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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
This week was a Sample Only Week. Using up a bunch of the samples lying around here unloved. The idea has been to put the whole .7ml (or whatever is left of a decant) on at once and wear it. I drop the lot in my hand, rub it together after shave wise and then pat it on my chest and arms. Effective. These samples have been purchased from First In Fragrance, Surrender To Chance or LuckyScent and a couple were frag friend gifted.
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Portia
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Heya APJ,
Obviously my Best Of will be the best of what I got my nose on. Seriously. I’m smelling ALL YEAR the newest stuff and still I’ve hardly scratched the surface. Some of these may have been released in 2018 but were new to me this year. Soz about that, just doing my best here.
I’ve also cut it down by making it things I wear a LOT because I have bottles or travels of them.
WINNER OF THE YEAR! What the frigging hell have they put in this bottle? As addictive as crack. A clean mimosa with only the merest hint of feral adventure. It is so beautiful. Thick ropey gouts of spring come gushing off me like a fairy tale. Bought from Libertine
Creamy sandalwood? YES PLEASE! Imagine if you took the DIVA out of Samsara, yeah? Made it a little dryer, boyzier, more relatable in 2019. You got it. Gorgeous!
Yeah, this cost almost nothing and gets more wear than any other cologne in my wardrobe except Granville. Oranges and stuff, wears for about an hour and then you need to reload. Bloody fabulous.
I am not a skincare person. Doesn’t matter. The fragrance in Rose Face Elixir is so freaking amazing and the product makes my already pretty much perfect skin look even better. I have am inner glow and smell amazing. Who knew?
No idea why I love 1957 so much. Most of it is everything I think I hate in modern perfumery. It’s basically No 5 with all the interesting and perfumey bits removed and only the functional fragrance left. Still, I can’t stop wearing it and love it to pieces.
A crisp, dark, bittersweet opening is underwritten by logs of freshly chopped wood. The geranium and peppery blackcurrant do give an extremely photorealistic waft of rose. Later in the heart and depths there is an addition of chilli-chocolate coated leather and torn grass stem. (I’ve ordered a travel, calm the farm)
That initial apple burst is mesmerising, with an outdoor woodiness and a modern, cool metallic rose. An airiness that doesn’t feel ozonic and a dewiness that doesn’t feel aquatic, yet alluding to both of them. A plastic vibe runs through the heart, concurrently bringing a salty resinousness. (Spice Must Flow was a very close contender too). Press bottle from Gascoigne & King
Minty goodness, like a herbal mint tea with some spices giving it an added heat. The opening zings. The greenery is given sheer earthy warmth from a modern patchouli. I love a fragrant shock of zingy mint and this delivers in buckets. GWP from First In Fragrance)
I gets attention every time I wear it. Basically ambroxan with some amber and herbal bells & whistles but it’s a definite crowd pleaser. I also get happy when wafts blow up my nose. It’s an easy wear stunner. This was a Libertine Press bottle.
You want to be the most desirable amber/vanilla fragrance and like the idea of it smelling like it could be you, not a fragrance? Vaninight is a perfect choice. Rich, lustrous and elegant but also incredibly laid back. It should have been called The Chillest Amber Ever.
PINEAPPLE! with a springlike greenery bursting forth from its sweet embrace. Even though dry down is woods and musk focussed it still manages to be a clear, fresh, windswept depth. This is gardenia smelled through a luxury hotel waterfall in the lobby. (On the list to buy a shit load of)
Fizzy, fruity opening that feels like it’s got a bunch of aldehydes perking it up. The hearts ozonics are warm and balmy, with a light creamy ylang/sandalwood sweetness. The cleanest leather ever. Vanilla and sandalwood help make it smell expensive and lavish. Another Libertine buy.
There are MORE! I can’t bloody remember them off the top of my head.
What did you love (or hate) in 2019?
Portia xx
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
This week has been interesting. Pretty chill apart from one major meltdown and the horror/shame/self loathing that came after. Loads of perfume, some outings with friends, art, food and shopping PLUS the Australian launch of Hermetica perfumes. Anna Maria and I spent a day wandering Sydney’s perfume and art, that was cool.
Not a huge week but a fun one.
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Portia
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Hey there APJ,
One of Jin and my buddies we met through perfume is Tara. Every UK trip we make some Tara time, she came to our wedding here in Sydney and has popped over to meet us a couple of times on continental Europe too. Lately I’ve also been guest posting on her blog A Bottled Rose.
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
Gave the perfume room a clean up this week. Created some space and reorganised the two major trays of current favourites. So while I still wore some old favourites you will se a bunch of new and different stuff. Got to hang with a bunch of our mates and had some serious Netflix time. What a lovely week.
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
A lovely slow and lazy river of a week. I found it hard to focus on anything much. Still, there was a LOT of perfume spritzing, some exercise, friends, work, food and Jin. A fine week of regrouping and reflection, sometimes that’s what we need, right?
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
WOW! Excellent Birthday Week. Saw so many wonderful people that I adore. Wore a bunch of fragrance, ate, adventured, laughed and did so much. It looks like a complete frenzy but actually it all felt kinda chill. HOW did I eat so much food?
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
YAY! We had rain in Sydney. LOVE it when it rains. Perfect for getting those last winter fragrance wearings in before SPRING next week. Saw a bunch of mates, spent some much needed QT with Jin and watched a lot of Netflix.
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
Another week with the kids. Jin is a saint, the best uncle ever. They don’t know how lucky they are. I’ve pulled my ankle again, it’s fairly ouchie. So many wonderful fragrances this week, I’ve been pulling boxes out from the cupboard. Woo Hoo!
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
The kids are still with us. It’s kind of nice having them around the house. They basically take care of themselves at 16 & 20. Jin is loving being an Uncle and I quite like hearing their chatter, even though quite a lot of it is in Korean and Slovakian. If we had kids we would need more room though, not that we want kids, that’s definitely 100% off the table.
Australian Perfume Junkies 