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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
This week was a Sample Only Week. Using up a bunch of the samples lying around here unloved. The idea has been to put the whole .7ml (or whatever is left of a decant) on at once and wear it. I drop the lot in my hand, rub it together after shave wise and then pat it on my chest and arms. Effective. These samples have been purchased from First In Fragrance, Surrender To Chance or LuckyScent and a couple were frag friend gifted.
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
Gave the perfume room a clean up this week. Created some space and reorganised the two major trays of current favourites. So while I still wore some old favourites you will se a bunch of new and different stuff. Got to hang with a bunch of our mates and had some serious Netflix time. What a lovely week.
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
HOW did I fit all this into a week? Continuing last weeks theme of Netflix and perfumes. There was a bit of travel, a visit to Chicago the musical, loads of friends, fun and food. It felt like Jin and I really got to see each other quite a lot this week, that’s a win in anyones books. Also, the ankle is improving, YAY!
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Portia
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Hey Hey Perfume Junkies,
OK I’m adding a THUNKED section here too. It’s becoming an APJ obsession and I love the idea of us using our fragrances and hoiking the vial, decant or bottle. Thunk is the sound of an empty hitting the bin so you must empty it for the thunk to count.
Anything worthy of comment, either good or bad, that’s passed under my nose through the week will get a short write up. If I think something is terrible, shamefully lazy, greedy or stupid and you should know about it, it will be said. As always YMMV.
I’d love it if you get involved: agree, respectfully disagree, have any thought-out opinion and want to share, do so in the comments below. The point is starting a conversation.
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Portia
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Hey Hey Perfume Junkies,
OK I’m adding a THUNKED section here too. It’s becoming an APJ obsession and I love the idea of us using our fragrances and hoiking the vial, decant or bottle. Thunk is the sound of an empty hitting the bin so you must empty it for the thunk to count.
Anything worthy of comment, either good or bad, that’s passed under my nose through the week will get a short write up. If I think something is terrible, shamefully lazy, greedy or stupid and you should know about it, it will be said. As always YMMV.
I’d love it if you get involved: agree, respectfully disagree, have any thought-out opinion and want to share, do so in the comments below. The point is starting a conversation.
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
WOW! This week was FULL ON! Non stop fragrance, food, friends and fun. So many catch ups, adventures and thunks.
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Portia
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Hey Hey Perfume Junkies,
OK I’m adding a THUNKED section here too. It’s becoming an APJ obsession and I love the idea of us using our fragrances and hoiking the vial, decant or bottle. Thunk is the sound of an empty hitting the bin so you must empty it for the thunk to count.
Anything worthy of comment, either good or bad, that’s passed under my nose through the week will get a short write up. If I think something is terrible, shamefully lazy, greedy or stupid and you should know about it, it will be said. As always YMMV.
I’d love it if you get involved: agree, respectfully disagree, have any thought-out opinion and want to share, do so in the comments below. The point is starting a conversation.
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Portia
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Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,
Highs and lows this week. Some wonderful friends, food, finance and fragrance. Added in were some bass news stories. This time of year is often so tumultuous.
9.30am. I must have been tired. Slept like a log. I felt the need for an aquatic today and L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme Intense is my favourite. It has the perfect kick of incense to counter the cool blast of salt watery citrus.
Jin ands I went and saw the money guy. There was something off about him today and he couldn’t look me in the eye. I asked Jin if we could walk around the block and ask another bank for a second opinion. They could offer us a .5% less expensive home loan, had a better way of structuring it and were amazing. We have begun talks.
After that we went and saw the owner of the new property and asked him to start drawing up contracts. It was very exciting.
Then we lunched at our favourite nearby cafe. It’s nice to just hang with Jin, he’s good company.
Home for a nap, slept through the worst heat of the day. I do feel a bit groggy now. Better spritz some Guerlain Shalimar EdP and vintage parfum. Quite fragrant. Wafting in the park while giving the dogs their afternoon wee was fun. Extravagant.
Came home and decided to drink the good tea. Fortnum & Mason Royal Blend. Once I have a cup it’s like a fever, need another immediately. Tea is my heaven.
From Fortnum & Mason: In this classic Royal Blend notes of Flowery Pekoe from Ceylon uplift the maltier Assam …. First blended for King Edward in 1902
Jin and I went out late in the evening to do some grocery shopping. It’s nice in the cool evening to go get our fruit and groceries. He also had to go to the chemist. We got home around 9.30pm and this scary bastard ran out of our garage and across the driveway. O M G! The size of my foot. Squealed like a stuck pig. The perimeter of the garage is a toxic no go zone for all creepy crawlies so he was wobbling like a drunken sailor but nevertheless he gave us quite a scare.
Home and back to my computer. It’s Trivia Q&A time again. I’ve grabbed a coffee and multi spritzed some more Shalimar EdP. MMMMMMM
Doing loads of washing in between Q&A and hanging them up. It’s a good break.
SHIT! 4am. Just finished my Q&A. MORE SHALIMAR & bed.
Woke up to Scott on the doorstep. TOO GUMMY TO BE ALIVE moment.
Spritzed oodles of Guerlain Lui and am feeling more human for it. So Scott gets pepper and I’m getting a subtle patchouli. Both if us are probably wrong.
Jin and I were running the bank gauntlet again today. Why are they all fucking liars?
Beards dye, bath and UBER spritzed Penhaligon’s Ostara. Freaky yellow flowers, both fluorescent bright and surrounded by boggy marsh. Love it every time.
When it came time to dress for work I gave myself another 15 spritzes and floated on a sea of fabulous spring florals. HEAVEN!
Couldn’t concentrate on the blog work at all tonight so I made a cuppa. grabbed some bikkies and headed for the second season of The Crown with a few good spritzes of Lolita Lempicka EdP again.
Morning APJ, I slept wrong and this morning I’ve got a nasty twinge in my back. A little bit of a morning stretch, walking the dogs etc and I should be right. Micallef Ylang in Gold today. It’s thick and syrupy lushness so tropical and fruity. Extra glam
Today was a Wendy day. My mate Wendy and I went shopping for the Christmas presents she is giving this year. We also got her hair cut and manicure done. She is 100% Christmas ready now. Then we had a delicious lunch. They were Toasted Turkish Bread Sandwiches; hers Turkey Salad and mine BLAT. We also had some hot chips and cups of tea. A perfect day out, we were bushed by the end of it.
Home for a nap under the fan, blessed relief.
Off to work I went in Diptyque Eau Duelle. It’s my first full wearing from a bottle I bought. Somehow my nose felt this was a resinous white floral. A beautiful, tropical white floral perfect for summer. Oh well, none of the notes are that but that’s what my nose smells, go figure.
Home, faffed around on the computer but got nothing done. Midnight so I’m for an early night. Finished another 10ml of DSH Perfumes Giverny In Bloom. Ice cold A/C, swampy green that clears to cool florals. Perfection.
Not in bed yet at 1am and needed some extra oomph so Niki de Saint Phalle. SO good.
Wrapped Christmas presents.
I might have had a delivery or two arrive. mmmmmmmmm
Dinner at Liu Rose Chinese restaurant with the crew. wearing Fort & Manle Charlatan. TinaG was loving it and kept getting g happy wafts through the night. Delectable.
Home to bed, big spritzes of Yves Saint Laurent Opium Posie de Chine.
Fort & Manle Charlatan again. Freaking LOVING it.
Lunch with Kerri & Tim. Shopping. Met up with Alice for a cuppa. Lovely day in town.
Watched Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire and Paddington Bear.
Jin asked me to put his 6 pack in the fridge. I thought it looked very colourful in there so I took a photo. Pretty huh?
HOT here, melting.
Bed: Oliver & Co Ambergreen. Someone mentioned it on one of the FB boards and I was inspired. Boundary pushing, freaky shit that both burns and cools. Smells amazing but like nothing I know. Full icy green and sweet amber woods. Crazy.
I have a whole day to myself. At leisure. Woke up and did some texting and computer work quite early and then while still in a half asleep daze went back to bed till nearly 10am. What a fabulously extravagant way to spend the morning.
BFF Kath’s Mum collapsed this morning so we went to visit her in hospital. She was fairly poorly but still chatty and did her best to be cheered up by us. We could tell it was uphill going though.
Decided I would do the weeks APJ blogging today but it was too hot to think.
Jin brought Korean Fried Chicken home for dinner and we watched some TV. It was a very low key day and evening.
One thing I’m really noticing though is the cicadas, crickets and frogs are all singing well into the evening. Like a chorus of nature going on outside. It’s lovely as I sit back in my office.
Super bummer tonight. I sat down and opened an eMail from my boss at a venue I’ve been hosting trivia in for over 15 years. Thinking it was a Christmas Thank You note I was totally unprepared for it to be a termination notice. What a bummer. Watching families grow and blossom over the last 15 years has been extraordinary and I will miss our regular Thursday nights together. So sad.
Instead of moping we fed the dogs and walked them. Then I ran myself a warm bath with Olympic Orchids Amber/Labdanum Bath Oil. It’s hard to feel sad when the bath smells so good but my mind is going 100 miles an hour to work out my next move. I think a good sleep will help me organise my head a bit better.
Vintage Bal a Versailles parfum dabbed on my wrist before bed. If that can’t take my mind off drama then nothing will.
Couldn’t sleep. I find myself back in my office at the computer. MORE Bal a Versailles, so good.
Pedi with Kath then lunch in the Food court. We went and visited her Mum in hospital and she is looking 70% better, a bit of colour and a genuine smile.
It’s so hot I’m sweating like a farm hand. Trying to put make up on is proving a trial. GRRRRR. Oh well, can’t be comfortable every night.
Had the BEST time with the Austral Bowling Club crew tonight. A few of them left before we took this shot but you can tell how beautiful they all are. Wore ridiculous amounts of The Different Company Tokyo Bloom tonight in the heat, perfect.
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 there Frag Heads,
You may remember a few weeks ago I bought a bottle of M Micallef Vanille Marine? Well looking through my decants this week I discovered 5ml of another in the line. Because I loved the other so much I’d basically ignored todays and so I thought we could look at it together today.
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Spices, vanilla, sandalwood, amber, musk
Opening is vanilla, quickly tempered by sweet citrus and warm resins. There is some cardamom or something equally green/smooth floating around and a smokiness on a low level. A simple creamy amber, very easy wear, is the heart. Nothing ground breaking or distinctive but it does smell very luxurious.
I keep smelling myself and thinking that Vanille Orient transports me to an expensive European hotel lobby in winter. Resinous, woody, balsams and a clean musk with a faint reminder of long dead cigarettes and coffee. It’s a clean, warm, comfortable scent that would make a terrific candle.
PDI
I don’t know if you ever go to art galleries but there is a certain slim line 40+ woman who wears a black wool polo neck jumper, boot cut jeans or a tailored skirt and comfortable boyishly styled shoes. Often her greying and kept natural hair is cut in a modern super short bob and she accessorises with white gold. I have come a ross these wonderful women and they will chat about the art sometimes. They LOVE this kind of amber. A happy middle ground between the sweet, bakery style and the bitch tar leather ambers.
This wears resinous rather than sweet, is dry and warm with no animalics or darkness. A 100% comfortable amber that smells very good. Excellent for wafting in the cool halls of galleries.
PDI
Further reading: Notable Scents and Muse In Wooden Shoes
Feeling Sexy Australia has $245/100ml with FREE Australian Shipping
What do you wear to go to the gallery?
Portia xx
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Post by Sandra
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Hi there fellow perfume aficionados. Hope ya’ll are doing well.
We received a life changing phone call a couple of weeks ago and it is now official – we are moving from Vienna, Austria to Rotterdam, The Netherlands! Yikes! I thought I would never leave Vienna, and yet here I am planning our move which comes unfortunately during the holidays this year.
Stress is of course the norm now but so is the anticipation and excitement. I have lived a largely nomadic lifestyle until I landed in Vienna and got married. Being a global nomad brings its challenges but also its treasures. Home is everywhere. Learning a new language and culture feeds my soul. Meeting new people and making new friends adds color to my life. As I grew up living in a number of countries I find the process of moving painful but the end effect and the nesting period exhilarating. For my husband and son it will be a different experience and I have to try and make it as smooth as possible for both of them. Hence, the stress.
Perfumes have always given me a sense of comfort – a cloak in which I am invisible and I can be stronger than I am currently feeling. Here are a couple of perfumes I have been frequently wearing lately.
Micallef Cuir Vanille has given me a shield with which I protect myself. I can face the day knowing that the leathery vanilla will be there to soothe my anxieties.
Guerlan Cuir Beluga is my old trusted friend whose shoulder I can lean on for support and guidance. The soft suede laced with vanilla done as only Guerlain can do.
I tend to reach for amber or vanilla in stressful situations, but the other day I encountered a stunning perfume which made me feel like I was prepared for anything that may come. I wore Hermes Le Galop and was blown away at its morphing capabilities. It started out all fruity and slightly sour then moved to a leathery suede which made me feel strong. In the evening I noticed that the gorgeous gentle rose tinged with suede. My world seemed ok.
Last but not least – Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur – deep velvet red cushions embroidered with royal purple and golden threads. I rest my head and breathe a deep sigh of relief. Home.
My husband has turned to Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan – it smells completely different on him – smooth, rich, dry amber deliciousness. He has never before been complemented by a man on his choice of perfume until the other day … .
My son, seven years old, has always enjoyed a spritz or two of Hermès Un Jardin Sur la Toit until recently when he keeps wanting a spritz of Stéphane Humbert Lucas 777 Mortal Skin. It must be that he is also needing an extra layer of perceived protection with all the stress.
As the moving date nears I will find it interesting which perfumes I will reach for most. Let me leave you with some of my recent pictures of Vienna which has been home for 22 years.
What perfumes do you wear when you are under a lot of pressure and stress? On another note, have any of you shopped for perfumes in The Netherlands? Any suggestions?
SX
Australian Perfume Junkies 