Vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC WINNERS

December 11, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Portia

YAY! A wonderful competition, thanks for getting involved crew.
Let’s see who the winners are!
Portia xx

Vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC WINNERS

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, Lily, Lily-of-the-valley, Neroli, Orange blossom, Tuberose
Heart: Jasmine, Nutmeg, Rose, Ylang-ylang
Base: Iris, Vanilla, Vetiver, Frankincense

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 3 winners who will receive:
1 x Vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC decant (from my bottle)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 10th December 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

ClaudiaS

Alice

Hamamelis

The winners will have till Thursday 14th December 2017 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 CHANEL No 22 EdC

December 7, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 46 Comments

Portia

Hi Vintage Vamps,

There’s something incredibly special about vintage. Sure, I know people bang on about them changing over time and that you’re not smelling the perfumers original intent. BAH Humbug. I’ll enjoy fragrance any which way I like and please don’t try and ruin my fun. Chasing the elusive, finding a near perfect gem, wearing something never to be created ever again that has been kept sometimes for over a century. THAT is fun, exciting and special.

Vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, Lily, Lily-of-the-valley, Neroli, Orange blossom, Tuberose
Heart: Jasmine, Nutmeg, Rose, Ylang-ylang
Base: Iris, Vanilla, Vetiver, Frankincense

This is the cleanest vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC I’ve smelled. The aldehydes are still fizzy and a little oily as they rise off my skin in combination with the most magnificent bouquet. What can I smell? White flowers and creamy ylang over incense and a bunch of stuff I can’t place or name. What they smell like for me is CHANEL No 22.

I can tell you how it feels to wear it though. Carefree. Like a burst of warm sunshine on a gloomy day. Maybe the thrum of your blood through vines after a hearty belly laugh. Lunching with friends somewhere cheap and cheerful with a water view.

Warm winds, hot sand and a convertible car ride.

Sure, No 22 EdC is a glamour puss, bold and sophisticated. It does seem to me when I wear her that she may be all that but when it’s a 22 day she’s on holidays. It may be nearest beach or it could be the Greek islands, wherever no 22 lands she’ll be welcome.

Vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 3 winners who will receive:
1 x Vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC decant (from my bottle)
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 tell us what your favourite CHANEL fragrance is

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 10th December 2017 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 14th December 2017 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 No 5 parfum: LIVE Video Sniff

February 26, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi Wonderful Wafters,

CHANEL No 5 has a mystery and mystique all its own. No other fragrance on the planet has sold in such numbers for so long. It is revered and reviled in equal measure by the fragrance community but to me its about as lavish and comfoting as a hot chocolate on a cold night while snuggled in a feather doona eating Jin’s home made macaroons and watching films. The ULTIMATE!

CHANEL No 5 parfum

LIVE Video Sniff

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Neroli, ylang-ylang, bergamot, amalfi lemon, aldehydes
Heart: Iris, jasmine, orris root, rose, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Vetiver, musk, sandalwood, patchouli, oak moss, amber, vanille, civet

From Coco and Marilyn to me, CHANEL No 5 fits almost every mood.

CHANEL No.5 parfum by Ernest Beaux for CHANEL 1921

December 26, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Hiya APJ Crew,

I hope your Christmas/ Holiday Season has been fun. Our Christmas Day was very relaxed. We vowed to not leave the house and had our mate Matt (Jin’s BFF) over for lunch and presents.

Today was Boxing Day and I started out the day in recent but not current Shalimar EdP. It was a perfect accompaniment to the organising potato salad, drive, present opening and lunch at Kath’s family home with parents and nieces. We had a wonderful time with Jin manning the BarBQ and doing a delicious sliced & marinaded steak, bacon rashers, onion and breakfast sausages. We had yummy sesame seed knot rolls, garden salad and potato salad, served with lashings of left over ham off the bone. Lunch was really fun and it’s always excellent to catch up with Kath’s family who have adopted me since my parents died and my sister stopped communication. I love them because they are good people who time seems to fly when I spend it with them. I love them because when we’re together I am home.

Then we went for a SWIM!! Sadly I forgot to take pics today, sorry. Here is one that Kath took

I had grabbed a vintage 7.5ml bakelite purse spritz of CHANEL No. 5 parfum as I ran out the door, knowing we’d be swimming. It was the perfect after swim spritz.

CHANEL No.5 parfum by Ernest Beaux for CHANEL 1921

Photo Stolen CHANEL

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, bergamot, lemon, neroli, ylang-ylang
Heart: Jasmine, rose, lily of the valley, iris
Base: Vetiver, sandalwood, vanilla, amber, patchouli

I enjoyed it so much that tonight I spritzed again and I wanted to share my joy in wearing this maybe 1970s or 80s parfum. It gushes out of the gate with a dark fizzy aldehydic rush that is more animalic and growlier than the current parfum, but maybe my parfum is a little old because the opening is slightly muddled compared to the clear bell of fruity fizz that my modern one exhibits. Sexier and more luxurious than the current version (which I also love BTW) there is something cozier and more feral about the vintage.

Today added to the salt, sun and chlorine, mixed with the joyful summer holiday air of a Sydney Boxing Day (the day following Christmas Day when once servants and tradespeople would receive gifts, known as a “Christmas box”, from their bosses or employers) it was the perfect blend of sophistication and joyous animal delight.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

You know I can smell very little of the singular notes in CHANEL No. 5 parfum, for me it is a gorgeous and complete smell where the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts. Not only the smell, which was one of my Mum’s scents, but also the fabulous history and all the women who have been given, who have bought, who have lived a little part of the No 5 fable. It feels like you are part of a crew that can be smelled as they waft by in almost every country in the world. From that brilliant genius and dastardly racist Gabriel Coco Chanel, through many of the world’s most beautiful and talented women in advertising, the G.I.s that bought it for their girls from 31 Rue Cambon through the tawdry days when it became a drug store perfume and now back out the other side where CHANEL is again one of the eminent fashion houses and CHANEL No. 5 is an affordable buy into that magical dream.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Bois de Jasmin
Essential Mall Australia has $148/7.5ml modern parfum refill
Surrender To Chance has vintage CHANEL No. 5 samples starting at $10/.25ml

What do you feel when you wear CHANEL No. 5? Which fragrance leads you into a fairytale?
Portia xx

Scent With Love: CHANEL No.22

September 20, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hi there APJ,

My mate Rose M sent me a package a while ago. It got lost in a drawer during a clean up and since we have been organising the house for Open Houses a bunch of forgotten magic has turned up. What is in the package? Modern & Vintage CHANEL No.22 EdT and some Vintage CHANEL No.22 parfum. OH MY! You may remember I discovered CHANEL No.22 in Paris earlier this year with Michael. Rose M thought I should get some historical juice on my skin and be able to compare, I’ll do my best but this wonky old nose will probably just smell the same thing at different strengths…..

CHANEL No.22 by Ernest Beaux for CHANEL 1922

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lily-of-the-valley, neroli, aldehydes
Heart: Oriental jasmine, rose, Comoro island ylang-ylang
Base: Haiti vetiver, Bourbon vanilla

OK, so the vintage EdT comes out sweeter and more aldehydic. Current EdT has a fresh, nutty and much cooler vibe than the vintage. Vintage smells animal and sensual while the modern has a metallic edge, a little reminiscent of No. 19. As the top notes blow off the two become more alike and though still different they coulod be the same fragrance family now. Vintage seems smoother and warmer, like the ultimate softness of room temperature ivory against your skin and still the current is cooler, more transparent like cool crystal.

Photo stolen Flickr

Photo Stolen Flickr

Suddenly, at about the 20-30 minute mark it’s like they both come into clear focus and smell nearly exactly the same, there are differences but only the difference that a wear on different days woulds NEVER tell apart. It’s like you are wearing the same fragrance but in different weather or after you’ve used a different body wash in the shower. Vintage lasts for hours longer in the heart section and when modern has almost completely disappeared I can still smell glorious aldehydic bouquet pumping its lavish tune from the vintage. Dry down is warm and subtly earthy but through CHANEL No. 22s life it never loses that aldehydic magic.

They are both incredible and I am going to grab some of the current EdT and Parfum. The die is cast.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Perfume Posse
You can try or buy CHANEL No. 22 at any of the stand alone CHANEL stores or a very few department stores.
Surrender To Chance has CHANEL No. 22 samples starting at $4/ml and Extrait at $8/ml

Thank You Rose M. I have enjoyed this throw down immensely and you have ultimately made me a complete slave to CHANEL No.22 EdT.

Portia xx

Chanel No. 22 by Ernest Beaux for CHANEL 1922

July 19, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 35 Comments

HEYA APJ Family & Friends,

One cool morning in Paris out with Michael in early 2014 we stumbled across 31 Rue Cambon, CHANEL Headquarters and once home of Gabrielle Chanel. Inside I tried for the very first time Les Exclusifs de Chanel No 22, thinking it would be a soft and retiring scent like much of the rest of the Les Exclusifs de Chanel range I opened my shirt and 3 big blasts, one then on each wrist ( I really wanted to live this fragrance for the hour it would last on me) and……….. BOOM! Wowzas, damn near blew the back of my head off, I was incandescent with No 22 and Michael could still smell me across the room at dinner that night.

Les Exclusifs de Chanel No. 22 Chanel by Ernest Beaux for CHANEL 1922

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lily-of-the-valley, neroli, aldehydes
Heart: Oriental jasmine, rose, Comoro island ylang-ylang
Base: Haiti vetiver, Bourbon vanilla

Turned off? NO WAY!! It made me want CHANEL No. 22 like crazy. What a fragrance. So recently I was trotting through David Jones (the oldest department store trading under the same name in the same location in the world) with my girl friend Ainslie Walker and we came across the new CHANEL counter with all the lovely exclusives and parfums. YAY!!! The girl serving was so lovely, could not have been more helpful and wanted nothing more than to have us understand the range. Woo Hoo! An SA who knows their job. Delighted is an understatement.

Michael & I @ 31 Rue Cambon CHANEL (Photo donated by Michael)

I must say that I was definitely not in the market for product on this particular day. Had I been more financially flush this SA would definitely have had a sale. What I did get though was CHANEL No. 22 Extrait on my arm and on a porcelain. So that was about 2 weeks ago. Tonight I opened the porcelain expecting to get a base only reminder of CHANEL No. 22. WOW! My whole office is filled to the brim with this wonderful, green aldehydic like a glass filling with a fizzy, metallic, soda pop of a fragrance that is both bold and restrained. A cool character on a huge scale, that doesn’t make sense but that’s how it feels in this room right now. I am engulfed, happily, enthusiastically overcome by scent.

Photo Stolen SeedOfHappiness

When I wear CHANEL No. 22 the aldehydes are the complete and utter star of the show, flowers are mown down, fruit is pulped and what I end up smelling is a metal/citrus/vanilla/vetiver creature. It’s a bit like putting snow in your mouth with a stainless steel spoon in a rose house with them all blooming. CHANEL No. 22 is one of the few vetiver fragrances where I get the soil/dirt/wood of the vetiver without salt hints, maybe the very dry vanilla cuts it?

Longevity? FOREVER! Sillage? You could ride the waves of it on water skis. Projection? It will blow the back of the heads from people in the next suburb, a little moderation with CHANEL No. 22 is probably a good idea. Of course I spritz with abandon some days and the world be damned.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Are you a CHANEL No. 22 fan? Is it a bit overwhelming for you? Which in the line do you particularly like?
Have a great and fragrant day. Waft on my loves, waft on.

Portia xx

CHANEL Cuir de Russie (Les Exclusifs de Chanel) by Jaques Polge for CHANEL 1983

May 27, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 29 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

First composed by Master Perfumer Ernest Beaux 1927
and retuned by Jaques Polge in 1983

CHANEL Cuir de Russie by Jaques Polge for CHANEL 1983

(Les Exclusifs de Chanel)

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featureed acciords:
Top: Tunisian orange blossom, Calabrian bergamot, Sicilian mandarin
Heart: Jasmine, oriental rose, ylang-ylang, oriental notes
Base: Albanian birch wood, tobacco, musk, leather

Cuir de Russie = Sybaritic Grandueur (Sybaritic – pertaining to or characteristic of a sybarite; characterized by or loving luxury or sensuous pleasure)

I have waited so long for this moment. I have had tiny samples, a lovely small dab bottle and finally a large decant. Being able to spray without a care really does make such a difference.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

You know instantly it´s a Chanel classic, even not being familiar with the scent itself. It is so beautiful that I am sat here at a loss for words. Cuir de Russie has been written about so many times there is not really much I can add. Perhaps though there is someone out there reading about it for the first time. This then is for you.

Cuir de Russie, or Russian leather was quite the modern theme around the end of the 19th century. Women were smoking cigarettes and perfume houses were coming up with fragrances for them. Women who smoked were scandalous and Cuir de Russie was provocative and shocking, which was its purpose.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

From the CHANEL Website: “The tumultuous events in Russian history offered Mademoiselle Chanel the opportunity to meet the Grand Duke Dimitri, who introduced her to an ingenious perfumer: Ernest Beaux, born and trained in Moscow. In 1927, she worked with him to create Cuir de Russie. Through long musky, smoky notes, it evokes a wild yet elegant world, with its scent of leather boots tanned by birch bark and the essence of Virginia tobacco.”

It is smoky and leathery, but it is softened by the sweet and lush floral notes. It is incredibly feminine, sensual and warm. It enticingly wraps itself around you like a smokescreen. It is elegantly animalic. It makes me feel fabulous.

Photo donated Val CQ

And when you work out after a long day, Cuir de Russie is reignited in the sweat. And it´s ravishing. It is your duty, if you haven´t already, to at least try this.

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and Olfactoria’s Travels
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml
You can try and purchase Cuir de Russie at most CHANEL boutiques and some CHANEL specialty stores

Cuir de Russie is who I was and who I am now.

CHANEL Bois des Iles by Ernest Beaux 1926

October 6, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 35 Comments

Hello Fume Heads,

Not so long ago friend and APJ reviewer Michael was over and he was wondering about Bois des Iles (Wood Islands or Islands of Wood) so I went and grabbed my decant. Though I’d spritzed it a couple of times and have a few wonderful memories of wearing it on our holiday this year, I had never taken time to understand the beauty behind this CHANEL princess of a perfume.

CHANEL Bois des Iles 1926

Photon Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, bergamot, neroli , coriander, mandarin, peach
Heart: Jasmine, rose, lily of the valley, orris, iris, ylang-ylang, lilac
Base: Vetiver, amber, sandalwood, benzoin, vanilla, opoponax, musk

Bois des Iles fizzy, fun and fruity opening with a slightly green bent opens up bigger than expected, I know it doesn’t last but the first few minutes could be the slightly muted grand entrance of an 80s blockbuster, so much going on in a fleeting snippet like watching the cars zoom off at the start of an all day car race. After the fireworks Bois des Iles settles into a still slightly zingy, spicy, floral bouquet but sadly on my skin I completely miss the oft talked about and loved gingerbread accord. I get jasmine and ylang ylang as my stand out performers, though the rest are there it is as harmonious background with a quietly insistent sweet woody baseline.

Photo Stolen FoxHarbor

Later we welcome the musky woods with vanilla and various resins in the base. This is the sandalwood dream I remember of early Samsara, a smooth creamy, buttery sweet sandalwood with none of the camphorous/eucalyptus squeaky dryness of modern sandalwoods or the thin artificiality of many of the reinventions through science. Interestingly, Kafkaesque writes that Jacques Polge’s modern Bois des Iles is an imagined sandalwood, an accord created without the use of sandalwood, WOW and Double WOW! A sensual, soft yet lingering masterpiece.

Bois des Iles will forever remind me of Paris, Jin and my journey there earlier in 2013, our friends Aaran & Gerard hosted us while we were there and in their home was a beautiful stained glass double door panel by a very famous glass artist, sadly he sold it recently, and the wonderful art deco/industrial piece is what I was most astonished by in his home while wearing Bois des Iles. Made around the same time, I think, as the glass doors cum art wall piece it all felt very elegant at the time and now that I’ve done some homework the resonances are striking.

From the CHANEL site: Paris, 1926. ‘Art deco’ is all the rage, exoticism fascinates, and jazz stirs passions. People dream of faraway lands and precious woods. Once again, Coco Chanel shakes up the history of perfume by launching the first woody fragrance for women. An intoxicating, enveloping, warm, sensual, spiraling scent. It’s all there: the precious woods, the opiate scents and magnificent, languid flowers. The fragrance is a mysterious, faraway continent in itself.

Further reading: Kafkaesque and Olfactoria’s Travels
Available exclusively in the CHANEL Fragrance and Beauty Boutiques
Surrender To Chance has Bois des Iles EdT from $4/ml and Parfum from $6/.25 ml

What was your Bois des Iles experience? Have you, or do you want to try it?
See you tomorrow,
Portia xx