Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor Black Pearls GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

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Post by Portia

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And here we have it my fragrant lovelies,

Thank you Azar for your amazing stories and giveaways.

Portia xxxx

Elizabeth Taylor Black Pearls GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Black Pearls Elizabeth Taylor FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica lists these featured accords:
Peach, gardenia, bergamot, water lily, white rose, lotus, amber, sandalwood, musk

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
Continental USA DRAW: 1 x vintage Black Pearls .25 ounce parfum in the box
Worldwide DRAW: 1 x 2ml decant of the original Black Pearls EdP
1 x a little sample of a rare, impossible to find, weird mystery peach
P&H Worldwide

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 21st April 2016 10pm Australian EST
Winner were chosen by random.org

Winners brooklodgeBrooklodge

World – Fanny

US – Fazal

The winners will have till Sunday 24th April 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.

Elizabeth Taylor Black Pearls 1996

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 37 Comments

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Post by Azar

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Greetings Perfume Pals!

My previous post on APJ recalled my adventures in Spring Cleaning and the subsequent discovery of several bottles of the original Elizabeth Taylor Black Pearls. I also wrote a bit of a back-story to the fragrance. Today I am attempting a review of vintage Black Pearls.

Elizabeth Taylor Black Pearls 1996

The Power of the Peach – Part II

Black Pearls Elizabeth Taylor FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica lists these featured accords:
Peach, gardenia, bergamot, water lily, white rose, lotus, amber, sandalwood and musk.

First of all I have to say that there is nothing quite like vintage Black Pearls. For me this frag is, at once, peachy, wet and powdery, a combination unique in my experience. Some people report a surfeit of lilac and/or melon in Black Pearls. My experience is one of citrus, lotus (of sorts), honeysuckle, vanilla, synthetic smelling sandalwood, a rich floral combo and, of course, the powerful peach.

I am not talking about a fresh peach here. Even though there is an obvious attempt to simulate freshness with the addition of aquatic elements (via the lotus and water lily?), Black Pearls has very little of that squeezable, tart juiciness that characterizes newly picked fruit. Instead, Elizabeth Taylor’s peach is big, fuzzy and over-ripe, sliced, spiced, powdered; vanilla sugared, battered, buttered and baked into a cobbler drizzled with cream. This fragrant, mouthwatering dessert is set out to cool next to a huge bouquet of lilacs, gardenias, pale roses and osmanthus. Can you imagine that? Most days my skin loves Black Pearls and the resulting sweetness and warmth is not unlike the tender, young voice of Elizabeth Taylor as Velvet Brown in the 1945 film National Velvet. Sometimes, though, she smells like the sound of ET portraying the screeching, bitching Martha from the film adaptation of Edward Albee’s play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (the film – 1966). The split personality of this fragrance – either a middle aged harridan with monster sillage or a sweet, shy girl who stays close to home – makes Black Pearls a perfume I can wear for a variety of occasions and purposes. The problem is I can’t predict how she will behave on my skin from one day to the next.

Elizabeth Taylor Black Pearls The Coincidental Dandy FlickrFlickr

Black Pearls started me wondering what percentage of the fragrances in my collection feature peachy notes. I haven’t come up with an answer to that yet, but a couple of the peaches I am currently wearing are Viktoria Minya’s Hedonist (date) and the new Miyako extrait by Auphorie (date). I imagine I will write more about those two sometime soon – in the Power of the Peach Part III?

Azar xx

YouTubeYouTube

Elizabeth Taylor Black Pearls GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
Continental USA DRAW: 1 x vintage Black Pearls .25 ounce parfum in the box
Worldwide DRAW: 1 x 2ml decant of the original Black Pearls EdP
1 x a little sample of a rare, impossible to find, weird mystery peach
P&H Worldwide

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

USA or WORLD

and

Please tell us your favorite peach-centric fragrance – if you have one. Or any fruit in a fragrance.

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 21st April 2016 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 24th April 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.

Celebuscents I Don’t Hate

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 38 Comments

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Post by Portia

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Hi there Fragrance Lovers,

Celebuscents have been a bone of contention among perfumistas for years. While most of them are dross put out by the big fragrance conglomerates with little or no reference and involvement from the celebrities themselves surprisingly some of them have turned out to be quite good, wearable, viable options. Even some celebrities that I loathe have put out one frag that I like, even though I refuse to purchase on ethical grounds. Startlingly, some of the celebrities that I have long adored have put out shit that I wouldn’t clean a toilet with. So I thought a list of some of my favourite celebuscents may help you wade through the incredible amounts out there. Yes, there are a few that make everybodies list but others seem to have flown beneath the radar.

Celebuscents I Don’t Hate

Dita Von Teese FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Dita Von Teese: The original Dita Von Teese is a fun rose/white floral in the radiant style. Sheer and very wearable. I went through one of the 20ml flacons in no time. You can get the shower gel and body lotions for next to nothing at the discounters.

Black Pearls Elizabeth Taylor FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Elizabeth Taylor Black Pearls: Still in the top ten sellers of celebuscents each year Elizabeth Taylor’s range is big. My favourite is the very 1980s peach, amber and woodsy flamboyance of Black Pearls. This one will announce your arrival a few feet ahead of you.

L Gwen Stefani FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Gwen Stefani L: I wore this fragrance in a big way for a while but it started giving me headaches. It’s a pear & peach powerhouse done in radiant style and has very tenacious longevity. Nowadays if I want to wear it I spritz my lower back and knees.

Halle Halle Berry FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Halle Berry Halle: A very glamorous floriental with a hint of fig that becomes the warmest, silkiest amber. This could easily dupe some of the expensive niche ambers and lasting power is excellent. It’s not groundbreaking or challenging but Halle smells really good.

Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Aniston ParfumoPhoto Stolen Parfumo

Jennifer Aniston: A fresh, aquatic jasmine Jennifer Anniston is pretty, vegetally sweet and a little tropically lush. A bit heftier than most of the radiant fragrances and the flowers are better in waft than nose pressed to skin but as it goes by it’s a definite head turner.

Fancy Nights Jessica Simpson FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Jessica Simpson Fancy Nights: Imagine Shalimar with a triple dose of gooey caramel and more patchouli. It’s rich, intense and has powerful sillage for the first hour. Once Fancy Nights settles it is a rich amber/patch bomb that sits just above your skin for hours.

Truth or Dare Madonna FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Madonna Truth or Dare: BIG WHITE FLORAL along the lines of Fracas but longer lasting and not so far into the bubble gum arena. If you like white flowers with a warm amber base then Truth or Dare, which is basically free, should be on your list.

Niki de Saint Phalle Niki de Saint Phalle FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Niki de Saint Phalle: This is my personal go-to green. The minty and fruity opening is a masterpiece of bittersweet, the iris led floral bouquet through the heart and the softly warmed base of woodsy moss. Perfect.

Paloma Picasso Paloma Picasso FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Paloma Picasso: Imagine an animalic, extra cloves, hefty on the oakmoss CHANEL No 5 and you are pretty much on track for this 1980s supernova of a fragrance. Paloma Picasso will announce your arrival.

Lovely Sarah Jessica Parker FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely: I know, it’s on EVERY list. That’s becausae it’s good. Smells fantastic on everyone. Radiant floral with a super musk and spice motto. Lovely is well named.

Queen by Queen Latifah FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Queen Latifah Queen: Boozy citrus with a soft white flower and a hefty, elegant vanilla base. Lasts forever and smells fantastic. I gift Queen often and it’s become one of my BFF Kath’s faves too.

Special mentions go to Siren and Fairy Dust by Paris Hilton, Queen of Hearts by Queen Latifah, Truth or Dare Naked by Madonna, Cher Uninhibited, Pure Honey by Kim Kardashian, With Love by Hilary Duff, Still by Jennifer Lopez, Covet by SJP, Boyfriend by Kate Walsh, Adam Levine Woman, Our Moment by One Direction and Deneuve by Catherine Deneuve.

Most are still available to try from My Perfume Samples and Surrender To Chance

Go on, which are your favourite celebuscents?
Portia xx

If you hit the link and shop with My Perfume Samples I get a kickback!