shopping

CQ in Scotland. Photo Essay.

/ cookie queen / 10 Comments

.

Val the Cookie Queen.

.

Hey there APJ.

As most of you know I spent a week in Scotland recently.   I have wanted to go my whole life and finally got it together to organise a trip.  Well, we booked  flights and our beyond dear friend Kirk, who has cropped up in my posts over the years did the organising.  We just had to get there.   He would be waiting at the airport with a car.  Our flight was from Munich to Edinburgh, so what better way to start the trip than to sleepover in Munich and go to the Oktoberfest?

CQ in Scotland.  Photo Essay. Continue reading →

Mood Scent 4: Duvet Day Fragrances

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 27 Comments

.

Portia

.

Hey there APJ,

It’s Mood Scent 4 week. Duvet Day Fragrances? Now my thinking goes straight to lazy day off, wearing your track pants, Uggs and hoodie, loading up the TV with Netflix/Stan/DVDs, having loads of snacks and drinking gallons of Tea/Coffee. All done on the couch or bed and snuggled up under a fluffy down doona. This is my ultimate idea of heaven. If Jin is around the house too then it’s almost certain that we’ll also order PIZZA!

So excited to be blogging with these three superstars again:  Esperanza L’Esperessence, Megan Megan In Sainte Maxime and Samantha I Scent You A Day. Check theirs out too.

Mood Scent 4: Duvet Day Fragrances

Continue reading →

Flore by Carolina Herrera

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 2 Comments

.

Narth

.

Hello my friends! It’s Narth here from from marvellous Melbourne. I hope you’re all enjoying your change of seasons whether you’re cooling off or finally warming up as we are down under. The air is full of scents! Freesias are magically appearing everywhere and flowering trees are glorious with fragrance! It’s been been a beautiful Spring.. I’ve been wearing a discontinued beauty, Carolina Herrera Flore which was released in 1994.

Flore by Carolina Herrera 1994

Rosendo Mateu and Carlos Benaim

 

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, Bergamot, Fruiits, Green notes
Heart: Rose, Lilac, Iris, Jasmine, Lily of the Vally
Base: Iris, Sandalwood, Musk

I have treasured my 30ml tester I got at Perfume Connection, a long gone mainstay of shopping centers. Their tester sales were amazing because they had so many bottles squirreled away that were never seen in department stores. But now it was time to hunt down a replacement as my little 30ml was on it’s last dregs and I am an ABUNDANT sprayer.

I knew it was likely to be a different colour but those ebay pics were so very bleached out, surely it would only be faintly different? NOPE! We have water and we have whiskey! I was quite nervous, what if this was just some flat floral and had none of the bright depths of my beloved little brown Flore? Well friends I am happy to report that after extensive testing they are identical. The only differences are in my overly susceptible imagination.

This is a beautiful scent that evolves and morphs with the weather. In the winter the fruits come out, lying on a bed of greens.It’s a floral with a heart of tropical jungle reminding me that better days are coming. In the warmth of spring the lily of the valley is radiant, it’s just so very happy in the sunshine. While Carolina Herrera Flore gets compared to lily of the valley scents like Diorissimo this is a very different perfume, rich and juicy in contrast to the more proper lily of the valleys. It’s less office and more rolling around in a field of flowers. It’s sweet, the way freesias and daphnes are sweet, that delicious floral sweetness you just want to drink in. Carolina Herrera Flore makes me very happy!

Have you ever had dramatically different coloured bottles of the same fragrance and what differences in the scent did you detect?

Narth

 

 

Art by Kim Jom Sun, Spring Has Come (or as I call this piece, Happy Horse)

Chanel No. 19 Vintage – My Experience

/ Sandra / 17 Comments

.

Sandra

.

Hi APJ, how are you doing?

Yay – I recently bought a bottle of vintage Chanel No. 19 Extrait! I can remember so many years ago wearing No. 19, especially in the warmer months and loving it. I wanted to experience the emotions of joy and strength again.

Chanel No. 19 used to be one of my absolute favorite perfumes to wear over twenty years ago. The memory of the seasons shifting in Vienna made me want to revisit No. 19 again. Following the dark grey days of winter, the sun would inevitably come out and ring in spring. Ever so slowly the trees started to come alive again with the bright young green leaves and when the sun rays shone upon them pure joy washed over me lifting off the weight upon my shoulders during my commute.

Chanel No. 19 Vintage – My Experience

Continue reading →