Oud Yaqoub by Ensar Oud

July 16, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

There are very few wild Agarwood trees left in the world due to over-harvesting. This has created another issue; the early-harvesting of cultivated trees. Harvesting these trees early has resulted in a less potent Oud oil, because the resin has not been aged long enough while the tree is alive.

Many of you will be familiar with the smell of synthetic Oud in modern perfumes. This is not what we are talking about. We are talking about Oud from nature, from a tree.

Oud is a journey through scent with all sorts of interesting ‘breezes’ making appearances over time; like a treasure trove of nature referencing smells from the barnyard to spring blossoms.

I like to think of ‘barnyard’ as the smell of Mother Nature regenerating. There are also other words used to describe this aspect of some Oud oils, especially the Hindi oils. Cambodi Ouds (agarwood trees grown in the Cambodia/Thailand area) are less barnyardy while the Papuan Oud is more floral. The medicinal note is a fleeting feature of many true Oud oils. These are very broad descriptions; a universe of scent swirls around in each Oud oil. We interviewed Ensar from Ensar Oud last month about The End of Oud and the beginning of sustainable cultivation.

Oud Yaqoub was distilled from the resin of this 60-year-old cultivated agarwood tree.

Ensar has been keeping his eye on a 60-year-old cultivated tree in Thailand that just recently began to show signs of readiness for harvest. An ethical choice to harvest, this tree at 60 years old instead of earlier means that a rare oil has just been produced. There is a video; you can follow the making of this oil from harvest, through distillation to its manifestation as Oud Yaqoub.

This is an Oud oil to keep and age as the scent profile will change with time. Keep away from sunlight and smell or swipe every year or as suits your yearning.

Oud Yaqoub
Single Tree Harvested
Cultivated
Organic
Rare

A perfumer-to-be would think this a rare ingredient. I would consider this release to be a collector’s item. The yield from the tree was 23 tolas ~ 268 grams.
Oud Yaqoub
Scent profile

Narcotic à la the finest jasmine, Oud Yaqoub is already the finest Cambodi you’ll ever lay nostrils on. Age it a year or two, and you’ll be in possession of one of the Greats of all time.
-Ensar Oud

The most interesting aspects of this oil are the intoxicating flowers: jasmine sambac, ylang ylang, sweet violet and rose that permeate the whole journey.
-Andrej, Croatia

Oud Yaqoub Experiment
3 grams is $US 299.99 from Ensar Oud
You can choose a decorative or sturdy glass bottle.
For Arabic readers you can visit Ensar Oud in Arabic.

Nomenclature: Lest you be confused by the word ‘experiment’ in the name Oud Yaqoub Experiment I have asked for clarification from Thomas at Ensar Oud. Here is his explanation.

When we started our journey with organic oud, our focus was not only on ethical and sustainable harvesting practices. We also wanted to imbue these new distillations with the techniques and standards that you find in our vintage ouds. The ‘Experiment’ not only refers to this oud being a custom distillation, but also that it’s a departure from the norm. Oud Yaqoub’s fragrance attests to how the distillation tweaks we put in place were able to produce an oil that’s against the grain when it comes to the typical Cambodi/Thai scent profile.
Thomas Kruger
Ensar Oud

See you next month,
Jordan River

Lea by Calypso St. Barth

July 14, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Hello Lovelies,

Quite often I check out the Weekly Chance Specials on Surrender To Chance and last month they had a couple of things I’ve been longing to try and this little number that I’d never heard of. On looking through the WWW I found very little information about it but a short and interesting reading note list, so I pulled the trigger on

Lea by Calypso St. Barth

Photo Stolen Lucky Scent

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Almonds, vanilla, musks

Do you ever want to smell delicious and pretty? Are the freaky niche frags getting you down? Sometimes all I want is to smell good. To smell rich, elegant, calm and sweet. Here is that scent. I can completely understand why Lea has become a cult hit, this is how I dream my skin should smell. I smell clean, fresh and healthy without resorting to “clean” scent of laundry or air. I am fragrant, smell gorgeously snuggly and I am smiling because my body smells so good and young. I know! What a dumb thing to write but this is the sort of fresh scent that really makes me feel so young and, dare I say it, coltish! And if you knew me I am anything but coltish, in fact I am the original old grey mare.

The notes tell the story almost exactly and this is no bombastic fragrance, it is a warm and cuddly, just above skin scent, aroma that is foody: as in smells like almonds and vanilla but only sort of foody, though very early in its development it does have an almond cookie smell. Lea feels sweet in a natural way but without the feeling of a natural perfume. The muscs keep everything skinnish and are very slightly lived in, the sweet smell of healthy flesh in the morning that has bathed before bed, MMMMMMMM. Other reviewers have smelt chocolate but I don’t get it, there is a ylang tint to me a buttery, milky, sensual wash that arrives about 2 hours in and stays till dry down.

Photo Stolen MorgueFile

Edited from Lucky Scent: Indescribably luscious Léa… Liliane, the owner of the ultra-chic boutique, Calypso, in St. Barth… visits Manhattan, Paris, London and Milan and selects the cream of the crop of fresh new designers and standout designs from established lines and creates a cohesive and trend-setting fashion vision. As it happens, she also loves fragrance, and created Léa for herself, with her daughter as inspiration. Other people fell in love with it, it became a cult favorite….

Excellent longevity upwards of 7 hours on my perfume thirsty skin and I think wearable for any occasion: sloppy, formal, studying, dating, eating and even the closest of workplaces.

Photo Stolen MorgueFile

Further reading: Now Smell This and For The Love Of Perfume
Lucky Scent has $100/100ml and samples
Surrender To Chance starts at $4/ml

Have you succumbed to the beauty of this little gem? Are you a follower of the Lea by Calypso St Barth? Is it something you’d like or not? Too simple for you or maybe you are annoyed by vanilla scents?

See you tomorrow,
Remember to be nice to yourself, it’s hard to be happy when someone is constantly mean to you.
Portia xx

Cuirs by Sonia Constant for Carner, Barcelona 2011

July 13, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Hello my lovelies,

Today we have a fragrance that has seen little scentbloggosphere chatter but what there has been seems completely ambivalent, people either are loving or hating it with no in betweens. More than anything that’s what drew me to try this Spanish offering from a very new house Carner, named for its creator Sara Carner.

Cuirs by Carner, Barcelona 2011

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Saffron, caraway
Heart: Australian sandalwood, patchouli, guaiac wood, Virginia cedar, violet
Base: Musk, French labdanum, tonka bean, agarwood (oud), cypriol oil or nagarmotha, amber, leather, amyris

I am just starting to get to know saffron in a fragrance, here I am getting the amber base right from the first moment I spritz with what I think is saffron over the top(?) and some soft patchouli. For some reason I was expecting Cuirs to be more in your face, more leather tannery than soft kidskin gloves from the outside of a shop. It is very conservative in projection and sillage, this is self indulgent, introverted scent that is soft enough to be worn all day every day and becomes your own scent but better. Even workmates in very close quarters would think you had a lovely lotion, rather than perfume. The story of leather tanneries that is in the ad copies is a fiction, those places smelled like hell. Cuirs is dainty and soft, expensive and anything but in your face.

Photo Stolen FlickrCommons

Considering how quiet Cuirs is the tenacity is extremely good, well over the 6 hour mark and holding on. Cuirs is interesting and extremely pretty (going from saffron/amber through pretty, sweet woods and then to a well worn leather and smoky amber, the ride is muted but gorgeous) and perfect for anyone who likes the idea of leather fragrance but dislikes the harshness and heft of many leather-centric fragrances on the market today. I think it an excellent gateway scent for newbies or young people keen to experience fragrance, a wonderful office scent and I bet it sells well in some Asian cultures where scent is meant to work with your own body chemistry to create something lovely and different for every user, a wash of fragrance over and weaving through you. To be 100% honest, I want my fragrance to have a certain strength and projection so I will pass on Cuirs by Carner but I am giving the rest of my sample to Jin who I know will absolutely adore it.

Thinking about Cuirs, the price is not outrageous for a well produced and lovely niche fragrance, this could very easily become a go-to for many people. Spritz and forget luxuriousness that will give you mini wafts all day. Even if you are a huge over spritzer like me it’s nearly impossible to skunk with such a subtle scent and you get the joy of lavish spraying. On clothes the tenacity is awesome and a scarf could go for weeks and you would continue to smell Cuirs.

Maybe Cuirs is not for you, for a lot of the perfumista community I can see that Cuirs is a strength let down, for you I offer Cuir Ottoman by Parfum d’Empire, Cuir de Russie by CHANEL, Lonestar Memories by Tauer, Bottega Veneta, Leather Oud by DIOR, Cuir by Mona di Orio, Oud Cuir d’Arabie by Montale, Cuir Amethyst by Armani, Black Rosette by Strange Invisible Perfumes, Cuir Mauresque by Serge Lutens, Tuscan Leather by Tom Ford, Knize Ten and you may even like the plush leather in my favourite Shalimar. This is only the tip of an enormous leather iceberg and you could spend your lifetime enjoying the note and not be done.

Photo Stolen MorgueFile

Further reading: Ca Fleur Bon and The Scentualist
Min New York has $130/50ml with FREE USA Shipping
Bloom UK has £81/50ml
Surrender To Chance starts at $6/.5ml

Have any of you held the bottle in your hand? I love the look of them, I wish I had searched this out actively on my travels. Next year.
See you all tomorrow,
Portia xx

Fleurs de Citronnier by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 2004

July 12, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 23 Comments

Hiya APJ Family,

This was originally scheduled to go live the day after Lucasz at Chemist In A Bottle but I didn’t want to tread on his beautiful post (follow the jump if you’d like to read it). So mine is happening a couple of weeks later now. Enjoy.

I found a 5+ml decant of todays fragrance and have no idea where it came from or how it’s in my collection. The writing is almost illegible and I had to check Fragrantica for things that might match. Whoever I have to thank for this lavish largesse you have my complete and utter gratefulness, I would never have chosen to try it and am so glad I have. It seems to be quite hard to find, Lucky Scent has almost every other Serge Lutens except this one and a few of the other regulars are either out of stock or don’t mention it at all.

Fleurs de Citronnier (Lemon Blossom) by Serge Lutens 2004

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon blossom, petitgrain, nutmeg
Heart: Lemon blossom, neroli, white honey, tuberose
Base: Iris, several musks, styrax resin

Citrus, spicy, fresh, fizzy and fun. Fleurs de Citronnier is everything I loved about growing up with citrus trees in the back yard. I miss them but in our temperate climate in Sydney they are particularly prone to infestations and disease. Mum spent a lot of time maintaining a lemon and orange tree. We LOVED them. Fresh orange juice, a great shady place to hide, pretending perfume from flowers, leaves and fruit and let’s not forget the endless uses for a stink bug! Sunny winter days drinking sugared, fresh orange juice with lemon to make it zing.

So now you know where it takes me, what does Fleurs de Citronnier smell like on me? Green, citrus and green, later the honey makes a beautiful, almost naughty, appearance with a silky sweet urinous warmth and the tuberose (white flower) is a little skanky but more soapy. Though it stays citrus it becomes warmer and more lived in as it heads into the 2 hour mark. There have been a couple of times during the first two hours that I thought Fleurs de Citronnier was going to fall into a deep hole of cleaning product fragrance but it nimbly skirted the edge of that nasty abyss and continued beautifully.

Photo Stolen AromaPersona

Tonight I wore Fleurs de Citronnier to work, I felt beautiful and floated through the night, catching wafts of myself throughout the evening. Driving home and now back home I can still smell some citrus, some white flowers and the musks have come through very cleanly but the resin is a back up whisper, like a little bit of sweet toffee floating underneath. That’s nearly 6 hours of wear and still going strong, impressive.

I think that unless you have a VERY light hand that Fleurs de Citronnier may be too strong for most workplaces, maybe even a little overpowering for dining unless you have some time between spritz and eat. For my work it’s an excellent choice, a big, phat, bombastic fragrance that takes no prisoners. FAB U LOUS!!!!

Photo Stolen LifeWorksRestaurants

Further reading: Now Smell This and Olfactoria’s Travels
Beauty Encounter has $100/50ml (I have enjoyed FdC so much that I bought one today)
Surrender To Chance starts at $4/.5ml

Have you tried Fleurs de Citronnier? What are your impressions?
Till tomorrow, be nice to yourself and those around you,
Portia xx

Relent by ETRO + Venice Photo Essay

July 11, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 34 Comments

Hey there happy huffers,

While Jin and I were in Venice in January/February he had found us a wonderful hotel. My only rules for him to do bookings were 4 star, less than 300 metres from the railway station and that they include breakfast. In Venice he excelled himself. The hotel was very close to the station and near a bunch of major bridges, attractions, ferries and food. The room was bright, clean, spacious, quiet and sunny with a view of the rooftops of Venice and the Grand Canal and the hotel had wifi in the lobby 24 hours, with a bar that was quite comfortable. One of our favourite things about the hotel was the large, super-clean bathroom filled with ETRO Relent bath products: hair & body wash and lotion! We left the hotel every day smelling beautiful from our bath products and kept arm skin clear for frag testing. We also left the hotel CRAMMED with breakfast each day, HEAVEN!! Needless to say we asked for, and received, a handful of the mini shower gels which are big enough to last 10 days of showering. SCORE! The hotel? The Boscolo Bellini, Lista di Spagna 116/A | Cannareggio quarter, 30121 Venice, Italy

Photos Stolen Expedia

Relent by ETRO

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon, orange, lime, eucalyptus
Heart: Orange blossom, rose, iris
Base: Amber, vanilla, musk (ETRO adds citron in the base)

From the ETRO site: The true Eden is never a precise location; we need to learn to create it inside ourselves, to carry with us some of the serenity that can be evoked by aromas that brighten the heart. Sparkling citrus fruits and the sweetest flowers, a hint of the sensuality of amber and the languor of rose, a drop of solemn musk.

Photo Stolen MorgueFile

Since Venice, every shop that has ETRO gets a visit from me but nobody seems to carry Relent anymore, only the newer ones in the lineup. So I went to the internet and recently I found a Relent 150ml Eau Parfumee at Beauty Encounter for only $70 and the 200ml Shower Gel for only $39!! I am extremely happy about it and bought fragrance and a couple of shower gels. It is such a vivid memory for both Jin and I, a happy, wonderful memory that we cherish, so easy to bring back just by fragrance. Fragrantica gives 2010 as this fragrances release but MUA has reviews from 2003.

How does it smell? The opening citrus and eucalyptus combination is fizzzy, dry and interesting, the citrus fizzes like a soda pop drink fresh from the bottle but the eucalyptus holds the sweetness in check giving a very herbal, green dryness. If you told me there was some cumin with coriander/lavender/basil here I would totally believe you because it’s such a vegetative yet sweaty green opening. I also smell some wood notes that are unmentioned. It takes a while for the opening scene to develop properly and it stays for a while before the orange blossom makes her appearance, not as an entrance but she comes in though the side door unannounced, no fanfare but there she is whispering something naughty in your ear and rose is giggling wickedly beside her. Then, as the star of the show is about to be announced, like a wedding everyone quietens down and there is a fragrant hush, a lull, a pause before IRIS stands tall at the top of the stairs in full spotlight. A woody, powder puff of an iris, gentle and soft and cuddly and furry with musks comes down the stairs to be the star of the night. Everyone gets to dance with her, maybe the best analogy would be a round dance where everyone is involved but only a few are near iris for the rest of the evening before the last slow dance and then gone.

Portia’s first Venetian Bridge

Jin loving Carnivale

The Last Gondola Builders

The Grand Canal

From our restaurant

Peggy Guggenheim Modern Art Museum, so fabulous

Cafe Ceiling

Jin loved this bridge

Main Square at night after the Carnivale crowds are gone

Venice sunset

I think Relent could be worn anywhere, including frag phobic works, it is soft and pretty enough to be passed of as body lotion but interesting enough to wear. Light, cuddly and to Jin and I joyful. Maybe you will think so too.

My scent hungry skin gets about 3-4 hours before there is only a sweet amber musk that smells like me. Jin says the scent continues but I have lost the ability to smell it.

Nobody else on the first 4 pages of Google has reviewed Relent
Beauty Encounter has the best prices I could find and none of the sample shops carry Relent, though some have other ETRO frags.

I hope you enjoyed our ETRO Relent and Venice Photo Essay. All unattributed photos taken by Jin or myself.
See you tomorrow for more fun and madness,
Portia xx

Tubereuse by Richard Fraysse for Caron 2003

July 9, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Gabriella

Hello fragrant friends!

One of the joys of this hobby is rediscovering a long-lost love. Sometimes, I will rummage around in my (highly disorganised) sample drawer, find a forgotten gem and fall head over heels all over again.

This week, that honour belonged to the gorgeous Caron Tubereuse. Such is the depth of its beauty that I am sitting here and scratching my head as to why I haven’t worn it for so long and moreover, why I haven’t replaced my full bottle.

Tubereuse by Caron 2003

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Tuberose, narcissus, citruses
Heart: Tuberose, freesia, jasmine, apricot, peach
Base: Vanilla

Caron’s Tubereuse doesn’t get a whole lot of share of the tuberose chatter on the blogosphere given the omnipotence of the trinity of Tubereuse Criminelle, Carnal Flower and Fracas, but in my opinion, it has a whole lot to add to the conversation.

What it adds is this: a totally different take on the narcotic white flower. If the aforementioned trio are like listening to a bold and beautiful coloratura, then Caron’s Tubereuse is like listening to Mozart being played by a string quartet. Tubereuse is a refined, elegant and almost fragile take on the flower more known as a “take-no-prisoners” diva. It’s tuberose in muted pastel shades; the flower taken in soft focus.

Photo Stolen MorgueFile

Tubereuse opens like a ray of sunshine on a cold spring day. The tuberose here is slightly heady, clear and warm: a radiant glowing yellow. After a while, subtle jasmine lends the composition a sweet, musky vibe, tempering the buttery richness of the tuberose and giving the perfume its well-mannered feel. It is sweet and full, but remains refined and soft and somewhat innocent. Caron’s signature base lends a dark, almost melancholic quality to the scent in the drydown. It adds a rich, velvety feel to the brightness of the tuberose and jasmine.

If Fracas, Tubereuse Criminelle and Carnal Flower are like your best friends at a party – the ones who you crack a joke and have a few laughs with over a couple of glasses of wine – Caron’s Tubereuse is the elegant lady standing in the corner. She’s unassuming, dressed in a simple champagne sheath, hair pulled back with a lick of mascara and lipstick and drinking a gin and tonic. She may be in the background, but you just can’t help but notice her. You’ll have to make sure to go over to talk to her before you leave. She may be quiet, but she is an enigma.

Photo Stolen MorgueFile

As my Mum always told me, “You have to watch the quiet ones.” Caron’s Tubereuse may not be as loud as her contemporaries, but she is certainly well worth watching.

Further reading: Bois De Jasmin and Pink Manhattan
LuckyScent has the EDP for $130/50ml and the parfum extrait for $150/15ml.
Surrender to Chance has samples of the parfum starting at $5/.5ml

Have you tried Caron’s Tubereuse? Are there any other underrated tuberoses in your opinion? Is there a long lost love that you’ve recently rediscovered?
With much love till next time!

M xx

Imaginary Authors: Smell Like James Franco?

July 8, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

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Post by Azar
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Photo Stolen AsGeeks

On May 19th BoTO’s (Beauty on The Outside) Dee offered the “opportunity to smell like James Franco” to the first five people who asked for it. I questioned my desire to smell like the hairy guy in the BoTO photo, but I just couldn’t pass up such an odd opportunity. A few days ago I received a very generous sample of Imaginary Author’s James Franco. I tried it right away. Here are some of my initial impressions:

Photo Stolen FanPop

The top notes are a citrusy take on an old motel room, almost a 4711 eau de cologne. The heart seems to be a hybrid of Royal Secret (the vintage Germaine Monteil version sans the overdose of sandalwood – a little, maybe, but not a lot) and the 1960’s Niki de Saint Phalle. Overall I would describe James Franco as of a kind of retro fragrance, reminiscent of two of my favorite early to mid 20th century chypres; much greener, lighter and fresher than the Germaine Monteil and less edgy than the Niki de Saint Phalle.

Photo Stolen USMagazine

With the James Franco scent Josh Meyer has not only taken the old and made it new again but has also managed a sophisticated, indie twist on the concept of celebrity fragrance, creating in the process a neo-classic pseudo chypre (whoa), more polished and intimate than its predecessors, a thoroughly modern “Mad Man”.
The question remains “would I like to smell like James Franco” ? Yes, indeed! If Imaginary Authors ever makes this bespoke celebrity available I will definitely be smelling like Mr. Meyer’s version of Mr. Franco.

Photo Stolen RollingOut

Thanks for the fun, Dee!

Azar XX

Photo Stolen BoTO’s (Beauty on The Outside)

Anya’s Garden Winners Announced

July 7, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Hey there all,

We had a terrific response to thew Anya’s Garden Giveaway. Thank you all for getting on board and having some fun.

Photo Stolen MorgueFile

Anya’s Garden GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

There are 3 prizes this week in our special 4th of July GIVEAWAY. Each winner will receive:

3 x .5ml Anya’s Garden samples (missing what I used to review and no you don’t get to choose)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who:
Follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS.
Left how you follow in the comments.
Went to to Anya’s Garden website and got an ingredient from one of her perfumes and the perfume it came from. NO DOUBLE UPS!!

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 7th July 2013 11pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post Monday 8th.
Winners were chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, put on a tray and Jin picked a winner.

Photo Stolen propercourse

Charlene C, Sita W., Amria

The winners will have till Sunday 14th June 2013 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.

THANKS EVERYONE for joining in.

Portia xx

Duel by Camille Goutal + Isabelle Doyen for Annick Goutal 2003

July 7, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Hey there Fellow Fumies,

As you may know I love the Annick Goutal house of fragrance. We have covered the Annick Goutal Story, Perfume Reviews #1, Perfume Reviews #2, Perfume Reviews #3, Songes, and Grand Amour already on APJ, so you can see I’m a bit of a fan. And we still haven’t covered all the bottles in my collection yet. Terrifying, isn’t it? This bottle is a mini 15ml that I’m not quite sure where I came across it, I have decanted and spritzed for the purposes of todays review because I find it has better longevity than when I dab.

Duel by Annick Goutal 2003

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Holly, petitgrain
Heart: Orris root, artemisia
Base: Guaiac wood, leather, musk

I’m going to start my story with another perfumer from another country. While in LA earlier this year Tom from Perfume Posse and Perfume Smellin’ Things were invited to see Roxanna Illuminated Perfumes at her magical home in the hills near Malibu. There, her husband Greg made us Green Maté which Tom and I looked at firstly with revolt and then gulped down like it was a milkshake, Tom even finishing the jug off. I have had random yearnings for the taste ever since. So when Annick Goutal writes on her page that Duel has Green Maté I now know what to expect.

The opening is green and striking and interesting, neither of the notes lists I have give any indication of how this lovely, sensual, slinky green sequined sheath of a fragrance smells. Both sharp and breathy, delicate and deep Duel does not make me think masculine at all, rustic, alluring, sparkling and earthy all come to mind but not masculine, though it will be a fabulous scent on a guy I think it equally beautiful for the girls. Oh and if you were wondering there is a real green mate feeling, green and milky but not sappy, full cream milk-ish and though Duel is all green it’s also sweet.

Photo Stolen CafeVirtuoso

Further along the woods take over with a backdrop of breath, green and leather. I am surprised that this is not more spoken of in the community because it is beautiful, I feel quite beautiful when I’m wearing it and sexy, dead sexy. If you told me there was fig here I would believe you. Though there is no fruit anywhere on the list I do get something fruity, delicious but not sweet like the current5 rash of bright, sweet, juicy frags this is a deep fruity humm below the main story.

More people should wear Duel. I am going to wear it much more often.

From Annick Goutal site: Always once step ahead, never follower, nor a conformist, Annick Goutal Parfums present Duel, the fragrance for men who live life boldly and with daring. Duel speaks of love, as it is the way of Annick Goutal.
Duel, the triumph of beauty, high expectations, sensuality.
Duel, for the new romantics.
Green Maté absolute, Paraguay petitgrain, iris root, absinth, gaiac wood, leather, musk

Photo Stolen RotoFugi

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Perfume Posse
Beauty Encounter currently has $55/100ml which is less than half price!
Surrender To Chance starts at $3/ml

Which of the Annick Goutal’s, if any, have you tried? Do you like the house? Have you had a hit of Duel?
Hopefully we’ll see you tomorrow for more fragrance fun,
Portia xx

Les Nombre’s D’Or: Vanille by Mona Di Orio 2011

July 6, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 28 Comments

Hey there Niche Nerds,

Les Nombres d`Or: Vanille by Mona di Orio 2011

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Petitgrain, clove, rum, bitter orange
Heart: Vetiver, sandalwood, guaiac wood, ylang-ylang
Base: Amber, tonka bean, vanille, tolu balsam, leather, musk

The box and bottle are the first things you notice about Vanille. They are both so beautiful, sturdy, hefty and both also have a feeling that the creator is fueled by an ascetic of simple, elegant, design and longevity, this lovely glass brick and lid is completed by the useless but interesting, and intrinsic to its look of utter completeness, wire cage and ring pull. I find myself reaching for the joy of the box and bottle as much as I do for the juice inside, which is no less lovely, complete, designed and created.

Photo Stolen Mona di Orio

Before doing this review I had not looked at a note list except in passing in preparation for my purchase after going through a decant at light speed. When I saw a nearly full bottle being sold very reasonably on facebook I jumped on it. Since its arrival it has had the second most skin time of any fragrance in my wardrobe and I reach for it even more often without spritzing, just to enjoy its whole beauty. So it was quite a surprise to come back now and find that loads of people are talking about the amazing top note of bitter orange, which I now completely get. Ha ha ha the joke is on me, I had NO IDEA. My nose gave me only the spicy, fizzy, citrus like clove and some booze on a sweet vanilla and amber. I knew there was much more and the smokiness, earth and woods were more like the dying embers of a BarBQ for me than specifics. I felt the darkness, soared with the sensual ylang and dug down into the grounding vetiver without knowing what or why, Vanille is beyond lovely. It’s interesting, full of twists and turns that unexpectedly jump somewhere new but through it all I find it wearable, unchallenging, accessible and comfortable.

Photo Stolen TheCoastNZ

Surprisingly Vanille is becoming my comfortable jeans and favourite hoody. I have sometimes said a fragrance feels like a hug, this is a bear hug under a blanket with the one you love on a rainy day where you have cancelled all plans and have oodles of yummy leftovers and an endless supply of delicious teas, coffee and hot chocolate, and LOADS of Ferrero Rocher. I can wear it to slum, dine, relax, go out and stay home sniffing the story. I urge you to try Vanille and then come tell me if you enjoyed it. It’s pretty enough to gift a non perfumista and intriguing enough to keep a hard core perfumista entertained for hours.

EXTRA: I did a side by side throw down of Vanille MdO and Vanille Absolument L’Artisan the other day. The MdO is more interesting and has a better journey but the L’Artisan is warm amber, vanilla and booze all the way through, it’s richer, grander and sticks like glue in a very linear progression. Of the two I still find MdO a more relaxed and comfortable fit but L’Artisan has done an excellent job if you are thinking about grabbing it before it disappears forever.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels takes us beautifully through the scent and Scents Of Self talks of Mona di Orio.
Parfum1 has $230/100ml (and I tell you to join their mailing list for the 20% Discount coupons that come every so often)
Surrender To Chance starts at $7/ml

Have you tried the Mona di Orio scents? Which did you like? Do you have a favourite vanilla other than this? I love them and want to know more.

See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

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