Hi all,
Just watched this and thought you may all like it. Fun and cute from DIOR. This season’s colours are especially gorgeous!
I think they’ve used stop motion to great effect and LOVE the CD Chairs by the pool. YUMMY!
Enjoy the mini movie,
Portia xx
Photo Stolen TheBeautyLookBook
Hello Fragrance Family,
For many years tuberose lovers, white flower lovers, would talk lovingly of Fracas: that saucy, sensual, bubblegum fragrance that lured many a perfumista through the doorway and down the wormhole. Even the Fracas haters would compliment its artistry, its sweet green sappiness that could read as erotic or toxic, depending on your viewpoint and skin chemistry. I have a very old spray set of Fracas parfum that has weathered time quite well and a bottle of the modern EdP.
As you may know we had Joe Garces from Robert Piguet in Sydney this week and he kindly offered us a special APJ Piguet Masterclass. You’ll find some of the snaps here at APJ on Wednesday if you’re interested in the fun day we had. It was EXCELLENT!
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, mandarin, pear
Heart: Tuberose, jasmine, gardenia
Base: Cocoa, musk, sandalwood
Recently I got a bottle of Petit Fracas from Libertine Perfumerie and can’t believe how similar and different the Petit Fracas and original Fracas are. Joe Garces tells us that when he went to be CEO for Robert Piguet the house was in deep shit. It needed to be turned around somehow so they decided to add some new fragrances and revitalise some of the old ones with reconstructions that are as close a nod to their same name predecessors as can be produced in modern perfumerie. As they still had a bestseller called Fracas why would they tamper?
Well the story goes that Joe’s daughter hates Fracas, detests it. Which is highly believable in the current age of fragrance tastes. So Joe had the idea to bring something completely new and modern to Fracas to make it more youth oriented, a better version of the fragrances that what many younger fragrance wearers are spritzing now: with its basic body coming from the Fracas mold. I can’t remember who had the idea but someone said gourmand was in and they should add chocolate. ADD CHOCOLATE? To FRACAS?!? So someone DID add chocolate to Fracas, lightened it up, gave it a fruity punch at the beginning and a more interesting and traveling story than original Fracas.
Photo Stolen TelegraphUK
How does it smell on me? Well the fruit leads the way and it’s a milky fruit, like pear and citrus zest whipped cream with a dash of vanilla ( but that could be early chocolate signs). The white flowers are already a part of the equation but they don’t fully take centre stage because there is no room for them until about 20-40 minutes in. It’s fruit, fruit, fruit but not in the ubiquitous modern designer fragrance way, this is hefty fragrance and you feel fully perfumed though in a modern way. There is still some air between the notes, like a glossy, bright and very slightly fizzy aura. The bubble gum, sticky, sappy green candy swoosh heralds the moment of white flower take over. It is regal and alluring, a powerful intoxicant that is less herbaceous than Fracas original and a little bit more fun. Maybe I’m imagining it but Petit fracas is not Petit, it is younger but not smaller and I think it would be an excellent choice for brides and girls on a night out.
The chocolate is not as pronounced as I expected it to be and reads more vanilla in my nose, and milky, and there is something dark that may be a nod to chocolate, but it seems like dark, bitter chocolate, and only a hint.
Wear time is better than average wit whispers left after 7 hours and I think it way too fragrant for most offices but try it, see if they let you. It’s worth it.
Joe Garces: Robert Piguet CEO
Joe was honest about the need to continually tweak to maintain currency and to stay within the IFRA guidelines, also the need to keep the juice consistent because some years the naturals that are used come in extremely different to previous years, or way more expensive or less product because of drought etc so every batch is tweaked to make it as much the same smell as every other bottle you’ve purchased as possible. Interesting.
Further reading: The Candy Perfume Boy and Ca Fleure Bon
Libertine Perfumerie has $198/100ml
I could not find a sample of Petit fracas on any of the major sites. SO ANNOYING!! You’ll have to go to your nearest department store that stocks Robert Piguet.
See you tomorrow. I hope your weekend was good.
Portia xx
Hello Fragrant Fairies,
While in Europe this was an impulse buy, it was a good deal and I love the packaging. It’s not something I’ve seen available in Australia which is funny because I think it the perfect Aussie scent.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Amalfi lemon, bergamot, cassis, palisander rosewood, fruity notes, African orange blossom
Heart: Iris (orris root), ylang-ylang, heliotrope, carnation, lily of the valley,
Base: Vanilla, tonka, cedar, benzoin, styrax, amber, patchouli, sandalwood, musk
The night after I bought Sun, Jin and I were having dinner with Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels) and her adorable husband Michael and I decided in the minus 5-10 Celcius weather that I definitely needed a little Sun. Interestingly it was Michael who said he recognised the fragrance and Birgit was so surprised, it was one of her favourite fragrances when they were first dating. How uncanny is that?
I can understand it being a great love of a fragrance because it’s so fun and easy to wear. While not being a super force power frag it is beautifully blended and noticeable, quite often people will ask what I’m wearing when I am in Sun. Honestly I find it extremely hard to pick out the notes listed in Sun but like the sun it’s warm and I also find it comfortable like an old jumper or jeans that you love and they fit perfectly. That’s how Sun makes me feel. Like the feeling of contentment, you don’t have to push to enjoy it, it just is.
Photo Stolen hdwallpaperslist
I get the green, fruity, citrus opening and the flowers all come rushing in dressed up as a fabulous bouquet with a lean towards white floral and as it warms into amber woodsiness after about 6 hours I know there will still be remnants tomorrow morning that will smell fresh and clean and beautiful. No wonder Sun has been around for so long, every year it gets a couple of flankers too but Sun continues and there are hardly any in the online discount stores.
I think you could definitely wear Sun as a guy or a girl, it would be a super work scent as long as your office isn’t frag-phobic and it even goes beautifully with date night, sensual rather than siren but they’ll get the idea. Sun has stayed on my bureau since we returned from Europe and gets quite a lot of skin time, it’s a spritz and forget frag that I know smells awesome and goes with everything. Tonight I wore it out with friends for dinner at a bar and Trivia and then Bingo at another bar, Sun was a perfect fit.
Photo Stolen MeetUp
Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels
Essential Mall has $50/75ml
ThePerfumedCourt is the only place I could find samples and start at $4/ml
Have you ever tried Sun? Or any of its flankers? Did you love it?
Portia xx
The ad is KILLER!!
I’d like to thank the gorgeous Neela Vermiere for telling me to change perfumers name from Bourbon to Bourdon. THANKS!!
Hey All You New Niche Nerds,
I found this wonderful new (to me) fragrance house and their idea through Perfume Shrine yesterday, and this is what they had to say about Le Cherche Midi:
This is the page on the Kickstarter site and they have 11 days to run till completion. There are clips and information on the new fragrances there and you can see the rewards for the pledges (yes, there is some instant gratification built in too)
As you can see the participation starts extremely low (just 1$!) so everyone can help out.
Le Cherche Midi 3 Pack
Nathan and I had to chat because originally it was only being shipped to the USA. So Portia, the most annoying Aussie on earth, wrote and begged for a worldwide shipping availability. Guess what? Within an hour Nathan had organised it so with a little extra payment you can get your lovely new fragrances shipped around the world. That’s the kind of Customer Service that deserves rewards! So I bought the fabulous 3 pack of 100ml bottles for under $200 including shipping! What a great deal.
If you happen to have $1000 lying around they will do a bespoke fragrance for you! I know it sounds a lot but Mandy Aftel starts at $1600 and Francis Kurkdjian goes from $15,000-$250,000. There are many in between too.
Jump to KickStart now and help this wonderful company grow by pledging some money, and get terrific gifts for doing so.
Le Cherche Midi Bespoke
http://www.bespokefragrance.com
Thank you!
Portia xxxx
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Post by FeralJasmine
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Since the recent death of someone I loved deeply, I find myself preoccupied with white florals. At first this might seem like an obvious extension of the traditional funeral flowers, but I think it goes far deeper than that. Of all the fragrances, white florals are simultaneously the most indolic-animalic and the most transcendent. They remind us that death coexists with astounding beauty. When we approach the country of death, they waft us to the threshold and then anchor us from stepping through. They are hypnotic, narcotic, both mesmerizing and comforting. The purest and the dirtiest of scents, they call out our inner angel and our inner demon.
Orange blossom is perhaps the most dualistic of the white florals, sweet-angelic or earthy-animal or both. Orange blossom is my obsession right now. For days after the memorial service I floated around in Houbigant Orangers et Fleurs, feeling unanchored. The morning that I realized that I was returning to Earth, I sprayed myself with…….
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
The Gucci that I refer to here is the original Gucci by Gucci EDP in the heavy square brown bottle with gold cap. This is worth stressing, since there is a lot of other Gucci stuff that I can’t stand and wouldn’t want anyone to think that I was wearing. The most frugal perfumista can afford it, since you can find big 2.5 oz bottles for under $50, and minis or decants for a lot less. There is some astounding twaddle about it online, much of which I think may really be about some other Gucci scent. On Fragrantica the notes are given as guava, Haitian tiare flower, patchouli, honey, and musk, which leads me to wonder if some people know orange blossom when they smell it. Patty of the Perfume Posse featured it in her guide to the best of orange blossom fragrances, and of course she got the notes right:
Orange blossom, heliotrope, orris, vanilla, citrus, musk, cumin, and thyme.
In fact, her opinion is so apt that it’s worth quoting:
“ I think Gucci EDP is one of the sexiest perfumes made. It’s skanky, but not vulgarly trashy. It handles orange blossom in such naughty, naughty ways, it takes my breath away. Gucci tore a piece page from the Caron Narcisse Noir Playbook when they abandoned any pretense of orange blossom being innocent.”
Photo Stolen KousKousRestaurant
On my scent-eating skin and in our parched desert climate, the effect is subtler. Gucci EDP goes on in a happy haze of lovely and naughtily indolic orange blossom. The cumin is there from the beginning, but it is low-key and serves to emphasize the orange blossom and not overpower it. As the open fades, a very subtle hint of thyme combines with the soft musk and cumin to suggest a lovely soft earthy leather. Orange blossoms and soft leathery musk; what a combination! If the Houbigant is celestial orange blossom, this is mortal orange blossom, never far from its very earthbound roots. If I apply it lightly before leaving the house, I can wear it to work and my perfume-averse work buddy will sniff appreciatively rather than wrinkling her nose. If I spray more lavishly, the effect is more “Why, hello there!” and is no longer suitable for work, although lots of fun.
Further reading: Now Smell This and Perfume Posse
Fragrance Shop has $41/50ml tester
My Perfume Samples starts at $2.50/ml up to $7.50/5ml
Photo Stolen FloristExpress
Life is full of events that carry us to places we never wanted to be, and thank goodness for all the things that help us stay grounded, like love, friendship, beauty, truth, memory, as well as good food, wine and perfume.
FeralJasmine XX
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Post by Val the Cookie Queen
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Scented Summer Solstice Salutations!
I spent my summers between 1977 and 1982 at the Free Festivals at Stonehenge and Glastonbury. In the days before it cost to go to the massive festival that is now Glastonbury and the days before wire fences around the Stones. Only the mud was the same. Hawkwind, Gong, Benjamin Zephaniah. We would go for three weeks in a row, sometimes more. On Solstice morning we would watch the Druids performing their rituals, and sit on the stones listening to distant music and waiting for the sun.
It was the Welsh Teepee People who were the first to arrive at the festivals. A community of people who lived year round in teepees. Drop-outs, alternative folk, people looking for another way of life. To me they were beautiful, otherworldly, mystical ……..
What really left a lasting impression on me, was the smell as you were in the area of their encampment.
Patchouli, sandalwood, rose, jasmin, woodsmoke, amber, incense. My love for these notes remain with me until this day.
Photo Stolen SacredHome
Early in 2012 I received a sample of Le Maroc Pour Elle. I was not prepared for it. I grabbed a couple of squirts as I ran out the door to go shopping. A kaleidoscope of fragrance and memories stunned me. No fragrance had ever made me cry. Until now. I put my nose to my arm, and yes, I did inhale. Glorious. Time traveling. Deep into my past. Unreservedly sumptuous.
Heaven knows how Andy Tauer came up with this; I can only put it down to the fact that he is a chemist! Because I am sure I never saw him in a teepee.
http://www.dayleannclavin.com Photo taken especially for APJ
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarins, lavender
Heart: Moroccan rose, jasmine
Base: Atlas cedar, balm of oriental woods, patchouli, sandalwood
Le Maroc Pour Elle is such an intense experience, that you need to let the notes breathe. Skin to air. It is the ultimate summer scent. I have said it before. Mr. Tauer is an artist. You can´t cover up a painting and the same goes for his creations. Let them out. They develop layer after layer. This isn´t a winter fragrance. I really look forward to warm, sunny days, when this is at it´s best. Use sparingly. It´s very pure. You need to annoint yourself with this.
It is absolutely feminine. Womanly. Erotic. High class hippiedom.
I would guess there is a good bit of magic in there too. If Le Maroc Pour Elle had been around in 1977 it would have been illegal.
Photo Stolen Photpedia
Further reading: The Non Blonde and Perfume Smellin’ Things.
Tauer Perfumes has €83.40/50ml
Lucky Scent has $130/50ml and samples
Surrender To Chance starts at $7/ml
Until next time, stay cool.
Bussis
Val CQ xxx
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Gabriella
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Hello fragrance friends!
My recent posts have featured a classic Robert Piguet fragrance, Fracas, and a perfume that makes me feel like the idealised version of myself, Guerlain’s Chamade.
Today I want to talk about a perfume that encapsulates both of these elements: the sumptuously elegant….
Photo stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, bergamot, neroli
Heart: Bulgarian rose, jasmine, iris, violet
Base: Amber, vanilla, musk, vetiver
Baghari is a rich aldehyde perfume and whilst I have many aldehyde fragrances I adore (Chanel No 22, Divine’s L’Ame Soeur, Lubin’s Nuit de Lonchamp), Baghari is the one that really truly embodies and encapsulates retro glamour to me. It is a perfume that speaks of pearls, ruby red lips, darted stockings, silk peignoirs and nipped in waists. Glamour, elegance, dry martinis and cat’s eyes sunglasses.
Bagari was originally launched in 1950 and developed by perfumeur Fabrice Fabron. It the final fragrance introduced into the Piguet range during the designer’s lifetime. It was then reformulated and re-introduced in 2006 by Aurelien Guichard and it is this version I am reviewing today.
The perfume opens with the sparkle of aldehydes shot through with the crisp green citrus of bergamot. The aldehydes here are soft and twinkling as opposed to the sharper champagne fizz of Chanel No 5 and 22 or Le Labo’s Aldehyde 44.
Photo Stolen WeHeartIt
The effect is one of soft yellow streetlamps on powdery snow; the glimmer of candelight on a crystal glass. The bergamot tempers the sparkle and gives the opening a crisp green quality. Baghari then softens quite considerably with the neroli and the rose lending a rich floral vibe and making the composition smooth, graceful and feline. Baghari here is richer and creamier, and it almost feels edible, like sucking on an orange cream ice cream or a biting into a tangerine fondant chocolate. If the perfume were a fabric, it would be of apricot silk, fluid and comfortable against the skin.
Into the drydown, amber joins the fray, anchoring the powderiness of the aldehydes and the citrus tones of the bergamot and neroli. The silk has been spun into the plushest velvet, cocooning the skin with its soft warmth.
Photo Stolen Inthralld
Baghari has the magical quality of completely transforming its wearer. Spritzed on the weekend when feeling ordinary in jeans, I become all cheekbones and grace donning the very best couture silk.
And yet, despite being enamoured for years by Baghari’s charms, I have never actually purchased a bottle, instead surviving on decants and samples. It’s one that I just seem to forget to buy and I’m now vowing to change that.
Photo Stolen WorldBabyContest
Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Perfume Smellin Things.
Libertine Parfumerie has $150/50ml (with FREE Australian delivery and they guarantee their stock is real and fresh)
FragranceNet has $75/50ml
Surrender to Chance has samples starting at $3/ml.
Have you ever tried Baghari? What is your favourite aldehyde fragrance? Is there any perfume you adore and have not got around to purchasing a bottle.
With much love until next time!
M x
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Post by Katrina
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My last APJ review was for Jessica Simpson Fancy Nights. In the discussion that followed Azar made the comment “I recently went on a Steve Demercado jag. My favorites are his darker, smokier, boozy scents including Fancy Nights and Queen.” I still don’t have Queen but I have discovered two more Steve DeMercado fragrances in my collection – Paris Hilton Tease and Nicole by Nicole Richie. Today I will be reviewing……
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Fuji apple, white peach, bergamot
Heart: White flowers (frangipani, jasmine, tuberose)
Base: Amber, blonde wood, hot sand
Paris Hilton has released 16 perfumes since the original Paris Hilton fragrances for women and men debuted in 2005. They are a mixed bag. You never know what you’ll get when trying a new Paris Hilton perfume. Many are the typical sweet and fruity girly celebuscents but there are also a few mature perfumes in the Paris Hilton line and Tease falls into this category. In case you missed it Portia has previously confessed her love for a couple of Paris Hilton perfumes. Check out her reviews of Fairy Dust and Siren.
Photo Stolen blogcrack
Paris Hilton’s Tease is a beautiful white floral scent that is strong and long lasting. Fragrantica describes it as a chypre-floral-oriental. It has a fresh fruity opening with apple and bergamot but it is not overly sweet. The fruit notes give lightness to the perfume against the heavy white florals, which are there from the start and dominated by tuberose. The tuberose is medium strength – not too strong for me to enjoy. Tease has a light woody base and lasts all day.
Photo Stolen absinthrill
Further reading at Now Smell This
FragranceNet has $10/30ml before discount
My Perfume Samples starts from $2/ml to $6/5ml
I really like Tease but my favourite Paris Hilton perfume is still Siren. Is anyone else willing to own up to a favourite Paris Hilton perfume?
For more celebrity perfume news and Paris Hilton perfume reviews please check out my Celebrity Perfume Website (<<<JUMP).
Katrina xx
Hi there Perfumistas,
It’s getting so close to our APJ EVENT brought to us by Libertine Parfumerie (who are always so supportive and generous with APJ), David Jones and Robert Piguet. I hope you are all as excited as I am.
Photo Stolen vk.com
What is happening? The CEO of Robert Piguet fragrances, Joe Garces, is in Sydney, Australia in June to celebrate the 65 years of Fracas by hosting four one hour Masterclasses that will take us through some of the Piguet fragrance line notes, creation and intent with a Q&A section afterwards. The seats are limited to only 14 per class and Libertine Parfumerie has offered the 2.30pm class on Wednesday June 26 to AustralianPerfumeJunkies!
What: FREE Fragrance Masterclass hosted by Joe Garces
When: 2.30pm Wednesday June 26 2013
Where: Meet 2pm David Jones Sydney City Store cnr Elizabeth & Market St Sydney
Should you purchase any Robert Piguet Fragrance Product on the day there will be a VERY special gift to take home.
Should you like I thought we could sniff through the halls of David Jones, have a spot of afternoon tea and then trot down to Christian Dior’s flagship store and smell the Couturier range.
Would you like to come and talk perfume with people who are TOTALLY interested and won’t think your habit absurd or you mental? Maybe you can’t wait to pick the brains of someone who makes the perfume world run? It could be that you have never yet smelled Fracas, or any of the other wonderful Robert Piguet line and you’d like to remedy that. Personally, I hope we get a run through of one of the newer fragrances, Bois Noir, which I love and am already considering a purchase of.
Please add your interest in the comments below.
I AM SO FRICKEN EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!
Portia x
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Post by Poodle
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The cottage was a mess when she inherited it. No one had lived there since her grandfather died. Her family thought it was too small, too rustic and that she should sell it. She thought it held a certain charm and now it was hers. It needed a lot of work but she had vision to see past the years of dirt that had accumulated in every crack and crevice. She scrubbed every inch of it until her fingers were raw. She remembered her grandmother used to burn incense to purify the air. She loved the smell of incense sticks but not the smoke so she would tuck them strategically around the house like potpourri. She washed and polished the wood floors. She put fresh new curtains on the windows. Little by little it regained some of its former beauty.
Photo Stolen TripAdvisor
She was now finally able to sit back and admire the results of her hard work. The warm spice tea she cradled in her hands comforted her. The smell of the ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg brought back memories of when her grandmother used to bake in this very kitchen. It was early fall and still warm enough to keep the windows open. On the breeze she could smell the lavender and geraniums she had planted in the window box. Every now and then she caught a whiff of the late summer roses but they were far from the house so it was only ever a fleeting scent. Sunlight streamed into the kitchen in the late afternoon. She was convinced that as the floorboards warmed under the sunlight she could smell the wood and even after all of her cleaning efforts and bucketfuls of soapy water, a touch of her grandfather’s tobacco still lingered.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Top: bergamot, rosemary, incense
Heart: lavender, rose, geranium, ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg
Base: sandalwood, teak wood, patchouli, tobacco
When I got the sample for Spiritus / Land I was expecting something earthy and dirty. It has a dusty quality to it but it’s clean and fresh at the same time. I saw it described as an incense scent but this is not churchy at all. It smells more like the unlit sticks. It’s also a soapy scent. It opens somewhat herbal, fresh, and woody all at the same time and then hits you with ginger and spice. Not like dessert spices, these are spices without the sugar. The spices are prominent throughout its development and the wood notes seem to come and go. Yet for all the spice and woods it is a very clean smelling fragrance because it has a very strong soapy quality to it that persists throughout. It also seems to smell cleaner as it develops instead of getting woodier and dirtier in the base. This isn’t the modern clean of laundry fabric softener. It’s more along the lines of an old fashioned guest soap. If soap isn’t your thing you might want to pass on this one. If you’re looking for a clean scent without citrus or marine accords it might be worth a try. The lack of sweetness in the spice might make it lean more masculine to some. Longevity on the average person is probably pretty good. My scent eating skin got a few hours out of it and at the end my skin had a just out of the shower scent to it. This was the first perfume I’ve tried from this line and while it was not true love on me I imagine it would be wonderful on the right person.
Photo Stolen ehow
Further reading: Perfume Smellin’ Things and Now Smell This
Libertine Parfumerie has $165/100ml with FREE postage within Australia
Aedes de Venustas has $145/100ml
Surrender To Chance start at $3/ml
Thanks for reading<
Poodle xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 