Samples

Saturday Question: Which Serge Lutens is your favourite?

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 104 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

Every Saturday we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
This week:

  1. Neela Vermeire Creations Mohur EdP
  2. Parfum d’Empire Fougere Bengale
  3. L’Artisan Seville a l’Aube
  4. Lolita Lempicka EdP
  5. Rouge d’Hermès

Last Weeks Winner: Marie

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with the eMail you’d like me to send your Gift Card to.

Saturday Question: Which Serge Lutens is your favourite?

Serge Lutens, Uncle Serge, Lutens or however you know the house has been a groundbreaker. Held firm in the hands of Shiseido yet Creatively Directed by Serge Lutens: a mystery, enigma. Serge Lutens for most perfumistas is a slightly mad, eccentric perfume god whose genius was stewed fruit and pushing notes as far as they could go when being created. His new releases were, for decades, hyped and hyperbole-ed out of the stratosphere and still managed to blow us away when we got our sniff on them.

Sadly it seems his star has dimmed somewhat in the 21st century but the company is still putting out interesting works. I think it has been subsumed into Shideido completely now and Mr Lutens himself is less involved but that is hearsay, not fact confirmed.

My Answer:

This is an easy one for me. Though I have FBs for a lot of the Lutens line, there are only five that get heavy wear. Datura Noire, Arabie, Chergui, Fille en Aiguilles and my favourite Five O’clock au Gingembre.

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Tea, bergamot
Heart: Ginger, cinnamon, woodsy notes
Base: Cacao, honey, amber, patchouli, pepper

The swirl of spices and dry tea that float over a honeyed woodsiness with a hint of patchouli is so wearable in warm or cold weather. It’s fragrant in the first hour but not outrageously so and softens of beautifully to a lightly sweetened woodsy hum that lasts for hours. It can be casual or dressed up and never seems out of place. Not one of his more challenging works, that’s fine by me. I want to smell good and Five O’clock au Gingembre can be relied upon every time.

My Saturday Question to you is:

Which Serge Lutens is your favourite?

 

Sogno Reale Talismans Collezione Preziosa by Amélie Bourgeois for Mendittorosa 2015

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

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Portia

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Hey there APJ Crew,

I’ve worn Sogno Reale a few times now but I never seem to get a real hold on it. Each time the wear reads differently. So today I’m going to describe my wear for you but it is tinged by memories of previous wears. Because of this I’m definitely going to say that your mileage may vary, mine did every time.

This review is from a split decant that came a couple of months ago, I keep wearing and trying to write the post because I think the fragrance beautiful enough that you guys should know about it. Biting the bullet today.

Sogno Reale by Mendittorosa 2015

Sogno Reale Talismans Collezione Preziosa by Amélie Bourgeois

Sogno Reale Talismans Collezione Preziosa Mendittorosa FragranticaFragrantica

Mendittorosa gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon, Bergamot, Marine/Iodine Accord
Heart: Tuberose, Patchouli
Base: Volcanic Olibanum, Hyraceum, Rhum, Sandalwood, Styrax, Amber Woods

Interesting, I really smell the iodine and patchouli as I spray Sogno Reale. It’s not till a few seconds in that the citrus even gets any smell time. Not huge, here we have a very restrained fragrance, all the notes are accounted for but sotto voce. As if this kind of happy weirdness needs to whisper. If you can in expecting a Womanity or even a Sel Marin you will be disappointed indeed. That’s not to say Sogno Reale is unfragrant, no you can smell it, but it will creep up on you every now and again. A bit like some days I find Eau des Merveilles. Like smelling someone who has spent the day at the beach as they come home. Salty, suntanned, windblown and happy.

Actually the slightly oddballness is all in the opening 5 minutes, after that we settle down to a very pretty and expensive smelling Patch/Amber/Leather. The patchouli smells like someone you’re talking to is wearing it, not far away, and the leather steps up the scent into a luxurious jacket. A soft focus leather sweetened by amber. Very pretty, easy wear and comfortable……. supple, ultra cool leather jacket.

Sogno Reale by Mendittorosa Cool Leather Woman PXHerePDI

Then Sogno Reale softens to a lightly salty skin scent and continues murmuring for a couple of hours before I totally lose the ability to smell any difference from myself.

“All that we see or seem
is but a dream within a dream”
From ‘A Dream Within a Dream’ by Edgar Allen Poe
Sogno Reale is balm for the soul, a talisman dreamed into existence, the unconscious mind made extraordinary perfumed flesh.

Further reading: Colognoisseur
Mendittorosa has €230/100ml and FREE World Shipping
Surrender To Chance has a Mendittorosa Sampler from $11/3 x 0.75ml

Mendittorosa? Have you tried the brand yet?
Portia xx

Mélodie du Cygne de la Main by Alberto Morillas for Dali Haute Parfumerie 2016

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Perfume Lovers,

There’s a new whisper running through the perfume world. Dali perfumes which started out ultra fabulously with the signature scent and then Laguna ultimately turned to shit. Lately though, and brand new to Australia and just in at First In Fragrance, they have been aiming at the prestige market. Yes, the lure of the fast buck has gripped everyone with something to hang the worlds interest on. I admit to being a little jaded by companies putting dross in bottles and expecting us to fork over enormous amounts of money.

Here’s the thing though, it looks like the Dali group are trying to make good perfume. It may not all be to your taste, it certainly isn’t all to mine, but it does smell like they’ve taken more than a modicum of interest in seeing these perfumes are beautiful, smooth and aristocratic feeling. The bottles look fabulous too and though I’ve not held one yet, I’m very excited to.

I had the Aussie Dali rep get in touch and send me a set of the latest Dali beauties and here is one I particularly liked.

Mélodie du Cygne de la Main by Dali Haute Parfumerie 2016

Mélodie du Cygne de la Main by Alberto Morillas

Melodie Du Cygne De La Main Salvador Dali FragranticaFragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Bergamot, Violet, Florentine iris, Orange blossom, Sandalwood, Praliné, Vanilla

Sweet, slightly fizzy opening followed by a praline/vanilla. Smooth, very Guerlain modern or even Pierre Guillaume. The sweetness is bakery, not confectionary, and it smells expensive. The sandalwood is creamy and may even have a little dash of the real thing.

I keep thin king that this would be a wonderful fragrance to cuddle into. It smells so good if someone were to walk past you in the street trailing this sillage you might even be tempted to ask what they’re wearing.

Not boundary pushing or challenging in the slightest. Most perfumistas that like a warm, plush, bakehouse amber have something similar in their wardrobe already but Albert Morillas seems to have created quite a few fragrances that I adore: Rochas Byzance, original Salvador Dali, M7, Mugler cologne, Cacharel Scarlett, Gucci Guilty Absolute and Palissandre d`Or. This fragrance shows the same beautiful streamlined extravagance.

Just spoke to my mate Thierry at City Perfume and he has $390/100ml with Free Australian Shipping, 3 FREE samples and a 10% Discount till January 10 (code: AFG17).

Mélodie du Cygne de la Main GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x 3ml Mélodie du Cygne de la Main Manufacturiers Sample (my review sample)
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: Have you tried and loved any of the Dali perfumes?

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 7th January 2018 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 11th January 2018 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

 

SOTD 1 – 7 January 2018

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 193 Comments

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Portia

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Hi APJ,

I see these SOTD (Scent Of The Day) threads all the time on Facebook and they are really good conversation generators.

SOTD 1 – 7 January 2018

The idea is you’ll chime in through the week with whatever scent you are wearing. You don’t need to be super knowledgable, have high faluting tastes or be a published author to comment. Just tell us what fragrance you’re wearing, smelling, buying etc.

You probably won’t have time to write every scent, every spritz but whenever you feel the mood take you share your current spritz and a few things about it. Maybe you love/loathe it, want it, are excited by the notes/bottle/SA who sold it: WHATEVER! As always here at APJ, taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.

Over 100 responses I will draw a Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)
This week:

  1. Monsieur Chanel vintage
  2. Jacob Silences parfum
  3. Guerlain Chamade EdP (vintish)
  4. Diptyque Rose de Mai 2016
  5. Le Galion Sang Bleu

Comment purposefully on yours or anothers comment & you’ll have a chance, random.org will draw on Sunday.

Last Weeks WINNER: Neva

 

Go To It Crew.
Portia xxx

Souffle de Soie GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

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Portia

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AHHH APJ,

The lure of DIOR! I get it, can’t wait to get my sniff on the rest of the line in Paris next year.
Let’s see who our lucky winners are
Portia xx

Souffle de Soie GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Souffle de Soie by DIOR La Collection Privée

 

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 2 winners who will receive:
1 x DIOR Souffle de Soie decant (from my decant)
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 31st December 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

Miriam Nussbaum

Amanda Kheng

The winners will have till Thursday 4th January 2018 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

Up The Apples and Pears by Sarah McCartney for 4160 Tuesdays 2016

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

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Portia

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Hey there APJ,

Sarah McCartney has been trying to get samples to me FOREVER! It has been a complete labour of love and finally it has happened thanks to a perfume mule who brought the set all the way from the UK and then sent it to me here. I won’t name you but a million thanks indeed.

The box arrived and I couldn’t stop myself from jumping in and finding something to spritz. One of the names that has often stood out, among a series of names that could positively beguile you, as fun and fabulous. From cockney rhyming slang Up The Apples and Pears means up the stairs to bed.

Up The Apples and Pears by 4160 Tuesdays 2016

Up The Apples and Pears by Sarah McCartney

Up The Apples & Pears 4160 Tuesdays FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Hops, apple, pear, gin
Heart: Whiskey, woody notes
Base: Bread

From 4160 Tuesdays: Up the Apples & Pears – an unusual fragrance that evokes the scent of a London pub in 1933; apple pie, pear syllabub, gin, beer, roll-ups, wooden floor and bread rolls.

Now I can’t say the note list looks particularly promising. Terrifying in fact, and the blurb from the website is equally freaky. An old drinking pub from 1933? Sounds ghastly, right? Well, I’m going to give it a go anyways….

Sweet fruits and tart gin, like apple lollies done sour. It’s an attention grabbing opening, fun and reckless. Can’t help but smile at the utter whimsy Up The Apples and Pears begins with. It’s lovely.

This fun opening takes a few minutes to segue into the whiskey section and its booziness rem,ends me faintly of Jessica Simpson’s Fancy Nights but the treacle thick patchouli is missing, or greatly diminished.

Now HERE is where I get the idea of a pub. Having lived and worked in the UK in 1994-5 I was lucky enough to work in some of the smaller country gay bars. We’d catch the train out, work, stay the night and come back to London next morning. These smaller pubs would have a lived in a loved smell about them that was partly old beer and carpets, but also had fruity cleaning products and a woodsy smell. Though not captured exactly and definitely glamorised into a fragrance form Sarah has definitely hit the memory mark.

Up The Apples and Pears by Sarah McCartney Ewan Munro Zeitgeist at the Jolly Gardeners FlickrFlickr

Without the story and knowledge of the meaning I think anyone could wear Up The Apples and Pears and smell good doing so. It is a lovely smelling fragrance.

One thing I really love here is the fearlessness, the bold adventure undertaken and the immediate, raw and fun look at how perfume can be created from a story. That is the grand prize that small batch independent perfumery can bring to the table. Clearly not created to sell billions of bottles and make Sarah McCartney the next by Kilian or Annick Goutal in department stores the world over. This is for lovers of the fun and whimsy of perfumistahood.

Sarah McCartney 4160 Tuesdays

Further reading: I Scent You A Day
4160 Tuesdays has £120/100ml and Samples
ParfuMaria has a great selection of 4160 Tuesdays and ships worldwide

This is so exciting for me, which 4160 Tuesdays should I try next?
Portia xx

CHANGED!! Fleur de Lalita GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

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Portia

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Hey APJ,

Wonderful giveaway! Thanks to Dusita and Val for their generosity.
It was so good to read all your amazing comments. Each and every one of you gave us a piece of yourselves.
Portia xx

Fleur de Lalita GIVEAWAY WINNER

Fleur de Lalita Parfums Dusita FragranticaFragrantica

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Fleur de Lalita 7.5ml travel atomizer
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 28th December 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
I´ll chuck all the names into my dead armadillo basket and pick one out.

Fleur de Lalita 7.5ml:

Jillian

Runner Ups: win a Dusita Sample Set

Elaine Richard

Diana

The winners will have till Sunday 31st December 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

Camel extrait de parfum by Christian Carbonnel for Zoologist 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

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Erica Golding

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Hello and loving winter greetings to you all, whether you’re steaming in the southern hemisphere or shivering up north with me!

Here’s a beauty that has already received a tsunami of glowing praise, and I’m here to offer up my thoughts. I’ve got a sample of Zoologist Camel!

Camel extrait de parfum by Zoologist

Camel Zoologist Perfumes FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Dates, dried fruits, rose, olibanum, amber, jasmine, myrrh, orange blossom, incense, cedar, cinnamon, musk, agarwood (oud), sandalwood, tonka bean, vanilla, vetiver, civet

I have sampled a few Zoologist offerings, and they’ve been fun and unique, but this is the first one that has me breathing deeply with ecstasy! I’ve noticed by reading reviews that this perfume seems to vary quite a bit from person to person, and my experience is unique as well.

On my skin, Camel opens with a delicious ripe red fruit accord, which makes me think of sweetened pomegranate juice. This sweet fruit-forward cloak is intense and addictive, and completely dominates the majority of the wearlength on me. I can practically taste the sensual delight! It’s juicy, really it is. When I over-apply with fervor, I can faintly detect the oud, but only at the beginning and not very noticeably. The resinous notes are very quiet to start, and have a crackling dry quality thanks to the woody frankincense and cedar. They warm up a bit more once the fruits have calmed, but overall Camel is really a fruity perfume on me.

Camel Zoologist David Stanley Camel Caravan FlickrFlickr

LuckyScent has $135/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $4/0.5ml

So there you have it, Camel is a softly delicious fruity delight for me! Have you gotten your nose on this perfume yet? What is it like for you? Everyone seems to report back different impressions, it’s fun to read them as they pop up!

Love and light,

-Erica

 2017. Music, Films, Book and Fleur de Lalita by Dusita

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 105 Comments

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Val the Cookie Queen

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Happy Feast Of St Stephen APJ

It has been one fabulous year for music, I have a deep rooted love for the older stuff, Velvets, Stooges, MC5, Doors, Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd, Bowie etc etc. But I love pop music and crank up the commercial music in the car too. Mostly though I listen to my music on headphones in the gym. It motivates and inspires me to get right into both cardio and weights. So what have I been mainlining this year?

Cookie Queen 2017. The Music, The Films, A Book

Plus A Boxing Day Perfume Giveaway

MUSE. Everything.
Imagine Dragons. Going to see them next May,
Placebo. Never get sick of them.
Rag and Bone Man. Human. Love this hip-hop, rap, grime influenced stuff. He has such a wonderful voice.
London Grammar. Although they have been around for a few years, I only came across them in 2017. Check out there amazing cover of Chris Isaac´s “Wicked Game“.
Eminem. Eminem. Eminem. The new album Revival. His recent 5 songs for the BBC with Skylar Grey. I’m dying. It makes every nerve in my body stand on end.
(And Blondeswunder wants to marry him. I want to see him. Would travel.)
The Lumineers. Everything.
Lorde. Everything.
Stormzy. Gang Signs and Prayer. English rapper. First grime album to reach number one. Great for pushing weights.
Foo Fighters. Never tire.

Hell or High Water (2016) IMDbIMDb

Two films stick out. Both of which I went to twice.
“Hell or High Water” A Neo-Western crime thriller. With Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Gil Birmingham. Superb music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.
Brilliant cinematography.
“The Party“. A British black comedy. A sharp satire of love and politics. Very very good.

Books.
Just one. Philip Pullman. His dark materials Trilogy. Twenty years later than most, but just in time for his new trilogy, The Book of Dust. Part one, La Belle Sauvage. I read other books, but these were my highlights.

My good friend Kirk, who has featured several times in posts, found himself hanging out in Jovoy this year, and seems to have been buying rather a lot of `fumes. I believe young perfumista status has been reached. I claim all responsibilty. I began to train with a personal trainer five months ago, coincidentally Kirk was with me when I started. He showed an interest in the perfume conversation we were having. As Kirk conveniently purchased a bottle of Malle´s Monsieur the next day, we grabbed him some samples. Now he’s spiralling.

Fleur de Lalita by Dusita 2017

Fleur de Lalita Parfums Dusita FragranticaFragrantica

Which brings me to my Giveaway. I missed the Parfum Dusitas party last year. Getting to try every new thing is just not possible. Pissara Umavijani was kind enough to send me a couple of travel sized samples of her new creation Fleur de Lalita. It will not be launched until next year. A very lovely white floral, including jasmine, with a bitter galbanum threader through them. It slowly dries down to a soft sandalwood and tonic base. It is very elegant, quite feminine and beautifully done. I have a 7.5ml travel atomizer to giveaway.

Happy New Year to the APJ Family.
Bussis
CQ

Fleur de Lalita GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 1 winner who will receive:
1 x Fleur de Lalita 7.5ml travel atomizer
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 in the comments: Music, films, books? What have you been listening to, or reading or watching

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 28th December 2017 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
I´ll chuck all the names into my dead armadillo basket and pick one out.
The winners will have till Sunday 31st December 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

 

 

Manguier Métisse GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

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Portia

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Hey Hey Crew,

Another excellent giveaway. Let’s see who won.
Portia xx

Manguier Métisse GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Manguier Métisse by Pierre Guillaume

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Fruity notes, mango, tea, sugar, frangipani, woody notes, powdery notes

LuckyScent has $125/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $5/ml

 

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 3 winners who will receive:
1 x Manguier Métisse decant (from my decant)
P&H Anywhere in the world

 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 24th December 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

Sue Mills

Saffyishere

Undina

The winners will have till Thursday 28th December 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