shopping

Gucci Presents: Bamboo Confidential Movie

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Hi there GUCCI lovers, and haters,

GUCCI is a brand with heaps of awareness through the ages. Even when no one was buying GUCCI it was still a name associated with lavish lifestyles of the rich and famous. Then came the dreary years when you may have bought GUCCI shoes, they were exquisitely produced even to the turn of the century, but not much else. Then Tom Ford came and reignited the brand, brought it to a whole new world of middle classes who wanted to feel rich & famous and who could afford some fragrance, a belt, some shoes or if very lucky a suit/gown/skirt etc

Gucci Bamboo Confidential amsterdam-ftvPhoto Stolen AmsterdamFTV (Problem using this image? tell me)

Now GUCCI is on the slides again but they are doing some fun and interesting advertising, love this mini movie and maybe they will get back to making excellent shoes.

Portia xx

Gucci Presents: Bamboo Confidential

Paris by Chanel – Inside CHANEL Movie

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Hi there Fashionistas,

Here we have another block in the Gabriel “Coco” Chanel story/myth/legend. She has been so painted, glossed and glammed that she could be a decoupage. The house lives on in splendour and Karl Lagerfeld is the reigning monarch. Still the house CHANEL is a major player and an international billion dollar money making factory.

I hope you enjoy their latest mini movie, a piece about the atelier, store and apartment at 31 Rue Cambon and Coco. Magic.

Portia xx

Chanel WallPaperMinePhoto Stolen WallPaperMine

Paris by Chanel – Inside CHANEL Movie

Perfumes That Never Offend My Coworkers

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Post by FeralJasmine

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I work with a fantastic bunch of ladies. We have all been together for several years now, and couldn’t be happier with the arrangement. We know each other’s thought patterns, can predict each other pretty well, and have no serious trouble making decisions by concensus.

So when does the serpent enter paradise? Usually it has to do with perfume. My good colleagues are (thank The Lord and/or Lady) very outspoken and not given to passive aggression, which means that when I wear a scent that one of them doesn’t like, I am going to hear about it. Sometimes this is pretty damn funny: one of them calls anything that she dislikes “patchouli,” which leads to hilarious remarks like “I don’t like that patchouli perfume you’re wearing today” when I’m drifting around in Chanel #5. Aldehydes are a total no-go. Gagging pantomimes greet anything too sweet.

Perfumes That Never Offend My Coworkers

So what does work? I have a stable of stuff that draws purely positive comment. To my surprise, two of them are patchouli scents (but don’t tell my colleague!) Vanillas are happily tolerated if they aren’t too sweet, confirming my suspicion that for many of us, vanilla is THE primal comfort scent. The players are:

Boyfriend Kate Walsh FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Kate Walsh Boyfriend: this lovely warm patchouli-plum-tobacco scent is miles above the usual celebrity perfume and therefore is discontinued, but is still readily available on eBay. I have stocked up and will not be bidding against you.

Unknown Pleasures Kerosene FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Kerosene Unknown Pleasures: Earl Grey tea followed by a soft slightly sweet bakery vanilla. What’s not to like? This one is a great value, and I have obtained a backup bottle.

Lira Xerjoff FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Xerjoff Lira: An exquisite soft vanilla that wafts in the most delicate and appealing way. Unfortunately, it is also $285 a bottle, which works out to quite a bit per waft. Still, I wear it sometimes because there is nothing quite like it. But Unknown Pleasures, after the somewhat brash lemony opening, ends up in much the same place for less than half the price, so no back-up bottles of Lira for me.

Pink Gardenia DSH Perfumes FragranticaPhoto Stolen DSH Perfumes

DSH Pink Gardenia: my one objection to Ms. Hurwitz’s vanillic gardenia is that it is too civilized and private. Which is why I can wear it to work to universal approval. Nobody is aware of it unless they happen to get very close, and then they like it. Now, if only she made a louder version to put on when I get home…

Coze Parfumerie Generale FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

PG Coze: I can’t get my mind around wearing this one to work. But I did once, by mistake, and people loved it. Even the Patchouli-Slaying Queen commented on the lovely spicy resins. So I wear it once in a while at work, and a lot on weekends.

Here are a couple of sample sites that you can go see to try these.
Surrender To Chance
Posh Peasant
My Perfume Samples

I should add that I have dry perfume-euthanizing skin and these might not be subtle enough on everyone. But unless your workplace forbids perfume, there is something that you can get away with. Solicit honest feedback from a few work-buddies, and pay careful attention to what they say. After all, it’s their airspace too!

FeralJasmine X

Equistrius by Marc Antoine Corticchiato for Parfum d`Empire 2007

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

One of the sad things that happens in the perfumista world is that we often have only time to try the new and many of the veteran niche fragrances get left behind in the rush to smell the MILLIONS of latest and greatest. So I thought that I would dedicate as many Saturdays as possible to reviewing fragrances that are older than this current decade. Today we look at….

Equistrius by Parfum d`Empire 2007

Equistrius by Marc Antoine Corticchiato

Equistrius Parfum d`Empire FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Iris, violet, green notes
Heart: Iris, chocolate, woody notes, powder, rice
Base: Amber, sandalwood, vetiver, suede, ambrette (musk mallow)

I thought I’d start with a fragrance that I tried once a while ago and always had on the retry list but it got pushed to the back of the cupboard. Last night for some reason I grabbed Equistrius and spritzed before I went to work. WOW! What most attracted me in the opening is a lovely smokiness, weird because its not talked about and then I wonder if my nose is playing silly buggers but I have just drained my sample for my third wearing and it is most decidedly smoky behind the earthy green opening.

Equistrius Parfum d`Empire Great Smoky Mountains WikpediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Then the scent kind of blurs and becomes a soft focus fragrance that never really settles on a note but waltzes through the heart as a sweet bouquet, this is quite long lasting and smells great but no notes jump out and accost me. Sadly the rice note doesn’t appear on my skin or to my nose. One of the yummiest and freakiest smells in our house is the rice cooking in the pressure cooker. It always smells so enticing and I wish someone would capture that exact scent and bottle it.

Dry down is soft and very close, a mere breath of fragrance shimmering softly above my skin. A sweet vegetal nothing that you have to be very close to notice, pretty and a lovely surprise for someone undressing you……..

Equistrius Parfum d`Empire Brumbies_Australia WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

How do I feel about Equistrius? While I enjoy it very much and love the ride I am not fully taken by Equistrius. Something in it doesn’t sing on my skin and after reading some other pieces on it I think the fault is me, not the frag. There are pieces missing from the puzzle and I wonder if its a sign that Equistrius and I are not buddies. There are so many others in the line that I adore so I can’t really complain. It’s a shame because the notes list and others reviews make me want to smell what they all smell, I think it would smell killer on the right person.

Equistrius Parfum d`Empire Icelandic Horse Brian Gatwicke FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and BOTO
Libertine has $150/50ml with FREE Australian P&H
LuckyScent has $145/100ml in the new bottles
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3.50/ml

Did you ever try this line? What about Equistrius? Did it ever spend skin time with you? What did you think?
Portia xx

Acqua Di Giò by Giorgio Armani: Scent of Freedom Movie – Introducing Luca Dotto

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Woo Hoo APJ,

Who better to advertise a fragrance for men than the Italian Silver Medalist swimmer. He is handsome, great body, successful and has a killer smile. This ad is so freaking beautiful I wanted it to go for 15 minutes.

Acqua Di Giò by Giorgio Armani 2014: Luca Dotto

Acqua-Di-Gio_Scent-of-Freedom ftapePhoto Stolen ftape (Problem using image, let me know)

Giorgio Armani has always known how to sell their product but this is taking it to a whole new level.

Enjoy,
Portia xx

Acqua di Giò: Scent of Freedom – Giorgio Armani

 Acqua Di Giò: Scent of Freedom – Introducing Luca Dotto

Arlesienne by L`Occitane en Provence 2014

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Hey Hey APJ Family,

As you may know one of my girlfriends here in Australia works for L`Occitane en Provence. well this month she has sent me a great set. I gave the hand cream to another girlfriend and she was most impressed by the scent and the softening properties, Anna Maria wore the hand cream for a week to make sure and was very pleasantly surprised with the results.

Arlesienne by L`Occitane en Provence 2014

Arlesienne L`Occitane en Provence FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, pepper, saffron flower
Heart: Grasse rose, lily of the valley
Base: Violet, sandalwood, blonde woods, tonka bean

Something light, fresh and breezy. A lovely wash of fragrance in which the singular notes don’t make huge statements but are a very harmonious and gentle waft. I can imagine Arlesienne being the spritz and go daywear for sunshine days, through spring to autumn. While Arlesienne does not smell wildly expensive or extravagant it does have a sheer, shimmering and youthful zing that will put a spring in your step and a smile on your face.

From L’Occitane Press release: The fragrance is inspired by the Venus of Arles, a Roman statue discovered in 1651 and everything that it represents—the woman of Provence, the ideal of female beauty and the muse of artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Léo Lele, Mistral, Bizet, Christian Lacroix and many others.

AllSteele giveaway 1Photo Stolen AllSteele

Arlesienne by L`Occitane en Provence GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 1 Winner who will get:

1 x Arlesienne by L`Occitane 250ml Shower Gel
1 x Arlesienne by L`Occitane 75ml Body Oil
1 x Arlesienne by L`Occitane 75ml Eau de Toilette
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Tell me a favourite soft & fresh fragrance in your collection and why.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: APJ Arlesienne by L`Occitane GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-3ap  

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 21st September 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org
The winners will have till Thursday 25th September 2014 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 Celebrating Monogram Collaboration Video

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Hey Fashionistas,

Louis Vuitton has been doing some collaborating and I wanted to show you this fun 1 minute Louis Vuitton Celebrating Monogram Collaboration Video. Asking some super great designers, artists and innovators to take their monogram and make something entirely special and new. I think you’ll be suprised with some, desperately want others and be impressed by the sometimes discrete, sometimes overt, pushing of boundaries.

Enjoy,

Portia xx

Twisted Box Frank Gehry Louis VuittonPhoto Stolen Louis Vuitton

From Vuitton: 2014, Six Iconoclasts, One Icon: Christian Louboutin, Cindy Sherman, Frank Gehry, Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Newson, and Rei Kawakubo take inspiration from the icononic Louis Vuitton Monogram.

Louis Vuitton Celebrating Monogram

Layering: Tocca Florence + With Love by Hilary Duff

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Post by Erica Golding

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Layering fragrances is something that I rarely do. I wholeheartedly appreciate that many people delight in the alchemy of mix and match, and personalize their aura by combining two or more scents. According to my personal style, I typically just enjoy a complete fragrance on its own as it was designed, rather than partake in creative experimentation.

I have a few exceptions to this preference, and my ultimate favorite fragrance combination is the insanely breathtaking duet that I am sharing with you today.

Years ago, in college, I was on my way out to party on a Saturday night. I went to my friends’ dorm to pick up my foxy lady crew, and met their neighbor for the first time. She was a vision of pure glamour – glossy blonde mane, perfectly bronzed smooth skin, and piercing clear eyes. She was decked out in a little black dress and heels. (I’m pretty sure I was in jeans and a hoodie, hippie scrub that I was.)

Her fragrance froze me where I stood. Already a perfume junkie, I had no shame in introducing myself by exclaiming: “What perfume are you wearing?!” nShe grinned, beckoned me to follow, and floated into her room. There, she pulled two gorgeous bottles out of a drawer, and offered to spray them on me (“Hell yes, please!”). She stressed that they simply had to be worn together, and that it was pure love potion. “Use with caution!”

Damn right.

Layering: Tocca Florence + With Love by Hilary Duff

Florence Tocca FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Grapefruit leaf, bergamot, pear, apple
Heart: Violet leaf, iris, gardenia, jasmine, tuberose
Base: Musk, white woods

With Love Hilary Duff FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives the following notes:
Top: Spices, mango(steen)
Heart: Cocobolo, mango blossom
Base: Amber, musk.

Tocca Florence and With Love by Hilary Duff are great fragrances on their own, each boasting a level of appeal that far exceeds their status as department-store perfumes. Tocca is an unabashedly intense white floral focusing on creamy tuberose, delightfully brightened by a hint of crisp apple and pear. With Love is a symphonious oriental scent featuring cocobolo (which reminds me of sandalwood), vanilla amber, and mango.

Layering Tropical Sunrise Bill McChesney FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Put them together, and it is hard to describe what happens next. Imagine a tropical sunrise, a volcano exploding, a star going supernova – that’s what happens to my soul when these fragrances marry on my skin. They can’t be separated into their original compositions once they join together. The aroma completely changes as each perfume loses itself in the other, fusing seamlessly and morphing into a singular scent experience. The overall impression is simply enchanting, featuring tender white flowers hovering over a musky amber base with tasteful, subtle accents of fruit and spice.

Florence and With LovePhoto Donated Erica

Please try this if you enjoy tuberose and oriental perfumes. On paper, you may be skeptical about how in the world they could ever work together as one, but I can assure you: It is pure love potion. Use with caution.

Beauty Habit has Tocca Florence 50ml/$68
FragranceX has With Love by Hilary Duff 30ml/$15

Warm wishes for your beautifully fragrant day,
Erica

Tom Ford Noir 2012

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Post by ElizaD

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Tom Ford Noir 2012

Laquer, Pepper, roses, spice, iris, and sweet oranges. Tobacco perhaps? Interesting.

These were my thoughts as I stood in the Sephora sniffing my arm after spritzing Tom Ford’s Noir. The ladies in the Sephora always frown when they see me coming. I SNIFF my perfume. I don’t gently waft the tester under my nose, I spray forcefully and inhale. And I ask for samples! They’re limiting me to two these days. No matter, I am quickly making my way through the whole line of Sephora-approved fragrances at my local outlet. I’m almost done.

Noir Tom Ford Portlandbridges WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

But this was a store in Portland, with many more choices, and saleswomen who were not on to me. I was trying to be discreet, but when you are a head taller and twice as old as almost everyone else in the store, it’s challenging.

Anyway, back to the fragrance. This one gave me pause. With a name like Noir I expected something much more intense. Some oud perhaps, or liquor notes: something thick and viscuous. This was beautiful. It opened with a sparkle of pink pepper and herbs, quickly followed by a sweet laquer note, but quickly settled to a lovely floral bouquet. Powdery with a little spice. Soft and graceful. I could even detect a note of baby shampoo. It reminded me of Jean Charles Broussea’s Ombre Rose. Like the lovely Margaux, who reviewed Noir exactly a year ago, I was intrigued.

Noir Tom Ford FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Italian bergamot, verbena, caraway, baie rose (pink pepper), violet flower
Heart: Black pepper, nutmeg, Tuscan Iris resin, Egyptian Geranium, Bulgarian Rose, Clary Sage
Base: Opoponax, amber, Indonesian patchouli, vetiver, civet, vanilla

So imagine my double surprise when I returned home with my sample and pulled up the information on Fragrantica. A men’s fragrance? Because it has violets and vetiver and verbena? Two months ago I suggested that Essence Aromatique might be suited for a man, and now I seem to be swooning over a men’s fragrance. Hmmm, perhaps after a couple of years my tastes are starting to expand.

Noir Tom Ford Sephora MyNamesAxel FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

It was in the women’s section. I swear.

Further reading: Candy Perfume Boy and Bois de Jasmin
FragranceNet has 50ml/$95 before discount
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

So tell me, APJers, where do you find fragrances to try locally? Are you lucky enough to have sympathetic salespeople at your local stores, or do you have to travel to satisfy your senses? I think I need a roadtrip, STAT!

Juste un Reve EDT by Parfume de Nicolai 1996

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Post by Ainslie Walker

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Here is a little fact for you before we start smelling – Parfums de Nicolai has a link back to Guerlain!! Patricia de Nicolai, the founder is actually a descendant of Pierre Guerlain, the brother of Jaques Guerlain. The brand started in 1989. I found a store in Potts Point in Sydney who sell their candles, not fragrances – Its called Macleay on Manning – check them out when you see them – I would say they are smallish and of the higher end price, bur fragrances are to die for, and at a great strength.

Ok so back to the job at hand:

Juste un rêve by Parfums de Nicolaï 1996

Juste un rêve by Patricia de Nicolaï

Juste un rêve Parfums de Nicolai FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Coconut, apricot
Heart: Jasmine absolute, tuberose absolute
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla

Well I get tuberose, more tuberose, maybe some other flowers and some vanilla marshmallow powder on initial whiff. Something reminds me of Cacherel’s Eden, I have no idea why. Powder? A dryness? Also something fruity, possibly apricot, dried perhaps, or just the skin of the fruit. Sweet. Jasmine too. Underneath some sandalwood. Vanilla starts to pump in strong powder wafts, as the tuberose takes a step backwards.

Juste un rêve Parfums de Nicolai Ballerinas_dancing Brisbane 1942 WikiCommonsPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

I imagine a little bunch of ballerinas in fluffy tutus jumping about, taking it in turns to puff their fluffy, flirty notes towards me. Tuberose: Double Puff! Vanilla: Puff Puff!! Etc. Suddenly 30 mins on and it’s creamier with sandalwood. Tuberose/jasmine/vanilla notes are now in unison, less powdery, more leveled with creamed sandalwood and some hints at apricot fruit skin. SO much tropical floral, but surrounded by a dry hot breeze. I can smell an almost fatty sweet polynesian manoi-type smell. (not sure if you’ve tried the elemis manoi and frangipani body oil in your travels? Its quite yummy) Things have got quite tropical at this stage. Getting warmer! I wish to try it in the hottest summer months, as it reminds me of that feeling of lying in the sun, on holidays deeply comatosed by the suns rays, melting, unable to read or move at all.

Lens Flare at Borobudur Stairs Kala ArchesPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

It remains clean and yet somehow edgy for the whole of the day, and all the way into the evening. Is it that Tuberose note? Kind of sharp within a haze. Maybe like someone is trying to wake us from our tropical slumber, or the cold icy pool/tide starting to nip at our toes. A cube of ice popped into our bikini bottoms by some “hilarious” friend?

In the morning some vanilla and of course tropical floral reminants. It’s pretty enough that I could wear it, I do find it very strong and lasting power of all day and night, really. I read about the coconut notes, but must say I never did get them – to me it’s more manoi. I’m sure lovers of Mahora and it’s tropical floral overdose would love this one. It is “just a dream” a heady heated, tropical, holiday of a dream.

Juste un rêve Parfums de Nicolai Sunbaker max dupain WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin
Parfum1 has $130/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

Ainslie Walker x