Niche

Portia’s Best Of 2019

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 39 Comments

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Portia

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Heya APJ,

Obviously my Best Of will be the best of what I got my nose on. Seriously. I’m smelling ALL YEAR the newest stuff and still I’ve hardly scratched the surface. Some of these may have been released in 2018 but were new to me this year. Soz about that, just doing my best here.

I’ve also cut it down by making it things I wear a LOT because I have bottles or travels of them.

Portia’s Best Of 2019

Love Mimosa by Amouage

WINNER OF THE YEAR! What the frigging hell have they put in this bottle? As addictive as crack. A clean mimosa with only the merest hint of feral adventure. It is so beautiful. Thick ropey gouts of spring come gushing off me like a fairy tale. Bought from Libertine

Indian Study: Santal ++++ by Miller at Bertaux

Creamy sandalwood? YES PLEASE! Imagine if you took the DIVA out of Samsara, yeah?  Made it a little dryer, boyzier, more relatable in 2019. You got it. Gorgeous!

4711 Remix Cologne (2018)

Yeah, this cost almost nothing and gets more wear than any other cologne in my wardrobe except Granville. Oranges and stuff, wears for about an hour and then you need to reload. Bloody fabulous.

Rose Face Elixir by Aftelier Perfumes

I am not a skincare person. Doesn’t matter. The fragrance in Rose Face Elixir is so freaking amazing and the product makes my already pretty much perfect skin look even better. I have am inner glow and smell amazing. Who knew?

CHANEL 1957

No idea why I love 1957 so much. Most of it is everything I think I hate in modern perfumery. It’s basically No 5 with all the interesting and perfumey bits removed and only the functional fragrance left. Still, I can’t stop wearing it and love it to pieces.

Rose & Cuir by Frederic Malle

A crisp, dark, bittersweet opening is underwritten by logs of freshly chopped wood. The geranium and peppery blackcurrant do give an extremely photorealistic waft of rose. Later in the heart and depths there is an addition of chilli-chocolate coated leather and torn grass stem. (I’ve ordered a travel, calm the farm)

I Am Trash by Etat Libre d’Orange

That initial apple burst is mesmerising, with an outdoor woodiness and a modern, cool metallic rose. An airiness that doesn’t feel ozonic and a dewiness that doesn’t feel aquatic, yet alluding to both of them. A plastic vibe runs through the heart, concurrently bringing a salty resinousness. (Spice Must Flow was a very close contender too). Press bottle from Gascoigne & King

Eau de Minthé by Diptyque

Minty goodness, like a herbal mint tea with some spices giving it an added heat. The opening zings. The greenery is given sheer earthy warmth from a modern patchouli. I love a fragrant shock of zingy mint and this delivers in buckets. GWP from First In Fragrance)

I by Costume National

I gets attention every time I wear it. Basically ambroxan with some amber and herbal bells & whistles but it’s a definite crowd pleaser. I also get happy when wafts blow up my nose. It’s an easy wear stunner. This was a Libertine Press bottle.

Vaninight by Hermetica

You want to be the most desirable amber/vanilla fragrance and like the idea of it smelling like it could be you, not a fragrance? Vaninight is a perfect choice. Rich, lustrous and elegant but also incredibly laid back. It should have been called The Chillest Amber Ever.

Gardénia Vitreux by DSH Perfumes

PINEAPPLE! with a springlike greenery bursting forth from its sweet embrace. Even though dry down is woods and musk focussed it still manages to be a clear, fresh, windswept depth. This is gardenia smelled through a luxury hotel waterfall in the lobby. (On the list to buy a shit load of)

Crème de Cuir by bdk Parfums

Fizzy, fruity opening that feels like it’s got a bunch of aldehydes perking it up. The hearts ozonics are warm and balmy, with a light creamy ylang/sandalwood sweetness. The cleanest leather ever. Vanilla and sandalwood help make it smell expensive and lavish. Another Libertine buy.

 

There are MORE! I can’t bloody remember them off the top of my head.

What did you love (or hate) in 2019?
Portia xx

Delina by Parfums De Marly

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 15 Comments

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Narth

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Hello friends, it’s Narth here in a bit of a pink quandary! Since it was released in 2017 to glorious praise I’ve wanted to try Parfums De Marly Delina. Not because of the glorious praise, we know that can be a cyclic thing in perfume land, but because of the glorious PINK. The opaque bottle is the most beautiful colour, a confectionery pinkness that draws the eye and the hand. It’s the exact colour I aimed for and achieved when I squeezed a couple drops of red food dye into a tub of Betty Crocker frosting for my Betty Crocker frosting high tea sandwiches (fluffy white bread, cut off crusts, spatula on the frosting). These weren’t exactly a success but they looked very pretty and that’s how I feel about Parfums De Marly Delina

Parfums De Marly Delina 2017: A Tale of Many Pinks

Quentin Bisch

Top: Bergamot, Lychee, Rhubarb, Nutmeg,
Middle: Turkish Rose, Peony, Petalia, Vanilla and Musk
Base: Cashmeran, Haitian Vetiver, Cedar and Incense

It took me some time to track this scent down. The one store stocking it never had the tester, though they always had a completely different tester bottle in front of the Delina box. For months it would go like this;

Narth: Would you happen to have the Delina in a tester?
SA: Yes it is right here.
Narth: No that’s Cassili, the Delina is pink.
SA: Oh I don’t think so..

Google ensues

SA: Well I guess someone stole it.

I walk through this shop enroute regularly and this weird conversation kept happening and still no pink, no very very mouthwatering Parfums De Marly Delina. But then one day, and you’d have to be Australian to appreciate how this signifies the heavens opening and the trumpets trumpeting, the SA said “oh I think we have a sample” and pressed one into my hand. YES! I couldn’t wait to get home and have it be Pinkness time!

Well just like my pretty sandwiches it didn’t deliver, I think it may even be as yucky as I secretly knew my sandwiches were.

We have rhubarb, we have custard apple, we have custard.. yes for maybe 5 seconds this is quite enchanting. And then the sharpness comes out. I’d like to say tartness but tartness is tasty and this is more a synthetic sharpness pretending to be tartness. And it’s nuclear. Couldn’t scrub it off in the shower. I was quite upset! In the end it’s a screechy mess.

I am THE person marketing and advertisements and stories and bottles are made for, I lie back before the marketing gods and wait to be influenced. That pink lettering on the Fracas bottle? That’s what Fracas smells like to me forever. Parfums de Marley Delina still smells pink, but it’s a bad pink. It’s a harsh pink. It’s the pink of a kitchen cleanser from the 60’s.

I am truly happy for those of you who love this, you have a beautiful bottle and I am sure Parfums De Marly Delina is a creamy goddess on you!

I want to hear your stories when all your untested fantasies didn’t deliver! What was your biggest disappointment?

Bye for now, Narth xx

SOTD 9.12 – 15.12.2019

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 123 Comments

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Portia

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Hi APJ,

A SOTD (Scent Of The Day) thread is a really good conversation generator. 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. and how it makes you feel and/or anything else about it that tickles your fancy.

You can also comment on everyone else choices too. It’s great to tell someone how much you love their choice, ask for more info about it, the house or perfumer. There’s someone here from around the world 24/7 and perfume people love to chat.

SOTD 9.12 – 15.12.2019
Continue reading →

Saturday Question: Best Perfume Names?

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 149 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

At APJ we have a Saturday Question. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it’s a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back regularly and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them. The aim is to generate real conversation and connection even though we are scattered around the globe.

Continue reading →

SOTD 2.12 – 8.12.2019

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 140 Comments

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Portia

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Hi APJ,

A SOTD (Scent Of The Day) thread is a really good conversation generator. 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. and how it makes you feel and/or anything else about it that tickles your fancy.

You can also comment on everyone else choices too. It’s great to tell someone how much you love their choice, ask for more info about it, the house or perfumer. There’s someone here from around the world 24/7 and perfume people love to chat.

SOTD 2.12 – 8.12.2019
Continue reading →

Mood Scent 4: Festive Event Fragrances

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 36 Comments

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Portia

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Hey there APJ,

It’s Mood Scent 4 week. WOO HOO! Festive Event Fragrances is a ripper idea and very timely too. Already we are in full swing of Office Party, Formal and Silly Season events here in Sydney. From the kids doing their School Dances to Office Xmas Parties, Product Launches, Dinners, Get Togethers and all the madness that hits towards the end of the year. Also, there are the MANY religious observances, almost every crew has something at this time since time long forgotten.

I have tried to steer away from the tropes of the season. Though I love and will wear Nuit de Noel, Exultat, Aromatics Elixir, Sancti and Shalimar at some point during the season I thought you could all do with some different options.

So excited to be blogging with these three superstars again:  Esperanza L’Esperessence, Megan Megan In Sainte Maxime and Samantha I Scent You A Day. Check theirs out too.

Mood Scent 4: Festive Event Fragrances

Continue reading →

Saturday Question: What Is On Your High Rotation Tray?

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 77 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

At APJ we have a Saturday Question. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it’s a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back regularly and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them. The aim is to generate real conversation and connection even though we are scattered around the globe.

 

Continue reading →