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Sandra
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Hey there APJ!
Is anyone stressed with the holidays? I am trying to keep the stress at bay but am finding that time is flying by too quickly. This will be the first year where my son will have a three week vacation. Yay!! It will make all the difference to have the week before Christmas off.
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Sandra
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Hey APJ! How is everyone doing?
It has been busy lately. October was still quite warm and sunny here in Basel. With November, autumn has finally set in with the hills surrounding us finally changing colours.
Every city/country has a scent memory for me. As a child, traveling, I started to notice these scents. For example, Argentina is horses, cows and BBQs. Greece is vegetal, salt from the sea and the smell of sun heated stones. Italy is peach, hay and toasted pine nuts. As an adult lover of scents and perfumes, I am aware of a new city and its smells. My new home city of Basel is currently smelling of roasted chestnuts, spices and wet fallen leaves. So imagine my surprise when I discovered a scent of Scotland.
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Sandra
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Hi dear APJ! How are you?
I am feeling blessed at the moment. My mom and dad flew in from the US a month ago and have been exploring Switzerland with us. My mom left this past weekend and my dad will stay on for another three weeks while she tours around Europe. Towards the end of September they will fly back home together.
They are both fit for their age and have quite a bit of energy to run around. It never ceases to amaze me of how much they can actually do. If memory serves me right they are walking over 10,000 steps on an almost daily basis.
Normally I am quite shy about my love of perfume and I tend to keep this aspect close to my chest. Perfume is such a personal experience, and I get uncomfortable when someone asks me what I am wearing. Will they love it or loathe it? Also, I enjoy being uniquely fragrant! Shallow? Yes, perhaps.
But when my mom comes into town, it is another story all together. She arrives practically empty handed and looks forward to rummaging through my perfumes to find out what she is going to wear on any given day. I enjoy watching her face light up with happiness and joy when she finds something to wear.
Many times, mom will choose a perfume that I never would have pegged her for. For instance, on this trip, she chose Kilian Rose Oud and Kilian Incense Oud on a regular basis. If I am completely honest with you, they both smell fantastic on her (much better than on me) and gifted her my bottles. Incense Oud tends to be quite masculine on my skin and surprisingly the rose really shines on mom’s skin chemistry and leans more feminine. Same thing with Rose Oud.
Now, over the years, I have always thought of my mom as person who cannot stand sweetness in perfumes. Imagine my surprise when I brought out a box of perfumes for her to sniff and she kept going back to the Guerlains and Diors. I only had a couple of empty bottles and was able to decant Cuir Beluga, Myrrhe & Délires, Ambra Aurea, New Look 1947, Bois des Iles and Tokyo for her. Now she can continue on her European vacation smelling like a million bucks!
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be able to share my love of perfume with my mom.
Do you open up about your perfumed life? Does your family know about it? Do you like to share your perfumes with loved ones?
Until next time.
Oodles of fragrant kisses.
Sandra xo
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Sandra
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Heya APJ! How are you doing?
It has been too darned hot to wear and smell perfume. Temperatures have soared to the near 40 degree mark and that is when my skin just says – water please, otherwise we will melt away. We live next to a pool and I am so shocked of how cold the water still is. Besides you can’t actually swim any laps as people are just standing in the water to cool off. It really isn’t my cup of tea, but I need to go for my son. So, please forgive me but I have nothing about perfumes I am currently wearing. I smell like suntan lotion and perspiration. Yuck.
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
Getting ready for our honeymoon. So much to dao. Aunty Tracey in town and busy, busy, busy. Got some excellent fragrances on my skin too.
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Sandra
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Hey there dear APJ readers! If you are in the US, how was your Thanksgiving?
The winner of last week’s giveaway is crikey. Congratulations! Please contact Portia (portia _ turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) so that I can get in touch with you.
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Sandra
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Hey there APJ! How have you all been doing?
Summer has gone by in a flash here. The schools only have six weeks of vacation which in my mind is too short. That aside, it was a fantastic summer here in the Netherlands with high temperatures and no rain. You see, I love the heat and sunshine.
So, in order to get my yearly fix of heat and sunshine I flew with my son to Atlanta to visit my parents and see family and friends. I decided to travel with a couple of Neela Vermeire Creations perfumes.
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Val the Cookie Queen
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Hey APJ
I think it was around the end of 2012 that I read the APJ post where Portia announced that he was coming to Europe; along with the cities and dates that he would be around. So happy to see Vienna on the list, and not only that, I was actually gonna be in Vienna the day he was there. I emailed him asking if he’d like to meet up and I would bring cookies. We arranged to meet at the Café Mozart. I asked my daughter (the future BlondesWunder) to come along with me, as I was a bit out of practice at meeting random Aussie drag queens.
Vienna
Some of you know this story, you can skip the next bit. We had absolutely no clue as to what Portia looked like, nor if he would turn up in drag. It was a biting cold day as we stood outside the Café Mozart. As each person approached BlondesWunder and I would be staring like crazy women, wondering if it might be Portia. To no avail. We walked Into the Café to take look, but no one stood out as Portia Turbo Gear. Nope. Back outside we went. And then my phone rang, with and Australian calling code, Portia
telling us he was in the Café, over to the left of the entrance, and could be found wearing a M&S style vaguely Christmasy woolly. Which is of course exactly what I was expecting. I still laugh.
I know this picture has been used any times, we have no other one really from when I met Portia, but let’s look a little closer. Between Portia and my head, in the mirror is Hannah BlondesWunder taking the pic. To the right of Portia`s head, also reflected in the mirror, is Jin busy taking a few shots too. Behind the sugar shaker is the Chanel bag I had bought 31 Rue Cambon in a few months early. You might notice the bag is pimped with an armadillo sticker, and it was packed with cookies. And if you look really closely you can see that my ear is red. When I get nervous, or over excited, it does that. So annoying and a dead giveaway to those who know me. 🙂
“Its been five years, my brain hurts a lot …..“ Bowie
APJ had not even had its first birthday when we met. As we drank tea and talked I said to Portia, hey, I could write something for APJ huh? I thought maybe once or twice. He´s like yeah, totally. And now it has been five years to the very day. Tuesday 13 March 2013 – Tuesday 13 March 2018. Five bloody years of running around like the proverbial chipmunk on crack, wondering what to write, and if I can meet my deadline. It was on this day in Vienna that I became Cookie Queen. It truly changed my life, and opened so many doors for me, I wouldn’t know where to begin. Portia, please may I say another five?
Christian Dior Oud Ispahan – A Lemming
Before Christmas I met up with APJ`s Sandra and the lovely Lady Jane Grey. LJG gave me decant of seven or eight mls of Dior´s Oud Ispahan, and I have used the lot. I have wanted to get into this oud thing but never liked it. I find the stuff very interesting and was privileged to to try a number of pure ouds when I visited Ellen Covey in Seattle a few years ago. But never say never, and I have totally fallen for this Dior. I don’t care if it is real oud or not real oud, the perfume is gorgeous. And I want it. Do I want a whole bottle? You can bet your ass I do. But as I have grown older I have gained a little wisdom so here’s what I am gonna do. LJG has offered to refill my bottle. (It is now empty). If I continue to wear it the way I have been, then yeah, I will buy a bottle. Portia said they do 40ml bottles in Paris, anyone know if they do that I all the CD boutiques?
Thanks to every single reader and commenter over the years. I love the APJ Family.
Celebratory Bussis
CQ.
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Portia
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Hello Fellow Fumies,
Every Saturday we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.
The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.
Over 100 responses I will draw a $10 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Friday.
eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with the eMail you’d like me to send your Gift Card to.
It’s an old conundrum for me. I’m never quite sure what is the best option and usually either madly overpack or go in the opposite direction and leave myself without any choice at all. There is the flying scent, daytime scent, evenings, dressed up, casual, something to impress and something for comfort. Really that is just scratching the surface too.
Here is my current Scent Box, ready for travel and adventures.
Recently I have twice packed my scent box that goes in my checked baggage and left it on my desk. This leaves me with only the couple I carry onboard and if I’m very lucky a couple I’ve stashed in my wetpack.
Flying: This is the hardest one for me. I have a few favourites for flying but the number one for ease and comfort is The Different Company Oriental Lounge. Unlike many oriental fragrances it is sheer and light but still manages to smell great and lasts for even the longest flight. Even though I’m a crumpled and rumpled mess I smell fresh and warm, totally huggable.
On my one and only ever First Class trip I was showering in the Bangkok Thai First Class Lounge but had left my glasses outside with Michael. I grabbed a decant at random and triple spritzed. It was Mugler A*Men. I was ridiculously fragrant through the whole journey. Thank goodness I was in first and not Economy, the close quarters could have killed someone.
On the way back I dropped my bottle of The Different Company Oriental Lounge in the same bathroom. HA! Very dramatic, but the place smelled fabulous.
Daytime: My favourite ever travelling fragrance for days is vintage Miss Dior parfum. It fits every situation and smells completely different to anything else I smell on people the world over. I know I bang on about it endlessly but it is seriously the best choice for me.
A very close second are Jacomo Silences PdT and Niki de Saint Phalle. These dry green chypres are also poles apart from what the world is wearing so without being freaky my scent stands heard and shoulders above the rest of humanity.
Nights: Amouage Ubar is the winner here. I don’t always take it with me but when I do it gets worn almost every evening. It is easily my favourite Amouage fragrance and it works in the heat or cool.
One that I try to take every time is Guerlain Mitsouko EdT. When I think comfort crossed with haughty grandeur Mitsouko wins hands down. I also have so much, bought every time I see a bargain, that I love the chance to get it out and use it up. No matter where I am or what is happening Mitsouko fits the bill and smells bloody terrific.
What Do You Wear To Travel?
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Portia
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Hello Fellow Fumies,
Every Saturday we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.
The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.
Over 100 responses I will draw a $10 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Friday.
eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with the eMail you’d like me to send your Gift Card to.
This weeks idea is a little different to our regular fragrance question. Imagine there was a Holiday Lottery. You would buy a ticket and WIN, obviously, and the prize would be a 4 week, all expenses paid holiday for 4 people anywhere on earth. There’s a couple of catches though. If you have a partner, or BFF, then they can be one person if you’d like. The other people must be interesting people that most of us would have heard of: Politicians, Sports heroes, Designers, Journalists, Actors, Directors, Perfumers, Activists, Medical people, Authors etc.
You also have to choose where you go on your holiday. Make it somewhere that you will be forced to interact and talk.
OK, no surprise to you all that I choose to take Jin. He’s excellent company and good at thinking his way around situations. He also has a pretty easy going personality that is perfect for smoothing ruffled feathers (mine usually). Having been together for a few years we also are getting pretty good at reading each other, important.
Sandra Bullock. I know, she’s not who I’d have though I would want along either but she fascinates me. I’ve been watching her movies for decades, have laughed, cried, loved and everything else with her along the way. I completely lose myself in her films and she has a way of melting herself into a role that makes each one special. Somehow though I don’t feel as if I know her at all and I have a feeling she would be epically cool. She has played the Hollywood game so much better than almost everyone else and that takes brains as well as talent and luck. I bet she would be a really interesting travel companion.
Brigitte Macron. The wife of the French President and his former High School Drama Teacher. This is a cool and classy woman, she is clearly adored by her husband and in my mind I think she would be an excellent conversationalist. She also looks like fun. I am hoping she would have some wonderful stories about her life, could help me understand French politics or politics in general a bit better and maybe also share some motivational tips. She is a woman who power seems to have settled on lightly and through all the odious stuff has sailed flawlessly above.
Where? Where could the four of us go that would allow us to see a part of the world I’d not imagined wanting to visit. Somewhere that would need us to be quite resourceful and work together as a team yet give us ample time to discuss lives, the meaning of the universe and to share ourselves.
My mate Janek and a small group walked the Italian Dolomites this month. It’s supposed to be an 11 day hike right over the top but they did it in 6. It looked so ridiculously amazing that I am inspired to do it myself. There are guest houses and cabins along the way, you can get a guide and it can all be done at a very reasonable pace. Obviously these guys are fit and were up for a challenge but I’ve been looking into it and there are treks so well paved that wheelchairs can do them. So what you do is get a guide who can help choose your level.
Edited from Janek: Feeling on top of the world, truly. Such a huge sense of accomplishment having just completed the 139km Alta Via 1 hike through the Dolomites in the Italian Alps. It took us six full days even though the recommendation is 11. It was the hardest, most challenging thing I’ve ever done. But ultimately so rewarding. Actually indescribable. And so many beautiful moments. At times I seriously doubted my abilities which was weird. Ascents seemed impossible to me. Totally not passable. But id just put one painful foot in front of the other and somehow made it to the end where we hugged it out. The bond we built with each other will be cherished always.
My Saturday Question to you is:
Who would be your three companions, where would you go and why?
Australian Perfume Junkies 