Aurora by Roxana Illuminated Perfume

November 10, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Heya Indie Scenters,

While I was in LA during May 2013 for the ScentSation bus tour my buddy Tom Pease, who was the most wonderful guide and friend you can imagine, took me up into Roxana’s 1950s ranch style home in Woodland Hills, tucked away in the Santa Monica mountains outside LA, that she shares with her artist husband Greg Spalenka. It’s a fabulous community that grew up around the idea that near the madness of LA there could be a corner for artisans, like a hippy commune but that is way too simplistic. It was near the beach and away from the excruciatingly high LA prices so a gentler, more romantic and artistic lifestyle was born. There are still pockets of the lifestyle remaining but in reality the area has become an outside suburb of LA.

Photo Stolen Roxana Illuminated Perfume Site

Roxana and Greg are throwbacks to a simpler time and their home is a very comfortable and inviting place full of both their art where Tom and I were introduced to Matte which is a green tea drink, art, fragrance, bees and joy in living. Can I also tell you that this portrait, while looking a bit like Roxana, does not do her beauty any justice, it has captured the outline but completely bypassed the gorgeous elegance and friendliness that is Roxana.

Aurora by Roxana Illuminated Perfume

Photo Stolen Illuminated Perfume Etsy Store

Ingredients: organic grape alcohol, organic grain alcohol, essential oils, c02 extracts, absolutes, tinctured plant material, jasmine, carnation, amber, spice

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Amber Accord, Jasmine, Rose, Spice and Mandarin

One of the things I have to tell you straight away is that if you have only ever worn department store or designer perfume then Roxana Illuminated Perfumes are going to be a complete revelation. No mass production fragrance can ever match the nuanced, natural depths and heights of a handmade, independent fragrance creation. Though both are beautiful and both have their pros & cons there is something of the magical re-engagement with the earth and our place within it that happens when I put on a Roxana Illuminated Perfume. It’s like being hardwired to the energy around me, showing me that I’m part of the infinite bigger picture.

Photo Stolen Illuminated Perfume Etsy Store

How does Aurora wear on me? The opening is warm, sweet, balsamic and spicy, the pictures in my head are honeyed outback Australia, floral, scrubby, red earth, sap from trees, leaves, humus, animals fur, the moment between day and dusk, the warmth of the happy memory of love, the bittersweet of absolute freedom, the joy of achievement, the eternal story and intertwining of a life well lived. All these emotion pictures have fleeted across my inner eye as I sit at my desk sniffing and typing.

The initial blast has burned down and I am left with the beginnings of a sensual, sweet floriental. The flowers are overlaid with an earthy melange that reminds me of freshly turned, healthy humus and walking through pine needles on the way to the beach, there is a salty breeze blowing through that and then all of a sudden at about the 1.5-2hour mark Aurora becomes a soft silky alluring fragrance that stays around as a sweet murmur for another hour or so, sometimes when I wear Aurora it is still smellable next morning as a wash of peaty resins. Quite a good scent life for a natural, which are notoriously short lived especially on my scent hungry skin.

Photo Stolen Illuminated Perfume Etsy Store

Further Reading: Now Smell This and London MakeUp Girl
You can buy Aurora at Illuminated Perfume Etsy Store, there are 1 gram sample sizes from $25.
I bought the 4 gram bottle which was $100 and is Parfum concentration<<<JUMP.

Try Illuminated Perfume if you are ready to experience something completely, magically, different.
Portia xx

Les Nombres d’Or Musc by Mona di Orio 2010

November 9, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Hi There My Lovelies,

Mona di Orio has long been in my adore list, her strikingly stark and beautiful face, fragrances that can make me tear up because they are so beautiful and tragic death all mark her house with a patina of magic. Just recently my friend Birgit from Olfactoria’s Travels was having a bit of a clear-out and I snaffled this much coveted and super elegant bottle from her.

Les Nombres d’Or Musc by Mona di Orio 2010

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Neroli, angelica, rose, heliotrope, tonka bean, musks

With the sad fact that I am repeating myself firmly in mind: These bottle are FREAKING gorgeous. They feel good in your hand and spritz a good amount of fragrance, the whole feeling is luxe and elegant, feels reminiscent of Hollywood glamour but looks bang up to date. Anyone who tells you packaging and presentation mean nothing has never held a Mona di Orio bottle, they exalt the experience.

One of the things I love about Musc is that some of the musks are completely beyond my ability to smell so there are times when I get musk and times when it is a soft floral. So powdery and ethereal one minute and then sheer but hefty and slightly worn the next. This is a friendly, fluffy and sweet biker. Maybe a prim but tough girl/woman, or maybe cuddly and playful but with teeth and claws that come out when needed (See below picture)

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

Musc is all these things, and none of course, when I wear it I feel powerful, plush and pampered. Comfortable and wearable at any time, like a big wooly cashmere rug that is both warmth and solace.

The nearest feeling I can give you is when the crew go out for Chinese at our favourite restaurant, the time when we are sitting at the bar having a drink, enjoying the atmosphere and catching up while we wait for the stragglers to arrive. There is happiness and smiles, kisses and hugs, laughter and anticipation of a great meal. We know the food and service will be excellent and that someone (usually Jin lately) will tell a story that has us laughing till our sides hurt. My friends are all wonderful, generous, warm and fun business people who are clever and successful in their diverse fields, I am proud to be part of our gang and each one is very special to me. Sometimes in their work worlds they have to be tough to get the job done and none of us get a lot of down time. Musc is the warmth and linking of like minds having a good time, and the friendly, hopeful buzz of anticipation.

Musc has great longevity too, I’ll think it’s gone at about 5 hours but later I will get a sensual but clean-ish waft. If I wear Musc at night and put a couple of extra spritzes on then next morning it is beautiful and a little me-funky added in makes it sexy too.

Photo Stolen Thomas Leth-Olsen Flickr

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Candy Perfume Boy
Peony Melbourne has $230/100ml
LuckyScent has $230/100ml
First In Fragrance has €160/100ml
Surrender To Chance starts at $7/ml

Are you an MdO fan? are there any in the line that you have, or wish to have? Have you held one of the bottles? please, this is meant to be a conversation and I love to read your thoughts<
Till tomorrow,
Portia xx

Scent & Subversion by Barbara Herman: NEW BOOK REVIEW

November 9, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Guest Post by Jordan River

On ya APJ,

I have just read a book which is hot off the press. Australian Perfume Junkies is mentioned in the book as an indicator that we do not live in scent hostile times.

I am walking along the longest path of the world, searching for the book of my heart.

Vien Tuc
Đà Lạt

Imagine a whole world where everyone smells of CK One. You probably don’t have to imagine; you have probably been there as has Barbara Herman from Yesterday’s Perfume. One day Barbara rebelled against office-friendly scents and went searching for the rude, the loud, the odd, the weird and the impolite. What she mostly found was vintage perfume and then some cutting edge 21st century olfactive artists. This led her on a fragrant journey through the 20th century which became her book Scent and Subversion: Decoding a Century of Provocative Fragrance.

Barbara Herman

Scattered pictures
Throughout the book are pictures that have been collected by Barbara over many years and reveal a lot about perfume, society and marketing ‘art’.

This is not a picture book though there are many full colour pictures. Barbara starts off with the thoughts of Aristotle and Plato and continues through Fliess and Freud to Chandler Burr, Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez.

In Part 1 Barbara courses through the development of ‘Perfume: is it art? I like Barbara’s conclusion that Perfume is a language.

Part 2 is a tour de force of 300+ vintage fragrances, including drugstore, all with back stories that you may have never heard before. I am not a vintage connoisseur so I learnt a lot from this book. If you know your vintage ‘fumes then I imagine you will be delighted with the way they are portrayed in Scents and Subversion.

On Jicky

the personality of a cat… sometimes with perfume more is more.

Barbara Herman
Scent and Subversion

Modern vs Vintage

the difference between modern and vintage perfumery is akin to the difference between polyester and velvet.

Barbara Herman
Scent and Subversion

Part III looks at the future of scent and tells the the story of how the author’s nose lost it’s virginity. Perspective on the work of Étienne de Swardt, Antoine Lie, Christopher Brosius, Sissal Tolaas, Martynka Wawrzyniak, and Christophe Laudamiel make for an interesting read as does the chapter called A Brief History of Animal Notes in Perfume.

This week there have been several collector’s items on The Fragrant Man of which Scents & Subversion would be the most affordable one. I think coffee table for the hardcover and the e-book for bedside reading.

This is a book you could read again and again as your own knowledge grows and as vintage bottles materialize on your own fragrant journey. If you already know everything then here it is all in one place. If you are new to perfume appreciation then a glossary and a guide called Perfume 101: How to become an Informed Perfume Lover, will become your reference points as you begin your own fragrant journey.

On Now Smell This, Aleta describes this book as a “worthy flanker” to Perfumes: The Guide. Yes it is.

In this book you will read about perfume set to music; this book is perfume set to words, erudite words that bespeak a mountain of research. Barbara has walked a long path, searching and researching. This is the book of her heart.

Kindle e-book at Amazon $US9.99
Hardcover Amazon $US24.95

Further Reading
Book Reviews by Dita Von Teese, Mx Justin Vivian Bond, Aleta (Now Smell This), Katie Puckrick and Chandler Burr
Yesterday’s Perfume – website
Yesterday’s Perfume – Facebook
Barbara Herman is @parfumaniac on Twitter

HOLLY, wOUD & VINE by Jane Cate for A Wing and A Prayer 2013

November 8, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 29 Comments

Hello Natural Niche Nerds,

My friend Jane Cate from A Wing & A Prayer perfumes has sent me her two latest fragrances. They came in a glittering and sparkly blue post pack and when I opened the post pack up I could smell the most incredible, beguiling and glorious green scent. There was a perfume inside the pack so eager for me to smell it the second I opened the bag that some of it had got loose and was wafting its crackling crispness at me.

The scent was created for A Wing & A Prayer’s 5th anniversary of the perfume shop on Etsy. The launch date was Nov. 5th! That’s right folks, you read it here FIRST!

HOLLY, wOUD & VINE by A Wing and A Prayer 2013

Photo of Regular A Wing & A Prayer bottles

Top: Mimosa, bitter orange, tomato leaf
Heart: Violet leaf, jasmine sambac, neroli
Base: Galbanum, oud, fir absolute

The crisp crackle of tomato leaves softened by citrus and flowers opens HOLLY, wOUD & VINE, it’s fun and green and ever so slightly waxy. There is even something of the dusting powder that my Mum used to put on the tomato plants. I am taken back to the earliest gardening days with my Mum and I in the garden, it’s absolutely uncanny how real it all seems, she is showing me how to prick the suckers out of the elbows of the tomato plants because too many branches means less tomatoes. I’m trying to tell her that it doesn’t make sense because more branches will mean more tomatoes but I am overuled and we get a bumper harvest that year, tomatoes in everything.

The tomato leaf stays quite well into the heart of HOLLY, wOUD & VINE but slowly the jasmine and galbanum take centre stage, it’s still fresh and crisp but now we get a sweeter green with a hint of skank. The green stays beautiful and fresh through the whole life of HOLLY, wOUD & VINE until the very last gasps at just under 3 hours where the oud dirties it up and makes HOLLY, wOUD & VINE a very naughty fragrance indeed. FABULOUS!!

Photo of the New A Wing & A Prayer bottles

The new bottles were created especially for A Wing & A Prayer by Michael Smith , who is the designer & owner of http://www.daydreemdesigns.etsy.com/ and they come in 2oz and 1oz etched bottles with the A Wing & A Prayer logo on both sides. The fragrance also still comes in the “regular” bottle with the label. Holly, wOUD & Vine is the first fragrance to be offered in the new bottle and slowly all stock will be in them, very exciting developments.

Photo of the New A Wing & A Prayer bottles

A Wing & A Prayer has an ETSY Store<<<JUMP. The 1oz is selling for $75.00 and the 2oz is selling for $150.00, both are in the etched bottle. I love the $10 3 x 7.5ml Sample Set, it’s a great way to try 3 of the fragrances at a time.

Photo stolen Kesha&Co

HOLLY, wOUD & VINE GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 3 winners

1 winner will receive:
1 x 7.5ml A Wing & A Prayer mini of either Kismet or HOLLY, wOUD & VINE, you get to chose!
P&H Anywhere in the world

2 winners will receive:
1 x 1ml decant from my own test mini
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.

To be eligible for the draw just mention how you follow the APJs and tell us any green perfume that you like

Extra Chances?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie HOLLY, wOUD & VINE: A Wing & A Prayer GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-29a #Perfume @janetheperfumer

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 10th November 2013 10pm Australian EDST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 14th November 2013 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.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

Portia xx

BLACK by Puredistance 2013 GIVEAWAY WINNER!

November 8, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,

I knew when Michael gave me the vial of Puredistance Black that this was going to be a ripper competition and that a lot of you would jump on board. Thanks crew, we love your enthusiasm and are so glad that we are able to make some frag dreams come true for you.

BLACK by Puredistance 2013 GIVEAWAY WINNER!

Further reading about Puredistance Black: Perfume Posse and The Fragrant Man

If you’d like to purchase Black
Puredistance has samples for sale already
LuckyScent has pre-order for December shipment

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week’s winner will receive

1 x 2ml Manufacturers Spray Sample of Black by Puredistance
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

To be eligible for the draw just mention how you follow the APJs and tell us any perfume that is black or noir that you like

Extra Chances?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie PUREDISTANCE Black GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2ah #Perfume #Giveaway @puredistance

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 7th November 2013 10pm Australian EDST.
Winner was chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen ganjer

MARY P

CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have till Sunday 10th November 2013 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.

Beige by Jacques Polge for CHANEL 2008

November 6, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Post by Ainslie Walker

50 Shades of…Beige

I have always had a colourful (and black) wardrobe, and have noticed a section expanding in the past year, with fabrics in shades of Beige. I guess I’ve been discovering the many shades of the colour without even realising…champagne, biscuit, sand, camel etc. Beige is intriguing, understated, classic and classy.

Coco Chanel LOVED it and therefore one of the perfumes in Chanel’s Les Exclisifs range was named after it.

Beige by Jacques Polge for CHANEL 2008

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Hawthorn, freesia, frangipani, honey

“I take refuge in beige because it’s natural,” said Mademoiselle Chanel. An elusive colour with infinite variations, beige may seem quite ordinary. And yet, behind this apparent simplicity, it hides a discreet sensuality that builds slowly before revealing itself fully.”

Firstly, I overlooked “Beige” when I was given a sample, and tossed it in my bag. I expected it to be dull. However weeks later when it resurfaced I was immediately intrigued upon first sniff…not love, mind you, but intrigue. It was white blossoms and general prettiness…but what else was catching my attention and raising an eyebrow? Timing was perfect, it was spring, the sun was out, the air was full of blossoms and I was about to go for a walk down a countryside lane. I needed to know more. I spritzed it on and started the adventure.

Photo Stolen Nico Nelson Flickr

Freshly cut white florals, and blossoms smothered me. Sweet freesias, fresh and green, a honey note, but not too sweet…perhaps even slightly dry…a hint of honeysuckle? Before long, and just in the nick of time, beautiful creamy hawthorn notes arose, balancing the lot and steering the aroma away from sickly sweet. Deeper in I found something slightly fruity/tropical…was that frangipani? I was almost skipping, engulfed by its sweet and feminine charm. Surprised I liked it so much. Here was a clean, fresh and uplifting fragrance. I was uplifted in a way similar to when I wear Chanel’s Cristalle Eau Verte, and yet there is something richer, creamier, elegant and more rounded in Beige after the initial notes dissipate. It’s not a surprise both fragrances were made by the same “nose”, the infamous, Jaques Polge.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Dry down continued to a honeyed, creamy, soapy scent, which verges on familiar, some elusive bar of soap, but in no way cheap. This is where I thought it would plateau. Then I accidently breathed out before my next sniff, which was an amazing accident, as with the hot air, hints of spice kicked in, adding some sultry, sensual tones, along with the now robust, waxiness of hawthorn. What started out as such a “daytime” fragrance suddenly gave promise of something that could really take you further into the evening. Wear this to the next spring wedding you attend, ladies….and be sure someone gets up close and personal with their HOT breath!

Photo Stolen net_efekt Flickr

Beige is beginning or memory of spring, with a promise of summer. There is a naturalness about it and perhaps why this fragrance works. An enjoyable wear.

Beige can be bought at most CHANEL Boutiques and some big Department Stores
Surrender To Chance starts at $4/ml

Jaques Polge has done a great job bringing the many facets of this colour to life for us. Have you tried Beige?
Ainslie Walker x

One Seed Special Offer! HURRY!!

November 6, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hi there Gang,

One Seed is having a terrific deal at the moment. When I saw it I knew you would want to be the first to know. Offer is only available till December 1 2013.

GO FOR IT,

Portia xx

Buy your perfume travel set before December 1st, and you can choose a gift for your friend for free! (valued at up to $20)

Choose from a 5ml travel atomiser, or four perfume or cream samples of your choice! And we’ll even post it to them!

Simply make note of your selection and the recipient’s details in the ‘notes’ section at checkout, and we’ll do the rest!

Be quick – offer ends December 1st, 2013.

BLACK by Antoine Lie for Puredistance 2013

November 3, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 53 Comments

Hello Lucky APJ Readers!

One of our contributors Michael has been in touch with Puredistance and they kindly sent TWO sample vials of BLACK for him to try. He is keeping one and has given the other to Australian Perfume Junkies to give to a lucky reader.

BLACK by Puredistance 2013 GIVEAWAY!

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

To find out about Puredistance Black here are some posts that we’ve enjoyed:

Bonkers About Perfume

Confessions Of A Perfume Nerd

Kafkaesque

The Scented Hound

If you’d like to purchase Black
Puredistance has samples for sale already
LuckyScent has pre-order for December shipment

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week’s winner will receive

1 x 2ml Manufacturers Spray Sample of Black by Puredistance
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

To be eligible for the draw just mention how you follow the APJs and tell us any perfume that is black or noir that you like

Extra Chances?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie PUREDISTANCE Black GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2ah #Perfume #Giveaway @puredistance

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 7th November 2013 10pm Australian EDST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Sunday 10th November 2013 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.

Infini Parfum by Gerard Lefortis for Caron 1970 (reformulation)

November 2, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Hello Lovers of Fine Fragrance,

Not so long ago I splashed out on myself. When life goes right it’s important for me to reward myself if I’ve made something happen and yes, you guessed it, I bought myself some fragrance. A 3ml Caron Infini parfum spritzer from Surrender To Chance. I’m not going to lie, it was a bit pricey at $23 for 3ml but OMG was it worth it! And really it cost around the same per ml as if I’d bought a 15ml bottle, so quite good value for what I was getting.

Infini Parfum by Gerard Lefortis for Caron 1970 (reformulation)

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Jasmine, narcissus, lily of the valley, aldehydes
Heart: Rose, tuberose, lilac, iris
Base: Vetiver, musk, sandalwood, tonka bean, amber

When Infini opens it is with a scintillating sparkle, so outrageously lavish and hefty like a warm comforter made in patchwork of some exquisite silk brocades that is at once heavy and enveloping but at the same time the light plays in and over the fabric making it appear diffuse and spacious. This is a lovely aldehydic BWF that was designed as an ode to astronauts and space travel first created by Ernest Daltroff in 1912 but then recreated and reformulated in 1970 by Gerard Lefortis

There is some green and earthy note behind the white flowers that grounds Infini and makes me feel like someone shooting for the stars rather than going out to see them (Yesterday’s Perfume says it’s a Coriander) and I think the vetiver is more present than as a simple base note. My feet firmly planted on the ground looking towards the infinite, like I am on the brink of something enormous. So pretty and perfume-ish, probably a million times too much for most people’s tastes who are not perfumistas or from an older generation when perfume was beautiful and you were proud to be fragrant. There is still a lovely shot of skank running through Infini and I’m wondering if my decant is a little vintage.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Distinctive and glamorous as Infini is I think it would make an excellent choice for wedding fragrance, it has such a beautiful floral wantonness that no husband could resist and your sillage will leave the one’s not lucky enough to grab you wishing that they had, at least once.

Infini parfum lasts for hours, even on my skin, and I have amped up the amber sweetness that I can still smell in the morning with an animal purr behind it that could be me and could be the remnants of Infini.

EdT Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Bois de Jasmin writes: Infini: The original Infini is a velvety aldehydic floral with the rich iris, lilac and tuberose heart wrapped in tonka bean and vetiver. Infini today is similar, but the quality feels poorer, with the synthetic sandalwood overtaking the drydown. Still, it is an interesting floral idea.

Further reading: Yesterday’s Perfume and The Non-Blonde
Beauty Encounter has $120/15ml
Surrender To Chance starts at $4/ml

Have you done some Caron time lately? Tried Infini Parfum? Tell me, I love to read what you guys are thinking.
Loads of love,

Portia xx

Olivine by Julie Wray for Olivine Atelier: Perfume Oil

October 31, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 30 Comments

Post by FeralJasmine

My Gardenia Fetish, Part 1

It’s part of my nature to periodically become happily obsessed with a new subject or experience. While the obsession lasts, I must know everything I can find out about my current love, experience it in as many ways as possible, think about it day and night. I’m lucky that I have a profession and a husband that have never run short of new aspects for me to explore, and my obsession with perfume is turning out much the same way, because every note is the start of a million potential symphonies. Will any riff on a theme of jasmine ever be exactly like any other? In one respect my usual fascination with variation fails me, because I firmly believe that when you’ve smelled one mainstream fruity floral, you’ve smelled them all. However, that does not negate the principle.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

My current happy fascination is the scent of gardenias. There is no more beautiful floral scent in the world, and no scent harder to capture. As all avid gardenia fanciers know, the scent can’t be captured from the blossom by distillation or other standard methods, and has to be created through combinations of other scents. This is more or less successful, usually less. I enjoy all the scents that play with various aspects of gardenia, but I want the whole: the fleshy breathing mesmerizing flower in front of me, with its fascinating undertone of death, usually described as a fungal tone. I have heard it called the blue-cheese note, but I don’t smell it that way. To me it’s the scent of humid decay that rises from the moist Louisiana earth where my mother’s gardenias grew, the scent of old life being transmuted to new.

Photo Stolen Ishikawa Ken Flickr

The most photorealistic and completely gorgeous gardenia perfume that I know of is Tom Ford’s Velvet Gardenia, and curses on the TF corporate hyenas for discontinuing it. But it isn’t healthy to go around cursing people, and besides it wasn’t hurting them a bit, so I turned my attention to finding other gardenia scents. Today and in my next column I want to talk about two that you may not have come across.

Olivine by Olivine Atelier: Perfume Oil

Photo Stolen Olivine Atelier Etsy

Today I want to introduce you to Olivine, from the indie scent company of the same name. It’s the love-child of perfumer Julie Wray, who may be more obsessed with gardenias than I am. She sells EDP and oil, and I strongly recommend the oil even if you usually prefer to spray. This is luscious creamy gardenia, bridal and yet very sensual. It is one of the most purely pretty things that you can put on yourself, and at 40 US dollars for 5 ml of potent oil, it’s a bargain. The fungal note is present but it’s very subtle, as if wafted away by the clean ocean breezes of Hawaii where the perfumer spends her free time. This gardenia goes everywhere in my purse, and at bad moments a dab on the back of my hand will remind me of the beauty of the moment, the shimmer of Now. She makes four other scents, all of which contain (surprise!) gardenia. Olivine is my favorite, but Oxley is a lovely take on the same theme, rounded out with other tropical flowers. I smell definite plumeria in Oxley, and I like it, but generally will opt for the pure gardenia.

Further reading: Eye Heart It
Beauty Habit has Olivine Atelier fragrances $48/5ml oil & $80/50ml EdP and ship to the world
Olivine Atelier Etsy Store has some great Sample Sets

Julie can ship her oils to Oz, although not the edps, and has a number of Australian customers already. You can find her on Etsy, and her shop is named Olivine. I love supporting Indie perfumers when the juice is good, and this oil is a pleasure to recommend.

Do you have a favourite gardenia fragrance?

FeralJasmine

Australian Perfume Junkies

Olfactory Opinions from Oz

Samples

Aurora by Roxana Illuminated Perfume

Aurora by Roxana Illuminated Perfume

Les Nombres d’Or Musc by Mona di Orio 2010

Les Nombres d’Or Musc by Mona di Orio 2010

Scent & Subversion by Barbara Herman: NEW BOOK REVIEW

HOLLY, wOUD & VINE by Jane Cate for A Wing and A Prayer 2013

HOLLY, wOUD & VINE by A Wing and A Prayer 2013

HOLLY, wOUD & VINE GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

HOW DO YOU WIN?

HOUSEKEEPING

BLACK by Puredistance 2013 GIVEAWAY WINNER!

BLACK by Puredistance 2013 GIVEAWAY WINNER!

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

HOW DID YOU WIN?

HOUSEKEEPING

MARY P

Beige by Jacques Polge for CHANEL 2008

50 Shades of…Beige

Beige by Jacques Polge for CHANEL 2008

One Seed Special Offer! HURRY!!

Buy your perfume travel set before December 1st, and you can choose a gift for your friend for free! (valued at up to $20)

BLACK by Antoine Lie for Puredistance 2013

BLACK by Puredistance 2013 GIVEAWAY!

To find out about Puredistance Black here are some posts that we’ve enjoyed:

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

HOW DO YOU WIN?

HOUSEKEEPING

Infini Parfum by Gerard Lefortis for Caron 1970 (reformulation)

Infini Parfum by Gerard Lefortis for Caron 1970 (reformulation)

Olivine by Julie Wray for Olivine Atelier: Perfume Oil

My Gardenia Fetish, Part 1

Olivine by Olivine Atelier: Perfume Oil