Hermes

Scent Diary: 25.12 – 31.12.2017

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Portia

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Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,

CHRISTMAS! Fragrance, friends, chosen family. There were adventures and excitement enough for a month.

Scent Diary: 25.12 – 31.12.2017

Monday 25:

Jin came home from work at 5.30am and we had our Christmas moment then.It was lovely. He got some cool Aussie Bum undies, Petrol Cards to fill up his real present which was a car earlier in the year and a couple of T-Towels from his Parramatta Ells football team. I scored 9 pairs of my favourite glasses from Italian brand Campo Marzio in myriad colours, Jin imported them from the South Korean shop in Seoul. VERY freaking cool present buying.

I wanted to smell yummy for the mini Christmas so Rouge Hermès. It was a good choice, soft white floral with a few bells & whistles. Not to mention how Christmassy the bottle looks.

Dogs got a new chew toy each, fed and walked.

While Jin slept I went to Kath’s Mum & Dads to meet Kath and have a quiet christmas morning hang out. We did presents there too and Dad was Jin’s Secret Santa so he got 2 bottles of Spanish Rosé, Lindt chocolate balls and a Bunnings Gift Card.

Lunch with the rest of Kath’s family. It was nice to wander in, eat, do presents and leave. SO EASY!

Home and Jin was awake so we hung out and watched some shit movies together. Dinner was leftovers. HAPPY afternoon and night.

Tuesday 26:

Serge Lutens Clair de Musc from a decant. Yes, I do have a bottle but found this old 5ml decant that needed finishing. Going clean and fluffy for Boxing Day.

Off to Kath’s Mum & Dad’s place for early Boxing Day shenanigans. We stayed to have lunch with everyone and then split. From there I went and collected Wendy and Jin, she and I all hung out into the early evening. We ate a scruffily delicious cheese, ham & fruit platter while watching How To Train A Dragon and drinking lashings of tea.

10 hours later I can still smell soft musk wafts from Serge Lutens Clair de Musc but I’m wanting something else. Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely has won the day and I’m basking in its comfortable glow.

Wednesday 27:

We were woken by the apartment block across from us at 6.40am, they were having a right old barney. Screaming and fighting. It was pretty crazy but not up to their usual standards where I call the police. It raged on for 30 minutes.

Being wide awake I went and got the dogs and they came and snoozed with us on the bed. I’m changing the sheets today so no worries.

Feeling so lazy. It’s hot and humid. How about some James Heeley Esprit du Tigre?

 

This afternoon I added vintage Miss Dior EdT to go see Jumanji with Eve, Lola and Jin. I admit to being fairly unexcited to see it.

O M G! Jumanji was freaking EXCELLENT!! Cannot tell you how much I enjoyed it. The Rock and Jack Black totally steal this fun romp of a film. I was on the edge of my seat through quite a lot of it and laughed heartily.

Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle (2017) IMDbIMDb

We came home and had some lunch with a delicious McLaren Vale Spanish inspired red wine and then watched most of Happy Feet till Lola started falling asleep. To be honest, I don’t drink very often so the heavy red wine sent me off to bed to sleep it off too.

Jin woke me at around 8.30pm when he came to bed and so now I’m up and awake. About to walk the dogs on this cooler summer evening. I thought a triple spritz of Peau d’Allures by Starck a perfect choice, green, boozy, swampy with a lovely ruinous undertow. This bottle was a gift from my friend Tim and I adore it.

Thursday 28:

Fort & Manlé Charlatan this morning. Maybe because I showered yesterday it smelled a bit funkier, a little pissy and hairy mannish. It was a good ride.

Yum Cha with Kath, Alice, TinaG and Tim. It was nice, chatty and fun.

You’ll note Alice was wearing the birthday earrings Jin picked out for here. SO CUTE!!

Came home and crashed on the couch. Ate Christmas Cake with cream and custard and watched Daniel Radcliffe in 2013 film Horns. It was OK, one thing I did notice was that after a minute he became this new character and had successfully sloughed off Harry Potter for me.

Jin came home and we had pizza for dinner while watching The Danish Girl (2015) with Eddie Redmayne. IMDb gives this blurb: “A fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda’s marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili’s groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.” Heavy and deep, we were moved by their plight and Gerda’s unstinting love.

The Danish Girl IMDbIMDb

For bed I gave myself a solid dousing in Niki de Saint Phalle. It’s parched greenery helps to dry this muggy night.

Friday 29:

It was already warm this morning when I walked the dogs. They were puffing so much that I brought them home after only walking around the block. They gratefully came inside afterwards and sat on their beds in the cool.

Thinking tropical I went for Guerlain Lys Soleia. It was a good fit.

Hung out with Jin, Kath and Mum and had a swim with Kath in this outrageously muggy heat. It’s drier than the last couple of days but trying to get stuff done means I’m sweating much more.

Jin and I had KFC for lunch that we grabbed on the way home. It was freaking delicious.

After that I basically fell into a food coma and didn’t snap out of it till 9pm. While food coma-ing I started watching Luther on Netflix.

BTW, did you notice Netflix has been removing content? A few times this fortnight I’ve gone to rematch stuff and it’s disappeared. BUMMER!

Tonight I wear Sarah McCartney 4160 Tuesdays Up The Apples and Pears. Fun and freaky. LOVE it.

Saturday 30:

Stayed up VERY late watching Luther on Netflix. Idris Elba is my new celeb crush. Let’s get him to make a fragrance. I’ve put on some Gres Cabochard parfum in his honour.

So I fell asleep watching Luther and woke up with a mouth that tasted like the bottom of a cat litter box. GAH! Awful, ran straight for the bathroom to clean my teeth.

Feeling a little more human after feeding and walking the dogs. L’Artisan Batucada got some skin time today. I don’t understand why this is not lauded as a freaking genius perfume. It smells like a Pine Lime Splice, an Australian ice block with pine lime icy coat and creamy vanilla ice cream inside, with a hint of coconut. Batucada is YUM!

Went and had a coffee and baklava with my mate Nikki but TOTALLY forgot to take a photo. We chattered away a very happy hour.

Back home and doing some blogging for next week. Wearing a melange of scents.

Cool bath. No bubbles, just Radox Bath Salts.

Alice sent me this genius Scarf Knot map.

Sunday 31:

2am and I’m for bed. Tonight I’m wearing Estee Lauder Beyond Paradise Blue to bed, from the teardrop bottle that I love so much. That cold gasoline opening that melts into a white floral waterfall with lightly creamy and lavender touches.

It’s New Years Eve. I have a bunch of running around and organising to do but before I get started on all that I’m meeting Kath at her Mum & Dads for a SWIM!

Today I’m rocking Tom Ford Jasmine Rouge. It requires respritzes every two hours but that’s part of the fun!

Tonight I’ll be at Parramatta RSL ringing in the New Year with my besties Kath and Phil. Can’t think of a better way to do it. Can’t decide on my fragrance for tonight yet but I’m thinking Madonna Truth or Dare or Mugler Taste of Alien.

I would like to thank everyone involved in Australian Perfume Junkies. If you write, read, comment or are in any way involved THANK YOU for making 2017 a really wonderful year. Got to meet a few more of you too this year which is always special.

Wishing you and your crew a fun and fragrant 2018 chock full of all the good stuff and hardly any of the other.

 

It’s YOUR turn. What’s happening in your world?

Did you do anything Fun or Fragrant, with Friends and Family or maybe even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? How is or was your New Year?
Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 18.12 – 24.12.2017

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Portia

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Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,

Leading up to Christmas week here. Getting as ready as we can and trying unsuccessfully to fit hangouts with everyone in. It has been fun wrapping everyones presents and seeing them during the daytime, when normally they’re all working.

Scent Diary: 18.12 – 24.12.2017

Monday 18:

WOW! 10am and 28C. I woke up in a sweat even though the fan is on. Muggy too. Still I want to feel pretty today so a triple spritz of SJP Lovely. Never fails to bring a smile to my face and in summer is perfectly bracing. I feel chilled through.

Wendy came over today so Jin could help her organise her new computer. We had lunch and chattered, then they watched TV while I ran some errands. It was a lovely day.

Then visited Kath’s Mum who was not in a good way at all. Hugs and tears all round.

Jin and I then went and got Baklava from Sydney’s best and most famous Lebanese sweet shop, Abla’s. Baklava is the universal cure all.

SO HOT, it’s like my skin is burning in hot water. I’m bringing the fan in here. It’s so hot that I don’t even want fragrance on me.

Tuesday 19:

Scott and I worked through the 42C heat and it nearly broke us. Bloody hell. 1pm drives to the bank, post office and around about left us sweating and panting.

It is so hot I made a cool Radox Bath Salts Bath. Instantly my whole body started to feel like it could function again and thought became possible. Getting out afterwards into the superheated air was like walking through warm treacle.

I wore CHANEL Boy tonight to work. It got a couple of random compliments but honestly I couldn’t smell it after the first hour or so. It seemed like more than our fair share of crazies were out last night. Had a rather unsavoury contretemps at the RSL with a slightly unhinged person. It all ended with his eviction and was a little unsettling but no harm done to anyone.

Bedtime; So hot and sticky (31C at 1am) I’m sweating just sitting at the computer. We do have the AC on dry mode which has cooled the living room and Jin, the dogs & I will sleep there. Dogs on their beds, Jin & I on the couch. Neela Vermeire Pichola. It’s plush, creamy white floral over green and resinous base is a perfect heat beater.

Wednesday 20:

WOW! Got a fabulous nights sleep. The whole four of us slept till 9am and then Jin had to go for a medical appointment and I fed & walked the dogs. Got their nails clipped at the local vet at the same time. It was bloody hot out thee and we arrived home panting, me sweating as well.

What better heat beater than Frederic Malle Geranium Pour Monsieur?

It was so cooling I respritzed again after lunch while opening this years Christmas Cards. There has been a drought this year and I did only about 10. If one of these is from you then you are a freaking HERO!! Seriously. I love getting them.

Visited Kath’s Mum in hospital in the afternoon and she seemed sunnier, if no better. Having just been for a walk there was a healthy flush and twinkle in her eye. She already had visitors so we didn’t stay overly long.

Jin cooked Korean Chicken Curry and we had it with Brown Rice. He is a wonderful cook and I love it when we eat together. Today we also watched this cute TV show about otters that didn’t like water and how they got retrained to love it.

Tonight Alice has grabbed tickets to the closing night of an original Australian theatre production. Called the Bodybag it’s a spoof on the Bodyguard. Can’t wait to see it. The producer and star is a mate of mine Trevor Ashley, well know around the Drag Scene as Cleopatra Coupe.

Tonight I’m wearing Teone Reinthall’s Antarctica from a decant. It is outrageous in this heat and has nothing to do with the cold icy turn the name suggests to me. It’s very furry and I’m enjoying it immensely.

Bloody Hell The Bodybag was hilarious. We laughed so hard. Excellent show. Here we are before & after

Thursday 21:

Blessed relief. Woke up today to a sensible 24C and some cloud cover. It’s still like walking through a pool, humidity wise, but at least the air isn’t burning my lungs like a sauna. The dogs were 100% more lively on our walk this morning.

Wearing Hermès Eau des Merveilles again. Such a splendid summer staple.

Went and saw Kath’s Mum, with Kath. The doctor was trying to get a canal out and all of a sudden it was rivers of blood. GAK! Poor Mum. I did ask if they would PLEASE get the nurses to do all the needles, canals and blood relateds from now on. They are SO MUCH BETTER at doing it all.

Then Kath & I went shopping for a while. It was nice to just aimlessly hang out, she’s good company.

Jin and I FaceTimed today while he was working. Isn’t he the cutest thing EVER! It’s weird that we both look so serious, and it was an accidental capture, but I thought you should see him in his work clobber.

Salt-Anne sent me a beautiful pic of a similar Niki de Saint Phalle bottle so I sent her a pic of mine. So beautiful.

Tonight I went to dinner at the Kings Park Tavern. A farewell for one of the teams that have played since before I started there. It was a lovely evening, food was excellent and we had a wonderful time. Bittersweet because I probably won’t be back without my Thursday booking. Very sad. We had so much fun I forgot to take a photo. GRRR!

For bed I popped on some Mona di Orio Oiro, a powdery white floral with soft creamy ylang & amber holding it steady. It smells luxurious and very elegant.

Friday 22:

Up early to feed and walk the dogs. It’s freaky outside, cloudy, not very hot but so humid that I feel wet. Big day out today with friends so I’m going to jump a train and get it started ASAP. Wearing Diptyque 34.

First friend I organised to meet today is Phil. He has a brand new new office and I had an Office Warming gift for him. Then we asked across town to see “Rembrandt and the Dutch golden age: masterpieces from the Rijksmuseumat” at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. It’s a special exhibition and I have been looking forward to it. The exhibition is a really good size, not too much so you leave with brain overload and a very nice selection of the genre. We found our guide lacked the ability to engage us, which was a shame. She knew ALL the facts and rattled them off impeccably but I felt no personal attachment to the works, and gained only a little knowledge under her onslaught. Then we went down to the Members Lounge and lunched. It was really nice.

Met Evie in Macquarie St and we had sidewalk drinks and chatter. She is such good company and wet had OODLES of catching up to do. Then we headed off to the NSW State Library to see “The Sydney Morning Herald’s photography exhibition Photos1440: the best published and unpublished images by Sydney Morning Herald photographers from 2015 to the present.” It was spectacular. Some interesting, moving, shocking and heartwarming photos. All beautifully shot and gave us so much to chat about as we wandered. We also managed to squeeze in a fun Aussie Pop Culture exhibition too. All for FREE!

Jumped a train to Kath’s, we had to go do some Bunnings shopping. It’s our major hardware chain and has everything, for the Non Australian readers. Just some planters and soil for a repotting job. Before we got there though I finagled Kath into visiting one of my favourite warehouse reduction places, Victoria’s Basement. A homewares heaven. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to go there and come out empty handed. It was super fun. I even managed to have a bunch of bowls jump off their precarious perch. We saved three but one hit the floor and became shards.

Met Jin outside Kath’s apartment because he works around the corner. We had to do some last minute shopping and grab some of the food necessary. Dinner was at our second favourite Sushi Train and then Jin treated me to a shared dessert (triple chocolate mousse cheesecake: To Die For and of probably) and extra chocolate at Guylian. It was so fabulous and decadent.

Bubble Bath with L`Artisan Parfumeur La Chasse aux Papillons.

SOTBed Issey Miyake A Scent in outrageous amounts. Just kept spritzing and respritzing till I was a fumigation machine.

Saturday 23:

Jin and I were up early and I had a quick spritz of Guerlain Mitsouko EdT.

Walked the dogs, visited Mum at the hospital, did some early morning shopping.

Came home and Jin has started cooking the pork for Christmas. He also does extra crackling and that is superb.

A lovely lunchtime nap. We have the AC on dry so instead of supercooling the air it takes the hot sting and the water out. It leaves our living room a haven and runs at less than half the cost. We have the dogs on their beds and we take the couch. We didn’t even bother to leave the TV on, just a cool quiet room to sleep in.

Found out today that the hotel that has finished Turbo Trivia after about 15 years will be bringing in a new crew after new year and moving it to a better area. I’m glum.

What better way to beat the glum than triple spritz some perfume? One of the newest DIOR Privee, Souffle de Soie from a decant. Review coming soon.

In the evening I went into town and Kath & I went on our annual prawn buying expedition to the Sydney Fish Markets. We catch public transport down on the 23rd night, grab some dinner and shop. The markets are open for 36 hours in the lead up to Christmas and usually they are jam packed. Tonight was not so busy and we even got harbourside seats for dinner and watched the sunset. It was unbelievably beautiful. I could have stopped there for another hour and just chattered away.

Tonight for bed I spritzed The Scent Of Departure DPS Bali. A fun coconut-centric tropical perfume filled to the brim with yellow and white flowers over a vanilla base.

Sunday 24:

Woke up and gave the house a vacuum, boy cleaned the bathroom, fed and walked the dogs. Gave myself some healthy spritzes of Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Teazzura. A cooling, dry, tart and lightly creamy sweet concoction that lasts about an hour, two if I’m lucky. In this heat I’m getting about 40 minutes before I’m left with a soft laundry musk and a sparkle.

TinaG dropped by on her way to family Christmas and we had Sue’s Christmas Cake and fresh cream with Fortnum & Mason Royal Blend tea and Wirra Wirra Mrs Wigly Sparkling Moscato. Jin was awake and we had a lovely festive time.

Did some blogging in the afternoon but it was pretty lethargic, it’s too hot for prose. Felt the need for some divine beauty this evening so Fort & Manlé’s Charlatan got a lovely wear in the heat.

Made tomorrows Potato Salad, cut the Pork & Crackling and then lay around the couch under the fan till walking the dogs tonight.

 

It’s YOUR turn. What’s happening in your world?

Did you do anything Fun or Fragrant, with Friends and Family or maybe even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 27.11 – 3.12.2017

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Portia

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Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,

It’s heating up here in Sydney. Summer has arrived and this year it’s showing us a very humid face. Not horrible but it will take a couple of weeks to get used to.

Jin has been around the house sick so the upside of that is we get to hang together. Obviously the downside is that everyone turns into a 5 year old when they’re sick.

Scent Diary: 27.11 – 3.12.2017

Monday 27:

Woke up on my own time at 9.30am, fed and walked the dogs then made myself a big glass of 50/50 pomegranate juice & water. Excellent start to the day. Dabbed some modern Gres Cabochard parfum on this morning so leather has ben my jam for today.

Jin is home today and working tonight. It was a very pleasant surprise to have him around the house while I did the laundry and Trivia invoicing. We went on a quick grocery shopping trip and he cooked up a load of meals for the week. Brown rice, fried Tofu, steamed Bean Sprouts. Not really my thing but he is currently combating his fatty liver and we are trying to save a few dollars extra so we can travel lavishly in 2018.

It was a calm, lazy, productive day; beautifully warm and humid. The dogs spent most of the day on their beds indoors. They love it when Jin’s watching TV or one of us is cooking. They just lay there and sleep, occasionally looking up to make sure we are still around.

This afternoon, instead of working, I watched MiB II & III. Last week I’d caught a rerun of the original and it was so fun I wanted to enjoy the others. Excellent binge.

IUNX Splash Forte, Olivia Giacobetti’s under the radar incense masterpiece. Why the hell is it not the most talked about incense of all time?

TRIVIA Q&A. Guerlain’s Mitsouko EdT. Woo Hoo. I smell amazing.

Tuesday 28:

It’s 5am and I woke up to go to the toilet. While I was there Jin came home from work, so now I’m wide awake. Better finish my Trivia Q&A. A sneaky spritz of Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Ma Folie de Noel. Spicy citrus and milk.

Back to bed till 9.50am. OOOPSIE! I was supposed to have the dogs fed and walked before Scott arrived at 10. Oh well, he arrived and we walked them together. Then we office worked, went to the Post Office and Bank, did some decanting and had lunch.

Then dyed my beard, jumped into a L’Artisan La Chasse aux Papillons bubble bath and spritzed with Serge Lutens Datura Noir.

Went to have a nap and just as I was drifting off the bloody phone rang. Now I’m wide awake. GRRR! Smell amazing though.

It’s bloody hot here, sticky for getting into drag. I keep sweating. A good deal less glam in the warmer months.

Work was busy, we had a great time. Someone even commented how much they loved my Datura Noir! YAY!

Watching Netflix The Punisher. Pretty good

Before bed, Gres Cabochard parfum. Yeah, I’m worth it. He He he. smells fabulous.

Wednesday 29:

Up early (for me). Fed & walked the dogs, organised my backpack, jumped a bus and off on a big day out with friends. Fragrance? Vintage Miss Dior parfum. Yes, I smell like a million $$$.

Jumped a bus and a train to town and walked across the domain to the NSW Art Gallery where Lisa and I did the 11am gallery highlights tour. After, we went to the Mapplethorpe exhibition and did the midday tour. Both our guides were erudite and added so many extra titbits, some of then salacious scandal and others more to do with technique or timeframe. Two wonderful hours appreciating and learning. We then needed refreshment so swanned down to the Members Lounge where Lisa treated me to lunch.

We wandered back to the heart of Sydney for coffee and dessert in the David Jones Food Hall and then wandered the halls looking for fragrance and beauty. We swished over to Myer and Mecca (where I made my only purchase, the Diptyque Christmas Travel Set). Throughout the 4 hours of meandering we smelled maybe 50 or 60 scents and I think I ended up with 15 of them upon my person. It was a splendid effort and we both had a great time.

Then we coffeed and juiced, finding out that Same Sex Marriage had gone through the Senate with a YES vote and Monday it will go through the House Of Representatives. Fingers crossed. I admit we had a little cry. One of our days visual highlights was noticing that the Westfield Christmas Trees were GUM TREES! So good.

Then dinner with my frag friend Tim. He’s excellent company and we nattered away a couple of Burger filled hours. Laughing, sniffing and having fun.

Back home on a train and bus and walked the dogs. I’m BUSHED!

Jin had cooked a huge lot of roast pork and crackling. Seriously enormous. So much that I took some to BFF Kath’s Mum & Dad and another lot to Wendy, my trivia mate. You have NO IDEA how well he does it. The crackling is crunchy and mainly incredibly easy to chew, he buys and makes extra. There are a few super crunchy bits too which are my favourite. I feel like Rockbiter from The Never-Ending Story. The pork is moist, melt in your mouth delicious tenderness. For someone who grew up never knowing the joys of roast pork Jin has taken to it like a duck to water.

I’d like to take a moment to apologise for my lack of photos today. We were having WAY too much fun to spoil the moments with photos. So while it’s true that I’ve let you all down a bit, it was imperative that I live in the moment today and just float along.

Thursday 30:

Divine EdT

HOT here in Sydney, sweating.

Ran around all morning doing errands, had lunch at home with sick Jin who has tonsillitis AGAIN!

A card from Tara of A Bottled Rose arrived. HAPPY DANCE! I love postcards.

Bathed in Bath & Body Works Rainkissed Leaves, Jacomo Silences PdT to cool me down.

For work I put OODLES of Thierry Mugler Womanity on. It was a perfect heat beater and a few of the players at trivia mentioned how good it smells. YAY!

Vintage CHANEL Pour Monsieur for bed. HEAVEN!

Friday 1:

The humidity, even as early as our morning dog walk, is equatorial monsoon levels. Yet still I manage to be sweating buckets as I sit and type this. The CHANEL is still humming around softly but I need some coolant. Niki de Saint Phalle EdT to the rescue. It’s cooling, dry bones, arctic wash is exactly the refresher I need.

Jin has added a hacking phlegm filled cough to his tonsillitis. Poor little fucker. He’s on the couch with food and juice, out for the count.

Today is my only proper day off this week and next. I’m going to spend it getting myself ready for the week, catching up on eMail backlog that I’ve been ignoring since Tuesday and getting the blog and Trivia Q&A started for next week. Trivia first.

So Jin and I booked Anna-Maria, Scott and my Paris adventure Korean Air Tickets today. Also found five choices for Air BnB places to stay, now they get to choose which one they like best. It’s getting VERY fricken real right now. YAY! We are off to Paris in APRIL!

7.30pm and I’m feeling sweaty and unglamorous. The day has been wasted looking for Paris shit and I’ve hardly done a thing for REAL work. GRRR! Going to have a quick, cool bath and come back to the desk refreshed.

Nope, had dinner, walked dogs. It’s now 11pm and I’m about to start Trivia Q&A. What a wasted day.

It was nice to hang with sick old Jin though and watch some TV with him. We did go to Bunnings and get a replacement shower cord and come home and fix it, so not a whole day wasted.

Went to bed scentless, didn’t put any on after my bath. Needed a rest.

Saturday 2:

At around 1am I finally got to work and did half my Trivia Q&A.

Slept late. 10.30am I slumped up to feed the dogs and walk them. Jin was uncomfortably unwell so I slept on the couch under the ceiling fan. I keep forgetting to bring the pedestal fan up from the garage to put in the spare room. It needs some air movement to be comfortable in summer.

Diptyque 34 this morning. So smooth and comfortable. A slightly green white floral with lovely resinous underlay. Perfect warm weather fare.

After a HOT bath I headecstraight for the Hermès Monsieur Li. It’s oily citrus both balm and coolant.

Tonights gig was an eighties inspired Christmas Party for Seasonal Concepts. A design crew just outside the heart of Sydney in Redfern. I’ve known Ken the proprietor for decades and he regularly gets me in to be the Door Bitch because when I say Invitation Only everyone gets the point quickly. I went as Crystal Meth-Carrington and had a ball. I wore Yves Saint Laurent Opium Poesie de Chine, a summer version of the 1980s classic.

My BFF Kath picked me up from the gig and I went and had coffee with her and chatted for an hour before jumping in my car and zooming home to poor sick baby Jin.

It was late so I had a little bread roll with the last of the pork & crackling and some salad. Delicious!

Then I came to the computer to do blog stuff and now I’m ready for bed. I’m going to spritz some more Opium Poesie de Chine and then hit the hay. NIGHT!!

Sunday 3:

The dogs seemed especially pleased to see me this morning, we wandered a few blocks in the early humid heat and headed home. By the time we got there sick Jin was up and rumbling around the apartment coughing like a person with a very bad chest cold. Poor little man. I’m feeding him the Korean team and he has a backlog of heat in the microwave Congee (a thick rice soupy thing he loves and is full of goodness)

Rita, one of my mates (a stellar fundraiser, helper, organiser) is getting Christmas Hampers together for the less fortunate. She’s doing a drive to get food and small gifts together so people with less will have a little more. I raided my collection of hotel soaps, shampoos, conditioners and body lotions (perfect size for homeless), grabbed all my unwanted gifts and went shopping for some food. With $110 I was able to get a selection of Tinned vegetables, Twinings 10 pack teas, Biscuits, Chocolates, Sanitary pads and Tampons, Crisps and Nuts. I know that the crew will be mainly buying super healthy stuff but this is a Christmas Hamper, there needs to be some slightly luxurious fun stuff.

Bath in L’Artisan La Chasse aux Papillons and wearing Hermès Rouge again. Cool, sharp rose, creamy ylang and the insistent green snap of myrtle create something very different to anything else in my collection. Perfect to cut through the humidity.

 

 

It’s YOUR turn. What’s happening in your world?

Did you do anything Fun or Fragrant, with Friends and Family or maybe even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 20.11 – 26.11.2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 28 Comments

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Portia

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Hi there APJ,

This week has been blissfully fragrant and as close to low key as I’ve had in a long time.

A few meals with mates but mostly it’s been Perfume, TV, Computer and Home. Loved it.

Scent Diary: 20.11 – 26.11.2017

Monday 20:

Want a BWF that doesn’t punch people in the face but still manages to remain hefty and a little breathy? Rouge Hermès is the answer. I wore it today and loved every minute.

Went and grabbed the dogs from the trainer. OMG they were so happy to see me. Jinx was sad that Jin wasn’t there but kind of happy I was.

Went to the bank again to re-organise the new card and where it sits on my internet banking. Aurio was there to help, what a handsome, helpful man he is. So sweet. Don’t you want to squish him into a big old bearhug?

Saying farewell to a glamorous friend? Guerlain Shalimar. It was a perfect fit.

Took Gaye’s ashes to Neilson Park. What a wonderful send off. Six friends in a water taxi, some finger sandwiches, wine and champagne. We remembered Gaye, chatted about her wending through our lives , scattered her ashes and threw flowers to mark her passing. As we let her go the sunset went golden and all of us sang “For She’s A Jolly Good Fellow”. What a perfect way to go.

Obviously after such an evening it was impossible to concentrate on my Trivia Q&A so I went to bed.

Tuesday 21:

7am up to do my trivia Q&A Tom Ford Patchouli Absolu today. Soft and plush patchouli. It keeps coming and going all day. I’m now at the nine hour mark and still smell fabulous. A powdery patchouli, MMMMMMM.

Powered through postage, banking, sampling, and the rest with Scott today. He put some vintage Bal a Versailles parfum on while here and the smell was fabulous, seriously gorgeous.

My sunburn is still tender so I didn’t get myself into drag for work tonight. Guerlain Lys Soleia. PERFECT!

Got home, fed and walked the dogs through a cool spring evening. Got home, watched a few eps of The Good Wife, chatted to Jin who is working nights. Spritzed Andrea Mack Sharp, that weird yet cozy, warm, woody, boiling sand scent.

Wednesday 22:

Day doing computer work.

Ex Nihilo Fleur Narcotique from a decant. I don’t really love this but for some reason I keep grabbing it and spritzing. It’s a thin white floral with a bunch of other stuff going on, slightly space age. Hints of freaky that I can’t stop huffing.

Filled in for one of the Queens at a gig tonight. Wore lashings of La Via del Profumo Mecca Balsam. Super spicy, resinous incense. It wafted up to me all evening at work and now I’ve triple spritzed to watch The Good Wife.

Thursday 23:

Woke up like surfacing from the bottom of the sea. Just as I was about to open my eyes the phone rang. It was a very nice way to wake. Wearing Armani Prive Cuir Amethyst, cool and clever fruity leather. I like it a lot.

Another computer day.

Watched the last episode of The Good Wife.

Hopefully this will be my last night not in drag. My burn has browned off but the skin is peeling a bit and it’s still quite tender.

Bath and Body Works Rainkissed Leaves in my bubble bath, Madonna Truth or Dare Naked lotion and L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme Intense, inspired by a memory Kate Apted’s post gave me. Smells fantastic.

At around 11pm went to bed with Jin, 2am and I’m up, wide awake. Came and did a very small amount of computer stuff and had a cup of tea. Gave myself some Diptyque 34 spritzes and now back to bed.

Friday 24:

Day of visitors.

TinaG and Jean-Luc dropped in for lunch. We had a great time chatting and laughing, getting shallowly into politics and having a rumble about graffiti. Sandwiches and cups of Mandy Aftel’s tea, followed by fresh mango, strawberries, blueberries and yoghurt. YUMMY!

We opened a whole bunch of fragrant mail, so my next couple of weeks are sorted for posts. Can’t wait to get you all up to speed with this haul.

Then Phil dropped in for afternoon tea. Loads of news and excitement punctuated with belly laughs. Good day!

Jin had a bunch of king prawns in the fridge. I don’t like to eat them but begged him if I could cook for him. He was VERY skeptical but acquiesced. I made him Garlic Chilli Prawns with toast points, avocado, mayo and lettuce salad. So impressed with my work that I forgot to take a photo but Jin was really excited. It was a culinary triumph.

He’s up early tomorrow so we had a little snuggle before sleepy time.

Cacharel Liberté was tonights spritz while trying to get ahead with my Trivia Q&A.

Saturday 25:

Woke up gradually and got out of bed two minutes before the alarm went off. I love that.

Breakfast was delicious. Yesterday I cut up some fruit for lunch with TinaG & Jean-Luc and there were leftovers in the fridge. Mango, Strawberry and Blueberry with Yoghurt on Cereal and Milk. Bloody delicious. You can see my current favourite mug, a birthday gift from my BFF earlier in the year.

Paris was wondering why I am eating breakfast and not patting him. This is his come hither look that I usually find irresistible. He was pointedly upset that I refused his cuddly advances and walked over to make himself clear.

Arriving in the mail today. The BRAND NEW Goldfield & Banks Wood Infusion to review and do a giveaway for. YAY! OMG! I am swooning at this stuff. SO GOOD!


Quickest sluice bath ever, just a L’Artisan La Chasse aux Papillons soap up and a spray really. Then dressed up a bit nice and heavily spritzed Tom Ford Ombre de Hyacinth. I love its fresh spring zing, so green and fecund, smells like the Tarot Empress card should.

Indian dinner tonight for Alice’s birthday. The food was unbelievable. I had Goat Curry and Aloo Mutter Paneer with Garlic Naan. YUM!

Sunday 26:

Vintage Miss Dior Parfum. to go have a solo pedi. LOVED being there alone and enjoying the peace and quiet. Perfect way to wake up.

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Then went and met Thierry from City Perfume. We tried Creed Viking (MUCH better than expected. A Patchouli, vetiver, resins bomb), the new Shakespeare line (particularly like Romeo & Juliette) and the new YSL frags Sleek Suede and Magnificent Gold (<My fave of the line).

Don’t forget the 10% Discount Code for APJ crew (AFG17) and FREE AUSTRALIAN EXPRESS SHIPPING if you spend over $150


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The Zegna pair are interesting too; quite niche or even indie smelling. Boundary pushers. One smells like drinking a G&T in a wood panelled club room during India’s sweaty summer. So annoyed I can’t remember which one. Weird but yummy.

Came home and had a nap, then I couldn’t even work up the chutzpah to get into drag. BAD PORTIA!!! Luckily the Austral BC crew didn’t mind. Anna-Maria and I chatted about our next international adventure! YAY!

 

So what’s happening in your world? Did you do anything Fragrant, Fun, Friends, Family or even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 30.10 – 5.11.2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

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Portia

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Hey Hey APJ,

Another action packed week starting in Adelaide and coming home via Indian Pacific. A large Surrender To Chance order came before we left so I have been trying a bunch of those.

Scent Diary: 30.10 – 5.11.2017

Monday 30:

We got up nice and early. Trying a new decant of Perfumerie Generale PG08 Intrigant Patchouli. This is weird. I can barely smell it but Jin complained of it being particularly strong and irritating. Bummer.

Coffee & doughnut breakfast, then went to the Adelaide Zoo. the ONE thing I wanted to do was go see the zoo here. They are Australia’s smallest state zoo but have a really good reputation. We joined a guided tour and it was bloody wonderful. Our guide Jo had been guiding for 10 years and knew so much. She was also totally at ease with answering, “I don’t know.” A perfectly respectable response.

Pygmy Hippo

Otters

Wombat

Meerkat

Emperor Tamarind

Giant Panda

Japanese for lunch. YUMMY!

Lazy

Early evening dinner at Parlamento Italian. I asked the front desk woman to recommend and she didn’t disappoint. Food was excellent, ENORMOUS portions and we couldn’t finish our meals, the pic below is the left overs we just could not eat. Then we went and had a flutter on the roulette wheels at the casino. Jin lost his $20 and I won a bit and played it down to my original $20. It was a perfect last night in Adelaide.

Walked to our hotel and now I’m bushed. Shower, CHANEL No 19 vintage parfum and bed.

Tuesday 31:

Up and off to the station. Over the soft remnants of No 19 I gave myself a lavish couple of spritzes of Amouage Beach Hut Man from my nearly empty decant. This shit is fabulously freaky, especially on a train journey.

Thankfully they provided breakfast and refreshments. I may have had some sneaky champagnes.

Tom McArtney was our terminal entertainment and then he came on board for more.

On board the Indian Pacific from Adelaide to Sydney.

We were running late so had only a 25 minute stop in Broken Hill. We were really bummed because having been a part of and cameoed in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert we really wanted to go to the Palace Hotel and see a Drag Show. It was not to be but we did get an On Station Drag Show. One of the girls, Shelita Buffet, was my lost sister draggleganger. The resemblance is uncanny.

In the evening we had a rare treat. Jin and I got the dinner table to ourselves, it was sweet and romantic. Jin is a complete introvert when it comes to new people. Combine his English as second language with a natural shyness and conversation is very hard for him. Once you get to know him he’s garrulous but initially he finds its very hard. So this twosome breakfast with no need to converse with new people was a dream for him.

Wednesday 1:

Wearing Phaedon Tabac Rouge from a decant. The more I wear it the more I’m falling in love.

We disembarked at Sydney Central Station and caught another train home. A fitting end to the most romantic holiday, it was blissful. We are already talking about getting a group together and doing the whole Perth to Sydney leg of the Indian Pacific. Well worth the expense.

Did four loads of washing and had to stop because the clothes line is FULL! I even dried the towels and bed linen in the dryer but still no space left. Jin’s clothes are all washed and hung, some of mine are but my suitcase is not yet emptied. Hopefully tomorrow.

Had an afternoon Radox bubble bath and then used Hermès Monsieur Li lotion and perfume. Smelling mighty good in a fresh citrus and sparkly oil kinda way.

Thursday 2:

I woke lazily, at my leisure, with a wonderful while of half awake/asleep like rising from the depths. It was luxurious in the extreme. Jin has gone to work early and I have the house to myself. It’s so peaceful.

In the mood for calm I went with IUNX Splash Forte. Olivia Giacometti at her herbal/incense best, sheer and insistent. Very glam but cool and restrained. Yes, I’m still on the dregs of this 20ml, I’ll need a refill soon. You can see by the bottles beat up appearance that it gets used for travelling. Stayed softly fragrant right up until bath time.

I thought I was nearly through the washing but it ended up being 4 loads including linens. So I folded yesterdays washing and started again. It took 4 hours and I basically sat at the computer between loads to hang and loafed all morning into the early afternoon. Hard to complain about such a lovely easy day. My bag is unpacked and back in its wardrobe home and there’s not a piece of dirty laundry in the house.

OK, so back to reality, back to dying my beard. I do prefer it black, especially for work, but deep down I’m a lazy person. This is 20 minutes extra grooming ritual each week. Yes, that’s how lazy I am. Sheesh, I’m even disgusted at myself.

Had a lovely bath in Olympic Orchids Amber/Labdanum Bath Oil, Moisturised with Madonna Truth or Dare Lotion and spritzed lavishly with Anna Sui Live Your Dreams. The amber and tuberose base gives live Your dreams a much firmer base to stand on. YUM!

Work tonight was only 2/3 full and we had a new table that really didn’t like my potty mouth, my gayness or my flamboyance. Oh well, if I was holding out for universal approbation I would have a pretty long wait. I looked fabulous though.

Friday 3:

Had stuff to do but most of it got cancelled. Jin and I had our waxing done in the morning then I loafed around watching The Good wife and eating far too much food.

Heavily spritzed Guerlain Champs Elysees and floated majestically on clouds of fresh and cool airy violets with lashings of spring bulb leaves, fruit and white muskegs dry down.

Went for dinner with Kath and her Ma & Pa, that I share. It was fun.

For bedtime I multi spritzed Neela Vermeire Creations Pichola, I wanted similar but much more sophisticated.

Saturday 4:

Stayed up watching The Good Wife. Thoroughly addicted and never want to press stop and go to bed. NOTHING is getting dome around here. Next weeks blog may be a little sketchy. Oooopsie!

Woke up around 10am, Jin and I are going to an Auction up the street. We would have bid but I still haven’t got all my financials together for the mortgage lender. Yes, my bad.
WOW! We went, there were about 8 groups there and not one registered. ZERO bids. The Sydney property market has shown its plunging hand.

Drenched in L’Artisan Premier Figuier. Milky fig. Happy memories of Jin and my first big holiday together. We travelled through Europe and in Budapest I purchased Premier Fig. Never fails to bring a smile. To be honest I rarely wear it because Ashoka and Womanly seem to be my go-to figs but I’m so glad I grabbed it out today.

Tonight went to work raising money for the One Meal group. It’s an amazing crew that makes sure people living on the line or in real poverty get one healthy meal a week. They are spread across Sydney and hoping to go Australia wide. One good meal a week can make a big difference. There were 250 people in the room tonight and Rita, Marijana, Cathy and their mate produced it all, amazing. We raised over $19,000 and it feels good.

Perfect for controlling a huge horde, Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin. Sweet, jammy roses with a tart, dry bite.

Watched more episodes of The Good Wife and spritzed Parfumerie Generales Ether des Lilas, ozonic lilies? Dunno, weird, wet and gorgeous.

Sunday 5:

Woke up late and came straight to the computer answering APJ comments. Gave myself a big triple spritz of vintage Miss Dior parfum. So good, MMMMM.

Jin is currently on night shift so when he woke up we hung out for a bit. It was nice. Then I came back to the computer.

Had a bath with one of the hotel shower gels I’ve collected on my travels. It’s a very pretty green floral with vanilla. So to compliment that I’m wearing a luscious, chunky caramel vanilla Eau d’Italie Morn to Dusk. So rich and perfect for cool spring evenings.

 

So what’s happening in your world? Did you do anything Fragrant, Fun, Friends, Family or even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 23.10 – 29.10.2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 56 Comments

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Portia

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This week has been unbelievable APJ crew,

Can’t wait to share our adventures. Seriously, a spectacular week. Fragrance, Travel, Fun and Friends, maybe even a little Romance.

Scent Diary: 23.10 – 29.10.2017

Monday 23:

Jin woke me up with some roughhousing like teenagers. He went to bite my belly as I went to push his shoulder away and I ended up punching him in the eye. Poor baby, he was hurt. Now we are worried that it will look like we have a domestic violence problem while on our Anniversary trip. It’s funny but also worrying.

Running around this morning. Saw the Bank, the Post Office, the Mortgage Broker, talked to real estate guys. Home and packed the bags, had a Molton Brown Energising Seamoss bubble bath, used Madonna Truth or Dare Naked lotion and have spritzed Pierre Guillaume Praline de Santal. It’s a lightly salted woods and bakery scent, like a salted caramel but nuttier and woodsy. Bloody good shit.

While in the bath I used my brand new birthday mug from BFF Kath. Isn’t it gorgeous, from David Jones.

Also, there might have been some fragrant arrivals in the mail. We were a little worried because I’m running low on perfume. Thank goodness these arrived. All vintage. Eau de Gucci, Nina parfum and Miss Dior. YUM

Alright. We are leaving now. I will try and keep you all updated on our journey. You’ll get the best pics on Instagram @portiatbo so maybe we’ll see you there……

BLODDY HELL! Jin mixed up our times and we arrived as the plane was leaving the airport. Poor little fucker was distraught. I jumped online and got us new tickets with points but he was really upset.  We went and had some dinner and a few Sojus.

We decided to walk home from the station. Beautiful night, cool but clear, new moon for new beginnings. As we wandered we made a side journey through a beautiful park that has fairy lights in the trees. Jin got down on a knee and gave me a box, all wrapped up. I opened it and it had a Royal Doulton Christmas decoration diamond in it. So beautiful, and a lovely gift. I can imagine us putting it on the tree every year and telling this story. Then came a little white box, inside were two diamond shaped chocolates. By now I had an inkling of what was going to happen. Butterflies buzzing around in my tummy.

Then he gave me a card. Within was a heartfelt and love filled marriage proposal. It was so bloody sweet. As I finished reading it out loud, the end getting a little shaky, I looked up to Jin and there was such light in his eyes. In his hands was an aqua box with white ribbon. It opened to reveal two rose gold, bezel set, 1/2 carat diamond stud earrings, one each to wear once we are married. Exactly as i pictured them in my dreams.

Jin was so excited and nervous, had worked so hard to make this moment, momentous moment, perfect. His heart was in his eyes and I know we love each other deeply, forgivingly and broadly. Of course when the diamonds come from Tiffanys the answer is always YES.

Big day. I’m bushed. A triple chest spritz of Hermès Muguet Porcelaine and I’m off to catch some ZZZZZZZs

Tuesday 24:

Woke up lazily and then started getting the engagement news out to the crew.Some VERY excited people full of love and best wishes. It was a terrific morning.

What better way to celebrate than with fragrance. I decided it had to be bright, uplifting and well named. Anna Sui Live Your Dream. A light filled lily/lily of the valley that seems perfectly chosen on this beautiful sunshiny early morning.

Later, wanting more lily, I overspritzed Cartier Baiser Volé. A drier, less plastic lily than earlier Live You Dreams.

Redox Bath Salts bath and vintage Guerlain Samsara EdT and EdP. I wanted to be serenely fragrant, to float above the travel and arrive still smelling gorgeous.

Arrived at the airport and bumped into our mate Elon who bought Pymble from us. Excellent catch up.

Stooped by Amuse Beauty inside the terminal, lovely selection of niche and beauty.

Wednesday 25:

Woke up at sparrows fart and Jin &I went around the corner for breakfast. It was yum.

The bus came and collected us and a bunch of other Ghan travellers. Our adventure officially begun.

I’m wearing vintage Nina Ricci Fleur de Fleurs parfum. It’s a soft focus floral, brightly aldehydic and not 100 miles from CHANEL No 5, softer though and more curvaceous. I wanted to be old school glam for our train embarkation.

The train is freaking fabulous, like something out of the movies. Wood panelled walls, cosy but brilliantly thought out ensuites, comfy bunk beds. First thing we did was hit the bar and grab an early champagne. PERFECT way to begin our adventure..

First stop Katherine Gorge. We chose the tour gorges boat cruise. Obviously I called it the TOO GORGEOUS Boat Cruise. We had an aboriginal guide who was full of information, history and knew all the creatures habits and their habitat. Unqualified success. We loved it.

Back to the train for dinner in the Dining Car. Food was excellent. We had a lovely couple to dine with, they were witty and charming with excellent anecdotes. We laughed all the way through the meal.

We were bushed so we came to our room and crashed.

Thursday 26:

I woke at 5.30am so jumped into the shower. Today felt so hot and I knew we’d be travelling so I wanted something calming. Fortunately CHANEL No 19 vintage parfum came to the rescue.

Ready early so we went down for breakfast at 6.30am. Our companions were much less interesting this morning. No worries, the food was spectacular.

Our excursion today was the Alice Springs Desert Park. Of all the choices we had I was so excited that we got to go here. It’s a cross between a Botanic Garden and a Captive Breeding Zoo. The only plants we saw were indigenous to the region and we got to see a live, free birds show with a magpie, Tawny Frogmouth, Wagtail, Barn Owl, Black Chested Buzzard and a surprise visit from a Black Kite. Apologies that I forgot to take pics, I was too engrossed.

Alice Springs Telegraph Dinner. This was a fabulous, unexpected event. A true blue Aussie BarBQ under the stars at the starting point for Alice Springs. The telegraph went across Australia from Adelaide to Darwin, there it became a submarine cable to Singapore. This way a telegram could go to England and a reply back to Australia in about a week. A far cry from the previous 6 months out and back on boats. Suddenly Australia was connected to the world in real time. A good analogy is the  old snail mail and eMail.

The dinner was beautiful, the whole event like a huge rural wedding. We watched the sunset, ate, drank, chattered and then danced into the night under the moonlit, starry and cloudy sky. Jin and I danced together, with our new friends and the staff; it was terrific. I am smiling so much writing about it and remembering how much fun we had.

Friday 27:

Grabbed a mini of Guerlain L’Heure Bleu a packed it. Today it got a big wearing. In the soaring temperatures L’Heure Bleu managed to keep composed and elegant all day.

Sunrise from the Buffet Car this morning. Food was as good as the view.

Then we were off in a bus on our adventure for the day. Coober Pedi, the home of opals in South Australia. We did so much but I was so busy living I forgot to take photos, so fortunately Jin took some too. I can’t remember which each of us took but suffice to say we share the load.

This is an underground Serbian church, carved from the rock and painted with varnish to make it shine and help keep it intact. We lit a candle for our friends to have health, wealth and satisfaction.

Lunch was in an abandoned opal mine, also an underground, dug out. It’s really cool underground, instead of 40c it was only 23c. So we had a very comfortable lunch. These two girls are Carol and Robin, we spent quite a bit of time hanging out with them, really wonderful girls with great senses of humour.

This is the longest fence in the world. Built to keep the dingoes out of South Australia.

Coming back to the Ghan the train crew had set up afternoon drinks and canapés for us alongside the train. It was wonderful. A couple of the girls joined us and we had a very happy natter. It was a bit windy though so Jin and I took ourselves to the Bar Carriage.

Saturday 28:

This morning was our last Ghan breakfast sunrise. We met a beautiful couple and had an excellent feed.

This is one of our favourite couples, Margie and Iain. The whole trip we chatted and Jin got on particularly well with them.

Here we are with a few of the crew after disembarkation, waiting for taxis. It’s sad to be leaving this crew, we loved them all.

We went and grabbed our hire car, found our hotel and then decided we needed adventure. Jin’s favourite red wine is called Church Block by Wirra Wirra Vineyards. As they are only an hour from our hotel I decided we should pay them a visit. Jin LOVED it. We tasted all their reds from lightest to heaviest. We always have a case of their Church Block at home anyway so we ordered a couple of cases of other things that aren’t available commercially.

We also had some lunch there. It was an excellent afternoon excursion.

Tonight Jin wanted to go to the Adelaide Casino Fortuna Court Buffet. It was fun and yummy. He’s such good company, we talked, planned and ate our way through a couple of hours. Weekends are extra seafood so Jin was in his element. he polished off three plates of prawns alone!

Afterwards we went down to the gaming hall. I have very strict gambling laws on myself and Jin has taken them on also. $20 each is our spend. We can lose it any way we want, Jin prefers the pokies and I love roulette. We watched the roulette for about an hour and then decoded we’d have a go. I lost my chips in 4 goes, Jin had a chip on his lucky number 4 and it came in. BIG WIN. We immediately cashed his chips and he came out with nearly $100.

As we were going to the cashier we ran into Maria and Sam from the Ghan. We were all so excited so we went to have a drink together. It was so much fun that I forgot to take pics, sorry. It’s a bummer, we love these guys and are going to go to Melbourne especially to visit them.

Sunday 29:

Up early. We had breakfast in the hotel. It was pretty awful. No worries, it was close and easy. Tomorrow we’ll eat out.

Wandered around the city a very little bit this morning. Checked out our dinner choice in China Town, looks great. Hey, they have these on a bunch of trees here in Adelaide. So cool.

Hit the Adelaide Art Gallery which is currently having an indigenous artists show called Tarnanthi, which means renewal or beginnings. We started on the tour but the guide was not engaging so we ran away and Jin planted himself in the cafe. I had a question so was sent after another guide. OMG! This guy was clever, informed, passionate and had the most wonderful depth and breadth of knowledge. He was also amusing.

After the gallery we went to the German Hill Town Harndorf, about 30 minutes from the city centre. Wandering among the Sunday sunshiny revellers was fun. We saw loads of great local arts and crafts, had a HUGE lunch of goulash and schnitzel.

I particularly fell in love with this badly photographed lithograph piece but they didn’t have an unframed one. BUM!

We came home, had a nana nap and then met our Ghan girlfriend Carol for dinner. We took her for Korean Bar B Q, which she loved. We had a ball, she’s great company. Food and conversation were flowing beautifully. This is a terrible photo of her, sorry Carol.

So what’s happening in your world? Did you do anything Fragrant, Fun, Friends, Family or even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 25.9 – 1.10.2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

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Portia

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Hi there APJ Crew,

It has been a week of complete opposites. The pro and con advocates for Equality are getting meaner and the whole event has turned into a slow bone crushing depression releaser. Currently I’m appalled at a large section of both sides of the argument and I hold our elected government officials personally responsible for the whole rotten mess. To be constantly equated with predators, rapists, pedophiles and beastialitists by the church, Radio & TV chat guests, politicians and people in the street is becoming unbearable. That’s the worst of it but seriously, to have a nation debate whether Jin and my 6 year relationship is as valid as theirs is galling, to say the very least.

Why aren’t I equal?

On the flip side there has been loads of fun, friendship, fragrance and food. Jin has been the Rock of Gibraltar, standing strong, cool and silent against the onslaught and a perfect companion through birthday and illness.

Scent Diary: 25.9 – 1.10.2017

Monday 25:

SICK!! I am hideous. Coughing, runny nose, sweating, AWFUL. Cancelled my Birthday Party. Too sick.

Did get some beautiful postcards though.

Bath in Guerlain Shalimar and wore DSH Perfumes Ma Folie de Noel

Jin and I had dinner and opened some presents. It was quiet, chill and sweet.

Wrote Trivia Q&A

Tuesday 26:

Woke up and walked the dogs with Jin.

Met Scott at the coffee shop and then we office worked.

Wore OODLES of Penhaligon’s Savoy Steam. It is the weirdest smelling stuff but utterly addictive.

I thought it was going to be a triumphant return to work in drag but I’m still coughing and sneezing too much. Two Cold & Flu tablets and I’ll be able to go host as a guy. I’m a bit sad because there are new coats to wear.

It was a really fun night. I love my Tuesday crew.

Tonight someone I’ve loved for years reached out. We have been friends and he stayed with me for a while, then we lost touch except for sporadic cyber communication. It was really nice to have a messenger conversation.

Wednesday 27:

It’s early morning and I can’t sleep. Just watched the Kathleen Hanna story on TV. WOW! She is amazing. So many levels, what a brain. Totally inspiring human being.

Woke up and walked the dogs in a lovely cloudy morning. The air was crisp and smelled like greenery, almost no traffic on the roads and so peaceful.

Spent a second day in Penhaligon’s Savoy Steam. 

Today was a total write off. I dozed and dallied. Tried to focus on work but was crap at everything so I threw in the towel until about 10pm when my cold and mind started to unthaw.

I did see this picture on my friend Haans V Siver FaceBook page. I love the soft, pastel beauty of the sky, skyscrapers and sea juxtaposed with the hard lines and darkness of the Steve Irwin and other watercraft. For me it looks like some of those huge surreal prints that used to be in living rooms.

Steve Irwin by Haans V Siver Sept 2017

Thursday 28:

Morning. My head is fuzzy.

The walk was really good with the dogs. It cleared my head a bit walking through the cool, breezy, cloudy morning with the boys. Birds are chirping everywhere and as you walk through the suburb all the smells of spring flowers catch me by surprise. Beautiful.

Jin is working nights this week so I get to spend some day time with him, which is really nice.

Trouble by Boucheron bubble bath and fragrance. YUM!

At the end of Turbo trivia tonight I got a selfie with my fave barman Aaron. What a honey.

Friday 29:

Jin has today off so we visited the banks. Just making bookings for next week to refinance his mortgage. I quite like visiting them now that I know a little bit about how they work.

Afternoon met Rasei Fort of Fort & Manly at Becker Minty in Kings X. Have you ever been there? What a collection of fabulous homewares and fragrance. I may have had a sneaky spritz of the new Trudon scent by Cire Trudon. WHOA! Super green. YUM!

Then we trotted across to Redfern and met the ever glam Kerri who is on her first day of holidays. We sniffed some stuff and chattered while I had lunch and they had coffees. It was really nice.

Jin came and met us as lunch was breaking up and we went and got him a beer at the local pub. Then we went to the cinemas to see Kinsmen II (Freaking hilarious, laughed all the way through) and afterwards dinner.

Saturday 30:

At around 3am the dogs were alarmed by a possum and caused a huge ruckus. That was the end of sleep for me. I jumped up, grabbed a drink and hit the computer. Feeling like I can get a couple hours more sleep now at 6am I’m off to bed till dog feeding time at 9am.

Vintage Guerlain Mitsouko EdT & Parfum today.

Lunch at our fave Korean BarBQ with Alice, Kath & Tina. It was really fun and good to be hanging out together. Food was excellent, as always, though they were out of their sensational mash potato.

I put both photos in because TinaG looks so cute in the first and Alice & Kath look really lovely in the second. Not one shot had all of them looking so good.

Jin and I visited one of his exes who has become my buddy too. Paul lives around the corner and we popped in for tea and cake quite late this afternoon. He has been struck down with a similar cold to mine except it had him down for the count for three weeks, he’s still coughing 100 times worse than I am.

Tonight we popped down to the local supermarket and I grabbed some ham and cheese and then we came home and I made waffle sandwiches. YUMMO!

For bed I spritzed Hermès Muguet Porcelaine. Lily of the Valley seemed to be what I craved and the Hermès was a perfect, slightly melonish choice. Pretty.

Sunday 1:

Woke up this morning feeling like a bus hit me so I went back to bed and slept till 11am. Now I feel so much better.

Hung around the house. Wearing Miller et Bertaux A Quiet Morning.

For work I wanted something bright and summery with a deeper base than most of those frags. I choose Neela Vermeire Creations Rahele. Citrus & osmathus up top, leather down the back and much much more.

 

So, how about your week? What happened to you or your crew? Tell us stories, we love to read them.
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 28.8 – 3.9.2017

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Portia

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Hey Fumie Family,

Some amazing fragrances and friends this week. As always we are chock block full of fun stuff but it has also been tempered by a LOT of time at the computer organising to be away in India for two weeks. All the Trivia Q&A needed to be written and the blog pre-arranged and editing in the Contributors, who all worked really hard to get their months pieces in on time (THANKS GANG!!).

Scent Diary: 28.8 – 3.9.2017

Monday 28:

It’s 12.30am and I am watching The Defenders on Netflix. I should be asleep but am totally engrossed. He He he. Watched the last 3 eps tonight but I want MORE!! It is so good.

Bedtime now 3am. Spritzing Queen by Queen Latifah. Citrus, booze, vanilla and resins. It is thick and ropey with a meaty patchouli.

Woke up late to a soft vanilla wash of scent and jumped up to walk and feed the dogs. On our wander we found a brand new greyhound living in an apartment a block away. I was chatting to him but our dogs said a hurried hello and then their heads were snuffling something interesting on the ground. I love that more people are realising greyhounds are perfect apartment pets.

Today is dedicated to getting as much APJ blog stuff ready as possible so I can start writing my Trivia Q&A for the two weeks I’ll be in India.

Jin and I went for Yum Cha this morning and the rest of my day was spent computer bound. So much done. It’s looking good.

Wafting some vintage Bal a Versailles parfum on my neck. Smells great.

My head is not co-operating tonight. Q&A goes very slowly.

Tuesday 29:

2am all Trivia done and now I’m going to have a Boucheron Trouble bubble bath followed by a mega spritz of the Boucheron Trouble EdP. Then I’m going to bed.

You won’t believe this. woke up this morning and my OTHER foot is sore. Must have kicked the wall in my sleep. OUCHIE WaWa. I’ll walk it out today and hopefully everything will be good. Enjoying Trouble so much I spritzed it again.

Scott and I did office work and running around today. It was a full, fun day.

Watched Green Lantern again. Vintage Miss Dior EdT for bed. MMMMMMM

Wednesday 30:

What an incredibly beautiful morning. Sun is shining and it feels like a perfect spring day. I’m about to feed and walk the dogs then today will be spent at the computer organising APJ and some Trivia Q&A.

After lunch decided I needed something a bit rich and woodsy so Guerlain Santal Royal got a triple spritz to the chest. Exactly what I was looking for. A sweet, smooth, creamy wood/rose/oud combo.

It was one of my BFFs birthdays this week, Phil. So three of us got together to celebrate. We went to my favourite Chinese in Sydney Lui Rose in Concord. It was a special night with champagne, laughs, food and presents. Happy Birthday Phil! You’re amazing.

Tried to do some Trivia Q&A work but my mind wasn’t having any of it so Parfum d’Empire Equistrius and bed.

Thursday 31:

Tina came over this morning and we walked the dogs together.

Then we had fresh bakes scones with passionfruit lemon curd, raspberry jam or honey and fresh whipped cream. Tea was a blend of Peppermint Green Tea created by Suzanne R Banks. Perfect last day of winter fare.

You can see in the left of the photo that the Hawthorn is blooming currently. The ,local council decided it was best to sheer 6 feet of it just before it flowered, assholes. I grabbed these branches and brought them home where they are scenting the room a soft focus green white floral. Very pretty.

We then did some blog writing team work which was really interesting to smell how differently our skins make scent smell. Tina makes perfumes greener, fresher and more stark, my skin amps sweet and creaminess. Very interesting morning. We are thinking of making it a regular thing because it’s nice to read both sides.

We had a look at the new Serge Lutens 100ml bottle. It’s quite snazzy and feels great in my hand. Tina said it was a little big for left hand spritzing but right hand is cool. So Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin was my fragrance this evening. Cherry roses with a peppery zing and a creamy patchouli/honeyed backbeat.

Friday 1:

First day of spring. Walking the dogs was heavenly this morning in 17C sunshine. Wearing Penhaligon’s Ostara to greet the new season.

TRIVIA Q&A. All Day. Finished one weeks set of Q&A today.

After my bath I spritzed a new-to-me bottle of Annick Goutal Encens Flamboyant. WOWSA! What a cool and smoky incense, it even has a dusty Asian hill temple vibe. Officially blown away. Thanks MB.

Jin brought home Korean Fried Chicken with chilli and wasabi dipping sauces. It was a FEAST!

Tonight I finished a second set of Trivia Q&A, just the main body of the game, not the games and the Jackpots are all finished. Feeling like stuff is getting done.

For bed I’m wearing vintage Bal a Versailles parfum. Yep, I smell like a very luscious and expensive courtesan. YUMMY!

Saturday 2:

Woke up before the alarm. I love that blissful feeling of rising from sleep like a submarine. It’s a Neela Vermeire Creations Rahele kinda day. Its cool fresh flowers juxtapose perfectly against the spices and woods, and then all overlaid with large helpings of osmanthus. Stellar.

4.30pm still TRIVIA Q&A. I’ve been sitting at this damn desk for so long it feels like I’m growing into it. I’m getting up and taking the dogs for a wee.

Jin went to work tonight and there’s almost no food in the house so I’m getting Chinese Take Away from around the corner. As always I ordered enough for 5 people so we can have leftovers!

Was looking for Lolita Lempicka EdP to wear for me Chinese Food Run but came across Annick Goutal Grand Amour first and felt the need to spritz it instead. MMMMMMMM

Tonight I’m concentrating on getting the APJ Blog Posts finalised. Busy day tomorrow and then I only have Monday afternoon/evening to get stuff done.

Sunday 3:

It’s late. I’ve stopped functioning and have been staring at the computer for about 20 minutes without adding any content. Spritzing vintage Guerlain Mitsouko parfum and bed. Night. XX

Went for a pedi with my BFF Kath and bumped into my girlfriend Bec at the jewellery store she is managing (Currently single and ready to meet the man of her dreams. Do I have any well heeled straight male readers looking for a trophy bride with smarts?).
Yes, I bought a couple of pairs of earrings, they are so outlandish I couldn’t walk past.

Then it was Father’s Day so we went and celebrated her Dad, who is also mine via adoption. Here’s Mum Waples and I after our Creme Brûlée that jane made. we are both on a sugar high, he he he.

Work tonight at Austral Bowling Club with Anna-Maria and her family playing. Guess what? They won the $1,000 JACKPOT!

Today I wore Hermès Le Jardin de Monsieur Li. That citrus/white flower given extra zing with mint and a soft overlay of petrochemicals. Sounds awful but it is the perfect spring scent, fits the day beautifully.

 

OK, enough about me. How was your week? Do anything interesting or fun? Buy or try any new fragrances? Wear some of your faves? How about Father’s Day, did you do something special?
Please tell us all in the comments. We’re dying to know what happened for you.

Portia xx

Scent Diary: 3.7 – 9.7.2017

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Portia

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Heya Fumies, Friends & Family,

This week was kind of unexpected. Stuff broke down at the Tasmania property so we had to go fix it. Sadly Jin was working so it was done without my personal tradie. He was missed.

A couple of things I forgot to put in last weeks Scent Diary from Sunday. Anna-Maria and Kim from the team Sluts United and me in full halo/God mode. Also Coffee Creme Brûlée with Cream and Ice-Cream. Hello heart failure, so worth it.

Scent Diary: 3.7 – 9.7.2017

Monday 3:

This morning I was up bright and early because my mate David asked me to speak to the seniors group from the RSL at their Church Hall. I was scared the whole thing was going to cave in around me. It was a lovely morning, the oldest in the group is 101 and they were all totally together and with it. Firstly I gave about a 15 minutes potted history of my life and family history which they loved and even laughed at my crap jokes, I even said bullshit and there were some hearty giggles. Then we did 12 Trivia Q&A and boy did they get into it. They were even giving me cheek! I was there around 40 minutes with them and enjoyed every moment. So sorry I didn’t take a picture of the group but I did get a shot outside.

I wore Divine EdP for the event and I smelled beautiful.

https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Divine/Divine-42.htmlFragrantica

Then I was chained to the computer for the rest of the day with some quick breaks for four, dogs, washing some towels & mats and Jin was home so we had chats too.  Really good day. When life is this calm & good, it’s great to be alive.

Late in the evening I took some time to pack my bag for Tasmania with Neela Vermeire Creations Bombay Bling, Guerlain Ambre Eternal, Hermès Muguet Porcelaine and Boucheron original parfum. A varied selection that should keep me interested over a three day stint.

Made some dinner and had a long hot soak in the tub.

Tuesday 4:

Up and walking the dogs in the very cool morning darkness of 4.20am. They were quite surprised at my early awakening. Me too.

Jin drove me to the airport on his way to work and we were both a bit bleary on the drive in. Met up with Johnny, the best plumber in town, and we hopped a 7am plane to Launceston, Tasmania. How cool is it that Sydney Airport runway is right next to the water, could not have asked for a more perfect winter day. Johnny and I both had windows so the views were spectacular till we hit the Tasmanian clouds, which were still lovely in their own way.

Once there we hired a car and drove up to George Town, there to fix an ailing kitchen and bring the laundry from the garage into the house.

It was a busy scramble and our tenant Dale worked solidly beside Johnny and the boys got loads done. We had a few conferences through the day and had to do some surprise shopping but so far we have only blown out the shopping budget by 15-20%. Not bad considering there were some surprises.

For dinner I had talked up the local burger joint. I was so excited to get back there and have one of the best burgers in my memory. Sadly the shop had been so quiet that they turned off the stoves 1.5 hours early and we had to make do with some very ordinary schnitzel sandwiches. BUMMER!

The cottage I rented us was super cute. 2 bedrooms and a beautifully comfortable living room. The bathroom was a bit weird though and not very private. We were fine and staggered our ablutions so it was all above board.

So it’s 9pm, I’ve been running on under 3 hours sleep all day and now I’m bushed.

Wednesday 5:

BLOODY HELL! Early morning, straight to it. I ran Johnny to the house then came back to our cottage and showered. It was lovely to have a moment of peace amongst the madness. After the shower I doused myself in Neela Vermeire Creations Bombay Bling. So funny. Down here in Tasmania the air is so clean and clear that the fragrance was 100% huger. It was like I had done 20 sprays.

After the shower I went and bought some postcards and organised the mens lunches. In both shops I apologised to the shopkeepers for wearing so much perfume. Really it felt like I had 1980s amounts of scent on. Fortunately both women said they loved my fragrance and that I was wearing exactly the right amount (Sweet lies).

Johnny and our tenant Dale got so much done today and then we went to Bunnings in Launceston as a group with Katie (Dale’s wife) and their two kids. We had Bunnings Sausage Sandwiches, a total win. The men were like kids in a candy store and took hours to get their shit organised. Katie, the kids and I went through the garden section and then had coffees & cakes while one of the kids jumped around in the kids playground.

This is my new husband Craig, really Jin couldn’t complain if I brought home a tomboy, could he? I’m nice, I share my toys.

We came home at 6pm and Johnny cooked himself some bacon sandwiches. He was so freaking proud of himself and happy eating them. Then we had cream buns for dessert! Not my favourite bakeries ones but pretty good nonetheless.

Now it’s time for bed. Goodnight.

Thursday 6:

If you think yesterday was full then today was 150% more action packed. We had plumbing, electrician and helper doing the garage, kitchen, laundry and bathroom. We added extra things in all day long and still managed to finish 20 minutes early. It was a wonderful day, everyone working together and helping. Sure, I spent a bunch of money, basically a years rent but we expected to have big bills in the first year and these are them. Fingers crossed that we can leave the houses alone to rent peacefully for the next couple of years.

First we went to the Simpson house where the tenants are moving out Monday. They have left the house about 170% more beautiful than it was when we bought it. Even the gardens are pristine.

Johnny the plumber works fast, is clever and I trust him to go full steam ahead all day long. The extra it cost me to bring him was easily made up for in sheer hard work and the joy of having him around. Can’t praise hips work ethic enough. He knows all the tricks to shortcut expense yet end up with a perfect finished result. Calarco Plumbing if you need him.

We used Tasmanian Electrical Services for the sparky work because Jin was working. Greg came and he was a lovely man, full of fun and went to with gusto. Though he is a bit slower than Jin he did his best and got all our extras done in tidy and finished manner. I’d call him again.

The big surprise though was Dale, our tenant, who took three days off work and was the best supporter we could have asked for. Nothing was too hard, dirty or boring for him. He ran to the hardware to get extras, helped, joked, worked like a house elf and was excellent company.

I know, I’m raving but the three men got five days worth of jobs done in three, with a bit of time to spare.

Our cottage let us keep the room till 7pm for only a $50 extra charge and were very accommodating.

While Johnny took a last minute shower before we left I went and watched the sunset from the waterfront which is two streets away from the cottages. Heavenly. It was a serene moment and I probably shouldn’t have ruined the spell by clicking pics but I wanted to share the magic with you lot. No filters have been used to enhance these shots in any way. Not even cropped, this is how they came on the phone.

All in all a successful and productive adventure. Currently Johnny and I are at Launceston Airport ready to go home on the 8.40pm flight. I am bushed, and I hardly did anything except point, organise and pay. He must be shattered.

Can you believe it? We arrive at Sydney Airport and standing one taxi rank away from us is Andrew Denton. I told Johnny and he was so excited because he and Anna-Maria LOVE him. So I sent him off with my camera to take a selfie and tell Andrew how much his family love him. Watching it was beautiful, I think it made Johnny’s whole trip and Andrew Denton looked really pleased that someone had bothered to go thank him for all his hard work.

It was a really nice moment. Thank you Andrew Denton for treating Johnny with such affable respect.

Friday 7:

My head is not right today. I’m not sure what’s going on but my focus is bad. I’m going to rest for the day because we have a crew coming tonight. See you later. I’m going for a big long soak in the bath. Bath and Body Works Pretty As A Peach bubbles, Madonna Truth or Dare Naked lotion and Guerlain Mitsouko EdT. I am a peach princess.

Tonight was HUGE. A whole crew of us got together for Pumpkin Soup dinner at ours then we all went to Parramatta Winterlight. There was Ice Skating, Rides, Food, Fun and general mayhem aplenty. I’m not going to give you a blow by blow account but we had a ball then trundled off to McDonalds for a midnight snack before bed. Yes, I know. we’re disgusting, but it was really fun. Here’s some pics.

Saturday 8:

Lazy morning.

Tim came out to Parramatta for lunch. We sniffed and laughed but I bloody forgot to take pics. SORRY!

No, I tell a lie. We did take a pic of my newest new arrival. Arielle Shoshana EdP. WOW! It is the fruitiest damn thing EVAH! People are saying it loses its strength after a short time but I can smell it HOURS later.

Dinner with Hyun, Steve and Alice. I’d never had Hot Pot before and though it’s not going to bump Korean BarBQ, Pizza or KFC on my faves list it was fun and delicious. We had fun chattering and eating, conversation jumped all over the place.

From there we trotted off to Messina Ice Cream and went CRAZY! It was bloody delicious.

Caught the bus home and while walking from it noticed the moon was giving full rings like a circular rainbow. The picture hardly captures the magic but does give an idea.

Phew. Home now and bushed.
BED!

Jacomo Silences PdT was my evening frag choice because Mals86 was talking about it in her Scent Diary on Muse In Wooden Shoes. Its sharp green fuzz is beautiful in the cool of a Sydney winter. Crystaline.

Sunday 9:

Beautiful morning. The dog walk was lovely. I do wish other people with dogs would pick up the poo though. I picked up three not my dog poos this morning just left in the walkways. Some people are assholes.

It’s pretty cool here in Sydney but not really cool enough for the heater so we are both rugged up. Jin finishes nights tomorrow so I’ll get some quality time with him hopefully.

I went to a local barber today. Problem is I’m getting so blind that my beard is going in all directions. So I thought I’d get an expert in to do the shape and I can maintain. He did an OK job but really it’s not perfect. Once I dyed it and did a little bit of reshaping it seems to be nearly OK. Not a biggie but all I asked for was a reshape.

Used the last of my LUSH Rose Jam bubble bath (I’m going to miss it), Kiehl’s Original Musk lotion and Keiko Mecheri Un Jour d’Ete fragrance.

 

OK Crew! It’s your turn. What’s your week been like? Did you spritz, meet, hang or go anywhere? What about your family & friends, see them, do stuff? Maybe you read a book that we all need to know about.
Please comment and share something of yourself, we love it.
Feel free to comment respectfully on someone elses comment too. This is all about sharing ourselves and communication. Yours may be the only positive interaction that someone has all day, take the plunge.
Portia xx

Scent Diary: 26.6 – 2.7.2017

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Portia

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Hey All,

You know I told you I hosted a Trivia Fundraiser last Saturday night? Well, they managed to raise $14,000 for their school. It was a really wonderful night and Belinda the co-ordinator was amazing. Here’s a shot of us all. Every table dressed up in a theme, some even decorating their tables. The Auction prizes were unbelievable: Concert tickets to Lorde and America, A tour of the Bachelorette house, Bikes, Business learning and so much more. The night was a joy to host.

Scent Diary: 26.6 – 2.7.2017

Monday 26:

TinaG is still not OK so we went to visit her and take some delicious delicacies. She was feeling a shade less that glorious so we could only photograph ourselves. This is us being sad that she is unwell.

Jin was home all day so we got to hang out. He’s really good company.

Feeling very homey I decided to do Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner. Being sure I had all the ingredients on hand because I’d shopped for the basics recently I went ahead and started cooking the garlic, onions and meat. Then I found that somebody, pointing no fingers of course, had used the tomato paste and not let anyone know that we were out. An extra can of diced tomatoes and a couple of squirts of Tomato Sauce and we were fine. Went to get the spaghetti but that too had been stolen by a hungry man so it was a mixture of the last of the spiral and bow tie pastas. Though it was bloody annoying to have to quickly rethink the meal the food was delicious and Jin even commented on how delicious it was.

Tuesday 27:

Scott was over and we were doing office work, errands and some sewing for my new outfit. I haven’t made anything new since creating the Perfume Lovers London outfit in January 2016. That’s a pretty shabby record considering I can whip up an outfit from headdress to gown in a few days. I have become safe, comfortable and lazy in my middle age.

ELdO Yes I Do wafted with me this morning. It’s fun and sweet, the undercurrent of naughty is negligible on my skin and I smell jasmine and sweets the whole way.

Here is Scotty at the Post Office bearing some of the packages that went out this morning. Yes, the photo is terrible of him but it does give a kind of insight into how lovely he is.

Went to get my hair cut today and had my face shaved at the same time. Sadly, though my barber was gorgeous, he probably would be better as a shearer or butcher. I was nicked and chopped quite heavily, blood everywhere.

Once Scott left I went and had cuddle time with Paris. He is the best squishy hugger. When we lie down together he takes a deep sniff of my chest to sniff my perfume and then sighs in blissful contentment as he rolls himself back towards me so I’m the big spoon. Heaven.

Work tonight I wore Fendi. I have a bottle of the old original one. It’s outrageous. There are also a few of the newer copies here too, they have excellent openings but fade fairly quickly. After todays hatchet face job I couldn’t reshave today without creating a bloodbath so went to work in man drag. Everyone was sad. I was bloody comfortable and enjoyed the night immensely.

Got home and Jin had just returned from walking the dogs. Aren’t they cute together?

Later I watched some more Gilmore Girls. Now I’m spritzing some DIOR Mitzah before bed. Night.

Wednesday 28:

Was up at 7am to take the car down to the Smash Repair store. Seriously, this is NOT my time of the day. Feeling woozy like I’ve eaten too many lollies and then drunk too much water to make up for my sugar high.

Keiko Mecheri Un Jour d’Ete is my creamy, coconut rich, white floral with a lovely summer beachy feel. Perfect to beat the rainy winter blues.

OK, so confession time. I got home, did about 20 minutes on the computer then grabbed Paris and we hit the spare bed. I slept for another 4 hours! Blissful sleep of the dead. Only down side is now I’m groggy again. Time for coffee and to do some clothes washing. Then it’s serious house cleaning time….. Well actually almost zero house cleaning got done, the laundry has ALL been done though. Last load is still on the line.

Work tonight. I’ve been worried about my Wednesday job. It hasn’t been performing as well as I hoped with me working as a guy so I got one of our beautiful Turbo Trivia Drag Queens in, April Fools. She was great and the crowd loved her. The room even felt like it had infinitely more energy, I think it will make the whole event lift.

For Bath, Lotion and Fragrance today I did Annick Goutal Musc Nomade bubble bath, Kiehl’s Original Musk body lotion and J P Gaultier Classic women perfume. It was a very enjoyable combination. For bed I spritzed more Gaultier Classic.

Thursday 29:

Woke up this morning feeling blue and out of sorts. Not depressed as such but definitely a sparkle short of average.

Fed the dogs and as I was locking the apartment Paris started weeing in the carpeted apartment stairwell. O M G!! I raced them outside then had to come back and clean up before we got our walk. GRRR! Loads of towels, boiling water with vinegar and exertion later I took them out for a proper walk.

Cleaning the apartment. Vacuumed, quickly dusted, broomed and steamed the tiled areas and my bathroom. It is pretty clean around here. I feel much better after some exertion. Cleaning is a bloody good workout when you’re a bit down and going 100 miles per hour to outrun your demons. Even in this cool weather I’m sweating like a farm hand.

Next week I have to go down to Tasmania to fix up one of the houses there so I’m trying to get ahead on the Trivia and Blog. Wearing a couple of scents for review that you’ll meet next week. Got all the Jackpot and Runs done and preparing the Q&A.

SOTD: Hermès Caleche vintage parfum. This is the best kept vintage Caleche, unbelievable! While putting it on I suddenly remembered that my Mum wore Caleche for a while. She called it Call E Shay and it wasn’t till many, many years later (2000s) that I was told by a French friend that it’s pronounced Kal-Esh. Hello mortified.

Tonight for work I’m scented in a weird but wonderful hodge-podge. Penhaligon’s Blenheim Bouquet bath oil, Madonna Truth or Dare Naked lotion and La Via del Profumo Mecca Balsam perfume.

Got into bed tonight and was kicked out because I have too much perfume on. OOOPSIE! I put La Via del Profumo Mecca Balsam on about 7 hours ago, that is serious longevity for a natural. Amazing, and I smell freaking awesome. Got SEVEN unsolicited compliments tonight at work. It’s a definite winning combination here. (Except with Jin, oh well)

Friday 30:

Beautiful cool sunny morning. Jack Frost has sprinkled his shining crystals on the grass and the air is clear and fresh. Walking the dogs was lovely and I’m now ready to start my day.

So I jumped on a train and went to Sydney City to meet Rose, Alice and Mark at Madame Shanghai.

The venue is beautiful, I should have taken more pics. Even the carpet has been made with raised Chinese designs, it’s really schmick. We are EVERYTHING! I tried King Fish Sashimi even though I loath the taste of fish and found it spectacularly meaty and with zero fishy taste. It was a fabulous win and an extra thing to add to my list of edibles. Sorry, I didn’t take the pic till we were just about done with it.

There were also dumplings galore, duck, squid, ham hocks and cauliflower. The food just kept coming and we packed it away like we’d not eaten for a month.

Conversation flowed, and we had a lovely Gewürztraminer to go with all the food.

As we were leaving we decided to walk Mark back to his offices in Martin place and then go do a spot of shopping. We REALLY needed to walk to help us digest the most ridiculous amount of food we’d all consumed.

I may have accidentally bought the new Guerlain Black Perfecto. That bottle is freaking PERFECT!

Sitting down for a cuppa later we were extremely amused by how drunk the Balenziaga model in Harold’s looks. Hilarious.

Then I jumped another train and met up with Jin as he finished work. We caught the train back to Parramatta together. He had a little nap and I had to keep elbowing him to stop him snoring. He He he. Once we got back home and walked the dogs Jin exclaimed at how starving he was so I drove him up the road and he had Vietnamese with a later frozen yoghurt. He was a VERY happy man.

Now I’m up and he is fast asleep. Trying to motivate myself to do some work but frankly I’m really just surfing the web and Facebooking. Oh well. I’m going to watch some Gilmore Girls instead.

Saturday 1:

2.30am SOTBed Estee Lauder Modern Muse Le Rouge Gloss. I really like it. Radiant, sheer, sand blasted fruit-chouli with slightly sweaty vinyl and a honey/vanilla base.

Sunny and beautiful for dog walking this morning. Doused myself in Carner Barcelona Rima XI and it fits the day very well. We are having a BarBQ tonight so I have some shopping and cleaning to do.

Lunch in the sunshine. Fresh bread rolls with butter & vegemite and a cuppa. So yummy. Jinx couldn’t stop sniffing me after I’d eaten. He was very sad I didn’t share.

Spent the day organising tonights dinner. We had a wonderful time with Evie and Lola, Sue and Rose. Jin cooked Spicy BarBQ Pork and did a bunch of delicious side dishes. Sue brought a Pavlova Roulade and a Pear Cake with Dollop cream & hot Butterscotch Sauce. O M G! Phil dropped by for dessert but was already too full to eat so we all sat & chatted happily. It was such a fun night I forgot to take even one photo of the event. Here’s what it looked like just after everyone left. Just the dessert plates and tea stuff left, I am so chuffed at our night, it was perfect.

I wore Van Cleef & Arpels Ambre Imperial. Very pretty, dry, low key amber. Hummed along quietly without making an issue of itself. Good fit for a dinner party.

Sunday 2:

Scent free morning. Gave the dogs a 2km walk with Jin. Air was crystal clear and smelled so clean.

Spent the rest of my morning at the computer organising as much of next week as I can because I’ll be in Tasmania.

Lunch with BFF Kath and her parents. Loads of fun. I grabbed a bucket of KFC and we sat around laughing at my idiocy, and burping! Yep, even Mum got in on the act.

My fragrant choices for work go like this. B&BW Warm Vanilla bubble bath (so cheap but smells yummy), Madonna Truth or Dare Naked body lotion and Guerlain Tonka Imperial fragrance.

Home and more computer catching up.

 

So your week? Fun, friends, fabulous, family or fragrant things happen for you? Great! We’d love to read about them. Doesn’t need to be earth shattering, just something that brightened, added drama or scented your week.
Leave me a message in the comments, I love to read about you.
Portia xx