Moon Shadow by Library of Flowers 2013

September 23, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there APJ,

You know when you’re rummaging around in your samples and you find THE ONE? Your nose explodes, eyes roll back in your head, you take deep lungfuls of fragrant air and nearly sniff the skin off your hand to get more of this magnetic and all encompassing magic into your sensory stations? You get so excited that you immediately start to look for a bottle of this incredible, fabulous, unbelievably amazing fragrance that has just blown your brains out?

Right, so now you know how I felt smelling todays fragrance. Then I went to the Library of Flowers site to buy a bottle and DISCONTINUED!!!! Aaaaaarrgghhhh. Thank goodness Surrender To Chance has more. I’ve just ordered the lAST 5ml they had and it’s not being restocked. You can find it on Amazon though.

Moon Shadow by Library of Flowers 2013

Moon Shadow: Bottled by Margot Ellena

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Waterlily
Heart: Lotus
Base: Jasmine

Library of Flowers is a house produced by Margot Ellena who you may know from Bloom, Lollia, Tokyo Milk & Love and Toast. I don;’t know how she does it but her fragrances are often really good and at excellent prices. I’m not sure exactly what a Botanical Perfume is but my assumption is that they have a high percentage of “natural” ingredients.

Never before have I smelt such a photo realistic jasmine. So real that I was given a stem of fresh cut vine jasmine the night I was wearing Moon Shadow and they were indistinguishable, melding into each other perfectly. I was not the only one to notice how eerily similar they were. As to the waterlily and lotus notes, sorry but I really don’t get any of them. I get a perfect jasmine.

One problem that often happens with jasmine-centric fragrances is that they open with a huge bang and then fade almost instantly to a quiet, safe, discrete wash that bores the fricken socks off me. Here we have a scent that stays pretty powerful for over two hours before softening in projection but still maintaining a good sillage. I also love that I can still smell it hours later, my nose doesn’t get that tired anosmia that so often happens for me with jasmines. It still smells like sticking your head in a fully flowering jasmine vine all the way to losing the scent all together.

Amazon still has a few bottles at around $37/50ml

What has rung your bell so hard that you had to find more lately?
Portia xx

Teazzurra by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2015

September 22, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Tea Freaks,

I was in David Jones city store recently and was chatting with the Guerlain SA. She was so kind and offered a couple of Teazzurra samples, one for me and one for you.

I would like to take a moment here to say how distressed I am about Guerlain stopping the Sample/Decant services selling their product. As an Australian far from the Guerlain main markets it is nearly impossible to get my sniff on their products any other way. My list of Guerlain purchases while overseas is made in the year or so leading up to travel by sampling through these services. Not to mention being able to do as early as possible writing for APJ. GRRRRR!

Teazzurra by Guerlain 2015

Teazzurra by Thierry Wasser

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, lemon, yuzu, grapefruit
Heart: Green tea, chamomile, jasmine
Base: Musk, calone, vanilla

Love the fizzy citrus opening that tickles my nose and feels luminous and fun. My nose does get the yuzu in there originally that bittersweet’s up to grapefruit. It does dry out through the heart and is slightly like a herbal infusion but basically it heads straight for a very soft, radiant vanilla/jasmine over laundry musks. Sadly I even miss out on the calone, which could have given me that fun salty melon thing it does so well. I fear Teazzurra has been a miss for me. BUMMER! If the opening and heart had lasted into 30 minute territory on me I would have forgiven it the less than exciting rest of its lifespan.

YouTube

I used up my whole sample to write this so there was plenty of fragrance on my skin but it just did not live up to my expectations. I think I will pass on Teazzurra. If it was a lot less expensive, maybe. It’s not terrible scrubber material, just boring.

Obviously your mileage may vary and Teazzurra might be heavenly on you. Lucky you, I wish it was for me.

Further reading: Arabia Style and Now Smell This
GalaxyPerfumes has Au$86/125ml

Teazzurra GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Carded Manufacturers Sample Teazzurra by Guerlain
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Tell us your favourite Guerlain Aqua Allegoria fragrance or which one you’d like to try

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Saturday 24th September 2016 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Wednesday 28th September 2016 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Estate Rosewood EdP by Angela St. John for Solstice Scents 2016

September 21, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Post by Erica Golding

Fragrant greetings to all of you wonderful scent lovers around the world!

Today, my aura is fully saturated with a generous infusion of my new favorite indie masterpiece. Angela has done it again, and her latest Eau de Parfum composition is a complete addiction for me. I can’t get to sleep without wearing it lately, it’s got me mental!

Estate Rosewood EdP by Solstice Scents 2016

Estate Rosewood EdP by Angela St. John

Solstice Scents

Solstice Scents gives these featured accords:
Vanilla, tea rose, oak casks, tobacco, woods, bourbon, rosewood, hinoki wood

When Estate Rosewood was released several weeks ago, I ordered a sample and rocked on my heels next to my mailbox until it arrived. (This took about 30 seconds, haha! Solstice Scents still boasts an exceptionally fast turnaround time despite their well-deserved exploding fan base.)

Naughty confession: I tested it immediately, the little glass sprayer still warm from cooking in a hot summer mailbox. I inhaled and – and, well, it was like only being able to see the tail of a comet from your peripheral vision. It was incomplete, narrow, flat, and left me wanting more. Specifically, it made me crave pure Estate Vanilla. I just wanted to fill the void. I tested the next night and it was the same. The woods were nice but too subtle, the tobacco note was a bit minty and high pitched, the vanilla was confined.
I shrugged, put it aside, and decided it was just not my style.

PDI

A few days later, I was on vacation visiting my dear bestie Sammy, my partner in crime for all things fragrance (and otherwise). She was so deeply in love with her Estate Rosewood. I smelled it on her skin, and suddenly – Glory! A harmonious symphony! Rich, balanced, resonant magic! Experiencing this perfume with her fantastic chemistry was a turning point for me. (You should all be jealous, she amps dark notes like you wouldn’t believe!) Let’s also factor in the mail shock that my sample had been exposed to, it really took over a week to recover. Travel conditions like temperature shifts, pressure changes, varied elevations, and physical agitation impacted this perfume significantly. I hadn’t given it enough time to settle.

I quickly drained my sample once I realized it had recovered from the mail. (Duh. Idiot!) Next I scored a full bottle, and I’ve dented the volume 10% in just a few weeks. Really, it’s that good! The first two batches sold out almost instantly. It’s a must-try if you enjoy feeling like a legend.

Solstice Scents has $85/60ml and Samples

Do you have a story about wrongly judging a mail-shocked fragrance too soon? Have you ever had the chance to evaluate the effects of skin chemistry on perfume? Let’s chat about it below!

Love and light and scented hugs,
Erica

Vintage Eau de Rochas by Nicolas Mamounas for Rochas 1970

September 19, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Post by Azar

Hello Perfume Pals,

Stocking up, prepping, hoarding, collecting – whatever you call it, many of us indulge in flagrant fragrance excesses of every kind. Probably the most important thing I’ve learned from my fellow perfume junkies is to dump the guilt, go with the flow and simply stop and enjoy the perfume. Knowing that I have a supportive network of like-minded “hobbyists” has made it possible for me to re-tool the pejorative phrase “anything that is worth doing is worth over-doing” into a mantra that supports my fascination with scent. It is OK to collect mass quantities of perfume – as long as the collection doesn’t break the bank, sink the ship or crowd me out of house and home.

For many years I’ve enjoyed the thrill of finding treasures for the cheapest possible prices. Nowadays I search for the best deals on various household items but I also scour the auction sites and bargain bins for the lowest prices on perfumes. While some folks must have total immersion (the ambience and service offered by fragrance boutiques or perfume shops) I find my ultimate satisfaction in the lowest price per milliliter. Yes! Bigger can be better. So why not buy in bulk!

Now don’t scoff! I know that at least two of you seriously consider ppml (Price Per ml) before you purchase! Thrifty shoppers look at the unit price of everything, from the cost per square foot for homes to the price per pound of bananas. I am well aware that lumping luxury purchases into the same category as the basic essentials of life (bananas?) might be stretching it a bit – but so what? The bigger and cheaper the bottle the better – and I’m not talking about factice here. The big bottles must be filled with the real thing and – better yet – include the original box.

For some, the Holy Grail of giant perfume bottles is the 1.5 liter (50.721 oz) Shalimar India Nights extrait. These monsters were created as limited editions. The sheer size is breathtaking, but so is the price! A whopping $12,000 US (plus) disqualifies this one from my bargain search. But no worries – there are other big ones out there to satisfy my lust for large.

Vintage Eau de Rochas by Rochas 1970

Vintage Eau de Rochas by Nicolas Mamounas

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Lime, mandarin orange, basil, grapefruit, bergamot, lemon, verbena
Heart: Coriander, carnation, patchouli, jasmine, narcissus, wild rose
Base: Oakmoss, sandalwood, amber, musk, vetiver

Just the other day I purchased a full 14.9 oz (440ml) near pristine vintage Eau de Rochas, including the original box, for $9 US – that’s approximately 2.045 cents per ml! My big bottle was shipped quickly and arrived in perfect condition with no leaks or stains. It smells exactly like it should too – cooling, citrus-y, herbal with a breath of fresh carnation, jasmine and vetiver. The bottle looks like a huge chunk of ice. That alone makes me smile. The jus itself is certainly worth its weight in denatured alcohol!

Is ppml important to you? What is the biggest bottle of fragrance you have ever seen – or purchased?

Azar xx

(Ed: All photos donated by Azar.)

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils

September 18, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hi frag Friends! Robert H. here….

I am beyond thrilled to have discovered Abdul Karim Al Faransi (Abbdul Karim the Frenchman) Perfume Oils from Birmingham in the UK! I have always loved the idea of Middle Eastern perfume oils, but often the execution fails to deliver. I have tried a multitude of lines, offered on Amazon, Ebay and Esy, and available at stores like Whole Foods. None have come thru for me and I am more often than not disappointed.

Until now.

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils

Finding Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils is like coming upon a beautiful cool oasis, in a wasteland desert. See, the other brands I’ve tried in the past have all had something in them that skews petrochemical on my skin, usually manifesting as a back note that’s bitter, metallic, headache-inducing, and well…just fake.

Right from the onset you can detect French influence in these AF oils, also their logo is comprised of traditional Arabian swords that form an “A” and an “F”, while also forming the shape of the Eiffel Tower.

Self-described autodidact, owner Anthony Abdul Karim Marmin a young perfumer in his 30’s, is the sole owner and nose. In business since 2013 (1434 on the Islamic calendar), Anthony is mostly self-taught who has “Learned and continues to learn from various books, experiences and meeting with other people involved with perfumery.”

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils: Imperial Desire

The first oil I’m trying is called “Imperial Desire” and it’s a terrific floral described as:

“….a thick white musk with an innovative style. This creamy and powdery fragrance is an empire of sweetness full of beautiful notes . This soft perfume is suitable for men and women..”

Top: Taif rose, Comoros Ylang, Light fruity notes.
Heart: Violet, Orris, Lily of the valley, Powdery notes.
Base: Musk, Vanilla, Cedar, Amber.

Imperial Desire is creamy in color and swabs on like a viscous thick syrup, leaving a slick on my arm that is gorgeous with a deep scent similar to a vintage french extrait. I don’t get the fruit notes as much as the beautiful rose and ylang. As the oil heats up, the powdery and rooty orris sneaks in, supported by the violet, all resting on a soft musk base shot thru with vanilla and amber.

This scent feels very personal to me, not something to wear if you’re looking for sillage, but profoundly intimate to be enjoyed by you alone and maybe with someone special. It is a lush, sexy bouquet, deep and chewy, not unlike being anointed in a joyous ritual, the evocative scent slowly working deep into your emotions and psyche.

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils: Musk Tahara Monoi

The second oil I tried is the lovely beach-y scent “Musk Tahara Monoi”, a true “Floramand” (floral gourmand.)

The notes are: Tahitian Monoi, Polynesian Flowers, Tahitian Vanilla, White Lotus, White Musk.

Opening like Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil mixed with a deep caramel sauce, Monoï (Tahitian gardenia or Tiaré steeped in coconut oil) is a beautiful, buttery, and lush smelling oil, and mixed here with vanilla and musk, smells like a floral infused coconut cake. With the same color and viscosity as “Imperial Desire” this oil slathers on like liquid butter and takes you right to a tropical beach, moist and fecund and scented with Polynesian flora. Beautiful stuff!

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils are available on their website
The prices are amazingly reasonable (€10.00 for a 6ml. dab bottle and a flat international shipping rate of €2.50!) and that 6ml. bottle will last quite some time!

Have you tried Faransi oils? What are some Middle Eastern oils you’d recommend?

Lovely by Laurent Le Guernec and Clement Gavarry for Sarah Jessica Parker 2005

September 17, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Fragrance Friends,

Last week in Australia on our AFN FaceBook page we had a Wear Your Celebrity Scents week. We often have special Wear Your weeks because by highlighting a particular section of our collections to wear we remember to bring out things that have sat neglected. It’s been over a year since I last spritzed todays fragrant offering, and it used to be one of my go-to, wear everywhere frags. So it was really nice to spend a full day re-engaging with it. Fully respritzed it for morning, noon and night.

Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker 2005

Lovely by Laurent Le Guernec and Clement Gavarry

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives the following accords:
Top: Nectarine, bergamot, rosewood, lavender
Heart: Apple martini, white daffodil, orchid
Base: White amber, cedar, woody notes, white musk

The shimmery, hefty/sheer fruity opening of Lovely is skimming the edge of screechy as you apply it. I hold my breath for that first few seconds of zing because it’s completely overwhelming to me. It only lasts a few seconds and then Lovely becomes well named. My mind has always told me that lovely is a fruity rose and jasmine bouquet fragrance over the most enormous hit of fluffy, powdery, clean woody musks. So there are no roses or jasmine in the notes list but even now that I’ve read the note list my nose is not getting the memo.

What I love about Lovely is how softly insistent it is. While you may not be strong smelling the fragrance does tend to have legs and will fill a room if you spritz in one room, leave for whatever reason and come back 20 minutes later you’ll still smell juicy/musky remnants. So when I wear Lovely I can sit down with someone and it may take 10 minutes for the fragrance to make itself known and then I’ll get a compliment.

Longevity is excellent and because it’s now so cheap I can spritz with abandon. Lovely also leaves excellent sillage, people will look up about 30 seconds after you’ve walked past and will be looking for where that fabulous smell is coming form. Dressed up or lounging around the house Lovely feels like a perfect fit.

Further reading at Bois de Jasmin and Australian Perfume Junkies
FragranceNet has $20/30ml Before Coupon
My Perfume Samples starts from $2/ml to $7/5ml

What has been left loveless around your place that needs to see some spritzing?
Portia xx

Shagya by Sidonie Lancesseur for Parfums de Marly 2013

September 16, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there Frag Heads,

When the niche bomb exploded one of the houses that became an instant line in loads of high end scent stores was perfumes de Marly. Pegasus in 2011, 5 more in 2012, 7 in 2013, 4 in 2014, 3 in 2015 and 3 more in 2016. That’s 23 fragrances in 5 years, almost Montale-ish. Strangely we haven’t yet written about any of their scents here on APJ, I have had some samples but they got ignored so I moved them on. I have just found the amusingly titled Shagya in a carded manufacturers sample and the green caught my eye. Come and have a first impression ride with me.

Shagya by Parfums de Marly 2013

Shagya by Sidonie Lancesseur

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Lime, Pink pepper
Heart: Geranium, Oud, Cedarwood
Base: Gaiac wood, Musk, Papyrus, Vetiver

Lime and pepper fizz merrily on open and I can already smell the woods/oud giving a dry, dusty, summer in a country woodmill feeling. Hot and muddy like after a summer storm. Having a cold lemonade in the sunshine after the storm. A grown up cologne for wealthy business people with just enough gravitas to feel like old farm money comes to town.

This is not a whole new scent, it’s an old trope that seems smooth and debonairly executed up top with a very nice, crisp woodsy dry down. The scent becomes less and less juicy as the heart progresses and finishes as brittle dried grasses and well polished woods.

I bet this is one of Marly’s best sellers. While not rocking my socks off it is different enough to add that extra edge to the business of making people smell good. In the modern tradition of mens fragrance but I think a woman would smell divine in it, that would be so unexpected.

Wikipedia

From Parfums de Marly: The Shagya Arabian horse was developed in Austro Hungaria and is known for its inborn friendliness towards humans. Named after the majestic Arabian breed of horses, Shagya is the most exclusive of the Royal Essence collection. The top notes of the fragrance tingle with the Citric freshness of Limette, Bergamot and Pink Berries and gently give way to a heart of Geranium, Cedar wood and Oud. The fragrance settles with woody scents of Vetyver, wood of Guaiac, Papyrus and musk.

First in Fragrance has €150/125ml (Spend €300 FREE World Shipping!)
(Even FragranceNet is more expensive at €229.60)

Have you tried any of the Parfums de Marly?
Portia xx

Limanakia by Pierre Guillaume for Parfumerie Generale 2016

September 15, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello New Fragrance Fans,

HOT off the Press Release I’ve been sent Pierre Guillaume’s newest fragrance to try. Anyone who is a fan of his earlier work will be thrilled. We have this so early that only Pierre has it for sale on his site, it was only released at Pitti this week!

Let’s try it together…

Limanakia by Parfumerie Generale 2016

Limanakia by Pierre Guillaume

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Artemisia, cumin, flint, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, tiare flower, immortelle, patchouli, woody notes, cashmere wood, labdanum

One of the people whose opinion I trust about all things fragrant is Josie from OSSWALD NYC. When Josie said that Pierre Guillaume is an extremely gifted perfumer who makes really good smelling scents I really started to take notice of the brand. I’d always liked his style and had a couple FBs of his work and was totally infatuated with his handsome self already. It was the tiny push I needed to go from impressed to fan boy. Then earlier this year I met him, FAINT! He he he, what a charming, sexy and amusing man.

Green! The opening is curiously green and dusty, a dried herbiness then segues into a sweet immortelle wound tightly with a very pretty backing track of creamy white flowers. The transition is so smooth and feels utterly effortless, as if the new notes float in, creep in, gently until they completely take over. OOOOHHHH it’s so good. The green comes back after about 15 minutes but is less stark now, entwined with the floral bouquet and becoming softly balmy, maybe it’s the labdanum. I am reminded of the Tommi Sooni range, that same old-world glamour girl feel.

After about an hour patchouli reigns supreme, a sheer, clean patchouli all tidied up and with floral flourishes. Still, it does nod to the headshop and the woods create a lovely setting for it to shine.

There is definitely a FB in my future.

Pierre Guillaume has sizes starting at €65/30ml

Limanakia GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x Limanakia sample (decanted from my press sample)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Go to Pierre Guillaume’s Site<< JUMP. Tell us ONE of your favourite fragrances of his and ONE of its notes. NO DOUBLE UPS!!

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Saturday 17th September 2016 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Wednesday 21st September 2016 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit

Galop d’Hermès by Christine Nagel for Hermès 2016

September 14, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Post by Claire Vukcevic

Hey there, you lovely-smelling APJ guys!

I was recently lucky enough to snag a sample of the new Galop d’Hermès in an Hermès boutique in Copenhagen. Well, I say lucky, but what I really mean is that I stomped my little feet until I got one, because I was buying a whole bottle of Osmanthe Yunnan at full retail so you better believe I wasn’t leaving without some loot. I got a chance to fondle the bottle too. I’m not sure what the string is for (hanging it up with your gym wash bag maybe?), but it’s Hermès and it’s shaped like a stirrup, so who am I to quibble.

Galop d’Hermès by Hermès 2016

Galop d’Hermès by Christine Nagel

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Rose, Leather, Saffron, Quince

Galop d’Hermès opens bright and mouth-puckeringly tart, a saffraleine leather glossed to a high shine with rose and cassis. It’s hard not to swoon, to be honest, because the immediately appetizing mixture of velvety rose petals, saffron, and orange swells to fill the nose and make your mouth water. Syrupy and rich, the opening is almost gourmand to my nose, but then a wave of urinous cassis (blackcurrant) crests and washes over the composition, adding a welcome astringency.

Now, don’t be too alarmed by my use of the word “urinous” here – both cassis and grapefruit share a compound that is also present in urine, but if you don’t perceive any “cat pee” note in fragrances such as Aqua Allergoria Pamplelune, then you should be fine with this. I think that this is the only element in Galop that might be considered shocking or animalic, the way the perfume makes that blackcurrant note teeter between pee and unripe fruit. To my nose, rhubarb has a similar effect.

Likewise, despite equestrian-based marketing, there is really nothing horsey or animalic about the leather note, which is the smooth, vegetal leather used in other Hermès fragrances such as Kelly Caleche. But the texture here is less angular. The sleekness of leather fuzzes up even more, gaining a dusky wooliness that really works against the tart cassis. What surprises me is that the lush, velvety rose I smelled in the opening disappears, morphing into a rose-tinted baked apple – a quince basically. I bake with quinces, and the scent matches the taste: a rosy, perfumey apple with a mealy texture. When a slice or two is slipped into an ordinary apple tart, they turn a fabulous shade of blush pink.

Longevity is pretty good – I get about 6-8 hours. Projection is quiet, though, which is hardly surprising, given it’s an extrait. I can see this working for posh girls and boys who know their way around a tack room or two. It’s as refined as the JC Ellena scents for Hermès but has just enough of that Christine Nagel richness of touch to push more towards glamorous equestrian ball territory than sheer daytime wear.

Fragrantica

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and AnOther
Hermès Australia has $275/50ml

What about you? Will you miss JC Ellena when he goes? What are your fave JC Ellena frags?
Slán from rainy old Ireland,
Claire

Claire also writes for Take One Thing Off

Going Green? TinaG’s Quick Sniffs with Portia

September 12, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Post by TinaG

Hi APJ!

Last week I caught up with Portia for tea and lunch. We spent a lovely few hours bubbling away merrily with laughter and stories. Portia has an amazing fragrance collection which we dove into in search of ‘green’ scents. I was presented with a plethora of options. I thought I would share my first impressions of these with you.

There is nothing considered or nuanced here just what jumped out and hit me first. What this style of testing allows for is a snapshot of a range of perfume in a short period of time. What I can then do is go back and explore individual frags at my leisure. Fun!!

Going Green?

TinaG’s Quick Sniffs with Portia

Here’s my notes, ranked from less to more green (if that can be a thing….)

Fragrantica

Armani Prive – Vert Malachite
Where is the ‘vert’? A bit of pettigran wafts through but it’s mainly a big white floral, heavy on the jasmine and ylang ylang.

Robert Piguet – Futur
This is supposed to be enriched by ‘green’ accords, but I can’t get past the old school aldehydes in the opening. It burns off leaving jasmine & ylang ylang with some bitter orange.

Chanel – No 19
Cool green, jasmine, rose, iris, geranium. Elegant.

Fragrantica

Jacomo – Silences
Galbanum-heavy. Not a note I easily pick up in fragrances so I spend some time with my nose on the card trying to affix it in my scent memory.

Ormond Jane – Sampaguita
Watery green. Grassy, light florals, lily & rose.

Guerlain – Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune
Grapefruit green, sharp and fresh.

Fragrantica

The Different Company – Tokyo Bloom
Heavy pink pillar of florals in the middle of gentle plant greens.

Olfactive Studio – Panorama
Light green. Peppery notes, it is a study in various green shades.

Fragrantica

Niki de Saint Phalle
Cool green, but full of colourful varied florals. Fun.

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz – Giverny in Bloom
Fresh cut wet plant stem green. OMG this is exactly like being inside a florists! Amazing!

Guerlain – Aqua Allegoria Teazzurra
Dry green tea note. Simple. Gentle.

Fragrantica

1000 Flowers – Fleur No 1
I think I was coming to the end of my capacity here because I just wrote ‘green’. (I don’t think there’s 1000 flowers in there).

So, what would I go back to? I’d be interested to see how Silences developed, along with Chanel No 19. I’ve given Panorama a run through as I got a sample when it was released, and it really is layered greens.

What else should I add to my list for future sniffs on a green theme?

See ya!
Tina G xx