Review

Salvador Dali EdT 1983/1985/2011 Review

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Welcome Heaven Scented People,

One of my great art loves is Salvador Dali. Even his sketches seem finished and perfect. It seems to me that he was obsessed with producing the feeling, MORE. As if choosing canvases that were not big enough to hold all his ideas. His perfect sense of placement and storyline make some of his works transcendental, whole body experiences rather than mere visions.


Photo Stolen znanje


Photo Stolen znanje


Photo Stolen znanje

He and beloved wife Gala thought that an obvious extension of his visual medium would be fragrance. Salvador once said “Of the five senses, the sense of smell is incontestably the one that best conveys a sense of immortality” from Fragrantica. The original fragrance “Salvador Dali Le Parfum” was released for a limited run in 1983, the year after Gala’s death, and was such an instant iconic hit that it was reformulated for the mass market and released in 1985. All reformulations from Le Parfum to now have been created by Alberto Morillas.


Photo Stolen xtimeline

Pierre Dinand designed the bottle after Dali’s death, “We spent probably three years on the project…. Dali had absolutely no idea of what could realistically be done in glass. He thought you could do anything in glass, but no, glass is a very different material to use ….After his death the secretary signed a contract, and the famous bottle with the nose and lips was created, but that was not really what Dali would have wanted.” Stolen interview from Phaidon

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives the notes
Top: Tangerine, bergamot, orange blossom
Heart: Rose, jasmine, magnolia
Base: White musks, vanilla, woods

What do I get when I wear Salvador Dali? In the opening the citrus and orange blossom is so good and disgusting that it smells like bad breath or about to turn milk, this lasts only momentarily but it does set you up for how naughty the undercurrent of the fragrance will be. No sooner have you left the opening rush behind when the jasmine and magnolia collude/collide to give an extremely come here and do that again fragrance, have they left out some cumin or caraway in the notes here? SEXY! Magnolia is supposed to smell citric so that’s there but I don’t get rose at all. The vanilla and woods keep a low profile, into the second hour and they are not starring. Maybe the musk is pushing the sexy button?
FragranceNet has 100ml EdT $25
eGlobalBeauty has 100ml PdT for $44 including P&H

Thank you for coming along, has Dali moved you too? How?
Portia xx

Eau Sauvage by DIOR 1966 and Secret Garden Video

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Hiya Perfume Junkies,

Firstly, HAPPY JULY 4 USA! Photo Stolen Chiquero


Photo Stolen perfumeshrine

Recently I was lucky enough to grab a sample of Eau Sauvage but gave it to a mate instead of sniffing it myself. Since then it has played on my mind, trying to remember it because I used to wear it back in the late 1980’s and loved it. I happened to grab a SurrenderToChance: Perfumer Guy Robert Selects Perfume Masterpieces 24-Sample Pack and guess what, there it is! Guy Robert (Caleche, Madame Rochas, Dioressence, Amouage Gold) felt Edmond Roudnitska, the perfume genius responsible for Eau Sauvage, had created a masterpiece. Even 46 years later, after IFRA prohibitions and reformulations, it still bears solid traces of its magic and majesty.

Photo Stolen onlyfornow


Belonging to the Citrus Chypre family it opens fresh, bright  herbalcitrus on me, then the flowers which are kept surprisingly cool by carnation and iris root yet buttery warm through the sandalwood & patchouli, it’s interesting the way the flowers work against the green against the woods and herbs before the deep base comes plodding from below giving us the dank river bank near a produce market. This scent is surprisingly country and rural, considering that it’s been the epitome of masculine scent for a cool and classy city slicker.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives the notes/accords as
Top: lemon, basil, bergamot, cumin, lavender, fruit
Heart: Jasmine, rose, carnation, iris root, coriander, patchouli, sandalwood
Base: Oak moss, vetiver, musk, amber

NowSmelllThis and BoisDeJasmine do great reviews, both much more in depth with great historical data included.

As a special treat I’ll leave you with the DIOR Secret Garden movie. Glorious! Raf Simons stamping his modern nod to the houses history quite firmly over his predecessors kooky, often disconnected flamboyance. BAM! Yesterday’s fashion is again today’s news.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our look at Eau Sauvage, I really just wanted an excuse to play that video.

Is there a DIOR in your sights? Are you craving?
Portia xx

AMOUAGE Awesome Foursome

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.

Gabriella

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Hello Everyone,
This is my first Guest Post for AustralianPerfumeJunkies and I will be back regularly.

AWESOME FOURSOME: A QUARTET OF AMOUAGE

For many years, the beauty of this wondrous Amouage line eluded me, not through a deliberate choice mind you, but because I initially dismissed it as more about marketing than lovely juice (how wrong I was!) and because I was having other adventures in perfume land, it never really registered on my radar. Even an eager SA at Selfridges when I was living in London last year couldn’t tempt me by waving a scented card of Ciel – one of the line’s white florals –under my nose. I was determined to discover things that weren’t available to sniff in Sydney – Balmains, Dior’s La Collection Privée etc – that it barely registered. Thankfully, things didn’t remain the same, Amouage finally came to my nose by virtue of a happy accident. In order to round out a sample order some months ago, at the last minute, I added one of their samples. I haven’t looked back since.

Created in 1983 by the Sultan of Oman, Amouage was to revive the ancient art of Omani perfumery. The house uses the traditional materials of Middle Eastern perfumery, such as frankincense and myrrh, to create traditional Middle Eastern- style scents but with a decidedly French vibe and very luxurious feel.

But what about the reviews?

DIA POUR FEMME

Photo stolen from Fragrantica

Dia was created to be the daytime companion to one of Amouage’s most revered and popular scents, the aldehyde-laden white floral, Gold. While certainly a lot softer and gentler than her bigger sister, Dia is no less sophisticated or elegant. If Gold is all silk ball gowns, diamonds and killer heels, then Dia is all about a refined wool sheath dress, pearls and leather ballet flats.

Dia includes notes of fig, cyclamen, bergamot, tarragon, sage, violet leaves, bush peach blossoms, rose oil, orange flower, peony, orris, white musk, incense, vanilla, heliotrope, cedarwood, sandalwood and gaiac wood.
It opens with a rush of warm fig and herbs before quickly developing into a luscious heady floral bouquet of peony and orange and then settles into soft gauzy woods. Dia’s great beauty is its duality: it manages to be both cool and warm, both chic and comforting at the same time. My only complaint is that it lasts barely two hours on me. Longer lasting and a full bottle would indeed grace my perfume collection.
For more reviews of Dia Pour Femme please see I Smell Therefore I Am and Suzanne’s Perfume Journal

MEMOIR WOMAN

Photo stolen from Fragrantica

The lovechild of YSL Opium and Serge Lutens Arabie is what I first thought upon sniffing Memoir Woman. The perfume is rich and heavy in feel with such a cacophony of notes that it took me a few subsequent wearings to get my head around it.

Memoir Woman features notes of absinth, cardamom, mandarin orange, pink pepper, wormwood, clove, incense, pepper, jasmine, rose, white flowers, musk, french labdanum, oak moss, styrax and leather.
Memoir is classified as chypre but has a decidedly oriental feel due to its heady mix of spices. It opens with a medicinal blast of absinth and pink pepper before the other spices slowly come to the fore, folding over and over in a billowing wave. The richness of spices segues into a warm panorama of rose, frankincense and white flowers.
For me, Memoir Woman is the epitome of Amouage’s heritage and markedly opulent vibe. Wearing this takes me one on of the strongest olfactory journeys ever: I’m wandering round a Middle-Eastern market at twilight all swathed in rich fabrics, kohl rimmed and mysterious.
For more reviews of Memoir Woman please see Now Smell This and Olfactoria’s Travels

HONOUR WOMAN

Photo stolen from Fragrantica

Being a white floral lover, I was pretty sure I’d love Honour Woman and be whacking down the credit card to buy one of those pretty white bottles quick smart.

 It features notes of pepper, rhubarb, coriander, jasmine, tuberose, gardenia, lily of the valley, carnation, vetiver, frankincense, amber, opoponax and leather.
On first whiff, I was a little worried this was going to be an upscale version of a department store fruity floral. Honour Woman opens with a tart rhubarb note but thankfully the presence of pepper and coriander prevent it from becoming too mainstream in vibe. As the fragrance develops, the rhubarb is joined by a creamy soft gardenia note to create a very warm composition before soft incense and amber join the fray. Don’t get me wrong, Honour Woman is well executed and sophisticated like the other Amouages, but I’ve yet to fall completely under its spell.
 For more reviews of Honour Woman please see Olfactoria’s Travels and The Candy Perfume Boy

JUBILATION XXV WOMAN

Photo stolen from Fragrantica

That lucky sample I acquired all those months ago and my overall love of the line is the divine Jubilation 25, created in 2007 to celebrate Amouage’s 25thanniversary. Not only is it aptly named for that occasion, but because it literally had me jumping for joy at first sniff.

 Jubilation 25 features notes of tarragon, lemon, ylang ylang, rock rose, frankincense, davana, labdanum ciste, patchouli, amber, vetiver, musk and, myrrh.
It is such an impressive chypre produced at a time when pretty much everything in this genre is dead and buried. The beauty of the scent is that it manages to combine all the classic elements of chypres past, paying homage to their memories in a thoroughly modern way. It opens with a beautiful rich accord of tarragon, lemon and ylang ylang before segueing to a symphonic rose note that’s achingly bright. The herbal rose goodness wafts and whispers before the composition moves seamlessly to a classic woody and herbal chypre drydown.
Like all good chypres, Jubilation 25 made me sit a little straighter, pull my shoulders back and hold my head higher. Even when sampling in my PJs over a coffee or after a long day’s work over a glass of wine, I am suddenly terribly chic and sophisticated. Jubilation 25 makes me feel like the woman I aspire to be.
For more reviews of Jubilation 25 please see Now Smell This and Perfume Shrine

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you’ve enjoyed my thoughts on four of the Amouage line.

What Amouage scents have you tried? Have your experiences been similar or different to mine? I’d love to read what your thoughts are.
M XOX

SUNDAY QUICKSNIFF REVIEWS #8

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Hey Hey Scentabillys,

Click here for more graphics and gifs!

The Sunday QuickSniff Review page is opened on Monday morning and every time I spritz and am near the computer I’ll give a 3 sentence review with a rating out of 5 each for, well, see the key after the reviews. Often these are samples I’ve bought or had sent to me by friends, or a FB that I may fully review later, or have done before and want to remind you of its existence. Just sniffs done quick, it’s Sunday, I’m relaxing with my dogs and buddies. I hope you’re having a good one too.

SOUS LE VENT  by GUERLAIN 1933. AHHHH Chypre, designed for and around the incredible Josephine Baker. The citrus as it opens, fresh and due to the lavender and tarragon herbal, almost masculine in its spareness and jolting briskness. It’s not long before the flowers make their presence known but it’s a cool, fresh, green bouquet with an aloof jasmine, carnation and basil. I missed the full base because I went to bed but this morning there is still a minuscule whiff of woods, soft soft soft something, maybe vanilla? PerfumePosse starts at $6.5/ml Ebay has a vintage bottle $3000  S=***** L=**** D=****

JITTERBUG EdP by DSH New Creations 2003. Jitterbug came as a 1ml extra “Thank You” sample in an order from DSH and is designed to be a glamorous memory scent like the ones your Mum and Grandma used to wear, that smelled so delicious and was laden with extraordinary amounts of love. Well they hit this one way out of the ball park because POW! everything warm and cuddly and curled up on the couch together watching TV are here. There is Mum, her clothes, her hair spray, her busy day body odours (not bad, just life) like hair, pits and breath. DSH Perfumes starts at a $4 sample S=**** L=*** D=****

HONEY BLOSSOM by THE BEEHIVE. I can’t work out where this 1ml carded sample came from, I thought it was an AVON that my mate Penny had given me? If you like Dior’s Miss Dior Cherie then this is for you and a quarter the price, it’s like wearing a Fruit Tingle………… sorry just had to swallow a bit of puke in the back of my throat. Just went out and patted the dogs and their smell has added a reasonable depth to the fragrance, I still hate it, sorry. Parfum1 has 100ml $35  S=*** L=** D=*

FLEUR ORIENTAL by MILLER HARRIS 2000. A soft, modern floriental. Totally wearable, not too in your face so could be worn at work while still feeling scented. It gets more interesting and warms up beautifully on your body with unexpected caramel depths and cool flower descant, there is a spiciness here too, lovely. FragranceX has 100ml EdP $80  S=**** L=*** D=****


Photo Stolen from shirtsays

Scent, Obviously the number 1 priority here is how does it smell. My reviews are completely subjective and will differ widely from your own experience with the scent but it’s a good starting point. As yet I am not a trained perfumer so any and all descriptions are merely that, descriptions. There are plenty of blogs that offer technical details and chemistry, in 3 sentences I’ll pass.
Longevity, This is a biggie for me because like enfleurage where flower petals are left in fats to steal the scent, my fatty body works the same and eats it up, yum. So for a scent to last well on me, it will probably last a whole day on you and need a radioactive decontamination shower to defuse it from your skin.
Desirabilty, Wrapped up in this is scent, price, house, history, longevity, packaging, availability and a billion other things.

Photo Stolen from bittbox

* in any of these being the, “You couldn’t pay enough to spray this God awful stink on me again, it smells like public toilets in India, long time fridge malfunction while on Summer holiday and the vile stench of poverty all rolled into one.” You are putting innocent people in danger if you wear this.
** means it’s a nothing, wearable, boring, maybe the price is prohibitive for what you get or it’s ubiquitous. You should definitely get a sample of this to stop a buying boo boo.
*** is a perfectly good product that smells good and lasts a while at a decent price. You should definitely think about trying a sample or squirt but should you miss out your life will continue. Sample size worthy.
**** is the one you try, want a lot but can wait for a birthday/Christmas. It’s better than most of the stuff you’ve sniffed and may fill a void in your library. This is also an excellent decant product 5ml will get you through the season and maybe buy it next year.
***** meaning, stop reading this, grab your cash, credit card (or partners), roll the elderly or rob a petrol station and purchase this product. NOW! If you don’t have this fragrance you could die.

With a bit of luck you’ve found something to be a lemming for but if not your wallet will thank you. How has your weeks scent sniffing gone? What delicious bits and pieces did you try this week?

Portia xx

TABAC by La Via del Profumo: Review

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Hello Stinkophiles,

Photo of Faun by Forest Rogers

I have been wearing sporadically a group of samples bought from the La Via del Profumo range of Scents Of The Soul. When you buy a set of 6 generous, and beautifully mini bottled, 5ml samples you get a special wooden coffret to house them. This simple wooden box sits on my desk at all times and sometimes I open it up just to sniff the air inside, redolent with the magic in the tiny bottles.


Photo stolen Profumo

Today instead of just opening the box though I decided to lavishly spread Tabac upon my skin. It opens up deliciously vanilla and murky green tobacco on my skin, deep and humus rich earthy, maybe the cistus (rock rose) flies above but to me there is a fruity/jammy quality to the higher notes so you have a 2 speed fragrance. The depth and steady boom of the vanilla/tonka/smoking tobacco are played against this light flower/green tobacco/hay/fruity accord, there may even be a boozy side story here just on the edge of smelling. It is quite a ride, you can almost feel the sun on the cut grass, warming and drying it. This is a perfume, hefty, tasty, lusty and delicious; not for the faint hearted or affeared of fragrance. There is no hint of light aquatic, fruity nothing here. As it begins to lose its potency and aims towards dry down Tabac becomes sweeter before it goes dark, like the vanilla has come back to round the whole story out. Scent, longevity and sillage; Tabac by La Via del Profumo seems to have it all for me. When I finish this nearly empty sample it will be FB time.


Photo Stolen Profumo

From the LaViaDelProfumo site

The absolute of tobacco is the theme of this perfume. In the composition the overwhelming aroma of the tobacco is moderated with the spicy and resinous essences traditionally used to scent pipe tobacco…. Vanilla, cistus, tonka etc.
However, it’s interest and success lies in in its effect on the psyche and the vital energy. In perfume therapy, the scent of tobacco absolute confers warmth and well being and strength without overpowering. In effect, tobacco absolute should be taken into consideration for persons who have misused their own forces to the point where they are enervated and depleted of physical and psychic energy.

Please go and visit LaViaDelProfumo where you can find 100% natural perfumes created by extraordinary perfumer Abdes Salam Attar. The sample program is great, I love to try everything so it suits me perfectly. Just so you know, in my coffret I purchased Tabac, Hindu Kush, Sharif, Mecca Balsam, Tartar Leather and African Night, and as a bonus getting a small vial of Oud Caravan No. 3.

Thanks for dropping by, are there any tobacco perfumes that I should smell or that you love? Please leave us a comment so I can go look,
I hope your day is lovely.
If it’s not, things will and do get better, promise,

Portia xx

Portia xx

Giorgio Beverly Hills 1981 Review

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Hey Hey! Ho ho Ho Y’All,
What the…? I hear you ask. Why? Well, they have introduced an Eau de Giorgio 2012, I haven’t smelt it but just the thought of my teen years spent smelling the original has brought back big smiles, happy memories and a little melancholy. When my fave SA from a closing down sale offered me a half full ex tester bottle for $5 I jumped at the chance, just for the joy of jay walking down Memory Lane.


Photo Stolen paradiseemporium

Putting Giorgio Beverly hills on made me tear up with memories. The scent is burned into my olfactory memory centre like looking at the sun during an eclipse can burn your retina. Giorgio Beverly Hills was one of the fragrances that all Mum’s would wear in the 1980’s, so hugging Mum, family & friends and being engulfed by this enormous, wonderful and terrifying powerhouse fragrance was just how life was. It was the women who made all the decisions in our lives, we would watch them making a million split second choices, they ran their houses, domestic help, businesses, families and social lives in a way that just doesn’t seem to exist any more. Yet they still seemed to have time to relax, laugh and live. And everyone pretended they lived in Dynasty.

Photo Stolen blankstareblink.

OMG! How can this have been an every day scent? It is almost toxic in its utter hugeness. Everything happens at once! Flowers, fruit, wood, moss… BOOM! No wonder Giorgio Beverly Hills was banned from many restaurants, cinemas and work places. Ha! I am adrift on a sea of gorgeousness, there is nothing else, even sound can’t enter the walls of my Giorgio prison. BOOM! Close my eyes and I am alone in the world, just this enormous scent and I.

Fragrantica gives the notes and history as

Top notes: Orange blossom, peach, apricot,  bergamot
Middle notes:  Ylang-ylang, tuberose, gardenia, jasmine, rose, orchid
Base notes: Sandalwood, patchouli, vanilla, amber, cedar, oakmoss, musk

The Giorgio Beverly Hills fragrance was launched in 1981 by Fred Hayman and then-wife Gale Hayman with a fanfare normally reserved for a major perfume house launch, and never before seen for an independent boutique brand. Love it or hate it, the fragrance captured the public’s imagination in the 1980s, and was perfectly suited to the era’s glamorous and over-the-top fashions.

In 1987, the Giorgio Beverly Hills fragrance was sold to Avon for an astounding $165 million, and the boutique subsequently changed its name to Fred Hayman Beverly Hills.

This has been a terrific journey, I hope you have enjoyed the ride. Are there any scents that take you back in a heartbeat? That you smell and all of a sudden you’re in a memory time machine? Please share, I love to read other peoples stories.

Also, check out the PerfumePosse (<<JUMP) today. I have a guest spot and a special deal for you over there.
See you tomorrow,

Portia xx

Grand Bal by DIOR 2012 Review

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Hey All,

Grand Bal by Christian Dior from La Collection Couturier Perfumeur range opens bright and cool, like a room lit with only LED light. As the juice warms on your skin so too does the scent. I was expecting it to be a very quiet and unassuming fragrance from the reviews I’ve read but no, it is cool bergamot, sexy, musky, white flowers, buttery ylang-ylang and sandalwood that are set in a perfume harking back to days of Grand Balls and the enormous gowns they wore that were made with the lightest and most expensive materials, enormous amounts of them. It doesn’t have the deep skank factor of days gone by, nor does it have the modern clean feel, the fleshiness here is not OCD clean but really living and breathing.

Photo Stolen DIOR

As you expect from Dior the fragrance is timeless and modern, giving a delicious and obvious nod to history, using the same materials available to everyone else and then doing it better, classier, more luxuriously, yet without pandering to the lowest common denominator. It is the same but more than the rest, a perfect scent accompaniment to all those delicious Dior gowns I always fantasized about but will never own except in my head.

Photo Stolen FashionBombDaily

From the DIOR website:
Literally fascinated by the excess of the imposing balls that he would not miss for anything, Christian Dior used his fashion to celebrate a certain luxurious and timeless celebratory spirit…”Grand Bal is an echo of Christian Dior’s great ball gowns, whose full skirts and beauty evoked the petals of a flower in full bloom,” François Demachy.

Photo Stolen piroskawolf

1000 Fragrances says in his review
The fresh sambac jasmine with its sensual sparkling green touch dominates the perfume while a small exotic vibe is brought by ylang-ylang Mayotte. The drydown is very sensual and alluring because it uses a new quality of natural sandalwood from Nouvelle Calédonie.

Photo Stolen shinystyle

Just by whacky chance Undina’sLookingGlass has also reviewed Dior’s Grand Bal today. She has done a very different review and it smells different on her skin, go see.

Fragrantica gives the notes in one line as
Musk, jasmine, orange blossom, ylang-ylang, sandalwood, bergamot

My only down side with this lovely fragrance is that my skin has eaten most of it in 4 hours, there is the vaguest musk and wood hint left that is not a skin-ish scent.

I was lucky enough to grab 5ml at SurrenderToChance in a Daily Chance Special, still they have Grand Bal decants starting at $3 for 1ml.
DIOR counters everywhere will probably have it too but I’m not sure. It’s fun to go seeking though,

Have you tried any of La Collection Couturier Perfumeur range? Do you have a favourite? What did you think? If not, are you avoiding them?
Thanks for dropping by,

Portia xx

Musc Ravageur by Maurice Roucel from Frederic Malle 2000 Review

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Hiya Fumies,

I have had a sample of Musc Ravageur glaring with its almost Vivienne Westwood red cover at me since my scent Mother Emma took me on a tour of the Frederic Malle range at our Sydney city Mecca corner under Myer. On the day my 3 standouts were Carnal Flower, Geranium Pour Monsieur and Musc Ravageur. I was given samples of CF and Musc Ravageur but have been afraid of how much I will love them and crave FB of the whole damn lot. Well, to hell with waiting…

MUSC RAVAGEUR by MAURICE ROUCEL from FREDERIC MALLE 2000

Photo Stolen Frederic Malle

A lot has been written about this startling fragrance, Katie Puckrik does word and video, PerfumeSmellingThings and GrainDeMusc do words better than I could ever dream. Check them out. Fragrantica gives these notes

Top notes: Lavender and bergamot
Middle notes: Cinnamon and cloves
Base notes: Sandalwood, tonka bean, vanilla, guaiac wood and cedar

What happens when I put Musc Ravageur on? The big lavender and bergamot opening and already there is an undercurrent of the base like a warm hug from a fit young footballer just after practice, then the spices waft in heating things up. Together, at this point the whole fragrance seems to be vying for you attention, all notes together, it’s a busty blonde barmaid gone slightly to seed and working double time. My skin eats these first welcoming moments quickly, within the first half hour Musc Ravageur has settled into a sweet and warm musky vanilla that is way too lovely to be me but after a few hours it could be me if you didn’t know what I smelled of originally. A little bit of exercise, be it dancing or vacuuming, gives it an extra kick of sexy because your own scent blends with it. I think this would be a stunning after gym scent. Your blood is still flowing and you have that yummy sexy scent of just showered hard work, add to that some Musc Ravageur and you will seriously need a BIG stick to get rid of guys like this every morning.

Photo Stolen beautifulmale

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s post. What scent sends you crazy when you smell it?
See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Tourmaline by Charriol 2010

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hey Hey all you Scent Worshipers,

I am new to the world of Charriol.

Photo Stolen airesjewelers

It is a Swiss Jewellery and Watch company started in 1983 in Geneva by Philippe Charriol, a French entrepreneur, and known for it’s patented cable work with gold & steel and Celtic inspirations. Expensive, interesting and beautiful; their jewellery and watches are so artfully designed and constructed that they look timeless.


Photo Stolen airesjewelers

TOURMALINE by CHARRIOL 2010

When my friendly SA Amanda says to me, “Portia, you like a white flower powerhouse, don’t you?” my ears prick up instantly. The perfumer from Givaudan who created this fragrance, Guillaume Flavigny, also created In Black for Byblos which TSO Jin wears, and I love on him. He is good at making big scents even in today’s market so I am already thinking it might be a hit for me.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

According to Fragrantica (and severely de-ad.-speak) the notes go
Olfactory family: floral, green, woody
Top notes: Davana, Green notes, Cyclamen, Ivy leaf.
Middle notes: Gardenia, Frangipani, Water hyacinth.
Base notes: Rosewood, Musk, Patchouli.

Yes, it is a green, white floral but it also has a non specific sweet, fruity style that comes from Artemisia Pallens, commonly called Davana in India, that lifts it beyond your regular white floral. I am reading that this is a fruit-chouli/aquatic but it isn’t wearing like that on me at all. The cyclamen at the start gives this great sweet, floral, waxy feeling to the ivy, davana and green notes that identifies it as unusual for me. Then the night flowers start their song, so inviting and in your face. I love the clear call of the flowers in this middle section, it is feisty. This smells good. It’s so simple.  I could go on and on at you about the story and notes and completely miss the point that this smells so good, and fresh, crisp and light. We had a sunny Autumn day here in Sydney, Australia and Tourmaline stepped up to bat and hit the ball out of the park.

Photo Stolen gemselect

The bottle is nice too, it has heft and I like the side roping, and the nod to a watch face. In fact for once the bottle is nicer in your hand than the ad. The whole package seems well thought out and planned. The paraiba tourmaline was first discovered in the Brazililan state of Paraiba in 1989 by a dedicated miner named Heitor Barbosa and it’s luminous blue/green colour is caused by copper traces within the gem. It is only found in 3 places on earth and sells for thousands of dollars per carat.

It is now night time, I’ve cooked us all here the most delicious Butter Chicken, we’ve watched some TV and the crew is in bed. A respritz of Charriol’s lovely Tourmaline and all of a sudden I know what I will write about tonight. This sneaky, budget little gem that I picked up on my fave SAs word.

Tourmaline by Charriol can be bought from their site
I found it at PerfumeConnection 50ml under $30
Amazon also has 50ml under $30

I’m pretty sure this has slipped under everyone’s radar because the only mention I could find in a blog was NowSmellThis where Robin introduces the fragrance but gives mainly Press Release info. The comments after shed more light on the Tourmaline name, it’s where I got the paraiba from.

Thanks for coming along. It’s wonderful to me that you do. Thank You.
Portia xx

Anima Dulcis and Fleur de Louis by Arquiste from Carlos Huber

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Hiya Gang,

I have a special treat for you all today, a hunka-hunka burning love. A few weeks ago I wrote about Aleksandr by Arquiste for Perfume Posse and I thought we could look at a couple of Arquiste’s other fragrances today, the next paragraph is taken from the Posse expose.


Photo Stolen thenateshow

This is Carlos Huber, New York based, four language fluent, Mexican born architect and avant-garde preservationist, who was lucky enough to do his final study with architect and artist Jorge Otero-Pailos at Columbia where he graduated with honors in Historic Preservation, and now works all over the world fusing old and new in such amazingly braggable places as creating Ralph Lauren stores signature look in historically significant sites to restoring old Venetian Palazzos. Not just uber yummy but clearly clever, likeable and driven too.

The idea behind the Arquiste line is to recreate a moment in time with each perfume, much like Parfum d’Empire, but more a snapshot than a movie, a day rather than an era. It is an interesting idea and ties nicely with Carlos architectural work and need to know everything about his historical contexts. Carlos sees himself as a curator rather than perfumer, much like Frederic Malle, and works with perfumers/noses Rodrigo Flores-Roux and Yann Vasnier. He is like a ridiculously gorgeous, buff, manscaped, adorable, nerd or geek. Very endearing. His partner Nate Berkus is a TV design expert (hosting The Nate Show), New York Times best-selling author and regular contributor to The Oprah Show. This is a power couple if ever there was one.

Photo Stolen guestofaguest

I have stolen some of Carlos Huber’s interview with Marni Golden from TheNateShow

Marni Golden: What was that journey like for you – from conception to inception?
CH: To turn an experimental project like this into a full-fledged product is a long, rocky process that requires a lot of fine-tuning. And I call it a ‘product’ with the utmost respect, because the work that goes into a piece of work that you can share, trust and be proud of is huge. I’ve learned a lot and I can’t wait for what comes next.

MG: What makes Arquiste stand out amongst the very competitive and populated fragrance marketplace?
CH: I wanted to share something that has depth, fantasy and authenticity. To connect with the past, with history and to infuse our life with a real dose of poetry. The fragrances are incredible wearable, and modern, but retain a classical thread to them. I believe in them as masterpieces….


Photo Stolen retrovintagemodstyle

The two fragrances I have chosen to write about today are the two that Carlos himself wears most regularly, as day and night scents, according to the Marni Golden interview. If he loves them so much then we should probably investigate too.

ANIMA DULCIS: November 1695 Mexico City, we are to be transported to a nunnery where they make chili chocolate, for centuries. Well these nuns are a horny bunch, ripe, slightly aroused and lactating. This is chocolate but for the dirty bitch in us all. Yes, it starts out all sweet and gourmand but the problem is when you smell good enough to eat, someone will. He he. The main accords we are supposed to be smelling according to the blurb are Cocoa Absolute, Mexican Vanilla, Cinnamon, Chili infusion. They have kept it streamlined and simple on paper but it is anything but. The cocoa is deliciously bitter, almost burned, the vanilla is clean, fleshy and sensual like privates the day after a wax, the cinnamon and chili sizzle and the dry down is hot, healthy, sweaty humanity in a cup cakery. 4-5 hours is a lovely long wear time before it becomes skin scent and stays for a while longer lost to me but smellable by TSO Jin.

FLEUR de LOUIS: June 1660, Isle of Pheasants, Basque region, on the French-Spanish border. This must be meant to represent only Louis XIV’s side of the meeting between himself and his Spanish child bride Maria Theresa because I smell nothing childlike or innocent in this fragrance. The note list here is again brief, Orange Flower, Florentine iris, Jasmine, and White Cedar.  It is a beautiful white glamour floral given depth and dignity by its iris, which is a slightly bitter backnote along with its powdery dryness floating above and through all. The woods are slightly sharp too at the beginning of this story, like they have just been cut green and hastily erected but they soften and warm as the fragrance ages and blends with your chemistry. Fleur de Louis reminds me of something I smelled recently but can’t put a name or place to, it is familiar yet not. I swear there is some kind of citrus going on here, bright and popping in and out. Somewhere after 4 hours I have lost Fleur de Louis but it was a lovely ride, warm and cool all along. I understand why this is Carlos Huber’s day scent, it will fit all moods and (except for the absolutely repulsed by perfume people) would still be a perfectly acceptable office wear fragrance. This is my current favourite of the line so far but I still have 3 to fully review.
PS I wore Fleur de Louis for the whole day today and it lasted beautifully, there are some moments at the 5-6 hour point where I get a distinct powder puff and oil stick foundation from the 60’s that came upon me by surprise, it doesn’t last and just hits peaks, then runs to dry down at about 8 hours. Serious longevity.

Photo of Carlos Huber & Roja Dove from RojaDove

As you can see, even the power people of perfume are getting right behind the newest luxury fragrance line, Arquiste. When I did the Perfume Posse post Carlos sent me a tweet saying he was tickled that we’d written about him. It’s this kind of thoughtfulness that I hope will take the Arquiste line far and wide. Good product, reasonably priced, beautifully presented & packaged and a delicious hubba hubba of a man out the front.

You can purchase these 55ml fragrances direct from Arquiste, Anima Dulcis is $165, Fleur de Louis $175
I ordered a SurrenderToChance sampler pack of all 6 Arquiste fragrances where they start from .5ml for $29

Here’s one more photo of Carlos, just for gratuitous ogling pleasure.

Photo Stolen haroldluxuryformen

Thanks for coming along this lovely fragrant road with me today,
Have you tried the Arquiste range? Do you have a favourite? Maybe there’s another hunky perfumer out there you’d like to see more of?
Drop us a line here at APJ and we’ll see what we can do for you,
Till tomorrow,
Portia xx