Perfume

Versace; Dreamer + Profumo; Oud Caravan No. 3

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Hey gang!

I am so excited that over 150 people have clocked in to have a look over the weekend till now. Awesome. I hope you all felt suitably welcome. You are.

Today my fellow Bloggette Evie and I went to the Picasso exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales with Kath (my bestie and sister by non legal but just as binding familial adoption) & Will (Eve’s handsome, dashing husband and friend). It was great, of course Picasso was a genius and changed the way we look at art, very long though, my brain had gone into meltdown so the last 2 rooms are a blur. I wish they had cut the exhibition in half and I could have paid twice to see early and late work, which would have been good because in the end he was homage-ing and deriving from himself anyway.

I was recently reminded of an old favourite perfume of mine by…

Chandler Burr | Five Favorite Scents | August 2004

The Dreamer | Versace

After all those goddamn, tired out, hairy chested, cliché macho, standardized masculine fragrances you find out there, you have to wonder: Who the hell at Versace was the genius who came up with The Dreamer? First, this is so utterly not your father’s aftershave that it smells like it fell to earth from the strange, powdery stellar globulous pictured on its box. Like Angel, The Dreamer startles you. Smell Eau Sauvage, and you think, “Oh, men’s cologne.” (Ho hum.) You smell this thing, and not only do you not think men’s cologne (because you can’t possibly), you think “My God!…” and then “What the hell is it?!” “It” is, first, absolutely mouthwatering. It is walking through a French pastry shop next to a spice market in southern Thailand. Then there’s ice cream, gun powder, fruit candy, hot cocoa, marshmallows, blood orange peel, and probably some DDT. It is the most mesmeric fragrance I know.

I think it’s interesting that Chandler (one of my heroes) Burr was so delighted with something I love, but also that he mentions Angel next to it. When I first met Dreamer and Angel’s brother A*Men, we were hostessing a party at one of Sydney’s still extant hot spots, Home Nightclub (one of Stephen Craddock’s extravaganzas like Home-sexual or Hey Homo). and two fragrances were being released on the same night. Armed with about 1000 5ml give-aways and testers, dressed up to the elevens we mindlessly sashayed through the heaving crowds, doling out freebees. Well A*Men got caught in my nostrils and throat and stayed lodged there for weeks. Even the merest whiff of A*Men would send me flying in the other direction at high speed. So I bacame part of the Versace Dreamer camp and many of our friends and cronies took sides one way or the other, not viciously but definitely. So back then I had a bottle and drained it, not understanding the finer nuances but loving its scent none the less.

The reason I write of this is because I wore it today to see Picasso and hang with my buddies. It was there, but not invasive, all day till I took my bath at 3.30pm to get ready for work. I am so glad that I have a bottle of Versace Dreamer in my Fragrance wardrobe, for its good memories and associations as well as its awesome and delicious smell.

When I got back home today there were 4 parcels at my door awaiting inspection. They were all very, VERY interesting. One box held a rebuy of one of my favourites; Trouble by Boucheron. Next came a small pack of LUSH fragrances (sample pack and 2 stick frags-we’ll talk about them soon). A vintage bottle of JOY by Patou with a smidge left in the bottle via ebay (yes, I have a whole page to write you about it, don’t worry).

Lastly was an exquisitely packed coffret from Dominique Dubrana of La Via del Profumo who does an amazing array of natural, aromatherapy, order your own and even vegan fragrances. Hit the link and have a look, I think the 6 pack coffret is a super good testing deal and looks right out of a Middle Eastern movie done in Hollywood. Just so you know I will be trialing Hindu Kush, Tartar Leather, Sharif, Tabac, Mecca Balsam (just sniffing at bottles this seems to be most me) and African Night.

What came with them though is so astounding to my senses. Oud Caravan No.3. a VEGAN fragrance.

Here is what Dominique Dubrana of La Via del Profumo has to say on the site

It is an authentic Oud, wild and full fledged, hose animalic notes have been at last tamed. Real Oud is not a perfume for all. It is not an easy scent to wear, you must have a lion’s heart. He is somehow like the mythical Dragon, if your inner force is too weak you will not bear it.
In the Oud Caravan N°3 the Dragon has been briddled and saddled, made ready for you to ride him. Oud is the perfume of the Bedouin princes of the desert. I have tempered with exotic fruitty notes the aspect of excessive power that caracterize the head notes of a good Oud.

My aim was to smooth and temper the initial notes and to control their energy in order to make the scent real Oud accessible to a greater number.

I have not been a dedicated perfumista long enough, nor have I read enough to be able to give you the notes and chemical balances. What I can give you is my smell experience

Oud Caravan No. 3 starts on my skin smelling like the tack room of an extremely well kept, run, maintained and busy horse stud. There is animal, hay, leather and leather polish, horse and horse apples (shit, but that special grassy, herbivore, almost cow pat shit), smoke and maybe just outside the door a small garden of fragrant plants that waft in with the breeze, did I say honey? If Andy Tauer’s Lonestar Memories smells like a saddle that a cowboy has just left after a long summer day riding, this is the tack room of an estate after muster, in the afternoon as the heat starts to fade and everybody is ready for a strong cup of tea before dressing for dinner.

The initial rush fades after about half an hour and I am here with a scent that smells like healthy man working in the sun as a gardener or labourer. Sexy, masculine and ready for action. Even on me, the girliest chubby dress up kink ever! And I’d like to welcome the flowers too now please, I am enjoying this immensely and think you should definitely try Oud caravan No. 3.

So a COMPETITION to win this magical triumvirate.

A 1/4ml sample of La Via del Profumo “Oud Caravan No. 3”

A 1.5ml sample of Tommi Sooni “Tarantella”

A 1.5ml sample of Boucheron “Trouble edt” (now sadly discontinued, panned and greatly reviled. I LOVE IT!)

Please leave a note underneath in 55 words or less telling us your first pricey fragrance splurge. I will leave the competition open till March 30th 2012 and will put everyone’s name in a hat and draw randomly. Judges pick is final. I’ll announce winner 31st March 2012  and the winner will need to get in touch with address details so I can send your lovely prize,

Thanks for reading my fragrant thoughts.

Portia xx

 

Versace “Dreamer” photo stolen from Fragrantica click link to see the notes and some history and reviews

My photo of the La Via del Profumo coffret

La Via del Profumo “Oud Caravan No. 3” photo stolen from La Via del Profumo

Liberte by Cacharel, Red Jeans by Versace, Connexions by Lancome, Emilie by Fragonard,

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Hey, Hey,

Well, as you can see it’s been a crazy wear everything but the kitchen sink day. This morning was warm and sunny so I jumped in the pool to do some laps, 500 metres, not much for swimmer types but plenty for me. I love the salty chlorine smell after a swim so I took in some soap and abluted in the pool, I know; totally weird. I got the bug for it last year when I, stupidly, did all bathrooms and laundry renovations concurrently, leaving me toilet, shower and bath-less, I did splurge on a portaloo though. It was quite lovely for about 3 weeks but got old for the next 3 weeks ending late March here in Sydney. Quite brisk for swimming.

After my swim I asked the significant other (TSO) Jin whether I should wear flowers, herbs, spices or citrus. Interestingly he ordered citrus. Not something I have a lot of in the fragrance wardrobe. So the day started with Liberte by Cacharel, The first time I wore this it SCREECHED at me and burnt a hole in my nostrils that penetrated deep into my brain and cooked it in the first 5 minutes, leaving a scent burn there for the whole night, interestingly the whole suburb could not smell it even though I felt like a stinky monkey, and I got 2 very sweet compliments.  After this first wear though I was so affronted by Liberte’s outrageousness that I wanted to do it all again. Unfortunately, the second and all subsequent wearings have started as a delicious sizzling fried orange scent that maintains its sqwuark of citrus while moving into a bouquet of flowers and then vanilla, patchouli and a murmuring of something lovely (maybe the vetyver or spices or remaining flowers) that I can’t define that stays for a while and then gone. 2 hours max.

Having to go to a buddy’s (Hiya lovely Phil) house for dinner with the (Kath, Jin, Amal) crew and needing something sweet but innocuous enough to eat dinner with I went for Versace’s Versus Red Jeans. I like the sweet freshness of this fruity floral that doesn’t last except to quietly whisper its drydown of soft, unsexy, musk & vanilla on my skin, no woods I’m afraid. Perfect for dinner. Yummy Nom Noms indeed with the warm Pumpkin, Pea, Goats Fetta and Pesto salad being my favourite taste adventure of the evening, great belly laughs and some sweet, easy drinking, white wine. Almost forgot to tell you all about the REIKI, um, no probably not.

Arriving home and being basically fragranceless I went for a scent that I recently bought blind off Ebay, Connexions by Lancome, in the kooky, weird ass, why did they do that bottle and casing. I love the lilac colour-way though but all else is skewed for me. I keep coming back to this scent because every time I put it on it gives me a different olfactory story. Today was a plastic bunch of flowers at first that became more lovely and then more plastic. This must have been reacting to the other scents still lurking around because it was awkward and a little dizzying today. Not a reaction I’ve felt before. I could also have been part of my sugar rush from tonight’s Chocolate Mousse dessert that was so divinely sweet that it left socks on my teeth. Honesty compels me to tell you that I felt a headache coming if I didn’t scrub so I hit the bath. Hot, hot, hot and bath salted with a book, Muse by Susan Irvine, that is quite confronting but has some interesting fragrance refs and that I noticed on someones blog, sorry I’ve forgotten where but thanks.

After my delicious soak I wanted something absolutely and utterly flowery and gorgeous. A friendly Trivia crew member from the “We Knew That” team was complaining of her inability to get a fragrance that she had found in France while holidaying a few years back sent to Australia. This is a definite down side of living so far away from the action. I instantly thought, PROJECT!! and swung into action. Not only finding the desired fragrance but getting it at a discount so excellent that she decided to get 2 bottles. WOW! Thought I, if it’s that good I will get some too. Thank you http://www.provence-shop.com/ for sending so speedily, and beautifully packed. So the bottles arrived and I sprayed a big fat spray of, OH MY GOD, this smells like my Mum did during her Paris by YSL days. Delicious, flowery and abundantly ambery and YUM YUM YUM. So it’s the day after Mum’s would be if it could be birthday and Emilie will be awesome. It is quite so. I’m sniffing my glorious self as I type. Good choice.

So by now it’s 3.30am here in Sydney so I’m off to sleep. Thanks for reading my fragrant thoughts.

Portia xx

All pictures stolen from Fragrantica except Emilie which I took myself because the packaging has changed. I think I need a light box.

TABAC Maurer & Wirtz

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Cheapy McCheap! and Cheerful.

So yesterday morning we awoke very late, it was almost time to rush out the door for pedicures and then Yum Cha (or YUMMY CHA CHA CHA!). No time to decide on anything really. Raining outside, meeting besties (big HELLO to Kath & Alice & Jin), no pressure. On went super comfy new sloppy joe, jeans, thongs. Perfume, fragrance, something?? Can’t think. Can’t think. Can’t think. Reaching…….
Maurer & Wirtz Tabac Original EDT spray, modern incarnation, comes back towards me in my hand. Really brain? Really hand? Clearly my mind and body have understood what my inner self would never have said. Spray on my thorax twice, one wrist, one elbow, mash. Wait and waft…………..

An Aromatic Fougere (pronounced Foo zair but the z is almost a j like the Chinese say Beijing) and if you want the notes then Fragrantica (http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Maurer-Wirtz/Tabac-1748.html) is your spot. Woody, herbal, floral, tobacco and aldehydic are the given accords there and on my skin I get a rush of citrus and herbs at the opening, it squeals a bit, then as my skin warms the fragrance (and it does, I can feel a warm reaction, a bit like Vicks Vaporub) then the powdery iris and lavender saunter in MMMMM. By the time I am at our destination Tabac is humming along nicely with the flora, woods and herbs all whiffling up my sloppy joe each time I move. This is a perfect warm but rainy day fragrance for the casual event. At lunch I am complimented by a discerning girlfriend who is gobsmacked that something so inexpensive can be this lovely. I concur. Hours later, snuggling with my partner I can still smell a tiny and very sexy hint of musk and vanilla. So good I’ve come in to reapply and go through the story again. Now, going back to see if it works, it would on me.

Photo Stolen from fragrantica.com

PS. Worked a treat!

Thanks for reading,
Portia xx