Street Art

Post by Portia

Hey there Perfume Peeps,

Today was so wonderful. One of the guys (Jean-Luc) that comes to my Tuesday Trivia has recently started an Art Shop in the mountains near Sydney. They are called the Blue Mountains because something in the eucalyptus trees shimmers blue through the air and thus the mountains look blue from afar, it’s lovely if you have them in your view. Another of the boys from Tuesday Trivia (Leo) is a motorbike rider and we have been chatting for a while about going on a bike excursion to Katoomba to see Jean-Luc. Today was the day.

It started out lovely in the sun, warm and toasty. Figuring it would stay that way I eschewed the thermals, wet weather gear, beany and puffer jacket under my riding kit. BAD IDEA! As soon as we got 20 minutes along the highway, freezing, stinging rain and the strongest winds I’ve ever ridden in. OMG! So freaking cold. It was incredibly exhilarating though and I was kept on constant alert, it was like a ride at a fairground except I was the one who had to be in control of the bike.

Anyway, we get to the top and have the most wonderful coffee before Jean-Luc opens the store. It’s a very modern artists place, mainly catering to spray paint artists who have covered the walls of the store with murals and the back alley has been given to artists from all over the world to paint, each wall a different and magical scene. It’s astounding the intricate detail they are able to bring with a spray can.

After looking at the murals in the area we popped across the road to the funkiest food place ever. The Yellow Deli. An ex-hippy hang if ever there was one. It seems to be a cross between rural, historical, hysterical and home improvements. Every piece lovingly hand rendered, something happening everywhere you turn and all seemingly with little rhyme or reason: eclectic and fun. We were ushered upstairs by a friendly waiter who thought we were a band (super cool US!!) and spent a few minutes just drinking in the ambiance. I had been told what to order and I dutifully did. I think it was called a Darling Rose Sandwich. OMG! Disgusting. Ha Ha Ha ha!! It was too much super salty ham, some onion with tomato chutney and tomato sauce AND mayonnaise. BLEAUGH! I was so hungry though that I ate every bite, and by the end of it I kind of got used to it.

Then the unbelievable happened. 2 hours from the heart of Sydney and it SNOWED!! Big, puffy, soft looking gusts of snow that got so heavy the street was obscured. Totally fabulous. Not enough to cover the world white but it was snow, and from our comfortable seat in the deli it was magical.

After that Leo & I went and had a look at a piece of land I’m quite interested in and then we rode home. While in the mountains I purchased (at 50% Discount!) a pair of electric green merino wool leggings and matching beany, I donned my puffer jacket under my bike jacket and the ride home was considerably warmer, and dryer because the snow and rain had stopped.

When I got home to really warm myself up I drew a bath and used Shalimar Gel Douche as my Bubble Bath. It was fiery hot and deliciously scented. There is no better place in the world to warm a cold, tired body and relax an overactive mind. It was bliss. I have spritzed some recent Shalimar EdP and am now bathed in a cloud of my own sweet smelling loveliness. Sometimes life feels really good.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Further reading: APJ Shalimar Parfum, APJ Shalimar EdP and APJ Shalimar EdC
FragranceNet has $73/90ml current EdP before coupon
Surrender To Chance has EdP samples starting at $3/ml

How do you like to wind down? Do you have a favourite bath soak?

Portia xx

Hey Stink Junkies,

I know this is a perfume blog but sometimes I get sent stuff that I want to share. Unfortunately the email had no photo credits but my mate Wendy sent it to me if that helps. These are just my favourite of an enormous collection of crazy graffiti done by super clever creatives.

SPICEBOMB by VIKTOR & ROLF 2012. It is amazing to me that Spicebomb only came out January this year. There has been so much talk about it that it seems like it’s been around longer. I don’t feel quite so remiss in coming to it this late then, especially because it was generally dismissed rather than applauded. I did find 2 positive reviews below. Opening with citrus, red berries and the sharp, resinous, pine/lemon scent of elemi you could be forgiven for expecting Spicebomb to travel towards generic barbershop but NO WAY! The spicy, sizzling, warmth really ramps up as the paprika and cinnamon move in (I can’t smell the saffron) and then tobacco and leather, which have been sitting there unnoticed, take more of a lead role. Funnily, I really start to smell the pink pepper distinctly over the top of the second and third stages before real dry down begins rather than during the opening sequence, where it is peripheral. The amalgam of these featured scents is fun, spicy and punchy.

Photo Stolen winterfashions

I like the feeling of wearing a fragrance and I like to be fragrant, without skunking those at the next table. It’s awesome that Viktor & Rolf have offered such a sweet and spicy fragrance to the men, even though it’s perfectly unisex and would smell dynamite on a woman. The advertisement (below) features a sexy, buff man chewing on a matchstick, (above) about to pull the pin on a grenade; model Sean O’Pry photographed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.. He’s hot and so is Spicebomb. This is a General Public winner, I reckon.
NowSmellThis and 1000Fragrances do excellent reviews from different viewpoints and Fragrantica has notes, accords and GP reviews.

TIMEBOMB by KYLIE MINOGUE 2012. At the very start of my drag career I was lucky enough to be one of the cast of The Kylie Show at the Albury Hotel on Oxford St in Sydney, Australia with Miss 3D and Bernina Bod. We put the soundtrack, costumes and choreography together in a week. The year was 1990 and I’d only been doing professional Drag work for about a year. For some reason this show became the focus of a phenomenon, it ran for over a year, was written up in national papers, talked about on TV and radio and the venue was so crazy crowded that people were standing on tables, sweat ran down the mirrors and people fainted from the crush. It was the “only” thing to do on a Sunday night and many real stars came to see us do our thing if they were in town, and every week the rumour would be that Kylie was coming in person (she didn’t). Over the next 4 years we put together 2 more Kylie Shows with dancers and bigger costumes but it was never the same. Funny thing is, in this Timebomb video, Kylie doesn’t look a day older. Time Machine would be a good name too, she must have one.

I’ve tortured you all enough,
Thanks for dropping by.
What did you think of Spicebomb?
Hopefully see you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Australian Perfume Junkies

Olfactory Opinions from Oz

Shalimar + Mountain Adventure Photo Essay

Clever Graffiti Artists, Spicebomb by Viktor N Rolf, Timebomb by Kylie Minogue