Fashion

SUNDAY QUICKSNIFF REVIEW #1

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Hiya all,

Picture Stolen from dazzlejunction.com

I wear a lot of perfume and write about surprisingly little of it, hard to believe isn’t it? So I’m going to try something new. I will open this Sunday QuickSniff Review page on Monday morning and every time I spritz and am near the computer I’ll give a 3 sentence review with a rating out of 5 each for

Scent, Obviously the number 1 priority here is how does it smell. My reviews are completely subjective and will differ widely from your own experience with the scent but it’s a good starting point. As yet I am not a trained perfumer so any and all descriptions are merely that, descriptions. There are plenty of blogs that offer technical details and chemistry, in 3 sentences I’ll pass.
Longevity, This is a biggie for me because like enfleurage where flower petals are left in fats to steal the scent, my fatty body works the same and eats it up, yum. So for a scent to last well on me, it will probably last a whole day on you and need a radioactive decontamination shower to defuse it from your skin.
Desirabilty, Wrapped up in this is scent, price, house, history, longevity, packaging, availability and a billion other things.

* in any of these being the, “You couldn’t pay enough to spray this God awful stink on me again, it smells like public toilets in India, long time fridge malfunction while on Summer holiday and the vile stench of poverty all rolled into one.” You are putting innocent people in danger if you wear this.
** means it’s a nothing, wearable, boring, maybe the price is prohibitive for what you get or it’s ubiquitous. You should definitely get a sample of this to stop a buying boo boo.
*** is a perfectly good product that smells good and lasts a while at a decent price. You should definitely think about trying a sample or squirt but should you miss out your life will continue. Sample size worthy.
**** is the one you try, want a lot but can wait for a birthday/Christmas. It’s better than most of the stuff you’ve sniffed and may fill a void in your library. This is also an excellent decant product 5ml will get you through the season and maybe buy it next year.
***** meaning, stop reading this, grab your cash, credit card (or partners), roll the elderly or rob a petrol station and purchase this product. NOW! If you don’t have this fragrance you could die.

AMBRE de CABOCHARD by GRES 2006.  This has a bright, warm, almost plastic opening like so much else these days and warms down nicely to a nutty, floral, fruit buzz. Tania Sanchez call this a “chemical fruitcake.. with a thin, oddly waxy floral-and-spice formula so cheap…” and while that is true Ambre de Cabochard is affordable, wearable and fun, FragranceX has it for under $25. S=** L=*** D=**

AROMATICS ELIXER by CLINIQUE 1971. Every time I spritz this massive fragrance on myself I feel joyous, sexy and gorgeous. It is a sure fire compliment fragrance and has uber wattage that lasts and lasts. Flowers, wood, herbs, spices, it has them all in abundance; go to your local Clinique counter and ask for the 4ml tester. S=***** L=***** D=*****

COVET by SJP 2007. In 2007 this was probably very new and cutting edge, 5 years on it smells fresh, light, crisp and harmless. I like this as a daywear/worklife nothing but the bottle is really fun/camp/silly/cute and I wanted it on my dresser, FragranceShop has a coffret for under $25 with 15% discount. S=*** L=*** D=***

EAU MEGA by VIKTOR & ROLF 2009. This is pretty flowers, fruity pears, leaves, musk in a light but slightly muddy scent that never quite reaches lift off for me. I like it, but the bottle that looks cool in ads is cheap and awkward in your hand. People that want a fragrance but not a statement piece will love this because it’s so easy to wear and no one will be offended; 2.5oz $50 and up. S=** L=** D=**

FRACAS for MEN EdC by ROBERT PIGUET. (Not to be confused with Fracas by Robert Piguet) This is a lovely fresh, cheap, sexy fragrance with light but persistent staying power, for someone who likes to smell barbershop, woods and sexy leather all day long. Amazon has 100ml from $10. S=*** L=**** D=**** (extra for the ridiculous price point)

RUSH 2 by GUCCI 2001. Everyone gripes about this bottle but I think it’s fun and quirky, great for a gym bag or purse where you don’t have to worry about a cap. The scent is an interesting soft linear scent that just needs to be ramped up a bit for me but is nicely unusual on a man if you can get him past the hot pink casing. FragranceX has 5ml for $10. S=** L=** D=***

I hope you have enjoyed reading through the new Sunday Quicksniff Review. I’d love your feedback please. Any comments, advice, things you like or hate, any way you think Sunday Quicksniff Review could better cater to you.

Grateful you’ve dropped by, please do so again,

Portia xx

Bedtime Perfume; Chanel No 5 Review

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 27 Comments

Hey gang,

“To sleep, perchance to Dream; Ay, there’s the rub, For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,” Hamlet; Shakespeare

Does anyone else wear a different perfume to bed? It’s a ritual with me. I like to put on a favourite to send me off to sleep, quite often it’s a perfume that doesn’t get much daytime or work wear, for any number of reasons. To loud, too floral, too celebuscent, too often ignored. Sometimes you just pass fragrances over for a while because other things have caught your attention or you are testing, on you or a room of Turbo Trivia players. When your scent wardrobe starts to become a scent library you need to find new times to wear perfume so they all get smelled. I know, these are the most shallow of first world problems but I like it.


Photo Stolen from bootsandcateyes

The other night I decided to put on some Chanel No 5 EdP before I went to bed. No 5 is an old memory scent for me, of my Mum. She left me a black bakelite and gold large refillable spray when she died that must have been almost full because it lasted for ages. At the time though she’d not thought to tell me they were refillable so it has been lost to eternity. Through my mind ran the most wonderful memories of my Mum, always smiling and glamorous when wearing No 5 because it was one of her grown up “going out” scents, a swirl of skirt, swish of hair and a wall of perfume. It was the 80’s and 90’s so she was unafraid to multispritz. Nowadays she would be frowned upon probably as an olfactory pollutionist and not allowed into restaurants, cinemas, workspaces or buses. Back then you were supposed to have a scent that entered the room before you and left weeks later, and all the curtains in every venue felt as if they’d been dry cleaned nightly.


Photo Stolen from bookdepository

Evie C wrote us some great No 5 stories recently and I find it hard to believe that any of you wouldn’t know what Chanel No 5 smells like because it was as ubiquitous as Shalimar, Georgio, Joy et al but I think the world has moved on in some respects, so…

Chanel No 5 is a big, fat, delicious, glamorous, gorgeous, mouth watering, head turning, man pulling siren of a fragrance designed by one of last centuries style icons, Gabrielle Coco Chanel in 1921 with Ernest Beaux, to grab you by the nose and take you to places you never thought you’d be. It was released 5/5/21 because 5 was Coco’s lucky number, and so last week it celebrated its 91st birthday. They say it was a stolen formula from the Russians who were fleeing the collapse of their empire. They say a million things. If you want a history The secret of Chanel No 5 by Tilar J. Mazzeo is a rollicking great read and could even be the true story. You may have heard Marilyn Monroe’s scandalous quote about wearing only Chanel No 5 to bed. What matters is the scent; reformulated many times over the years, even the great Luca Turin is amazed at how true to its ancestors it smells. I have a few different bottles of Chanel No 5. A fairly recent EdP, an 80’s EdT and a 1940’s US made, wartime .5oz Parfum, still wax sealed and waiting for an enormous opening ceremony. I think maybe a perfumista dinner party where we can all sniff, snort and snuffle unashamedly.

Fragrantica gives…

Top notes; neroli, ylang-ylang, bergamot, amalfi lemon and aldehydes;

Middle notes; iris, jasmine, orris root, rose and lily-of-the-valley;

Base notes; vetiver, musk, sandalwood, patchouli, oak moss, amber, vanille and civetta.

…but you can’t read this litany and think you know what it will smell like. That’s like looking at a Claude Monet painting of Giverny and thinking you know what spring is like, though you’ve never left your home.


Monet’s Spring at Giverny (1886) from thecultureconcept.com

The wonderful thing about Chanel No 5 is that you need only go to your nearest department store and try it. It costs nothing to go and spray yourself silly with it. But beware, Chanel No 5 is magic, even still. There is a little drop of white witch in every bottle. You will become a walking siren should you dare to cross the threshold. Go on.

I dare you

The ad below was recently on Olfacroria’s Travels and it thrilled me. I’d not seen it before and it felt so gorgeously expensive, even for a fragrance commercial which are notoriously spendthrift. Now whenever I put Chanel No 5 on I feel transported to this imaginary story as well. It is a hard working fragrance that takes me to a million places.

What do you wear to bed? Is there a special fragrance or are there many?

Portia xx

DIOR: Shanghai Spring/Summer 2012 highlights

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Hey Fellow Fumeheads,

Having adored it all my life I studied Fashion in the 1980’s and there is a thrill still left for me in the words Yves Saint Laurent, Vivenne Westwood, Hermes, Donna Karan, Gucci, Thierry Mugler, Louis Vuitton, Gianni Versace and of course Christian Dior. There are many more names that could have been in this list but these names are the ones that have stuck in my head and which I associate with the longing I felt for high fashion while having neither the budget, body or where with all to be it. There was a spate of label purchasing through my 20’s and 30’s of usually off beat, unwanted, ready-to-wear pieces that had found their way to the discount stores in Europe and the USA, some house store sale shopping and the very rare in-season piece that I couldn’t live without. What I did do through these years though was buy ties, shoes, belts and fragrance from the big guys, giving me a taste of my dreams without losing the shirt off my back.


Photo Stolen from gatshfros.blogspot.com

For the rest I have stolen runway ideas and thrown them into my costumes; a collar, cuff, colour or treatment that moved me each season. Not to be up to date but because I was inspired by the bevy of amazing things done. Most of it was grown out of and handed down to the next generation and sometimes I see a newbie in bits and pieces of something I made 20 years ago.


Photo Stolen from internationalposter.com

My favourite designer purchase I ever wore was a gold/orange and dark coffee Thierry Mugler footed catsuit with the Thierry Mugler TM as the LV in open mockery of Louis Vuitton luggage. It was funny and silly and I wore it a lot. Its first ever wear was at the Cannes Film Festival to be interviewed by Ruby Wax while we were there promoting Priscilla: Queen of the Desert in 1994, or 1995? Cool huh?


Photo Stolen from egodesign.ca

Why have I included this long and seemingly pointless preamble? I came across this awesome video of the Shanghai DIOR show from March and realised that I am completely without a fragrance from Christian Dior in my Wardrobe. I love Diorissimo, Dune, J’Adore, Poison, Eau Savage, Fahrenheit and Dior Homme but have not purchased any of them for years, maybe because it’s so easy to go to a counter and get a squirt when the mood takes me, maybe not. It seems a glaring omission and I think I’ll have to rectify it during the week.

No reviews or anything today. Sorry. It’s Sunday and sunny and I want to be out among it. Wearing Soivohle; Rosa Sur Reuse and am quite liking it though. Maybe I’ll review it for you someday.
Have a super lovely day,
Portia xx

Please enjoy this short and sweet look at Shanghai DIOR Spring/Summer 2012.

The New Cupboard

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Hi All,

Don’t forget to leave a comment in the COMPETITION GIVEAWAY post yesterday

Since being inspired and awed by Victoria who recently won the 2012 Editorial Excellence – Blog/E-Zine Fifi for “Luxury vs Function in Perfumery” Bois de Jasmin, March 15, 2011 (Congratulations and snaps Victoria, all hail the reigning Queen) I have been trolling the web even more to learn what makes a great and interesting blogger, to me. There is so much out there. All of us at different levels, everyone getting their say. So democratic. It’s hard to keep up with everyone, especially when many blogs don’t have a delivered to your inbox button. So the people I read every day come to my inbox (about 17) and then I troll for the rest, yes I know about RSS feed but always forget to check it till Sunday.

According to the scentbloggosphere there are a few stages we go through from regular Jo to Perfumista. On the Posh Peasant while purchasing decants from my GIFT CERTIFICATE!! (thanks to TSO Jin, what a guy) I found a 2007 article by Angela, who seems to have hit my story on the head at Now Smell This with her Becoming A Perfumista story . Although it doesn’t mirror my experience exactly it did feel spooky and familiar. It’s good to know I’m not alone. Here is the crux of her story;

Stage One; Strong Interest. Love perfume, have a few, follow releases.

Stage Two: Beginning Perfume Mania. Nearly finished here. Learning ingredients, looking for something special, finding like minded people.

Stage Three: Full Blown Perfume Mania. Moving towards here. Must try every fragrance ever made, writing blog, doing course (soon)

Stage Four: Connoisseurship. Love perfumes, have a wardrobe of incredibly special ones, follow releases but with knowledge

So The Significant Other, Jin, and I trotted off to IKEA to buy a new cupboard for perfumes, decants, decanting supplies, mail needs, and boxes on one side and all my Turbo Trivia and P T Palace homestay needs on the other. It has changed my life having a handyman superhero around the house, imagine being this happy putting a cabinet together. Thanks universe. It’s the woolly winter house socks that give him special powers BTW. Ari on Scents of Self recently did a gag about the suspenseful IKEA how to booklets but watching Jin whip up a complete unit in around an hour was Ah May Zing! It would have taken me the whole day and not turned out looking like a cupboard at all.

When I get my office to a state where photographs won’t incriminate me as a messy desk person I will shoot some in situ shots. It does look rather good all set up and full of the businesses of being me.

Thanks for dropping in I thought you might like this super model laden D&G ad.
It’s fun, and they make it look effortless.

Much love,
Portia xx

Parfum d’Empire, Fragrance Reviews

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Hi Stinkophiles,

Today we are looking at 4 of the Parfum d’Empire range of fragrances. I’m glad I’ve had a couple of days to do this because they have been so delicious, interesting and fun to wear, not to mention totally enjoyable to look up on different sites all the reviews, chatter, science and mystery surrounding them. Considering how little we know about the perfumer Marc-Antoine Corticchiato there is a wealth of information about his fragrances, which has made my job easier and harder in equal measure. What to put in, what to leave out, what is true, fantasy, science, madness or necessary to give a complete picture? The samples were bought from the Parfum d’Empire website, all of them were purchased late 2011 and I had tried only a couple and from that have 2 unopened bottles awaiting a suitable opening ceremony.  I hope you enjoy this short journey through about a third of the range. This is not a favourite list it is merely a random snapshot of the magicians art of fragrance in one house. I will give you my first impressions in words then work through the fragrance as my often wonky nose takes me through each perfume. Come.

Eau de Gloire EdT

The first fragrance that Parfum d’Empire brought to the world in 2005, modeled on Marc-Antoine Corticchiato’s scent memory of his boyhood home Corsica, literally translated as Water of Glory and dedicated as an homage to all those who’ve left their homelands to go into the world and conquer. Especially to his own home island boy Napoleon Bonaparte.


Photo Stolen from telegraph.co.uk

Bracing, Citrus, Salt, Squeaky, Floral, Masculine

WOW! This opens with a powerhouse icy cold screech of bergamot, citrus twig and broken branch and briny sea air then the herbs and flowers come and take the edge off. As the rosemary, lavender and star anise waltz in they warm the scent slightly but still it stays cool and laid back. I don’t believe in fragrances for the sexes but I keep imagining Eau de Gloire on a very masculine man though I would love to see how it smells on a woman. There is a squeaky dissonance here, the trilling of the citrus which lasts well into the heart of the fragrance and the rumbling of the incense, anise, oakmoss and tobacco. Unfortunately my nose misses the tea and leather in the composition completely, maybe you will have more luck. At about 3-4 hours I get more soft and flowery notes over the various resins, this fragrance grows more interesting and textured as it matures. At 7 hours it is soft as butterfly kisses and almost as ephemeral.

Fragrantica gives you the low down but Olfactoria’s Travels really does this lovely fragrance justice.

Osmanthus Interdite EdP

The French missionary and plant hunter, Jean Marie Delavay in the mid 19th century “discovered” Osmanthus (O. fragrans), a native of the GuiLin area of China (GuiLin means “Forest of Osmanthus” in Chinese). Osmanthus is a fast growing “bushy” tree that can grow 20 feet tall and 8 feet wide with glossy leaves and clusters of small, highly fragrant, yellow tubular flowers. Traditionally a symbol of love and romance and one of the 10 famous flowers in China and Taiwan.

Photo Stolen from trax2

Green, Crisp, Fresh, Light, Cold tea, High florals.

Osmanthus Interdite, which means Forbidden Osmanthus, is like arriving late for the presentation of tea during the cooler days of  jasmine and rose blooming. Honestly, I don’t smell jasmine and rose as I know them in life, this is an aloof, cool and soft scent on my skin, not a clean scent but reminiscent of cleanliness. Discernible and noticeable without a fanfare or scream, this is no bombastic floral. It is an old perfumed leather pair of driving gloves kept in perfect condition but worn, used and loved. The leather notes are far gone but you still can almost smell them, do I make sense? Almost as if they have become soaked with the wearers tea scented perfume and bodily fragrance over time, on top of a soft floral fragrance impregnated into the leather pre-purchase. They work side by side to create an intriguing unisex dichotomy through the heart. At the 8 hour point and there is still a whiff of something lovelier than me, faint and clean.

Here is Fragrantica and Abigail at I Smell Therefore I Am gives a 5 star rating to this luscious juice. WOW!

Wazamba EdP

Wassamba or Wassahoumba is a percussion instrument or disc rattle played rhythmically in loud, penetrating pulses by dancers during ceremonies in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Made of gourd and white wood the Wassamba usually weights about half a kilo.


Photo Stolen from ancestralmemory.com

Char, Sparkle/fizz , Olive green, Incense, Bark, Intense

Once the initial screaming, burning rush of Wazamba cools it becomes another perfume, churchy and sepulchral. It reminds me of years spent in Roman Catholic churches and the theatre and drama of religion. I think it’s interesting that many ceremonies of religious and tribal spiritual cleansing over the world smell similar. Having never been to West Africa personally, a neighbour once bought back a good luck talisman in the form of a fragrant pillow of woven grasses with smokey herbs, spices and incense inside, this has almost the same smell. What a powerhouse of memory and reflection Wazamba has been for me. A fragrance that wanders through a thousand shades of itself, more a journey than a scent. You must try this. Wazamba gave its all for about 5 hours and then became a skin scent, discernible to my partner as something other but lost to me.

Fragrantica for the notes and accords, but you must take time to read the Perfume Shrine‘s review, it covers everything and more, that I wish I could have said. Snaps!

Cuir Ottoman EdP


Photo Stolen from settemuse.it

Heat, Medicine, Booze, Fire, Hot new patent leather, Rubber, Road tar

OMG!! This opens like a Banshee wailing on my skin. It’s infernal and smells like I imagine being in Paul Chenavard’s (1807-1895), Inferno di Dante would smell like if they were burning tyres and a road in the background while drinking Kentucky bourbon in a hospital. I can’t believe I am smelling these things and wish I had a fragrant Godmother here so I could talk it through. WOW! Awesome MC AWESOME! After about 15 minutes Cuir Ottoman starts to breathe a bit, there’s air between the notes and I have a moment to think, leather, sweet leather and the flowers have arrived. There is a softening and prettying of the abrasive opening, we are covered in luscious leather and blossom and root. By the one hour mark we have arrived at the seraglio, beautiful full lipped sweating women, incense, hookah, floral unguents, leather and horses. There is still a beautiful ride and drydown to dark vanilla and spice but that is hours and hours away.


Photo Stolen from believerwoman

The Scented Hound has done a lovely review of Iskander by Parfum d’Empire today also, go check him out,

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed our mini trek through the Parfum d’Empire range. I think I’ll do another set of four next month for you all,

Happy, fragrant and loving hopes for your day,
Portia xx

Figs! Olfactory Journey To Greece

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Hiya gang,

Figs are everywhere in perfume.

Photo Stolen from 123rf.com

The scentbloggosphere is also full of the fig journey. The Olfactoria’s Travels, Undina’s Looking Glass, and Now Smell This crews, among others, have all done splendid fig reviews. Recently I  looked at Aftelier Perfumes AH-MAY-ZING Fig and all this fig chat has had me intrigued. There are so many choices the mind boggles. What to do?

I went to The Posh Peasant and looked up figs. What caught my eye was a five pack of famous figs called Figs! Olfactory Journey to Greece. This way I could try the generally accepted best reasonably and if I LOVED some then I could think about a purchase. Genius! Here’s what The Posh Peasant says in their spiel;

Fig scented fragrances have been all the rage the past decade and for good reason. Some fig scents have a wonderful complexity of being both green/woodsy and slightly fruity. A good fig scent transports you to a fig grove in Greece (if you’ve ever smelled a fig grove you’ll know it’s one of nature’s most gorgeous scent creations).

Photo Stolen from PoshPeasant
What I’ve done below is give my initial thought words during top notes then gone on to discuss progressions.

Diptyque, Philosykos; Sharp, Twig, Torn bark, Earth, Leaves. This is a sparse and spare smell on me. Right from the moment I first wear it there is fig tree but not fig jam, and so much space between the scent that it is like you are dozing down the hill, in the shade, while up the hill the workers are picking the fruit, occasionally tearing leaves and maybe someone mowed the grass this morning and there has been a light sunshower after tilling some nearby earth. 6 hours later it is still there, linear and quite noticeable, which is surprising on my skin.

Hermes, Un Jardin en Mediterranee; Fresh, Sweet, Air, Sharp, Expensive wood, Roast chicken glaze. At first glance/sniff this feels like a fragrance I’d reach for regularly if it were in my collection. Bright, warm and inviting like toast and fig jam with a hearty meat smell like roast chicken fresh from the oven with a fruit glaze. As it warms up this is spicy fig jam. Of the 5 this is the best fit with our cool wet Autumn day in Sydney and my personal favourite.

Miller Harris, Figue Amère; Nutty, Citrus, Salty Fruit, Wood, Tangy Sweet & Sour. This is YUMMY! My nose is reading almost a Chinese banquet here. The fruit and leaves in Figue Amere are dried, salted, fried and flavoured, there is warm depth and it feels so extravagant and opulent. Like fig is not the main course here and is joined by the rest of the dishes. There is a note during the middle, unfortunately I can’t identify what, that smells like after salt water swimming shower sex.

Parfumerie Generale, Jardins de Kerylos; Warm, Fresh, Ozonic,, Fruit, Light but penetrating. It’s most fig smell during drydown, but a very dry fig, austere and cool. 1-6 hours later Jardins de Kerylos becomes a barely there hum on my skin, nicer smelling than me.

Jo Malone, Wild Fig & Cassis; Roots, Sap, Bitter, Leaves, Chewed grasses. This is a breath taking look at a pine logging camp of the unmechanised variety. I smell torn trees, earth, compost, grass and cowpats. A challenging, astringent, glorious riot of bitter green herbaceous life. This is what a Triffid would smell like.

Thanks for reading. Do you have a favourite fig? We’d like to know.

Portia xx

Scent Science and WINNER Announced

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An introduction to the Science of Scent. This is an interesting short course in “how we smell” theories. Light and informative. Neil Morris and Luca Turin are both interviewed about their perfume practice and theories.

This weeks winner is receiving by mail.

1ml spray remains of manufacturers sample Eau de Maroc EDP by Aftelier Perfumes

1.5ml spray decant Mandgradore EDT by Annick Goutal

1.5ml spray decant Carriere EDP by Gendarme

1.5mml spray decant Muscho Nobile EDT by Nobile 1942

and a SURPRISE manufacturers spray decant of Bamboo Harmony by Kilian. Brand new and fresh off the press, sent directly from their HQ. This is part of by Kilian new Asian Tales fragrance range. I have kept the Water Calligraphy half of this amazing sample set for myself and had a small test spray of your Bamboo Harmony which seems to be a warm spicy aquatic to me on its only mini application.

The winner today is UNDINA from Undina’s Looking Glass.

I know you didn’t want to be entered Undina but I am also surpised and inspired by people who look like they have an amazing team working for and with them, especially when it is mainly their own hard work, perseverence and drive that has made their dream come true. If you really don’t want to win I will redraw but please do win.

Annick Goutal Reviews #II

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Following on from our mini life story and history of Annick Goutal on Wednesday, and our reviews yesterday, we have 3 more reviews and an extract from a fellow perfumista’s comments.

GIVEAWAY HERE

L’Eau d’Hadrien

This is citrus, but not the modern candied and tortured variety. Fresh, vibrant and alive citrus plucked directly from the tree, leaves too. Like a basket of citrus, all sorts, but warmed by the ylang ylang and sharpened by the cypress. It was the first fragrance made for the line back in 1981, apparently also an homage to Marguerite Yourcenar’s novel “Memoirs of Hadrien”, which I’ve not read, or heard of, but just ordered it from BookDepository for AUS$13 incl delivery to my door! Unfortunately, L’Eau d’Hadrien leaves me cold. Too nice, too colognesque, too nothing, yes it’s fresh and a little zesty but I want more. Sorry Annick Goutal, I know it’s your best seller and quite pretty but not for me.

UPDATE: Today while at group pedicure and lunch I gave my sample of L’Eau d’Hadrien to a girlfriend. We all tried it on, including me, and though it lasted less than an hour on us there was a delicious fresh dry down that I had missed before on just me. It was a soft and delicious skin scent. Sorry L’Eau d’Hadrien, you are better than I thought. Of course my friend was THRILLED!

Check out A Smelly Blog the comments are good too, Fragrantica here

The Annick Goutal site says

A symphony of glistening, refreshing citrus notes, orchestrated through the Sicilian lemon.
Creation date : 1981
Olfactory family : Citrus (Sicilian lemon, citron, grapefruit, green mandarine, cypress, aldehyde notes, ylang-ylang)

Ce Soir Ou Jamais (Tonight or Never)

This opens like the most delicious old fashioned rose, truly bittersweet, almost honeyed in its sweet intensity but packing a bark and leaf grain tartness. My BFF Kath’s father has roses that smell like this; sweet, dark and bitter all at once. I am not a soliflorous (I know, not a word) person. Give me a bouquet and then twist it a bit and then TURN THE SMELL UP! Make it enormous please. Which is why I am astounded at my love for this enchanting and bewitching rose soliflor. It is calm yet mysterious and lasts for ages on my skin, I can still smell delicious traces of it lingering next morning. It is polarising though. Last night while hosting Turbo Trivia I wore Ce Soir Ou Jamais and had 2 lovely unsolicited compliments and one, “OMG! What is that you have on? Yuck!.” Win some, lose some. I did have to remind the rude one that, in fact, I was wearing it for my own enjoyment and she could continue to wear her Avon (which I admit smelled really, REALLY good on her. It was yummy) for ever.

Perfume Smellin Things really understands the rose world and does a super review, Fragrantica is here.

The Annick Goutal site says

The scent of pure rose, breathtaking and elegant in its femininity
Creation date : 1999
Olfactory family : Floral (Turkish rose, ambrette seed, and a blend of essences kept secret…)

Eau de Camille

I love Eau de Camille too. I had a girlfriend during our teenage years and this scent reminds me of her every time I wear it. It begins sparse and almost spiky like cutting the ivy back every year at autumn and sweetens mildly as you get to know it and it warms on your skin, then gone. Not much longevity but pretty, vivacious and sparkly while it lasts nonetheless. Just like youth. Eau de Camille was the first fragrance that Annick Goutal created especially for her daughter Camille when she was 8 years old.

SweetDiva has this to say and Fragrantica

The Annick Goutal site says

Green, like an ivy garden, as fresh as a dewy morning
Creation date : 1983
Olfactory family : Floral, green (Ivy, privet tree, honeysuckle, seringa, cut grass)

Ambre Fetiche

I have never smelled Ambre Fetiche but I have a rave review from my comments strings. The lovely Dionne from BeautyOnTheOutside (BOTO) had this to say about it, I am now looking (lemming like) for a decent priced bottle but it looks discontinued around here.

A recent discovery for me was how much Annick Goutal’s Ambre Fétiche calms me down. I got a generous sample about a month ago from Dee, and put it on on a Monday morning when I was soooo sick of the gloom and overcast and snow (meanwhile a whole bunch of blogs were all “Let’s talk about perfume for spring while we skip through the daisies…” which didn’t help), and was majorly grumpy. Something about that amber/incense combo just made me slow down and find peace. The other part of the story is that I reapplied it Monday night to show The Engineer, he took one sniff and said, “I want you to buy that.” In my two years of being a perfumista, he’s never had that reaction before.

Bought a 100ml of it the following day.

If you need any more reason than that to go shopping Fragrantica has the details

The Annick Goutal site says

Classic and modern at the same time, a very textured and sensual interpretation of the amber.
Creation date : 2007
Olfactory family : Amber, Vanilla, Leather (Frankincense, labdanum, styrax – Benzoin, absolute of iris – Vanilla, geranium, patchouli, Russian leather)

I hope you’ve enjoyed our 3 days of Annick Goutal. it has been our pleasure to bring it to you.

Portia xx

Annick Goutal Story

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments
Annick Goutal Parfums was created in 1981 by a young lady, brought up in a chocolatier’s household, rebelling against a career as a pianist. After fleeing the rigour of piano for modeling she met a man and soon found herself alone with a baby (her daughter Camille). Next she was diagnosed with breast cancer and married her childhood sweetheart.
Photo Stolen from multi-brand
Her first venture into beauty was a skin cream business with a friend and Goutal  felt they were missing two things, fragrance and packaging. “My fingers remembered”, she says, reflecting on her father’s confectionery. “I had acquired a great manual facility thanks to all the chocolate arranging. I had the idea of presenting the pots of cream like dainty packets of sweets. In beautiful handwriting we inscribed hundreds of tags to go with the bags”. After an encounter in 1977 with perfumer Henri Sorsana while talking of perfuming some creams, Goutal spent the next seven years memorising ingredients, discovering a talent and honing her skills, culminating in the creation of brand “Annick Goutal Parfums”.
Photo Stolen from ParisPerfect
Her boutique opened in 1980 on Rue de Bellechasse, presenting her first fragrances Folavril, Passion and Eau d’Hadrien which has become the most successful perfume in the Annick Goutal range. In time, as her talent, client list and reputation grew, customers and journalist friends spread the word of something wonderful happening in Paris. “It is very rare that a perfume creator can be free, because they are always linked to a big perfume company”, said Goutal. In the age of the corporate perfumer she provided a truly bespoke service. “I have always had complete freedom… It is like making music by myself”.
Photo Stolen from Escentual
“When my daughter Camille was seven, she was up on the terrace feeling the ivy and saying: “Maman, I want a fragrance like this.” So she was the inspiration for Eau de Camille-honeysuckle and privet tree mingle with freshly cut grass”. Her stepdaughter Charlotte wanted something less naive, more sophisticated, so Goutal used mimosa and cocoa. “This makes Eau de Charlotte a bit more gourmand…And for my husband (cellist Alain Meunier), I created Sables…”
Camille Goutal Photo Stolen from Vanity Fair

By 1985, the Taittinger group merged with and invested heavily in exposing Annick Goutal Parfums, both in France and abroad. The brand is extremely successful in the USA and was ranked number one in Saks and Neiman Marcus, they also began to export to Asia and European markets.

Annick Goutal added new fragrances with less citrus directions in 1996 such as Grand Amour, Eau du Sud, Petite Chérie, and Ce Soir ou Jamais and a range of candles and home sprays.

Photo Stolen from sassisamblog

In 1999 at the age of 53 Annick Goutal passed away. After, Brigitte Taittinger entrusted Camille Goutal (Annick Goutal’s Daughter) and Isabelle Doyen (a longtime perfumer in the Annick Goutal company) with the company’s development and they are responsible for bringing forth Mandragore, Songes, Un Matin d’Orage, Ninfeo mio and many more, following the brands history of creativity, authenticity and excellence.

In September 2005, Starwood Capital Group acquired Taittinger Group and Annick Goutal Parfums.

By August 2011 Korean group AMORE PACIFIC had purchased Annick Goutal Parfums, they are also licensees for Lolita Lempicka and French fashion house JC de Castelbajac’s perfumes.

Photo Stolen from CafeFleurBon

Thanks for coming on an Annick Goutal journey. tomorrow we’ll meet some of the perfumes,

Portia xx

These words are barely re arranged from their original forms on Annick Goutal’s site, FragranceX, Squidoo and Fragrantica.

Don’t you love Emma Watson? Great choice for Lancome’s Midnight Rose.

The Fragrance of Francis Kurkdjian

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hey gang,

This is how Francis Kurkdjian views his eponymous fragrance range. The video is an interesting watch, made by LibertyStoreTV, and has odd cutaways to his lunchy jeans, which is awkward, no… it is AWKWARD! It has a 2010 date on it.

Francis Kurkdjian is charming and engaging. The video feels to me as if I am interviewing him. Some of the questions that I’d ask are answered here.

Evie has had some hold ups with interviews and will have her next update on Monday. Sorry for the delay tonight.

Enjoy,

Portia xx