Perfume

DIOR La Collection Privée GIVEAWAY WINNER

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Portia

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Hiya APJ,

So exciting getting the newest first.
Let’s see who won them.
Portia xx

DIOR La Collection Privée GIVEAWAY WINNER

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x tiny Sample each of Sakura, Jasmin des Angles, Souffle de Soie
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Wednesday 9th August 2017 10pm Australian EsT
Winner was chosen by random.org

Fanny

The winners will have till Wednesday 16th August 2017 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

Flamenco by Ramón Monegal 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

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Sandra

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Hi there APJ! Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the month of August. We are eagerly anticipating our upcoming trip to southern Spain. I am in desperate need for sunshine and heat – both will hopefully be in abundance.

“The dance, of all the arts, is the one that most influences the soul. Dancing is divine in its nature and is the gift of the gods”. Plato.

Music and dance are indicative of a culture and its people. Joie de vivre, cultural history and even weather plays an important role in the musical roots of a country. Every country has its own rhythym, its own heartbeat. Having lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I cannot imagine that city without the rhythyms of tango and the evocative dance associated with it. The same holds true for the Waltz and Vienna, Austria – a lot of structure to the dance and the music. I have always believed that the warmer the climate in a country, the more passionate and captivating the music and dance will be. This is only my opinion as I have had the pleasure of living in many countries and experiencing the music and dance.

Enter in Spain and the Flamenco dance.

Flamenco by Ramón Monegal 2017

Flamenco Ramon Monegal fragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange blossom, raspberry, violet, apple
Heart: Jasmine, rose, iris
Base: Cedar, amber, pine tree, cypress.

With all of that said and done, I am sure that you all know of Ramón Monegal perfumes from Barcelona, Spain. Ramón Monegal is one of the very few brands which excites me with their new creations and they have recently launched Flamenco. The Andalusian dance, the Flamenco, with its music (guitar, vocals, clapping and dancing) is seductive and sensual and was the inpiration for this new creation. When I watch a Flamenco performance I feel as if I am watching a deep magical dance from the soul of the people. It is a feast for my senses. I get lost in watching the rhythmic movements of the dancer’s arms and feet, the sway of her dress, the dust slightly coming off of the wooden floor, the musicians encouraging her and then the final culmination.

When I spray on Flamenco, it opens with a cloud of raspberries and orange blossom which is radiant and bursting with flavor and brings a smile from ear to ear on my face. A bowlful of berries, succulent with their juices, slightly sweet and yet marginally tart, is my secret haven for a warm summer evening. There is an underlying woody aspect to the opening which grounds it from turning into a fruit syrup. When the woods come into play they are warm and glowing which gives me a sense of comfort and well being. This perfume exudes passion, slowly working its way into my soul making me want to wear something red, dance the night away on a warm summer evening after enjoying a day of languishing in the sun.

The packaging for Flamenco is equisite; a book shaped box with a mirror on the inside of the lid holds the red bottle in a black and red cloth bag. There is so much attention to detail that surpasses anything that I have seen in a while. It is pure joy to use the perfume and adds to the sensorial experience.

Special thanks to Ramon Monegal for sending me this beautiful bottle

Perfumaria has €190/50ml
LuckyScent carries the Ramon Monegal line

Have you tried any perfumes from Ramón Monegal? Do you have a favorite? Or do you have a favorite dance?
Sandra x

Rose + Don`t Get Me Wrong Baby by ELdO

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

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Portia

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Sorry APJ,

I was supposed to come home and finish a post but my mate Rose came to trivia tonight. Afterwards we came home and were eating the delicious biscuits made by my mate Nikki at the Post Office and left in my PO Box. We also had some Aftelier Rose & Ginger Oolong Tea. If you haven’t tried Mandy’s teas then you NEED TO, immediately.

Anyway we basically chattered away three hours and I was an excellent catch up.

We also sniffed some fragrance. Rose fell in love with Don`t Get Me Wrong Baby by ELdO. I have the new and old bottles so I gifted her the original.

Don’t Get Me Wrong Baby by Etat Libre d’Orange

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Orange blossom, lily-of-the-valley, patchouli, jasmine, aldehydes, amber, cacao pod, marshmallow, musk

It smelled wonderful on her, what else could I do?

Then we wandered up to the station and now she’s gone.

So I really don’t have a post for you and I’m sorry for that. Sometimes you have to live a little and let everything else go hang.
Portia xx

DIOR La Collection Privée

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 42 Comments

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Portia

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Hey APJ,

Recently I was lucky enough to get in on a very early distribution of a few of the newest DIOR La Collection Privée releases. As I got 5ml of each I thought it might be nice to share.

DIOR La Collection Privée GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x tiny Sample each of Sakura, Jasmin des Angles, Souffle de Soie
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

Please tell us which DIOR fragrance you most love and why

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Wednesday 9th August 2017 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Wednesday 16th August 2017 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

Saturday Question: DIOR, Lutens, CHANEL or Guerlain?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 80 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

Once a week here on Australian Perfume Junkies we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is generally a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a $10 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card.
Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Friday.

Last Weeks Winner: $10 Surrender To Chance Gift Card Tiffanie

Saturday Question: DIOR, Lutens, CHANEL or Guerlain?

So many times on blogs and FaceBook chat pages these four fragrance houses come up. They seem to be the benchmark in a multitude of ways and I often wonder if people have a favourite from the big four.

My Answer:

This collection is littered with all four brands. Guerlain is the best represented in sheer quantity but that’s mainly because I buy a LOT of vintage and have multiples of the same thing. There is also a moderate collection of vintage mens and womens targeted CHANEL and not very much of the modern stuff. In DIOR there are a bunch of vintage Miss Dior, a good vintage cross section, some modern and more than half of the prive line. My Lutens collection is currently at 33 bottles (export, bell, vapo.).

Guerlain

So let’s talk about what I wear the most, maybe that will help sort it out. I think Guerlain outstrips the other brands in skin time by at least double. Shalimar and Mitsouko being my most frequent wears but lately Mon Guerlain and Black Perfecto have been getting a lot of skin. I also wear a lot of the Aqua Allegoria line, Samsara, Vol de Nuit, Mahoma, La Parisiennes, L’Art et la Matiere and both of the d’Orient collections. So, though I think the Guerlain brand degraded beyond belief and that it’s going to hell in a handbasket, it does seem to be the house that I wear most regularly and keep coming back to for so many reasons. It’s been a part of my life from earliest recollections and still is a major personal fragrant influence.

 

So my question to you today is: DIOR, Lutens, CHANEL or Guerlain?

NEW!! Sakura by DIOR Privé 2017

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Portia

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Hey Crew,

Just arrived in my hands is one of DIOR’s newest set of releases. Apparently they are available in the Paris store so far and maybe NYC but they still don’t even know about them in the Sydney DIOR store, but were really excited by the news. It’s all so new that aren’t even up on fragrantica or parfumo yet, so no notes lists. So today’s post is mainly guesswork. We can all have a laugh when the lists are revealed.

Sakura by DIOR Privé 2017

The only two notes I can find are on baseNotes and they are Cherry Blossom and Almond. As sakura means cherry blossoms that makes sense.

Cherry and greenery open. A wet, sheer, delicate fragrance that has an interesting warmth underneath the cool fruit and frosty cool morning feel. Like going out to get the newspaper on a frosty weekend morning in your warm tracksuit, Uggs and robe. Though it’s cold you are kept warm by your prior internal heat from being in the house. Why a weekend? Sakura feels like there is time, no rush, a calm embrace to the day. Maybe you have already made your morning tea and while you get the paper it’s steeping. There is also a tea feel, dry tea leaves and the dry ache at the back of your throat when drinking it.

Sakura by DIOR Privé 2017 cherry blossom watercolour pixabayPDI

The almond is a constant base where all the lighter, wetter and more colourful notes can float around but remain anchored. You know after you’ve had a biscotti and tea? There is a curious taste that follows these together, it’s a happy and comfortable taste. Sakura has moments of smelling like that taste. I think there is vetiver and maybe sandalwood but the creaminess could be ylang.

I would more have expected this style of scent to come from L’Occitane than DIOR but it’s smooth, unrumpled, comfortable elegance does also put me in mind of DIOR post Raf Simons and into the Maria Grazia Chiuri era. It’s pretty and effortless, a softly shimmering scent that will be perfect for the modern day fragrance wearer. Not incredible or ground breaking, in fact quite derivative of what we’ve smelled before but done in a luxurious way. Closer to Hermès that DIOR.

Are you excited by the prospect?
Portia xx

 

Lutens, Mugler, Penhaligon’s GIVEAWAY WINNERS

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Portia

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Hey Crew,

Thanks for getting i9nvolved this week. SORRY I’m late with the draw. It’s been bloody hectic around here.
Portia xx

Lutens, Mugler, Penhaligon’s GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 3 winners who will receive:
2 x Carded Samples from the above, not matching (NO you don’t get to choose)
There will also be some interesting extras
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Wednesday 2nd August 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

David Hallinan

Lena

Katherine M

The winners will have till Wednesday 9th August 2017 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

Pichola by Bertrand Duchaufour for Neela Vermeire Creations 2015

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

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Portia

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Hi there APJ,

Sorry we are a bit late tonight but I completely forgot there was no post written for tonight on APJ. OOPSIE! So I thought I’d write about my fragrance tonight for work. Thursdays are really good nights for me and I’ve been in the same venue for 15+ years, the players have become friends. Many of them I’ve been to their, and they’ve been to my, home. We’ve shared so much. Watched children grow and go through Uni, get married, travel, and settle down to family life. Some of the older players are now downsizing or thinking of moving into retirement villages.

Anyway, tonight I wore Nichola and they loved it. Four random compliments.

Pichola by Neela Vermeire Creations 2015

Pichola by Bertrand Duchaufour

 

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cardamom, cinnamon, saffron, juniper, magnolia, neroli oil, clementine, bergamot
Heart: Orange blossom absolute, rose absolute, tuberose absolute, sambac jasmine, ylang-ylang
Base: Benzoin absolute, sandalwood , driftwood, Haiti vetiver

Sweet citrus, white flowers and sharp juniper open Pichola as a burst of tart, mouth watering and puckering simultaneously. It’s a short-lived explosion that is exciting, over the top and surprisingly refreshing.

reflectionsNeela Vermeire Creations Pichola

Once the big bang is over Pichola smooths out to creamy white flowers and a hint of cardamom that helps keep the flowers soft and furry rather than a strident BWF. Actually, now that I think about it, Pichola could be an excellent choice for those that don’t love white flowers. Somehow Mr Dachaufour has taken out the indoor and teeth yet still retained the beautiful clean fleshy plushness. Quite a feat.

Even in dry down after working tonight I remain quite fragrant but in a introverted way. Soft white flowers, a hint of spicy rose and creamy sandalwood. As people hugged me goodbye tonight was when three of my compliments happened,. even though I’d been in and around them all night.

Neela Vermeire Creations Pichola magnolia_pichola

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Scented Hound
LuckyScent has 2 x 15ml – Take Two Travel Set for $125
Surrender To Chance has samples from $7/ml

Did you ever try Pichola?
Portia xx

(Ed: All photos from Neela Vermeire Creations)

Savoy Steam by Juliette Karagueuzoglou for Penhaligon`s 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

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Ainslie Walker of Scentsmith 

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Hello Australian Perfume Junkies!

It has been a while since I have written a piece for you and I hope you’re all fragrant and well.

Last week I attended the Australian launch of Savoy Steam by Penhaligon’s at Sydney’s Langham Hotel. Hosted by Penhaligon’s Australian distributers, Agence de Parfums, it was a beautiful breakfast event with a fitting quaint English feel. There were plenty of familiar faces and I was lucky to be sitting on Michael Edwards of Fragrances of the World’s table. (NB Hot gossip from his world is that at the end of this year he will be moving back to Sydney permanently, yippee!!)

We shared homemade pastries and teacakes over tea and coffees in a ‘high tea’ style. Tables were set gorgeously with personalised calligraphy placards. The venue was in keeping with the colours of the fragrances packaging, in particular the bow on the bottles – beige and blue. The packaging is a nod to the early Turkish bathhouses popular in London from the early 20th century. Blue and beige like the traditional cloths and towels used even now. The box is simplistic yet head turning, wrapped in textured linen, it’s lovely and textured in the hand.

Michael Edwards introduced the brand and it’s long history before Michael, trainer from Agence de Parfums introduced the fragrance – drumroll: Savoy Steam!

Savoy Steam by Penhaligon`s 2017

Savoy Steam by Juliette Karagueuzoglou

Savoy Steam Penhaligon`s fragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, lemon, eucalyptus, mint, pink pepper, rosemary
Heart: Rose, geranium, cardamom, hedione, tea
Base: Benzoin, incense, vanilla, white musk

The fragrance celebrates the very first fragrance in Penhaligon’s portfolio, Hammam Bouquet from 1872. Also, as evident by the name, the scent honours the Savoy Hotel an iconic London Establishment.

If I’m honest, on arrival I expected an old fashioned barbershop scent and nothing more. I worked for years in the men’s grooming industry in London, so believe me I have smelt a few of these!! However in more ways than one, I ate my hat!! Dubbed “gender neutral” in the press release I also found the scent very much ‘on the fence.’ On paper I initially smelt rosemary – aromatic. However on skin, quite, quite different. I quickly understood a focus on the sweeter aspect of rosemary as being in the spotlight. Spiciness, described in the notes as pink pepper also to me has a cardamom like freshness. Geranium in combination makes for a rosy heart.

On my skin the fragrance remains quite sweet but spiciness lingers somewhere…incense like a faint Come des garcons Avignon – tart, bright frankincense and still huffs of sweetness. There is a juicy, wet feel to the beginning of Savoy Steam. I can imagine steam on cement. Nothing though is barbershop or old fashioned. A very nice and modern easy wear. Gentle and slightly feminine in its sweetness. If either of my grandfathers were still alive I would gift them my bottle. Not at all because it’s old fashioned, just because its gentle and sweet like they were – I think this fragrance would be absolutely lovely on a more mature gents skin, a silver fox of sorts…someone like softly spoken but majestic David Attenborough. He could wear it out to dinner.

Further reading: Scented Salamander
Libertine Parfumerie has $279/100ml

It makes me wonder what else I feel works for this age group…Do you have any favourite fragrances for folk over 60? What works, what doesn’t and why? Are fragrances ageist?

Until next time,
Ainslie XX

(Ed: All photos by Ainslie Walker unless specified. Beautiful Ainslie XXXX)

Philippe Starck Fragrances 2016

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

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Greg Young from AusScents.

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Hi APJ,

Last year, designer Philippe Starck ventured into the fragrance world with three perfumes. In keeping with Starck’s minimalist design philosophy, these scents are very subtle and stick close to the skin. There is some playing with preconceptions about what a gender-specific fragrance should be like; the female fragrance morphs into something more masculine, and vice versa. And it simply would not be Starck without some unusual twists on “normal” design.

http://www.starckparfums.comStarck Parfums

Philippe Starck Fragrances

From Silk to Rock

Peau de Soie Starck FragranticaFragrantica

Peau de Soie by Dominique Ropion for Philippe Starck 2016

Skin of Silk. The most feminine fragrance in the range, Peau de Soie is as silky-smooth as the name implies. It’s a very soft, powdery scent. Peau de Soie opens with unobtrusive woody notes and then develops a mild floral note reminiscent of iris and a candy-like musk. On my skin this lasted about half the day, but it had almost zero projection. One needs to sniff one’s wrist closely to enjoy it.

Peau d`Ailleurs Starck FragranticaFragrantica

Peau d`Ailleurs by Annick Menardo for Philippe Starck 2016

Skin from Elsewhere. Yes, well this is very well-named in a sense, because it has notes that I’ve never encountered in a fragrance before. It opens earthy, with a green, vegetal whiff to it. A few close sniffs revealed an aroma of freshly cut beetroot which, once identified, became inescapable.

After a while, a transition away from earthiness begins and we get a faint lemony smell followed by musk and a little bit of wood. This also lasted about half a day on my skin.

Is beetroot a thing? Not according to the Fragrantica database. Nevertheless, I found myself quite liking this very different take on an earthy scent. I could easily see this one polarising sniffers; it’s a brave attempt from a designer renowned for his original thinking.

Peau de Pierre Starck fragranticaFragrantica

Peau de Pierre by Daphne Bugey for Philippe Starck 2016

Skin of Stone. This one represents the end of a journey from silky lightness through an indefinable greenness down to earth and woods. There is a trace of sharp citrus on the first spray with a green note that I thought might be galbanum. A dominant cedary smell takes over, with a smoky aura about it. It comes across a little bit soapy at times, so I don’t think it quite fulfils the promise of its name, but it is probably my favourite of the three. It lasted a bit less than the others; maybe about 6 hours.

The subtlety of these scents means that individual notes rarely dominate; they are designed to be appreciated as a melange of their various parts. They all last a good long time on skin and are ideal if you’re wearing a fragrance solely to please yourself, or in an intimate encounter. If you’re up for something a bit different, the Starck range may be for you.

These reviews were based on samples given to me by Marco at Mason’s Menswear Boutique in Flinders Lane which is, I believe, the sole Australian outlet for the Starck line. (Ed: These guys have only been open for 13 weeks and are already generating a lot of media interest. We will watch with interest! They were super friendly on the phone today)

Greg XX