Saturday Question: Which 3 Perfume Notes Do You Look For?

June 10, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 123 Comments

Portia

Hello Fellow Fumies,

I have had an idea. Well, actually I’m copying an idea from Olfactoria’s Travels. Once a week there used to be a Question. Everyone would chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it would be a generally fun events each week. Taking sides never meant taking offence and everyone kept it respectful and light.

I’d like to carry on that tradition, maybe 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.

If we get over 200 responses I will draw a $20 Surrender To Chance Gift Card. Every comment will get a place in the draw, so if you comment purposefully on your own or another comment you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw the winner on Friday and the winner will be announced in next Saturdays question.

Last Weeks Winner:

Send me an eMail to portia _ turbo at yahoo dawt com dawt au

PDI

Saturday Question

Which 3 Perfume Notes Do You Look For?

OK, so most of us have a few trigger notes. You know, the ones you see in a fragrance note list that instantly catch your attention. Maybe you love it because it’s a note that you love to have overwhelming you. It could be a back story player that you find easy to notice and its participation always makes you smile. A Base note that you love because it will be the one you smell the longest in your fragrant wear. Perhaps its a top note that gives you shivers. I think we all have a few notes that we recognise with love but lets keep it to three today.

My answer:

Amber: Though not every fragrance that has amber is a favourite I do tend to like my scents warm, resinous and sweet. There’s something so comfortable about ambers, and fragrances that include it in their main ingredients. It’s a little deeper than vanilla but not so darkly animal as labdanum/styrax/benzoin alone. Some of my most loved ambers include L’Artisan L’Eau d’Ambre, Huitiem Art Ambre Cerulean, Jessica simpson Fancy Nights and Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan.

Rose: Roses come in so many different scent families. They can be sweet and jammy, citrus or tea, smoky, boozy, fruity and a whole host of others, or combined. There’s something incredibly precious about how a rose smells. Maybe because Mum loved them so much and grew them in our garden. I could have been influenced by the adoration for roses in prose, advertisement and gardening books but I really do feel a genuine attachment to the fragrances that roses emit. Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur, Soivohle Rosa sur Reuse, Olympic Orchids Ballets Rouges, Parfums DelRae Coup de Foudre and Annick Goutal Ce Soir ou Jamais are just some of my rose loves.

Lavender: Lavender is so soothing yet manages to also be gloriously alive and breathtakingly beautiful. Considering what a fragrant staple it’s been its poor reputation in the 21st century seems unwarranted. Personally I can take it straight up, blended among the crowd, a central or backing role. It scent refreshes my brain and lets me sleep like a log, whenever I change the sheets I spritz the new ones with L’Occitane Lavande de Haute-Provence. Other Lavender loves include CHANEL Boy, Le Galion Cologne Nocturne, Guerlain Jicky, Hermessence Brin de Réglisse and Jean Paul Gaultier Le Mâle.

So my question to you is

Which 3 Perfume Notes Do You Look For?

Samsara by Jean-Paul Guerlain for Guerlain 1989

June 9, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Portia

Hello lovelies,

Samsara has great memories for me of my Mum. I bought her some one year and she wore it often. It’s weird but I rarely hear people speak of this particular Guerlain, it’s still in department stores so must be a good seller for them. Every now & then I get mine out to reminisce. Then I wonder why I don’t wear it more.

Samsara by Guerlain 1989

Samsara by Jean-Paul Guerlain

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, lemon, ylang-ylang, peach, green notes
Heart: Jasmine, iris, narcissus, violet, rose
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, tonka bean, amber, musk

Samsara means “Wheel Of Life” in Sanskrit according to Jean-Paul Guerlain the perfumes main creator.

Creamy tropical flowers and fruit, a little sharp in the open. Samsara doesn’t take long to settle on my skin and become a slightly banana-isa yellow floral with BWF aspirations. Mildly flower feral, it wears in parfum close and seductive. When I add the EdT it becomes a larger, more exhibitionist fragrance, a glamorous silk brocade of a scent.

Once the initial extravaganza calms I’m left with a nebulous bouquet backed by a sweet, dry-ish vanilla and creamy resinous sandalwood till fade. Recently I read that even back in 1989 Samsara was mainly faux sandalwood, doesn’t matter to me. Lastly I smell sandalwood and musks, I think the musk might be the real deal but TBH I’ll probably never know

Fragrantica

Some people talk about how outrageous and overbearing Samsara is. That’s definitely not how I experience it. Maybe because of my Mum reference Samsara is a warm, elegant, pre-oud oriental that is both exotic and incredibly comforting. Back in the 1980s Samsara was armchair travel to faraway places, a hint of the multifarious peoples of Asia and the Middle East. Even then I knew world travel was what I wanted to do as a life hobby.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Muse In Wooden Shoes
Most Guerlain counters have Samsara
Surrender To Chance has vintage parfum samples from $20/0.25ml

Have you tried Samsara?
I hope you enjoyed wandering among my fragrant thoughts. Below is an original Samsarta ad, hopefully see you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Taif Roses by Montale 2007

June 8, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Portia

Hi there Rose Lovers,

I have had a 5ml decant here for ages of Taif Roses. It’s about half empty now and I worried that it would never get a showing on the blog. So many people deride Montale as a house for their unlimited releases of virtually the same faux oud scents again and again. It’s a fair criticism but if you ever take the time to look into a few of their non-oud releases you may be pleasantly surprised. Some of them are really lovely, and I like that Montale has kept their product affordable in this age of aspirational pricing.

I think it was someone on FaceBook’s Aussie Fragrance Network that reminded me recently of Taif Roses. Thanks to that person I grabbed it out again today.

Taif Roses by Montale 2007

Fragrantica

While looking for a note list everywhere I looked gave only rose. The Taif rose is special, while looking for information I found a link on BaseNotes that took me to this.

From Armco: No one is certain how the 30-petal damask rose first came to Taif. The impulse for its cultivation, however, assuredly lay in Taif’s proximity to Makkah (Ed: Mecca). That the rose of Taif is virtually identical to the famous Bulgarian “kazanlik” strain suggeststhat Taif’s roses may have been transplanted from the Balkans by the Ottoman Turks, who occupied that area from the mid-14th century and the Hijaz from the 16th century. However, the kazanlik rose—its Turkish name means “suitable for the [distiller’s] kettle”—has its own roots in the Persian rose plantations around Shiraz and Kashan, which in turn supplied fields in Syria. A legend among the growers of al-Hada says that the flower originally came from India.

Taif Roses is a woody, green leaves and snap of fresh cut stems rose. Floral petals of rose, intoxicatingly intense are surrounded by the bushes themselves and the dry, cool air of the early morning picking in the spring sunlight. often compared in my reading to Sa Majesty la Rose by Serge Lutens but without the honey to sweeten it, and far less of the spicy clove.

Montale

Longevity is exceptional, in the Montale way and sillage is very good too. A little goes a long way but I like to really douse myself and sit among the rosey fog.

Further reading: Scent for Thought and BOTO
Feeling Sexy Australia has $145/100ml

How do you like your roses? Green, jammy, spicy or otherwise?
Portia xx

La Via del Profumo GIVEAWAY WINNER

June 8, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Portia

Hey there APJ,

Thanks to AbdesSalaam for his generosity and you guys for participating.
Let’s see who won,
Portia xxx

La Via del Profumo GIVEAWAY WINNER

La Via del Profumo

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Vetiver, patchouli, olibanum, sea notes, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, spicy notes

La Via del Profumo has samples from €18/5.5ml

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x sample Gringo by La Via del Profumo
1 x sample Cuoio del Dolci by La Via del Profumo
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Wednesday 7th June 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winner was chosen by random.org

Ingrid

The winners will have till Wednesday 14th June 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

Bois d’Argent by Annick Menardo for DIOR La Collection Privée 2004

June 7, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Sandra

HI there APJ,

Iris season has begun, the yellow water irises have bloomed and now I am waiting to see some bearded irises. I find the iris to be one of the most stunning flowers allowing itself to be photographed and painted over and over without getting bored. The colours are all over the spectrum and I find it difficult to choose a favourite. However, I love the shape of the bearded iris the most.

Now when it comes to perfumery, I always found the iris note to be cold and aloof, almost unbearably so. I tried and tried through the years to come to terms with this much loved note. I have even bought a bottle here or there of an iris centric perfume in hopes of finally getting it – only to be disappointed and then pass it along.

I do not know if it is age or reason that has brought my nose around, but at the moment I cannot seem to get enough of iris. I do believe that I am finally understanding that I like the warmer treatment of iris and tend to shy away from the cold renderings.

Bois d’Argent by DIOR La Collection Privée 2014

Bois d’Argent by Annick Menardo

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Yemenite frankincense
Heart: Somalian myrrh, Indonesian patchouli, Florentine iris absolute
Base: Amber, Woody notes, Honey, Leather, White musk

Last summer I picked up Christian Dior Bois d’Argent, created by Annick Menardo in 2004, which is part of the La Collection Privée. I sprayed it on in Nice and was taken aback of well this perfume worked in the summer heat. It was never stifling, nor suffocating. I packed it up as soon as we found out we were moving and did not spray it again until January of this year. It was winter and a wet cold set into my bones. The only way to stay warm was through olfactory stimulation. Bois d’Argent is warm and cuddly in the cold. The vanilla is played up with the iris and myrrh making it a slightly sweet, but not too sweet treat.

It has been in heavy rotation ever since January and now that Rotterdam is finally warming up I can say that I am enjoying Bois d’Argent even more. The perfume starts off with a blast of incense and a tinge of myrrh. The incense is warm and not overly done which can be a bit much. I find that myrrh rounds certain perfumes beautifully. The iris is smooth and warm and only slightly powdery. The powder aspect is less detectable now in the warmer weather. Instead of powder I am getting a lovely dry down of woods, incense and iris. Bois d’Argent is elegant and refined but not so much so that I cannot wear it on a daily basis. It keeps me centered and calm and ready to face the day with a smile and positive energy.

To be honest with you I can forget about the notes. This is smooth sailing and I do not need to think about what I am wearing. Rarely do I get compliments when I wear perfume. However, I do when I wear Bois d’Argent.

Further reading: What Men Should Smell Like and Olfactoria’s Travels
DIOR stores and some larger department store countermand airports carry the DIOR La Collection Privée line
Surrender To Chance has samples from $3.25/ml

Have you tried Dior Bois d’Argent? Now that I am open to and looking for some iris scents to try, can you recommend some to me? I would love to hear what you have to say about iris and how you like it or do not like it.
Sandra x

(Ed: All the Iris photos by Sandra. Beautiful.)

Perfume Shopping Safari – learning how!

June 6, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

TinaG

Hi APJ!

A friend asked me for advice – she’d been finding her favourite fragrance was not smelling the same in her skin. She was looking for something new. Did I know anything that was similar which she could try?

So firstly we chatted about her signature scent. My friend has been using Dolce & Gabbana – Rose the One, which obviously is rose-centric but balanced out with lychee and peony. Instead of asking what she liked, we started with what she didn’t – this being any fragrance that was overly floral or sweet. But there’s only one way to find out – go shopping!

Perfume Shopping Safari – learning how!

So off we went on a perfume safari. We went to Myer / Mecca in Sydney city. Myer is open till 8:00pm which was perfect for dropping in after work. This excercise was also helping her to learn how to test & what to watch out for. When we got there I directed her to the Bottega Venetta and Narciso Rodrigues displays where I grabbed a handful of mouilettes. If I’m bulk testing, I’ll put a spray or two on paper & pop the end under the display bottle to let it dry a bit & keep track of what’s what. My nose lasts much longer (ie doesn’t get blown out / insensitive) if I’m sniffing dry paper, not wet.

Fragrantica

So then we sniffed everything in those two ranges over about 15 minutes – chatting & learning about first impressions as we went. We chose Narciso Pourdée Eau de Parfum to try on skin, and found immediately that my friends skin amps fragrances in a sour direction. Good to know.

She was super quick to learn about top notes, dry down, what she liked and within 1/2 an hour we split up & she worked her way around Myer, the Libertine section, and Mecca with some wonderful sales assistants. I felt a bit proud when I over-heard her saying ‘my skin amps sour’ to the nods of an SA. Yay!

Fragrantica

We had loads of fun in our adventure. I unfortunately fell in love with Gypsy Water by Byredo while she was off gallavanting…. maybe I should have kept my hands behind my back.

Other fragrances she tried on skin were Lady Vengence by Juliette has a Gun, Arcana Rosa by L’Artisan Perfumer – Natura Fabularis collection, Lys 41 by Le Labo, and Gris Clair… by Serge Lutens. Both the JHAG and Le Labo were fantastic and the SAs generously gave her small vials to give a proper run through at home.

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Lavender
Heart: Bulgarian rose, Moroccan rose, Patchouli, Hedione, ISO-E-Super
Base: Ambroxan, Vanilla, White musk

The next Monday she came back to me to say she loved Lady Vengence so much she went back & picked up a bottle of it. It’s a rose & patchouli scent and the quirky JHAG branding suits her so well. A win!

Have you ever had a friend find a new fragrance love through your recommendations?

Till next time,
Tina G xx

Sea Wood (Legno di Nave) by AbdesSalaam Attar for La Via del Profumo

June 5, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Portia

Hey Crew,

La Via del Profumo makes really good fragrances.They are not like what you’ll find at the mall. In fact they are quite the opposite. Deep, dark and moving rather than sweet and safe. They may help unlock the feral you that lurks behind the daily facade you need to wear to deal with the world on terms that will keep you employed, unfettered and engaged with society. Sometimes you need to loosen the restraints without causing damage, I find fragrance is the perfect solution.

AbdesSalaam Attar is the fragrant pen name of Dominique Dubrana who focuses on the use of natural fragrance. What he creates though is so intense and coherent, I love to wear his fragrances because they speak to me in a far different language than the department store and niche scents.

Sea Wood (Legno di Nave) by La Via del Profumo

Sea Wood (Legno di Nave) by AbdesSalaam Attar

La Via del Profumo

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Vetiver, patchouli, olibanum, sea notes, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, spicy notes

Cloves and the feeling of booze, like a very strong rum drink, open Sea Wood. It’s a big, intoxicating opening that then calm quickly and sizzles quietly. So spicy, I can’t pick the notes apart properly but I would have said freshly cracked pepper.

Not long into the fragrance the sweet, not quite urinous smell of resins and patchouli waft through. It’s weird but I smell honey and woods now. The scent smells thick and glutinous like trying to breathe in a vat of honey. I can imagine myself in the hold of a ship full of exotic cargo, maybe even some livestock on board and the inevitable ever-present underscore of salty brine.

PDI

The fireworks sadly don’t last long enough before Sea Wood softens to a slightly feral salty resin. It becomes a skin scent, only smelled if you put your head down into your shirt. The perfect scent level for being undressed by someone, or for office work and close quartered dates.

La Via del Profumo has samples from €18/5.5ml

La Via del Profumo GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x sample Gringo by La Via del Profumo
1 x sample Cuoio del Dolci by La Via del Profumo
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 where you would wear your prize?

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Wednesday 7th June 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 14th June 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: Excellent Customer Service

June 3, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 40 Comments

Portia

Hello Fellow Fumies,

Last Weeks Winner: Sadly we didn’t make the goal last week. Damnit!

Saturday Question

Excellent Customer Service

So often we hear about the terrible product, the poor wrapping and packaging for postage, the snarky seller, the fool SA and the gamut of bad customer service experiences. Today I’d like to turn that around. It’s so rare to get a good service story because where is the interest in sharing that? we SHOULD get good service, getting it isn’t really a surprise, right? Well I don’t agree. Currently I am MUCH more surprised to be given above and beyond service with a smile. So this week I thought we could all share the good news on brands, SAs, fragrant experiences that were better than the soul crushing norm. It will also be a boost to these companies, and who doesn’t want to shop where the product or service is excellent. Win Win all round.

My answer:

Recently I was online looking for The Scent of Departure series of fragrances. I remember loving the Bali one and Jin’s favourite city in the world is Budapest. Wouldn’t it be a perfect birthday present if I could find him a fragrance that combined his love of travel and fave city? I was super excited when I found them at The Grooming Clinic, which turns out to be a UK store.

Because when I arrived at the site they showed Euro I was unaware that they were in the UK, interestingly the do send everything to the world except fragrance because of UK postal bans. So I went right ahead and purchased these two fragrances.

Within the hour they had sent me an email. Very kindly and politely explaining their quandary with postage of frags outside the UK. They asked if I had mates in the UK who they could send it to and then they could post it for me from Europe somewhere. Thoughtful and excellent thinking but no. They also asked if I would like my money refunded with zero charge to my PayPal account. Yes, it was the best option for me.

By morning Sydney time the money was back in my account, The Grooming Clinic sent me an apology email and it was all done in such a friendly tone and seamlessly. Though I don’t have my product I am so happy to recommend these guys because the experience was 100% positive.

So my question to you is

Where Have You Had Excellent Customer Service?

Verveine Figuiere by Pierre Guillaume for Phaedon 2012

June 2, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Portia

Hey Fumie Freakazoids,

Pierre Guillaume does some fun & interesting stuff in his Phaedon range. The blurb on the Phaedon Website says: The house of Phaedon was founded by two Parisian aesthetes with a passion for travel and the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean. I love that these scents are affordable beauty, Pierre seems secure enough to release at realistic prices yet still produce absolutely luxe scent. When the brand came out Tabac Rouge was all we heard about but the other scents in the range bear inspection also. So let’s…

Verveine Figuiere by Phaedon 2012

Verveine Figure by Pierre Guillaume

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Verbena, Fig leaf
Heart: Glycyrrhiza, Cedar
Base: Benzoin, Oakmoss

Lemon Balm and Lemon Verbena are different. I just learned that. Lemon Verbena is a hardy perennial South American plant and is used to flavour drinks, meats and salads. Lemon Balm is part of the mint family. Both can be grown in pots and are often brought indoors during winter. Mum used to use Lemon Balm to sweeten fish, add a pop to salad and in her famous alcoholic fruit punch. The net says that they are basically interchangeable in food.

Verveine Figuiere is quite different dabbed or sprayed. I’m going to talk about the spray today because that’s how I’ve applied.The opening is very lemon and a dry background that smells a little eucalyptus, it’s fresh and refreshing without any of the ozonic or aquatic tropes and is quite photo realistic of my childhood memories of cutting up minty lemon balm. So much so that I can even taste it. The woods take it out of fragrant trick into fragrance.

WikiMedia

As the minty lemon zing softens, from nothing to a smellable contender comes a crisp fig smell. It’s only very dry to begin with but as the fragrances processes towards dry down the milkiness and sweetness blooms to a beautiful resinous foggy scent. I really love that Vervain Figure does a complete about face from sprightly zing to warm and mellow hug.

Dabbed the fragrance is more cohesive and has a much shorter story.

The other week I reviewed another of Pierre’s fragrances but didn’t include a pic. Sorry about that. Here’s a shot he sent me a while ago. Isn’t he beautiful?

Further reading: Scent for Thought
First In Fragrance have €89/100ml + Samples

Do you have a favourite Pierre Guillaume fragrance?
Portia xx

Rose Pivoine by Patricia de Nicolaï for Nicolai Parfumeur Créateur 1998

June 1, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Portia

Hey there fumes,

Only twice in my life have I been engulfed by the scent of peonies. Once a friend who came for lunch brough them as a gift and told me that they only open if the house is filled with love. Needless to say they never opened but they did fill the house with their glorious scent. It was utterly heavenly.

The next time was in south Korea with Jin and a bunch of our mates. We had gone to visit Mummy and Pappa and across the road there was a bush with the most enormous magenta peonies covering it. The bush itself was easily taller than me and in the cool misty morning the scent travelled across to us. Like a zombie I was drawn across the road to get close to these exquisitely fragrant blooms, they were calling me and I could not resist.

So every time I smell even the cheapest, nastiest, ugliest peony scent recreation I am taken to one or both of those moments. Thankfully todays fragrance is all class.

Rose Pivoine by Nicolai Parfumeur Créateur 1998

Rose Pivoine by Patricia de Nicolaï

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Red fruits, Roman chamomile
Heart: Rose absolute, Rose essence, Geranium
Base: Woods, Musk

Dry, sizzling opening leads to red fruity roses that are fresh and dewy, the change in the first 20 seconds is marked. I love the watery feel that comes through, it’s so pretty. This is the style of fragrance that has saturated the mid-price designer market. Patricia de Nicolai was doing it last century and doing it better than any of the imitators. There’s a fresh, velvet rose petal pressed against your cheek, you’re burying your nose into a blooming peony. There is also the powdery yet crisp snap of geranium leaves rubbed or crushed as you wander past the bush. All done in a transparent, aquatic style, very watercolour.

PDI

I know some women who wear scents like this. I grew up with them and now they are Mums and business runners. Big glasses and beautiful pearly white toothed smiles (not the ultra white of American TV), well maintained and presented women with trophy cars/handbags/houses and a couple of kids at exclusive Sydney private schools. There’s something eternally casual about these women, even when they dress up for galas. They are not brittle social X-Rays but living, breathing women who work really hard on their businesses, families and relationships but can still cackle at a girls dinner or drinks at the club. This is their style, a very fragrant yet sheer, fresh and pretty scent that is absolutely luscious when you get caught up in a hug.

Flickr

Of this style I think Rose Pivoile a very well made version, it’s seamless, reeks of good ingredients and quite gorgeous.

BeautyHabit has $45/30ml and samples

Is there a peony fragrance that you like?
Portia xx