This week we will have 1 winner who will receive: 1 x SAMPLE PACK
P&H Anywhere in the world
HOW DID 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 (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) 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 single 2014/5 fragrance you would like to sample if there were no money constraints and you were given the chance
Entries Closed Sunday 14th June 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winner was chosen by random.org
Photo Stolen HighestSelf
JESSI
The winner will have till Thursday 18th June 2015 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.
In honour of the recent discontinuation of the Badgley Mischka fragrance line I thought I would take a reminiscent look at the original in parfum form. While finding the EdP too sweet, tooth achingly sweet, I was surprised at my reaction to the parfum.
Badgley Mischka by Richard Herpin for Badgley Mischka 2006
Parfumo gives these featured accords: Top: Chinese cassia, Peach, Red berries Heart: Jasmine, Osmanthus, Peony Base: Amber, Caramel, Musk, Patchouli, Sandalwood
The bottle has been mocked but I quite liked it. Looking, as Tania Sanchez says, like “a set designer’s idea of a classy bottle, with a metal nameplate making it look like an executive paperweight” if you want to be mean and snarky, or looking very streamlined and 80s elegant if you like it. The Badgley Mischka Parfum comes in a cool square silver-tone column, it’s heavy and cold to the touch. Picking it up I get a thrill of luxutry, even though I bought my bottle pretty cheaply and it came with a refill.
How does Badgley Mischka smell? It’s a tart, sweet juicy explosion that is a bit like a tropical fruit punch leaning heavily on the mango and apricot nectars with a lovely fizzy champagne undercurrent. The flowers, when they arrive, are second fiddle to fruit but add a lovely dewy green, sappy freshness. They are a side note on my skin because already the sweet creamy base is coming through creating a fruity caramel melange. Imagine nougat with fruit instead of almonds, that’s the vibe for me.
It has been said that Badgley Mischka is the grown up fruitchouli and I can see where that has come from. It is an elegant version of a lot of other fragrances on the market and if I wanted something to push the limits of my fruit craving if I didn’t already have Badgley Mischka my choice would be Byredo’s Pulp. What I do tend to reach for more often and vaguely in the same ballpark is Liberte by Cacharel, using sizzling citrus instead of the peach (which reads mango/apricot nectar on me). If you like the original Miss Dior Cherie, Angel or any of the popular fruitchouli genre then this could hit your hot spot. To be honest I think that Angel did it so effectively and with so much panache that most of the wannabes are a pale imitation, Badgley Mischka parfum is very nice though and I’m on my second 15ml so that gives you some idea.
Hermès, even the name conjures images of wealth and luxury. Now the designers at Hermès bring us a beautiful tablewear set inspired by the ancient art of Ikat.
From Hermès: Inspired by ikat, an exceptional weaving and dyeing technique originating in Asia, Voyage en Ikat celebrates intermingled uses and an ongoing dialogue between East and West. More than twenty hues centered on sapphire, ruby and emerald, are enhanced by 24-carat matte gold and come to life in designs composed ‘thread by thread’.
I hope you enjoy the under 2 minute mini movie of the Hermès inspirations for their new porcelain,
Back in May 2013 when we did ScentSation Bus Tour in LA with Perfume Posse our very last stop of the day was Opus Oils. It had been a BIG day and we were tired and footsore. Many of us had spent our very last penny and the thought of one more perfume emporium seemed like it was one too many.
Then we were met by the incredibly luscious Kedra Hart who looks like every mans dream of womanity. Pretty, curvy, floaty and sensual, Kedra was also so totally sweet that the whole crew felt revived just by being in her presence. I smelled a couple of the fragrances but this one nearly blew the back of my head off. It was instant and has turned out to be lasting love…….
Opus Oils give these featured accords in one line:
Frankincense, Myrrh, Sandalwood, Blue Lotus Absolute, White Water Lily Absolute, Jasmine Absolute
Petrol, flowers, incense. Dark, thick and dirty but in there is glory: eye rolling, heart afluttering, transcendent glory. It’s like Metropolis, The Fast & The Furious, Wizard of Oz and The Passion of Christ are all melded into one fragrance. Heavy scent that drifts in layers about me, like walking through clouds of treacle that is glutinous and sparkling in the sunshine. Isis walks the fine line between gorgeous and disgusting so beautifully, seamlessly. It has me on the edge of my seat through the whole wear, every time. Will it dip over into the dark side but of course it never does.
You know that moment when you first crush a jasmine flower in your fingers? When the smell is so overpoweringly potent? Here Kedra has taken the moment that you pull away, it’s the moment when it stops being too much but all of a sudden magically becomes beautiful. The absolutes are heady, powerful stuff and then later in the wear they are subtly tempered by the sandalwood, which brings a pleasing creamy softness.
The incense has been in the mix all along but it’s not till the very end that I can really smell its cool, aloof, resinous and light smokiness. More like the Japanese incenses than the Catholic ones I grew up with it is a lovely counterpoint to what has gone before.
Isis has lasting power long beyond most of the natural perfumes I’ve worn, still leaving soft white floral and resinous traces next morning, not big but different to my smell. a very light gloss on top of my skin.
Fragrantica gives these featured accords: Top: Pink pepper, grapefrui Heart: Vanilla orchid, passion flower, suede Base: White amber, creamy musk, Madagascan vanilla, Haitin vetiver
WHAT COULD YOU WIN?
This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 ml decants of four of the perfumes mentioned in this post. Here they are in the order of my personal preference:
1) Fender’s Holiday Berry Kiss
2) Fender’s Rainforest Cologne
3) Taylor Swift’s Incredible Things
4) Jennifer Aniston Lovalie
(Hmmm…I seem to prefer pet perfume to celebuscents!)
P&H Anywhere in the world
HOW DID 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 (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) 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 about your favorite pet perfume, celebuscent or most recent fragrance adventure!
HOUSEKEEPING
Entries Close Thursday 11th May 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner was chosen by random.org
Photo Stolen amberinblunderland
JAYBEE
The winner will have till Sunday 14th May 2015 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.
Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water Jason Morgan comes along and heats it up. Acqua di Giò was created by Alberto Morillas in 1996 and has been massively popular ever since. It’s favoured by sporty suits in Australia and still smells good on the right person.
Yes, I’m back with another celebrity scent this time by Adam Levine. I found it at a discounter so took a chance on a blind buy. I couldn’t name a Maroon 5 song if my life depended on it but I now know Adam Levine is the lead singer. I respect him for putting his name on a pretty good fragrance.
Fragrantica gives these featured accords: Top: Saffron, citruses, marigold, spices Heart: Indian jasmine, Australian sandalwood, rose petals Base: Benzoin, vanilla
Before we even talk scent, how fabulous is the bottle? It’s inspired by a microphone. It’s young and fun and I wish I had it when I was 14. I am completely honest when I say if I had this back then I’d be dancing around my room singing into the darn thing. (I might even do that after I finish writing this.)
At first spritz I smell sandalwood and for a moment I think 10 Corso Como. It’s a fast burst and then other notes come into play. The note list makes me think warmer, spicy, heavy perfume, but on my skin this is not heavy at all but bear in mind not much is. I don’t smell marigolds (which smell a bit skunky to me) but rather a touch of saffron and I’m not sure what. I keep thinking coconut. I’m not a huge fan of coconut in perfume but I do like this suggestion of it. It could just be my nose distorting things. There is a brightness to the perfume but I never think “citrus” at any point during the development. Whatever the spices are in here they’re not dominant at all.
Sandalwood is always humming in the background and the jasmine, roses, and base notes are blended beautifully. No sour roses here. It’s not a beachy perfume yet somehow it makes me think of the beach on a cool summer evening. The jasmine is a little dirty. Maybe it’s the saffron and spice but there’s the smell of warm skin which is surprising to me. It’s not sweaty or skanky just a little sexy. I have to admit this is much better than I thought it would be. It’s not overpowering or long lasting on my skin but where it does get mileage is on clothing. Whatever I’ve been wearing while wearing Adam Levine for Her smells fabulous the next time I pull it out of the closet. The sandalwood and vanilla are really nice in this perfume. They’re probably completely synthetic but no matter, they smell great.
Adam Levine for Her is easy to wear and I could also see this as a cuddle up scent. I’m pleasantly surprised by this perfume and find myself reaching for it when I want something that just smells good. Or when I want to sing into the microphone bottle.
“Im a Barbie girl in a Barbie world. Life in plastic, it’s fantastic.”
If you just so happen to be a 90s kid like me chances are you will recognize those lyrics from Aqua’s Barbie Girl, a song which was essentially the soundtrack to my childhood. Much like the synthetic starlet herself this Danish bubblegum electropop anthem immediately calls to mind one of my absolute favourite fragrances, a composition by Christophe Laudamiel for niche concept house S-Perfume called S-ex. Perhaps one of the most terribly fascinating and unconventionally beautiful fragrances in my collection.
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Oxygen, salt, camellia, willow, skin musk, strawberry, baroque musk, white leather, black leather, pepper, nutmeg, bergamot, wheat, woodsy notes, malt, birch, patchouli, sandalwood, jasmine
I will admit, the opening sequence of S-ex was not an immediate affection for me and I can remember so vividly the very first time I sprayed it on my skin. A glacial surge of metallic ozone bursts forth from the atomizer, illustrating so viscerally a hyperborean landscape of frigid metal and ice. Soon though, this frozen thalassic vista begins to recede into the distance and the breathtakingly sensuous aroma of buttery leather begins to unfold and lend an unusually beautiful tactile, skinlike quality to the composition.
Beneath this narrative is where my reference to Barbie truly translates as the underpinning of this sumptuous leather is an accord not unlike the aroma of our darling doll’s trademark plastic. It’s an instant rush of nostalgia for me, and I’m certain for anyone else familiar with this particularly iconic smell. The nostalgia factor is only further reinforced by an rather curious note that to me smells of strawberry flavoured chewing gum that I was terribly fond of as a child. Though this combination sounds rather dissonant and peculiar, something about it is interesting and has kept me coming back again and again for years now. The longer the composition has to develop on the skin the more an astoundingly exquisite kaleidoscope of synthetic skin musks seems to develop and it is within this olfactory symphony that I find my greatest affection for the fragrance. The only way I can can think to explain this is to imagine dancing rays of lambent sunlight refracting haphazardly though the facets an intricately cut diamond. They seem as if they are ricocheting off of each other, ebbing and flowing into infinity. It is within the magnetism of this lustrous symphony that S-ex fades into the skin completely, leaving only delicate whispers of gossamer light in its wake.
The sillage on S-ex is respectable but not particularly loud and longevity is significant, closing out on my skin at around 10 hours. I will say, this is not a fragrance I would recommend buying blind as those anosmic to particular synthetic musks might not smell much of anything at all. S-ex also happens to be a fragrance I would wholeheartedly recommend every honest-to-goodness fume head try at least once for I genuinely believe it is a masterpiece in its own right.
I inherited three beautiful diamonds and an emerald and diamond ring. They are pieces of great beauty.
Writing about perfume is challenging and can be surprisingly difficult. It is all so subjective. Then add that to the fact that it is impossible to know what something smells like without physically smelling it. Nevertheless some writers prefer lists of notes and go onto describe them. Which is just fine unless they get it wrong. This can have a knock on effect with perfume people deciding, predicated upon what the writer says not to try it. This is extremely disheartening for the perfumers. So if you are waiting to have each and every note of Pichola dissected and discussed, move on!
Pichola by Neela Vermeire Créations 2015
Pichola: composed by Bertrand Duchafour for NVC under Neela´s eagle eye
All of the Neela Vermeire Créations are jewels in a sea of paste. Pichola is no exception, indeed it may be the diamond in the collection. Like my own diamonds, Pichola is for special occasions or social events. (I must add that my daughter aka BlondesWunder does not agree at all and has worn it on many days using up at least half of my stash, and even wears it to the gym)) I hear through the perfumista grapevine that Pichola wears close to the skin, with an average sillage. Which is exactly what I mean with perfume being subjective. Pichola is an absolute spicy, floral bombshell and develops and lasts for many hours, leaving a soft and elegant sandalwood as its last breath – to me. Notes do include cardamom, clementine, and bergamot, orange, rose, jasmine, sandalwood and vetiver. Pichola is in perfect symmetry with Bombay Bling, Mohur, Ashoka and Trayee. That Bertrand Duchafour has achieved this with Neela Vermeire is formidable and speaks highly of their relationship.
In the manner of the reflections off of Lake Pichola in Rajasthan from which it is named – Pichola reflects and diffuses each of its many notes. As light moves through a diamond, it is scattered and fractured, creating the sparkle that diamonds are known for. A diamond is evaluated on on its ability to reflect and refract light in all directions. Pichola glimmers and sparkles and changes with the light. Flawless.
“It’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.” Dolly Parton.
No matter how much we love our furry and feathered friends, most natural pet odors (with the notable exception of Pionus Parrot Perfume) can sometimes be challenging to deal with.
That being said, Fender the dog is usually not a stink bomb. Even damp from PNW rain he maintains a pleasant furry scent with an intimate doggie sillage. There are times, though, for whatever reason, when he is quite ripe. On those days an immediate in-home bath or a trip to the groomer is in order.
Pet Fragrance
I have discussed doggie odors, as well as pet and people perfumes, at length with Fender’s stylist, “L”. Most dedicated pet parents know that perfumes made for people are not meant for dogs or cats. Some of the ingredients in our favorite fragrances can actually be harmful to pets. “L” has introduced me to several lines of pet perfumes and colognes. Some, like the offerings from Nature Labs, smell like designer fragrances. Her favorites for her clients include Arfmani, Aramutts, Ms. Claybone, CK-9 and Tommy Holedigger. I was also surprised to learn that Juicy Couture has come up with dog colognes and beauty products, the Juicy Crittoure line.
My preferred perfumes from Fender’s small collection include a discontinued seasonal beauty entitled Holiday Berry Kiss. HBK is, in fact, one of my favorite raspberry fragrances – for dogs or humans. Notes include sweet, tart raspberry, unripe pear, jasmine, rose and fresh water notes. I also enjoy Espree odor neutralizing Rainforest Cologne. This dog perfume is reminiscent of the gardenia and the other white florals in My Life by Mary J. Blige. While Fender rarely puts up with a lot of frou-frou, once in awhile he will tolerate a little spritz of Pucci.
Incredible Things by Elizabeth Arden for Taylor Swift 2014
Fragrantica gives these featured accords: Top: Pink pepper, grapefrui Heart: Vanilla orchid, passion flower, suede Base: White amber, creamy musk, Madagascan vanilla, Haitin vetiver
A couple of months ago “L” was living through some very frustrating experiences. What better way to help a fellow perfumista than a gift of her favorite fragrance? She loves the perfumes of Jennifer Aniston, especially the first one, sometimes called Lovalie (2010). I believe that the clean, light soapiness of Lovalie must be a much-needed respite after long hours surrounded by heavy-duty animalic odors. I easily found this first Jennifer Aniston online but the second one, J introduced in 2014, was a bit of a challenge to locate. I finally tracked it down, on sale at my local Target store and purchased the last one in stock. Prominently displayed above the Jennifer Aniston section was Taylor Swift’s new fragrance Incredible Things (2014). I bravely gave myself a generous spray and was surprised and impressed by a beautiful, livable coconut and an eye-popping grapefruit spiced with pink pepper. The circuitous route to my discovery of Incredible Things reminded me that I never know where or when a new fragrance adventure will come my way!
Azar xx
Photo Stolen Kesha&Co
Celebu-Pet GIVEAWAY
WHAT CAN YOU WIN?
This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 ml decants of four of the perfumes mentioned in this post. Here they are in the order of my personal preference:
1) Fender’s Holiday Berry Kiss
2) Fender’s Rainforest Cologne
3) Taylor Swift’s Incredible Things
4) Jennifer Aniston Lovalie
(Hmmm…I seem to prefer pet perfume to celebuscents!)
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 (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) 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 about your favorite pet perfume, celebuscent or most recent fragrance adventure!
HOUSEKEEPING
Entries Close Thursday 11th May 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Sunday 14th May 2015 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.
Photo Stolen HighestSelf
Australian Perfume Junkies 