Review

Tobacco Rose by Liz Moores for Papillon Artisan Perfumes 2014

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Hi there Fumies,

Yes, I’ve read OODLES about the Tobacco Rose experience, and my mate Karen Gilbert had brought me a sample in 2014 while she was in Sydney. Yes I fell deeply and madly in love with it and I REALLY want a bottle. What I did instead was buy a decant from a split, it’s nearly empty and I think I’m going to need a LOT more Tobacco Rose….

Tobacco Rose by Papillon Artisan Perfumes 2014

Tobacco Rose by Liz Moores

Tobacco Rose Papillon Artisan Perfumes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Bulgarian rose, rose de mai, oakmoss, ambergris, beeswax, Peru balsam

When I read the notes list I got in touch with Karen Gilbert to ask if they were all mad, she told me there was in fact NO tobacco in Tobacco Rose. Of course I didn’t believe her so I wrote to Liz Moores and asked her, she said I could quote her response so here it is in full:

Karen is such a star! You’re absolutely right, there’s no tobacco in tobacco rose. I used hay absolute, oakmoss, labdanum, patchouli and vetiver to give the impression of tobacco. Tobacco absolute is fabulous stuff but I found it stamped all over the rose. Hay is very tobacco-like but much softer and I liked the way it interacted with the Bulgarian rose and rose de Mai. Thank you so much for your kind wishes. It means a lot. xxxx Liz Moores

Can I just say that even if the fragrance smelled like shit from the nether hells I would still try my darndest to like it because that is the best answer ever. I’m severely crushing on Liz Moores for taking the time to write, and write so nicely and concisely and with heart. Fan made forever (Unless she does some freaking ghastly shit, obviously)

Tobacco Rose Liz-Moores PapillonPhoto Stolen Papillon

How does it smell? Like slightly jaded big fast roses that have been cut for the house and now they are overblown and losing their petals, I smell sweet jam and pooh, resins and above all the gloriously disarming fragrance if the Queen of flowers, the rose. So YUMMY! Tobacco Rose smells  like chintz look, do you remember those huge comfy chintz lounges through the 1980s in the cottage look houses. A few of my friends families had them and they always seemed so welcoming.

This is a fragrance with movement, story and flow. The honeyed sweetness with the labdanum smells animal to me and I get a whiff of pipe smoke too. I think the thing that you all get as hay doesn’t smell like that to me, if what I’m thinking is correct. It smells kind of boozy to me. Dunno, but Tobacco rose smells great right to the slightly bitter end.

Tobacco Rose Papillon just joey rose Geoff Penaluna FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and I Scent You A Day
LuckyScent has $160/50ml
First In Fragrance has €135/50ml

Have you tried the Papillon fragrances yet? Is there a standout for you?
Portia xx

Peruvian Ambrette by Ermenegildo Zegna 2014

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Hi there APJ,

Ermenegildo Zegna (pronounced Er-Men-Jill-Doe) makes great shoes. Comfort out of the ballpark and usually pretty fun to look at too. I have a pair that I really love. When I wear them it feels like, in the words of Mary Horowitz, “Because it makes my toes feel like 10 friends on a camping trip, that’s why” but I have hardly even dipped my toe in the Zegna fragrances.

It does seem that most mainstream brands are releasing a niche inspired highbrow line, inspired by the CHANEL & DIOR prive lines. I have fallen for, and own FB of, quite a few from these including Armani, VC&A, Donna Karan, Cartier etc. Zegna has had fragrance for years and his 1983 Zegna Pour Homme is still cited as a benchmark.

Peruvian Ambrette by Ermenegildo Zegna 2014

Ermenegildo Zegna Essenze Collection

Peruvian Ambrette Ermenegildo Zegna FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Ambrette (musk mallow), orris, cashmere woods, guaiac wood

Spicy iris? Is there such a thing? Ginger? Pepper? Woods and some vegetative, humus rich damp healthy soil. Maybe some melon and some wet cardboard? GOSH! I don’t know. Any or all of these

What I smell is the kind of masculine oriented scent that the suit boys love to wear in cooler months. I can almost smell them arriving fresh for work and smelling very crisp and manly, no nonsense woods for us please. We like to smell good but in a pack of forest/woodsy fragrances that are almost synonymous with upper middle management. This fragrance is like code for earning well, on the stepladder of corporate success.

Am I selling it short? I don’t know. Maybe I was over expecting but for $250 I would like to be wowed.

Peruvian Ambrette Ermenegildo Zegna Zegna Lars Plougmann FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Don’t get me wrong, if you own or buy Peruvian Ambrette by Ermenegildo Zegna you will smell good. You will not be a standout fragrant showpony and maybe the culture you would like to be a part of will feel that you smell like you fit the bill. There is nothing shameful about wearing a uniform and if Ermenegildo Zegna was aiming for the handsome, gym before work, power lunches, expensive customised off the rack designer suit crew then bravo because this is how my nose tells me they smell.

Peruvian Ambrette Ermenegildo-Zegna-suit-tie PixGoodPhoto Stolen PixGood

Dry down is a woodsy leather scent still with a clean musk and the lasting power is excellent for a working day. As an aside, I think the bottles look nice and they fit beautifully with the man in suit’s minimalist apartment.

Peruvian Ambrette by Ermenegildo Zegna is available in Department Stores and Zegna boutiques (US$195:£140:AUS$250/125ml)
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4.50/ml

Do you ever fall for the mainstream prive lines? Favourites?
Have you tried any of the Zegna’s?
Portia xx

Copal Azur by Bertrand Duchafour for Aedes de Venustas 2014

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

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Post by Poodle

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I was pretty excited to receive a sample of the Aedes de Venustas perfume Copal Azur in the mail. When I read the promotional material I was a bit skeptical. Oceans and incense? Could they really pull it off? Honestly, I had my doubts. I’m an incense freak but can’t say that fresh, oceanic scents are something I’m drawn to.

Copal Azur by Aedes de Venustas 2014

Copal Azur by Bertrand Duchafour

Copal Azur Aedes de Venustas FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Ozone, salty notes, frankincense
Heart: Incense, cardamom, patchouli
Base: Incense, myrrh, Tonka bean, amber

I’ve been to Tulum, which is the locale that inspired this perfume, and I don’t remember it smelling anything like this. I’ve also never smelled actual copal so I have no point of reference for it. Copal Azur is a mix of salt air and plumes of incense rising to the heavens. There’s a freshness that brings to mind blue skies and lush green foliage. It smells like the sea without smelling like an air freshener. The incense in it is a bit woody, not too smokey, and meditative without being churchy.

Copal Azur Aedes de Venustas Tulum-Seaside WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

The other bright incense perfume that I love is Heeley’s Cardinal. In comparison, that one is more like sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows of a church. Copal Azur is like sitting at a seaside temple at the point where the sand meets the jungle. It opens like a powerful gust of wind over the waves. You can imagine the sea spray hitting your face. The incense is there in every phase of the perfume’s development yet it never overpowers or gets very smokey to me but bear in mind I have a high tolerance for incense.

The salty mist gives way to warmer and greener notes almost like you have stepped away from the water to the shelter and shade of the trees. There’s a sweet, almost earthy quality that begins to emerge. As you’re walking towards the temple you can smell the branches breaking underfoot. The perfume takes a journey from coolness in the top notes to a definite warmth in the base. It is here where the Tonka bean and patchouli blend with the incense and woods and linger a bit until finally fading away like smoke on the breeze.

Copal Azur Aedes de Venustas tulum_sunrise lamassu72 DeviantARTPhoto Stolen DeviantArt

I thought this leaned masculine but hubby disagreed and said he liked it on me and I didn’t smell like a guy to him. That being said I still think I’d rather smell it on him. He likes fresh, clean scents that don’t thrill me in the least. It came close to being too chemical and clean in the opening but very briefly. Copal Azur blends the stuff he likes with the incense notes I love. There may be a bottle in his future.

Further reading: The Non Blonde and Goodsmellas (Vlog)
First In Fragrance have €210/100ml
Surrender To Chance have samples starting at $7/ml

So, do you like ocean or marine scents or do you avoid them at all cost for fear of smelling like an air freshener?

Hugs
Poodle

Pivoine Suzhou by Giorgio Armani Prive 2014

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

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Post by Trésor

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I have an aunt on my father’s side of the family, his older sister, with the most exquisite garden you could possibly imagine. An utter celebration of splendid visual and olfactory delights, hues of emerald, titian, crimson and goldenrod dancing in the summer sunlight. This is one of my happy places, one of which I remember so vividly visiting as a child and finding myself in a state of inimitable euphoria; in awe all of the mind-blowing pulchritude which surrounded me. Of all of the flowers in this exquisite garden there was one in particular which I found to be the most beguiling, the sweet aroma of which stays with me to this very day and reminds me of some of the most beautiful summers I’ve ever had as a child; the peony. Recently a dear friend within the fragrance community generously gifted me a selection of samples one of which is a breathtaking interpretation of peony and the latest addition to Les Eaux from the Armani Privé collection: Pivoine Suzhou. One sniff and it’s safe to say that I was in love.

Pivoine Suzhou by Giorgio Armani Prive 2014

Armani Prive Pivoine Suzhou Giorgio Armani FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, pink pepper, raspberry
Heart: Peon, rose, May rose absolute
Base: Amber, musk, patchouli

Pivione Suzhou begins its journey on the skin as the resplendent essence of juicy and ripe mandarin orange, as breathtaking and luminous as the glowing rays of midsummer sunlight, followed by the mouthwatering roseate nectar of fresh raspberries infused with the scintillating fuchsia sparkle of pink peppercorn. I think it would be rather difficult to experience this ebullient sequence without smiling and feeling an aura of joy overcome your spirit, it’s the quintessence of frivolity and cheer.

Beneath the coy sparkle of Pivoine Suzhou’s incipience the velvet pink petals of a peony blossom unfurl, impossibly fresh and glistening with morning dew; a prime example of perfumer Julie Massé’s particular penchant for treating floral notes with absolute elegance and subtle grace.

Armani Prive Ad Pivoine Suzhou Giorgio Armani FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

As the peony continues to bloom it then begins a dance in rhythmic synchronicity with the delicate essence of tea rose. As I am explaining this it has dawned on me that it comes across in text as a traditionally feminine elixir (not that perfume has a gender to begin with, but I digress) but the reality is that even though this composition has been orchestrated around a symphony of delicate florals and flourishes of dancing light it maintains a particular androgyny that you would expect of something marketed as an Eau de Cologne. As it dries down a gentle watercolour ambience of amber begins to materialize, softly variegating the edges of blush toned petals and making way for the blanket of gauzy musk which takes Pivoine Suzhou into its final moments on the skin.

Pivoine Suzhou Giorgio Armani Shuangxi_Park_and_Chinese_Garden_Taipei WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

The sillage with Pivione Suzhou is beautiful tender but most certainly present, a treat for yourself and those you draw near. The longevity on the other hand is something of which I found myself delightfully surprised, it lasted for upwards of 8 hours on my unholy perfume eating skin. That’s bloody impressive for something which is marketed as a warm weather eaux in my opinion. I think this would be a wonderful first foray into fresh, ebullient florals or an excellent alternative to some of the more citrus laden fare that makes a cameo as the mercury begins to rise.

Pivoine Suzhou Giorgio Armani wet peony Liz West FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Sandra’s Closet
Larger Department Stores have the Armani Prive line

Do you have a particular flower which transports you to your very own happy place?

Until next time, kittens.

Trésor xx

Vintage Cabochard Parfum by Bernard Chant for Gres 1959

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Hey Vintage Fumies,

Recently I was lucky enough to find a 2/3 full bottle of the vintage Cabochard parfum in its gorgeous black & white pedestal box. It wasn’t cheap but it wasn’t outrageously expensive either and I had long wanted to own a bottle for myself, having sampled earlier in my fragrant life.

Vintage Cabochard Parfum by Bernard Chant for Gres 1959

Cabochard Gres FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, spices, tarragon, fruity notes, sage, lemon, asafoetida
Heart: Orris, jasmine, geranium, rose, ylang ylang
Base: Tobacco, vetiver, oakmoss, coconut, musk, patchouli, amber, sandalwood, leather

Bernard Chant: Cabochard 1959, Aramis 1966, Aromatics Elixir 1971. A trilogy or family of fragrance. His three masterpieces, all similar but riffing different elements. If you want to know what a car looked like then, below is a 1959 Cadillac.

Cabochard Parfum gres 1959-Cadillac WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Now my top notes are slightly rusty, not in a big way but they have changed from the sample I had worn. I will have to use this up in the next year or so and I don’t think that’s any great hardship. The fruity sparkle is herbaceous, aromatic and dense. Imagine being in the storeroom of an Indian bazaar, the spark and buzz of faulty electrics, fruit and veg in waxy cardboard boxes, sizzling spices, bitter herbs, and the scent of dozens of boxes of sandalwood soap. That’s as full on as you can imagine, heavy, hectic, psychedelic scent that manages to be all this and warm & classy too. That is quite a feat to keep something so big from flying out of control.

Cabochard Gres Mary_Tyler_Moore WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

The flowers are a bouquet and I can’t pick any of them out, not really pick them out though I get flashes of ideas of flowers. It doesn’t matter anyway because already the base notes are coming through: sandalwood, tobacco, patchouli, leather and oakmoss are the ones I can detect but what I really smell is Cabochard. It’s the base of Cabochard that IS Cabochard to me. A gravel voiced granny with a fabulous high end leather handbag, a cigarette, hair done and nails painted and attitude. She’s lived and loved her life, and is reveling in her twilight years. A little bit creakier but mind as sharp as a tack and still ready for fun, a drink and a laugh.

Cabochard Gres granny YourStyleJourneyPhoto Stolen YourStyleJourney

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Perfume Shrine
My bottle from Ebay
FragranceNet has modern EdP $28/100ml before Coupon
Surrender To Chance has Vintage Parfum $6/.25ml

Do you have a vintage you love? Something that has changed in its newest form or is it gone altogether?
Portia xx

Montaigne by Richard Fraysse for Caron 2007

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hi there Frag Family,

Caron is a fragrance house that is very hit and miss for me. A bunch of my all time favourite fragrances are from them. With Bellodgia I have a horde of the parfum as well as an ample stash of the EdP. Infini, Parfun Sacre, Nocturnes, 119, Nuit de Noel, Tabac Blond and Royal Bain are all in my collection and that’s a LOT from one house. There are a bunch that don’t work though, and they REALLY don’t work, so it’s always nice to find a new one that does. My frag buddy Scott and I were shopping the importer sale the other day and we spied a Caron I’d not yet tried…..

Montaigne by Richard Fraysse for Caron 2007

Montaigne Caron FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Jasmine, coriander, bitter orange, mimosa, tangerine
Heart: Narcissus, black currant
Base: Sandalwood, amber, vanilla

So my batch code tells me my Montaigne is a 2007, so re-released with the reformulation and I think it did not do so well. It’s certainly not one of the Caron’s you read or hear much love for, Victoria at Bois de Jasmin delightfully scathing of the sandalwood accord and the frag in general. Her nose is 100 times better attuned to picking such things and I miss the screech completely. Maybe my bottle has had a lot longer to settle?

Opening spritz has me smelling this fabulous fruity hairspray and makeup scent, there’s something completely over the top and carnival about Mointaigne, it feels irrepressible to me. It’s so perfumey it’s almost a caricature of perfume. honestly the notes bear very little resemblance to what my nose and brain smell. I get a high octane, 100% synthetic, dance all night, laughing, singing along, party girl scent. If ever a scent swang from the chandelier then Montaigne is it.

montaigne-caron disco PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Part of me is just laughing inside at how much fun someone wearing Montaigne could have.

Basically Montaigne wears pretty linearly for me, hairspray, nailpolish, makeup mixed with fun fruity tingles and a very thin dry down with a little amber/woods but really it is just a soft wash of sweet woods with a shade of fruit. This wash wafts softly around me for a few hours, longevity is quite good.

Further reading: Perfume Posse and EauMG
Beauty Encounter has $45/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4.50/ml

Do you have a Caron favourite? Tell me…. and why?
Portia xx

Le Galion timeline…a history lesson in Sydney

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

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Post by Ainslie Walker

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Nicolas Chabot (Ex-Dior/Givenchy/Estee Lauder-Paris) has painstakingly resurrected Le Galion Parfums. Nine original fragrances (tweaked for IFRA) were rereleased last year after a 30-year hiatus following Paul Vacher’s death in 1975. I met Nicholas at Libertine in Sydney where we sniffed through the historical collection recreated by nose Thomas Fontaine.

Le Galion timeline…a history lesson in Sydney

Le Galion Logo FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Le Galion was named after the seafaring vessels symbolic to Paris and has had quite some journey since 1930 when Prince Murat (Napoleon’s brother-in-law) founded the brand. In 1932 he created 222 based on sandalwood, myrrh, styrax, leather, vanilla, cedar and lavender. It remained unreleased until now, locked in an old box, abandoned. I love the soapy sandalwood note.

In 1935 Paul Vacher purchased Le Galion after already co-creating fragrances for Lanvin (Arpége, Rumeur and Scandal with Andre Fraysse) and working with Marcel Guerlain. In 1936, his first release for Le Galion, Sortilége, became iconic and remains the jewel of the brand. An extrait is to be launched later 2015. The 1960’s advert stated: “Sortilége, the fragrance that makes women faithful. To their fragrance.” Sounding so “Madmen” I absolutely love the back catalogue of Le Galion perfume adverts, and am keen to collect them.

Vacher, well known for his soliflores, released two in 1937: Tubereuse is feminine, sweet and green and predated Robert Piguet’s Fracas by 10 years. Mandarin, orange and galbanum sparkle with pink pepper and pear. Tuberose, rose, orange blossom and raspberry are sweeter middle notes. Cedar, amber and musk make up the base, a common pattern in Fontaine’s formulations.

Le Galion Ainslie & Nicolas 1Photo Donated Ainslie

I fell for Iris, the second soliflore, instantly. It’s buttery iris and green mimosa notes are enhanced with bergamot, citron, hibiscus lily, rose, galbanum and Fontaine’s cedar/ musk/ amber base. I could bathe in it!

By the 1950’s Vacher was considered a master of perfumery alongside Ernest Beaux, Ernest Daltroff, Jacques Guerlain and Edmond Roudnitska. It was the French “golden age of perfumery”. In 1946 he created Miss Dior and in 1963 Diorling for Dior fashion house. For 30 years following Le Galion provided raw materials to Dior Parfums also producing the concentrate for Miss Dior.

Le Galion Ainslie LibertinePhoto Donated Ainslie

In 1947 Special for Gentlemen was released, it was also the same year the stiletto heel was invented. Unique notes of citrus, lavender, cinnamon, amber, labdanum, oakmoss, patchouli mix with vanilla, castoreum, birch and opoponax. Easy to wear, distinctive and far from linear.

La Rose released in 1950 is not a soliflore, with notes of bergamot, violet leaf, rose, ylang-ylang, peach, water, lily, cedar, patchouli, vanilla and musk. To me it is sweet and dew drenched.

Beautiful and head turning, Snob was released in 1952 as “the most exclusive perfume in the world.” Containing Australian sandalwood, jasmine, rose, saffron, cedar, musk, mandarin, bergamot, apple, orange blossom, iris and tagetes.

Whip, released in 1953, predates Eau Sauvage by 13 years and yet has remarkable similarities. Tarragon, lavender and cardamom, jasmine, violet and iris, galbanum, oakmoss, patchouli, vetiver and leather give this real masculine beauty.

Eau Noble from 1972 contains citrus, spice, sage and leather, evidence the sexual revolution was in full swing! An extrait will be released in 2015.

Le Galion Ainslie and NicolasPhoto Donated Ainslie, taken by Clayton

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Colognoisseur
First In Fragrance has the Le Galion range €140/100ml

Which of the range would you like to try? Have you seen Le Galion’s fabulous vintage adverts? Do you own any vintage bottles from the brand?
Ainslie Walker xx

Misia by Olivier Polge for CHANEL 2015

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 30 Comments

Hello Happy Huffers,

Imagine. Your Dad has been in charge of CHANEL perfumes and his first two creations for the house were Anteaus (1981) and Coco (1984), and that was just the beginning of the amazing saga of Jaques Polge reign. We all know that fragrance is a nepotistic arena so no one was surprised that Mr J Polge’s successor would be his prolific son Olivier Polge (89 fragrances and counting) who has produced some of my personal favourites including Midnight In Paris, Spicebomb, DIOR Homme, Cuir Beluga, Liberte and The Beat Man: These are just the ones I have FB of in my collection.

Then you get offered the BIG job, in house perfumer for CHANEL! What will your first fragrance be? How can you carry on the CHANEL ideal and your father’s legacy while still putting your own stamp on the product? While I don’t envy Olivier Polge the shoes he has to fill I am agog to wear the produce of his labours……….

Misia by Olivier Polge for CHANEL 2015

Chanel Misia Chanel FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Powdery notes, violet, iris, orris root, Turkish rose, Grasse rose, Laos benzoin, tonka bean

Misia, I wonder who decided that Misia Sert would be the muse for this CHANEL creation? A modern woman of wealth. taste and an arts-centric philanthropist, ahead of her time yet fully a part of that time. A mover and a shaker, a catalyst, incredibly modern and yet a long time ago. It’s a perfect choice because almost anything fragrant you do can point to a facet of Misia, as long as it is brought to life impeccably.

Chanel Misia Chanel Misia Henri de Toulouse-Lautec WikiCommonsPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

So many things Misia opens like. It’s a magical roll-a-dex of plush fragrant memories from that very first spritz, all of them expensive and lavish. Coco Chanel once said, “The best things in life are free but the second best are very, very expensive.” Many other bloggers have dwelt on its similarities so I’ll leave it there. I will say that a part of the mix that I’d always pegged as saffron is here, and I think it may be the violet/iris combo: balmy and cool yet slightly plastic. It smells like the feel of one of those old black bakelite CHANEL No 5 refillable canisters or the black case of a lipstick with the interlocking Cs at the tip and also some of the lipstick inside. More than any other CHANEL fragrance Misia smells like the essence of CHANEL, the dream and ideal we are being sold.

Chanel Misia Chanel large_classic_flap CHANELPhoto Stolen CHANEL

As we move into the heart of Misia the roses bloom, again vaguely reminiscent of other famous and beautiful fragrances but smoother, prettier, more tasteful and woven through with the violet/iris and very softly hinting of elegant leather handbags and folios. There is too a reminder of makeup and fragrances within, tidy but well loved. Sheer, a cloud of good fortune to surround you, the smell that money only wishes it could have but also a stark unclutteredness* like contemporary minimalism. Everything so perfectly placed and balanced, a harmonious whole.

Chanel Misia Chanel chanel-pret-a-porter-2014-15 CHANEL NewsPhoto Stolen CHANEL News

The end, a now whisper of what an old fashioned fragrance could have been in a dream. Bravo Olivier Polge, it feels to me as if you’ve hit the nail on the head.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Perfume Posse
CHANEL Les exclusives are available at large Department Stores and CHANEL stand alone beauty
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Which is your favourite CHANEL Exclusive? Are you excited for the new era in CHANEL fragrance?
What do YOU think of Misia?
Portia xx

*Unclutteredness – clunky word, made it up, you know what I mean. Ironically the using of this word is an antonym of what I think it stand for.

Tudor Rose & Amber by Christine Nagel for Jo Malone 2015

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hi there APJ,

Don’t forget to enter our Le Galion GIVEAWAY!<<JUMP

Jo Malone has decided to do a limited edition range that depicts different eras of British history, great idea! In this, my favourite of the releases, the bloody and turbulent Tudor years, 1485 to 1603 in England and Wales. A time of rebellion, religious strife, war, the widening of the rich/poor gap and also change in the way Monarchy and Government proceeded.

How has Christine Nagal seen this time in fragrance?

Tudor Rose & Amber by Jo Malone 2015

Tudor Rose & Amber Jo Malone FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pink pepper, clove
Heart: Damask rose, Tudor rose, ginger
Base: Amber, patchouli, white musk

Sparkling, lightly sizzling roses, a little musky and very pot-pouri (but in a nice way). Tudor Roses & Amber takes me back to the 1980s walking into friends houses and there would be a wooden or porcelain bowl with a many holed lid, from that little receptacle would gush glamorous fragrance that welcomed you into the house. I used to love that initial waft as you walked into a house and would often go and smell it later in the day.

Jo Malone has let Christine Nagel do it with fun spices and the clove/ginger mix keeps it zinging well into the heart. I can smell the depths of the velvets and the sparkle of brocade, Tudor Rose and Amber deals only in the beauty present, none of the danger or bleakness. Here is a fragrance that captures the wealth and glamour of Tudor England, the upper echelons and only after their annual bath.

Tudor Rose & Amber Jo Malone Elizabeth_I WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

There is nothing challenging hiding in Tudor Rose & Amber. There are no great divergences and no innovations but what Jo Malone (via Estee Lauder) has done is make a very pretty and wearable rose. Maybe Tudor Rose is a little deeper and darker in the heart but it comes with a very light, warm and generic amber/white musk base.

To be honest, for this kind of money you can do better but I also understand that not everyone wants to change the world or light up a room with their fragrance. Here we have a perfectly good, wearable rose scent that lasts about 3 hours before it fades into unnoticeability which is quite good on my scent hungry skin for a Jo Malone cologne.

Tudor Rose & Amber Jo Malone geographPhoto Stolen Geograph

Further reading: A Model Recommends and The Sunday Girl
Jo Malone has kiosks in most major Department Stores
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3.50/.5ml

Have you tried the Jo Malone Rock the Ages Collection? Did you have a fabvourite?
Portia x

Debaser by David Moltz for D.S. & Durga 2015

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hey Hey APJ,

I regularly look through the Recent Releases at Surrender To Chance because Australia doesn’t get most of it. Already we have had quite a few releases this year. Recently I grabbed a few so I want to take a look at a couple of them this week. Let’s start with a company that I am often interested in but rarely try and also rarely read about on the blogs I frequent.

Debaser by David Moltz for D.S. & Durga 2015

Debaser D.S. & Durga FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Fig, iris, coconut milk, tonka bean, white woods

Surrender To Chance & D.S. & Durga give these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, green leaf, pear stem
Heart: Fig, coconut milk, iris
Base: Blond woods, tonka bean, moss

It was the STC note list that spurred me towards Debaser. Pear stem? Fig, coconut, iris & moss? Though I’ve no idea how the stem of a pear smells I love the other four notes mentioned and even the surrounding stuff reads really good. Then, as I started reading further about the fragrance I learned that “The wild shrill of Black Francis coming through the radio in the August heat” was an inspiration. So Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV who performs as Black Francis is frontman for influential alt rock band The Pixies, and the have a song called The Debaser. The idea for this song came from a short silent surrealist film, Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog), which was a collaboration between Spanish director Luis Buñuel and artist Salvador Dalí in 1929.

Debaser D.S. & Durga Un Chien Andalou WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

A woody fig scent, or the idea of fig in a perfumers dream, dry and juicy at the same time, sweet and savoury too. The idea is interesting and appealing with the yummy image in my mouth of sweet soft cheese and fig. The dryness seems to win as we move into the fragrance and there is a hint of walking past a newly painted room while eating fig. I wore this to the movies last night and all through the film I caught whiffs of fig jam and suntan lotion. The coconut becomes more apparent through the heart and I get a fun beachy feel that softens out to clean, very lightly sweet, woods.

Having now read a bunch of other reviews I find that everyone is having completely different experiences and memory triggers from Debaser, truly surreal.

Debaser D.S. & Durga Illumined_Pleasure Salvador_Dali WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Debaser is a wonderfully thick fragrance for the first hour and then it slides slowly into a background hum that lasts and lasts, next morning I can still smell a soft woodsiness with a whisper of sweet figgy jam overtones. After the first hour I think Debaser would even be wearable as an office scent, not that its terribly quiet but there is something quite engaging about it, I can think of no better word than amiable.

Further reading: Colognoisseur and Scented Hound
LuckyScent has $145/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4.50/.5ml

I think you need to try Debaser for yourself. Hopefully you will have a different experience that you can share with us.
Have you tried any of the DS & Durga frags?
Portia xx