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Val the Cookie Queen.
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Hi Guys.
Into the last month of 2019. Time for a round up of my favourite things. It has been a busy year but when is it not? Let’s start with books and end with perfumes huh? Feel free to jump straight to the scents. Here we go …….
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Val the Cookie Queen.
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Hey there APJ Crew and Friends
“White shirt now red, my bloody nose, Sleeping, you’re on your tippy toes, Creepin’ around like no one knows, Think you’re so criminal …….” Bad Guy. Billie Eilish.
I recently bought a white shirt. Damn expensive, beautiful cotton, no collar. I have wanted one for years but every time I tried one on I looked like death warmed up. White shirt, gray hair. I fell in love with this one particular shirt in the window of a store which was at the time shut, and asked Blondeswunder to go in have look at it for me when it was open. Next thing I knew she called me and said she had bought it and that I owed her money. I love it. And I have to say that a well cut shirt is worth the extra dosh. And as long as I put a ton of slap on and wear a coloured lipstick, I don’t look like the grim reaper.
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Val the Cookie Queen.
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Well hello APJ
I am roaming around Scotland as you read this, although I am sat here writing it a good week beforehand. It is gonna be the shortest post ever as I am up to my eyeballs in cookie dough, packing, decanting, and attempting an online checkin. altho I lived in England for some years I never made it up to Scotland. I have always wanted to go and we finally booked a week there. A couple of days in Edinburgh and the we will head up to Fort William and see that happens along the way. What scents am I taking?
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Val the Cookie Queen
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Hey APJ
I lived through my first radio broadcast, and was happy enough with it, despite the mistakes I made.
The technics lady who was teaching me left me alone for half of the show assuring me I could do it. She sat outside where I could get her in if I needed. Coordinating the music with the faders, and talking into a microphone took some concentration, but I did it. What nearly killed me was a deadlift training session that morning that caused my hands to bleed. Honestly, you would have thought that I would have learned by now. As a reward for surviving everything, I ordered my next IUNX perfume.
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Val the Cookie Queen
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Hey APJ
Remember I did that radio interview back in March? I loved doing it so much that I asked the radio station powers-that-be if I could do my own show. And they said sure, why not? So here we are. This coming Friday 7th June at 18:00 Central European Time will be my first broadcast. I will have an hour at the controls, forcing my music on an unsuspecting public. Well let’s be honest here, I will play the music and do the talking and there will be someone with me doing the technical stuff, theory being that I can learn as I go along. After three or four shows I will be on my own. First Friday of each month. “Baking Bad with the Cookie Queen.” I will share my SOTShow each time, without naming the perfume house because I am not allowed. Talking of perfume I bought the 20ml travel size of IUNX Talc.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!!
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
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Hello Party People,
It’s Friday night. You’re dressed up, looking fine. You’re off with your crew or your partner to do something fun, foody, outrageous, or a film. There’ll be loads of interaction with someone or a group and while you have all the other bases covered there is always the burning question: What fragrance do I wear? I have put together a short list of some long term faves and reasons why I would choose them.
OK! So it’s a party night, the gang is getting ready and you want to be a super scent siren with the whole world’s nose leading straight to you. How can you stand out from your mates and be the Queen Bee of fragrant memories? Firstly, choose something very different from what the rest of your friends wear. I’m figuring if you are reading this for information (rather than pleasure) that you are young or new to perfume and that many of your friends are probably wearing fruity/floral/patchouli fragrances that are extremely popular and at a reasonable price point. Let’s step outside that box then:
Queen by Queen Latifah: So think oranges, vanilla, booze and resins. This super cheap thrill is totally different from the current fruit/choulis, is fun and flirty, lasts forever and smells awesome. Queen Latifa had her nose on the prize while creating Queen, sultry and sexy, yum.
Petit Fracas by Robert Piguet: Here we have an old favourite, Fracas, remade in a 21st Century way by adding loads of chocolate and pear. Still an outrageously glamorous white floral but with a depth and breadth that Fracas lacks. In Petit Fracas you will definitely smell head and shoulders above the crew but be such a fun burst of fragrance that it will fit with them too, and you’ll probably cause a small disturbance wherever you go.
Oriental Mint/Noir Marine by Phaedon: Here we have something totally different to anything the crew will be wearing I bet. Cold salty sea water, mint, leather and a bunch of resins (I also detect a lovely creamy dark chocolate not mentioned) all combine to make a super alluring, fizzy, fun waft of fresh, but not your 1990s fresh, this is twisted by Pierre Guillaume into something new and very exotic but still so fun. The mint is not too outrageous but it does add a wonderful sizzle.
Here is a different kettle of fish (pun intended) because now you are trying to be alluring across a table but don’t want to skunk the room or hamper the enjoyment of everyone’s food. What you wear to dinner needs to be subtly insinuating and has to last all night because after dinner you’ll want a bit of a walk or a cuddle and that’s when your fragrance needs to do the hard work, making you the most delicious and desirable thing your date, or crew, has smelled all night. This is tricky but let’s look at a couple of options:
Épice Marine by Hermès: Created by Jean Claude Ellena and Breton “pirate chef” Olivier Roellinger it is both totally and completely not foody. Being a soft focus salt, spice and woodsy fragrance it will be both alluring and unexpected once the dinner is over and you really get close enough to smell your scent. I find Épice Marine to be an epic stayer, still pumping out its magic hours and hours later.
Vanille & Narcisse by L’Occitane: OK, so this one has become a go-to spritz as I walk out the door for everything. Cool or warm, dressed up or down, anytime Vanille & Narcisse seems to fit. Not overpowering or weird it is a comfortable scent that will work wonders at dinner, no matter who you’re with. If it’s someone special then let lovely sensual vanilla do all the hard work, you just enjoy your meal and company.
L’Heure Convoiteé II by Cartier: For me L’Heure Convoiteé II Cartier wears like a beautiful cool crystal dream made up of lovely powdery carnation and iris. Itr doesn’t say it in the notes but I get amazing wetness, and some slightly metallic twang. So otherworldly and not so strong to overpower your meal but still enough ooomph to be noticed. Meant as a summer scent but I love to wear it in the dead of winter too.
Centre of attention fragrance, traffic stopper, blow the back of your head off fabulousness? It’s your party, you are being feted, book launch, presentation at an event, wedding, or so many other reasons. This is the fragrance that you want bookmarked by every nose in your orbit. Every time they smell it you want YOU to be the scent memory. A glorious diamond of a scent that will make you shine.
Bombay Bling! by Neela Vermeire Creations: I love how Bombay Bling opens with a supersonic blast of fruit and sweetness, morphs into a sweet bouquet and then grinds down to a woody/earthy dark and sexy thing that will have everyone sniffing around you curiously. All the stages are lovely and exotic, you will smell killer from go to whoa and if you need to stand out in a crowd then Bombay Bling! will definitely get you across the line. If serious money smelled captivating, this is what it would smell like.
Jardins d’Armide by Oriza L Legrand: One of my pick ups in Europe earlier in 2014 and what an excellent choice, Jardins d’Armide is a cool iris, floral, powdery and animalic wonder that smells drop dead gorgeous on me and always garners attention. You really have to live up to this amazing scent and it will help to lift your game, just deep breaths of Jardins d’Armide.
2-3 hours sitting so close your arms and legs are touching, here subtlety is the key. A whisper of lavish loveliness that will draw your partner in to your neck for some sniffing. A great way to get them close enough to kiss.
Splash Forte by IUNX: I have worn Splash Forte through the heat of India in summer, the cool of French winter and in Sydney’s summer and autumn. In that particularly sparse way that Olivia Giacobetti has it is a beautiful, haunting, modern masterpiece. That’s my opinion anyway. Spices, herbs, woods and a very naughty musk. All done just below the radar in terms of projection, your partner will smell you but won’t be aware how devastatingly your fragrance is playing and luring them into your light. Excellent close wear, silent assassin.
Ma Folie de Noël by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz: Seriously scrummy, sweet spiced cream and incense. Opens big but pretty soon is a soft edible waft from your shirt whenever you move or your wrists every time you gesture. If this doesn’t get your date to snuggle in closer then you are with some poor bugger who has anosmia. Be extra nice to them and enjoy the film and your fragrance selfishly. MMMMMM This is the good stuff.
What do you wear for Friday nights? How do you like to spend them?
Portia xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 