Hey All,
Recently we showed the CHANEL S/S 2015 Haute Couture show. Here is a little snippet of what it took to make those fabulous gowns the 3D extravaganza that they are. If you love seeing some of the tricks behind the scenes then you will be mesmerised by this 2.34 minute video.
I hope you enjoy,
Portia xx
Photo Stolen Twitter
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Post by Suzanne R Banks
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2015 is the Chinese Year of the Wood Goat. Also referred to as the Sheep, this year is a more congenial year for everyone, with a very social aspect. It is a good time to nurture creativity and to work with others to help fulfill your goals. The goat is a social animal, happy to get along with others and go with the flow.
We may see a burst of creativity internationally, in art and fashion, and a growing focus on sustainability in all fields of life. Contentment in familial relationships will help us to be happier with ourselves and in all our relationships too.
Photo Stolen OpenClipArt
The essential oils that I love for everyone in this goat year are:
Patchouli – grounding and earthly ,peace, world peace
Ylang Ylang – release anger and frustration, an oil of love
Pine – inspirational, abundance through others, connect to mother nature
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
Each animal sign in the Year of the Goat, will respond to challenges differently so why not use an essential oil this year as your good-luck piece of scented magic?
The Rat
Your year ahead – new opportunities, a better year than last year, take care of your health
Your lucky oil – fennel
The Ox
Your year ahead – increased work load, be more organised, avoid risks
Your lucky oil – rosemary
The Tiger
Your year ahead – creative ideas abound, be more focused, enjoy taking action quickly
Your lucky oil – petitgrain
The Rabbit
Your year ahead – plan ahead, look within to find what you love to do, help others
Your lucky oil – cedarwood Virginian
The Dragon
Your year ahead – you are in high demand, enjoy the NOW, travel
Your lucky oil – ginger
The Snake
Your year ahead – be flexible, consider your own needs, have courage
Your lucky oil – palmarosa
The Horse
Your year ahead – busy home life, listen to friends advice, work with others
Your lucky oil – mandarin
The Goat
Your year ahead – be realistic, make connections with new people, enjoy many social occasions
Your lucky oil – lemongrass
The Monkey
Your year ahead – have fun, ride the ups and downs with joy, new enterprise
Your lucky oil – cypress
The Rooster
Your year ahead – seek balance with rest, improve your lifestyle, be moderate
Your lucky oil – lavender
The Dog
Your year ahead – improve your psychic abilities, patience, accept newcomers
Your lucky oil – basil
The Pig
Your year ahead – popularity abounds, become entranced in projects, improve spiritual practices
Your lucky oil – frankincense
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
Which Chinese zodiac animal are you? How will you use your lucky oil this year?
Best wishes to all my lovely readers and bon chance!
Suzanne R Banks xx
Suzanne R Banks Blog
Suzanne R Banks Aromatherapy
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Please check out my new book REVELATION! – Reveal Your Destiny with Essential Oils
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Post by Ainslie Walker
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The case of the unscented shower:
While I was in Melbourne recently Jill from Peony Melbourne popped a David Mallet shampoo and conditioner sample in one of my bags. I had no idea what the hype was about the Mallet products, but since Peony only sells the best and Jill’s hair continually looks healthy and shiny, I was definitely going to give them a try.
Photo stolen Peony Melbourne
Without reading up on them I jumped in the shower and lathered up. Something was weird. At first I didn’t comprehend what it was. SILENCE!
GASP!!
Halfway through my shower I realized: It was completely UNSCENTED!!
I don’t now how long it’s been since I have had a scentless shower, but it was relaxing…incredibly so! Fantastic even!
My poor nose is on the go almost 24/7 sniffing for scents, so the 5 minutes (I’m on tank water…) I spent washing my hair suddenly felt meditative! No distractions I was right in the moment “Zen-ing out” as I lathered my hair.
Photo Stolen WikiMedia
IT FELT WEIRD!! Like an eerie silence in a place that’s normally so noisy.
It was only after as I mulled the experience over in my head that I also realized that if I were anosmic that would be my showering experience (and every experience) EVERYDAY. Just my thoughts and I, no scents to distract me and take my mind away from the moment. Is that what scents are for us? Escapism?
After a little research I learn Hairdresser David Mallet is originally Australian and now is based in Paris. He does all the celebs hair and works for all the top fashion magazines for their shoots. It’s always fab to learn about Australians who are doing so well overseas!
Photo stolen Peony Melbourne
What other scentless products do you use? Has anyone else used any effective scentless hairstyling products? What are your favorite scented beauty products? Do we have too many scented products all-screaming to us from our bathroom shelves?
Perhaps there is a time and a place to enjoy the “silence”
David Mallet is available in Melbourne and mail order from Peony Melbourne
Ainslie Walker x
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange, mandarin
Heart: Neroli, lily of the valley, fig milk, peach
Base: Madagascar orchid absolute, iris, musk
Néroli & Orchidée opens bright and fresh, a crisp citrus with a slight pithy undertone. If it reminds me of anything it is a Guerlain Aqua Allegoria, the same pretty and energetic opening so summery and lively. Suitable for young girls, mums and grandmas Néroli & Orchidée seems happy and uplifting, also excellent for the gents. I could imagine it being a go-to fragrance for the warmer weather or when the dreary greys and cold days of winter are starting to get you down, then Néroli & Orchidée would be a fabulous panacea.
Through the fruity floral heart L’Occitane has cleverly kept it bright but left out the sugar hit so many modern frags have, I would love to try it in a more concentrated parfum form. The base is a soft, furry wash that smells clean and fresh. Nothing terribly groundbreaking here and the die hard perfumistas will be bored but Néroli & Orchidée is definitely good value and you will smell great.
Portia xx
Photo Stolen AllSteele
This week we will have 4 winners who will each get:
1 x 75ml bottle of Néroli & Orchidée by L’Occitane (Australians will get a special surprise extra)
P&H Anywhere in the world
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
Please go to L’Occitane and find me a fragrance and one of its notes. NO DOUBLE UPS!!!
Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Neroli & Orchidee #GIVEAWAY @LOCCITANE @LOCCITANE_au http://wp.me/p3PURw-3E6 #Perfume
Entries Close Sunday 1st March 2015 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 5th March 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.
Hello Sniffer Peeps,
Many years ago I wore Fendi Donna, wore it like a wall of fragrance, spritzed and spritzed. It was more than a signature scent, it was armor. Sadly it was discontinued, as so many of the greats are, and I bought all I could get my hands on and used it up. Because I freaking loved it so much. What a fragrance.
Then in 2004 Fendi launched a Fendi with a white saddle on the bottle and i thought they had re-released my long lost love. I spritzed it and was so let down that I walked away. This was not what I was expecting or wanted. Where was my screaming, fizzy, superpowered scent?! Too saddened by my let down to ever give Fendi 2004 a chance. Until one day a couple of years ago my friend Cassandra had a bottle of it on her sale list. I’ll buy it, said I and buy it I did.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Freesia, Tunisian neroli, Sicilian mandarin
Heart: Iris, tiare flower, gardenia
Base: Amber, sandalwood, vanilla
You are dreaming. It’s the most lavish greenhouse in a tropical paradise. As you wander though you pass citrus in flower and fruit, bulbs are being forced in pots and the profusion of flowers is both heady and mesmerising, all so perfect it smells totally unreal. Warm and sensual as you wander through in your sarong your calves and knees brush the gardenia flowers on their bushes and you can reach out and pluck the gloriously outrageous tiare flowers and smoosh them right into your nose. If your dreams had an olfactory facet, this Fendi from 2004 is exactly what it would smell like.
Fendi 2004 is sweet but not sugary or bakery style, it is sweet flowers with that fabulous vanilla/amber wash running through the bouquet creating a very elegant warmth over all and really giving that tropical feeling. Like you’ve been plucked from your life and landed in a Paul Gauguin painting.
Photo Stolen WikiCommons
Quite a noticeable fragrance but not a BWF, just a beautiful tropical wash that will float you away to another place and time…..
Universal Perfumes & Cosmetics have $80/50ml
Am I glad that Fendi 2004 is in my collection? Yes. Will I search out another bottle when this one is empty? No. Very pretty, super wearable but a little synthetic smelling. No, I have nothing against synthetic fragrances but this has a cheapish, drugstore feel about it more reminiscent of a Paris Hilton price range than a Fendi one.
Did you try it when it was available? Is there a Fendi fragrance that you love?
Portia xx
Hey Hey APJ,
One of my heroes is Dame Edna Everidge. She paved a form of drag that made it a good deal more acceptable to make my own career choices. With her fun, caustic, witty and well researched brand of humour she reached millions of people who would never have even thought about seeing a drag show in its Gay Land form but who would cough up big bickies to see this mad maven mock and reduce everything they were and loved. Did it in such a way that both victim and audience were laughing. That is an amazing talent.
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
I have only met Barry Humphries on a couple of occasions and he was extremely charming. When I thanked him for making my career choices easier, made it so much easier to say to Mum that I was going to be like Dame Edna, in fact made what I do verge on acceptable he was so humble and modest. It had never occurred to him that his being Dame Edna changed anyone’s life for the better other than the moments he spent making them laugh and think in theatres and on TV around the globe.
60 years in a profession notorious for its brevity. Amazing.
Here you see a chat on The Talk in America. Even though Dame Edna is her usual caustic self you can tell there has been long, hard thought about life and the place in it that Barry and Edna hold by both the cast and Edna. A lovely 3.20 minutes.
Enjoy,
Portia xx
Till Valentines Day Feb 14 you can get FREE SHIPPING with SmellBent orders over $30. You have only a day to get in there.
Go to it crew,
Portia xx
This week we will have 1 Winner who will receive:
5 x SmellBent 4ml samples: slightly used (FrankenSmellie s13#916, Gimme A Break!, Ice Station Zebra, Pere Noel Coward, Winter Vixen)
P&H
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
Go to SmellBent and find me a fragrance and one of its notes. NO DOUBLE UPS!!
Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie http://wp.me/p3PURw-3C9 SmellBent GIVEAWAY! #Perfume #Giveaway @smellbent
Entries Closed Friday 13th February 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winner was chosen by random.org
Photo Stolen HighestSelf
CONGRATULATIONS!! The winner will have till Monday 16th February 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.
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Post by Azar
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Portia: Hi there APJ, Azar is suffering the busy life syndrome too. You may know that she is a music teacher and I asked her to give me some music to put with one of her all time favourite fragrances, Jungle Gardenia by Tuvaché, Jovan and now Coty. I edited up an email she sent me after talking about losing myself in music and fragrance simultaneously, thanks Azar for opening my ears to something new. I love the way this piece jumps and spins, even when my mind wanbts to wandfer into thought it is jolted back to the music by its mood and force changes. Lovely.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Greens, bitter orange, clary sage, cyclamen, heliotrope
Heart: Gardenia, tuberose, tarragon, violet leaf, lily of the valley, jasmine, ylang-ylang
Base: Oakmoss, benzoin, sandalwood, musk
I don’t think I ever did a Jungle Gardenia post…just commented a lot and mentioned Jungle Gardenia in some other reviews of vintage fragrances. I have a nice little stash of the really good old stuff (parfum and skin scent) and should probably do a review one of these days. The sillage is astounding and the longevity unbelievable. I spilled a little on a tissue in June. Not wanting to waste a drop I stored the tissue in my sock drawer. Every time I open that drawer I am greeted with an indolic floral blast and now my feet even smell like gardenias!
Photo Stolen DeviantArt
Below is a great piece of music by the Brazilian composer Hector Villa Lobos, Choros #5, Alma Brasilieras. This piece is rich, dark, deep and humid…not unlike Jungle Gardenia. This was originally written for piano. I have performed and taught the original solo piano version numerous times over the years. I have never made a recording myself and so hoped to find one on You Tube. Every single version I found had numerous rhythmic errors…so annoying. The YoYo Ma cello/piano version is beautiful and correct. I hope it gives you some idea of the piece as it was originally written for piano.
I have always loved Villa Lobos’ music. When Brad needed a companion piece to the Beethoven Triple I suggested another piece by Villa Lobos that was originally for piano and subsequently arranged by the composer for string orchestra – the Prelude from Bachianis Brasilieras 4 – the first 10 minutes of this second You tube video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mf3SQ3dVz8. Notice the musician wiping the tears away at about 6:16 minutes into the recording.
Azar xx
Here is something that resonated so strongly with me. Really leapt into my head and heart in an AHA moment so real and physical that it was like being struck by lightning. SHIT! Of course that’s how the creative process works, as if it could be any other way. It’s the percolation of success and failure that can only happen over time, with repeating the processes so regularly that they become you. Creation, in my case, needs craft and art so when someone speaks to me of the way that I need to continue, to create and create and create to reach the creation that I will be happy with is to see my life put into a two minute video, condensed to a microcosm and it makes it look like I have unwittingly stumbled across my secret plan. So secret even I was blissfully unaware that I had one.
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
Sorry to bore you with my ramble, watch the video. It probably won’t blow your mind like it did mine but it’s a worthwhile skerrick of information to have anyway.
Portia xx
Heya Fabulous APJ Family,
Shit is real around here, real BUSY. I am spraying new stuff a bit. Today I wore a new Australian house
Magnolia ’13 by Cult of Scent
WOW!! Creamy, furry, citrus with a pithy undertone and a lovely sillage that lasts well into the second hour, even into the fourth hour I can softly smell a musk/vanilla/white flower/citrus wash. I am going to use my very small amount up this weekend, FABULOUS!
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Kokorico by Jean Paul Gaultier
Also a divinely delicious scent Kokorico is smooth, woody and sweet. I was surprised that vanilla was not in the notes. Why was this not a huge hit, I only have a decant but I freaking LOVE it. I smell really good. MMMM
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Now, please do yourself a favour. Just for an hour. Log off, get up and walk around, make a coffee and sit in a room you rarely sit in, go to the corner store, go pat your dog, go pull up some weeds. Spritz yourself with fragrance and get going. You will feel better about almost everything if you do.
See you back here later.
Portia xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 