NEW!! Suzanne R Banks: Banks Botanicals Fragrance Line

February 20, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Post by Portia

Woo Hoo Crew!

One of the things I really love in life is watching friends realise their dreams. Over the last couple of years I have watched Suzanne have an idea to write a book about using scent to promote growth and healing in your life and release a set of fragrances based the chapters of the book. I’ve put a link to the book down the bottom but this week I went to Suzanne’s house to sniff the finished products of her labours. SEE, dreams do come true. It’s amazing to have watched this journey unfold, it’s totally been the old trope of 1% Inspiration, 99% Perspiration, and to see Suzanne smooth the way over & around setbacks, challenges and obstacles has been inspiring.

What’s more I really loved a few of the scents and liked the rest. Only one of them totally didn’t work on my skin. That’s an amazing strike rate. They are all fragrant oils in roller ball bottles so they can be sent all over the world! Also, they’re the perfect purse popping size and excellent for travel. Let’s meet them then.

Banks Botanicals Fragrance Line

These are a hand blended botanical fragrance range and Suzanne has created each one with the intent to help you attain specific feelings and connections with your world. Historic and current knowledge combined to help lift your spirits and create a fragrant aura for your particular need. They’ve all been designed as stand alone scents but can be combined for more complex situations.

Being botanical fragrances it’s a maximum of 3 hours wear time so the rollerballs are great for top ups throughout the day, or changing it up was each one does its job.

Banks Botanicals: 1: Double Happiness

Fizzy and refreshing citrus, mint and rose geranium combine over a soft focus patchouli base to give a joyous mood cleanse that ends with a soft, comforting cuddle.

Banks Botanicals: 2: Oneness

This is the earth mother , Empress. Humus rich garden beds and dark woods at dusk created through Australian sandalwood, cyprus, orange and spikenard. So Australian.

Banks Botanicals: 3: Harmony

My favourite of them all. Harmony is a plush woodsy rose surrounded by green and balmy notes created through Indian rosewood, Virginian cedar, mandarine, sage & myrrh.

Banks Botanicals: 4: Bliss

A medicinal, spicy, fruit rose with all the thorns and twigs over patchouli with a stunning burst of ylang-ylang creating a creamy heart that is inspiring and surprising. Rose otto & rose absolute in abundance.

Banks Botanicals: 5: Fulfilment

Another one I really enjoyed. Petigrain, palmarosa, Virginian cedar, black pepper and cinnamon combine to give the impression of fresh cut capsicum, sunny days and salads. A spicy, compelling fragrance.

Banks Botanicals: 6: Flow

Brush away the cobwebs with a sharp herbal tea that reminds me of the smell of steam from ironing. Roman chamomile, citruses, vetiver, lavandin, marjoram and patchouli will cleanse your mind in readiness for creative action.

Banks Botanicals: 7: Positivity

Basil is supreme in positivity with lemongrass and vetiver bolstering its green, sappy, delicious freshness, everything else is merely backing. Positivity smells like happily gardening on a cool sunny day with no time restrictions.

Banks Botanicals: 8: Purity

Peru balsam, pink grapefruit, lemongrass, juniper & thyme create a sweet resinous fragrance that is as comforting as a cough drop and as healing. A perfect negative energy purge, or wear it as a forcefield.

Banks Botanicals: 9: Immortality

I have already used up my sample of this. Opening with a dusty, earthy incense moving through summer fruit punch and long sunlit days. Immortality combines neroli, bergamot, frankincense, everlasting daisy and clove.

Banks Botanicals: 10: Strength

An uplifting, bright, sensual orange blossom scent. Orange blossom, lavender, Indian sandalwood, jasmine and cardamom meld to create a simple and arresting fragrance that will help you be fully present.

Suzanne R Banks Blog
Suzanne R Banks Aromatherapy
Suzanne R Banks FaceBook

Scent Diary: 13.2 – 19.2.17

February 19, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Portia

Hiya APJ,

Back into the daily glamour grind. I love returning from holidays relaxed a refreshed, ready to jump on all the exciting developments since I left. This time there have been loads of those but I’ll tell you when it all comes to fruition. What has been wonderful after a week of very slim but awesome pickings is to have my whole collection of fragrance again to choose from.

Scent Diary: 13.2 – 19.2.17

Monday 13:

So bloody bummer. Wake up this morning about Explorer of the Seas and I’m sick as a dog. Nose running like crazy, coughing phlegm, hard to breathe properly and temperature slightly elevated. So I have a very hot shower and spritz myself lavishly with vintage Miss Dior parfum. It takes 6 sprays before I can even smell it. I go eat breakfast by myself so as not to infect my crew and then hit the hay. I read almost the whole third Divergent book Allegiant in a day. I rise from the bed for lunch and dinner, both eaten alone to avoid contamination. It has been a beautifully peaceful day, except for the coughing and nose blowing.

Coffee, tea and cookies for pep through the day.

Tuesday 14:

HOME!! Wearing vintage Miss Dior parfum and it is gorgeous. I can barely smell it through my sick but still I wanted to smell special.

Through Sydney Heads at dawn, docked in cool grey weather. Said my goodbyes to the wonderful cruising crew and headed off to help Jin fix the exhaust fans at BFF Kath’s apartment before heading home to bed. Still unwell but feeling a bit better. My nose is so raw that blowing it has become a problem.

The most excited person to see me is Paris. O M G! You have no idea how excited he is. So cute. He gives the best hello licks ever.

Sleep with my Valentine. I need to feel better for work tonight and Jin has a ten hour night shift ahead..

Wazamba by Parfum d’Empire tonight for work. Its spicy, resinous incense is exactly what this sick little duck needs to wake up and get going. MMMMMMM. It was so good I wore it to bed as well. This is the new bottle too, still potent and expansive, the whole room smells of it.

Wednesday 15:

Up and at ’em early today. This is my only free day till next Tuesday so everything that needs doing will be done today. Poudre de Riz Huitieme Art Parfums with its spicy rice powder and surprising sweet undercurrent, like a fragrant version of rice pudding drizzled in honey and sprinkled with brown sugar. Pierre Guillaume is a genius at understated sweetness. Yes, it’s the original bottle that so many people hated. I love it. Feels wonderful and expensive in my hand, that it’s mainly light blocking and has the tiny front glass window to see fill line. Everyone asks for innovation then bitches when they get it.

Calling people, paying bills, calling more people, organising, hectic but happy. It’s quite hard to keep perspective with this bloody cold, like trying to think while wrapped in wool underwater.

I decided while walking the dogs that I needed Chinese food and a movie so around the corner from our apartment is a sensational Chinese restaurant. I stood at the door with the two dogs and ordered dinner. Walked the dogs for another 10 minutes, grabbed the food and skedaddled home to watch Matrix and half of Matrix Reloaded before I snoozed off. Dinner was YUM! Sweet & Sour Pork, Crispy Skin Boneless Lemon Chicken, King Prawn Omelette and Egg Fried Rice. In my hurry I forgot to order a vegetable dish, oops!

Tonight because of Anne-Marie’s Eau de Sud by Annick Goutal post on APJ I double spritzed. BLISS, off to bed. Goodnight.

Thursday 16:

Oooh! It’s really sticky outside today. I just asked the dogs at 9am and by the time I got home I felt like I was living in the tropics. Hermes Monsieur Li this morning. Easy and breezy, my skin is throwing the smells of sweet citrus and the shade under trees.

Jin & I went and had a late Valentine’s lunch at his favourite Yum Cha. It was totally yummy and we got to do some catching up after the cruise. I took a pic but we both look half asleep so I’m not adding it in.

For work tonight I slathered myself in Silences PdT by Jacomo. Galbanum and stuff. Cool, refined and elegant. I felt the goddess within stir all night.

After work I opened a package that arrived. It had a vintage 1000 EdT by Jean Patou. OMG! This is my favourite version of it. So much brighter and with a lift that’s missing from the parfum. The roses are more fun, the osmanthus and violet give a waxy old-style make up vibe. This 1000 smells like the feel of applying YSL lipsticks in the 1990s in their square gold cases that looked uber glam, do you remember those? Do they still make them?

Friday 17:

Sorry not much of a post today. Was doing a Marriage Equality Trivia Fundraiser and Nightclub gig in a town 3 hours south. Left early and got home really late. Here are a couple of photos from the Trivia event, which was a complete Sell Out! I wore my new vintage 1000 EdT by Patou. That powdery, rosy beauty was a perfect fit even though it was so hot & humid that I nearly expired.

Saturday 18:

Woke up groggy and not quite with it. Travelling home so late last night I stopped at a Petrol Station, had a 15 minute nap and bought strawberry milk and some lolly snakes to keep me awake for the drive. So this morning I awoke with a sugar hang over, and a slightly sore back from sitting badly in the car. Feeling a bit sorry for myself actually so I spritzed Amouage Opus III. Gorgeous waxy flowers and stuff.

Tonight I had a gig for a mates 21st birthday party. He had no idea that his Mum had booked me to do a couple of numbers & officiate the event. It was so fun and he was totally sweet and thrilled, and embarrassed. The speeches were funny and heartfelt. He had a cake shaped as BOOBS! Yes, you read it, boobs. Bloody hilarious.

Now it’s late and I’ve spritzed Parfums DelRae Coup de Foudre. Now I’m going to bed is a haze of it. MMMMMMM

Sunday 19:

Today on Aussie Fragrance Network at FaceBook we started a week of Wear Your Designer Fragrances so there’ll be LOADS of the designer stuff in next weeks Scent Diary.

I got the week started with my vintage Miss Dior EdT, the one with the crappy lid. Yeah, it looks like shit but smells perfect. Miss Dior is fast becoming one of my all time favourite scents.

Poor Jinx, Jin’s dog, has broken his bed. When I went out to see them this morning he was so embarrassed that he couldn’t even look at me. Such a cutie. When the possums come around at night the dogs jump out of their beds so fast it must be quite an impact as it hits the wall. We have stopped them barking though, now they just stare. It’s a win.

Tonight for work I’ll be rocking Burberry Brit woman parfum. I love the little bottle and hardly ever get it out. Glad we are looking at designer Fragrances this week on AFN, hopefully I will grab out a bunch that have lain lost, loved but neglected.

How was your week? Did you do anything interesting? Buy or try any new fragrances?
Portia xx

Surrender by AbdesSalaam Attar for Surrender To Chance 2014

February 17, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hey Hey Perfume Junkies,

I have some incredibly exciting news for you all. Surrender To Chance have worked with La Via Del Profumo to create two incredible, all natural scents that will blow you right out of the water. I constantly hear and read complaints that many niche and indie perfumers are selling out and going mainstream, that the fragrances we are being offered aren’t pushing enough boundaries, interesting, skanky or outrageous.

I think I have something that might then tweak your interest.

Surrender by Surrender To Chance 2014

AbdesSalaam Attar of La Via Del Profumo

WikiCommons

Righto, toxic, petrochemical oil slick jasmine straight out of the gate. There’s NOTHING quite so ferocious and fabulous as being punched in the nose by 4 million jasmine flowers and they’re ready for action. Like an ice cold river that is both refreshing and agony the jasmine here is frosty and full on. If you like jasmine but never think perfumers capture the freaky gorgeous scent bomb that is sitting just down wind of a full flowering bush at dusk then I have found the perfect jasmine for you.

It’s perfect for me too. Ah May Zing.

From Surrender To Chance: Surrender is a rich jasmine floral that blends different jasmine absolutes with licorice, carrot, myrrh, gourmand notes and hyraceum. We wanted this to be a plush, slightly naughty wedding perfume, but it can be worn by anyone, no wedding required. We love jasmine and we love what Dominique did with this. The addition of the hyraceum makes this fragrance sing! It should be noted that it is an ethical and sustainable source of animal pheromone which does not hurt the animal in any way as hyraceum is the crystallized and petrified form of Hyrax urine. Because of the nature of the ingredients in Surrender and for its function as a sensual aphrodisiac fragrance, animal pheromones have a sense and a place in it.

You should get your sniff on this mad baby. I think you’ll love it.

How do you like your jasmine?
Portia xx

Eau du Sud by Annick Goutal for Annick Goutal 1996

February 15, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Anne-Marie

Hi all,
It’s summer in my part of the world and my citrus colognes are helping me push through the dog days.

I own a number of classic and wonderful citrus colognes, and while I always enjoy trying more, I rarely add to the collection of full bottles these days. After all, there is a certain sameness to them, and I tell myself I have most bases covered: 4711 (of course); Eau de Givenchy (my first citrus cologne); Dior Diorella (never dates because it always surprises); Eau de Rochas (lime and wet stones); Calyx (not really a traditional cologne, but wonderful in humidity); and Hermes Un Jardin sur le Nil (cleaner and more modern than the mossy citruses of yore).

I’ve many times NEARLY bought Chanel Cristalle, Ô de Lancome, Jo Malone Lime Basil & Mandarin, Eau de Patou, and Dior Eau Sauvage. For one reason or other, I talk myself back from the brink each time.

But THIS: Goutal Eau du Sud.

Eau du Sud by Annick Goutal 1996

Eau du Sud: My first impressions

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, basil, grapefruit, bergamot
Heart: Mint, lime, lemon verbena, jasmine
Base: Vetiver, patchouli, oakmoss

I gave myself a single spritz of Sud at the airport today on the way home from holiday. About four hours later, before I’d unpacked my suitcase, I hopped online and ordered a large decant.

Full bottle? Not ready to commit yet. But oh my how I enjoyed that single spritz of Sud! It lasted all afternoon and survived a shower (just). I’m not up to analysing notes yet, but what I loved was the mossy, aromatic and yet also dry and almost salty qualities I got as the fragrance developed. Citrus fruit, herbs, and the smell of sunshine on hot stones.

I’m looking forward to figuring out and reporting back on what it is about Sud that clicked the ‘buy’ button for me, when I have rejected those other great colognes. Yes, I’m as susceptible to marketing as the next person, but this really does make me dream of the south of France. The fact that I have never been there makes me all the more suggestible.

Book Depository

If you read romance novels you might know Mary Stewart’s Madam Will You Talk. This was her first novel, published in 1954, before she got into that Arthurian stuff. It takes its heroine, Charity Selborne, on a wild chase through sun-baked Avignon, Nîmes, Les Baux and finally Marseilles. Eau du Sud made me think of this book, not just for the scents, but the effect it achieves of bright sun and deep shade in an ancient, bare but beautiful landscape.

Well, I suppose it’s mostly motorways and apartment blocks now? Hopefully Eau du Sud will help me maintain the romance. I expect it has been reformulated over the years, but please don’t tell me. I’d rather not know.

WikiCommons

Further reading: Now Smell This and Portia on APJ
FragranceNet has $80/100ml before Coupon
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

What fragrance conjures up your ideal summer?
Until next time keep spritzing everyone!
Anne-Marie

Scent Of The Day Diary

February 14, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 29 Comments

Val the Cookie Queen

Greetings APJ,

“Perfumes are the feelings of flowers.” Heinrich Heine

Colouring Book v iPad

It has become popular and encouraged over the last couple of years for adults to start to colour again, as many of us did in our childhoods. There are some lovely colouring books around but what do you do with them afterwards? I know the therapy of it all is in the doing but still, I didn´t bother to get into it. Then I was introduced to the Scent of the Day Diary, including perfume related pictures to colour in. Hurray! A colouring book with a use. How many of us (I am sure it is not only me) sit down at night, turn the telly on, AND grab our iPad? Way too stressy and I have stopped it for the moment at least. I now take my SOTD diary and colour. It is so relaxing, I can´t recommend it highly enough. Trial run of turning the iPad off at night is proving successful and I am sleeping better. Interesting.

As perfume lovers, perfumistas, pefume addicts, I think we are all familiar with the Scent Of The Day hashtags #SOTD/#sotd. Many of us use it on our social media pages as we share what we are wearing. Great fun in this tumultuous times, and let´s face it, we all love to know what everyone else is wearing do we not?

Scent Of The Day Diary 365 pages

Anisia, from Anisia Beauty has taken SOTD one step further and designed, and printed a fantastic diary filled with perfume doodles and quotes. Each day has a full page, days, date and month, but no year printed, meaning you can record the perfumes you wear each day for at last the next five years! The ultimate perfume OCD diary. I admire the creativity of people and the energy taken into turning an idea into something tangible. It´s a ballbuster, I know.

Thanks to Stefanie Jähn from Fragantica Germany, team member of Fragrantica.com who sent me a SOTD diary, I am absolutely not affiliated with the SOTD diary in any way. I think is a fantastic idea and just want to bring it to your attention APJs. And yes, of course the first thing I did when I got it was to look for a Vero Profumo doodle.

Get your Scent Of The Day Diary <<JUMP

Do you like to sketch or colour?

Painted and Coloured Bussis
CQ

CHANEL No 19: The Furriest Green

February 13, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Portia

Hey APJ,

We talk a lot about the rigid backed, aloof and cool angel that CHANEL No 19 is but rarely does anyone speak about the furriness. While wearing it today I had this FUR-piphany. Though I love 19 in all weathers it seems to bloom particularly well in the heat. It’s as if the usually buttoned up girl blossoms and blooms into a voluptuous siren of a woman and calls to one and all in alluring cadences.

CHANEL No 19 by Henri Robert 1971

CHANEL No 19: The Furriest Green

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Galbanum, Hyacinth, Neroli
Heart: Iris, Jasmine, Lily-of-the-valley, Narcissus, Rose, Ylang-ylang
Base: Oakmoss, Leather, Musk, Sandalwood, Cedarwood

I’m guessing my current bottle is somewhere 1980s or 1990s. It’s the silver plastic 50ml EdT with the gold trim. The opening is quite high pitched and the base lasts well into 4 hours fragrant.

Sparkling citrus and green, furry galbanum. One of my favourite fragrant openings. At once sheer and dense, like being completely encased in a green bubble made of coolest, smooth marble. It’s a wake up shock, a welcome surprise every time.

PDI

Here’s the problem, I refuse nowadays to spend time parsing the notes in the heart. What I do is sit here and enjoy the scent of CHANEL No 19 in its entirety. The bouquet in 19s heart is fresh and crisp, it smells buttoned up and ready at action stations. How could you be anything less than efficient and in charge when you smell like this? Hardly seems possible.

Then the base slowly, sinuously, darkens this crystal display with creamy sandalwood, animal musks and furry oakmoss. Here is where CHANEL No 19 captures my heart and holds it in thrall. Somehow while maintaining its regal dignity the whole fragrance becomes comfortable, cuddly and comforting. Like the 6pm bell has sounded and Miss Hard Assed Executive has let down the French roll, undone an extra button on the blouse, swapped 4″ for 2″ heels and headed off to hang with the family.

PDI

Further reading: Anne-Marie at APJ and Portia at APJ
CHANEL counters worldwide have No 10 EdT. Mine was a vintage eBay buy

Do you CHANEL No 19?
Portia xx

Opus III by Karine Vinchon Spehner for Amouage 2010

February 10, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Portia

Hello Fragrance Family,

Yes, I know i’ve come late to the Library Collection. I don’t know why but earlier I found them boring or awful. Ever since I fell madly in love with Opus IX in Vienna while shopping with Val CQ, Sandra, Anna-Maria and Jin last year. I bought it on the spot at full retail without even thinking about it because it’s so damn gorgeous. So i thought I better give the rest of the set a respritz and Bloody Hell, they are wonderful.

Opus III by Amouage: The Library Collection 2010

Opus III by Karine Vinchon Spehner

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Carnation, Broom, Mimosa, Nutmeg, Thyme
Heart: Jasmine, Orange blossom, Violet, Ylang-ylang
Base: Ambrette, Benzoin, Gaiac wood, Musk, Papyrus, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Cedar

The opening is sharp but mellowed by a smoothly waxy violet leaf with sizzling, spicy green-ness and already the creamy ylang is present. Opus III is a chunky violet/waxy/lipstick and hairspray fragrance that for me smells like I imagine kissing one of the glamorous Hollywood stars in the 1940s & 50s. It’s all cool fresh and floral up top and I’m surprised there’s no narcissus because I am getting some raunchy vegetal something, probably the jasmine, ambrette and orange blossom. Woody dry down is dry and resinous, lightly sweet. Charmingly innocent.

Flickr

One of the reviews I read mentions the word sleek and suddenly the whole fragrance makes real sense to me. Opus III is a sleek and flawless beauty that still manages to be friendly and approachable. Very easy to wear and love.

My imagine takes me to a well heeled businesswoman at the top of her game. Confident and talented in whatever role she’s in. A likeable, generous boss who also manages to get the job done. Though Opus III is happily unisex smelling this is my vision.

PDI

Further reading: Now Smell This and Australian Perfume Junkies
Libertine Parfumerie has $487/100ml with FREE Australian Delivery

What fragrances have you dismissed and returned to love?
Portia xx

Emeraude Agar by Jerome Epinette for Atelier Cologne 2016

February 9, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Portia

Hey Hey APJ,

Do you remember Coty’s Emerald? Well I love it, even in its modern form, but in the interests of full disclosure I rarely wear it anymore. As soon as I saw the name of todays fragrance I couldn’t wait to get my sniff on it. Add to that the lovely green (my favourite colour) of the label and it being brand new to the Atelier Cologne Metal Collection and I was practically panting. Not too far from the truth in the very hot summer we are having here in Sydney, Australia.

So I’ve poured the whole sample vial on at once, arms and chest.

Emeraude Agar by Atelier Cologne 2016

Emeraude Agar by Jerome Epinette

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Angelica, Bergamot, Black pepper
Heart: Eucalyptus, Geranium, Turkish rose absolute
Base: Gaiac wood, Malayan oud, Mysore sandalwood

Black pepper with a tinge of green over bro-woods is my initial thought. In the rose/oudh category this little baby is leaning to the masculine but in a 21st century niche woodsiness that speaks to me of gym changing rooms and boozy middle management on Friday night. TBH I was expecting more from the note list. Very little Angelica on me, the Eucalyptus passes me by and the geranium fails to even add its perky kick in any meaningful way.

I just read that back and it reads like a diss. Nah, not a diss. I quite like the way Emerald Agar smells but it’s hardly a boundary pusher or even feeling very niche OR it feels like all the lazy formulaic niche. Maybe I’m just feeling bitchy in the 41C humid heat.

PDI

The sandalwood is a very nice approximation. Creamy, soft, supple sandalwood like running your hand over one of those beautifully carved and polished wood bowls you see in country style stores for extravagant prices. Add that to the plethora of other wood in the base, and the super subtle hint of oudh, it’s my favourite part of the whole experience. Lasting power is good for an Atelier too. I could imagine a one fragrance person going through a bottle of Emerald Agar in the cooler months of the year in record time and even have it work well into the summer. If you told me there was ambergris in the base here I’d believe you, salty driftwood dry down with a creamy smooth overlay, seriously the end is wonderful.

Flickr

LuckyScent has $130/30ml
Surrender To Chance has $4.80/ml

Can you be tempted by name and bottle? Does the colour of the packaging ever help you decide?
Portia xx

CHANEL: Scented Journey

February 8, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Sandra

Hi there sexy smelling APJers

About a week before I left Vienna I was sniffing my way through the new Eau de Parfums of the Chanel Exclusives when a lovely SA came up to me and asked if I would like to go on a Chanel Scented Journey. Intrigued, I signed myself up and asked a friend to come and join me.

Not knowing what I was about to embark on, I went in open minded and happy to get away for a little bit of scented fun. Now, I will be perfectly honest here, I did not come out and tell her that I was going to write a post about it, nor did I tell her that I looovee perfumes and have more than 2 bottles at home. I thought it might make her uncomfortable and clam up. I did ask permission to take one picture of her with the essences in front of her and she agreed (no close up of the box was allowed).

CHANEL: Scented Journey

So, to begin with she asked me several pointed questions about my scented memories or what I find to be the perfect scented experiences. We spoke a bit about flowers and colours and then we dove right it.

Now, if you think that this is all hogwash and you do not want to read any further, I understand completely. However, take into consideration the most amazing Chanel box that came out full of essences that Chanel uses in its perfumes. My jaw dropped when I saw what lay before me and I wanted to go through each and every one of the mini bottles. Unfortunately, that is not how it works. Taking into account my answers, she had me go through 10 essences where I had to guess what I was smelling and then give an opinion on how I liked it.

Well, after about half an hour of sniffing and swooning or cringing, she walked away for 5 minutes and then came back with what she thought would be my perfect Chanel perfumes. I was told that Beige or Boy would be to my liking. Now, she hit the nail on the head with Beige as I already have gone through a bottle of it and still love it. But Boy? Unfortunately she did not have any samples of Boy left but she gave me samples of several of the other perfumes to test at home.

You may wonder if I walked away with anything. Yes, sure did – after several wearings I fell in love with Misia EdP as I find it a tad rounder, less sharp in the opening and overall more tenacious than the EdT which tends to fall flat on me after about an hour of wear. I received a decant of Boy from a dear friend and will be giving it a full wearing when it warms up a bit here and wonder if she got that one right too.

If you have the opportunity to take the Chanel Scented Journey, please do. It was such a joy being able to see the essences lined up like that and actually smelling some of them. I would love to hear if you have had the chance the smell the new EdPs and what you think of them.

Till next time,
Big smoochy woochies,
Sandra xxx

Cologne Cashmere by Carla Chabert for La Manufacture 2015

February 7, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

TinaG

Hey APJ!

I came across La Manufacture through a gifted sample of Cologne Rare, and I was so impressed that I promised myself to purchase a few more of their colognes to try out. A major problem in accessing these was having them shipped to Australia – they don’t send directly. I needed to have them sent to Germany and brought back in personal luggage – not ideal, and difficult to replicate. However, as I have been enjoying these, I thought it was worth sharing my thoughts.

Cologne Cashmere by La Manufacture 2015

Cologne Cashmere by Carla Chabert

Fragrantica

Le Manufacture gives these featured accords:
Bergamot, mandarin, guaiac wood, sandalwood, leather, velvet, amber, vetiver, marron glacé

This fragrance is a fantastic example of why not to underestimate something just because it’s a “cologne”. It changes through dry down with three distinct stages, and sticks to my skin for at least 8 hours in the summer heat – albeit as a skin scent after about 4 hours.

Cologne Cashmere opens with a fabulous juicy mandarin and bergamot. The bergamot borders more on the green side of the citrus rather than the smoky side and I think this is because it’s emphasised by a generous waft of dry woods that sweeps through and then deepens. After 15 minutes a cheeky little suede note slips in to the picture, having a certain peach aspect to it in a similar vein as Daim Blond or Bottega Veneta. There’s a touch of salty plasticine in there too, which I’ve sniffed out during the first hour a few times. Makes the fragrance feel lived-in.

PDI

At 1 hour you get a jumbled mix of woods. Close to the skin there’s a sense of a soft wood hollowed out by fungus and then dried, and a blond grassy note. I got a lovely surprise when I caught a whiff of sandalwood in the silage. It was a perfect representation, and it was a gorgeous match for a hot and humid day.

But wait, there’s more. I was entranced by a sweet note during the dry down which I likened to strawberry jaminitially. Because the first time I noticed it I was in a home environment, I passed it off as being an anomaly. However on closer investigation on the sample’s listed notes, there is something called a marron glacé right at the very end of the spiel – my brain disregarded this the first few times around because I simply didn’t know what it was. However, what I was overlooking was the source of my sweet impressions! Marron glacé is chestnut which has been crystallised and then coated in a glaze – and there it was in my fragrance – a yummy sticky jammy sugary chestnut. Bloody brilliant.

WikiCommons

I’m fascinated by the way Cologne Cashmere changes from being primarily hesperidic, through to dry and woody, and end up with such an unusual gourmand. It’s been very fun to wear and I’m sorry to see my sample running dry.

Le Manufacture has €65/50ml and samples

What is your favourite cologne?

Have a fab start to the week.

xx Tina G