Stash SJP by Laurent Le Gurney + Clement Gavarry for Sarah Jessica Parker 2016

December 30, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there Fragrance Family,

There is usually a buzz around any Sarah Jessica Parker release. Her story told by Chandler Burr in his Frag-Umentary caused me to fall even more in love with the actress and now 4 of her fragrances are in my collection. Now if you’ve read the story you’ll know that SJP had a 3 fragrance layering daily routine that she really wanted to emulate in her first fragrance but Coty wouldn’t let her so they made Lovely.

Book Depository $13

To be perfectly honest I was not expecting much from this new release because over the last few scents I have noticed a definite diminution in the SJP brands artistic merit and presentation. This though is her first departure from the Coty brand and moving across to Ulta in the USA (info from Colgnoisseur). So it was with mildly nervous steps, even though it had been getting raves all round, I made my way to Chemist Warehouse in Parramatta to check it out.

Stash SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker 2016

Stash SJP by Laurent Le Gurney + Clement Gavarry

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Grapefruit zest, Black pepper, Sage
Heart: Atlas cedar, Patchouli, Ginger lily, Pistachio
Base: Frankincense, Massoia wood, Vetiver, Musk

Straight into black pepper that has it’s dryness cut through with some sweetness that I place as mildly citrus and does not feel as outrageous as grapefruit, maybe the green sage and spicy ginger are giving it a broader appeal. Woods, yes plenty. Pistachio? Um nope, not yet. I have respritzed after 5 minutes and interestingly the sage is the most prominent top not before the pepper comes through and then we go smooth. The whole fragrance smooths out beautifully. Still very noticeable but calmer and a sweet, non hippy patchouli tangos with the ginger and the herbs.

WikiCommons

Then I become anosmic to Stash, it disappears for me. I know I’m still fragrant because Jin says I still have a heavy perfume but I can smell almost nothing. A ghost of Stash, a faint woody nothing that lingers softly. BUM. OK, so that’s not 100% accurate, if I go do something like make a coffee or take the dogs for a walk I do get flashes of fragrance. Little huffs of something very nice, dry, a little bit like a dry sauna but not.

Stash smells like the woodsy, scratchy, peppered “niche” that annoys Val but softer and more lighthearted. It’s easier, quite masculine but will be gorgeous on the girls who are unafraid of scentorially standing out.

Interestingly, when I put my top back on to walk the dogs first thing in the morning all I can smell is an oily vetiver and incense. Really good.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Colgnoisseur
Chemist Warehouse has $29/30ml

PERFECT fragrant gift for either sex, wearable, comfortable and really, really good.
Will you be wearing STASH?
Portia xxx

Eau de Sud by Annick Goutal 1996

December 29, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Fragrance Family,

Few niche houses have the success or longevity of Annick Goutal. Writing about Nuit Etoilee and wearing it over the Christmas season reminded me to grab out the rest of my Annick Goutal collection. I’ve whittled it down to the favourite few, maybe 6 FBs and some large decants. Here’s one of my oft worn faves.

Eau de Sud by Annick Goutal 1996

Fragrantica

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

Even though the citrus in Eau de Sud is a little sticky it still feels cooling in the heat of Sydney summer. I love it too as a summer reminder in the dead of winter so even if you Northern Hemisphere peeps feel like a spritz it will be perfect. So much citrus in the opening and there is a soft minty pop to keep it refreshing. Add to that a salty zing like eating oranges after swimming in salt water or a Margarita. My nose smells creaminess and I am unsure of the origin, maybe the jasmine adds a creamy note? Anyway, I get a balmy smoothness that equates to creamy in my brain, it’s really galbanum-esque. If I give myself a second spritz after about 20 minutes the basil is quite noticeable compared to the original application.

Cavendish & Harvey

Eau de Sud reminds me of this hard lollies that used to come in a tin with loads of super fine white sugar powder around them, do you remember? They were deliciously sweet with recreations of fruits but had only the merest tenuous connection to fruit, more of a fruit allusion. Here the fruits are more nameable but still that sweetness and mild sharpness is completely here. We used to suck them on planes to stop our ears popping and Mum would use them to give us a sugar hit if we looked like we were flagging and needed to be alert. Especially useful before exams or after a footy game.

The body and dry down of Eau de Sud are still salty/creamy all the way through but the whole fragrance dries out considerably and leaves a dustiness over the citrus and adds a walking over summers-browned-grass brittleness. So easy to wear and longevity of around 4 hours maximum, the first hour sillage is moderate before dropping back to soft.

My bottle is old, apparently Annick Goutal have remade Eau de Sud in 2016 and its note list is bergamot, mandarin orange, grapefruit and resins.

PDI

Further reading: EauMG and APJ
FragranceShop have the old men’s packaging Testers $44/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

Are you an Eau de Sud fan?
Portia xx

Island Gardenia by Jovan 1982

December 28, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Anne-Marie

Hi everyone, and Happy New Year to all!

Big White Florals. Not my usual line of country, but with jasmine and gardenia blooming on my patio, I’m tempted to try them in perfumery. My latest exploration is Jovan’s Island Gardenia.

Island Gardenia by Jovan 1982

Fragrantica

Fragrantica only gives gardenia as a note, and the perfumer is unstated, but a Basenotes reviewer offers:
Top: coconut, peach
Heart: gardenia, tuberose, jasmine, neroli, cyclamen
Base: vanilla, civet, Siamese benzoin

I find mixed white florals heavily dominated by tuberose. That is what I get straight out of the bottle: a rich, buttery tuberose, luscious and unmistakeable. I agree on the peach but if you live in terror of the peach-tuberose combo in Givenchy Amarige, relax. The peach fades quickly.

The coconutty facet of many white florals is present, though not to my nose a major player. I don’t notice any of those listed base notes, certainly not civet.
The thing I really don’t get is gardenia. The gardenia I grow is a miniature and I think it is sweeter and less green and earthy than the classic, Billie Holiday-style gardenia. Still, I feel I know how they smell and I get very little gardenia in Island Gardenia. That’s a disappointment.

And then, I had been expecting monstrous flesh eating sillage so I was very surprised when IG shrank to my skin in less than half an hour. After a shower this afternoon I gave myself about five big spritzes (yes, I stayed home, just in case!). The sillage is moderate, but I don’t somehow expect it to last the whole evening.
The opening is my favourite part. Then, on some wearings the dry down seems a little harsh and chemically, but on others I found it pleasantly creamy and slightly salty. I prefer the sillage, especially as it wafts up from my shirt, to the scent on skin.

PDI

For all that, Island Gardenia is relaxing to wear. It is warm but only slightly sweet; maternal I would say, rather than sultry. Which brings us to – you know it’s coming – Piguet’s Fracas. Island Gardenia is sometimes likened to Fracas: lighter, more timid and much less complex. Well, I have never comprehended Fracas. I like the orange blossom in the opening, but as the tuberose emerges it turns weird and unpleasant on my skin. I do have a sample and I will keep comparing them, but if you know both fragrances well, do comment. And please, if you have compared it to Jungle Gardenia by Tuvaché, I’d love to hear what you think!

On Fragrantica, you have to squint hard to find any really negative comment about Island Gardenia. I normally find that at least a quarter of the reviews of any given fragrance will condemn it, but ‘love the heck out of this’ is a pretty common reaction to this one.

PDI

FragranceNet has US$14/45ml before coupon

And the price! I gone mine for about AUD $21 on Fragrancex.com. No complaints there.
Ah gardenia! Do you have a favourite?
Bye for now.
Anne-Marie

Amora EdP by Hans Hendley 2016

December 27, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 41 Comments

Val the Cookie Queen

Good Day APJ, Wake up, Christmas is over and we survived!!

It´s impossible to keep up with all the small perfume houses and independent artisanal perfumers. I see names come and go on social media, or on other blogs and pay little attention. However Hans Hendley´s name is popping up a lot and I felt prompted to look a little further. I took the plunge and ordered the 9ml travel size of Amora, his most recent launch. I had to wait a while as the first batch was sold out. I rather like the idea of someone so passionate about perfume that they bother to formulate, blend and bottle the potion themselves. After all, that´s how I run my own business.

BALMY BERRIES ON BONGS – I did Inhale. YUM!!

Amora EdP by Hans Hendley 2016

Fragrantica

Hensley Perfumes gives these featured accords:
Stone fruit, mixed berries, rose absolute, blonde tobacco, sweet resins, musk complex, ambergris

A couple of years ago I I wrote of Sådanne, the astounding strawberries-on-crack scent by Slumberhouse. Hendley´s Amora reminds me of the experience, but here we have balmy berries on bongs. It´s tantalising and impossible to stop inhaling. The sillage will leave noses quivering in your wake. There is something more alternative lying beneath the fruity opening, a kind of salty resinous layer, resting on musk maybe? I understand there is a touch of ambergris in the formula too. Gorgeous on a bloke as well I must say.

Amora stands alone out of the new releases of 2016. The many that have the same dry down with the same woody accords that freak my nose out and have me running? These accords don´t seem to appear in American perfumery, very interesting. Quite daring to launch a fruity scent as an artisanal perfumer don´t you think? This is underground though, don´t confuse it with the mainstream fruit bombs please.

Of course it might not be your thing, but you don´t know until you´ve tried it now do you? Hans Hendley offers affordability, a wonderful sample service, and brilliant customer relations. APJ, I wanted to put Hendley Perfumes onto your radar. That is part of our responsibilty as bloggers I think. You are more than welcome. 🙂

And for those of you who are still too exhausted from your festivities to move much, look no further. With thanks to Hans Hendley, and my love of going to the post office we have one of the 9ml travel sprays to giveaway. Check below.

Hendley Perfumes has $18/9ml + Samples

May we all have strength for 2017 because bloody hell, we sure are gonna need it.
Lots of love to all of you who so faithfully stand by APJ, it is not taken for granted.
Bussis
CQ

Amora EdP GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 9ml Amora EdP Travel Spray
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

Please tell us what interests you about such an unusual fragrance and I won´t accept how much you have always loved berries. Hahahaha!!

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 29th December 2016 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Wednesday 4th January 2017 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

Volume II: Precision and Grace by Geza Schoen for The Beautiful Mind Series 2015

December 26, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

TinaG

Hi APJ, hope you have all had a lovely start to the festive season.

I wrote briefly about one of my go-to perfumes in an article on Adelaide a few weeks back. This is Precision and Grace, Volume II of the Beautiful Mind Series. It is a great warm weather fragrance and a good all round travel pick-me-up. I’ve always finished decants when I’ve taken it away with me. “Finished” is not a word many perfume hobbyists use too often…..

I thought I’d revisit Precision and Grace with a bit more detail on the development of the scent on skin and why I enjoy wearing it so much.

Volume II: Precision and Grace by The Beautiful Mind Series 2015

Volume II: Precision and Grace by Geza Schoen

Fragrantica

LuckyScent gives these featured accords:
Williams pear, bergamot, mandarin, lemon, Egyptian jasmine, plum, osmanthus, rose, mimosa, pink pepper, freesia, violet, sandalwood, myrrh, moss, amber

Precision and Grace is described as a Fruity Floral. That, in itself, is enough to send many a perfumista screaming and ducking for cover. But with descriptions, you have to start somewhere, right? It puts us in the ball park of maybe what to expect – it’s the quality that then defines the fragrance experience itself.

I always give this a few generous sprays, and it opens a slightly metallic lemon. Over the next 15 minutes or so, from this centre point softly emerges a beautifully balanced sphere of co-habiting notes – mandarin, pear, osmanthus and freesia primarily. The osmanthus and pear are really the stars on my skin. The pear is amazingly juicy and fresh, never wandering in to room-deodorant territory. And osmanthus…. Wow…. It is present with a glowing soft yellow radiance, calming and uplifting.

PDI

After about 1.5 hours, a jasmine comes through – nothing indolic, this is fresh as it would be still on the vine. The freshness is tempered with a plum note which drawn the scent down into slightly heavier olfactive territory.

There is something really special about the way this fragrance is balanced, each note is clear and real, but no divas, nothing pushing front and centre. I think that’s why I visualise a sphere, with the lemon surrounded by three main auras at first – floral, citrus, and fruit. You’ve got the precision in the photorealism, and grace in the balance, everything has a purpose and a place, working in harmony.

The fragrance changes ever so slowly, and at about 4 hours I find that a woody notes and dry sandalwood have appeared but I really didn’t have any hint of them coming. The dry down is subtle, and fragrance long-lasting at 8+ hours.

WikiCommons

Further reading: Megan In St Maxime
LuckyScent has $165/100ml and samples

I enjoy wearing Precision and Grace very much. I find it is one of those which grounds and centres me – I suspect that is why I wear it travelling, when I’m working in unfamiliar territory and need to move through my day with a sense of happiness, kindness and purpose. And, of course, the grace to work around those unforeseen hiccups that you always come across on the move.

What is your go-to scent when you need to get things done?

Best wishes to all of you for a wonderful start to 2017! Lots of Love.

Tina G xx

Nuit Étoilée EdT by Isabelle Doyen for Annick Goutal 2012

December 24, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Portia

Hello Fume Fiends,

We forget in the far off lands of 2016 that Annick Goutal the fragrance brand has been around since 1980. Many of its fragrances were groundbreaking fragile beauties that thrilled and surprised fragrance lovers. Mixed with its determined homespun style, interesting note combinations and eye rollingly beautiful floral concoctions they became a hit with the newly borne perfumistas in the heady days of the 1980s and 90s. Sables, Folavril, Eau de Monsieur, Passion and Eau d’Hadrien were ground breaking scents. Now known by perfumistas as a safe, easy to wear brand some of the wow factor has definitely been lost. Especially through reformulation, the changing out of the vibrantly coloured bottles and the bland introduction of plain glass by AmorePacific, the south Korean owners of Annick Goutal. So it comes as quite a surprise to find something so outlandish and weird in the collection as Nuit Étoilée.

Nuit Étoilée EdT by Annick Goutal 2012

Nuit Étoilée by Isabelle Doyen

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Citron, sweet orange, peppermint
Heart: Siberian pine, fir resin
Base: Angelica seed, tonka, immortal

If you like to smell your fragrances 5 plus hours later then most of the Annick Goutal range will give you the shits. Nuit Étoilée EdT is no exception and you better have bought the 100ml bottle because respritzing becomes addictive.

WikiCommons

ZING!! Bright citrus and mint, like alcoholic fruit punch on a hot summers day or Mojitos in the evening. A fresh burst of wake up and live. Every time I spritz it feels like an energy burst for the brain. The mint lasts only minutes and I’m left with a woodsy citrus, green and dry. As the heart dries off on my skin all I’m left with is a very soft wash of musks and something greenish but barely noticeable. This whole process takes about an hour, unless I spray on fabric or card and then I get at least 4 hours on fabric and on card I can smell Nuit Étoilée next morning.

Nuit Étoilée is going to be my Christmas Eve scent this year. In the fresh woodsiness I find an Aussie summer whispered hint of a wintery, white Christmas that still fits with our 30C+ heat, and yes, there will be fruit punch with fresh mint in it. What would an Aussie Christmas be without it?

PDI

Further reading: EauMG and Non Blonde
FragranceX has some old blue EdT stock for AUD$75/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $3/ml

Have you tried Nuit Étoilée? Does your family do alcoholic fruit punch with fresh mint chopped into it?
Portia xx

How Do You Scent Your Home?

December 21, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Post by Erica Golding

Hello fellow fragrance lovers!

Today I’m wondering, how do you scent your home? Our quarters are our own personal atmosphere, an oasis from the spiraling chaos of routine. It’s fun to express yourself by decorating your air space!

How Do You Scent Your Home?

Aside from the typical candles, incense sticks, and Scentsy warmers (which I display and use proudly), there are some other fun and creative ways to liven up the ambience.

Parfum de Nicolaï

Luxe atmosphere/linen sprays are such a delight! Right now I have several favorites in my collection from houses such as Black Phoenix Trading Post, Parfum de Nicolaï and Sucreabeille. The fragrances are unique, unexpected, and great conversation starters! Don’t forget the L’Artisan Amber Balls too.

L’Artisan

Another fabulous experience is burning resin incense on charcoal tablets in a censer. There is nothing that compares to real frankincense tears and myrrh resin cloaking a room in divine perfume. Be safe and try not to burn the place down! And it’s smart to crack a window open, smoke alarms can disrupt one’s zen. 😉

WikiCommons

Have you ever used an oil burner? A while back, Nocturne Alchemy released some limited edition Offering Oils specifically formulated for warming in an oil burner, no dilution necessary. I just light a tea light under the suspended glass dish, and soon the aroma is dancing around the room. The scents are purely euphoric, and they are by far my favorite way to fragrance my home. I hope they decide to make more someday, my little hoard is starting to dwindle.

Lastly, I’d love to hear your opinions on ultrasonic aroma diffusers like the Muji. I’m curious and very tempted. If you have one, do you use it often, or did you lose interest once you played with it a few times? Do you have any brands you recommend (or would advise against)?

I hope you are cozy and well-scented, and that you are enjoying the company of loved ones this holiday season.

So tell me in the comments below, how do you scent your home?

Fragrant hugs,
-Erica

Vert Boheme by Tom Ford 2016

December 20, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 61 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hello my dear Fragrant Community,

In times of great global upheaval, be it political financial or social, people often look inwards and we tend to surround ourselves with things and people that can offer comfort and succor. For many of us that manifests in the perfumes we choose to wear, a scent that reminds us of a safer time in our lives, gentler living instead of days full of stress and drama

For me it seems that I favor vintage and vintage-style perfumes. Perfumes that remind me of my dressed-up-cocktail-party-dab-of-Patou Mother or maybe the wet tweed/leather and spicy green fougere or aquatic cologne of my Father, and later my own all-night drug-fueled party and disco dancing nights at the gay bars of pre-AIDS San Francisco. A very heady time and place indeed when anything was possible and everything was available.

So recently reaching blindly into my decant box, I pulled out one of one new Tom Ford Private Selections called Vert Boheme, and honest to god it was exactly the blanket of comfort I needed and was searching for! Serendipity at its finest.

Vert Boheme by Tom Ford 2016

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Galbanum, mandarin, magnolia, honeysuckle, muguet, violet leaf, gustavia superba (heaven lotus), oakmoss, vetiver, white musk

Vert Boheme is a very green and waxy smelling white floral, almost the love-child of Jean Patou Joy and Chanel 19 or Cristalle. It opens on my skin with a huge blast of bitter green galbanum, tempered quickly by sweet citrus and floral honeysuckle and lily of the valley. Staying quite linear it all settles down into an almost cologne-like watery floral and mossy scent reminiscent of a men’s scent from the late 60’s or early 70’s. The heaven lotus adds a level of early glamorous indolic beauty that is prominent thru the drydown.

Since the 70’s was my “coming-of-age” era, that’s very likely why it resonates with me so profoundly on so many levels. It feels as familiar to me as a well worn pair of bell bottom jeans and platform shoes, reminding me so much of “home” and a happy time in my life, that it almost brings me to tears with the memory of my parents and my own foolish youthful days.

WikiCommons

Nothing groundbreaking but beautiful none the less and a welcome addition to my fragrance wardrobe.

Further reading: GQ Magazine and Perfume Posse
LuckyScent has $225/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/0.5ml

Have you tried any of the new Tom Ford Vert series?