Fragrance

Calvin Klein 2014: Christy Turlington and Edward Burns

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Hi There APJ,

There has been a lot of talk about NECRO-Celebrity. The use of dead celebs images for advertising for many reasons: nostalgia, budget, no news worthy diatribes, mistakes or faux pas and best of all no 100% gold plated asshole of a celeb to deal with. I understand the lure of the dead, especially in a marketing game where one wrong sentence in an interview, or even said with friends and distributed, can cause millions of dollars in collateral damage and rebuilding.

In stark contrast to all other marketing trends Calvin Klein has gone for a living, mature couple to front a brand new launch and in one of their cases to re-front one of the Calvin Klein stable of fragrances 26 years later. That is longer than most alive frag models have been on this planet, by about 10 years. 45 year old Christy Turlington with her her husband Edward Burns. This needs a serious BRAVO for Calvin Klein’s marketing team. Still as unattainably gorgeous as ever but selling to a market who have been long neglected in the marketing departments of the big fashion houses: 40+. I think it will reap BIG rewards and I’m surprised the ads weren’t released a month ago for Mother’s Day.

Enjoy them, real; beautiful; people.
Portia xxx

I stole this stuff Lock, Stock and Barrel from art8amby

Calvin Klein Eternity Night Fragrance 2014 Ad Campaign

Shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin in Turks & Caicos, the campaign is exactly what you would expect from Calvin Klein; passionate, intense but always understated. However admits Turlington, “it’s also funny to be intimate with your life partner and have people around.” (source)

Calvin Klein Eternity 2014 Ad Campaign

Christy Turlington and Edward Burns are also fronting the latest campaign image of Calvin Klein Eternity perfume.  (source)

Aromatique Essentials – Bespoke Soirée

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

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Post by TinaG

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Aromatique Essentials – Bespoke Soirée

Earlier this year I had an opportunity to attend an event hosted by Australian aromatherapist Julie Nelson of Aromatique Essentials. Julie is a holistic aromatherapist, with 20 years’ experience as aromatherapy practitioner and consultant. Julie also shares her wealth of knowledge through education, events and workshops, and leading the design and delivery of aromatherapy and beauty programs held in some of Australia’s natural therapy collages. Aromatique Essentials commits to “providing luxurious bespoke aromatherapy products with unwavering commitment and quality”, which is absolutely the case. Julie is very much committed to holistic beauty practices, and uses the finest quality organic essential oils in her work. One of her many skills is that of developing individually tailored essential oil perfumes. I found the concept fascinating so I was very pleased to be able to attend the Bespoke Soirée in Kirribilli, Sydney.

Aromatique essentials send credit Tina Gordon 1Photo donated TinaG

On arrival, I realised that this event was not simply about perfumes, but it was fundamentally a celebration of each of us as unique individuals – a focus and reconnection with “self” and recognising our own authenticity. We were greeted with a glass of bubbles and beautifully presented canapés and treats. I chatted to some of the other guests and metAromatique essentials Send credit - aromatique essentials facebook page 1 some fascinating people, as guests were predominantly from a professional network for women starting up or managing their own businesses. Presentations and talks for the evening were: the art of feminine presence by Maria Cucinotta, Emma Veiga-Malta designs bespoke chairs and cushions, Amanda Webb had some beautiful jewellery, and of course Julie Nelson – we were very spoilt! At the end of the night we were given a little “goodie” bag with samples of two of Julie’s perfumes Déesse and Amrita, a cucumber eye serum, organic cookies and tea, and loads of information.

Julie set up an Aroma Bar on the night, and was offering the creation of a personalised aromatherapy scent based on a short questionnaire, which of course I couldn’t resist. I completed a survey of my colour, scent, food and activity preferences, from which Julie used as a basis to create a 5ml vial of bespoke anointing perfumed oil.

My perfume contained: Sandalwood, Blood Orange, Coriander, Bergamot and Rose in jojoba (organic)

Aromatique essentials Send credit Tina Gordon 2

I don’t have much experience with essential oils on skin, so when I tested a few drops of my bespoke essential oil I was surprised to find a distinct top/mid/base notes layering, and evolution of the scent through dry down. There was a lovely fresh rush of a comforting warm orange, with the slightly smoky bergamot intertwined, and a hint of the sandalwood. The coriander oil is sourced from coriander seed, not leaf or stem, which I would have picked up on otherwise – I can’t tolerate green coriander notes. Here, the seed provides a dry spicy counterpoint as the rose starts to shine through. Warm citrus, sandalwood, and spicy rose – Julie really did hit all the right chords for me.

Tina G

Disclaimer: this article was reviewed by Julie Nelson prior to publication.

Aromatique essentials Send thank you picPhotos 1, 3 4 donated TinaG

Photo 2 Aromatique Essentials Facebook Page

Sniffa – Eugenie, Oregon 2014

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Post by ElizaD

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Hi Australian Perfume junkies,

What do you get when you combine wine, food, perfume and friends in Eugene, Oregon USA? A Sniffa – Eugenie!!!!

Sniffa – Eugenie, Oregon 2014

Here’s the recipe:

Sniffa – Eugenie! Ingredients

1 tiny coffee table
5 fabulous fumehead friends
lots of small glasses
lots of cotton balls
your favorite perfumes–any size bottle or container will do
food
drink
stories

Sniffa - Eugenie 2014 girl Esri Nederland FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Sniffa – Eugenie! Instructions

Invite your friends over and ask them to each bring 3 to 5 of their favorite perfumes. If they only have one, tell them not to worry, you have lots! Encourage them to think of a story about their perfume and be ready to share it. Then ask them to bring a little something to nosh on and a complementary beverage.

Prepare your space by gathering as many small glasses as you can muster and a bag of cotton balls (which is what we call them here in the States–I think others call them cotton wool 😉 ). Place the glasses and the cotton on your coffee table, along with a small bowl of lemon slices (coffee beans make everything smell like coffee, lemon dissipates quickly). Spend the rest of the day thinking about what perfumes you will choose to share from your expansive collection of samples and bottles. Will it be your treasured 1978 bottle of Guerlain L’Heure Bleue, which you bought on eBay for a song, or your tiny sample of Chanel No. 5 Eau Premiere? Your equally small sample of Cacharel LouLou or your mini of Prada L’Eau Ambrée? Remember, only three to five!

Vacuum your floors, puff the sofa pillows, prepare the food table, and wait for the magic to happen.

Which it did!

C brought an amazing walnut spread, olives, and a lovely bottle of Blanquette de Limoux, a sparkling wine from Languedoc; K brought home-made brie en croute; and E provided bread and veggies and other bottles of whites and reds.

Since C and E are enthralled with perfume history, they arranged the fragrances by release date, using the book Scent and Subversion: Decoding a Century of Provocative Perfume by Barbara Herman as a guide. As each perfume was introduced, the owner carefully sprayed or dabbed a cotton ball and then placed it under an upturned glass. As the scent released, it was caught in the glass from which each took a sniff. Anyone watching this group would surely had thought we were participating in something most illegal!

Sniffa - Eugenie 2014Photo Donated ElizaD

And the stories!

C had her treasured bottle of Guerlain’s Mitsouko, brought all the way from Paris, and her Andy Tauer minis. She told the stories of how she had been captured by Mitsouko’s incense notes, and how she had discovered Andy Tauer on her trip to the Perfume House in Portland. E shared how she had been sitting in a meeting when she found out that she had won the eBay bid for her bottle of L’Heure Bleue and had immediately launched into a hamster dance. K had everyone in fits of giggles as she related how her perfume, Revlon Intimate, had been a gift during high school and how it still made her feel oh so sexy, even fifty years later. S was so happy that she had found other fumeheads and how perfume was becoming a wonderful connection between her and her daughter. T brought a tiny bottle of Holy Smoke Oil….”one drop lasts all day”…and entertained us with the story of how she found it in a small shop on the lower East Side of Manhattan, far from where she lives now.

Sniffa - Eugenie 2014 The Perfume House Portland TwitterPhoto Stolen Twitter

And when the wine was drained and there were just crumbs left of the brie, we all agreed that this event had only sharpened our appetite for even more fragrance fun…Perfume House in Portland, here we come!

Have you ever participated in a fragrance get-together? DO TELL!
ElizaD xx

Ainslie Walker wins Australian Jasmine Award 2014! My Story

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Post by Ainslie Walker

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Jasmine Awards 2014

STOP PRESS!!!!

Ainslie Walker wins Australian Jasmine Award 2014! My Story

I had no idea what I was doing, back in January, when I entered the Jasmine Awards 2014. I’d received an email from Portia, but I’d not heard of them before, though, I’m relatively new to the fragrance world.

I mentioned entering the awards to my beauty PR friends a few weeks later and they were like “OMG do you know Vogue writers and Instyle writers win/enter that?” I shuffled off, embarrassed to have accidentally sent my rogue writings into some kind of “professionals only” competition. Eek!

I did a bit of research about the Jasmine Awards and found out:
They began in France 20 years ago, and were set up, to recognize the ongoing contributions of journalists to the fragrance industry. The Jasmine Awards are the most highly Ainslie Walker Jasmine Award 2014#4 coverrecognized and prestigious awards for fragrance journalism, internationally, and are held in France, Canada, USA, the UK and Australia. The first Australian Jasmine awards were held in 2003.
“The Jasmine Awards recognize journalistic excellence in the fields of literary and visual achievement for articles on the subject of fragrance. Journalists are acknowledged for communicating their specialist knowledge and information of fragrance to the public, as well as promoting further discovery of fragrance to readers.” (Jasmine award website)

In Early April, an invite arrived for the breakfast ceremony. I thought, “I’ll go if I can take Portia, it will be a hoot!” I got the OK, and suddenly the next week we were going!! Portia picked me up at 7am(!!). In the car, I said, “You don’t think I could actually win, do you?”– Neither Portia nor myself remember his response (…still FAR too early in the morning), but I think we both just thought “NO WAY” and talked about something else.

We arrived at Darling Harbor and were seated by Fiona Keogh, of Star PR, the organizer. The place was gorgeously laid out and filled with chatty industry types- all beautifully presented and seeming to know each other…we got a few “who are they?” glances, but were undeterred. It was then I picked up a brochure of the day and saw my name in print. HOLY SHIT! I suddenly started to SWEAT and the ceremony began.

There were 6 categories, with the following criteria:

• Best In-depth Feature on Fragrance Award – for the best in-depth feature in a printed publication (minimum 501 words)

• Best Short Feature on Fragrance Award – for the best short article in a printed publication (maximum 500 words)

• Best Online Feature on Fragrance Award* – for the best online article on fragrance published on an online beauty portal or beauty website ONLY

• Best Blog Post on Fragrance Award* – for the best personal blog post on fragrance published online (please note: entries must be written in a personalised style and in the 1st person)

• Best Practical Guide to Fragrance Award – for the best ‘how-to’ style article in a printed publication or online

• Best Visual Story on Fragrance Award – for the best visualisation of a fragrance story or pictorial feature in a printed publication or online

The ceremony started and the first prize was drawn. Suddenly “best blog post” was announced AND WAS ME!!! Squeals from Portia kept me conscious as I headed to theAinslie Walker Jasmine Award 2014#2 portia and I stage, my blog post projected, on the wall. Margaret from Fragrances Of The World presented the award. I was given a box containing the trophy, a huge bunch of flowers and a big purple envelope containing a big cheque! Ushered to the side for photo’s, finally Portia was in front of me – it was real! We were laughing in disbelief and sooooo excited. I was shaking. THANK GAWD Portia was there. What an absolute surprise!!

The awards have led me to consider fragrance journalism. How we put smell, perfumes and fragrance into words for readers to “see”. How we describe the senses: taste, smell, and art. It’s kind of tricky, but if we manage it, readers can gain an insight and an understanding that would normally perhaps, not be able to put into words on their own.

The words we read from fragrance journalism can draw from within us – an agreement on notes/ingredients/images provoked? Point out something we recognize as familiar, a memory, for example, until we can almost smell that perfume being described….and burst to go try it.

Articles can direct us into what to buy or wear for a particular occasion, season or outfit. Fragrance journalism is what helps the fragrance industry make those billions of dollars every year. And I guess that’s why the perfume industry recognizes the efforts of those behind these articles.

They’re not “news” as such, they won’t save the world, but they express creativity, and spread the beauty and magic of fragrance.

Ainslie Walker Jasmine Award 2014#1Perfumes and fragrances are one small luxury, that worldwide have always been used by humans to put a little extra spring in their step, attract some attention and or express themselves – I like to think that fragrance journalism can do the same – put a little spring in the step of the reader as they start their day at work, finding it in their inbox, or reading a magazine whilst on a train for example.

TF was the first ever fragrance blog I wrote. It came about by sweet coincidence. Portia, who had been invited to the TF meet up, but was too busy to go, so said I could go along in his place, as long as I wrote something for APJ. I said I’d never written anything before, and he said “don’t worry it will be fine!!” I had recently met Catherine, the meet up organizer, so I agreed to help out. It seemed I had accidentally fallen into something I am good at! Isn’t it funny how life maneuvers you? This was September 2013, I have written fortnightly ever since for APJ and love being part of the team.

For us folk in Australia, far far away from Paris/Grasse, stores like Harrods, Selfridges, Barneys etc, with their giant beauty halls, many fragrances are hard to experience and get our hands on, especially with such strict customs and postage laws here. I believe this is why APJ has become so popular and the network of people involved incredibly tight. I am proud and thankful to be a part of it and thank you all for your support, comments and incredible encouragement. It’s a win for us all!

Ainslie Walker x

Ainslie Walker Jasmine Award 2014#3 judges

Photos donated by Ainslie Walker

Sandalo by ETRO 1989

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Post by SarahK

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Hello fellow ‘fumeheads!

I hope you’re all in your happy spaces, but for anybody feeling pressed or stressed, today I’m going to talk about a beautiful calming fragrance. It’s not new, but I’ve only recently had the pleasure of discovering it.

There’s a residual scent that I get from a number of my favourite perfumes, a sort of musky sandalwood base note that lingers on my skin sometimes after showering. I love that scent and I’ve often stood in the shower wondering if someone could just create a fragrance with that note. Well apparently Etro did just that, and it’s called ……

Sandalo by ETRO 1989

Sandalo Etro FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rose, lemon, bitter orange
Heart: Sandalwood, geranium, rose
Base: Amber, musk, patchouli, cypress, vanilla

Of course, Sandalo isn’t quite as simple as comparing it to residual base notes makes it seem, but its overall effect gives me the same feeling. When I first apply it, and for about 15 minutes afterwards, there’s a slight petrol-like note, but after that, Sandalo is a pretty linear experience of gentle musky woods. Which is just fine with me, because it is pretty close to my ideal sandalwood fragrance. I get hints of geranium, and some rose, but this is primarily about base notes of sandalwood, powdery musk and some very smooth patchouli. The musk is soft and clean, but with no laundry-musk screech. The sandalwood note is not green, or creamy, or buttery and it doesn’t have a scratchy cedarwood kick. Instead it reminds me of the restrained, musky, dry scent found in some Japanese sandalwood incenses. If it had a colour it would be pale, ashy, grey-brown. I find it very centering and meditative.

Sandalo Etro Dead Calm Ann Baekken FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

It’s an entirely unisex scent, evocative of calm, collected individuals of any persuasion. It is not particularly strong, which makes it perfectly office-friendly. In fact, I wish it was a touch more forceful sometimes, though I think part of the issue is probably that my nose just gets used to the scent. That, I suppose, is the downside of a fragrance that feels as if it is mostly made up of base notes, and which melds so well with my skin. This factor makes it somewhat difficult to accurately judge longevity. Sometimes it seems to disappear only to reappear half an hour or so later. At a guess I’d say it lasts around 7 hours on my skin, but I suspect it is actually detectable to others who get close to me for some time after I think it has disappeared for good.

Sandalo Etro Mounted_on_Metaphors LothorioArtPhoto Stolen LothorioArt

I seem to have spent half this review talking about what Sandalo is not, as much as what it is, but somehow that seems appropriate for a scent that represents calm and space for me.

Posh Peasant says: Etro Sandalo launched in 1989 and is a beautiful oriental woody fragrance.  It’s not often mentioned but it’s one of the great sandalwood fragrances.

I was able to try Sandalo thanks to a little decant acquired from a fellow fragrance fanatic. I am very pleased to have found it and I’m currently lusting after a full bottle. I’m also inspired to get hold of some more samples from the Etro line. Portia has reviewed a few before here on AJP and they all sound interesting to me.

Sandalo Etro Yoga-at-Wildflower-Hall-Shimla HillpostPhoto Stolen Hillpost

Further reading: Perfume Posse and Katie Puckrik Smells
Beauty Encounter has $75/50ml
Posh Peasant has samples starting at $3.50/ml

Do you have a favourite sandalwood-centric fragrance?

SarahK

What Fragrance Do You Wear On Public Transport?

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Righto!
So I am running INCREDIBLY late with stuff for this holiday and my mind has turned to mush. By the time you get to read this we are now in South Korea and having a ball. It’s spring here and the crew is amazed; it is totally beautiful. Instead of writing a post I thought I could ask you all for your input:

Question_Mark_CloudPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

What Fragrance Do You Wear On Bus, Train, Plane or any Public Transport? Are you careful and try to be considerate or do you like to give them all a lesson in olfactory enormity? Is it Jean Claude Ellena or Thierry Mugler that is most likely to get the spritz?

Sleeping On The Plane Ian McKenzie FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

My answer:
I love to travel and have a stable of frags that I like to enjoy in public transport, some CHANEL No 5 Parfum, L’Occitane Vanille & Narcisse, Ava Luxe Tubereuse Diabolique or Geranium Pour Monsieur by Malle have all been worn with great relish. Last holiday though I had a shower in the lounge at Bangkok and didn’t have my glasses on, not thinking therew could be a scent bomb in my travel frags I spritzed 5 healthy wallops of A*Men Leather. WOW!! I felt like a neon sign but nobody even noticed until the very end of the flight and Michael said he could smell me still as I sat across from him at dinner.

So, what do you wear close up?

Animalic – Skank. For Everyone Who Wants to be Bad

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 37 Comments

Hi there APJ Family & Friends,

I love trolling through the Surrender To Chance site. They have excellent Weekly Chance Specials, Vintage frags, Hard to find stuff and best of all, I can order a 2ml spray and get a true experience of a fragrance for a fraction of the price of a bottle, and it’s way easier to store 100 samples than 100 bottles too. Recently I was looking through and came across  this super set that read like EXACTLY the kind of set that I should possess, natch. So I went all out and ordered the 2ml Spray Set. It’s pricey but SOOO worth it.

Animalic – Skank. For Everyone Who Wants to be Bad- 11 Samples

Animalic - Skank Sample setAnimalic – Skank Sample Set

  1. Guerlain Jicky EDP – All skank covered in decency and fresh lavender.
  2. Jean Despres Bal a Versailles Parfum – The queen of skanks, there is NOTHING nice about this, and that’s a good thing.
  3. Miller Harris L’air de Rien – Scary Skank! Like scary spice, but a lot more fun.
  4. Montale Oud Cuir d’Arabie – Arabian skank with a lot of oud just for good measure.
  5. Narciso Rodriguez Musc for Her EDP Intense
  6. Nasomatto Narcotic Venus – Not as outwardly skanky, but deliciously, understated skank.
  7. Penhaligon Amaranthine – We used to refer to it as “amaranthigh” it is such a dirty, dirty girl.
  8. Rochas Femme – Made during The Depression, when women were hanging on to their sensuality by their fingernails, it is skanky perfection.
  9. Serge Lutens Musc Koublai Khan – Animalic musky skank.
  10. The Party in Manhattan – Completely dressed up skank, with a beautiful Dior ballgown.
  11. Worth Courtesan – Tropical skank, amazingly so!

From Surrender To Chance: Perfume should always play with naughty.  What is naughty? It’s referred to as “skank.”  First coined by March at Perfume Posse in January 2006, she refers to it as “Skank is not gracious, or nice, or even fundamentally pretty. The Skank is about sex, and only sex. It’s a rump-grinding, head-shaking invitation to a booty call, no matter how politely the scent’s been dressed up at the opening.”
This is the sex in perfume, and it’s been there even back in the days when the hems of dresses never got above the eyelet lace-ups of their Victorian boots.

So I have been having a wonderful time trying them all.I think my skin eats, or I have become immune, to the extremes of animalics. I love them and they smell great on my skin but where most people are coughing, tears streaming and running to the shower, I merely smell like a big cuddly teddy bear all warm and squishy. I have written about a few of these already, mostly quite early in the blog’s life, but it has been super fun revisiting and reminding myself how good they are, and to have even a sample size back in the collection. There are a few too that are FB in my collection already: MKK, Femme and Bal a Versailles. I also have a vintage Jicky Parfum so it’s great to meet it’s modern EdP sister.

My girl friend Natalie from Another Perfume Blog took one whiff of Courtesan by Worth and I knew she had to have it. You know the look, eyes glazed over, head thrown slightly back and nostrils flaring? There was that and more: positively fabulous viewing and at an outdoor lunch table in one of Sydney’s ritzier suburbs. I had to laugh, and give her the vial.

Surrender To Chance has the lot starting at $33/.5ml but I went all out and grabbed the $116/2ml spray set

Why did I spend so much? Well, 2ml will last me 4-10 wears depending on longevity and projection strength. That’s months of delicious spritzing and a different one every day for 3 weeks, not that I desperately need more choice to be honest. I also like that they are already in a spritz atomiser so no messing around with decanting into a spray to get the manufacturers intent. I think the extra is worth it for me. You may only want or need the .5ml to taste the frags, excellent. $33 is a wonderful deal for amazing frags that are a must try on your frag journey.

Love & hugs,
Portia xx

 

Songes by Isabelle Doyen for Annick Goutal 2005

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Hoya Perfumistas!

Tonight while wandering around Facebook Fragrance Friends one of the people there, Julie, was talking about her first Songes by Annick Goutal experience. Being Autumn here in Sydney Songes was in the cupboard but I thought I’d grab it out and give myself a spritz, pretend it is a cool spring evening instead. WOW! It’s funny how you forget the magic held in a scent. I was instantly transported back to my very first spritzes of Songes and how amazing and beautiful I thought it was, and it is. Here is a repost of an earlier Songes piece just to remember it.

Songes by Isabelle Doyen for Annick Goutal 2005

Songes Annick Goutal FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Frangipani, tiare, jasmine sambac absolute, ylang-ylang, French vanilla

Here I sit in my office in a cloud of creamy vanilla white flowers. AH MAY ZING!!

Songes EdT was my first Annick Goutal FBW fragrance. When the sample arrived I loved it so much I sprayed it on all and sundry till it ran dry just so they could experience the enormous grand white floral opening. What a fragrance! Designed around a dusk ramble on Camille Goutal’s honeymoon and the frangipanis nighttime scent song of dreams.

The Annick Goutal website says: The twilight in Tahiti, transcending into a inspiring combination of frangipani and tiare flowers

Songes Annick Goutal Phetchaburi Province, Thailand WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Did you know Songes means dreams? I think it is an interesting choice of a name for a fragrance built around the scent of frangipani at dusk. It opens so full and spectacularly, not dreamy at all. White flowers pumping out their glorious, decadent fragrance. White night flowers have something so special and glorious that whenever I put this voluptuous fragrance on I almost swoon with delight. A bold fragrance, with solid strength and sillage, unlike most AG perfumes Songes has good lasting power too at around 4 hours. Along with the flowers I get lovely inedible vanilla, almost amber-ish, and a soft incense note that I’ve never noticed before but this morning I was burning incense and here it is repeated. There is a very human element that comes and goes, like clean mouth breath bordering on lived in. The whole time I’ve been wearing this my mind keeps saying, “Oh, this is lovely, why don’t I wear this more often?” I will put it out on the desk again and give Songes more love, I have not worn it nearly as much as it deserves.

Songes Annick Goutal C P Wyatt "Ocean Of Dreams" Plum Leaves FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Further reading: The Perfume Shrine and NowSmellThis
FragranceShop has Songes EdT $57/100ml
Surrender To Chance has the EdT samples starting at $3/ml

I have enjoyed bringing you Songes again, do you have a favourite Annick Goutal fragrance? Which one and why?
Portia xx

M. Micallef: ART COLLECTION 2014 PUZZLE COLLECTION

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hey Y’All,

This just dropped into my inbox. I though you might like to know first.

Portia xx

M. Micallef: 2014 PUZZLE COLLECTION

A game of love..

 puzzle_en
No, you can’t down load it from here but this is what it said.

Grasse, France, June, 2014 – Parfums M.Micallef, renowned for their authentic Fragrances made in the French tradition of crafts and luxury. They’re launching the new ART COLLECTION with a duo of gourmand and sensual fragrances: PUZZLE N°1 & PUZZLE N°2.

The M. Micallef Company gives priority to qualitative and natural ingredients in its fragrances and magnifies each bottle in its art atelier. For 2014, Martine Micallef wished to honor the game of life and love…

“A jigsaw puzzle is a game of patience and enigma like the love between two beings building their life together. And now for you to seize the missing piece to your happiness ! »
Citation from Martine Micallef.

PUZZLE N°1

Head Note : Peach, Pink Berries.
Heart Note : Jasmine, Osmanthus, Vanilla Flowers
Base Note : Tonka Beans, Benjoin, Gaïac.

Puzzle N°1 is the most tender of the collection. It will make you discover soft and delicate notes of peach aswell as a pure bouquet of white jasmine flowers and osmanthus. Then, it will charm you by taking you towards a savoury bed of tonka beans and Javanese encens also know as Benjoin.

PUZZLE N°2

Head Note : Grapefruit, Blackcurrant leaves
Heart Note : Blackcurrant, Jasmine, Vanilla Flowers.
Base Note : Patchouly, White Musk, Vetyver.

Puzzle N°2 is the most carnal of the collection. It will seduce you first of all by its slightly acid notes of citrus fruits and then a delectable note of sensual and intoxicating blackcurrant. That union is enhanced by powerful and addictive notes of patchouli and white musk.

Jardins de Bagatelle by Jean Paul Guerlain for Guerlain 1983

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

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Post by Poodle

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Hello APJ, I’m Dreaming of Spring

It’s supposed to be spring here. I was out playing in the dirt of my flowerbeds just days ago but today it’s cold again. Hopefully by the time you read this it will be spring. Until then I have to pretend with my perfumes. One that conjures up a bright spring day is ….

Jardins de Bagatelle by Jean Paul Guerlain for Guerlain 1983

Jardins de Bagatelle Guerlain FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Jasmine, violet, aldehydes, lemon, bergamot
Heart: Gardenia, rose, orange blossom, tuberose, magnolia, ylang-ylang, orchid, lily-of-the-valley, narcissus
Base: Tuberose, cedar, vetiver, patchouli, musk, neroli

I’ve gone through a few bottles of this in my life. It was my signature scent in high school. I wanted to smell classier than the Impulse Body Spray the other girls wore. I figured something from Guerlain was a good bet. I hadn’t worn it since then but recently got nostalgic and bought another bottle.

Jardins de Bagatelle has always seemed to be an unlikely Guerlain to me. It doesn’t have the powdery notes I always associate with the brand and it’s classic perfumes. It’s a huge floral. Bear in mind this was released in the big 80’s and it has some of the intensity you’d expect but doesn’t smell dated.

Jardins de Bagatelle Guerlain Dynasty WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

At first spritz, I’m hit with a blast of aldehydes and citrus, big and lush in the top notes. I can definitely smell violet, jasmine and many other flowers. I’m okay with spritzing but I could see someone who likes a lighter touch perhaps dabbing on instead. The effect isn’t so much sniffing a bouquet as it is sticking your face into it. I will add that the perfume softens beautifully within an hour on me even though the opening is so bold.

Chateau de Bagatelle, Paris, FranceChateau de Bagatelle Photo Stolen Wikpedia

As much as I try I have a hard time picking apart the notes. Once it softens it’s like the flowers come and go. Imagine walking through a garden and as you meander down the path you catch a whiff of a rose here but just around the bend there’s some tuberose, oh wait, no, perhaps that’s gardenia. When I think I have almost isolated a note, it changes on me. It’s supposed to smell like a garden and it does. The flowers are bright and dewy. There’s also a certain amount of green to it as well which keeps it smelling cool and fresh. I always smell something that reminds me of tea as well even though tea isn’t in the notes. The perfume is beautiful down to the base and never turns soapy or dirty. As the flowers fade it becomes a cozy scent with a bit of warm musk and wood.

Jardins de Bagatelle Guerlain Severin_Roesen Victorian_Bouquet WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and Monsieur Guerlain
FragranceNet has EdT $68/100ml after coupon
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

Overall I’d say that Jardins is bright and beautiful. It doesn’t smell like every other floral out there. It’s one of the perfumes I pick when I want to feel pretty. I was afraid it would remind me of high school but I guess enough time has passed to allow me to wear it and think spring.

Until next time…

Hugs
Poodle x