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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
So much going on this week. Fragrance galore (buying, arriving and wearing), hanging with friends, food, exercise and the lovely Jin. What a wonderful week.

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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
So much going on this week. Fragrance galore (buying, arriving and wearing), hanging with friends, food, exercise and the lovely Jin. What a wonderful week.

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Portia
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Hey Hey Perfume Junkies,
The idea is that anything worthy of comment, either good or bad, that’s passed under my nose through the week will get a short write up. Up till now I have kept APJ positive comments only, those days are gone. If I think something is terrible, shamefully lazy, greedy or stupid and you should know about it, it will be said. Not everything works for everyone and it would be pretty boring if it did >>> YMMV. I’d love it if you all agree, respectfully disagree, have any thought-out opinion and want to share, do so in the comments below. The point is starting a conversation.
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
HALLOWEEN WEEK! It’s been BUSY!
Last week I got to do a Guest Post on A Bottled Rose about some favourite Autumn Fragrances. I forgot to tell you all. Please jump over and have a read.

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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
Life is change and mine is in flux. Yes, I have headed back to the gym for the first time in eons. Diabetes eating has arrived. 50 years of treating my body abominably (and loving every minute, mouthful and lazy couch hour) has come home to roost. I’ve got a year to turn it around or it will be a medical regime forever.
In other news perfume, pals, pets, fun and laughter ruled the roost. Wonderful week. So much self created variety in every day.
I would also like to say how much I enjoy all the chatter, banter, lives, stories, fun and fragrance we have on the APJ SOTD thread each week. I can’t answer every comment but I read almost all of them. It gets confusing when the chains of each comment get too long and I give up. Your stories make me smile and think and sometimes shake my head. Just like family. I love it. Thanks.

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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
We are back in business. Yes, things look a bit different around here and there will be some change. Please understand that this has been a big deal and now we are coming g back from the dead. We have lost all our followers & subscribers and will have to work really hard to get as many people back, and hopefully add a bunch of newbies too.
Scent Diary is a birdseye view of my week. Often there is a whole lot of living mixed in with the perfumes. Friends & family, food, travel, momentous events, everyday living. I love to read about your adventures too in the comments and often we get lively discussion down there. I try to reply to every comment and add my 2c, feel free to add yours when and wherever. We only ask that you keep it respectful.
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
It’s Mardi Gras Parade week here in Sydney. Though I’ve kept a pretty low profile Sydney has been bursting at the seams with International Visitors here to enjoy the last week of our Mardi Gras Season. The weather has been perfect for everything and I’m hearing reports of a super year. Saturday nights parade was my Big Event this year, hosting the Sideshow Glam Stands. An excellent week, now I’m bushed!
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
It freaking hot here. Loads of fun and adventure this week with friends and a few fragrances. What I really want to do in this heat is take off my flesh and lie under the fan just in my bones.
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
This week turned out to be all about fragrance and friends. We also got the go-ahead to buy a new townhouse so VERY excited about that too. Life has been very generous with us and we are grateful in the extreme.
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Portia
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Hi there Fine Fragrant Friends,
Tom Ford , even the name produces this weird reaction in me. I love that this out, gay, handsome man has taken the world by storm in a field that he never was trained for. On the other hand he seems like a complete head up arse twat totally obsessed with form. His fragrances for Estee Lauder create the same ambivalence within me. Many are lovely, others only for about 15 minutes till they collapse into quagmire or worse banality. It’s a long way Continue reading
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Portia
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Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,
CHRISTMAS! Fragrance, friends, chosen family. There were adventures and excitement enough for a month.
Jin came home from work at 5.30am and we had our Christmas moment then.It was lovely. He got some cool Aussie Bum undies, Petrol Cards to fill up his real present which was a car earlier in the year and a couple of T-Towels from his Parramatta Ells football team. I scored 9 pairs of my favourite glasses from Italian brand Campo Marzio in myriad colours, Jin imported them from the South Korean shop in Seoul. VERY freaking cool present buying.
I wanted to smell yummy for the mini Christmas so Rouge Hermès. It was a good choice, soft white floral with a few bells & whistles. Not to mention how Christmassy the bottle looks.
Dogs got a new chew toy each, fed and walked.
While Jin slept I went to Kath’s Mum & Dads to meet Kath and have a quiet christmas morning hang out. We did presents there too and Dad was Jin’s Secret Santa so he got 2 bottles of Spanish Rosé, Lindt chocolate balls and a Bunnings Gift Card.
Lunch with the rest of Kath’s family. It was nice to wander in, eat, do presents and leave. SO EASY!
Home and Jin was awake so we hung out and watched some shit movies together. Dinner was leftovers. HAPPY afternoon and night.
Serge Lutens Clair de Musc from a decant. Yes, I do have a bottle but found this old 5ml decant that needed finishing. Going clean and fluffy for Boxing Day.
Off to Kath’s Mum & Dad’s place for early Boxing Day shenanigans. We stayed to have lunch with everyone and then split. From there I went and collected Wendy and Jin, she and I all hung out into the early evening. We ate a scruffily delicious cheese, ham & fruit platter while watching How To Train A Dragon and drinking lashings of tea.
10 hours later I can still smell soft musk wafts from Serge Lutens Clair de Musc but I’m wanting something else. Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely has won the day and I’m basking in its comfortable glow.
We were woken by the apartment block across from us at 6.40am, they were having a right old barney. Screaming and fighting. It was pretty crazy but not up to their usual standards where I call the police. It raged on for 30 minutes.
Being wide awake I went and got the dogs and they came and snoozed with us on the bed. I’m changing the sheets today so no worries.
Feeling so lazy. It’s hot and humid. How about some James Heeley Esprit du Tigre?
This afternoon I added vintage Miss Dior EdT to go see Jumanji with Eve, Lola and Jin. I admit to being fairly unexcited to see it.
O M G! Jumanji was freaking EXCELLENT!! Cannot tell you how much I enjoyed it. The Rock and Jack Black totally steal this fun romp of a film. I was on the edge of my seat through quite a lot of it and laughed heartily.
We came home and had some lunch with a delicious McLaren Vale Spanish inspired red wine and then watched most of Happy Feet till Lola started falling asleep. To be honest, I don’t drink very often so the heavy red wine sent me off to bed to sleep it off too.
Jin woke me at around 8.30pm when he came to bed and so now I’m up and awake. About to walk the dogs on this cooler summer evening. I thought a triple spritz of Peau d’Allures by Starck a perfect choice, green, boozy, swampy with a lovely ruinous undertow. This bottle was a gift from my friend Tim and I adore it.
Fort & Manlé Charlatan this morning. Maybe because I showered yesterday it smelled a bit funkier, a little pissy and hairy mannish. It was a good ride.
Yum Cha with Kath, Alice, TinaG and Tim. It was nice, chatty and fun.
You’ll note Alice was wearing the birthday earrings Jin picked out for here. SO CUTE!!
Came home and crashed on the couch. Ate Christmas Cake with cream and custard and watched Daniel Radcliffe in 2013 film Horns. It was OK, one thing I did notice was that after a minute he became this new character and had successfully sloughed off Harry Potter for me.
Jin came home and we had pizza for dinner while watching The Danish Girl (2015) with Eddie Redmayne. IMDb gives this blurb: “A fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda’s marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili’s groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.” Heavy and deep, we were moved by their plight and Gerda’s unstinting love.
For bed I gave myself a solid dousing in Niki de Saint Phalle. It’s parched greenery helps to dry this muggy night.
It was already warm this morning when I walked the dogs. They were puffing so much that I brought them home after only walking around the block. They gratefully came inside afterwards and sat on their beds in the cool.
Thinking tropical I went for Guerlain Lys Soleia. It was a good fit.
Hung out with Jin, Kath and Mum and had a swim with Kath in this outrageously muggy heat. It’s drier than the last couple of days but trying to get stuff done means I’m sweating much more.
Jin and I had KFC for lunch that we grabbed on the way home. It was freaking delicious.
After that I basically fell into a food coma and didn’t snap out of it till 9pm. While food coma-ing I started watching Luther on Netflix.
BTW, did you notice Netflix has been removing content? A few times this fortnight I’ve gone to rematch stuff and it’s disappeared. BUMMER!
Tonight I wear Sarah McCartney 4160 Tuesdays Up The Apples and Pears. Fun and freaky. LOVE it.
Stayed up VERY late watching Luther on Netflix. Idris Elba is my new celeb crush. Let’s get him to make a fragrance. I’ve put on some Gres Cabochard parfum in his honour.
So I fell asleep watching Luther and woke up with a mouth that tasted like the bottom of a cat litter box. GAH! Awful, ran straight for the bathroom to clean my teeth.
Feeling a little more human after feeding and walking the dogs. L’Artisan Batucada got some skin time today. I don’t understand why this is not lauded as a freaking genius perfume. It smells like a Pine Lime Splice, an Australian ice block with pine lime icy coat and creamy vanilla ice cream inside, with a hint of coconut. Batucada is YUM!
Went and had a coffee and baklava with my mate Nikki but TOTALLY forgot to take a photo. We chattered away a very happy hour.
Back home and doing some blogging for next week. Wearing a melange of scents.
Cool bath. No bubbles, just Radox Bath Salts.
Alice sent me this genius Scarf Knot map.
2am and I’m for bed. Tonight I’m wearing Estee Lauder Beyond Paradise Blue to bed, from the teardrop bottle that I love so much. That cold gasoline opening that melts into a white floral waterfall with lightly creamy and lavender touches.
It’s New Years Eve. I have a bunch of running around and organising to do but before I get started on all that I’m meeting Kath at her Mum & Dads for a SWIM!
Today I’m rocking Tom Ford Jasmine Rouge. It requires respritzes every two hours but that’s part of the fun!
Tonight I’ll be at Parramatta RSL ringing in the New Year with my besties Kath and Phil. Can’t think of a better way to do it. Can’t decide on my fragrance for tonight yet but I’m thinking Madonna Truth or Dare or Mugler Taste of Alien.
I would like to thank everyone involved in Australian Perfume Junkies. If you write, read, comment or are in any way involved THANK YOU for making 2017 a really wonderful year. Got to meet a few more of you too this year which is always special.
Wishing you and your crew a fun and fragrant 2018 chock full of all the good stuff and hardly any of the other.
It’s YOUR turn. What’s happening in your world?
Did you do anything Fun or Fragrant, with Friends and Family or maybe even had some less than Fabulous news you want to share? How is or was your New Year?
Now’s the time, in the comments below.
We love to read what’s happening to YOU.
Portia xx