Colony by Henri Almeras for Jean Patou 1938 + GIVEAWAY

March 11, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey Hey Vintage Vamps,

Looking through my older decants and I found a large vintage Colony EdT decant. I must have bought it 5-10 years ago and it is still in pristine condition; no evaporation or darkening of colour. So clealy I’m not wearing it so I thought lets share the love.

Colony by Jean Patou 1938

Colony by Henri Almeras

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pineapple, ylang-ylang
Heart: Carnation, iris, oak, vetiver, opoponax
Base: Leather, musk

Colony opens like pineapple jelly with ice cream. It’s fun and silly and a little over the top. This glorious, fun-filled opening is just for the wearer though because before long Colony morphs into a different beast altogether. A rubbery, resinous, slightly powdery and dry leather. It’s beautiful and strange, the pineapple peeping out from between the other notes furtively for a while and gradually disappearing altogether leaving a clean, supple, fully finished and favourite handbag smell. I can think of no fitting place to wear Colony except in my own home so I can enjoy the ride. It’s strangeness is beautiful but you have to be fully present to enjoy its changes, otherwise it’s very easy to dismiss it as less than it is.

Flickr

Click on the links below to find out more about Patou’s Colony. It seems silly for me to go over the story of its creation when it has been so beautifully covered before.

Further reading: Yesterday’s Perfume and Non Blonde
eBay sometimes has older vintage bottles that go for astronomical prices
A fully new version was released in 2014 but I can’t find it

myprettypaints

Colony by Jean Patou GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x 2ml decant of Colony by Jean Patou
P&H Worldwide

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged. Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) so I know.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us where you would wear Colony by Jean Patou?

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 14th March 2016 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Thursday 17th March 2016 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.

Azar’s Jan + Feb GIVEAWAY WINNERS

March 11, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Post by Portia

Woo Hoo! Azar has got a HUGE line up of winners today. Thanks everyone for participating and thanks Azar for your outstanding generosity.

Azar’s Jan + Feb GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

Today I am offering five (yes 5!) more prizes (No, you can’t choose):

1 x 5 ml refillable purse spray of Zoologist Bat
1 x 2 ml carded sample of the same Bat fragrance
1 x complete set of small Pirouette Essentials gift soaps that also includes a 1 ml decant of Pirouette Essentials Wild Spruce and Tobacco
2 x sets of five 2ml decants from the list in my Back-Up Bottles post (The winners of Back-Up Bottle decant sets can specify five different (no double-ups please) fragrances from the list when they contact Portia with their mailing information.)
P&H Worldwide

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 10th March 2016 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

propercourse

Fazal wins the Bat purse spray.

Poodle wins the Bat carded sample.

Jaybee wins the Pirouette Essentials gift soaps

The two winners of the back-up bottle decants are Nemo and Patty Pong.

The winners will have till Sunday 13th March 2016 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.

Taormine by Yann Vasnier for Keiko Mecheri 2010

March 9, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there Fragrance Family,

It’s still high summer here in Sydney, 7am and already a humid 22C/72F. We have a ceiling fan in the bedroom and even under that I found it sweaty. So I jumped out of bed (let’s face it, no use lying there grumbling and I know myself well enough to know that there will be no sleep till this afternoons nana nap) and wandered my perfume library looking for a spritz of solace. I was tempted by Amouage Lyric Man, DIOR New Look 1947, JHaG Anyway, Byredo Black Saffron and Cacharel Liberté yet none of them were exactly what I was looking for. Then my eyes alighted upon the Keiko Mecheri boxes, I have two that are summer all over for me Un Jour d’Ete and the one I chose…

Taormine by Keiko Mecheri 2010

Taormine by Yann Vasnier

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Sicilian petitgrain, Calabrian bergamot, Italian citron, bitter almond, aromatic chord, floral notes, leather

That was three days ago and since I’ve worn nothing but this weird salty citrus beauty. There’s not much to say about it really except it goes on all salted citrus, like drinking salty lemonade in India. It stays that way for a while, sweet and refreshing with a side swipe of sweaty. Like a salty Shalimar light.

Then it morphs into something a little bit more biscuit based, like lemon meringue pie eaten in a brand new leather chair.

Pexels

I know that as a review this completely sucks the weiner but that’s it in a nutshell and I freaking LOVE IT. Taormine is excellent. I’m sweltering in 36C in the shade here and the only thing cooling me down is a spritz from Keiko Mecheri’s Taormine.

Further reading: Olfactorialist
LuckyScent has $140/75ml + Samples
Libertine has $279/75ml + FREE Australian Shipping

Have you tried it?
Portia xx

Azar’s Jan + Feb Giveaways and Winner Announcement

March 7, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 40 Comments

Post by Azar

Hello Perfume Pals!

As you probably know, during Portia’s recent “working” vacation to the UK and European destinations, my January and February announcements and draws have been postponed until TODAY.

Azar’s Jan + Feb Giveaways and Winner Announcement

WINNER!!

So, without further ado, let me first announce the winner of the Olympic Orchids White Cattleya 5ml refillable purse spray related to

The winner of the White Cattleya is:

Elizabeth

Please contact Portia with your mailing information no later than (date) or your prize will go to someone else.

myprettypaints

Azar’s Jan + Feb GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

Today I am offering five (yes 5!) more prizes (No, you can’t choose):

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please let us know which (if any) fragrance mentioned in Azar’s January and February posts most appeals to you – and why!

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 10th March 2016 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Sunday 13th March 2016 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.

Bal A Versailles by Jean Desprez 1962

March 4, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Post by Portia

Heya Crew,

Last year Bal A Versailles was discontinued. It was quite a shock because I thought it was one of those fabulous fragrances that would go on forever. Sadly no. So obviously I went crazy buying new and old and now have quite a hoard. PHEW!

Bal A Versailles by Jean Desprez 1962

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rosemary, orange blossom, mandarin orange, cassia, jasmine, rose, neroli, bergamot, Bulgarian rose, lemon
Heart: Sandalwood, patchouli, lilac, orris root, vetiver, ylang-ylang, lily-of-the-valley, leather
Base: Tolu balsam, amber, musk, benzoin, civet, vanilla, cedar, resins

Why did I feel the need to grab loads? Is Bal A Versailles an incredible fragrance, even still after multiple reformulations, IFRA challenges and a clearly dwindling need to stay incredible?

Well, I didn’t merely buy up new, I also scanned the eBay pages and peoples documents. It became a little bit of an obsession.

So I have told of my using Mum’s miniature Bal A Versailles parfum on the Barbies as a kid. The smell seems to have been with me on and off throughout my life. Comfortable and warm, its richness and plush glamour offset by the very mundane daily sniffings of it through the years. I have hazy recollections of smelling it on my Mum while we’d be sharing the couch and watching TV companionably after dinner or the golf/tennis on a weekend (me bored to death but happy to be hanging with my Mum) when I would make us sandwiches and either milkshakes or coffee depending on season.

WikiMedia

Then later in life to rediscover its beauty in a 4ml vintage parfum. Moving forward to recently when my mate Scott arrives some days lierally bathed in the radiance of Bal A Versailles and then we do office work and go to the various errands that need doing with me awash in his massive sillage.

How does Bal A Versailles smell? Big, fun, over the top. It’s a grand high kitchen sink fragrance that is to scent what Phil Spectre’s Wall Of Sound was to music. Think Tina Turner’s River Deep, Mountain High or The Ronettes’ Be My Baby. A cacophony of fruit and flowers underpinned by resins, woods and animalics. Nothing smells quite like it but I sometimes get Tabu, Aromatics Elixir and Dia mixed up with it when I smell them on other people. Nope, they’re not the same but they all have a similar sillage in dry down.

Is it a Must Try vintage? Probably not. Am I sad to see it discontinued? Yes, there was a place for Bal A Versailles but clearly it wasn’t selling enough to continue.

Wikipedia

Further reading: MuseInWoodenShoes, Australian Perfume Junkies and ThePerfumePosse
Beauty Encounter has a range od EdT and Parfume
SurrenderToChance has all sorts starting at $3/ml

What vintage do you hoard? Do you have a bal A Versailles story?
Portia xxx

Perfume by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz for DSH Perfume 2014

March 1, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey APJ Crew,

Recently I purchased Giverny In Bloom from DSH Perfumes (which I freaking LOVE!) and with it Dawn sent me some DSH Perfume from the Peace, Love & Perfume project. Peace, Love & Perfume is Carlos J Powell’s facebook page and he has been working with a few of the world’s best independent perfumers bringing to life their ideas of how Peace, Love & Perfume could be constructed. It’s a really interesting idea and I love that people are getting on board and letting their creativity free.

Perfume by DSH Perfume 2014

Perfume by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Grapefruit, rhubarb, cognac, tropical fruits, basil, pitosporum, jasmine, ambrette (musk mallow), guaiac wood, vetiver

My only question is “Why did it take me so long to find this?”

Graprefruit, almost photo realistic, bursts out of the atomiser. It’s ultra sweet, clean, fresh and vibrant. There is the merest hint of far off urinals that makes it a little dirty too and while I don’t get cognac per se there is a very alcoholic undercurrent. We are in the middle of summer in Sydney and Jin has just discovered how to make dacquiris, Perfume smells like a Dacquiri tastes: delicious, tart, cooling and alcoholic. As Perfume softens the citrus becomes a player rather than the lead and a refreshing green herbaceousness twines through with lovely hints of sweet fruitiness.

Interestingly, just as you think the citrus is about to give up the ghost back it comes full force. How does that happen? So good.

Then later on the grapefruit and musks turn up a very nice sweaty vibe. Did I mention the longevity is excellent with Perfume. It’s cologne-ish but ever so much more.

Flickr

From DSH Perfumes: DSH Perfume is a rather unorthodox pairing of grapefruit, rhubarb, and cognac accented by a luscious tropical fruit accord with green notes of basil and pittosporum to create the “fresh cologne” aspect . A vibrant jasmine heart dries down to a surprisingly creamy ambrette, guaiacwood, and vetiver finish. This is definitely a modern twist on the ‘eau de cologne’ design concept.
We’re releasing 50 Limited Edition Extrait flacons (5 ml Antique presentations) of Peace and Love (retail price: $105); Perfume will also be released as a Limited Edition of 50, 10 ml spray flacons in Cologne Absolue strength (retail price: $48).

Go check out DSH Perfumes, there’s something for everyone at an excellent price point and Dawn does excellent samples and extras with every order.
Which is your fave Indie Perfumer? Have you tried Dawn?
Portia xx

By Night Black by Profumi del Forte 2009

February 25, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi the Fumies,

I remember trying this a while back but have no memory of the scent. I’m surprised that it wasn’t written about because I love the Profumi del Forte line in general, they are lavish new looks at old ideas. Something about the line smells distinctive and quality to me. It’s weird that I don’t own a full bottle of one yet, Versilia Vintage Ambra Mediterranea is my favourite of the line but it never seems to last till checkout in my cart.

By Night Black by Profumi del Forte 2009

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lime, cypress, mandarin orange, orange, fig leaf, basil, juniper, bitter orange, rose hip, lavender, cypress
Heart: Pine, mate, jasmine, incense
Base: Cedar

A warm, herbal cologne. Singing top notes that are high citrus & woods with a marked creaminess, a pithiness, a dry and warm undercurrent that By Night Black’s notes give me no reason to expect. Very urbane, I can imagine it on a well dressed business person who wants to smell a little outside the box but not outrageous. Maybe it’s the mate that’s adding the creamy warmth. I’ve only drunk it once at Roxana Villa’s place and my memory is of a creamy green drink that was sweet and lightly tea-ish, more like a smoothie. The jasmine definitely is playing a smoothing role too though the heart, which is lovely. Gaia in her Non Blonde review is saddened that By Night Black is not interesting enough, I can’t say I have the same sense of let down. There is plenty of nuance and interesting by play for me. Maybe because my expectations were so low it smells better than I expected?

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

So while I’m falling asleep about an hour after this application I notice that By Night Black has collapsed into something that I know but can’t place, like an everyman’s dry down. A woodsy scent that leads my mind to the 1990s/early 2000s gym locker rooms. I’m falling asleep so it’s a passing thought and then it’s morning.

Next morning I awake and there is something a little off left on my hand, it’s a woodsy/fishy/salty/sweet/decaying scent that while being very light still manages to make me feel uncomfortable and run to the bathroom to wash my hand. So freaking weird. The end.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Non Blonde
First In Fragrance has €168/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6/ml

Obviously you may have an entirely different wear and there has been some nasty reaction with my chemistry. It did freak me out a bit this morning though. I couldn’t get my hand under the tap fast enough.

Have you ever had a frag turn feral? Tell us the story please.
Portia xx

Eau Parfumée Au Thé Bleu by Daniela (Roche) Andrier for BVLGARI 2015

February 22, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Post by TinaG

Hello APJ!

I have a soft spot for the Bvlgari tea series, as Au Thé Rouge was the first fragrance I ever wrote up for APJ and it holds special memories of that summer. And it changed my life. It all started with a travel size sample of Au Thé Rouge and subsequent hunt for and purchase of rooibos, the “rouge” tea in Au Thé Rouge. From there I started investigating styles of tea, and tea as a fragrance note. Two years later and my life is richer for these experiences; I’ve widened my knowledge of the world, found some beautiful “tea” fragrances, and thoroughly enjoy a quiet cuppa and breathing space now and then.

Eau Parfumée Au Thé Bleu by BVLGARI 2015

Eau Parfumée Au Thé Bleu by Daniela (Roche) Andrier

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lavender, shiso
Heart: Violet, tea
Base: Iris, musk

I was excited to hear about the release last year of Au Thé Bleu, Bvlgari’s fourth in the tea series. It showcases a ‘blue’ tea accord, inspired by one of my favourite teas, Chinese oolong.

Pixabay

Au Thé Bleu is a great cologne to both counteract and compliment a hot summers day. It opens with a smoky tea, cool lavender and subtle iris. The lavender is the star here. The fragrance stays crisp and cool for about an hour, before it warms up with a touch of tonka, giving the whole silage a comforting feel. Over the next two hours it flits around, alternating between warm and cool, supported by wonderfully light musk notes. The best way to describe the musk is clean but warm, not like a cool laundry musk. It’s sweeter, slightly in to musk-stick / lolly territory.

At 4 hours the fragrance has a peppery feel about it. I didn’t remember seeing any spicy notes listed but when I went back to Fragrantica and the Bvlgari website, there is a note listed of Shiso leaf which is described as having a peppery spicyness about it. It fits in well. As a cologne strength the dry down is surprising long-lasting, staying on my skin for about 8 hours.

Flickr

There is a fabulous uplifting quality to this scent, and it makes me feel as if I’m being warmed by the sun, whilst looking up at a blue summer sky across wide fields of lavender. The ‘blue’ accord is sheer and radiant – like holding up a corn-flower blue sapphire to the sun and watching the sparkles of light dance. ‘Happy’ is a simple word but the feeling of being happy can be profound. This fragrance makes me happy, it has a pureness from simplicity which is a pleasure to enjoy.

Further reading: Persolaise and Colognoisseur
David Jones has $184/150ml with FREE Australian delivery

Do you have a favourite fragrance you wear, which makes you feel happy?

Tina G xx

Versilia Vintage Boise by Profumi del Forte 2009

February 21, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Post by Joseph Sagona

Hi APJ

Versilia Vintage Boise by Profumi del Forte 2009

Fragrantica

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

I get the Honey, Virginia Cedar, Indian Patchouli, Tonka Bean and Lavender and Geranium, it opens up with a smoky, lemon tinged geranium and a bitter, soapy lavender, strong geranium and the lavender is mild. Twenty minutes in and the lavender and bitterness dissipates, in comes a warm, vanilla tinged Tonka bean, and a sweet, syrupy honey, the Tonka is soft and mild honey. After three hours the geranium and Tonka dissipate, the honey softens, in comes a dry, piney, Virginia Cedar, and an earthy with a touch of dirtiness patchouli, the Virginia Cedar is mild and the Indonesian patchouli is soft.

WikiMedia

Versilia Vintage Boise reminds me of Thierry Mugler’s B’Men and Yohji Homme Yamamoto. B’Men is spicy, musky and woodier, Yamamoto is softer, sweeter and boozy.

This is a really lovely spicy, woody composition, that is very warm, vibrant, appealing, timeless, well balanced, smooth, with a little bit of character and flare.

Versilia Vintage Boise is a very, aromatic, fresh, balmy, slightly dirty, high quality, medicinal nuances, with soft citric undertones Oriental Woody fragrance. This can be worn all year ’round, it would be better suited for the Spring and Summer, I get average projection and average longevity, this was a great offering from Profumi del Forte.

From LuckyScent: “Being last in admiration for the wonder of the pinewood, while all around the world seethed with protest and marches: Versilia, isle of happiness in the magma of the Sixties. I reached the beach following the longest route, emerging amoung the shadows and silence of the residential areas, only to cast my boyish eye on the gardens full of flowers, to read the story of their creation in the pine bark, to enjoy that perfect concerto of aromas and wellbeing. Today I have rewritten those melodies on a pentagram of essences, with perfumed notes and rhythms of rediscovered serenity.”

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies
LuckyScent has $170/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6/ml

Do you like the line?
Portia xx

Bulgari Jasmin Noir by Carlos Benaim and Sophie Labbe for BVLGARI 2008

February 19, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Post by Portia

Heya APJ Family,

Since 2008 I have longed to wear this fragrance. Every now and then I give myself a spritz in the mall but it’s too busy there to contemplate fragrance and Jasmin Noir doesn’t seem to be big enough to maintain my attention when otherwise occupied. So I bought a decant, now I get to spend some time in peaceful surroundings and really test drive it. Don’t worry, my expectations are very low but sometimes you just have to scratch the itch.

Bulgari Jasmin Noir by BVLGARI 2008

Bulgari Jasmin Noir by Carlos Benaim and Sophie Labbe

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Gardenia, Green plant juice
Heart: Jasmine sambac absolute, Almond
Base: Precious woods, Glycyrrhiza, Tonka bean absolute

Sheer radiant sappy floral, pretty and slightly plastic smelling that is airy and sparse. This fresh greenness never really points to one flower but smells to me like an amorphous white floral bouquet and when the jasmine arrives it feels fizzy and metallic, are there some aldehydes hidden in the mix? As far as flowers go my skin is throwing floral holograms rather than the flowers themselves, space flowers, crystal floral replicas. I am just not getting the notes I’m supposed to be smelling, except the green plant juice. Green plant juice and woods as if what I’m smelling is in a dream about standing next to a council shredder and they are putting through leafy branches of soft stemmed plants like hydrangea, tied old air conditioning and maybe some arum lilies, there is a petroleum/exhaust hint too that I would normally love. They must have used the cleanest isolates of flowers or chemical representations of them.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

I wanted to like this, was ready to love it and buy one of those gorgeous bottles, but sadly on me Jasmin Noir smells bad. My skin throws some awful thing up at me that is not the way I would like to be, or imagine myself, smelling. Sorry if it’s your favourite, more power to you if it smells better on you than me.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Perfume Shrine
FragranceNet has $50/50ml before Coupon
My Perfume Samples has $7/5ml

Do you ever crave to try something even though you’re 98% sure that it’s going to be a complete failure? Does Jasmin Noir work on you? I’d love to read reports of it being fabulous.
Portia xx

N.B. If you hit the My Perfume Samples link and shop I get a kickback.