Samples

Versilia Vintage – Boise by Profumi del Forte 2009

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

G’Day to you all,

Do you ever rummage through your samples looking for something and never find it because you’ve been stopped by something else that completely takes your fancy? I was going looking for my INeKE Gilded Lily to spend a little more time in its glorious company when I came across a frag that I had wanted to try but become enamoured of its twin and completely forgot to go back when the next haul of goodies arrived, so

Versilia Vintage – Boise by Profumi del Forte 2009

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bitter orange, bergamot, vetiver
Heart: Bourbon geranium, lavender, honey
Base: Texas cedar, Indonesian patchouli, Tonka, Philippine elemi

Fragrantica & LucyScent said: Versilia Vintage – Boise reinterprets how perfumers admire pine forests by making a precious and delicate composition with character. Subtle and elite. A journey modulated by fragrances of citrus, then flowers of lavender and sweet honey, and finally persistent and woody: delicate with character

I love the opening here, my skin gives me a burst of salty citrus, almost minty and very early there is the sweet honey that smells like a spicy sweet Thai dish. The vetiver is lemon grassish and the geranium adds a green snappy spark too. Before half an hour has passed the foodiness has wafted away and left a very appealing something that I can’t parse but its a salty lavender wood, no it’s not exactly that but clearly my scent vocabulary is not up to the task. Thai coconut curry is what happens next including the rice; and before you ask, “NO, I am not hungry, just ate.” Do I have to know what I’m smelling? In the end, no, but I do like to be able to tell you more than just please go try this if you want to smell something usual but slightly skewed, as if I’m smelling something again but it has changed for the better. Much better.

Still pumping away this lovely salty floral after a couple of hours and looks set to stay for the duration. Pushing on to 4 hours and I’m getting really lovely warm woods and some humus rich earth smelling so good; warm and yummy.

Photo Stolen wildattitude

The only Versilia Vintage – Boise reference review I could find was an introduction by NowSmellThis

LuckyScent has .7ml/$5 & 100ml/$240
SurrenderToChance starts at $6/ml

Not so long ago I reviewed, and loved, the companion fragrance Versilia Vintage – Ambra Mediterranea on the PerfumePosse where today we have a LIVE Video Sniff please duck across and have a look.

Another beautiful pair of fragrances on the list. How many do you have on your FB wish list? Mine is longer than my legs.
See you tomorrow for more fun and fragrance adventure,
Portia x

Midnight Oud by Romano Ricci for Juliette Has A Gun 2009

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Hello Frag Hags,

Every now and then I get to town and at one of our department stores, David Jones, there is a niche perfume store hidden on the basement level and the guys there, Gary and Dan, are so incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. I love to go there and spend half an hour talking fragrance releases, trying the newest releases to hit Australia and shopping. You pay a bit more than overseas prices but the advice and joy the men have in perfume is astounding, and priceless. Not so long ago I was given a sample of today’s fragrance which has morphed magically into a full bottle.

Midnight Oud by Juliettte Has A Gun 2009

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives thee featured accords:
Top: Damask rose, saffron, bergamot, papyrus
Heart: Morroccan rose, agarwood, castoreum, geranium
Base: Patchouli, musk, sandalwood, amber

Love Oudh? Hate Oudh? Never tried the nearly over madness of the 21st century’s most overused and abused new mainstream fragrance ingredient? Worried that you’ll smell like a Band-Aid, medicine or as if you’ve just rolled in horse apples. Maybe you tried an Oudh and Rose fragrance and it scared the living beJesus out of you, punched you in the nose, picked you up by the scruff of the neck and threw you to the ground? And then stayed on your skin for DAYS!! Quell Horror! Calm down, this is not like those scary Rose Oudh oils from the Middle East, it nods elegantly to them, whispers of souks, harems and Ali Baba but does it with a modern and refined European sensibility.

The opening spritz whiff is the most confronting and oudh-ish that Midnight Oud ever gets, and it is so not confronting. It is beautiful and deep and resinous and dusty with rose floating beautifully and dominantly over all. I love to wear Midnight Oud and it is so deliciously wearable. There is a Blue Moon rose blooming in the front yard and it is so like the rose in Midnight Oud a spicy, citric, leather rose. YUMMY!

Though the fragrance has a story and heads sweeter in the dry down it isn’t a huge story with enormous highs and lows but a short story that weaves in and out of itself and comes back to points you think long forgotten. There is a little side swiping at the gold tone bottle in blogs but I love it and the chocolate coloured suedette cylindrical case it comes in is so unusual and hints at the care taken with the juice. Some days I get 8+ hours out of Midnight Oud and others only four but every time I enjoy the ride immensely, a fragrance that should definitely be on your try list.

Photo Stolen ZeusBox

For further reading 1000Fragrances and BeautifulWithBrains

Libertine is the Australian site for Juliette Has A Gun, and many other niche brands, their prices include shipping and they only do Australia
FragranceX has 100ml $95 + shipping to the world
SurrenderToChance starts at $4/ml

Have you tried Midnight Oud or any of the Juliette Has A Gun range? What did you think? Are there any you really want to try?

I hope you enjoyed wandering through my fragrant musings because there is real joy in bringing them to you and I hope it’s a nice place for you to de-stress and just float along with me. We at APJ are grateful that you do come by. See you tomorrow.

Portia xx

24-09-11 by Hilde Soliani 2012

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hiya Fumies,

You probably don’t care but my Birthday is September 25, born just after midnight, so when I saw a fragrance for the 24th September I wished that I had hurried but as with much of my life I was just a few minutes late. Hilde Soliani is famous for her quirky fragrances and boundary pushing art. I have only spent time with one of her fragrances before Tutti Matti per Colorno which I enjoyed very much.

24.09.11 by Hilde Soliani 2012

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Calamus (milky, green, cinnamon like grass root), amber, frankincense, myrrh

The Scoop (Stolen wholesale from LuckyScent):
This one took our breath away. A reverent and contemplative perfume built around the ancient and resinous notes of amber, incense and myrrh, combined with the milky green, uninhibited notes of calamus. The perfume’s name is beautiful and touching homage from a daughter to her late father, a dedication to her “angel.” Hilde was led by her nose from the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem to a local bazaar where she encountered special mixes of resins that spoke to her spirit. One day, while studying about the world’s religions, she discovered that calamus is considered a sacred grass in many religions, and she knew she’d found that touch of earthly spirit she needed celebrate a life she dearly loved.

24-09-11 is part of the Hilde Soliani The Invisibles range, meant to compliment your own fragrance and enhance your confirm your presence. What a stunning way to think of perfume. In reality though 24-09-11 is way too fragrant to be melded with your skin and enhance it, you will be decidedly and lavishly fragrant when wearing this. the opening is sweet and spicy, a non edible radiant caramel incense. Warm and lush and ever so slightly discordant, as if it’s about to topple over into disgusting over sweetened caramel slice at any moment but the green calamus and the incense win out and keep it delightful, wearable and distinguished. Caramel slice is a good analogy though because the calamus has a bitterness that could be dark chocolate and mixed with the sweet amber reads like an imaginary caramel slice. Absolutely unisex 24-09-11 has great staying power and dries down to a smooth amber/vanilla with a touch of smoke and takes between 4-7 hours depending on my day to be lost.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

While being too fragrant for close office work I would not hesitate to spritz for any other venture. You are fragrant and have a lovely sillage but unless you are within a meter people will only get hints of how lovely 24-09-11 smells on you. This is on my FB buying list.

For further reading Sandra Raičević Petrović writes for Fragrantica

LuckyScent has .7ml/$4 or 100ml?$160
SurrenderToChance start at 1ml/$5

Have you tried any of the Hilde Soliani? Did you like them? Maybe you have heard but not yet tried, tell us about it in the messages please. I love a chat.

I hope you are as happy and busy as I am leading up to the end of the year. I am about to take an hour for myself, it will be the first time I’ve stopped completely for a week and I bloody well deserve it. Going to go lie with the dog in the sun with a cuppa and a biscuit.
Till tomorrow, fragrantly yours,
Portia xx

Completely off topic but we made 80,000 IVs today. That is only 2 weeks since 70,000 IVs and I want to thank you for coming, reading, commenting and coming back again. You are our APJ Family, the secret scent society, and we love you. THANK YOU!!

Aramis by Bernard Chant for Aramis 1966

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

.

Guest Post By Tim
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Aramis by Aramis 1966

(current formulation)

In this day and age where fragrances are sold through the art of embellished story telling, celebrity endorsement and multi million dollar advertising campaigns, I look to the past to see how much times have changed! In an era where themes were simpler, all you had to work with was the truth. We were not so seduced by faux inspirations, someone else’s ideal of femininity and masculinity or that sudden moment you fall in love. There was a different notion of what smelt clean and fresh. Fragrances were made with a vast variety of non synthetic accords,  giving perfume outstanding character and brilliance. Although many fragrance category’s were still to be discovered it seems to me perfume had more to offer its wearer, a list of notes as long as your arm for example,  and the simple promise of what fragrance was designed to do, to make u smell good.

Advertising quote-
“Aramis was created to be the most elegant mens cologne in the world.
Somewhere along the way it became the most provocative.
Aramis, the impact never fades”

If you research Aramis you will see the opinions in black and white! Love and hate, the men who can take it and commonly, the women who can’t . What could be more provocative than this, and I’m sure you already know it’s the fragrances that polarise opinions that are usually the most interesting and the bottles you want in your collection.

1966, Estée Lauder and her cosmetic chemist uncle Joseph Lauder formed brother company ‘Aramis’. Named after the fictional character in Alexandre Dumas  vintage classic novel ‘The Three Musketeers’ they  presented the world with the first line of prestige mens grooming products. This included the company’s debut namesake Aramis by Aramis , a leather chypre created by long time collaborator Bernard Chant (Estee,  Azuree, Cinnabar) Aramis raised the bar higher and went on to become an instant best seller for the brand, and continues to be over 56 years later.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica lists notes –
TOP          Artemisia,  Aldehydes, Bergamot, Gardenia, Clover, Myrrh, Thyme
MIDDLE  Jasmine, Patchouli, Orris, Sage, Cardamom and Sandalwood (PerfumeShrine also adds Cumin and Castoreum)
BASE       Leather, Oakmoss, Vetiver, Amber, Sandalwood, Musk, Coconut

Aramis opens as discreetly as a king hit in a bar room brawl. Do you know that moment when a tradie sparks a blow torch and it ignites into a searing flame, well such is the first hit of Aramis.  It’s challenging to describe perfectly the initial rush as it presents multi- dimensional and busy. My nose reads Body odour over antiseptic pine and parched grass enhanced by  recognisable Lauder style Aldehydes. Any florals have been dialed down to give full impact to the spicy cumin kick start that aims to crash tackle you in the opening. At first it’s rank, dirty and unclean but before u have time to pinpoint what exactly your smelling it blends into one of the most overtly masculine openings of any fragrance I have. The  Artemisia adds bite and bitterness which is wisely balanced out by the Alderhydes.  This creates a manly playoff between unwashed arm pits with subtle hints of soap. It’s animalic  and shockingly beautiful.

Photo Stolen crosswordcorner

You better be in it for the long hall as Aramis has stamina and longevity. The middle reads like a anthology dedicated to my favourite category…. leather!  Chapter one through ten, the heart notes come together to deliver. The credit belongs to the leather, castoreum and musk which seem to meld early on to deliver a ballsy leather accord. Cumin lingers to give it undeniable carnal funk.  A earthy patchouli manages to pull the bergamot a little further as I can detect citrus well into the first 2 hours wearing.  Still spicy and ripe well into half a  days wear Aramis is a obvious and unapologetic. I can only imagine the damage caused  if allowed to fall in the wrong hands. Proceed with caution reader.

FragranceX has Aramis EdT 15ml/$8.40 & 100ml/$51
MyPerfumeSamples starts at $2/ml

Till nest month,
Fragrant Regards,
Tim

Miss Balmain (Vintage) by Germaine Cellier for Balmain 1967

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Hello Glorious Stink Monkeys,

I have to tell you that before I fell down the fragrant wormhole I only knew Pierre Balmain as a fashion designer, not a perfume house. We looked at his work in the history section of the fashion course I studied, can’t remember a thing except his name and that while I was not blown away by his work it was solid and he was clearly talented in a banal, perfectly proportioned, no statement except “I can afford Balmain” kinda way. For a student of fashion he just didn’t push enough boundaries.

Miss Balmain (Vintage) by Balmain 1967

Photo Stolen plunderhere

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, coriander, gardenia, lemon, green notes
Heart: Carnation, narcissus, orris root, jasmine, rose, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Leather, amber, patchouli, coconut, oakmoss, vetiver, tonka bean

I love the squeally, nail varnish and green first few seconds. They are enough to blow the back of your head off and I wonder if the top has slightly gone askew. After about a minute though we settle into a fresh green citrus and herbal extravaganza that would have most non perfumistas in the current fragrance climate running for a shower, My little 4ml sample looks exactly like the photo above but the juice is even darker and I’ve decanted it into an atomiser so I get the effect it would have had in the bottle tears ago.  After 5 minutes I get a gloriously heady white flower, OMG if only this is how Miss Balmain stayed for hours. This is exactly how I want to smell forever, when I get to this point in the fragrance I wish the same thing every time.

Photo Stolen milliedeel

The bouquet floats in winding its way through the spectacular whites as a cool, sharp, earthy floral. This is take no prisoners perfume and at this point there comes an human, bed head, morning breath hint under the flowers giving it guts and growl. So comfortable and so raunchy. I can’t even imagine wearing this to an office nowadays but step back in time and it was considered a fresh and girly version of perfume for the young woman on the go.

After about 3 hours I am all creamy leather, amber and earth with a touch of the cool bouquet rising faintly above on and off into the foreseeable future, not really disappearing from my skin entirely until my shower next morning.

Photo Stolen liveauctioneers

I have not yet tried a current incarnation of Miss Balmain to do a comparison test but will come back and add my thoughts when and if I do. There are a couple of ml left in my atomiser in case.

For further reading go see PerfumeShrine and TheNonBlonde

FragranceShop has 100ml $36
ThePerfumedCourt has Vintage Miss Balmain Parfum $12/ml

For some reason this was not taken as a serious contender by the other blogs I read. I don’t know why, it has everything a Vintage perfume lover could ever ask for, classified as a floral chypre with anamalic undertones it really is magic. I am thinking I’d like to try the current Miss Balmain formulation but no sample sites have it. I can wait, but at $36 probably not for too long.

Do you have a vintage fave that few people talk about or reviewers have overlooked. Tell me in the comments, I love reading about new stuff. Just as an added extra I have given you the Balmain latest runway effort which is SO 1980’s that I fair fainted. AWESOME.
Till tomorrow, be good to yourselves,
Portia xx

Balmain | Spring Summer 2013 Full Fashion Show

Australian Perfumers Pack GIVEAWAY WINNER

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Hey Everyone,

We had a lovely, if small, group of responses to this weeks challenge. All the people that did enter into the spirit of the competition did it with enthusiasm and a great sense of fun. I Thank You All. Some made me laugh hot soup into my nose. So what did you have to do and what could you win?

Your mission, had you chosen to accept it, was to give the OK GO guys in the Here It Goes Again video fragrances that you think would suit them.

Painted Desert Photo Stolen AustralianTraveller

THE PRIZE: A 15ml mixed set of Australian Artisan Perfumers, uber niche stuff from down under. Do yourselves a favour and go check their sites by clicking on their names below.

Bud Parfums– 2ml Jezabel and 2ml Gamekeeper (Read APJ Gamekeeper Review and APJ Jezebel Review)
Emerald Vintners Parfums (EVP)– 2ml Baume (Read APJ Baume Review)
One Seed– 4ml Sweet Water (Read PerfumePosse Sweet Water Review)
Perfume & Skincare Company– 5ml Fig & Olive (Read APJ Fig & Olive Review)
P&H Anywhere In The World

Alice Springs Photo Stolen NothingLikeAustralia

THE RULES: Open to anyone from anywhere in the world but you must be a follower of AustralianPerfumeJunkies and yes you could start following to be included. Tweeting earned you an extra point (@OaPerfumeJunkie https://australianperfumejunkies.com/ are having a SUPER SIZED GIVEAWAY!!) Entries closed Saturday night 17 November 2012 at 10pm EADST. All names that fulfilled requirements were put on papers, folded and TSO Jin chose one. The winner has till Wednesday 21 November 9pm AEDST to get in touch with details or I will give the prize to someone else. All measurements are approximate.

And the

Photo Stolen sistersavealot

Lanier

YAY! Congratulations! Email, DM Tweet or Message on Facebook your address details please buddy and I’ll send it off this week.

See you later today for our regular post.
Loads of love,
Portia xx

Here is an ad for Australia’s most famous rum. It’s fun.

Pohadka by Vincent Micotti for Ys-Uzac 2011 LIVE Video Sniff

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hello all you gorgeous Frag Hags,

Today Robert “Radium” Maxwell and I are bringing you the magic of an AustralianPerfumeJunkies LIVE Video Sniff. You need to be aware that while we are complete fragrance enthusiasts, we are in no way creditable live reviewers. Take this video for example:
We tell you that Ys-Uzac is a Japanese brand when in fact it is a Swiss brand, we talk about ambergris when in fact there is none but I’m bang on with the salty, herbal, floral opening. YAY! It doesn’t matter, we are here to entertain you with our sparkling wit and repartee, failing that we fall back on sex and bum jokes. What is important though is that we have a great time, some of the stiuff we say is completely correct and we are hoping you will come watch for the fun and silliness of an APJ Live Video Sniff.

Pohadka by Ys-Uzac 2011

Photo Stolen fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Shiso (awkward pepperish mint)
Heart: Jasmine, French labdanum, artemesia, grass
Base: Immortelle, tobacco, sage, liatris, vanilla

Photo Stolen Ys-Uzac

You too can sample from Ys-Uzac Sample Page
As always bi fat juicy Thank Yous go out to my BFF Kath who videos and edits, TSO Jin who makes it blog ready and Robert “Radium” Maxwell, who just quietly is a fricken SPUNK!!

Here it is, hope you love it!
See you tomorrow.
Portia xx

Perfuming A Video and GIVEAWAY

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Hey Hey Stink Junkies,

I have this great blog girlfriend in the USA who writes a blog called Sweet Mother about her amusing and often amazing life as a lesbian comedienne in love. She offers a raw and funny, sometimes inspirational and usually thought provoking blog almost every day. The other day she added this video that you may have seen; OK Go- Here It Goes Again. A rocking little tune that will definitely make your feet tap, head nod etc but the guys in the video and the video itself are hilarious and I thought we could fragrance them for fun.

Photo Stolen visualise

Pink Pants Guy: To my mind this guy is fearless and unrestrained (come on, Pink Skinny Jeans) and I think he’s probably pretty boundary pushing so I am giving him a choice between Annick Goutal Sables and Opium by YSL, both loud and fearless, and LOUD.
Purple Vest Guy: Looks a little more restrained and maybe even a bit old fashioned so I am giving him Christian Dior’s Eau Sauvage but he’s a musician so the Fraicher Cuir flanker that I think is endearing because it is a soft, leathery and sexy masculine frag but so old fashioned.
Black Blazer Guy: This guy is the most regularly dressed, like he put his foot down saying, “No stupid, weirdo, freaky crap clothes for me thanks.” I’m thinking conservative but a rare memory find like Caron’s Royal Bain de Caron.
Pink Shirt, Check Vest Guy: This guy is a sex mad lothario, I don’t know why I think it but there you have it. He is probably sporting Kouros by YSL or Givenchy Gentlemen or maybe Rocobar by Hermes. Maybe this is the perfumista of the crew and he is wearing an Olympic Orchid or Aftelier?

Photo stolen LucyDavey

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to give these guys fragrances that you think would suit them. Do so in the comments below. If one of you tickles me enough I may just have to send you a present. What about a 15ml mixed set of Australian artisan perfumers, uber niche stuff from down under. Do yourselves a favour and go check their sites by clicking on their names below.

Bud Parfums– 2ml Jezabel and 2ml Gamekeeper (Read APJ Gamekeeper Review and APJ Jezebel Review)
Emerald Vintners Parfums (EVP)– 2ml Baume (Read APJ Baume Review)
One Seed– 4ml Sweet Water (Read PerfumePosse Sweet Water Review)
Perfume & Skincare Company– 5ml Fig & Olive (Read APJ Fig & Olive Review)
P&H Anywhere In The World

THE RULES: Open to anyone from anywhere in the world but you must be a follower of AustralianPerfumeJunkies and yes you can start following to be included, please tell me how you follow so I can check eMail, RSS, WordPress etc. Tweeting will earn you an extra point (@OaPerfumeJunkie https://australianperfumejunkies.com/ are having a SUPER SIZED GIVEAWAY!!) Entries close Saturday night 17 November 2012 at 10pm EADST. All names that fulfill requirements will be put on papers, folded and TSO Jin will choose one. The winner will be announced Sunday in a special post and will have till Wednesday 21 November 9pm AEDST to get in touch with details or I will give the prize to someone else. All measurements are approximate.

BTW Margeaux and I are LIVE Video Sniffing at the Perfume Posse today so go see the MADNESS!

So GO TO IT. Enjoy the video too.
Till tomorrow we wish you Health, Wealth and Happiness. If things are crazy or crap remember that we’ll all be dead in 100 years and most of this won’t matter,
Portia xxx

Silences by Gerard Goupy and Jean-Claude Niel for Jacomo 1978

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Hi Ho Fellow Funies,

My mate Dionne from BOTOblog sent me a frag. care package recently. I have often wondered about a fragrance that many bloggers name as their go to green and when offered a sample I jumped at the chance.

Silences by Jacomo 1978

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange blossom, galbanum, bergamot, lemon, green notes, cassia
Heart: Iris, jasmine, narcissus, hyacinth, rose, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Vetiver, musk, sandalwood, oakmoss, cedar, ambrette (musk mallow).

WOW! So this is nothing like the notes had me expecting, I had something deeply seductive in my mind but here I get a bitter sweet greenness, a bell pepper-ish green where I can’t find the berries or orange blossom. Once the flowers float in I find the fragrance loses about 2/3 of its power and sits very prettily, powdery and still a little green. A cool, waxy bouquet that makes CHANEL 19 look like an eager gauche slapper it is so restrained.

The name is completely indicative of the fragrance, it’s like I have been allowed a moment to breathe the cool air of memory, the spaces in between the notes and the heartbeats between coming and gone. I read mainly earthy, slightly salty vetiver towards the 3 hour point, it is soft and the fragrance still scintillates on my skin with florals floating over and woodsy musks just out of smellovision holding the whole fragrance up. For some reason I had in my head a sister to Nikki de Saint Phalle that other green goddess that I love but it is way more CHANEL 19 but softer, easier to wear, more floral and sweet, not nearly as up front about its coolness. Though my Chanel 19 is a vintage parfum and I am presuming the Silences is more modern so apples and oranges.

Photo Stolen guerlain.pl

It’s now the morning after wearing Silences for the 3rd time and I am still fragrant. I think the vetiver, hyacinth and galbanum are still pumping their song, it is an awkward salty green that is a bit naughty but that could just be me. CHANEL 19 has completely left my skin though and it was sprayed nearly an hour after for comparison.

What a marvelous warm rainy weather pick this has been, it fits perfectly with time and place and at these ridiculous prices is going on the must have list. Thanks Dionne for an affordable lemming. XXXOX

Photo Stolen desertsojourn

For more reviews see TheNonBlonde and PerfumeShrine

FragranceShop has 100ml PdT for $25
SurrenderToChance starts at $3/ml

Do you ever crave the clear green spaces of silence, or Silences? Is there another green that floats your boat?

Hope to see you happy and well tomorrow, till then take a moment to be silent.
Portia xx

Silence — Sarah McLachlan

Sunflowers by David Apel for Elizabeth Arden 1993

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hello Happy Huffers,

Sometimes the cheapest fragrances smell amazing, who knows why. I wore Sunflowers for a time when trying to convince myself all I needed in my life was one fragrance that smelled fresh and light and to prove that I didn’t need to spend a fortune. Do you ever go through self denial periods where you want to streamline your existence? Well, Sunflowers was part of my streamlining life till a friend took me aside and had a word. Not just about my tacky choice of fragrance but also about its cheap bottle and what was I thinking wearing such awful dross when there was so much better available.  My pathetic, “I like it” fell on deaf ears and in the end I binned my bottle. Peer pressure!

Imagine my surprise then when I am working with a girlfriend of mine not so long ago and when asked what her fabulous fragrance that is all sexy white flowers and spice, that smells like a very expensive niche offering on her turns out to be

Sunflowers by Elizabeth Arden 1993

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon, rosewood, orange blossom, mandarin, bergamot, melon, peach
Heart: Cyclamen, rose, jasmine, osmanthus, iris root
Base: Musk, cedar, amber, moss, sandalwood

I love the fruity fresh opening that already has the waxy cyclamen floating through it. It’s bright and easy and relaxed in a comfortable and desirable way. Even though I know she wouldn’t wear it I think of my buddy and original APJ partner EvieC when I smell it. She is so devastatingly beautiful even after university, modelling, traveling the world, working for big TV conglomerates, marriage, children, happiness, loss, the works, and still gives the impression of beautiful and unruffled calm. That effortless beauty and poise that many ex models have.

Photo Stolen brisbanephotos

On my skin the flowers meld seamlessly through Sunflowers heart, not the spicy white flower extravaganza that my GF pumped, still it is lovely and wearable. I’m not sure what it is but there is a fatness, like butter, that underlies the whole fragrance giving it heft. The iris root keeps everything cool and the bouquet is quite green, only warming slightly towards dry down with the amber and woods, though on me these are not heavy hitters just a pretty wafting softness that stays around until the 8+ hour mark, barely there but noticeable if I really sniff myself.


Photo Stolen scent-sation

Way too perfumed for officewear but in most other endeavours Sunflowers by Elizabeth Arden should be a perfect fit. Not sexy or alluring in an obvious way but the scent is pretty and inviting, more of a Mary-Ann than a Ginger from Gilligan’s Island.

ISimplyLOveMakeUp and LouLouDiaries are the only 2 non sales motivated reviews I could find on Google for further reading.

CheapSmells has 100ml/$19
MyPerfumeSamples starts at $2/ml or I bought 5ml for $6

Just a reminder that it doesn’t have to cost $400 to be a wonderful, fun and memorable fragrance. Sometimes it really does pay to stop and smell the Sunflowers.
Till tomorrow we at APJ wish you only the good stuff you wish yourselves.
Portia xxx