Video

The New Cupboard

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Hi All,

Don’t forget to leave a comment in the COMPETITION GIVEAWAY post yesterday

Since being inspired and awed by Victoria who recently won the 2012 Editorial Excellence – Blog/E-Zine Fifi for “Luxury vs Function in Perfumery” Bois de Jasmin, March 15, 2011 (Congratulations and snaps Victoria, all hail the reigning Queen) I have been trolling the web even more to learn what makes a great and interesting blogger, to me. There is so much out there. All of us at different levels, everyone getting their say. So democratic. It’s hard to keep up with everyone, especially when many blogs don’t have a delivered to your inbox button. So the people I read every day come to my inbox (about 17) and then I troll for the rest, yes I know about RSS feed but always forget to check it till Sunday.

According to the scentbloggosphere there are a few stages we go through from regular Jo to Perfumista. On the Posh Peasant while purchasing decants from my GIFT CERTIFICATE!! (thanks to TSO Jin, what a guy) I found a 2007 article by Angela, who seems to have hit my story on the head at Now Smell This with her Becoming A Perfumista story . Although it doesn’t mirror my experience exactly it did feel spooky and familiar. It’s good to know I’m not alone. Here is the crux of her story;

Stage One; Strong Interest. Love perfume, have a few, follow releases.

Stage Two: Beginning Perfume Mania. Nearly finished here. Learning ingredients, looking for something special, finding like minded people.

Stage Three: Full Blown Perfume Mania. Moving towards here. Must try every fragrance ever made, writing blog, doing course (soon)

Stage Four: Connoisseurship. Love perfumes, have a wardrobe of incredibly special ones, follow releases but with knowledge

So The Significant Other, Jin, and I trotted off to IKEA to buy a new cupboard for perfumes, decants, decanting supplies, mail needs, and boxes on one side and all my Turbo Trivia and P T Palace homestay needs on the other. It has changed my life having a handyman superhero around the house, imagine being this happy putting a cabinet together. Thanks universe. It’s the woolly winter house socks that give him special powers BTW. Ari on Scents of Self recently did a gag about the suspenseful IKEA how to booklets but watching Jin whip up a complete unit in around an hour was Ah May Zing! It would have taken me the whole day and not turned out looking like a cupboard at all.

When I get my office to a state where photographs won’t incriminate me as a messy desk person I will shoot some in situ shots. It does look rather good all set up and full of the businesses of being me.

Thanks for dropping in I thought you might like this super model laden D&G ad.
It’s fun, and they make it look effortless.

Much love,
Portia xx

JAZZ by YSL, Thursday GIVEAWAY COMPETITION!

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Hey all,

What a week we’ve had here at AustralianPerfumeJunkies. As the weather cools here we are probably doing temperature crossovers with the Northern Hemisphere.

When I was a teenager still in Fashion School but working weekends I bought myself a bottle of JAZZ by YSL. Although I’d had different fragrances before from family and friends this was the first time I felt like I had a scent of my own. I still keep a bottle but much of the oomph seems to have left it over time and reformulation sadly. There is still a lingering thrill though when I put it on, a frission of excitement when that spicy, sparkly, herbal squeak as you spray that is both warm and cool hits your nostrils, its steady progression through musky, resinous florals to its leather, earth and woods base. More people should wear this lovely 1986 Woody Aromatic by Jean-Francois Latty for Yves Saint Laurent, a lovely fit for discerning men and women everywhere, not to mention dirt cheap online. And being so yesterday hardly anyone will recognise it, it will be your own scent as it has been mine on and off for over 25 years (OMFG! How did that happen?). When I wear JAZZ, then as now, you can bounce rocks off my self confidence. JAZZ is the scent of centre, the cool calm feeling of being in the right place at the right time and knowing the right thing to say. Although there were plenty of other times I wore JAZZ when things went regularly, or horribly wrong, more often than not it was JAZZ that was there during my early wins.


Photo Stolen from shoppingheavendotnet

This week we’ve done some interesting stuff and we’d like to share some of our discoveries with you in our Thursday GIVEAWAY COMPETITION!

How to enter?

Please give us a short perfume memory in the comments about your first scent that you really feel you owned, that you felt supremely comfortable in.

As we met the Opus Oils Jitterbug Perfume Parlour and their all natural Divine Collection I thought I’d give the rest of my Venus perfume oil sample for you to try.

Then we talked about Miss Boucheron EdP, how about a 1.5ml decant spray so you can have a go at that

Guerlain Terracotta Voile d’Ete was our next target so a 1.5ml decant spray of that also

And then we had our huge 2 day special on Parfum d’Empire so you can have what’s left of my Cuir Ottoman and Ambre Russe manufacturers samples, which were generous to begin with (I have Full Bottles, I’m not depriving myself)

plus postage and packing to anywhere in the world

We want to thank you all for returning each day. Today after you’ve entered the draw please enjoy the 1992 ad for JAZZ by YSL.

Much love and hope for your well being,

Portia xx

BBC documentary “Guerlain; The Next Generation”, Terracotta Voile d’Ete Review

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Hi Fume Heads, Stink Whores, Perfume Junkies and all others,

Just had the most wonderful lunch with friends down at Blue Fish, Darling Harbour off Sydney Harbour, chatting away to a girl who I’ve met a couple of times and liked very much. Had NO IDEA that she was the girl to set up Le Labo bar here in Sydney, has met most of the world’s most recognisable perfumers and many noses, and wants to be my scent mother. Helping, teaching, exploring!! She has even offered to do some guest spots here on AustralianPerfumeJunkies. OMFG! I am blowing kisses to the universe and to my BFF Kath who started the conversation about AustralianPerfumeJunkies today over the most ENORMOUS seafood platter.

It’s Sunday and I’m dropping this in early to give Sydneysiders a chance to read and watch before dinner. Instead of writing about a perfume I thought we could all watch a story about a perfume house. In honour of it being a Guerlain documentary I am wearing Terracotta Voile d’Ete and if you want to know what it is like Denyse Baeulieu from Grain de Musc does history, scent and wearability. All I will say about Terracotta Voile d’Ete by Guerlain is that it is a soft spicy floriental with moderate sillage and lasting power, works all year round and is pretty cheap online at $50-$90 100ml EdT. Being a 1999 limited edition you will be the only guy/girl wearing it and it’s modern but not as you know it AND, the bottle is beyond fabulous, the most deliciously retro chic. Imagine this little beauty on your vanity, huh? I got mine from FragranceNet.com with 15% off for about $43.


Photo Stolen from Fragrantica

Denyse is also the author of “The Perfume Lover” which I am currently enthralled in. It’s a page turner about a memory of a magical night turned into a fragrance by one of the world’s most talented perfumers, Bertrand Duchaufour of L’Artisan Parfumeur. Quite a plot, that also happens to be based on the real life events that led to the creation of Séville à l’aube, the new perfume from L’Artisan Parfumeur. I hope we get a movie with Lucy Liu, Maggie Smith, Angela Bassett, George Clooney, Eric Bana, Zac Efron, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith too. That would be AWESOME!

Go to with abandon!!

Portia xx

Guerlain, The Next Generation

Just so you know. APJ is not affiliated with any businesses mentioned in our blog.

Miss Boucheron review, Competition WINNER ANNOUNCED

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Hey gang

I hope your weekend is treating you well. Life is good here in sunny autumnal Sydney, crisp and cool. We keep having Bar B Q’s in case it’s the last one before winter really digs in. I love Bar B Q’d sausages and mushrooms. We even ate outside in the sunshine

I’m wearing Miss Boucheron today for fun. It’s a fruity flowery nothing that was so discounted on the net that I blind bought a 50ml refill Eau de Parfum. The noses behind this scent have such good stuff in their repertoires that I felt justified in ignoring Luca Turin’s one star scathing dismissal of the whole product. Anne Flipo (2012 Lady Million Eau de Toilette, 2010 Acqua di Gioia, 2006 YSL  L’Homme, 2005 Fleur D’Oranger) and Dominique Ropion (2012 What We Do In Paris Is Secret, 2005  Carnal Flower, 2005 Alien, 2004 Pure Poison, 1991 Amarige) have such an outstanding history that I wanted him to be wrong. He’s not 100% wrong, in all honesty. It’s similar to plenty of other fragrances, has pink pepper, bergamot and pomegranate as its top notes and is supposed to go through the floral to white suede; but all I get is a waxy flower after a couple of hours that stays for a while, quite nice, and then gone.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a perfectly wearable scent and nobody will be hurt by your wearing of it. It was designed to be an inexpensive fresh fragrance to bring some younger custom to house Boucheron.  You will smell bright and flowery with a little musky & pink peppery sparkle. I will use this bottle up but will probably not buy another. I may become addicted to it though and have to. Never say….


Photo Stolen from supermodels.nl

Now Smell This has done a wonderful review back when Miss Boucheron first appeared, Fragrantica has the skinny.

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Here’s what you had to do and what you’ll be winning should you be our lucky contestant. I’m so sad we don’t have prizes for everyone who entered, thank you all for contributing. I enjoy reading your responses more than you could know. THANK YOU! We’ll have another giveaway next Thursday, see you then.

Please give us a short perfume memory in the comments about you, a friend, colleague or relative’s favourite old school perfume (pre 2000) WINNER Lindaloo for her beautiful Mum story.

1.5ml spray decant Casmir by Chopard
Manufacturers sample COURAGE by One seed
1.5ml Posh Peasant decant spray of Parfumerie Generale; Jardin de Kerylos
1.5ml Posh Peasant decant spray of Diptyque; Philosykos
1ml Posh Peasant decant of Ambre Russe by Parfum d”Empire

Tell your fave CELEBUSCENT WINNER Mark Evans for SJP’s Lovely

1.5ml manufacturers sample spray Haute Claire by Aftelier Perfumes
Aftelier Perfumes Apricot and Lemon Candle in a Tin
Gucci; 2ml decanted sample spray Gucci by Gucci pour homme
Estee Lauder; 2ml decanted sample spray Brasil Dreams
Jessica Simpson; 2ml decanted sample spray Fancy Nights
LUSH Cosmetics; 1.5ml decanted sample spray Orange Blossom

Plus postage and packing to anywhere in the world. You must get in touch before Wednesday 2.5.12 to claim your prize or I’ll give it to someone in the street!

Have a wonderful fragrant weekend all. Enjoy!

Portia xx

Casmir by Chopard Review

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

Hey everyone,

While most blogs are talking about Spring arriving and getting out your citrus and softly, airy florals; here in Australia we are just starting to hit Autumn. The leaves on the Liquidamber in the front yard are starting to turn, the Camellias are flowering, the gardener will be coming every 3 weeks instead of fortnightly and the nights are turning chilly. Instead of wearing my summer round the house uniform of boxer shorts and singlets it is track suit, hoodie and sloppy Joe weather. YUMMY! Soon it will be pumpkin soup, roast beef, baked pasta with vegetables and savoury mince time. I love the cooler months because it’s easier to get warm that it is to get cool, without resorting to A/C, just add socks and a jumper. We also have really mild winters in Sydney so it’s not a hardship, it’s lovely.

CASMIR EDP by Chopard

The nose that created Casmir in 1992, Michel Almairac, had already made Joop! Homme, Escada Margaretha Ley and Paloma Picasso Minotaure and has gone on to create such lavish olfactory adventures as L’Eau de Chloe, Shiseido’s Zen Women, Bottega Veneta, Gucci Rush, Cabaret by Gres, and a bunch of the Bond No 9’s. So this is an early work, a peek into the history of, and helps build context for, an already extraordinary career.

Casmir is given 4 stars by Luca Turin. He calls it a Strange Oriental and talks about the discordance and “contrasts between the peach, lactonic top notes, the slightly flat, mimosa floral heart and the woody-animalic drydown…as daring as Rabanne’s La Nuit was in its day.”

Photo Stolen from PinkManhattan

The notes that Luca Turin speaks of and on Fragrantica do not serve as a guide for me, at all. Yes, my nose is sometimes crazy but in this I feel justified. Maybe I need to go eat a peach. I smell not the big gutsy hit of fruits but it feels like a sweet vanilla,  jasmine and orange blossom to me, with maybe a whisper of spices and cinnamon (TSO Jin smells watermelon)? Then it’s all about the base. Vanilla, Benzoin (?), Opoponax (brown sugary, honeyed resin) and Tonka Bean (spicy resinous vanilla) walk in and play sexy bitches for hours and hours. In the morning I’ll wake up with the sweet, dirty, disco smell of girl gone bad. This is a fragrance to send boys home crying and have men panting for more and trying to hump your leg. So reasonably priced on the discount store sites and packs a knockout punch. Certainly not for the faint-hearted, this will bring out the sexy siren in you. Don’t sniff or tsk at me, you know you love it and you also want this in your arsenal.

Photo Stolen from shopping.com

We haven’t yet spoken about the bottle. I love the bottle even though it is ridiculously awkward to spray from, takes up the same area as 4 other regular bottles and is outrageously the wrong side of kitsch. To me all this belies the gloriously sensual juice in the bottle. Like it’s a challenge to wear; pass the test of ignoring these problems to get the fragrant reward. Its worth it.

Brian on I Smell Therefore I Am does a wonderful review, light and shade, all angles covered and Pink Manhattan where I stole the print ad from loves Chopard’s Casmir.

Thank you so much for reading. What are your cool weather warmers? If you’re up in the Northern Hemisphere which of your favourites are being bundled away in anticipation of summer? Leave us a message and tell us. It will thrill us and make us feel like real bloggers.

Portia xx

The only ad I could find on YouTube was in German but you get the idea. The arch they go through reminds me of a couple of the wonderful places I’ve been in India.

Scent Science and WINNER Announced

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An introduction to the Science of Scent. This is an interesting short course in “how we smell” theories. Light and informative. Neil Morris and Luca Turin are both interviewed about their perfume practice and theories.

This weeks winner is receiving by mail.

1ml spray remains of manufacturers sample Eau de Maroc EDP by Aftelier Perfumes

1.5ml spray decant Mandgradore EDT by Annick Goutal

1.5ml spray decant Carriere EDP by Gendarme

1.5mml spray decant Muscho Nobile EDT by Nobile 1942

and a SURPRISE manufacturers spray decant of Bamboo Harmony by Kilian. Brand new and fresh off the press, sent directly from their HQ. This is part of by Kilian new Asian Tales fragrance range. I have kept the Water Calligraphy half of this amazing sample set for myself and had a small test spray of your Bamboo Harmony which seems to be a warm spicy aquatic to me on its only mini application.

The winner today is UNDINA from Undina’s Looking Glass.

I know you didn’t want to be entered Undina but I am also surpised and inspired by people who look like they have an amazing team working for and with them, especially when it is mainly their own hard work, perseverence and drive that has made their dream come true. If you really don’t want to win I will redraw but please do win.

The Fragrance of Francis Kurkdjian

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 4 Comments

Hey gang,

This is how Francis Kurkdjian views his eponymous fragrance range. The video is an interesting watch, made by LibertyStoreTV, and has odd cutaways to his lunchy jeans, which is awkward, no… it is AWKWARD! It has a 2010 date on it.

Francis Kurkdjian is charming and engaging. The video feels to me as if I am interviewing him. Some of the questions that I’d ask are answered here.

Evie has had some hold ups with interviews and will have her next update on Monday. Sorry for the delay tonight.

Enjoy,

Portia xx