Niche

Top Five Hot Weather Fragrances: Gabriella 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

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Gabriella

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Hello perfumed peeps!

We’ve had quite sultry weather in Melbourne lately with temperatures over 30C for days straight. The heat has caught everyone by surprise, including me, as it usually doesn’t get this hot until January or February. The change was sudden too: one day I was in jumpers and coats and luxuriating in my dark rose and woody scents and the next day I’m sweltering in a sundress and wondering what perfume to wear. So, today I want to share my:

Top Five Hot Weather Fragrances

Fragrantica

Amyris Femme by Francis Kurkdjian for Maison Francis Kurkdjian 2012

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon leaf, orange leaf
Heart: Amyris, iris
Base: Vetiver, agarwood (oud)

The Parisian chic choice. Amyris Femme dazzles from the opening with bright and juicy lemon blossom coupled with soft iris and delicately spiced woods. It’s a joyous scent that is still incredibly elegant and poised.

Further reading: The Candy Perfume Boy
Mecca Cosmetica has 70ml/$228

Fragrantica

Carnal Flower by Dominique Ropion for Frederic Malle 2005

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, melon, eucalyptus
Heart: Ylang-ylang, jasmine, tuberose, salicylates
Base: Tuberose absolute, orange blossom absolute, coconut, musk

The sexy diva. Carnal Flower is the perfume equivalent of diving head first into a huge florist’s fridge brimming with creamy tuberose flowers. Lush tuberose is front and centre, but the eucalyptus provides a lovely green quality to the fleshy white blooms laced with a touch of coconut.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin
Mecca Cosmetica starts at 10ml/$84

Fragrantica

Lily by Florence Idier for Comme des Garcons: Olfactory Library 2000 (reissued 2017)

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Lily of the valley, freesia, syringa, dog rose buds

The lovely green one. I’ve struggled to find a good lily of the valley scent since the original Christian Dior Diorissimo was reformulated beyond recognition, but this may just be it. Here, the lily of the valley is very stemmy and verdant but devastatingly pretty.

Mecca Cosmetica has 50ml/$130

Fragrantica

Original Vetiver by Olivier Creed and Erwin Creed for Creed 2004

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Ginger, mandarin, bergamot
Heart: Vetiver from Haiti, Mysore sandalwood, Florentine Iris
Base: Musk, ambergris

The “It’s too hot for perfume” choice. Many vetivers tend to be on the heavier side but this is the soft caress of a feather on skin. Mandarin and bergamot keeps things bright and fresh with a touch of gentle iris and salty ambergris.

Further reading: Katie Puckrik Smells 
Libertine Parfumerie has $339/75ml

Fragrantica

Rosa Greta by Fabrice Pellegrin for Eau d’Italie 2017

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Litchi, white tea
Heart: Rose bud, Damascus rose infusion
Base: Cedarwood, ambrox

The summer office scent. Made to commemorate Greta Garbo’s disappearance from the paparazzi in the Amalfi Coast in 1938, Rosa Greta is joyful but still very elegant. Lychee and a gorgeous tea note lend a vibrancy to soft rose.

Mecca Cosmetica starts at 100ml/$204

So what are your favourite perfumes for when the mercury starts to rise?

With much love until next time!

G x

Sharing my Perfume Passion

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

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Sandra

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Hiya wonderful smelling APJers! How is everyone doing?

As many know, I have had a love affair with perfume since I was a child. I have other passions as well, such as travel, photography, sketching and music. I am not sure if it is the language or age, but I am obviously more comfortable in my skin now and where I would normally keep mum about my loves, I find myself expressing myself more freely. This is a great opportunity for me because it takes me to new places and I am meeting so many wonderful people.

A friend of mine approached me a few weeks ago to speak at an expat morning meeting at the school. About perfume! I was skeptical at first but decided to go ahead and it was a pleasant revelation for me of how open and curious people were.

Sharing my Perfume Passion

I decided to share my love of Neela Vermeire Creations. Big question was how to go about doing so. I adore Neela’s perfumes as they use some of my favorite notes and spices. The Netherlands is the place to live if you love flowers so my first stop was the florist where I discussed what kinds of flowers are readily available in November and they did a marvelous job. I chose to include fragrant flowers and not all are used in the NVC perfumes. We had lily, tuberose, freesia, ‘Yvette Piagaitte’ rose, ‘Free Spirit’ rose, a third rose which they could not name and finally stock also known as matthiola incana which is clove-like in scent.

I included fresh mango, cinnamon bark, cardamom pods, vanilla bean paste, essential oils of frankincense, sandalwood and jasmine and a leather clutch for its scent.

We kicked off the meeting by starting to sniff the various flowers. Many of the participants were astonished at how different each of the roses smelled.

There was the obvious love/hate reaction with tuberose. Interestingly though those from tropical climates loved the tuberose. We moved through the spices, oils and finally the fresh cut mango. Once that was done I sprayed Bombay Bling onto a tester paper and all were amazed that they could easily identify the mango and also the lychee. A friend of mine loved Trayee not for the incense but for the ganja which she could identify (I cannot). Several participants could identify cardamom or cinnamon.

In attendance was a man who did not know exactly what to expect but enthusiastically sniffed the flowers, spices and oils. When it came to testing the perfumes he was under the impression that a man could not possibly wear any of these perfumes. I convinced him to try Mohur as I find men can really rock its spicy rose with glorious sandalwood. He loved it and went away with the knowledge that perfume can be unisex and that it will smell differently on each and every one of us!

Each of the participants had a clear favorite so at the end of the talk I gave the participants samples of the perfumes they were interested in and a flower of their choosing. It was a lovely morning and I would like to thank the expat group for giving me this opportunity.

Neela Vermeire Creations Discovery Sample Set €55 

Do you have any inhibitions when it comes to talking about your perfume passion? What would you talk about?

Wishing everyone a wonderful start to December.

Oodles of fragrant kisses,
Sandra xo

 

(ED: All photos supplied by Sandra. Thank you. XXX)

Wood Infusion WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

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Portia

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Hey crew!
Thanks to the Goldfield & Banks peeps for their generosity we have a slew of winners today.
Portia x

Wood Infusion WINNERS

 

Goldfield & Banks give these featured accords:
Australian Exotic Woods, Sweet Orange, Iris Italy, Agarwood, Lavender Australia, Patchouli Indonesia, Musk, Amber

Goldfield & Banks has $229/100ml
City Perfume has $229/100ml (10% Discount Code: AFG17 and FREE AUSTRALIAN EXPRESS SHIPPING)

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 10 winners who will receive:
1 x spray Goldfield & Banks Wood Infusion decant
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Monday 3rd December 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

Ingrid

Lynda Allen

Shiva-woman

hage kay

Carolyn Kubea

Andrew

Kate Apted

Fazal

Melanie

Chocolate Marzipan

The winners will have till Thursday 7th December 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

SOTD 4 – 10 December 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 169 Comments

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Portia

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Hi APJ,

I see these SOTD (Scent Of The Day) threads all the time on Facebook and they are really good conversation generators.

SOTD 4 – 10 December 2017

The idea is you’ll chime in through the week with whatever scent you are wearing. You don’t need to be super knowledgable, have high faluting tastes or be a published author to comment. Just tell us what fragrance you’re wearing, smelling, buying etc.

You probably won’t have time to write every scent, every spritz but whenever you feel the mood take you share your current spritz and a few things about it. Maybe you love/loathe it, want it, are excited by the notes/bottle/SA who sold it: WHATEVER! As always here at APJ, taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
This week:

  1. Divine EdP
  2. Rouge Hermès
  3. Goldfield & Banks Wood Infusion
  4. Aedes de Venustas Palissandre d’Or
  5. Vintage CHANEL No 22 EdC

Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Sunday.

LAST WEEKS WINNER: MmkInPA

Go To It Crew.
Portia xxx

Wood Infusion by Goldfield & Banks 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 36 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Fumies,

Here is a delightful surprise. Australian crew Goldfield & Banks has a brand new scent on the market. It’s so new not even Fragrantica has the deets yet. We are very excited here at APJ to be one of the first to get our sniffers on it. We also have a chance for 10 lucky readers to get a sample sent to their home with love from Goldfield & Banks and APJ.

Wood Infusion by Goldfield & Banks 2017

Goldfield & Banks give these featured accords:
Australian Exotic Woods, Sweet Orange, Iris Italy, Agarwood, Lavender Australia, Patchouli Indonesia, Musk, Amber

Smooth, a soft woodsy patchouli with a very pretty lavender undercurrent. The sticky sweetness of orange on your lips after eating quarters floats effortlessly over the top, as if you’re smelling the fragrance through it. Cool and calming, the creaminess of sandalwood and resins keeps everything luxe and expensive.

Wood Infusion is so beautifully constructed with the heft of some of the early by Kilians but add in the clean blending perfection of Mona di Orio and the interesting combination of ingredients that only an independent perfume house can do. Here’s the thing though, Wood Infusion smells like the very best of the price lines released by so many of the fashion houses (DIOR, CHANEL, Armani et al) but BETTER. So much better.

From Goldfield & Banks: Inspired by the lush nature of the balmy heritage listed Fraser Island in the Pacific Ocean, Wood Infusion is a celebration of all wood species found around the island. This fragrance is an exotic infusion of Australian woods enriched with Sandalwood Album, Iris and velvety Agarwood (Oud Wood).

Goldfield & Banks has $229/100ml
City Perfume has $229/100ml (10% Discount Code: AFG17 and FREE AUSTRALIAN EXPRESS SHIPPING)

 

Wood Infusion GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 10 winners who will receive:
1 x spray Goldfield & Banks Wood Infusion decant
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 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 where you would wear your decant of Goldfield & Banks Wood Infusion

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Monday 3rd December 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 Thursday 7th December 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

Geisha Marron EdP by Maria McElroy for Aroma M 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

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Val the Cookie Queen

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Hi there super scented APJers,

From New York.

“Brown us surely the most underserved colour in all of perfumery. More than any other, it evokes the musty scent scent of succulent overripeness at sweetness that dares to skirt the edge of seductive decay.”

Geisha Marron EdP by Aroma M 2017

Aroma M Geisha Marron EdP by Maria McElroy

Aroma M

Maria has slowly expanded her original oil-based perfumes to include eau de parfum versions. I adore the oils, but a lot of people prefer
to spray. The Geisha Marron Eau de Parfum is a creamy warm autumnal lily. Smelling completely French, it totally surprised me. I have
the Geisha Noire and the Vanilla Hinoki, both orientals, and the Geisha Marron couldn´t be more different. Geisha Marron is white blooms tinged with auburn, with the sparkle of citrus; mandarin, bergamot and grapefruit, correct balance being critical to Maria McElroy´s creations. If the scent of the lily traditionally see the Spring in each year, then it would be appropriate that they continue their journey through the Autumn, preparing us for the chill of winter. This time wrapped in speckled brown leaves, fallow fields, and the bare trees with their dark branches.

Aroma M

In French, Marron means both chestnut and the colour brown. Maria has included the Japanese chestnut and magnolia to complement the lily and reign it in, so as not to let it quite take over. Geisha Marron EdP is the perfect introduction, for someone wanting to move from more traditional perfumes, into the artisanal world of the fabulous New York based Aroma M Perfumes.

Aroma M

You can order from Aroma M. It is a bit of a pain ordering from the US but there is a German company that carry some of the line and Maria McElroy will happily inform you as to the best way of going about it.

 

Chestnut flavoured bussis,

Val CQ X

SOTD 27 November – 3 December 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 133 Comments

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Portia

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Hi APJ,

I see these SOTD (Scent Of The Day) threads all the time on Facebook and they are really good conversation generators.

SOTD 27 November – 3 December 2017

The idea is you’ll chime in through the week with whatever scent you are wearing. You don’t need to be super knowledgable, have high faluting tastes or be a published author to comment. Just tell us what fragrance you’re wearing, smelling, buying etc.

You probably won’t have time to write every scent, every spritz but whenever you feel the mood take you share your current spritz and a few things about it. Maybe you love/loathe it, want it, are excited by the notes/bottle/SA who sold it: WHATEVER! As always here at APJ, taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
This week:

  1. Guerlain Vol de Nuit Evasion
  2. Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur
  3. Tauer Un Rose Chypree
  4. Rochas Madame Rochas (vintage)
  5. Mona di Orio Carnation

Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Sunday.

LAST WEEKS WINNER!! Melanie

Please send me your address to portia _ turbo AT yahoo DOT com DOT au

Go To It Crew.
Portia xxx

Vanille Tonique by Mark Evans for Evocative Perfumes 2014

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

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Kate Apted

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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.

Vanille Tonique by Evocative Perfumes vanilla-flower PixabayPDI

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

NEW! April Aromatics + The Different Company

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

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Sandra

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Hi APJ! How are you all doing? Can you believe we are nearing the end of the year already?

Where has the time gone? We are in full autumn swing here, buckling down for the coming winter. The heat is on and there is a chill in the air outside. I have been here in Rotterdam for soon to be eleven months! It definitely feels like home now, but I still have not hung any paintings on the walls – what is up with that?

Autumn is a time of closure for me. Summer is over with its long days and warm air kissing my skin. My son goes back to school which ends the innocent joys of childhood summers. The trees show colours of vibrant yellows, oranges and reds and then loose their foliage all too quickly. Even the birds are changing – many fly south and yet others arrive for the milder winters here. I have not seen the hedgehog in a while, perhaps he is already hibernating? All of this closure has brought me to think about my first year here in The Netherlands.

When I am completely honest and look past the challenges here and there of navigating a new language and culture, it has been a year of awakening and coming back to myself. I have lovely friends and neighbors and this is now home. I am no longer weary, I am stronger and more self assured than I have been in years.

With this new awakening I am now ready and excited to try and test new perfumes and there are two perfumes that fit into this new self quite well.

NEW! April Aromatics + The Different Company

Fragrantica

Pink Wood by Tanja Bochnig for April Aromatics

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Sandalwood, Agarwood, Cistus, Labdanum, Oakwood, Rose Otto, Rose absolute, Geranium, Rosewood, sweet pink fruity notes

Pink Wood is my first experience with April Aromatics. I eagerly sprayed my first spritz of Pink Wood and was taken by surprise by the beautiful rose and wood opening. Many roses turn sour on my skin but this is actually remaining rosy which is a big plus in my books. There are no pink fruity notes for me though. The warmer my skin is the woodier the perfume. The roses stay more in the background leaving me with a wonderful woody rose perfume perfect for autumn days and walks in the park.

Fragrantica

Santo Incienso, Sillage Sacré by Alexandra Monet for The Different Company

gives these featured accords:
Top: Calabrian bergamot, petitgrain, nutmeg
Heart: Palo santo, atlas cedar, hedione
Base: Incense, myrrh, musk, vetiver, guaiac wood

This is not your usual incense perfume at all. For me it starts with a blast of bergamot with an air of spice. There is something citrusy in there but it slowly fades into the background leaving behind a warm woody accord. I have no idea what Palo Santo smells like, so I cannot assume that this is what I am smelling, however, it is beautiful and intriguing pulling me in. In the middle stage through to the dry down there is a magic happening with the incense and myrrh where the woods are warmed through. What I love about it most of all is that the incense tendrils waft up to my nostril throughout the day and bring me such joy and calm.

Both Pink Wood and Santo Incienso, Sillage Sacré are getting a lot of wear time. The days are shorter and colder but the lighting is stunning taking my breath away on an almost daily basis when the sun is shining. This is my favorite season of the year.

Do you have a favorite perfume for autumn or spring walks? Do you have a favorite season?

Sending sunny hugs to you all.
Sandra xo

Figment: Man + Woman GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

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Portia

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YAY!

Thanks to our fabulous friends at Libertine Parfumerie and Agence de Parfum here in Australia for this generous giveaway.

So excited to get these out to you all. Check and see if you’re one of our lucky winners.

Portia xx

Figment: Man + Woman GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Figment Man Amouage FragranticaFragrantica

Figment Man by Amouage 2017

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon, geranium, pink pepper
Heart: Ssandalwood, animal notes, vetiver
Base: Llabdanum, guaiac wood, earthy notes

Figment Woman Amouage FragranticaFragrantica

Figment Woman by Amouage 2017

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Sichuan pepper, saffron, gardenia
Heart: Tuberose, jasmine, orange blossom, lily, ylang-ylang, cassia bourbon
Base: Orris, papyrus, incense, patchouli

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 5 winners who will receive:
1 x Amouage Figment Man decant
1 x Amouage Figment Woman decant
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Monday 20th November 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

SunnyDay

Ingeborg

Esz

Greg

Ingrid

The winners will have till Monday 27th November 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