Vanille Tonique by Mark Evans for Evocative Perfumes 2014

November 22, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Kate Apted

G’day APJ folk!

Vanilla? Yuck, no thanks!

I hate vanilla in perfumes. End of story. It belongs in foods and reminds me of endlessly of vanilla ice cream and vanilla flavoured rice puddings. Just don’t bring me a bottle and ask me to try it if it is vanilla centred. But then one day…

I bought a sample set of Mark Evans’ Evocative Perfumes; the alcohol based scents. Out of a solid sense of duty to the effort gone by Mark to make all the scents in the pack, I felt I owed it to him to try every single scent. Even the dreaded one called Vanille Tonique. I sprayed with my breath held and forgot I was even wearing it minutes later.

Vanille Tonique by Evocative Perfumes 2014

Vanille Tonique by Mark Evans

Vanile Tonique begins in a very humble, quiet way. There is nothing booming about it in the way some other vanillas open. It eased its way to my nose about 15 minutes later with a slightly spiced, non sweet glow. I actually had to wrack my brain to think of what I was wearing. I was running errands that day and quite busy, so it had slipped my mind. I got home to find out what I had sprayed. Aha! Vanille Tonique. Oh. No.

I lasted out the few hours of the day til shower time to gauge the development of Vanile Tonique; desperate to find a reason to hate it. I sprayed all of Mark’s other creations on cards and tried each of them again. As much as I love several other of Mark’s scents nothing captured me quite like Vanille. I had to admit by shower time that the mildly buttery development and the simmering spices were a love. My body heat had amped up the voracity of the whole composition without once making the vanilla sweet or overpowering. And though not a powerhouse, it had accompanied me in my shadow the whole 6 hours. It had trailed off to a skin scent by 5 hours, but I find I get bored of scents by then.

PDI

A week later, at Tafe, I had been craving something, but I wasn’t sure what. I grabbed a few of the Evocative samples and smelled them at all the red lights on my way to Tafe. Vanille Tonique still stood out. It was exactly what I was after. I ordered a bottle during my break and as I ate my food, I pondered on what had shifted in me. I smelled my arm and it did not interfere with my appetite.

One of the things I totally deplore about sweet, gourmandish scents is that they do affect my desire to eat. As a half-arsed body builder (that is another story), I have to fit a certain number of calories into my day. Vanille Tonique doesn’t ever interfere with my food and appetite. As projection is arm’s length, and the spices are what bring the subtle heat, the vanilla is left to be what it is. Just a delightful, somewhat sensual, warm glow that does not have that hyper vanilla of ice cream.

PDI

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies
Evocative Perfumes has $40/12ml oil + Samples from $4

Are there any gateway scents that have completely spun you around? Are there any notes you still won’t try?

Kate xxx

Vanille Tonique by Mark Evans for Evocative Perfumes 2014

June 5, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there APJ,

This weekend has seen Mark Evans as the featured perfumer on Facebook Fragrance Friends. When I saw him there it reminded me to put on one of his creations. Then I thought I’d look it up to see what I’d written about it but OMG! there was no APJ post about it. Let’s fix that right now then…..

Vanille Tonique by Evocative Perfumes 2014

Vanille Tonique by Mark Evans

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Olibanum, ylang-ylang
Heart: Vanilla, orchid, woods
Base: Ambrette (musk mallow), musk, benzoin

Thick and dry, resinous and sweet. Not bakery. A woody balminess that is crackly for the first few minutes and then suddenly smooths over into a soft as silk creamy caramel. Lightly smoky and warming.

The heart is a simple vanilla centre with softly fragrant back ups that add interest and keep the vanilla alive. Much more sheer through the heart, so wearable and engaging. If you are looking for a challenging fragrance that really pushes the boundaries you won’t find it here. Vanilla Tonique is softly alluring and sweetly wearable. I would even suggest it as a perfect date-night scent because while it’s no powerhouse in the 2-4 hour mark it is a lovely low key fragrance that could well be irresistible.

WikiCommons

I love that Mark Evans is an Aussie Independent Perfumer who is full of fire and enthusiasm. Part of my love for the indies is their ability to do wonderful stuff unfettered by IRFA compliance and rooms full of target audience panels. Here is a man who really loves fragrance and wants to add his olfactory voice to the chorus.

Evocative Perfumes has the Oil and EdP starting at $40
Evocative Perfumes also has the sample set on SALE! AUD$28 10 x 1ml samples FREE WORLD SHIPPING!

Have you tried any of the Evocative Perfumes?

Portia xx

Evocative Perfumes GIVEAWAY WINNERS

October 20, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hey there Crew!

Firstly: THANK YOU to the incredible generosity of Mark at Evocative Perfumes. Please go and check out his site and try some of his marvelous creations. You will be well rewarded for your time and money, these fragrances are lovely.
Good Luck everyone.

Portia xx

Evocative Perfumes GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get:
1 x Evocative Perfume Oil Sample Sets (Aquarelle, Imogen, Olibanum, Evelyn’s Rose, Fleur de Magnolia)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

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

Go to Evocative Perfumes and tell me any fragrance they sell online and a note that it contains. NO DOUBLE UPS!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Evocative Perfumes GIVEAWAY @EvocativeParfum http://wp.me/p3PURw-3hl #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 19th October 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen prospectsplus

Damir Gašljević (via Twitter)

Sun Mi Fontaine

The winners will have till Thursday 23rd October 2014 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.

Evocative Perfumes

October 17, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 32 Comments

Hey there APJ Crew,

My mate Mark Evans from Evocative Perfumes has sent me a package. Honestly, he sent it back in June or July and it has been sitting on the To Do Pile but I never seem to have the time to look at a few fragrances at once so it keeps getting shunted. Yes, I feel like a bad friend. Mark is an independent Australian perfumer who is causing quite a stir with his pretty, interesting and evocative perfumes (yes, I know, see what I did there?). He is exactly the sort of micro niche perfumer that we like to showcase on APJ because he is able to create beautiful scents without the IFRA guidelines, meaning we get to wear real amounts of fabulous ingredients. YAY!! Do go have a look at their Evocative Perfumes site, excellent fragrances for a song….

Evocative Perfumes

Olibanum by Evocative Perfumes

From Evocative Perfumes: When frankincense is used in perfumery, it is referred to with its old name Olibanum. The name Olibanum is derived from the Arabic word “al-luban” which means “that which results from milking”. ‘Olibanum’ starts off with green gassy pine which passes through cypress wood and leaf then to the resin itself at the heart of the fragrance. Later, after the incense is spent, there remains a slightly smoky ash note

Soft, sweet funky resins and woods, clean like walking into the house after it’s been totally scrubbed but warm enough to feel like a soft loving hug. The smoke is a bit like the smoke after you’ve blown a candle out, a slightly waxy smoke crossed with the burning incense. Olibanum is a bit soft for me but I can see it becoming a firm favourite for work because it softly smells gorgeous.

Imogen by Evocative Perfumes

From Evocative Perfumes: Outwardly a refined, feminine, powdery, spicy Oriental perfume that leaves a trail of lemon, bergamot, vanilla, jasmine, rose, orris root, patchouli, balsams and sandalwood. But get in closer to the skin and there lies a rich, provocative Russian leather note that gradually becomes more available as the night wears on.

Imogen opens like a sharp citrus rose from the garden, all bright and green. There is iris through it all, Ainslie brought over some orris this week and now I know its smell, here it plays powder and patchouli plays earth. Together I find them wafting through the other notes creating something bigger and better that themselves. The resins burnish the fragrance and give it a warm sheen. Imogen is lovely, I would be very interested to see how it smells in an EdP. I could imagine wearing Imogen regularly in a spritzable form. MMMMM

Nice work Mark, I’m impressed,

Portia xx

Photo Stolen hemodernhome

Evocative Perfumes + GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get:
1 x Evocative Perfume Oil Sample Sets (Aquarelle, Imogen, Olibanum, Evelyn’s Rose, Fleur de Magnolia)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Go to Evocative Perfumes and tell me any fragrance they sell online and a note that it contains. NO DOUBLE UPS!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Evocative Perfumes GIVEAWAY @EvocativeParfum http://wp.me/p3PURw-3hl #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 19th October 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 23rd October 2014 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.

Evelyn's Rose by Mark Evans for Evocative Perfumes

June 2, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Post by Sister Mary Magdalen, Patron Saint of Perfumers

Today APJ I invite you all to remember and enjoy simple pleasures…

Although ordinarily living an entirely cloistered life, recently myself and another of the Sisters ventured to our nearby provincial Rose Garden for seasonal devotions. Marvelous sunshine and hundreds of rose varieties in full bloom saw hours pass in happy contemplation. Whilst some folk no doubt admire the colour or form of the bloom above all, for us the attraction was chiefly in the fragrance. This led us in short order to beds planted with David Austin roses. This English rose breeder introduces cultivars that are selected for their rich intense scent. With so many varieties of his roses blooming, it was not long before we were exclaiming over such notes as violet, hyacinth, musk, myrrh, honey, incense, quince and apple in the various flowers.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

One of these David Austin roses, Evelyn Rose, had a delicious peachy note along with a superb Old English Rose heart. He named it for English toiletries company Crabtree and Evelyn who are said to use this rose variety in some of their products. I had not fallen for the C&E perfume on recent test, so it was a treat then to discover another Evelyn’s Rose by an Australian perfumer.

Evelyn’s Rose by Mark Evans for Evocative Perfumes

Photo Stolen Evocative Perfumes

Evocative Perfumes gives these featured accords in one line”
Evelyn’s Rose, rose, clean musks

A burst of almost minty freshness heralds a delightful rose heart with a fresh peach character. Musky notes start unfurling early on, and despite my initial concern that the musks might stray too far in the direction of the laundry for my tastes, they are restrained and balanced with the fruit and floral facets in the composition.

The overall impression is of a naturalistic fresh rose with fruity and clean musky elements. As the scent wears, a wisp of incense smoke seems to weave its way through. Evelyn’s Rose is a sweet and simple rose scent. For me it is a lovely memento of a day out amongst the real roses. This is a perfume oil to be applied sparingly. A few dabs give around 6 hours of being the centre of a pleasant rosy cloud.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Often people seeking a rose perfume will declare they are looking for a “true” rose. Having sniffed scores of these luscious shapeshifters, I’m not sure such a thing exists!

Evocative Perfumes has $35/12ml Perfume Oil

Do you have a favourite rose soliflore scent or favourite variety of rose bloom? What other notes have you smelled in rose blooms?

Remember, take time to smell the roses,
Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers.