Jersey by Jacques Polge for CHANEL 2011

October 19, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Hey Hey Happy Huffers,

Recently I spent the day with Ainslie Walker, we did a bunch of things. Saw the Eames on Eames films at the Sydney Film Festival where the US furniture makers’ grandson showed us some of the amazing and ground breaking work that the Eames’ did in a totally different media, from toy trains and their workshop to a Washington DC Aquarium they designed that never was built, sadly because it looked totally fabulous. If it comes to a cinema near you don’t miss it.

While we were out we went and sniffed out the Les Exclusifs de Chanel range where I was seriously contemplating a Cuir de Russie Extrait purchase when Ainslie started to wax lyrical about her great love for Jersey, a scent I had previously sniffed and dismissed as meh and yawnsville. I made my position very clear, spritzed with CHANEL No. 22 and we went on to see if they had a few specifics left from the mass sacrifice of the Tom Ford line. It’s a couple of weeks later and I have been thinking that Ainslie wouldn’t own a BOTTLE of something totally inferior, so I grabbed a sample out and spritzed…

Jersey by Jacques Polge for CHANEL 2011

Les Exclusifs de Chanel

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Tonka bean, rose, musk, lavender, jasmine, vanilla, grass, wildflowers

CHANEL Jersey is nothing like I remember it being. Bigger and more voluptuous than my memory, also a surprise was that Jersey skews ever so slightly masculine. KEWL! I like to cross the boundaries.

Lavender opening is fresh and delightful, it has a fresh cut flowers from the garden green-ness and something softly resinous that seems to smooth the whole composition like a piece of worn to a pebble glass found on a beach in the cool of morning and rubbed against your cheek. After a short while Jersey warms a little on my skin and becomes very comfortable and slightly lived in, soft and intimate but still noticeable that I’m fragrant. I think Jersey is one of those fragrances that feel small but are in fact really good projectors and leave a wonderful sillage. After spritzing and going to make a cuppa, when I come back to my office there is a decided vanilla/lavender smell in the room, like I’ve just spritzed a room spray. Very nice, subtle and elegant.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

There is a clean, comfortable and fresh aspect to Jersey that is very much like wearing your favourite T-Shirt, freshly washed and direct from the line. The colour is slightly faded and the fabric floats on your body, there but not there, a whisper of Jersey fabric that is both part of you and not. Jersey fragrance is similar, infinitely more wearable for me than Hermessence Brin de Reglisse, it is a warmer, smoother version of a lavender-centric fragrance. I could imagine Jersey becoming quite addictive.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Through the life of Jersey the lavender makes guest reappearances paired with different notes. at one point creamy vanilla/lavender, then later green/lavender, then lightly spicy rose/lavender. Then combinations of more than two notes, it’s an intricate duck & weave pattern that keeps me on the edge of my nose for hours.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and The Candy Perfume Boy
CHANEL boutiques have Jersey
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Did you try Jersey? Is CHANEL a house you click with or aspire to?
Portia xx

Seville a l'Aube by L`Artisan Parfumeur 2012

October 18, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Hi there Frag Hags,

Going through my samples in preparation for the big move to our new abode has been super fun. So many things I completely forgot I had. It’s like digging through a fragrant treasure chest. When Seville a l’Aube was first released it was unavailable in Australia and I was so excited that I must have ordered 2 x 10ml decants from different splitters, one I found is almost empty but one is nearly full. Then when I could get a full bottle they both went into the box of lost fragrances….. You know how it goes

Seville a l’Aube by Bertrand Duchaufour for L`Artisan Parfumeur 2012

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pettigrain, olive blossom
Heart: Tobacco, beeswax, orange blossom, lavendar
Base: Olibanum, benzoin

My mate Denyse Beaulieu, from Grain de Musc, is the muse that co-created Seville a l’Aube with perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour. It comes from a story of a night in Spain where she met and trysted with a local on one of their high Catholic religious festival nights. Amusingly, and crassly, some bloggers and perfumistas have said that Seville a l’Aube means Fingered Behind the Church in Seville, in fact it means Seville At Dawn.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Orange twigs and leaf, with a dry, feral background that pumps raw sex and ultimate clean simultaneously. Seville a l’Aube makes me smile in delighted appreciation when I spritz. There is a pithiness and the honeyed beeswax id so animalic but not like ass, more like sweet wee, and the resins shine through as wet resin in the beginning rather than dry incense. There is still gum from the trees and bushes. The blossom is sweet and breathy.

You know it all washes over me in terrific clouds of fragrance and though I can smell the parts that make Seville a l’Aube up, what I really enjoy is the whole magic creation. A sweet and dirty, twig and dust, wee and breath bomb that glides around me in rapturous clouds. The first half hour is BIG! I have to be careful if I’m going into the world that I don’t overspritz because this much gorgeousness can be confronting for regular people. I love how the heart gets this great citrus-wood scented wax-candle that is slightly religious but more about cleansing for me, and the lavender keeps it all herbaceously slightly off kilter as if something extraordinary is on its way.

You know the song from West Side Story, Something’s Coming? That is how Seville a l’Aube makes me feel.

Maybe it’s the story in the book or maybe it is Bertrand Duchaufour and Denyse Beaulieu working together on something interesting, fun and magical that transcends the story and just gives the feeling of anticipation all by itself. Seville a l’Aube is thick and hefty, a beautiful, elegant waft of pithy orange, waxes and resins trails out behind you as you walk. If I spritz in a room and then walk out, the room is full of Seville a l’Aube on my return and it stays that way for hours.

Michael Borg, Denyse and I in Jovoy, Paris 2014

I have often talked about The Perfume Lover, and my mate Denyse Beaulieu who wrote it, because it’s a rollicking great read. The story that became this wonderful fragrance and told in such a readable, approachable style that it’s like sitting down with Denyse and listening to her chat. Full of fragrant insider gossip and details of creation that unless you are in the midst of creating fragrance would never be stuff you’d get to know.

Photo Stolen Book Depository

Book Depository has The Perfume Lover from $15 delivered worldwide!

CandyPerfumeBoy, NowSmellThis, BoisDeJasmin, all do amazing reviews filled with stories and information I can only hint at.
LuckyScent sells $165/100ml and ships worldwide
Libertine has $199/100ml FREE delivery in Australia

Have you read the book or tried the fragrance? Did you love it too?
Portia xx

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?

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 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.

CHANEL N°5: The One That I Want

October 17, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Hey Gang,

WOW! I write this to you through a misty fog. I just watched the new CHANEL No.5 film. Ah May ZinG! “Baz” Luhrmann has done a spectacular job on the newest film. Gisele Bündchen at 34 is even more beautiful, stylish and poised than she was in the beginning. Please watch the behind the scenes clip first because it explains the film perfectly and will give you an added dimension when you see it.

WOW WOW WOW

CHANEL N°5: The One That I Want

Photo Stolen Indonesian.Style (problem with using image, tell us)

Gisele was also the face of Liberte by Cacharel a few years ago, I thought her a perfect choice then and here she seems to have found her perfect niche. CHANEL and Gisele

Bravo CHANEL, again…….
Portia xx

CHANEL N°5 Set: The Film Behind the Film

CHANEL N°5: The One That I Want – The Film

Kiss Me Tender by Patricia de Nicolai for Parfums de Nicolai 2010

October 16, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Post by Poodle

Loves me, loves me not

I’d been curious to try Kiss Me Tender for so long. I almost made a blind buy. It seemed so promising.

Kiss Me Tender by Patricia de Nicolai for Parfums de Nicolai 2010

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange blossom, bitter almonds, star anise
Heart: Heliotrope, cloves, cinnamon, ylang-ylang, spices, fresh hay, jasmine
Base: Opoponax, musk, vanilla, wood notes

The first time I tried it there was tons of ylang-ylang (more than you’re thinking) and a touch of spice. There was something retro about it as well but in a good way. When I was a kid my mom had given me some perfume nips to play with. They were these little glass-like tubes that were fused shut on the ends. In order to get the perfume out you had to snap off the end of the tube. Not something any of today’s overprotective parents would let a child play with but I had no incidents with them. Anyway, there was a ylang-ylang one and that’s what this reminded me of. That was my favorite along with the carnation. It was rich, creamy, sweet, and just a little spicy. It was soft and comfortable. When I smelled Kiss me Tender it was wonderful and I wanted a bottle then and there but I didn’t buy one.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

The next time I tried it it was different. This time there was still ylang-ylang but there was some serious sweetness as well. It was shot through with a note of green (the fresh hay?) which was an unusual contrast to the sugar. It seemed more bitter to me than green actually. Perhaps it was my mood but that day it set my teeth on edge. Lurking within this confectionary cloud I could smell some spice, clove and cinnamon to be exact, adding to the gourmand experience I was having. As the sugar subsided I was again brought back to my childhood with an odd Play-Doh note which drifted in and out. Where was all this hiding the first time I tried it? I didn’t dislike it but I wasn’t loving it like the first time. It wasn’t a good day for that much sweetness and any wrist huffing made my tummy turn a bit. On another day I might have liked it. Looking at other reviews lots of folks do.

Photo Stolen Flickr

I know I will probably have a different experience if I try it again but there’s no third try because what little I had is gone. Will I buy a bottle now? Not likely without another sampling. I’m just not sure why it worked so well one day and the next was so cloying to me.

Further reading: Grain de Musc and Perfume Shrine
Parfum1 has $150/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Anyway, have you ever loved a perfume one day and then had a complete reversal the next time you wore it? Did you ever fall in love with it again?

Poodle XXX

Elvis Presley – Love Me Tender (Lyrics)

Nahema by Jean-Paul Guerlain 1979

October 15, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Post by Trésor

I’m often asked if I were forced to choose a single rose fragrance to wear for the rest of my life, the be-all and end-all of sumptuous carmine petals, what would that rose be? Would I choose to enrapture myself within a bordeaux hued nebula of Frederic Malle’s Une Rose? The labrynthine delicacy of Mohur from Neela Vermeire? The striking and immaculately vivid photorealism of Olympic Orchids’ Ballets Rouges? Though I appreciate their beauty beyond measure and spend many an hour in their passionate embrace the answer is simply no. My rose is Nahéma and it is her panoramic film star joie de vivre which draws me in close and beguiles me beyond the tangible and into a state of resplendent olfactory euphoria.

Nahema by Jean-Paul Guerlain 1979

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rose, peach, bergamot, green notes, aldehydes
Heart: Hyacinth, Bulgarian rose, ylang-ylang, jasmine, lilac, lily of the valley
Base: Vanilla, passion flower, Peru balsam, vetiver, sandalwood

The incipient rush of Nahéma is an exquisite spectrum of golden sunlight, her rays are a fluid opus of scintillating aldehydes, bergamot and a rather fascinating, fleeting flicker of hesperidic emerald green. Before long she begins to reveal a precious gift passed down to her by her older sister Mitsouko, the most unctuous and extraordinary peach who’s ripe flesh is gilded with flourishing spices. The beauty of the peach in Nahéma is in the way she carries it with utter ebullience and effortless charm. This symphonic assemblage of top notes cannot hold a candle to what comes next, the ripples of which have pervaded the very atmosphere of the entire composition from the beginning, the rose.

Photo Stolen Flickr

To begin to explain this rose seems almost an Olympian task for it is not simply a rose, it is a dream sequence and conceptual art piece in and of itself. It is not a rose of the Earth but a romanticized rendering, an olfactory landscape of scarlet lipstick kisses and lucid eruptions of honeyed, crimson velvet. The facets of Nahéma’s rose are akin to those of an intricately cut diamond, a radiant explosion of luminosity grounded by a weighted, baroque floridity that calls to mind a bygone era of unabashed luxury and excess. As the operatic rose begins to settle into the skin you are met with a redolent hum of rich, balsamic warmth. She’s borrowed some of Shalimar‘s characteristic vanilla and has again worn it in her own signature style.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

While still a study in resinous complexity it also maintains a dulcet levity to foil a smouldering depth. This is something that must be experienced for all the words in the world seem a failure to convey the inimitable beauty hidden within these treasured vapours.

Further reading: Colognoisseur and The Non Blonde
Beauty Encounter have $320/30ml Parfum
Surrendeer To Chance has vintage PdT samples from $6/ml

My concentration of choice in this pulchritudinous potion is the dense and luxuriant extrait de parfum. It lasts an exhorbitantly long time on my skin, sometimes through a hot bath and into the next day. I’m particularly fond of anointing my skin with Nahéma when I am looking to feel unapologetically glamorous and in need of an instant boost of confidence. For me, it truly is a sacred elixir.

Trésor XX

Hermès Cuir d'Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

October 14, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 37 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Hermès, Hairdressers, and a Touch of Leather

Hermès Cuir d’Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

Hermessence No 12

Cuir d’Ange really does smell like the inside of a soft leather bag. The kind that I will never own. I am not going to dissect Cuir d’Ange. Why would I? I learned on my recent trip to Florence that many of the perfumers want to stop “note lists” as it can take the wearer away from the beauty of the creation. Suffice it to say that there are layers of notes as with all perfume. Cuir d’Ange starts just sweet enough, and not overly flowery, the cool, elegant leather is detectable immediately. It has more of a suede feel, soft as a powder-puff. It smells exquisitely expensive, smooth and flawless. A whispy touch of warm caramel hovering, a soft muskiness. Subtle. It feels beautiful on the skin. A good generous spraying gave me hours of pleasure. I know that for some, the Hermès longevity is an issue. They are eau de toilette strength, but who cares? No law against reapplication.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica give these featured accords in one line:
Heliotrope, hawthorn, violet, narcissus, musk and leather

Jean-Claude Ellena is 67. It took him 10 years to create Cuir d’Ange. When asked why he explained that it is a slow and very demanding process. Taking a concept that is in the mind and translating the concept into a physical thing is hard.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Cuir d’Ange was named referencing the words of an early 20th century French author Jean Giono. Giono has inspired Ellena for over thirty years. (Although I know of Giono, I am not familiar with anything that he wrote. I better remedy that!) Ellena describes himself as “a writer of smells”. That applies to all great perfumers.

My hairdresser has a leather fetish. He thinks I don´t know. I plan very careful which perfume I wear each time I go. Today I wore Cuir d’Ange.
Result.

Photo Stolen Flickr

I went to the Hermès store in Vienna last week. Their customer service is amazing. The SA gave me 8mls of Cuir d’Ange to “try properly”. Which I have done. It will be my next purchase. Much thanks to my two perfumista girlfriends in Vienna for introducing me to Hermès. I have given my bank manager their contact details.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Grain de Musc
Cuir d’Ange is number 12 in Hermès’ Hermessence collection of perfumes. It is available exclusively in Hermès stores. It costs about 185 Euros for 100 mls.
Which is 92.50 Euros for 50 mls which is not expensive compared to some of those over priced supposed big hitters out there.
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Cuir d’Ange is graceful and refined. No mean feat for a leather perfume. Sublime.

Bussis
CQ

NAHA Conference – 2014 – Beyond Aromatics + Photo Essay

October 13, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Post by Azar

NAHA Conference – 2014 – Beyond Aromatics

Hello APJ,

Our Summer 2014 was a whirlwind of road trips, building projects and extended visits from family and long, lost friends. One of the highlights that Brad and I enjoyed together was a day at the National Holistic Aromatherapy Association’s (NAHA) Seventh World Conference, “Beyond Aromatics”. This three-day event, Sept. 12 – 14, was held at the campus of Bastyr University, a naturopathic institute located on the grounds of a converted monastery near the shores of Lake Washington east of Seattle. We attended as guests of one of the presenters, the talented and beautiful botanical perfumer Roxana Villa.

Saturday, September 13th, was an exceptional day in the PNW. The air was slightly cool, the sky cloudless, bright blue with a light breeze. We signed in at the conference desk at 8:00 am and immediately tracked down Roxana at the Illuminated Perfume booth in the exhibition hall.

At the booth we tried a couple of new fragrances as well as old favorites. Brad was especially taken with the old/new fragrance Bay Rum (the small dark bottle in the back of the photo). Watch for this Bay Rum cologne as part of Roxana’s Fan/Funding event on her blog http://journal.illuminatedperfume.com/ in the next week or so.

We visited several other vendors and then set out with Roxana for Bastyr University’s Medicinal Garden. The garden is organized by application, for example a “Sleep Garden” for plants used to promote rest and relaxation”. Here we have Licorice Mint in the “Digestive Garden”.

A shadowy hand is reaching for relief in the “Musculo-Skeletal” garden.

A spider left a web in the “Four Elements Garden”.

Cramp Bark (Viburnum opulus) berries in the “Woman’s Garden”.

Artichokes in the late summer sun.

Fennel.

After our tour of the gardens Brad and I attended a fascinating lecture by Dr. Florian Birkmayer, MD entitled “Essential Oils for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”. And then, at 1:45, the highlight of our day, Roxana Villa’s presentation The Tree of Life: A Mystical Approach to the Art of Botanical Perfumery.

Please take time to enjoy this beautiful video put together by Roxana’s husband, artist Greg Spalenka, using his own and Roxana’s original art work and text, very much like the presentation at the NAHA conference.

VIDEO: Roxana Villa: The Tree of Life: A Mystical Approach to the Art of Botanical Perfumery <<<JUMP

Many thanks to Roxana for this beautiful and memorable day!

Azar xx

All photos donated by Azar and video produced and donated by Greg Spalenka.

Fete by Molyneux GIVEAWAY WINNERS

October 13, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Hey there APJ crew,

Thanks for getting involved in another super APJ giveaway. I think you’ll love testing this beautiful vintage masterpiece.

Portia xx

Fete by Molyneux GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Caraway, plum, peach, bergamot, Brazilian rosewood
Heart: Lilac, orris root, jasmine, ylang-ylang
Base: Leather, sandalwood, benzoin, civet, oakmoss, vanilla

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get:
1 x 5ml Vintage Fete by Molyneux decant
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Tell us about a fragrance that takes you on a journey, a vintage you love or even a memory of some vintage fragrance

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie http://wp.me/p3PURw-3fJ Fete by Molyneux Vintage #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 12th October 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen thegarfieldshow-diary

Peppy Obrien

Renee Groyer (via Twitter)

The winners will have till Thursday 16th 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.

La Petite Robe Noire EdP by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2012

October 12, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by CyndiH

Hello Fellow Fragrance Friends!

Today I just have to dish about a decadent love affair I am having. I cannot get enough of this sultry little minx. She is a Parisian – sexy in an awe-inspiring, effortless way I could only dream of achieving in real life. She is chic and stylish: she wears a Chanel jacket with Levi’s jeans and makes it look movie-star cool. She is slightly dangerous, fun and romantic – like screaming down the Autobahn on a Moto Guzzi at night with a very handsome date that you get to squeeze very tightly … Her name is

La Petite Robe Noire by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2012

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Black cherry, bergamot, red berries, almond
Heart: Bulgarian rose, Turkish rose, licorice, smoked black tea
Base: Aniseed, tonka bean, vanilla, iris, patchouli

When I first sprayed La Petite Robe Noire EdP, I thought, “Oh wow, this is TOO much.” I had a wave of panic that it was more than I bargained for. But I resisted the urge to wash it off, surrendered and let her take me where she wanted to. The first spray of this dark beauty borders on the obscene. It is a cacophony of dark fruit saturated in tonka bean, smoke, black licorice, anise, refined black tea, vanilla and Patchouli. It’s thrilling – like that breathless, intoxicating feeling of waiting for that first kiss with someone you are so into, that you just KNOW is going to happen at some point in the evening. It’s not all heavy though – part of the thrill is there is also an effervescent frilliness in the top notes of bergamot and sparkling berries that swirl around like a black lace crinoline under a tango dancer’s fuchsia skirt, blended expertly into the deep notes so that no seams show whatsoever.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

After a few minutes La Petite Robe Noire EdP calms down, but simmers with the same unabashedly sexy concoction of dark fruit and gourmand notes, with a dark ripe rose coming into the scenario. But only slightly – I would not call this a ‘rose dominant’ fragrance. And while it is certainly sexy, it is not bawdy or garish. It is extremely smooth, balanced and deep. This is posh, upscale, 5-star-hotel, crystal chandelier sexy. This is definitely black dress material, but no polyester here sister: La Petite Robe Noire EdP is silk chiffon, taffeta, lace, pearls, and diamonds all the way. It is a complex, plush fragrance – I have only worn it in summer but can imagine how beautiful these black velvety notes would be against the crystalline cold of winter.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

I get easily 6-8 hours out of La Petite Robe Noire EdP, but traces of it linger even after that. I would wear this fragrance everywhere – from a black tie affair or cocktail hour where I am actually wearing a little black dress, to a work seminar (which I did and inspired me to wear a black, ruffled, bow-tied, Napoleon-sleeved blouse instead of a stuffy suit jacket and I got rave reviews), to the most casual of daily activities – any occasion where you want to feel opulently sexy and pretty.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies, The Candy Perfume Boy and Now Smell This
FragranceNet has $75/50ml before Coupon
My Perfume Samples starts at $3/ml

Have you tried La Petite Robe Noire EdP yet? What are your thoughts?

Until next time, when I dish about my next love affair!
Cyndi xoxoxo

La Petite Robe Noire – GUERLAIN