Noir Exquis by Bertrand Duchaufour for L’Artisan Perfumes 2015

October 29, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hi APJ,

I cannot help but notice the irony in this…..
Imagine you are the owner of a successful Espresso Bar, located in a highly trafficked tourist destination for 13 years. All those years you’ve been searching for the perfect coffee-centric perfume to wear in the Cafe to no avail. A perfume that won’t clash with the scents of the shop. You’ve tried them all from designer to niche to uber-niche to “they’re SO niche that nobody knows their name and they only answer their phone once every two months……”

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Finally it’s time to sell the business and kick back a bit.

Then and only then, after 13 years with only two weeks left of ownership, the perfect perfume comes along.

Well, of COURSE it does. (Cue gnashing if teeth and rending of hair)

Noir Exquis by L’Artisan Perfumes 2015

Noir Exquise by Bertrand Duchaufour

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Chestnut, orange
Heart: Orange blossom, coffee, maple sap
Base: Ebony, heliotrope, vanilla, tonka bean and sandalwood

From L’Artisan: Noir Exquis is a work of contrast and the unexpected. The addictive note of coffee, combined with the warm and comfortable notes of maple syrup, glazed chestnuts and orange blossom, brings an intriguing juxtaposition to this fragrance. Rich and velvety, Noir Exquis connects these two persons during this moment beyond time and place…… Opulent and gourmand, Noir Exquis is a fragrance with a warm and charistmatic aura. Notes: Glazed chestnut, Coffee, Maple syrup, Macassar Wood

Noir Exquis is beautiful, and everything you could possibly wish for in an espresso cafe-friendly scent. Lush, dark, and creamy. A mellow coffee note (dark roast clearly!), threaded with notes of vanilla, chestnut, spices, and a gorgeous hit of maple sap.

Photo Stolen Flickr

A perfume meant to bring to mind a tête-à-tête, a secret rendezvous for two lovers in a dark Parisian Cafe, windows steamed up and the low hum of conversation from the other customers. A mostly untouched meal sits on the table, the lovers too enchanted by each other to eat anything. Hands entwined, the screeching jet-roar of the espresso machine from behind the bar, the loud grating sound of the coffee grinder. The smell of steamed milk, cinnamon, and coffee permeates the humid air. On the sidewalk in front of the cafe, a man sells roasted chestnuts in newspaper coronets, and every time the cafe door swings open the nutty smell from the chestnuts comes inside.

All of this, bottled.

THIS is the heart of Noir Exquise. And it is gorgeous.

Further reading: Megan In St Maxime and Bois de Jasmin
LuckyScent has $120/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $5/ml

Have you tried L’Artisan Noir Exquis?
Robert Herrmann XX

Curve Kicks by Liz Claiborne 2006

October 26, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Post by Azar

Hi APJ Pals,

Perfume junkies know that fragrance has a profound and powerful effect on emotions and memories. A perfume can literally make us happy, chemically force us into a state of bliss, put a spring in our step, a smile on our face and infuse our entire being with energetic optimism. Today I’m going to talk about a fragrance that does all of the above for me, my favorite cheap thrill in a perfume bottle – Curve Kicks for Women by Liz Claiborne.

Curve Kicks by Liz Claiborne 2006

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Melon, mandarin orange, cassia, pear
Heart: Peony, passionfruit, freesia, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, peach, vetiver, cedar

Kicks for Women is one of the 18 or so scents in the Liz Claiborne Curve Collection. That being said, parsing the notes in Kicks is really a meaningless exercise for me. Here is my experience of the fragrance.

Of all the cheapies in my collection Curve Kicks is my favorite. It has to be the least expensive fragrance I own and easily worth its weight in denatured alcohol. The price alone makes me smile, as does the bottle and the shiny metal can it comes in.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Kicks opens with a totally synthetic fruit cocktail featuring warm peach and orange fruit cooling rapidly to pear, melon and wet spring florals. It would be easy to dismiss this stuff as your average teenybopper body spray – but wait! At about thirty minutes Kicks jump starts my olfactory memories and returns me to mid 20th century Central Florida and the smell of the citrus processing plants. If you have ever experienced that overpowering fragrance (some call it a stench) you will, for good or ill, never be able to forget it.

Photo Stolen Pexels

After about an hour or so in the processing plant, Kicks begins a long, lovely eight-hour dry down toward a final, quiet, almost elegant combination of powdery sandalwood, vanilla, cedar and a breath of peach all wrapped in a subtle wisp of processed citrus steam. The conspicuous absence of even the slightest reference to patchouli sets Curve Kicks apart from its contemporary fruit-chouli sisters. To summarize: Curve Kicks for Woman is fruity, chemical sunshine mixed with powdery, sweet woods, diluted in perfumer’s alcohol and packaged in metal, glass and glitter.

FragranceNet has $17/100ml before Coupon

Today’s draw: I will be giving away two Curve Kicks for Women 5.4 ml minis, shipping and handling everywhere. To be eligible for the draw please let us know how you follow APJ and tell us a little about a fragrance that really MAKES you happy – a perfume that FORCES you into a state of happiness!

Photo Stolen manoneileen

Curve Kicks GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

Today’s giveaway: There are two prizes, one each.
Curve Kicks for Women 5.4 ml minis
P&H Worldwide

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 (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

To be eligible please tell us how you follow APJ

AND

Tell us a little about a fragrance that really MAKES you happy – a perfume that FORCES you into a state of happiness!

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 29th October 2015 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 1st November 2015 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.

Estratto di Colonia GIVEAWAY WINNERS

October 26, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Post by Portia

Estratto di Colonia GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, green mandarin, lemon, sage
Heart: Jasmine, white rose
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, musk, amber

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x sample of Estratto di Colonia from my stash
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 25th October 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen prospectsplus

Rene Groyer (Via Twitter)

Kandice

The winner will have till Thursday 29th October 2015 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.

Vetiver Dance 07 by Andy Tauer for Tauer Perfumes 2008

October 24, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by Portia

One of my mates Natalie from Another Perfume Blog (now defunct sadly) gave me a manufacturers sample of this one. I like vetiver very much and especially its many uses to hold land together and leech toxins from water. To be hgonest I’m a little surprised that it’s not being used more to help clean up the world’s waterways. Add to that the many amazing facets that perfumers can find through it, from green grass through to smoky oil and you have a versatile beauty.

Vetiver Dance 07 by Tauer Perfumes 2008

Vetiver Dance 07 by Andy Tauer

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Grapefruit oil, black pepper accords, green clary sage
Heart: Bulgarian rose, lily of the valley, Java vetiver oil
Base: Cedar, ambergris, tonka beans, citrus

Oily, bittersweet and green. Vetiver Dance opens in high style, large and flamboyant, a sheet of iced green water in the midday sun. A joyful blend between the shock and fun, caught between breathless disbelief and awaiting the bodies readjustment. The pepper is dry and also ginger-ish and the much hoped for lily of the valley punch way smoother and less provoking than expected.

When the vetiver gets a chance to shine it has the soft wetness of freshly mown grass and the dry rasp of punka fans. I’m surprised that chocolate isn’t a named note because my nose reads the fabulous creamy explosion of a warm, nutty Lindor ball. I wonder if it’s the tonka?

Then later Vetiver Dance warms right through while still maintaining its green-ness. I don’t know how it’s managed but warm and spicy bakery underpins the green woodsiness of the heart, like an unusual Asian taste meld that is surprising yet once you realise that this IS the taste you can relax into it and enjoy the two speed flavour ride. Do you remember your first sweet & sour dish?

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Vetiver Dance is beautiful. The thing is I find it very hard to place in my head someone who would wear it as their regular scent. Ultimately very unisex, not confrontational but slightly unorthodox, interesting through the whole lifespan and not like other vetivers. My thought is that it’s too quirky for mainstream but would a perfumista reach for it? I’d like to read from you if it is something in your collection and you wear it a lot. There is something more-ish about it, I’ve been wearing it for the last couple of days and will wear it again tonight for dinner, that will be the end of my juice. Then let’s see if I want to buy a 15ml in my next Tauer Explorer Set.

Been out for dinner with no respritz, so over 12 hours later and I’m still softly fragrant with a sweet/green rasp. Vetiver Dance sits close but is still gorgeous. I have no other vetiver scent in y waerdrobe with this kind of tenacity…….

Further reading: Non Blonde and Sorcery of Scent
IndieScents has $130/50ml
Tauer Explorer Set 3 x 15ml with FREE world shipping
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/.5ml

What is your Tauer, or your vetiver?
Portia xx

Rose Anonyme GIVEAWAY WINNERS

October 23, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Post by Portia

Rose Anonyme GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Calabrian bergamot, Chinese ginger root, Turkish rose essence
Heart: Turkish rose absolute, Somalian frankincense, Oud accord
Base: Indonesian patchouli, Indian papyrus, Laotian benzoin

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x 5ml decant of Rose Anonyme from my stash
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 18th October 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winner was chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen markmontanoblogs

Anabel C.

Boris

Gina Tabasso

The winner will have till Tuesday 27th October 2015 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.

Rozy Eau de Parfum by Vero Kern for Vero Profumo 2014

October 22, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by Erica Golding

Hello to all my kindred scented souls!

Let’s talk about intensity. When you find a scent you love, do you instinctively assume that the more concentrated version is the most beautiful and preferable? Honestly, I’m not ashamed to admit that I have that exact reaction when given the option – I have a very passionate, excessive personality. And let’s be real, parfum bottles are sexy little crystalline gemstones! However, I have learned that more concentrated versions are not unanimously my preference when given skin time.

My most recent lesson was thanks to my darling friend Tena, who generously graced my life with the soul-shattering masterpiece:

Rozy Eau de Parfum by Vero Profumo 2014

Rozy Eau de Parfum by Vero Kern

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Oriental rose, tuberose, currant buds and leaves, honey, spices, sandalwood, labdanum, peach, passion fruit, lilac flowers

I have been cautiously testing Vero’s creations over the past year or so. Her art is vivid and limitless, and make me feel like I’m on another planet (a kickass landscape of wild colors and glamorous confidence). I remember trying the Voile de Extrait composition of Rozy, and though I enjoyed it thoroughly, I didn’t bond with it emotionally. However, when I first inhaled the Rozy Eau de Parfum concentration, it was like glitter firebombs of glory through my entire body!

Photo Stolen Pixabay

I spritz on Rozy EdP and my brain just sparkles. I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s like I can see the electric sparks firing between neurons. The note list explains absolutely nothing about the aroma as it reaches into me. The notes dryly suggest that I should expect a fruity floral, honeyed and powdery. Ha! That’s hilarious, because all I smell is glitter for my mind. It’s completely new to me, but with comfortingly familiar threads as well. The balance is unprecedented. I can’t pick out notes without feeling like it’s a rude gesture.

I really liked Rozy VdE, but the Eau de Parfum version has completely blasted pure shimmering light into every dark corner of my being. I can’t believe that a less concentrated version has won my heart with such uncontested dominance!

Photo Stolen Vero Profumo

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Candy Perfume Boy
First In Fragrance has €165/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6/.5ml

What is your take on fragrances that offer different concentrations (usually featuring composition tweaks with different accent notes and balances)? Do you assume that the more concentrated, expensive version in the fanciest bottle is the best? Has your skin ever proven you wrong?

Please discuss below as I swirl in my little galaxy of Rozy Eau de Parfum. Smooches!

-Erica

Rose Anonyme by Jérôme Epinette for Atelier Cologne 2012

October 19, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there Frag Family,

I bought a big decant of this beautiful baby when it was released in a split. For some reason then I ordered another, maybe I forgot I’d ordered the first. Anyway, most of the second one is sitting here and I think you should all get a chance to smell it.

Rose Anonyme by Atelier Cologne 2012

Rose Anonyme by Jérôme Epinette

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Ginger, oud, patchouli and rose are the stars of Rose Anonyme’s opening. I’m surprised how dry and desiccated the fragrance feels. Interesting how sheer yet curiously dense the combination feels, like a particularly opaque silk chiffon. I know it’s not mentioned in the notes but I get a lovely carroty iris note through the heart and it feels very leathery.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Rose Anonyme is tenacious, it lingers at pretty much rose, leather and base notes for the rest of the ride. The rose is curiously overwhelmed on my skin. Like it’s a back up singer creating a lovely baseline to add the stars above, ironically the stars are in the base. A lovely model in the rose/oud/leather line up. I like JHaG’s Midnight Oud and DIOR’s Oud Ispahan better for me, they seem to be more engaging and create much more excitement within me. Not knocking Rose Anonyme, it is beautiful in its way and if I hadn’t already lost my heart to the others it may have been FBW.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

Further reading: Chemist In A Bottle and Non Blonde
Neroli Budapest has 45000ft (AUD$225)/200ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

Want to try Rose Anonyme? Read on….
Portia xx

Photo Stolen sassisamblog

Rose Anonyme GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 winners who will receive:
1 x 5ml decant of Rose Anonyme from my stash
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us what you would like to buy a 10ml split of

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Rose Anonyme by Aftelier Cologne GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-4jo #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 4th October 2015 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 8th October 2015 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.

Boxwalla: Interview with creator Lavanya

October 17, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Lavanya & Portia

Hey there APJ,

Lavanya is a fellow perfume nut, blogger, APJ reader and commenter. So when Val the Cookie Queen told me about her new venture, Boxwalla, I really wanted to find out what goes into a Boxwalla box and how it was different to the others. What better way than an interview with the creator to give us an insight into the Boxwalla idea which launched this week. See, we are all over the new stuff here at APJ.

Boxwalla: Interview with creator Lavanya

APJ: Hey Lavanya, since this is a place for perfume junkies I thought we’d start with your first scent memory.

Lavanya: Ah- the first scent that pops into my head when somebody speaks of scent memories is the smell of tuberoses wafting in the living rooms of my childhood. I grew up in India and we moved from place to place, living all over the country but my first memory of smelling tuberoses is in Delhi. A friend of my father’s when invited for dinner would bring my mother a bunch of tuberoses, as a thank you (It is her favorite flower). And then for the next few days this cold, elusive scent would float through our living room, wafting in the night breeze. It has been my favorite flower too, ever since.

APJ: OMG! One day we need to sit down and chat about India. So tell me what made you start Boxwalla?

Lavanya: The long version of what led to us creating Boxwalla can be read here. ‘The shorter version is that we wanted to create an online platform that would allow us to showcase artists, artisans and all the beautiful things we love in a way that allowed people to also experience those things easily. Things that are not as well known, as they ought to be: be they film or books or a perfect dab of scented lotion that melts into your skin.

APJ: OK so how does it work?

Lavanya: We have four categories of boxes that one can subscribe to: Beauty, Books, Film and Food. You can subscribe to any of the categories. And you can switch between them. Every two months you will receive a box, in the category of your choice, filled with things curated around a theme. To make it just a little bit more fun the contents of the box will be a surprise. We try to make sure that the total retail value of the box exceeds the cost of the subscription so that people will be encouraged to take a chance on us and experience the work of these wonderful artists and artisans. We also have a cut off date before which one needs to subscribe to receive a particular box. The cut off date for the December boxes (which will ship in the beginning of December) is November 10th.

APJ: How is Boxwalla different from other subscription boxes?

Lavanya: In a few ways, actually. One, we want to encourage a deeper connection with things that people buy, use and experience. Which is why, for example, most of the products included in our beauty box are full sized (or travel sized) so subscribers can use the product extensively before deciding whether it belongs in their life.

Next, we understand that people are multifaceted with multiple interests and we wanted to provide an easy way for people to explore different interests within one subscription. If you think you have had enough of one category and want to know more about another, you can switch!

Third and most importantly, our focus is on the artists and artisans that we feature in our boxes. We want to showcase them and their work. We have a dedicated page for each of them. We also don’t stock inventory of individual products but encourage people to directly buy from them to maximize their returns.

APJ: Thanks Lavanya!

Lavanya: Thank YOU Portia, for letting me talk about Boxwalla in this wonderful space you have created.

Mona di Orio Oud Giveaway WINNERS

October 12, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by Portia

How I love the Mona do Orio fragrances,

We have three winners today, I hope one of them is you. As always, thank you for being part of the APJ Fragrance Family. We love you all so much.

Portia xx

Mona di Orio Oud Giveaway WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pettigrain, green mandarin, elemi
Heart: Nagarmotha, patchouli, osmanthus
Base: Oud, Atlas cedar, musk, ambergris

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 2ml Oud by Mona di Orio sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 11th October 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winners will be chosen by random.org

Photo stolen thegarfieldshow-diary

lionceau

Rene Groyer (via Twitter)

Lindaloo

The winners will have till Thursday 15th October 2015 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.

Eyebrows

October 11, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Post by AF Beauty

I kinda wish the focus on eyebrows had been as strong back when I were a teenager and in my early 20’s as it is now. I spent my 20’s plucking my brows inefficiently and without much consideration of what I was doing. Fast forward a decade and my sparse eyebrows caused my new beautician to almost cry in anguish at the state of them.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Eyebrows

I’ve learned a few lessons since then and have a few tricks up my sleeve, but truth be told – I am still looking for reliability in my brows and am considering temporary tattooing – have any of you tried it? It seems incredibly pricy and if I’m honest I’m scared, but the results do look tempting.

In the meantime, I have a couple of great products and I practice some techniques I’ve found – I’ll share them with you.

In my previous post about budget beauty I mentioned the Brow Lash compact – still my morning go-to brow definer.

But I’ve also found these two brow pencils, easier for travel or taking to the gym.

The first I found on in an Asian beauty store – Brow Lash Ex. This is a handy tool that turned out better than I initially expected – a double ended tool with a pencil on one end and a powder on the other. The powder applicator is contained in a spring loaded attachment which avoids that issue of too much or too little powder. The texture is good and the colour suitable for light to mid brunettes, perhaps also blondes with darker brows. Good for less dramatic effect.

The second pencil is from Napoleon Perdis, just a regular pencil, retractable, but incredibly reliable. The pencil is thin to avoid overly dark application but strong enough not to break too easily or smudge too much. This is one of the easiest I’ve found that I can use with some of the techniques I’ve found online to improve eyebrow shape.

My eyebrows are still a bit patchy, despite the past 10 years of much more considerate eyebrow management – hence my need for the pencils and powders I’ve mentioned, but these are no good without techniques. Pinterest, if you’ve not used it before is a great source of random info and brows are a popular pin.

Here are a couple of pins that I think are easiest to translate from internet to self:
– the idea on this one is to create the overall shape of the brow and then fill in – easy!
– this one contains info on plucking and keeping shape – although you do need a decent enough brow to start with for this one.
– this one recommends eyebrow shape for different face shapes. Although I’d not be overly led by this sort of recommendation, it’s worth considering your face shape now and in future if you decide to take more permanent action on your brows – basically consider whether you want a permanent raised brow look or if you lost or gained weight how your brows might change.

What are your eyebrow secrets?
AF Beauty x