Spring has arrived in Sydney. Here are a couple of the flowers in my area.
Oh yeah my first spring flower woo hoo! Jasmine on the front verandah.
Lovely wattle in Sydney
Gorgeous wild freesias
Australasian Artisan Botanical Perfume Expo
October 23rd ~ Sydney
We are getting really excited about the inaugural Australasian Artisan Botanical Perfume Expo ~ October 23rd ~ Sydney. We are botanical perfumers from the southern hemisphere passionate about the beauty of natural, BOTANICAL perfumes. Be part of the revolution of natural fragrance, beauty, sensuality, health and wellbeing.
WHEN Sunday, October 23, 2016 from 11:00 AM to 3:30 PM (AEDT)
WHEREKirribilli Neighbourhood Centre – 16-18 Fitzroy Street
Kirribilli, NSW, 2061
** close the to Kirribilli train station with lovely cafes in the village.
INCLUDED IN YOUR TICKET
A variety of teas to enjoy
Award winning dark chocolate mousse by Yalla (Gluten and preservative free)
fruit and more.
Gifts given out during the day by Lord Foppington
and
A door prize will be drawn at 2pm for one attendee to the value of $500 (Winner must be on site to receive the gift)
In the lead up to Christmas and a change in seasons, we’re seeing an influx of new releases…including Grace by Grace Coddington.
We’ve been waiting an eon to smell Comme des Garçons and Grace Coddington’s fragrance. It was released April 2016 overseas and late August in Australia, exclusive to Mecca nationwide.
As April came and went I observed some ‘spoilers’ on Instagram etc, however all I really knew was there was a cat connection and I had also heard it was rose based. Grace has been obsessed with roses since her English childhood experiences in rose gardens. She used to wear Floris’s Red Rose as a teen.
I have a soft spot for Comme des Garçon’s edgy fragrances. How might they ‘shake up the rose’ for Grace? Roses are well loved and Grace spending more than a decade with her finger firmly on the fashion pulse means it should really hit the nail on the head. [NB for those who do not know, Grace was Vogue’s Creative Director for at least a decade and before that a model, originally from England. If interested you can find out more about the fashion icon from her book, Grace – A Memoir or by watching The September Issue movie.]
Grace by Grace Coddington and Comme des Garcons 2016
Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Mint, Basil leaf, Cardamom, Pink pepper
Heart: Moroccan rose absolute, Freesia, Peach blossom
Base: Vetiver, Cashmere wood, White musk, Crystal amber
On first whiff its light, fresh, rosy and white musk, with some transparency. Second whiff deeper rose notes with an impression of freshly laundered towels. Sweetness, maybe juicy peach. Sparkle..maybe green pepper, or still the fizz of laundry powder. What I see in my minds eye is; a rose growing on another planet wrapped in a thick clean towel, warm from the dryer, looking at the twinkling stars.
The lovely Grace bottle, designed by Fabien Baron is actually a cute, sophisticated cat. A heavy bottomed, curved – almost egg-shaped glass bottle. The lid is a weighted silver metal ball with little ears. A little drawstring bag features illustrations by Grace herself. VERY handbag friendly. The bottle feels lovely in the hand. There’s that swoony weight / balance thing…sigh.
Who would wear this? I recommended it as a gift for my friends’ daughter’s 18th, however the fragrance is not limited to a younger audience. I think the lightness, elegance and playfulness of a flirty cat is captured and who does not want to smell like that some days?
You could wear it to work, dates or outdoors. There’s a cosy feel to it…and yet a watery luminescence too. A nod to old-fashioned English rose scents, but interpreted in a more lasting, modern way. At no point does it feel thin, however for me longevity is medium – one that I would top up midway through my day.
Did you ever want to smell like someone or something else – a flower perhaps, a celebrity or a parrot? A parrot you say? Some of these birds can smell pretty foul (sorry). Many psittacines have distinct, oily, dusty, musky odors. If you have ever walked into a parrot shop or indoor aviary you know what I’m talking about – a kind of sweaty, hormonal scent. While some parrots have a pleasant version of this musk, others smell like wet, dirty socks.
Parrot Perfume – Smell Like a Pionus
The parrot I want to smell like is Gomez, the beautiful Blue Headed Pionus (Pionus menstruus). Wild Pionus parrots hail from Central and South America and are common birds in their home range. The fragrance of each Pionus is unique and, like human scent, changes depending on individual chemistry, diet, environment and myriad other factors. Gomez has three distinct “perfumes” that I’ve noticed in our 14-year relationship.
The first is the musky odor – Gomez’ “I am pissed off.” smell or “I’m really horny!” smell or “You are wearing a red dress therefore I am going to bite you.” smell. Pionus are shy birds and don’t like change. New earrings, radically different clothing or unfamiliar scents will, with luck, result in warning wafts of musk.
Gomez also has two beautiful fragrances that tell me he is happy or that something interesting is in view. The original Pleasant Pionus Perfume (PPP) is a honeyed, dusty floral with notes of mimosa, nuts, milk, iris and a light parrot musk. The second (PPP II) is a flanker and I believe an intentional reaction or response to a new fragrance I’ve been wearing lately. The other day I was hanging out near Gomez’ cage and smelled something very familiar – Note Fragrances Blood Orange Chocolat. Previously I detected a similarity between PPP and BOC but this time it was full blown Blood Orange Chocolat. I moved my nose closer to Gomez’ cage, calling his name in dulcet tones. Gomez wafted what was unmistakably the dry down phase of BOC. Had he, at some point, noticed me wearing Blood Orange Chocolate and reformulated his original PPP into PPPII to better communicate with me? Was my intelligent, albeit bird-brained companion, trying to augment his limited vocal vocabulary with scent-based inter- species communication?
For several years I have been suggesting someone come up with a parrot perfume – perhaps one will show up sooner than later! Now I’m wondering if anyone is currently researching reciprocal, scent based inter-species communication? I’m also wondering what message Gomez was really trying to send to me via PPP II and what did my wearing Blood Orange Chocolat really mean to him.
Azar xx
Pionus GIVEAWAY
WHAT CAN YOU WIN?
The winner will receive:
1 x 5 ml of Note Fragrances Blood Orange Chocolat 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
Tell us if you have experienced inter-species communication or know which fragrance your significant other (any species) prefers you wear
HOUSEKEEPING
Entries Close Wednesday 7th September 2016 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Saturday 10th September 2016 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.
Lately I have been back reading books. For a while life was just too hectic and my head felt too full of whirling stuff to be able to fully give myself to a book. Thankfully life has calmed down to a mere roller coaster ride and I’m finding some space to get my read on. Books have always had a special place in my life. Mum & Dad used to read us to sleep every night and we were always told that when the world got too tough losing yourself in a book was an excellent cure. So, many of my books have been read and reread since my childhood and every time it’s like seeing old friends. Here though are a few of the fragrant books I’ve been reading this last few weeks.
The Scent Trail: How One Woman’s Quest for the Perfect Perfume Took Her Around the World. I enjoyed this book immensely and Celia Lyttelton must have spent a small fortune going on this grand journey around the world, meeting amazing people who grow, harvest and distil the fragrant ingredients that she had made into a bespoke scent. If you ever wanted to know more about where the natural ingredients are sourced then this book will give you enormous insight. Every now and then I had to go back and reread a page because I was lost in jealousy at her great good fortune.
I have had this damn book for years and would read the first chapter or two and put it down in bafflement. This year I was determined to read all the way to the very last page, and I did. Tom Robbins leads us a merry dance and the story of finding immortality through scent is spellbinding, once you push through the first few chapters. I find that after reading it I look back on it with more admiration that I had while doing the reading. Jitterbug perfume needs to be reread and savoured next time.
To be honest my initial thought was that I would hate this novel. Turns out I couldn’t put the damn thing down. A story told across generations with simultaneous narratives from all the protagonists, happening over a 70 year period. Basically a couple of love stories and a family torn apart by war. Mainly set in Valencia, Spain and there is a lot of fragrant talk because two of the main characters are perfumers. Really enjoyable, if slightly predictable read.
An estate, a perfume store, an inheritance, lost love, drama, found love. It’s all here in a very entertaining book. There is something about the writers style that irked me a few times but the story rolls along inventively enough and I ended up invested emotionally in the characters, though they are mostly only mildly likeable.
Two honourable mentions: The Perfumed Sleeve by Laura Joh Rowland: A fabulously salacious murder mystery set in old Japan with a few fragrant references. Who knew old Japan was such a sexual hotbed of lies and deceit? The Sari Shop Widow by Shobhan Bantwal: Indian widow and family nearly lose their family shop but the dictatorial oldest brother comes with his business partner to help. Few fragrant references but a cracking good read. My second reading, it was even better this time.
Loads of you came along and got involved in this one. Great to see so many of you. I hope life its treating you kindly wherever you are.
Portia xx
Sample GIVEAWAY Sep 2016 WINNER
WHAT CAN YOU WIN?
The winner will receive one each of these samples:
Manhattan Rose by Krigler
Fiore del Dragone by Tesori d`Oriente
Poopoo Pidoo by Egofacto
Jamais le Dimanche by Egofacto
Le Americhe Caribbean Fruits by Compagnia Delle Indie
Bleu de Nice Santal by PierSaintPier
Equinox Bloom by Penhaligon’s
Opus X by Amouage
San Francisco by A Wing & A Prayer
Dreams & Visions by A Wing & A Prayer
Bella by A Wing & A Prayer
Coeur de Vetiver scare by L’Artisan
Holiday No. 14 by DSH Perfumes
JaLouSie by perfumes Lalun
Vetiver des Sables by Montale
Aoud Lime by Montale P&H Anywhere in the world
HOUSEKEEPING
Entries Closed Saturday 3rd September 2016 10pm Australian EST
Winner was chosen by random.org
Tarena
The winner will have till Wednesday 7th September 2016 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.
Some days when the post arrives and a long awaited and expected package is finally in my hands I get a little tremor of uncertainty. Will this be the real deal? Will I have spent my hard earned (OK only mildly) cash on a winner or a bummer? The other day was just such a day, arriving opened and lightly used was a vintage extract that I had extremely high hopes for……
When First was released I was 8. Being in Australia we may have got it around then but it wasn’t really on my radar. At that time I was completely unaware of anything except that my Mum was the most beautiful and smelled the best of all the Aunties and all the other Mums. The reason I bought this perfume bottle is that I have memories of First being around through my teen years in a general sort of way. I don’t think Mum had it but some of the ladies in my sphere did, there were definitely bottles of it in my vision.
I had a modern EdT that basically bludgeoned my nose to headache with its opening cacophony and I wondered if an older perfume would be less ferocious.
PDI
How does it smell? Richer, less aldehydic at the opening though they are still a fizzy, slightly oily metallic patina over the fruits. First perfume is less about the opening though and more about the heart, as if it can’t wait to get to the white and yellow flowers. Once this jasmine-centric heart arrives it’s swoon time. So beautifully blended that my main reading is jasmine supported by other white flowers and creamy, slightly banana ylang. I’m sure better noses could parse it more succinctly. You have no idea how freaking gorgeous first perfume is. Unbelievable, eye-rolling, deep breath till I think my hand might get sucked up my nose fabulous.
The heart lasts for ages before I start to notice it becoming more honeyed and sweeter. I can’t decide if it’s sandalwood or a combination of other things. I do smell furry oakmoss and a lovely dose of animal, soft and plush. From just 3 dabs on my hand this baby lasts all night and I can still smell whispers of an animalic vanilla/amber in the morning.
I have a bunch of samples that I have tried, written about and loved or not. Some are carded manufacturers samples, shop bought decants, gifted decants etc. They are lying around in my office and will probably never be looked for again. A couple of them are only half full but others are only 2 spritzes used or brand new, some I have bottles or doubles of. There are .7ml all the way up to 3ml. So what better way to share the love than a FABULOUS GIVEAWAY!!
Sample GIVEAWAY September 2016
WHAT CAN YOU WIN?
The winner will receive one each of these samples:
Manhattan Rose by Krigler
Fiore del Dragone by Tesori d`Oriente
Poopoo Pidoo by Egofacto
Jamais le Dimanche by Egofacto
Le Americhe Caribbean Fruits by Compagnia Delle Indie
Bleu de Nice Santal by PierSaintPier
Equinox Bloom by Penhaligon’s
Opus X by Amouage
San Francisco by A Wing & A Prayer
Dreams & Visions by A Wing & A Prayer
Bella by A Wing & A Prayer
Coeur de Vetiver scare by L’Artisan
Holiday No. 14 by DSH Perfumes
JaLouSie by perfumes Lalun
Vetiver des Sables by Montale
Aoud Lime by Montale 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
Tell us a perfume on your wish list.
HOUSEKEEPING
Entries Close Saturday 3rd September 2016 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Wednesday 7th September 2016 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.
I hope ya’ll are enjoying a summer or winter break and that life is good for you.
Summer vacation started and my son and I left the house at 0400 to get to the airport to catch the first flight on our way to Seattle. It had been 2,5 years since my last trip to the US to see family – to see my sister’s new home in Seattle.
I hope you enjoy my olfactory and visual trip of my travels this summer.
Summer Holiday Smells 2016 + Photo Essay
One of the first smells that I encountered was the airplane petrol that hits me every time I get to the airport and puts me right into vacation mood. I love it.
Summer Holiday Smells: Seattle
Smell of the BBQ at home and the smoke of the fireworks on the 4th of July on Lake Union.
Smell of flowers and raw fish at Pikes Market. Crocosmia with the vibrant red flowers have a very distinctive smell. The hydrangeas so big and colourful..
Smell of tossed Copper River salmon at Pikes Market. Seriously – we picked out the fish we wanted to buy and the fishmongers put on a show of tossing the fish to each other. The Copper River salmon was sublime.
Smell of the wet trees at Mr. Ranier National Park and fresh clean mountain air. I could actually smell the fresh water cascading down the waterfall at Paradise.
Smell of my hand after squeezing a ripe apricot at a roadside farmers market and of the juice from a Rainier cherry after biting into it. The Rainier cherry is incredible in its texture, flavor, sweetness and juiciness.
Smell of the lowest of the low tides at Carkeek Beach and searching for crab under the rocks – seaweed, moss and anemones on my fingertips. We found a largish crab and all sorts of little crabs.
Summer Holiday Smells: Atlanta
Smell of hand disinfectant and medicines at Urgent Care and doctors offices while getting my son’s broken arm in a cast. But we got to see colourful Australian Gouldian finches and their babies.
Heat and humidity creating a wall of comfort for me outside while everyone else ran for the AC. The humidity has a smell in Atlanta. Try to describe it? Sorry.
Smell of sun screen and chlorine every day. Yes – waterproof casts exist and we went swimming every day. That is what I enjoyed as a child and obviously so did my son. Vienna is not warm enough to have warm swimming pools outdoors.
Smell of the steam coming off of the side walks and roads after an afternoon thunderstorm and shower. How I miss the thunderstorms!
Smell of fresh boiled shrimp and cocktail sauce. Reminds me of my summer on Tybee Island where my friend’s parents caught 70 pounds of shrimp and all of us kids had to peel them all.
Sound of the cicadas in the trees. The night comes to life and the sound is magical and takes me back to my childhood in Atlanta.
I had forgotten of how abundant Crepe Myrtle trees are in Atlanta. They were in full bloom and my favourite colours were bright pink and deep red.
All in all it was a great trip. Next summer vacation perhaps a different destination with sights, smells and sounds that will make memories for a lifetime.
I would love to hear from you. How are you doing and which perfumes are you reaching for?
Sandra
Myrrh Casati! How did it take me so long to find you? I have hazy recollections of this being released. Mainly because it’s the first MdO not created by Mona. Here’s where it all gets weird because I remember the fragrance being soundly trounced by loads of reviewers. Woo Hoo! So my wallet breathed a sigh of relief that I need not try one fragrance. PHEW! Then, recently I was on Surrender To Chance seeing what was available and about and suddenly, seemingly without even trying, I had bought a couple of really big 8ml decants: Grandiflora Madagascan Jasmine and ………
Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Peruvian pink pepper, Guatemala cardamom, Saffron, Licorice, Siam benzoin, Somalian myrrh, Somalian frankincense, Indonesian patchouli, Indian cypriol, Paraguayan gaiac wood
Spicy, dry spices, walking through the spice markets in India or Dubai. A melding of heat, dust, humanity and spices. Cardamom! I can smell it plain as day, as if I pulled a pod from its Tupperware to put into a curry or soup. Saffron and woods. It’s like market day here in Sydney and I smell amazing. All the resins come together in Myrrh Casati and create a balmy, smoky cushion for the spices to rest on.
The fireworks burn off after about 15-20 minutes and Myrrh Casati and it softens off to a comfortable, warm, resinous fragrance, only lightly spiced. Totally wearable and beautiful. The woods are present after a while, they smell fresh hewn but dry, no greenness here at all. Woods and resins float over you and around you softly but insistently. Myrrh Casati is calm, like being in a South Korean temple on a hill in the morning quiet when there’s just you, the monks and whatever your idea of god is. Incense, woods, lingering balms used for polishing, clean air and an internal conversation.
From Luckyscent: Inspired by Marchesa Casati, the legendary patron of the arts and muse of eccentricity, known for her extravagant dark fashion and lavish fetes replete with exotic animals, gilded servants, and an infectious waft of incense and mystery that surrounded her.
As you know Neela is one of my mates, we chat on Skype pretty regularly and whenever Jin & I are in Paris we always get some Neela time. Talking about travelling, one of the bummers about having full bottles of fragrance is that when you are abroad it becomes a bit of a pain carrying them in your checked baggage. Isn’t it always great to have a few decants or travel sizes that you can keep conveniently in your carry on? Up till now I thought the Hermès ones were my favourite, all that has changed though because Neela has unveiled her own travel sizes.
Neela Vermeire Creations Take Two
The Neela Vermeire Creations Take Two sets come in a very sensible two pack of 15ml each. The glass is hefty and sturdy and they are perfectly created for life in your bag. As always Neela’s packaging is super swish and the whole shebang looks very Ra Cha Cha.
Another clever idea is to buy the set with a friend and you’ll each have 15ml, meaning you can collect the whole Neela Vermeire Creations set at just over half the price of buying the big bottles. It’s a really good deal. Other fragrance houses make their smaller sizes nearly 80% of the big ones (looking at you sexy Pierre Guillaume, Amouage and a bunch of the others).
LuckyScent sells Ashoka in the 60ml for $230, the 2 x 15ml Take Two set is only $125
You may know that Mohur is my favourite of the NVC range followed closely by Ashoka and then Pichola. I’m going to start sussing out my mates about who would like to go halves in each of these sets. Those three combined with a few Hermès travels will mean I never have to think about my holiday frags, they’ll be packed and ready to go.
So, which Neela Vermeire Creations fragrance would you like to have a Take Two Travel Set of?
Portia xx
Oh yeah my first spring flower woo hoo! Jasmine on the front verandah.
Lovely wattle in Sydney
Gorgeous wild freesias
Australian Perfume Junkies 