Maria Candida Gentile

Scent Diary: 29.5 – 4.6.2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

.

Portia

.

Hi APJ,

Food and fragrance are the orders of the week. A few catch ups but mainly quiet as Jin recovers from tonsillitis. Loads of fun frags though.

Scent Diary: 29.5 – 4.6.2017

Monday 29:

Early this morning when I went to bed I lavishly spritzed Cacharel Liberté. I love it zingy sizzling citrus and it wears beautifully in the hot or cold. I’ll never understand why it wasn’t a bigger hit. The bottle is fabulous, it smells amazing and Gisele Bündchen was the spokesmodel? Even the name is good. As you can see I go through quite a lot of it, bottle number 3.

Jin was complaining of getting sick last night and then through the night kept waking up, unable to breathe. This morning he went to the doctor and his tonsils are so swollen they are blocking his airways. Antibiotics for a week. I hope they put him in hospital and rip them out. Poor boy has suffered at least once a year since we got together but never this bad. If not in Australia I’ll fly him home where they are not so stupidly precious about the procedure.

For the dog walk I thought I needed something a bit rosy so the first rose frag that I noticed was Agent Provocateur EdP. I grabbed it and spritzed with abandon. It was a stellar accompaniment to the crisp morning air, sunlit and sparkling.

Sick Jin & I went for sandwiches and hot chips to the local cafe. They girls there are so friendly. It was yum.

This afternoon I suddenly got the urge to douse myself in Bulgari Eau Parfumee au The Noir. It’s tea but with a woody leather and rose tint. I like it a lot, especially in the heat but very nice at 18C too.

Kept spritzing more and more Bulgari tonight while writing Q&A.

Tuesday 30:

Finally, it’s 3.30am and I’m finished the Q&A and sent them all out. All I can think of us how much I want an incense fragrance to ramp up the leavings of the bulgar. So Maria Candida Gentile Exultat was the obvious, and best, choice for my mood. You’ll excuse me while I drift away please?

Saw this yesterday and can’t stop laughing about it. So funny.

Jin is officially off work for a couple of days. Unlike his usual illnesses he is not a whining baby. He must be really sick. Bloody doctors in Australia won’t remove them anymore unless it’s life or death. ASSHOLES!

No scent because it will fight with the lavender & eucalyptus in the burner.

DRAMA! While going in to the bathroom to get ready for work the bath mat slid from under me and I landed on the tile on my knee. It was so fast. Suddenly I’m lying on the ground moaning and in real pain. It was yuck. Anyway, poor old Jin was in a sound drugged sleep and I woke him with my yammering. This wheezy, disembodied voice comes to me from the living room, “You alright?” Even though I was most definitely NOT alright it was amusing enough to get me off the floor to reassure him that I’d live.

Tonight for work I wore Cartier L`Heure Brilliant VI and enjoyed its glittering zing.

I know it will be battling the houses current ambience but I’m going all out with Miss Dior vintage parfum and EdT for bed tonight. I’m worth it.

Wednesday 31:

Last night before bed I ate a couple of donuts. Woke up this morning with a sugar hangover, and a sore knee.

Basically today was a write off. With Jin sick and me having a day off we slowed around the house all day watching TV and relaxing.

Dinner was Chinese Take Away and it was freaking gorgeous.

Thursday 1:

Today was HUGE! Jumped out of bed and doused myself in about 8 spritzes of Oriza L. Legrand Oeillet Louis XV from a sample in the pack you can buy from them and they ship to the world.

Walked the dogs then ran back inside, jumped in the car and fled. Saw this beautiful creamy coloured bottlebrush flowering in our winter.

First stop was Showcase in Sydney’s historic Rocks area. That’s where I buy my Drag make up. It was an expensive but necessary morning shop.

Next up I visited Bronwyn of Gascoine & King candles who is also the importer of Etat Libre d’Orange here in Australia. We went for coffees and some cake at the Bourke St Bakery and talked about our friends, lovers, businesses and new products. It is always fabulous with Bronwyn and we have some super luxe giveaways coming up from her. WOO HOO!

BFF Kath is home sick so I dropped in there  to see her on my way to the next adventure. Short but sweet chats and cuddles with Ruski, her Groodle.

My last partner Varun and I lived with a really amazing girl, Rose. At that time she was a chef at the College St Marriot Hotel where Varun went from restaurant bus boy to night manager in the two years we were together. It was a meteoric rise and we were all proud of him. After the Marriot Rose moved to the Millennium Hotel, then onto a catering company where she got them a shitload of awards and where she really got her name in the minds of movers & shakers. She moved to Singapore and did some stuff there until she was poached by Nobu in Europe where she was overseeing chef for a few years. The Dictator of Azerbaijan stole her to be the top dog in his restaurants, hotels and family kitchen and after 4+ years working for him she decided it wasxc time to come back to Sydney.

Rose is now the top chef in the Lotus group of restaurants here in Sydney and she invited TinaG & I for lunch today so she could gauge the way the restaurant runs with real patrons. We ate SO MUCH! Tried all the delicacies and were given top flight service by our waiter Ben. It was really interesting to hear the stories of the dishes and why this was so good or why that one was sent back and the chef told to take it off the menu for today because the meat wasn’t as good as it should be. These guys take good food really seriously. I only put in pictures of the most spectacular, there was at least 3 x this much food.

Then I went to Libertine Parfumerie for their SALE! I was a glutton but Nick gave me something incredibly special to give away on APJ. VERY excited about that.

At this point I was running HOURS late and got home in time to quickly wash my face, hug Jin and ran out to work as a man. Work was heaving tonight, 50+ patrons at Kings Park tavern and there was loads of bantering and fun. It wa a stellar evening. I wore Exultat by Maria Candida Gentile and it was the perfect woody/incense combo for the evening.

Home, walked the dogs, having a cup of coffee and about to have a very hot bath to soak all todays grime off. I’m bushed.

Friday 2:

A few things arrived in the post today but nothing so exciting as this vintage Rochas Femme parfum. It is a propellant bottle so the first 20 seconds are a mess but then……. bloom. Absolutely gobsmackingly gorgeous.

Jin and I spent the day around the house. We only left it to take him for Vietnamese Pho Soup. I walked the dogs though, he stayed sick on the couch. Can’t wait for him to fully recover

Saturday 3:

Good day today. Jin went back to work and I got to organise the weeks blog posts.

I’m also trying to create some order out of my chaotic office. I’m nearly shoulder deep in fragrance here. CROWDED.

I did take a Gilmore Girls break though because there is so much of the early episodes I missed. Having come in halfway like I did the whole back story is made apparent. My enjoyment levels are going through the roof.

While watching mind numbing TV I also ate Chinese reheats for lunch. BEST thing about getting chinese is having reheat lunch for the next two or three days. I added a can of corn kernels while they were in the frying pan. YUMMY!

This afternoon I wanted a cool amber fragrance. Van Cleef & Arpels Ambre Imperial was the perfect choice. It’s sparse, airy and unlike any other amber in  my collection. It never gets bakery, gluggy or creamy but does warm through slightly as it dries down to resinous woodsiness. It’s the ultimate hot weather amber but is also very nice in the crisp, cool of evening. It was never a hit, I read zero rave reviews and it isn’t amber in the traditional sense but if you see it, put some on your skin.

Then I had a bath. It was deliciously hot and frothy with LUSH Rose Jam bubbles. Nearly finished this years stockpile. The wait for Christmas releases starts soon.

For bedtime I have gone absolutely crazy with vintage Guerlain Shalimar extrait, decanted from my bottle and spritzed. I am leaving a coruscating trail of fragrance every time I move. It’s ENORMOUS!

Sunday 4:

Walking the dogs this morning and I came across this beautiful rose. The light was hitting it in such a way that it had become ultra violet. As it caught my eye it was trying to burn my retinas out. It even had some spice tea and rose scent. There is no filter on the pic, you can kind of see what I mean but it was so much more freaky in life.

It’s cool but sunny today. I’m wearing Lolita Lempicka Au Masculin. It’s perfect. Longevity is appalling so I keep resproitzing every 40 minutes or so. Very satisfying. I love the anise/wet violet combo.

Yet again in LUSH Rose Jam bubble bath. Over the faint remnant I multi spritzed from a split decant of MFK Amyris (pretty sure it’s Femme). Did you know that the Amyris tree is also called Torchwood because it is super inflammable AND the resin it produces is Elemi. HA! I looked it up on Fragrantica. No wonder it smells familiar.

 

Now it’s your turn. How was your week? Do anything fragrant or interesting?
Tell us all about it, we love to read what you’re doing too.
Portia xx

Maria Candida Gentile: Flight of the Bumblebee Series 2014

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

.

Post by Portia

.

Hello Niche Nerds,

One of the names that is revered yet rarely spoken of on blogs or FaceBook is Maria Candida Gentile. Whenever I post her soft focus incense and woods creation Exultat as my SOTD it gets a round of applause and people always note how much they love her work and then it’s back to radio silence. Sideris is the crowd pleaser that is most often referred to and though I’ve had these decants here for a while they had become lost in the crowd. During a week of Shop My Samples recently, where I tried to use up or rediscover unloved samples & decants, they popped into my hand and I card spritzed the three of them. They seem like they need a closer look, you can have a first on skin experience with me today, come on….

Maria Candida Gentile

Flight of the Bumblebee Series 2014

Kitrea Maria Candida Gentile FragranticaFragrantica

Kitrea by Maria Candida Gentile

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Honey, lemon and bergamot
Heart: Fruity notes
Base: Amber, beeswax

Cool citrus, sparkling and bittersweet. Like home made lemonade. Kitrea even has that sticky feeling you get on a hot afternoon when you’ve drunk too much fizzy. Imagine if a Guerlain Aqua Allegoria had a backbone and thorns, that’s how Kitrea wears for me. It smells grapefruit-esque and a tiny little but pissy but with a warm, calming, grounding base of animalic amber. This is by far the most Idie smelling of the three.

Leucò Maria Candida Gentile FragranticaFragrantica

Leccò by Maria Candida Gentile

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Honey, labdanum
Heart: Lily, tuberose
Base: Siam benzoin, pepper, beeswax

Leccò opens a little hair spray and greenery, it’s weird, awkward, like the notes are attacking each other and don’t quite want to be in the same fragrance. I think it’s the lily against the pepper . Interestingly after about 2 minutes it segues into a dreamy, smooth, plush fragrance, quite retro feeling but done with sharp modernity. The feeling is like walking through a large, well manicured garden in the drizzling rain but you are rugged up cozy and warm. Funnily I am reminded of tomato leaves and compost with this creamy underlay. Intriguing but weird.

Syconium Maria Candida Gentile fragranticaFragrantica

Syconium by Maria Candida Gentile

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Honey, milk
Heart: Fig
Base: Sandalwood, beeswax

Honey and milk open as resinous woods, if you told me this was frankincense or labdanum I’d agree. Not the sweet or feral honey that niche often presents Syconium is sweet warm honey milk before bed. Restful, comforting and calming, the fruit comes across as a little sugared porridge. Totally wearable, unchallenging and it smells great.  After a while Syconium becomes a sheer skin scent, like a layer of gossamer glamour over my own scent. Very nice.

From Maria Candida Gentile site: In the music piece “Flight of the bumblebee” by Nikolaj Andreevic Rimskij-Korsakov the main character is magically transformed into an insect in order to reach, unseen, his father the king and declare that the news of his death were not true. It is a flight that expresses the desire to live and opens the door to hope for a brighter future. This collection of three new perfumes takes its name from that flight and shows the bumblebee as a bearer of a message.

Further reading: Colognoisseur
Maria Candida Gentile has €32/15ml or €14/7ml

Do any of these read tempting to you? Do you like any of Maria Candida Gentile’s work?
Portia xx

 

Portia’s Fragrant Week 24 – 30 July 2016

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

.

Post by Portia

.

Hi there Frag Fiends,

Some of mates have been doing weekly wrap up shots of their fragrances. I loved the idea but kept forgetting to do it. Last week I put a box in my office and every time I spritzed something it went into the box. It was fun to watch the bottles and boxes pile up in there.

Portia’s Fragrant Week 24 – 30 July 2016

Portia's Fragrant Week 24 - 30 July 2016

 

Yes, this is 7 days of fragrant wear for me. I think/hope I got them all. There were a couple of samples that I finished and threw away while not thinking, oops. (Bloody forgot Aesthete by Le Galion and Infini by Caron)

So from top to bottom 4 rows, left to right.

Miss Dior vintage parfum by DIOR: Pretty floral, furry dry down. Why did they have to change it? GRRR

Mohur by Neela Vermeire Creations: One of my all time faves. India meets Europe in a temple rose garden.

Exultat by Maria Candida Gentile: Incense and woods, one of the most comfortable incense bombs ever.

Epice Marine by Hermès: The modern aquatic, lifted by spices and that sheer oily JCE signature.

Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia by Guerlain: Lily and cool white flowers with a touch of coconut cream. Tropical yet elegant.

Midnight Oud by Juliette Has A Gun: Rose & oudh, smells great, lasts for the whole day, won’t break the bank.

Coco vintage parfum by CHANEL: Coco, is Coco, is Coco. Heavenly oriental, so spicy and full.

Fantasia de Fleurs by Creed: Sweet, jammy roses and marmalade. YUM!

Giverny In Bloom by DSH Perfumes: Put your head in a florists fridge while wearing a heavily galbanum fragrance and you will smell Giverny In Bloom.

LouLou by Cacharel: BOOM! LouLou is like wearing a technicolour shirt that glitters and shimmers. Careful of she’ll wear you out.

Tweed by Taylor of London: MEMORIES!!! Mum. Back then it was Tweed by Lentheric.

Truth or dare by Madonna: Yes. This is my current favourite big white floral. So good and practically free.

Amazone vintage by Hermès: Oakmoss and a little bit of other stuff. Furry and genteel.

What did you wear last week?
Portia x

Wearing Perfume: Different Ways of Testing

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 25 Comments

.

Post by Tina G

.

Hi APJ!

I’d like to talk a bit about how fragrance application can have a pronounced effect on how it presents on your skin. It is one of the reasons that it is usually worthwhile to test a fragrance a few times to get to “know” it before making judgement calls.

Wearing Perfume: Different Ways of Testing

Burlesque by Maria Candida Gentile 2015

Burlesque Maria Candida Gentile FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Blood orange
Heart: Iris pallida, rose
Base: Incense, patchouli

Maria Candida Gentile – Burlesque is a case in point. It was put onto my fragrance radar by Tara from A Bottled Rose, and it sounded like my kind of thing, so a sample was ordered.

On my first two spritzes I held the nozzle close to my arm with a heavy application. And the results were horrifying. All I got was an insipid limp wet patchouli with a hint of smoke in the background. I quite like patch, but there was nothing nice about what I was smelling. It was less ‘Burlesque’ and more ‘fetid water nymph’. One of my written notes was “try a lighter spray”. So I did.

A gentle swish of a spritz at a distance, and wafting my arm through the residual aerated fragrance was a totally different result. At once I could smell a warm rounded orange, which was totally absent previously, and it came through with a fab sexy powdery iris and sweet pink rose. That brought a smile and a nod – so that is what this fragrance is all about! It was balanced very differently, warm and inviting with the patchouli grounding it instead of swamping (good word, actually…) and the pale smokiness bringing an interesting dimension to the whole picture. Really gorgeous and very wearable.

There are some fragrances which are better dabbed – for me most of the Serge Lutens work really well like this, even though they come with sprayers. Of course, be really wary of spraying Parfum strength *anything*. I’ve done serious (temporary) damage to my nose trying this approach. Unless it is a Vero Profumo in which case they are designed for spraying. (and if you’ve never tried any of Vero’s fragrances, drop everything and order samples NOW).

Chimaera by Paolo Terenzi for Tiziana Terenzi 2014

Chimaera Tiziana Terenzi FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Black pepper, lemon, saffron, leather, tolu balsam, thyme, bay leaf, soil tincture
Heart: Iris, red pepper, carnation, peony, honey, magnolia, sage
Base: Patchouli, cashmere wood, labdanum, benzoin, caramel, agarwood (oud), tobacco, canadian balsam, leather, pine tree

Another worthwhile trial is to give fragrances a run through in different seasons. Something which does not work for you in summer may be altogether fabulous in winter. Tiziana Terenzi – Chimaera is like this for me. In winter it is complex and kinetically marbled with a lemon and honey keeping a weaving thread through leather, bay and basalm. I found at four wonderfully distinct stages during dry down – so exciting! In summer, on my skin it turns into a gourmand thick with caramel and saffron, the honey and lemon are still present but it is much more linear and to my nose not so interesting.

Have you had any successes or failures with your fragrance testing? What have been the lessons learnt?

Tina G xx

Dab or Spray? Life

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 41 Comments

.

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

.

When I mentioned to Portia a few weeks ago that it was sometimes tough to come up with something to write about, he said to write whatever I´d been up to and include the perfume I had been wearing. That would do it. Let´s test it out.

DAB OR SPRAY?

Murmurings from the Uninspired.
Featuring fragrances I have added to my small collection.

THINGS THAT I HAVE BEEN UP TO

    1. Read an undisputedly utterly brilliant book. All The Light We Cannot See. Anthony Doerr.
    2. Set up a date with APJs Azar in September. We´ll be having tea in Seattle very soon.
    3. Gave up Red Bull and Monster and started to drink water.
    4. Helped my son move into his apartment.
    5. Completed my .vero.profumo. collection with the Rozy Extrait and the Onda Voile d´Extrait.
    6. Located a bottle of Cuir de Lancôme. Purchased it.

Val Onda VdE

LONDON VISIT

Finalised a pefume tour party blogger lunch and cake feast not forgetting the epic ice-cream, kind of thing. In London. Getting to hangout with Volatile Fiction, Olfactoria´s Travels, Perfume Candy Boy, Nick Gilbert and more. Amongst other groovy things we are going to visit Penhaligon`s, the new Bloom, the Chanel Store and the new Malle Store. I am of course taking my daughter the BlondesWunder with me and she will report back as to her second experience of hanging out with a bunch of old perfume freaks.

Les senteurs Val 2014 #3

(Yes Portia and Michael, my heart aches that you won´t be there.)

DAB OR SPRAY?

Wearing a lot of extraits, and only dab them. I love the sensuality of using a glass stopper to apply the perfume. I do like to spray the back of my neck though. However, spraying everywhere gives me a grand mal seizure, and since my kids do that to me anyway, I prefer to keep them to the minimum. I reckon I might be in the minority though. This is a much discussed subject but what do you APJ readers do? What interesting application techniques do you use? I stand in front of a mirror and conduct my perfuming ritual. I do not like perfume on my clothing at all and make sure I get nothing on it from the application of the fragrance. Clothing goes on after the perfume.

Am about to start a new book. A Brief History of Seven Killings. Marlon James. “It´s like a Tarantino remake of The Harder They Come but with a soundtrack by Bob Marley and a script by Oliver Stone and William Faulkner ……..” New York Times. And a lot of it is written in Jamaican Patois. I spent some time in Kingston but that is another fragrant story. 😉

Burlesque Maria Candida Gentile FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Blood orange
Heart: Iris pallida, rose
Base: Incense, patchouli

Have been wearing Maria Candida Gentile´s Burlesque for the last two days. Alluring. Gorgeous. Ordered.

Irie Bussis
Peace and love
CQ

Hanbury by Maria Candida Gentile 2010

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

.

Post by Michael

.

Thanks to the very kind Ms P I’m wrapping my nose around a new to me Maria Candida Gentile. I very much like what I smelled of Exultat, so I’m excited to be testing out another from the line.

Hanbury by Maria Candida Gentile 2010

Hanbury Maria Candida Gentile FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lime, bitter orange, orange
Heart: Mimosa, white honey, calycanthus
Base: Musk, benzoin

There are a few nuances but this fragrance can be summed up in two words – bitter orange! Those familiar with Italian bitter orange drinks will have a good idea of what to expect from this little fragrance.

Up top lime and bitter orange jumps off the skin with a seriously tart throw. This is a fragrance you can feel penetrating your sinuses. Once it starts to settle down the benzoin takes control with a little mimosa for balance. I wouldn’t call this a mimosa fragrance by any stretch.

Hanbury Maria Candida Gentile Bitter Oranges PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

From here it becomes a little warmer but it’s never cuddly. Miscellaneous white floral notes become more apparent and they’re quite soft. After only an hour or two it fades to a clean citrus musky skin scent.

From the Maria Candida Gentile site: The inspiration comes from the gardens of the Hanbury Villa in Ventimiglia, a city of northern Italy by the mediterranean sea. The essences of this garden have been assembled during a life time by its owner, a very charming and beautiful lady, Dorothy Hanbury. In spring these essences combines all together in the air and are blended by the soft and warm wind from the sea producing an exquisite harmony which has been recreated in the Hanbury fragrance.

Hanbury Maria Candida Gentile Hanbury Botanic Gardens WikicommonsPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

In the end I’m thinking about Hanbury as a citrus EdC – perfect for summer and when applied liberally and often. Maybe even store it in the fridge for an invigorating summer spray. It’s especially nice if you enjoy very naturalistic bitter orange.
Unfortunately for me, I’m left looking for something a little more…..

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and
Maria Candida Gentile has €25/15ml Travel Size or €115/100ml and sends to the world for €30
Parfum1 has $185/100ml
First In Fragrance has €150/100ml

Which of the Maria Candida Gentile line have you smelled? Does Hanbury sound like your cup of tea?
Michael

Shopping in Budapest, Hungary and Venice, Italy

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Hey Gang,
Running out the door today and fell asleep last night so didn’t get this photo post done. Apologies for its brevity

This is this weeks list, and yes I’m mildly disgusted at myself but I’m an ADDICT. They are all so worthy too.

L’Artisan Parfumeurie, Montale, Maria Candida Gentile, Pineider, Sigilli, Naomi Goodsir, The Different Company, Pont de Rialto, Chanel No 5 FAKE, Cartier Samples

Tomorrow we have a terrific photo essay. All the photos you are seeing are taken by Jin BTW. He is pretty damn great.

Loads of love,
Portia xx

20130209-095123.jpg