Scent Diary: 22.5 – 28.5.2017

May 28, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 23 Comments

Portia

Scent Diary: 22.5 – 28.5.2017

Monday 22:

Hey all. Today was spent at the computer (amazing how much time you can waste doing basically nothing online) and getting my fragrant send outs done. Some of them are a week overdue.

watching some Netflix. Jake Gyllenhaal in Source Code (2011) which blew my mind. Scary real idea.

Also watched the animated Sahara (2017) which was sweet and amusing but not nearly as good as Source Code.

Being Monday I have to write Trivia Q&A tonight.

Did not spritz or dab even a drop of fragrance today. For no reason at all my body wanted a complete rest from it. It did make me notice even more the fragile scent of lavender left on my sheets after changing the bed today. I always spritz it with L’Occitane Lavender Eau de Cologne on change day. It’s scent remains all week and is a perfect relaxant for Jin. He works shift work and needs to be able to fall asleep at any time in moments.

Tuesday 23:

BUSY, wearing Madame Rochas EdC and parfum.

This morning I had a few things on the agenda, firstly tyres. My car desperately needed 4 new tyres and I had known it was coming for 12 months. Went to a tyre place I’ve used before expecting around $1000. The guy that served me was super sweet. He told me that they were importing a new brand and because this company is trying to get a toehold in Australia they are still quite cheap. So, four new tyres and a wheel alignment cost a little under $600 and I can’t believe the difference. The car is more responsive, feels like it is cornering better and the steering is lighter than it’s ever been. WIN ALLL ROUND!

It was Mother’s Day recently and I still hadn’t been to visit my Mum. The guilt was lying heavily on me and so straight after tyres I went down and saw her. Burned some Chinese Incense and Hell Bank Dollars for her and when I’m there alone I talk out loud to her as if we are sitting in the kitchen over a coffee. Anyway, I’d been rambling on about all sorts and wandering around the grave picking leaves etc off it when I noticed two groundsmen watching me and smiling. AWKWARD! They just smiled, said hello and wandered on.

Mum Waples is still in the Rehab and I went to visit her too. We had some laughs and Kath showed up to make it really cozy.

Jin has been aching to make us Peking Duck. We went and got all the stuff today, he made the pancakes himself from scratch. A couple of false starts, some not quite rightness and though it was amazing we decided to leave it and chop it all up for Sang Choy Bow tomorrow. Who cares that it wasn’t perfect, I just love the hanging out with him.

Work. Having to go to work tonight it was beard dying, a bubble bath and shave. Then some quiet nap time and ready to face the world. I spritzed Parfum d’Empire Ambre Russe lavishly and went out reeking of it. Interestingly no one commented on it, maybe they’re scared. I kept smelling old pipe tobacco all night, yummiest frag.

Fragrantica

After work Jin and I sat up watching Frankie & Johnny Season 3, first 3 eps. Such good writing and the actors are a unit, a cohesive, perfect unit. We see ourselves and friends in different moments and characters. What a show.

Wednesday 24:

A day blogging so loads of fragrance. I don’t want to ruin all the surprise though so I’ll keep a little hush.

Perfectly wonderful day. Jin and I lazed around the house and I blogged away happily. We had lunch together, a cuddle on the couch, watched some Korean TV with him translating. I grabbed Paris and had a little nap with him in the early evening before work.

Tonight for work I wore Carner Barcelona Rima XI. Sweet amber delight. YUM!

Thursday 25:

Today started cool and crisp, there were little breath clouds as I walk the dogs. By the time we got home though it was starting to warm up nicely. I was too., a half hour wander is beautiful with these pooches for company.

Jin cooked San Choy Bow with the leftover duck today for lunch. The sad failure of our Peking Duck was well overshadowed by the great San Choy Bow triumph of May 2017! He took some artistic license with the basic recipe, adding extraordinary amounts of garlic, some extra vegetables and a nice soft kick of chilli. He should open a restaurant. Seriously. It was so bloody delicious.

We went shopping for food. Tomorrow night we are having a small dinner party. We wanted to have everything ready to go.

Collected the incoming mail. VERY nice haul today. Vintage Madame Rochas EdC and Serge Lutens Feminite du Bois and Ambre Sultan in the Vaporisators with 2 x 30ml. Same price at Mecca as the 50ml export bottle and hella cuter.

Tonight I jumped in a glorious bubble bath of Hermès Eau de Mandarine Ambrée which then led me to night at work in Guerlain Shalimar, vintage parfum and modern EdP. I sent two of the women hurtling down memory lane to their youths. One was so enraptured she said she had fully fallen back in love. I wouldn’t be surprised if she turns up next week in full Shalimar.

My rose that I was given on Mother’s day is still blooming strong and lightly fragrant.

Friday 26:

Suddenly it’s cool enough for a beanie. I particularly love this one I bought from Vanessa Musson from Bonkers About Perfume.

WHAT A DAY! I didn’t think my list was so long but it didn’t go as planned. It was meet Anna-Maria, go to David Jones and sniff, shopping for other people at DIOR, Estee Lauder Staff Store, hang with Bronwyn of Gascoigne & King Candles, Showface Theatre Makeup Store, Home for dinner party with a crew. It didn’t quite go to plan.

Went to town and met Anna-Maria for coffee and cupcakes.

Then we went to check David Jones DIOR to see if they had the 125ml Feve Delicious in case the Flagship store was out.

This fabulous woman at YSL Beauty grabbed Anna-Maria and did her lips. I nearly had to punch her in the face to use a slightly orange red on Anna-Maria but my will prevailed and I think you’ll agree it was the right choice.

Went to visit one of my favourite man SAs at MECCA in Myer where Anna-Maria got the Le Labo Santal 33 oil.

Then we trotted up to DIOR Flagship store and met Jolanta who was devastated to tell us she only had one 125ml DIOR Feve Delicious left. We had a very nice visit though. They are so friendly and helpful.

Latai met us there and we had to go back to David Jones to grab the other Feve and have lunch with Anna-Maria’s son Rocco. Then we realised we were out of time. Rushed home to join where we met up with other friends and all had Japanese/Korean fusion Self Made Nori Rolls. We had so much fun, chatter and laughter that the rest of the night passed in such a blur I completely forgot to take photos, SORRY!

After dinner I brought out a box of random niche bottles and we sniffed them and chatted, leading me to go get other bottles to illustrate, compare, contrast. By 10pm Jin was in bed and I was pooped so everyone herded out and I cleaned up. Bit of blogging and bed.

Saturday 27:

Spent today lazing around the house doing very close to nothing. I did notice that the Zygocactus are flowering though. these are all from my Mum’s windowsill. I’m pretty chuffed that though she died in 2001 her cactus are still prospering beautifully in the baskets and pots I put them in in 2003.

In honour of having the house to myself and wanting to swan around fully fragrant I gave myself 6 huge spritzes of Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur EdP. It’s so easy to get lost in its intricate folds that I lay down and let my mind wander for half an hour. So relaxing.

When Jin got home we had his Katsu Curry: Korean style. Bloody hell. My guy is such a good cook. Delicious. We watched some Gilmore Girls, season one. Jin had been rematching them and I got addicted a couple of seasons in. I’m doing catch up. LOVE this show.

Before bed I spritzed the white floral and green herbs and spices of Antonia by Puredistance. How luxe it smells.

Sunday 28:

Woke up & spritzed Niki de Saint Phalle for this perfect end of autumn sunny day. It was lovely as I wandered the dogs around our suburb.

Went and visited Kath’s Mum who is back at home now. We sat around with Dad & Kath laughing and chattering. It was a casual family morning, exactly what my should needed. Sorry but I forgot to take a snap.

Hung around the house and then got ready for work.

This week has been calm and peaceful. It’s been great to take stock and get some rest.

How about you? What did you do this week?
Did anything fragrant or fun happen?
Let us all know in the comments, hearing about your lives makes me so happy. I feel involved in the world outside my bubble.
Portia xx

Perfume Discontinuations: Grab them before they are gone

April 26, 2017 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Anne-Marie

Hi all,

It’s a common thing in perfumista land that you only really start paying attention to a perfume when you hear rumours of discontinuation. You ignore it happily until suddenly you realise it could be too late. Then FOMO sets in – Fear of Missing Out. Oh no!

I got thinking about this recently when, after YEARS of dithering, I finally bought a bottle of Sarah Jessica Parker Covet. This one may have been discontinued some time ago and I’d decided not to bother until a chain of discount chemists in Australia suddenly started stocking it. Cheap – $20. I bought one, and no regrets. Lavender and chocolate; it should not work but it does.

Perfume Discontinuations

Grab them before they are gone

What else have I made a wild grab for, and what have I let go?

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mint, geranium leaves, Sicilian lemon, lavender, chocolate notes
Heart: Honeysuckle, magnolia, lily of the valley
Base: Cashmere wood, musk, vetiver, teak wood, amber

Perfume Discontinuations: The Ones I Grabbed

Sarah Jessica Parker Covet, as mentioned.

Bvlgari Black. Vanilla and fresh tyre rubber! I bought a back-up for my son to own and me to borrow.

Lancome Cuir de Lancome. . A cult leather. I bought mine while it still going for about $50.

Rochas Tocade. A laughing vanilla fragrance, this one is not discontinued as far as I know, just re-packaged. Re-packaging always makes the perfume enthusiast nervous, and I grabbed a bottle.

Yves Saint Laurent Y. Same as for Tocade. It’s always worth grabbing a chypre if you think it’s under threat. It probably is.

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Casablanca lily, Black locust, White carnation
Heart: Golden pollen, Gold dust, Violet leaf
Base: Amber, Indian patchouli, Resins

Perfume Discontinuations: The Ones I Let Go

If there’s a bottle out there with my name on it, someone else can have it.

Donna Karan Gold. This has been cheap at the discounters for years and you can still get it. I have tested it thoroughly and decided it’s not for me, but it is wonderful stuff. I’d rather leave a bottle available for someone who loves monster lily perfumes. I don’t, it seems.

Parfums de Nicolai Le Temps d’une Fete. I should love this green wonder but somehow it has never moved me. Anyway, I have YSL Y, as noted, so I’m happy.

Fendi Theorema. I have a decant but I just can’t get on board with Theorema. It’s too much of a gourmand for me. It can still be had I think, not sure of the prices.

Yves Saint Laurent Yvresse. Again, a re-packaging. I could have bought a 75 ml bottle this classic fruity chypre for $60 in the old packaging but I just don’t love it. My only regret is that prices on Yvresse are now so high I could easily have got my money back three times over if I had bought that bottle.

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Gardenia, Neroli, Tuberose
Heart: Benzoin, Jasmine, Lily
Base: Amber, Musk, Vanilla

Perfume Discontinuations: The One I Missed

Oh darn!

Madonna Truth or Dare. I tried TD Naked but didn’t like it much. The original was apparently not widely distributed in Australia and I decided not to bother. It was a wonderful white floral, I gather. I should have bought it when it was going cheap on Fragrancex.com but I didn’t. Now it’s gone. I’m stupid.

What about you? What are the ones that got away from you? Any regrets?
Keep spritzing everyone!

Vintage Eau de Rochas by Nicolas Mamounas for Rochas 1970

September 19, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Post by Azar

Hello Perfume Pals,

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

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

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

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

Vintage Eau de Rochas by Rochas 1970

Vintage Eau de Rochas by Nicolas Mamounas

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

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

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

Azar xx

(Ed: All photos donated by Azar.)

Tocade by Maurice Roucel for Rochas 1994

August 21, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

Hi all,
Ah … Tocade! This is one of the perfumes forever associated with critic Luca Turin. A bit of ‘harmless fun with roses and vanilla’ is what he called it in Perfumes: the Guide, but so beautifully done from top to bottom, with simple materials normally taken for granted, that it deserves five stars.

Tocade by Maurice Roucel for Rochas 1994

Lullaby of Broadway

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Green notes, freesia, bergamot, geranium
Heart: Magnolia, iris, orchid, jasmne, lily-of-the-valley, rose
Base: Patchouli, musk, amber, vanilla, cedar

I have no quarrel with a perfume that sets out do nothing but please receiving a top rating. Why not? Aren’t Shakespeare’s comedies masterpieces as well as entertainments? Does something have to be cool, dark or moody to deserve the highest accolade? No indeed. No-one – not even me! – can wear Chanel No 19 every day.

That said, I don’t completely love Tocade. It is a bit too loud and too artificial (LT likens it to nail varnish) for me. I enjoy the sillage much more than the scent on skin. Vanilla is Tocade’s key message, and I can only take vanilla in moderate amounts, usually.

There is a darkness to Tocade as well though. I think its ‘pretty, dancing feet’ have seen a few tawdry dance floors over the years. You know that beautiful song ‘Lullaby of Broadway’? It’s been recorded many times but I love Diana Reeves’ version, which pulls the tempo right back to a sweet, wistful imagining the life of a Broadway performer. Behind the ‘hip hooray and ballyhoo’ is a weary existence for a girl who works all night, every night. It’s early in the morning before she can go home to sleep; the ‘milkman on his way’.

Tocade is her perfume. It’s a pretty, showy piece but with a haunting density of patchouli and cedar underneath. The vanilla is smoky as well as sweet. Backstage, as our ‘broadway baby’ she waits for her next cue, she rubs her calloused feet, mends the laced on her dress, and longs for her rest. Sure, her ‘daddy’ buys her ‘this and that’. Perfume, sweets and roses adorn her corner of the dressing room. But when she goes home, she sleeps alone.
Tocade has strong sillage and lasts ages. I snapped up a bottle in the old, crazy packaging, but in 2013 Rochas shoved Tocade into a uniform bottle. I don’t know if the formula has changed, so do comment if you have compared them.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Non Blonde
FragranceNet has the 2013 edition under $50/100ml Before Coupon!
Surrender To Chance has samples of the original starting at $3/ml

The apparent simplicity of Tocade never fails to give me something to think about. And what about you? Do you have a perfume in your collection which is as puzzling as it is beguiling? Sweet but sad?
Until next time, keep spritzing everyone!

Five Reasons You Don’t Need To Buy Niche

April 10, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

Caution being my middle name, I was never tremendously adventurous in sampling niche fragrances, even at the best of times. Now that it’s the worst of times (a low Aussie dollar and much higher shipping costs), I’m not buying niche at all.

But a tight budget forces you back on your own resources: if you apply a bit of cleverness and an open mind, it is amazing the treasures you can find amongst the stuff cluttering up the shelves and inventories of mainstream sellers and discounters.

Here are five inexpensive (well under $AUD 100) options to try if you are looking for fragrances that are off-beat, avant-garde, or beautiful in an inexplicably un-beautiful sort of way.

Five Reasons You Don’t Need To Buy Niche

Fragrantica

Molinard Habanita (perfumer unknown, 1921)

Towering in its originality, Habanita is so weird it never smells dated. Although famous for its association with cigarettes, tobacco is not listed as a note in Habanita. I get dirty leather, vanilla, jammy fruit, and vetiver. Florals? I suppose so, but I don’t smell them.

Fragrantica

Rochas Femme (Edmond Roudnitska, 1943)

Chypres smell ‘niche’ because they are not fashionable for the mall customer any more. Femme is a meltingly beautiful fruity chypre, often likened to Guerlain’s Mitsouko but less austere and much easier to wear. I prefer the post-1989 reformulation to the vintage versions I’ve tried.

Fragrantica

Bvlgari Black (Annick Mernado, 1998)

Like Habanita, Black is famous for a note it does not possess: tyre rubber. Black is mainly leather, vanilla and smoky tea. Comforting, edgy, and so alluring. Someone should write a novel where the main character wears Black. Would they be male or female? You decide.

Fragrantica

Estee Lauder Knowing (Elie Roger, 1998)

Lauder is so mainstream you can buy it anywhere. If Lauder could establish a counter on the moon, it would. This makes it all the more wonderful that Knowing is still in the line-up. It’s a rose chypre so intelligent, so commanding and so dark that the best way to wear it is not with a pencil skirt and stilettos – for that would be too predictable now – but with jeans and a simple cotton shirt.

Fragrantica

Lalique Encre Noire (Nathalie Lorson, 2006)

Encre Noire is a crisp, nothing-to-hide vetiver. You might find it linear and one-dimensional. Or, conversely, you might love that it takes ease and good taste for granted. It needs confidence to pull off something as apparently simple as this.

It was easy to think of five examples of ‘alternative to niche’. I could easily rattle off more, but I’m interested in hearing your ideas. What would you pick?

Vintage Parfums: GIVEAWAY WINNER

November 2, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Post by Portia

Heya Crew,

Hotly contested tonight. I wish you all could be the winner. Really excited that one of our newest APJ Family members has won today.

Portia xx

Vintage Parfums: GIVEAWAY WINNER

CHANEL, Guerlain, DIOR, Rochas

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 winner who will receive:
1 x sample of all six vintage fragrances in extrait/parfum
CHANEL No 5
CHANEL Coco
DIOR Diorissimo
Guerlain Mitsouko
Guerlain Shalimar
Rochas Madame Rochas
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 1st November 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen amberinblunderland

Latai

The winner will have till Thursday 5th November 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.

CHANEL, Guerlain, DIOR, Rochas: Vintage Parfums

October 30, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 48 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there APJ Crew,

I have a great penchant for vintage frags and particularly love to find parfum or extrait versions of them. Lately I have had a few really amazing finds and wins and I’d like to share the vintage largesse with you. Below are links to APJ reviews of each fragrance and an approximate year of production, the ones without years means I can’t find the correlating bottle years and/or there is no Batch Code. The samples will not be huge but you’ll get enough to have a couple of decent wears (or one really lavish one) so you have a mental reference when you see these lovelies in stores, on eBay or blogs.

These are the good stuff but I also have had a few fakes and dummy bottles come through too. Many times the seller doesn’t know or care enough about fragrance to tell the difference, a good fake can fool the average seller & headspace technology has made it easier to copy and then other times they are bad people. I have also started to notice that they are topping up their 1/2 full bottles with perfumers alcohol, REALLY annoying because you get kind of the right scent but the open is really alcoholic, which can feel like top notes going. Maybe one in 20 that I buy are not 100% genuine.

CHANEL No 5 (1970-87)
CHANEL Coco
DIOR Diorissimo (1987)
Guerlain Mitsouko (1990)
Guerlain Shalimar (<1980s)
Rochas Madame Rochas

Photo Stolen kbaird

Vintage Parfums: GIVEAWAY

CHANEL, Guerlain, DIOR, Rochas

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

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 tell us which vintage fragrance you wish you had a free unlimited lifetime supply of and why

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 1st November 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 5th November 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.

Femme (Vintage) by Edmond Roudnitska for Rochas 1943 LIVE Video Sniff

May 2, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Hey Fumies,

I wonder if Edmond Roudniska is rolling in his grave? My mate David (Margeaux) and I take on one of the world’s most enduring fragrances in a LIVE Video Sniff! We are only enthusiasts and the thrill of being in front of a camera coupled with a few beverages, a group of the APJ crew together and our own madness means that we completely forget much of what we wanted to say, some of what we really should have said, and then mangle what we do say and add in bullshit to boot. Your mission, should you choose to take it, is to unravel the truth and tell us because we are up shit creek without a boat, let alone a paddle; and yes, I do know that Edmond Roudnitska was the creator, Edward Roudnitska is a figment of my crazed, and deranged by sniffing too much perfume, brain.

Vintage Femme by Rochas 1943 LIVE Video Sniff

Vintage Femme by Edmond Roudnitska

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

What I can tell you is that we had a really fabulous time making this. Surely that counts for something. If you’d like to see a review of the currently available for next to nothing reformulation that is still wickedly wonderful then Femme by Edmond Roudnitska for Rochas 1943

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

As always I have to thank my BFF for her video and editing skills which she gives up her precious spare time to do, THANKS KATH!! Also a shout out to Jin who makes it blog ready and lastly I need to thank Margeaux for being an excellent fellow with such a great personality and a great mate, not to mention that he is a complete SPUNK!!

Do please enjoy our frolic through Vintage Femme by Rochas.
Till we see you tomorrow we wish you only good stuff.
Loads of love,
Portia xx

This whole piece is a reblog from 2012. I love it so much that I thought we could all watch it again.

Femme (Vintage) by Edmond Roudnitska for Rochas 1943 LIVE Video Sniff

September 27, 2012 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Hey Fumies,

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Do please enjoy our frolic through Vintage Femme by Rochas.
Till we see you tomorrow we wish you only good stuff.
Loads of love,
Portia xx

Femme by Edmond Roudnitska for ROCHAS 1943

August 11, 2012 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

Hello Fellow Fumies,

I have always madly loved this bottle. One of my courtesy Aunts always had a bottle of Femme on her dressing table and I thought, and think, that the simple fat swirl of a bottle is gorgeous. That this courtesy Aunt was secretly one of my favourites, and a big hug from her was like being awash in a sea of fragrance, also means that the juice has happy memories for me every time I smell it. Yes, it is thinner than the Edmond Roudnitska masterpiece that I remember it due to a reformulation in 1989 overseen by Olivier Cresp making it a little more gourmand, a little less skank and apparently lemon, but there is still that va va voom so lacking in much of today’s perfumery. A saucy wink of a fragrance that takes real self possession to carry off, and a killer Feck You attitude. I think I’m finally ready for Femme.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these notes/accords:
Top: Bergamot, peach, cinnamon, lemon, Brazilian rosewood, plum, apricot
Heart: Cloves, jasmine, rose, iris, rosemary, ylang ylang, carnation
Base: Benzoin, leather, vanilla, amber, musk, oakmoss, patchouli

Photo my own Charles by Norman Lindsay

What do I get? Well the opening is still a complete backhand bitch slap: sweet, spicy, woody fruit and I think the cloves are already there, right up front, or maybe it’s the bergamot? Femme has me at “Hello”. As this extraordinary opening burns off a little I get a swoosh of breathy jasmine and ylang ylang and there is unmentioned cumin here too, the herbaceous notes play more of a backing role filling the fragrance out and giving it light and shade. It’s so hard to parse a big fragrance like this when I am basically scent illiterate and they are all so harmoniously blended. Although we are well into the heart of Femme I am still getting scrummy super ripe fruits alongside the bouquet, this is over an hour into the life of.

I think I’m getting a tingle of patchouli, amber and the musks, there is still a very healthy human sweat and breath feeling running through that has to be cumin, and the bouquet has not left. I does seem to be getting more intimate, snuggly and warm, the civet could be asserting itself (also not mentioned). Not like but reminiscent of waking in the night with someone nude spooning in your arms who is wearing a killer fragrance on top of really fit skin and a soft whisper of the generally bovine effluvia of sleeping person in love.

The amber and vanilla come quite late to the party on my skin and the jasmine is still pumping through till very late. As it dries down it gets very naughty, I think this is what people mean when they talk about Ho Panties. I smell deliciously fornicatory and floral and amber-ish all at once. There’s a long road to travel before it’s gone. I’m going to bed to sleep on it. Wake up and like a dream Femme has gone.

Photo Stolen parfemi

ConfessionsOfAPerfumeNerd does a super review of the Vintage EdC and NowSmellThis helped flesh out my meager knowledge.

FragranceShop has 100ml for around $33
ThePerfumedCourt has Vintage Femme PdT $12/ml and Vintage Parfum $20/ml
SurrenderToChance has Modern Femme EdT $3/ml

This is a must try on your olfactory journey. If you are only au fait with modern perfumes then this will blow your mind.
Love, Love, Love to you all,
See you tomorrow hopefully,
Portia xx