Arabian Horse by Pierre Guillaume for Parfumerie Générale 2012

May 18, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Post by Holly

Situated in a picturesque cobblestoned mews in the heart of London is the Ross Nye Stables. As a young girl, I spent two glorious years there learning manners, comportment in every situation, sensitivity and of course, how to ride. I was hooked, and fifty years later I am still captivated by these noble animals. I love to watch the elegance and refinement of dressage, the thrilling speed of the Triple Crown. I can sense the rough-and-tumble of buzkashi, I sigh over images of kohl-eyed Arabs racing their thoroughbred stallions across the desert. When I want to experience all of that at once, there’s this:

Arabian Horse by Parfumerie Générale 2012

Arabian Horse by Pierre Guillaume

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Green notes, wildflowers, narcissus
Heart: Musk, cypriol oil (nagarmotha)
Base: Woody notes, amber

It’s a beautiful spring day, and we’re feeling frisky. Let’s go for a ride!

Arabian Horse opens with a high-spirited burst of slightly animalic leather. It’s raw, warm and unpolished, reminiscent of leather goods in a Middle Eastern bazaar. Within a minute or so of leaving the paddock, flashes of bright wildflowers appear in a meadow that is dotted with bales of green hay. Some of the blooms smell dazzlingly spicy and sweet, somewhat like carnations but denser, richer and almost syrupy like a fine attar. I’m not familiar with nagarmotha, but I suspect that is what this scent is. Vibrant yellow narcissus dot the landscape, and as we gather speed the scenery flashes past and each note is experienced briefly and separately in dazzling pops of exuberance, appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye. Thrumming underneath is the low hum of leather warming, and faint wisps of musk and sweet honeyed amber radiate out from our now-sweating steed.
After a while, the landscape changes and the narcissus are more bountiful and the other wildflowers are mere specks dotting the fields. The narcissus beckons, glowing in the sunlight, and we slow down to enjoy the view and the damp greenish-gold honeyed scent. Dappled woods are seen on the horizon, and the scent of cedar is faintly detected when a breeze blows across the meadow. Our horse’s coat is gleaming underneath the leather saddle, and the musky note is a velvety vanilla balm.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Before turning for home, we approach the woods. The sun is starting to set, and we’re drawn to the calm shadows underneath the trees. After a full day soaring over the hills and meadows, we’re ready to bask in the calm that comes after an intense and exhilarating ride. The scent of cedar is astringent and restorative and in its presence we gather the strength to make our way back home. It’s been a glorious day.

Arabian Horse has excellent sillage and longevity, but is not overpowering. It is incredibly well-blended, and the progression of the notes is smooth and elegant, each phase lasting for hours on me. The name conveys everything you need to know about the spirit of this fragrance. It’s simultaneously unrestrained and yet firmly grounded. There’s an exquisite tension combined with a sense of expansion that is deeply sexy. I think that both men and women would be comfortable wearing Arabian Horse in any season, in any venue, from dawn ‘til dusk.

Further reading: Ca Fleure Bon and Now Smell This
Parfumerie Générale has €260/100ml
Surrender To Chance has $8.50/ml

Photo Stolen Ca Fleure Bon

If horses aren’t your thing, you can always be inspired by pics of the creator of Arabian Horse, Pierre Guillaume.

Photo Stolen BeauteTest

Have you found a fragrance that just makes you feel expansive, unrestrained and free?
Holly x

L'Occitane Launch May 2015 with Scott Steward

May 17, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hey crew,

Monday was a great morning to L’Occitane. Scottt Steward and I trolled down to the Sydney Observatory area and couldn’t find the damn place so I just kept driving till we came across it, AT LAST! Greeted with drinks and some easy finger food at arrival we were wowed by the lovely transformation that the L’Occitane crew had given a very white old-school hanger of an art gallery. There was colour and bunches of real flowers everywhere.

L’Occitane Launch May 2015 with Scott Steward

I apologise that I didn’t get more crowd and happening shots but one of the Sydney Beauty Society Mavins was really rude to me as we arrived and It put me a bit off my game. Not to be deterred we listened to the beautiful French General Manager of L’Occitane Australia Caroline LeRoch who welcomed us and introduced the new Australian face/brand Ambassador of L’Occitane, Australian TV & Radio star Sami Lukis who chatted with Lucy Primrose, international project leader and skincare innovator at L’Occitane.

The spiel was interesting, the finger food delicious and most of the company fun and friendly. The L’Occitane crew are a great bunch of girls and my mate Lesley Bowen the loveliest of them all.

And the swag?

The last photo is the ABSOLUTE FREAKING WINNER! An oil based make up remover that takes every skerrick of my drag make up off in seconds, including waterproof mascara. First time in my life I’ve woken up without PANDA EYES! Thank you L’Occitane.

Portia xx

PS Most of these photos I took but some were donated by L’Occitane after I asked for extras.

Vétiver Tonka by Jean Claude Ellena for Hermès 2004

May 16, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Heya APJ Frag Family,

You might remember that I bought an Hermès 4 x 15ml Travel Set while on holidays. Vetiver is one of my favourite notes, not just for its amazingly versatile scent profile but also because the grass is so useful in many different ways, anyway here is one of the clever ways Jean-Claude Ellena sees vetiver.

Vétiver Tonka by Jean Claude Ellena for Hermès 2004

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords in one line:
Hazelnut, Lily-of-the-valley, Praliné, Sandalwood, Tobacco, Tonka bean, Vetiver

I really enjoy the melange that Vétiver Tonka offers up while still wet on your skin; it’s like the whole note list wants to meet you all at once. In the first 10 seconds I smell quite distinctly the austere, dry yet fresh greenness of vetiver, the sweetness of sugared lollies and nutty sweets, creamy sandalwood and a whisper of the dewy fresh prim white floral that is lily of the valley. They all pop out in succession as if you are meeting them on a conveyor belt.

Then something interesting happens on my skin, at about the two minute mark they all decide it’s time to get friendly and create a fragrance. The beautiful slightly salty, little bit bitter green smoky dryness of vetiver is front and center but everything else then becomes a fragrant cushion that surrounds and bolsters the star.

Photo Stolen Hermès

As we go further into the heart of Vétiver Tonka the sweetness starts to really shine through. A lovely shiny patina of creamy caramel with the slightly dry bite of nuts waltz through and around the vetiver creating some very interesting fragrant formations that keep my nose fresh to the scent and my wrist lifted permanently in front of my face. Thank goodness I’m home and not out, it would be embarrassing.

It’s interesting wearing Vétiver Tonka to review rather than as my scent of the day. I am much more able to detect subtle differences in its moods, during a regular wear I get occasional wafts of sweet creamy woods that make me smile through the day but in my room on close inspection the heart is caramelised and smoky, the nuttiness shines through more too. A sweet dryness prevails to the end, very elegant and totally unisex.

Longevity is really good most days but some days I spray on Vétiver Tonka and it seems to disappear before the two hour mark. No I can’t work out why, there seems to be no defining circumstances but I have only worn a 3ml sample in the past and now this is my fourth wear since buying my 15ml four pack.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: What Men Should Smell Like and Olfactoria’s Travels
Hermessence are available only in Hermès stores or onlineSurrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/.5ml

How do you like your vetiver? Dry and stark or warm and delicious?
Portia xx

Fille d`Eve by Michael Hy + Jacques Bercia for Nina Ricci 1956

May 15, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Hi there Vintage Mavins,

I write often about the amazing gems that Michael Edwards, of Fragrances Of The World fame, gave me in his mammoth fragrance clean out. There are still dozens left for me to introduce you to. Today I’m taking you back to 1956

Fille d`Eve by Nina Ricci 1956

Fille d`Eve by Michael Hy + Jacques Bercia

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords in one line:
Bergamot, Oakmoss, Jasmine, Patchouli, Rose

On first spritz the words that jump into my head are sweet, soft, lavish, elegant, fluffy and feminine. Fille d`Eve is all about the moss and some whispered animal, everything else is just to it dress up.

In my mind’s eye I see this sensually rumpled young woman, probably awaking in the late morning on a weekend after a fun night out or an athletic bout of lovemaking. She is deliciously and deliriously sated for fun and has slept eight hours straight, now she lies in bed not quite asleep and enjoys the warmth under the doona and lets her mind wander freely.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

My bottle of Fille d`Eve seems to be 100% perfect and I really want to share my luckiness with you so jump down to the GIVEAWAY.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Black Narcissus
Ebay and Amazon have some VERY expensive bottles
Surrender To Chance has vintage parfum samples starting at $7/.5ml

Photo Stolen Kesha&Co

Fille d`Eve GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x Fille d`Eve by Nina Ricci decant from the bottle that Michael Edwards gave me
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us a favorite vintage fragrance OR a story of a late morning rumpled wake up OR someone you know that rocks vintage frags

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 17th May 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thuesday 21st May 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.

Katy Perry Killer Queen: Oh So Sheer By Laurent LaGuernec 2014

May 14, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Poodle

Two things I need to admit here. I am not a Katy Perry fan and I’m a bit judgmental when it comes to celebrity perfumes. My niece gave me a bottle of this so I’m trying to be as fair as possible.

Katy Perry Killer Queen: Oh So Sheer 2014

By Laurent LaGuernec

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mulberry, elderberry, black current, dark plum
Heart: Celosia, jasmine, freesia, plumeria
Base: Kashmir wood, liquid praline, caramel, patchouli

As you probably know, anything with the word “sheer” in the name is going to be problematic for me and my scent eating skin so your results may vary on this one. At first spritz you really need to give it a moment because there’s a sharp blast of what I can only describe as hair spray accord. Let’s let it dry a moment…

It’s sweet and juicy with plummy berries which is appropriate since the juice itself is purple. These seems to be the go-to top notes in mainstream scents lately and initially Katy Perry Killer Queen Oh So Sheer is similar to a lot of other perfumes out there. There’s the expected sweetness but since it’s a sheer scent it’s actually not too syrupy. I can’t pick out any individual berries and they seem more synthetic than natural to me. The flower notes are there but again, they don’t stand alone but rather blend together. I will say that I can smell the plumeria a bit more than anything else in the note list at this point. There’s a hint of caramel but it hasn’t quite bubbled to the surface yet.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

As the fruit and flowers fade and the base notes begin to take the stage there’s that sweet patchouli common to many perfumes. Definitely not an earthy patchouli, for any of you patch heads out there, and I don’t detect much wood. But Katy Perry Killer Queen Oh So Sheer is sheer and very wearable. The liquid praline/caramel notes are somewhat apparent throughout the life of the scent. I had a problem with Prada Candy smelling like a hot chemical mess on me so I was ready for chemical caramel here too. It kills me to say it but I was pleasantly surprised. The caramel on me was not too sweet and not too synthetic smelling. I was not expecting that.

The main shift in Katy Perry Killer Queen Oh So Sheer is from the fruity opening to the sugared caramel base. It’s easy to wear and the general public will think you smell good. Not something that you need to think about to enjoy. Longevity was an issue which I expected and sillage was not overwhelming.

Photo Stolen Flickr

You could do much worse than Katy Perry Killer Queen Oh So Sheer in the sea of celebrity scents. Great for a tween or teen or an old lady like me who wants to feel young again.

Further reading: NJT Reviews and Shrinking Wallet
FragranceNet has $33/100ml before coupon

So have you tried this or any of the other Katy Perry perfumes? Do you think celebrity scents are getting better or worse lately?

Hugs
Poodle

Epine Mortelle by Laurent Mazzone for LM Parfums 2015

May 13, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by Trésor

There is a word in Portuguese; saudade. It means to have great longing for something, someone or some place which no longer exists, which only lives on in precious memory and the longing which may only be pacified by delving deep within the tides of days past and allowing yourself to be swept within the gentle current of reminiscence. That is saudade. Upon occasion one is graced to discover an entity which brings these memories flooding back. Like when I first sniffed Laurent Mazzone’s exquisite Epine Mortelle, within moments I was overcome with nostalgia and found myself reminded of tender moments from my childhood. That which was once faded had been given new life, reborn in brilliant technicolor.

Epine Mortelle by Laurent Mazzone for LM Parfums 2015

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pink pepper, black pepper, sichuan pepper, cumin, nutmeg, anise, angelica
Heart: Violet, damask rose, rose, mimosa, black currant
Base: Musk, vanilla

Upon my initial inhale I am met with an incredible flourish of cascading peppercorns, floating about in the air gracefully as sun dances off of their surface. The heat increases as an aura of spicy capsaicin emanates forth, calling to mind the gentle glow of embers burning beneath coals of black pepper. The emerald shimmer of angelica adorns this sequence like ornate filigree reflecting amaranthine light into the atmosphere.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

The roseate aurora of pink peppercorn illuminates the background and grows brighter and brighter until it becomes gloriously dense in its illumination and begins to resemble luscious, magnificently ripe raspberries. Not just any raspberries, however, but an olfactory mirror of the raspberries within my late grandmother’s raspberry jam; sticky and decadently rich. An aroma I thought I would never again experience. This is the saudade, pacified. From beneath the surface of the raspberry nectar is born a rose, her petals of crimson velvet. The rose expands as her petals unfurl and release their beauty in the most vivid shade of fuchsia one could possibly imagine; effulgent and florid with light and life. I have fallen so deeply in love with these blossoms that I find it difficult to explain their luxury.

Still, there was something glistening upon her petals that beguiled me to the point where I had spent hours at a time with my nose to my wrist trying to decrypt this code. Then, as we were discussing the fragrance a dear friend of mine pointed it out to me: the ionones! Those same beautiful ionones which infuse one of my greatest olfactory romances, Lancôme’s Trésor. I could smell her immaculate DNA running so beautifully through the soul of Epine Mortelle. I was taken back to my childhood once more and my affection for this fragrance deepened further. What are the odds? How incredibly splendid! A cool breeze of iris joins in and gives me yet another flashback, to the aroma of the makeup my mother had on her dressing table when I was a child. How is this possible? Three times and I am left breathless and completely in love. The dry down grows increasingly confectionary as time passes and plush vanilla begins to dominate the composition. It is within this lush sweetness that the composition ends its life on my skin. What an incredible journey.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Epine Mortelle lasts well over 24 hours on my skin and has impressive sillage for the the first 10 hours. I urge any rose lover to give this fragrance ago because I am nearly certain it will not disappoint. It’s made it within my top 10 rose fragrances of all time. For me, Epine Mortelle was a rift in space, affording me the priceless opportunity to venture deep into the past and resurrect incredible beauty. Thank you, Laurent. Thank you so very much.

Further reading: BL’EauOG and Kafkaesque
LuckyScent has $225/100ml + samples

Do you have a fragrant saudade?

Until next time, my darlings.
Trésor xx

Tihota by Francis Kurkdjian for Indult 2006

May 12, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 69 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Fragrant Salutations APJ

I picked up 140 kilos of chocolate on Monday morning. The beginning of a batshit crazy week. As many of you know, or will have gathered, I make cookies for living. Sounds cool huh? Indeed it has opened many doors and I am thankful. I have been supplying a chain of groovy, funky restaurants for the last four years. There are stores in Cologne, Munich, Salzburg and Innsbruck. I work in a kitchen too small to swing a cat in, located at the back of our bike shop. Glamorous does not spring to mind. The company has ventured into the coffee shop business and asked me if I would like to make the cakes and muffins for them. Starting with one store, a second coming along sometime over the next six weeks or so, and a third at the end of the summer. I thought it over for a couple of weeks and decided to give it a go. It all sounds so exciting on Facebook, or when talking to people. I seriously think it might kill me.

I am sat here banging this out after the opening of the store in Innsbruck yesterday evening. I am determined to have this post went to Portia before deadline. That is one of my new goals. (In-between having my head stuck in the oven, I will NOT be late any more!) I just got back from delivering 4 cakes and 50 muffins and you know what? I am really scared that I cannot do it. I think I have bitten off more than I can chew. Don´t tell anyone. I shall see how it goes over the next few weeks and if I can’t do it without having to check into a loony bin for a break then I shall go back to just doing their cookies.

Tihota by Francis Kurkdjian for Indult 2006

Deadlines, Muffins and the Fabled Tihota – a Sweet Giveaway

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Vanilla, musk

Whatever! Let’s celebrate by sharing some of the fabled Tihota from Indult. What could be more appropriate in a “baking post” than vanilla huh? I love vanilla. Indeed I work with three different types, Mexican, Madagascar Bourbon, and Tahitian. The Tahitian vanilla is extremely expensive, has a wonderful cherry aroma, and I use it sparingly. Indult´s Tihota uses Tahitian vanilla. Tahitian vanilla is truly the most fragrant of all vanillas, a fruity floral vanilla. Tihota means “sugar” in Polynesian, so between sugar and vanilla you nearly have a cake. Tihota is a proper vanilla scent. A vanilla perfume for vanilla freaks. It has a heavy sillage and despite being sweet and musky, it is quite adult. It is very rich and caramelly. If you don’t care to wear your vanilla this won’t change your mind, and you will have to enjoy vanilla in your baked goods. I cannot imagine there is anyone out there who doesn´t like vanilla in one way or another. Is there? Tihota has epic lasting power. Notes seem to be musk and vanilla although I have seen tonka bean mentioned. (Musk is funny stuff though. I get it more in the cooler months in Tihota.)

Photo Donated Val

Tihota reached cult status over the years, especially when it was discontinued. Fortunately though, the Indult collection is now under new ownership and the fragrances are once more available. They are presented under their original formulations, as created by Francis Kurkdjian.

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Olfactoria’s Travels
First In Fragrance has €160/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6/.5ml

Fancy trying Tihota? How do you take your vanilla? Inhaling or eating?

24 hours ’til deadline. I did it!!!

Exhausted Bussis
CQ

Photo Stolen TheTruthAboutMummy

Tihota GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 4 winners who will receive:
1 x decant from Val’s Tihota bottle
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us a favorite vanilla fragrance or food

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Friday 15th May 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Tuesday 19th May 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.

Shopping My Collection May 2015

May 10, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Hey there Frag Family,

One of the few problems that comes with writing about fragrance is that you are constantly testing stuff, old and new, so you can write about it. This means that you neglect your collection. I can’t speak for you obviously but I find that many of my dearest loves languish, so this week I decided to have at least one part of my day in fragrance from my collection. So you know I have 3 major fragrance wearing times: Daytime, Work and Sleep. Sometimes I’ll spritz the same thing three times but rarely.

So this week I challenged myself to use some of my loves, here is how it went….

Shopping My Collection May 2015

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Shopping My Collection Day 1:

Day: Ambre 114 by Histoires de Parfums: Lovely soft amber, lightly spiced and sandalwooded.
Work/Evening: Ambre 114 by Histoires de Parfums: ^^^ Enjoyed it so much I wanted to do it again
Sleep: Sweet Oriental Dream by Montale: Like an ambered Turkish delight. Super sweet but totally wearable.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Shopping My Collection Day 2:

Day: Ambre 114 by Histoires de Parfums: ^^^ Enjoyed it so much I wanted to do it again
Work/Evening: Shalimar Vint. Parfum + EdP by Guerlain: The one. the magic, the divine creamy lemon vanilla sorbet and cat
Sleep: Tuberose Diabolique perfume oil by Ava Luxe: White flowers with a very sappy green feel, heady and sensual. MMMMMM

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Shopping My Collection Day 3:

Day: Lys Soleia by Guerlain:
Work/Evening: Un Matin d`Orage by Annick Goutal: Bright spicy white floral with a sandalwood and (musk/vanilla?) base
Sleep: Un Matin d`Orage by Annick Goutal: ^^ Loved it.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Shopping My Collection Day 4:

Day: ——-
Work/Evening: Kokorico by JPGaultier: Chocolate patchouli with an earthy vetiver backdraft. I think this should have been a huge hit for JPG
Sleep: Neroli & Orchidee by L’Occitane: Spritzed like crazy. I love this juicy fresh and warmly sensual frag. So simple and easy to wear for sweet dreams.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Shopping My Collection Day 5:

Day: Rima XI by Carner Barcelona: I think it’s the mint in the opening over the warm, sweet vanilla and resins that gets me every time.
Work/Evening: Rima XI by Carner Barcelona: ^^^ Really loved it this morning
Sleep: Vintage Mitsouko PdT by Guerlain: I could try to parse this glorious Queen but I think I’ll leave it to smell elegantly MMMMMitsouko.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Shopping My Collection Day 6:

Day: ~~Fille en A~~ Sorry interrupted when I was about to spritz, didn’t happen
Work/Evening: Miss Dior vintage EdT: OMFG! This is gorgeous beyond my expectations and it has a funky, resinous, amber/chocolate note that is very surprising. Whoa! BIG!
Sleep: Miss Dior vintage EdT on my chest/ Mer & Mistral by L’Occitane on my hand backs

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Shopping My Collection Day 7:

Day: Aqua Allegoria Tiare Mimosa by Guerlain: I love the gently white florals with only a touch of breathiness in this lovely springlike spritz.
Work/Evening: Fille en Aiguilles by Serge Lutens: Boozy, fruity, spicy roses. Awash in heavenly vapours. MMMMMM.
Sleep: Eau de Magnolia by Frederic Malle: Citrus, soft white floral and sheer warm dry down. A perfect finish to my Shop My Collection week.

Want to sample these lovelies? Try Surrender To Chance and My Perfume Samples

Do you ever find yourself wearing the samples and neglecting your bottles? Does it worry you or are you cool with that?
Portia xx

Rose Pivée by L`Artisan Parfumeur 2015

May 9, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Hey there Fragrance Fiends,

Embarrassing story. I was given a 15ml pre release sample of this by Nick from Libertine Parfumerie to review if I liked it. The bottle is simple and nondescript and the writing in gold so since there was so much bigger and boxed stuff in my swag that day I have completely overlooked this one. What a dumbass.

Rose Pivée by L`Artisan Parfumeur 2015

Rose Pivée by Bertrand Duchaufour and Stephanie Bakouche

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Basil, lilac, carnation, hay, magnolia, may rose, patchouli, violet leaf, amber

Green and sparkling herbal opening that feels a little citric and aldehydic, spicy carnation reacts beautifully with the herbs feeling like the new days dawn and yes, there is a lovely fruity rose creeping in that smells like it’s warming in the morning sun. A crystalised rose, completely unsweetened, cool and sophisticated and I get a flawless lemon blossom that floats through the heart absolutely effortlessly. A creamy lemon silk chiffon scarf drifting through the rosiness and a little hint of breathy indole too.

Photo Stolen Geograph

Weird, after about 4 hours all I smell is a fluffy white musk that feels clean and fresh like laundry just out of the dryer.

Having read a bunch of reviews now it’s interesting that so many people call Rose Privée a chypre. I get none of the earthy, bitter or mossy dry down you’d expect from a chypre here at all. Clearly my skin or nose is not giving or getting some notes that are completely obvious to noses that I trust much better than mine. All I get is a soft and fluffy musk, clean and neat. BUM!

It’s a shame because the first hour or so is absolutely lovely and as I have my Aunty Tracey here with me too we are both adoring the opening and keep resptitzing so the opening hour can be relived over and again. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon/evening really especially when you add to it a very healthy serve of Take Away Chinese with Jin & Kath in the middle.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Do I love Rose Privée? No, but I do like it very much. Will I be buying a bottle? I think Rose Privée a little soft and innocent for my tastes though I think it a perfect gifting fragrance or office scent, the quality is lovely and the soft whisper of spring it conjures smells really beautiful on my Aunty. If you like to be subtly scented then Rose Privée may be a perfect choice for you.

Further reading: Megan In St Maxime and Bois de Jasmin
Libertine Parfumerie has Rose Privée
Parfum1 has $120/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $5.40/ml

Roses, roses, roses! What are your favourites?
Portia xx

La Religieuse by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 2015

May 7, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Post by Gabriella

Hi APJ,

Jasmine is such an important scent for me. Like gardenia, jasmine is the scent of my childhood summers in Sydney. Jasmine blossomed all around the neighbourhood and in our backyard. It was the scent of swimming in our pool on a long, sweaty December night; it was the scent of walking the dogs in the early summer evening when the humid air would gently caress the white petals and fill the pale sky with their intoxicating perfume; it was the scent of carefree and happy, languid days.

And yet, when it comes to perfume, jasmine is a really difficult note for me. The indolic nature of the flower tends to overwhelm on my skin, turning the scent from something that should be magnificently beautiful to something that more resembles, say, cat’s pee. Jasmine can often go so wrong on me, sour, sharp and just generally dreadful. I’ve tried so many in an effort to capture that wonderful scent of my childhood, often to no avail.

La Religieuse by Serge Lutens 2015

La Religieuse by Christopher Sheldrake

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Jasmine, musk, civet and incense

Therefore, it was with a mix of trepidation and excitement that I tested the latest release from Serge Lutens, La Religieuse, some weeks ago. I’d read that it was a softer jasmine than the houses other offerings: A La Nuit and Sarassins, but would it be a mess on my skin or would it be that gorgeous soft jasmine that I really wanted?

I can happily say its the latter. La Religieuse is one of the only new releases lately that has gone straight on my full bottle to buy list, it is that beautiful and perfect to me.

Photo Stolen Flickr

I find the notes list quite misleading because the scent for me is a light, green and sweet jasmine. La Religieuse opens up sharp and slightly indolic but with a beautiful verdancy that keeps my nose to my wrist. The overall effect is of being enveloped into masses of jasmine bushes awaiting to bloom – you get the green, lush smell of the leaves and just a promise of scent from the delicate white unopened tendrils.

The jasmine then comes to the fore and it’s quite fruity and playful, underscored by the almondy powder scent of mimosa. It’s this slight marzipan-sweet vibe that I find unusual and beautiful and such an interesting twist and contrast to the green to white floral vibe. It’s a fairly linear scent, somewhat quiet and yet resolute and yet joyful at the same time.

La Religieuse may not please those who like big, thick indolic jasmines, but it’s just a perfect scent for me that has just felt completely right every time I’ve worn it. It’s also a good choice for any occasion, light enough for the office, elegant enough for a little black dress and comforting enough for those days when one just wants a sense of solitude and peace.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Further reading: Persolaise and Perfume Posse
Luckyscent has $150/50ml
Surrender to Chance has samples starting at $4.50/0.5ml

Have you tried La Religieuse? What did you think? What are your favourite jasmines? What perfumes remind you of your childhood?

With much love till next time!
M xx