrance and couldn’t wait to get some to you all to try. I hope the winners love their prizes. If you are sad you didn’t win and want to try the products then jump>> King’s Palace Perfumery has an ETSY store and a 5ml Rollerball is only $22

Chenonceau GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Vanilla, cacao pod, tonka bean, iris, musk, amber

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will each get:
1 x 1ml sample of Chenonceau oil by King`s Palace Perfumery
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell me a memory that involves a palace garden, a perfume that makes you think of history or a fragrant oil that you happen to love.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Chenonceau by King`s Palace Perfumery GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2Mn #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 11th May 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen dryicons

AnnaMaria

Ines Stefanovic (via Twitter)

Roslyn

CONGRATULATIONS!! The winners will have till Thursday 15th May 2014 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.

Chenonceau by Marlen Harrison for King`s Palace Perfumery 2014 + GIVEAWAY

May 9, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 46 Comments

Hi All you Fraggir Friends and Family,

Today we are having a look at one of my mates new ventures, and I knew he was bringing out a range but had no idea he was also the perfumer. WOW! Marlen sent me three fragrances to experience and today we will look at the first of them that I’ve tried.

Chenonceau by Marlen Harrison for King`s Palace Perfumery 2014

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Vanilla, cacao pod, tonka bean, iris, musk, amber

Right, it comes in a lovely velvet pouch. A 5ml roller ball and is a fragrant oil. Recently I was at lunch with my friend Natalie from Another Perfume Blog and we decided to test it together and we both a had a few other beauties to test the same day. I didn’t let her know that I was testing Chenonceau for a mate or even that I had any interest other than intellectual and of course fragrantical. Well, I swiped a little bit across the back of my hand and we didn’t need to dive in and smell because it bloomed like no tomorrow there in the cafe. In fact, instantly the cafe smelled like a fabulously elegant bakery and people looked to see where Chenonceau’s amazing scent came from. Mixed in with the coffee, food and humanity Chenonceau carved right into the groove and took over.

Photo Stolen Flickr

A dry, dusty vanilla that is a cake browned browned on top. I don’t know if you ever made Tea Cakes with your Mum but that is exactly the memory I get from Chenonceau. Jin says it smells like the warm cuddly inside of a house in freezing winter and I agree, there is a firey heat burning and drying out the air, coffee and cake or toast with lashings of butter and an old granny rug. It’s furry and human, a little bed head-ish and sweet like just out of a hot bath skin drying in front of the fire or heater.

How does so much wonderful image come from a swipe of fragrance? There are the bee’s waxy resins that I use on the table to keep it water proof and healthy, face powder, pine cones, fake snow that you spray on the windows, the warmth of a kiss and the exciting prelude before it, chesterfield sofa. My mind whirls with lovely images for a few minutes and then the fragrance calms and I smell much less intense, a warm soft place of comfort, a place to rest and read or just breathe. It’s fluffy and powdery goodness will delight you if it’s the kind of fragrance you like, which I do.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

After the initial fireworks Chenonceau calms to a perfectly wearable scent that will last you 8hours or more and the price is so ridiculously affordable AND you are doing good too.

From King’s Palace Perfumery: Chenonceau, a gourmand, unisex blend of vanilla, chocolate, and ambery musks inspired by the infamous castle on the water in France’s Loire Valley. Chenonceau is a hand-blended, unisex fragrance oil (alcohol, phthalate & paraben free) made from both natural and manmade ingredients sourced from the USA, UAE, Reunion, France, Australia and India.
In keeping with King’s Palace Perfumery’s charitable mission, 10% of all Chenonceau purchases will be donated to The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, https://www.michaeljfox.org/.

Further reading: Now Smell This introduces the line
King’s Palace Perfumery has an ETSY store and a 5ml Rollerball is only $22

Photo Stolen TheTruthAboutMummy

Chenonceau GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will each get:
1 x 1ml sample of Chenonceau oil by King`s Palace Perfumery
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell me a memory that involves a palace garden, a perfume that makes you think of history or a fragrant oil that you happen to love.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Chenonceau by King`s Palace Perfumery GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2Mn #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 11th May 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 15th May 2014 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.

Portia xx

Impromptu GIVEAWAY WINNERS

May 5, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Hello APJ Crew,

Another great giveaway draws to a close. Thank you to Roxana Villa of Roxana Illuminated Perfume for her generosity and to Azar for her dedication in bringing you a wonder 3 days of interviews and giveaways. We are so lucky to have both of you on board. Here are links to Azar’s wonderful interview Roxana Villa #1 and Roxana Villa #2

Portia x

Impromptu GIVEAWAY

Photo Stolen Roxana Illuminated Perfume

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week’s draw is for one prize that includes
1 x sample set of the re-issue of Impromptu including the perfume, EDP and the solid perfume
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please leave a comment about one of Roxana’s fragrances or on your experience with botanical perfumes in general.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Impromptu: Roxana Illuminated Perfumes GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2Kg #Perfume #Giveaway @RoxanaVilla

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 4th May 2014 10pm Australian EST
Fender once again did a stellar job selecting the winner. I scattered the names on the floor and he went straight for the one he wanted and sat waiting for me to verify!

This time he liked

Photo Stolen EverythingHealth

Courant

Congratulations and thanks to everyone for the great comments!

The winners will have till Thursday 8th May 2014 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.

Azar xx

Impromptu by Roxana Villa for Roxana Illuminated Perfumes 2014

May 2, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 57 Comments

Post by Azar

Impromptu by Roxana Villa for Roxana Illuminated Perfumes 2014

This week I had a great time interviewing Roxana Villa of Roxana Illuminated Perfume. I learned so much and also had the opportunity to try samples of her 2014 re-issue of Impromptu. (ED: Here are links to Azas wonderful interview Roxana Villa #1 and Roxana Villa #2)

As a pianist I understand the term “impromptu” to refer to music that seems improvisatory but is actually very carefully designed to give the impression of being created on the spur of the moment. A musical impromptu is usually a shorter solo piece without extensive formal development, seemingly just “tossed off” by the composer as a reflection of a fleeting mood, emotion or memory. On her website Roxana describes the creation of her first Impromptu (2012) fragrance as a kind of spontaneous amalgam of scents. She relates how she used a botanical version of an historic leather accord by the early 20th century “father of aromatherapy” René-Maurice Gattefossé combined with a variation of her own Chaparral perfume and a number of other purposefully affordable elements to develop a new fragrance. From this information the first Impromptu seems indeed an improvisation, a truly ex-temporaneous creation, almost impossible to faithfully reproduce in every detail. In contrast, the new version that I tried is obviously a well-considered and thoughtfully crafted perfume composition using “over 30 individual plant essences and three complex accords”. http://issuu.com/ladyroxana/docs/impromptu

That being said – I thought I knew what to expect from just about any botanical fragrance. From my very first sniff of Impromptu these preconceptions were totally blown away! I was almost shocked by the sillage and pleasantly surprised by the longevity, depth and sophistication of this new fragrance.

The re-issue of Impromptu is available in three formats: Perfume, EDP and solid perfume. Each version tells its own story, revealing different facets of the perfume’s profile. Of the three I find the perfume strength to be the brightest, most focused and lively. It opens, for a fraction of a second, with a sunny mimosa that is immediately overtaken by what I perceive as lemon balm but what is probably citronella, lemon geranium, petitgrain and myrtle. Artemisia, galbanum and immortelle feature prominently as the perfume evolves to its heart of leather, choya laban and labdanum. This darker side settles close to the skin for several hours eventually drying down lightly to a combination of orris, smoky vanilla, benzoin and balsam.

The EDP opens with similar green and sunny top notes (artemisia, citronella, basil, galbanum, immortelle/helichrysum) but develops a darker, more somber heart reminiscent of a forest floor of dry leaves, mushrooms and cedar wood laced with labdanum, leather, myrrh and the smoky choya. Strangely, the EDP last longer on my skin than the parfum, up to 8 hours and at least 12 hours on clothing, finishing as dusky vanilla, honeyed balsam, choya, incense and various woods.

The solid perfume is the most intimate of the three. The initial and mid notes are once again dominated by citronella, artemisia, galbanum, balsam and leather but this time homogenized in honey and beeswax with very little change over the life of the scent. (BTW I love the handy little pots that Roxana uses to package the solid samples.)

Each presentation of Impromptu seems suited to a particular time of day. The bright and focused perfume works best for me in the morning and early afternoon. I prefer to use the solid and the EDP in late afternoon and evening to help relax and to create an atmosphere of contemplation and meditation. In all three versions the citronella and what I perceive to be something like a green camphor (probably the myrtle) help to project the fragrance beyond the skin creating a surprising cloud of fragrance around the wearer. As the cloud evaporates it is drawn back to the skin creating an almost visible aura of scent.

Despite the name Impromptu and the sunny opening I find this fragrance to be serious, reflective and sophisticated. It is not overtly sexual but instead magical, fascinating and alluring, almost androgynous and suited to either a man or women. Roxana chose to represent her new fragrance with the image of the griffin, the mythological creature of two natures, sacred to the sun.

Photo stolen myprettypaints

Impromptu GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week’s draw is for one prize that includes
1 x sample set of the re-issue of Impromptu including the perfume, EDP and the solid perfume
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please leave a comment about one of Roxana’s fragrances or on your experience with botanical perfumes in general.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Impromptu: Roxana Illuminated Perfumes GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2Kg #Perfume #Giveaway @RoxanaVilla

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 4th May 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen any fab way that Azar decides
The winners will have till Thursday 8th May 2014 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.

Azar xx