Girlfriend by Justin Bieber 2012

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Post by Katrina

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Hi APJ,

I really like this perfume. I wore it a lot last summer when it seemed like the perfect summer fragrance. But now in winter, wearing it for this review I’ve found that I enjoy wearing it all year round.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: mandarin, blackberry, pear and strawberry.
Heart: pink freesia, star jasmine, apricot and orange blossom
Base: vanilla orchid, luminous musk and white amber

Justin Bieber won big this year taking out US Fifi Awards in 2 categories. Justin Bieber’s Girlfriend, the second fragrance from the Biebster, won both ‘Fragrance of the Year – Women’s Popular’ and ‘Consumer Choice – Women’s’ categories.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

The packaging for this perfume is fun and playful. The cross section of the purple bottle is heart shaped and it slots into a colourful canister that reminds me of a slinky. Fun! Taking the bottle out to spray makes me feel just a little happier.

The perfume starts fresh and fruity with citrus and crisp pear. Girlfriend is sweet but not overly. As the perfume evolves the floral notes come out and the fruit changes to what smells like honeydew melon to me, although it should be apricot based on the fragrance notes listed. The base notes of the fragrance are quite soft and the fresh sweetness stays until the end.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

Further reading: EauDeLucy and AccentGirl100
Fragrance Shop has from $26/30ml
My Perfume Samples starts at $2/ml

Which other celebrity perfumes won awards this year? Check out my Celebrity Perfume Website to find out.

Have any of you APJ readers tried Girlfriend? If not I challenge you to give it a try!

Katrina xx

ED: I added the Beaty & The Beat video because I think it’s SUPER FUN!

Vetiver Tonka by Jean Claude Ellena for Hermès 2004

Hello Fellow Fumies,

I don’t know what’s going on lately but it looks like vetiver has overtaken my big white flowers as favourite note. This was unintentional, surprising and I hope it doesn’t mean my love for the BWF is dying. Also, I’ve been doing some reading, always a dangerous course for the half educated like myself, and it turns out that vetiver is becoming the plant de jour around the world for a number of things other than perfume. There are 2 types of non invasive, clumping vetiver that are being used world wide for their ability to leech the toxins from soil and water, they are also excellent for stabilising erosion, holding banks/mountains in place and creating sea walls. This is only the tip of the iceberg I feel and will be interested to see it used in the future for self-sufficient-household sanitation and water cleansing.

Hermessence Vetiver Tonka by Hermès 2004

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Vetiver, tonka bean, lily of the valley, tobacco, caramel, praline, sandalwood, hazelnut

The caramel/resinous/LOTV open is joyous all by itself. So full throated and filled with call, like a siren or water bird floating across the brackish water of river and sea land junction. The foody stuff all combines with the tonka to create a wonderful sweet amber or crispy toffee scent that makes me want some salted caramel ice cream and honeycomb. YUMMY stuff indeed.

Photo Stolen vetiver.org

The fragrance then takes a decidedly vetiver turn on my skin, giving me a gorgeous earthy, salty, green smell like sitting on a dock above or the verandah near mudflats at low tide, it must be cooler months because there is a smoky waft carrying across to you from someones fireplace, or maybe it’s a summer Bar B Q and the sweetness still lurking is caramelising onions and sausages.

The feeling I get from Vetiver Tonka is a sense of space and freedom. It’s like a holiday, there is time to smell the unfolding of the story, the sweet warmth and earthy dankness combine to form a welcoming and pretty adventure that is both warm and very, very cool. Though it is not a sillage monster Vetiver Tonka does waft a trail and if you spray a card and leave the room, when you return it has tinted the air with a very slightly foody sweetness underlaid with a wetland breeze.

Heftier than many of the more recent J C E offerings and lasting power is decidedly longer, around 4-5 hours before I lose it, or the ability to notice it. Lately I have been using the Olympic Orchids Patchouli Lovers Soap and it is adding a very green baseline to Vetiver Tonka that darkens it and adds a couple of hours life to the whole also. The tobacco and LOTV seem to completely bypass my skin, with or without the soap, but I probably just miss them in the seamless mix that is a J C Ellena trademark: a scent story that has the most beautifully gradated transitions.

Photo Stolen Hermès

Further reading: What Men Should Smell Like and Bois de Jasmin
Hermès does a great set of 4 x 15ml Hermessence of your choice $180
Surrender To Chance has Vetiver Tonka on sale for $4/.5ml

Are you a J C Ellena fan? Have you tried Hermessence Vetiver Tonka or are there favourite Vetiver or Tonka frags that you’s like to share with us? We’d love to read your thoughts.

See you tomorrow
Portia xx

The Hypnotist (A Tale)

The Hypnotist

It was entertainment night at the senior citizens’ centre.
After the community sing song led by Alice at the piano it was time for the Star of the Show-
Claude the Hypnotist!

Photo Stolen Romer Jed Medina Flickr

Claude explained that he was going to put the whole audience into a trance.
“Yes, each and every one of you and all at the same time.” said Claude.
The excited chatter dropped to silence as Claude carefully withdrew from his waistcoat pocket A beautiful antique gold pocket watch and chain.
“I want you to keep your eyes on this watch” said Claude, holding the watch high for all to see. “It is a very special and valuable watch that has been in my family for six generations”

Photo Stolen Kayla Kandzorra Flickr

He began to swing the watch gently back and forth while quietly chanting
“Watch the Watch — Deeper and Deeper — Watch the Watch —- Deeper and Deeper — Watch the Watch”

The audience became mesmerised as the watch swayed back and forth.
The lights twinkling as they were reflected from it’s gleaming surfaces and the oldies glasses back at it.
A hundred and fifty pairs of eyes followed the movements of the gently swaying watch.

And then, suddenly, the chain broke!!!
The beautiful watch fell to the stage and burst apart on impact. “SHIT” said Claude.

A hundred and fifty senior citizens obeyed

3 Positive Reminders For A Better Day

Hello Australian Perfume Junkies,

Not every day is great. Sometimes we struggle with depression, pain, trouble and lack. I belong to a Facebook Group that is about changing the way you react to external and internal everything. From the nastiness we offer ourselves when we look in the mirror, the way we interpret others behaviors and how we feel the world sees us to taking time, expressing gratitude and understanding how magic and beautiful we all are. And how GOOD LUCKY!

Photo Stolen The Mindset Maven

I know I am lucky, blessed and beautiful (though not conventionally so, my beauty is the extraordinary kind).

Thank you all for being a part of the APJ family. Every view, comment and friend I’ve made from this blog is another amazing thing to be happy about. You lot are a force for joy in my life. THANK YOU!

So please enjoy my 3 Positive Reminders For A Better Day

Someone right here loves you, and you are worthy of it.
Portia xxxox

200,000 VIEWS: So Nude EdP by Costume National: 2 x 50ml GIVEAWAY

Hello Fabulous Fragrance Fiends,

With special thanks to the crew at Libertine Parfumerie who have generously supplied these So Nude bottles for APJ to give away. Thank you Libertine Parfumerie for being on board for this super special milestone. Thank you to all the readers, commenters, contributors, bloggers, perfumers, houses and fragrance shops that have been involved over the last 17 months. It has been a magic fun ride so far, I am so grateful that you’ve all come and hung out with us and it’s hard to believe we’ve been going so long, I’m hoping for more, more, more. Australian Perfume Junkies has hit

So Nude EdP by Costume National: 2 x 50ml GIVEAWAY

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cumin, cardamom, neroli
Heart: Damascus rose, tuberose, ylang-ylang
Base: Indonesian patchouli, Virginian cedar

Further reading Bois De Jasmin
Libertine Parfumerie has $135/50ml and other sizes with FREE Australian shipping and you get 3 samples of your choice with your order
Neroli Budapest has 88€/50ml

Photo Stolen TheTruthAboutMummy

SO NUDE GIVEAWAY!

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

There are 2 prizes this week in our So Nude by Costume National GIVEAWAY. Each winner will receive:

1 x 50ml NIP So Nude EdP by Costume National
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

Go to Libertine Perfumes and find me a perfume and its manufacturer. NO DOUBLE UPS!!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie So Nude GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p2fQBU-1TS #Giveaway @LibertineParfum @CoSTUMENATIONAL

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 24th August 2013 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post Monday 25th.
Winners will be chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, put on a tray and Jin will pick a winner.
The winners will have till Wednesday 28th August 2013 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Special THANKS to LibertinePerfumerie for the So Nude Bottles. Please visit their site because they are so generous and helpful. If you wonder why they are more expensive than the discounters or OS retailers it’s because they are the only licensed company selling their fragrances in Australia; where you know you are buying new, fresh and genuine product. The cost of importing, and buying the right to import, alcohol based fragrances (and having the right to send alcohol based fragrances throughout Australia, which are illegal to send in the Australia Post air system) is expensive and they must cover their costs to bring you these luxury goods.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE,

Portia xx

Rose 31 by Daphne Bugey for Le Labo 2006

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Post by Jordan River

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In Iran, Iraq, The Middle East, Pakistan and India rose perfumes are an essential part of a man’s fragrance wardrobe.

Rose petals used to be crushed and mixed with oil to obtain a strong perfume which was labour intensive and therefore not easily mass-produced. Harun al-Rashid,  of A Thousand and One Nights fame, sent Charlemagne several gifts of non-distilled rose perfumes, along with the white elephant Abul Abbas, to his court in Aachen (modern-day Germany). The gifts of Charlemagne to Harun al-Rashid were woven woolen garments from Flanders and German hunting dogs.

About 200 years later, a Persian man, born in Bukhara (modern-day Uzbekistan near Afghanistan), called Ibn Sina, perfected the steam distillation of essential oils from plants when he distilled rose petals into a wearable fragrance which could be made in great quantities.

A distillation plant in Damascus consisting of multiple units for producing rose water – 13th century manuscript

Ibn Sina
Hakim (Doctor/Chemist/Alchemist) Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā, known as Avicenna in the west, took the most beloved flower of Islam, the rose, and made a fragrance which was eagerly worn by men as Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, encouraged the use of perfume ‘if it is available’ as part of the preparation for Friday prayer.

Rose 31 by Le Labo

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rose, caraway
Heart: Rose, vetiver, cedar
Base: Musk, guaiac wood, olibanum, labdanum, agarwood (oud)

Le Labo gives these featured accords in one line:
Grasse rose, cumin, pepper, clove, nutmeg, ginger, frankincense, cedar, amber, gaiacwood, oud, cistus, vetiver, animalic notes, ISO e-super and 16 unrevealed notes

Le Labo’s Rose 31, so named because it has 31 ingredients, is a modern rose using cumin to create a human scent among the other ingredients. Cumin in perfumery smells like a hint of fresh healthy sweat and when combined with rose is sensual. The warmth of this fragrance comes from ginger which is spiced up with pepper, clove, nutmeg and caraway. You will not smell like a spice rack or a kitchen as the essentials oils blend into a strong masculine scent-wall which is overgrown with Grasse roses and vetiver grass. Overlooking the wall are strong cedars, frankincense bushes and an agarwood tree which further enhance the masculine appeal of this scent.

Frankincense Tree Photo Stolen WikiMedia

This was my favourite and only rose scent until I discovered Mohur by Neela Vermeire Creations. Rose 31 is a great everyday fragrance for men. Mohur is more a special occasion scent, although I find that spritzing Mohur as a sleep scent brings the sweetest dreams.
Nathan Branch recommends wearing this with jeans and t-shirt, or a black tux
Mary P Brown from Texas thinks that Rose 31 is like a hot rose conservatory full of sweaty men – but in the nicest possible way
Lucky Scent describes a rose for men destined to be stolen by women

Bottles are mixed on the spot if you happen upon a Le Labo store. Online orders are also freshly blended at the time of order. Rose 31 has become so popular that it is also available as a laundry detergent, a great way to wash 32 loads of your keffiyeh, khameez, khurtas or business shirts.

Further Reading
In-depth analysis – Kafka’s review
Le Labo store – includes alcohol-free options
Le Labo – travel spray

Options & Prices
Sample $US6
Travel Spray $US135
Oil Dropper $US120 – no alcohol
Perfuming Balm $US80 – no alcohol
Massage and Bath Perfuming Oil $US65 – no alcohol
Laundry Detergent $US45 – plant based and biodegradable

Edp
15ml $US58
50ml $US145
100ml $US220
500ml $US700

Jordan River

Rouge Avignon GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Hey there APJ crew,

We had a great response for Val the Cookie Queen’s Rouge Avignon draw. All the entries have been collated, cut, folded and drawn. I hope you get as much fun out ofd these draws as we do.

Portia xx

Photo Stolen Gautier Poupeau Flickr

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

There are 3 prizes this week. Each winner will receive:

1 x Rouge Avignon by Phaedon 2013  Sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DID YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

All you needed to do was tell us how you follow and exactly why this juice might float your boat!

CQ’s lovely daughter Hannah picking a winner

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Midnight Sunday 18th August 2013 in Austria.
Winners were chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, I then put all the names into my long dead armadillo and three winners were drawn by Hannah. Alright?

Photo Stolen berryreview

Nadja

Azar

Belle

The winners will have till Wednesday 21st August 2013 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Bussis from the CQ

xxxxxxxxxx

Hanbury by Maria Candida Gentile 2010

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Post by Michael

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Thanks to the very kind Ms P I’m wrapping my nose around a new to me Maria Candida Gentile. I very much like what I smelled of Exultat, so I’m excited to be testing out another from the line.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lime, bitter orange, orange
Heart: Mimosa, white honey, calycanthus
Base: Musk, benzoin

There are a few nuances but this fragrance can be summed up in two words – bitter orange! Those familiar with Italian bitter orange drinks will have a good idea of what to expect from this little fragrance.

Up top lime and bitter orange jumps off the skin with a seriously tart throw. This is a fragrance you can feel penetrating your sinuses. Once it starts to settle down the benzoin takes control with a little mimosa for balance. I wouldn’t call this a mimosa fragrance by any stretch.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

From here it becomes a little warmer but it’s never cuddly. Miscellaneous white floral notes become more apparent and they’re quite soft. After only an hour or two it fades to a clean citrus musky skin scent.

From the Maria Candida Gentile site: The inspiration comes from the gardens of the Hanbury Villa in Ventimiglia, a city of northern Italy by the mediterranean sea. The essences of this garden have been assembled during a life time by its owner, a very charming and beautiful lady, Dorothy Hanbury. In spring these essences combines all together in the air and are blended by the soft and warm wind from the sea producing an exquisite harmony which has been recreated in the Hanbury fragrance.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

In the end I’m thinking about Hanbury as a citrus EdC – perfect for summer and when applied liberally and often. Maybe even store it in the fridge for an invigorating summer spray. It’s especially nice if you enjoy very naturalistic bitter orange.
Unfortunately for me, I’m left looking for something a little more…..

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and
Maria Candida Gentile has €25/15ml Travel Size or €115/100ml and sends to the world for €30
Parfum1 has $185/100ml
First In Fragrance has €150/100ml

Which of the Maria Candida Gentile line have you smelled? Does Hanbury sound like your cup of tea?
Michael

Gaiac by Jean-Claude Astier for M. Micallef 2005

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Post by Maya

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Hello APJ,
Recently my daughter ordered 6 perfume samples and gave them to me. She said, “These are all different from what you usually like, but they all have at least one note I know you love.” I was skeptical, but they were all nice. One really stood out,

Gaiac by M. Micallef 2005

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot
Heart: Cloves, jasmine
Base: Guaiac wood, vetiver, amber, vanilla

I should note that my love-note in Gaiac is jasmine and it’s all but invisible to me as is the vetiver in it.

I had no idea what gaiac is, but soon discovered that it is a tree, native to the tropical and subtropical Americas. It is a wood so resinous that doesn’t float. It sinks in water. Spanish Conquistadors burned it as incense, something they must have learned from the indigenous peoples, some of whom considered the tree sacred.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

This is a lovely, low silage scent, that whispers it’s presence, but every word is audible and clear. M. Micallef lists it as masculine. I disagree. I think it is as much a feminine scent as a masculine one. When I dabbed it on, it was unexpectedly sharp, though not unpleasantly so. The sharpness faded quickly and I got sweet vanilla, spicy clove, and what had to be gaiac wood. I cannot describe the scent of gaiac wood. It’s unique and a bit exotic. The balance of the sweetness, the spice, and the wood is wonderful. The clove lessens after a few hours but the vanilla and gaiac wood stay as equal partners until the end, which is about 6-8 hours on me, except on humid days, when it fades after about 4 hours. Gaiac by M. Micallef is linear, which is fine. It doesn’t need complexity. It’s an evening around a campfire, burning gaiac wood, watching the flames dance, everyone feeling relaxed and stress free, laughing. And maybe, just maybe, some sensual feelings could awaken!

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Further reading: The Scented Hound and I Smell Therefore I Am
Parfum1 and LuckyScent have $90/30ml and $185/100ml
Surrender To Chance starts at $5/ml

Gaiac wood seems to be an underused note in perfume which is a shame. I will be looking for it in more scents. What about you? Have you tried Gaiac by M. Micallef or other fragrances containing gaiac wood?
Maya

Voleur de Roses by Michel Almairac for L`Artisan Parfumeur 1993

Hello Happy Huffers,

Just yesterday my mate Michael was at a perfume sale in Sydney and I got the call, “they have some L’Artisan on sale mate. Not a lot left and some is sprayed is there anything you want?” What a question! So there are a couple of L’Artisans that often go in the shopping basket but get ousted for other beauties at checkout time. Does anyone else do that? Fill your basket and then go back through deleting till it’s how much you want to spend? This L’Artisan has been on my want list for a long time, I love how it smells but even the name is lovely and sinuous like a line in a poem,

Voleur de Roses by L`Artisan Parfumeur 1993

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured notes in one line:
Patchouli, rose, plum

Perfume is a funny thing, everyone gets a different piece of the fragrance pie and what can smell naughty and indecent to one can ofdten smell pastel and washed out to another. Recently I put on the Facebook board FFF that I was wearing Voleur de Roses, “Currently wafting the gentle wash of Voleur de Roses by L`Artisan Parfumeur. It’s so tasteful and nice, I feel like a very good boy.” This sums up my experience with the fragrance perfectly. I get the softest, prettiest aqua tint style wash of fragrance. It is a lovely plummy rose as if you were standing inside the house with roses scent being blown in by the breeze, yes that soft. There is so much air between the notes and it sits so close to my body after an hour that it can surprise me when it huffs up my shirt later in the day because I forget I’m wearing it.

When I first spritz Voleur de Roses it smells like it might be going down the SJP Lovely road but it quickly diverts to this soft fruity rose with a super clean patchouli and a very laundry musky cuddliness. I wonder if we use something different in our laundry that other countries don’t because what I’m getting is clean, the idea of clean and airy space. Pretty linear after the initial rush it does stay around for about 4-5 hours but not in a big way.

Photo Stolen Tracie Hall Flickr

Thinking about who or where I could imagine Voleur de Roses being worn? Totally unisex and it smells amazing on my BFF Kath, though both my Aunties turned their noses well up at it on them while liking it very much on me, and soft enough but unusual enough to help you stand out quietly (funny but Now Smell This has the same idea but better expressed) and it could be a terrific date night fragrance, I’ll let you know on that score. Definitely sheer enough to be office friendly, even in the most frag phobic work spaces but it will give the message that you are quietly, and wonderfully, different from the many department store fragrance wearers.

Photo Stolen T.Kiya Flickr

Further reading: Bois de Jasmine and Now Smell This
Parfum1 has $145/100ml
Beauty Encounter has $145/100ml
Surrender To Chance starts at $4/ml

How does Voleur de Roses smell on you?
See you tomorrow,
Portia x