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Sandra
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Hello dear APJ readers. How are you all doing?
Life is quiet here at the moment. Loving the routine and no added stress this week. As I sit and write this post, the sun is shining and the sky is a brilliant blue. The trees and bushes are starting to bud and as I walk around doing all of my errands each day, I stop and smell flowers along the way. Not much is out yet, but give it a couple of weeks and it will be gorgeous. Continue reading
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Kate Apted
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Hello all you lovely APJ family.
I owe a huge thanks to Sam from I Scent You a Day. Had I not found her blog and lurked around for a while, I’d have never dusted off my mum’s perfume collection and found a few Avon gems. Sam is a huge Avon fan and her enthusiasm caused me to see what all the fuss was about. I hadn’t bothered with Avon since I was a tween. Bad quality and poor longevity put me off.
Deciding I liked Little Black Dress (LBD) after trying what sat on mum’s bureau, I ordered a bottle on sale. My version is the latest one with the black sticker on the back and the fully black cap, while mum’s is an original from the year of its release with the transparent glass body and a half black cap. Interestingly, I prefer my bottle. I will stand by my view that Avon scents trail off after 30 min to one hour, but in the case of LBD, the scent is what makes it worth buying. At the price it generally goes for, even online, I am happy to keep reapplying. Avon’s rollerball version is perfect for my handbag or travel. And it comes with body products! Win! Continue reading
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Val the Cookie Queen
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Hey APJ
I think it was around the end of 2012 that I read the APJ post where Portia announced that he was coming to Europe; along with the cities and dates that he would be around. So happy to see Vienna on the list, and not only that, I was actually gonna be in Vienna the day he was there. I emailed him asking if he’d like to meet up and I would bring cookies. We arranged to meet at the Café Mozart. I asked my daughter (the future BlondesWunder) to come along with me, as I was a bit out of practice at meeting random Aussie drag queens.
Vienna
Some of you know this story, you can skip the next bit. We had absolutely no clue as to what Portia looked like, nor if he would turn up in drag. It was a biting cold day as we stood outside the Café Mozart. As each person approached BlondesWunder and I would be staring like crazy women, wondering if it might be Portia. To no avail. We walked Into the Café to take look, but no one stood out as Portia Turbo Gear. Nope. Back outside we went. And then my phone rang, with and Australian calling code, Portia
telling us he was in the Café, over to the left of the entrance, and could be found wearing a M&S style vaguely Christmasy woolly. Which is of course exactly what I was expecting. I still laugh.
I know this picture has been used any times, we have no other one really from when I met Portia, but let’s look a little closer. Between Portia and my head, in the mirror is Hannah BlondesWunder taking the pic. To the right of Portia`s head, also reflected in the mirror, is Jin busy taking a few shots too. Behind the sugar shaker is the Chanel bag I had bought 31 Rue Cambon in a few months early. You might notice the bag is pimped with an armadillo sticker, and it was packed with cookies. And if you look really closely you can see that my ear is red. When I get nervous, or over excited, it does that. So annoying and a dead giveaway to those who know me. 🙂
“Its been five years, my brain hurts a lot …..“ Bowie
APJ had not even had its first birthday when we met. As we drank tea and talked I said to Portia, hey, I could write something for APJ huh? I thought maybe once or twice. He´s like yeah, totally. And now it has been five years to the very day. Tuesday 13 March 2013 – Tuesday 13 March 2018. Five bloody years of running around like the proverbial chipmunk on crack, wondering what to write, and if I can meet my deadline. It was on this day in Vienna that I became Cookie Queen. It truly changed my life, and opened so many doors for me, I wouldn’t know where to begin. Portia, please may I say another five?
Christian Dior Oud Ispahan – A Lemming
Before Christmas I met up with APJ`s Sandra and the lovely Lady Jane Grey. LJG gave me decant of seven or eight mls of Dior´s Oud Ispahan, and I have used the lot. I have wanted to get into this oud thing but never liked it. I find the stuff very interesting and was privileged to to try a number of pure ouds when I visited Ellen Covey in Seattle a few years ago. But never say never, and I have totally fallen for this Dior. I don’t care if it is real oud or not real oud, the perfume is gorgeous. And I want it. Do I want a whole bottle? You can bet your ass I do. But as I have grown older I have gained a little wisdom so here’s what I am gonna do. LJG has offered to refill my bottle. (It is now empty). If I continue to wear it the way I have been, then yeah, I will buy a bottle. Portia said they do 40ml bottles in Paris, anyone know if they do that I all the CD boutiques?
Thanks to every single reader and commenter over the years. I love the APJ Family.
Celebratory Bussis
CQ.
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Portia
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Hi there APJ,
There has been a lot of buzz around the Fort & Manlé brand in the last couple of years. The fragrances are excellent and not stereotypically niche. When you hold a bottle in your hand you can feel the heart and love that’s gone into creating something so beautiful, and then when you spritz! That’s when the real fireworks start. I’m an unashamed fan of Rasei and his work. We’ve met and I found him a Continue reading
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Kate Apted
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G’day APJ folk!
Hands up if you are a tuberose lover! Yup, me too! Have you ever noticed how tuberose tends to be treated in perfumery? For the most part, it is either big and loud and trumpets my presence into a room (think Amarige or Giorgio Bevery Hills) or it is pared with an assortment of off beat notes to subdue its energy (think Britney Spears Radiance or Hypnotic Poison). There is another treatment of tuberose that finds favour with me; the aristocratic creaminess of Tubereuse Trianon. Continue reading
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Val the Cookie Queen
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Hey APJ Gym Bunnies, or not!
I have just walked in the door from my workout. Currently I am preparing to go and meet Vanessa from Bonkers About Perfume in Germany tomorrow. I am two days late writing this, failing to meet my own deadline. FFS. Face palm.
I have a question for those of you that go to the gym. I am sure it is not the first time it will have been discussed, but let’s do it anyway. Over the years I have not put a scent on to workout. Seriously, who want to be next to someone in a cloud of Continue reading
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Sandra
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Hey there dear APJ readers! How are you doing?
There comes a time in February when I can start to feel the seasonal changes that are about to come. Let me try to explain. Since November, we leave the house in the dark in the morning. It is still dark when we get to school and only after I leave the school do I see the sunrise. Well, this past week (first week of February) we saw the sun rise Continue reading
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Portia
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Hello Fellow Fumies,
Every Saturday we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.
The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.
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Portia
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Hi there Indie Lovers,
You know when you get some samples and you sniff a few till you find one that floats your boat? Sometimes there are a couple that don’t get a sniff because you’ve already discovered gold. So, this is exactly what happened with Onycha (On Ee Ka). It was left unsniffed and now I am bloody kicking Continue reading
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Kate Apted
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Halloo APJers!
Today I want to know your feelings on sweet smelling perfumes. Do you like them and do you have favourites? Can you separate out notes? What do you like/dislike about them?
PDI Continue reading
Australian Perfume Junkies 