Versace

Mood Scent 4: Discontinued Fragrances

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 61 Comments

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Portia

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Hey there APJ,

It’s Mood Scent 4 week. WOO HOO! With the first Monday of the dawning of a new decade we thought we might take a little look back at some of our favourite perfumes that haven’t made it this far. Our great loves that have been discontinued. Now I’m also counting reformulations that changed the scent out of recognisable parameters because that fragrance I loved has been killed off just as much. Same outcome, my perfume is dead.

So excited to be blogging with these three superstars again:  Esperanza L’Esperessence, Megan Megan In Sainte Maxime and Samantha I Scent You A Day. Check theirs out too.

Mood Scent 4: Discontinued Fragrances

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Scent Diary: 8.4 – 14.4.2019

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 46 Comments

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Portia

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Hey there APJ Crew,

Wonderful week of fragrance. Everything else was pretty low key. Didn’t get to pool or gym this week and ate less than perfectly. Saw some buddies, hung with Jin and did a bunch of work so my life felt happily rounded without being hectic.

On A Bottled Rose this week I did Portia’s Spring List for the Northern Hemisphere. Go check it out.

WOO HOO! My mate Arielle is doing another fragrance!
Washington, D.C. (April 2019) – Arielle Shoshana is launching a Kickstarter campaign, “The Scent of Sunday,” to create its second fragrance, Arielle Shoshana Sunday. This Kickstarter will crowdfund the development and production of a perfume that smells how Sunday feels: a soft, cozy fragrance that captures the quiet bliss of an extra snooze cycle nestled in warm sheets.
“The Scent of Sunday” Kickstarter campaign will run from April 11, 2019 – May 11, 2019. Arielle Shoshana Sunday is expected to launch in October 2019.

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Saturday Question: What Would You Bring Back?

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 229 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

At APJ we have a Saturday Question. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it’s 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 regularly and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them. The aim is to generate real conversation and connection even though we are scattered around the globe.

 

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Saturday Question: What Is Your Fragrant Suit Of Armour?

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 181 Comments

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

At APJ we have a Saturday Question. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it’s 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 regularly and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them. The aim is to generate real conversation and connection even though we are scattered around the globe.

 

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Versace Man Eau Fraiche by Olivier Cresp for Versace 2006

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

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Post by Portia

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Hey Designer Fragrance Fiends,

Once upon a time, long, long ago there was a fashion house named Versace that made excellent fragrances. Run by its flamboyant and fabulous namesake Gianni Versace who was gunned down outside his Miami, Florida home July 1997. Since his demise the Versace fragrances have become cheaper and nastier, rarely a gem will lift its head above the dross. This is not really one of them but a mate of mine was smelling particularly good a while back and I asked what he was wearing, “Versace Eau Fraiche in the blue bottle” was his proud as punch answer. How could I disagree with my nose so I went and ordered a decant.

Versace Man Eau Fraiche by Versace 2006

Versace Man Eau Fraiche by Olivier Cresp

Versace Man Eau Fraiche Versace FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon, bergamot, rosewood, rose
Heart: Cedar, tarragon, sage, pepper
Base: Amber, musk, saffron, woody notes

Olivier Cresp is a nose that has created some awesome blockbusters. In my collection I have or had full bottles of Juniper Sling, Kokorico, Angel, Armani Attitude and Kenzo Amour Indian Holi: all so different yet created by the same perfumer.

Opening freshly aquatic with a tingling zing of citrus Versace Man Eau Fraiche has all the hallmarks of a summer sports flanker. Bright, artificial, uber clean and lightly toxic smelling. Under this blast of radioactive citrus floats a pretty herbal greenery made piquant by cracked black pepper and a whiff of dry woods. The citrus has now softened considerably and has become quite likable with a creamy hint of pith.

Versace Man Eau Fraiche Versace Orange pith WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

As we warm into the heart Versace Man Eau Fraiche becomes quite like many of the eau de cologne style of fragrances. Nothing smells natural but it doesn’t smell bad I’m enjoying wearing it and my mate smelled delicious. More of a household functional scent than fine fragrance, it could very well be related to the scent they use in hospital disinfectant to make the corridors smell a little brighter and more friendly. It smells clean and invigorating and I can see why so many men wear it. Also over the scent of a lightly sweaty, healthy man it’s very nice. I’m surprised that juniper berries aren’t included in the notes but I suppose they covered it with cedar. I also feel that it’s full of a couple of notes that are so ubiquitous that they should jump out at me as what they are, sadly they dont.

Versace Man Eau Fraiche remains pretty linear with little warming through the base on me, projection and longevity are good but it’s the sillage that will have people looking after you with interest. I would love to smell this on one of my girlfriends to see how it lives on the ladies, probably even more lovely.

Versace Man Eau Fraiche Sexy Brazilian

FragranceNet has $37/50ml before Coupon
My Perfume Samples has $7/5ml

Do your friends ever smell freaking amazing in stuff you wouldn’t use to clean your driveway?
Portia xx

N.B. If you hit the My Perfume Samples link and shop I get a kickback.

BIRTHDAY TIME 2015!!!

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 59 Comments

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Post by Portia

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YAY!!! Out celebrating with the crew!
I wore:
SOTM: Midnight Oud by Juliette Has A Gun
SOTD: Vintage CHANEL No 19 EdT
SOTN: Blonde by Versace

BIRTHDAY TIME 2015!!!

Birthday Cake candles

It’s a great day to turn 47 and enjoying it with my mates. It’s also a good time to think about the many who didn’t last this long, thanks all for looking out for me in the whatever happens next.

For my birthday please close your eyes and think of three things in your life that you like or love. As simple as stationary or complex as partner.DO IT PLEASE.

Done it?

My gift to you is three things to be grateful for. HOW LUCKY ARE YOU?

Thanks for being my fragrant family. Each and every one of you has made this journey special so far, and it’s only just begun.
Portia xx

 

Versace Blonde by Nathalie Feisthauer for Versace 1995

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Hi there Sniffa Crew,

Today we are going back to 1995. It was a particularly good year for me, I was finishing up my time in London (which was totally incredible in itself) and coming home to Sydney in time for Christmas with the family. I cannot tell you how excited I was. HOME!

Anyway, we got this fragrance in Australia in time for Christmas but I think we might have had it for Christmas 1996 because I was working as a drag hostess at one of our clubs and we had to give out samples of Versace Dreamer and A’Men by Mugler on the same night. The whole club smelt incredible with everyone dousing themselves in fragrance and the night was a huge success, one of my favourite nights ever. Though it took me years to stop retching whenever someone was wearing A’Men because right at the end of the night someone Guerrilla spritzed me and it went in my mouth, not nice and the scent seemed to stick in my nostrils for about 3 days.

This is a vintage frag but you can still get your hands on a bottle of extrait/parfum for very reasonable prices

Versace Blonde by Nathalie Feisthauer for Versace 1995

Blonde Versace fragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Gardenia, Pitosporum flowers, violet, orange blossom, bergamot
Heart: Tuberose, daffodil, ylang-ylang, carnation
Base: Benzoin, musk, civet, sandalwood

Perfumer Nathalie Feisthauer has worked on a few frags that you’ve definitely heard of: Hermes Eau des Merveilles, VC&A Collection Extraordinaire Gardenia Petale, ELdO Putain des Palaces and Delicious Closet Queen as well as Must de Cartier Pour Homme. This is just a very small portion of her output.

How does Blonde wear on me? Well it opens green and sappy with a photorealistic (but clean) gardenia that’s sweet, green like bulb flower stems, creamy and the whole experience in the first 5-10 minutes is one of enormous presence. It’s not mentioned but I get a mild galbanum feeling through the opening too. HUGE! Outrageously gorgeous white flowers lightly framed by the citrus.

The opening of the extrait is sweeter and fruitier, very canned peachy.

Marilyn Monroe WikiCommonsPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

No need to fear, Blonde doesn’t stay at these nuclear sizes for long. 15 minutes in and though you are still quite fragrant the power has been turned down considerably and my head can think of other things. Here is where Blonde is really beautiful and wearable. The heady mix of white and yellow flowers are kept crisp by the carnation and already some of the resins make their way in to give depth and breadth. Then Blonde stays pretty much the same for a few hours getting more lived in and raunchy, up to 5 on a really good day, and slowly the whole fragrance goes from that very sensual animalic base as it fades leaving a very soft wash of nothing pickable to nothing at all.

 Blonde Versace Marlene-dietrich blonde-venus WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies
FragranceNet has $40/15ml extrait (I prefer to decant and spritz)
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/.5ml extrait

In 2013 I did a LIVE Video Sniff with Blonde, it kinda captures the feeling of the fragrance better than mere words on screen can. Please be ready to hear the word bombastic about 300 times though.

Thanks for wandering through my thoughts on one of my all time favourite fragrances.
Do you have a discontinued fave that you’ve hoarded a few bottles of?
Portia xx