shopping

Voleur de Roses by Michel Almairac for L`Artisan Parfumeur 1993

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Hello Happy Huffers,

Just yesterday my mate Michael was at a perfume sale in Sydney and I got the call, “they have some L’Artisan on sale mate. Not a lot left and some is sprayed is there anything you want?” What a question! So there are a couple of L’Artisans that often go in the shopping basket but get ousted for other beauties at checkout time. Does anyone else do that? Fill your basket and then go back through deleting till it’s how much you want to spend? This L’Artisan has been on my want list for a long time, I love how it smells but even the name is lovely and sinuous like a line in a poem,

Voleur de Roses by L`Artisan Parfumeur 1993

Voleur de Roses L`Artisan Parfumeur FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured notes in one line:
Patchouli, rose, plum

Perfume is a funny thing, everyone gets a different piece of the fragrance pie and what can smell naughty and indecent to one can ofdten smell pastel and washed out to another. Recently I put on the Facebook board FFF that I was wearing Voleur de Roses, “Currently wafting the gentle wash of Voleur de Roses by L`Artisan Parfumeur. It’s so tasteful and nice, I feel like a very good boy.” This sums up my experience with the fragrance perfectly. I get the softest, prettiest aqua tint style wash of fragrance. It is a lovely plummy rose as if you were standing inside the house with roses scent being blown in by the breeze, yes that soft. There is so much air between the notes and it sits so close to my body after an hour that it can surprise me when it huffs up my shirt later in the day because I forget I’m wearing it.

When I first spritz Voleur de Roses it smells like it might be going down the SJP Lovely road but it quickly diverts to this soft fruity rose with a super clean patchouli and a very laundry musky cuddliness. I wonder if we use something different in our laundry that other countries don’t because what I’m getting is clean, the idea of clean and airy space. Pretty linear after the initial rush it does stay around for about 4-5 hours but not in a big way.

Voleur de Roses L`Artisan Parfumeur Plum Roses Tracie Hall FlickrPhoto Stolen Tracie Hall Flickr

Thinking about who or where I could imagine Voleur de Roses being worn? Totally unisex and it smells amazing on my BFF Kath, though both my Aunties turned their noses well up at it on them while liking it very much on me, and soft enough but unusual enough to help you stand out quietly (funny but Now Smell This has the same idea but better expressed) and it could be a terrific date night fragrance, I’ll let you know on that score. Definitely sheer enough to be office friendly, even in the most frag phobic work spaces but it will give the message that you are quietly, and wonderfully, different from the many department store fragrance wearers.

Voleur de Roses L`Artisan Parfumeur Plum Roses T Kiya FlickrPhoto Stolen T.Kiya Flickr

Further reading: Bois de Jasmine and Now Smell This
Parfum1 has $145/100ml
Beauty Encounter has $145/100ml
Surrender To Chance starts at $4/ml

How does Voleur de Roses smell on you?
See you tomorrow,
Portia x

Manifesto by YSL Mini Movie

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Heya Perfumistas,
Do you remember having a Kaleidoscope? My Mum knew that no matter how naughty or outrageous I was being that the Kaleidoscope would shut me up. Bored? Kaleidoscope. Cranky? Kaleidoscope. Couldn’t sleep? Kaleidoscope. It was the universal cure all for a while at Chez Turbo. Sadly it didn’t last but sometimes I wish I had one, just to remember the magic.

Manifesto by YSL Mini Movie

jessica_chastain_ysl_manifesto_adJessica Chastain YSL Manifesto Ad.

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Green wave, bergamot, black currant
Heart: White flowers, Sambac jasmine, lily of the valley
Base: Cedar, sandalwood, vanilla, tonka bean

Please enjoy the new Manifesto Mini Movie.
Portia xx

Racine by Jean Laporte for Maître Parfumeur et Gantier 1988

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Heya APJ Crew,

Ever get so swept away by a review that you go hunting for the fragrance immediately? I too am no slouch in the lemming stakes. Here is a happy ending story…

Racine by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier 1988

Racine Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Vetiver, oak moss, while musk, citruses

To give you the complete truth I have been dying to own one of these bottles but the ones I tried were too close to things already in my collection. It’s hard to believe that this fun crew, Maître Parfumeur et Gantier, have been around since the 1980s that is a 4 decade run in a business notorious for its patrons fickleness. Quite an achievement.

Racine Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier citrus group pixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

The opening on my skin is a zesty burst or citrussy goodness slightly warmed by what I think must be the musk/vetiver but it reads to my nose like almond. If you are yawning and switching off at the ubiquitous citrus opening you would be missing out on something fun and a little daring, the citrus is mildly effervescent, dry and bitter without any of the household cleaner aspect, whatever they have put with it keeps it playing nice. The citrus stays! Even through the soft, earthy greenness of the vetiver. For a change I get no salt shimmer from this vetiver at all.

Beyond 2 hours Racine goes quiet on me, it hasn’t gone and continues to pump a low level hum through the day with bursts of waft. On Wednesday I wore Racine for cleaning the house. Always a 3-4 hour marathon that stretches to 5 because when I finish each chore I gift myself 10 minutes on the computer with a drink, coffee or tea. Even as I was doing my last chore of the day, steam mopping the tiles, I was getting radiant whiffs of very soft Racine. Do I like it? I LOVE IT!!

Racine Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Vetiver Aqua Culture vetiver.orgPhoto Vetiver used in Aqua Culture in Brazil Stolen vetiver.org

From The Black Narcissus: Usually in perfumes of this type, the lemon or bergamot in the opening will disappear fairly quickly and be taken over by the usual contemporary architecture of cashmere woods and the like, and this is where Racine is different: rather than the constrained urbanity of Tom Ford Grey Vetiver or Lalique’s Encre Noire and their debonair, besuited attractiveness, Racine, from the Les Caprices du Dandy collection, entwines a predominant, fresh-as-a-vine, sinuous vetiver from the Réunion Isles with a sucked-on-a-lemon, imperious citrus note, combined beautifully with a mauve-hued, satin plum cushion of prune, oakmoss, geranium, and, gently intertwined, a touch of equally dry, deep-octaved patchouli.

Racine Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier citrus bubbles deviantArtPhoto Stolen thebeeskneez DeviantArt

Further reading: The review that had me swooning enough to go get Racine was The Black Narcissus and looking at old & new variants The Non Blonde
FragranceNet has Racine for $99 but with the Coupon DCRT3 it comes down to around $78
The Perfumed Court starts at $3/ml

Do you have any of the Maître Parfumeur et Gantier range? Maybe you’ve spent some Racine time? Don’t you love the bottles?
Till tomorrow,
Portia xxx

Floral No 11 by Jean-Claude Astier for M. Micallef 2009

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Heya Bargain Hunters,

Do you ever spend an evening trolling the fragrance discounters? Sometimes, after a windfall or I’ve paid all my bills, I set myself a budget and go hunting. A few weeks ago I did just that. there were a couple of things on my list to definitely find a good priced version of but there was about $70 spare by my reckoning to take a chance with.

Floral No 11 by M. Micallef 2009

Floral No 11 M. Micallef FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, galbanum
Heart: Rose, jasmine, geranium
Base: White musk, woody notes

M.Micallef’s Floral No 11 is the most ridiculously bargain priced scent for a real hark back to perfumes of days gone by. When I first sprayed Floral No 11, from the very first spritz, I felt like I was visiting an old friend. The galbanum/bergamot opening sequence like a chilled out version of CHANEL No 19, imagine #19 the morning after a really fun party, she’s washed and dressed with her usual attention to detail but her hair is a loose ponytail instead of a French twist, to her sharp chocolate/grey suit and ice blue shirt she has added a fabulous over the top Pucci scarf and an inch of heel. She is still impeccable but free-er, warmer and more human.

Floral No 11 M. Micallef Jasmine Flower DeviantArtPhoto Stolen DeviantArt

Then, instead of heading for the cool aloofness of iris and narcissus our girl has taken a right hand turn into geranium territory, a spicy, flirty and welcoming combo with jasmine and rose. Jasmine plays peek-a-boo through the heart, you smell it and adore its slightly indolic magic and then it’s gone, you forget it and some time later get a waft of its breathiness again. There seems to be a honeyed/animalic note almost from the beginning waft, could it be the way galbanum, jasmine and musk are playing or is there a groaning whisper of honey? Around the hour mark we are in hefty vintage-fragrance sensual mode, I’m probably way wrong but there seems to be some notes missing in the list and if you told me this naughty little baby was from 1960 I would believe you. I don’t understand why this is not talked about. How is it not thought of as a modern perfumista masterpiece?

After around 4-5 hours I am left with a pretty wash of flowers, musk and woods. Nothing groundbreaking or earth shattering but a good, solid, wearable close that makes up for its lack of outrageous by being comfortable and very easy. That sounds like a slur but it’s not, the fireworks have happened earlier, now we can all relax and hang out. Imagine being so comfortable in couture that you could have a ball, rather than being constrained by going to a ball. That’s how I think Floral No 11 feels.

Christian Dior: Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture S/S 2009Photo Stolen Luxussilk

FragranceNet has 100ml refills around $20 before discount coupons! (I paid just over $15 with the DCRT3 21% off coupon)

I hope you enjoyed my finding you a secret budget fragrant champion. Sometimes we are incredibly lucky.
See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Red Cattleyea by Ellen Covey for Olympic Orchids 2010

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Post by Poodle

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When I was first married my in-laws told me I’d have a hard time cooking for my husband because he was so picky. I knew this but since I had persuaded him to try different foods while we were dating I knew I’d come up with a plan so I could cook what I wanted and not have him go hungry. I figured out that it was almost like cooking for a child (no offense, my love, if you’re reading this).

If he knew a dish had certain ingredients he wouldn’t try it. He was convinced he didn’t like certain things, even things I knew he’d eaten in the past and loved. The catch was that those times he hadn’t seen what was going into the pot. He came home and it was already prepared and waiting for him. I stopped telling him the ingredients or I told him what was in a dish after it was in his stomach. It worked, and cooking is much easier.

How does this relate to perfume? There are times when I think too much information is a bad thing. Sometimes I think knowing the notes before smelling can alter one’s opinion of it. If something smelled awful on me before or has a lot of notes I dislike I shouldn’t waste my time with it…or so I thought.

Red Cattleyea by Olympic Orchids 2010

Red Cattleya box smallPhoto Stolen Olympic Orchids

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Citrus, peach, apricot, melon, hyacinth, gardenia, violets, lilac, musk, woods, vanilla

I asked for the Olympic Orchids Just Orchids sampler set for Christmas. I didn’t see many reviews and I didn’t really study the note lists prior to trying the perfumes.

When I tried Red Cattleyea it was juicy and tropical and a great counterpoint to the chill in the air at the time. Since it is named after a flower I was expecting it to be a floral, but there was more, something sweet yet wonderful…then it hit me. Fruit! Yes, the dreaded fruity floral. This was nothing like the mainstream fruity scents, this was a fruity floral with personality. My first impression was favorable so I just kept enjoying my perfume, sniffing happily at my wrist now and then.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPhoto Stolen MorgueFile

When I looked at the notes I was horrified. This has multiple notes that usually turn ugly on me. Citrus, peach, and melon can make me run from the fragrance counter. Had I read the notes first I may have never sprayed but Ellen Covey worked some magic here.

Red Cattleyea opens sweet and fruity, more candied citrus than kitchen cleaner. Then there’s peach, on my skin peach usually smells like, well, let’s just say it’s not how I want to smell. But not this time. The peach is blended with apricot and it’s more jammy and sun warmed than fresh. Alongside this is a bouquet of gardenia and lilac. Hints of wood and vanilla keep peeking through and there’s an undercurrent of spice to my nose. As the fruit subsides the gardenia becomes fleshy and rich before fading. I don’t find the musk very strong, rather it holds everything together and gives the perfume warmth as well. On my extreme scent eating skin I could smell it easily for hours and ended up with the most wonderfully warm vanilla base.

Red Cattleyea Peaches Flickr Brett SpanglerPhoto Stolen Flickr Brett Spangler

This isn’t a light skin scent, it’s got some kick to it, I’d say that if applied with a light touch it would be office friendly. I’ve worn Red Cattleyea to work and gotten compliments. If you work with fragrance-phobes, perhaps it might be a little too bold.

Further reading: The Alembicated Genie and Hortus Conclusus
Olympic Orchids has $40/30ml EdP, isn’t that the best deal EVER?
Olympic Orchids $15/5ml Parfum

So Red Cattleyea’s fruity and sweet and peachy. On paper I shouldn’t like it yet I absolutely love wearing Red Cattleyea and there aren’t many fruity florals I can say that about.
Have you tried it?

Poodle. x

Blackbird by Ellen Covey for Olympic Orchids 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

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Post by Azar

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“BLACKBIRD” AT BLACKBIRD

Hello Perfume Junkies and Indie Lovers,

Today I have news about a wonderful new fragrance debut here in the Pacific Northwest.  On Saturday, July 13th, at the Blackbird Apothecary (in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle) Ellen Covey celebrated the third anniversary of Olympic Orchids Artisan Perfumes and introduced her latest fragrance “Blackbird”.

Outside of the Blackbird Apothecary the Ballard Seafood Fest was in full swing.  Inside, happy perfumistas enjoyed a cool and fragrant haven.  Ellen’s line of fragrances were tastefully displayed along the walls.  Blooming orchids decorated the tables set with cheeses, wines and champagne.

As soon as I walked through the doors I headed straight for the new “Blackbird” fragrance.  Ellen sprayed the perfume glass and I generously doused my upper arm with the cabernet colored 25% concentrated elixir.

Blackbird MorgueFilePhoto Stolen MorgueFile

The following notes are listed on Olympic Orchids website,
Himalayan blackberry fruit, dry grass and leaves, elemi, cedar wood and resin, amber, fir balsam absolute, musk.

The first notes on my skin were a combination of very ripe blackberries and sweet, dry grass.  Ellen used real Himalayan blackberries to create “Blackbird”.  These same Himalayan blackberries (Rubus armeniacus) are everywhere in the PNW and, despite their delicious fruit, are considered noxious weeds, perhaps because they have overtaken the even tastier native Pacific blackberries (Rubus ursinus). The blackberry and grass top notes combined with amber to create an almost gourmand and seasonal scent of place, summertime in Seattle.

BlackBerries MorgueFilePhoto Stolen MorgueFile

The blackberry, grass and a little amber stayed relatively close to my skin and were later joined by a refreshing combination of cedar and balsam fir.  “Blackbird” worked for me like a breeze through an orchard or vineyard.  The sillage, as I mentioned before, was quite intimate.  Regarding longevity:  I was enjoying “Blackbird” well into the evening.

Congratulations to Ellen Covey on her third anniversary and on this beautiful addition to her line. Olympic Orchids’ new “Blackbird” is at once dry and sweet, sensual and refreshing, an incense-jam of a fragrance, gorgeous, relaxing and intimate.

Blackbird bottle Olympic OrchidsPhoto Stolen Olympic Orchids

“Blackbird” is available for purchase on the Olympic Orchids website. A 30ml Parfum will only cost you $68. That is an amazing price.

Here are a couple of questions.  Do you have a favorite Olympic Orchids scent? And/or were you in Ballard for the Blackbird event?

Azar

Songe D’Un Bois D’Ete by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2012

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Hey there Crew,

Sometimes when I am in touch with Birgit from Olfactoria’s Travels she might mention a bottle or two that I love and she is ready to let loose, just such a one as this. I can tell she loved it for a while because there is a fair amount missing, sometimes tastes change or something along a similar vein eclipses your current bottle, a million reasons. Maybe you need to sell off a few to buy a newby, always an excellent way of keeping stuff loved and in rotation.

Songe D’Un Bois D’Ete by Guerlain 2012

Songe d'un Bois d'Ete Guerlain FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Cedar, jasmine, saffron, cardamom, laurel, oud, myrrh, patchouli, leather

BaseNotes gives theese featured accords:
Top: Laurel, Neroli
Heart: Jasmine, Patchouli, Saffron, Cedar
Base: Leather, Myrrh

Perfume Shrine tells me that Songe D’Un Bois D’Ete means Dreaming of a Summery Wood, cool summer evening maybe? Summer doesn’t really fit for me to be honest perhaps Autumn? Maybe that’s the dreaming bit? Dreaming in Autumn and Winter of the memories of a Summer wood but surrounded by the scents of winter. OK I’m on board with that. I love the beaded curtain on the bottle with tiny little Guerlain logos and bees, also the Arabic/French writing and the squarish, spare design that you can fit loads of on a shelf. Did I mention the box this comes in? It’s so ridiculously luxe all by itself.

Songe d'un Bois d'Ete Guerlain Turkish Delight WikiCommonsPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

Opening up I get honeyed sweets, like baklava or sugary real Turkish Delight (some days it’s more a candied citrus) with woods and fairly early on I also get a patchouli/oudh vibe that runs baseline. Songe D’Un Bois D’Ete is woodsy and sensual, spicy, and a little waxy. It washes over me in warm, elegant waves like toffee, making everything seem fluid and the air thick. Imagine looking into a brightly lit room through 1970s amber glass, a teinte, a glow, a wash of luminous whiskey coloured grandeur. Thierry Wasser has made something regal that throws such a luscious nod to the middle east but is ensconced firmly in the heart of Paris, the oudh/patchouli clean and dinner suited. How has he made these notes into a gourmand, I seriously want to eat myself up. There are some hints of smoke and the sweaty green of cardamom/cumin adding depth and variation through Songe D’Un Bois D’Ete life.

 Turkish deLIGHTPhoto Stolen LASZLO ILYES Flickr

Through my wear I am most conscious of how amazingly international I smell. It’s as if all the sweet, delicious and pretty pieces of the middle east have been distilled into a fragrance. No dust or desert, not super sweet rose or oily, cloying, heavy and dark fragrance, no camels, tents, sand or oasis. Songe D’Un Bois D’Ete is sheer but still super fragrant, it’s like Mr Wasser has added air and space to the denseness of what we expect from the middle east. So wearable and still unusual. Guerlain from top to bottom: but 21st century Guerlain.

The deep dry down is clean sweaty skin, softest, most loved, old suede and resinous myrrh but that is far, far, far into the future. Next morning there are still viable traces of Songe D’Un Bois D’Ete. What a fragrance. Wear it everywhere if you dare.

Songe d'un Bois d'Ete Guerlain Dancers BBC.UKPhoto Stolen BBC.UK

Further reading: The Non Blonde and Olfactoria’s Travels looks at the three Les Déserts d’Orient collection
PlaceVendome in Belguim has €190/75ml and also sends to the world (Birgit bought my bottle there)
Universal Perfumes has Les Déserts d’Orient collection $276/75ml and send to the world
Surrender To Chance has Songe D’Un Bois D’Ete from $4.60/.5ml or has Les Déserts d’Orient 3 x .5ml from $13

Have you tried any of the three Les Déserts d’Orient? What was your favourite? Would you like to?
Till tomorrow we at APJ wish you health, wealth and happiness, and the ability to see them all when they come.
Portia xx

L’Heure Bleue EdP by Raymond Guerlain 1912

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Hey there Perfumed Peeps,

Tonight I’m giving my fresh bathed skin L’Heure Bleue,  the modern EdP from Madeleine’s reject pile. I am totally ignoring my many other new frags for Madeleine’s unloved babies, they are seeing more wear time than anything else right now, even though I’ve still not finished opening bottles from my various travels this year. I am officially a TRAGIC, GREEDY, FRAG HOARDER!!!

L’Heure Bleue EdP (2011) by Raymond Guerlain 1912

L'Heure Bleue Guerlain FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon, neroli, aniseed, bergamot, coriander
Heart: Bulgarian rose, carnation, tuberose, violet, cloves, ylang, orchid, heliotrope, neroli
Base: Vanilla, Tonka bean, iris, musk, vetiver, sandalwood, benzoin

There has been much talk of reformulation, IFRA regs etc, especially around some of our long term favourite and historical hallmark perfumes. L’Heure Bleue is a case in point, especially because last year was its centenary and that century has seen so many changes in fashion, materials and consumers taste. My oldest L’Heure Bleue in the collection only goes back to the 1980s and is an EdT. What happens on my skin with the modern EdP?

There is no denying that even in the 30 years across my L’Heure Bleue collection that it is changed. The opening is still definitively Guerlain, all sugared citrus candy and adding in the very slight spicy/herbal tinge. In fact for me the openings are the most similar part of the fragrance life. I can’t parse all the flowers for you but the bouquet is still gorgeous and beyond. Lighter, floatier, fluffier: the powders are silken soft and they waft gently in spring breezes compared to the heft and depth of the vintage. More floral and its lasting power is considerable less. It still has something glorious and fun, like eating PEZ in a bakery’s back alley. MMMMMMM

PEZ WikiCommonsPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

It has had some of it’s animalics and dirty back end amputated and towards the very dry down end in about 5-6 hours, depending, I get a very clean laundry musk that first wear surprised the freakin’ shit out of me. It is nice but not something I expect from a Guerlain, maybe a Body Shop. Really, it’s not offensive, just unexpected.

Wearing the current L’Heure Bleue is fear free. I find it polite and wearable in most situations and it has moderate to low sillage now, with good wear life. I will be interested to see how it changes over the next 30 years. If I am extremely lucky.If L’Heure Bleue was released today as it is currently I think we would love it and it would probably come out in the Guerlain exclusives line, especially with DIOR’s Milly-la-Foret and CHANEL’s 28 La Pausa being popular powdery releases by the big guns.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Olfactoria’s Travels
Fragrance Shop has $74/75ml EdP
Surrencer To Chance starts at $3/ml EdP

Have you smelled any of the L’Heure Bleue formulations or strengths? Which is your favourite?
Till tomorrow, waft fragrantly,
Portia xx