Hermes

Eau Claire des Merveilles by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermes 2010

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Hey Gang,

This is a long awaited treat for me. I have been watching the Eau des Merveilles story and flankers for a while, even ordered a set of decants that I have misplaced, and now I get to share with you my first wear impressions. This is another extra that a friend threw in to a fragrant care package that I am only just getting to now. I don’t even quite know how to pronounce the name, every time I try I laugh at myself for sounding like a pretentious twat. I will ask the French exactly how to say it while on my trip.

Eau Claire des Merveilles by Hermes 2010

eauClaireDesMerveilles FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Floral, woods, amber, vanilla

How does Jean-Claude Ellena make so much beauty out of so few noted accords. Opening with a sparkling/brisk floral that feels like there is also some citrus somewhere around but before long the smell I get is the open ocean when you are out on a sports fishing boat. At once salty, metallic, refreshing and underneath a low level humm of warm excitement. To be perfectly honest I am having trouble believing that this is how these accords have combined but maybe my skin or nose is playing silly buggers. I can smell zero vanilla but maybe I’m anosmic to this particular vanilla? Jin says he smells something softly floral but I still get sheer salty sea spray after 3 hours. Clearly this fragrance is not suitable for my skin, even though I really like the way it smells. So light and gossamer soft for summer. On you it will smell different, which is a shame bacause I’m thinking of getting a bottle for my own selfish enjoyment and everyone else will think I smell merely softly, prettily, floral.

Lasting power is excellent, I still get traces of salty tang after 6 hours and the taste in my mouth that you get from a stainless steel spoon. I know, my nose is broken but I don’t care.

bigGameFishing wakacjenateneryfiePhoto Stolen wakacjenateneryfie

Further reading NowSmellThis and GrainDeMusc where Denyse gets the salt but not as strongly as I do.
FragranceX has 50ml/$57
PoshPeasant starts at $4/ml

Have you ever had a fragrance misbehave on your skin compared to everyone else and still loved it? It’s a first for me, tell us about your experiences too.

Till tomorrow, thanks for reading,
Portia xx

The Eau des Marvielles movie

Un Jardin Apres La Mousson by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermes 2008

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 30 Comments

Hello Perfume Aficionados,

There are 2 things that I quite like as a rule. Hermes, I think they are uber-luxe, and Jean-Claude Ellena who is blazing his own trail and is doing it to capture his ideal of beauty. I like his style, the way he can communicate his reasons and some of his motivations through his books and interviews, his mystique and his fragrances. Not all of them are perfect fits for my skin or personal style but I really enjoy their stories and their sheer, light quality that means my own smell is not completely masked but expanded by beauty. By the way don’t confuse sheer with poor sillage or scent bubble, you are decidedly fragrant for the life of the perfumes.

Un Jardin Apres La Mousson by Hermes

Garden After Monsoon is the translation from French and we are to be swept up into a garden at the bottom tip of India in the state called Kerala where the monsoon first arrives in India. Legend has it that if you are standing there when the monsoon arrives your sight will be restored to its former glory and there seems to be some truth to the tale. I read it in Alexander Frater’s “Following the Monsoon”. Now I really want to go back and be there for the beginning of the monsoon, not least because my eyesight is beginning to deteriorate.

Photo Stolen Hermes

Fragrantica givees these featured accords:
Ginger, ginger flower, cardamom, coriander, pepper and vetiver

Un Jardin Apres La Mousson opens wet and crisp like you’ve just cut up a fresh, cool bell pepper and put it in the blender with a very small slice of ginger and some fruit, all done near a fresh garden salad, washed and prepared but still undressed. As the cardamom and coriander show their selves they are interesting and while still cool add a skinnish depth and a citrus pith feeling. When I huff a big breath out into my top it all warms up and becomes almost overpoweringly beautiful. The vetiver is earthy and rich playing background through the life of the fragrance till near the end it has a little limelight all to itself and then the fragrance, around 3 hours on me, is gone.

Photo Stolen ibnlive.in

Not necessarily in India, but there too, I love the bright green world when the storm is rolling in. There is a heightened expectation and an electric charge running through everything. It has never stopped being exciting for me. I also love the vegetative fragrance of wet grass and humus, the spicy twang of wet leaves and flowers. When in Rajasthan there is a grassed area out the front of my buddies hotel where the family often congregates for morning and afternoon tea, it is particularly lovely after rain. Though Un Jardin Apres La Mousson smells noting like any of this it does evoke a feeling exactly like it. I feel refreshed, energised and ready to accept a new, fresh, change. Jean-Claude Ellena has an unerring instinct for making his work capture my imagination and though I think the title of this fragrance has been a clunky wall in the way of it being loved, this is my favourite of the Un Jardin series.

Photo Stolen article.wn

BoisDeJasmine and OlfatroriasTravels both get very interesting differences in their reviews, great further reading.
FragranceShop has 50ml for $44 and 100ml for $66 after discount
PoshPeasant starts samples at $3.50/ml

Below I’ve added in a 6 minute doco. of one of the palaces I’ve been lucky enough to spend some time in in Deeg, Rajasthan, India. My last longtime partner and his family had a refrigeration plant there. During the torturous, baking, Summer madness the gardens still offer a cool spot to get away. Enjoy!
Heaps of love from us,
Portia xx

What To Wear Friday Night? Estee Lauder? Hermes?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 33 Comments

Hello Perfumed People,

FRIDAY, FRIDAY!!! FRIIIIIDAYYY! That day when the 9-5 crew finish the working week and get ready to let it all hang out. What’s a good Friday drinks fragrance? Do you have something that says; the week is over, hair down, brain in neutral, collar undone? I don’t really have a Friday night fragrance because my week is structured so differently to that but TSO Jin and I try to keep Friday for Date Night. I know, how daggy is that? But if we don’t schedule it then chances are we won’t see each other, and that would be crap because he is a great guy and makes me laugh till there are tears running down my face and I can’t breathe deeply anymore because my tummy hurts. Not perfect, mind you, he is a fecking nightmare in some respects but the good definitely outweighs the bad.

Photo Stolen allposters

So I am going to quickly write about 2 frags that I think are terrific Friday Nighters. 2 never fail gorgeous fragrant hooks to reel them in…

Brasil Dreams by Estee Lauder: I know, you are all laughing at me, but I don’t care. I love this little fireball of a fragrance. Every time I even think of spritzing myself with Brasil Dreams I get a big goofy smile on my face and a little flutter in my tummy like love. Then that first whiff is HEAVEN!! Instantly I’m on holidays, or working somewhere exotic. Citrus, Fruit, White flowers, Patchouli, Wood and Coconut, it’s a lavish, delicious, un-sweet cocktail of wonder. Did I say SEXY? This juice is super-uber-sexy. The boys really like it and want a closer sniff, much closer. This is the kind of scent that has all the girls in the rooms eyes turning to slits and any boy you’re nears eyes popping! Around $20/50ml at eGlobalBeauty it’s cheap as chips so you can spritz with abandon.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Terre d’Hermes by Hermes: This is an amazing fragrance. I have not yet met anyone who doesn’t LOVE it. On every person it smells different enough that you won’t recognise someone else wearing it next to you. It is a regular in the French Top 10 Mens and was designed by Jean-Claude Ellena to be reminiscent of the earth, forest, dirt. What you get with Terre d’Hermes is Citrus, Spice, Flowers, Earthy vetiver and Woods done better than anywhere else. Excellent on women and men it is a beautiful and sensual ride that will turn heads as you waft past, fragrant and intriguing. I have a friend who, outrageously, sprays the sheets with this after making the bed each week. Now that is extravagant!! Excellent for a Friday night and great for picking up sex partners. I found 100ml EdT under $60 at TradeServices

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

What I’d like you to do is tell us all your favourite Friday Night Fragrances in the comments below, doesn’t have to be cool or niche or expensive or anything really, just what you like to spritz on a Friday evening. Come on, join in….

Also, please pop on over to PerfumePosse because I guest there on a Friday and I think there’s a MAD LIVE Video Sniff going on over there. He he he

Below I’ve given you the gift of music. Aussie Kylie Minogue has a new single coming and it’s beautiful, so is the video. Have a squiz at our lovely Kylie, I think you’ll like it.
Till tomorrow we at APJ wish you only the magical good stuff and a great weekend.
Loads of love,
Portia xxx
.
Kylie Minogue – FLOWER

Un Jardin En Mediterranee by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermes 2003

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

Heya Stink Monkeys,

I don’t know about you but Hermes has always held a special, uber glamorous place in my head and heart. When I think of Hermes (pronounced Air-Mez) instantly I think of class, quality and longevity. Un Jardin En Mediterranee by Jean-Claude Ellena is my equal favourite fig fragrance with Mandy Aftel’s Fig. They are very different, let me introduce you to the way Hermes treats a fig; the one to really start the ball rolling back in 2003.

Photo Stolen Hermes

Fragrantica gives these notes/accords:
Top: Mandarin orange, bergamot, lemon (unmentioned but something very green here too)
Heart: Orange blossom, white nerium oleander
Base: Red cedar, cypress, juniper, fig leaves, pistachio, musk

From the very first moment I get only an extreme green crack of citrus with green bark and split leaves but then a glorious figgy sweetness intrudes, wafting gently through and they try to hover together side by side, one up then the other. It’s like sitting under a tree in the breezy sunlight, sometimes you feel the warmth moving over your face and at other times you are shaded completely. Soon the sweetness wins out and in come spices and some salt, warming the whole confection up and making it almost like a sweet fruit cheese, you can almost taste it. My mouth has watered! HA HA really watered, ohhh this is so good.

Today has been cleaning day and I’ve washed and scrubbed and sweated over 3 bathrooms, top to bottom, there is still the magnificent sweep of sweet spicy fig floating from my wrists. Nearly 2 hours of cleaning and going strong and it has combined with my sweat to give a really briny fresh sea water smell, gorgeous. Le Jardin En Mediterranee is tenacious, the house is spotless, cleaning, vacuming, dusting, steam mop all done, nearly 5 hours since I spritzed a single spritz and wrist mash and the sweet, salty fig is only just letting in the woods. There are hours before the dry down, I’m going to get some winter sun and enjoy the ride.

Photo Stolen static.lookbooks

There is no heaviness to Un Jardin En Mediterranee, except the clunky title. Personally I would HATE to have to tell someone that I’m wearing it and mangle the French beyond recognition, forever showing my absolute blundering year 9 French roots to the world. I think I will call it Hermes, Mediterranean Garden if asked.

WhatMenShouldSmellLike does a wonderful review, as does Olfactoria’sTravels. Undina searches for the ultimate fig in her Looking Glass too.

FragranceX has 50ml for $65
eGlobalBeauty has 100ml under $100 including world wide postage
MyPerfumeSamples has decants starting at $1.99/ml and $7.99/5ml (The Un Jardin collection will be on sale there this weekend)

I hope you’ve enjoyed a little look at Un Jardin En Mediterranee, thank you for your wonderful support. Please leave a message telling me your favourite Hermes or Fig Fragrances? Go on, send me some lemmings!
Love to you and yours,
See you tomorrow.
Portia xx

SUNDAY QUICKSNIFF REVIEWS #10

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hello Perfumistas,

Click here for more graphics and gifs!

Every Monday morning the Sunday QuickSniff Review page is opened and each time I spritz during the week and am near the computer I’ll give a 3 sentence review with a rating out of 5 each for, well, see the key after the reviews. These can be samples I’ve bought or had sent to me by friends, or a FB that I may fully review later, or have done before and want to remind you of its existence. It gives me a lovely Sunday to hang with friends away from the computer, I hope your Sunday is great too.

DZING! by L’ARTISAN PARFUMEUR 1999. On my skin I get warm shiny pleather-ish, dirty hay, play-do, new formica, then a kind of aqueous ginger, something like a recently lifted lotus root, still wet. Then we get back to the plastic, leather and resins with a late showing of caramel. Interesting, but I think I like the way Jacomo Art Collection #2 takes the idea further in a slightly different pentameter. S=*** L=*** D=**

IN BLOOM by REESE WITHERSPOON for AVON 2009. Another from my AVON mate Penny, YOO HOO Gorgeous!! This is an aquatic fruit and white flowers, it’s nothing new or particularly gripping but it is quite pretty. A perfect scent for anything really, totally inoffensive, and the price is great. Amazon has 50ml $12. S=** L=*** D=**

COMME DES GARDCONS EdP 1994. WOW! This opens on me with a huge hit of clove and cardamom, phew! Nearly blew my head off and it is beautiful, maintaining an interesting spice and wood combo for hours that weaves around itself rarely hitting the florals. No wonder this caused such a sensation when released; and is still available.  A 5ml spray decant was on special at ThePerfumedCourt S=**** L=*** D=****

ROUGE by HERMES 2000. Rouge is the reinterpretation of 1984’s Parfum d”Hermes, they have modernised and freshened the old blockbuster in a very palatable way that will probably have outraged the old guard but enticed a younger market. The iris opens cool but it doesn’t take long for the scent to warm up bringing the ylang-ylang and woods in a breathy, sensual mix that already heads towards its spicy amber base, kept inedible by the myrtle green, that lasts around 4 hours till gone. EssentialMall has 50ml under $70 S=**** L=*** D=***


Photo Stolen from shirtsays

Scent, Obviously the number 1 priority here is how does it smell. My reviews are completely subjective and will differ widely from your own experience with the scent but it’s a good starting point. As yet I am not a trained perfumer so any and all descriptions are merely that, descriptions. There are plenty of blogs that offer technical details and chemistry, in 3 sentences I’ll pass.
Longevity, This is a biggie for me because like enfleurage where flower petals are left in fats to steal the scent, my fatty body works the same and eats it up, yum. So for a scent to last well on me, it will probably last a whole day on you and need a radioactive decontamination shower to defuse it from your skin.
Desirabilty, Wrapped up in this is scent, price, house, history, longevity, packaging, availability and a billion other things.

Photo Stolen from bittbox

* in any of these being the, “You couldn’t pay enough to spray this God awful stink on me again, it smells like public toilets in India, long time fridge malfunction while on Summer holiday and the vile stench of poverty all rolled into one.” You are putting innocent people in danger if you wear this.
** means it’s a nothing, wearable, boring, maybe the price is prohibitive for what you get or it’s ubiquitous. You should definitely get a sample of this to stop a buying boo boo.
*** is a perfectly good product that smells good and lasts a while at a decent price. You should definitely think about trying a sample or squirt but should you miss out your life will continue. Sample size worthy.
**** is the one you try, want a lot but can wait for a birthday/Christmas. It’s better than most of the stuff you’ve sniffed and may fill a void in your library. This is also an excellent decant product 5ml will get you through the season and maybe buy it next year.
***** meaning, stop reading this, grab your cash, credit card (or partners), roll the elderly or rob a petrol station and purchase this product. NOW! If you don’t have this fragrance you could die.

The sniffing around your house been good? What have you tried and how did you rate it?

Portia xx

Vivienne Westwood “Boudoir” Review, Thursday

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Hi gang,

I  have had a long running fascination with the incredible Vivienne Westwood. What a creative genius she is. Punk, Bondage, Pirate, Mini Crini, Plaid, Tartan, Safety Pins, Hand Painting Slogans, she has driven fashion forward in her own way, seemingly on her own terms, battling to live and eat for many years and now Dame on her throne. Down the bottom is the latest Vivienne Westwood Red Carpet video released on Tuesday this week. YUMMY!

Diane Kruger in Vivienne Westwood Couture
Cannes Film Festival 20.5.12

BOUDOIR by VIVIENNE WESTWOOD 1998. Boudoir is designated Floral-Chypre in the notes but it is so much more than the sum of its parts. Yes, it is a big fat floral with some of the Chypre inclusions but what really makes Boudoir stand out is the skanky, slut guts of it all. It’s like wearing ELdO Secretions Magnifique with Caron’s Bellodgia so no one will notice. How do I know this? I am wearing said frags for that very reason and it is a dead ringer for Boudoir. I’m coming back to finish this post tomorrow, then we’ll see…

Photo Stolen from lambre

OK. They are not the same. There is a definite correlation though. Boudoir is ripe, overblown flowers, panting in the heat of your body with woods and spices sparkling and popping, this with musk, vanilla, sandalwood and patchouli pumping out a deep, sweet, buttery base over the top of a very slightly rank, unwashed, just been f#@ked senseless and am marinating in my own juices till I can get to a shower feel caused by the coriander, musk and cardamom, I think. All the filth is way down deep here, you have to look for it compared to Secretions Magnifique/Bellodgia. This is more a blowsy housewife than a feral Beryl.

If you can get your hands on some Boudoir it is definitely worth a sniff. As always Vivienne Westwood has put a tiny shockwave through it, just to keep you on your toes. It is a wonderful, sensual ride. Party night perfect.

Photo Stolen from global.rakuten

NB Keep some in your purse for emergencies, if you have to do the walk of shame you can attribute your good girl gone bad scent to Boudoir.

March at the Perfume Posse does a super great 80’s remembrance post about Boudoir. Fragrantica has the low down.

THURSDAY GIVEAWAY COMPETITION

This week instead of doing one big giveaway I thought I’d do 2 small ones. Both winning parties will receive

1ml Rasheeqa Concentrated Perfume Oil
1.5ml Vintage by Kate Moss EdT Spray Decant
1.5ml Hermessence Vanille Galante EdT Spray Decant
Plus P&H anywhere in the world

What do you have to do to be in the running to win these lovelies? Tell me a fragrance by a fashion house that you particularly love. That can be anything from Dior, YSL, Chanel to Alexander McQueen, Juicy Couture, Stella McCartney, even ADIDAS if that floats your boat. If they do clothes and fragrance they are fair game.
Winner will be drawn Saturday 26.5.12 Australian EST after 9.30pm. If you don’t get in touch with your details by midnight Wednesday 30.5.12 I’ll give your prize to someone else. As St Murphy didn’t get in touch last week anatu13

Wishing you all peace and lovely scents all around,
Portia xx

Vivienne Westwood The Red Carpet Collection by Wonderland May 22 2012

Hermes, Hermes, Hermes Reviews

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Hey Hey Junkies,

Hermes, Hermes, Hermes; even the name sounds exquisite. Doesn’t it. Images of saddlery, silk, leather, shoes, clothing, bags.

Logo Stolen from madisonmuse

I had an Hermes tie once. It was lovely. Pale blue background, horses (not the proud stallions, no, these were the 14 hand 8 year old gelds of domestic pony clubbers) being ridden by very ordinary young men dressed in cream shirts and beige or fawn moleskins, some daringly sporting braces in red. this is my memory of the tie and if I could remember who I lent it to they could probably vouch for it’s accuracy, these ties were made to last. A friend also gifted me the Hermes box that a queen sized cashmere rug had traveled home in. It was placed around the apartment, and then house, like a piece of art, till it was destroyed in a minor domestic accident that had me hyperventilating and palpitating and everyone else trying not to laugh.

A couple of weeks ago I wandered into Sydney’s Hermes store to grab a squirt of their fragrances. I looked like a complete bogan, worn out jeans, holy jumper, thongs. Every piece that was visible had once been a designer piece that has lasted me years and though I look like a tramp, these clothes are so part of me I am finding it hard to let them go. there was a blond, buff, sparkly toothed vision smiling at me as the door was opened, looking for all the world like Hermes the messenger of the Gods had had his golden locks shorn and coiffed. It was astounding. His welcome was as warm as if I’d walked in wearing an Hermes suit he had personally sold to me.

Photo Stolen from giantbomb

I asked to see the fragrances. “Mens or womens?” he asked casually.
“Do you think they care who wears them?” me. There was no wide eyed surprise just a moment to distill and a bigger smile, “What would you like to try?”
“Herm Essence,” I reply in Australian. He touches my arm to get my attention and says softly in the correct tones, “Our Hermessence range is great, you’ll love it,” and opens a drawer with testers. It was done so nicely and without fanfare. I am grateful to him and will purchase on Saturday, as a Thank You.

Recent arrivals in my Mail Box included 3 Hermes 15ml mini bottles from Olfactoria’s Travels wardrobe cleanout. They are all so different and wearable. I am enjoying them all.

Kelly Caleche EdT 2007 Jean-Claude Ellena. This is 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 such a light backing track to this almost patent leather smell. Kelly Caleche has been worn on my chest for the last 2 days and I have enjoyed it immensely.


Hermessence Vanille Galante EdT 2009 Jean-Claude Ellena. Vanille Galante has a sharp, dark, almost camphorous, awkward and riveting scorched pot-pouri beginning that burns the hairs out of my nostrils. As it mellows down to a softer tone the vanilla peeks out, then hides, then peeks out again in an interesting waltz with the flowers and woods. Maybe I smell cognac wafting from somewhere, like I’ve left a balloon on a table near the fire, or maybe the perfumers notes mislead me but now it’s in my head I can almost taste it. Sadly, while I have enjoyed wearing Hermessence Vanille Galante, this will probably never reach any kind of high rotation because other Vanillas in my library live better for me.

Les Colognes Hermes Eau de Gentiane Blanche EdC 2009 Jean-Claude Ellena. This smells of ivy, fresh cut hedges on gardener days and humus, the flowers and incense are cool and stark the most bare, green, haughty and aloof you can imagine. This is a bracing spring splash in a salt water pool, that OOH as you go in but as your body adjusts and acclimatises to the water it becomes comfortable, deliciously refreshing. There is a warmth in this fragrance that filters in as your skin mellows and softens it. Les Colognes Hermes Eau de Gentiane Blanche is my favourite of the 3, I will wear this frequently.

Here is Hermes World Home Page that can direct you to any of their country websites. FragranceShop has some great deals on Hermes fragrances.

Do you have a favourite Hermes fragrance or a story of your introduction to the Hermes brand? Please share with us, often the comments are more interesting than my posts and I love reading your fragrant thoughts. Currently I am torn between Santal Massoïa or Jardin en Méditerranée as my Thank You buy for that sweet Hermes God working in the Sydney Store. HELP!

Much love,

Portia xx

Figs! Olfactory Journey To Greece

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Hiya gang,

Figs are everywhere in perfume.

Photo Stolen from 123rf.com

The scentbloggosphere is also full of the fig journey. The Olfactoria’s Travels, Undina’s Looking Glass, and Now Smell This crews, among others, have all done splendid fig reviews. Recently I  looked at Aftelier Perfumes AH-MAY-ZING Fig and all this fig chat has had me intrigued. There are so many choices the mind boggles. What to do?

I went to The Posh Peasant and looked up figs. What caught my eye was a five pack of famous figs called Figs! Olfactory Journey to Greece. This way I could try the generally accepted best reasonably and if I LOVED some then I could think about a purchase. Genius! Here’s what The Posh Peasant says in their spiel;

Fig scented fragrances have been all the rage the past decade and for good reason. Some fig scents have a wonderful complexity of being both green/woodsy and slightly fruity. A good fig scent transports you to a fig grove in Greece (if you’ve ever smelled a fig grove you’ll know it’s one of nature’s most gorgeous scent creations).

Photo Stolen from PoshPeasant
What I’ve done below is give my initial thought words during top notes then gone on to discuss progressions.

Diptyque, Philosykos; Sharp, Twig, Torn bark, Earth, Leaves. This is a sparse and spare smell on me. Right from the moment I first wear it there is fig tree but not fig jam, and so much space between the scent that it is like you are dozing down the hill, in the shade, while up the hill the workers are picking the fruit, occasionally tearing leaves and maybe someone mowed the grass this morning and there has been a light sunshower after tilling some nearby earth. 6 hours later it is still there, linear and quite noticeable, which is surprising on my skin.

Hermes, Un Jardin en Mediterranee; Fresh, Sweet, Air, Sharp, Expensive wood, Roast chicken glaze. At first glance/sniff this feels like a fragrance I’d reach for regularly if it were in my collection. Bright, warm and inviting like toast and fig jam with a hearty meat smell like roast chicken fresh from the oven with a fruit glaze. As it warms up this is spicy fig jam. Of the 5 this is the best fit with our cool wet Autumn day in Sydney and my personal favourite.

Miller Harris, Figue Amère; Nutty, Citrus, Salty Fruit, Wood, Tangy Sweet & Sour. This is YUMMY! My nose is reading almost a Chinese banquet here. The fruit and leaves in Figue Amere are dried, salted, fried and flavoured, there is warm depth and it feels so extravagant and opulent. Like fig is not the main course here and is joined by the rest of the dishes. There is a note during the middle, unfortunately I can’t identify what, that smells like after salt water swimming shower sex.

Parfumerie Generale, Jardins de Kerylos; Warm, Fresh, Ozonic,, Fruit, Light but penetrating. It’s most fig smell during drydown, but a very dry fig, austere and cool. 1-6 hours later Jardins de Kerylos becomes a barely there hum on my skin, nicer smelling than me.

Jo Malone, Wild Fig & Cassis; Roots, Sap, Bitter, Leaves, Chewed grasses. This is a breath taking look at a pine logging camp of the unmechanised variety. I smell torn trees, earth, compost, grass and cowpats. A challenging, astringent, glorious riot of bitter green herbaceous life. This is what a Triffid would smell like.

Thanks for reading. Do you have a favourite fig? We’d like to know.

Portia xx

Perfume for the musk-averse?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hello – I’m the laggardly half of Australianperfumejunkies.  I’m the yin to Portia’s gorgeously positive and vivacious yang.  Where Portia describes herself as a perfume ‘slut’, I’m determined to find ‘the one’.  I’ll fill my cupboards with a million decants before I invest in a full bottle that doesn’t speak to me fully and completely.  I’m not a perfumista.  I’m just a somewhat anally-retentive civilian who wants to find a great scent, is overwhelmed by the sheer volume of possibilities out there and needs a systematic way to reach the holy grail of a signature scent.  And I don’t like musk.

This caveat would seem to narrow the field substantially as musk is apparently found in 90% of fine fragrances (according to perfumes-world.com).  I don’t think I’m alone in this aversion, however.  My hypothesis is that all those people who claim to wretch when they pass a perfume counter are musk-averse.  There’s even a celebrated perfumer (Christopher Brosius) who claims to hate musk and leaves it out of most of his perfumes.  You might say I’m in search of a signature scent for people who claim not to like perfume.  I’m convinced it can be found.   I hope there’ll be more than one but I’ll be happy with one.

Adventure One – The Quiet Perfumes

Lists, lists, lists – perfumistas love lists. What better place to start than with a pre-culled selection from those who know better.  Portia popped my perfume-cherry with Luca and Tania’s Little Book of Perfumes so I’m going to start with one of their lists.   Since musk is typically a bold, animalistic scent, I thought Luca and Tania’s favourite ‘quiet’ perfumes would be the place to start.  Surely ‘quiet’ is something of an antonym to ‘musk’ in the perfume world?

A pre-screening of the candidates for evidence of musk on Fragrantica.com proved this to be not necessarily the case and I have had to reject half of the original ten for offences against the musk-averse.

Here are the remainders – Turin and Sanchez’s favourite ‘quiet’ perfumes sans musk:

  • Bois d’Encens (Armani Prive)
  • Commes des Garcons 3 (Commes des Garcons)
  • Lime, Basil & Mandarin (Jo Malone)
  • Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan (Hermes)
  • Timbuktu (L’Artisan Parfumeur)

I’m going to wallow in these perfumes for the next two weeks and my favourite amongst them will be the beginning of my next adventure.  If there’s anyone out there who thinks they’re musk averse and has found a favourite I would love to hear from you.  Evie C.