shopping

Patchouli Nosy Be by Perris Monte Carlo 2014

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Post by Portia

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Hiya Crew,

You know when you see a new brand come on the scene and it just doesn’t move you to go out of your way to try it? That’s what the Perris Monte Carlo stuff was like for me. I don’t know why, maybe the bottles or the names, colourway…. really, I don’t know. Anyway, recently I bought some stuff from the guys at LuckyScent and they added a bunch of samples into my pack. I was putting this into a pack I was putting together to send off because it didn’t interest me but I thought, “I’ll just give myself a little spritz before I put it in.” Spritzed, sealed up the post pack and all of a sudden I am bathed in the most delightful and radiant amber/patchouli bomb I’ve ever smelled.

Patchouli Nosy Be by Perris Monte Carlo 2014

Patchouli Nosy Be by Luca Maffei

Patchouli Nosy Be Perris Monte Carlo FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Patchouli, pink pepper
Heart: Cacao, labdanum
Base: Patchouli, vanilla, cedar, sandalwood

Warm, comfortable, smooth and refined are the words that jump into my head immediately. Elegant. This is a very beautiful sweet patchouli amber combo that sings on my skin. I don’t know if it’s a breakthrough scent but it does smell amazing, projects and trails exactly the right amount for notice without skunking, makes me feel cuddly and safe and lasts extremely well.

There’s something stately, impressive and grandiose about Patchouli Nosy Be, yet it still feels fresh and alive and modern. I am going to have to find myself a split and really give it some wear, or could it be my next FB?

Patchouli Nosy Be Perris Monte Carlo Lively-facade torangePhoto Stolen torange

I stole this from LuckyScent because it hits the nail on the head and explains the significance of the stupid name:
Nosy Be (or Nossi-Bé) is an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar, commonly known as the “scented island” due to the abundance of extremely high-quality perfume materials grown on its northern half. But patchouli, a sensitive and delicate plant to cultivate, has never been able to thrive in Nosy Be’s intense heat. Until now.
Perris Monte Carlo Patchouli Nosy Be contains the very first magical harvests of authentic Nosy Be patchouli, made possible through an innovative and painstaking process that involves transplanting developing plants by hand into shaded, protected areas amongst the ylang ylang plantations, which results in an extraordinary patchouli essential oil with unique dry, woody and cocoa-like properties. This precious material is then blended into a fragrance designed to showcase its uncharacteristic expansiveness- combined minimally with spicy pink pepper, smooth woods and a touch of warm resin, creamy vanilla and bitter cocoa…..

Patchouli Nosy Be Perris Monte Carlo sunset-people PexelsPhoto Stolen Pexels

LuckyScent has $180/100ml and samples

What have you been completely wrong about lately, fragrant or otherwise. Come on, time to confess. We won’t snitch.

Portia xx

Sì Eau de Toilette – The film – Giorgio Armani 2015

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Post by Portia

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Heya Crew,

The latest Si flanker is here and Cate Blanchett is the face again. I think you’ll like the ad. It’s simple, very reminiscent of the original ads and sweet.

Sì Eau de Toilette by Giorgio Armani

Sì Eau de Toilette Giorgio Armani FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Black currant, green pear, Italian bergamot, mandarin, neroli oil
Heart: Freesia, May rose
Base: Musk, amber, woodsy notes, vanilla, patchouli

Enjoy,
Portia xx

Sì Eau de Toilette – The film – Giorgio Armani

More Move On Monday Club

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Post by Holly

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Move On Monday Club Part 2

Hi guys! Yep, it’s that time again. After the success of my initial APJ Move On Monday post I certainly have LOTS of stuff that I intend to move on from, and some of it is perfume-related so let’s get moving! As before, I hope you will all share with me where you are in your perfume journey.

Thanks to everyone’s suggestions, I’m pretty clear on how to organize my samples and my thoughts about what I like and don’t like. I realized that this is REALLY important as I don’t want to re-order anything. Can you believe I actually thought that I’d remember if I didn’t like something? I also thought that I must have every ding-dong sample I was ever remotely interested in, and if I no longer had it that meant that I must not have liked it. I swear, sometimes what my brain does can not be called “thinking.” Sigh …

Move On Monday Club Part 2 Nicolas Huk FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

More Move On Monday Club

So moving on from the subject of sampling, I’m now focusing on what I want to acquire. I did not know what a pig I am. I freakin’ want a LOT of perfume, but I don’t want a lot of stuff! Does this make sense AT ALL? I already HAVE a lot of perfume. (Sorry about the shouty words – I’m yelling at myself like I’m a kid in a candy store. No! Put it down! Put it back!)

I recently read a reference somewhere about taking into consideration the actual volume in mls of perfume you have. Oh dear. That is one tidbit I think I’ll ignore. However, I have realized that while I love a pretty bottle and the weight and feel of it in my hands, I can probably be satisfied 95% of the time with decants.

Move On Monday Club Part 2 Herbert James Draper Pot_Pourri WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Now comes the hard part, for me at least. I want to rein myself in a bit and move on from being greedy, which is what this phase feels like for me. I have finally understood that I can’t have it all, and I don’t actually want to possess it all. All my ducks will never be in a row. The carrot is always a foot away from the donkey.

On to the questions….

How do you decide when a perfume is FBW? Do you make up your mind pretty quickly? Once you’ve decided you want to add a perfume to your collection, do you wait for a special occasion to treat yourself?

Have you made any decisions about certain notes, houses or formulations such as all-natural perfumes, or vintage frags that affect what you will sample or purchase?

Has your perfume journey been pretty consistent, or has it changed significantly over time? Are you feeling content where you are with it right now, or is there any aspect of it you would like to move on from?

I look forward to reading what everyone has to say! If you would like to move on from something else in your life – thoughts, feelings, attitudes, obsessions, situations or people – what have you – do share those as well.

Holly xo

Fougère Bengale by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato for Parfum d`Empire 2007

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Post by Portia

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Hi there Fragrance Fiends,

I have long lusted after the Parfum d’Empire perfumer. Marc-Antoine Corticchiato is a friggen hottie, so suave and handsome looking, so finished and grand. Here’s a photo to get you in the mood….

Marc-Antoine Corticchiato Parfum d'Empire

Fougère Bengale by Parfum d`Empire 2007

Fougère Bengale by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

Fougère-Bengale Parfum d'EmpirePhoto Stolen Parfum d’Empire

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lavender, tea, ginger, mint
Heart: Hay, tobacco, pepper
Base: Oakmoss, patchouli, vanilla, tonka bean

From Parfum d’Empire: Edwardian dandies scented themselves with fougère, a classic fragrance family based on lavender, tonka bean and oak moss. Fougère Bengale revisits the genre with a powerful, honeyed blond tobacco accord, and carries us off to India…

Smoky tea, spice and hay are what come through initially on my skin and honeyed sweet tobacco. I know there’s lavender here, my brain is saying lavender, lavender, lavender but my nose doesn’t smell it at all. The smoky tea goees pretty quickly and the spice changes, not so energetic and I really do feel like I’m about to light a cigarette in a hayloft.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Then the main notes take a balmy turn, everything smooths out and the honeyed sweetness that often catches in the back of my throat becomes a softer, suppler and more comfortable beast all together. All of a sudden I am in a cozy, warm fragrance that is still dappled with light but now it’s a less golden and more burnished copper. Calmer, sweeter, smoother and cuddlier. The tiger is now a kitten purring happily in your lap or cuddled in the crook of your arm.

Fougere Bengale Parfum d`Empire Tiger Moni Sertel FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

I still get wafts of tobacco and hay through the heart and into the base but they are quickly quelled by the lovely resins. To be honest I get very little of India in Fougere Bengale at all. It’s too clean and too European elegant, once the fireworks die down I get much more Professor Higgins library than Shah Jahan’s tiger hunt. Yet I find it both appealing and wearable, it’s interesting enough to keep me sniffing and the longevity is excellent.

Further reading: Scented Hound and Non Blonde
Parfum d’Empire has €120/100ml
LuckyScent has $145/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3.50/ml

India! Have you been? Is it on your list?
Portia xx

Bottega Veneta: The Art Of Collaboration

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Post by Portia

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Hiya APJ,

This is a beautiful, eerie piece of film. Gritty and dark, black & white mini movie with one of the most incredible models I’ve seen in years. She is flawless as the wealthy, languid, dissipated young socialite.

The Art Of Collaboration Fall-Winter with Juergen Teller vimeoPhoto Stolen vimeo

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Portia xx

Bottega Veneta: The Art Of Collaboration

Fall-Winter 2015/2016 with Juergen Teller

Introducing the Fall-Winter 2015/2016 campaign captured by Juergen Teller
Photographed in the former home of Carlo Mollino, one of Italy’s most influential mid-20th century designers, the campaign is the latest in the series of Tomas Maier’s ongoing collaborations with renowned artists.

Djinn by Marcus McCoy for House of Orpheus 2014

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Post by Azar

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Greetings APJ!

In mid July I received a fabulous surprise in my post box. Maggie Mahboubian, founder of FRAGments Artisan Perfume Collective, sent me a package filled with samples from the May 30th, 2015 FRAGments event in Los Angeles. An amazing selection of indie perfumes filled the little box, enough to keep me writing reviews for at least another year! I had no idea which one to try first. Searching for a new leather fragrance I found…Djinn by Marcus McCoy for the House of Orpheus.

Marcus McCoy is a Pacific Northwest independent perfumer whose background in psychology, ethno-botany, South American plant based shamanism and alchemy has inspired him to create a line of “talismanic” fragrances carefully crafted from wild sourced botanical materials. Marcus also runs a small distillery, Cascadia Terroir, an apothecary, Cascadia Botanical Apothecary and works with Catamara Rosarium formulating perfumes for Rosarium Blends.

Djinn by Marcus McCoy for House of Orpheus 2014

djinn-house of orpheus bottlePhoto Stolen House of Orpheus

House of Orpheus gives these featured accords in one line:
Haitian vetiver, cade, oud, oakmoss and alchemical oil of mercury.
As usual I have a few of my own “obvious but not present” notes to add to the list. In addition to the cade/oud leather accord I experience the presence of vanilla and/or tonka bean, jasmine and styrax.

Djinn opens with a heavy, vegetal Haitian vetiver that quickly assumes the guise of leather. This is not saddle or tack leather. It is not “biker”, shoe or new coat leather but rather a dark, smoky vanillic glove leather, recalling the specialty accessory shops the have all but disappeared from the North American retail landscape. When I smell Djinn I am transported to the boutique where I purchased my very first pair of fine Italian leather dress gloves. I have not worn beautiful gloves like these for many years but this perfume not only recalls the smells of these rich materials but also the exquisitely sensuous feeling of soft leather forming around hands and fingers.

djinn-house of orpheusPhoto Stolen House of Orpheus

I can’t speak to the last perfume note listed – “alchemical oil of mercury”. From what I understand after reading through Marcus’ websites and related links “oil of mercury” is a non-toxic spirit or essence of the “soul” of Mercury (the planet as well as the metal) somehow extracted or created in an alchemical distillation process. If you understand this or can describe it better please let me know.
Whatever it is, “oil of mercury” seems to add a creative, mercurial lift to the dark, vegetal leather.

Regarding sillage and longevity: At first this fragrance is quite bold but retreats quickly, fading to smoky jasmine and oakmoss before disappearing completely after four hours.

Djinn is available on the House of Orpheus website as well as on Etsy where a sale is now in progress

I have a few questions for my fellow APJers: Do you have a magical perfume, a fragrant djinn that you can count on to put a spell on everything and everyone around you? Have you tried perfumes from the House of Orpheus? Do you own (and wear) dress leather gloves in shoulder, elbow or wrist lengths?

Azar xx

New Foundation Formulations

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Post by AF Beauty

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Hi APJ,

I have recently been tempted by a couple of new foundations, both claiming to offer new exciting things in formulation.

New Foundation Formulations

 

Lancome Beauty Cushion

Lancome Miracle Cushion

This is an idea stolen in entirety from Korean beauty – beauty cushion – implemented by a French company, Lancome.

I already quite like Lancome’s foundations, they provide good coverage with lightness , something others can often fail to deliver. The Lancome Miracle Cushion keeps up that standard, the cushion is very soft, the applicator pad ultra smooth. I had expected it would be similar to a standard foundation application sponge, but it’s smoother texture, while still porous enough to hold the product as it goes on. The colour range is relatively small, just 6 colours at present. My first choice was sold out when I originally went looking and I succumbed and bought a slightly darker shade. I anticipated that summer would bring extra colour, but it is not overly dark and I’ve been wearing it even in my paler winter state just blending well.

I use this foundation almost like a BB cream, its coverage is light and it broadly evens my look rather than hiding flaws. I have dark circles that are improved but not well hidden. For me, this is my go-to foundation for a casual day, a weekend day or just a day where I’ll wear light make up to work.

Clinique Perfecting Foundation and Concealer

Clinique Perfecting Foundation and Concealer

I had seen Clinique’s Perfecting Foundation and Concealer advertised, but had originally dismissed it as being too heavy for me. My preference has been for lighter foundation and to use concealer separately where needed but I was enticed into trying the foundation. The Clinique Sales Assistant probably loaded me up a bit too much, but I still took a punt and bought it. Since then I’ve learned to apply it a bit more judiciously with better result. I have read elsewhere about application techniques to only apply foundation in the places the face needed it and to blend out, in fairness I’ve been dismissive as it doesn’t really apply to lighter foundations. The foundation comes with a wand with a sponge on the end with barely more than one blob, I apply a few spots of foundation across my forehead, chin, nose and a little more under the eyes. I then use my fingers to blend it out followed by further blending with a brush. There is no denying the foundation is thick and the coverage is much more than I’m used to. It definitely has a good go at hiding my eye bags! I have to spend more time blending and smoothing than in simple application but the result is a brilliantly flawless face, great for bigger, longer days or just bolder make up. I still find I need to apply a powder to set the foundation so it does feel like a heavier application. Definitely different foundations for different reasons.

Clinique has 13 shades not many targeting darker skins, perhaps more will be added to the range.

My next trial in foundation is CoverFX Custom Cover Drops intended to meet the balance of light and heavier coverage in one pot. I’ve just started on these, so I’ll let you know how I get on.

Do you have particular foundation favourites? Any new formulations caught your eye?
AF Beauty

Vidi by Gérald Ghislain for Histoires de Parfums 2013

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Post by Portia

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Hey Fragrance Family,

It seems we are getting more and more ozone in our fragrances over the last couple of years. I’m glad because I quite like the new ways perfumers are incorporating the fresh air into scent. Gérald Ghislain does some really interesting stuff; I loved his Scent Of Departure range and have quite a few decants but by the time I decided the one I wanted it was gone GRRRRRR. He also has done some of the Alice & Peter fragrances in the cupcake bottles. It would be really interesting to one day meet him and have a chat, if he is as interesting as his fragrances and some of the ideas behind them then I think it would be a wonderful chat.

Vidi by Gérald Ghislain for Histoires de Parfums 2013

Vidi Histoires de Parfums FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cardamom, cucumber, ozonic notes
Heart: Rose, cyclamen, saffron
Base: Immortelle, musk, amber, vanilla, blonde woods

It’s 2013 and I am sitting here wearing the remnants of last nights hefty spritzing of Vidi. I have spent the waking parts of the last 14 hours trying to find a different way of putting this but then I realised I should just blurt it out and then we can move forward with the review.

This is exactly how my last partner smelled when he wore L’Eau d’Issey Man. It is unbelievable how well Gérald Ghislain has married one of the iconic scents of the 20th century and my exes chemistry. Varun is a subcontinental Indian and has very spicy skin, it makes fragrance take on completely different hues. We could wear the same fragrance, and often did, and they would smell utterly different. Interestingly if we’d been out boozing and partying and went home to make love the smell of him wearing L’Eau d’Issey Man would so overwhelm me that I would be sick, yes you read right I would need to go and do a technicolour yawn, drive the porcelain bus, spew or chunder (whichever idiom your area uses). It was a damper indeed and it happened a few times before we worked out the root cause.

Nevertheless it is a happy smell for me, so reminiscent of a super fun part of my life…….

vidi-histoires-de-parfums Cäsar WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Anyway, Vidi is supposed to smell like air that Caesar smelled when he said his immortal, and I’ve always thought pre-prepared in advance for such an outcome, words Veni, Vidi, Vici. On me it smells like water, or the dream of water. It’s cool and refreshing. The cucumber and ozone are particularly appealing together and when I spritz it’s like the first dip in the pool on the 25th September each year. Thrilling and terrifying. The flowers are a complete abstract and as such don’t really register as themselves but I do get a twang of iced water in a metal vase and air conditioning in a florist. Of warmth I get very little, it’s more a lessening of the cool and the immortelle has been shorn of all its lovely natural weirdness.

The jolt was so real and so potent in my fragrant memory bulb that I had to call Varun and tell him. I think that I’ll buy him a bottle and take it to him, any excuse to visit him and India.

Further reading: Chemist In A Bottle and Ca Fleure Bon
LuckyScent has $175/60ml + Samples
First In Fragrance has €125/60ml + Samples

What have you smelled lately that reminds you of the past?
Portia xx

 

Chanel | Haute Couture Fall Winter 2015/2016 Full Show

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Heya Fragrant Fashionistas,

I’ve watched the DIOR and Versace FW 15/16 shows and they left me cool to say the least. Here at CHANEL Karl Lagerfeld has brought us a redefined vision of the CHANEL suit and some really interesting fabrics and shapes. The shoes are freaking KILLER and I also love the severe uber Desange bobs that seem to be laughing at the 90s. For every frock I love there are 10 I merely like and three I loathe. Interesting that the last two frocks resemble some shapes and treatments of DIOR’s Belgian designer Raf Simons work over the last few seasons.

chanel-fall-winter-2015-16-haute-couture-ambiancePhoto Stolen CHANEL news

This is the whole show and pay attention at the start, there are some very interesting people at the gambling tables. If you get bored FF to the last 5 minutes, that’s where my favourite stuff happens and I really love the final wedding outfit.

Enjoy,
Portia xx

Chanel | Haute Couture F/W 2015/16 Full Show

Fragrant Things That Arrived This Week

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Hey there Fragrance Lovers,

Is there anything as day-to-day exciting as getting a parcel in the mail? I have to go down to the Post Office to get mine because now that I live in an apartment I find it much safer to have everything redirected to a Post Office Box. So the whole thing is a weekly adventure and I’m never quite sure if there will be only letters or some packages. Let’s face it, anything not a bill is a cause for celebration.

Fragrant Things That Arrived This Week

So I did get a box this week and it was chock full of exciting fragrance. I had asked Franco at Lucky Scent to find me a bottle of my long-coveted and recently discontinued in any online store I could think of bottle of 24.9.11 by Hilde Soliani. He’s such a sweetie that he tracked it down for me so what else could I do but order a couple of extras as a special Thank You, and also to make the shipping seem less incredible.

24-09-11 by Hilde Soliani 2012

24-09-11 FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Calamus (milky, green, cinnamon like grass root), amber, frankincense, myrrh

24-09-11 is part of the Hilde Soliani The Invisibles range, meant to compliment your own fragrance and enhance your confirm your presence. What a stunning way to think of perfume. In reality though 24-09-11 is way too fragrant to be melded with your skin and enhance it, you will be decidedly and lavishly fragrant when wearing this. the opening is sweet and spicy, a non edible radiant caramel incense. Warm and lush and ever so slightly discordant, as if it’s about to topple over into disgusting over sweetened caramel slice at any moment but the green calamus and the incense win out and keep it delightful, wearable and distinguished.

Eau Absolue by Mona de Orio 2013

Eau Absolue Mona di Orio FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica Gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, clementine, petitgrain
Heart: Geranium, java vetiver oil, bay leaf, pink pepper
Base: Cedar, musk, labdanum

BZZZZZZZ! The citrus opening is loads of fun but kept from being a zingy space cadet by whispers of the resins to come even in the first minute. While I sit here in a balmy Sydney summer evening I am enjoying the very unexpected opening. I have read a few reviews before writing tonight, which is not something I usually do, so my expectations were for something quite different, something more mainstream and fizzy. I couldn’t have been more wrong. This is, as I should always expect with a Mona di Orio fragrance, something quite densely layered with everything in the notes list all at once and what will happen is certain accords will get precedence on occasion.

Tokyo Bloom by The Different Company 2012

Tokyo Bloom The Different Company FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Dandelion, galbanum, basil, blackberry (cassis)
Heart: Cyclamen, star jasmine
Base: Guaiac wood, musks, amber

This is interesting, it opens as sharply as hairspray and is a wonderful awkward blend of green, milky, musky, spicy and fizzy tones that I’ve never met together before yet still manages to smell GREAT! I was expecting an aqueous nothing and am beyond pleasantly surprised. You must at least take some time to try this marvelous, well priced, fragrance. A lovely modern interpretation of the Eau de Cologne style.

As you can see these beauties have been on the list for a while. Boy is it nice to have them in the stable now. Today I wafted Eau Absolue and really loved it. Like a scented princess.

What has arrived for you lately?
Portia xx