.
Portia
.
Hey there APJ,
You may know that Thursday is my day to post on Perfume Posse. Every week over there I do some kind of fragrance review. As we don’t really do them here on APJ anymore I thought it might be nice to give you a heads up on what’s happening elsewhere.
.
Portia
.
Hey there APJ,
You may know that Thursday is my day to post on Perfume Posse. Every week over there I do some kind of fragrance review. As we don’t really do them here on APJ anymore I thought it might be nice to give you a heads up on what’s happening elsewhere.
.
Portia
.
Hey APJ Peeps,
It’s no secret how much I love baths. I find a 15-20 minute soak in the tub more relaxing that almost anything else you can mention. It’s a short sharp shot of bliss that can be done whenever a window appears. Quite often I will do all my chores at the end of a night because the days are hectic. It may be 2 or 3am after a busy day, working at night, getting the blog stuff done and then doing a few loads of washing or cleaning the kitchen. A great way for me to go from supersonic to sleepy tired is to have a bath with a warm drink, dry, moisturise, scent and bed. My head hits the pillow and lights out till the alarm goes off in the morning for the dogs feeding and walking.
Why have I rambled on yet again about baths? Well, Mandy Aftel has made some incredibly luxurious eating salts that I naughtily used a capful of in my bath and O M G it was a transcendent experience. Talk about sending me into the stratosphere; amazing! You need hardly any to scent the whole bathroom very softly and it is calming and head clearing. Do it as you get in the bath. Beautiful. SHHHH! Don’t tell Mandy I did it though.
So, how are we supposed to use Tarragon and Bitter Orange Finishing Salts? Follow this recipe and your family will think you are the best cook in the history of all cooks. I use one fillet each but your crew may like more.
4 large Snapper Fillets
1 x lemon cut into very thin slices
2 TBsp butter
2 x parsley fronds chopped finely
1 x crushed large garlic clove
Pinch white pepper
Tarragon and Bitter Orange Finishing Salts
Baking Tray
Aluminium Foil
Pre heat oven to 180C
Mix butter, parsley, garlic and pepper together to make a paste
Tear 2 sheets of foil big enough to wrap 2 fillets each
Spread 1/4 of butter mix all over each fillet
Place fillets on shiny foil side
Put lemon slices top of fillets and close up the foil.
Pop onto bake tray and into the oven for 15-20 minutes (you know if your oven is a little slow or fast)
Make whatever salad or vegetable sides you like while fish is cooking
When the fillets come out of the oven they will be meltingly soft so be careful as you transfer to the plate
Add a sprinkling of Tarragon and Bitter Orange Finishing Salts
Add your sides
Serve and watch your family go crazy with excitement
I didn’t know this was going to be a post so no pictures were taken. SORRY!
Obviously your mileage may vary but this was a complete winner around here. Hopefully your crew loves it too.
From Aftelier only $15: Our sel gris is stone-ground by hand until it reaches a fine consistency; it melts into other flavors seamlessly, imparting a briny mineral richness. Sel gris French gray sea salt is hand-harvested from the clay-lined salt ponds in the Guérande region of France, giving it a soft grey color and mineral-rich moisture. These salts are not to be used during the cooking process, but rather to add a pop of flavor to everything from meat to salads to vegetables just before serving. These salts will lift the other flavors of a dish, making it special and delicious.
What a freaking great Christmas Gift for the friends and family that cook, and so affordable.
Portia xx
.
Portia
.
Hey Hey Indie Lovers,
You probably already know the name Mandy Aftel. She writes books, creates perfumes, teaches natural perfumery, has a museum of perfume and is a general, all round great gal. The thing is, after the initial fanfare of a fragrance launch things go a bit quiet on the blog front for Indie perfumers. They don’t have enormous budgets and marketing teams, mostly they do it themselves with a couple of key helpers. Since I am wearing Sepia today I thought it might be a good time to remind you all about its beauty.
Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Blood cedarwood, Yellow mandarin, Pink grapefruit
Heart: Pink lotus, Strawberry, Jasminum grandiflorum, Cocoa, Coffee
Base: Tobacco blossom, Oud, Indole, Ambergris, Cepes (mushroom), Labdanum
Today’s review is from a bottle I paid retail for after falling madly in love with a sample Mandy sent me.
Sepia is a bit of a blockbuster on my skin. It is a warm and dusty, floral and powdery, woody, smoky, dry and sere fragrance. So much light and shade. It smells to me like rural Australia. I can close my eyes and smell the unbroken expanses of sun beaten, dessicated red-earth desert where the properties are 1000’s of square kilometers with sheep, wheat and cattle. Stark sun and shade, the dappling of eucalyptus beside a dam or creek.
PDI
Many of the smaller towns have been deserted in the last 50 years and stand silent, crumbling, with only their stone chimneys left like a mouth full of broken teeth. Our croplands have been bought by the big farming companies, overseas investors and the mining groups. Mum and Dad farms are becoming the rarity. Sepia is our Australian outback. A dream of how the perfect Australian outback was.
It is also lovely, wearable and surprisingly strong for a scent sold as a watercolour wash. After 3 hours it starts to smelling like attics and bookstores Sepia then warms and dirties towards dry down and remains as a skin scent remnant for hours.
PDI
From Aftelier Perfumes website;
Dry woods: Sepia is a tint, a watercolor wash, an atmosphere, a memory
Further reading PerfumeShrine and TheAlembicatedGenie
Aftelier Perfumes has samples from $7
Are you a Mandy fan like me?
Portia xx
.
Portia
.
Sorry APJ,
I was supposed to come home and finish a post but my mate Rose came to trivia tonight. Afterwards we came home and were eating the delicious biscuits made by my mate Nikki at the Post Office and left in my PO Box. We also had some Aftelier Rose & Ginger Oolong Tea. If you haven’t tried Mandy’s teas then you NEED TO, immediately.
Anyway we basically chattered away three hours and I was an excellent catch up.
We also sniffed some fragrance. Rose fell in love with Don`t Get Me Wrong Baby by ELdO. I have the new and old bottles so I gifted her the original.
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Orange blossom, lily-of-the-valley, patchouli, jasmine, aldehydes, amber, cacao pod, marshmallow, musk
It smelled wonderful on her, what else could I do?
Then we wandered up to the station and now she’s gone.
So I really don’t have a post for you and I’m sorry for that. Sometimes you have to live a little and let everything else go hang.
Portia xx
.
Portia
.
Hiya APJ,
Thank you Mandy Aftel for your generosity. Seems everyone is really excited to try your new fragrance. WOO HOO!
Let’s see who won.
Portia xx
Aftelier gives these featured accords:
Tobacco, hay, smoke, orange leaf, Siam wood, dirty orange
Aftelier has samples starting from $7
This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Curious by Aftelier Perfumes sample
P&H Anywhere in the world
Entries Closed Saturday 24th June 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winner was chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Saturday 1st July 2017 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit
.
Portia
.
Hey Hey APJ,
Mandy aftel is a mate of mine. She sends me her updates and we chat irregularly over the net. One day with a bit of luck we shall meet and I know I’ll be transported. Her fragrances are bold and daring and she has inspired a whole generation of Indie Perfumers. Yesterday I got news of her newest creation and an offer of a sample. So rather than wait 10 days for it to arrive we thought it might be fun to do an immediate giveaway for one lucky APJer as soon as it’s released! How freaking cool is that? You will be among the first to try this magical new Mandy Aftel creation.
Coins is aligned with another fabulous new thing Mandy has created the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents!
Location: Cottage at end of brick driveway,
1518-1/2 Walnut St. Berkeley, CA 94709
Phone: 510-841-2111 Email: info@aftelier.com
Details:
Open only on Saturdays 11 am – 6 pm.
Limit of 6 visitors per hour.
Tickets are $20 for a 1-hour time slot, starting and ending promptly.
Aftelier gives these featured accords:
Tobacco, hay, smoke, orange leaf, Siam wood, dirty orange
Here’s the Press Release: Curious, inspired by the atmosphere of my Archive of Curious Scents, is a smoky musk perfume, with notes of dried fruit and precious woods. The rich muskiness of Curious allows it to mix with each person’s body chemistry in an intimate and idiosyncratic fashion. I adore tobacco absolute and think of it as the ultimate botanical musk note, especially when paired with the sweet mossy apricot-like hay absolute.
An airy smokiness laces through the perfume from the opening to the ending, — burnt fruitwood and caramel. Mesmerizing orange leaf absolute, like a green orange, is refreshingly tart, animalic, and indolic. Curious opens with creamy and smooth wood brightened with dirty citrus and punctuated with spice. The texture of the perfume is like soft fur. My Aftel Archive includes an exhibit that deconstructs Curious perfume note by note, and chord by chord, so that visitor can explore the mystery of how each essence locks together to create the perfume.
Aftelier has samples starting from $7
This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Curious by Aftelier Perfumes sample
P&H Anywhere in the world
Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.
You must tell me how you follow APJ
and
Please go to Aftelier Perfumes<<jump and find ONE INGREDIENT and name both ingredient & fragrance. (No DOUBLE UPS)
Entries Close Saturday 24th June 2017 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Saturday 1st July 2017 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit
.
Post by Portia
.
Dear APJ Reader,
Do you ever put fragrance on your skin with no knowledge or expectation of what it will be? With some of my independent perfumer friends that’s exactly what I do. For the sheer joy of experiencing the scent without prejudice. That can make for some pretty far fetched guesses as to what has gone into a fragrance, and the ideas behind it. It’s also one of the reasons I love doing Live Video Sniffs, you get to come on the ride……. Scott and I spend a few minutes smelling the opening and… well, you’ll see….
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Butter, orris, floral notes (Phyenylacetic acid)
Heart: Turkish rose, beta ionone (woody violet)
Base: Ambreine (amber), ambergris, antique civet, patchoulyl acetate (patchouli isolate)
From Aftelier: A memento mori is designed to “remind the viewer [or wearer] of their mortality and the shortness and fragility of human life” (Tate Museum). Memento mori jewelry was known for its intimate workmanship, beautiful delicacy and close associations with eternal love and remembrance. Mourning jewelry was a way for the bereaved to hold on to the memory of a loved one who had passed away: a way of saying “gone but not lost” or “sacred to memory.” It brought comfort and consolation and was not morbid or ghoulish, but touching and loving.
Further reading: Now Smell This and A Bottled Rose
Aftelier has samples from $6/0.25ml
Just so you know, while Momento Mori opens outrageously it does soften off considerable within the first hour. It’s indolic/fecal/barley butter gives way to the softest and plushest comfort scent. Like cuddling your partner first thing in the morning before tooth brushing and shower, still lived in and slightly rank but the smell of shared sleep and awakenings.
You’ve done it again Mandy, bravo.
Portia xxx
.
Post by Portia
.
Hi there Happy Huffers,
Vanilla Smoke arrived a couple of weeks ago and we decided to do an opening ceremony with film. Scott is way more on the ball that I am with it and we are both frag fools, as always. Congratulations Mandy Aftel on another fabulous fragrance. We can smell that this is going to be a big hit.
Enjoy the video,
Portia xxx
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Yellow mandarin, Siam wood, saffron absolute, vanilla absolute, lapsang souchong tea essence (tea leaves smoked over pinewood), coumarin, ambergris
Aftelier has $180/30ml EdP
Aftelier has $180/7.5ml Parfum
.
Post by Portia
.
Hello Fragrant Friends,
Mandy Aftel is one of the best known & most loved Indie perfumers on the planet. Not only for her stellar fragrances but also for her books on fragrance (Essence & Alchemy and Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent) and her natural perfumery school. My every dealing with her has been so lovely, she is one of the greats and has the most beautiful presentation in her packaging. The whole Aftelier product is so luxurious and getting an order is exquisite fun opening it all up. My favourite way to buy Aftelier is the A Trio of Miniatures in a Silk Pouch that is also in a tin. I use these miniatures as gifts when I’m travelling, giving one to people who I particularly love or who have gone out of their way, and they are always accepted with real pleasure.
Photo Stolen Aftelier
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Yellow mandarin, Siam wood, saffron absolute, vanilla absolute, lapsang souchong tea essence (tea leaves smoked over pinewood), coumarin, ambergris
After reading her review I was chatting briefly with Victoria over on EauMG and … Portia: .. the EdP felt like a magical Shalimar restructuring. It’s my favourite so it was really nice to smell the Ultimate Smoke Shalimar with extra twists and nuance. Victoria: .. a big yes to Ultimate Smoke Shalimar because that’s accurate! The EDP reminds me very much of like modern, smoky Shalimar, like Shalimar roasting marshmallows over a campfire.
Photo Stolen Flickr
Vanilla, warm, comforting, sensual and alluring. The simplest of scents yet also incredibly complex. In Vanilla Smoke Mandy Aftel has added spice and heavy resins that are cut through with the strong smoky tea note of lapsang souchong, When I read the note list before trying Vanilla Smoke, and before reading any other reviews, I thought it was going to be a very dense, hefty, thick scent. One perfectly chosen to warm and sweeten winter nights but too gluggy and oppressive for the warmer months. No Way! Somehow Mandy has managed to lift it and gift it air, while being fully and gloriously fragrant and the opening is mildly ferocious in a VERY good way, there is a floaty sheer-ness that makes it feel free. I don’t know if you remember those 1980s video clips where it was dusk or dark and smoke billowing around some half naked male dancers and a fabulously made up songstress in an over the top gown belting out a power ballad with a dance backbeat? Vanilla Smoke has all the glamour, fun and over the top outrage but softened for a modern market.
Photo Stolen Pixabay
Vanilla Smoke is dry and desiccated, elegant and totally immersive up close. From further away, or on someone else, it wears less dry and you get to smell that lovely vanilla shining through the smoke. Another reviewer wrote sumptuous and I concur, perfect word for Vanilla Smoke.
Further reading: EauMG and ScentHive
Aftelier has $180/30ml EdP
Aftelier has $180/7.5ml Parfum
Do you have a Mandy Aftel fragrance that you adore? If you haven’t tried her yet, go visit the site Aftelier<<JUMP. It’s full of beautifully fragrant things that aren’t only perfume…
Portia xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 