Hermès Cuir d’Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

December 27, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 27 Comments

Hello my lovelies,

The other day I was in town to get shouted at by my accountant. Luckily for both of us he didn’t shout but he did get quite sober a couple of times and gave me dry looks of disbelief and incomprehension. He is generally quite genial and full of bonhomie and we did have a few laughs but still I felt like a very naughty boy. Aside from that I was lucky enough to get a motor bike parking space right in the center of Sydney’s CBD (Central Business District) and trotted into Hermès to see my favourite SA there Jean. Jean of the sexiest voice known to woman, the friendliest smile and the most elegant figure. I was on a mission, having tried (and adored) Cuir d’Ange at the Hermès store in the Bellagio, Las Vegas because my mate and co-contributor here Val the Cookie Queen had raved, it was time to get myself a sample and really come to terms with it.

Hermès Cuir d’Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

Hermessence No 12

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica give these featured accords in one line:
Heliotrope, hawthorn, violet, narcissus, musk and leather

Now, Cuir d’Ange is so Jean Claude Ellena, from the opening fireworks and can can girls squealing their lungs out in brand new chorus heels, slightly sweaty and a trifle tannery, their corsets silk all musty and a little dank from years of wear and poor ventilation in the store room, ripe with their yearnings and disappointments. Really, this is exactly what I smell in Cuir d’Ange’s first 15 minutes, the story unfolds and I even get whiffs of the resins they use to give their chorus shoes grip and slide. There is also something of feet in Cuir d’Ange, a worn shoe, a well loved leather jacket or a vintage leather and fur purse.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Having spent some time with CB I Hate Perfumes Narcissus I really can smell its disgustingly gorgeous ripeness, over ripe ness that has me both retching and reaching for more. It really brings that shoe/bag worn and loved feel and I am enjoying it immensely. It could even be the scent of a ballet shoe after a show, maybe the next day. Though now Cuir d’Ange has softened considerable and I think it would be only slightly noticeable sillage if I walked past you in the office, certainly hardly noticeable at all in a bar until you got very close to me. We are at about the one hour mark and I really love how this extremely soft, highly nuanced concoction keeps surprising me.

Photo Stolen MinasCeativeExpression

It’s a very circular fragrance, the notes seem to return at odd intervals, darting out and back to keep your nose on its toes. A lovely ride. You could easily wear Cuir d’Ange in a work situation and it will be killer for date night, a real stealth bomber through the movie and not overpowering for dinner. I can feel a 15ml bottle coming on, at least. I might even wear the rest of my sample on New Years Eve.

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies, Bois de Jasmin and Grain de Musc
If your city doesn’t have a Hermès store you should probably move
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Do you like the Hermèssence range? Is Jean Claude Ellena to your liking or are you meh?
Portia xx

Kelly Calèche by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2007

November 22, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Hey Perfume Junkies,

Do you remember when Kelly Calèche was released in 2007? It was a huge kerfuffle, and it seems both a million years ago and yesterday. There was a while that it was the fragrance de jour in the clubs and I think about one in five young women of a certain cadre were sporting it day and night and smelling so young, hip and fresh, even (dare I say it?) GROOVY! I think that many Sydney girls will have fond memories of fun times in Kelly Calèche,

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Grapefruit, narcissus, lily of the valley
Heart: Mimosa, rose, tuberose
Base: Leather, iris

The opening of Kelly Calèche is a dry, green, astringent burst that shocks you awake and into the here and now. This fun high octane fizz only lasts a few moments but it is an excellent mind refresher. Then the whole fragrance changes into a surprising leather that smells on my skin like the leather, glue, colours and stitchery inside the back of brand new high heels, never worn, straight from box and tissue paper. The flowers and fruits big moment are all over for me so quickly, around 15 minutes, and then play a light backing track to this almost patent leather smell. (From Hermès, Hermès, Hermès in 2012)

Photo Stolen DeviantART

So fun, light and yet very present, that oh so soft suede-ish iris dry down is my favourite part, though other reviewers find it not so good. A whisper of fragrance that huffs out at you every so often to remind you that you’re fragrant. It’s just for you and your nearest and dearest friends. It’s no wonder that Kelly Calèche was such a hit at the time, I wonder if those pretty young things still wander round in a soft fog of sweet iris leather or if they’ve moved on?

I grabbed my 15ml mini bottle from Birgit of Olfactoria’s Travels wardrobe clean-out back in 2012. To be honest it doesn’t see a LOT of wear but I have made decent inroads into it, there is some good air in the bottle. I like to wear it when I need a pick me up, have to be somewhere that a loud or hefty frag would be inappropriate or to remember the lovely girls who wore Kelly Calèche when it was released.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Now Smell This
Beauty Encounter has $52/50ml EdT
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

Are you a fan? Has Kelly Calèche ever been your go to or does its quiet, refined leather waft leave you bored and stone cold?
Portia xx

Fragrant Gifting

November 20, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Fragrant Gifting

Hello there my scented friends! The glowing joy of the holiday season is upon us, and what better gift for the one you love most than fragrance? An incredibly personal sentiment, a choice that says “you are one of the people I adore most in this world.” How do I do Fragrant Gifting that feels like it was custom made for that special person?

Well, one obvious tip is to keep the scent amicable and easy to love. Unless you are gifting perfume to a collector or connoisseur, selecting a challenging or overly complex scent is a great way to ensure it gets secretly returned or left lonely and unsprayed in a dark drawer.

Another consideration is budget, because let’s be real – why blow the bank when you can blow their mind (at a modest price)?

The three fragrances below are my picks for charming your loved ones.

Fragrant Gifting

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Green mango, tomato, grapefruit, carrot
Heart: Orange, peony, lotus, hyacinth, bulrush
Base: Labdanum, incense, iris, musk, cinnamon

Un Jardin Sur Le Nil by Hermés: This scent is bright, clean, and has a great reputation for being well-received. Primarily a ginger aroma on me, it sparkles with a green hue that stays true to form throughout the wearlength. A fresh delight for either him or her!

My Perfume Samples has samples starting at $3/ml

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Jasmine, vanilla, pink pepper, tonka bean, cacao, ylang-ylang, ambrette (musk mallow

Sweet Jasmine Brown by Providence Perfume Company: This artisan perfume oil is an exquisite gateway to natural perfumery. The jasmine is simply darling, the perfect balance of sweet and clean, starlit enchantment. The accents include tonka bean and vanilla, warm like honey, adding smoothness and intrigue. Ultra-feminine and impossible to resist!

Providence Perfume Co perfume oil Sample Set $30/6 x .5ml

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
White pepper, musk, jasmine, cloves, vetiver, neroli, cedar, bergamot, cardamom

Vettiveru by Comme des Garçons: Quite simply, this is my favorite scent on a man. It’s astoundingly simple, but so well done, and doesn’t challenge the senses or intimidate. Vettiveru delivers the sunshine side of vetiver, of hay scenting a late summer breeze. Paired with a soft yet citrusy bite and a touch of pale woods, the overall aroma is crisp yet inviting. Buy it for him, and tell him to wear with caution….

Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $2/ml

Have fun sniffing! I wish you and yours a warm, joyful winter solstice.

Hugs,
Erica

What Fragrances Got Packed For USA 2014

November 19, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Hi there Frag Heads,

It’s the age old question. What do you pack fragrance wise for a holiday? Do you take a set of 5ml decants of your faves, one bottle or a mix of both? Is it go large or go shopping?

What Fragrances Got Packed For USA 2014

Well, as always it has been a hell of a decision making process. I ummed and ahhed about it through the unpacking of the move and have been madly spritzing myself to see what would fit for me on this trip. Knowing that I’ll be stopped in 4 MeetUps in the best that the USA has to offer in Niche Perfumery, as well as the Guerlain store in the Bellagio Las Vegas where we are staying, I am pretty sure I will be heavily scented and shopping up a storm. So I decided that three was the magic number for this trip. I need a cold weather, a cool weather and a temperate weather fragrance that are all not so temp specific that I’ll feel ridiculous wearing them interchangeably. Another criteria is that they not be in regular decant atomiser bottles, I would like them to be a little more sturdy than that.

So here are my USA 2014 three:

Picture Stolen Fragrantica

Epice Marine by Hermès 15ml EdT: After first trying Epice Marine in Selfridge & Co with Tara I became quite obsessed with it. There’s something completely captivating in it’s cool, clear, cut crystal and salty herbal-ness. It starts out fizzy like a cold lemon squash with ice, it has a salt rim and some greenery floating in it that feels minty but is less sweet. Unlike so many of the Hermessance range I get excellent longevity and a very soft but noticeable sillage.

Photo Stolen Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

Ma Folie de Noël by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz 10ml EdP: Ma Folie de Noël was a gift from Natalie who used to run Another Perfume Blog. There is no 10ml option on the DSH site now and I think I will finish this bottle while on holidays, it’s a conundrum. The fragrance? Well it’s everything a cold weather fragrance that you want to make you warm should be. Anise, booze and cream all spiced and gorgeous. Even writing about Ma Folie de Noël makes me smile: happy scent and memories. I think it will be the one I reach for most while away.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Vanille Galante by Hermès 15ml EdT: Vanille Galante, that cool, dark chocolate and booze infested vanilla that wafts lightly and smoothly from my skin. An oxymoron, sleek and fat, cool and hot, heavy and transparent. Vanilla so completely UN-vanilla-ish that it hardly bears its name. The flowers are awkward and frigid, the spice is so cool it reads like incense and the vanilla like nothing you would ever bake with. Wrap the whole fabulously spare concoction in sugar free chocolate and inhale. This was not love at first sniff for me, in fact it’s taken a while for me to warm to it, now I couldn’t live without Vanille Galante.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Here are our MeetUp USA 2014 Dates:

Please come hang with us somewhere

SCENT BAR LA Wednesday NOVEMBER 19 2014 with Killian Hennessy MeetUp 5-7pm

BARNEYS + NEIMAN MARCUS CHICAGO Monday NOVEMBER 24 2014 MeetUp Barneys (Beauty Downstairs) 1.30pm

OSSWALD N.Y.C Saturday NOVEMBER 29 2014 MeetUp 2-4pm

TWISTED LILY BROOKLYN NYC Sunday November 30 2014 MeetUp 11am-1pm

How do you like my choices? What do you wear to travel? Many or few?
Portia xx

Hermès Cuir d'Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

October 14, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 37 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Hermès, Hairdressers, and a Touch of Leather

Hermès Cuir d’Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

Hermessence No 12

Cuir d’Ange really does smell like the inside of a soft leather bag. The kind that I will never own. I am not going to dissect Cuir d’Ange. Why would I? I learned on my recent trip to Florence that many of the perfumers want to stop “note lists” as it can take the wearer away from the beauty of the creation. Suffice it to say that there are layers of notes as with all perfume. Cuir d’Ange starts just sweet enough, and not overly flowery, the cool, elegant leather is detectable immediately. It has more of a suede feel, soft as a powder-puff. It smells exquisitely expensive, smooth and flawless. A whispy touch of warm caramel hovering, a soft muskiness. Subtle. It feels beautiful on the skin. A good generous spraying gave me hours of pleasure. I know that for some, the Hermès longevity is an issue. They are eau de toilette strength, but who cares? No law against reapplication.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica give these featured accords in one line:
Heliotrope, hawthorn, violet, narcissus, musk and leather

Jean-Claude Ellena is 67. It took him 10 years to create Cuir d’Ange. When asked why he explained that it is a slow and very demanding process. Taking a concept that is in the mind and translating the concept into a physical thing is hard.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Cuir d’Ange was named referencing the words of an early 20th century French author Jean Giono. Giono has inspired Ellena for over thirty years. (Although I know of Giono, I am not familiar with anything that he wrote. I better remedy that!) Ellena describes himself as “a writer of smells”. That applies to all great perfumers.

My hairdresser has a leather fetish. He thinks I don´t know. I plan very careful which perfume I wear each time I go. Today I wore Cuir d’Ange.
Result.

Photo Stolen Flickr

I went to the Hermès store in Vienna last week. Their customer service is amazing. The SA gave me 8mls of Cuir d’Ange to “try properly”. Which I have done. It will be my next purchase. Much thanks to my two perfumista girlfriends in Vienna for introducing me to Hermès. I have given my bank manager their contact details.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Grain de Musc
Cuir d’Ange is number 12 in Hermès’ Hermessence collection of perfumes. It is available exclusively in Hermès stores. It costs about 185 Euros for 100 mls.
Which is 92.50 Euros for 50 mls which is not expensive compared to some of those over priced supposed big hitters out there.
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Cuir d’Ange is graceful and refined. No mean feat for a leather perfume. Sublime.

Bussis
CQ

Hermès: Observatory of Orange Boxes: Video Series #1

October 2, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

This is fabulous APJ Crew,

You want to talk iconic? The orange box is DEFINITELY an icon in and of itself. I had a blanket box from Hermès for years till it got ruined. I loved it so dearly, kept it on display like art, and in many ways the Hermès box IS art.

Photo Stolen Flickr

I love it when luxury brands give us whimsical and fun pieces. These little Hermès snippets are so far from what I expect of the old school, stylish and magnificent house of Hermès that when I saw the first one I laughed out loud. This is exactly what I love about the modern age of Guerilla marketing

Enjoy,

Portia xx

Hermès: Observatory of orange boxes – Observation 01

Hermès: Observatory of orange boxes – Observation 02

Hermès: Observatory of orange boxes – Observation 03

Hermès: Observatory of orange boxes – Observation 04

Caleche Parfum + EdT by Guy Robert for Hermes 1961

September 28, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hello Fumie Family,

Recently there was a sale down in South Australia. Early 21st century Caleche Parfum by Hermes refills for a staggering $10, in their cellophane! OMG! So the excitement here was quite expected. I know I should have bought a few but I only got my friend Susan to grab me one and for Dinner on Friday night I decided it was the perfect accompaniment.

Caleche Parfum + EdT by Guy Robert for Hermes 1961

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, lemon, bergamot, cypress, orange blossom, neroli, mandarin
Heart: Iris, gardenia, ylang ylang, rose, lily of the valley, jasmine
Base: Sandalwood, tonka bean, musk, amber, oakmoss, cedar, vetiver

Caleche EdT by Hermes (Vintage)

This is one of the bottles that I was given by Michael Edwards. Kept perfectly and the fizzy citrus and white flower open is devastatingly beautiful. Sheerer and a touch more green than I remember but so fragrant and rich. The buzzing, metallic overtones of aldehydes that lighten and throw the citrus is breathtaking and I swoon.

This is opulence, the feeling of running your hand over very expensive leather and silk brocades. When the flowers fully arrive they are a bouquet, it takes a much better nose than mine to pick them and I think the oakmoss lays a smoothing veil over all. Later, the shiny patina of the resins and smooth undercurrent of woods comes in but they are soft and furry to fade.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Caleche Parfum by Hermes (Vint-ish)

Now imagine the above twice as intoxicating. Thicker, richer and treacle thick that is more diffusive to open, in fact one tiny little spritz fills the room with fragrance instantly, and wears more animalic and honeyed (though honey is not a note listed). Caleche Parfum has 100% more growl, is way less bright and glittery, creates a warmer and more intense ambiance and is in every way more luxurious. Though I think my EdT may be older than the Parfum there is a burnished depth in the Parfum that makes me feel ultra sensual. Like looking into those incredibly glossed parquet floors made of 10 different woods, loads of light and shade but over all an extremely beautiful whole fragrance.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Lasting power is excellent too, having worn the Parfum to dinner Friday I spritzed at 6pm and was still deliciously fragrant at 1am when I got to bed. So much so that I curled up against my forearm and fell into blissful sleep almost immediately.

Caleche is definitely a brocade fabric, full of life, glitter, colour and movement. It shimmers and glistens like canary diamonds under LED lights. All the notes come together in a beautiful, sparkling fizz of a fragrance that is like champagne cocktails at brunch.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: The Black Narcissus says it all perfectly, better ever than I could.
FragranceNet has $89/50ml EdT (old packaging) before Coupon
Surrender To Chance has samples EdT $3/ml Parfum $7/.5ml

Are you a fan? Is Caleche something you like? Maybe your family has a Caleche wearer?
I’d love to read your Caleche stories too, leave them below in the comments.

Portia xx

Get To Know Your Collection! Scent Task #1

August 15, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 85 Comments

Hi there Freaky Frag Collectors,

Here is the problem. I spend a LOT of time testing new fragrances, buy a 3-5ml decant, empty it, fall in love, buy the fragrance and have it sit there, a lot of the time still in its cellophane. This problem is compounded by the fact that when I am wearing fragrance for sheer pleasure I often grab the same tried and true spritz-and-forget fragrances that I know I love.

Melita, the head of a Facebook Frag Group called For Love Not Money: Fragrance Appreciation Group<<JUMP (that has a rule about NEVER mentioning prices, sales, bargains or other super lemming inducing propaganda that could make you spend), had a brilliant idea…….

Get To Know Your Collection! Scent Task #1

Here is what Melita’s FaceBook challenge asked:

~~~GROUP TASK: Get to know your collection!~~~

It occurs to me every now and then that I favour certain perfumes and put them on rather too easily, while ignoring others in my collection and not really getting to know them. Next week, starting Monday the 11th August, I want to rectify that and learn more about the perfumes I already have. You are encouraged to join me in the following task:

1. Choose 5 fragrances from your collection (bottles, samples) that you don’t wear much or that you don’t really know well.
2. From Monday to Friday next week, choose one fragrance to wear each day and write a short review/comment/summary of the fragrance and share it on the group timeline. This can take any form that you like: a love letter, a poem, a brief review, a list of notes, a keyword summary, a pictographic essay. Be creative!
3. Keep things brief – limit your comments to 150 words if you can!

So I chose to use bottles that I had bought, there are quite a few that don’t get worn much. Personally, I chose to do my wearing in the morning while around the house so I could really take notice and enjoy my fragrance, sometimes enjoying it so much I chose to wear the same scent for work that night.

Here is my week in fragrance.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Scent Task #1 Monday: Fire from Heaven by C B I Hate Perfume.
Sweet resinous woods with a faint acrid after burn incense char smell. I don’t know why I rarely wear this lovely, maybe it opens too cool for winter and doesn’t cross my mind at other times. Great story and an enjoyable ride

Photo Stolen Evocative Perfumes

Scent Task #1 Tuesday: Vanille Tonique by Evocative Perfumes
I grabbed out my bottle of Evocative Perfumes Vanille Tonique: It is a beautiful marriage between Vanille Absolument by L’Artisan and one of the Guerlains. Dryer and more ambery than the L’Artisan and more retro breathy than the current crop of Guerlain. Mark Evans (the perfumer) this is REALLY good stuff.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Scent Task #1 Wednesday: 28 Excess by Tokyo Milk
Chocolate Orange Cake dried out by Woods. A sweet but not sticky fragrance. Though I am fully fragrant after about 15 minutes Excess sinks into and melds with my skin changing to a patchouli bomb with sparkles of the other notes. The whole dries down to a sweet amber/patchouli cloud.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Scent Task #1 Thursday: Amouage Gold Extrait de Parfum
Sadly my Gold gets neglected for my Dia Extrait. This is only the second time I have used the Gold. WHOA!! One little spritz is BIG! Initial rush is awesome. I can see why the Dia gets more skin time, Gold is a powerful girl. I get cool incense, resins and cat right off early, so lovely, totally retro. The flowers are creating soft counterpoint harmonies to flesh out the rest. Very nice. Gold softens down considerably in the first hour and becomes a resinous, woodsy fragrance backed by cat. Noticeable but comfortable.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Scent Task #1 Friday: Vintage Caleche by Hermes
This is one of the bottles that I was given by Michael Edwards. I keep looking at it but haven’t given it a wear yet. Oh Em Gee! This has been kept perfectly and the fizzy citrus and white flower open is devastatingly beautiful. Sheerer and a touch more green than I remember but so fragrant and rich. This is opulence, the feeling of running your hand over very expensive leather and silk brocades. When the flowers fully arrive they are a bouquet, it takes a much better nose than mine to pick them and I think the oakmoss lays a smoothing veil over all. Later, the shiny patina of the resins and smooth undercurrent of woods comes in but they are soft and furry to fade.

Photo Stolen AllSteele

Scent Task #1 GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 Winner who will get:

1 x decanted spray sample of all 5 Scent Task Fragrances
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 me a fragrance that gets little or no love in your collection.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie APJ Facebook Scent Task GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-33H #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 17th August 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 21st August 2014 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.

Metamorphosis, an Hermès story: Video

May 11, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

G’Day Gang,

I love how the big companies put out these fun films. Yes, their products are amazing, and yes I covet so many of them. See below pictured Ostrich Birkin. What I really love about these fils is that there are a wealth of creatives and artists making them. So much wonderful scope for the making of magic. That’s one of the reasons I search so many of these video-ettes out for you all, so they continue to have a need for artists to make magic. Oh, and because they are also fun stress relief.

Enjoy.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Metamorphosis, an Hermès story

Top 10 Spring/Autumn Fragrances 2014 Perfume Reviews

March 23, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 33 Comments

Hello Gorgeous APJ Family,

It’s Top 10 Spring/Autumn Fragrances time again, my favourite seasons are Autumn and Spring, the mid seasons. I love that in both these seasons the weather can be remarkably similar, sunny and warm on one day, freezing or blustery on another, nights are cool to cold and so the overall wearings are quite similar. Yes, we can grab a white floral to really ring in Spring or remember Spring in Autumn but then it’s also nice to spritz a heavy amber on those super cold nights and a sweet fizzy citrus will work almost anytime. These fragrances are on my desk and within easy spritz reach and they only stay on the desk while they are getting regular spritz time, if they’ve been sitting there for more than a fortnight without attention they go back in the cupboard.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Top 10 Spring/Autumn Fragrances 2014 Perfume Reviews

24 Faubourg EdT – Hermès: White flowers and fruit that melt into ambery goodness. How can you resist this lovely gem from Hermès. Every time I spritz it I wonder why I don’t do it every day. I love the bottle, that it’s Hermès and that I smell fantastic for 4-6 hours.

Anyway – Juliette Has A Gun: ADDICTIVE!! Beware Anyway. Nothing like I’d ever thought I wanted to smell. A citrus and, though it doesn’t say it anywhere, pineapple concoction that heads into woods and oudh territory throughout its life. the ultimate drag queen fragrance, so feminine and butch at the same time.

Futur – Robert Piguet: The ungreenest green ever. Sappy, sweet, green and extremely wearable all year round. Futur has been out of the cupboard and on my skin quite a bit lately and it fits any occasion.

Liberte – Cacharel: A screaming, sizzling, BarBQ’d orange that is so sugary and ends up in a vanilla/patchouli/orange finale. I’ve loved it for years and now that it seems to be discontinued I’ve had to grab a couple of back up bottles.

Mohur – Neela Vermeire Creations: The headiest, most complex and wonderful rose there is. Surrounded by interesting other notes and accords but it is the rose that shines through for the whole of Mohur’s life. I am crazy for this fragrance and can’t wait to have a Mohur Extrait bottle.

Shalimar EdP – Guerlain: My old faithful. Shalimar fits every season, every mood and every event. From it’s citrus gelato opening to the resinous, vanilla and leather dry down I love Shalimar through and through. If I had to pick a fragrance to be my one and only Shalimar would be it.

Sharp – Andrea Maack: A new entry into my life in FB. I am enjoying Sharp a lot. Weird, synthetic orange blossom packed tight with musks and an ambery vanilla, all washed over by an unearthly metal/marine accord that is both enticing and repellent. Sharp is both the freshness of Spring and the coming darkness of Autumn.

Skin on Skin – L`Artisan Parfumeur: Skin on Skin is an interesting fragrance, poo poo’d by many of the fragrance intelligentsia because of it’s similarity to Traversee du Bosphore. I have now spent time wearing both, though not simultaneously, but I like the plastic saffron edge and the cool suede. There are more similarities between Bottega Veneta and Skin on Skin to my nose and Iris Prima has some too. I spritz Skin on Skin a LOT.

Vanille & Narcisse – L’Occitane: So you want something cheap and cheerful? Something that has the narcissus of spring and the vanilla of autumn? Look no further. Vanille & Narcisse is wearable, pretty, inexpensive and a great wear. This is one I would recommend as a gift for any non perfumistas and many who are. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Wild Ginger Chai – SOIVOHLE: The sweet, spicy, ginger and milk opening. The dry, black tea smell and the memories of India. I love Liz Zorn’s work, she captures my imagination every time and her prices are so freaking reasonable for fragrances that are world class. Yum.

So there they are. My current mid-season Top 10. They will probably be changed by next week but right now these ten fragrances are getting good skin time and working extremely well in the changeable conditions that the mid-seasons hand us.

Loads of love to you all, wherever and in what ever weather,
Portia x

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Hermès Cuir d’Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

Hermessence No 12

Fragrant Gifting

What Fragrances Got Packed For USA 2014

Here are our MeetUp USA 2014 Dates:

Please come hang with us somewhere

Hermès Cuir d’Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

Hermessence No 12

Hermès: Observatory of orange boxes – Observation 01

Hermès: Observatory of orange boxes – Observation 02

Hermès: Observatory of orange boxes – Observation 03

Hermès: Observatory of orange boxes – Observation 04

Caleche Parfum + EdT by Guy Robert for Hermes 1961

Caleche Parfum by Hermes (Vint-ish)

Get To Know Your Collection! Scent Task #1

~*~*~*GROUP TASK: Get to know your collection!*~*~*~

Scent Task #1 GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

HOW DO YOU WIN?

HOUSEKEEPING

Metamorphosis, an Hermès story

Top 10 Spring/Autumn Fragrances 2014 Perfume Reviews

~~~GROUP TASK: Get to know your collection!~~~