Empressa by Christian Provenzano for Penhaligon`s 2014

September 1, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 27 Comments

Post by Portia

My mate Nick from Libertine Parfumerie sometimes gives APJ product for giveaways. A package from Nick is ALWAYS a sweet surprise and he is a lovely guy who wants to have the best range of niche fragrances for Aussies to choose from. Please Aussies, even if you don’t enter today’s competition, go and have a look at the amazing fragrant beauties that Libertine Parfumerie has for sale, you will be astounded. Lately Nick’s buying power has become so good that some (not all) of his products are the same numerical value as you would buy them for in the USA, that means with the current Aussie dollar that they are in fact 20-30% cheaper!!! AMAZING! Currently €195 is AU$309!

So today we have a FIRST DAY OF SPRING DOWN UNDER GIVEAWAY! Thanks Nick.

Empressa by Penhaligon`s 2014

Empressa by Christian Provenzano

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Blood orange, bergamot, mandarin orange, peach, pink pepper
Heart: Rose, geranium, neroli, dewberry, cassis
Base: Vanilla, cacao, olibanum, amber, musk, patchouli, sandalwood, brown sugar

OK! So yes, I can see why people are likening Empressa to Coco Mademoiselle but I think that sells it short. Yes, zingy fruits & citrus open the mix but I think the pink pepper gives it a sizzling lift. The heart is not as creamy in Empressa but sharper, and more interesting for it. Maybe I just want to like it better because I love the mother-of-pearl packaging, the acid green ribbon & box liner and think that Penhaligon’s have done a terrific job on the production. But like it better I do. It reminds me more of Enchanted Forest with that supersonic berry/ivy combo.

Empressa sparkles and scintillates in a way that CHANEL’s CM never did on my skin. It’s young and frothy, vibrant and fruity and not too far removed from the mainstream aimed at under 25s. Yet somehow it manages to be above them. The blending seems really smooth which surprises me given the high octane nature of Empressa, there really doesn’t seem to be a baseline till well past the heart. It’s all sugar coated fruits and a fluorescent bouquet only cut through slightly by the squeaky green of the ivy. Then on my skin it kind of fades away, very little base at all.

Great party frag.

Further reading: Sophie Says and Candy Perfume Boy
Libertine Parfumerie has $279/100ml with FREE Australian Postage
First In Fragrance has €195/100ml + samples

Want to try it? See below,
Portia xxx

Photo Stolen AllSteele

Empressa: Penhaligon’s GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 4 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml Empressa by Penhaligon’s (decants from my bottle)
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 (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please go to Libertine Parfumerie<<JUMP and pick a fragrance from the Penhaligon’s line and one of it’s notes there NO DOUBLE UPS!!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Empressa by @PenhaligonsLtd GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-4e4 #Perfume #Giveaway @giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 3rd September 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Sunday 6th September 2015 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.

Ubar by Robertet for Amouage 2009 remix

August 31, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Hi hi hi APJ,

I recently rediscovered an Ubar decant and have been spritzing madly. It is on equal footing with Interlude Man as my favourite Amouage and please don’t ever make me choose. Both are so freaking good and when I wear them I feel that I could rule the world.

Ubar by Robertet for Amouage 2009 remix

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Tangerine, orange, litsea cubeba, violet leaf
Heart: Jasmine, orange blossom, ylang-ylang, tuberose, freesia, lily-of-the-valley, palisander rosewood
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, patchouli, vetiver, copahu balm, black amber

Ubar is a rarity, a gorgeous spiced white floral and woods extravaganza that is so chock full of ingredients that it’s hard for me to distinguish them. Ubar wears like it’s its own scent and nothing like anything else ever created. Ubar is like soup simmering on the stove: the whole house is filled with the smell of soup and as ingredients get put in the pot if you’re chatting in the kitchen then you’ll be able to pick some of them even if you haven’t seen what went in and if you look in the pot you’ll see some of the ingredients rise and fall. If though you are in your bedroom and the smell is wafting temptingly towards you then all you can smell is the melange, the soup itself. Maybe garlic will be noticeable or beef or tomato but everything else becomes a part of the soup. That’s how I wear Ubar.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Ubar starts out sharp green and citrus but already you can smell the base underneath them and the white florals just waiting behind the scenes to jump out at you and whirl you away on a veritable cloud of bouquet. The patchouli, resins and sweet vanilla all create the most stridently glorious dry down that hums away for ages on my skin and all the way to tomorrows bath or shower I can smell the magic that is Ubar.

When I think about it Ubar seems to be a cold weather fragrance, and I do love it to warm me up, but to really experience Ubar best you need to wear it in stifling heat. It blooms unbelievably and shows a whole other side to its luscious self.

Today is the last day of summer in the north and winter here in Australia. Perfect time at both ends to wear Ubar.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Where do I wear Ubar? I love to give myself a big spritz and do very mundane things like cleaning, clothes washing and grocery shopping. I get funny looks sometimes because I’m so obviously scented for an EVENT yet there I am buying milk, bread and a bag of tomatoes. Fuck It! Fragrance helps me to celebrate the fact that I’m alive, helps me to waft on fabulously even through the most hum drum moments because I am the star of my life. So are you, go live life AND hug yourself from me.

Further reading NowSmellThis and PerfumeShrine
FragranceNet has $185/100ml unboxed Before Coupon
Posh Peasant has $4.50/.5ml

What fragrance makes you feel like the tedious is fabulous?
Portia xx

EDIT: Originally I had Creations Aromatics as the perfumers but the Amouage crew told me it was Robertet so I have fixed it.

Eau de Gloire by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato for Parfum d’Empire 2003

August 30, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there Fragrant Family,

When Michael Edwards of Fragrances Of The World fame had his cleanout this was one of the fragrances he gave me. I had liked it very much from my original Parfum d’Empire sample set (that I can’t find on the site anymore). So my review today is based on an older bottle like the top picture in the review. I have no idea if the fragrance has been reformulated for the new bottle but I’ve read nothing on the boards to indicate there has been a change.

Eau de Gloire by Parfum d’Empire 2003

Eau de Gloire by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, amalfi lemon, lavender, rosemary, neroli, tangerine, myrtle
Heart: Tea, star anise, licorice, immortelle
Base: Leather, tobacco, olibanum, french labdanum, oakmoss

The first fragrance that Parfum d’Empire brought to the world in 2003, modeled on Marc-Antoine Corticchiato’s scent memory of his boyhood home Corsica, Eau de Gloire is literally translated as Water of Glory and dedicated as an homage to all those who’ve left their homelands to go into the world and conquer. Especially to his own home island boy Napoleon Bonaparte.

Photo Stolen HistoryFiles

The first words that jump into my head when wearing Eau de Gloire are Bracing, Citrus, Salt, Squeaky, Floral, Masculine. Yes, I know we don’t deal in masculine/feminine archetypes here but Eau de Gloire definitely skews towards what my upbringing has defined as a masculine scent, which does not minimise how spectacularly it will perform on the girls so please don’t get up in arms.

Eau de Gloire opens with a powerhouse icy cold screech of bergamot, citrus twig and broken branch and briny sea air then the herbs and flowers come and take the edge off. As the rosemary, lavender and star anise waltz in they warm the scent slightly but still it stays cool and laid back. I don’t believe in fragrances for the sexes but I keep imagining Eau de Gloire on a very masculine man though I would love to see how it smells on a woman. There is a squeaky dissonance here, the trilling of the citrus which lasts well into the heart of the fragrance and the rumbling of the incense, anise, oakmoss and tobacco. Unfortunately my nose misses the tea and leather in the composition completely, maybe you will have more luck.

Eau de Gloire comes and goes from my ability to smell it, very interesting, but when i concentrate I can. It’s like it hides from me to make me seek out its loose billowy freshness. At about 3-4 hours I get more soft and flowery notes over the various resins, this fragrance grows more interesting and textured as it matures. At 7 hours it is soft as butterfly kisses and almost as ephemeral.

Photo Stolen Parfum d’Empire

I hadn’t worn Eau de Gloire for a while but last night when I wore it to work there were three compliments on my fragrance throughout the night. One of whom I am making a small decant for because her eyes were shining with enthusiasm. I think we have a new perfumista in our midst.

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Chemist In A Bottle
Parfum d’Empire has €120/100ml
Libertine Parfumerie has $199/100ml and FREE AUSTRALIAN SHIPPING!
Surrender To Chance has samples that start at $3.50/ml

What have you worn lately that people have noticed?

Please treat yourself well, it’s hard to be happy when there’s someone being mean to you the whole time.
Portia xx

Greg Lauren by Ralf Schwieger for Barneys New York 2013

August 29, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Post by Portia

Heya APJ,

Here is another from the Natalie APB Gift Bag. As I slowly make my waythrough them I am finding it increasingly interesting the things that she felt I ought to try, or that would be very me. This looks like a 5 or 8ml decant and when Natalie gave me the bag she said to pay special attention to anything larger than a sample.

The backstory is that Greg Lauren is the nephew of “Ralph”, an actor turned artist and fashion designer. His 2016 S/S Mens is very down & out in Beverly Hills, working in a coal mine, plantation worker, op shop chic and sleeping rough. I saw only two pieces in the whole parade that had me even mildly interested but I think perhaps I’m no longer his target market. The boots in the first half reminded me of Van Gogh’s boots and some of the hats were killer in an Oliver kind of way. Actually, even though I hated most of it and thought it pretentious pap I did enjoy the theatricality and the bleak colour palette, there was also a fair amount of whimsy in there.

Greg Lauren by Barneys New York 2013

Greg Lauren by Ralf Schwieger

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Sea notes, tonka bean, vanilla

Greg Lauren for Barneys is really good. Fragrant but demure, yet it is insistent that you notice it. It calmly straddles the department store/designer/niche divide and elegantly plants itself as something other, something a little more interesting. For me the sea notes reign, they are a great crossover between the gym set aquatics of the 1990s and the modern beach scent, there is something oddly disquieting about the notes as if you are near the boardwalk and every now and then you get a hint of the seaweed and scunge collected there.

Tonka and vanilla are there right from the start and in the beginning it is ALL about the thick, sweet resinous warmth which is cut through with this seaside something other. My mind is taken firmly to one of the Andrea Maack frags and also to a crew that did seasonal frags that I liked but can’t remember their name. There is also a salty-buttered popcorn thing that wanders around and in & out.

Photo Stolen Barneys New York

Every Greg Lauren for Barneys wear is different and each time I pick up new things: caramel, dried flowers, burning oil, spices, coconut, hair wax, Indian milk sweets and bread. There is also a salty-buttered popcorn thing that wanders around and in & out. Freaky fragrance but Oh-So-Wearable. This one will definitely get you noticed and it sticks like glue, 19 hours later there is still a hum of difference over my skin.

If I was in the USA right now I would have been on my way to the store by now and have bought myself a bottle, Natalie was right, this is totally freaking YUMMY!

A few of the reviewers talk about the perfumer Ralf Schwieger who has made some fairly sensational niche stuff including Afternoon of a Faun by ELdO, Iris Nazarena by Aedes de Venustas, Orange Sanguine for Atelier Cologne and Christopher Street for Charenton Macerations. Everyone talks about how he hand finished every bottle in a paint splattered, antiqued, derelict hipster way. I think that’s cool.

Photo Stolen Barneys New York

Further reading: Now Smell This and Ca Fleure Bon
Barneys New York site has $195/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/.5ml

Did you get to try it? Has Greg Lauren shown up on your radar yet?
Portia xx

Silk by Richard Ibanez for Andrea Maack 2011

August 28, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Woo Hoo APJers,

Andrea Maack, artist, fashion designer and fragrance curator. Her stark, vivid, linear creations are bold and shocking but within the bounds of mainstream beauty. Though I find them confronting and they give me pause for question I could also see many of her art creations in peoples homes, comfortably setting themselves beside a big family couch and the TV. They would be interesting talking points but hardly steal air from the room and make it awkward to sit.

This too is how I see the fragrance line. Different enough to maintain my interest yet wearable every day as a second, fragrant skin that you offer to the world as your scent. The line has been called derivative and a follower but when I wear Andrea Maack fragrances I find no parallels, and yes this could be my lack as a medium. Whether they are or not is a moot point because I enjoy wearing them, they tickle my fabulous bone and they tick so many boxes on my fragrant list that I am impressed with them on their own merits.

Silk by Andrea Maack 2011

Silk by Richard Ibanez

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Citruses, violet leaf, freesia, magnolia, soil tincture, papyrus, vanille, amber, lemon tree, lime (linden) blossom

LuckyScent offers this list of featured accords in one line:
Violet leaves, freesia, lime tree, linen, magnolia, Spanish cistus, earth accord, papyrus, vanilla, amber

Sweet citrus opens but it’s firmly undercut by green grasses and a fresh, dewy, air conditioned bouquet (I’m quite surprised there’s no LotV mentioned in the notes). A lovely and very pretty green, delicate, cooling and …… imagine you are in an orchard filled with blossom, the day is brisk but when you stand in the sun it’s lovely, there’s a breeze that is strong enough to ruffle your hair and it carries a floral bouquet from the nearby market gardens, some trodden grass and a dry rasp that is a little vetiver reminiscent. Then the sprinklers come on, they don’t wet you but it does change the taste of the air and suddenly the whole orchard seems cooler: that moment in your dream is what Silk smells like.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

The freshness and brightness are carried over into the heart and it’s reminiscent of the freshly cut cucumber scent, or cut wet stems of flowers before arranging. It’s amazing how intoxicating silk is, not a big perfume but it does have the ability to change the air around you and in the first hour the sillage is excellent.

Like the Andrea Maack art piece below Silk is a bundled net of scent pieces with light pouting through and creating a gauzy, soft focus fragrance that still manages to be fully present and fragrant. For me Silk dries down to a melon scent softly warmed by the amber that I can feel but not really smell.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Further reading: Ca Fleure Bon and Bonkers About Perfume
LuckyScent has $135/50ml and samples
Libertine has $185/50ml and FREE delivery in Australia

Have you experienced any of the Andrea Maack fragrances? Favourites?
Portia x

Photo Stolen AllSteele

Andrea Maack Sampler GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 3ml Andrea Maack Sampler (I have used them a bit, about 2ml in each)
Dark
Smart
Craft
Silk
Sharp
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us your favourite artist

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Andrea Maack Sampler GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-3hC #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 30th August 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Thursday 3rd September 2015 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.

North by Amelie Bourgeois and Anne-Sophie Behaghel for Mendittorosa (Odori d’Anima) 2013

August 26, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Post by Trésor

I have a confession to make: I am not a fan of summer, of all the four seasons it is easily my least favourite. I know what you’re thinking. “Have you no heart, Trésor?! How can you not love the summer?!” While I admit there are few things more delightful than the aureate hue of summertime sunlight there are also few things I despise more than the heat that accompanies this precious gift. I revel in the embrace of graceful autumn zephyrs and even within the frost-bound chill of the Canadian winters in which I grew up. Naturally, when August rolled around and the heat *really* hit I was scrambling to find just about anything I could to satiate my desire for hyperborean delight. It was around this time I just so happened to have serendipitously received a sample kit from Italian niche house Mendittorosa Odori d’Anima and I was delighted to find that nestled within was a potion authored by perfumers Amelie Bourgeois and Anne-Sophie Behaghel called North, a pulchritudinous ode to Scandinavian minimalism and the elegant austerity that so harmoniously exemplifies this exquisite aesthetic.

North by Mendittorosa (Odori d’Anima) 2013

North by Amelie Bourgeois and Anne-Sophie Behaghel

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Black pepper, aldehydes, bergamot
Heart: Sea notes, floral notes, jasmine
Base: Atlas cedar, Virginian cedar, nutmeg

North opens with a diffuse aurora of shimmering aldehydes, refracting light in a way that so viscerally resembles a premonition of fractured crystal suspended in perpetuity within rays of December sunlight. A verdant scythe of emerald bergamot penetrates the crystalline aurora, setting the sky alight in a flash of vivid green, the threads of which fall daintily like stardust into the Baltic sea. Holograms of gelid flowers float on the water’s surface, breathing in the salty brine and exhaling piercing clouds of glacial ozone bound for the shore. Hologram materializes into tangibility as the composition approaches land and the bounty which it bares.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

The frozen petals of this ephemeral white flower now rest at the feet of towering cedars, singing unto the borealis with their sylvan essence. There is little warmth to be found here in this landscape but is within this hiemal serenity that the beauty of the composition lays. The notes seem to flow into each other as the river to delta and delta to the sea, naturally and with a sophisticated ease.

North exists on my skin for about 6 hours in total though on the warmest of days I can get just a bit longer. The sillage is gentle, an ethereal aura of divine fragrance as opposed to a diffuse cloud. I’ve found this to be just the antidote to my admittedly cantankerous disposition towards the heat and humidity as it reminds me so beautifully of the seasons which bring me the greatest joy and those of which I have the fondest memories.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Val the Cookie Queen writes about another Mendittorosa (Odori d’Anima) fragrance Id
First In Fragrance have €185/100ml
Mendittorosa Odori d’Anima have a fabulous Discovery Pack (7 x 1.4ml samples, literature, message from founder, world postage) €40

Do you have a favourite fragrance who’s atmosphere mirrors the glacial chill of North?

Until next time, my darlings.

Trésor x

Cookie Queen USA 2015: Packing for a Trip

August 25, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Each time I see a photo of a collection of perfume on Facebook or in a magazine I zoom in on it and take a look. If the photos is too small I enlarge it or take a screenshot so that I can make it even bigger! Now come on, I know I am not alone in this perfume voyeurism. We all like to play the “How many can I recognize” game and are smugly satisfied when we get the lot.

Cookie Queen USA 2015: Packing for a Trip

As you read this I am either on the road to Vienna or sat in a plane enjoying the idea of a 17 hour trip, and not the psychedelickind. I really don´t know if anyone is interested in what I am doing, but I will give you a brief perfume rundown. You can always skip this bit and look at the photos and have done with it.

I will be meeting up in Seattle with the amazing Azar of APJ and Ellen Covey of Olympic Orchids. As I move on down to San Francisco I look
forward to having tea with Undina of Undina´s Looking Glass and hooking up with Virginia of Té de Violetas. I have dates here too with a couple of Verophiles. I will pay a trip to Tiger Lily of course. Way further south I will get to look at the perfume scene in Los Angeles with Jtd Jtd from the ScentHurdle. Can it get any more exciting than all of that? I do hasten to add that I am actually going to California to visit with my family, but combined it with some perfume fun! My husband will be joining me for all of this after having a week downhilling up on Whistler Mountain.

The last three days of the trip will be in New York. Perfume partying there too with Indieperfumes and Peace, Love and Perfume/Goodsmellas.

My traveling perfume and paraphernalia is pictured below, or above, depending where Portia puts the pictures. 🙂

Neela Vermeire purple suede clutch
Mohur EdP
Travel sizes of Pichola and Ashoka
Shalimar Extrait
Hermès Cuir d´Ange travel size
Vero Profumo Rubj EdP
Vero Profumo Mito EdP
In the pink felt bags are samples of the all the Vero Profumo EdPs and Voiles
and I am taking all of the Vero Profumo Extraits
The lovely small leather perfume pouch was a gift from a perfumista and it means a lot to me.
(The VP extraits will be in there)
The gold shiny bag? Ha! Top Secret. Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more.

I will take a decant of Eau de Magnolia, at time of writing not yet done.
And a bottle of MAAI.

I will wear mostly extraits, and the NVCs can all be dabbed. I don´t care to spray when I am traveling – planes, trains and automobiles
don´t warrant spritzing! Do they? What would YOU have packed?

Stars´n´Striped Bussis
CQ

The Artist Series by Dame Perfumery Scottsdale

August 24, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 43 Comments

Post by Azar

Hi APJ!

A few months ago I reviewed Dame Perfumery Scottsdale’s Matte, Heliotrope and Patchouli. Today’s post is a brief overview of the perfumes in Jeffrey Dame’s Artist Series.
Currently Dame Perfumery offers three lines: A group of eight EdTs for woman, three colognes for men and the unisex Artist Series, a group of three EdPs inspired by the visual art of Jeffrey Dame’s father, Dave Dame.

The Artist Series by Dame Perfumery Scottsdale

The first in the Artist Series,

Black Flower Mexican Vanilla – 2014
Here are the perfumer’s notes: Mexican vanilla absolute, lemon, grapefruit, caramel, nutmeg, gardenia, jasmine, sandalwood, patchouli, vetiver, musk and tonka bean.

Black Flower Mexican Vanilla grabs my attention with a concentrated, intense, smoky vanilla spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon. Additions of lemon and grapefruit keep it from sinking into sweet, heavy darkness. Even with the citrus and the listed caramel this EdP is definitely NOT your teenage daughter’s vanilla! As Black Flower Mexican Vanilla dries there is a momentary hint of a burnt cream and gardenia that quickly moves on to sandalwood, vetiver and a lingering edgy floral vanilla. A long-lived and bold fragrance with a powerful but never overwhelming sillage, suitable for both men and woman.

Desert Rose – 2015
Listed notes: Turkish rose otto, Damask rose, peach, Sicilian lemon, Egyptian jasmine, geranium, carnation, heliotrope, sandalwood, amber, musk and vanilla.

The first time I tried Desert Rose, on a very cold winter’s day, all I experienced was rose water and amber. Spritzing in summer proved to be much more rewarding. Desert Rose blooms in the heat with traces of dry pavement, rock and sand. The perfume progresses from a scorched, dusty rose to a buttery, peachy vanilla sparkling with citrus and spice, finishing with a suggestion of booze, amber and musk. Desert Rose is more intimate than Black Flower and lasts about six hours on my skin.

Dark Horse – 2015
Perfumer’s notes: Bergamot, lemon, cinnamon, jasmine, carnation, rose, cloves, guaiac wood oil, vetiver, vanilla and musk.

Dark Horse opens with an arresting and pithy lemon, tweaked with cloves and cinnamon. In a moment the fragrance transforms to jasmine and carnation supported by golden vanilla. At about five minutes carnation totally takes over and stays in place for at least an hour before the phenolic, oudy, vegetal sweetness of guaiac wood is revealed. At this point the perfume reminds me of my favorite woody fragrances by M. Micallef, projecting well and easily lasting ten hours on skin and longer on clothing. Toward the end of its long run Dark Horse wafts smoky vetiver, traces of musk and more carnation. This latest offering in the Dame Perfumery Artist Series is a truly beautiful and unique perfume for an unbelievably low price.

Every fragrance offered by Dame Perfumery Scottsdale is testament to Jeffrey Dame’s knowledge, creativity and years of experience and to the amazing skill of his perfumer/collaborator. The use of lemon in the Artist Series fragrances is masterful. The perfumer manages to totally avoid the smell of home cleaning products and the ubiquitous lemon bar, using lemon more as fragrance modifier than as a discrete fragrance note.

Dame Perfumery has 7ml Trial Size, perfect size to see how you love them.

Azar xx

Photo Stolen Kesha&Co

Dame Perfumery Artist Series Set GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 ml sample set of the 3 Dame Perfumery Artist Series
P&H Worldwide

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to anyone in the world who follow 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 (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us your favorite Jeffrey Dame fragrance or your most cherished vanilla perfume

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 27th August 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Monday 31st August 2015 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.

Kelly Calèche by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2007

August 23, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

On Kelly Calèche, and how to deal with change……..

Recently as I’ve considered what fragrances to review, my mind keeps turning to Hermès Kelly Calèche. I’ve rediscovered this fragrance after years of finding it merely pleasant at best, and for the moment it’s the closest thing I have to a signature scent. However, the dashing review Portia gave Kelly Calèche a while ago on APJ really can’t be beaten.

I’ve realised that my mini-obsession with Kelly Calèche is because it represents a shift in taste for me. So, today I thought I’d ponder awhile on how it feels when you own enough perfume to scent a small town, but reach for just the one same bottle over and over again.

Kelly Calèche by Hermès 2007

Kelly Calèche by Jean-Claude Ellena

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

First, here’s a quick reminder of the notes in Kelly Calèche EdT,

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: grapefruit, narcisuss, lily of the valley
Heart: mimosa, rose, tuberose
Base: leather, iris

The airy clarity of the fragrance is a hallmark of its creator, Jean-Claude Ellena. He has produced many works in this style, but Kelly Calèche happens to be one I especially like. What I can’t seem to deal with are dense, sweet fragrances which feel like they are gripping my skin like a tight glove. Kelly Calèche is not a gripping glove, it’s a veil.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

As a chypre lover from way back, I’ve never cared for really sweet fragrances and own very few gourmands. But nowadays I can’t wear even mildly sweet fragrances. My prized bottles of L’Ambre des Merveilles (which normally I adore) and Bottega Veneta are neglected. Calvin Klein’s Obsession – the only oriental I really love – is also languishing unattended. It’s not especially sweet, just too dense. Lancôme’s Cuir de Lancôme– a masterpiece! – annoyed me all yesterday by sticking to my skin and not letting me breathe.

It’s the feeling that I’m being stifled and can’t quite breathe – that’s what I can’t tolerate. I need fragrances with lots of space between the notes. The nice thing about Kelly Calèche is that it has good longevity as well as airiness. It’s still too cold where I live for me to get out the summer colognes, but goodness I’m looking forward to that moment!

Photo Stolen Hermès

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Bois de Jasmin
Kelly Calèche is available from all Hermès stores
FragranceNet has $112/100ml before Coupon
Surrender To Chance has EdP samples starting at $3/ml

So what about you? Do you know the feeling when you find yourself needing just one style of fragrance, and rejecting the rest? Do you try and resist, or do you just swing with it? How long does it last?

A side note: soon I’m off to Paris (!!!) for a week, and when this post is published I’ll likely be about to step on a plane. I’ll be replying to comments but do forgive me if I’m a bit tardy.
When I’m back I’ll have Parisian adventures to share. In the meantime, keep spritzing!
Anne-Marie xx

Patchouli Nosy Be by Perris Monte Carlo 2014

August 22, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Post by Portia

Hiya Crew,

You know when you see a new brand come on the scene and it just doesn’t move you to go out of your way to try it? That’s what the Perris Monte Carlo stuff was like for me. I don’t know why, maybe the bottles or the names, colourway…. really, I don’t know. Anyway, recently I bought some stuff from the guys at LuckyScent and they added a bunch of samples into my pack. I was putting this into a pack I was putting together to send off because it didn’t interest me but I thought, “I’ll just give myself a little spritz before I put it in.” Spritzed, sealed up the post pack and all of a sudden I am bathed in the most delightful and radiant amber/patchouli bomb I’ve ever smelled.

Patchouli Nosy Be by Perris Monte Carlo 2014

Patchouli Nosy Be by Luca Maffei

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Patchouli, pink pepper
Heart: Cacao, labdanum
Base: Patchouli, vanilla, cedar, sandalwood

Warm, comfortable, smooth and refined are the words that jump into my head immediately. Elegant. This is a very beautiful sweet patchouli amber combo that sings on my skin. I don’t know if it’s a breakthrough scent but it does smell amazing, projects and trails exactly the right amount for notice without skunking, makes me feel cuddly and safe and lasts extremely well.

There’s something stately, impressive and grandiose about Patchouli Nosy Be, yet it still feels fresh and alive and modern. I am going to have to find myself a split and really give it some wear, or could it be my next FB?

Photo Stolen torange

I stole this from LuckyScent because it hits the nail on the head and explains the significance of the stupid name:
Nosy Be (or Nossi-Bé) is an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar, commonly known as the “scented island” due to the abundance of extremely high-quality perfume materials grown on its northern half. But patchouli, a sensitive and delicate plant to cultivate, has never been able to thrive in Nosy Be’s intense heat. Until now.
Perris Monte Carlo Patchouli Nosy Be contains the very first magical harvests of authentic Nosy Be patchouli, made possible through an innovative and painstaking process that involves transplanting developing plants by hand into shaded, protected areas amongst the ylang ylang plantations, which results in an extraordinary patchouli essential oil with unique dry, woody and cocoa-like properties. This precious material is then blended into a fragrance designed to showcase its uncharacteristic expansiveness- combined minimally with spicy pink pepper, smooth woods and a touch of warm resin, creamy vanilla and bitter cocoa…..

Photo Stolen Pexels

LuckyScent has $180/100ml and samples

What have you been completely wrong about lately, fragrant or otherwise. Come on, time to confess. We won’t snitch.

Portia xx

Australian Perfume Junkies

Olfactory Opinions from Oz

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