Video

Guilty by Gucci 2010

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Hey Y’all,

Please go check the Perfume Posse because I’m guest posting today about Olympic Orchids and don’t forget to enter our Paloma Picasso Thursday Giveaway….

I was lucky enough to be given a bottle of Gucci Guilty recently by a friend who’d had it purchased for her but did not like it for herself, being a veteran Ma Griffe by Carven woman. I have coveted the bottle since I first laid eyes on it, thinking it an excellent branding exercise and lovely counter topper. I had high hopes for the juice because Gucci have done some great stuff in the past and I was hoping for a love. Come with me and we’ll discover Guilty together.

https://i0.wp.com/www.punmiris.com/images/secundar/o.11813.jpg Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these notes mandarin, pink pepper, peach, lilac, geranium, amber and patchouli.

Guilty opens warm pink pepper and peach on my skin, it’s a modern fruit-chouli and that should have me hating on it immediately but there seems to be some interesting depths here. A softly spicy, whisper of a fragrance that still manages some sillage and staying power, around 5-7 hours depending on what I’m doing. As the amber warms into the fragrance I also get a beautiful waft of crisp, fresh cut flowers so I am guessing the geranium is keeping the lilacs a bit extra green. The patchouli has been stripped naked and scrubbed clean till I can hardly notice it but still the dry down maintains surprising amber/vanilla warmth and is by far my favourite part of the fragrances life.

Honestly, this seems a little generic for the design house GUCCI for which the motto, Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten, is associated. This is very nice, pretty, wearable and inoffensive so where they got the steamy sex and name Guilty from we are left guessing. I will use this as my re-spritz in my bag and it will be drained in no time but will probably not purchase. Sorry GUCCI but you’ve let me down a little bit.

NowSmellThis and LashGirl were the only 2 reviews I could find on the first 4 pages of google for Gucci Guilty that weren’t Pour Homme Intense.

Thanks for coming and sharing my fragrant wanderings, hopefully see you tomorrow,

Portia XOX

Gucci Guilty

Frederic Malle LIVE Video Sniffs

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Hello all you Perfumistas,

YAY!! YAY!! YAY!!

You’ve all been hanging out for one of our videos and we are slowly making a stockpile of them to bring out when the urge comes upon us. We are so lucky to have my gorgeous Scent Mother, Emma (who guest blogs here on APJ as EmmaKate) with me for this one. I hope you enjoy our little bit of perfume madness as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you.

Photo Stolen meccacosmetica

Today we look at 3 of the Frederic Malle series; Vetiver, Carnal Flower and Le Parfum De Therese. Emma talks us through them, their major accords, some history and we sniff one LIVE.

Photo Stolen meccacosmetica

As always I’d like to thank my BFF Kath for the video and editing and TSO Jin for making it embed ready.

Enjoy, Enjoy, ENJOY!!!
Portia xxx

World’s Most Expensive Cupcake! and Winners Announced

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Hey Hey Gang,

It’s Saturday and I’ve had the laziest day ever. Got up late, everyone was out so I’ve sat at the computer, played with the dogs, read a heap of the last Hunger Games book, had the most wonderful boiling hot bath with salts and will soon trot off to make Nachos for dinner!! Perfect winter Saturday if you ask me. While I’ve been organising stuff for next week today completely slipped my mind so I offer you a look at The Making Of The World’s Most Expensive Cupcake. It is grotesquely and outrageously OTT! One day I’m going to Dubai to try it. I stole it from HisFashionBlog and can’t get it out of my mind. YUMMO!

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WINNERS ANNOUNCED

We had a wonderful response to our giveaway this week, which was open to our lovely and loyal blog followers only. What did you have to do? Tell us the 2 fragrance houses we have highlighted this week. We have 2 prize packs to give away of Brand New scents.

What do you get if you are one of our 2 winners?
2 x Smell Bent remix project 4ml travel sprays
1 x Tommi Sooni “Passerelle” 2ml sample vial
P&H anywhere in the world

Photo Stolen berryreview

MonsoonalMusings2 & Tatiana

Congratulations!! Winners please get in touch by Wednesday July 25 or I will give the prize to someone else. You can DM your address on Twitter (@OzPerfumeJunkie) or Fb (Portia Turbo-Gear) and also if you follow from twitter or by mail and your email/blog address please.

Tomorrow we have a very special Sunday Quicksniffs that I’ve been trying to get my head around for the last 2 days.

See you then,
Portia xx

Ambre Russe by Parfums d’Empire 2003 and New Music

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Hey you Mad Perfume Crazed Freakazoids,

It’s Friday. YAY!!

Ambre Russe by Parfums d’Empire 2003

Ambre Russe by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato

Parfum d'Empire Ambre Russe fragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Champagne, vodka
Middle: Tea, cinnamon, coriander, birch, juniper, Russian leather
Base: Incense, musk, amber

We have done a Parfum d’Empire expose back in May, we talked about Marc-Antoine Corticchiato the face and creative director and we also did some mini reviews of some of the line. I wanted to keep Ambre Russe in reserve though for its own feature because it is so special.

Ambre Russe is a legendary rock star of a fragrance. Big, rich, boozy, tenacious and completely spellbinding. Marc-Antoine Corticchiato of wonderful Parfum d’Empire (<<JUMP) has made a masterpiece. The day that the samples arrived last year this was the first fragrance I tried. That night I was online ordering a 50ml (only 100ml online now) and it has been awaiting its opening ceremony till this week. How could I have let this amazing fragrance sit in its box?

Interestingly, I feel very few of the written notes here. I get booze but to my nose the champagne and vodka feel like brandy, the tea and spices feel like a rose accord, with the crispness of some stem and leaf which must be the birch and juniper, Russian Leather? I get pipe tobacco, not in the bag but in the pipe after tamping as the flame first touches with its rim of pre-smoked ash, redolent of huffy clubs and high end tailoring but completely unisex. The dry down, which is still powering away 3pm next day from a 6pm double spritz, finally gives me what I would expect from these written notes; amber, musk and deep religious incense. I have had 2 people say that it reminds them of musk sticks at this late stage, sweet musk and vanilla tempered by the coolness of the incense.

This little bit of magic is a real head turner, sillage is excellent. You are guaranteed comments and compliments. I wore this to work 3 nights this week and had two plus compliments and more questions each night. Not a sexually alluring fragrance, this one is bare faced cheek and haughty grandeur in equal measure. Don’t wear it to dinner without a 2 hour preamble or you won’t taste your food properly.

Parfum d’Empire

Parfum d’Empire has an awesome sample program 13 2ml samples including postage only 22€ to the world! The 100ml bottles are all extremely well priced for a niche company of this quality too.

SOME GREAT NEW MUSIC

Two Door Cinema Club are back with brand new single, Sleep Alone. It is the debut single off the bands second album ‘Beacon’ due for release this September. I stole this from the amazing KeelanFoley new music site.
http://soundcloud.com/two-door-cinema-club/sleep-alone

I loved this cruisey music and video so much I stole it from nambiblog

Do you have a Parfum d’Empire favourite? What is it and why?

I hope you all have a safe and fun weekend.
Portia xx

Wild Ginger Chai by SOIVOHLE Winner Announced

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Hey All,

I have a full day of Liz Zorn and SOIVOHLE coming up soon but I received an order from them and can’t stop spraying myself with Wild Ginger Chai, then I come to review it and its been finished. No mention on the website, and I only bought 11ml thinking I would be sensible for a change.

STOP PRESS, false alarm!!! No not gone but that part of the site is currently down. Liz just return emailed about my query and said it will be back up July 24, with the release of some new stuff. Yippeee! If you want to be kept in the SOIVOHLE loop here is a JUMP to their Facebook Page. Which will also give you links to their blog updates.

I love the queer start, like it’s going to be a hot stinking mess. As it opens on my skin the ginger and vanilla seem to grind against each other for the first 5 or so minutes like rubbing corduroy the wrong way, not a bad feeling, just unexpected. When the honey floats through the shape of this masterpiece begins show itself. Really masterpiece you ask? I have had this on me at some point during the last 4 days, 2 of those days I wore nothing else. OMG!! So I don’t get a tea like the Bvlgari’s, but there is a jasmine/orange blossom like lactonic note here and the spicy milk accord does nod vigorously towards the smell of chai being cooked out of the milk in India, which is a totally different smell to ours, there is also still a quiet kick of ginger right through but like a gingerbread man, slightly doughy. Wild Ginger Chai continues to grow and change, but not distinctly, as it fades away to a soft and wearable sweetish vanilla This all takes around 4-5 hours till I completely lose the ability to smell it. Cor! It is soooo good. Excuse me while I respritz.

Wild Ginger Chai Soivohle for women and menPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica said,
Wild Ginger Chai by Soivohle is an Aromatic Spicy fragrance for women and men…launched in 2012….and features vanilla, tea, honey and spices.

MAKING TRUE CHAI
Indians bring the water to the boil in a saucepan on the stove, throw in their tea leaves, sugar/honey and special tea spice mix (called Chai Masala) to taste, every home is different. As the water changes colour they add milk, I prefer quite a bit, then let the mix almost boil again and it’s ready. Strain into cups and serve with warm biscuits, yummy. Surprisingly, Indians drink this in all seasons, even the hottest part of summer.

THURSDAY GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Our giveaway was open to blog followers only this week, we are now well over the 100 followers mark so I decided to add an extra little prize for our 100th follower, COOL huh? Thank you to all our contestants, so glad you all jumped on board for this one.

You were all put on a paper, folded, put on a plate and picked by Jin (repeating; this was not a game of chance, you had to be a blog follower and tell us your fave post this week). Here’s what was on offer for the major prize

5ml decant spray Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf
3ml decant spray Beloved by Amouage
2ml manufacturers sample Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens
1ml sample vial Fleur de Glace by Olympic Orchids
1ml manufacturers sample Outspoken by Fergie for Avon
P&H anywhere in the world

All measurements are approximate

For our 100th follower we have 2 things I love and 2 that were meh! I hope you like them all.

2ml decant spray Gujarat by Olympic Orchids
2ml decant spray Commes Des Garcons EdP
1ml manufacturers sample Honey Blossom by The Beehive
1ml manufacturers sample In Bloom by Reese Witherspoon for AVON
P&H anywhere in the world

All measurements are approximate

Photo Stolen propercourse

THURSDAY GIVEAWAY- Laniersmith

100th FOLLOWER- anutu13

You have till Wednesday July 18 9pm Australian EST to get in touch with your addresses so I can send these off. PM me on Twitter @OzPerfumeJunkie or Facebook Portia Turbo-Gear If you don’t I’ll give your prize to someone else.

Photo Stolen bitrebels

Thank all for coming around, I have a special thank you video. It’s just a bunch of Brazilian male models saying Hola. Do please enjoy,
Much love and highest hopes for your health, wealth and happiness,
Portia xx

Allure Homme by Jacques Polge for Chanel 1999

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Hello Fragrant Fraternity,

HOORAY!! Go check out my Guest Spot on the PERFUME POSSE! It’s a super fun story of helping a mate choose his new fragrance.

ENTER the THURSDAY GIVEAWAY too. It’s a super dooper grab bag this week.

How lucky am I? A friend of mine was given this and made open the box and spray at his party, couldn’t stand it and couldn’t return it either. Full bottle to Portia!! Woo Hoo! Up to this point I had been unaware of Allure Homme but was expecting a big Chanel base with some spice, WRONG!


Photo Stolen Fragrantica

On me the opening citrus burst is quite overwhelming, and I can already smell a bit of bakery like the first cut of an orange souffle. Though it is in your face it still manages to be warm, mellow and cuddly, like a well dressed, freshly pressed Dad. The beginning of the floral heart is not at all as I expected, the geranium keeps it sharp and green, it feels a bit like some herbs have been left off the note list, with a warm background. Then the fragrance fades to a near nothing, if I stick my head down my shirt I can smell it but it is so close to the skin and sillageless that I feel unperfumed. Every so often though I get a huff of it and am completely transported because what little there is is gorgeous, heartbreaking. I want the world to smell how good this is. It lasts in this non perfumed state for ages, maybe 6 more hours and goes through a slightly leather/vanilla that is great, I know it’s not in the notes but to my nose (which is not always on point) there is leather. The sandalwood is adding butter to the amberish vanilla too. Such a lovely fragrance and well deserving of your attention but it is no big head turner. Only the people very close, and you. will even know that it’s not your own skin that smells so good.

Fragrantica gives these notes:
Top: Mandarin, lemon, peach and bergamot
Middle: Freesia, geranium, rose and jasmine
Base: Benzoin, tonka, sandalwood and vanilla

The NowSmellThis crew were unimpressed and I couldn’t find another review on the first 2 pages of google.

I hope you go and try Allure Homme, it is an excellent work, dinner, after the gym or sex date scent, especially the last. You can’t over apply Allure Homme because it’s such a quiet body fragrance. Another great thing is, you can pass by any Chanel counter and get a spritz for free.

See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

I know this is for the sport model but I love this making of video, it’s better than the ad.

Shalimar EdC by Guerlain 1925

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Hiya Perfumistas,

As some of you already know Jacques Guerlain created Shalimar in 1925, inspired by the legendary love story between Mughal Indian Emperor Shah Jahan and his lowly born wife Mumtaz Mahal. He loved her so much that when she died he nearly bankrupted his empire by building the Taj Mahal as her tomb, when he started work on a matching black granite edifice on the opposite shore of the river in Agra his sons imprisoned him and kept him incarcerated till his death. Having been twice to the Taj Mahal, the second time spontaneously bursting into tears as it came into view and having to take a seat while my BFF Kath photographed, I think Shalimar a fitting tribute to a love that tore a family, a man’s mind and nearly an empire apart when it was done. I have loved it since my Mum and her friends wore it when I was a child.

Shalimar EdC by Guerlain 1925


Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Today I decided it was time to have an opening ceremony for my incredible Vintage Shalimar EdC find, pre 1990’s but after the bar code was introduced because there is a b/c at the bottom and some Arabic writing there too. Anyone? Still in the lovely shiny embossed gold with matte navy and white box.

Photo Stolen Shopping

Oh boy! OH BOY! It goes on with a rush and susurrus of vanilla that took me so completely by surprise that I missed the entrance of the citrus which all of a sudden appeared and became nearly the sole focus; with vanilla still in the background.

About 15 minutes of these lovely citrus notes and then they are overtaken by the base, there seems to be no stopover in the floral department at all, like it’s been quickly and quietly swept under the carpet. Now it’s back to the incredible woodsy inedible vanilla with unpickable stuff lurking around trying to get noticed but being crushed under the jeweled bootlet of vanilla and wood.

Quite a different experience to my vintage or current parfum or my current EdP , still Shalimar but bolder in some ways and less pronounced in others. Even its staying power is quite good at 2 hours so far and no sign of diminution. I am at around 2 hours starting to get a light leather though, newish leather but soft, curling around the vanilla and giving it a fresh depth. I am reading my book and coming back to type every so often when new facets of the fragrance manifest, what a lovely way to spend a winter afternoon.

Interesting, at about 2.5 hours there is a definite floral intrusion over the top of all else and through it, now that the flowers have decided to make their presence known properly it seems they were there all along but just happy to bide their time filling the fragrance out softly. The extremely powdery iris and soft jasmine/rose accords. I am in heaven.

At just over 3 hours I am left with a sweet, woody, maybe patchouli I can’t quite read it because my Shalimar EdC has become so whispery quiet, still there but I have lost the ability to parse its notes. That was so good, so perfect, I think this is my favourite Shalimar incarnation that I own. It has been a satisfying ride and I am replete.

We are at around 4.5 hours and I just got a citrus and vanilla waft as I turned the page of my book. Still there still humming along. EdC! 4.5 hours! Ridiculously wonderful. Thank you Guerlain.

Thanks for coming along on my fragrant mental wanderings, that you do makes me happy. I hope it brings you joy as well.

On the Perfume Posse today my mate David Watson and I have done a LIVE VIDEO SNIFF. So gay it hurts. Go see.

Do you have a Shalimar story to share, I love them.

Portia xx

Siren by Paris Hilton 2009 Elton John meets Pnau

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Hey Gang,

Photo Stolen marieclaireuk parishiltonsite

HA HA HA, I know. You are all incredulous. Why would Portia review a Paris Hilton fragrance? It’s not niche or expensive or fashionable! Well, you are right, it’s none of these things. Paris probably never even smelt this. Who knows? There are reasons though that I’ve given Paris Hilton Siren a try…

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

The main reason is that recently it was reported in reputable places that Paris Hilton had sold US$1.5 billion worth of perfume. 1.5 BILLION DOLLARS! So I am intrigued by anyone who can generate that many sales for something that everyone is panning. OK, if you are Paris Hilton and you’re a great sales person, businesswoman and advertisement for your product, you are constantly in the media for better and worse keeping the product that you have become alive. I get that part, she does an excellent job at that. Yes, she is kind of pretty (sometimes gorgeous) and articulate, that helps too………..BUT! that means people will buy your product once. Right? If all these people buy the products and they are utter crap then how is there any return custom? How do you sell 1.5 billion dollars worth of perfume when 100ml is around $40, that is a shitload of juice. So I am agog to see what the hell everyone is buying, aren’t you? Honestly, if people are buying and rebuying the celebrity dream, it has to be kind of good.

Photo Stolen songonlyrics

So, what do I smell when I put on Paris Hilton’s Siren? It has been compared to Viva La Juicy, I have one on each hand. On my skin Viva La Juicy is similar, and nice, but not as interesting, though it ends way more gourmand. Siren, on the other hand (literally), starts out with a citrus softened by a delicious buttery frangipani, maybe it is partly the orchid which seems very night blooming and rich. The sandalwood, lotus and musk are apparent but I don’t get even a hint of the honeysuckle. This is a full-throated floral, surprisingly quite big and unashamed. Maybe I have a thing for drugstore scents but I like Siren, it’s a very good name for the scent that is cool, delicious and exotic with hints of warmth, especially as it dries down to a shimmery vanilla/musk accord that lasts well, in barely there status, before it too is gone. Somewhere between 4 & 5 hours, which is great on my scent hungry skin.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

I am as surprised as you that this isn’t instant scrub. There are much better respected and more expensive brands doing a far worse job on their fragrances than Paris Hilton did on Siren. It just goes to show, doesn’t it.

CheapSmells has 100ml for $22

Portia xx

PS I also thought you might like this. Apparently, Elton John has made a compilation of mash ups with Australian musicians’s Pnau called Good Morning To The Night, here is a taste. I am LOVING it. I stole it from another blogger lechehelsinki. Thanks.

Eau Sauvage by DIOR 1966 and Secret Garden Video

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Hiya Perfume Junkies,

Firstly, HAPPY JULY 4 USA! Photo Stolen Chiquero


Photo Stolen perfumeshrine

Recently I was lucky enough to grab a sample of Eau Sauvage but gave it to a mate instead of sniffing it myself. Since then it has played on my mind, trying to remember it because I used to wear it back in the late 1980’s and loved it. I happened to grab a SurrenderToChance: Perfumer Guy Robert Selects Perfume Masterpieces 24-Sample Pack and guess what, there it is! Guy Robert (Caleche, Madame Rochas, Dioressence, Amouage Gold) felt Edmond Roudnitska, the perfume genius responsible for Eau Sauvage, had created a masterpiece. Even 46 years later, after IFRA prohibitions and reformulations, it still bears solid traces of its magic and majesty.

Photo Stolen onlyfornow


Belonging to the Citrus Chypre family it opens fresh, bright  herbalcitrus on me, then the flowers which are kept surprisingly cool by carnation and iris root yet buttery warm through the sandalwood & patchouli, it’s interesting the way the flowers work against the green against the woods and herbs before the deep base comes plodding from below giving us the dank river bank near a produce market. This scent is surprisingly country and rural, considering that it’s been the epitome of masculine scent for a cool and classy city slicker.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives the notes/accords as
Top: lemon, basil, bergamot, cumin, lavender, fruit
Heart: Jasmine, rose, carnation, iris root, coriander, patchouli, sandalwood
Base: Oak moss, vetiver, musk, amber

NowSmelllThis and BoisDeJasmine do great reviews, both much more in depth with great historical data included.

As a special treat I’ll leave you with the DIOR Secret Garden movie. Glorious! Raf Simons stamping his modern nod to the houses history quite firmly over his predecessors kooky, often disconnected flamboyance. BAM! Yesterday’s fashion is again today’s news.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our look at Eau Sauvage, I really just wanted an excuse to play that video.

Is there a DIOR in your sights? Are you craving?
Portia xx

Tourmaline by Charriol 2010

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hey Hey all you Scent Worshipers,

I am new to the world of Charriol.

Photo Stolen airesjewelers

It is a Swiss Jewellery and Watch company started in 1983 in Geneva by Philippe Charriol, a French entrepreneur, and known for it’s patented cable work with gold & steel and Celtic inspirations. Expensive, interesting and beautiful; their jewellery and watches are so artfully designed and constructed that they look timeless.


Photo Stolen airesjewelers

TOURMALINE by CHARRIOL 2010

When my friendly SA Amanda says to me, “Portia, you like a white flower powerhouse, don’t you?” my ears prick up instantly. The perfumer from Givaudan who created this fragrance, Guillaume Flavigny, also created In Black for Byblos which TSO Jin wears, and I love on him. He is good at making big scents even in today’s market so I am already thinking it might be a hit for me.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

According to Fragrantica (and severely de-ad.-speak) the notes go
Olfactory family: floral, green, woody
Top notes: Davana, Green notes, Cyclamen, Ivy leaf.
Middle notes: Gardenia, Frangipani, Water hyacinth.
Base notes: Rosewood, Musk, Patchouli.

Yes, it is a green, white floral but it also has a non specific sweet, fruity style that comes from Artemisia Pallens, commonly called Davana in India, that lifts it beyond your regular white floral. I am reading that this is a fruit-chouli/aquatic but it isn’t wearing like that on me at all. The cyclamen at the start gives this great sweet, floral, waxy feeling to the ivy, davana and green notes that identifies it as unusual for me. Then the night flowers start their song, so inviting and in your face. I love the clear call of the flowers in this middle section, it is feisty. This smells good. It’s so simple.  I could go on and on at you about the story and notes and completely miss the point that this smells so good, and fresh, crisp and light. We had a sunny Autumn day here in Sydney, Australia and Tourmaline stepped up to bat and hit the ball out of the park.

Photo Stolen gemselect

The bottle is nice too, it has heft and I like the side roping, and the nod to a watch face. In fact for once the bottle is nicer in your hand than the ad. The whole package seems well thought out and planned. The paraiba tourmaline was first discovered in the Brazililan state of Paraiba in 1989 by a dedicated miner named Heitor Barbosa and it’s luminous blue/green colour is caused by copper traces within the gem. It is only found in 3 places on earth and sells for thousands of dollars per carat.

It is now night time, I’ve cooked us all here the most delicious Butter Chicken, we’ve watched some TV and the crew is in bed. A respritz of Charriol’s lovely Tourmaline and all of a sudden I know what I will write about tonight. This sneaky, budget little gem that I picked up on my fave SAs word.

Tourmaline by Charriol can be bought from their site
I found it at PerfumeConnection 50ml under $30
Amazon also has 50ml under $30

I’m pretty sure this has slipped under everyone’s radar because the only mention I could find in a blog was NowSmellThis where Robin introduces the fragrance but gives mainly Press Release info. The comments after shed more light on the Tourmaline name, it’s where I got the paraiba from.

Thanks for coming along. It’s wonderful to me that you do. Thank You.
Portia xx