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FAME by Coty for Lady Gaga 2012

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Hi all you Little Fragrance Monsters,

So it’s not news that Lady Gaga has a fragrance released by her own The Haus Laboratories Paris and the historic house of Coty. You won’t be surprised to hear that it’s the first black Eau de Parfum. The bottle is pretty cool looking in pictures, like a Thierry Mugler cuff treatment or a freaky fascinator for the races. The ads have been wonderful homages and pastiches and have included enough excellent visual content, costume, make up, art direction and lighting to almost completely obscure the fact that we are being sold the same fruit tingle, soft jube, fizzy, fruity, 100% artificial pap that nearly every other celeb and quite a few of the expensive big boys are bottling and calling perfume.

WTF? Lady Gaga, you have let us down. Your promises of an olfactory adventure, the blood & semen accord, the outrage and scandal of your brilliant advertising that hits your target market dead on have all lead to this slightly fizzy dross? Oh yeah!! You know your target market. You know that this has been what is served to them since they started thinking fragrance, you want to sell stuff not make a gesture, not teach a lesson, not change the board but play to it. Smart! It’s not bad, just derivative and BORING Boring boring ZZZZZZZZZZzzzz

Instead of venting my spleen here I decided to do something different. I took FAME by Lady Gaga to Trivia last night thinking I would get the crowds reaction because many of my players are the target market, here’s how that turned out.

I was wearing FAME and the first thing that happened when I walked in was a question about my fragrance and a compliment on it. I had my dinner as everyone was arriving and was chatting and welcoming everyone over the next 40 minutes. As we got started on the trivia I asked if anyone would like to smell my pre Aussie release import of FAME and a surprising amount of hands went up. Thank goodness I’d ordered a 5ml  decant! So around the room I went spraying on a couple of wrists at each table and folks, the place smelled absolutely gorgeous. Those opening notes are really great en mass in a large room with no other scent distractions. Everyone was huffing away at themselves from 18 to 80 years old and it really smelled wonderful.

Even as they were leaving 2 hours later I was getting fragrant wafts of fruity fizz, not strong but still quite nice and everyone had really enjoyed being the first Aussies to get a go at it. Some even going as far as to say that they would definitely be purchasing a bottle when it is released here later this month. So what do I know? Bloody nothing obviously. It’s a hit across the board. All ages and sexes were entranced by FAME.

Fragrantica gives these featured accords: Belladonna, incense, honey, saffron, apricot, Sambac jasmine, tiger orchid

On me the opening zips, fizzes and sizzles and that must be the apricot and saffron, there is also a very clean white flower that has been completely stripped of its sensuality. After about an hour it becomes much quieter and stays quite linear after the initial rush. I feel that there is no base holding the fragrance down. I would have liked some real depth to centre it a little more. Somewhere in the 3-4 hour area it becomes too soft for me to notice much other than that it is not my skin but something sweeter, almost but not quite milk and fairy floss, or DAIRY DROSS. I can’t say after wearing it for 2 days that I hate it but I don’t love it and wish I had more of a reason to purchase the bottle, but no…..

What fragrance have you been let down by lately? You know, the build up and hype had you HYPErventilating till you tried it? Please leave me a message in the comments. I love this kind of insight.

I hope you’re having a great day, if not the good times will roll around soon enough so please endure the crap.
Love always,
Portia xx

All Videos and Photos stolen Fragrantica

Sui Love by Jean-Louis Grauby for Anna Sui 2002

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

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Guest Post by EmmaKate

SUI LOVE

Sensational day to you perfumistas!

My life is currently going full throttle, no brakes, all change, so for this Guest Post I have chosen to share with you my adoration for Sui Love from Anna Sui from my dresser.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured notes:
Floral-fruity composition is in perfect harmony with warm musky and vanilla base. Sicilian bergamot, Japanese osmanthus, and passion fruit create an aery floral introduction into a gorgeous blooming garden of the middle notes: Italian violet, orange blossom, water lily, Egyptian jasmine, white rose and tuberose, spiced with a touch of pink pepper.

Australian christmas dinner by Daniel Forsell

This fragrance always reminds me of Christmas at my parents place. I LOVE Christmas, family and friends, good food, good wine and everyone in great spirits.There is a real tree, freshly cut gardenias, a fruit salad on the table and it is sunny and warm outside.

Sui Love makes me feel girly and happy. It is a feel good fragrance.

Photo Stolen pharmacymix

The passionfruit gives a fizzy aroma that is juicy and full bodied. The tuberose is grounding and provides the green feel to this particular perfume. There are lots and lots of other white flowers too, which lends what’s usually thought of as femininity to this perfume.

Not overly sophisticated but the perfect girly fragrance with a bit of depth and a little something extra.

FragranceShop has 50ml $30

See you next month,

EmmaKate X

Nuit De Noel by Ernest Daltroff for Caron 1922

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Hey Hey Fellow Fumies,

Nuit de Noel or Christmas Night, what we call Christmas Eve today, was created in 1922 by the founder of Caron and self taught perfumer Ernest Daltroff for, it is rumoured, his paramour of many years. There is so much hype about this fragrance that calls to me, Roja Dove and Karl Lagerfeld are said to wear only this fragrance at Christmas time, it was made for the flappers of the era and that the gold band on the original extrait bottle was a nod to their headbands are just 2 of the stories. Below you’ll see the original 30ml extrait with the shagreen case and box.

Rare Vintage 1oz. Caron Nuit De Noel EXTRAIT 30 Sealed Perfume With Original BoxPhoto Stolen eBay US$295 sealed

My bottle is the current reformulation so real sandalwood is rare and oakmoss is IFRA illegal which means the heart of Nuit de Noel is largely gone or replaced with analogous chemistry but still the opening is very special and the dry down lovely.

Photo Stolen PerfumeShrine

Fragrantica gives these featured accords/notes:
Top: Ylang-ylang, tincture of rose, jasmine
Heart: Sandalwood, oak moss
Base: Musk, amber
but fails to mention the De Laire’s “Mousse de Saxe” base <Jump to PerfumeShrine opus on it

As the initial boozy vodka like scream passes in about 10 minutes, the jasmine and ylang ylang play central starring roles with a soft hint of a spicy rose underneath. As I breathe down my top it warms up beautifully with a very human warmth that could be mink-ish (or bedhead-ish) overlaying the flowers, there is still a hint of animalic skank through the flowers and the base.

I started writing this review earlier today and haven’t had a moment to come back and organise my thoughts. It’s 3-4 hours later and there is still some floral action but the amber has arrived, a slightly sweet vanillic amber filled with oriental spices, sweet but not gourmand. After the first rush this is a quiet, fleshy floral that turns very warm and cosy. Its stamina is good too, around 6 hours before I lose track and I think it might be a quiet skin scent for a while longer, some mornings I can still smell something lovely but others nothing.

Photo Stolen howtogeek

As always ThePerfumeShrine does a wonderful review with plenty of history and BoisDeJasmin looks at the way the new EdT is different from the past.
FragranceNet has 50ml around $35

Photo Stolen thepunch

Many of the comments on blogs and walls say that this fragrance has nothing to do with Christmas, well I think it has way more to do with Northern Hemisphere rather than Southern Hemisphere Christmas. Above you can see Santa and some of his helpers relaxing after their biggest night of the year on Bondi Beach in Sydney on Christmas Day, the rest of us Aussie Christians are having a feast of some sort and huddling around A/C or lying in the pool. I’m going to wear it this Christmas anyway, if it’s good enough for Karl Lagerfeld it’s good enough for me.

At AustralianPerfumeJunkies we wish an easy life for all of you, filled with great health, enough wealth and happiness, whether it’s Christmas or not, whether you’re Christian or not, everyone!
See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

Neela Vermeire Creations LIVE Video Sniff

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hey Y’all,

Don’t forget to pop over and see my Guest Post on PerfumePosse today. It is linked with today’s special treat.

Well I have a little treat for you today. I hope it’s a treat. No, it WILL BE a treat! Got it? Last week we had a Neela Vermeire Creations spectacular here on APJ. If you missed it and would like to catch up we had an Interview with Neela Vermeire and reviewed Trayee from the line.

Photo Stolen wikiperdia

Robert “Radium” Maxwell and I took some time out after a gig recently to come to olfactory grips with the Incredible Neela Vermeire line of fragrances. We had had a couple of bevies, and frankly, we are enthusiasts not perfume professionals. So we sprayed and sniffed our first time sniffing impressions of the top notes of all 3 Neela Vermeire Creation: Bombay Bling, Mohur and Trayee. What you get is more entertainment than information because though we are lovely sometimes I am a bit dim and Radium is so smart that few have any common ground with him anyway. So do please press on and watch the madness that is an AustralianperfumeJunkies LIVE Video Sniff and enjoy it for what it is. A fluffy bit of Friday night fun.

I can only hope it brings you as much pleasure as we had making it, which was a shitload.

Please go and follow @neelavermeire on twitter and Neela Vermeire Creations, Parfums Paris FaceBook page. She is so friendly and I can promise you won’t want to miss the exciting updates in the near future.
NeelaVermeireCreations was where I bought my 10ml x 3 frags Discovery Set for only 90 euro delivered anywhere in the world or you can get 2ml x 3 frags Try My India Set only 22 euro delivered!
LuckyScent has 55ml bottles $250

Thank you to my BFF Kath for the filming and editing; thanks too to TSO Jin for making it loadable form.
Take care of yourselves till we see you tomorrow,
Portia xxx

New Look 1947 by Francois Demachy for Dior 2010

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Hey All,

I am becoming a Francois Demachy fan Queen! Though not all of La Collection Couturier Parfumeur have been super wins on my skin the line is so great and who honestly expects all perfume to work for you? Not me, everybody’s chemistry is different and my scent hungry skin sometimes hampers long term enjoyment of fragrances. I have yet to smell a perfume from this line that I don’t like.

Photo stolen customfad

In the blogs I’ve read about New Look 1947 there is a lot of talk about how Christian Dior changed the world of fashion to a more feminine silhouette at a time when fragrance was becoming less in your face, more about wearing it as lingerie, a lady like accessory. Expensive, mostly hidden decoration for you and your lucky lovers to enjoy and screw the world. This is clearly not my fragrant mantra so it took me a while to wear New Look 1947 for blogging purposes. At my buddy Undina’s urging I have given it a whirl and…..

La Collection Couturier Parfumeur New Look 1947 Dior for womenPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
White flowers (mostly tuberose), ylang-ylang, iris, Damask rose, Sambac jasmine, peony, vanilla, benzoin

What do I smell when wearing DIOR New Look 1947? Well it opens with a big flashy and fleshy burst of white floral, I love to just stand and drink in the warm aromatic glamour that lasts about 10-20 minutes. All the accords are already there but the tuberose is at this point king. It’s like a fantasy fragrance, all the good stuff without being heady, overwhelming or an oxygen stealing white floral screamer (which I also love BTW) so those of you who are repelled by such overt displays will be thrilled. I find this whole range to be extremely classy, after the initial fireworks rush New Look 1947 settles into a lovely sheer glamour girl of a scent. At about the half hour mark I am starting to get a brightening of the vanilla and ylang ylang, which adds a sensual, feminine womanliness to the whole and the white flowers start to take a turn for the sexy, present but not making a song and dance, I am discreetly perfumed and fragrant.

After the first hour I am getting a slightly spicy powder over the top or through the bouquet, and the white flowers give me more jasmine now, almost photo realism jasmine which no other review I read has noticed. It’s like wearing perfume in a jasmine glade, quite pronounced. I am pleasantly surprised at how well New Look 1947 behaves on my skin, at nearly 2 hours there is only the faintest diminution of fragrance but I can tell it is going to head for skin scent soon because the white flowers are packing their bags and putting their gloves and coats on.

I’ve been out and done the grocery and post office and come home so we are at about 4 hours and I am a very, very quiet floral vanilla, so soft I can barely register it but it is beautiful and lush.

The sillage throughout the fragrance life is barely there, a whispered change in the air as you pass, for a moment. Otherwise you are wearing New Look 1947 for yourself, an introverts lavishness, or for the lucky people who are in your closest orbit.

Raf Simons 2012 DIOR Photo Stolen thefrisky

1000Fragrances and MuseInWoodenShoes have very different experiences with New Look 1947 if you care to read more about it.
SurrenderToChance starts at $3/ml or you can but the 13 x 1ml samples $36 or for super extravagant testing the 13 x 3ml set only $105

Thanks for coming along on today’s scented journey. I hope to see you tomorrow too.
As always we at APJ wish you great health, wealth and happiness.
Portia xx

Sweet Redemption by Calice Becker for by Kilian 2011

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 44 Comments

Hiya Scented People,

Noticing a great deal on by Kilian at SurrenderToChance in a DailyChanceSpecial I snapped up a couple and the first I’ll be talking about is Sweet Redemption. I have not really delved into the world of by Kilian yet because I thought it was so expensive that an addiction could send me to the poor house, having done the math it is pricey but not extreme.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
African orange flower, opoponax, incense, benzoin, vanilla and myrrh

The grandson of the founder of the LVMH group, Kilian Hennessy grew up in the family’s wine cellars and has brought that boozy reminiscence of sensuality that cognac has to this fragrance. I am not saying it smells like cognac but the glorious rich intoxicating blending that makes you want to swirl and sniff your balloon works similarly here.

RedemptionPhoto Stolen TheWallpaperTree

I was wearing this for an hour or so today before I looked up the accords. Who knew an African orange flower smelled this good? You’ll have to look elsewhere for someone to parse the notes in Sweet Redemption, it’s too perfectly proportioned. Yes I smell lovely, sexy white flower and the vanilla/ambery background noise. I get a slightly smokey scent throughout and something sweet but licorice sweet not honey sweet, maybe sweet chilli sweet? I can’t tell you what these things are but I can tell you that I smell incredible. This is a magical, hefty, slightly dirty, good time cha cha cha of a fragrance. I want to pop on a flirty frock, some killer high heels, hair up, morals down and get my gorgeous smelling self out to see the world. Which is not to say that I smell cheap, NO WAY! I smell like a million dollars. Like cognac diamonds shimmer. Rich, sparkly, gregarious, Sweet Redemption wants to get out there and get herself noticed, not by shouting, obnoxious or bad behaviours but by being alluring, likeable, slightly sexy but not vampish, confident and ready for good things to happen, to make good things happen to everyone around and self. OH DEAR! I think I am seriously in love with this juice.

I wore Sweet redemption to work tonight. There is a guy there who is quite a perfumista and he didn’t even blink, usually he is the first to notice a fragrance, but I was stopped by 2 of the ladies that I would never expect to even think about fragrance asking what it was, who by, where to get it. Surreal. One other full table compliment from a bunch of girls that I adore!It has maintained its integrity but grown slightly deeper, warmer and softer; not much though.

Now I’ve done some cleaning up around the house, fed and watered the pets, chatted with TSO Jin, written some blog and it’s 6+ hours since my last spritz and I am still fragrant, warm, rich and delicious. I smell like a warm sweet milky coffee feels after a good day (I’ve just sat down at the computer with one and it is SOOOO good), when you’re tired but not buggered, happy with the days events. A comfortable spicy vanilla and myrrh, ready to hit the hay because early in the morning I’m off on a short plane flight for an overnight gig.

Redemption Photo Stolen Jingna Zhang

I love the reviews by Olfactoria’s Travels and GrainDeMusc if you are looking for extra insights.
The by Kilian eBoutique has 30ml travel sprays 95€
SurrenderToChance starts at $7/ml

I feel so lucky that you all come back and read regularly,
THANK YOU for becoming part of the APJ family.
Have you tried the by Kilian line, have a favourite? Do share it with us in the comments please.
Till tomorrow,
Portia xx

Kiss My Name by Ramon Monegal 2012

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

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Gabriella

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Ramon Monegal

Kiss My Name

Hello Junkies!

Hope you’ve had a great time sniffing since my last post. I had hoped to post a review of the Bex London range today, but sadly I’m not. London is my second home and I was really looking forward to talking about how these fragrances evoked my memories of the city, but they just didn’t work on my skin. So, I’m shelving that.

Instead of taking you on a trip to London, we’re going to go to Spain and look at one of the new perfumes by Ramon Monegal. Portia’s already reviewed one of his scents, Lovely Day, in her Sunday quicksniffs and today I am going to review the white floral in his line: Kiss My Name.

Photo stolen from Fragrantica

First things first, as Olfactoria has mentioned in her review, it’s a strange name for a fragrance with unfortunate connotations. I’m not sure whether it’s an awkward translation from Spanish, but just thinking of the following exchange makes me want to laugh:

“What are you wearing?”
“Kiss My Name.”
“Hmmm, ok then.”

Strange title aside, when I read the description of this perfume at Luckyscent, I was expecting a full-on tuberose. While tuberose is listed as one of the notes, this is not anything like the tuberose classics: Fracas, Carnal Flower and Tubereuse Criminelle. In Kiss My Name, tuberose plays a quiet supporting act to the main notes of jasmine, neroli and iris. Kiss My Name features notes of indian tuberose absolute, iris cedre, egyptian jasmine absolute, tunisian neroli and tolu balsam.

The perfume starts off very tropical and green, but it’s not the suntan-lotion-with-a-pina-colada kind of tropical, but rather that of a humid rainforest at the start of a blisteringly hot summer’s day. The sun is peeking through a lush green canopy, the humidity and steaminess warming up the white floral shrubs and releasing their narcotic aroma. A cool vegetal iris underlines the composition and is reminiscent of the moist dense earth of the rainforest floor. The jasmine and neroli are quite heady, but the iris becomes stronger and lends a sharp metallic vibe to the composition. The cool metallic note versus the warmth of the white florals gives a nice duality to the scent.To my nose, the three notes or neroli, jasmine and iris also combine to give a distinct ‘green mango’ vibe.

Photo Stolen LiFE

Kiss My Name is rather linear on my skin, although it has felt quite different upon each wearing. Sometimes it’s all about the jasmine and neroli. Other times, the iris is the dominant note, with the metallic element sometimes soft and sometimes overpoweringly screechy. It’s obvious that Kiss My Name is meant to be the diva of the Monegal line, but it’s not the sophisticated diva of Fracas et al. It is the scent of a diva at on holidays, happy and at play. When wearing it, I’ve been thinking of Brigitte Bardot at Cannes or Marilyn Monroe in chic capri pants and white shirt, complete with cats-eyes sunglasses and ruby red lips. It’s a joyous fragrance and one that white floral lovers and any iris fans should try. I’m not completely sold just yet, but I think I might enjoy this on the upcoming humid nights of a Sydney summer.

Photo stolen themarilynmonroecollection

One other thing: I love the packaging. The inkwell-style bottle looks really sophisticated and sturdy. One of the nicest bottles I’ve seen of late.

Have you tried Kiss My Name yet? Have you tried any others of the Ramon Monegal line? What’s your favourite happy summer fragrance?

With love till next time! M x

Vogue Diaries with Natalie Portman

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Hey Everyone,

Today I had hoped to show a video of Radium Maxwell and I doing a LIVE Video Sniff of the Neela Vermeire Creations. The universe has said that it should be shown at a later date, a unilateral decision on its part.

Photo Stolen FashionMag

In its place I have for you a treat, Natalie Portman was the cover girl and did a pictorial piece photographed by Peter Lindbergh for the January 2011 edition of US Vogue. In this video she talks a little about the shoot, the fashion, her role in Black Swan and stuff. What is more interesting than what Natalie is saying is how she says it, very casual, natural and clearly she thinks about what she is saying, but not self consciously. I have watched this 2.30sec clip a few times and really like Natalie Portman playing herself.

Photo Stolen JustJared

Do please enjoy,
Don’t forget tomorrow we have a super Neela Vermeire Creations GIVEAWAY!!
Portia

Mohur by Bertrand Duchaufour for Neela Vermeire Creations 2011

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 28 Comments

Welcome back Perfumistas,

Yesterday we had an interview with the amazing Neela Vermeire of Neela Vermeire Creations. today we are going to look at one of her fragrances, Mohur, composed with Bertrand Duchaufour.

Photo Stolen guerlain.pl

From LuckyScent:
The name refers to the most valuable gold coin in India’s history, the last of which was minted in 1918. A way, perhaps, of underlining the value given to perfumery during the Mogul era, an art so highly considered that the most powerful empress of the Mughal dynasty, Noor Jahan, devoted herself to perfecting it.
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Photo Stolen worldofcoins.eu

Fragrantica LuckyScent and Neela Vermeire Creations give these notes and accords, each site is slightly different so I have melded them all:
Top: Cardamom, coriander, ambrette (musk mallow), carrot seeds, black pepper, elemi oil
Heart: Turkish rose oil, Moroccan Rose Absolute (rose accords around 11%),  jasmine, iris/orris, aubepin (midland hawthorn), almond milk accord, leather, violet
Base: Sandalwood, amber, patchouli, oudh Palao from Laos, benzoin, vanilla, tonka bean

Photo Stolen Neela Vermeire Creations

What do I smell when I wear Mohur? The very first whiff is pepper and spices jumping off my skin but it doesn’t take long for the ambrette and elemi to add their musky/woody tones though there is still a strong spicy/herbal wash over all. This is no big blockbuster of a fragrance, it’s more refined than that; it does give great scent and more than moderate sillage but not in an overwhelming way so I think very wearable for dinner, cocktails or dates, but maybe a little too much for close quarters working
The green hawthorn is the next player to make itself known heralding the rise of the flowers, and boy are they something! Like the lithe and lovely Indian women in their bright colours walking to get water each morning and evening they sway into the picture and ROSES, roses, ROSES backed up by a bouquet that is way beyond my meager abilities to parse. This is exactly the scent I would love to wear to dinner at the Lake Palace in Udaipur (where you can watch the chefs make reincarnations of the feasts of Mughal and Raj days), or the Wildflower Hall in Shimla (where I was lucky enough to spend my birthday in 2010) or the Neemrana Palace outside Delhi (where we spent our 8th Anniversary) or even the hall of the Dalai Lama in McLeod Gang (though McLeod Gang is now so much a tourist Mecca that I hardly recognised it from 2000-2010). I feel like I am in the lap of India’s most jaw droppingly awesome and outrageous luxury, even almost smelling the dust that has to be hand collected in wet rags three times a day by the servants, and still the snap and sizzle of lunch frying, that was present in the opening, persists alongside the roses. What an adventure!

At around the 2-3 hour mark I still have a green pepper fragrance behind a slight sweetening of the bouquet of roses and other flowers, like an amber/vanilla mist that is laid over the top. Mohur smells really expensive on the body, lavish, opulent and glamorous are words that instantly jump to my mind. The whole fragrance is much softer now; the sillage is maintained at slightly lower levels.

By nearly 5 hours I have a sweet vanillic, milky, woody and ever so slightly soapy dry down that continues for somewhere over an hour when I lose all sense of wearing fragrance. WOW!! Every time I wear Mohur it’s a slightly different ride but it was really fun today to document my wearing of it for you.

Photo Stolen Neela Vermeire Creations

Looking for other reviews? NowSmellThis looks specifically at Mohur and CandyPerfumeBoy does all three NVC in the line.
NeelaVermeireCreations was where I bought my 10ml x 3 frags discovery set for only 90 euro delivered anywhere in the world
LuckyScent has 55ml bottles $250

These are a must try fragrance line because there is real love poured into their creation, they use the best ingredients available, smell incredible and God Damn It, you deserve the best. Come see us Thursday for a very special Neela Vermeire give away!

Have you tried this line? Do you have a favourite? Why?
As always love to you and yours,

Portia xx

PS: The opening photo stolen openlib

Neela Vermeire Talks To APJ

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hi Perfume Family,

You may have heard about Neela Vermeire Creations, if you have been anywhere on the scentbloggosphere then you’ve probably read about their line of fragrances too. If you are a perfumista then chances are you have smelled at least one of the magical fragrances, and maybe own a bottle, decant or sample set. I was lucky enough to win a sample set in a blog competition and have fallen deeply under the spell of these beautiful reminders of my times through India since 2000 with my last long term partner who is part of a hotel family over there. Loving the fragrances so much I wanted to understand the woman who has been the catalyst for their creation, the friendly, driven, intriguing and very pretty Neela Vermeire. Today she talks with us and I am thrilled that she has.

Photo Stolen guerlain.pl

Tell us about young Neela please, where you came from, family, siblings, poignant or helped create who you are moments?
Who am I? I guess I am a result of my life and travels. I am a global villager – restless, hopefully a mindful soul.
I was born in India and most of my family still live in India. I was educated in the eastern part of India in a city called Calcutta. I went to the US for my graduate studies. After completing my masters degree I moved to London, Aberdeen, Paris, London, Paris.
My earliest memories of perfumes were from the various ceremonies that took place in temples, my family who wore some form of perfumes – immediate and extended.  India is in general a phenomenal assault to ones senses – good and bad and ugly.
Family and school trips to various parts of India made me appreciate the vastness and variety of India and Indian culture. The smell of Indian flowers in markets, roadside food stalls – smell of Indian snacks like chaat, puris, parathas, wood stoves, roasted peanuts, tea stalls, fruit stalls – smell of mango ripe and unripe, guava, lychee, jack fruit (very strong smell), musty book stores, wet earth after monsoon, dry earth under the scorching sun, smell of freshly brewed Darjeeling tea, spices etc.

India (like most warm countries) can provide the most amazing natural smells and the most awful smells.

What were you doing before you became a perfumer?
I am a qualified solicitor in the UK, I started working on consulting projects, exhibiting emerging artists and creators in Paris and also doing Perfume Path Tours.

How did you become interested in fragrance?
Since my childhood days in India. Also each move to different countries made me deeply aware of cultural differences and preferences.

What qualifications do you have as a perfumer?
None because I am a creative director or a creator but not a “nose” or technical perfumer.A nose/perfumer must be a qualified and trained person. I worked with Bertrand Duchaufour who is a well known nose for the first India trio.

Photo Stolen theperfumemagazine.com

Who were and are your mentors and inspirations?
Too many to mention. Some other niche perfume creators were and are my mentors.
My inspirations are my life and travels.
Friends and loved ones who enabled me to express with the help of Bertrand the perfumes as a tribute to India.

Who is your favourite perfumer, other than yourself, and why?
As I mentioned before I am a “creator” and not a “nose” or technical perfumer. Many people call themselves “perfumers” when they have “noses” working for them.
Do you mean creators?
Frederic Malle (Creator)
Serge Lutens (Creator)
Guerlain (Perfumer and creator)
Annick Goutal (Perfumer and creator)
Patricia di Nicolai (Perfumer and creator)
IUNX by Olivia Giacobetti (Perfumer and creator)

You know many others who are true creators and not trained perfumers..etc….
There are many other independent niche perfumers .

Synthetic, natural or mixture, why?
“Mixology”
Mixing is good. Mixture is great – one is able to create exceptional creations with mixology.
Naturals can be heavy and aroma chemicals add the playfulness.

What do you have in development that you’d like to share with perfumistas everywhere?
A couple of fragrances – work in progress.

Photo Stolen lfort

Isn’t it nice to get a little insight into the lovely Neela, I hope you have enjoyed it. Please come back tomorrow, we will be looking at one of the Neela Vermeire Creations fragrances in depth,

NeelaVermeireCreations was where I bought my 10ml x 3 frags Discovery Set for only 90 euro delivered anywhere in the world or you can get 2ml x 3 frags Try My India Set only 22 euro delivered!
LuckyScent has 55ml bottles $250

Love to you all and hope for your good health, wealth and happiness,

Portia xx