Saturday Question: Respritz Happiness

September 2, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 48 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.

Saturday Question: Respritz Happiness

As you may know I have a very low level depression problem. It’s 98% of the time not even noticeable, just a quiet background hum of dis-ease or dis-quiet. After a childhood spent in therapy of one sort or another I have a few really simple coping mechanisms for the other 2% of the time. My depression is low level and though it can be sharply bleak and awful it’s usually caught at spiral stage. I’m not offering medical advice, just an insight into how my mind works.

One is cleaning. I get up and clean something, anything. It could be the kitchen bench, my bathroom mirror and vanity, grab the vacuum. Literally any cleaning. It derails my depression spiral and having done something positive and action based I’m usually back on track.

After Mum died I was finding it hard to even move off the couch or bed. The doctor said to me that if I could just get up and clean my teeth in the morning and before I went to bed at night then that would be a day not lost. Amazingly this small 2 minute moment of self care and hygiene would snap me out of my funk.

Anyway, I also discovered that spritzing perfume is also a magical depression derailer. A big old spritz of something I love or even better something new will take my mind away from the ill humours and put me onto a positively thoughtful track. It completely interrupts my sinking and helps me rise above.

Here are a couple of my favourite Respritz Happiness scents:

Fragrantica

Cacarel Liberté

Yeah, I talk about this one a lot. That zingy orange fizzy pop over a white musk/clean patchouli base is no great masterpiece but it does give me a joyful lift every time. I have hoarded a bunch of it for just such occasions but I also wear it when I’m happy.

Fragrantica

Serge Lutens Five O`Clock Au Gingembre

The opening spicy ginger tea makes me smile every time. There’s something totally engulfing about it that sends my mind on the happiest of neural paths. It remains pretty through the heart and base but it’s the opening that gets me every time.

Fragrantica

Guerlain Les Voyages Olfactifs 01 Paris-Moscow

SWEET! Zingy fruit and vanilla over a soft woodsy backdrop with a hint of white flowers. Paris-Moscow is so far removed from what I usually wear that it snaps me to attention. Very sadly I never bought a new bottle, thinking I had time, and then it was gone. Luckily I did find a partial bottle and I have some decants. Obviously I can’t spritz with abandon but there’s enough for now.

My Saturday Question to you is:

Who among you does this? Is it just me or do others among us use fragrance for more than just personal scenting? What fragrances do you use?

Maravilla by Daniela (Roche) Andrier for Bulgari 2014

September 1, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Portia

Hey Hey APJ,

I remember being in Paris the week these were released and they had a big stand in Galleries Lafayette and about six spritzers placed strategically. It was all very enticing and I did like a couple of the fragrances. Had they been around the €180 mark or less I would have bought at least one bottle but they were well over that and I’d already spent quite a lot of my ready cash. Since then though I have wished that I’d bought one of those space age bottles, just to have it in my collection.

Maravilla by Bulgari 2014

Maravilla by Daniela (Roche) Andrier

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Peach, jasmine, patchouli, Italian lemon, orange blossom

To start with I don’t think perfumistas are this ranges market. Certainly not this scent in the range anyway. I know there are a wide audience for this kind of scent and it’s pretty much what I smell 30 something shopgirls on their lunch break wafting. Fruity and sweetened with sugar crystals.

Fresh Fruit Splash Falling Water Orange PDI

What we have here is a fresh, fruity, lightly aquatic melange that is perky and quite frisky. It’s airy and a little dewy. The citrus is very soft focus and the very faint peach smells a little canned. There’s an amorphous white flower, completely cleaned of all indole and depth and the patchouli does not even register for me.

Maravilla would not be out of place in the Tocca range. They have a fairly similar line at about one fifth the cost or less. I think what you might be paying for here is a smoother blend and the fabulous bottle. A low key pretty perfume that is totally inoffensive to start and falls away to a soft focus white musk laundry scent to finish. Longevity is pretty good, you’ll continue to pump soft gouts of clean citrus clothes till work is finished.

WikiMedia

Harrods has £215/100ml (UK Delivery Only)
Some discounters now have it too.

What is one of your didn’t buy regrets?
Portia xx

Poivre by Michel Morsetti for Caron 1954

August 31, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Portia

Hey there APJ,

Today we are going old school. Caron has long been lauded as a house to revere. Their Tabac blond vintage extrait is enough to give even the most hardcore perfumista Stendahl Syndrome. I have quite a bit of their vintage Bellodgia and Infini in all forms, Nocturnes, Narcisse Noir, Parfum Sacre, Nuit de Noel and a sprinkling of others in samples and decants. There is even an old extrait bottle that has lost its label and I’ve given up deciding what it is and just wear it for the absolute pleasure it brings.

Poivre by Caron 1954

Poivre by Michel Morsetti

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Clove, Pepper, Red pepper
Heart: Carnation, Rose, Ylang-ylang
Base: Oakmoss, Opoponax, Sandalwood, Vetiver

Pepper and clove, zingy, dry, hot, smoky and ticklish in the back of my throat. It’s like fresh cracked black pepper and cloves. The bottle even looks like one of those clove studded oranges Mum would put in the bathroom over Christmas to give a spice/clean smell. The opening is big and surprising. Did you ever smoke those clove cigarettes? A bit like that but with added dryness.

This huge fanfare doesn’t stay at that level for long, maybe two minutes and then we start to smell a lessening in intensity and in swirls a mildly creamy ylang. It’s such a counterpoint to what comes before and really gives a smoothness, slightly banana peel and a little waxy. The rose and carnation are so much part of the clove that I’m finding real difficulty in telling them apart. Though the fragrance intensity has lessened still we have a fully fragrant spice bomb.

Poivre Caron Parfumo Parfumo

Even hours and hours later I still have cloves that are now lightly tempered by resins and a hint of dry grass. Longevity is out of this world and though not hugely projecting it still leaves a very interesting scent train (I can smell Poivre in the room when I walk out and back in again).

Further reading: Yesterday’s Perfume and Non Blonde
I bought my sample from Surrender To Chance but they don’t seem to have it anymore.

Do you have anything absolutely precious in your sample kit that you know once it’s gone you’ll never have again?
Portia xx

Yin & Ylang by Laurie Erickson for Sonoma Scent Studio 2014

August 30, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Erica Golding

Hello fragrance junkies all over the world!
It’s summer all up in my hemisphere, and I’ve just discovered a gorgeous perfume that I wager would be equally perfect to bring a breath of wanderlust to a chilly Aussie winter’s day. This morning, I am sampling:

Yin & Ylang by Sonoma Scent Studio 2014

Yin & Ylang by Laurie Erickson

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, blood orange, aldehydes
Heart: Ylang oil, jasmine sambac absolute, tuberose absolute, beeswax absolute, rose damascones, ginger CO2
Base: Mysore sandalwood, oakmoss absolute, patchouli, amber, vanilla, musk.

The lush roundness of tropical blossoms is shot through with an effervescent zing of bright freshness, while being grounded by a patient hum of gentle musky woods and amber. The balance is striking. This perfume takes the concept of Big White Floral and gives it a whole new edge and versatile wearability. The floral absolutes are exquisite and luxurious, while the sunshine citrus notes aren’t the least bit contrived or sharp. (I guess I should say Big Tropical Floral since ylang ylang is yellow, heh!) As the perfume continues to develop, a hint of oakmoss anchors the composition, conjuring visions of wild adventures in the forest.

Yin & Ylang was released in 2014, and I am so thrilled that I have discovered it even though I am a bit late to the party. This perfume is an absolute dream. I am insanely picky with floral fragrances, and this is just over the top magnificent. Hearts in my eyes over here! I have two more samples from Sonoma Scent Studios in my little package waiting for me to try, and I’m super stoked.

Yin And Ylang Sonoma Scent Studio Henri_Rousseau_-_Exotic_Landscape WikiMedia WikiMedia

Further reading: Now Smell This and Scented Hound
Sonoma Scent Studios has $21/5ml and samples

Have you stumbled upon a perfume recently that made you wonder “how the hell did this escape my radar?!” Tell me about your treasure excavations!

Love and light,
Erica

Hot House Roses for Knackered Queens

August 29, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Val the Cookie Queen

Beloved APJ Readers!

It´s 21.30 and my APJ deadline has been and gone and I am late. I just got back from work where I have been prepping the cookies for the up-and-coming Cookie Run. That is four days of work, several hours a day. As of today I have the BlondesWunder helping me. For money, not love. It cut my work load immensely. In my last post I mentioned a new My Indigo store had opened in Innsbruck and this week another opened in Vienna. Wipes brow. That makes uhm, thirteen stores.

As I pondered this post and what to write about it made me wonder, why do y’all read APJ? Why do we read perfume blogs in general? Fun, information, humour, updates? I don´t read as many as I used to. I have my favourites and there are a couple I will not even give a click to, because I dislike them SO much. But you´ll never know which ones, hahahahaha!! I totally enjoy the English perfume blogger scene as I have got to know many of them in person, not least of all A Bottled Rose and Bonkers About Perfume. The three of us regularly chat and share our joys and worries, personal challenges and probably some tears too. I could not imagine my life without them.

PDI

It has been extremely hot here, up in the centigrade thirties. I have been wearing Serge Lutens la Filled de Berlin and Malle´s Portrait of a Lady. A lot.

Hot House Roses for Knackered Queens

La Fille de Berlin by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 2013

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rose, geranium
Heart: Palmrosa
Base: Patchouli, moss, honey

I wonder if it is a little dramatic to say that this is my very favourite of all the Lutens? Jammy, rich and smooth. Rubescent. There is a slight greenness to it, but it is rather understated. It dries down to such a musky, richly honeyed amber and lingers for hours. I have only recently started to wear it. It has been BlondesWunder´s signature for the last three years and for that reason I left it alone. I bought a 50ml bottle for her a few weeks ago, before they are sold out. But now it´s mine. As Tara says LaFdBisthebombdotcom.

Portrait of a Lady by Dominique Ropion for Frederic Malle 2010

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Turkish rose, raspberry, blackcurrant, cinnamon, clove
Heart: Patchouli, sandalwood, incense
Base: Ambrosian, benzoin, white musk

As far as I understand it this is a fairly divisive perfume? I wonder if people are wearing it in the wrong temperatures? POAL needs heat and skin and lots of both. The materials used are superb. Don´t be put off by the long list of notes. The main players are rose, patchouli, frankincense and the sticky resinous feel of maybe labdanum? Earthy, mature, and strong, it bleeds confidence. In amongst the warmth of rose and patchouli is a damp incense. Like breathing in the chill of a cement floored cellar. Melds into the skin. Very beautiful.

WikiMedia

So for whatever reason you read and mingle with the APJ crew, we´re thankful for every one of you. Do you like your roses in the heat?

Knackered Bussis
CQ

(Ed: Photo credits to Val unless specified. Lovely huh?)

Series 3 Incense: Zagorsk by Evelyne Boulanger for Comme des Garcons 2002

August 25, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Portia

Hey APJ,

Today I’m using up the last of my decant. It wasn’t a big one but I really liked the idea of smelling spacious today and emptying anything around here is cause for quiet rejoicing.

Series 3 Incense: Zagorsk by Comme des Garcons 2002

Series 3 Incense: Zagorsk by Evelyne Boulanger

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Frankincense, pine tree, chilli pepper, violet, cedar, iris, Hinoki cypress, birch

Cold, woods, wax, emptiness. It’s like you can feel yourself transported to a huge cathedral empty of humanity in the dark of night. There is something completely spacious about Zagorsk, so much room that the scents become thin, as if they are memories.

Zagorsk Comme des Garcons WikiMedia WikiMedia

Isn’t it interesting what comes to mind to write about. I was at a funeral yesterday for the father of a girlfriend I’d had in our mid teen years. I arrived about 40 minutes early and the Anglican church was quiet, cold and smelled a little like Zagorsk. There was the scent of incense burnings long past, candles burning, wooden pews waxed brightly by a century of cloth covered bottoms and the scratchy crackle in my nostrils of decades old dust. I spent about 10 minutes wandering through the two adjoining chapels and reminisced about my friend, our group, the amazingly fun times we had in their lavish old sandstone mansion in the best street in our suburb (by far). We were all so fearless, funny and beautiful.

Zagorsk is not a big scent. Most of the notes in it are blended way beyond my ability to parse for you. What I get more than a fragrance is a memory scent. Memories of getting to Catholic churches as a child/teen an hour before to sing in the schoolboys choir for mass, weddings, christenings and anything else they needed us for. It’s a feeling of expectation for me. The hurry up and wait, often in poorly warmed old buildings , and having time to reflect on stuff while looking at poor old Jesus stuck eternally on the crucifix.

WikiMedia

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Now Smell This
Harold’s in Australia has the Incense range in store
LuckyScent has $95/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6/ml

What do you wear that feels cool, airy and reflective?
Portia xx

Evan Came Over For A Sniff

August 24, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 27 Comments

Portia

Hey there APJ,

One of the best things about being a perfumista is sharing the fun. Today Evan came over Ainslie Walker had given me a bunch of stuff to pass ages ago on but we’ve not been able to co-ordinate ourselves till today. There was also a hiatus where I had misplaced the goodies.

Found them now and Evan was free so today it was.

Evan Came Over For A Sniff

Here we are as Evan arrived. We knew we were on a time budget so I snapped away quickly.

I thought we could meet some vintage DIOR fragrances. I brought out my best preserved of the earliest I have:
Diorissimo EdT
Dioressence EdT
Dune PdT
Diorella EdT
Miss Dior EdT
Poison EdT

Three of the newest DIOR Privee
Sakura
Souffle de Soie
Jasmin des Angles
Evan broughtEldorado _ a hefty rose/incense/woodsy/pooh

CHANEL No 5 EdC
Tabac Aurea by Sonoma Scent Studio
Rose Musc by Sonoma Scent Studio

Phantom by Ainslie Walker
Mr Finch by Ainslie Walker
Lavender Smoke by Olympic Orchids
Olympic Amber by Olympic Orchids
Ballets Rouges by Olympic Orchids

Here is Evan. His nose is blown, and his mind.
Then I kicked him out, ran to my computer to write this and now I’m of to get ready for work.

Evan has also agreed to try writing for APJ, you’ll be seeing him around here a bit.

Do you even get together with friends to sniff stuff?
Portia xx

Antonia’s Flowers by Bernard Chant for Antonia`s Flowers 1985

August 23, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Kate Apted

Hello and welcome APJers,

Today, I want to make a small confession. There is a certain Mecca store that has a pretty much empty tester bottle. And I am reasonably certain it was me who emptied it; over the course of a few months. So, I got a bottle for free, in a sense.
I did end up spending the paltry $80 for a bottle of my own. I felt absolutely shamed that I had really received two bottles for the price of one. As this was the very last bottle on the shelf, the tester with zilch but bubbles of air in the spritzer hose was then put away in the drawer. I almost asked if I could have it. But I kept my shame to myself.

Antonia’s Flowers by Antonia`s Flowers 1985

Antonia’s Flowers by Bernard Chant

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Freesia, jasmine, magnolia, lily, fruity notes

Antonia’s Flowers is the perfume that I am talking about. It is such an unassuming bottle and a very plain box, and for some reason, Mecca stores often keep this on the lowest shelf and in the corner. Mine had been sitting there for a very long time. The box lid is faded and there was a thick layer of dust on the top when I bought it. The first spray of the tester was over a year ago and I hastily put the tester down with a look of disgust on my face. The opening is harsh and hard hitting. It still is something I am not used to, but I now know to avoid my wrist for a few minutes.

I have to admit that this is straight up freesia. There are other notes listed, but I don’t get any of them until the last 20 minutes, and that is after freesia assault for an hour. By this stage, it is a very close skin scent anyway. It is evident that Antonia was a florist; the scent is uncannily haunting and indicative of a haute florist at the height of spring. I can imagine WASPy Hampton brides in the late 80s and early 90s using this as their signature wedding scent. While this is most certainly a white flower fragrance, it is not polite or gentle. It is unapologetically bold and haughty.

WikiMedia

There are a few things that annoy me about Antonia’s Flowers. First, it really does only last an hour and a bit on me. Second, the lid does not fit on the sprayer. I had to unscrew the lid, to then screw on the sprayer, and the lid does not fit on the sprayer. Third, the long necked sprayer stops the bottle from having the lid of the box close. I like to keep my perfumes in their boxes, so this does irk me.

Then there is the BUT… I adore this scent. I truly do. It takes me back to the days I’d ramble down the alley ways of the rural town I lived in as a child. All sorts of wild flowers grew along people’s back fences and along the creek beds. Older women would spend hours in their cottage gardens and I’d take in all the smells on my walks.

Antonia's Flowers Antonia`s Flowers Freesia_flowers field manfredrichter Pixabay.jpg PDI

Further reading: Liberty London Girl and Azar on Australian Perfume Junkies
Mecca has $80/50ml FREE Australian Shipping

What shameful perfume secrets do you have? You know you want to share…I dare you!
Be good. Kate xx

Feminite du Bois by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 2009

August 22, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Portia

Hello APJ,

Sorry but I forgot to post yesterday. With all that’s going on around here somehow it completely slipped my notice that we had nothing going up.

Anyway, today we are talking about a scent that I didn’t really take much notice of when I smelled it. Perhaps it was nasal fatigue from smelling it in a bunch of others or maybe my taste has changed. A couple of years ago Jin and I went to the Palais Royale Serge Lutens store and had a fabulous morning going through the whole of the Lutens line. While we were there Elvire also showed us a historical lineage of Feminite du Bois since the original bottles and suddenly I understood.

Feminite du Bois by Serge Lutens 2009

Feminite du Bois by Christopher Sheldrake

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Beeswax, Clove, Honey, Cardamom, Musk, Orange blossom, Peach, Plum, Rose, Vanilla, Violet, Ylang-ylang, Cedar, Cinnamon

OK, so anyone who loved the original Shiseido version of this baby is never going to be satisfied with the newer version. That’s OK, plenty of other perfume out there for you to sniff and enjoy. Mourn it’s passing, you’ll have to move on.

Here is my bottle, bought recently from a friend on the FB pages. As you can see it’s the original Palais Royale export bottle stamp. So not the 100% modern version but ahead of the Shiseido curved mauve bottle that looks disturbingly like a human organ.

What I smell mainly is ginger. A spiced ginger smoothed over by beeswax and honey to create a plush and velvety opening. The stewed fruit comes in later, swirled in like mixing it through a cake batter. None of these opening heavy hitters really leave but as the fragrance dries down I am left with a sweet vanilla woodsiness and the cool crispness of green leaves. Fully fragrant longevity is not excellent, Feminite du Bois seems to soften off alarmingly after less than an hour and the dry down hums along very close to my skin for a couple of hours till I lose it completely.

Féminité du bois Serge Lutens fruit-cake-batter publicdomainpictures PDI

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Now Smell This
FragranceNet has around $100/50ml before Coupon
Surrender To Chance has samples from $6/ml

Hope your life is doing all right,
What has surprised you after years of neglect?
Portia xx

34 Boulevard Saint Germain by Olivier Pescheux for Diptyque 2011

August 18, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Portia

Hi there APJ,

Diptyque is a fragrant dinosaur from 1961. One of the Mass-Tige stalwarts I think they have done well to maintain their individuality through nearly 60 years of operation. Often bypassed by perfumistas because of their safe and pretty perfumes if you dig through their enormous range there are a lot of beautifully crafted, elegant perfumes. If the first reason for fragrance is to smell good then Diptyque should be regularly accoladed.

34 Boulevard Saint Germain by Diptyque 2011

34 Boulevard Saint Germain by Olivier Pescheux

34 boulevard Saint Germain Diptyque Fragrantica Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Blackcurrant, green leaves, fir leaf, citruses, pink pepper, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon
Heart: Rose, geranium, tuberose, iris, violet
Base: Woods, resins, balsams, eucalyptus

2011 was the time that I discovered the online world of fragrance, started reading blogs and found sample sellers. Till then I had been avidly following the magazines and department store adventures of scent and was unprepared for the incredible largesse of niche, indie and artisan. Suddenly I was trying son many incredibly mind expending creations from around the world that almost anything available within easy reach had lost its lustre. So 34 Boulevard Saint Germain was released with barely a raised eyebrow in the scentbloggosphere and thus I remained unaware of how it actually smelled until much later.

Once I got 34 Boulevard Saint Germain on my skin I liked it very much, not a deep love yet, but I did take notice how ravishing it smelled. Then I went back and read a few lacklustre reviews and started doubting my own empirical evidence and with the constant rush of something new completely forgot about it. Until I tried it again a year or so ago and it went straight back on my wish list.

Then a mate was having a sell out and for a very reasonable price I was suddenly the owner ofd a 50ml bottle (Thanks Liam you sexy man). Then I wore it a few times and liked it very much. Till now and it’s been on my desk as a sneaky spritzer for months. It doesn’t even get put away in its box anymore but sits proudly on top, just in case I need a happy reminder how much I adore it.

PDI

How does 34 Boulevard Saint Germain smell? Well, it opens up big. It’s a luscious green melange that is smooth, bittersweet and slightly feral. It only lasts a few minutes but the opening fireworks are like every note in the list is trying to get your attention and by doing so they lose their individuality and become a larger than life fragrance that is zingy, creamy, green woods, bark and broken leaves drizzled over the squeaky sweetness of blackcurrant cordial.

The floral bouquet is unopened tuberose and a clover rose, but they are only bit players really because by the time you know it’s them they are already second fiddle to the resins and balsams. Which is what I am left with for the majority of the ride, a very lightly sweet resinous wood. very calm and eat wear but not simple enough to be a yawn.

PDI

Further reading: Now Smell This and FragranceDaily
Mecca has $123/50ml FREE Australian Shipping
Surrender To Chance has samples starting from $4/ml

Do you have a favourite Diptyque?
Portia xx