Review

Fragrance Bros: Daver’s Bookshelf: Essence & Alchemy by Mandy Aftel

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Hiya Fumie Friends,

We are cleaning the Perfume Room and giving it a new paint job. It’s quite a BIG DEAL so over the next couple of days I am dropping in some Video stuff that I’ve found interesting, educational or took me outside my box. Some of it is ONE TOPIC but some will alsao be TOTALLY OFF TOPIC!

Essence&Alchemy BookDepositoryPhoto Stolen Book Depository $18 with World Wide Delivery

Today we are meeting Davers from the Fragrance Bros who will be talking Essence and Alchemy by Mandy Aftel. I hope you enjoy meeting him and seeing his take on a book that was so interesting , sometimes way over my head and full of re readable bits that I needed to digest and then come back to.

Hope you are loving your holidays.

Portia x

Oud Luban by Mandy Aftel for Aftelier 2012

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Hey Gang,

Mandy Aftel, of Aftelier Perfumes, is one of our favourite Independent perfumers here at APJ. She is American small batch perfumery at its finest. Not only is she a great perfumer but also writes books about fragrance creation, notes and their many sources, chemistry, uses and functions (Essence and Alchemy) and another on its way soon. There is also a book on living your life well (The Story Of Your Life). On top of all this through my interactions and the general interactions of everyone I’ve spoken to Mandy Aftel is a great girl, filled with the joy of life.

Oud Luban by Mandy Aftel for Aftelier 2012

Oud Luban Extrait Aftelier FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Elemi resin, orange, blood orange, olibanum
Base: Agarwood (oud), opoponax, benzoin, patchouli, resins

The opening of resinous citrus is intense and vegetal, the sweetest oudh I’ve yet smelled and very much like putting your nose into citrus pith after eating the meat near a freshly turned, healthy compost heat and a waxy flavourless lip balm feeling of both softness and being caged. I also get a grated carrot, fresh, vegetable but sweet scent that is always unexpected but inviting.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/theklan/10655976393/player/a32bb85234

I am spared  almost any barnyard, poo or band aid, but now I’ve thought band aid I do get a little of it. It’s a hint and may be because I thought it as it’s never featured in previous wearings. Oud Luban is like an Oudh Lite. It’s pretty, wearable and sensual. I am reminded of the smell of Art Galleries, airy, light, dusty and waxed. The resins offer a sweetness that is also earthy but earthy is a bad analogy, Sky/Earth, tree-ish. But a tree still alive and growing. Oud Luban is the scent of the freedom of climbing trees, and scrub and bushland. Humanity there is too as Oud Lubin becomes softer, warmer, I am a spicy skinned sensual adventurer. Towards dry down my skin smells a bit boat-ish, that salty sweet smell of woods/resins/leather/saltwater but the one constant through the whole crazy ride of Oud Luban Extrait is how sexy it lets me feel. The end is not certain as Oud Luban sinks gently into my skin and I am sure it’s not all gone after 5 hours and a swim, but maybe I do smell this good.

Oud Luban Extrait Aftelier iyoed DeviantArtPhoto Stolen DeviantArt

Further reading: SmellyThoughts and The Alembicated Genie
Aftelier Perfumes has 3 extrait sizes $6/.25ml sample, $55/2ml mini, $195/7.5ml

What are your favourite Independent fragrances? Do you wear any of Mandy Aftel’s creations? Are there some I should seek out?
See you tomorrow,

Portia x

L’Instant de Guerlain EdP by Maurice Roucel for Guerlain 2003

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Hello Frag Nerds,

Sometimes while swanning around the department store I go check out the frag counters even though we don’t get all the good stuff that the world gets. Sometimes I get a lovely surprise when we have the goods and I spritz away. Never have I ever even thought about spritzing todays fragrance, I don’t know why but it always gets overlooked. well, my buddy Birgit from Olfactoria’s Travels recently sent me a care package and inside was a 5ml boxed manufacturers sample of…

L’Instant de Guerlain by Maurice Roucel for Guerlain 2003

L'Instant de Guerlain Guerlain FragragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, mandarin, red apple
Heart: Iris, magnolia, ylang ylang, jasmine
Base: Musk, honey, vanilla, benzoin, amber

So right out of the gate I get a sweet, resinous toffee that is sticky and sweet, all warm sugary deliciousness. Citrus and most of the flowers are bypassed in favour of a very edible candy/confectionary scent that is reminiscent of a thing we have in Australia called a Musk Stick. They have been one of my favourite lollies since childhood but Jin wont eat them because he thinks it’s like eating soap. There is definite soapy reference in L’Instant and it has a clean feel without all the usual connotations of blandness and the current overuse of laundry stylings in fragrance. Though they are not the same I am reminded of JPG Le Male a bit, L’Instant has that same hefty, dense, sweetness that is both insistent and moreish. A hint of baklava even, mmmmmmmm

L'Instant de Guerlain Baklawa WikimediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Guerlain is so good at this stuff. Clearly the success of L’Instant became a beacon to celebuscenters everywhere. The style and warm vivacity that is so deliciously enjoyable here is reflected in many of the celeb offerings of the last 10 years. Guerlain does it better, of course. I’m surprised there is no almond note because I can smell some yummy toasted almonds too.

L’Instant is pretty, sweet and very easy wearing. The bottle is beautiful and I can understand why it’s a big hit for Guerlain. You could give this to someone 16 or 86 and they would both smell beautiful wearing it. Longevity on my skin is under 4 hours of fragrant and then another couple of hours of very soft base notes that really do give me a vanilla, amber, almond blur. Lovely.

L'Instant de Guerlain Women Generations WikiPediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: I Scent You A Day
Beauty Encounter has $52/50ml
My Perfume Samples has EdP starting from $3/ml to $9/5ml

Do you ever get a pleasant surprise from something you’ve bypassed for years? Tell me, I love to read your stories too.
Portia xx

 

 

The Three Kings of Cologne: Christmas Inspired Madness

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Guest Post by Jordan River

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image

Balthazar

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Jasper

Melchior

Melchior

The Three Queens Kings
Lanier Smith as Jasper
Jordan River as Melchior
Clayton Ilolahia as Balthazar

Three heirless kings with the wealth of bachelors and a taste for adventure are currently on the road to Bethlehem where it is the time of the annual herb harvest.

From the Island of Tonga, the Empire of Hollywood and the green lands of New Zealand, these Magi have gathered in hot pursuit of the brightest star on the horizon. Each has seen a star appear simultaneously in his homeland….

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Balthazar

In Tonga there is a hill called Vaus Hill, the highest peak on the land, where for generations a lost tribe of the Hebrews have set a nightly watch on the heavens for a star foretold by the Prophet Balaam of Madian. Just last night the star appeared and preparations were made to leave at once to follow the voyage of the star across the sky as instructed by their ancestors. Time seem to speed up as oceans were crossed; cities and deserts passed by until suddenly the sun-kissed Balthazar, The Magi of Tonga had become lost in a strange mist on the Hebron Hills.

Jasper

Jasper

In Hollywood there are so many stars that another one is no cause for contemplation. Jasper however was in mourning for his King with whom he had reigned jointly. This kept him awake every night and all night, as he searched the skies waiting for a new star to appear before the sun came up on the Santa Monica Boulevard. When the star did appear, as he knew it would, he became restless for life. He tore off his black robes of mourning, donned a fine garment, gathered his followers and leapt into the night. For him too, time accelerated and the distance of months was covered in a single night until he became lost in a strange mist on the Hebron Hills.

Melchior

Melchior

In New Zealand it was midnight when a chorus of tuis and wood pigeons awoke Melchior from his deep slumber. Attuned to rising daily with bird song he was up and dressed before realizing that this was not sunlight flooding his room. It was starlight beaming down from a radiant star. Vaguely aware of an ancient prophesy about a Star-Child, and now unable to return to sleep he launched his canoe to follow the star beams across the sea. Within moments it seemed he had reached a landmass somewhere in the East. Horses were waiting and they galloped him through the night until he became lost in a strange mist on the Hebron Hills.

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This strange mist had hidden all the earth. Slowly it began to dissipate but the star appeared not. Sunlight did reveal The Three Kings to each other and a sign post marked Jerusalem. After exchanging fragrant greetings, the latest samples and some vintage flacons, they realised that they had a common quest and so they continued along the Golgotha Highway to the city, glad to be reassured of their joint destination and to be in the company of fellow travellers.

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Time again sped up and another day and night flew by as if they were but hours until at last they came to the gates of Jerusalem where they were greeted by The IFRA President. Did I say greeted? I meant stopped; stopped by the IFRA Synthorian Guard. President Herod had been alerted of a fragrant entourage making waves across the countryside.

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Billows of aromatic air and a forward sillage that bespoke real frankincense and natural myrrh had aroused his bureaucratic interest. As he was also finely tuned to economics he could also smell gold. From which lands had these people come? It did not really matter as they were now in his jurisdiction and could be promptly detained on the suspicion of smuggling illegal substances.

There was no traveling that night for The Kings and their followers. They spent the night under guard but not under lock in a wing of the presidential palace. Their goods were confiscated and their saddle bags searched.

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Balthazar’s ‘contraband’ was

DIOR_EAU_SAUVAGE_PARFUM
Man-Myrrh known today as Christian Dior’s, Eau Sauvage Parfum (and not to be confused with Eau Sauvage EDT),

get-the-gloss-keiko-mecheri-oliban-eau-de-parfum

Keiko Mecheri’s Oliban, a sweet frankincense,

(Ed: The story is not finished yet. This is a traveling post and now you must go to the Fragrant Man<<JUMP to find out the ending of this fabulous tale. Believe me, it’s worth it.)

 

La Myrrhe by Chrisopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 1995

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Post by Val the Cookie Queen

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“Myrrhe is mine it´s bitter perfume, breathes a life of gathering gloom …….” The Quest of the Magi by John Henry Hopkins Jnr.

Merry Christmas APJ friends, if you could just tear yourself away from your festivities for a moment …..

La Myrrhe by Chrisopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 1995

This wonderful deep, rich, golden, comforting, soft, chilly, yet warm, aniseedy, bright, beautiful and thought provoking perfume, La Myrrhe, comes in for a lot of flack. Those who love Serge for his reliable potions, and you all know what they are, will probably not care for this. It forces you to look outside of the box, which may be uncomfortable for some. If you´re thinking, awesome, I hope it smells like Chergui, forget it.

However , if it is one you have wanted to try, but not had the chance because it can be difficult to get hold of, I would love to share some of mine. Please leave a comment telling me WHY you would like to try La Myhrre. You have till 10pm December 29th 2014 Australian EDST.

I will get my daughter Hannah to pick the name out of the dead armadillo as always because it is fun!!
There again I might pick the winner myself if someone leaves a good and original reason for wanting to try the stuff. Who knows??

Enjoy the pictures that a good friend and photographer, Dayle Ann Clavin, took of my bottle.

La Myrrhe-0879

La Myrrhe-0868

La Myrrhe-0911

La Myrrhe

OK. You can get back to your turkey, unpacking of presents or whatever. Our perfume love and hobby is very decadent. Spare
a thought for these who are not so fortunate. Let´s contribute to making our immediate environment a better place to live in.

Peace on earth, good will to all men.

With love
CQ

http://www.dayleannclavin.com
Look at her pictures yourself if you have time at Dayle Ann Clavin.

Christmas Trilogy: Tom Ford, Profumi Del Forte, L’Artisan Parfumeur

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

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Post by Gabriella

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Hello fragrance friends!

Right now most of you are probably preparing for Christmas festivities. It’s Christmas Eve here in Australia and I’m up visiting my Mum and Dad on New South Wales’ north coast. It’s nice and hot and I’m really looking forward to some quality family time, sunshine and good food and, of course, smelling gorgeous.
So, what perfumes did I bring with me and what am I looking forward to scent-wise in terms of Christmas gifts? I present to you my Trio of Fragrant Christmas Trinkets:

Christmas Trilogy: Tom Ford, Profumi Del Forte, L’Artisan Parfumeur

1. Velvet Gardenia by Tom Ford 2007

The scent that I packedVelvet Gardenia Tom Ford Fragrantica

Photo stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Gardenia, orange
Heart: Plum, tuberose, beeswax, honey, rose, jasmine, lily of the valley
Base: Frankincense, labdanum

Christmas and summer for me is all about the smell of pool chlorine, Christmas cake and gardenias. I’ve waxed lyrical about my love of the white flower before and the meaning it has for me. Tom Ford’s scent is the most realistic, buttery and intense gardenia I know, so it was a natural addition to my fragrance packing. The only problem it’s been discontinued and I think I’ll feel a bit lost when my bottle finally runs out.

You might be able to find Velvet Gardenia on eBay.
Surrender to Chance starts at $5/0.5ml.

2. Vaiana Dea by Profumi Del Forte 2013

My Christmas present to myself

Vaiana Dei Profumi del Forte FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, peach, coconut, bergamot, milky notes, violet leaf
Heart: Tuberose, ylang-ylang, orchid, jasmine, lily, white rose, cocoa, honey
Base: Benzoin, white musk, sandalwood, vetiver, vanilla, oakmoss

This is a recent addition to my collection and an absolutely swoon-worthy one at that. Reading the notes list, one might be expecting a true gourmand fragrance with a hint of tuberose, but on my skin, these roles are reversed. It starts off as a bright and fresh tuberose before becoming a bit more lactonic and sweet. The peach, coconut and jasmine blend seamlessly with the cocoa and the tuberose to create a soft, sweet but dazzlingly pretty scent. And who was I to try and resist that gorgeous art deco bottle?

LuckyScent has $195/100ml and samples

3. La Chasse Aux Papillons by Anne Flipo for L’Artisan Parfumeur 1999

What I am expecting Santa to bring

La Chasse aux Papillons L`Artisan Parfumeur FragranticaPhoto stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Tuberose, orange blossom, jasmine, lime blossom, white flowers

Well, saying I am expecting Santa to bring this is a bit of a lie as I actually supervised Mr M’s purchase of this the other week. I’d forgotten about this beauty until recently but it is such a pretty girly pink scent that I had to have it again. And it brings back some fond memories. I was visiting Paris with my brother and a friend years and years ago. Already been bitten by the scent bug, I wandered into Galeries Lafayette and asked the saleswoman in (my then perfect) French that I was looking for a pretty white floral perfume. This is the bottle she handed to me. The scent inside is as attractive as the name that adores it. A fun, frivolous blend of linden, tuberose and jasmine, it is indeed summer in a bottle.

Libertine Parfumerie has it for $169/100ml
Surrender to Chance start at $4/ml.

Well, what do you think of my trinkets? What are you wearing over the holiday season? What are you giving or receiving scent-wise this Christmas?

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
Madeleine x

Curious by Claude Dir for Britney Spears 2004

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

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Post by Katrina

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Today I am reviewing my perfume of choice for exercising. I have so many cheap and cheerful celebrity scents that are perfect to use as a body spray. Do you wear perfume when you exercise and if so what is your choice? This year I have started doing hot yoga classes. It can get really smelly in there so I started wearing Britney Spears Curious to class to hide the bad smells. Curious is refreshing and uplifting which is what I need when I feel exhausted from the heat and exercise.

Curious by Claude Dir for Britney Spears 2004

Curious Britney Spears FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: fresh lotus, mouthwatering pear and magnolia.
Heart: tuberose, jasmine and pink cyclamen.
Base: musk, vanilla and precious woods

Curious is the first perfume from Britney Spears and Britney Spears perfumes are generally very good, Curious is no exception. The packaging of Curious looks great as well, with its blue glass bottle and dangly pink charm. You can get larger bottles of Curious with an atomizer that makes it so pretty and girly and would make a lovely gift. I think this would be very special to a teen girl and the perfume is perfectly suitable to that age group.

Curious Britney Spears WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Curious opens with the distinct smell of fresh crisp pear. It is as cool and refreshing as the sparkling pear cider I crave after hot yoga. It feels light and breezy making it perfect for summer. There is also an aquatic element to Curious matching the gorgeous blue glass of the Curious bottle. Slowly the white florals emerge from the fragrance and they smell beautiful but not very strong. This is a good introduction to white florals for anyone new to perfume.

The strength and longevity of Curious is reasonably good until we get to the base notes. The soft sweet vanilla and musk smells lovely but fades away too quickly. Luckily by then I am home and showered after my hot yoga!

Curious Britney Spears Sam Lavy FlickrPhoto Stolen Sam Lavy  Flickr

Further reading: Now Smell This
FragranceShop has $14/30ml with Coupon
My Perfume Samples starts at $2/ml

If you are interested in more Celebrity Perfumes, check out my website at Celebrity Perfume Store

Happy holidays everyone!

Katrina xx

Here is the ad.

Afternoon Of A Faun by Ralf Schwieger for Etat Libre d’Orange 2012

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Hey Fragrance Fiends,

Having loved the Claude Debussy Prelude to Afternoon of a Faun as a child, it was on one of my Dad’s records and it had some heavy hitters after it but I thought that this was so beautiful and soft by comparison. A gentle, pastoral piece of loveliness. I could imagine the naughty faun watching beautiful languid girls going down through a paddock to the water to bathe, laughing and carefree, the trill of their voices mixing with the gurgle of the river. Anyway enough of that, Etat Libre d’Orange released their fragrance in 2012 with a sister, Dangerous Complicity (which I found a bit meh) but…

Afternoon Of A Faun by Ralf Schwieger for Etat Libre d’Orange 2012

The Afternoon of a Faun Etat Libre d`Orange fragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Bergamot, pepper, cinnamon, incense, immortelle, orris root, myrrh, leather, benzoin, rose, jasmine, oakmoss

Afternoon of a Faun is a totally different and much more enjoyable piece of fragrant art. Unusual, nuanced, enveloping and slightly awkward it is both fun and pretty. The lovely wet pepper and citrus opening that quickly becomes deepened and broadened by the spices and immortelle, it’s cool and elegant iris all underpinned by a sweet darkness that feels both alluring and a little bit wicked. Afternoon of a Faun is not sensual in the bodily scent or skank way but it does have a wonderful frission of notes that keep me sniffing my hand compulsively because i can’t quite believe that it smells like it does. There is a vegetal funkiness, a dankness or earthiness that must be the oakmoss, immortelle and leather combination (or quite possibly something unmentioned in the notes list). Sadly i am too unschooled to really be able to parse this out. Through the heart I am seriously thinking Afternoon Of A Faun is a vetiver fragrance on my skin, not in the notes but it does have that feel and later the spice and rose make definite star turns.

The Afternoon of a Faun Etat Libre d`Orange Henri_Rousseau wikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Excellent sillage but only moderate projection and a good life at around the 6 hours mark before I lose the ability to smell it completely, Afternoon of a Faun becomes a softly insistent resinous wash in its last couple of hours and I find the ride enjoyable and interesting when I take special note but easy enough to wear as a daily scent too.

Gaia says, “The Afternoon of a Faun” is the name of a French poem written by Stéphane Mallarmé between 1865 and 1867 and published in 1976 (thank you, Wikipedia). Lucasz tells us that it was the 100 year anniversary of original L’après-midi d’un faune ballet choreographed for The Ballets Russes by Vaslav Nijinsky and that the inspiration here are the nymphs and fauns playing together.

The Afternoon of a Faun Etat Libre d`Orange John_Reinhard_Weguelin WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

I don’t know if you ever read E M Forsters short stories but The Story Of A Panic tells the story of young Eustace being changed forever by the attentions of a faun. The whole omnibus is excellent reading but I always loved The Story Of A Panic especially. There is something of the foreboding in ELdO’s Afternoon Of A Faun that we get in the E M Forster story.

Here is Prelude to Afternoon Of A Faun by Claude Debussy, the music and fragrance are a perfectly symmetrical accompaniment.

Further reading: Chemist In A Bottle and The Non-Blonde
LuckyScent has $149/100ml
Etat Libre d’Orange has €110/100ml (Delivers to the world)
Surrender To Chance starts at $4.50/ml

What are your thoughts? Tried it? Wanted to?
Come on and join the conversation, I’d love to read your musings too>
Portia xx

Vaara by Bertrand Duchaufour for Penhaligon’s 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 52 Comments

Hello my Lovelies,

STILL looking for the perfect Christmas Presents? Frantically trying to find something special and unusual for your loved ones? I speak often of my mate Nick from Libertine Parfumerie, he is regularly in touch with new stuff and always sends me product for giveaways. He doesn’t have to do it and it always brightens my day to get a package from him. Please, even if you don’t enter today’s competition, go and have a look at the amazing fragrant beauties that Libertine Parfumerie has for sale, you will be astounded. Lately Nick’s buying power has become so good that some of his products are the same numerical value as you would buy them fore in the USA, that means with the current Aussie dollar that they are in fact 10% cheaper!!! AMAZING! Vaara is a bit more expensive than some of the OS sites though but Nick will be sending out deliveries in Australia till the 24th December!!! How good is that? Using couriers in the last few days.

Vaara by Bertrand Duchaufour for Penhaligon’s Giveaway 2013

Vaara Penhaligon`s FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Quince, rose water, carrot seeds, coriander, saffron
Heart: Rose, freesia, magnolia, peony
Base: Honey, white musk, cedar, sandalwood, benzoin, tonka bean

OK so if you have been reading the scentbloggosphere lately then you may think that Bertrand Duchaufour and Penhaligon’s have done something outrageously darstardly and are planning on taking over the world with inferior product (Mwa Ha ha ha haaaaaa with hand wringing and whites of eyes showing). The news is not all grim, gloom and doom but it’s not all super happy sunshine surprise either.

Vaara, the story of a fragrance created for the Royal House of Marwar-Jodphur in Rajasthan. In fact created for the newest member of the Royal House, a girl child. Created under the understanding that it would become a worldwide release. I do understand your sense of being let down. You are right, the hype set us up for failure in this case. A romantic story of far off India, Rajasthan no less, one of the world’s best and most prolific perfumers and the venerable house of Penhaligon’s. If the Maharajah had wanted something Indian he would have gone to the perfume wallahs in Old Delhi and had a special oil blend created for his beautiful girl but no, he did not do that he went to Penhaligon’s one of the most English titles of fragrance and asked them to create something inspired by his fabulous home in Rajasthan (one of my favourite parts of the world).

Vaara Penhaligon`s Pushkar Fair WikipediaPushkar Fair Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Why is everyone so surprised that this does not smell like India? The Maharaja wanted a pretty, soft, elegant fragrance that hinted at his homeland but screamed British Upper Crust. We act as if Bertrand Duchaufour can override his employers parameters anytime he wants and we also shout at him for cheapening the references to existing fragrances. We all wanted a budget version of Neela Vermeire’s work and it had to smell as good. Neela Vermeire is famous for using the most expensive concrete in her fragrance to sale value ratio, of course it only hints at her work with Duchaufour, this is a mass market fragrance by comparison though the price points are not that far apart. End rant.

Vaara Penhaligon`s Amber Fort Jaipur WikiMediaAmber Fort. Jaipur Photo Stolen WikiMedia

What do we get with Vaara? An excellent modern fragrance for the person who wants to take a step from department store to niche or a very pretty go to daily wear fragrance for the perfumista who works and needs to smell good all day but not weird or outrageous. I won’t go deeply into the notes list because many others have before me but this is a clean, fresh, fruity, floral with a sheerness and light through it but still excellent sillage and projection. Vaara lasts for ages on me and my scent eating skin, I can still smell the clean musks and an amorphous wash of other stuff hinting at woods and resins at the 8 hour point and that is impressive. Yes, the dry down is more BBW that NVC but it doesn’t smell bad, just a bit generic. I do like the rose water and think it maintains its hydrosol like wetness well into the heart of Vaara and that the herbs and quince add nice light and shade, that very Duchaufour saffron isn’t as front and centre on me but I do catch it on and off.

Vaara Penhaligon`s John Haslam FlickrPhoto Stolen John Haslam  Flickr

Further reading: Kafkaesque and Perfume Shrine
Libertine Parfumerie has $245/100ml
Surrender To Chance starts at $5/ml

giveaway manoneileenPhoto Stolen ManonEileen

 

Vaara by Penhaligon`s GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have one winner who will receive:

1 x 100ml TESTER bottle with lid of Vaara by Penhaligons (with about 5ml missing)
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 so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ and go to Libertine Perfumes<<<JUMP and find me a perfume and its manufacturer. NO DOUBLE UPS!!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie @PenhaligonsLtd Vaara GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2jm #Perfume #Giveaway @LibertineParfum

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 22nd December 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 Thursday 26th December 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.

Special THANKS to LibertinePerfumerie for these amazing giveaways. Please visit their site because they are so generous and helpful. If you wonder why they are sometimes more expensive than the discounters or OS retailers it’s because they are the only licensed company selling their fragrances in Australia; where you know you are buying new, fresh and genuine product. The cost of importing, and buying the right to import, alcohol based fragrances (and having the right to send alcohol based fragrances throughout Australia, which are illegal to send in the Australia Post air system) is expensive and they must cover their costs to bring you these luxury goods.

Tihota by Francis Kurkdijan for Indult 2006

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

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Post by Chairman Meow

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Hey APJ,

By the time I tripped over my signature bottle of Narciso Rodriguez and plummeted headlong down the proverbial rabbit hole, Indult was already an extinct house, and Tihota had already joined the ranks of Bigfoot and Chupacabra in acquiring mythical status. It was blogged about in hushed, reverent tones, but blogged about infrequently (presumably because of said status) and I knew very little about it, aside from it being a Gold Standard Vanilla [Perfume Posse Best of Vanilla List].

Indult Tihota by Francis Kurkdijan 2006

Tihota Indult FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives the following accords in one line:
Vanilla, musks

Indult themselves are no more helpful, their website providing us with the following enigma in Engrish that even Hello Kitty would be huppy with:
“When the skin is « sugar » under the Polynesian sun: it’s an exotic marriage of muscs in fusion and infusion with the sensual vanilla pods”

So when news came of Indult’s resurrection, what choice did I have other than to do the perfumista’s equivalent of pitching a tent and queuing all night for Bieber tickets? I signed up for a split of the first available bottle of Tihota. But before I tell you what Tihota is all about, please indulge me whilst I tell you what it is not:

It is not the sozzled, macerated fruit compote of Guerlain’s Spiritueuse Double Vanille.
It is not the incense smoked, clove studded orange pomander of Mona di Orio’s Vanille.
It is not the Cuban cigar laced with the fresh urine of herbivores, that is Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille.
It is not even the “straight up” vanilla touted by many.

Tihota Indult Vanilla Flower WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Tihota is probably better described as a glamour shot of a vanilla, spray tanned in caramelised sugar and poised in front of a creme anglaise schmeared lens. From here, I wish I could offer you an intimate dissection of its various nuances, to describe, in licentious detail, the story of its top notes unfurling into a heart unfolding into a base, imploding into a crunchy tortilla shell, but it’s a pretty straightforward fragrance. The opening is the crack of the amber carapace of a creme brulee, with the first few seconds dominated a lightly burnt sugar, soon joined by a scrummy, velvety vanilla-flecked custard. And thus it remains, as immutable as an everlasting gobstopper, for hours.

Tihota Indult -Coral- FlickrPhoto Stolen -Coral- Flickr

I will be the first to admit that I had been expecting a scent that was less literal an interpretation of a desert trolley and something more, shall we say, highbrow. But then I found myself wanting to gnaw at my hand in a slightly troubling, auto-cannibalistic fashion. I noticed that strangers, lips curled asunder, would sniff lustfully in my direction at the shops.

And I noticed that my decant was very quickly running out, and that I was day dreaming of a full bottle.

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and Ca Fleure Bon
LuckyScent has $200/50ml
Surender To Chance starts at $6/.5ml

Have you tried Indult? Old or new? Are you interested?
Chairman Meow