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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
This week seemed really busy but looks like it was pretty quiet. Weird how that happens. Got some amazing scents on my skin including some brand new testings. Saw a bunch of mates. Hung out with Jin and ate ALL the foods.
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Kate Apted
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Hello APJ people!
Hey, it is almost spring. This is the time of the year I bring out the flowery scents that are a little higher pitched, less tinged with incense or honey, give the impression of warmer weather and longer days, and preempt the floral bounty we will shortly receive.
Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Yuzu, Citron, Water fruits
Heart: Orange blossom, Jasmine tea, Waterlily
Base: White patchouli, Cedar, Sandalwood, Vanilla
One such perfume is Donna by Trussardi. Released in 2011, it has nothing to do with the 80s version housed in the white plastic shell. This modern Donna brings forth all the flowery descriptions Mrs Bennett has of Mr Bingham upon meeting for the first time in Pride and Prejudice. In fact, the scent seems to fit with the delightfully Regent style portrayed in the BBC adaption from the 90s, though more Jane’s image than Lizzy’s or Lydia’s.
Donna is a pretty jasmine mixed with the fruity palatte of a mid summer sweet white wine. It is possibly a staid and matronly scent when compared to the niche and oud heavy releases of the same year. It does not surprise me there has been little discussion of Donna in the perfume community. Scents similar to it released recently have not attracted much favourable attention either.
Given that Donna is so different to the fruchoulis and rose-oud combinations popular lately, it struck me immediately as a light hearted, quirky fruity floral that I find more and more endearing with each wearing. I love that it is so ordinary and congenial. It is also a standout from the somewhat insipid women’s scents to have been released by Trussardi since.
Donna opens with a burst of citrusy yuzu and orange blossom. The jasmine is creamy and rich on this occassion with no trace of anything indolic. The dry down is quite similar to that of Woman by Ralph Lauren. If you have come across Bella Blanca, the new Oscar de la Renta, you’ll have an idea of what Donna is about. Donna, though, is more vicacious and fruity sweet. Chanel No.18 EDP has a zingy fruit that is in the same ball park as Donna.
The bottle is a classy looking porcelain sort of flacon. White with gild down its side seams and the lettering on the front. It is a heavy bottle, so don’t drop it! The downside to it is I cannot see the level of liquid left, as it is completely opaque.
I absolutely love wearing Donna on a very early morning when the birds are sensibly feeding and finding a shady spot to rest when the mid morning heat hits in the height of summer. Being alone with that creamy jasmine and citrusy fruit punch is a simple joy that makes life worth living. I can savour the little nuances that peek out as the scent develops and it seems so in tune with my surrounds.
I really must get a back up bottle of Donna. I know I’ll kick myself if I don’t.
What is early spring like where you live? Have you scents that you wear to anticipate spring’s arrival? What can you recommend I try from your spring wardrobe?
Sexy, Sassy, Springtime loving Kate!
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Portia
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Hey there APJ Crew,
So half of 2019 is over! That sped by. WT A F!
Back in the pool this week! YAY! Feeling good for it, proud. Some adventures, events, fun, friends, food and it has been a stellar week for fragrance.
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Portia
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Hello Fellow Fumies,
Every Saturday we have a Question, an idea purloined from Olfactoria’s Travels. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it is a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.
The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them.
I’m currently away on holidays in India and will have limited internet but be assured that I’ll read every comment and answer when I can.
Leather is one of my most loved notes. It has so many variations from the stench of tanneries to the finished high gloss shoe or worn and loved glove. It can have the scent ofd its owner as in a leather jacket or sweat from sport and weightlifting. It can be suede, patent, cow, sheep, goat or pony and all of them are peculiar to themselves. Then there are the additives like fruit, incense, oudh, woods, flowers, sweets, vanilla, patchouli and the cavalcade of accords available have all had a go with leather.
Between Daim Blond, Cuir Amethyst and this is only a question of levels and personal taste. Bottega Veneta is the best lasting of the three on me and Jin has claimed it as his signature scent. Whenever I smell it there are so many happy memories piled on top of the actual smell, which I adore. Fruity leather, soft & supple and so incredibly wearable.
people call this a floral leather and though it may be to them on me it’s all about favourite leather jacket. It’s a fantasy scent of a mans jacket after years of wear and it has taken on some of his sweat and cologne. I bought my Golden Edition bottle in Vienna at the original Knize store and my original shopping with Denyse Beaulieu in Paris at a chemist right near Jovoy. Happy memories all.
Long before I was a perfumista I had a bottle of Trussardi Donna. To be honest I didn’t even know then that it was aimed at women. It was a fabulously real leather chypre (Though chypre was not in my vocal either) and I loved to smell of it. Still do.
I find it interesting that my three go-to leathers are all from designer houses. Interesting.
What are your favourite leather scents? Do you have special leather moods? When do you wear them?
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Portia
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Hi there fellow fumies,
I’ve learned a new put down. Don’t Get Thin Lipped With Me You Scrofulous Harpy. HA HA HA HA! Isn’t it heavenly, so deliciously awful and will have your opponent diving for their dictionary. Just so you know, Scrofulous is in reference to the tuberculosis illness and general degeneration, Harpies were mythical beasts with womens bodies & heads, birds wings & claws. I know, fabulous isn’t it.
Not exactly sure what’s wrong with my baby Paris but he did another wee, this time in the house. Jin is off later in the week and we are going to take both dogs to the vets to get them checked out.
We caught the train to town. Jin wore Neela Vermeire Bombay Bling and I slathered myself in Mona di Orio Eau Absolue. We smelled wickedly good.
Our beautiful girlfriend Alice is going home to the UK for a month. Jin & I were able to catch up with her in town today for lunch. We went to one of my all time favourite venues the David Jones Food Hall in Sydney city. It’s a really wonderful lunch venue with loads of choice. I grabbed us an antipasto plate for entree and then we all had steak at The Grill. It was a totally fun way to farewell our mate and not very expensive either. The butcher has some of the best meat ever and they will soon be doing home delivery.
After much we went for a bit of a sniff through the city shops. I added Amouage Bracken Woman on my left arm and Estee Lauder Modern Muse on my right. So I was completely fragrant for the ride home too. We felt the need to take a SMELFIE.
OK, so I’ve become obsessed with the Gilmore Girls. Can’t seem to prise myself away from them. Tonight I kept watching one more episode until VERY late and then fell asleep without finishing my Trivia Q&A. OMG! So naughty of me. It won’t be long now because I’m already in season 6.
Had to get up and finish the Trivia Q&A which took till noon. I am a wretched boss feeling very guilty.
I gave myself another healthy spritz of Mona di Orio Eau Absolue to write my questions. I have been trying to finish a 15ml decant for ages and now that its gone I am finally using my bottle. I find it balmy and smooth, TBH I thought it had lashings of lavender in it but it seems to have zero.
Tuesday is beard dying day. The white beard looks very lame with drag so I have to keep it dark and lustrous. I do admit though that I also like it dark as a bloke. It’s youthful, though I am not. I did get excited about my bubble bath today though because I used the last of my gorgeous gift from Jocelyn Fullerton of Cult of Scent. Golden Dreams is TO DIE FOR! Sadly it’s not regular range, special for me. You can get her fragrances and candles from the Cult of Scent site though.
Over my bubble bath scent I spritzed liberally with Guerlain L’Heure Bleue EdP, I think it’s this century. Very nice, perfect for how I’m feeling tonight.
Home now, walked & fed the dogs and back to the Gilmore Girls. Chat tomorrow.
It’s Wednesday late morning. Dogs are fed & walked. I took them by my favourite local coffee joint and grabbed one to go as we wandered the streets. It’s cool and there are some clouds flitting by. Though the dogs are excited to be out and wandering I find it peaceful to wander aimlessly, chat to locals, see the seasons changing. EVERYONE that loves dogs wants to pat the boys so we get quite a bit of chat time, I like it a lot.
Wearing Sonoma Scent Studio Rose Musc. It’s very pretty, red roses and leaves in a bottle. It was a perfect wandering companion. Later, through it’s life a fabulously animal musk came through, not dirty or loud but a friendly musk that wears subtly underneath red roses that last for hours & hours.
Tonight for work I’m wearing 5 big spritzes of modern Guerlain Shalimar EdP and 2 of vintage parfum, this scent is my happy place.
Woke up with a jolt, wide awake and jumped out of bed. Fed and walked the dogs on a beautiful autumn morning.
Then I got caught up on a small slice of the Office Work that I’ve neglected. Hopefully Tuesday next week will get it cleared. I love having an empty inbox and all the bills paid and taken care of. There’s some mail still going to the house I sold over 2 years ago. I thought we had redirected EVERYTHING but clearly some stuff slipped between the cracks because the couple that bought it called and left out a BIG bag of it. I just collected it last week and I’m feeling overwhelmed.
BFF Kath’s Mum has been moved to rehab after a nasty tumble, breaking 3 ribs and fracturing her arm. Grabbed Kath and we went up to see her today. Yesterday was her birthday and it was a sad & sorry one for the poor girl. I think we brightened up her day just a smidge.
It’s cooler today so I wore a few spritzes of Serge Lutens Fille en Aiguilles. Sweet, spicy chutney & herbal woods. Excellent choice.
Tonight at Turbo Trivia we had a completely full house. It was an excellent night and so many of my favourite teams were in the house. It was loud and people were having fun.
I wore original Trussardi Donna, every time I wear it I love the light leather of this fragrance.
Spent an hour or so chatting to Neela Vermeire tonight. She is so funny, we laughed and nattered and fixed all the problems of the world.
Friday dawned bright, crystal clear and sunny, not too warm and definitely hoodie over T-Shirt weather.
I had a fullish morning planned. The door guy had to come back and add a door closer to our screen door but he didn’t give me a time, hoping to be here by 2pm. When he did arrive the job took less that 20 minutes and he is a sweet man so it was nice to have him come back and fix the lack. Now we have a Self Closing Screen Door, which is what we paid for. YIPPEE!
If the door guy had come early I wanted to go see Kath’s Mum with her over lunch but things didn’t work out so when Jin gets home we can go visit.
Around midday I realised I was hungry so I made myself a little late morning tea. MMMMMMM Toast with Peanut Butter and Vegemite and a cuppa. I sat out on the balcony with the dogs and they were very well behaved. After the initial excitement that it might be for them they skedaddled right back to their beds and watched me eat with hungry, loving eyes.
In my free time I’ve been blogging. YAY! Yes, getting stuff done for next week and organising the Perfume Posse pieces for May. It’s a really relaxing when I put my mind to getting something done and then let my creative juices flow. Industrious, cleansing and cathartic all at once. It also has the added benefit of getting stuff done so I’m not worried about it. WINNING! Currently I smell like MFK Baccarat Rouge 540, Rochas Byzance and Aether Citrus Ester. There is a note in the Baccarat Rouge 540 that reminds me of Aether Methaldone.
Jin arrived home, we went and saw Kath’s Mum in hospital. On the way home we grabbed LOADS of Chinese food, watched the 2017 Winter episode of the Gilmore Girls. It was weird seeing them after 10 years but the good news is Logan Huntzburger, played by Matt Czuchry, my favourite character looks better than ever and they even have a storyline between Rory & him that feels super 21st century.
Fed & walked the dogs. Now Jin has gone to bed and I’m tap-tap-tapping away at the computer keys. Bliss.
I wanted to buy some Grand Soir and Baccarat Rouge 540 from MFK tonight but my mind was on other things and I bloody forgot to get the grand Soir. I’m a bloody idiot.
For bed I wanted something vanilla floral sweet but not too heavy so I went with Guerlain’s Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia. Perfect.
Saturday and Jin went off to work around 4am. Usually I sleep right through but today I woke up. Wide awake. He usually trots the dogs quickly downstairs for a wee when he wakes. He noticed I was awake and brought the dogs in to cuddle with me. It was so lovely. I had to change the bedsheets anyway so no harm and the dogs & I lay around in bed till 9am feeding and walking. CHANEL Boy was my morning accompaniment, lovely soft balmy lavender for an autumnal wander. There’s even more air in the bottle since this show was taken.
When Jin got home this evening it was Chinese reheats (MY FAVOURITE) and the 2017 Gilmore Girls final three episodes. So good. we laughed, we cried. Matt Czuchry is even more enthralling, I melted every moment he was on screen. PLEASE let them do a new series…….
In honour of the Favourite Vintage Scent Question I wore vintage Miss Dior extrait around the house tonight. It was cozy and perfect.
While walking the dogs they became very excited and it turned out to be a little Australian Noisy Minah that had wandered from its family, fallen from its nest or something. He would definitely have become cat food during the night so we brought him home and are feeding him a mixture of minced beef, egg, egg shell grounds and lorikeet dry food. He’s so bloody cute we called him Finbar and he’s nearly ready to fly free. We’ll take him to the vet tomorrow and see what they say.
First thing this morning we went to the Sydney Harley-Davidson centre in Strathfield. Jin needed to do some paperwork, buy a new helmet and jacket and show me his Mid-Life Crisis Impulse Buy. While I’m shaking my head at his ridiculousness it’s not so bad. So far he has pierced his nipples and bought a Harley. Any day I’m expecting him to start at the gym and bring home a Toy-Boy. One thing I am proud of him for though is that he is living his life as he chooses, has a solid debt reduction plan to lower the mortgage and pay off the bike and has not overcommitted himself. He even has Life Insurance just in case and is almost the highest level of Health Cover. That’s all pretty good for a man not quite 40 who came to Australia with a suitcase and almost no money in 2006.
I finished off this lovely Angel style bubble bath today. It’s a cheapy from Bath & Body Works that smells great and bubbles like crazy. Mountains of them. YUM! Because my base is so obviously sweet I have overlaid Michael Bublé By Invitation. You have no idea how good I smell. SWEEEEET
So, what’s been going on in your world?
Have you seen, done or smelled anything interesting?
Please share your life in the comments below. I love to read about your weeks too.
Portia xxx
Hey Perfume Junkies,
Sometimes I like to get a short grab of a fragrance and we have a super awesome powerpack of tries this week. The Sunday QuickSniff Review page is opened on Monday morning and every time I spritz and am near the computer I’ll give a 3 sentence review with a rating out of 5 each for, well, see the key after the reviews.
MADAME ROCHAS INTENSE EdP by ROCHAS 1960. This is a no brainer for me, loads of deliciously spicy florals on LOUD! I love the gold tone cage bottle and it is reminiscent of the original Guy Robert 1960 magic. Parfum1 has the 2.5oz for under $70 S=*** L=*** D=****
LIPSTICK ROSE by FREDERIC MALLE 2000. This is the BOMB what a wonderful fragrance. If you want to smell the roses you remember from your childhood, fresh, citric, spicy, fruity, almost slightly plastic (Please don’t get up me about it, some roses have a definite plastic scent bias and violet too) and a little speck of branch and leaf, then this is the fragrance for you, all rose but beyond rose into art. Posh Peasant has decants starting at only $5.50 S=***** L=*** D=*****
TRUSSARDI for women EdT by TRUSSARDI 1984. From the moment you touch this bottle there is something refined and designed here that makes you covet it. Trussardi is still a classic Leather Chypre; as it opens the citrus, aldehydes and resins are warm, bright and inviting, then we move into a big fat glorious bouquet that has depth and character from the woods, vanilla, patchouli, smoke and leather that seems to already be there and stays around for hours, quietly being gorgeous. FragranceShop has 100ml for around $30 S=**** L=*** D=****
CHAPARRAL by ROXANA ILLUMINATED PERFUMES 2006. Designed to embody the aromatic spirit of the Wild West in the USA. This is a deliciously murky herbal and woodsy concoction, so different from mainstream perfume that people can’t help but ask what it is. You can smell the dust, hay, buffalo, herbs, spices, trees, gunpowder and smoke, AH MAY ZING! Roxana Illuminated Perfumes sells 7g in a flacon for $150 or samples S=***** L=**** D=****
Photo Stolen from shirtsays
Scent, Obviously the number 1 priority here is how does it smell. My reviews are completely subjective and will differ widely from your own experience with the scent but it’s a good starting point. As yet I am not a trained perfumer so any and all descriptions are merely that, descriptions. There are plenty of blogs that offer technical details and chemistry, in 3 sentences I’ll pass.
Longevity, This is a biggie for me because like enfleurage where flower petals are left in fats to steal the scent, my fatty body works the same and eats it up, yum. So for a scent to last well on me, it will probably last a whole day on you and need a radioactive decontamination shower to defuse it from your skin.
Desirabilty, Wrapped up in this is scent, price, house, history, longevity, packaging, availability and a billion other things.
Photo Stolen from bittbox
* in any of these being the, “You couldn’t pay enough to spray this God awful stink on me again, it smells like public toilets in India, long time fridge malfunction while on Summer holiday and the vile stench of poverty all rolled into one.” You are putting innocent people in danger if you wear this.
** means it’s a nothing, wearable, boring, maybe the price is prohibitive for what you get or it’s ubiquitous. You should definitely get a sample of this to stop a buying boo boo.
*** is a perfectly good product that smells good and lasts a while at a decent price. You should definitely think about trying a sample or squirt but should you miss out your life will continue. Sample size worthy.
**** is the one you try, want a lot but can wait for a birthday/Christmas. It’s better than most of the stuff you’ve sniffed and may fill a void in your library. This is also an excellent decant product 5ml will get you through the season and maybe buy it next year.
***** meaning, stop reading this, grab your cash, credit card (or partners), roll the elderly or rob a petrol station and purchase this product. NOW! If you don’t have this fragrance you could die.
Hopefully this has given you a little inside track on fragrances to might buy, want, avoid, sample. What delicious bits and pieces did you try this week?
Portia xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 