Fashion

Eau de Velours by Michel Almairac, Mylène Alran for Bottega Veneta 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

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Sandra

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Happy New Year dear APJ!

Wishing you all a healthy, happy and safe 2018. 2017 was a turbulent year for many and I hope that the new year will show us a kinder side.

We spent the holidays with my folks in town. It has been wonderful having them here and my son has enjoyed the extra attention. We have been blessed with an extraordinary mild winter so far and I can only hope that continues.

I gifted my mum the new Bottega Veneta Eau de Velours and I find myself sneaking a spritz or two here and there. It is such a surprise for me that I love this one so much. The original Bottega Veneta was not a huge love – it was far too creamy for me.

Eau de Velours by Bottega Veneta 2017

Eau de Velours by Michel Almairac, Mylène Alran

Eau de Velours Bottega Veneta FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accord:
Top: Bergamot, pink pepper
Heart: Rose, jasmine, plum, spices
Base: Patchouli, leather

The first impression of the deep burgundy (leaning towards purple) bottle tied with a velvet ribbon makes me think that a luxurious perfume awaits me.

First sprayed, it starts out with a fresh blast of bergamot. It is quite refreshing but moves along quickly turning a bit spicy, rosey and plummy, with just a hint of leather in the background. I personally love the plum and spices because it reminds me of certain aspects of vintage Shiseido Feminite du Bois with its rich and deep plum note. Most fresh plums I have eaten have been rather tart in taste with only a hint of sweetness that could have been had it been left on the tree to ripen. The plum note in Eau de Velours is not juicy, nor is it sweet – it is slightly tart at the beginning. Then the plum is mixed with the intense rose and floral notes. Speaking of floral notes, the Bottega Veneta website says that Eau de Velours includes iris butter. Personally, I do not detect any iris butter, but hopefully others will experience the iris.

Eau de Velours Bottega Veneta edro_de_Camprobín_Still_Life_of_Iris,_Lilies,_Roses_and_Carnations_In_Elaborate_Urn WikiMediaWikiMedia

The rose accompanies me from first spray all the way to the late dry down. It is a lovely deep and velvety dark rose with the natural scent of actual rose. I bury my nose into my wrist and inhale deeply feeling the opulence surround me. Throughout the development, Eau de Velours has a sophisticated smooth leather note reminiscent of new kid leather gloves. Patchouli is added and it is quite prominent at first but dries down differently than what I normally expect from patchouli. It is faintly beautiful leaving me feeling elegant and dressed up. Now it is time for the red lipstick to come out!

Eau de Velours Bottega Veneta still life PXHerePDI

Further reading: Colognoisseur
David Jones has $170/50ml

Do you like dark, gothic rose perfumes? What did you do for New Year’s? What did you wear on New Year’s Eve?

Oodles of fragrant kisses,
Sandra

Souffle de Soie GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

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Portia

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AHHH APJ,

The lure of DIOR! I get it, can’t wait to get my sniff on the rest of the line in Paris next year.
Let’s see who our lucky winners are
Portia xx

Souffle de Soie GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Souffle de Soie by DIOR La Collection Privée

 

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 2 winners who will receive:
1 x DIOR Souffle de Soie decant (from my decant)
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 31st December 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

Miriam Nussbaum

Amanda Kheng

The winners will have till Thursday 4th January 2018 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

Up The Apples and Pears by Sarah McCartney for 4160 Tuesdays 2016

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

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Portia

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Hey there APJ,

Sarah McCartney has been trying to get samples to me FOREVER! It has been a complete labour of love and finally it has happened thanks to a perfume mule who brought the set all the way from the UK and then sent it to me here. I won’t name you but a million thanks indeed.

The box arrived and I couldn’t stop myself from jumping in and finding something to spritz. One of the names that has often stood out, among a series of names that could positively beguile you, as fun and fabulous. From cockney rhyming slang Up The Apples and Pears means up the stairs to bed.

Up The Apples and Pears by 4160 Tuesdays 2016

Up The Apples and Pears by Sarah McCartney

Up The Apples & Pears 4160 Tuesdays FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Hops, apple, pear, gin
Heart: Whiskey, woody notes
Base: Bread

From 4160 Tuesdays: Up the Apples & Pears – an unusual fragrance that evokes the scent of a London pub in 1933; apple pie, pear syllabub, gin, beer, roll-ups, wooden floor and bread rolls.

Now I can’t say the note list looks particularly promising. Terrifying in fact, and the blurb from the website is equally freaky. An old drinking pub from 1933? Sounds ghastly, right? Well, I’m going to give it a go anyways….

Sweet fruits and tart gin, like apple lollies done sour. It’s an attention grabbing opening, fun and reckless. Can’t help but smile at the utter whimsy Up The Apples and Pears begins with. It’s lovely.

This fun opening takes a few minutes to segue into the whiskey section and its booziness rem,ends me faintly of Jessica Simpson’s Fancy Nights but the treacle thick patchouli is missing, or greatly diminished.

Now HERE is where I get the idea of a pub. Having lived and worked in the UK in 1994-5 I was lucky enough to work in some of the smaller country gay bars. We’d catch the train out, work, stay the night and come back to London next morning. These smaller pubs would have a lived in a loved smell about them that was partly old beer and carpets, but also had fruity cleaning products and a woodsy smell. Though not captured exactly and definitely glamorised into a fragrance form Sarah has definitely hit the memory mark.

Up The Apples and Pears by Sarah McCartney Ewan Munro Zeitgeist at the Jolly Gardeners FlickrFlickr

Without the story and knowledge of the meaning I think anyone could wear Up The Apples and Pears and smell good doing so. It is a lovely smelling fragrance.

One thing I really love here is the fearlessness, the bold adventure undertaken and the immediate, raw and fun look at how perfume can be created from a story. That is the grand prize that small batch independent perfumery can bring to the table. Clearly not created to sell billions of bottles and make Sarah McCartney the next by Kilian or Annick Goutal in department stores the world over. This is for lovers of the fun and whimsy of perfumistahood.

Sarah McCartney 4160 Tuesdays

Further reading: I Scent You A Day
4160 Tuesdays has £120/100ml and Samples
ParfuMaria has a great selection of 4160 Tuesdays and ships worldwide

This is so exciting for me, which 4160 Tuesdays should I try next?
Portia xx

Camel extrait de parfum by Christian Carbonnel for Zoologist 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

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Erica Golding

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Hello and loving winter greetings to you all, whether you’re steaming in the southern hemisphere or shivering up north with me!

Here’s a beauty that has already received a tsunami of glowing praise, and I’m here to offer up my thoughts. I’ve got a sample of Zoologist Camel!

Camel extrait de parfum by Zoologist

Camel Zoologist Perfumes FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Dates, dried fruits, rose, olibanum, amber, jasmine, myrrh, orange blossom, incense, cedar, cinnamon, musk, agarwood (oud), sandalwood, tonka bean, vanilla, vetiver, civet

I have sampled a few Zoologist offerings, and they’ve been fun and unique, but this is the first one that has me breathing deeply with ecstasy! I’ve noticed by reading reviews that this perfume seems to vary quite a bit from person to person, and my experience is unique as well.

On my skin, Camel opens with a delicious ripe red fruit accord, which makes me think of sweetened pomegranate juice. This sweet fruit-forward cloak is intense and addictive, and completely dominates the majority of the wearlength on me. I can practically taste the sensual delight! It’s juicy, really it is. When I over-apply with fervor, I can faintly detect the oud, but only at the beginning and not very noticeably. The resinous notes are very quiet to start, and have a crackling dry quality thanks to the woody frankincense and cedar. They warm up a bit more once the fruits have calmed, but overall Camel is really a fruity perfume on me.

Camel Zoologist David Stanley Camel Caravan FlickrFlickr

LuckyScent has $135/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $4/0.5ml

So there you have it, Camel is a softly delicious fruity delight for me! Have you gotten your nose on this perfume yet? What is it like for you? Everyone seems to report back different impressions, it’s fun to read them as they pop up!

Love and light,

-Erica

SOTD 25 – 31 December 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 136 Comments

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Portia

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Hi APJ,

I see these SOTD (Scent Of The Day) threads all the time on Facebook and they are really good conversation generators.

SOTD 25 – 31 December 2017

The idea is you’ll chime in through the week with whatever scent you are wearing. You don’t need to be super knowledgable, have high faluting tastes or be a published author to comment. Just tell us what fragrance you’re wearing, smelling, buying etc.

You probably won’t have time to write every scent, every spritz but whenever you feel the mood take you share your current spritz and a few things about it. Maybe you love/loathe it, want it, are excited by the notes/bottle/SA who sold it: WHATEVER! As always here at APJ, taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
This week:

  1. Thierry Mugler Womanity
  2. Oliver & Co Vaninger
  3. Neela Vermeire Creations Trayee
  4. Etat Libre d’Orange Yes I Do
  5. Evocative Perfumes Vanille Tonique

Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Sunday.

Last Weeks WINNER: Jyotsna

 

Go To It Crew.
Portia xxx

Saturday Question: Of your 2017 scent purchases, which did you wear most?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 90 Comments

Portia

.

Hello Fellow Fumies,

Every Saturday we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a $10 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Friday.

Last Weeks Winner: Sadly we only made 63 comments last week.

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with the eMail you’d like me to send your Gift Card to.

Saturday Question:

Of your 2017 scent purchases, which did you wear most?

Most of us shudder as we think of how much money we spend on fragrance in all its forms each year. This addiction is expensive, wasteful and hardly environmentally friendly. Yet still the thrill of the chase, the spend, the bargain and the vintage keeps us plowing through our cash reserves as if money grows on trees. Trolling the WWW at night to read reviews, search out deals, catch up on the FaceBook boards etc inevitably leads to sample, bottle, set purchases.

One of the guys I know online asked this question and it REALLY got me thinking. What have I used from this years spectacular haul? Has there been a favourite that I reach for constantly, or even often?

What I realised was that though I keep buying new bottles on the back of loving a sample or decant, what I wear the most are my collection and samples/decants. When I’m not trying oodles of new to review then I like to be reminded of the bottles I love, give them an airing and reconnect.

My Answer:

There are a couple of ways I can answer this because quite a biot of my fragrant spend goes to buying extras of discontinued fragrances that I adore and whenever I see a bargain snap it up. So vintage parfum atomisers of Miss Dior, Mitsouko, Samsara, Shalimar and Bal a Versailles along with Silences PdT & Niki de Saint Phalle EdT are regular purchases and they get worn a LOT!

If we are talking buying of new bottles then I think that there are two that have seen a bit of use

Serge Lutens: La Fille de Berlin: The very first week that the new bottles came out in the Palais Royale store I rang Elvire and had her send my package via a mate in Europe. The 100ml bottle is lovely, I really like the way it feels and spritzes. It arrived here through the cooler months which meant La Fille de Berlin went into instant rotation and got some serious skin time. Roses done right with a honeyed sweetness that always feels like raspberries to me.

Penhaligon’s: Ostara: Having gone through a good sized decant and seeing a new bottle for sale at a reasonable price I finally caved and bought Ostara. It has been a spring staple for me in 2017, so fresh and bright. Yellow/white flowers and a weird earthy undertone. It’s pretty and unusual. Can’t work out why it wasn’t a bigger hit.

My Saturday Question to you is:

Of your 2017 scent purchases, which did you wear most?

 

Manguier Métisse by Pierre Guillaume for Huitième Art 2010

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 25 Comments

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Portia

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Hi there APJ,

It’s interesting how a new brand will come out with three or four fragrances and often only one or two get any interest generated on the scentbloggosphere. So much so that when I saw the name Manguier Matisse my immediate thought was, “Ooooh! New Huitième Art. Must try that immediately.” So I bought a Surrender To Chance decant. On further delving I discover it was in the original release back in 2010. So I figured, if I’m a complete fan and don’t know it, then how many of you have never had time to adore this beauty?

Manguier Métisse by Huitième Art 2010

Manguier Métisse by Pierre Guillaume

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Fruity notes, mango, tea, sugar, frangipani, woody notes, powdery notes

Interesting, Manguier Métisse means Mango Tree.

Opening gives me mango tea, radiant style, creamy white floral backdrop. Imagine if original Gucci Guilty Femme (2010) was mango centric, used the best quality ingredients and was smoothed by a softly laconic creaminess. There, you have it. That is exactly how Manguier Métisse smells to me. It perfectly presents the dreamy idea of sitting in the shade of a flower gardens Mango Tree in the tropical, humid heat.

Manguier Metisse Huitieme Art Mango Tree patoune54 PixabayPDI

This is not the big band creamy tropical lasciviousness of Annick Goutal’s Songes but more like a summer flanker of Elie Saab Le Parfum (2011), yet I find it a more sophisticated, elegant scent. Less such you in the nose to get your attention and more come hither, just a little bit closer.

Manguier Métisse maintains its heart scent for hours, very linear, until as it fades a nondescript woodsiness underplays the creamy florals.

Ultimately wearable and I’m really liking it in the heat of Sydney summer but I bet it could wash away the winter blues in a moment.

Further reading: Confessions of a Perfume Nerd
LuckyScent has $125/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $5/ml

Manguier Métisse GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 3 winners who will receive:
1 x Manguier Métisse decant (from my decant)
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 a scent you use in winter to remind you of summer

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 24th 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 28th 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

Helicriss by Sylvaine Delacourte 2016

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

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Kate Apted

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G’day APJ family,

The weather in the southern states of Australia has not been particularly ‘spring-like’ lately. I finally got around to separating my scent collection into four piles; one for each season. I am beginning to think this somewhat futile an exercise, simply because I never know what each day will be like. As a result, I dig into my other piles for more temperate offerings. It is pretty much back to disordered mayhem. I did, however, find a little 7.5ml bottle of summery sunshine I’d completely forgotten I had!

Way back at the beginning of the year, I ordered Sylvaine Delacourte’s sample set. I quite liked the range, but I found them a little quiet in general. Musk based, with each scent promoting a different facet based on Ms Delacourte’s memories. I was drawn to the powderiness of Florentina and the smooth ylang ylang of Lilylang. The most interesting I found was Helicriss. So, over the winter months, I ordered travel sizes of four of them. In time, they got lost amongst all my smaller sized bottles. The one it seems I had used the most of, though, was Helicriss.

Helicriss by Sylvaine Delacourte 2016

Helicriss Sylvaine Delacourte FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, cinnamon, rosemary
Heart: Grapefruit, lemon, tonka bean
Base: Immortelle, patchouli, benzoin, musk

What is so enticing about this one? It has a very unusual blend of notes to produce a musky curry. There is no doubt immortelle is a major note, but it is the blend of patchouli, grapefruit, benzoin and the musk that gives it a firey heat. I am grateful this is a skin hugging scent. It would be completely headache inducing if it projected Poison or Angel like. It is the constant reminder of the scent just being there that makes it pique my curiosity.


Helicriss Sylvaine Delacourt green-curry PixabayPDI

I have absolutely no idea how others find it. Thirty minutes after applying, the curry accord dies down to leave a warm, aromatic rosemary and musk. So, by the time I leave the house, Helicriss has already begun its metamorphosis into a herbally musk. No one has ever made mention of this scent at all, so I guess it is polite enough to wear around others. Interestingly, of the entire range, which does lean to a slight ballet-pink-feminine feel, I think this would smell heavenly on a man. There is one guy at work I am hoping I can get to spray this on himself. After months of helping him search for THE scent, I secretly suspect Helicriss is it.

When I used Helicriss over winter, it always gave a feel of dried grass, hay and the dense heat of the midday humidity of an Australian summer day. It has a dusty, wind like sense that makes me yearn for a sudden rainstorm. I am unsure how Helicriss will fare over the blistering heat of summer, but now that it has joined my spring pile, I’ll get to find out. In the meantime, Helicriss will bring sunshine on a temperamental grey spring day.

Helicriss Sylvaine Delacourt australian wheatfield PixabayPDI

Further reading: Now Smell This and Scent for Thought
LuckyScent has $160/100ml and Samples

Which scents suggest, or are indicative of, summer months in your country?
K xxx

SOTD 18 – 24 December 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 183 Comments

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Portia

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Hi APJ,

I see these SOTD (Scent Of The Day) threads all the time on Facebook and they are really good conversation generators.

SOTD 18 – 24 December 2017

The idea is you’ll chime in through the week with whatever scent you are wearing. You don’t need to be super knowledgable, have high faluting tastes or be a published author to comment. Just tell us what fragrance you’re wearing, smelling, buying etc.

You probably won’t have time to write every scent, every spritz but whenever you feel the mood take you share your current spritz and a few things about it. Maybe you love/loathe it, want it, are excited by the notes/bottle/SA who sold it: WHATEVER! As always here at APJ, taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
This week:

  1. Aftelier Perfumes: Parfum de Maroc
  2. Leone Reinthal: Antarctica
  3. Guerlain: Shalimar (vintage extrait)
  4. Ex Nihilo: Fleur Narcotique
  5. CHANEL No 19 (vintage EdC)

Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Sunday.

LAST WEEKS WINNER: Cassieflower

Send your address to portia_turbo AT yahoo DOT com DOT au

 

Go To It Crew.
Portia xxx

Bois Noir by Aurelien Guichard for Robert Piguet 2012

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

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Portia

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Hey All,

Mildly amusing story. When I was shopping at Surrender To Chance for my decants recently (it was a 5ml Friday Frenzy) and I thought I’d ordered Bois Bleu by Robert Piguet. Anyway, it turns up and I don’t really look at the label because I know what I ordered right? Wrong. So I’m sniffing myself as I walk the dogs this morning and I’m thinking to myself, “This is bloody familiar. I can’t quite place it but Bois Bleu smells EXACTLY like something I already have. Like, EXACTLY!!

Yeah dumbass, because you ordered Bois Noir, that you already have a paid retail for bottle of when Joe Garces was out here in 2012. Ha Ha Ha Ha ha. Sometimes I surprise myself. No sweat.

Then I noticed it never got a post of its own, so…….

Bois Noir by Robert Piguet 2012

Bois Noir by Aurelien Guichard

Bois Noir Robert Piguet FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Gaiac wood, Cedarwood
Heart: Patchouli, Sandalwood
Base: Balsam, Labdanum absolute

Can we talk about the Piguet bottle please? It is the super coolest. Clean lined, easy to hold and spritz, nice heft and if you are a one bottle person this would make such a statement. Cunningly retro but wholly modern, it looks and feels like an old school movie stars fragrance.

Bois Noir by Robert Piguet Sparkle woman pexelsjpegPDI

Woodsiness, what Scott and I call Bro Woods. Here it’s tempered with patchouli in a luxurious dose and an earthy sweet labdanum. Bois Noir is a very chill customer, smooth and well worn, a comfortable fit. This is your favourite jeans after a weekend of wear, super comfy and a bit raunchy.

The woods manage to be dry pencils, tea chest and creamy sandalwood all rolled into one, then add some smoky incense. Hyper masculine scent that will smell fabulous on the girls. I’d love to smell it on a couple of my cool sexy girlfriends and some suits.

Longevity and projection are slightly above average, I can totally imagine Bois Noir as the hipsters choice.

Bois Noir by Robert Piguet sunset-summer-hipster-pipe PexelsPDI

Further reading: Non Blonde and Persolaise
Libertine has $299/100ml FREE Australian Delivery
Surrender To Chance has $5/ml

Have you tried any of the modern Robert Piguet perfumes? Did they tickle your fancy?
Portia xx