Samples

Eau de Cologne Du Coq by Aime Guerlain 1894

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

Hello Lovelies,

Just recently I was trolling one of the fragrance discounters we have here in Australia, the good thing about living here is that there are so few perfumistas and quite often stuff gets left in shops for years. I was lucky enough to grab Eau de Cologne Du Coq in the gold foil and black packaging you see below. I’m not sure when Guerlain stopped production of this packaging for Eau de Cologne Du Coq but when I was a squirt bitch in the late 1980s and early 1990s this was the packaging we sold Guerlain in, so quite excited really.

Eau de Cologne Du Coq by Aime Guerlain 1894

Eau de Cologne du Coq Guerlain FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange, citruses, neroli, bergamot, lemon
Heart: Patchouli, lavender, jasmine
Base: Sandalwood, oakmoss

I looked up the Batch Code and my bottle was produced November 2003. Woo Hoo! I am pleased.

Eau de Cologne du Coq Guerlain Boat Geograph.orgPhoto Stolen Geograph.org

The opening zzzzZING is all about the citrus whooshing away, the happiest and most refreshing burst of sugary sweet citrus that is tart, cool, candy-ish and fizzy. If this doesn’t lift your spirits I don’t know what will. I find myself smiling soon after I spritz and wishing Jin were nearby to spritz him too. Not because he is sad but because this is fun, and so over the top it’s almost a citrus caricature; simple and exaggerated. Lavender slowly makes its way in as the BIG citrus burns off, it is calm and the patchouli is just slightly earthy and already the creamy, buttery, sandalwood goodness is rounding out all the corners and making the whole a delightful and soft scent that feels languid and lazy, but I could also imagine Eau de Cologne Du Coq on a very busy or stressed person who needed to feel some imagined space around them to be able to think and breathe. That’s the kind of thing Eau de Cologne Du Coq would be perfect for, the proverbial breath of fresh air could be really talking about Eau de Cologne Du Coq.

Eau de Cologne du Coq Guerlain Citrus Shaun Dunphy FlickrPhoto Stolen Shaun Dunphy  Flickr

I should never have read The Non-Blonde‘s review today before spritzing because I get the honey accent she talks about where never before had I even an inkling, and I can’t decide if I am smelling it or if auto suggestion has tampered with my head. Never mind, it’s here now and I find it beguiling, both sweet and animal. It’s not a huge part of the fragrance but once you go looking for honey you’ll smell it and your Eau de Cologne Du Coq experience will be forever changed. the citrus holds on remarkably well and even in the end there is a very faint sparkle overlaying the woodsy nothing.

I’m lucky to get 3 hours, really 2 hours of fragrance and an hour of soft, amorphous something that doesn’t really smell like anything particularly but also is not me, great choice for a short burst of lovely and then back to whatever it is you needed respite from. Totally unisex, and only too strong for work in the first 5 minutes, then it settles beautifully. Wonderful for after a lunchtime gym session to take you through till the evening scent takes over.

Eau de Cologne du Coq Guerlain Koeln wikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: The Non-Blonde and Guerlain Perfumes Blogspot
FragranceNet has $92/100ml before coupon
Surrender To Chance starts at $3/ml

Till tomorrow please be nice to yourself,It’s hard to be happy when someone is always mean to you.

Portia x

Narcotic Venus by Alessandro Gualtieri for Nasomatto 2007

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Hey Frag Family,

Today you can come look at a fragrance from a line that I keep hearing great things about. They are often talked about on Fragrance Blogs, the FaceBook Frag pages and among perfumistas and are held in high esteem. Last year in Vienna with Birgit I bought a bottle of Nuda, I haven’t opened it yet, because one 10 minute wear and I was head over heels already. Today’s fragrance is from Nasomatto’s first offerings back in 2007, well that is the first mention I can find and it’s on Perfume Shrine who writes this: The masterminds are both Italian, Allesandro and Arturetto, who had been students in Germany at the H&R company for courses in “medieval” perfumery. We’re told that Allesandro was taught by Arturetto and then went on to create fragrances for designers such as Romeo Gigli, Versace, Valentino, Helmut Lang and Fendi, finally locating in Amsterdam and re-uniting with Arturetto to launch his private vision: a line of his own niche perfumes, called Nasomatto. 

Narcotic Venus by Alessandro Gualtieri for Nasomatto 2007

Narcotic Venus Nasomatto FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Tuberose, jasmine, lily, spice

Nasomatto does not release note lists so we can wear the fragrance and enjoy it for what it is meant to be, a culmination of science and artistry that makes a fragrance that is more than the sum of its parts, it is an experience. My nose is so dodgy that I often need to check the notes because I smell things that are quite different, I think my nose and set of memory reference points can be slightly awry.

Anyway, how does Narcotic Venus smell on and to me?

Michael and I saw this lovely painting (Birth of Venus by Cabanel) while at the Musee d’Orsay in Feb 2014, purchased by Napoleon III at the 1863 Paris Salon which was the same year Manet showed ‘Luncheon on the Grass’ which we also saw. I think it a perfect representation of the cool, perfect, unsexy sensuality that Narcotic Venus displays. To be completely honest I like my narcotics more rough and in your face, this little baby is prim and pretty, and seems to be beautifully executed with expensive feeling ingredients but no raging sex kitten. Expectations have let me, and the frag, down I think. Such a shame because with a name like Nartcotic Venus I was hoping to be overwhelmed by a wall of white flowers with very dirty and sexy “come hither me hearty” attitude, sadly I am not. The end.

Narcotic Venus Nasomatto Alexandre_Cabanel Birth_of_Venus WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: Scent For Thought and Perfume Shrine
LuckyScent has $185/30ml and samples
First In Fragrance has €118/30ml

What are your thoughts about the Nasomatto line? Which have you tried? Do you like the aesthetic of the brand?
Portia xx

Poivre Piquant by Bertrand Duchaufour for L`Artisan Parfumeur 2002

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Heya Frag Fiends,

I have a little love affair going with one of my bottles bought very early on in my admitted and embraced perfumistahood. It’s a gourmand, which I take to mean it’s foody, not your average bakery scent though, not all sugary vanilla sweetness. Today’s fragrance is the most sophisticated and grown up of the gourmands that I know. Interesting, delicious and surprising while being totally wearable. A rare combination of freaky, cool and easy.

Poivre Piquant by L`Artisan Parfumeur 2002

By Bertrand Duchaufour

Poivre Piquant L`Artisan Parfumeur FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Honey, white pepper, milk, licorice, sugar, woody notes

UK L’Artisan site says: Poivre Piquant is inspired by a wedding story in the Kama Sutra. Sugar and pepper were sprinkled on the bride’s wedding veil. Sugar for the sweetness of life, pepper for the sparkling joy (and sensuality!) to come. This blend of white hot pepper tempered with milky woody notes is sharp, soft and burning all at once. A hint of liquorice and honey round off this elegant essay in aphrodisiac desire.

Poivre Piquant L`Artisan Scents of SelfPhoto Stolen Scents Of Self

Wet pepper, bell pepper freshly cut, zingy, fresh and ready to eat in a delicious and healthy salad. In a few minutes though a very asian stir fried honey dish bursts through, sweet and sticky and spicy. The pepper has become dry cracked pepper and fizzy fun pink pepper with a milkiness that could come from adding a small lick of coconut milk to what may easily be the dish of the day. Though I am exaggerating the meal-ish aspects of Poivre Piquant, that is what comes to my mind on wearing. Suddenly I’m in a fabulous Australian/Asian fusion restaurant, it’s hip and clean, filled with laughter, chatter and the subtle sounds of wooden chopsticks hitting porcelain. Mouth watering dishes sizzle and steam as they are brought to hungry diners. You can even smell the hot fires burning in the background.

Poivre Piquant L`Artisan pepper Ginger chicken WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Poivre Piquant lasts around 3-4 hours but only the first hour do I have any major sillage and it is an extremely selfish wear because projection needs about 7 spritzes for anyone to even notice it. On the other hand, I get fabulous huffs coming up my shirt for 3 of those four hours, sometimes wet, sometimes spicy and sometimes sweet and hot. It’s like a circular fragrance where we get a spiral of fragrance that keeps letting different notes and combinations jump out at you through the whole life rather than a regular note pyramid. It’s cool, classy and fun. Excellent cool weather wear and a totally different ride in the heat, more refreshing than warming.

Poivre Piquant L`Artisan pepper weinstock PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Further reading: Scents of Self and Bois de Jasmin
Libertine Parfumerie have $186/100ml with FREE Australian Delivery
L’Artisan France has €100/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Have you spent any time with this L’Artisan lovely?
Portia xx

Hermès Cuir d’Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

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Hello my lovelies,

The other day I was in town to get shouted at by my accountant. Luckily for both of us he didn’t shout but he did get quite sober a couple of times and gave me dry looks of disbelief and incomprehension. He is generally quite genial and full of bonhomie and we did have a few laughs but still I felt like a very naughty boy. Aside from that I was lucky enough to get a motor bike parking space right in the center of Sydney’s CBD (Central Business District) and trotted into Hermès to see my favourite SA there Jean. Jean of the sexiest voice known to woman, the friendliest smile and the most elegant figure. I was on a mission, having tried (and adored) Cuir d’Ange at the Hermès store in the Bellagio, Las Vegas because my mate and co-contributor here Val the Cookie Queen had raved, it was time to get myself a sample and really come to terms with it.

Hermès Cuir d’Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

Hermessence No 12

Cuir d`Ange Hermes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica give these featured accords in one line:
Heliotrope, hawthorn, violet, narcissus, musk and leather

Now, Cuir d’Ange is so Jean Claude Ellena, from the opening fireworks and can can girls squealing their lungs out in brand new chorus heels, slightly sweaty and a trifle tannery, their corsets silk all musty and a little dank from years of wear and poor ventilation in the store room, ripe with their yearnings and disappointments. Really, this is exactly what I smell in Cuir d’Ange’s first 15 minutes, the story unfolds and I even get whiffs of the resins they use to give their chorus shoes grip and slide. There is also something of feet in Cuir d’Ange, a worn shoe, a well loved leather jacket or a vintage leather and fur purse.

Hermès Cuir d’Ange Toulouse-Lautrec WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Having spent some time with CB I Hate Perfumes Narcissus I really can smell its disgustingly gorgeous ripeness, over ripe ness that has me both retching and reaching for more. It really brings that shoe/bag worn and loved feel and I am enjoying it immensely. It could even be the scent of a ballet shoe after a show, maybe the next day. Though now Cuir d’Ange has softened considerable and I think it would be only slightly noticeable sillage if I walked past you in the office, certainly hardly noticeable at all in a bar until you got very close to me. We are at about the one hour mark and I really love how this extremely soft, highly nuanced concoction keeps surprising me.

Hermès Cuir d’Ange Ballet Shoes MinasCreativeExpressionsPhoto Stolen MinasCeativeExpression

It’s a very circular fragrance, the notes seem to return at odd intervals, darting out and back to keep your nose on its toes. A lovely ride. You could easily wear Cuir d’Ange in a work situation and it will be killer for date night, a real stealth bomber through the movie and not overpowering for dinner. I can feel a 15ml bottle coming on, at least. I might even wear the rest of my sample on New Years Eve.

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies, Bois de Jasmin and Grain de Musc
If your city doesn’t have a Hermès store you should probably move
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Do you like the Hermèssence range? Is Jean Claude Ellena to your liking or are you meh?
Portia xx

Perfume Power Suit GIVEAWAY WINNERS

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Heya Sniff Buddies,

What an amazing giveaway Azar has put together for you all. Can’t wait to see who won this lovely treasure trove.

Portia xx

Perfume Power Suit GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

This week we will have 2 Winners who will each get a sample each of these 6 fragrances:
Rosarium Blends Dom
Vintage Karl Lagerfeld’s KL (carded)
Vintage Lucien Lelong Sirocco
Olympic Orchids Olympic Amber
Annick Goutal Grand Amour (carded)
Rasasi Amber Ood CPO
P&H to the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

Open to everyone in the world 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

Leave a comment about YOUR power perfumes, which scents do you wear to boost your confidence or are there perfumes that make you feel invincible?

Extra Chance?
Tweet:  http://wp.me/p3PURw-3tF      

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Thursday 25th December 2014 10pm Australian EST
Winners were chosen by pulling names fby B-Azar from an old Santa Hat

WinnersAre LifestyleSolutionsPhoto stolen LifestyleSolutions

 AllGirlMafia

Rene Groyer (via Twitter)

 

Congratulations! The winners will have till Sunday 28th December 2014 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

DSH Perfumes: Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

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Post by FeralJasmine

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Quick mentions: new favorites from DSH

Sorry Junkies, I got a very late start on this post and have to make it brief, but I wanted to mention a few things that I’m enjoying during this lovely holiday season. It’s no secret that I admire Dawn Spencer Hurwitz and, although I’ve only sampled a small part of her compendious and addictive line, I have some loves there. So here are a few that seem especially suited to the holidays:

DSH Perfumes: Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

Mahjoun DSH Perfumes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

DSH Perfumes: Cimabue

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Neroli, nutmeg, cardamom, bergamot, amalfi lemon, bitter orange, clementine
Heart: Carnation, jasmine, geranium, tuberose, beeswax, saffron, clove, cinnamon, rose
Base: French labdanum, sandalwood, opoponax, benzoin and vanilla

I seem to recall hearing somewhere that Cimabue smells like Safran Troublant to some people. I’m not one of them. Certainly the rose and saffron are there, but the cardamom is pronounced in Cimabue, while its lovely companion notes prevent it from going dusty, as cardamom is prone to do. Spicy and sweet, it’s a delicious holiday treat. The sillage is particularly delicious, and I only wish that it were a bit stronger. Many of the DSH perfumes hug their wearer closely, and I could stand a bit more potency myself.

DSH Perfumes: Mahjoun

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bitter almond, cardamom, cherry blossom, lavender, lemon, orange
Heart: Bulgarian rose, fig, hazelnut, honey, nutmeg, orange blossom, sugar date
Base: Amber, cedar, cinnamon, clove, olibanum, sandalwood, Arabian myrrh

This one is pure rich luscious honey. To my surprise it doesn’t have much beeswax or hive scent, which I think of as the natural adjuncts to honey. Just all honey all the time. Listed notes include citrus, cedar, and Amber, but mostly I just smell honey. I like it by itself, and I also like to spray it over more austere ambers to give them a touch of holiday sweetness and joy. If I’m in the mood for a real hive scent, I may dab on a trace of beeswax absolute and overspray with Mahjoun.

Vanilla Cinnamon home fragrance DSH PerfumesPhoto Stolen DSH Perfumes

DSH Perfumes: Vanilla Cinnamon

DSH Perfumes gives these featured accords in one line:
Cassia, Cinnamon Bark, Cinnamon Leaf, Clove Leaf, French Vanilla, Spice, Sweet, Sweet Cream, Vanilla, Vanilla Absolute, Vanillin

DSH has just started offering room scents, and this is the only one that I’ve tried so far. It’s offered in a regular or small travel-sized reed diffuser. The notes are summed up in the name, but it is somehow much lovelier than I expected. It’s also rather light and subtle, a far cry from the “cinnamon bun” scents that make the air at the mall so gooey. I love it on the coffee table, and I’ve been known to use one of the reeds to dab a bit on my wrist before drinking my morning coffee. Yum. You need to try this one if you have any taste for vanilla scents.

DSH Perfumes site has a wonderful selection of fragrances and an excellent Sample System starting at as low as $4

A joyous winter solstice to all of you, enjoy the long dark fragrant nights, and make sure to find a little of the quiet repose that winter seems made for.
Have you tried any of the DSH Perfumes?
FeralJasmine x

Vierges et Toreros by Antoine Lie + Antoine Maisondieu for Etat Libre d`Orange 2007

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

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Post by Trésor

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It is my honest opinion that all of the best things in this life are dichotomies. Be it the vivid contrast of petals of crimson velvet and piercing, sinister thorns or the magnificent juxtaposition of a beautiful woman wearing a luxuriant piece of jewellery with her lover’s threadbare t-shirt. It’s a marvelous balance as one entity seems to bless the other with splendid context. Rarely is this concept more evident than in one of my most beloved tuberose elixirs, a study in the contrast of unbridled eroticism and graceful fragility of pulchritudinous vestal blossoms. Rarely is it so poignant as in Vierges et Toreros, a positively bewitching brew from the house of Etat Libre d’Orange.

Vierges et Toreros by Etat Libre d`Orange 2007

Antoine Lie + Antoine Maisondieu

Vierges et Toreros Etat Libre d`Orange FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Bergamot, nutmeg, pepper, cardamom, ylang ylang, tuberose, leather, animalis, costus, patchouli, vetyver

The inception of Vierges et Toreros is something of a cataclysm, a bracing lightshow of sizzling black pepper and the undeniable titian hue of rich bergamot. The two collide with effervescent calamity, unapologetic and resolute in their tumultuous flight of combat. This sequence, harsh and captivating, makes way for a tremendously sexy accord of leather. Leather which I can only describe as possessing the naughty and immaculately subversive redolence of a man’s leather jock strap after a rather ambitious wearing. It’s unctuous, sweaty and blackened with oozing tar. An obsidian harness binds the blooming and narcotic tuberose that follows and defiles her virginal petals with exquisite filth.

Vierges et Toreros Etat Libre d`Orange Hylas_and_the_Nymphs WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

As she spirals downward into an atramentous underground she begins to erupt flares of icy menthol and releases a petrol fog as if to celebrate her newfound state of being. There is an auerate glimmer of sweet nectar upon the petals of ylang ylang that have been showered with scintillating particles of warm nutmeg and enveloping cardamom; a masterful juxtaposition which ricochets the ambience of this composition into an entirely different realm. The mood has changed and the vapours rising from my skin now call to mind the intangibly beautiful erotic essence that rises from the bodies of two people who have just made love. Gone is the bondage and, it is now a luminous stratosphere of tenderness and warmth; the afterglow. In this base lays a smoky note of vetiver, cradled upon the most beautifully delicate patchouli leaves. It is this stage that is my favourite, each element of the composition can be traced by their illuminated tendrils that are traipsing soulfully through the olfactory fantasy. Now, with the volume lowered to an opiate hum is where I simply sit and take in the soft symphony playing out before myself and revel in the aromas until it finally fades into oblivion.

Vierges et Toreros Etat Libre d`Orange Lily_FairyWikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Vierges et Toreros lasts about 6 hours on my skin and wears quite beautifully with a sillage that is pronounced but not at all overpowering. A funny little side note: I often receive compliments when I wear this particular potion from just about everyone you could imagine. The last time I wore it both the receptionist at my dentist’s office and the man who prepared my drink at the coffee shop told me I smelled beautiful. Based upon that I can safely say it’s not just me enjoying another strange perfume, it’s actually pleasant to those around me as well. Trust me, that’s not always the case. Give Vierges et Toreros a go if you’re looking for a new twist on tuberose or just want to try a fragrance who’s beauty lays in how they are just a bit rough around the edges.

Vierges et Toreros Etat Libre d`Orange Torero_ecuatoriano WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Further reading: Smelly Thoughts and Bois de Jasmin
Parfum1 has $85/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4.75/ml

Have you tried this so called masculine tuberose? What did you think?
Trésor xx

Dries Van Noten by Bruno Jovanovic for Frederic Malle 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Hiya Wafty Wanderers,

Here’s my point of view. It is merely supposition and has no direct basis in fact or information received. If Estee Lauder has bought Frederic Malle then things are going to change. There is a little twinkle in my brain saying Malle would rather sell his company than change the formulas to IFRA comply. Estee Lauder on the other hand will go through and do the best possible reform they can at the best price, get IFRA approval and take it to a whole new mainstream level. I repeat, this is all supposition….

In other news I think Dries van Noten would be a perfect Christmas scent, modern and old fashioned come together beautifully here. It may have pushed Azuree out of the way this year….

Dries Van Noten par Frederic Malle 2013

DriesVanNoten FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Sandalwood, guaiac wood, tonka bean, vanilla, saffron, jasmine, musk, bergamot, lemon, nutmeg, cloves, patchouli, woody notes and peru balsam

Last year when I tried Dries van Noten I was instantly in love, then I did not buy a bottle because other more pressing things took over my head and up till now it had not happened. So while I was in Chicago, filled with the fear of reformulation I decided to plunge on the 50ml bottle.

Dries Van Noten par Frederic Malle

Here’s what I wrote in my last review, I think it sums up Dries van Noten perfectly:

…Warm marshmallow sweet and slightly spicy vanilla open(ing) that smells so familiar, like someone I love is nearby, even though I’m sure that I’ve not smelled this mix before. Every time I wear Dries Van Noten it has instantly calmed and unruffled me….

Each previous time I have worn Dries Van Noten for the purpose of reviewing it has grabbed my head and asked me to just sit and enjoy its beauty. The whole fragrance feels extremely uncluttered, though it is dense. It goes through a milky, nutmeg stage that reads egg flip to me. An egg flip was dinner sometimes when we were young and made as a great treat for us kids, whole egg, nutmeg, vanilla, ice cream and milk. It was huge and delicious. Nowadays when I (remember) how strict Mum’s budget was I think that maybe she was eeking out her ration by giving us a liquid dinner out of, at that time, extremely cheap materials. I’ll never know now but my sister Jodie and I would feel so great on an egg flip night.

 Dries Van Noten par Frederic Malle Egg Flip WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Simple, warm, comfortable and yummy. Dries van Noten is the most deliciously wearable oriental fragrance. Simple yet complex and it moves me in unexpected ways. It’s like a cocoon of scent that I can curl up in, feel safe and peaceful and remember simple times. Also 100% wearable outside the front door and nobody will be skunked or outraged. If you are after boundary pushing, freaky, “can’t believe they put this shit in a bottle” then move along, you will hate Dries van Noten. If, on the other hand you are all about smelling fantastic then give it a whirl.

Dries Van Noten par Frederic Malle Louis Comfort Tiffany Window Plum Leaves FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Further reading GrainDeMusc and Patty at PerfumePosse
Frederic Malle starts at $125/3 x 10ml (I think this is IDEAL for splitting)
SurrenderToChance starts at $6/ml

Have you tried dries van Noten? Did it send you or bore you to death?
Portia xx

Jardins de Bagatelle by Jean Paul Guerlain 1983

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

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Post by ElizaD

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I keep nudging the needle.

In my last post I mentioned that I would soon be making a trip to the Perfume House in Portland, Ore., and had been preparing for that trip by wearing as little scent as possible to prime my nose for the journey that is the Perfume House.

Not long afterwards, we did go to the Perfume House as part of my birthday celebration. My husband came with me, which in itself was a blast. I got to introduce him to this amazing collection, and to hear first hand what he thought of different scents. Oddly enough, everything smelled like food to him: bananas, watermelon, chocolate. It was a hoot! But he was very brave and that made it all the more special.

I went with the hope of finding a new Serge Lutens, and did sample a few including L’Orpheline, a small vial of which came home with me. I wandered in and out of the Amouage room— yes folks, a room dedicated to L’Artisan Perfumers and Amouage—but found nothing there that called.

Jardins de Bagatelle by Jean Paul Guerlain 1983

Jardins de Bagatelle Guerlain FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Jasmine, violet, aldehydes, lemon, bergamot
Heart: Gardenia, rose, orange blossom, tuberose, magnolia, ylang-ylang, orchid, lily-of-the-valley, narcissus
Base: Tuberose, cedar, vetiver, patchouli, musk, neroli

The other sample I asked for was Jardins de Bagetelle, which was a total surprise, because I am not a big flower person. But as I used a little of my sample everyday, I could not get over how incredible this perfume is.

As I picked up the phone and called Tracy to order a full bottle, the bee bottle no less, which sorry to say will not get tucked away in a cupboard as it should, but will grace my vanity until every drop is gone, I thought to myself “I have nudged the needle.” I have finally admitted that I love big, loud, robust, beautiful, perfumes. I have realized that even though I grew up in the era where children were seen and not heard, the women around me smelled anything but quiet, and I have become one of those women. I may not coif my hair and adorn myself with jewels, but I know how to wear perfume.

Jardins de Bagatelle Guerlain elizabeth-taylor-jewelry InStylePhoto Stolen InStyle

Guerlain’s website describes Jardins as a “joyous, luminous, and captivating flora, an airy and luminous essence, a sparkling fragrance. The heart is a real bouquet of white flowers (neroli, jasmine and gardenia) celebrating joie de vivre over a base of poisonous tuberose underscored with woody notes.”

When I first spray Jardins, I smell violets and bergamot, sweet and juicy. It is not long until the tuberose takes center stage, accompanied by rose and gardenia, and it lasts for a very long time until that wonderful Guerlinade takes over. What I love is that this perfume that could be all tuberose, raucous and warm, softens into something so familiar that lasts almost all day.

Jardins de Bagatelle Guerlain Elizabeth_Drexel WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

I am going to be wearing this for weeks to come. I know that I will have to trust my innate ability to not go beyond what is acceptable when spraying, but that is part of the fun: seeing whether I can wear such a big perfume as a day-to-day scent.

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and Monsieur Guerlain
FragranceNet has $120/100ml before coupon
My Perfume samples starts at $2.50/ml up to $7.50/5ml

And I? I will keep nudging that needle.

What about you? Have you tried Jardins de Bagatelle?
ElizaD xx

Sunshine by Amouage 2014: Meeting Christopher Chong

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

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Post by Ainslie Walker

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Tea with Christopher Chong, Nick Smart and Portia

When Portia invited me to meet Christopher Chong of Amouage I was obviously there in a flash!! Libertine Parfumerie‘s Nick Smart and his team from Agency De Parfums had allocated us a 30 minute time slot to chat about Amouage and introduce a new fragrance.

We left 2 hours later!!!!

Sunshine by Amouage 2014 #4

Sunshine by Amouage 2014 #5

Sunshine by Amouage 2014 #6

Sunshine by Amouage 2014 #2

Starting out ceremoniously, we were served tea amongst beautiful flower arrangements and the new brightly packaged Midnight Flower candles and room sprays. With the 4 ambient fragrances – Hope, Smile, Love and Happy Christopher shares the positive memories of his dog Georgi, who sadly passed away. The scents contrast with the sophisticated Amouage back catalogue, yet hold resemblance amid the depth of emotions behind them. With 50% of the sales going to the guide dog foundation it has been a healing project for Christopher who much prefers nights in, in his home in London’s Battersea with his dogs rather than going out.

Christopher’s role as Creative Director of Amouage means he sets the story, mood, tone and suggests ingredients he wants included and then briefs a perfumer of his choice. He is not a nose, however has worked with top perfumers including Bernard Ellena, Alexandra Carlin, Emilie (Bevierre) Coppermann. Nathalie Feisthauer, Alexandra Carlin and Violaine Collas.

Sunshine by Amouage 2014 #7

Christopher then told us about Sunshine, releasing in December in Australia exclusively

Sunshine by Amouage 2014

Sunshine Amouage FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Artemisia, black currant, almond
Heart: Osmanthus, jasmine, magnolia, vanilla
Base: Juniper, patchouli, papyrus, white tobacco

Packaged in yellow, gold and white and nestled in an eggshell blue and gold wooden box, Sunshine immediately screams of a new direction for Amouage, a more mainstream idea and Christopher Chong mocking all the brands that have been influenced by (or even copied) his innovations.

Sunshine by Amouage 2014 #1

It’s creamy white goodness engulfs me…

Sunshine starts sweet as if an excited infant with mouth full of a fruit and marzipan-loaded wedding cake has breathed in my face in delight. It’s somehow juicy and powdery at the same time. I can also smell a bunch of balloons. I am thinking happy and celebratory thoughts while wearing this. Weddings, fairs, rollercoasters and jolly things like that. It’s bright, big white floral and gourmand for sure. But is it sunshine? The sun is definitely out, but I’d almost say its balmy late afternoon sunshine, not the scorching middle of the day sun we have here in Australia.

Osmanthus provides an enchanting and slightly exotic twist that somehow levels the swarm of sweetness engulfing me. It’s now as if the sunshine is surrounded by some thick deep and cosy cumulus clouds that we peer through olfactively. Osmanthus is a relative of lilac and has a similar kind of creamy powderyness to its scent. They do seem like cousins, smellwise, with Osmanthus being fruitier to me, somewhere between peachy mango and dried apricot in its heart. Osmanthus flowers can be creamy white right through to orange, but for perfume its the orange flowers that are used.

There is heavy waxy floral jasmine component evident throughout. Milky notes are waxy almond and nutty.

Sunshine’s slightly oriental tendancies and magical twists of Artemisia give it depth and keep it interesting. Its unisex for sure. Drydown seems to go forever (eight hours plus!) and at the end of the day my shirt still smells strongly, smoldering more and more…in fact getting quite sexy in contrast to its opening.

Sunshine by Amouage 2014 #3

At the end of our time together Christopher signs our Amouage discovery box gifts and we leave him, exhausted, but giggling the whole ride down to planet earth via the lift!!

Ainslie Walker xxx

All the clear photos donated by Ainslie Walker, all the shit ones by Portia x