Niche & Mainstream Manufacturers Sample GIVEAWAY OCT13

October 11, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 37 Comments

Hey There APJ!!

I have a bunch of 10 carded and boxed Manufacturers Samples that I have tried, written about and loved or not. They are lying around in my office and will never be looked at again. A couple of them are only half full but others are only 2 spritzes used or brand new that I have doubles of. So what better way to share the love than a FABULOUS GIVEAWAY!!

Niche & Mainstream Manufacturers Sample GIVEAWAY

Photo Stolen hemodernhome

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

The winner will receive one each of these Manufacturers Samples:

Flash Back by Olfactive Studio
Acqua Di Gio Essenza by Giorgio Armani
Accord 119 by Caron
Jour d’Hermès by Hermes
Esvedra by Laboratorio Olfattivo
Coco Noir by CHANEL
Modern Muse by Estee Lauder
Guilietta by Tocca
Angeliques Sous La Pluie by Frederic Malle
Treffpunkt 8 Uhr by J F Schwartzlose Berlin

P&H Anywhere in the world

Photo Stolen Feedio

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.

All I need is you to say a perfume on your wish list, and why, and how you follow for you to be eligible for the draw.

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie PERFUME SAMPLE GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-246 #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 13th October 2013 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, put on a tray and Jin will pick a winner (unless he asleep or studying then I’ll use random.org).
The winners will have till Wednesday 16th October 2013 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.

Good Luck everyone,

Portia xx

Burberry Body (Rose Gold) by Michel Almairac 2012

October 9, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hello Perfume Junkies,

Over the last couple of days the conversation on FFF (Facebook Fragrance friends) has been quite spirited, I asked if anyone has any mainstream designer fragrances in their closets. Considering the FFF crew are about as hard core a bunch of perfumistas as you’ll find anywhere in the world I was expecting to be chided mildly, ignored or snidely dissed. What I did not expect was an overflowing of love for the designer genre and mainstream in general. Fullsome praise for the YSL, DIOR, CHANEL, Mugler, many of the make up companies like Estee Lauder and even some of the celebuscents. It was a general and obviously cathartic experience and heaps of people let their dirty little fragrant secrets out as if holding them in was hurting.

Burberry Body (Rose Gold) 2012

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Wormwood, peach, freesia
Heart: Iris, rose absolute, sandalwood
Base: Cashmere wood, vanilla, amber, musk

In my reading I have discovered that this is the original Burberry Body in a new bottle, the notes are exactly the same. The first rush is all synthetic peach, a bright, sharp and plastic peach with freesia adding a swoony accompaniment and some green that could be wormwood but just as easily could be something coniferous. One the whooosh of the opening everything settles down to play nice and the whole composition seems to fade to a fancy, wet, shimmering, hum of fruity floral. To be honest I would love Burberry Body Rose Gold in a soap or laundry softener, it has that clean, fresh, breezy attitude and I can imagine it being an excellent workhorse of a fragrance, a spritz and forget, long lasting, fragrant nothing in a fun bottle, though I bet it’s really annoying to try and keep upright.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

As we wend our way into the heart I can smell the extra rose facets, pretty, murmuring rose-ish, fruity and spicy like a garden rose, I get the correlation though Burberry Body Rose Gold is a nod to it not a realistic replication and behind the rose is a hint of metal, as if you’ve just put a cold spoon in your mouth. The iris and sandalwood are playing way down low, I can’t pick them. The dry down is a soft focus sweet, but not cloying, still fruity wood with a bunch of clean musk, the vanilla only a hint. Through the heart I do get hints of peony though, that sweet, watery, green floralcy that they get as you cut them and put them in a vase, there are moments of real prettiness in Burberry Body Rose Gold that are better than you expect.

Photo Stolen Akban Martial arts academy Flickr

It reads like I don’t like Burberry Body Rose Gold, which is a false impression because I do like it. I don’t love it, probably will not buy a bottle when my decant is finished and think that Burberry can afford to do better, BUT there is definitely a place for Burberry Body Rose Gold. It’s ageless, easy wear fragrance that will not be too strong even if you are a wicked oversprayer. You can spritz it in the morning and know that you’ll still be softly fragrant for drinks after work. Spritzed into your moisturiser or body lotion/oil it will give you a clean fresh feeling all day, there are way worse offerings that cost a lot more.

Photo Stolen Rie Shimizu Flickr

Further reading: Now Smell This and Beauty Basics
FragranceNet has $45/60ml in the Limited Edition EdP
My Perfume Samples starts at $2/ml but I got the $7/5ml

Have you or do you wear Burberry Body Rose Gold? Have you tried it?
See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Palmarosa – Soft Skin and Happiness

October 8, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Suzanne R Banks

Palmarosa – Soft Skin and Happiness

Photo stolen Wikipedia

I’ve used this lovely oil with clients a few times in the past couple of weeks. It blends well with so many oils and adds a green, fresh and slightly rosey scent to a formula. This is a relative newcomer to aromatherapy and doesn’t really have a rich colourful history like the spice oils, but is a wonderful addition to a collection. This gorgeous grass originally hails from India and is sometimes known as East Indian geranium. It’s also grown in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. Although I can’t really find out a lot about this lovely oil I assume, like lemongrass, it has been used in India as a part of their Ayurvedic lifestyle and natural way of treating disorders in the body.

Palamarosa (Cymbopogon martini) is a grass like lemongrass and citronella, and belongs to the same family – Graminae (or Poaceae). This is the family of ‘true grasses”. There’s also a gingergrass plant that creates an essential too, and that is quite close to palmarosa as it is a variation of the plant – Cymbopogon martini var. sofia. One of my suppliers offers gingergrass oil and although I don’t use it therapeutically is has a beautiful soft scent. Maybe I’ll do a story on that oil soon.

Back to palmarosa – which is an oil often used in cosmetics and soaps to enhance the scent and add an inexpensive rose scent to the product.

I’ve always used palmarosa as a skin conditioning oil and one of it’s main components is geraniol so that may give you a hint too, as geranium is a great oil for the skin. However it’s interesting to note that geranium only contains about a third of the amount of geraniol than palmarosa! And while we are on the geraniol track, lemongrass has a high content of geranial – a different molecule with slightly different carbon bonds (with a similar function).

In aromatherapy today palmarosa is used for

* hydrating the skin and hair

* as a stimulant for skin cell growth therefore working well on scar tissue and the uneven appearance of skin

* as a tonic to the digestive system

* as an insect repellent – just like lemongrass and citronella

* I use it as an oil for happiness and for flexibility in the emotions and thoughts

Photo Stolen Cinnamon Vogue Flickr

Try these combo’s –

Scent your space

1. Scent Your Space

In a traditional oil burner with a candle or a diffuser add 25 drops of oil

“Aperitif”

Get your house in the mood for a lovely dinner

Palmarosa 10 drops

Mandarin 8 drops

Juniper 7 drops

—————————————————————————————————————————————

“I’m Going to be Flexible on this Issue”

Palmarosa 8 drops

Rosemary 5 drops

Geranium 5 drops

Siberian Fir 7 drops

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Photo Stolen RamshackleGlam

2. Nourishing Body Oil Blend

For a coat of your body use 3 teaspoons of carrier oil in a little dish and, add 7 – 8 drops of essential oil.

***** Always put the drops of essential oil into the bottle or dish first, then add the carrier oil. It gives the scents time to create a synergistic fusion.

For a 50ml bottle of oil add 25 drops and see my articles “Ratios for Blending Essential Oils – A Reminder of the Basics” and “Aromatherapy – It’s Easy as 1 2 3”

“Sweet and Soft”

Soften up your skin and add a little sweetness –

Palmarosa 3 drops

Peru Balsam 3 drops

Lavender 2 drops

—————————————————————————————————————————————

“Gettin’ Vibed Up”

An oil blend to refresh and send you into the day with gusto –

Palmarosa 2 drops

Cinnamon 2 drops

Lemon 2 drops

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Happy blending and remember to use your intention when you are creating your formulas. See my article about intention.

Suzanne R Banks

Suzanne R Banks Blog
Suzanne R Banks Aromatherapy
Suzanne R Banks FaceBook

Karl Lagerfeld Interview – CHANEL S/S14 Ready-to-Wear

October 6, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hi Gang,

Karl Lagerfield has been inspiring and creating since before I went to Fashion School. His name is synonymous with innovation, elegance and lately with wearability: one of the most credible designers who I think will go down in history as one of the greats. Here he talks about the CHANEL Spring and Summer Ready To Wear collection for 2014. I like him and his take on fashion.

Photo stolen Jerine Lay Flickr

Please enjoy.

Portia xx

CHANEL Karl Lagerfeld Interview

Spring-Summer 2014 Ready-to-Wear CHANEL show

DIOR: J’Adore the Movie

October 2, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Hello Frag Heads!!

One of the best known perfumes in the world is J’Adore by DIOR. That fabulously iconic bottle, so simple yet so evocative, elegant and luxe. I have a recentish 2011 EdP. This little beauty by Calice Becker was launched in 1999 and has become so outrageously successful that for a while it was all you smelled, you could pick people in the street wearing it. Sensational projection and sillage it gives a very definite nod to the power frags of the 1980s. A fun, rich, sizzling fruity floral that is so far beyond all the other department store offerings of the genre that it stands alone. even now that it has had some surgery, is leaner and more transparent. So many copy cats have missed the whole allure of …

J’Adore by Calice Becker for DIOR 1999

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Magnolia, melon, peach, pear, mandarin, bergamot
Heart: Freesia, orchid, rose, violet, lily of the valley, plum, jasmine, tuberose
Base: Musk, vanilla, cedar, blackberry

An opening that all the celebuscents and drug store offerings try so hard to imitate, but they never seem to get the melon just at that point of pre-dustbin overripeness, the magnolia doesn’t have that gorgeously plush waxinessand the background fruit salad never seems like it could lead you astray with a wink.Here the proportions are perfect and when I smell J’Adore I think of all those fabulous women that are secure and wonderful enough to wear such a beauty.

The bouquet in the heart is pretty and wafts for hours with its plummy, very slightly indolic, siren call. Even through the heart of J’Adore’s 7-8 hour lifespan the woods and vanilla plump up the flowers and give them a cozy breadth, the musks may be helping too at this point but I miss them completely. Towards the end J’Adore goes transparent and has a pretty woodsy/vanilla/musk wash that has become a little generic because it smells good and everyone wanted their inferior products to smell like that. The dry down reminds me of the Our Moment dry down but it lasts less long and can be washed off, unlike the One Direction offering.

If you spray J’Adore on your scarf or in your handbag it will smell like that for the whole season with one spritz.

Photo Stolen Ana_Cotta Flickr

Most of the time we aren’t trolling the department stores for our scents now the wormhole has claimed us, but if you happen to be walking by spritz a card, or skin if you have some spare, and enjoy the ride.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin takes a look at the changes that have happened to J’Adore and Perfume Shrine
FragranceNet starts at $75/30ml before coupon
Surrender To Chance has EdP in current $3/ml and vintage $5/ml

Today we have a wonderful film about J’Adore, created by the DIOR company so it’s really a 22 minute advert. There is some very interesting stuff in here too though if you have the time.

See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

J’Adore the film

Hermès Maxi-Twilly Mini Movie

September 28, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Heya Hermès fans,

As we have discussed before, I love Hermès! It is a brand that I have always followed since Mum had some Caleche in her fragrant armory at some point in our childhood. Many of her friends had scarves and bags but for some reason Mum wasn’t interested in their other offerings, though both Dad and I were given Hermès ties. My memory tells me she did have an Hermès scarf ring but I could be making that up.

If Mum were alive today I would be banging down the door of Hermès THIS MORNING after seeing this video. I think this is the PERFECT Hermès idea, so versatile, wearable, fun and elegant. This is definitely what the cool kids will be wearing this year.

In Australia a printed silk Hermès Maxi-Twilly, 220x20cm will set you back AU$395.00.
In the UK a printed silk Hermès Maxi-Twilly, 220x20cm is £205.
In the USA a printed silk Hermès Maxi-Twilly, 87” x 8” is $290.

I hope you like this super fun ad/movie. I think Hermès has hit the nqail on the head again,
Loads of love,
Portia xx

Photos Stolen from the Hermès Australia site

Sydney Botanic Gardens: Sydney Perfume Lovers Perfume Walk 2013

September 27, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Hi there APJ Crew,

There is something very internal about being a perfumista, a collector of fragrance and bottles, stalking the internet and spritzing selfishly and often for you alone. The only way to make perfume more fun is to get involved with the rest of the perfumistas in your area, some deep dark perfumistas and some still skirting the edges of the woremhole. It’s amazing how much fun, laughter and interest there is in sharing the experiences of discovery and knowledge.

Portia xX

Sydney Perfume Lovers Perfume Walk 2013

Sydney Botanic Gardens: Saturday 12th October 10am-12.30pm

Perfume consultant Catherine du Peloux Menagé teams up with Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney volunteer guides Mary Threlfall, Jill Paterson and Rosemary Roberts for a talk and walk. Learn about the plants used to make perfumes and the process of extracting scent.

Catherine will also explain the fragrance wheel and the role of synthetic scents. This is a perfect way to simply and easily expand your fragrant vocabulary and knowledge. It will give you a clearer picture of fragrance styles you may like and also open up new doors into personal scenting you may never have traveled through.

Then be guided through the Garden to explore fragrant plants. Below is a picture of Catherine with your three guides through the gardens, don’t they look sweet and fun?

Where, What and How Much?

Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney Joseph Maiden Theatre, Sat 12 Oct, 10am–12.30pm

Members: $35, Non-Members: $40

All Sydney Perfume Lovers get the $35 Members price!
Yes you can join today for FREE JOIN SYDNEY PERFUME LOVERS<<<JUMP

For Bookings Phone 02 9231 8182 or visit rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/foundationandfriends

CHANEL: Once Upon A Time #7 Mini Movie

September 27, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Hello Gorgeous Perfume Peeps.

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. a tirelessly redefined model for success. In every era since her self inception Coco has been held up as the pinnacle of that eras aspirational success. That she was amazing, inventive, driven and well outside the norm is not ever under question. That her personal morals and judgements were often in poor taste and even evil is sometimes overlooked for her genius. If Coco was alive today with her way of thinking I would not buy the CHANEL product because she was a bigot, and an oppressor. Coco is gone and CHANEL remains. Long live CHANEL and I chose to look at the wonder, not the history, except to remember that not all is as it seems.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Please enjoy this mini movie for the wonderful piece of propaganda that it is.

Portia xx

Gabrielle Chanel – Inside CHANEL

Photo Stolen girlwiththecuriousnose

Drag Queens, Cookie Queens and Chanel´s Coromandel

September 25, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 25 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Drag Queens, Cookie Queens and Chanel´s Coromandel.

Or How I met Portia Turbo-Gear of AustralianPerfumeJunkies.

Photo Stolen AlexDonald

Fragrantica gives these featured accordfs:
Top: Bitter orange,citruses, neroli
Heart: Jasmine, rose, patchouli, orris
Base: Musk, woodsy notes, benzoin, olibanum, incense, vanilla, white chocolate

I know that this fragrance was named after the exquisite Chinese lacquered wood screens in Coco Chanels house, but I prefer to think of it as having been named after the Coromandel Coast, the name given to the southeastern coast of the Indian Subcontinent. Much more suited to the rich, patchouli, amber, incensed based Eau de Toilette. It belongs to the luxurious collection of Les Exclusifs de Chanel. Nose is Jacques Polge. It´s classed as a fragrance for women. That is so not true. It is equally suited to a bloke. But we know all this stuff don´t we? It´s been covered so well – Olfactoria, Bois de Jasmin, …….

I saw on APJ, early January 2013, that Portia and Jin were headed to Europe, with a list of dates as to when and where they would be. Well, as fate would have it, the pair of them were in Vienna on the same day as I was visiting the city. I dropped them a mail, offered a bag of fresh baked cookies, and we had a date!

Now after seven years in Amsterdam, there is nothing that can really phase me. However, I got my daughter and her friend to come along too. I had never had a blind date with an Australian drag queen before, and a little moral support never goes amiss eh? We arrived a little early, hit the Chanel Exclusif counter, where I doused myself in Coromandel. Meeting point was Café Mozart, downtown Vienna. A very beautiful, very Viennese coffee house. We had absolutely no clue as to who we were looking for, having not stalked the pair online to see what they looked like. We went into the cafe, looked around, saw no one that looked like they were waiting for us, and went out again.

I was carrying a Chanel bag, complete with camellia, in which I had the cookies packed up. A dead giveaway, or so I thought. We went outside to wait. It was damn cold. Not knowing if Portia would be in drag or not, we stared down every woman that walked by. Is it? Isn´t it? We had such a laugh. I finally texted them and asked if I had been stood up. Portia texted back “Inside grey Christmas jumper left near window, standing:” And there they were. Portia dressed in a Marks and Sparks looking sweater with a kind of Scandinavian christmas tree pattern. And I was looking for Dame Edna? Epic fail. (Portia had been outside, and seen us, and thought that anyone carrying a Chanel bag was too posh for them, and went back inside – is that a double epic fail??)

It was as though we had know each other for years. ( Portia has the gift of making you feel loved right away!!) I told my daughter she could leave. No, no, no …… no way. She was absolutely staying put. Wouldn´t miss it for the world!! Portia and Jin had also spritzed themselves, with Coromandel and Cuir de Russie. Great minds ……. In amongst the conversation, which ran at about a hundred miles an hour, I said maybe I could write a piece for the blog sometime. Not planned, never thought about it, absolutely no perfume writing skills …….. in fact, after 20 years of speaking bad German, and losing a lot of my English vocabulary, I didn´t really know if could string a sentence together. But here I am!!

We went onto the Chanel store together. I bought a bottle of Coromandel. We drove the shop assistant into lid-flipping insanity, and I had to grab my new friend Portia by the hand and drag him out the store. I had a feeling he was going to show the poor Austrian assistant what a colorful vocabulary I was sure that he had!! Each time I wear Coromandel, I am zapped back to that day, and to the short time we had with Portia and Jin. The memories with some perfumes are so etched into our brains that we cannot get rid of them. In this case it is awesome!!

Some that say that the longevity of Coromandel is not so good. Why do you think it comes in that half gallon bottle? Spray it on guys, lots of it and all over. Works a treat. I am in the minority. I love the huge bottle. It´s just so damn satisfying. It is an EdT and should be treated as such. Spritz baby spritz.

Portia opened a new chapter in my life. Not only with APJ. Through him I met two absolutely wonderful perfumistas living on my doorstep. My horizons have been widened, my circle of friends increased, my perfume collection has grown.

Is today September the 25th??? HAPPY BIRTHDAY PORTIA!!!

Photo Stolen 43things

A thousand bussis, to the sky and back.

Val xxxxxxx

RAPE! It’s Your Fault.

September 22, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hello Australian Perfume Junkies no matter where you are,

Indian actresses talk about rape. This is a clever, shocking and confronting piece that you need to watch. I am astounded that the west hasn’t done something like this already.

Photo Stolen Samantha Marx Flickr

Please share this video everywhere you can. If even one person is not raped because of it then it is a success.

Rape is NOT your fault.

Portia xx