Reviews

Habit Rouge by Jean-Paul Guerlain 2003 (Or: 1965)

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Post by Liam

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Hello fantastic fragrance heads,

It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I’m Liam and I love to smell anything and everything, which I’m sure everyone else loves to do also! Appropriately, for my first post on this marvelous website I felt it was only appropriate I talk about the introductory Guerlain fragrance that changed my life – Habit Rouge (EdT). It’s really bloody good. It’s novel, it’s historical, it’s a reference fragrance! When I become king of the world my first order of business is to rename Habit Rouge to ‘Happiness’.

Habit Rouge by Jean-Paul Guerlain 2003 (Or: 1965)

Habit Rouge EdT Guerlain FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

BaseNotes gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Lemon, Rosewood, Basil, Pimento
Heart: Sandal, Carnation, Patchouli, Cedar, Rose, Cinnamon
Base: Vanilla, Amber, Moss, Leather, Benzoin, Labdanum, Olibanum

Habit Rouge embodies effortlessly what I love in a fragrance. It’s somewhat pompous without being obvious or nauseating. It has a gentlemanly quality that is comforting, very exciting and delicious! It opens like a lemony orange soda with a sherbet-like crispness. It’s a citrus accord moulded with opopanax and sweet and sticky tree resins. It’s incredibly toothsome, and has these light floral nuances that tickle the feminine side… Carnation and rose especially.

My favourite thing with Habit Rouge is the fact that it was (according to Guerlain) the first male fragrance to use a heavy dosage of vanilla. I love vanilla – I mean, who dare say that vanilla is a boring ingredient? The vanilla stems from Shalimar also by Guerlain, but in this fragrance the vanilla presents itself with less of a coumarin spike and more of a refined stickiness softened with discreet herbs. Vanilla, benzoin and a touch of orange blossom create the Guerlain Marshmallow accord, which is obvious… A tart and somewhat sugary smell reminiscent of white marshmallow.

Habit Rouge EdT Guerlain White_Marshmallows WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Subdued modulations of leather are to be found here. The carnal quality is lost, or at least pushed to the very back whilst a buttery and more rounded form of supple leather can be smelt. The underlying oriental spiciness differs heavily from the female archetype, and the oriental category has been made for men.

Habit Rouge is effervescent like lemonade and trails like sweet orange dust. It’s slightly poignant at stages with a gloomy quality, but I’ve found this often entails a sense of complexity. Habit Rouge is perfectly crafted for a man with a sincere and dapper facet, yet also has a mild primal quality that suggests something a little more after that.

Have you seen the advertisement with the red whip?! Grr that’s hot!

“Non, Habit Rouge c’est comme les petits pains,” — [Habit Rouge is] a French institution as constant as croissants

Habit Rouge has a slightly above average longevity and a mild sillage on my skin. It’s inoffensive and universal. You can wear it whenever, wherever and however. Work, rest, play.

Habit Rouge EdT Guerlain Braekeleer Wikipedia.jpgPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: Now Smell This and Memory of Scent
FragranceNet has $45/50ml (before coupon)
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

Thanks for reading! For more please check out my site Olfactics. My journey is still in my infancy! Can you think of any other male oriented orientals? Spare me the Paco Rabanne pl-ease! See ya later!

Liam 🙂

Eau Sublime by Jeanne Sandra Rancé for Rancé 1795

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Hiya Crew,

I have had some of the Rancé soaps for a while now. For a creamy soft bathing experience they are pretty damn awesome but I’ve always felt the fragrances were a little generic. Not bad but not something to get mega excited about either. Recently my mate Nick at Libertine Parfumerie sent me a bottle of Eau Sublime…..

Eau Sublime by Jeanne Sandra Rancé for Rancé 1795

Rue Rance Eau Sublime Rance 1795 FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, Neroli, Hyacinth, Lime
Heart: Lily-of-the-valley, Lilac, Myrtle
Base: White Musk, Vanilla, Florentine Iris

From Rancé 1795 site: Eau Sublime Eau de Toilette pour Femme dedicated to Josephine, Napoleon’s bride, by François Rancé in 1801.

Eau Sublime is pretty. It opens green, juicy citrus and sparkles. There’s a dewy note and it’s all rather cool to begin. As we get further into the heart there is a pretty bouquet with a slight metallic tinge. Then the fragrance basically leaves my ability to smell for an hour or two, yes it has happened on repeated wearings, with and without moisturiser, on different parts of my body. Then an aquatic iris comes in and stays at a very low hum for ages, hours in fact, barely discernible except when I move and get a huff from my wrist or out of my top. It’s almost not there at all but the air cools, like air conditioning in a florist shop but without very many flowers in there. Maybe the end of the day when only the memory of flowers and a bunch of cut stalks are in the bins.

Eau Sublime Rance 1795 Aquatic Iris japan WikiCommonsPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

I do love these recreated houses, and I’m sure that Eau Sublime owes a debt in part to the original, more than just the name hopefully. Somewhere though, in the fragrance, the story doesn’t ring quite true. Eau Sublime in this time is very synthetic to my nose, way too unnatural for 1801. It’s a minor thing but……

I can see why Rancé’s Eau Sublime is popular currently. It’s a pretty green whisper of nothing on my skin. Lovely opening that leaves a very slight hint of fragrance for the rest of the day. A clean, fresh, cool and dewy freshness. I can totally understand that that’s what some people want from their scent experience. The bottle is lovely and fun and no one will be skunked by you. I want my fragrance to work harder than that though. More projection, more story, more everything.

Eau Sublime Rance 1795 bokehMorkus PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

First In Fragrance has €59/50ml

Where do you stand? Have you tried Eau Sublime? Was it what you want from a fragrance? Did it live on you like it does on me or did you get a different ride?
Portia xx

Dia Pour Femme by Jean-Claude Ellena for Amouage 2002

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Post by Gabriella

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Hello perfumed peeps,
Today I want to delve into the perfume archives and revisit a fragrance that I featured in my very first post here on APJ. This fragrance captured my heart all those years ago, then other sniffing fests and bottles came my way, so it then got put on the backburner and largely forgotten. Last weekend, I spritzed some again and it’s had me swooning ever since. That perfumed delight is Amouage Dia.

Dia Pour Femme by Jean-Claude Ellena for Amouage 2002

Dia pour Femme Amouage FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Fig, cyclamen, bergamot, tarragon, sage, violet leaves
Heart: Precious and fresh flowers: peach blossom, rose oil, orange flower, peony. orris
Base: White musk, mysterious incense, vanilla, heliotrope, cedarwood, sandalwood, Guaiac wood

On my skin, Dia opens up with the gentlest of aldehydes and the subtle juicy warmth of fig, tempered by a fresh burst of cyclamen and the gentle greenness of violet leaves. I can’t really detect the herbs here, they’re more playing a supportive role to give the fig and the floral notes some depth. The heart of Dia is all floral richness, there’s definitely rose and peony which are just smooth and warm. It then segues gently into the woody base.

Dia pour Femme Amouage peony pixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Overall, the notes are so well-blended that Dia presents as a whole picture of a fragrance rather than a simple sum of the notes. The overall feeling is one of staid elegance and sophistication, something I noted in my original review:
Dia is all about a refined wool sheath dress, pearls and leather ballet flats.

Dia is something I’d imagine that Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn or Jackie Onassis wearing with ease. For me, because of its inherent chicness, it’s also very much an aspirational fragrance. It makes me feel calm, put together and above all supremely beautiful, even when I’m feeling anything but. At a time when I have been working all hours of the day and weekends too, it’s been both a tremendously uplifting and calming companion. I feel like I could wear it any day at any time and just feel like a million bucks.

Dia pour Femme Amouage Audrey_Hepburn WikipediaPhoto Stolen Pixabay

As for the staying power, what on earth was I thinking when I wrote my original review?:
My only complaint is that it lasts barely two hours on me.

Let me eat my words! Dia’s lasting power is well over eight hours from one or two small spritzes. The other morning, I put on a cardigan which had the remnants of a Dia application from a couple of days before. I then proceeded to spray myself lavishly with Le Parfum de Therese, and let me tell you, the remnants of Dia outshone the latter.

Dia pour Femme Amouage Alice-Pasquini MrPilgrimPhoto Stolen MrPilgrim

Dia is a classical beauty and one that I just can’t afford to ignore again.

Further reading: The Non Blonde and Suzanne’s Perfume Journal
First in Fragrance has €240/50ml
Libertine Parfumerie has $387/100ml
Posh peasant has samples starting at $7/ml

What fragrances have you ignored and come back to love? What fragrance makes you feel a million bucks?
With much love till next time!

M x

O’DRIÙ: Art in Olfaction

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Post by Ainslie Walker

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One morning in July 2014 Angelo Orazio Pregoni aka O’DRIÙ woke up with an idea – a wet dream, so to speak.

“WHAAAT?” I hear you ask.

O’DRIÙ: Art in Olfaction

Via email he told me his idea of Wet Dream-Coming Perfumery was based on a search for new expressive horizons, free of limitations. He included a video link and a promise that some of his weird yet wonderful sounding fragrances were in the post to me from Italy.

His video was released during Milan Fashion week in response to Vogue and New York Times criticism that the event “lacked novelty.” It shows a live performance of the initial creation of N°1 PI-SCIANEL by eccentric nose and artist Pregoni and N°2 PI-SCIANEL by Tom Rebl, fashion designer. The N°5 performance was showcased at Pitti Fragranze, an Italian event which gathers the best in artistic perfumery.

Here we see them empty a bottle each of Chanel N°5, fill them with Peety (a conceptual art in the form of perfume, customizable with 10 drops of pee) and add to this their own urine. (Errm gross!)

The duo’s only rule is to break the barriers that prevent communication of new ideas. With perfumes N°5 and PI-SCIANEL together with O’DRIÙ, Pregoni attempts to revolutionize niche perfumery via his artistic path and olfactory research. All the while provoking debate and controversy, leaving no one indifferent.

The following (as he puts it) “contemporary artworks” arrive in the post a week later, along with some strange marketing items:
1. Pathetique – 2014 A woody aromatic featuring tuber, bergamot, incense, juniper berry, black pepper, woody notes, oakmoss, mimosa, vetiver and amyris
2. Peety – 2013 A floral woody musk with top notes of jasmine, rose, tobacco leaf and moss; middle notes are mandarin orange, bitter orange, amber, cinnamon and pink pepper; base notes are patchouli, sandalwood and tonka bean
3. Eva Kant – 2013 An oriental spice for women with top notes of grapefruit, lavender and wood; middle notes are myrrh, sandalwood, ginger, magnolia and ylang-ylang; base notes are chamomile, cardamom, vanilla and benzoin

If scent as art and design is seen as a whole concept along with structure, perfume is then the result of a creative process which represents an expression in its entirety and has a value or disvalue in its totality. Pregoni believes “olfactory analysis of a perfume is subcultural distortion. Perfume should not be described through its ingredients, only through olfactory vibrations and oscillations of emotions, not smells.” Further pondering his work we can absorb the performance; the dream, the coming, the awakening/realization/reality, “the mess”(!!) and of what it still might become.

If we can reprogram ourselves from the clichés of mass-market perfumery in order to reignite our “paleo” (Palaeolithic) sensations and emotions, we can believe that olfactory “orgasms” do awaken us from sensory numbness and bring us into abstract reality. A “wet dream” – complete before we even register it as real?

Is this what Pregoni is saying? With “coming perfumery” he wanted to create a perfume that “lives” one step ahead of the present, whose identity is defined by what it will be tomorrow much more than what it is in the moment it is being observed.

Ainslie Walker

Sacred Frankincense 1 by JoAnne Bassett 2014 + Interview

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Post by Einsof

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Hello Junkies!

My name is Einsof (eye-n-s’off) and I’d like to share a fusion of styles, mysticism and perfume with you. I recently sat down with botanical perfumer JoAnne Bassett to explore her Sacred Frankincense Collection. It comes as no surprise that speaking with JoAnne is rather like listening to your favorite Tori Amos album in that you’re going to be subject to impromptu voyages into spirituality, reincarnation and a host of muses both sacred and sensual.

“Working with some absolutes blocks the energy.” A typical Bassett-ism, there is nothing within JoAnne’s work which does not reach out to some higher purpose, “They can make the purpose of a perfume muddy, unclear or the energy simply stops flowing.” Her technical approach is intimately entwined with a higher calling. The word ‘exquisite’ floats around the room as perhaps the only synonym for the art of her craft.

Sacred Frankincense 1 JoAnne Bassett image fragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

These moments of revelation come as leaned-in, quieter tones from the sprite-like intuitive perfumer. “In the room where I blend,” JoAnne begins another such secret telling, “I have a lot of help. The plant devas, divine energies, indigenous wisdoms… and love come together in there.” After working with several clients in Saudi Arabia and parts Middle East, it seems the consummate queen of French style perfumery had found a new ‘sound’ in the voice of the Djin. “I woke up one morning and looked in the mirror- do you know I had no idea who was standing there. This energy was insistent.”

The common thread of the collection is hydro-distilled frankincense sacra from Oman and a heavy dose of the harem and Middle Eastern magic. Calling upon her extensive collection of vintage essential oils, home grown botanicals she dedicatedly tinctures and newer players such as CO2 extracted butter — JoAnne has crafted a bridge between the refined classic European perfumery with the attar laden East where aroma was ritual, “…I like the idea of worlds, old and new merging; the evolution of the raw material all in one glance.”

Sacred Frankincense 1 by JoAnne Bassett 2014

The collection is Royal Alchemy Collection, the perfume is Sacred Frankincense 1

Sacred Frankincense 1 JoAnne Bassett fragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Olibanum, moroccan rose, elemi, peru balsam, lavender, artemisia, yuzu, chamomile, lime (linden blossom

Upon application there is an immediate sense of an apricot orchard, and familiar notes; lavender & peru balsam are waving from deep within the grove. Elemi, yuzu and linden greet you with childlike glee and beckon you into the rows. Throughout wear, chamomile softened cabbage rose and rose absolute exchange faces like JoAnne and her Muses in the mirror- sometimes you can distinguish between notes and sometimes there is a completely new being in your presence.

Sacred Frankincense 1 JoAnne Bassett Apticot Orchard WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

In the center of the forest- a clearing where all flora and fauna come to pay tribute to frankincense. The jus rests here for a moment (another interesting facet of the JoAnne’s Djinic journey is a change in tempo for unfolding of the perfume)- it seems to be the moment when the florals take their final melding with the resins in preparation for dry down. Every note seems to pop out from behind a puff of frankincense- and this complex dance of synergy continues for some time.

After about 3 hours of play in this enchanted forest, you realize you may be just dancing in the mirage of the desert as a luxurious.. exquisite…dry down of softened peru balsam, rose and davana have left only a soft but definitely resinous waft of the dervishes whirling through my nose and mind. This skin souvenir will continue for hours, even though reapplication is the way of the truly natural.

Tadrart AcacusPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

“I don’t quite understand,” JoAnne says genuinely surprised, taken aback even, “Do people only pray once? Is that why they only want to spray once?” Of course, JoAnne considers the people who are attracted to her art as “Divine Clients, for whom the perfume is more than just aesthetic.” She recounts noting her observant clients wash their hands, and apply pleasing perfume (an intentional reason the client sought out JoAnne’s Custom Couture Perfume services)- a fragrant way of preparation for courting communication with the Divine.
It is in this capacity which JoAnne finds her true calling: to call upon lifetimes of aromatic memory in order assist, uplift, affect energy patterns and give genuine moments of satori to those who experience her craft. These moments of divine illumination are not meant to last… they are glimpses into our own heavenly natures.

“Do you know, I came from the world of the stock market… and I am still enriching people’s lives. What I can do for them from my blending room is not significantly different from what I did from behind a desk. I am here to be of service to my clients.” JoAnne left the stock floor to search the world’s gardens for the most exquisite, hand distilled oils and attars. Her reserve must equal that of the royalty she references in her art.

In the naturals world, JoAnne gives quite a show of sillage and longevity. There is nothing overly gendered about her work, only names and your nose will have any influence- perhaps a reason why the collection is numbered rather than titled. Sacred Frankincense 1 could be worn anywhere and everywhere. Truly this collection proves true that what is intimately sacred will make intimacy sacred- these pieces of olfactory art could be found as easily in the boudoir and on the altar.

Further reading visit the JoAnne Basset site
Shopping you can visit the JoAnne Bassett ETSY site

From JoAnne Bassett: Because there wasn’t a perfume giveaway I am offering a special sale on my website of the fragrances recently reviewed. http://joannebassett.com/natural_perfumes/2014/11/08/special-sale-on-joanne-bassett-natural-perfumes/

Has anyone tried JoAnne Bassett? What do you think when your favorite artist changes their style up? Is it interesting expansion or irritating aberration?

Much light,
Einsof

The Architects Club by Yann Vasnier for Arquiste 2014

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Post by Ainslie Walker

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Melbourne, the 6th November in Peony Carlos Hubert will launch The architect’s club and a new L’Etrog. Contact Jill in the store for details!

Sydney, the 19th November for a Sydney Perfume Lovers Meetup

The Architects Club by Yann Vasnier for Arquiste 2014

The Architects Club Arquiste FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

The Architects Club starts fresh, cool and billowing – soft vanilla, pith-like with orange and lemon rind that fizzes like its just been dropped into tonic. It crackles a little, peppery in nature, though not sharp, rather cushioned. Immediately I realize its firmly unisex. The next stage is tart, astringent. A London Gin cocktail gives a backbone of robust juniper berries.

There’s something slightly musty and resinous on the up – Amber, old books. My mind darts to member’s club lounge chairs –Chesterfields and the like, fireplace in the distance, no smoke, but woody wafts. I remember interiors of Home House and Royal Automobile Club in London – heritage listed clubs that mix stuffy and traditional with opulent, cool and modern. Modern food and drinks served with finesse in comfy rooms that feel like they hold much heritage. Even empty its possible to hear the chatter of times gone by in the high ceilings of these places. The odour of cigars still seems seeps from somewhere. A few women must have visited here wearing Shalimar, as vanilla continues to billow.

The scent of Hotel bars Claridge’s and The Berkeley are captured. “It’s a London thing” as They say and it’s one of the reasons to go there if you haven’t already.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

An astringent oak wood note and something herbal, almost aniseedic comes to my attention. I’m reminded of my favorite pub in Soho with its oak interior The French House, serving only half pints, as it’s “a Gentlemen’s Pub” even to this day. Looking up the notes I realize its pepperwood, oak and Guaicwood and clary sage giving a distinctive smell. It’s dapper and timeless. I can see it suiting an English Dandy from years ago to a man in a suit to this day off to work in Sydney.

Its distinctive, solid and luminously light, making it not too over bearing or strong for an office, and certainly comfortable. A balmy Amber fragrance. I rarely wear vanilla, but with the woods, herbs and juniper in balance, I’m enjoying the ride. It’s extremely wearable. You could wear it to work, and out after for an alfresco meal. Smart whilst hinting at fun.

Overall I’ve made myself homesick for London. Which is a good result, as where many fragrances claim to smell like London, this is the first one I have tried which actually transports me straight there.

Ainslie Walker x

 

Un Zeste de Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine 2002

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Heya gang,

Les Parfums de Rosine is sadly neglected, I’m not sure if its their dated packaging which frankly looks 1960s drug store, their bottles which go only with Tiffany lamps and antimacassars and remind me of lace curtains or the little cutesy curtain ties with fringy bobs. The fragrances are solid and delicious, interesting and sometimes boundary pushing. Michael fell madly in love with a couple of the men’s scents while we were at the flagship store in the Palais Royale in Paris and bought a couple of bottles, including their discontinued men’s extrait. Now Michael’s nose is impeccable, if he says the juice is good then you better believe it.

Un Zeste de Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine 2002

Un Zeste de Rose Les Parfums de Rosine FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Amalfi lemon, orange, dried fruits
Heart: Jasmine, rose, tea
Base: Musk, holly, amber

Citrus, fresh cut and cool; a slightly pithy cut that has a dried apricot overtone and already there is the bite of tea in fragrance when Un Zeste de Rose opens on my skin. A dryness that smells of loose leaf tea in the packet.  This then is a softly peach-coloured tea scented rose with nuances of fruits and a green acerbic backdrop that doesn’t make me think of leaves but twig, cut twig or stem of a rose from the garden.Maybe this rose is headed for a vase in your house, it could be dewy or you could be smelling the cool water in your cut crystal rose bowl.

A rose full of fragrance, a lightly spicy tea scented rose through the heart and I am surprised that there is no honey mentioned in the notes. Maybe the honey factor comes through the amber/musk combination? I don’t know but it is smooth and lovely. Actually, there is a lovely creaminess to Un Zeste de Rose that is like a fresh green and cream, mmmmmmm.

Much younger and more youthful that their marketing suggests Un Zeste de Rose is crisp and light enough for everyday wear. Lasting power is good too but after about 2 hours Un Zeste de Rose wears very close to your skin, as soft as a body lotion.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Scent for Thought
First In Fragrance has €78/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Un Zeste de Rose is no huge groundbreaker but I think its creamy tea, honey and green-ness make it special. Extremely wearable and would make a great gift.

Portia xx

Giveaway Time sassisamblogPhoto Stolen sassisamblog

Un Zeste de Rose GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get:
1 x 5ml Un Zeste de Rose decant
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 about a rose fragrance that wins you over, or a memory of someone who wore one well

Extra Chance?
Tweet: http://wp.me/p3PURw-3je Les Parfums de Rosine GIVEAWAY  

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 2nd November 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 6th November 2014 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.

Mohur Extrait by Neela Vermeire Creations 2014

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Post by FeralJasmine

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Deep Soft Luxury: Mohur Extrait

Sometimes a perfume offers you access to a dream. Back in my distant 20s, when I was first getting serious about Indian cooking, I also had a farm and a Jersey cow named Lily, who flooded my kitchen with the freshest, creamiest milk, cream, and butter. During those distant days, I made a dessert that lives on in my memory even though I’ve never tried to duplicate it. It involved that morning’s rich milk cooked down very slowly with a tiny bit of rice until it thickened on its own, lightly sweetened, and lightly seasoned with saffron and rosewater. While it lasted, I savored a tiny cupful every day. I would sniff it for a long time before starting in on it. Mohur extrait reminds me of it.

Mohur Extrait by Neela Vermeire Creations 2014

Mohur Extrait by Bertrand Duchaufour

Mohur Extrait Neela Vermeire Creations FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cardamom, coriander, ambrette (musk mallow), carrot seeds, pepper, elemi
Heart: Iris, jasmine, rose, violet, almond, leather
Base: Sandalwood, amber, woody notes, patchouli, agarwood (oud), benzoin, vanilla, tonka bean

Does this mean that Mohur Extrait smells like a dessert? Not by a long shot. But it has similar notes and the same sense of an extraordinary luxury entering a workaday life. The rose is perfect. Not blowsy, not green and tight and ungiving, just caught at its peak of exquisiteness. The saffron smells very delicate and very real. I greatly dislike the chemical equivalent, saffraleine or whatever it’s called, and this smells more like the precious CO2 extract of pure saffron of which I have a tiny, treasured bottle. Vanilla and benzoin combine to make a soft, elegant bed for her majesty the rose to recline upon. Everything is in harmony, and nothing is overemphasized. The cardamom note is one of the subtlest, and loveliest, that I have experienced. This one shoots straight to the top of my list of rose favorites.

Mohur Extrait Neela Vermeire Creations Kazakh WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

I want to say more about my perception that some clean cream notes round out the scent. The combination of vanilla and benzoin and tonka often has creamy and buttery notes to me, and I want to emphasize that I am not talking about condensed-milk notes. In these benighted times, few people have experienced rich milk fresh from the cow, but the scent is clean, creamy, supple, with a note of lost childhood in it. If you haven’t smelled really fresh milk, I have no idea what you would compare this scent to. Perhaps the closest equivalent is really clean fresh hay combined with powder, hypnotic in a pleasantly dreamy rather than a narcotic way, like the most perfect summer afternoon.

Mohur Extrait Neela Vermeire Creations Monet Les_arceaux_de_roses,_Giverny WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: Alembicated Genie and Colognoisseur
Neela Vermeire Creations has an email you can order from
LuckyScent has $465/50ml

I am an admirer of the Neela Vermeire Creations line, and this is the only line I can think of where I love every single scent. Probably nothing can knock my beloved Trayee off its pedestal. Mohur Extrait is a very different and equally bewitching thing. Try it. Simple as that.

FeralJasmine XX

Lux + Nuit Noire by Mona di Orio (re-release) 2014

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Post by Val the Cookie Queen.

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It is difficult to know where to start when there has already been so much written about these two fragrances. I will take the chance to inform those who don´t know that Lux and Nuit Noire are available again. They have been re-launched in their original formulas.

Mona di Orio (re-release) 2014: Signature Collection

Lux Mona di Orio- Sensual and erotic

Lux Mona di Orio FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Mona di Orio gives these featured accords in one line (Press Release):
Sicilian lemon, litsea cubeba, bigarade petitgrain, Haitian vetiver, Mysore cedarwood, sandalwood, musk, amber, Siamese benzoin, Bourbon vanilla

Kicks off with a sparkling and delightful lemon. This is no cologne though. The development can be compared to throwing a pebble into the water. The immediate splash is the delicious citrus, but as the ripples spread, the vetiver appears and very slowly it takes us towards the most sensual vanilla and and earthy lemon with musks and amber and sandalwood swirling in along the way. Lux is Latin for light. It is also a stunning fragrance, turning from light into shadow and then back again to a warm soft lingering glow. Lux must be tried on the skin to experience the passionate journey that ensues. Lux is not too sweet, harmonizes beautifully and is absolutely stunning on a man.

Nuit Noire Mona di Orio- Lie me down and tether me tightly

Nuit Noire Mona di Orio FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Mona di Orio gives these featured accords in one line (Press Release):
Orange flower, cardamom, ginger, orange, frankincense, cinnamon, tuberose, sandalwood, clove, cedarwood, amber, leather, musk, tonka

I would be careful about wearing this one in the office. The same applies if you have been diagnosed with a heart condition.

It is so hardcore in the first few moments, that you need to be careful not to inhale too deeply and thus risk droplets
hanging off of your nose hair. Indolic orange, skunky cardamom and hot ginger. It is quite thrilling. By the time you try to figure out what´s going on, it calms down into a warm seductive combination of tuberose and spices and you have a while to savour the experience. Slowly it moves on into musk, leather, tonka and amber. It is carnal, yet creamy
and velvety throughout. Nuit Noire will not be for all perfume lovers, but should be tried by as many who have the chance. Intoxicating, stimulating and über-feminine.

MdO Lux + Nuit Noire ValPhoto Donated by Mona di Orio

The the newly designed black transluscent oval flacons just for Lux and Nuit Noire are very striking.

First In Fragrance has €140/75ml

Spending time with Jeroen Oude Sogtoen, co-founder and Creative Director of MdO was one of the highlights of 2014. His passion is inspiring. He buttons up his shirts and doesn´t pretend to be a perfumer.

MdO Lux + Nuit Noire Val2Photo Donated by Mona di Orio

Much thanks to Jeroen and Henrike for their kindness in Florence.

Bussis
CQ

Piguet Fracas vs Versace Blonde: Perfume Smackdown

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

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Post by Willa Zheng

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Hello APJers,

This series is as much as for myself, to navigate, curate and ultimately cull my collection to a more sane level. Let’s begin.

Fracas vs Blonde: Battle of the Tuberoses – Perfume Smackdown

Fracas 3.0 and Donatella’s MK II

Few fragrances inspire the near obsessive devotion as the fans for Robert Piguet’s Fracas. Maybe that’s because it’s so different to other offerings on the market or because of the type of women who wear it (Madonna, Courtney Love, Isabella Blow, Marlene Dietrich). Ever since Fracas went downhill in the late 70s (and later discontinued), several such women took it upon themselves to recreate this iconic take-no-prisoner carnal fragrance.

The legend on the internet goes that Fracas was one of Donatella’s favourite fragrances. When Versace wanted to launch a fragrance in 1995 in honour of Donatella, they knew that they needed to create something just like Fracas, which was at the time traded by Adrien Arpel and smelt unlike Germaine Cellier’s creation. The perks of being a Versace!

But then the Robert Piguet brand got sold to Joe Garces of Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics, who hired Pierre Negrin to resurrect Fracas faithfully in an IFAS-compliant form in 1999. With Fracas back on the counters, Donatella retired her Fracas Mk II.

Portia has reviewed the Blonde EDT here in the past. I own the Parfum and will be battling this against my Fracas EDP bottle, circa 2012.

Fracas vs Blonde Opening experience

Fracas Robert Piguet FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

BaseNotes gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Mandarin, Hyacinth, Green notes
Heart: Tuberose, Jasmine, Orange Flower, Lily of the valley, White iris, Violet, Jonquil, Carnation, Coriander, Peach, Osmanthus, Pink geranium
Base: Musk, Cedar, Moss, Sandalwood, Orris, Vetiver, Tolu balsam

The opening of Fracas is like being smacked in the face with a pot of makeup. It’s a swirling jumble of carnation, jasmine, geranium and lilac, tied altogether by mandarin. It’s loud, brash, and jaggedy.

Blonde Versace fragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Gardenia, Pitosporum, violet, orange blossom, bergamot
Heart: Tuberose, daffodil, ylang-ylang, carnation, pepper
Base: Benzoin, sensual musk, civet, sandalwood

Versace Blonde opens as a cashmere-soft (violet) buttery gardenia-orange blossom with ripples of a sheer green hyacinth juice running through its vein. Blonde is noticeably greener than Fracas. It’s very harmonious, sensual and confident. The Versace Blonde woman (or man) is sexy, she knows it and she doesn’t feel the need to flash that fact in your face.

Ash_Blonde WikiCommonsPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

Fracas vs Blonde: The main event

Fracas becomes less muddled after 30minutes. There’s creamy orange blossom and dewy honeysuckle weaving through a jasmine and iris-violet cosmetic powder base. It sinks, attempts to get up and then falls into a creamy orange blossomy puddle again. That watery thin creaminess, mixed with cosmetic powder scent, reminds me of another classic white floral, White Shoulders.

Blonde, by contrast, becomes more radiant, a wedding bouquet of every white floral you can imagine – a la Giorgio Beverly Hills. It’s heavy on the jasmine, made dry and green by the addition of lily of the valley, hyacinth and daffodils. There is also tuberose and ylang ylang. However, it is all very smooth and even, like a creamy white bar of triple milled Jasmine-Lily pebble soap.

VelvetStretchwbite WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Fracas vs Blonde: Drydown

The biggest difference between Fracas and Blonde exists towards the end. Fracas develops a distinctive dry soothing sandalwood with a little bit of oakmoss and vetiver. It’s rubbery, woody and my mind is tripping. Without a doubt, FM’s Carnal Flower was based on the drydown of Fracas. Very carnal indeed.

Versace Blonde parfum by this stage is very faint, and smells like you’ve had a shower with the aforementioned soap. It’s linear, clean and frankly unremarkable.

Surrender To Chance has samples of both for your own Smack Down

Have you tried them? What is your verdict?
Willa X