Perfume

Sweet Anthem Perfumes – Meredith Smith, perfumer

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Post by Azar

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In the past ten years or so the Pacific Northwest has become a hot spot for niche and indie perfumers. Our unique northwest culture of creativity and innovation, our dreary wet winters (we’ve got to come up with something to do!) and the independent spirit of many of the residents all contribute to an atmosphere that encourages our local “noses” to flourish.  Several PNW (Pacific North West) perfumers have developed international followings and have been written up and blogged about extensively throughout perfume-land. If I name a few of these perfumers I will be missing too many. Today’s post is an introduction to a PNW perfumer who is probably not as well known as some others but whose work is very popular nonetheless.

Sweet Anthem Perfumes – Meredith Smith, perfumer

Meredith Smith initially founded Sweet Anthem as a small press / independent publisher in 2001 while at college in Texas and closed the business when she went to study abroad in Eastern Europe. She began studying perfumery in 2005 while working as a graphic designer and web developer in Seattle’s Capital Hill neighborhood. Like many independent perfumers Meredith found composing a fragrance to be a natural extension of her love for creating music, visual art and poetry. Sweet Anthem evolved into an on-line perfume shop in 2007.  Three years later she left the mass design industry and began working as a full time perfumer. In October 2011 Meredith and her husband Phil purchased a live/work residence where she opened her brick and mortar Sweet Anthem storefront and workshop at street level.

Sweet Anthem #1Photo9 Stolen Sweet Anthem Perfumes

I love visiting Meredith’s tiny shop on California Street in West Seattle. She offers her own perfumes for sale, maintains a small inventory of other niche and indie brands and teaches occasional classes in the basics of perfume composition.  For more information about the Sweet Anthem product line and scent related services check out Meredith’s new website Sweet Anthem Perfumes

Recently Meredith added a sample service to her shop.  I recently received my first of four installments from Sweet Anthem’s “SA List”.  The “Spring Anthology” includes two 2ml samples of soon to be released EDPs – Poppy and Lolita, a 2ml sample of Alice and a perfume solid of an older favorite, Cath.  While I have enjoyed a number of the Sweet Anthem perfumes for several years I found that these latest fragrances have taken a slightly more sophisticated turn.

Sweet Anthen #2Photo Stolen Sweet Anthem Perfumes

Poppy, a sort of gourmand-oriental, unfolds like a flower bud in time-lapse photography.  The pointed clove quickly opens into a dark cocoa tinted with red flowers that I perceive as spicy carnations (Meredith points out that there is a trickle of saffron here as well).  After a couple of hours the gourmand heart develops and finishes as a dry, smoky incense/opium fading to musk.  While the name “Poppy” references the perfume classic Opium, I find this new scent to be kin to fragrances like DSH Café Noir and Olympic Orchids Café V, but lighter and drier. Poppy is a warm and spicy fragrance with good sillage and great longevity, a perfect scent for holing up in a cozy den, anticipating the arrival of spring.

Sweet Anthem #3Photo Stolen Sweet Anthem Perfumes

Lolita, on the other hand, is reminiscent of a warm spring afternoon, but without the muguet – thank you!  (Don’t get me wrong, I love Lily of the Valley, but it seems to have become such a seasonal cliché.)  Lolita opens with just a touch of black current, evolving to a heart of fragile and delicate cherry blossoms. I can barely detect the rosewood mentioned in the fragrance notes. The cherry blossoms linger for several hours eventually combining with and drying down to a salty sort of tonka bean.  Lolita is more intimate than Poppy but seems to last just as long on my skin and, like the movie “Lolita”, the final impression of the salty cherry blossoms evoke a youthfulness far removed from innocence.  Lolita will be mine as soon as she is available.

Giveaway Time sassisamblogPhoto Stolen sassisamblog

Sweet Anthem Perfumes US GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have ONE USA winner:

Who will receive:
A 2-season subscription to the Sweet Anthem “SA List” sampling program for one lucky US resident.  The  winner will receive two different sample sets.  The “Spring Anthology” will be sent right away and the “Summer Anthology” at a later date (see the subscription FAQ on the Sweet Anthem Perfumes website).
P&H to the USA

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone in the USA (or who has a USA friend who’ll post it to them) 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

You must have a US address

AND

Leave a comment about a Sweet Anthem fragrance that you already know or about one that you would like to try

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Sweet Anthen GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2uA @sweetanthem #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 27th February 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org or some other more fun way at the discretion of Azar, our host for this giveaway
The winners will have till Monday 2nd March 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.

Azar xx

Harajuku Lovers Wicked Style 2010

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Post by Katrina

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Harajuku Lovers Wicked Style 2010

Harajuku Lovers is the perfume brand of the talented Gwen Stefani

 Harajuku Lovers Gwen Stefani sunnyd_57 FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

While I don’t wear these perfumes much I absolutely adore this collection. The five perfumes in the collection are simple, fun and easy to wear and the Harajuku Lovers Wicked Style figurine bottles are cute and funky. My set came in the ‘ultra-luxury shopping mall’ case where G sits on the ‘catwalk crosswalk’, Love in a boutique, Lil’Angel in the News Stand, Baby in the Crepe Stand and Music is of course in the Music Shop.

All fragrance notes sourced from Fragrantica.

Wicked Style G by Christelle Laprade

Harajuku Lovers Wicked Style G FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Top: Apple, peach, pineapple
Heart: Watermelon, tuberose, peony
Base: Raspberry, musk, aquatic accords.

The top notes of Wicked Style G are sweet, fruity and crisp. The floral notes are quite heavy in contrast and combine with sandalwood and a little musk. G is the most ‘grown up’ fragrance in the set.

Wicked Style Love by Maurice Roucel

Harajuku Lovers Wicked Style Love FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Top: Nectarine notes, mango, pear
Heart: Orange blossom, lotus , violet, osmanthus
Base: Blond wood, musk, sandalwood, praline, patchouli

Wicked Style Love smells like grape flavoured bubble gum. A strong burst of violet comes and goes and a little patchouli wafts in the background. Mostly it’s sweet grape fading to warm base notes.

Wicked Style Lil Angel by Celine Barel

Harajuku Lovers Wicked Style Lil Angel FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Top: Plum, champagne, bergamot, pomelo
Heart: Lotus, rose leaf, water lily
Base: Sateen wood, amber, musk

In Lil Angel Wicked I smell sweet plum and berries. The perfume sparkles with champagne and citrus. Lil Angel includes lovely florals and the water lily gives it a clean, fresh feel. The perfume dries down to musk and woods.

Lil Angel is my favourite of the Wicked Style perfume but sadly it doesn’t have much lasting power.

Wicked Style Music by Adriana Medina

Harajuku Lovers Wicked Style Music FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Top: Apple notes, juicy fruit
Heart: Bergamot, jasmine, gardenia, fuchsia, peony
Base: Cedar, musk, amber

Music is less sweet than the other wicked style perfumes. I don’t smell much fruit at all. Wicked Style Music is powdery floral perfume with a woody base.

Wicked Style Baby by Honorine Blanc

Harajuku Lovers Wicked Style Baby FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Top: White peach, apple, freesia
Heart: Frangipani, orchids, jasmine
Base: Amber, musk, vanilla, sandalwood

Wicked Style Baby smells like marshmallows. There is vanilla and a powdery musk but it is not as sweet as you may expect.

The fruity notes are kept low key but the florals are distinct without being too strong. The florals are short-lived but the powdery musk base lasts a long time making this the longest lasting Wicked Style fragrance.

Harajuku Lovers Harajuku_girls,_Tokyo WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: Review of Harajuku Lovers Wicked Style Lil Angel at Musings of a Muse
FragranceNet sells the Wicked Style fragrances individually from $11/10ml
Surrender To Chance has the original Harajuku Lovers samples starting at $3/ml

For more celebrity perfume news and reviews please pop over to Celebrity Perfume Store

Thanks

Katrina xx

U4eahh! 2.43 by Yosh Han for Yosh

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Hey Niche Nerds,

I don’t know where this little sample vial on a card came from. It was in a bag of frags that I’d put together because they were in dab vials and I have to decant them into spritzers before use. I think other things came into the house and this bag got pushed to the back of the list. There has been little love for this particular scent and I only had 1ml sample size so you are getting a review on the second wear because I’ve run dry here but wanted to get some thoughts on paper, or blog as it may be, for my own memory. Sorry to make you eddying flotsam in my stream of consciousness, enjoy the ride.

U4eahh! 2.43 by Yosh Han for Yosh

U4eahh! 2.43 Yosh FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Pomegranate, pear, cucumber, water lily, aloe vera

JUICY!! I smell the pear! also the aloe vera and water. Sweet, like a pear lolly might be, so sweet my teeth are getting little furry booties but honestly I quite like it. GASP! What’s happening to me? Am I learning to like fruity florals? The pomegranate adds a delicious snap of tartness that really resembles a pear and pomegranate salad, all they need to add is some rocket/arugula and some parmesan cheese shavings and I would be in HEAVEN.  Though I am enjoying the super sweet and fun ride, can imagine many people becoming addicted to it and think it’s a well done piece of perfumery there is little chance I would spritz it if I had more.

U4eahh! 2.43 Yosh Chippendale's Meathead Movers FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

My mind keeps thinking of young women ready for a fun night out, getting all dressed up to the nines and spritzing like crazy as they run out the door to a night of madness and meyhem. There’s something very new me, fresh, flirty and expectant about U4eahh! The bottle in the picture looks like a splash/dab bottle (the oil) and that makes me a bit sad, this should be spritzed with abandon and feel like lavish luxury.

Around the 4 hour mark I’m left with a sacharine sweetness that has no real smell to me, I think the musks here are ones I’m anosmic to. It does have a very fake sugary vibe though and I am less than enjoying it. My skin amps sweet and in U4EAHH! it has become sweet to the point of nasty.

U4eahh! 2.43 Yosh PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Further reading: Katie Puckrik Smells and The Olfactorialist
LuckyScent has EdP $110/50ml

There is also a Perfume Oil of U4EAHH!

Have you tried this line? U4EAHH? How was it for you?
Portia xx

Fleur d'Oranger 27 by Francoise Caron for Le Labo 2006

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Heya All,

I have had this little stash of Le Labo since May 2013. A small crew of us went up to the Venice, LA store and were treated like royalty there. I purchased a couple of the small bottles which I’ll tell you about another time but the sweet manager of the store gave me some samples to take with me and I, churlish frag glutton that I am, never got to the samples. Well, now I have…

Fleur d’Oranger 27 by Francoise Caron for Le Labo 2006

Fleur d`Oranger 27 Le Labo FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Orange blossom, petitgrain, bergamot and lemon

Opening with a zing of citrus, obviously, I find Fleur d’Oranger 27 to be a wonderful, fresh and fun cologne style scent. It is all pettigrain and bergamot for a moment and then it gets a soft orange blossom breathiness that at the same time is pithy and dry. This is smiley, happy juice and I feel invigorated and refreshed. There it stays for a while, pretty and sweet, slightly worn.

Fleur d'Oranger 27 Le Labo Orange blossom WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

As it wears on Fleur d’Oranger 27 becomes a bit bead head-ish and it NEVER smells at all cleaning fluid-esque. Great maintenance of the citrus throughout and there is something vegetal/herbal that isn’t explained in the notes and I have no idea what it could be, and I also get a prickling of spice, again no idea. I wish I had more to tell you but other than the spice and green-ness which comes and goes I basically get citrus from beginning to end. It smells good and I have enjoyed Fleur d’Oranger 27 but if you need massive development, a story, then you will be sad. Especially for the price. If though you want to smell like a happy burst of citrus for around 4-5 hours then Fleur d’Oranger 27 could be the one for you.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Best Things In Beauty
LuckyScent has $160/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4.25/ml

What is your Le Labo fave? Do you like Orange blossom as a note in general or does it send you screaming, reminded of toilets and dish washing liquids?
See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Cookie Princess Does London 2014! Photo Essay

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Post by BlondesWunder

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Hello Perfume Bitches!

It´s Cookie Queen´s daughter here, Cookie Princess, although I prefer BlondesWunder.

Finally catching up on our fab time in London. I have learned two things on this trip. First there are more amazing people on this planet than I had realised, and second, I am scarily, evolving into my mother.

Friday I spent three hours in Top Shop. This was traumatic for my mother. I ended up with a gray t-shirt. A freaking baggy, gray t-shirt, that looked nearly identical to the one which I was already wearing. What does that have to do with me turning into my mother? The glamorous CQ has been on the search for the perfect gray t-shirt for more than 35 years now. And now I am doing the same.

Hannah Grey TPhoto donated by Hannah

Let´s move to perfume now. Saturday morning awoke very early. After checking my Instagram for outfit inspo I ended up wearing my, uh, new gray t-shirt. Ms Cookie Queen, looking alike with our green parkas, jeans and combat boots, headed uptown for breakfast at the hotel with Portia and Michael.

Over breakfast we had a hilarious time. I have to admit I love to push my mother´s buttons and yes, I know how! Portia and Michael were laughing hard so I guess I am pretty funny. Thank you. (My boyfriend says I am not.) After a coffee, and a “what perfume are we gonna try today” kind of talk, we headed for Bloom Perfumery in the East End. But first us girls needed a loo. Well, we hadn´t peed for ten minutes.

Next stop Spitalfield Market. Portia and I headed into Benefit. Within 5 minutes he was firm friends with the SA and handing her the APJ business card. I don´t know how Portia does it, but as soon as she opens her mouth, strangers fall at her feet. So did I. I ended up with Portia and my mother with Flirty Michael.

Crappy Cartier FakePhoto donated by Hannah

As I wandered the market with Portia, I walked by a stand selling Cartier bracelets at only 20 quid. There was no way in hell that Portia would allow me to buy it. The fact that Portia spends a small fortune on not needed fragrance didn’t seem to count!! He lectured me at this point about how to spend my money, and what on! (I got it later with Michael anyway!!) And it looks fab.

Hannah high HairPhoto donated by Hannah

Eventually we met up again with Michael and my Mum and headed to All Saint´s, where Portia gave me big hair!!

Bloom LondonPhoto Stolen Bloom

Opposite the shop, was Bloom Perfumery. The SA´s saw use coming towards them and waved, knowing Mum from last year. I was dead, and after having sniffed one Phaedon, (smelled like the Hollister Women´s one to me), I spritzed it, loved it and sat down. Hardly keeping my eyes open, I only heard Portia and my Mum happily sniffing and huffing over over-priced perfume!!

Michael and I took a break at this point and went for yet another coffee.

BloomsPhoto donated by Hannah

By the time we came back, Tara, Freddie, Vanessa, Thomas and Nigel, Nick and Josh, were in full action. They were all awesome.

Lunch #1Photo donated by Vanessa (Bonkers About Perfume)

At 3 we headed next door to Poppies for fish and chips. The Bloggers sniffing, spritzing and sharing perfume at the table. I thought it was not appropriate in a restaurant, after scaring all the other customers away, but hey, what do I know??

Lunch #2Photo donated by Vanessa (Bonkers About Perfume)

The day ended at Selfridge´s and having to say goodbye after such a day, I was close to tears. So was my Mother, only she showed it. Of course I made fun of her.

I am moving to Sydney.

xoxo BlondesWunder

Absolue Pour Le Soir by Maison Francis Kurkdjian 2010

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Post by Chairman Meaow

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What do I know about Francis Kurkdjian and his work? Very little. I know that he’s a wiz with orange flower. That he is large on talent, not so much, perhaps, on affability towards perfumistas. I had ordered a set of samples from his house some time back, given each a cursory sniff, and decided that he was the creator of pretty and well constructed, if not entirely memorable perfumes. And with that, Francis Kurkdjian was relegated to the recycling heap of my olfactory landscape.

Absolue Pour Le Soir by Maison Francis Kurkdjian 2010

Absolue Pour le Soir Maison Francis Kurkdjian FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Maison Francis Kurkdjian lists the following accords on its website:
Benzoin from Siam, Bulgarian and Iranian rose, honey, incense absolute, ylang ylang, cumin, Atlas cedar and sandalwood

With the first huff, it was as if I had sat under the bodhi tree and received my perfumed awakening. All the references to rutting animals, bodily secretions, hind quarters and nether regions, things that I had read about but had yet not experienced to any meaningful degree, things that sounded repugnant and intriguing in equal measures, were all there, fleshed out in Absolue Pour Le Soir.

It started out innocently enough – some liquored rose, sandalwood, and soft, sweet honey. But wait, reader. It’s like that scene from that old comedy The Jerk where Steve Martin takes a long, slow swipe of Bernadette Peters’ cheek with his tongue. You just know that in a few moments, when the spittle starts to dry, things are going to start to get a bit smelly.

Absolue Pour le Soir Maison Francis Kurkdjian Bus Shelter WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Sure enough, the honey soon ripened, and started to acquire the tang of a pee-stained bus shelter. Absolue Pour Le Soir then took a turn for the bestial, and I had flashbacks of my dear departed cat, back arched and derriere quivering, fanning the scent of her backside as she lovingly slapped my face about with her tail. I smelled camels, whose scent had always struck me as being a little earthy, a little salty, and a little chocolaty. And underpinning all of this was an erotically charged, sweaty-musky whiff. A little later came the quite smoulder of incense, dampening the growl a touch.

Gott-im-Himmel. It was stunning.
I turned to the hovering sales assistant.
“This one doesn’t sell very well, does it?”
“No. It’s not very nice.”

Absolue Pour le Soir Maison Francis Kurkdjian Homeless_man WikipediaePhoto Stolen Wikipedia

I meandered into another shop and found that I had to severely limit my arm movements, lest my fellow shoppers catch wind of the scent and gain the impression that I had been caressing the butt crack of my local friendly hobo. And I realised with a pang that I wouldn’t have the confidence to wear this beauty out and about, this anathema to the masses, with their penchant for sterile odours.
Perhaps I’ll just content myself with dabbing discreetly. It can be my dirty little secret.

Did you? Have you? Would you? I mean, really………..

L'Eau d'Ambree by Daniela (Roche) Andrier for Prada 2009

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Post by ElizaD

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A perfume. Not a study, not an irony, not an invitation, or memoir, or a response. A perfume. A “your skin but better” plain old perfume. Friends, I give you

L’Eau d’Ambree by Daniela (Roche) Andrier for Prada 2009

L`Eau Ambree Prada FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Amalfi lemon, citruses
Heart: May rose, patchouli
Base: Amber, oppoponax, vanilla

L’Eau Ambree seems to be the forgotten child of the Prada line, which is unfortunate because it is a lovely, soft and warm, comfortable sweater of a scent. Not loud and boastful, yet still elegant enough to wear for many different occasions. I first learned about it from Katie Puckrik, one of the funniest perfume vloggers around.

It was created by Daniela Andrier as were Infusion D’Iris in 2007 and Candy in 2011. I have tried all three and like them for different reasons: Infusion D’Iris is a lovely iris scent, and is a little sharper but more powdery; Candy has the same sweet balsam notes with warm musk and that wonderful caramel that makes me want to drench myself in it before cuddling; but for me, L’eau Ambree is the Goldilocks just right version–just the right amount of sweet and skin, but not too come hither or too standoffish.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

The top notes dissipate quickly on my skin, settling into the heart and dry down very quickly. In fact, this is one scent where I am not striving with every inhale to determine what is where. It just works. And in this world of too much information, too much stimulus, too much too much, that is what makes this scent so reassuring. Plus, it’s one perfume that I never mind smelling on my clothes the day after.

She's focusedPhoto Stolen Flickr

You can get L’Eau Ambree for a decent price. It comes in the complete line of layering options, from EdP to shower gel. Sillage is moderate and longevity is about 4 hours. Carry a rollerball and reapply if necessary. I also have layered this on top of Jovan’s White Musk to give it greater longevity.

Further reading: Daly Beauty and Now Smell This
FragranceNet has $40/30ml
My Perfume Samples start at $2/ml

What’s your comfortable sweater all occasion perfume?

Lovely by Laurent Le Guernec and Clement Gavarry for Sarah Jessica Parker 2005

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Post by Ainslie Walker

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Last year I read Chandler Burr’s book “A Year In The Perfume Industry, which I highly recommend. The book follows, every second chapter, Jean-Claude Ellena, in Paris, creating a new fragrance for Hermes…every other chapter takes us to New York, in 2005, where Sarah Jessica Parker is ‘art directing’ the development of her first fragrance, with the help of Laurent Le Guernec and Clement Gavarry from Coty. The book does far more than, but helps the reader to understand how perfumes go from someone’s idea, right through to sitting on the shelves in the mass market. It is jam packed with history, ingredients, methods etc etc. A must read!

Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker 2005

Laurent Le Guernec and Clement Gavarry

 Lovely Sarah Jessica Parker FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Nectarine, bergamot, rosewood,  lavender, apple martini
Heart: White daffodil, orchid, orchid, patchouli
Base: Amber, cedar, woody notes, salt, white musk.

That brought me to actually smelling Sarah Jessica Parker’s “Lovely” – something I would NEVER have tried, as my preconceived ideas of it being massmarket/cheap/celeb etc etc kept me well away. My curiosity got the best of me, and I was intrigued however as the starting idea was Sarah’s favourite mix of scents which included Egyptian musk oil, a cheap drugstore scent and and expensive fragrance.

Lovely Matthew_Broderick_Sarah_Jessica_Parker WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

On first whiff I can really smell the Egyptian and white musks…this develops on skin over time and is a sexy, sultry intriguing part of the fragrance. There’s a touch of patchouli and spice adding to this which makes it sexy-cooling. I am also hit with some major ‘fresh and clean’ notes. Like a breezy layer on top of the sultry base. Reminiscent of the scent of shampoos I used as a kid…apple, orange, lavender, possibly a little peachy. Pretty, feminine, but somehow managing a womanly feel.

I feel like it has given me flashbacks of the bodyshop scents we wore in the 80s/90’s, first body lotions, special soaps, hairspray and the perfumes which came as part of make up sets. (Maybe a few cheaper ingredients in this one.) Descriptions and reviews mention woody, in particular cedar – I don’t get much…maybe some sandalwood…maybe a little cedar after 30mins or so.

Descriptions also mention addition of a ‘martini’ note…I’m not sure if that’s just marketing, but I agree, there is some subtle, salt/savoury edge (maybe a dirty martini) that keeps the sweet, clean musky frag from spreading too far and taking over a room, or in fact from being too ‘lovely’, and gives it more classy-sparkle. I’d call it a fresh floral musk, but putting my finger on which flower exactly deems almost impossible!! Rosewood? It is like a lighter version of Agent Provocateur’s first fragrance, less naughty, and without the depth.

lovely-Sarah-jessica-parker-ShoppingHeavenPhoto Stolen ShoppingHeavenDotNet

This fragrance is comfy, distinct and still classic in some way…wear it like your favourite jeans and heels combo, for any occasion, when you want to feel feminine AND comfortable.

Further reading: Scents Memory and Now Smell This
Fragrance Shop has $21/50ml
My Perfume Samples start at $2/ml

A 30ml bottle cost me $21. I almost DIED. At that price it is not only LOVELY but super affordable too. The packaging is so cute and great to throw in your handbag for use throughout the day as a top up. I am sure it would be great layered under or over some richer scents, especially with scents that don’t have much staying power…this one lingers and could in theory help hold those – have a play and let me know what works for you.

Ainslie Walker XXX

Stella by Jacques Cavallier for Stella McCartney 2003

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Post by Maya

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Hello APJ,

I have very little interest in most celebrity scents. I know it’s not fair and I am probably missing some very good fragrances, but there are too many out there and others interest me a lot more. Perfume is a thing of emotions and sometimes visual images for me. It appeals to senses other than smell, which is part of it’s beauty. It can evoke memories. It can awaken feelings. It can create new or revive old visual images. It can create or change a mood. Each scent does something different. Once in a while, I perceive a fragrance as color/s.

Stella by Jacques Cavallier for Stella McCartney 2003

Stella Stella McCartney FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Tangerine, rose, peony, amber

I tried Stella by Stella McCartney out of simple curiosity and I’m glad I did. It is a scent that I see as shades of pink with a bit of bright yellow in it. It’s uncomplicated and demands nothing. There are times when that is exactly what I want. I also like that the rose smells natural, not artificial. On my skin, Stella opens as a bright rose with wisps of amber floating up. There are some subtle hints of barely-there mandarin. The amber warms up slightly as the scent progresses but the rose stays strong.

Stella McCartney 2010 UK in France FlickrPhoto Stolen UK in France Flickr

This is a spring and summer perfume for me. It’s bright sunshine and light. Stella is uplifting and cheerful and yes, pretty. I like to wear it when I’m out and about – shopping, doing errands, meeting a friend for lunch. I would actually wear it just about anywhere and I do. It’s one of my go-to perfumes.

After about 5 hours, it fades somewhat. It’s still there, but much closer to the skin and lingers for about another 3 hours. I can spritz and forget about it, knowing I will be surrounded by a lovely scent that is unlikely to offend anyone. I should add an interesting aside: to my nose, this is a true ROSE perfume, but several friends say that to them it’s a light floral and they can’t pick out any individual flowers including roses. They all like it though.

Stella McCartney larosaperlata DeviantArtPhoto Stolen DeviantArt

Further reading: Now Smell This
Beauty Encounter has $82/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

Do you have any fun, easy to wear, go-to perfumes?

Maya x

Mixing It Up – Layering Scented Oils USA Giveaway WINNERS

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Post by Azar
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Hello APJ,
This was meant to be for Valentine’s Day but stuff got in the way for Portia.  Happy BELATED Valentine’s Day to everyone!!!
Azar xx
Azars Dog

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

Today we will have two USA winners:

The first will receive:
A full, unopened 20 ml bottle (exp. 1/2018) of the Swiss Arabian CPO Noora (Divine Light).
P&H in the USA

The second will receive:
A sample set of 5 fragrance oils from Olivine Atelier
P&H in the USA

HOW DID YOU WIN?

Open to everyone in the USA 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

If you leave any comment about mixing and/or layering you will be eligible for today’s draw!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Scented Oil GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2pM #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 13th February 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by

I placed all of the little slips of paper face down on the floor, stepped back and instructed Fender the dog to “touch”. I gave the command a second time and here’s how it panned out.

Winners thegarfieldshow-diaryPhoto Stolen thegarfieldshow-diary

JMR, winning the new 20ml bottle of Swiss Arabian Noora

Claudia wins the 5 sample set from Olivine Atelier

 

Congratulations to the winners!
The winners will have till Wednesdayday 20th February 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.