What were your most reached for fragrances in 2014?

December 19, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Hey Hey Fumies!!

The other night I was reading Perfume Shrine and they had this question. I found it so interesting what everyone had worn. We talk a LOT about the newest, freakiest, skankiest and get really hardcore on the blogs every year but to see what everyone really wears, in real life, is great.

So I’d like to put it to you APJ.

What were your most reached for fragrances in 2014?

My first answer is what I put up on Perfume Shrine but that was written off the top of my head and I have been thinking hard about the answer. What I will do is put up my previous answer and the more realistic one…

Hey There,
I LOVE these questions. Would you be terribly offended if I asked the same question at APJ?
Here are my most reached for..
Shalimar by Guerlain
Fleur de Male by Gaultier
Coco by CHANEL
Mohur by Neela Vermeire
Liberte by Cacharel
Portia xx

Perfumeshrine said…
Portia,
you’re very welcome to repeat this on Australian Perfume Junkies! Thanks for adding your contribution here. And so please tweet me the link when you’re done so I can RT 🙂

After consideration answer:
Shalimar by Guerlain
Amoureuse by Parfums DelRae
Ombre Mercure by Terry de Gunzburg
Mohur by Neela Vermeire
Liberte by Cacharel

I did wear Fleur de Male and Coco quite a bit but Amoureuse and Ombre Mercure were really easy, elegant and unusual things to wear for work, so I would often grab them through the whole year.

Now it’s your turn. What were your most reached for fragrances in 2014?

Portia xx

Jardins de Bagatelle by Jean Paul Guerlain 1983

December 17, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by ElizaD

I keep nudging the needle.

In my last post I mentioned that I would soon be making a trip to the Perfume House in Portland, Ore., and had been preparing for that trip by wearing as little scent as possible to prime my nose for the journey that is the Perfume House.

Not long afterwards, we did go to the Perfume House as part of my birthday celebration. My husband came with me, which in itself was a blast. I got to introduce him to this amazing collection, and to hear first hand what he thought of different scents. Oddly enough, everything smelled like food to him: bananas, watermelon, chocolate. It was a hoot! But he was very brave and that made it all the more special.

I went with the hope of finding a new Serge Lutens, and did sample a few including L’Orpheline, a small vial of which came home with me. I wandered in and out of the Amouage room— yes folks, a room dedicated to L’Artisan Perfumers and Amouage—but found nothing there that called.

Jardins de Bagatelle by Jean Paul Guerlain 1983

Photo 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

The other sample I asked for was Jardins de Bagetelle, which was a total surprise, because I am not a big flower person. But as I used a little of my sample everyday, I could not get over how incredible this perfume is.

As I picked up the phone and called Tracy to order a full bottle, the bee bottle no less, which sorry to say will not get tucked away in a cupboard as it should, but will grace my vanity until every drop is gone, I thought to myself “I have nudged the needle.” I have finally admitted that I love big, loud, robust, beautiful, perfumes. I have realized that even though I grew up in the era where children were seen and not heard, the women around me smelled anything but quiet, and I have become one of those women. I may not coif my hair and adorn myself with jewels, but I know how to wear perfume.

Photo Stolen InStyle

Guerlain’s website describes Jardins as a “joyous, luminous, and captivating flora, an airy and luminous essence, a sparkling fragrance. The heart is a real bouquet of white flowers (neroli, jasmine and gardenia) celebrating joie de vivre over a base of poisonous tuberose underscored with woody notes.”

When I first spray Jardins, I smell violets and bergamot, sweet and juicy. It is not long until the tuberose takes center stage, accompanied by rose and gardenia, and it lasts for a very long time until that wonderful Guerlinade takes over. What I love is that this perfume that could be all tuberose, raucous and warm, softens into something so familiar that lasts almost all day.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

I am going to be wearing this for weeks to come. I know that I will have to trust my innate ability to not go beyond what is acceptable when spraying, but that is part of the fun: seeing whether I can wear such a big perfume as a day-to-day scent.

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and Monsieur Guerlain
FragranceNet has $120/100ml before coupon
My Perfume samples starts at $2.50/ml up to $7.50/5ml

And I? I will keep nudging that needle.

What about you? Have you tried Jardins de Bagatelle?
ElizaD xx

Making of Idylle Mini Movie – Guerlain

November 30, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Aha! How are you Scented Scallywags?

I never saw this Idylle mini movie, I wonder if it ever came to Australia?

Here we discover the backstage mini movie story for Idylle by Guerlain directed by Jaco Van Dormael and then I’ve added the finished commercial too.

Idylle by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2009

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Freesia, tincture of rose, litchi, raspberry
Heart: Jasmine, peony, lilac, lily, lily of the valley
Base: Patchouli, musk

Photo Stolen Perfume Posse

Enjoy

Portia xx

Making of Idylle Mini Movie – Guerlain

Guerlain Idylle commercial

"Kaleidoscopic India" au 68 – Guerlain mini movie

November 23, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hey Hey APJ,

I wish I could have been in Paris to see this exhibition. Guerlain and India, two of my most treasured passions.

Did any of you get to see the exhibition? I’d love to read your impressions.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen Guerlain Twitter

“Kaleidoscopic India” au 68 – GUERLAIN

Vernissage de l’exposition proposée au 68, Champs-Elysées dans le cadre du parcours privé de la FIAC, du 17 octobre au 14 novembre 2014. (Second video is in untranslated French, it’s pretty though I can’t understand it)

“Kaleidoscopic India” au 68 – GUERLAIN

Mademoiselle Guerlain by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2014

October 25, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Heya Lovers of Fine Fragrance,

Today I want to look at a decant I’ve had lying around here for a while but never seem to get to. Why has it lain forlorn and unloved? Who knows, sometimes it happens around here. What I did do yesterday after my bath though was spritz myself and WOW! So I spritzed again for work and now I am wearing it again. Masterpiece? Naah, but enjoyable? YES

Fragrantica says: Mademoiselle Guerlain is chic, elegant, cheerful Parisian scent. It is launched in 2014 in the exclusive Guerlain collection, but in fact it is the same fragrance as La Petite Robe Noire 2 from 2011 in a new bottle and a new name.

Mademoiselle Guerlain by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2014

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Galbanum, bergamot, lemon
Heart: Iris, orange blossom, marshmallow
Base: Vanilla, leather, white musk

There hasn’t been very much written about Mademoiselle Guerlain except to announce its coming and to tell us its history. As you may know I love Guerlain and most of their offerings work for me on some level so I was super dooper excited when told they were going to re-release the LPRN2 that I was 100% sure would be a million times more me than LPRN original, which I like very much most days but sometimes it’s like being suffocated by a macaroon.

Photo Stolen Flickr

I have spent a couple of days wearing Mademoiselle Guerlain now. Its green opening is at once sticky and cool, like the first gulp of a soft drink on a warm day. Refreshing but not thirst quenching. Interesting……. This initial frisson sadly lasts too briefly and the sugar enters like Pez or pastilles wrapped in marshmallow. Reads as if it’s TOTALLY disgusting, right? It’s not, it is sweet and fun and youthful, though not particularly sophisticated. Slowly the orange blossom, vanilla and iris bloom together underneath the sweetness and now you can feel that the whole fragrance has a lovely depth, here is where Mademoiselle Guerlain becomes a Guerlain. Something better than its contemporaries, frankly it is beautiful. Lavish but subtle, you won’t skunk people with Mademoiselle Guerlain unless you are in a fragphobic environment. Fragrant but not imposing or intimidating, Mademoiselle Guerlain will never be mistaken for a 1980s BIG WHITE FLORAL. Pretty and delicate, lovely and wearable through the heart I feel that Mademoiselle Guerlain could have been a best seller if offered in a less expensive flaccon and size.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Dry down is an intimate, musky and fluffy confectionery barely tempered by a hint of leather, after 6 hours I am still softly fragrant and putting my head into my top to smell I can definitely get wafts. Nothing stands out to me at this point but it’s a sweet and attractive wash rather than discernible notes. Nothing earth shattering but very nice, wearable in that modern sweet white musk way. I guarantee that Mademoiselle Guerlain will be a hit if you gift it, even to the least interested in fragrance, as long as they like sweet fragrances. There is nothing new or confrontational in the dry down for them, it could very well be a better quality celebuscent ending.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Further reading: Perfume Shrine
Guerlain Flagship Stores and some large Department Stores have Mademoiselle Guerlain
My Mademoiselle Guerlain came from a split, thanks RuthK
Surrender To Chance have samples starting at $3.30/.5ml

Did you ever try La Petite Robe Noire 2 when it was available? Are you a fan of the original La Petite Robe Noire? What do you think of the Bee Bottle and pink juice?
Portia xx

Terracotta le Parfum by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2014

October 20, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Post by TinaG

I have been blessed in my youth to have travelled more than the average teenager, having spent time in the tropics away from the major cities. Terracotta unexpectedly gave me a glimpse back to that time. I was lucky to gain a sample of the 2014 le Parfum, and tested it blind, so really didn’t know what to expect. It quickly laid itself bare, beckoning, and began telling me its luscious story.

Terracotta le Parfum by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2014

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, coconut, tiare flower
Heart: Jasmine, ylang-ylang, orange blossom
Base: Musk, vanilla

Terracotta le Parfum opens with the most wonderful tiare flower. Tiare has facets which could be compared to frangipani, although it is a form of pointy-petalled gardenia. It has a full bodied fragrance, but deep in its heart is the touch of a strange, slightly uncomfortable greenness, that just takes the edge off the headiness and provides a bit of breathing space. Along with the tiare, a rich jasmine bursts forth, which is beautifully balanced being neither overly indolic nor squeaky clean.

Photo Stolen Flickr

The warmth of these opening flowers is amazing, it feels like the individual blooms have been resting in the sun, to be woven into a lei and gently placed around my neck. I can feel the sunlight captured in the moist waxiness of the petals. There is a touch of orange blossom in the silage, which I don’t find close to my skin, which accentuates the impression of being surrounded by the thick heavy tropical air.

At around 2 hours I can smell a subtle, slippery coconut note with a hint of skin-generated musk in the background. It makes me feel like I’ve just applied the sheerest layer of moisturiser into sun-tinged skin at the end of a lazy day. The whole effect is intoxicating enough to gently disengage me from the normal barrage of everyday banality and just…. relax, smile, breath, and enjoy.

I have fond memories of the tropics, having spent some of my formative years in Papua New Guinea. Terracotta le Parfum particularly invokes images and memories of a visit we made to an active volcanic island off the north coast of PNG.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Next to the black sand beach are long swaths of well-manicured lawn, a residual feature of the colonial management of the copra oil plantation. This scent finds me walking bare-footed on the spongy grass past the white-washed main house, holding a lei of tiare & jasmine up to my nose and breathing deeply – although there is no need to, the humid air is filled with the smell of flowering frangipani trees and the deeper richness of the jungle spreading up the hill behind the house. Strung up between two coconut trees is an old gnarled sun-bleached rope hammock, which I wander over and roll in to. Lying in the shade, no sense of being too warm or too cold, cares being washed away by the tiny ripples of waves against the shore, breathing in the richness of the waxy blooms: there is not really any place closer to heaven on earth.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Chemist In A Bottle
Guerlain quickly sold out and I have read that Terracotta le Parfum will become regular range
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $7/ml

Tina xx

Nahema by Jean-Paul Guerlain 1979

October 15, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Post by Trésor

I’m often asked if I were forced to choose a single rose fragrance to wear for the rest of my life, the be-all and end-all of sumptuous carmine petals, what would that rose be? Would I choose to enrapture myself within a bordeaux hued nebula of Frederic Malle’s Une Rose? The labrynthine delicacy of Mohur from Neela Vermeire? The striking and immaculately vivid photorealism of Olympic Orchids’ Ballets Rouges? Though I appreciate their beauty beyond measure and spend many an hour in their passionate embrace the answer is simply no. My rose is Nahéma and it is her panoramic film star joie de vivre which draws me in close and beguiles me beyond the tangible and into a state of resplendent olfactory euphoria.

Nahema by Jean-Paul Guerlain 1979

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rose, peach, bergamot, green notes, aldehydes
Heart: Hyacinth, Bulgarian rose, ylang-ylang, jasmine, lilac, lily of the valley
Base: Vanilla, passion flower, Peru balsam, vetiver, sandalwood

The incipient rush of Nahéma is an exquisite spectrum of golden sunlight, her rays are a fluid opus of scintillating aldehydes, bergamot and a rather fascinating, fleeting flicker of hesperidic emerald green. Before long she begins to reveal a precious gift passed down to her by her older sister Mitsouko, the most unctuous and extraordinary peach who’s ripe flesh is gilded with flourishing spices. The beauty of the peach in Nahéma is in the way she carries it with utter ebullience and effortless charm. This symphonic assemblage of top notes cannot hold a candle to what comes next, the ripples of which have pervaded the very atmosphere of the entire composition from the beginning, the rose.

Photo Stolen Flickr

To begin to explain this rose seems almost an Olympian task for it is not simply a rose, it is a dream sequence and conceptual art piece in and of itself. It is not a rose of the Earth but a romanticized rendering, an olfactory landscape of scarlet lipstick kisses and lucid eruptions of honeyed, crimson velvet. The facets of Nahéma’s rose are akin to those of an intricately cut diamond, a radiant explosion of luminosity grounded by a weighted, baroque floridity that calls to mind a bygone era of unabashed luxury and excess. As the operatic rose begins to settle into the skin you are met with a redolent hum of rich, balsamic warmth. She’s borrowed some of Shalimar‘s characteristic vanilla and has again worn it in her own signature style.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

While still a study in resinous complexity it also maintains a dulcet levity to foil a smouldering depth. This is something that must be experienced for all the words in the world seem a failure to convey the inimitable beauty hidden within these treasured vapours.

Further reading: Colognoisseur and The Non Blonde
Beauty Encounter have $320/30ml Parfum
Surrendeer To Chance has vintage PdT samples from $6/ml

My concentration of choice in this pulchritudinous potion is the dense and luxuriant extrait de parfum. It lasts an exhorbitantly long time on my skin, sometimes through a hot bath and into the next day. I’m particularly fond of anointing my skin with Nahéma when I am looking to feel unapologetically glamorous and in need of an instant boost of confidence. For me, it truly is a sacred elixir.

Trésor XX

La Petite Robe Noire EdP by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2012

October 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by CyndiH

Hello Fellow Fragrance Friends!

Today I just have to dish about a decadent love affair I am having. I cannot get enough of this sultry little minx. She is a Parisian – sexy in an awe-inspiring, effortless way I could only dream of achieving in real life. She is chic and stylish: she wears a Chanel jacket with Levi’s jeans and makes it look movie-star cool. She is slightly dangerous, fun and romantic – like screaming down the Autobahn on a Moto Guzzi at night with a very handsome date that you get to squeeze very tightly … Her name is

La Petite Robe Noire by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2012

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Black cherry, bergamot, red berries, almond
Heart: Bulgarian rose, Turkish rose, licorice, smoked black tea
Base: Aniseed, tonka bean, vanilla, iris, patchouli

When I first sprayed La Petite Robe Noire EdP, I thought, “Oh wow, this is TOO much.” I had a wave of panic that it was more than I bargained for. But I resisted the urge to wash it off, surrendered and let her take me where she wanted to. The first spray of this dark beauty borders on the obscene. It is a cacophony of dark fruit saturated in tonka bean, smoke, black licorice, anise, refined black tea, vanilla and Patchouli. It’s thrilling – like that breathless, intoxicating feeling of waiting for that first kiss with someone you are so into, that you just KNOW is going to happen at some point in the evening. It’s not all heavy though – part of the thrill is there is also an effervescent frilliness in the top notes of bergamot and sparkling berries that swirl around like a black lace crinoline under a tango dancer’s fuchsia skirt, blended expertly into the deep notes so that no seams show whatsoever.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

After a few minutes La Petite Robe Noire EdP calms down, but simmers with the same unabashedly sexy concoction of dark fruit and gourmand notes, with a dark ripe rose coming into the scenario. But only slightly – I would not call this a ‘rose dominant’ fragrance. And while it is certainly sexy, it is not bawdy or garish. It is extremely smooth, balanced and deep. This is posh, upscale, 5-star-hotel, crystal chandelier sexy. This is definitely black dress material, but no polyester here sister: La Petite Robe Noire EdP is silk chiffon, taffeta, lace, pearls, and diamonds all the way. It is a complex, plush fragrance – I have only worn it in summer but can imagine how beautiful these black velvety notes would be against the crystalline cold of winter.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

I get easily 6-8 hours out of La Petite Robe Noire EdP, but traces of it linger even after that. I would wear this fragrance everywhere – from a black tie affair or cocktail hour where I am actually wearing a little black dress, to a work seminar (which I did and inspired me to wear a black, ruffled, bow-tied, Napoleon-sleeved blouse instead of a stuffy suit jacket and I got rave reviews), to the most casual of daily activities – any occasion where you want to feel opulently sexy and pretty.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies, The Candy Perfume Boy and Now Smell This
FragranceNet has $75/50ml before Coupon
My Perfume Samples starts at $3/ml

Have you tried La Petite Robe Noire EdP yet? What are your thoughts?

Until next time, when I dish about my next love affair!
Cyndi xoxoxo

La Petite Robe Noire – GUERLAIN

Aqua Allegoria Winter Delice by Guerlain 2001

September 15, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Post by Tina G

Winter Delice is the secret door at the back of the cupboard from the The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. A few squirts and I’ve been instantly transported into a frosty European December day, walking through a high mountain forest with a crystal blue sky above and dry crisp snow crunching under my boots.

Aqua Allegoria Winter Delice by Guerlain

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Fir
Heart: Pine, resin
Base: Opoponax, vanille, sugar

The whole opening of Winter Delice is as I’ve just brushed up against a forest pine tree, cupped a bunch of needles to my nose for a sniff, and got a bit of sticky sap on my fingers from my efforts. The pine and fir notes are fresh, bright, and uplifting. The presence of a touch of lemon may or may not be an aspect of the pine. A clear rich resin comes through after about 15 minutes when the fragrance has warmed on my skin. I’m enjoying it sooooo much I find myself respritzing during the first hour to reinvigorate & revive the experience.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Given a bit more time, the sticky piney-ness settles into an aura of dry amber and resin. There is a hint of an odd metallic note which I quite like, but quickly passes. The amber/resin combination lasts for about 2 hours, at which time I give a small disappointed sigh, as I think that’s the end of it. Just a standard amber dry down – what a shame when I was enjoying it so much.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

But wait! A little later I’m curled up doing some reading, and there is a wonderful aroma of sweet sugared almonds with a hint of vanilla, waiting shyly and oh-so-patiently to be noticed. You cheeky little fragrance! Withholding this intoxicatingly comforting skin scent for a last surprise. I’m so glad I didn’t write it off at the amber stage and miss this altogether. The vanilla sweetness is very yummy and cuddly and I find myself now snuggled down again, smiling while reading with my nose pressed firmly against my wrist.

So for the first time in a while, I’ve worn a fragrance three days in a row. Winter Delice is wonderful, but I feel like I’m running out of time to wear it as the days become progressively warmer coming into spring, perfect for Northern Hemisphere wear right now though. I do think it is a cool weather experience, but I’ll give it a run in summer to see how it fares – the pine may just be refreshing instead of cloying, who knows.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Further reading: The Non Blonde and Olfactory Obsessed
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6/ml

I will be trying out more of the Aqua Allegoria series, but I’d be interested in some honest opinions – have you tried any of this range? What did you like? What didn’t work for you?

Tina G

Vol de Nuit by Jacques Guerlain 1933

September 1, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by Tina G

“Too well we know a man’s failings, his cowardice and lapses, and our writers of today are all too proficient in exposing these… but we stood in need of one to tell us how a man may be lifted far above himself by his sheer force of will.” Preface – Vol de Nuit. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1931.

Vol de Nuit by Jacques Guerlain for Guerlain 1933

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, galbanum, petit grain
Heart: Jasmine, daffodil, spices
Base: Earthy woods, iris, vanilla, amber, woodsy notes.

What powers you on, to reach beyond what you thought was possible?

The heartbreakingly beautiful night-scape slides silently below. The endless shades of silver and midnight blue, white mountain peaks and low clouds reflecting the half-moonlight, the never-changing stars lost to the deep horizon. Flying feels like a time outside time, meditative, reflective, but never quite lonely as there is always that presence of the person who is so often in your thoughts, close enough to be at your shoulder but in reality so very far away.

Who brings your thoughts home?

Back in an age where air travel was in its infancy, the activity of night flight (vol de nuit) was much more immediate. Surrounded by dinky light globes, basic electrics and feeling every bump & jolt of the aircraft, night navigation was a treacherous task at best of times and drew on the absolute strength of spirit of the pilot. The 1931 novel Vol de Nuit, on which Guerlain based its fragrance by the same name, finds our heroic-hearted pilot flying through heavy clouds and raging winds of an unpredicted cyclonic storm – all distances skewed, fuel is ebbing, location is unknown and any minute all could be so easily lost.

Photo Donated Amarah Tabbah

Where does the heart’s comfort lie when the end is looming?

Spring. The rich earth of the garden bed outside the small country cottage has been recently turned, but the rebellious daffodils and irises are sprouting directly from the edges of the lawn. On the warm air is the intoxicating scent of sweet jasmine. Wandering inside, the kitchen hearth is still smouldering, bringing a warm amber glow the room. On the rustic wooden table sits an old resinous wooden bowl, holding a few oranges and bumpy skinned lemons.

But…there is a feeling that someone has just been here, the swish of an apron, a laugh, the trail of gentle vanilla – moving through the cottage, the rooms get slightly darker and mustier until the boudoir is reached. A side dresser has evidence of feminine presence. A well-worn pink powder puff lies temporarily discarded, picking it up, breathing in, that musky-powderiness is like every act of comfort and kindness in your life all rolled into one, deep, breath.

Home is where the heart is.

Our fated night pilot, surrounded by biting gale-force winds and lost to the world of men, fighting with every sinew to survive, sees the clouds break for an instant and the cold stars shine up above. This is his one impossible chance at freedom, at reaching home and the person who holds his heart. He turns the plane, up and up, and with all his might and sheer force of will aims straight for those stars….

Surrender To Chance has Vol de Nuit samples starting at $3/ml

TinaG x