A Day In Paris with Denyse Beaulieu: Photo Essay

April 13, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 36 Comments

Heya Crew,

One of the most amazing things that has happened from finding the online fragrance blogging community, starting APJ and joining the Facebook fragrance groups has been the incredible people all over the world who I have been lucky enough to meet.

A Day In Paris with Denyse Beaulieu: Photo essay

Blogger, Author, Fragrance Muse & General Great Girl

Printemps rooftop restaurant

Michael and I went first to the Printemps rooftop on our way to lunch. It’s a great way to get your bearings and see where everything else is around Paris. Sadly they were renovating the terrace and we could not go out. Still it was good for Michael to see. So where do you go when Printemps verandah is closed? Laduree of course.

Laduree (Michael doing his serial killer look)

Palais Royal Gardens

Then we met the very fun and elegant Denyse for lunch. If you haven’t read The Perfume Lover (available now in paperback $14 delivered at Book Depository) then you MUST!! It is the story of a romance which became a fragrance by Bertrand Duchaufour, Seville a l’Aube for L’Artisan Parfumeur. Denyse has written a book both personal and informative that was so fun and enjoyable that I’ve now reread it a couple more times.

Last year in Paris with Jin he had sussed out the best Korean restaurant in the city, a tiny little hole in the wall restaurant with seating for about 25 people and the full BarBQ set up called Seoul Opera (6 Rue Danielle Casanova). If you are in Paris walking on the Ave de l’Opera from the Hotel d’Louvre to the Opera turn left at the Kusmi Tea and it’s about 5 shops in. Unless you knew you would walk straight past it. Denyse had heard of it but never been so I was glad to take her to a Korean that Jin had found completely authentic, and delicious. I don’t know why we didn’t take any photos of lunch, it was super fun. Lovely to catch up with Denyse and hear her stories of life in fragrant Paris, love and writing. NOBODY can drop fragrant names like Denyse and she has a wicked fund of fabulous stories that had us sniggering like dirty little schoolboys. It would be SCANDALOUS if she ever wrote her stories down, like Jackie Collins for fragrance. Food was awesome and very reasonable, Jin had sent us a menu of 5 dishes and we left nothing.

Jovoy

We then wandered up to Jovoy and Paris was putting on its kindest Winter face ever, remember that this was early February and we were expecting snow and freezing temps but to be honest it was merely cool and a jumper and scarf were all I needed during the days to be OK. The walk was beautiful and Denyse pointed out points of Interest for us. Michael was super thrilled as it was his first visit to Paris and he walked through in a completely fabulously overwhelmed daze.

Place Vendome CdG

The crew at Jovoy are so friendly and could not have been more helpful or interested in making sure we smelled and understood EVERYTHING. My nose gave out after a couple of hours but Michael and Denyse were indefatigable. They both are very interested in the nuts and bolts of fragrance and they were very happy parsing and comparing. To be truthful I was COMPLETELY over sniffing at this point and couldn’t wait to get out of there. I went and stood out the front for about half an hour to calm the pounding in my head.

We were introduced to a lovely set of Parisian bloggers in Jovoy and Denyse was able to give us a preview of the newest L’Artisan offerings which smelled rather like 100% artificial candies to me. Not my favourite of their offerings in the new milieu.

Then Denuye took us to the IUNX shop in the Hotel Costes on Rue Saint Honoré where I happily grabbed Splash Forte, a favourite warm weather frag for me, Olivia Giacobetti has done a lovely job with the line and Michael picked that she was the perfumer straight away. Very cool call. While we were there a couple came in and bough 5 x 150ml bottles of fragrance, didn’t even bat an eyelid. I was completely thunderstruck.

Costes/IUNX

Then we had a lazy beverage in one of the suit bars near the Costes Hotel. It was a great place to finish our adventure before wandering Denyse to the Opera Metro. Isn’t she beautiful?

Opera Metro

It was pretty late and Michael & I had not done our Galleries Lafayette fragrance shopping yet. We both grabbed a bottle of DIOR’s Mitzah (I got the last 150ml bottle) and I also grabbed Guerlain’s Mon Precieux Nectar which I had wanted before last years visit to Paris but didn’t buy it then. FINALLY got it. We were so late and in such a rush that we only managed to capture these two pics. It was all extremely fun though. By then end of this we were absolutely exhausted.

Galleries Lafayette

There you have it. A near perfect day in Paris with one of the fragrance world’s superstars. I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride. All photos were kindly donated by Michael and that’s why he is in so few of them, I know, he is rather lovely eye candy isn’t he?
Portia xx

Pussy Water + Kittens Photo Essay

April 9, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 33 Comments

Hi there APJ,

Who can resist kittens! They are so cute, cuddly and gorgeous. We used to have cats as kids but since greyhounds and fostering them has happened in my life there seems no room, so safe room anyway, to fit them in my life. Oh well cutesy pictures and videos will have to fill the void.

Enjoy
Portia xx

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Photo Stolen Flickr

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

Photo Stolen Flickr

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

HA HA HA HA HA!!!!

NSFW! Put HEADPHONES on. I found this very naughty but quite amusing Perfume Ad while trollng around YouTube, or maybe someone sent it to me? Oh well, can’t remember but I nearly spat my coffee at the screen when I saw this.

Pussy Water – banned cologne commercial {The Kloons}

Milan: Esxence 2014 The Scent of Excellence + Campomarzio70: Photo Essay

April 8, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

I was invited by Campomarzio70 for the “Inspiring Paintings, Perfumes on Canvas” Vernissage. At the same time Vero Profumo would be presenting their new fragrance “Rozy”. This had me in an uncontrollable state of excitement. I called my BFF Dr Judith Fox, a cognitive behaviour therapist, and invited her to come along with me. Better safe than sorry.

Whilst down there I planned to nip into the Esxence too, seeing as it was so close

Esxence 2014 The Scent of Excellence

THE ITALIAN JOB. CQ and Dr. Fox go to Milan

We left at 07.00 with 648 kilometers to go. About a seven hour trip not including pee stops and caffeine top ups. With the exception of a bug hurling itself into the windscreen with such thud that we both jumped, the trip was uneventful, the weather glorious. We arrived at our hotel under the guidance of Alice, our navigation system. At this point we still liked her. A quick freshen up and time to marvel at the flush in our bathroom and off to the show. Grabbing our press passes at the door we headed in. (For an in depth coverage of the event please see Chemist in a Bottle or Colognoisseur)

We had a date with Antonio Gardoni from Bogue Profumo and I was stoked. Antonio is so passionate about what he is doing it was a joy to talk with him. Bugs and juniper barrels, cypress oil and seasons. We sniffed Bogue´s Cologne Reloaded, which Antonio spritzed into the clay masks. Literally breathtaking. A post featuring Bogue´s Reloaded coming up soon. Antonio introduced us to the Nu_Be crew afterwards. Funky people. We saw Neela Vermeire a while later, but there are no good pictures and I will NOT post a crappy picture, so you´ll have to imagine it.

Hungry and tired we headed back to the hotel. It took a while because Alice totally freaked out and tried to get us to drive through a pedestrian zone several times from a number of different angles. We tricked her by heading to Rome so that she would finally recalculate. Eventually we made it. We ate at a superb working class cafeteria, delicious fish and spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and buffalo mozarella, accompanied by several televisions all showing the Juventus game. Excellent.

Early start the next day and after a caffeinated breakfast, we were on our way to Via Dante 14, downtown Milan, where Campomarzio70 were located. We parked the Mini Fox close by, and went to pick up Vero Kern from her hotel. We met Nicola Pozzani of “ssence – the senses of perfume” at the hotel as well. He would be giving an interactive lecture on Scent in Saudi Arabia at the Esxence later that afternoon.

Off we went together. The Essential Culture event was artistic, elegant, and intimate. Each perfume house with a small display. Want a list? Isabey. Amorvero. Von Eusersdorf. Cire Trudon. Grossmith. By Kilan. Mona di Orio. Brecourt. Vero Profumo. Ramon Monegal. Maison Francis Kurkdjian. Memo. Yosh. Fuegia 1833. As some of you know Jordi Molla painted a picture inspired by one particular fragrance from each house. Extremely stylish. Dr Fox and I both loved the artwork.

I überspritzed Vero Profumo´s Rozys, one on each arm. They were after all the reason I was there.

We attended Nicola´s interactive lecture over at the Esxence later in the afternoon, which I will cover in a future post. Fascinating. Saudi Arabia Kingdom of Odours. A stroll around the Esxence had us leaving with the new ELdO Cologne (yum) and the amped up Rien (bring it on!!) a couple from Humieki & Graef, including Blask, all of the Rouge Bunny Rouge range, and Ulrich Lang´s Nightscape. Ulrich incidentally was charming.

The evening vernissage back at Via Dante was graceful and welcoming, good food and great company. Cocktails and music, perfumes and perfumers, art and artists. From Nasomatto to Monegal. We left later in the evening and went with Vero across the road to a cafe for a quiet drink. Except we didn´t reckon on our four foot waiter, Letcherous Luigi, who was intent on trying to grope all of our boobs. Hahahahahahaha! The Essential Culture, forsooth.

Saturday we headed back home. With a pit stop at a supermarket to stack up on Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pasta, drinks and other scrumptious Italian things. Over the Brenner Pass, and back into Austria. The following day we would have needed snow chains so it was good we left when we did.

Was it worth it? I came home with a tiny stash of both the Rozy Voile and the EdP clutched to my groped bosom. Italian Job successful.

Bussis

CQ (APJ´s Raving Reporter)

With the utmost gratitude to Dr Judith Fox for keeping me sane and the hilarious time. And Lisa from Campomarzio for the invite.

All photographs donated by Cookie Queen

First In Fragrance + Bruchsal, Germany Photo Essay

March 21, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Hello Lovely APJers,

During Michael & my recent travels we made a special detour to go meet the crew at First In Fragrance in Germany. Beate and the crew (Shane, Sabine, Margit, Katharina) were so friendly and helpful. Wec learned so much about fragrances, the broad ranges that are now available and I personally got to make up some samples to be sent out to the world with orders! It was totally fun.

First In Fragrance

Also, did you know that a First In Fragrance sample is around 3-4ml and comes in a spray atomiser? They are very reasonable priced and send to the world.

www.ausliebezumduft.com
Aus Liebe zum Duft
Wuchsa
Bahnhofstrasse 10
D-76646 Bruchsal

Later today you can come back and join in our spectacular GIVEAWAY! First In Fragrance has given APJ a bottle of Acqua de Parma Oud for a very special giveaway. See you later.

Bruchsal, Germany Photo Essay

Here is a small selection of photos of our time in Bruchsal with the First In Fragrance crew and some of it’s highlights and heritage.

Arriving in Bruchsal by train

Meeting one of my Childhood friends Stefanie for dinner
ONE of First In Fragrance’s sample walls

Portia annoying the girls with questions

Michael overwhelmed by choice

Evening falls and Michael still sniffing

The girls put me to work, I filled about 9 orders

Day 2 and our lovely hostess Lisa

Beate, what a lovely lady. Took such time for us. SO knowledgeable.

Bruchsal Palace (Schloss Bruchsal)

Bruchsal Palace (Schloss Bruchsal) is the only Prince-Bishop’s residence on the Upper Rhine. It is famous for its opulent staircase constructed by Balthasar Neumann – known as the “crown jewel of all Baroque staircases”. It was constructed in 1720 as a residence for the Prince-Bishops of Speyer. The then Prince-Bishop, Damian Hugo von Schönborn, an avid art collector, played an important role in planning the complex. The three-wing palace is built of sandstone. The collection of exquisitely matched buildings, along with the carefully laid out garden, make up an extraordinarily beautiful ensemble. DON’T arrive till 10am because the gorgon won’t let you in, even if it’s 9.45 and you can’t stay. GRRRRR Bruchsal Palace Online

The Church of St. Peter is especially important to the people of Bruchsal. Not only is it the work of the famous Baroque architect, Balthasar Neumann, but it was also the only church in Bruchsal to survive the Allied bombing of the town in March 1945 unscathed. The Church of St. Peter online

59 Things To Do In Bruchsal site

We had an incredible two day stopover in Bruchsal. I wish we’d had another two so we could really get to see the city. Bruchsal, you are on my list for next time.

Loads of love to you all and special thanks to www.ausliebezumduft.com (First In Fragrance).

Portia xx

Waterton Lakes National Park: Perfume: Photo Essay

September 4, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Post by Dionne

My Favorite Place on Earth:

Waterton Lakes National Park and How It Relates to Perfume

Greetings, my fellow niche nerds!

This is a post of a different sort than my usual review; call it my “What I Did for Summer Holidays” assignment. Portia has mentioned to me that visiting Banff National Park is on her bucket list (just like seeing Australia is on mine), so I thought I’d let her and you in on one of Alberta’s best-kept secrets and a place very dear to my heart, Waterton Lakes National Park.

First of all, here are some maps to get you oriented:

Photo Stolen Waterton Park

Just to give you an idea of scale, Alberta’s about 1,125 km (760 miles) from top to bottom, bigger than California, smaller than Texas, and almost three times the size of the UK.

Photo Stolen pc.gc.ca

You see that liiiitle green blob in the southwest corner of the map? That’s Waterton. It’s a lot smaller in size than Banff or Jasper, the two much larger green areas on the west edge of the map.

Photo Stolen pc.gc.ca

So here we are in the southwest corner of the province, about a 3 hour drive from Calgary. Waterton shares its southern border with Glacier National Park in the United States, and the two combined are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/354

So with the technical stuff out of the way, it’s time to gush. As much as I love Jasper and Banff, Waterton is a truly special and unique place. As you’ll see from the pictures, the prairies come right to the feet of the mountains, so there is a sense of airiness and grandeur here I’ve never experienced anywhere else. Waterton has been called the “Anti-Banff” because it’s quaint and quiet, with very little development.

Both The Engineer and I had spent time here as kids, and I remember distinctly our first visit back as a young married couple. I said to him, “I feel like a dried-up sponge that’s been thrown back into water. There’s just something about this place.”

Since then, we’ve come back every year. One of the things that struck me on that first visit as an adult was how strong of a scent memory Waterton held. It’s mountain air and water and the prairies all mixed together. Portia asked me what perfumes I wore when we were camping there this year, and I told her I hadn’t worn any. I brought a passel of decants, and I typically enjoy working my way through a bunch of samples whenever I camp but….. I just couldn’t do it. Stepping out of our trailer that first morning and breathing in, I wanted nothing to get in the way of that smell. I thought to myself, “What is that? Is that sage? I wonder if there’s anything that smells like this in perfume form.” So that’s become one of my latest quests, finding a perfume that smells like sage and mountain air, something that reminds me of Waterton. Will I find it? Not sure, but it’s going to be fun trying.

So before I show you some of our family photos, here are a couple of questions for you: 1) Have you ever been somewhere so special you chose not to wear perfume? 2) Sage and mountain air, people. Any recommendations for my sampling quest?

Here’s hoping you all have places that touch your spirit and soothe your soul. Mwah!

Dionne

The Engineer and Dragongirl hiked to the top of Bear’s Hump, a short but steep trail on the edge of the townsite that gives an amazing panoramic view of the area. This is facing south, and it also shows one of the reasons why the town has stayed small. Basically, there’s no room to get bigger.

The same spot facing north. Waterton’s combination of prairie and mountain makes for an extremely diverse and unique biosphere.

Mainstreet. Most of these stores haven’t changed since I was a kid.

The Playground in town.

A plaque at the playground

Our site at Crandell, facing west.

Same spot facing north.

This fellow was in a neighbor’s site. There are deer EVERYWHERE here.

It’s typically for bears to be around the Crandell campground as it’s away from the town, and we usually see one or two every year we come. For some reason, possibly the abundance of berries, we saw three or four *every single day* this year. It got to the point where I just left the camera with the zoom lens on my lap everywhere we drove.

Because of the bears, we saw this sight all the time too, typically referred to as “Bear Jam.” This is on Red Rock Parkway on the way to our campground, there are mountains to the left and the right of this photo.

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

APJ Day Out #1: Hermes, Robert Piguet, Tom Ford, DIOR: Photo Essay

July 3, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 52 Comments

Hey there APJ!

Last Wednesday we had our first APJ Day Out. There were 13 of us, normally an unlucky number, but it turned out to be super lucky. We were treated extremely well by all the stores we went to, were given two amazing Masterclasses and loads of samples. It was great to meet some of you for the first time and an excellent opportunity for those of us who are already buddies to catch up, talk fragrance, shop, laugh and generally enjoy each others company. FABULOUS!

As we arrived a little early for our masterclass with Joe Garces, the CEO of Robert Piguet, I thought it would be a great time to pop across to Hermes, where the wonderful Jean was our hostess. She happily took us through some of my favourite scents in the Jean Claude Ellena Hermessence range and also some more of the Hermes fragrance catalogue including the Jardin range and then introduced me to one of their scents that I had never spent any time with, Rouge. WOW!! I can definitely see a full bottle in my very near future. Thank you Jean. XXX

Off to Libertine Parfumerie stand in David Jones Sydney City Store basement to meet Nick, the sexy proprietor, Gary and Dan, the regular SAs and a new boy whose name escapes me, sorry. There too was Joe Garces, and Joe took us through quite a lot of the range. It wasn’t much about notes etc, we were taken through the creation stories of each fragrance, the troubles, the inspiration and the triumphs. It was an illuminating class and I came away better informed about the way perfumes are created in a mass market niche company. Joe has effectively turned a dying dinosaur of a business back into a going concern with his and his teams plans. He is justifiably proud of the company’s achievements and really loves the perfumes he produces and sells, enthusiasm shining from and infectious. I tried a slew of the range that I had thought definitely NOT my style and walked away with a couple of new loves, a bottle of Bois Noir and a special gift roll on of VISA. YAY!! Review coming soon. Everyone was allowed to choose a Piguet fragrance to sample and were given very generous spray samples.

Then I took the crew up to the Tom Ford section at DJs. The SA there was so pretty, knowledgeable and helpful showing us some of the range and introducing many of us to Sahara Noir. I had tried it before in LA but it was a completely different experience in the cool of Sydney, I LOVED it here. At the end she finished by offering everyone a sample of their choice!

It was time for a sit and a cuppa, I had a sneaky Banana Bread too. During our time at the cafe Ainslie, who is a perfumer, brought out some of her current mods for us to share, smell, critique and enjoy. It was wonderful talking to someone on the cusp of a business and finding out how her perfumes are created. Fascinating. Soon I will have a story on Ainslie because she is thinking of setting up a trial where you can buy a small set of her mods to try and critique for yourself, providing useful perfumista feedback and giving us a chance to try new stuff very reasonably. HEAVEN.

Then it was onwards and upwards to DIOR’s outrageously gorgeousbnew flagship store in Sydney, the first in Australia. We were greeted warmly by the staff and Clayton the Oceania head of PR was there to whisk us upstairs to the shoe parlour where we were treated to a stroll through the 10 available Couturier/Privee fragrances exclesively available in Australia through that store. There was also a beautiful DIOR lady there whose name has slipped from my mind, she was helpful and informative and I apologise for my bad brain. It was a delightful ending to an amazing day. I was happy to add bottles of Oud Ispahan and Oud Leather to my perfume library. At the end we were all given DIOR swag bags with a couple of the fabulous 7.5ml FB replicas each and some beautifully presented literature. Just walking down the street with a DIOR bag is thrilling enough but when you’ve been feted by some of the best luxe companies in the world we were all walking on air. Thank you Clayton and DIOR.

As you can see we had lost some of our people along the way, the last photo are the DIOR Late Stayers. Thanks to everyone who came and who helped us have such an amazingly wonderful and special day.

I am currently thinking of other great APJ Day Out ideas. There will definitely be another day soon,

Portia xx

Tiffany + Co. Spring Summer 2013 Ad Campaign

April 15, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Tiffany & Co. Spring Summer 2013 Ad Campaign

Hello Fragrance Buddies,

Today we are off topic because I think these Tiffany & Co. ads are so damn gorgeous. Please enjoy them, so mysterious, what are these girls stories? It’s not often I am put in a position to ask such a question from print ads but I can tell these girls have all been given some kind of back story that they must bring to life. It’s a lovely set of images, don’t you think?

What fragrance am I wearing while writing today?

Amyitis by Mona di Orio

Photo and Featured Accords Stolen Fragrantica
Top: Cumin, heather, green pepper and green notes
Heart: Iris, violet, Guiac wood and Virginian cedar
Base: Saffron, opopanax, oakmoss and amber.

This is a funny fragrance that I adore and sometimes it irks me. A green and sensual pleasure but with a stickiness that feels like it should be warmer. A honeyed beauty that can offer up sharp dissonance on occasion, like it’s living on a knife edge between gorgeous and disgusting. I keep coming back to it though and I think it a perfect fit for the Tiffany & Co ads, don’t you think these women show tough and soft in equal measure while remaining ultra feminine and uber luxe. This is what the Tiffany & Co perfume could have smelled like. I will do a full review someday.
SurenderToChance starts at $5/.5ml

Tiffany & Co. Spring Summer 2013 Ad Campaign

As my go-to Ad Campaign blog I stole these pics from art8amby

Three new campaign images featuring Liya Kebede, Karen Elson and Liu Wen.

Photographed by Michael Thompson and styled by Paul Cavaco.

Chinese model Liu Wen is replacing Grace Gao and Doutzen Kroes as the new campaign girl for Tiffany & Co..

Image via TFS.

DARK PASSAGE by Andy Tauer

June 15, 2012 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Hi everyone,

Don’t forget to go and enter our THURSDAY GIVEAWAY COMPETITION, you have till around 10pm Saturday Australian EST

It finally arrived.

Photo Stolen TauerPerfumes

“…DARK PASSAGE, the super limited edition that is only available in March through the Kickstarter campaign for ONLY CHILD. Afterwards , when the financing and support campaign for Brian Pera’s latest film project comes to an end, then the perfume will be gone. ONLY CHILD is the next Evelyn Avenue full feature film project.” Andy Tauer from his blog March 2012.

Really good blog reviews of Dark Passage include I Smell Therefore I Am and Perfume Shrine.

When I first read that Andy Tauer was doing a new short release perfume for a fundraiser I was excited beyond imagining. I love his work, it is definitive and solid and statement making, as well as having extraordinary sillage and staying power. There is often a quirkiness, edge and diversion from the norm and Mr Tauer has a special accord that is oft called the Tauerade because of its incredible tenacity. Awesome if you want to stay smelling amazing for a night out, lovemaking and waking up, it will stay on clothes for months if you don’t wash them so is perfect for scenting hankies when loved ones go away or your purse so it’s always like a magic fragrant cave from which anything may come. Nasty if you have a bad on skin scent reaction, headache, just want to change scent; showering is not enough you need to undergo a post radioactivity radiation wash cycle. Thankfully they are all magic on my skin and I love the dry downs.

I thought I would present Andy Tauer’s Dark Passage (He He He that means 2 things) today in mainly visual storybook fashion. See below the photo’s for story….

Photo Stolen virtual.yosemite

Photo Stolen dancarman

Photo Stolen wallpaper4me

Photo Stolen hideyoshi.deviantart

Photo Stolen topnews

Photo Stolen inspiredfitstrong

Photo Stolen fantom-xp

Photo Stolen shivacreations

Photo Stolen storex

Photo Stolen art.com

Photo Stolen IMDb

Dark Passage opens underneath the city with a weird swampy, burning tyres and fetid air accord BAM!, then it moves into back alleys as the close aromas of human habitation and their feral pets, you come across a cafe, smelling the cigarettes of the al fresco diners and then the coffee itself, the slightly burnt bitter smell of an imperfectly cleaned barista bar, and then past an Indian furniture shop with the bee wax polish and resins they use to colour the wood and give it shine overlaid on freshly finished wood, underneath all this the patchouli has been pumping unnoticed but comes to the fore as we drive outside the confines of the city with the top down smelling the exhaust, we get out and the fresh tree laden air, with humus and earth and maybe there has been a sprinkle of rain that is burning off in the sun. Then it comes in waves, interesting different visions pass before your nose, it is an olfactory movie, Film Noir and the bitch is going to get it in the Dark Passage.

UPDATE: I get this great story for maybe an hour and a half, it softens to a soft, slightly burnt vanilla and leather accord that was still ever so slightly there this morning, skin scent. It has only left the mildest trace on my clothes too, like this is my bodies scent left in the shirt. A new sophistication for Mr Tauer, bravo.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this, writing it was FUN!
Portia xx

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DARK PASSAGE by Andy Tauer