Cookie Queen’s Adventure Photo Essay

September 13, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Hello all you APJ Perfumistas and Bikers!

Each year my husband attends the Eurobike International Trade Show in Friedrichshafen, Germany. It´s freaking enormous, supposedly
the biggest bike show in the world. He needs two days to get around it. Journalists, superstars from the downhilling world to The Tour de France,
plus the industry visitors make up the some 45,000 in attendance on the trade days, along with an extra 20,000 bike fans on the public day.

Friedrichshafen is on Lake Constance, also known as the Bodensee. The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. I decided
to grab a ride to Friedrichshafen with Chris then hop on a bus to Zürich, meet Vero for lunch, and hop on a bus back again. Why not? Life is too short
to sit still.

Cookie Queen’s Adventure

Bikes, Ferries and Caron Perfume
A lunch date at the Hammam in Zürich with Vero Kern
A Photo Essay

I got up at 03:15 and opened the fridge door for a drink. A large glass of what had been Oma`s frozen cream of pumpkin soup fell out of the door and
smashed on the kitchen floor. By 03.30 I was vacuuming up the last bits of glass and the cat thought I had lost my mind. We were out the door by
04.30 and on our 350 km way. I got out in Friedrichshafen and an hour later was on the bus. By 13:30 I was in Zürich with Vero and by 16:00 I was heading back to Friedrichshafen. Anyway – here´s some piccies.

On the ferry crossing from Friedrichshafen to Konstanz. 15 minutes. Absolutely gorgeous.

Frierichshafen. Home to the Zeppelin.

Isi, Vero’s superstar dog meeting me at the central station in Zürich.

Lunch at the Hammam Basar. Fantastic salad followed by thick Turkish coffee fragrant with cardomom.

Ferry back from Konstanz to Friedrichshafen. Stunning.

Evening with Chris. (Ice cream makes nice pictures but I don’t like ice cream, I really don’t.)

Next day. Heading to the bike show. Cookies for our dealers. SOTD was vintage Caron En Avion Extrait by Ernest Daltroff: featuring carnation, jasmine, neroli and opoponax. A gift from Vero. Thick dark deep orange, spicy, lush and leathery, What a joy.

Bike Desires. Me looking at the new Rotwild Electric bike. €7000. Do not let anyone tell you electric bikes are for old people. And the below shot is a 12 speed SRAM Eagle cassette. ( for the biking perfumistas amongst us )

Fragrant Biking Bussis
CQ

Scent of the Cookie Run. A Five Year Anniversary.

July 26, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 51 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Hey There Fabulously Fragrant Foodies and Funsters

Scent of the Cookie Run. A Five Year Anniversary.

A Perfume Geek Post.

History

Five years ago I began supplying cookies to a Salzburg based firm, Indigo. As a number of you know I have a business together with my husband. Bikes and Cookies. He is a downhill bike specialist and runs the bike shop, and I make cookies by hand. From the milling of the grains, to the specialist vanilla, along with chopping all the chocolate by hand, I bake up small batches to fill the orders of the stores. I started with seven and as of September this year, with the opening of a new one in Linz, I will have eleven. My kitchen is located in the back of the shop, closed in of course, with a wall to wall window looking out into my husband´s workshop. There is a good chance that we are the only bike shop with a cookie kitchen in it.

Milling the spelt (Cookies are half each spelt & wheat)

Husband Chris & BFF Kirk shopping

Daughter Hannah (Blondes Wunder) chopping

Method

Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings are spent preparing and making the dough and turning it into weighed balls. It can be anything from three to five hundred cookies and I weigh each one separately. It all gets packed in-between sheets of waxed paper and kept in a very cold refrigerator. Top up dough is made on Monday as I can never quite guess all the orders correctly. Tuesdays I get up at the butt crack of dawn and bake. Once the oven is turned on it´s a race against the beeper! The cookies are baked and cooled, boxes are packed with the orders. (I can be flexible with the prepping times, but orders need
to be delivered Tuesday noon time.) I load the car and head to Salzburg, but not before changing my clothes and applying my perfume.

Dayle Ann Clavin

Resting

Buckets ready for packing

SOTCR* (The Geeky Part)

Monday evening I decide which perfume I will wear on Tuesday. I very seldom, nearly never, wear anything that I don´t have a full bottle of. I choose a couple of photos or pictures that give the vibe of the perfume and subsequently post the information onto a couple of the private perfume groups on Facebook. SOTCR*. Hahahahahaha. I am laughing my arse off here as I type this. Only a perfume junkie would understand. Trying something new in the car is an absolute no, I have no desire to sit in a confined space with something nasty.

The Cookie Run favourites

Indigo

Cookie Queen

The day I met Portia in Vienna, more than three and a half years ago was the day I became Cookie Queen. It has stuck now and I have my own logo which as well as being on my blogging and cookie cards, is also on our mountain biking downhill jerseys. I sponsor our small racing team with cookies, indeed I seem to sponsor half the bloody world!

The day we met in Vienna Feb 2013

Chris wearing the logo

Dayle Ann Clavin

So come on and crack out your geeky perfume habits and spill the beans. Or perhaps you have a cookie addiction?

Armadillo bussis
CQ

*{Ed: SOTCR = Scent Of The Cookie Run (I know you didn’t need to look)}

Most photos were donated by Val the Cookie Queen
Some were from Dayle Ann Clavin (<<<Go check the site, GORGEOUS!)

Portia’s Week July 2016: Story + Photo Essay

July 22, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 41 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there APJ,

This week has been wonderful. Jin had 5 days off and we spent it happily hanging out, watching movies, cooking, BAR B Qing, eating, socialising, running around chasing Pokemon and in between that I worked, saw mates, shopped and read books. Seriously there aren’t too many weeks that are so full yet so utterly enjoyable. It’s a surprise that even after being with someone for years you can still have fun like kids and can still enjoy each others company as much as the first months when everything was new.

Portia’s Week July 2016: Story + Photo Essay

So this week started out as a Pokemon Go week. Here I am in the game in my first hour.

My BFF Kath, her sister, nieces and Jin looking super cute. During lunch we invite the nieces to come out to the Parramatta Winterlight Fair. They jumped at the chance.

There was even an Ice Skating Rink. You can see niece 1 and I are there but behind us are Jin & niece 2 having their first ever Ice Skating experience so they needed to use the penguins to help them stay upright. Embarrassingly I was the only one to fall.

Kath, Jin & the nieces on the Ferris Wheel. The girls were a complete joy to hang with. We lost track of time and didn’t get them home till nearly midnight. OOOOPS!

Saturday recuperating with the story of Daphne du Maurier’s family, a rollicking tale that I couldn’t put down.

Sunday morning and BFF Kath & I had our pedicures done, then Jin joined us for Yum Cha (Dim Sum).

Then, into a Lolita Lempicka Bubble Bath. What a lovely way to unwind, surrounded by violet sugared liquorice bubbles.

Over the remnants of Lolita Lempicka I heavily spritzed the Leather Angel. All the Angel fizz and a hit of smoky leather, a perfect drag queen scent.

We spent Monday getting haircuts and then Pokemon Hunting. Jin cooked surprise Spicy Pork Bar B Q and we watched Zootopia that night. Then I wrote the Trivia Q&A. Monday was fun.

LUSH Rose Jam Shower Gel makes fabulous Bubble Bath and this week I had three baths with it. My fragrances over the top were Mohur by Neela Vermeire Creations, Diabolo Rose by Parfums de Rosine and Guerlain L’Heure Bleu. All three were subtly changed and extra roses added through the remnants of Rose Jam.

It was Scott’s Birthday on Wednesday so we met Kerri for some CHANEL sniffing and afternoon tea. We all had single serve cakes, mine was a double chocolate custard filled profiterole. We gave Scott Harrods and Fortnum & Mason teas, a DVD and a DJs Gift Card.

Scott grabbed a 200ml CHANEL Coromandel from our favourite CHANEL SA Esther at David Jones Sydney City Store. Ask for her, she is a fount of knowledge and we love talking to her about the CHANEL fragrance range. We are particularly interested in the big change of the exclusives line later in the year from EdT to EdP. Sadly she was out of CHANEL No 22 200ml so I went down the road to the CHANEL boutique and bought mine there.

Wednesday night Jin & I did more Pokemon Hunting (I haven’t walked this much since our last holiday), had some Vietnamese Pork Noodle Soup, did some evening grocery shopping and came home to watch Kung Fu Panda 3, which we really enjoyed.

Not so long ago they had this Bandit Silkening Shower Gel at the discounters for a song, I stocked up because it smells amazing, makes great bubbles and leaves my skin fresh and soft.

Over the remnants of Bandit I spritzed Exultat by Maria Candida Gentile. Incense and warmer, woodsy resins that is only mildly liturgical. Really easy to wear incense that lasts well and smells amazing.

Here I am tonight hosting Trivia (as a man!) to a full house smelling gorgeously of incense, resins and leather.

My mate Natalie from the now defunct Another Perfume Blog took me walking through the wilds of Mosman today to a fabulous restaurant, Burnt Orange, with a view to die for, both outside & in. Food was delicious and staff friendly.

Sydney put on a perfect winter day and I chose the lavender, herbal, resinous warmth of CHANEL Boy to accompany me.

Thanks for coming along for snapshots of my week. These are just the bits I remembered to photograph but I couldn’t have fit more photos anyway.

What fragrances or bath products did you use this week? Do anything interesting?
Portia xxx

Purple: Photo Essay

May 8, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by Suzanne R Banks

Hi APJ,

Looking though my photos and everything seemed to be purple. Peaceful, perfect, poignant purple.

Purple: Photo Essay

Flickr

I might just stop talking again and not do interviews. Prince

Vale Prince

Check out my YouTube Channel too, thanks
Suzanne R Banks Blog
Suzanne R Banks Aromatherapy
Suzanne R Banks FaceBook

Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Amazon USA Amazon AU Amazon UK

Guerlain: Rue de Saint Honoré 2016: Photo Essay

January 31, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 38 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there Guerlainophiles,

The Place Vendome store is closed. Sad but the good news is that they are re-opening there at a smaller venue, work to commence soon.

In the interim Guerlain have opened a lovely new store on the Rue de Saint Honoré. It opened last Thursday! So new there is no name on the front. Jin & I had to follow our noses. Inside the crew were extremely friendly and helpful. Our particular hostess was Coraline and she wanted us to have the ultimate Guerlain experience.

Guerlain: Rue de Saint Honoré 2016

Ostensibly I was going in to gran a Nahema parfum and a bottle of L’Heure de Nuit. It didn’t quite pan out that way because there was NEW STUFF! But I did manage to grab the Nahema parfum, There is a new exclusive and I fell heavily so I swapped out my L’Heure de Nuit for a Promenade des Anglais! Fig, Iris and Citrus over a seemingly marzipan base. Freaking gorgeous!

The real surprise was the new multi coloured glas bottles in the exclusives bee bottles. They are 125ml and you can choose any of the 7 or so colours and put in one of the 18 scents. Once you have made your selection your choice of fragrance s then decanted into your bottle from a large industrial urn, like a 21st century Caron adventure, and packed safely away for traveling. It’s quite the experience. As always, Guerlain delivers a magical and exciting ride.

The choice was interesting and it took me nearly half an hour to finally decide on Cuir Beluga. Here is how our afternoon panned out in pictures. You can only get these bottles at the Rue de Saint Honoré store and they are not sending any. It’s a limited offer so get to paris QUICK!

Enjoy,
Portia xx

Guerlain: Rue de Saint Honoré 2016

Photo Essay

Cookie Queen in Vienna: December 2015: Photo Essay

December 8, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 28 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

I have just returned from three days in one of my favourite cities. Time spent with my daughter and friends. Sniffing, shopping, eating delicious food.

Cookie Queen in Vienna: Photo Essay

December 2015

Vienna is a beautiful city, now uneasy and troubled. There is no way of ignoring the refugee crisis. Make no mistake, it is very uncomfortable.
Guerlain exchanged my broken bottle of Shalimar Extrait and I gave a man and his dog who found themselves having to beg, a little money. Perplexing.

Start with the Vienna Christmas Lights

The Flower Shop in Stephanplatz

Hannah: Blondes Wunder

Kiki: Vero Profumo

Neela Vermeire Creations

DIOR HandbagInto the Vienna cobbled alleys

and church

and refugee

Good will to all
CQ

Botanical Postcards from Sydney: Mini Photo Essay

December 2, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Post by Suzanne R Banks

Sometimes photographing the small beauties around me reminds me to be grateful and helps me enjoy my day. Here are some shots taken as I wandered or around my home.

Botanical Postcards from Sydney

If a picture paints a thousand words ……… I can’t wait til we have smellevsion and scentagram!

I’ve got these gorgeous chamomile flowers in a teapot next to my bed – sweet dreams!

Chamomile

Keywords: “cool down: less tension more inspiration, de-stress“

Little roses from my back lane

Rose

Keywords: “divine love; self love; self nurturing”

Caught on camera somewhere in Sydney

Lavender

Keywords: “solidarity; solid foundations; acceptance; regeneration”

Divine jasmine!

Jasmine

Keyword: “sensuality”

Home grown

Basil

Keywords: “clarity; open your mind”

What can you be thankful for? Look around, probably more than you think
Suzanne R Banks

********************************************************************************

Like our Facebook page to stay tuned for more info on the inaugural

Australasian Artisan Botanical Perfume Expo in Sydney, 24th April 2016

********************************************************************************

Check out my YouTube Channel too, thanks.
Suzanne R Banks xx

Suzanne R Banks Blog
Suzanne R Banks Aromatherapy
Suzanne R Banks FaceBook

Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils

Amazon USA Amazon AU Amazon UK

OVERWHELMED – Help

October 9, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 52 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey Fabulous Fragrant Fanatics,

Recently I was feeling completely overwhelmed. Things had gotten behind because other things had taken priority and I was really feeling the push to get stuff done, and trying to do it on less than enough sleep. This is not a healthy way for me to function and I do know it but because things had to be done I put in the extra and got really crabby. You know that 3 year old inside of us that just can’t wait to come out and have a tantrum? Well, what do you know, out it came.

Anyway, when I’m feeling overwhelmed like that not only do I lash out at those around me but quite often I beat myself up too. They are often joined, I lash out at someone and then beat myself up for being the lowest scum in the universe. You know the familiar sinking feeling? So I thought what could I do to stop myself flowing down that familiar path? Answer. I’ll do a feel good post for the APJ crew that reminds me, and them, that we are not alone. Even though it looks bleak it will all be OK. No one is dead and everything else is fixable or finishable.

OVERWHELMED – Help

Even though it feels bad right now I know that tomorrow will dawn brighter, even if it’s only my attitude that’s changed.

Though I’m feeling crap right now and have 100 reasons to let it all go to hell if I can just push through to the other side of this current mountain of work, friends, life, relationship, home and environment then I will have a breathing space.

Cutting things into bite sized, doable chunks and working towards a goal is the best way for me to go forward. Also, sometimes a moment to reflect. I’ll go make myself a cup of coffee and concentrate 100% on making coffee, that will let my subconscious do some collating. It doesn’t always work but it does let me unwind a little and often a way forward presents itself to me before the mug is empty.

The next one is really hard. You have to take everyone else out of the equation except you and your needs. Sometimes you need to say enough and walk away from a situation. Only you can ever know if you are walking away or giving up and what anyone else has to say about it is none of your concern. You may have to tell them this calmly and rationally, then walk away from them till they process.

If you’ve walked away or if you’ve pushed through the mountain then you’ve earned a breather, a space. It may be only one hour, a pedicure, a moment when you spritz some incredible fragrance on yourself, put on a 3 minute song in your living room, close your eyes and dance like you did when you were younger (you’ll be puffed at the end but exultant). It may be taking 3 minutes out of your day to read APJ, whatever your space or reward is then you need to understand that you are gifting yourself this moment. It’s a pat on the back for doing your best. Drink in the joy of that special thing you do.

Lastly for this post, and maybe most importantly……

Just in case you were wondering, I feel 100% better right now. My mind is a bit clearer and I have a rough idea of how I’m going to move forward. Now it’s time to make myself a coffee and really enjoy the process of both making and drinking.

Be well, we love you.
Portia xxx

A Full Speed Perfume Trip Around the USA Photo Essay

September 29, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 51 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

A Full Speed Perfume Trip Around the U S and A

Seattle. San Francisco. Los Angeles. New York.

I do not know where to begin. Everyone that I met in the US were absolutely amazing. They took time out of their schedules to meet up, made me and my family so welcome, showed us around the cities and were generally mind-blowing. I was so touched. A lot of it is personal and has no place on a blog. However over the months I will include things that happened as there are perfumed tales to tell. I am not too reliable at taking pictures, but I hope you enjoy the few that follow. New York was so much fun that nobody even remembered to take photos. An absolute highlight was meeting Azar of APJ. I have many samples of perfume to brighten up my winter.

The one question I have been asked by a number of people is did I find anything new that really impressed me. I absolutely did. It will be my
next post. You will have to tune in again.

Jetlagged Bussis
CQ