Tuscan Leather by Harry Frémont + Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud for Tom Ford 2007

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Post by Joseph Sagona

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(Ed: APJ is pleased to have Joseph: The Scented Apprentice come Guest with us today. Please jump across and have a look at The Scented Apprentice too, Great stuff)

Hello fragrance friends, have you ever sat there and wondered what is the perfect fragrance for you? What suits you best? Fits your personality? Is it a certain note that makes your nose and body tingle with pure ecstasy? Perhaps it’s oud, amber or oakmoss? Mine is leather and to me Tom Ford’s Tuscan Leather is the quintessential leather fragrance. It’s the perfect balance between dark and sweet, no other fragrance I have ever smelled comes close to it, welcome to my Tuscan Leather journey.

Tuscan Leather by Tom Ford 2007

Tuscan Leather by Harry Frémont + Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud

Tuscan Leather Tom Ford FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Saffron, thyme, raspberry
Heart: Jasmine, olibanum
Base: Leather, suede, amber, woody notes

I get the Saffron, Raspberry, Leather, Suede, Woody Notes and Olibanum, it starts off with some saffron and raspberry making it bitter, tangy and dry, the saffron is soft and the raspberry is mild.

Then after about thirty minutes the saffron dissipates along with the bitterness, the raspberry softens and remains, in comes the leather and suede, making it dark, pungent and musky, the leather is mild, the suede is soft. After about three hours the raspberry dissipates along with the suede, the leather softens and remains, in comes the olibanum and woody notes making it incensed, creamy and a touch woody. the olibanum is soft, the woody notes are mild.

Imagine being in Las Vegas “The City Of Sin” in the early 1960’s as a twenty one year old paparazzi photographer, you’re working the red carpet of the major motion picture movie premier of Ocean’s 11, you see the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Angie Dickinson in the crowd of many actors and actresses of the day.

Tuscan Leather Tom Ford Rat Pack Don Graham FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Everyone is anticipating the big entrance of “The Rat Pack”, the stars of the show, they finally walk in to cheers and screams. You especially idolize Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, you grew up watching their movies and listening to their music. You wanted to be just like them and also have the utmost respect for Sammy Davis Jr. Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. They’re all signing autographs and having a great time. You yell out “Dean, Frank over here, over here!” They walk over to you and you can’t believe it, this is a moment you have been dreaming about since you were a little boy.

As they are being cordial to their fans, Dean lights up a cigarette and Frank lights up a big fat cigar, they have on beautiful leather overcoats that you take notice of, you can’t help but slightly lean over and take a slow, deep whiff. You close your eyes and smell the sweet, aromatic, soft supple leather, the cigarette and cigar smoke is pulsating off their jackets, it’s such a transparent heavenly odor, this is a magical moment you will never forget and treasure forever. Tuscan Leather is just that.

Tuscan Leather Tom Ford Smoking boy TumblerPhoto Stolen Tumbler

Further reading: The Muse In Wooden Shoes and EauMG
Most large Department Stores have Tom Ford
Nordstrom have $215/50ml with FREE US Shipping
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/.5ml

What I love most about Tuscan Leather is how in the first two hours it’s very rough, rugged and masculine, then it changes into almost a feminine fragrance with the soft floral notes, it’s totally unisex., this would be perfect for cool fall days and the winter, I get good projection and average longevity.

What’s your leather?
Joseph Sagona x

Mardi Gras GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Another great giveaway thanks to the incredible Azar, and Ellen Covey of Olympic Orchids. Thanks to you girls for being amazing. Consistently amazing.

Portia xx

Mardi Gras GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Mardi_Gras Olympic OrchidsPhoto Stolen Olympic Orchids

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x 2 ml decant of the new Mardi Gras
1 x 1 ml decant from my bottle of Version #1
1 x mystery sample of a dark and musky perfume oil
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 (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) 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 tell us if you have tried Olympic Orchids new Mardi Gras fragrance or about your favorite “parfum de puta”!

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 28th May 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

 

Winners brooklodgePhoto Stolen brooklodge

Laura Matheson

Claudia

The winners will have till Sunday 31st May 2015 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.

Sunshine by Sidonie Lancesseur for Amouage 2014

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Post by FeralJasmine

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Originally from Musette on Perfume Posse: Sunshine, is that brightest gold!  It’s the summer sunlight as you emerge from a shaded canopy in a primeval forest, where darkness really does have its own backstory.  You can sense the spirits of Nature that have gone before but there is also a thread of new life that is woven within that forest and once you come out of the canopy the brilliance of the sun affirms that life.  Sunshine weaves all of those feelings into its composition – this is no sparkly little citrus, with a frilly sort of charm.  It’s a grounded, warm scent, with a core of burnished brightness…….

Sunshine by Sidonie Lancesseur for Amouage 2014

Warm Sun on Skin: Amouage Sunshine

Sunshine Amouage FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Artemisia, black currant, almond
Heart: Osmanthus, jasmine, magnolia, vanilla
Base: Juniper, patchouli, papyrus, white tobacco

This is a pretty perfume. From the rush of blackcurrant softened with almond and apricot (probably the davana and osmanthus),through the jasmine-floral musky heart, to the drydown of blond tobacco and an earthy touch of patchouli, this one is just plain pretty on me. I love warm florals, and this one is definitely warm. It has some fresh notes but they aren’t obnoxious. It is light. It sparkles and effervesces. It smells like spring. It comes in a bottle that reminds me of a yellow Chanel handbag that I once desperately wanted for most of a day (I got over it.) It lasts about four hours even on my skin, which means it would probably last eight on normal skin. Pretty, pretty, pretty.

unshine Amouage Sunshine Flowers danigeza PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Sure, I’ll take a bottle. It will be a nice addition to my summer line-up. And it costs what? Really??? Areyoufuckinkiddingme? You are trying to charge me 450 American dollars for this? I’ll give you $150. Okay, 200, I’ll throw in 50 for the bottle, and that’s my final offer. What do you mean, you won’t haggle?

So I will never own a bottle of this, as much as I want one. Like that brilliant Chanel handbag, I long for it but the value-for-money factor just isn’t there. I am not among the reviewers who think it’s an awful synthetic mess; I like it a lot. But I just can’t get my mind around the idea of paying that sort of money for it. At the end of the day, it’s a warm and pretty floral in a nice package. No more, no less.

Sunshine Amouage AlzirrSwanheartStock DeviantArtPhoto Stolen DeviantArt

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Perfume Posse
Libertine Parfumerie has $499/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6/.5ml

What was Amouage thinking? What do you think?
FeralJasmine xxx

vero.profumo. Aficionados

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Post by Val the Cookie Queen

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vero.profumo. aficionados. Shared thoughts.

“Vero Kern is one the real gems of the perfume world. She is an amazingly talented and inspiring woman who proves that you can make your dreams a reality at any age. Her perfume line, Vero Profumo, is a master-class in excellence and demonstrates the way perfumes used to be made, but rarely are now.”

TARA SMITH. Olfactoria´s Travels

vero.profumo. Aficionados #1

“Vero’s fragrances honour the classics while having a strong identity of their own.”

“My first encounter with Vero’s fragrances was a couple years ago in Milan, around the time she introduced Mito at Pitti Fragranze (in Florence). I had been wanting to try Rubj for quite a long time (I had even pondered -insane me- to purchase it unsniffed), so I headed straight to a small but smartly stocked perfume shop which I knew carried the line. I was a bit puzzled by Rubj because it was not what I had been expecting (a few days later I realized we had mistakenly sampled Onda for Rubj!) but was amazed at its complexity. There was something extremely compelling in that dirty almost fetid aroma that kept my wrist glued to my nose, it felt almost perverse.
Some days later, at Pitti, I was finally able to meet the creator herself and sample the whole of her line and, after a few wearings of each sample, Kiki chose me. I didn’t want to love it. A lavender? Something so lacking in drama? Something my father wore? But Kiki grabbed me and refused to let me go and I became fascinated by it. I had never before found a fragrance I felt so represented by if it makes any sense. I felt like someone had distilled me 🙂

I affectionately use the word “chanchito” when referring to Vero’s fragrances (chancho = pig). That naughty dirtiness that is both repelling and compelling.
Though I am not too often complimented on my Veros, when I am, I find the compliments come from people with an artistical background who notice and appreciate them: the opera lovers, the ballerinas, the actors, the film directors.
These are perfumey perfumes but they meld with the skin in a special way, becoming something infinitely more powerful than either the perfume itself or my skin.. When worn, they seem to radiate from within, like an aura. I love the fact that they smell rich and substantial, yet not “in your face” or agressive.
There are a few -VERY few- other lines I feel a special affection for but this was as if I had discovered a whole new dimension.
They have soul and body (and most definitely sex), they are perfumes for those who aren’t afraid of their own bodies.”

CARO. Té de Violetas May 2015

vero.profumo. Aficionados #2

vero.profumo. Aficionados #3

“I will swear on a pile of ripening passion fruit, ravaged roses and caramel-drenched lavender that Vero Kern is an addictively fabulous olfactive pornographer. In Spring 2013, I was asked by the Scottish Poetry Society to curate nine poems to nine fragrances. One of these just had to be Vero’s extraordinary Onda, still my fetish VP scent. I married it to one of the most poignant poems of the 20th century, ‘For My Lover Returning To His Wife’ by the doomed and torn Anne Sexton, a woman driven by desire and the rollercoaster shocks of life and love. Of the nine scents, there was only ever one I was going to wear. I wore Onda on the night, my skin drunk on sex in the truly beautiful setting of the Victorian Palm House of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. When Vero knew I would be wearing Onda and writing on her perfume, she very kindly sent me a bottle of her divine Onda Extrait as a gift to wish me luck. It was a heartstopping gesture. I wore the two strengths together. On the night, people inhaled me greedily, dirtily. It was glorious.”

THE SILVER FOX. 12 May 2015

vero.profumo. Aficionados #4

vero.profumo. Aficionados #5

FREDDY ALBRIGHTON. May 2015. Tattoo Artist. No words needed.

“I’ve tried to write about Vero’s work for the past few years but I feel like I haven’t quite gotten it right. Reviewing the individual perfumes is a start, but there’s a bigger picture when I look at her entire body of work. I recognize how beautiful her perfumes are, but it’s more than beauty. How is it that all of her perfumes have such a strong effect on me? And why can’t I put my finger on why her work is so significant to me?

The real question is why on earth I would fret over these details. The fact is that I’ve found the perfumer whose work speaks to me like no other. I might not be able to put words to it, but I’ve found the artist whose work strikes something deep in me and inspires my spirit. The artist and the audience seek each other out, but it’s rare to find such a good fit. I’ve learned to stop worrying and love Vero.”

JTD JTD. Scenthurdle May 2015

vero.profumo. Aficionados #6

“New Year´s Eve 2012. I had a small vial of Rubj EdP. I had been saving it since the autumn. The rest is history. The sociality I share with the above people
has come to be through our mutual love of .vero.profumo.. Perfume is the common interest – Vero Kern´s perfumes the connection. Vero creates with heart, honey
and passion. A piece of her soul in every creation. To some it speaks. The collection from Vero Kern is an olfactory piece of art, each fragrance representing a different part
of the picture. My painting is nearly finished. I am often asked if I have a favourite. Today it is the Mito Extrait. Tomorrow?”

CQ APJ contributor May 2015

vero.profumo. Aficionados #7

First In Fragrance has the vero.profumo range
LuckyScent does too
Surrender To Chance has samples of quite a lot of the range

Rubj Tuesday Bussis
CQ

Mardi Gras by Ellen Covey for Olympic Orchids 2015

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Post by Azar

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In 2011 Ellen Covey of Olympic Orchids sent me a very unusual gift, two 15 ml prototypes of one of her best selling fragrances. The bottles were labeled Version #1 and Version #3. For whatever reason these perfumes had not made the cut and had never been offered for sale.

Version #3 was a beautiful honeyed citrus with plenty of sandalwood and amber. #1 was also a honeyed fragrance but much louder and more angular, opening with a sharp, synthetic, edgy orange blossom, progressing to a heart of dark, earthy labdanum/cistus/honey and drying down over several hours to a musky, slightly cheesy, animalic civet and amber. I fell in love with Version #1 and so did my husband.

While very different from and not quite as skanky as that quintessential “parfum de puta” – Tabu, Version #1 was definitely in the same league. As far as I knew no one else was wearing this prototype dazzler and I began to consider #1 my personal, one of a kind fragrance.

Late last year Olympic Orchids (with a little prompting) reconsidered the possibilities of Version #1. Ellen toned down the slutty first impression with natural orange blossom and neroli, smoothed and reinforced the cistus with benzoin and tweaked the animalic dry down. The new fragrance, aptly named Mardi Gras, debuted in early 2015.

Mardi Gras by Ellen Covey for Olympic Orchids 2015

Mardi_Gras Olympic OrchidsPhoto Stolen Olympic Orchids

Olympic Orchids gives these featured accords in one line:
Orange blossom, neroli, cistus, benzoin, vanilla, civet and special musk blend.

Mardi Gras is a much more sophisticated, refined and wearable scent than Version #1. She is a southern belle who has managed to retain the dark magic of her native New Orleans. Of the two fragrances Mardi Gras is probably the better perfume, but I still have a soft spot in my heart for her brazen older sister.

Further reading: Ca Fleure Bon
Mardi Gras is available online at Olympic Orchids in 1ml or 30ml

Azar xx

Giveaway Kesha&CoPhoto Stolen Kesha&Co

Mardi Gras GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x 2 ml decant of the new Mardi Gras
1 x 1 ml decant from my bottle of Version #1
1 x mystery sample of a dark and musky perfume oil
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO 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 (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) 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 tell us if you have tried Olympic Orchids new Mardi Gras fragrance or about your favorite “parfum de puta”!

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 28th May 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Sunday 31st May 2015 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.

Une Rose Chypree by Andy Tauer for Tauer Perfumes 2009

Hey Frag Family,

My mate Natalie from the now sadly defunct Not Another Perfume Blog gave me a bunch of samples and decants when she quit blogging. It has been really interesting slowly going through her bag because some of the things lurking inside are brand new to me, others are fragrances I’ve tried earlier in my obsession and while I liked them well enough when I first tried them I may have been too green or have had a much more limited understanding of scent. It is really fabulous to come across a scent that became lost in the multitudes again and have a second chance with it.

Today I am going to look at exactly one such……

Une Rose Chypree by Andy Tauer for Tauer Perfumes 2009

Une Rose Chypree Tauer Perfumes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cinnamon, bay, bergamot, lemon, Clementine orange
Heart: Bulgarian rose, rose absolue, Bourbon geranium Base: Labdanum, oakmoss, patchouli, vetiver, vanilla

Sizzling spices and citrus burst out of the nozzle immediately and my office is filled with the scent of sun, fun, joy and playfulness. An explosion, a riot, a zinging zesty carnival of scent. The citruses are marvellously shown off with the addition of spice and I feel a real hot chilli effect too. It’s like you’ve thrown the spices in the pan to cook together before you add your meat to a sweet curry. Yesterday I complained of A La Rose not living on my skin, well here is a fragrance that not only lives but makes a cacophony! Une Rose Chypree is F U N and fabulous.

Une Rose Chypree Tauer Perfumes frying-pan olafBroeker PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

One of the things I usually love about Andy Tauer’s work is the slow progression of stages, I get to really live and smell each transformation and enjoy the pieces of his puzzle. Maybe I’m lucky because his work really seems to like my skin chemistry. In the heart of Une Rose Chypree I get this amazing caramel/toffee/rose melange, it is delicious, unusual and crunchy. Warm and cozy yet totally good for hot weather. Today is a very pleasant 21C (70F) and Une Rose Chypree is a perfect scent to take me through the day and into evening.

Dry down comes hours later and lasts into the next morning with Andy’s famous Tuer-ade lingering and getting sweeter and softer as it progresses. In the morning a whisper of sweet Une Rose Chypree resins lays over my skin making my early morning funk smell pleasant and still edible. MMMMMMM

Une Rose Chypree Tauer Perfumes Fondant_Rose WikiCommonsPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

One thing I will say is that if you have a zero fragrance policy at your work then this humdinger is probably not going to fit the bill, no matter how lightly you spray Une Rose Chypree is a big scent and an attention grabber for the first 3-4 hours. More often than not I will be complimented on my fragrance when wearing Une Rose Chypree, she is a showstopper.

Une Rose Chypree sample Tauer PerfumesPhoto Stolen Tauer Perfumes

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and Perfume Shrine
IndieScents has $140/50ml
Tauer Perfumes has samples starting at $5.40

Have you ever revisited a fragrance that you liked to find that it was true love? Which one, or ones?
Portia xx

OMG! The Panty Dropper

Hey there APJ,

This is a well loved sentence from the more dude-ish of the fragrant communiry and a few of us were chatting about it the other week which inspired me to write a post both serious and completely tongue-in-cheek. I am so proud to be writing for My Perfume Samples and I think they have a wonderful business model and are a super great crew to work for.

Please drop over and have a little laugh at my Panty Dropper post. It comes with a 15% Discount Code across the entire store too. My Perfume Samples<<JUMP

OMG! The Panty Dropper

portia-post-4
Photo Stolen My Perfume Samples

I hope you’re all having a lovely Sunday and that we catch you over there.
See you

Portia xx

A La Rose by Maison Francis Kurkdjian 2014

Cooee APJers,

I ordered this decant a while ago and then must have put it in the samples box I just rediscovered. HOORAY that I found it. Does this ever happen to you? Decants lost among the most enormous number of other samples/decants? One day I will take the time to really organise my shit, till then surprise finds will be a part of my life…..

A La Rose by Maison Francis Kurkdjian 2014

A La Rose Maison Francis Kurkdjian FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, orange, lemon
Heart: Turkish red rose, Damask rose, violets
Base: Cedar

Maison Francis Kurkdjian gives these featured accords in one line:
Damascena Rose from Bulgaria – Bergamot from Calabria – Orange from California – Violet – Magnolia blossom – Cedar wood – Musk – Centifolia Rose from Grasse

Before we talk fragrance can I just put it out there that I think Francis Kurkdjian looks like a very nice man. There is something engaging about him, every time I see a photo or video my mind thinks that he would be a lovely friend to have. Do any of you think the same?

So on to A La Rose. I like the sweet citrus, slightly pithy opening. There are no white flowers mentioned but I get a distinct hint, maybe the magnolia? Magnolia kind of fits, especially with the citrus; and musk, white musk, lashings in the opening or is it some resin that’s making my mouth go quietly fuzzy. A La Rose wears more as a wash than a fragrance on me. Subtle, airy, loads of space between the notes. Free and clean, it’s like Francis Kurkdjian has captured a spring breeze in a rose garden, or standing among the roses at the end of the row of a citrus orchard.

A La Rose by Maison Francis Kurkdjian rose Public Domain ImagesPhoto P.D.I.

When we get to the roses they are sheer, luxe and sadly for me a bit boring. To be fair though I can see this being exactly how many people would want to smell. It’s a lovely soft focus rose with a lightly citrus fizz and a small crackle of green behind it all. It does smell expensive and gives a very rich feel but if this was the kind of scent I was hoping to wear I would probably choose the MUCH cheaper, louder and less nuanced brashness of 1977s Tea Rose by Perfumer`s Workshop.

A La Rose hums along nicely for a while and very slightly woodies up before fading from my skin completely. Really I think that my skin has not married well with this particular scent and I urge you to try it yourself, you wear will hopefully be completely different. What a shame.

A La Rose by Maison Francis Kurkdjian rose JamesDeMeres PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Further reading: Now Smell This and Candy Perfume Boy
LuckyScent has $245/70ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $5.25/.5ml

Have you tried A La Rose? What are your impressions?
Portia xx

pc01 by Patricia Choux for biehl parfumkunstwerke 2007

Hi there Niche Nerds,

Here we have a crew from Hamburg who really want to give perfumers free reign. They make small batches of juice and use simple packaging, everything is about the fragrance. That’s a pretty cool way to work, “Quality NOT Quantity” but it does make me wonder how they make any money? To be honest I’ve not tried very much of the line before but when I did try them was in major sniff mode on holidays so my memories are hazy at best.

What you’ll get today is a stream of consciousness first impression, pretty sure I’ve never sniffed pc01 before and I haven’t looked up the notes yet, come on, it’ll be fun……

pc01 by Patricia Choux for biehl parfumkunstwerke 2007

eo03 biehl parfumkunstwerke  FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

BaseNotes gives these featured accords:
Top: Tangerine, neroli, davana, mango leaves
Heart: Peony, iris, mango
Base: Kashmir wood, vetiver, musk

So on opening I get a lovely aquatic fruity melange that is reminiscent of one of the Hermès Jardin range, a fruit salad with a lovely nearly ripe mango and some other fruits that is sheer and mildly salted. I think even in the opening I can smell the vetiver where the brackish water feature of its dry greenness is the focus they’ve chosen. There is something slightly wild and unfettered about pc01 even though I get no growl, it’s just a feeling.

MMMMMMMMMM yes, I smell summer, boating on a bay, everything I smell here is tinged with water and wind. A warm day but you’re sitting in the shade, maybe you’re drinking fruity cocktails. Maybe you’ve had lunch, some drinks and a fruits salad to finish. This then is the scent in your mouth and nose just before you dive into the bay to work off those calories.

pc01-biehl-parfumkunstwerke Roger FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

The heart is slightly sweet peony that is still quite sheer and lightly fruity, a fresh (as in fresh flowers not super jock blue frags) fragrance that is cool and collected. I don’t get much wood at all but loads of white musk and a little dry vetiver in the base. Simple and it smells nice. An extremely expensive feeling department store fragrance that you could easily gift.

SURPRISE!!! I thought this was going to be way too challenging, arty farty, unwearable, head up their ass perfume that I would have to be totally objective about. Um, NO! It’s lovely, wearable and not challenging at all. Actually it’s so pretty I could imagine it becoming a go to, spritz & go fragrance.

pc01-biehl-parfumkunstwerke girl sina_rose DeviantArtPhoto Stolen DeviantArt

Further reading: From Pyrgos and Now Smell This
First In Fragrance has €150/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Have you tried any of these biehl parfumkunstwerke fragrances?
Portia xx

Galerie de Parfum: Niche Winter Perfume and Cocktail Masterclass: Photo Essay

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Post by Ainslie Walker

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Galerie de Parfum in Myer Melbourne held Australia’s first niche Perfume and Cocktail Masterclass in May. The event paired niche winter fragrances with bespoke cocktails designed by passionate mixologist Justin Ryann Forsyth. I travelled to Melbourne especially as it sounded like far too much fun!

Ainslie Booze frags #8

Ainslie Booze frags #14

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Ainslie Booze frags #10

Guests experienced fragrances whilst tasting the partnering cocktails. Presenters Lucy Borland, Training Director and Ricky Katyal, Business Development Manager for Galerie De Parfum explained the fascinating history of niche, the fragrance wheel and seasonal fragrances in focus.

Ainslie Booze frags #13

Ainslie Booze frags #11

Galerie de Parfum

Niche Winter Perfume and Cocktail Masterclass

Cocktail/Fragrance Menu:

– L’Artisan- Batucada lime, Jamaican rum, fresh muddled barbequed pineapple with roasted coconut rim. The beaches of Brazil inspired the fragrance, like a holiday in a bottle.

Ainslie Booze frags #3

– P. Frapin & Cie -1270 combined intoxicating Drambuie honey scotch, whisky, lillet rouge and orange. Frapin first planted vines for champagne and cognac making in 1270, making them the oldest family run business in the world. The gourmand and woody fragrance proved popular with guests.

Ainslie Booze frags #1

– Keiko Mecheri – Loukhoulm contained chocolate and cherry liqueur, amaretto, almond syrup, Campari and orange. The fragrance itself is inspired by Turkish delight and has notes of almond -a flawless selection for dating.

Ainslie Booze frags #7

– Juliette Has A Gun- Gentlewoman champagne based, with peach liqueur, aperol, lemon and orange blossom to capture the Eau De Cologne style perfume which has a surprise additional note of almond.

Ainslie Booze frags #2

– Penhaligon- Empressa dry brut based with muddled strawberry, lemon and vanilla. Already a seasonal hit, Empressa has recently launched in Australia. Classed as a woody oriental – Chanel Mademoiselle fans will undeniably love.

Ainslie Booze frags #6

Empressa Cocktail:
60ml Belvedere Vodka
30ml Lemon Juice
30ml Vanilla syrup
1/2 muddled strawberry
Place strawberry in bottom of cocktail shaker, add vanilla syrup and lemon juice. Muddle strawberry thoroughly until liquid becomes pink and small bits of strawberry are visible. Add vodka. Fill with ice, and shake hard for several seconds until ice softens. Single strain into crystal champagne flute filled with ice. Pour only half way up, and fill the rest with chilled sparkling wine. garnish with a strawberry slice and a red striped straw.

Alongside the theatrics of cocktail making, fashion blogger and illustrator Alexia Petsinis demonstrated her fascinating artistry skills, illustrating live, the exquisite bottle packaging of niche fragrances – with Loukhoum and Batacuda as her subjects. Absolutely amazing, I promise to write more on her soon!

Ainslie Booze frags #15

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Ainslie Booze frags #5

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Each guest left with a generous niche goody bag and cocktail menu booklets. The majority of guests made purchases from the hand picked niche selection – taking with them a special keepsake of the night.

Ainslie Booze frags #9

As you can see from the pictures, it was well worth the trip! Stay tuned for some fragrant cocktail recipes you can make for yourself over the next few weeks on APJ

Ainslie

All photos Donated by Ainslie Walker