Apollo Hyacinth by Alberto Morillas for Eric Buterbaugh Florals 2015

December 12, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there Fragrant Family,

There are some perfumers whose name will make me prick up my nose in anticipation. A name that I know, though usually cannot pinpoint what it is they did that I love. Alberto Morillas is one such, he has done some of my all time favourite fragrances and a slew of my mates signatures through the years. Let’s talk Byzance by Rochas, M7 by YSL, Mugler Cologne, Kenzo Flower, BVLGARI BLV Pour Homme, BVLGARI Man, Lanvin Oxygene and the original Salvador Dali. These are just my favourites from the plethora of major blockbusters and some very good, well created flops and some absolute shite that I wouldn’t clean my driveway with.

Apollo Hyacinth by Eric Buterbaugh Florals 2015

Apollo Hyacinth by Alberto Morillas

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Neroli, pear, galbanum
Heart: Hyacinth, lily of the valley, angelica
Base: Haitian vetiver, oakmoss, cedar

Apollo Hyacinth opens with unruffled calm. Natural fresh cut fruit sweet and the pear smells cool, ripe and juicy: there’s even a hint of the dry and tarter skin. Galbanum smooths the opening giving green resinous porcelain, breath steals in and suddenly the sweetness becomes a litle candied.

Our heart has arrived and it’s a bouquet, fresh, green and stark. An angular, other worldly bouquet that says broken twig, lichen, moss and the gel like sap of aloe vera. There is peace and calm in Apollo Hyacinth, a breath of fresh air and a humid hothouse in the cool of evening. The energy of healthy soil and growing plants. The angelica adds a wild waywardness that the other flowers never possess, it’s enchanting, riveting. Like hyacinth is all grown and ready to rock.

Lasting power is unbelievable, though after 4 hours you have to be close to notice. Next day, 20+ hours later I can still smell the tiniest trace of sweet oily green that is only smellable with my nose against my arm. If it was a sexual tryst though whoever my lucky partner was would be getting a waft from me that is freaking gorgeous, I’m me and I want to root me.

Apollo Hyacinth is 100% unisex, a beautiful, billowing cloud of fresh green and white flowers. I cannot think of a place where you would feel mismatched were you lucky enough to own this glamour frag. SERIOUSLY WANT!!

Further reading: Perfume Posse and Scented Hound
Eric Buterbaugh Florals has EdP $300/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $5/.5ml

Aren’t the bottles stellar? How lavish. Do you want one yet?
Portia xx

Shalimar by Guerlain: Back To My Favourite

December 11, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 33 Comments

Post by Portia

Hiya Frag Fiends,

Shalimar has been my enduring fragrant love. Since it was the fragrance of my Mum for years and some of her friends continued to wear it right through our childhood. Then working a couple of summers at the fragrance counter in a suburban mall, Carlingford Grace Bros. and getting to know a slew of fragrances it still held sway as the most beautiful of them all. Even now after being down the fragrant worm hole for years I still come back to Shalimar regularly and every time I do I quietly ask myself why I ever needed to stray from its billowing extravagance.

Shalimar by Guerlain 1925: Back To My Favourite

Shalimar by Jacques Guerlain

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Citruses, mandarin orange, cedar, lemon, bergamot
Heart: Iris, rose, vetiver, jasmine, patchouli
Base: Civet, musk, tonka bean, opoponax, leather, incense, vanilla, sandalwood

All I knew of Shalimar through my childhood was that it smelled incredible: its sweet, lemon ice-creamy vanilla over a hefty dollop of animal warmth, woodsy incense and plush leathers was so alluring and engulfing.

Named for the Shalimar gardens of Lahore (and Kapurthala’s homage) but the back story is of the love of Shah Jahan for a princess from the Persian nobility who he fell in love with, married and made her his favourite queen, after she died giving birth to their 14th child he nearly bankrupted his kingdom building the Taj Mahal as her crypt. The second time I was at the Taj Mahal the whole experience was so overwhelming that I needed to sit on the steps leading into the park and have a little moment. Yes, I was wearing Shalimar.

Above is a picture of my Shalimar collection. Only the bottles of open boxes are shown, quite a few remain unopened because they are doubles, I have decants or they are discontinued and having/holding/looking at them is as good as smelling them. One of my parfums is not parfum at all (maybe EdC?) and another smells like it has been stretched with perfumers alcohol. The rosebud bottle is still sealed as are the 16oz watchface bottle and the little parfum on the navy box. The batwing bottle that is 1/3 full is my 4th bottle of EdT over the years, I really want to buy one of the newest but feel naughty as I have 2 backups bought at extremely reasonable prices when buying this one. What is interesting is that though the Shalimars are all different, they are so similar that if you’re wearing them for pleasure rather than parsing and blogging they are all pretty much one. No matter what era though the lemon ice-creamy fizz with the vanilla and an animal growl fits me like a glove. My number one.

Further reading: Erica Golding at APJ and Portia on EdC at APJ
FragranceNet has EdT $49/90ml before Coupon
Surrender To Chance has EdP samples from $3/ml

What is your number one?
Portia xx

Ballets Rouges by Ellen Covey for Olympic Orchids 2012

December 10, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there Independent Perfume Lovers,

It’s no secret how much I love Ellen Covey’s work as a perfumer. There are numerous full bottles of her work around here but only 2 have made it to the 30ml Parfum strength spray; they are Olympic Amber and Ballets Rouges. So it’s weird for me to discover that I have only briefly mentioned Ballets Rouges and never done a complete post on it. TBH I thought I had done one.

Ellen Covey wears a lot of hats. She is a perfumer, scientist, runner, loving partner and general great girl who lives in the USAs Pacific North-West, near APJs Azar (they are great friends). I think I’ve missed a few of her astounding talents too, yes overachiever dot com. Her range of fragrances is one of the broadest, from very pretty florals through to the beastly Dev series, and so many of them speak to me. They are 100% original, even something as ubiquitous as amber becomes an intriguing and marvellous new genre once Ellen gets her teeth into it.

Ballets Rouges by Olympic Orchids 2012

Ballets Rouges by Ellen Covey

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, bergamot, mandarin orange, red thyme
Heart: May rose, rose, ylang ylang
Base: Musk, oakmoss, patchouli, labdanum

Ballets Rouges is the ultimate rose soliflor for me. Yes it has the smell of roses on the bush, it also has the smell of the earth that the roses grew in, the humus, fertilisers, mulch, add to that the smell of the cut stem and the torn leaf and on top of all that it has the smell of life and living to my nose. There is something of the uneasiness of finding yourself alone in the dusk dark swampy forest and yet it has all the joyful pleasure of a sunny summer meadow. Bright and dark simultaneously, Ballets Rouges is everything I love about Independent Perfumery: it has not followed a formula, never been panel tested, is full of gorgeous ingredients that are probably banned in 27 languages and it has a wonderful big voluptuousness and scent story.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

There was much talk around the release of Penhaligon’s Iris Prima and how it was lovely and floaty yet completely failed to capture the agony beneath the facade that ballerinas project. It was all about the pastel glamour that 6 year old girls dream of when they want to be dancers. In Ballets Rouges Ellen has captured the stark beauty of a rose, the glittering deep plum sparkle of the dream and also managed to capture the gruelling and monotonous solo hours of perfecting the art, the heartache of watching your feet turn to pain wracked bleeding caricatures of themselves, the relentless drive and dark heart of ballet. Ballets Rouges is a little insight into The Black Swan.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

It’s open of green and scintillating herbaceous citrus which quickly morphs into a dark plum and citrus scented rose, still on the bush and planted in a freshly turned and fertilised bed, you have excised some of the dead heads so there is a brittle green of torn leaf and the wet/dry oxymoron of cut stem. I am fully and divinely fragrant, Ballets Rouge is not the scent for close quarters it’s a prima and needs its space to shine. As we progress the dark heart warms through considerably. While we never lose sight of the starring rose the oakmoss, amber and musks come in and form a magnificent corps, dancing around and through till full dry down around a day later.

Orchidscents has parfum travel $18/5ml
Olympic Orchids has samples and EdP $120/100ml

Have you tried Ballets Rouges? What is your rose?
Portia xx

So…? GIVEAWAY WINNERS

December 7, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Post by Portia

I had a great time trying these budget beauties. Hopefully our winners will get equal or more joy from them.
Portia xx

So…? GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Photo Stolen So…?

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Blackcurrant, pineapple, citron
Heart: Lily of the valley, freesia
Base: Vanilla, musk, woody notes

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive one of the following each (no, you don’t get to choose):
1 x 30ml So…? Sensual EdT (discontinued but fun fruitchouli)
1 x 30ml So…? Kiss Me EdT
1 x 150ml So…? Kiss Me Body Spray
P&H Worldwide

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 6th December 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners were chosen by random.org

Photo Stolen prospectsplus

Robert H

Bianca B

Jaybee

The winners will have till Thursday 10th December 2015 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.

Louis Vuitton City Guide App

December 6, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom

Post by Portia

Hi there Fellow Fumie Travellers,

Landing in a new city is both thrilling and daunting. Yes, you want to have your own authentic holiday experience but you also don’t want to miss a few of the reasons where you are going is popular, right? Jin is our Master Holiday Planner. He does the research, finds the hotels online and then goes into the Travel Agent armed with his top 3 and the best prices he can find online, he scopes the area and picks a few Must Do attractions and the rest of the time we walk. Yes, you read it here first folks, we WALK, often 12 hour days walking. He also prefers to take the local public transport, every time we reach a destination he says, “See, we are SO LOCAL” and he is happy. How can you deny such simplicity? I certainly can’t.

Travelling with him is fun and exciting, always full of wonderful adventures. My travelling was always about meeting friends, hanging out and once upon a time doing the club scene. Both ways are fun.

Here is a FABULOUS new helper for those that love to travel. Thank you Louis Vuitton.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton City Guide App

Centrepiece by Sarah McCartney for 4160Tuesdays 2015

December 5, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hi APJ,

It was a Monday to remember. Late getting up and having to rush to a Doctor’s appt. Rushing out the door, but stop to grab my decant (thank you Lillian Betts Holloway!) of the new Centrepiece edp by perfumer Sarah McCartney.

Centrepiece by 4160Tuesdays 2015

Centrepiece by Sarah McCartney

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accordsin one line:
Honey, green tea, frangipani, musk, cedar, vanilla, sorbet, chocolate

OK. I get it. I was rushing so of course I tragically spill the the WHOLE decant all over my arm and clothes!

SOTD: Centrepiece by 4160Tuesdays. LOTS of it…..(read on…)

Well shit! No time to wash, so out the door I go and I smell FREAKING amazing!!! Holy cow, this is some GREAT stuff!

Now usually I don’t wear any scent for a medical appt. of any kind. Clinics get fussy if you do. So I thought “well…it is what it is.” So off I go.

I stop at my Cafe to check in and all I hear is “Oh my god is that YOU? You smell incredible!!” Ok. This is good.

I walk into the clinic and it’s the same thing. From every single receptionist, nurse, blood draw technician, and finally my beloved doctor, and he has a COLD for god’s sake!

Photo Stolen Flickr

From LuckyScent: Originally created from a chance selection of ingredients and accords that inspired relaxed, peaceful feelings, Centrepiece is that most fundamental of 4160 Tuesdays-style creations- lighthearted, inspired, devoid of typical haute perfume pretension, and downright lovely. Focused around the sweet, tropical floral note of frangipani, Centrepiece further adds to the indulgent (but never cloying) bouquet with sweet honey and creamy vanilla, balancing it all against green tea and rich but gentle cedar. The results are entrancing, an everyday-suitable, gently powerful white floral that soothes, seduces and relaxes in equal measure. Simply beautiful.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Further reading: Ca Fleure Bon
LuckyScent has $110/50ml
4160Tuesdays has £15/9ml

PS……..4160Tuesdays also has an extrait strength for sale on their website, and that’s the one I ultimately. All I can say is…..”Um…..well dip me in honey and color me joyous!”

So the moral of this story? Who the hell knows.

All I know is I do is that this ‘fume indeed smells amazing!!!

What is your 4160Tuesday?
Robert Herrrmann

This Works: Deep Sleep Pillow Spray

November 30, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Post by Willa Zheng

Hello APJ,

“To sleep, the perchance to dream”, Shakespeare once wrote. But really often, the stresses of modern living and our habit of being glued to the monitors of electronic devices at night, mean we don’t get good quality, restful, deep sleeps that enable us to wake up in the morning feeling well-rested and refreshed.
Enter, this pillow spray invented by This Works. Comprised of the essentials oils from lavender, patchouli, ho wood, vetivert (better known to us as vetiver) and wild chamomile flower extracts, This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Pray is my stalwart bedside hero-product.

This Works: Deep Sleep Pillow Spray

The way this pillow spray works is that the scent quietens your mind. Think of inhaling a bowl of chamomile tea, infused with lavender and a dash of earthy patchouli. It’s instantly soothing and calming. Any thoughts and worries about the outside world gently float away. Deep Sleep Pillow Spray does the same thing to my mind as when I step into a clean, quiet, Jivamukti yoga studio.

Deep Sleep Pillow Spray is water based but dries fairly quickly, so there’s no wet pillow issues. The scent lingers on my linen for about 5 minutes – so I spray it just before I hop into my sheets.

This Works has also recently released a stronger, longer lasting, alcohol-based version of this spray, the Deep Sleep Plus+ Pillow Spray. The notes are still the same, but they’re encapsulated in special, slow-release molecules that break and get released as you move and fidget in your sleep at night. How clever!

Photo Stolen Flickr

The only downside I can envisage to owning any of the Deep Sleep products is that you might become dependent on these sprays as a sleep aid. To that end, I don’t use it every night. Mainly for those tired, stressful days where every minute of quality sleep counts.

Disclaimer: It rarely takes me more than 5 minutes to fall asleep. If sleeping was an Olympic sport, I’d probably be an elite athlete. But even athletes have down days and are nevertheless always looking for ways to take their performance to the next level.

Of course, individual experiences will differ but it’s not too expensive to try it out yourself. Being able to drift off to sleep faster and at a deeper level is priceless, whether for an insomniac or sleep-athlete.

Mecca has $36/75ml
Willa Zheng

Libertine Parfumerie SAMPLES!

November 30, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Post by Portia

WOW! APJ Crew,

For a while now I have been begging Nick and Paige at Libertine Parfumerie to start selling samples. It’s the only way to really try a fragrance before you buy it, a couple of days on your skin.

Libertine Parfumerie SAMPLES!

So the guys have organised a way that you can sample their wares before laying down big money. I love the idea, and I bet you will too. This way, even if you are far from the Australian metropolises you can still get your sniff on and keep up with the trends.

So, how does it work?

You get to pick 4 x 1ml spray samples of almost anything in the range at Libertine Parfumerie for $39. There’s a $10 postage fee too but should you be buying anything over $100 that is waived.

Go check out Libertine Parfumerie if you’re in Australia and would like to sample before you splurge.

Portia xx

Coriandre by Jacqueline Couturier for Jean Couturier 1973

November 29, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

I bought my bottle of Coriandre a couple of summers ago during a visit to Hobart. There’s a perfumery there called St Cloud that I loved years ago when I lived in Hobart. I still I remember the thrill of buying a teeny bottle of Chanel No 19 parfum back in 19 … oh, never mind …

The business has moved premises but when I got chatting to the guy I was charmed to discover it is still run by the same people. Riding this wave of nostalgia, I could not resist a 100 ml bottle of Coriandre.

Coriandre by Jean Couturier 1973

Coriandre by Jacqueline Couturier

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, coriander, orange blossom, angelica, bergamot
Heart: Violet root, lily, jasmine, rose, geranium, iris, ylan ylang
Base: Sandalwood, patchouli, musk, civet, oakmoss, vetiver

If you are worried that Coriandre will smell like coriander (cilantro), do still give it a try it. It does not remind me of the leaves, but the warmth of the seeds is there (much less pungent than the actual spice). It will not remind you of food in the least.

Photo Stolen Wikimedia

Coriandre is essentially a green fragrance, a chypre, but not as stemmy as, say, Balmain’s Vent Vert or CHANEL’s Bel Respiro. There is no chewy galbanum, and no juicy citrus. It makes a great fragrance for summer if you like to avoid citrus colognes. The effect is herbal, a little spicy, woody and earthy, and quite dry. I struggle to think of anything like it, really, although the mossy element dates Coriandre to before the 1990s.

Coriandre crackles with intelligence and wit, easily a unisex fragrance. It’s like a country cousin to CHANEL No 19 or Rive Gauche, much less refined. It’s as if Coriandre dropped out of law school and set up a pottery studio in a farm shed on Mum and Dad’s property.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

The fragrance reformulated in 1993. I’m reviewing the modern EDT, which is mostly what you see at the online discounters now. I can well believe that Coriandre is not what it was: the scent on skin often strikes me as too woody and harsh. The sillage is lighter, greener and much more nuanced. Longevity on me is moderate.

On the day I bought my bottle of Coriandre I had no internet access and it was a true impulse buy. Only when I got home did I realise that I probably paid twice what I should have. I’ve no regrets though. I helped a long-standing small business to survive another day and I had a fun experience. There was no tester but the guy in the shop opened his only bottle so I could sniff it. He keeps Coriandre pretty much for one customer, he told me, a man who buys it once a year for his wife whose signature it is. Wondering who this fascinating, unknown Coriandre-wearing lady was, I hardly noticed as my credit card leapt out of my wallet and did a little dance across the counter towards the till. Sold!

Further reading: Now Smell This and Perfume Shrine
FragranceNet has EdT $23/100ml before coupon

Until next time – keep spritzing everyone!
Anne-Marie xx

Vanilla Smoke by Mandy Aftel for Aftelier Perfumes 2015

November 28, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Fragrant Friends,

Mandy Aftel is one of the best known & most loved Indie perfumers on the planet. Not only for her stellar fragrances but also for her books on fragrance (Essence & Alchemy and Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent) and her natural perfumery school. My every dealing with her has been so lovely, she is one of the greats and has the most beautiful presentation in her packaging. The whole Aftelier product is so luxurious and getting an order is exquisite fun opening it all up. My favourite way to buy Aftelier is the A Trio of Miniatures in a Silk Pouch that is also in a tin. I use these miniatures as gifts when I’m travelling, giving one to people who I particularly love or who have gone out of their way, and they are always accepted with real pleasure.

Photo Stolen Aftelier

Vanilla Smoke by Aftelier Perfumes 2015

Vanilla Smoke by Mandy Aftel

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Yellow mandarin, Siam wood, saffron absolute, vanilla absolute, lapsang souchong tea essence (tea leaves smoked over pinewood), coumarin, ambergris

After reading her review I was chatting briefly with Victoria over on EauMG and … Portia: .. the EdP felt like a magical Shalimar restructuring. It’s my favourite so it was really nice to smell the Ultimate Smoke Shalimar with extra twists and nuance. Victoria: .. a big yes to Ultimate Smoke Shalimar because that’s accurate! The EDP reminds me very much of like modern, smoky Shalimar, like Shalimar roasting marshmallows over a campfire.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Vanilla, warm, comforting, sensual and alluring. The simplest of scents yet also incredibly complex. In Vanilla Smoke Mandy Aftel has added spice and heavy resins that are cut through with the strong smoky tea note of lapsang souchong, When I read the note list before trying Vanilla Smoke, and before reading any other reviews, I thought it was going to be a very dense, hefty, thick scent. One perfectly chosen to warm and sweeten winter nights but too gluggy and oppressive for the warmer months. No Way! Somehow Mandy has managed to lift it and gift it air, while being fully and gloriously fragrant and the opening is mildly ferocious in a VERY good way, there is a floaty sheer-ness that makes it feel free. I don’t know if you remember those 1980s video clips where it was dusk or dark and smoke billowing around some half naked male dancers and a fabulously made up songstress in an over the top gown belting out a power ballad with a dance backbeat? Vanilla Smoke has all the glamour, fun and over the top outrage but softened for a modern market.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Vanilla Smoke is dry and desiccated, elegant and totally immersive up close. From further away, or on someone else, it wears less dry and you get to smell that lovely vanilla shining through the smoke. Another reviewer wrote sumptuous and I concur, perfect word for Vanilla Smoke.

Further reading: EauMG and ScentHive
Aftelier has $180/30ml EdP
Aftelier has $180/7.5ml Parfum

Do you have a Mandy Aftel fragrance that you adore? If you haven’t tried her yet, go visit the site Aftelier<<JUMP. It’s full of beautifully fragrant things that aren’t only perfume…
Portia xx

Australian Perfume Junkies

Olfactory Opinions from Oz

shopping

Apollo Hyacinth by Alberto Morillas for Eric Buterbaugh Florals 2015

Apollo Hyacinth by Eric Buterbaugh Florals 2015

Apollo Hyacinth by Alberto Morillas

Shalimar by Guerlain: Back To My Favourite

Shalimar by Guerlain 1925: Back To My Favourite

Shalimar by Jacques Guerlain

Ballets Rouges by Ellen Covey for Olympic Orchids 2012

Ballets Rouges by Olympic Orchids 2012

Ballets Rouges by Ellen Covey

So…? GIVEAWAY WINNERS

So…? GIVEAWAY WINNERS

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

HOUSEKEEPING

Robert H

Bianca B

Jaybee

Louis Vuitton City Guide App

Louis Vuitton City Guide App

Centrepiece by Sarah McCartney for 4160Tuesdays 2015

Centrepiece by 4160Tuesdays 2015

Centrepiece by Sarah McCartney

This Works: Deep Sleep Pillow Spray

This Works: Deep Sleep Pillow Spray

Libertine Parfumerie SAMPLES!

Libertine Parfumerie SAMPLES!

Coriandre by Jacqueline Couturier for Jean Couturier 1973

Coriandre by Jean Couturier 1973

Coriandre by Jacqueline Couturier

Vanilla Smoke by Mandy Aftel for Aftelier Perfumes 2015

Vanilla Smoke by Aftelier Perfumes 2015

Vanilla Smoke by Mandy Aftel