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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
Even though it’s been rush, rush, rush to get things organised all week I’ve felt calm about it. Going at it at my own pace and getting things done one at a time has allowed me to focus on each thing. At times it’s felt quiet zen.
Fragrance has, as always, played a major part. There are some cool spritzes from the vault.
Saw some friends but all in all it was work, organise, sleep, repeat.
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Portia
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Paying it Forward: (in) Puredistance Gold
This post is a part of a joint giveaway, held by Undina (Undina’s Looking Glass), Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume ), Lucas (Chemist in the Bottle) and Portia (Australian Perfume Junkies)
From Undina: In this age of advertising in social networks and working through influencers, vloggers and instagrammers, it is hard to justify spending marketing resources on a handful of“old school” bloggers with quirky blogging styles and limited outreach via followers or organic search. A very few keep doing that through the years.
Puredistance is one brand that was extremely friendly and generous with bloggers. Late last year Puredistance sent a travel spray of their newest perfume Puredistance Gold. I tied and I liked Puredistance Gold.
We decided to share – to make sure it reaches more people.
Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Italian green mandarin, Calabrian bergamot, La Réunion pink pepper, Moroccan rosemary, Madagascan clove
Heart: Indian jasmine absolute, Spanish cistus absolute, Moroccan geranium, Madagascar cinnamon absolute
Base: Honduras styrax, Laotian benzoin, Myrrh, Indonesian patchouli, Green madagascar vanilla, Venezuelan tonka bean absolute, Castoreum absolute, Haitian vetiver
A gloriously fizzy citrus opens, I say fizzy but not like a 21st century celebuscent. Here we have the lustre of golden dawn tempered by shadows of spices and the clarion call of white flowers. I make it sound overly dramatic, it’s not. Puredistance Gold is satin smooth and flawlessly blended.
The heart becomes a sensual incense. Yep, I never thought those words would become a pair. Here we have it. Incense, patchouli, vanilla are all tempered by resins and animalics. A light sweaty breathiness that underpins the heart and dry down, giving this unearthly beauty humanity.
If you are all about your fragrance being an introduction as or before you enter a room then I double you’ll be moved by Puredistance Gold. We are talking seriously refined understatement, yet so unusual that it is a statement of its own. It says to me, “I have no need of gauche display. My perfection and grace are enough. A perfect cover for our imperfect selves, how better to trick the world than smell like this”
1.5ml handmade sample of Puredistance Gold is offerred in a giveaway on each blog for a reader from the specific geographical region:
Undina’s Looking Glass – the US and Canada
Chemist in the Bottle – Europe (without the UK)
Bonkers about Perfume – the UK
Australian Perfume Junkies – Australia/NZ/Asia
To enter, tell me where you would want to wear Puredistance Gold in the comments below.
I’ll draw a random winner Wednesday, while I’m on Holidays in Thailand.
Go To It Crew,
Portia xx
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Portia
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Hey all. Today was spent at the computer (amazing how much time you can waste doing basically nothing online) and getting my fragrant send outs done. Some of them are a week overdue.
watching some Netflix. Jake Gyllenhaal in Source Code (2011) which blew my mind. Scary real idea.
Also watched the animated Sahara (2017) which was sweet and amusing but not nearly as good as Source Code.
Being Monday I have to write Trivia Q&A tonight.
Did not spritz or dab even a drop of fragrance today. For no reason at all my body wanted a complete rest from it. It did make me notice even more the fragile scent of lavender left on my sheets after changing the bed today. I always spritz it with L’Occitane Lavender Eau de Cologne on change day. It’s scent remains all week and is a perfect relaxant for Jin. He works shift work and needs to be able to fall asleep at any time in moments.
BUSY, wearing Madame Rochas EdC and parfum.
This morning I had a few things on the agenda, firstly tyres. My car desperately needed 4 new tyres and I had known it was coming for 12 months. Went to a tyre place I’ve used before expecting around $1000. The guy that served me was super sweet. He told me that they were importing a new brand and because this company is trying to get a toehold in Australia they are still quite cheap. So, four new tyres and a wheel alignment cost a little under $600 and I can’t believe the difference. The car is more responsive, feels like it is cornering better and the steering is lighter than it’s ever been. WIN ALLL ROUND!
It was Mother’s Day recently and I still hadn’t been to visit my Mum. The guilt was lying heavily on me and so straight after tyres I went down and saw her. Burned some Chinese Incense and Hell Bank Dollars for her and when I’m there alone I talk out loud to her as if we are sitting in the kitchen over a coffee. Anyway, I’d been rambling on about all sorts and wandering around the grave picking leaves etc off it when I noticed two groundsmen watching me and smiling. AWKWARD! They just smiled, said hello and wandered on.
Mum Waples is still in the Rehab and I went to visit her too. We had some laughs and Kath showed up to make it really cozy.
Jin has been aching to make us Peking Duck. We went and got all the stuff today, he made the pancakes himself from scratch. A couple of false starts, some not quite rightness and though it was amazing we decided to leave it and chop it all up for Sang Choy Bow tomorrow. Who cares that it wasn’t perfect, I just love the hanging out with him.
Work. Having to go to work tonight it was beard dying, a bubble bath and shave. Then some quiet nap time and ready to face the world. I spritzed Parfum d’Empire Ambre Russe lavishly and went out reeking of it. Interestingly no one commented on it, maybe they’re scared. I kept smelling old pipe tobacco all night, yummiest frag.
After work Jin and I sat up watching Frankie & Johnny Season 3, first 3 eps. Such good writing and the actors are a unit, a cohesive, perfect unit. We see ourselves and friends in different moments and characters. What a show.
A day blogging so loads of fragrance. I don’t want to ruin all the surprise though so I’ll keep a little hush.
Perfectly wonderful day. Jin and I lazed around the house and I blogged away happily. We had lunch together, a cuddle on the couch, watched some Korean TV with him translating. I grabbed Paris and had a little nap with him in the early evening before work.
Tonight for work I wore Carner Barcelona Rima XI. Sweet amber delight. YUM!
Today started cool and crisp, there were little breath clouds as I walk the dogs. By the time we got home though it was starting to warm up nicely. I was too., a half hour wander is beautiful with these pooches for company.
Jin cooked San Choy Bow with the leftover duck today for lunch. The sad failure of our Peking Duck was well overshadowed by the great San Choy Bow triumph of May 2017! He took some artistic license with the basic recipe, adding extraordinary amounts of garlic, some extra vegetables and a nice soft kick of chilli. He should open a restaurant. Seriously. It was so bloody delicious.
We went shopping for food. Tomorrow night we are having a small dinner party. We wanted to have everything ready to go.
Collected the incoming mail. VERY nice haul today. Vintage Madame Rochas EdC and Serge Lutens Feminite du Bois and Ambre Sultan in the Vaporisators with 2 x 30ml. Same price at Mecca as the 50ml export bottle and hella cuter.
Tonight I jumped in a glorious bubble bath of Hermès Eau de Mandarine Ambrée which then led me to night at work in Guerlain Shalimar, vintage parfum and modern EdP. I sent two of the women hurtling down memory lane to their youths. One was so enraptured she said she had fully fallen back in love. I wouldn’t be surprised if she turns up next week in full Shalimar.
My rose that I was given on Mother’s day is still blooming strong and lightly fragrant.
Suddenly it’s cool enough for a beanie. I particularly love this one I bought from Vanessa Musson from Bonkers About Perfume.
WHAT A DAY! I didn’t think my list was so long but it didn’t go as planned. It was meet Anna-Maria, go to David Jones and sniff, shopping for other people at DIOR, Estee Lauder Staff Store, hang with Bronwyn of Gascoigne & King Candles, Showface Theatre Makeup Store, Home for dinner party with a crew. It didn’t quite go to plan.
Went to town and met Anna-Maria for coffee and cupcakes.
Then we went to check David Jones DIOR to see if they had the 125ml Feve Delicious in case the Flagship store was out.
This fabulous woman at YSL Beauty grabbed Anna-Maria and did her lips. I nearly had to punch her in the face to use a slightly orange red on Anna-Maria but my will prevailed and I think you’ll agree it was the right choice.
Went to visit one of my favourite man SAs at MECCA in Myer where Anna-Maria got the Le Labo Santal 33 oil.
Then we trotted up to DIOR Flagship store and met Jolanta who was devastated to tell us she only had one 125ml DIOR Feve Delicious left. We had a very nice visit though. They are so friendly and helpful.
Latai met us there and we had to go back to David Jones to grab the other Feve and have lunch with Anna-Maria’s son Rocco. Then we realised we were out of time. Rushed home to join where we met up with other friends and all had Japanese/Korean fusion Self Made Nori Rolls. We had so much fun, chatter and laughter that the rest of the night passed in such a blur I completely forgot to take photos, SORRY!
After dinner I brought out a box of random niche bottles and we sniffed them and chatted, leading me to go get other bottles to illustrate, compare, contrast. By 10pm Jin was in bed and I was pooped so everyone herded out and I cleaned up. Bit of blogging and bed.
Spent today lazing around the house doing very close to nothing. I did notice that the Zygocactus are flowering though. these are all from my Mum’s windowsill. I’m pretty chuffed that though she died in 2001 her cactus are still prospering beautifully in the baskets and pots I put them in in 2003.
In honour of having the house to myself and wanting to swan around fully fragrant I gave myself 6 huge spritzes of Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur EdP. It’s so easy to get lost in its intricate folds that I lay down and let my mind wander for half an hour. So relaxing.
When Jin got home we had his Katsu Curry: Korean style. Bloody hell. My guy is such a good cook. Delicious. We watched some Gilmore Girls, season one. Jin had been rematching them and I got addicted a couple of seasons in. I’m doing catch up. LOVE this show.
Before bed I spritzed the white floral and green herbs and spices of Antonia by Puredistance. How luxe it smells.
Woke up & spritzed Niki de Saint Phalle for this perfect end of autumn sunny day. It was lovely as I wandered the dogs around our suburb.
Went and visited Kath’s Mum who is back at home now. We sat around with Dad & Kath laughing and chattering. It was a casual family morning, exactly what my should needed. Sorry but I forgot to take a snap.
Hung around the house and then got ready for work.
This week has been calm and peaceful. It’s been great to take stock and get some rest.
How about you? What did you do this week?
Did anything fragrant or fun happen?
Let us all know in the comments, hearing about your lives makes me so happy. I feel involved in the world outside my bubble.
Portia xx
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Post by Poodle
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Hi folks! It’s Poodle again.
I wanted to love it, I did. I tried to. Sadly, White just wasn’t that into me.
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
French may rose, Venezuelan tonka absolute, Italian orris root absolute, Mysore sandalwood, Italian bergamot, musk, Haitian vetiver, Indonesian patchouli
Sometimes I get caught up in the hype around a product. By all accounts I should love Puredistance White. It’s supposed to be almost magical. Happiness bottled is what they promised me. One sniff and I’m going to be grinning from ear to ear. That’s what the press release said. That’s what the bloggers said. It took a while for me to get a sample but finally I did. I was almost afraid to try it for fear I would fall hard and then have to figure out how to save my pennies to buy a bottle. The only reason I didn’t blind buy is the price. (I do have limits on how much I’ll spend on blind buys.) When the sample arrived I gave myself a couple of good sprays from the sample vial and then sniffed.
Hmmm…did I get an instant shot of happiness?
PDI
No. Not exactly.
A few days later I tried again. My impressions were a bit different the second time and the third time I tried it but I can tell you with certainty this one is not for me.
The first spraying was sweet. Toothache sweet. I’ve never snorted any type of white powder but each time I brought my wrist to nose I couldn’t help but think of how this must be what it’s like to do lines of confectioners sugar. I like a lot of sweet perfumes but this wasn’t working for me. It was very dry, powdery, and saccharine. I couldn’t pick out any notes. It stayed linear and sugary and either faded away or my nose just stopped registering it. My guess is my wacky skin chemistry amplified the Tonka and orris root and turned them into a powdery sweet mess.
The next try was a bit different but still not much better. I got a bit of rose which was soured by the bergamot and again dusted with a dry, confectioners sugar. This was followed by the musk which was very clean and white.
I wish I could say all the wonderful things everyone else did but it seems that White and I were just not destined to be friends. I’m not blaming the perfume at all. I’m quite sure it’s made with the best ingredients and is totally quality like other Puredistance perfumes. It’s all me. My skin can take notes in perfumes that smell horrible on others and make them magical but it also can do the exact opposite which is what I think happened here. I know the rest of the world loves this fragrance but I do suggest you try before you buy just in case.
PDI
Further reading: Non Blonde and Perfume Posse
LuckyScent has $190/17.5ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/0.25ml
Do tell, what perfume just didn’t play nicely with you?
Hugs
Poodle
Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,
I knew when Michael gave me the vial of Puredistance Black that this was going to be a ripper competition and that a lot of you would jump on board. Thanks crew, we love your enthusiasm and are so glad that we are able to make some frag dreams come true for you.
Further reading about Puredistance Black: Perfume Posse and The Fragrant Man
If you’d like to purchase Black
Puredistance has samples for sale already
LuckyScent has pre-order for December shipment
This week’s winner will receive
1 x 2ml Manufacturers Spray Sample of Black by Puredistance
P&H Anywhere in the world
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.
To be eligible for the draw just mention how you follow the APJs and tell us any perfume that is black or noir that you like
Extra Chances?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie PUREDISTANCE Black GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2ah #Perfume #Giveaway @puredistance
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Entries Closed Thursday 7th November 2013 10pm Australian EDST.
Winner was chosen by random.org
Photo Stolen ganjer
CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have till Sunday 10th November 2013 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.
Hello Lucky APJ Readers!
One of our contributors Michael has been in touch with Puredistance and they kindly sent TWO sample vials of BLACK for him to try. He is keeping one and has given the other to Australian Perfume Junkies to give to a lucky reader.
If you’d like to purchase Black
Puredistance has samples for sale already
LuckyScent has pre-order for December shipment
This week’s winner will receive
1 x 2ml Manufacturers Spray Sample of Black by Puredistance
P&H Anywhere in the world
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.
To be eligible for the draw just mention how you follow the APJs and tell us any perfume that is black or noir that you like
Extra Chances?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie PUREDISTANCE Black GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2ah #Perfume #Giveaway @puredistance
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Entries Close Thursday 7th November 2013 10pm Australian EDST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Sunday 10th November 2013 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.
Do go enter our Bohemia by One Seed GIVEAWAY too<<<JUMP
Hello Frag Hags,
We have had an amazing response to the PUREDISTANCE Giveaway. Thank you for all getting involved. Thank you also to LuckyScent who supplied the samples. These are the 1ml dab vials in a lovely satin pouch, not the boxed sample pack that you can buy at LuckyScent for $60, but still worth around $30 so a pretty good deal.
Puredistance Crystal Column LuckyScent
There are 2 prizes this week in our PUREDISTANCE GIVEAWAY. Each winner will receive:
4 x 1ml dab vials from PUREDISTANCE (Antonia, Opardu, M and I)
P&H Anywhere in the world
Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS.
All I needed was a HELLO with how you follow for you to be eligible for the draw.
Entries Closed Thursday 5th September 2013 10pm Australian EST.
Winners were chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, put on a tray and Jin will pick a winner. (This didn’t happen because Jin was sound asleep, I gave you all a number and used Random.org)
Photo Stolen shannonmayer
The winners will have till Sunday 8th September 2013 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.
Thank You everyone.
Portia xx
Hello lovely Fumies,
We have an excellent giveaway for you today, earlier in the year I hosted the SCENTSATION Bus Tour of Los Angeles for the Perfume Posse crew. It was an amazing day and all of us had a super great time. Our first stop was at the Lucky Scent brick and mortar shop Scent Bar where we had brunch and sniffing with several perfumers and promoters in attendance to lead us through their wares. We all got the most incredible goody bags and because I was hostess and a good shopper I got an extra. Inside were, and there still are, some outrageously amazing things. Today you get to be in the running for one of two sets of something extremely precious!!
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
From Fragrantica: Puredistance was founded by Jan Ewoud Vos in Vienna (Austria).
The choice to make Vienna the city from which Puredistance would gradually spread over Europe and the rest of the world is a consequence of the fact that only Vienna seamlessly fits the philosophy of the Puredistance concept.
Not only is Vienna the city of elegance and pureness, it also has for many centuries been a centre of art, attracting artist and free thinkers from all over the world. Notably the world famous Wiener Werkstätte (Wiener Werkstätte was a production community of visual artists, it was founded in 1903. by the artists Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser). The Wiener Werkstätte style is characterized by pure lines and minimal decoration.
Photo Stolen Kesha&Co
There are 2 prizes this week in our PUREDISTANCE GIVEAWAY. Each winner will receive:
4 x 1ml dab vials from PUREDISTANCE (Antonia, Opardu, M and I)
P&H Anywhere in the world
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.
All I need is a HELLO with how you follow for you to be eligible for the draw.
Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Puredistance GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-1Wc @puredistance #Perfume #Giveaway
Entries Close Thursday 5th September 2013 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, put on a tray and Jin will pick a winner.
The winners will have till Sunday 8th September 2013 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.
Go To It!!
Portia xxx
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Gabriella
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Australian Perfume Junkies 