Review

Queen by Parlux for Queen Latifah 2009

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Post by Dionne

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Hello,

Being a frugal perfumista, few things make me happier than smelling fab without spending a lot of money. In my Cheap Thrills category, Queen by Queen Latifah sits at the very top. I bought a bottle about three years ago from the discount shelf at my local Shopper’s Drug Mart, and after all this time it’s still a favorite.

Queen by Queen Latifah: Big, Bad and Beautiful

Queen Laifah FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Italian Bergamot, Mediterranean Mandarin
Heart: Baie Rose, Jasmine Noir, while Cognac, Moroccan Coriander
Base: Indonesian Patchouli, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Tonka Absolute, Egyptian Incense, Musk

I find that when I talk about perfumes I use a lot of different ways to describe them: visual images, quirky phrases, songs, food, textures, feelings, whatever seems to “fit” that particular perfume. The very first time I sprayed Queen, a full scene popped into my head, and it’s how I’ve described this fragrance ever since. Imagine a dark and smoky jazz club; slow and sultry music is being played and everyone’s sitting back feeling languorous and nodding their heads slowly to the groove. Now we’re zooming in on the upright bass player: he’s wearing a hat and shades. Zoom in even further to the bottom of that upright bass, and we discover it’s slowly dripping maple syrup on the floor.
Basically, this:

In less atmospheric terms, Queen is dark, sweet and boozy. So dark, only my Black Cashmere sits in the same category. It’s chock-full of vanilla, but no worries, this is not your little girly-girl vanilla; she’s all grown up because of the incense, cognac and patchouli. And when Queen goes out for a night on the town, she’s out aaaall night. 24-hours-and-a-shower later, I still smell fabulous.

Queen-Latifah BodyShapeStylePhoto Stolen BodyShapeStyle

There is only one caveat about this fragrance, and it’s one where Portia and I have a difference of opinion. I think the bottle is Ug-Uh-Lee, and she delights in the trashiness of it. In my opinion, the fragrance is a great fit for the woman, and I adore Queen Latifah, the bottle…. not so much. However, since we’re all responsible perfumistas and keep our bottles in their boxes in dark, cool closets or fridges, (you are doing that, right? Riiight? Do I need to come over there and give you my mom scowl?) it’s not that big a deal.

I spent some time looking for just the right fit for this review, and the one and only Stan Getz fit the bill. However, I did have a lot of fun going through the semi-finalists. If you’ve got a mo’, see below and check out Queen Latifah’s spots in Chicago “When You’re Good to Mama” and Hairspray “Big, Blond and Beautiful.” Isn’t she just fabulous?

Further reading: NowSmellThis
GalaxyPerfume has $20/100ml
MyPerfumeSamples starts at $2/ml up to $6/5ml
Happy smellin’ y’all!
Dionne

La Isla Del Sol by Jane Cate for A Wing n A Prayer Perfumes 2013

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Hello Happy Huffers,

There is a lovely lady, Jane Cate, tucked away in Menlo Park of the San Francisco Bay area in California. Her work is wondrous and I have written of it before for you all. Today I opened a package from Jane Cate to find samples of her three new fragrances for 2013, the first you can see reviewed on the Perfume Posse, but I saved this one for APJ because I’m, a selfish bitch and it’s my favourite. He He HE!

La Isla Del Sol by A Wing & A Prayer Perfumes 2013

A Wing & A PrayerPhoto Stolen Etsy

Jane Cate gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot
Heart: Orange blossom, honey absolute and sweet orange
Base: Amber and tonka tincture

La Isla Del Sol means Island of the Sun and the bergamot opening is sweet, tangy and already slightly resinous, very much like sitting in cool, sunny parkland in the morning near a citrus orchard. It’s lovely, lively and invigorating: a soft and sexy cologne-esque opening that hints at warmth beneath. As the sun warms up the day and thebodies there is a very animalic orange blossom/honey accord that feels slightly feral as if it’s going to turn fecal but never crosses the beauty line into disgusting. There is a definite hark back to old fashioned perfumery in La Isla Del Sol, I really feel that it has depths that are lacking in much of the market today, even some of the niche lines are becoming castrated by their success, not so here.

The amber and tonka move in slowly and take over the whole beautiful production leaving only the smallest trace memories of citrus till about 4-5 hours later I am ready to respritz.

I cannot believe that the A Wing & A Prayer crew can make such fabulous scents at these amazingly good prices, do go check them out. You’ll thank me for introducing you.

A Wing & A Prayer Mini SamplerPhoto Stolen Etsy

A Wing & A Prayer have an Etsy Shop (<<JUMP) where you can grab their fragrances. A great was to get to know them is to buy the Mini Sampler Set with 3 x 4ml spray or roll on in your choice from the whole range for only $10!! What a BARGAIN!

Kisses, hugs and love till tiomorrow,
Portia xx

Truth or Dare NAKED by Stephen Nilson for Madonna 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 30 Comments

Hey Hey Scenters!!

As you know I was recently in LA and one of the MUST FIND things on my list was something I thought would be super easy to get my hands on. Not so! Tom and I wandered around LA looking for this elusive jewel for two days until a Bloomingdales SA, who said they’d had it but were sold out, looked up every Bloomingdales in the LA area and found us some at Bloomingdales Century City (Century City BTW is owned now by Australian multinational mall conglomerate Westfields) and so off we trotted to find the last 10 bottles in LA, of which I purchased three. A solo in box, a golden unboxed wetpack with a body lotion and another unboxed with body lotion and tote bag. The boxed is for our very own Celebuscent reviewer Katrina the others for myself..

Truth or Dare NAKED by Madonna 2013

Truth or Dare NAKEDS Madonna FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Honeysuckle, peach blossom and neroli
Heart: Vanilla orchid, cocoa flower and lily of the valley
Base: Texas cedar wood, benzoin from Laos, oud accord and Australian sandalwood

What do I smell? It smells so good. A rich, creamy amber with inedible vanilla and bitter chocolate with a delicate wash of flowers over the top that ends in a woodsy vanillic dry down. So good. OH SO GOOD!! A warm fragrance that will be stunning in the cooler months but works beautifully in the heat also. Over the last few weeks I’ve worn it in 35C in LA, 12C in Sydney and 45C in Delhi. At no time have I felt it out of place, in fact Truth or Dare Naked is one of the easiest and prettiest, most wearable fragrances I’ve ever worn.

I love the bottle, it’s cool, hefty and the see through glass version is very pretty and feels great in my hand for spritzing. Though you start out very fragrant Truth or Dare Naked quickly softens down to a pretty, better than your skin smelling wash that has moderate projection but excellent sillage. The wear life is average at around 4-5 hours, longer in the cool, and dry down is soft and woodsy/suede-ish.

If you found Madonna’s first offering too close to Fracas or many of the hefty tuberoses this is a complete turn around and a completely stylish, soft and warm fragrance. Bravo Madonna

Truth or Dare Naked Madonna NewsPinnaclePhoto Stolen NewsPinnacle

I could only find the NowSmellThis introduction of Truth or Dare Naked by Madonna
I can not find a sample or full bottle to buy ANYWHERE on the internet!!!

Loads of love till tomorrow.
Portia xx

Fat Electrician by Antoine Maisondieu for Etat Libre d’Orange 2009

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Hello Fragrance Friends,

You may or may not know that my partner is an electrician, or sparky as we call them in Australia. I had longed for today’s fragrance for ages, just because I thought it would be funny to have in my collection. I grabbed a decant and drained it in record time so then I decided it was absolutely and utterly FB worthy. Every now and then Parfum1 has a 20% off sale and when they had one recently I was all over it like a rash, and here is one of my purchases. Sadly they no longer have stock of

Fat Electrician by Etat Libre d’Orange 2009

Fat Electrician FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Vetiver, olive leaves, marron glaces, vanilla, opoponax and myrrh

From the ELdO site: His beauty would have been his greatest asset. A midnight cowboy, his splendor was consumed in the service for others. Now, a fat electrician in New Jersey, he is cursed with the memory of his glory days. Because all beauty carries within itself the knowle­dge that it cannot last…

Well, there is a LOT of online discourse about the names and backstories of the ELdO range. My opinion is that it’s fun and harmless story creation at its best. I don’t know the people involved but they seem silly and naughty, not afraid to push a boundary and are creating engaging perfumes that are essentially wearable, with a couple of notable exceptions. Here are my imaginary before & after Electricians, he he he!

Fat Electrician 24SevenElectricsBefore Photo Stolen 24SevenElectrics

Fat Electrician Him.UKAfter Photo Stolen Him.UK

How does Fat Electrician smell? On my skin it opens all diesel and woods, which they say is the vetiver, dirty and dark with a greenness and balsamic sweetness all smooshed in together. There is also a metallic tang that reminds me of the years we used to take LSD, that initial metallic almost blood-ish taste as you chew your cardboard. OMG! I just physically shuddered at the memory. Imagine wearing Tam Dao in a mechanics garage, yes? That’s Fat Electrician.

Fat electrician has quite a bit of space between the notes, interestingly it feels both dense and light and bears absolutely no resemblance to my electrician or his ass crack. I get earthy, dirty vetiver and some slight softening and sweetening as the fragrance lives. The resins are not really getting much of a workout today though. Perhaps the cool air does Fat Electrician no favours, I get less growth and the story is far less interesting that in the 20+ celcius weather where it blossoms beautifully. Looks like I’m going to have to put this baby into the return to wear at Spring box and relegate it to the back of the cupboard. DamnIt! I was hoping for a fabulous winter extravaganza with Fat Electrician.

Fat Electrician SUCCUBUS COFFIN LaurieFlowerPhoto Stolen LaurieFlower

Later the same day: WOW! There is a definitely fresh hewn wood with beeswax polished, finished products and some smoky charred wood nearby. I’m about 3 hours in and suddenly Fat Electrician has started to give me its beauty. In the cool air the life is extended by HOURS! and the release is slower and way more interesting. BRAVO ELdO.

Further reading: PerfumeSmellin’Things and I really like the ambivelence of EauMG’s review too
EtatLibreD’Orange currently has 69€/50ml with FREE WORLD SHIPPING!!
SurrenderToChance starts at $4.75/ml

Where do you stand on the ELdO range? Are you outraged or amused by their names and stories?

We hope to see you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Boudoir by Martin Gras for Vivienne Westwood 1998

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Post by FeralJasmine

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Hi APJ,

I did my undergraduate work at a university that was famous for its campus viburnums. Unfortunately it was even more famous for its student suicide rate, and many of them seemed to occur during the viburnum season, although I trust it had more to do with final exams than the flower itself. For me, on my way to exams, the extraordinary, penetrating, sweet and spicy scent of the viburnum was encouraging. It seemed to act on me as a kind of aromatherapy, and sometimes I would stand next to a bush in full bloom, huffing it up like fragrant crack. Those are times that I still remember as moments of pure beauty, when everything else steps aside and joy wells up in an fleeting but perfect moment. So naturally, when I tumbled into the perfume obsession, I began looking for a perfume that would express that scent.
For those who might be interested in a viburnum scent, the perfumes that list this note are:

Boudoir by Martin Gras for Vivienne Westwood 1998

Boudoir Vivienne Westwood FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

BaseNotes gives these featured accords:
Top: Viburnum, mandarin, bergamot
Heart: Rose, tobacco flower, coriander, orris
Base: Vanilla, sandalwood, amber

Boudoir. That’s it. One. It’s from the line of Vivienne Westwood, the punky fashion designer. Her firm still sells a reformulated version and here are the listed notes: viburnum, bergamot, mandarine, rose, tobacco flower, heliotrope.
I have the original version, and here’s a more accurate list of the notes: viburnum, heliotrope, powder, slight spice, skank. Faint but unmistakable skank. Like I was scurrying on my way to an exam, sweating slightly, and got laid under a viburnum bush. Which, I assure you, never happened. At least partly because it would have made me late for an exam.

Boudoir Vivienne Westwood Viburnum 66SquareFeetPhoto Stolen 66SquareFeet

There are viburnums that aren’t fragrant, and then there are the heavenly fragrant ones. If you have never smelled one of the fragrant viburnums in bloom, I can only describe it as creamy heliotrope with spice, especially nutmeg. It’s a sweet scent, you will have gathered, and if you dislike sweet scents then no doubt you’ll dislike this one as well. And I can’t pretend that this perfume smells exactly like viburnum, because nothing does. There is a strong sweet opening, then wafts of near-viburnum with faint undertones of skank, then a somewhat powdery and slightly spicy drydown. On my scent-eating skin, the whole show lasts about 90 minutes.

Boudoir Vivienne Westwood Bridal TheBestFashionBlogBoudoir Vivienne Westwood Bridal2 TheBestFashionBlog Westwood Bridal Photos Stolen TheBestFashionBlog

Now, let’s talk price. Some companies seem to hike the prices of their perfumes to create an aura of unattainability. I’m not thinking of anyone in particular here, just anyone whose initials are Killian Hennesey. If you want the priciest, then save your pennies and best of luck to you. But if, like me, you love a bargain, there are many to be had among the older scents that are all over Ebay. I have to add that most of these former mainstream scents are better than any mainstream perfume released within the last dozen years. Think back to the days when aquatic and ozonic notes weren’t around, melon barely ever appeared, and nobody aspired to smell like fabric softener. That’s what you get when you buy older scents. Some are dirt-cheap, and some are only moderately cheap. This one is moderately cheap. The old one and the reformulation are easy to tell apart; the original is cognac-colored and the reissue is pink. I’ve never tried the reissue, because my little flask of original will probably last for years. If you have no prior history with viburnum, the scent may not mean much to you. To me, it brings back those exciting nerve-wracking days when nothing, not career, not home life, nothing, was in place yet. I wouldn’t want to live there now, but I do enjoy visiting.

Further reading: Perfume Posse and Portia on APJ
FragranceNet has $48/30ml before discount
PoshPeasant starts at $3.50/ml

FeralJasmine x

RUBJ EdP by VERO KERN 2007

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Sensual greetings APJs

If I wasn’t a small part of this perfume subculture, I feel very sure I never would have heard of, let alone smelled, the incredible creations of today’s perfumer, who is so amazing..

RUBJ Eau de Parfum by VERO KERN 2007

Rubj EdP Vero Profumo FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured notes:
Top: Neroli, passsionfruit, mandarin, bergamot
Heart: Cumin, Basil, African orange flower, tuberose
Base: Virginia cedar, oakmoss, musk

If I wasn’t a small part of this perfume subculture, I feel very sure I never would have heard of, let alone smelled, the incredible creations of Vero Kern. Vero Kern takes time to create her fragrances. Time to develop them. She says that it scares her; launches every six months. Claiming scents are new, but in fact they are just rehashes of old ones. She gets bored of continually seeing many of the same ideas behind new releases.

Rubj EdP Vero Kern luzernerzeitungVero Kern Photo Stolen luzernerzeitung

Vero Kern has a spirituality about her (to me) which becomes more apparent in mature women. I love it. She inspires me. A creative artist. Plus she always looks fabulous! Awesomely cool. I want to be just like her as I get older.

I watched part of an interesting interview with her. Ms Kern say she likes to put “something that is a little bit disturbing” into her fragrances. A note that people cannot identify. Sometimes it may disturb in a positive way and sometimes in a negative way. She goes on to say, “A characteristic perfume has to have this disturbance, otherwise it is flat.” She tries to avoid this certain flatness. “For the eccentric and flamboyant.”

RUBJ is everything but flat.

Rubj EdP Vero Profumo PinterestPhoto Stolen Pinterest

RUBJ is what I would have wanted on my wedding day.

This is über-sensual. Depending not on the intellect or the spirit. Carnal, fleshly, exquisite, beautiful, unchaste. A fragrance so enrapturing and captivating, I am smitten. Voluptuous. Gorgeous. What more can I say?

Further reading PerfumePosse and Olfactoria’sTravels
LuckyScent has $220/50ml EdP
SurrenderToChance has the original 3 EdPs in the range as a sampler from $14/3 x .5ml

I expect 7.5 mls of RUBJ Extrait in the post tomorrow. Untested. Because sometimes you just have to.
(Ed: Editing this post inspired me to buy the Rubj EdP in LA at Scentsation. You are a wicked temptress Val. XXX)

Love
CQ

Fracas by Germaine Cellier for Robert Piguet 1948

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

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Gabriella

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Hi APJ,

In my ever changing and expanding fragrance collection, there’s one particular perfume that deserves pride of place. Other scents have come and gone, but Fracas by Germaine Cellier for Robert Piguet has been a mainstay for me for 15 years. It hasn’t been a smooth ride, but my altercations with this perfume have been mostly due to circumstance and other people rather than my own feelings of the scent.

My Fracas Story – Fracas by Robert Piguet 1948

Fracas FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

I acquired my first Fracas bottle not long after the scent was reintroduced in 1998, before online shopping and the first fragrance blog. Until then, I’d worn popular scents available in department stores and Fracas’ exclusivity enthralled and enchanted me. It was expensive, only available in one boutique here in Sydney, had a cult following and was one of my idols favourites – British model Sophie Dahl. And it looked so chic in the shiny black bottle.

Fracas Robert Piguet Ad vk.comPhoto stolen vk.com

I returned to the Sydney boutique time and time again to catch beautiful whiffs while I saved my hard earned pennies to buy a full bottle. Fracas was going to be my fragrance, something that I loved rather than a perfume that all my girlfriends wore or something to impress a boyfriend. I still remember the thrill when that bottle was finally wrapped lovingly in tissue paper. I was all woman now, and nothing was going to stop me. I proudly put some on before going down to dinner that night. I was still living with my parents at that stage and thought I’d wow them with my new acquisition.

Not so. “Oh my god, what is that AWFUL perfume you have on?” was my mother’s reaction. Dad and my brother also looked suitably unimpressed. I told them in vain of the story of Fracas and how it had been inspired by Rita Hayworth but they just didn’t budge. Such was the level of dislike for my scent that my brother actually renamed it with an expletive (I’ll allow you to use your imagination here): “Oh no, you’ve got that awful *&^% #$$ perfume on again.”

Thus, Fracas and I became clandestine. She now accompanied my on my morning gym visits where I could spray with abandon without my family’s misgivings. However, one day, I managed to smash an almost full bottle on the changing room floor. I was mortified and more disturbed still when I saw dozens of girls recoil in horror at the pungency and loudness of the tuberose. That changing room had my scent on it for months.

Fracas Robert Piguet Elegant Stripper photo-cursPhoto Stolen photo-curs

Fast forward some time and suddenly it seemed like every woman was in on my secret. Fracas became ubiquitous and our relationship went more underground. I refused to wear it out now, only sneaking a precious few drops when I could enjoy it at home alone. It would be my guilty pleasure after coming home from work; my comfort scent that I would put on to wear to bed.

Just as my relationship with Fracas has changed, so too has the scent on my skin. All those years ago it was a bold, brash diva: tuberose with a capital T, a scent that was incredibly beautiful but that took no prisoners. Now Fracas is sotto voce on my skin, it opens up with the bright orange blossom and tuberose before the buttery goodness melds with my skin and becomes one with it. It sings so softly now that I can pretty much wear it without provoking comment.

So it was much to my surprise when I did get one sometime last year. I’d spritzed some on before hopping into a taxi to meet my fiancé. The driver turned to me and said: “What are you wearing? You smell lovely, like a lady.” I told him it was Fracas and she was very much a lady indeed.

Further reading The Candy Perfume Boy and Bois de Jasmin

Fracas is now not so exclusive and available readily online at outlets such as FragranceNet, $68.19/50ml.

Have you tried Fracas? Which one of your fragrances takes pride of place in your collection?

With much love till next time!
M x

Fancy Nights by Steve Demercado for Jessica Simpson 2010

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 33 Comments

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Post by Katrina

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Hi everyone, Funny story. Hubby and I were in a taxi heading out to see a band the other night. I asked him what he thought of my perfume and he said, “I thought it was the cab.” I was wearing today’s fragrance that I’ll be reviewing. I couldn’t stop laughing; it made my night.

Jessica Simpson Fancy Nights by Steve Demercado 2010

Fancy Nights Jessica simpson FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives the following notes:
Top: Bergamot and Egyptian papyrus
Middle: Indonesian patchouli, Bulgarian red rose and night blossoming jasmine
Base: Sandalwood, oak moss, amber, vanilla

Does Fancy Nights really smell like a cab? Well it certainly doesn’t smell like air freshener or shampoo, its not clean and fresh or sweet like many celebuscents. Fancy Nights is smoky, spicy and has a kind of musty smell you get from patchouli. Maybe hubby has a point. I have been in cabs that have smelled smoky, spicy and musty but to describe a perfume as smelling like a cab just sounds so unflattering. I love Fancy Nights; it smells wonderful!

Taxi Fancy Nights Jessica simpson NewsPhoto Stolen News.com.au

Jessica Simpson’s Fancy Nights is a strong, sophisticated perfume and the initial blast reminds me of Shalimar. It smells opulent and expensive. I notice an intense almost astringent type of smell at first like aniseed. The vanilla is very strong but not sweet. This is straight up vanilla – there is no cupcake or ice-cream influence at all. The vanilla is strong but the patchouli is just full on in Fancy Nights. It smells smoky and spicy with an earthy amber base. I really enjoy wearing this perfume, it smells absolutely gorgeous and when the patchouli eventually fades away, a sweeter vanilla and musk lingers.

Jessica Simpson PeoplePhoto Stolen People

Fancy Nights smells expensive but it is sooo cheap. You can get a 50ml bottle for $12.95 from Fragrance X.

Fancy Nights is the third fragrance in a range of Fancy perfumes from Jessica Simpson but the bright emerald green colour of the Fancy Nights bottle makes it stand out from the rest.

Further reading:
Now Smell This

By the way, when we got out of the cab and he took another whiff he said it smelled really nice. Have you ever had any unexpected reactions to your perfume?

Please visit my website (celebrityperfumestore<<<JUMP) for more celebrity perfume news and reviews.

Katrina xx

Scarlet by Cacharel

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hello my lovelies,

I’ve had this video knocking around and kept forgetting to share it.

IndianWedding angpal.blogspot

Arrived safely in India, Stayed a couple of days in Delhi to do some shopping and organising for my mate Varun’s hotels and a new property the family is developing. Yesterday the main thing we did was buy lights for 2 floors of hotels and 3 residences. BEDLAM!!! Then to cap it all I drove the car about 20kms in peak hour traffic! I know, I am amazing. It was not without incident though, plenty of good natured swearing and screaming, a near car crash and a couple of whisper touches by other cars and some bikes. Hair raising but fun

Enjoy the video.

Portia xxx

Scarlett by Cacharel

Tea for Two by L’artisan: A Beauty Habit Love Story

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Heya Ladies and Gents,

Long before I tried this little pretty I was reading about it, Tania Sanchez gives it three grudging stars and writes, “Probably a better room fragrance than a personal perfume and, judged as an attempt at modernising the Oriental genre, completely trounced by Fendi’s … Theorema. Still, not bad.” in Perfumes, The Guide: so clearly she missed something that so many others love, and for a while I also missed its beauty. I had a couple of samples that got used but I wasn’t madly crazy for it. Then Undina from Undina’sLookingGlass sent me a generous decant in a spritz bottle and everybody’s love for it suddenly became clear. It is fresh and deep and nuanced, mysterious, glamorous and very beautiful. WOW!! What? DISCONTINUED!!!!

Isn’t it the same dreadful story we read, hear, find out at the counter. Here is my APJ post on Tea for Two written last year. Clearly, in my mind anyway, Tea for Two was either unable to be produced due to new IFRA regs or it was a crap seller, either way I was saddened and have been seriously eeking out my decant ever since. In truth trying not to bemoan its lack, or even think about having a bottle. Some things aren’t meant to be, right?

Tea for Two by Olivia Giacobetti for L’artisan Parfumeur: A Love Story

Tea for Two L'Artisan FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives the featured accords as:
Top: Bergamot, star anise, tea
Heart: Cinnamon, ginger, spices, gingerbread
Base: Honey, vanilla, leather, tobacco

Then something extraordinary happened while in LA at Scentsation. It was lunch time at BeautyHabit and most of the crew were off having the fabulous tacos and chips and OMG SO YUMMY!! Then someone mentioned that there was a Tea for Two Tester still in the tester section, off like a brides nighty was I. Spritz, Spritz AAAAAHHHH. This stuff is magic! Smoky, rich, resinous and milky spiced tea wafting gloriously, so I did the unthinkable.

Approaching one of the lovely sisters who run BeautyHabit, “Hi, you know this is discontinued, don’t you?”….. “Even if they bring it back they will definitely have to reformulate it to be industry approved now.”…. “Would you consider SELLING me this tester please?”….. “I understand that you don’t sell testers but this is a special case, discontinued, unrereleasable as is and one of my FAVOURITES!!”….. “No, you’re right. I understand. I know, sure. No worries, if you EVER decide to sell it please keep me in mind. You know I want to buy it, yes?”……. “Ok, thanks” Well, I tried, unsuccessfully but at least I could not worry that I hadn’t tried.

So we shopped, I purchased a Sarah Horowitz Parfum and an i Profumi di Firenze that I will write about later. Everyone had lunch and we got on the bus, laughing and talking about what a super day it was. Everyone received a gift from BeautyHabit and mine was the Pineider (one of my new fave brands) Estratto di Colonia. They even gave away a Serge Lutens BELL JAR!! These were serious prizes for amazed perfumistas! As the bus pulled out there was a bustle, rush and knocking on the door from outside.

The BeautyHabit girls had decided to GIFT me the Tea for Two!!!!!

Though I made light of it at the time I was and am deeply touched by their gift. I have worn Tea for Two quite a lot since acquiring it from BeautyHabit and it has not disappointed. It is the most worn so far since I got it and not just because it is a super killer scent but every time I spritz I think of the amazing time we all had a the Perfume Posse Scentsation.

So please, do me a favour. Next time you are thinking of an online shopping spree for anything fragrance or beauty related, try BeautyHabit(<<<JUMP) because they have an excellent selection, are fun, sexy, generous and ship to the world: and they went out of their way to put a super duper smile on my already smiling face.

See you tomorrow,
Portia xx