Review

ARAMIS Calligraphy GIVEAWAY WINNER

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

.

Post by Portia

.

Totally exciting giveaway, thanks Azar for being so generous. You are a star.

Portia xxx

ARAMIS Calligraphy GIVEAWAY WINNER

Calligraphy Saffron Aramis FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 2ml decant of the 3 Aramis Calligraphy Series fragrances
Calligraphy
Calligraphy Rose
Calligraphy Saffron
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 12th November 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winner was chosen by random.org

winner-is HighestSelfPhoto Stolen HighestSelf

Jessi

The winner will have till Sunday 15th November 2015 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.

 

Mito Extrait by Vero Kern for Vero Profumo 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 23 Comments

.

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

.

Hi APJ,

From LuckyScent: Mito is Vero’s long-awaited fourth composition, inspired by the magical gardens of the 16th century Villa d’Este on Lake Como in Italy. The myths the name conjures might be the gods and nymphs whose statues people the garden. But we’re rather inclined to think of the myths of perfumery. Mito, a glorious green floral chypre built around the Villa d’Este magnolias and jasmine, isn’t so much a descendent of the great Chanels and Guerlains as a wayward sister to Cristalle or Chamade who made her way to Northern Italy and thrived.

Mito Extrait by Vero Profumo 2013

Mito Extrait by Vero Kern

Mito extrait Vero Profumo Val

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Citruses, magnolia, champaca, jasmine, galbanum, hyacinth, cypress, moss

Mito Extrait is beautiful. A word sporadically used in the fragrant world today. A perfume that gives pleasure and exalts the intellect. The combination and quality of materials give fulfillment to both the mind and the senses. Outstanding perfumery is not dead, but you need to search for it.

Vero Profumo Mito Vasnetsov_samolet WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

A few drops of the Mito melt into the skin, moving with your body. It invokes swirls of pinks and greens, juicy, luscious, sophisticated. Deep within the citrus, magnolia, white flowers and moss, is an exquisite succulent tuberose, completely hidden at first glance. In the same way that Kool-Aid makes your mouth water, the tartness of the tuberose stimulates your olfactory perception. And yet it conforms to the artistic model of the old classics. and you feel that this is not the first time you have smelled such beauty. It belongs to a bygone era, to an established and accepted tradition of perfumery. The addition of civet the acme of excellence.

Vero Kern Mito Extrait

Magic Fairy Princess (Spirit 1975)

You´re the one, you´re the girl in a million my friend
It is you fairy princess I will love to the end
You´re the magic fairy princess to me
I thought my life was over, but now I see

So alone, I was alone for such a very long time
Then I came and understood and our love began to shine
You´re the magic fairy princess to me

Lying here all alone and I´m thinking of you
I would climb the highest mountain
Slay a dragon for you
Because you´re the magic fairy princess.

Vero Profumo Mito Orlando Furioso WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Further reading: Perfume Posse and Australian Perfume Junkies
LuckyScent has $180/7.5ml
Surrender To Chance have EdP samples from $6/.5ml

Who does not need beauty in their lives?

Retro Electric Bussis
CQ

(Ed: Unmarked photos donated by Val & Vero. Thanks Girls.)

Trésor Midnight Rose by Anne Flipo for Lancôme 2011

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

.

Post by Portia

.

Hi there Fumies,

I have long been an unashamed adorer of Trésor, the original. It’s a scent I love to smell as it wafts by in the street or a mall. It smells only like itself and is a wonderful signature fragrance. So when they started bringing out modern flankers I was really sneery and snide without testing the product. Then a girlfriend smelled really fabulous one day and I asked her what that bewitching magic was? Wouldn’t you know it…..

Trésor Midnight Rose by Lancôme 2011

Trésor Midnight Rose by Anne Flipo

Tresor Midnight Rose Lancome FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Raspberry, rose absolute
Heart: Jasmine, peony, currant buds, pink pepper
Base: Virginian cedar, musk, vanilla

So up close Trésor Midnight Rose opens screechy, high octane oversweet fruity nightmare. Sorry folks, the opening needs to be endured rather than enjoyed. The raspberry and rose get right up into that urinous blackcurrant zing that can send me for headache tablets. The trick here is to spritz arms and tummy, ignore the first 20 seconds and suddenly that vile and obnoxious tirade becomes succulent fizzy fruits in a warm vanilla tinged bouquet that could (if you squint hard and screw up your nose) be based on a rose.

FW12 THE HEART TRUTH 2/8/2012 NEW YORKPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Don’t get me wrong, there is NOTHING natural feeling about Trésor Midnight Rose, it is as unreal and space age a crystalline rose fragrance as ever you could imagine. As a bystander though it is beautiful. Sweet and ripe, exotic and splendid with a touch of vanilla over laundry style musks and I also get an unmentioned fizz of pineapple as it’s about to go over the edge into too ripe. I was completely gobsmacked when my girlfriend told me what she was wearing and since then I have gone through 2 x 5ml decants and am running through my third. My mind is starting to wonder if I need a bottle?

Who can wear this? Obviously aimed at the younger market it also smells fabulous on a thirty something and I could easily imagine it being a super gift for grandma too. It might give her a youthful spring in her step. I can vouch for it’s invigorating and fun enhancing properties and towards the end if you told me the original plan was to smell exactly like a sour cherry mousse I would 100% believe you. Longevity excellent, projection average to high. There is something really lovely about wearing Trésor Midnight Rose.

VLUU P1200 / Samsung P1200Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: Now Smell This
Beauty Encounter has $49/50ml
My Perfume Samples has $3/ml – $9/5ml

What did you Poo Poo till a friend or passing stranger made you do a 180 degree turn?
Portia xx

 

Message in a Bottle by Mark Buxton for Mark Buxton 2015

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

.

Post by Gabriella

.

Hello perfumed peeps!

Living in Melbourne at this time of year, I cannot help but be reminded of the advent of summer in London. There, as soon as the grey dark skies of winter dissipate and the sun’s rays make a welcome return, the whole mood of the city lifts and people scramble to sunbake in parks at lunchtime.

Much like London, we’ve endured a hard cold winter here and spring has given us precious, joyous glimpses of the warmth that is to come. The whole psyche of the city and inhabitants changes at these times – one cannot help but feel elated to shed a winter coat and have a stroll after work amid a gentle warm breeze under a sky the colour of ice cream as the sun sets. There is a perfume that perfectly encapsulates these moments for me and that is ……

Message in a Bottle by Mark Buxton 2015

Message in a Bottle by Mark Buxton

Message in a Bottle Mark Buxton FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Ylang-ylang, magnolia, neroli, jasmine sambac, ambergris, sandalwood, labdanum, civet.

Message in a Bottle opens up with a dazzling burst of neroli, awakening one from winter’s hibernation with its efferversence and joyousness. The effect to me here is exactly like the hot towels you get on a long haul aeroplane flight. Waking groggy from a restless sleep, one cannot help but feel refreshed as the warmth and glowing citrus of the hot cotton on your face envelops your senses.

Message in a Bottle Mark Buxton Hot_towels WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

It’s about 10 minutes in when it would be permissible to dismiss Message in a Bottle as another neroli-based cologne. While the lightness of the composition certainly does feel cologne like in structure, the depth of the jasmine and the ylang ylang anchors and deepens the neroli, taking the composition humid white floral territory with an almost tropical feel. As the scent fades away, the ambergris comes to the fore with its salty woodedness, giving a nice segue from steamy floral into skin scent.

Message in a Bottle is a bit of a changeling. Much like Melbourne’s weather that can veer from tropical to freezing in an instant, the perfume itself metamorphoses depending on the weather conditions. In cooler weather, it is very much a selfish scent – your little private view of summer when it is still time to wrap a cardigan round your shoulders. When the temperatures are high, Message in a Bottle truly sings – warm humid skin is what really sets this perfume alight, bringing the tropical effect of the neroil, jasmine ylang ylang to the fore. I like wearing it both ways – for my secret snatch of summer promise as well as a full-on holiday scent when the mercury is climbing.

Message in a Bottle Mark Buxton summer Stevebidmead PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Further reading: Ainslie’s review here on APJ and Colognoisseur
Libertine Parfumerie has $199/100ml

What scents spell the promise of summer for you?
With much love until next time

M xxxx

Alanis Morrisette Top 10 Perfumes

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

.

Post by Portia

.

Hey there APJ,

What a great surprise, Alanis Morrisette is a FUMIE! She just uploaded her Top 10 and they are a really cool and diverse mix of the rare, expensive, mass-tige and niche. It’s a clever line up that gives me even more reason to think she would be a fun person to know. Clearly Alanis has been reading frag blogs too because she has a solid frag vocab that makes her pithy mini reviews totally understandable and easy to follow.

Alanis Morrisette Top 10 Perfumes

You can go check Alanis Morisette’s Top 10 Perfumes on Alanis Morrisette Blog

Her collection includes a Serge Lutens (a bell jar bought at the Palais Royale store no less), Byredo and Santa Maria Novella with a slew of others. Beautifully curated collection.

Alanis_Morissette_at_Espacio_Movistar WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

 

Alanis Morissette – Everything (Video)

How about some Alanis Morrisette music to get you in the mood? Here is one of her less popular songs that I love. It makes me want to sing along. Go on, turn it up a bit and let the music wash over you. It’s Friday here in Sydney, let yourself go a bit.

Enjoy,
Portia xxx

Noir Exquis by Bertrand Duchaufour for L’Artisan Perfumes 2015

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

.

Post by Robert Herrmann

.

Hi APJ,

I cannot help but notice the irony in this…..
Imagine you are the owner of a successful Espresso Bar, located in a highly trafficked tourist destination for 13 years. All those years you’ve been searching for the perfect coffee-centric perfume to wear in the Cafe to no avail. A perfume that won’t clash with the scents of the shop. You’ve tried them all from designer to niche to uber-niche to “they’re SO niche that nobody knows their name and they only answer their phone once every two months……”

Noir Exquis L'Artisan coffee eliasfalla PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Finally it’s time to sell the business and kick back a bit.

Then and only then, after 13 years with only two weeks left of ownership, the perfect perfume comes along.

Well, of COURSE it does. (Cue gnashing if teeth and rending of hair)

Noir Exquis by L’Artisan Perfumes 2015

Noir Exquise by Bertrand Duchaufour

Noir Exquis L`Artisan Parfumeur FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Chestnut, orange
Heart: Orange blossom, coffee, maple sap
Base: Ebony, heliotrope, vanilla, tonka bean and sandalwood

From L’Artisan: Noir Exquis is a work of contrast and the unexpected. The addictive note of coffee, combined with the warm and comfortable notes of maple syrup, glazed chestnuts and orange blossom, brings an intriguing juxtaposition to this fragrance. Rich and velvety, Noir Exquis connects these two persons during this moment beyond time and place…… Opulent and gourmand, Noir Exquis is a fragrance with a warm and charistmatic aura. Notes: Glazed chestnut, Coffee, Maple syrup, Macassar Wood

Noir Exquis is beautiful, and everything you could possibly wish for in an espresso cafe-friendly scent. Lush, dark, and creamy. A mellow coffee note (dark roast clearly!), threaded with notes of vanilla, chestnut, spices, and a gorgeous hit of maple sap.

Noir Exquis L'Artisan Pat Guiney Paris Cafe FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

A perfume meant to bring to mind a tête-à-tête, a secret rendezvous for two lovers in a dark Parisian Cafe, windows steamed up and the low hum of conversation from the other customers. A mostly untouched meal sits on the table, the lovers too enchanted by each other to eat anything. Hands entwined, the screeching jet-roar of the espresso machine from behind the bar, the loud grating sound of the coffee grinder. The smell of steamed milk, cinnamon, and coffee permeates the humid air. On the sidewalk in front of the cafe, a man sells roasted chestnuts in newspaper coronets, and every time the cafe door swings open the nutty smell from the chestnuts comes inside.

All of this, bottled.

THIS is the heart of Noir Exquise. And it is gorgeous.

Further reading: Megan In St Maxime and Bois de Jasmin
LuckyScent has $120/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $5/ml

Have you tried L’Artisan Noir Exquis?
Robert Herrmann XX

Shiloh by Michel Roudnitska for Hors La Monde 2007

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

.

Post by Trésor

.

My maternal grandmother lived in a quaint home, nestled in between two incredibly large hills with a small brook running down one side. Every so often we would gather iridescent stones that found their way to the tiny banks and pretend they were the scales of mermaid’s tails that had made their journey all the way from the Caspian sea to our little brook. We would take these stones into the house, clean them and place them inside the upstairs cabinet where she kept all of her finest china. She said they would stay there for safe keeping should the mermaids ever come looking in search for their missing glistening scales. These moments were some of the happiest of my entire childhood so you can just imagine my delight when I happened upon a fragrance by the name of Shiloh, authored by Michel Roudnitska for the French house of Hors La Monde that so flawlessly captured all of those exquisite iridescent colours I remember from those stones. All in one breathtaking journey though this perfume’s life on my skin.

 Shiloh by Hors La Monde 2007

 Shiloh by Michel Roudnitska

Shiloh Hors La Monde FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Bergamot oil, Damask rose petals, Virginian cedar, patchouli, lemon, sandalwood, incense, green grass, oakmoss, vanilla, musk, wood notes

Shiloh opens upon my skin in the shape of an effulgent sensory orb, pulsating in hues of vibrant cinnabar, rust and gleaming tangerine that illuminate from within like holograms of fragrant fireflies, whizzing about as if captured inside a mason jar by a joyful child on a late summer’s eve. The aroma of a ripe and glowing citrus fruit, that which smells to my nose of lemon, graciously wafts her golden fragrance in excess as gossamer plumes of diaphanous incense smoke envelop the citric rays of aureate light and with them begin to paint the composition a shade deeper, a spirit guide into the embrace of red rose petals existing as soft sculpture in translucent velveteen. Her petals begin to gracefully bleed a mellifluous zephyr of black pepper and aldehydes which have taken form as the kaleidoscopically lambent shards of a nearby star. With each precious drop that leaves her petals the rose darkens into crimson and soon finds herself enraptured within an abating aura of patchouli who’s fragrant leaves are as smooth as silk and permeating the airspace with their exquisite balsamic aroma of rainsoaked flora and the earth from which they came.

Shiloh Hors La Monde Bosc d'Anjou Grandma Moses Sugaring off (1945) FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

As the composition dries down the roses and patchouli are laid to rest upon a bed of redolent Virginia cedar, creamy sandalwood and sensuous skin musks which dance upon the skin like phantasms of Bolshoi ballerinas illuminated in hues of auroral copper and gold. It is within this final act of spectral pirouettes that Shiloh finally becomes one with the skin.

Shiloh is a fragrance which wears closely to the skin, existing nearly as a skin scent the entire duration of its life. It is by no stretch of the imagination a weak fragrance but one that is meant for those you wish to draw close. Each time I wear Shiloh I tend to get about 6 hours wear before it trails into dancing wisps of ethereal musk, though I will admit that on warmer days I’ve gotten upwards of 9 hours before it was completely gone from my skin.

Shiloh Hors La Monde Grandmas_house WikipediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Further reading: Now Smell This and Non Blonde
LuckyScent has $125/50ml

Have you tried Shiloh?

Curve Kicks by Liz Claiborne 2006

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

.

Post by Azar

.

Hi APJ Pals,

Perfume junkies know that fragrance has a profound and powerful effect on emotions and memories. A perfume can literally make us happy, chemically force us into a state of bliss, put a spring in our step, a smile on our face and infuse our entire being with energetic optimism. Today I’m going to talk about a fragrance that does all of the above for me, my favorite cheap thrill in a perfume bottle – Curve Kicks for Women by Liz Claiborne.

Curve Kicks by Liz Claiborne 2006

Curve Kicks Liz Claiborne FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Melon, mandarin orange, cassia, pear
Heart: Peony, passionfruit, freesia, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, peach, vetiver, cedar

Kicks for Women is one of the 18 or so scents in the Liz Claiborne Curve Collection. That being said, parsing the notes in Kicks is really a meaningless exercise for me. Here is my experience of the fragrance.

Of all the cheapies in my collection Curve Kicks is my favorite. It has to be the least expensive fragrance I own and easily worth its weight in denatured alcohol. The price alone makes me smile, as does the bottle and the shiny metal can it comes in.

Curve Kicks Liz Claiborne Electric Orange mikegi PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Kicks opens with a totally synthetic fruit cocktail featuring warm peach and orange fruit cooling rapidly to pear, melon and wet spring florals. It would be easy to dismiss this stuff as your average teenybopper body spray – but wait! At about thirty minutes Kicks jump starts my olfactory memories and returns me to mid 20th century Central Florida and the smell of the citrus processing plants. If you have ever experienced that overpowering fragrance (some call it a stench) you will, for good or ill, never be able to forget it.

Curve Kicks Liz Claiborne Orange Cometh PexelsPhoto Stolen Pexels

After about an hour or so in the processing plant, Kicks begins a long, lovely eight-hour dry down toward a final, quiet, almost elegant combination of powdery sandalwood, vanilla, cedar and a breath of peach all wrapped in a subtle wisp of processed citrus steam. The conspicuous absence of even the slightest reference to patchouli sets Curve Kicks apart from its contemporary fruit-chouli sisters. To summarize: Curve Kicks for Woman is fruity, chemical sunshine mixed with powdery, sweet woods, diluted in perfumer’s alcohol and packaged in metal, glass and glitter.

FragranceNet has $17/100ml before Coupon

Today’s draw: I will be giving away two Curve Kicks for Women 5.4 ml minis, shipping and handling everywhere. To be eligible for the draw please let us know how you follow APJ and tell us a little about a fragrance that really MAKES you happy – a perfume that FORCES you into a state of happiness!

giveaway manoneileenPhoto Stolen manoneileen

Curve Kicks GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

Today’s giveaway: There are two prizes, one each.
Curve Kicks for Women 5.4 ml minis
P&H Worldwide

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 (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

To be eligible please tell us how you follow APJ

AND

Tell us a little about a fragrance that really MAKES you happy – a perfume that FORCES you into a state of happiness!

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 29th October 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Sunday 1st November 2015 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.

Estratto di Colonia GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

.

Post by Portia

.

Estratto di Colonia GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Estratto di Colonia Pineider FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, green mandarin, lemon, sage
Heart: Jasmine, white rose
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, musk, amber

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x sample of Estratto di Colonia from my stash
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 25th October 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

winners-are prospectsplusPhoto Stolen prospectsplus

Rene Groyer (Via Twitter)

Kandice

The winner will have till Thursday 29th October 2015 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.

 

Mascara: I look like an idiot so you don’t have to: Mascara

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

.

Post by AF Beauty

.

We’ve had a couple of mentions in previous comments about mascaras. I have never really subscribed to the idea of expensive mascaras because I have never really seen the benefit of spending $40 on black goo that I could otherwise buy for $20 at the local chemist. However, I have had a small epiphany.

Mascara, MASCARA, Mascara

I look like an idiot so you don’t have to

In previous comments the famous Maybelline Great Lash Mascara was mentioned, so I dutifully toddled off and purchased this one:

great-lash-clear_model-shot_144055

I chose the washable version thinking that having to scrape off a waterproof version might kill my eyes. In retrospect that may have been a better outcome!

My present gym routine involves a boxing class three times a week. I LOVE boxing – SO much fun! Generally I start with a full-ish face of makeup but by the time I’ve punched and kicked till scarlet, my makeup has done it’s best to disappear. One particular day, my boxing trainer was giving me side eyes and then looks bold and says, “you have black all down your eyes!” I totally styled it out and retorted, “It’s because I’m so tough!” And I am tough, but truth is; my mascara had let me down in a big way. Bummer.

So I started looking online for more info about a type of mascara called tubing mascara. I had read about it a few years ago, I knew Clinique did one and wanted to find some more options. The idea of tubing mascara is that the mascara goo forms a tube around each of your lashes and therefore will not smudge down your face. It can also be washed off easily without waterproof makeup remover. Sounds too good to be true, right?!

Mascara MAC Opulash

Luckily my research coincided with a spare 15 minutes I had at Sydney Domestic Airport where they have a new beauty store called Amuse that sells a variety of beauty brands. My research had led me to a MAC mascara called Opulash, so off I went to purchase.

MASCARA MAC Extended Play Gigblack Lash

I told the MAC SA (who was super nice and helpful) about wanting a tubing mascara and not wanting smudginess. She told me all MAC mascaras were non-smudging, I admit I inwardly scoffed. She also told me of a different mascara which she said was tubing called Extended Play Gigblack Lash. She was that nice that I took her at her word and bought the Extended Play even though I’d read about the other one. I admit, I was feeling hopeful, but my expectations were almost nil. However, I have been using this mascara now for a couple of weeks and have deliberately been applying pre-workouts to see whether it will smudge – and NADA. Not even a hint of it. This is an angels singing moment!

Because I go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week, this has been a real gamechanger. I don’t feel like I need to give my makeup more than a second thought and I have confidence now that I’m not going to look dishevelled in my makeup, even if the rest of me looks like a mess!

Have you heard of tubing mascara? What’s your favourite?
AF Beauty xx