Fashion

100ml La Fille de Berlin by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

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Portia

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Heya APJ Crew,

Lots of people have been bitching about the brand new bottle and I understand that nobody likes change. I also understand that if you have a set of Serge Lutens bottles that this is not going to fit. What did you do when you changed to CDs? Yes. This is the excuse you needed to get a new set. I do like that price per ml has gone down. I think that is really classy of Shishedo, when every body else is aspirational pricing their arses out of my ballpark. Serge Lutens is still making a fabulous, affordable product. Now I can uberspritz my La Fille De Berlin with no thought to running out.

When the new bottle was first available in Paris I got my bottle but things have been so hectic around here I didn’t get time to write you my thoughts.

La Fille de Berlin by Serge Lutens 2013

La Fille de Berlin by Christopher Sheldrake

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rose, geranium
Heart: Palmarosa
Base: Oakmoss, honey, patchouli

Cherry roses and pepper on opening with a softly metallic twang. Interesting how quickly it dries out. On Tina’s skin it stayed a crisp snap of cutting of a rose stem, violet and geranium – much cooler, where my skin the honey has taken over almost immediately and you can definitely smell the dryness of palmarosa. Smells expensive. So many Serge Lutens are freaky – this misses out on the freaky and is a very expensive rose + glam. Unusually for Serge, the honey is clean and not so animalic. We’re not smelling any of the bees or the wax on either of our skins.

La Fille de Berlin makes me smile. The rose is deep and burnished and a little bit boozy.

So fragrant yet La Fille de Berlin isn’t in your face, it manages to be quite a heavy perfume but restrained. It hits my dressed up evening button but I’ve also been enjoying wearing it in the warm spring daytime air around here.

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and EauMG
Mecca has some $171/50ml and $294/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $6/ml

What do you think of the new 100ml bottles?
Portia xx

Ambre Mythique by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier 2016

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

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Portia

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Hey Hey Amber Lovers,

It’s turning cooler in the northern Hemisphere and we are still having cool nights in Sydney. A fragrance that seemed to miss getting much attention last year when it was released Ambre Mythique is another wonderful amber from a house that does them so well.

Many of us went through an amber stage very early in our perfumista career so we tend to think we have tried everything and what the hell could they do different or better than some of our favourites? I think that the MPG gang have succeeded in adding a new twist, also for those AMBER HATERS this could very well be the change in amber that’s needed to get you across to the dark side.

Recently I grabbed this out with Rasei of Forte & Manlé and Kerri while at lunch and the both agreed that Ambre Mythique is a very special amber.

Ambre Mythique by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier 2016

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top:  Bergamot, Geranium, Coriander, Frankincense
Heart: Myrrh, Lavender, Cistus
Base: Patchouli, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Tonka bean

Nowadays MPG feels sadly neglected, good call to finally get around to updating bottle and lid. This new look is a cool reimagining of their gaudy old style, while a little of the whimsy remains.

The opening is a herbaceous twist in the amber theme, very interesting, like they’ve done complimentary sprays on each arm of a fougere and an amber fragrance. Totally enjoying the dryness over the crunchy sweet amber that is also cut by the patchouli. I am LOVING this. Quite unique.

PDI

Amber and other incense-y resins make very nice warm and cool juxtapositions, a little bit animal and funky too. Honeyed and furry. The whole fragrance is plush and lavish from beginning to end. Amber Mythique even smells great in warm weather,  currently Sydney is around 26C (79F) and I feel like I’m wearing the freshest amber ever. The lavender is a surprise and reappears intermittently throughout my wear right through to dry down.

Comfortable and unusual, safe for work but interesting enough to spend 3 hours on the couch enjoying the ride.

Further reading: Perfume Posse and Megan In St Maxime
LuckyScent has $190/120ml and Samples

Do you amber?
Portia xx

Baie Rose 26 by Frank Voelkl for Le Labo 2010

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Portia

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Hi there Niche Nerds,

Todays fragrance was released as the Le Labo Chicago city exclusive. You may remember that I find the Le Labo adventure somewhat wankerish. The whole, we’ll mix it for you in store so it’s fresh shit doesn’t wash for me. Just because the ingredients haven’t been blended yet doesn’t make them any fresher, AND it takes months for the damn fragrances to settle properly after you buy them. It’s all a big fat GRRR for me.

Nevertheless when Le Labo get it right they do make some fairly spectacular frags.

One of my mates was doing a decant cleanout and I was lucky enough to buy this baby from them. There’s only about 2-3ml left in a 15ml so it has been well loved.

Baie Rose 26 by Le Labo 2010

Baie Rose 26 by Frank Voelkl

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Rose absolute, Pink pepper, Musk, Cedar, Aldehydes, Ambrox, Clove, Pepper

Victoria from Bois de Jasmin taught me something in my reading today, “baie rose means pink pepper in French”. AHA! So not only is Le Labo doing its usual name it something and have it smell like something else trick but there is also a pun in action. Clever. Funnily, both the pepper and rose are front & centre for most of the scent.

So here we smell the interesting by-play between rose and pink pepper.

The opening is all rose and metallic sparkling aldehydes shimmering over the pink pepper. It’s a meaty, thick and dense scent that also manages to feel lightweight and airy. Haughty and powerful are the two words that keep coming to my mind while wearing Baie Rose 26, also masculine (which is weird because I try not to subscribe to frag gender unless it punches me in the face wit it).

PDI

Baie Rose 26 is cool, in both the frosty and fun refinement explanations. It has a space age feel about it and a metallic twang, the best way to present roses in my mind.

I get fleeting correlations to other roses CK Contradiction Woman, Amouage Opus X and Oriza L. Legrand Royal Fillet. Not same obviously but there are resemblances.

The musk, ambrox, wood dry down is far less exciting that the first hours of Baie Rose 26 life. It doesn’t implode into banal but it isn’t a showstopper. A comfortable, safe scent that lasts and lasts with a hint of rose.

PDI

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Non Blonde

Did you ever get to try this beauty?
Portia xx

Criminal Elements Sample Pack GIVEAWAY WINNER

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Portia

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YAY!

Another great giveaway! Thanks Corey from Criminal Elements for sending us this ridiculously gorgeous sample pack. Can’t wait to see who wins it.

 

 

Criminal Elements Sample Pack GIVEAWAY WINNER

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Criminal Elements Base Elements Sample Pack
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 1st October 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winner was chosen by random.org

Jaybee

The winner will have till Sunday 8th October 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

L’Insoumis by Lalique GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

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Portia

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Hey there Fumies,

Thank you so much to Kate at Sweet Fern for being so generous. Go check out their stock. Great range.

 

L’Insoumis by Lalique GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 5 winners who will receive:
1 x 2ml spray L’Insoumis by Lalique Manufacturers Carded Sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 1st October 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

Neva

Gina

Fazal

Greg

Bradley P Woolslayer

The winners will have till Sunday 8th October 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

Saturday Question: What Perfume Do You Wear At Home?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 94 Comments

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Portia

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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:

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:

While I was away I noticed a comment on one of our APJ posts and it got me thinking. I can’t find it now but the gist of the comment was “I only wear that fragrance inside my own home when I know I’ll have the house to myself.” CURIOUS! So then that led me to thinking about my own perfume wearing and I think there are some scents I tend to wear wholly and solely for my own enjoyment.

Also, because I associate a fragrance with someone or that fragrance has a very specific era.

Let’s not limit this to ONLY wear because you won’t wear it outside for whatever reason. What do you LOVE to waft around the house in by yourself, what brings you great joy just by having it there to spritz for yourself?

My answer:

Vintage Opium by Yves Saint Laurent

Yes, I know it’s absolutely gorgeous but Opium is my BFF Kath Mum’s fragrance. Yes, I loved it well before meeting her but I feel so naughty wearing her signature in  the world. Her 100%, doesn’t even own another perfume, signature. It’s getting harder and harder to find the good stuff for her but I have a small backup supply. Mum prefers to spritz so I’ve kept this original beauty for myself, you have no idea how bloody fabulous it smells.

 

Black Saffron by Byredo

This is a freak show but I love it. I do wear Black Saffron outside the house but then the magic of the ride is a bit lost on me. At home I get to really enjoy the way it works. My mate Pia Long expressed it best, “Starts out fruity floral and ends up road dirt.” Yep, nailed it. A very nice innocuous opening and you end up being tarred and tarmac. Nothing is quite like it.

Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia by Guerlain

Guerlain hasn’t really done an Aqua Allegoria with such a personality since Lys Soleia. It’s a tropical ylang and lily combination backed by vanilla and a slight dry palm and salt air giving it interest and depth. I wear it around the house all year and it instantly gives a happy sheen to the day. Particularly good for making cleaning day smell beautiful.

My Saturday Question to you is:

What Perfume Do You Wear At Home?

 

L’Insoumis by Fabrice Pellegrin for Lalique 2016 + GIVEAWAY

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

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Portia

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Hi there FUMIES,

Sweet Fern has given us some beautiful Lalique samples to give you. While TinaG was over the other day we decided to both wear this beauty and were totally surprised at how different it smelled on us. It was a really interesting experiment.

L’Insoumis by Lalique 2016

L’Insoumis by Fabrice Pellegrin

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Basil, Bergamot, Rum
Heart: Clary sage, Lavender, Black pepper
Base: Patchouli, Haitian vetiver, Moss, Clearwood™

Citrus but burnt off really quickly, pine, lavender and a creamy patchouli giving the impression of orange blossom.

Historically hyper-masculine – a rich gym locker room. Can imagine 35+ men in suits on the train and in offices smelling like this – clean shaven, fresh cut, Armani suit. Not much different to the same style of masculine colognes of the 80’s. Its not breaking down any new barriers – a sensible, simple masculine fragrance fully wearable by both sexes. Perhaps a bit old school for a perfumista, but in the right environment a perfect fit.

On Tina, it is a lot sharper and more herbal, and on me it’s a lot sweeter and creamier and much more like a historic scent.  On both of us, it smells really good.

Sweet Fern has $175/100ml

L’Insoumis by Lalique GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 5 winners who will receive:
1 x 2ml spray L’Insoumis by Lalique Manufacturers Carded Sample
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 where you would wear this beauty.

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 1st October 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 Sunday 8th October 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

Vintage Fragrance: Open or Save?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

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Erica Golding

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Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying a lovely day so far.

Recently, the subject of vintage perfume came up in one of my fragrance forums. We started chatting about a vintage, rare Guerlain parfum in like-new condition, with full presentation intact. The opinion shared was that the bottle should be displayed and protected in a museum.

I completely understand the sentiment of keeping something precious in mint unopened condition and keeping it in that state forever, but I have to admit that I have an opposing gut reaction when applying this sentiment to perfume. I feel bad for a lonely pristine bottle the same way that I would feel bad for a stuffed animal who will never snuggle with a child.

Vintage Fragrance: Open or Save?

Perfume is created to be enjoyed, to be an ephemeral glimmer of gold. Preservation of a vintage perfume, in my opinion, is simply a gift passed to a future generation that will hopefully still have the nerve to apply it on their skin. It would break my heart to see precious beauty forever sealed in a bottle, never to harmonize with a wearer’s chemistry and bathe them in sensual pleasure.

Additionally, many perfume components break down or spoil over time. How long should a bottle linger in a UV-shielded glass case, never inhaled, never loved? As it sits there untouched, the potential grandeur within is slowly fading, withering, dying. Centuries later, the liquid inside will mutate and expire, useless and worth nothing. Who was this beauty saved for then? Who would have been worthy of its marvelous dazzle while there was still time? Why don’t we consider ourselves good enough to be the perfume’s ultimate owner and lover?

I am a breaker of seals and a splasher of time capsules. When I score a vintage fragrance, no matter how rare or valuable it is, I do open it and wear it. I’m respectful of my aged perfumes – I am careful to preserve their purity as best as I can, using a sanitary pipette and closing it up securely, storing away from heat and light. But you won’t catch me hoarding something special for a rainy day!

These are just my thoughts and opinions. What do you think? There are no wrong answers here!

Until next time,

Love and light,

Erica

Le Petit Robe Noire L’Extrait by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2012

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

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Val the Cookie Queen

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Hello gorgeousnesses,

Blind Buy Part II

As you may or may not recall I blind bought Guerlain Black Perfecto LPRN a not long ago. It wasn´t really blind as I bought it for the bottle and could see that quite clearly. It was a big bonus that I totally liked the perfume in the gorgeous bottle. On thing led to another and I got it stuck in my head that I had to have the LPRN Extrait

Thanks to both Portia and Vero I have vintage extraits of Chamade, Shalimar, and Mitsouko. I am not a Guerlainophile nor am I a vintage digger. All three get worn and they are exquisitely beautiful. I would like to have a L’Heure Blue vintage extrait and perhaps one will come my way one day but I am sure not hunting for one as I am utterly terrified of buying old perfumes online and have never done so. If anyone has a spare, contact me please.

I thought it would be interesting, in the name of science of course, to try a modern Guerlain extrait. After a couple of weeks of hunting around I came across a 20% offer on the 7.5ml bottle of LPRN Extrait. That made it about 80 Euros. My husband was biking in france, I had his credit card, so it seemed just to good a chance to miss out on and I ordered it. I couldn´t imagine for a second it could go wrong as I liked the BP so much. I was offered a 250ml bee bottle for 1100 Euros or a 500ml one for 1660 Euros. I never buy blind in such large amounts.

Le Petit Robe Noire L’Extrait by Guerlain 2012

Le Petit Robe Noire L’Extrait by Thierry Wasser

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top:  Fruits, Glycyrrhiza, Lemon
Heart: Cherry, Almond, Rose, Violet
Base: Musk, Patchouli, Smoky tea, Vanilla

LPRN Parfum – Completely Gorgeous.

Velvety Amarena cherry, rich and with a dark and bitter edge. It is an adult cherry, not a Maraschino. Tendrils of black liquorice, sweetening the fruit, and lending a smoky tea effect. A hint of rose gives way to the classic orris, vanilla and tonka magic of a Guerlain. The cherry remains and the whole experience is one of pure pleasure, so thick you could chew it. Divine. For adults, all genders.

“She walked up to me and she asked me to dance.
I asked her name and in a dark brown voice she said “Lola”
L-O-L-A Lola, lo lo lo lo Lola

Well, I’m not the worlds`s most physical guy,
But when she squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine
Oh my Lola, lo lo lo lo Lola

Well, I´m not so dumb that I can´t understand
Why she walked like a woman and talked like a man
Oh my Lola, lo lo lo lo Lola, lo lo lo lo Lola …….. “ Ray Davies

Kirschen Bussis
CQ

 

(Ed: Photos supplied and taken by Val.)

Tacit by Aesop GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

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Portia

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Hey APJ,

Thank You to Kate at Sweet Fern who so generously donated the apples. Can’t wait to hear what our winners think.

Portia xxx

Tacit by Aesop GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Citrus, yuzu
Heart: Basil
Base: Vetiver, cloves

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 2 winners who will receive:
Aesop Collection of Beauty & Fragrance Samples
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 24th September 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

Ingrid

hage kay

The winners will have till Sundayday 1st October 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