Eau De Nyonya by Auphorie 2016: So Singapore lah!

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Kate Apted

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Dearst APJ people, I send you my fairest greetings.

I am about to go to Singapore with my youngest son. I lived there in 2003 and have wonderful memories of the place, its people and THE FOOD! Now and then, I visit Malay hawker style food outlets to get a bit of a fix of nasi lemak. The key to the rice is coconut milk and pandan leaves. Oh, pandan…  I even go so far as to buy the leaves and just scrunch them in my hand to release the scent. It has a milky green feel to it, with a definite high note that is inexplicable. The other things I simply adore about Singapore are Singlish and Gurmit Singh, the actor who has immortalised Singaporean comedy with Phua Chu Kang; a sit com about a construction business owner who pokes fun at the nouveau riche.

Eau De Nyonya by Auphorie 2016

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Mitsouko by Guerlain vintage parfum C1988

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Post by Portia

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Hi there Vintage Frag Freaks,

You know I’m a bit of a Guerlainophile? Well, I rather like their work. Recently I picked up a little bottle of the parfum, used but still about 80% full, in the iconic bottle, only 7.5ml. Well I can’t stop dabbing it. It sits here on my desk and calls to me with its luscious sweet fruity dryness and what can I do but indulge?

Mitsouko by Guerlain vintage parfum C1988

Mitsouko Guerlain vintage parfum Jan 2016
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Lemon, Mandarin, Neroli, Jasmine, Rose
Heart: Peach, Rose, Clove, Ylang-Ylang, Lilac, Jasmine
Base: Oakmoss, Labdanum, Patchouli, Benzoin, Vetiver, Cinnamon

Tonight, quite late, I drew the bath and put some Radox Bath Salts in. About half way through the running I decided to add in 15 drops of Jo Malone Red Roses Bath Oil. Suddenly the room smelled unbelievable, deep, blood red roses, dry black tea and the crackle of split branch and wood. We are having an unseasonal summer cold snap so I made the water lovely and hot. An hour later I arose like an extremely obese Birth of Venus both clean and rosy, rosy skin and smell.

Jo Malone Red Roses Bath Oil

Having come back to my desk afterwards I had thought I’d wear Mohur or Ballets Rouges but instead decided to dab myself like crazy with Mitsouko. MMMMMMM I smell freaking amazing and the rosy underlay has definitely amped the rosy nature of Mitsouko and given it a whole new more austere and aloof mien than usual. It’s different but lovely, different enough to be a rose Mitsouko flanker and I for me the Red Roses adds a lightness and freshness that is very modern, is there a bunch of white musk under Red Roses? I’m getting them even if there isn’t.

Mitsoujko Guerlain Verschoren_Rose_Katja_1970 WikipediaWikipedia

Still Mitsouko but slightly changed, some air between the heavily constructed, dense, historic notes. An extra swish and zing from the 21st century yet still laid over the intricate, nuanced and slightly dirty grace of one of the most revered fragrances in the books.

Now I have applied a second layer of extrait over the same spots as before and the Mitsouko is pretty much back to normal now. Maybe because I have rose on my mind there is still a large overblown old fashioned fruity cabbage rose in my olfactory picture but the other notes like clove, peach, ylang and amber are much more prominent and noticeable. HA! Maybe I just needed more Mitsouko juice on my skin?

This morning, I wake up to the softest thrill of something not quite me above my skin. My guess is oakmoss and vanilla from Mitsouko and some white musks from Red Roses, it shimmers above my skin but is not really a fragrance. It’s the ghost of the memory of being fragrant.

Mitsouko Guerlain Winter's Morning in Somerset GeographGeograph

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Persolaise
Mitsouko can be tried at any department store with a Guerlain counter for FREE. Go spritz lavishly.
Surrender To Chance have vintage parfum samples starting at $10/0.25ml

Please tell us your Mitsouko story? I’d love to read it.
Portia xx

 

Narcisse Noir by Ernest Daltroff for Caron 1911

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Post by Portia

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Hi there Vintage Vamps,

A while back I stumbled across someone’s Sale Document in Facebook Fragrance Friends and on the list were some lovely fragrances that I really wanted to try in their vintage form. One in particular was the last couple of ml of a Caron scent that was, and still is, based around one of my favourite notes Narcissus, it is Narcisse Noir…

Narcisse Noir by Caron 1911

Narcisse Noir by Ernest Daltroff

Narcisse Noir Caron FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: African orange flower, narcissus
Heart: Jasmine, orange, tincture of rose
Base: Vetyver, musk, sandalwood

Narcisse Noir opens with a lovely soapy orange blossom curled around narcissus. Not the potent feral narcissus of the absolue, here it is softened and sweetened, draped elegantly over lashings of musks and sweet smooth and creamy sandalwood. This is OLD! because I can smell real animal musk. Yes there are some sweet flowers in the heart but they seem to be only ornaments to the narcissus, sandalwood and musk.

Normally I wear Narcisse Noir and just let myself float freely on a cloud of its loveliness. It’s weird trying to parse notes of something that I have had so much enjoyment out of as a whole and finished creation.

Narcisse Noir Ryan Somma Jonquilla Daffodil FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

The heart gives me a hint of indolic skank but nothing that would upset the vicar (sadly) and orange does make an appearance, it’s a juicy and pithy orange quite rounded and I had never noticed it before today’s wear. Narcisse Noir is much more multifaceted that I ever thought, light, shade and nuance that wearing as a fragrance just doesn’t show. Even a fruity rose rears its head, not a loud one but when I look for it after reading a note list it’s there.

Basically the fragrance then takes hours to dry down. Instead of making great changes it smooths and creams its way to a hum that just shimmers above my skin making me smell divinely better than I really do.

Narcisse Noir red-roses Hans PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Further reading: Now Smell This and Yesterday’s Perfume
Galaxy Perfumes has EdT $85/50ml (the only bottle I could find online not on eBay or Amazon)
Surrender To Chance has samples from $3/ml

Did you ever spend time with Narcisse Noir? Will you miss it when it’s gone?
Portia xx