Samples

Fat Electrician by Antoine Maisondieu for Etat Libre d’Orange 2009

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

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TinaG

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Hi APJ!

Fat Electrician has been such a fun fragrance to try! A friend kindly gave me a sample which was used up oh-too quickly, and to be honest the name of it always reminds me of Portia and Jin – I keep thinking back to Portia’s article a few years ago which made me laugh. Love those guys. So, I’d heard good things about it but hadn’t expected that WOW factor to hit immediately and it was fabulous!

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Myrrh, Chestnut cream, Olive leaf, Opoponax, Vanilla, Vetiver

Fat Electrician opens dry and woody with a blast of sweetness at the same time, just so weird. I really wasn’t expecting a ‘vetiver’ fragrance to have a gourmand aspect to it but a sticky vanilla definitely shines through. It is horizontally layered and airy, the dryness of the vetiver is all in the sillage but close to my skin the vanilla softly oozes.

After a while the vanilla is joined by a creaminess that I guess is the marron or chestnut, which pushes the vetiver out of the way for prominence. A metallic green note starts to sparkle on my skin. It’s oily and slightly mentholated. I really like the way that this fragrance shifts. It manages to be comforting and quirky at the same time – exactly my kind of thing.

And this is only just in the first half hour. Something funny happens then, in that the metallic note went into blood territory like the smell of mince meat. Metallic and meaty but only in undertones with the vetiver going a bit more feral and funky. It might sound off-putting but it joins the scent bubble as an enhancement not an outlier.

PDI

Did you notice that there are some ambers in the notes? Well they come out around the 3 hour mark bringing with them a dry but cool incense. Myrrh is a favourite of mine, no so much opoponax but they are both in trace but distinct amounts. Even after 6 hours, Fat Electrician has slightly split personality spots on my skin. One place smells woody, another sticky & sweet. It is this variation that keeps me interested.

The three main notes in Fat Electrician are: vetiver, vanilla, myrrh. Interesting features, the oily green + bloody metallics, the way the vetiver goes from dry to dirty, and the juxtaposition between the chewy gourmand notes and bone dry ambers. It’s got a great longevity of 8+ hours but most of the interesting stuff happens in the first hour.

PDI

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and EauMG
LuckyScent has $90/50ml and Samples

What a great perfume!

Have you tried Fat Electrician before? What do you think?

Till next time,

Tina G

Bois d’Oud by Detaille 2014 + GIVEAWAY

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

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Portia

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Hey APJers,

You may remember that I met the owner of Detail and his wife at the Milan hotel we stayed in for Esxence? Louis and his wife Christine. He was so sweet and passionate about their fragrances. Even made one of the newest range especially for Christine, with her involvement. She was wearing it to breakfast so proudly.

As we chattered over breakfast about his company Louis told me that they’d released some new fragrances recently. I tried a couple but the one I liked for me was Bois d’Oud. He gave me a bottle right there on the spot and Jin & I have both enjoyed wearing it since then.

Bois d’Oud by Detaille 2014

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Agarwood (oud), bergamot, labdanum
Heart: Saffron, cedar
Base: Tobacco, agarwood (oud), cedar, patchouli

As I was wearing Bois d’Oud I was telling him what I thought I smelled. Synth oud, loads of pencil shaving cedar, honey & patchouli. Well, I was almost all correct and Louis was thrilled that I had been able to place some notes. Really he was a complete gent.

Bois d’Oud opens with a lightly fecal synth oudh that quickly calms into a animalic, creamy, resinous labdanumwith only hints of the oudishness. Very nice, comfortable, easy. Then the cedar mines in underneath and you can smell it almost rising through thew scent to become front & centre. It’s beautifully played and smells good to me.

 

As the hours pass the tobacco, which smells delightfully honeyed and browned, and patchouli float through. Patchouli is pretty clean, no headshop shenanigans going on here and all backed by a soft blur of creamy oud. Smooth, the whole fragrance is very smooth.

It’s a nice, wearable, synth oud. Not too skanky, won’t scare the Grandmas or the teens away, and has a very comfortable wear. Bois d’Oud is not a groundbreaking perfume, won’t challenge the wearer and is at the cleaner end of the oud spectrum. It is a very nice version of what it does though.

Detaille has €90/50ml

 

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 2 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml decant of Bois d’Oud by Detaille
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 your current favourite woods or oud fragrance? 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Wednesday 19th April 2017 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Wednesday 26th April 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

You Or Someone Like You GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

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Portia

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Hey Hey Crew,

Thanks to ELdO and Chandler Burr for their incredible generosity. Good luck in the giveaway.

Portia xx

You Or Someone Like You GIVEAWAY WINNERS

LuckyScent has it from $52/30ml + Samples

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 10 winners who will receive:
1 x 2ml decant of You Or Someone Like You by Etat Libre d’Orange
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 16th April 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners will be chosen by random.org

Jane

JackieB

Susan Farber

Nilam5688

Neva

Koyel

Kate Apted

Jaybee

Fazal

Gina

The winners will have till Sunday 23rd April 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

You Or Someone Like You by Etat Libre d’Orange

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

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Portia

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Hi Lovers of NEW!

Yesterday we chatted about You Or Someone Like You by Chandler Burr + Etat Libre d’Orange 2017. It’s brand new, only just appeared at LuckyScent and Chandler sent me a bottle. Suddenly last night after the review went live I thought, how churlish I am not offering a GIVEAWAY! So though we don’t post here at APJ on Saturdays anymore I thought maybe I could make an exception so some of you could get to try it too.

Further reading: Colognoisseur and Scents Memory
LuckyScent has it from $52/30ml + Samples

You Or Someone Like You GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 10 winners who will receive:
1 x 2ml decant of You Or Someone Like You by Etat Libre d’Orange
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 any of the Etat Libre d’Orange scents you like or if you’ve read any of Chandler’s books and enjoyed them? 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 16th April 2017 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 23rd April 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

Methaldone GIVEAWAY WINNERS

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

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Portia

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Hey Crew,

So glad to be home and have giveaways again. Thanks for getting involved.
Portia xx

Methaldone GIVEAWAY WINNERS

 

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Metallic notes, incense, amber, woody notes, resins, musk

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml decant of Methaldone by Aether Parfums
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Wednesday 12th April 2017 10pm Australian EdsT
Winners were chosen by random.org

Lillibet

BBMc

Alice

The winners will have till Wednesday 19th April 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

New York Intense by Patricia de Nicolai for Nicolai Parfumeur Createur 2014

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

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Anne-Marie

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Hi all!

Have you ever sold or given away a perfume, only to regret it later? I bet you have!

I once re-homed a 5ml decant of New York by Nicolai Parfumeur Createur. This was the original EDT version, not the Intense (EDP) which came out in 2014. I liked the citrusy and aromatic aspect, but something about the spices bothered me. It felt very dry and scratchy and, well, hot … like a spice market on a hot day. It was like the perfume was burning into my skin.

I had no regrets giving it away until about two years ago when, having smelled a lot of other fragrance in the meantime, I got curious. What did that stuff smell like again? I was a bit too lazy to act on this question, but I brooded on it all the same.

Finally I’ve had the chance to snap up a large decant, this time of the Intense.

New York Intense by Nicolai Parfumeur Createur 2014

New York Intense by Patricia de Nicolai

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Bergamot, lemon, cloves, thyme, cinnamon, black pepper, pimento, oakmoss, vetiver, amber.

New York Intense arrived today and although I’ve only had it on a few hours, I’m delighted with the re-acquaintance. Citrus and herbaceous notes are as intriguing as ever, but the spices seem a bit less prominent, allowing the smooth ambery base to make itself felt. Maybe because of this, the fragrance seems less solidly masculine than I remember. A lot of Fragranctica readers detect oakmoss. Really? I don’t get any at all. But I’ll see how things go over more wearings. I definitely get a subtle whiff of vanilla, which I like. Also, the longevity is better.

PDI

This is how the Intense strikes me. I can’t do a direct comparison of the two versions but if you have, do comment.

For various reasons, good reasons, we prune our collections to share them, spray forward, or to create space and raise a few dollars for other stuff. Perhaps we keep a sample for reference, although I admit I’ve never been that organised.

I don’t think I’ve ever had any terrible regrets, just a small sense of loss occasionally. After all, there’s a good chance that the lost one will find its way back to you if it is meant to be, as it was in this case for me.

WikiCommons

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies
LuckyScent has $62/30ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $5/ml

So what about you? Have you managed to reclaim some gems you had let go? How did it work out?
Until next time everyone, keep spritzing!
Anne-Marie

Methaldone by Rodrigo Flores-Roux for Aether 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

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Portia

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Heya Fumies,

Life is a roller coaster. Jin and I had the most amazing trip around Europe last month. One of the highlights was catching up with Nicolas and Enno. They are the guys behind Le Galion and Aether Parfums. We took them out to Jin’s favourite Korean restaurant in Paris because we love them. Clever, funny, handsome and really passionate men about their fragrance, lives, love; just about everything. Seeing them is always a joy.

Methaldone by Aether 2017

Methaldone by Rodrigo Flores-Roux

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Metallic notes, incense, amber, woody notes, resins, musk

The Aether perfumes line is dedicated to using only captured molecules and they have done a very interesting job with this one. Methaldone is created to the brief of recreating the scent of hot metal.

My nose smells sparklers and cooking popcorn. So that’s my experience and these two leading images last in  my head for the first hour or so until the fragrance warms through with resins and sweet amber coming up from underneath and gradually taking over. Personally I am loving the way it smells and the way it lingers so tenaciously, especially on clothes and you’ll need to wash them before the scent goes. My washing basket has never smelt so good.

As you can see in the pic I’ve already used quite a lot of my bottle, it’s YUMMY!

I wore Methaldone last weekend to a party where it got 3 unsolicited compliments, which rarely happens for me in party situations. One friend coming in for an extra cuddle so they could smell it more. So Methaldone is a WIN!

Surprisingly for something that sounds so out there it is remarkably wearable and would be a superb go-to scent for everyday wearings.

Below we have a fab giveaway, thanks to Nicolas & Enno, get to it
Portia xx

 

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week there will be 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 10ml decant of Methaldone by Aether Parfums
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 where you would like to wear Methaldone 

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Wednesday 12th April 2017 10pm Australian EdsT and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Wednesday 19th April 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

Iris Fauve by Marie Salamagne for Atelier des Ors 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

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Portia

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Hey there Niche Nerds,

Atelier des Ors is one of Ainslie Walkers fave modern houses. While she was writing regularly for APJ I knew she would grab the newbies and give us a post about them. It meant there was a house I could totally ignore. So it was really fun at Esxence to meet New Zealand born blogger Megan from St Maxime, who also does PR for the company, so she could personally take me through the range. While I was there with Pia and Nick and I got Fume Royalty’s blow by blow account of why the scents are so good as well as the PR spin.

Iris Fauve by Atelier des Ors 2017

Iris Fauve by Marie Salamagne

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, cinnamon, iris
Heart: Patchouli, Haitian vetiver, cypriol oil or nagarmotha
Base: Myrrh, musk, labdanum, liatris

Iris! the opening of Iris Fauve is that cool, crisp, cardboard and autumn air cleanness that I associate with the best and most beautiful iris-centric scents. Slight citrus and patchouli background noise and a lightly salted grassy green vetiver but iris above all.

My mind is throwing me pictures of the layers of puff pastry, as if as I go down into the heart of the fragrance there are tiny, wafer thin layers of iris root with warm scented air rushing over them that create this comfortable, cosy iris scent. Light enough to capture the Asian market yet full enough to satisfy me Iris Fauve seems to have depth and breathtaking lift.

After the first 15 minutes Iris fauve seems to melt into my skin and become one with my fleshy humanity, a welcome whisper of beauty lying just above the skin. Here it seems to have a leatheriness too, hints of Cuir d’Ange and Cuir de Lancome, those softly and elegantly produced well loved gloves.

People that I respect are saying that this is an iris masterpiece, while I won’t go that far I think if you have previously found yourself iris-averse then maybe this treatment could change your mind. I get zero of the bread/carrot/earth on my skin that iris so often throws.

Flickr

Further reading: Colognoisseur and Non Blonde
Peony Melbourne carries the range
Surrender To Chance has samples from $4.25/0.5ml

Do you know the Atelier des Ors fragrance house? What are your favourite Iris perfumes?
Portia xx

Musc 25 Los Angeles by Frank Voelkl for Le Labo: City Exclusives 2008

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

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TinaG

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Hi APJ!

I’m off travelling again soon! Yay for holidays!

Last year I reviewed Le Labo – City Exclusives Poivre 23 London just before I visited that majestic city. Just in case, you know, I fell in love and needed a bottle. These things can happen! So I thought I’d give the City Exclusives, Musc 25 Los Angeles a run through before my trip in April. Which, I’ve got to say, I’m really really looking forward to.

Musc 25 Los Angeles by Le Labo: City Exclusives 2008

Musc 25 Los Angeles by Frank Voelkl

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Aldehydes, patchouli, musk, vetiver, lily-of-the-valley, cedar, rose and ambergris

The weirdest thing happened on first sniff. I instantly thought of Kingston, Ontario, Canada where my family spent a year. I don’t know what it was that triggered the reminder. Musc 25 opens with a heavy white musk, so maybe there was something environmental? A washing powder? House hold detergents? No idea. At any rate it was a one off, but interesting.

So, yes. Bam! White musk and quite a light, green-grey ozonic aldehyde which turns soapy in around 10 minutes. The white musk, to me, is cold and austere, a light grey colour. It’s one of my least favourite scents, I must admit. So soapy aldehydes and white musk aren’t really doing it for me however there are hints of concrete, plants and roses layered nearly imperceptably behind this, which makes me think it does needs a bit more skin time.

WikiMedia

At around 2 hours I’m still sniffing my arm closely trying to get more than white musk out of this as it’s swamping it for me. There’s a hint of funky animalic saltiness. I notice ambergris listed in the notes but it’s missing the waxiness that I associate with that smell. I’m seeing in my mind’s eye perhaps a reflection of my Airbnb searches – up above the city of Los Angeles, a residential area on the Hollywood Hills. Once formal gardens have been left to go wild so there’s a bit of shrubbery and strangely some pink azaleas. Huh. That is a weirdly specific image……

At about 4 hours as a skin scent the florals die back but the pinkness increases as I start to pick up another softer musk which has the effect of drawing your attention inwards rather than looking out over the horizon of the city. As I know I’m anosmic to a lot of musks it makes me wonder if there’s more in there I can’t smell.

WikiMedia

Further reading: Perfume Smelling Things and Perfume Posse
Le Labo in Venice (1138 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291, USA) or a couple of other spots in LA
Surrender To Chance has samples from $6/0,5ml

I’ve worn Los Angeles Musc 25 a few times now and I’m a bit conflicted. It’s really not my kind of thing but it’s still been interesting to wear, if that makes sense? It is really the heavy white musk which is my issue but otherwise the mix of concrete, ozone, saltiness, shrubbery, roses, and the softer musk in the dry down leaves me intrigued. Will I buy a bottle? Perhaps not but I’d like to wear the fragrance in the town it was created for to see whether there is an enhanced sense of place.

Do you have any memories of a place having a particular smell?

Till next time,
Tina G

Clandestine Clara by Sophie Labbé for Penhaligon`s 2017

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

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Portia

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Hey Hey Lovers Of NEW!

Another from the Libertine Parfumerie Pack. There’s been loads of chatter around the Portraits collection with its wildly provocative storyline including fortune, scandal, infidelity and homosexuality. Woo Hoo! Jackpot! Loving the fun Penhaligon’s seems to be having under the Puig banner. Not so sure about the heavy animal lids which would be Ouchie WaWa dropped on unshod morning feet and do definite damage to tile if dropped from hand height in the bathroom and mark wooden floorboards elsewhere. The idea is good though, if only they were bakelite or if they offered an animal free lid. Anyway, they have two new additions to the family Roaring Radcliff (a spiced run & tobacco scent) and Clandestine Clara.

Clandestine Clara by Penhaligon`s 2017

Clandestine Clara by Sophie Labbé

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top:  Rum, Vanilla
Heart: Cinnamon, Musk
Base: Amber notes, Patchouli

Boozy vanilla, spicy and wet. The opening smells like uncooked biscuit mix that you lick off the beaters and spatula. Much more interesting than the original four Portraits collection with that unusual Play-Doh vanilla/patchouli from Jacomo Art Collection #2 with the yellow lid and L’Artisan’s Dzing!. I love it there and here, so unexpected and funky.

Once the parts have come together the heart stays fairly linear. Not a problem, I am enjoying this spicy patchouli and vanilla/amber melange. It’s quite different when I put my nose to my wrist and when I have it at arms length, close up Clandestine Clara is all about this salted plastic patchouli but further away it’s much more about the boozy vanilla. Oh, I do like this a lot.

Thinking about who would wear Clandestine Clara and in my mind it skews quite boyish, yes even though I don’t believe in such things. So I can easily imagine it being a unisex creation. Maybe because I’ve worn Jacomo Art Collection #2 for years and often to art stuff as it’s a bit of an out of the square scent I find myself imagining a very cool couple wearing this. Maybe as their weekend couple scent and brunching, then wandering galleries, meeting friends and meandering through springtime cities in utter comfort together.

Further reading: Candy Perfume Boy
Libertine has
LuckyScent has $240/75ml + Samples

What do you think of the lids? Does Clandestine Clara tickle your fancy?
Portia xx