Fashion

DIOR – New Flagship Store in Sydney!

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Hey Hey All You Fashion & Fragrance Lovers,

We have a wonderful new DIOR flagship store in Sydney. That means that the exclusive collection perfumes are now here for me to sample at my leisure. WOO HOOO! Not quite as lavish as the Harrods productions but Andy has twice taken friends and I through the store, been incredibly helpful and knowledgeable, and shown us absolute courtesy. If you happen to be in Sydney, ask for Andy, he is the best SA DIOR in Sydney has.

Here are a couple of shots of a day recently when two girlfriends of mine Domenica (from VogueVandal fashion blog) and her Mum Anna and I went for a grand tour of the establishment. At the top you’ll see them with Andy, then on the menswear level catwalk, the stairs to the underground and Domenica holding one of the fabulous new peachy orange coloured bags. Super fun day. Thanks DIOR.

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From March 14th to April 16th, the department store Harrods in London, UK celebrates the House of Dior, hosting a pop-up store with exclusive items as well as a unique ‘So Dior’ exhibition and a Dior Café.

Most of us can only dream of being there. But dream we must.

Portia xx

Here are the Harrod’s DIOR movies.

L’Eau D’Hiver by Jean Claude Ellena for Frederic Malle 2003

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Guest Post by Dionne

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Hello frag heads!

It’s been my plan for a while now to write a review of the fabulous Frederic Malle scent L’Eau d’Hiver, created by Jean-Claude Ellena. Part of my trifecta of season-less scents, which also includes Lumière Blanche and Art Collection #08 by Jacomo, this is one of the few perfumes I can wear year-round, no matter what the season.
“No matter what the season.” I’ll admit to a knowing chuckle as I type out that phrase, because March is the craziest month of the entire year where I live. Here in southern Alberta just west of the Canadian Rockies, spring doesn’t really arrive until late April, but it doesn’t feel like winter anymore either. Which is strange to say because we get more snow in March than any other month; it’s just that we also regularly get an interesting phenomenon called a Chinook, a warm wind that blows from the west and can raise temperatures 30 degrees in a matter of hours. So you never quite know what you’re going to get.

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What does this all have to do with L’Eau d’Hiver? It’s that no matter what the day is like, it’s been a great fit. I’ve worn it a lot this last month, when it’s plus 15, clear blues skies and I’m lifting my face to the sun while my little ones happily jump in all the puddles and rivers that are everywhere. It’s the perfect accompaniment for a sunny, joyful day. It’s also worked when it’s minus 20, there’s been a 25cm snow dump and whiteout conditions and I can barely get out of my driveway without getting stuck. Since staying home and declaring a snow day isn’t going to happen, (Albertans just lace up the Sorels and dig ourselves out, we’re kinda Boss that way) spraying L’Eau d’Hiver and enjoying its snuggly comfort while Getting Stuff Done is an enjoyable second option.

Back and forth, back and forth, that’s what March is like. How Jean-Claude Ellena managed to create a perfume that works on such different days, I’m not quite sure. All I know is that I’m impressed.

L’Eau D’Hiver by Jean Claude Ellena for Frederic Malle 2003

Picture 308Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Notes according to Fragrantica:
Bergamot, heliotrope, jasmine, iris, honey, angelica, white musk.

L’Eau d’Hiver is JCE’s tribute to Après l’Ondée, and I tried them both shortly after falling down the rabbit hole. For some strange reason, I had this idea in my head at the time that I needed to choose which one to own, as if there was some sort of contest. Fortunately I eventually realized how silly that was, and now have both.

If you ever want to try a fascinating experiment, do a wrist-to-wrist of the two and see what happens – just make sure the Al’O is the pre-2011 formulation. I love doing wrist-to-wrist comparisons as it helps me get better at this whole smelling thing, and in the three years I’ve done comparisons, I’ve never encountered anything quite as interesting as these two together. They seem to dance around each other, smelling alike for a moment, than different 5 minutes later, than alike again ten minutes later, then different again, back and forth, back and forth. To expand that particular image, it’s like a dance couple where the male, L’Eau d’Hiver, moves within a tight circle and the female, Après l’Ondée, twirls and leaps and runs off all pointy-toes before flitting back and smiling and then twirling off again. This is a very fancy way of saying that JCE has made L’Eau d’Hiver streamlined and modern, the essence of heliotrope, and its beauty lies in that simplicity.

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It’s a frothy almond milk with a sprinkling of sugar on top. If that sounds really gourmand to you, surprisingly, it’s not; the iris in here adds a cool, elegant vibe that keeps L’Eau d’Hiver from getting cutesy. The perfume is full of these kinds of contrasts: warm and cool, cuddly and elegant, close to the skin but distinctive, straightforward but with a lot to say.

Further reading WhatMenShouldSmellLike or Olfactoria’sTravels
MeccaCosmetica has 50ml for $195 in Australia
FredericMalle has 50ml for $150 in the USA
SurrenderToChance start at $6/ml

I’m in the mood for a dance. L’Eau d’Hiver, shall we?

Dionne xx

How to Scent your Space, Naturally

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Guest Post by Suzanne R Banks

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How to Scent your Space, Naturally

Hey all you perfume lovers out there – use your divine connection to scent to create a beautiful natural aromatic moment in your home or office, and even your car.

Of course you could spritz your perfume around and even though that will work, why not try a more natural approach? By using less chemicals in your life and being mindful about your purchasing decisions, you will be helping your brain and body, by giving them a rest from these toxic ingredients. You CAN have beautiful, natural scent. You don’t have to buy synthetically scented household products or personal care products anymore. There are so many fantastic natural and organic products that are reasonably priced and accessible to everyone.

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The most obvious choice for me is to use essential oils. You can put them in a classic oil burner with a candle, an electric vapouriser or make a mist in a simple mist bottle with oils and water.

For your home try:

“Boudoir”

to get the vibe going for an intimate evening at home add these oils to an oil burner with water, and a candle. The candle also acts as a transformative energy, a cleansing and renewing agent.

Ylang Ylang             8 drops
Orange                   10 drops
Patchouli                  2 drops
Cedarwood Atlas    5 drops

“Doucement”

a chill-out blend for the end of a long day or to get the kids settled quickly

Mandarin                10 drops
Lavender                  8 drops
Marjoram                  6 drops
Vetiver                       1 drop

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For the office try:

(If you have your own office it’s great but if you are working with other people in close proximity it may be better to place a few drops of oil on a tissue and keep it close by. We don’t want to offend or upset others in the work environment).

“That’s a Great Idea”

To inspire creativity and focus

Lemon       10 drops
Lime             5 drops
Basil              5 drops
Rosewood   5 drops

“Come On Friday”

A stress-less blend to take the edge off a difficult day

Cedarwood Virginian     3 drops
Pink Grapefruit               17 drops
Spearmint                         5 drops

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And for your car, you can simply place a few drops of oil onto a tissue, a cotton makeup pad or even a bit of paper towel and stick it in one of the vents.

Wake up and concentration oils:

Lemon
Basil
Rosemary

Calm down oils:

Lavender
Orange
Geranium
Bergamot
Petitgrain

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And if that gets a bit too hard you can always:

  • For home, office or car – buy or pick some scented flowers like gardenias, roses, jasmine, tuberoses, hyacinths, lilies, and anything else you can think of. It’s a great natural way to bring scent into your environment and as it can be quite seasonal you are also more in tune with nature
  • At home you could bake a cake, roast some almonds or make a crème brullee with real vanilla pods
  • At home – add a few drops of essential oils into your cleaning products and mop the floor (you get scent and cleanliness in one go)
  • In the car – eat an orange or mandarin and squeeze the rind around the seats. You’ll be amazed how effective it can be, especially when you get back into the car – it will be a citrus paradise!

I’m sure you can think of some more too. Let your imagination run wild with the scented bounty of nature.

Ed: If you thought this was good go see the Suzanne R Banks site (LINK JUMP) or like her Facebook Page (LINK JUMP)

Suzanne R Banks

Lanvin Me Fragrance 2013 Ad Campaign

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Lanvin Me Fragrance 2013 Ad Campaign

Yet again stolen a fresh and lovely advertising image from. art8amby

Released April 2013, Lanvin used a reprint image of Iselin Steiro by Steven Meisel from the mainline Spring Summer 2009 campaign.

Can’t wait to see if they have given us a masterpiece or an insult to our olfactory systems. Could this be the new Arpege? Maybe? A fragrance to stand the test of time and reformulation? Let’s cross our fingers.

Portia x

Image via TFS.

Ambre Gris by Guillaume Flavigny for Pierre Balmain 2008

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Hello Happy Huffers,

Today we look at a fairly new acquisition for me. I went through a 5ml decant in record time so gave myself permission to indulge.

Ambre Gris by Pierre Balmain 2008

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Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Myrrhe, benzoin, pink pepper, cinnamon
Heart: Immortelle, tuberose
Base: White musc, benzoin, amber, guaiac wood (tree of life)

Before I started researching Ambre Gris I was under the impression that it was a vintage fragrance from the house of Pierre Balmain. Not so, released in 2008 it sparked a veritable sensation throughout the scentbloggosphere for a few reasons: the last few Balmain frags had been met with surly derision by the perfumista community, this one was only available in a few select locations in Europe, named after that intriguing and hard to source perfumers magic ingredient ambergris from the intestines of one perr cent of sperm whales and because it was rumored to be fabulous. This was before my time on the scentbloggosphere, at this point I was a lone hoarder.

I love the fabulously hefty 100ml bottle with its thick, greyed glass and the golden disco ball on top is perfect to me, though many do not love it. In fact the whole package screams quality to me, even the understated label and box it comes in. I can imagine it fitting well into a mans or wamans wardrobe.

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How does it smell? Having read the other blogs I feel that I have a completely different product because my skin amplifies the salt in a fragrance, even though there is none in the note list. Ambre Gris opens warm and sweet on my skin, like eating Brighton Rock on the pebble beach.  There is a common complaint about Ambre Gris that it has a plastic vibe through the centre of it, which I often find in real life white flowers, it is not here for me sadly because I quite like that note. My experience with the heart are not everlasting daisies and tuberose, at all, unless it’s a small chemical found in both that also smells like the ocean, it feels breezy and windswept to me, and gives me a sense of freedom. Really, the notes list reads like gibberish compared to what I smell. The dry down is pretty and here I do get a salty amber and a little smoke. In the heat of Sydney summer Ambre Gris is giving me about 4-5 hours of discernible fragrance but I bought it so cheaply that I am very happy to reapply. I like it as my morning scent for some reason.

Ambre Gris works as a super base during its dry down adding a lovely heft to every perfume I have layered over the top for an afternoon or evening refresh, including: Sandflowers, Geranium Pour Monsieur, Bombay Bling, Coco and Songes (And many others)

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Further reading PerfumeSmellingThings and TheNonBlonde

FragranceNet has 50ml around $32
MyPerfumeSamples starts at $2/ml but the $7/5ml is EXCELLENT value

Have you tried Balmain’s Ambre Gris? Was it love or hate? Were you one of the frenzy buyers in 2008/9?

Until tomorrow,

Portia xx

Un Lys by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 1997

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Gabriella
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Hello fellow perfumaholics. I hope you enjoy my story today on one of my favourite scents.

Un Lys by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens (1997)

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Fragrantica gives these featured accords on one line:
Lily, musk and vanilla
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Many years ago, a long, long time before I became a perfumista and perhaps even before the advent of perfume blogging, I found an exquisite bottle of fragrance in a local boutique. It was housed in the most elegant rectangular bottle I’d ever seen and emblazoned with a peculiar name: Serge Lutens. It was called Un Lys.
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I fell in love with its clear bright beauty immediately. It was simply the best thing I had ever smelled. Its price tag, however, was another matter.  (You see, back then, I thought that anything over $100 way just way, waaay too much money to spend on a bottle of perfume. How things have changed!) I winced at the price, stood there for a while, decided against it and left. And I then promptly forgot about it.
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Fast forward some years later, and it was actually another lily perfume, the magnificent Lys Mediterrannee that sent me tumbling down the rabbit hole of full-blown perfume obsession. Its hold on me was so great, that for years, I did not think I needed another lily fragrance in my collection.
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However, earlier this year, Un Lys started calling my name again. I ordered a bottle, completely unsniffed besides that brief, but powerful encounter many years ago.
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Second time around, Un Lys took her time to ensconce me with her charms. I pulled it out one steamy Sydney morning thinking it would be the perfect accompaniment to a summery Saturday. But now, compared to Lys Med’s spicy voluptuousness, Un Lys struck me as rather wan, pale and uninteresting but therein lies the rub, Un Lys’ lack of complexity is its beauty and its simplicity is its mark of exquisiteness. Whereas Lys Med emphasises the tropical, heady, vampy vibe of the lily and others, like Donna Karan Gold, emphasise its green qualities, Un Lys is aims to be no more than an olfactory portrait of the flower. It needs no adornments and no bells and whistles to amplify its serene and quiet beauty.
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Further reading BoisDeJasmin and NowSmellThis
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ThePerfumeShoppe sends 50ml to the world $140 before shipping
SurrenderToChance starts at $4/.5ml
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Till next time.
Mx

Kim Kardashian by Claude Dir 2009

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Guest Post by Katrina

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This weekend I will be celebrating my 40th birthday with friends and the perfume I have chosen to wear for this auspicious occasion is …

Kim Kardashian by Claude Dir 2009

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Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, floral-lemon honeysuckle and orange blossom
Heart: Pink jasmine, tuberose, gardenia and spices
Base: Tonka, jacaranda wood, vanilla orchid, musk and creamy sandalwood.

I happily admit I was not in a hurry to try the Kim Kardashian perfume.  Yes, I have fragrances from Justin Bieber and Paris Hilton in my favourites list but everyone has their limits!  However I kept noticing favourable comments in the blogosphere that led me to take the plunge.  Who would have thought that Kim Kardashian could smell mature, long-lasting and sophisticated?

My first impression of the Kim Kardashian perfume – such a feminine fragrance!  Kim Kardashian is a rich floral perfume with jasmine, tuberose and gardenia.  When I first spray it on I find the scent quite sweet but the sweetness is from flowers.  There is no juicy fruit or other sugary ingredients.  This is a sophisticated, mature smelling fragrance rather than a girly celebuscent aimed at KK’s adoring teen fans.  The white florals are dominated by tuberose.  Tuberose can be a challenge for budding perfumistas but there is a creaminess to Kim Kardashian which makes it easier to wear and a great beginner tuberose fragrance.  Kim Kardashian melts down to a long lasting sultry scent.

I would tend wear this perfume when dressed for a night out rather than using it as an everyday scent but of course there are no rules – feel free to wear it whenever you like!

If you are a fan of white florals then give this one a chance – you may be pleasantly surprised.  When you can pick up a bottle for a bargain what have you got to loose?

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FragranceX  has a 30ml bottle of Kim Kardashian for $19.95 (The 50ml/100ml come in a round bottle and the 30ml in a metallic rectangular bottle)
MyPerfumeSamples starts at $2/ml

I recently posted a video review of Kim Kardashian.  You can check it out at my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HPHtpvh9SY

The wonderful Katie Puckrik has also reviewed Kim Kardashian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4FMoN_hVoA

You can find more Kim Kardashian fragrances at my website (http://celebrityperfumestore.com/index.php/kim-kardashian-perfume/) as well as the latest celebrity perfume news and reviews.

Katrina xx

Coeur de Vetiver Sacre by L’Artisan Parfumeur 2010 and Be Nice!

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Hello Everyone,

Sometimes when I read or see things on other people’s blogs or around the internet I then want to share them with you all. From one of my daily blog indulgences Sadie&Daisy here is just one of those things. Sadie&Daisy is a quick look blog, every day they pick a theme and post three photos. Sometimes it’s their photos and sometimes they use found pictures. Every day they are interesting. Sorry, no fragrance stuff today.

Coeur de Vetiver Sacre by L’Artisan Parfumeur 2010

Oh OK, I’m wearing an enormous couple of spritzes of L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Coeur de Vetiver Sacre over the fading embers of Lalique EdT which I have been using lately to finish my decant. I wish they had not discontinued Coeur de Vetiver Sacre but Thank Goodness TSO Jin picked up 100ml while we were in Paris at Galleries Lafayette for only 35 Euro because they are discontinuing. EXCELLENT SCORE!!

Karine Vinchon Spehner created L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Coeur de Vetiver Sacre in 2010 and it can’t have been a super seller for it to already be going to bye byes. Their line reads that it was hoped that three major accords would be produced through the fragrance lifespan, sparkling, spicy and smoky. That’s pretty much how it works and I love it, especially when Jin wears it. Great scent for him.

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Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Bergamot, orange, black tea, pepper, ginger, coriander, saffron, dates, dried apricot, incense, osmanthus, rose, iris, vanilla, vetiver, tarragon, sandalwood, white cedar, guaiac wood, amber, tonka , labdanum, castoreum and musk.

Till tomorrow, please read this sign and take heed.

Love,
Portia xx

Be NicePhoto Stolen Sadie&Daisy

Karl Lagerfeld Interview

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Hey All,

One of the men I most revere in fashion for his work and what seems, in a world where it’s so rare to find it nowadays, to be a delightful reticence to bare all every day for publicity. He is always friendly and charming in his interviews but restrained and totally about his craft and art.

Here he introduces his Fall-Winter 2013/14 Ready-to-Wear CHANEL show

CHANEL SeedOfHappinessPhoto stolen SeedOfHappiness

I do hope you enjoy it, the glimpses of the line we see look beautiful, wearable and saleable. BRAVO!

See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Step Back in Time: Jordan River Spikenard Foot Oil GIVEAWAY!!

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Guest Post b y Jordan River The Fragrant Man

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Are you spending too much on perfume? Here is a scented tale for you.

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The Oil in the Alabaster Box
There are many faiths in this world. There are also many myths and legends. It’s up to you to find the truth on your fragrant journey. Let’s travel to the east this Easter to visit with a woman living on the boundaries of her culture. She has recently met a man. She believes him to be her spiritual guide. He is surrounded by men at a dinner party. She is uninvited and has to make her way past the guests to be able to offer her teacher a scented gift. The gift is spikenard oil, a costly perfume ingredient which at this volume, a Roman litra, costs the equivalent of spending a year’s salary on a scent; a scent so potent that the home where this story takes place becomes filled with fragrant air.

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The room grew still
As she made her way to Jesus
She stumbles through the tears that made her blind

She felt such pain
Some spoke in anger
Heard folks whisper
There’s no place here for her kind

Still on she came
Through the shame that flushed her face
Until at last, she knelt before his feet
And though she spoke no words
Everything she said was heard
As she poured her love for the Master
From her box of alabaster

Don’t be angry if I wash his feet with my tears
And I dry them with my hair
You weren’t there the night He found me
You did not feel what I felt
When he wrapped his love all around me and
You don’t know the cost of the oil
In my alabaster box

– lyrics: Janice Sjostran
for chanteuse Cece Winans
– an interpretation of Mark 14:3-9

Judas the accountant thought this money would have been better spent feeding the poor. Nevertheless the teacher accepted this gift from a woman’s heart.

Jesus looked at her with a smile “your deed will never be forgotten. Your story will be told throughout all the lands and for all time and in ways you have never even dreamed of“.

Little could she have imagined that one day the story of her alabaster box would be told on the World Wide Web.

– a Roman litra ~ 327 grams


Album Version – Cece Winans – The Alabaster Box
A more melodic version.

Spikenard Foot Oil Giveaway

We also have a gift to give away. Brie in New York has made some spikenard foot oil especially for this post. If you would like to encounter this scent and look after your own or your loved one’s feet please leave a comment below, then go visit Jordan River at The Fragrant Man, like the site on Facebook or follow on Twitter @TheFragrantMan.

The gift recipient will be announced on Easter Sunday on The Fragrant Man and mailed to you on Tuesday.

Spikenard or nard originates in India and Nepal, high in the Himalayas. The root of the plant is the source for one of the rarest and most precious oils.

Brie would like to say that she is not a professional perfumer. This is an interest for her. She blends with the best of intentions, carefully choosing oils for their healing properties as well as for the enjoyment of smelling. Brie says that spikenard is quite tenacious and challenging to work with as in her experience it takes over the blend (similar to tea tree oil).

OTHER SITES DOING THE SPIKENARD GIVEAWAY! Yes, you can enter at ALL OF THEM!
AllIAmARedhead
CoolCookStyle
ScentsMemory
ThePerfumeDandy