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!

Advertisement

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

Red Cattleyea by Ellen Covey for Olympic Orchids 2010

Don’t forget to enter our Rouge Avignon GIVEAWAY<<JUMP

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Post by Poodle

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When I was first married my in-laws told me I’d have a hard time cooking for my husband because he was so picky. I knew this but since I had persuaded him to try different foods while we were dating I knew I’d come up with a plan so I could cook what I wanted and not have him go hungry. I figured out that it was almost like cooking for a child (no offense, my love, if you’re reading this).

If he knew a dish had certain ingredients he wouldn’t try it. He was convinced he didn’t like certain things, even things I knew he’d eaten in the past and loved. The catch was that those times he hadn’t seen what was going into the pot. He came home and it was already prepared and waiting for him. I stopped telling him the ingredients or I told him what was in a dish after it was in his stomach. It worked, and cooking is much easier.

How does this relate to perfume? There are times when I think too much information is a bad thing. Sometimes I think knowing the notes before smelling can alter one’s opinion of it. If something smelled awful on me before or has a lot of notes I dislike I shouldn’t waste my time with it…or so I thought.

Red Cattleyea by Olympic Orchids 2010

Photo Stolen Olympic Orchids

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Citrus, peach, apricot, melon, hyacinth, gardenia, violets, lilac, musk, woods, vanilla

I asked for the Olympic Orchids Just Orchids sampler set for Christmas. I didn’t see many reviews and I didn’t really study the note lists prior to trying the perfumes.

When I tried Red Cattleyea it was juicy and tropical and a great counterpoint to the chill in the air at the time. Since it is named after a flower I was expecting it to be a floral, but there was more, something sweet yet wonderful…then it hit me. Fruit! Yes, the dreaded fruity floral. This was nothing like the mainstream fruity scents, this was a fruity floral with personality. My first impression was favorable so I just kept enjoying my perfume, sniffing happily at my wrist now and then.

Photo Stolen MorgueFile

When I looked at the notes I was horrified. This has multiple notes that usually turn ugly on me. Citrus, peach, and melon can make me run from the fragrance counter. Had I read the notes first I may have never sprayed but Ellen Covey worked some magic here.

Red Cattleyea opens sweet and fruity, more candied citrus than kitchen cleaner. Then there’s peach, on my skin peach usually smells like, well, let’s just say it’s not how I want to smell. But not this time. The peach is blended with apricot and it’s more jammy and sun warmed than fresh. Alongside this is a bouquet of gardenia and lilac. Hints of wood and vanilla keep peeking through and there’s an undercurrent of spice to my nose. As the fruit subsides the gardenia becomes fleshy and rich before fading. I don’t find the musk very strong, rather it holds everything together and gives the perfume warmth as well. On my extreme scent eating skin I could smell it easily for hours and ended up with the most wonderfully warm vanilla base.

Photo Stolen Flickr Brett Spangler

This isn’t a light skin scent, it’s got some kick to it, I’d say that if applied with a light touch it would be office friendly. I’ve worn Red Cattleyea to work and gotten compliments. If you work with fragrance-phobes, perhaps it might be a little too bold.

Further reading: The Alembicated Genie and Hortus Conclusus
Olympic Orchids has $40/30ml EdP, isn’t that the best deal EVER?
Olympic Orchids $15/5ml Parfum

So Red Cattleyea’s fruity and sweet and peachy. On paper I shouldn’t like it yet I absolutely love wearing Red Cattleyea and there aren’t many fruity florals I can say that about.
Have you tried it?

Poodle. x

Rouge Avignon by Pierre Guillaume for Phaedon 2013 + GIVEAWAY

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Post by Val the Cookie Queen

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Hi APJ,

I received a text from my daughter last week: “Stole two spritzes of your new perfume. I feel like I could conquer the world and just hop on a plane and go anywhere I want.” No fear of her turning into a perfumista then!

Rouge Avignon by Phaedon 2013

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Raspberry, ylang-ylang
Heart: Rose, cacao pod, hinoki wood, tuber
Base: Vetiver, sandalwood, musk, amber

Oxana at Bloom Perfumery, London tucked a big sample of this into my bag as I left her shop. I had never heard of Phaedon, although I know Pierre Guillaume of course.

From Phaedon: A Gothic composition, as opulent and dark as the shadow of the Papal Palace looming over nations and centuries… The carmine red of the papal stole is conjured with a fleshy, spicy rose facetted by ylang-ylang and raspberry. In the heart notes, waxed woods, cocoa bean, black truffle and earthy smoky vetiver lure us into the private apartments of the Supreme Pontiff. Gilt moldings and religious ornaments glint in the firelight while gray tendrils of smoke rise from a censer burning sandalwood chips mixed with musk and amber.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

So you know what – it´s pushing 40°c here in Austria so let´s skip the usual banter.

Rouge Avignon shocked me with it´s splendour. It´s unusual and beautiful enough that someone may well ask what you are wearing, but you don´t need an instruction manual to understand it. It’s a gliding, seamless scent and it will be a stunning fall to winter fragrance, but it is beyond fine now too. I feel an addiction coming on.

Photo used with permission: Dayle Ann Clavin Photography

Rose. Red. Opulent. Velvety. Ylang ylang. Spicy rose. Earthy rose. Gorgeous, succulent, but never gourmand raspberry. It is so vibrant and cerise and strangely pretty. But don´t be fooled, it mingles with amber and vetiver and sandalwood and musk. To all that you may indeed add a little smokiness. Dark and sparkly. The fruity note is always there though, hiding in the shadows. I could see Ann Boleyn wearing this. Quite medieval.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

So you wanna try it? Thanks once again to Oxana at Bloom perfumery in London Town, I can give away three samples of it. But hey – no – not for nothing.

Rouge Avignon GIVEAWAY

Photo Stolen myprettypaints

WHAT CAN 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 DO 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 need to do is tell us how you follow and exactly why this juice might float your boat!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Rouge Avignon by Phaedon GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p2fQBU-1QS #Perfume #Review #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Midnight Sunday 18th August 2013 in Austria and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, I will then put all the names into my long dead armadillo and three winners will be drawn. Alright?.
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 a melting CQ

xxxxxxxxxx

Mini Perfume Making Course with Julie Nelson of Aromatique Essentials

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Post by Madeleine

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Hi APJ,

Last Saturday, I was given a terrific opportunity to embrace some scented creativity by the one and only Miss Portia. She couldn’t attend a perfume making course with aromatherapist and creator of the Aromatique Essentials perfume line, Julie Nelson, due to work commitments and nominated me to go in her place.

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The session was at Julie’s house in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, about two hours’ drive west from Sydney. I was graciously offered a lift by the wonderful Catherine du Peloux Menagé, a perfume consultant and the organiser of the Sydney Perfume Lovers meetup group. Catherine and I had met many years ago at the launch of the Frederic Malle range in Sydney and I was one of her first perfume consulting ‘guinea pigs’. We have recently become reacquainted and it was wonderful to share and swap perfume stories on the trip.

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Mini Perfume Making Course with

Julie Nelson of Aromatique Essentials

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During the morning session, Julie described her love for natural perfumery and the reasons why she took up aromatherapy and the natural way. If you have been reading the blog, you’ll know that the main catalyst behind Julie’s vocation was her daughter, who was born premature and then diagnosed with a rare lung condition. Julie’s story of all the struggles and love particularly resonated with me as I was also three months premature back in 1974 and also given not much chance. Listening to her, I felt very thankful to be happy and healthy some 39 years later. Catherine, Julie and I were joined by a quartet of lovely bright young things: the bubbly Dimi and Monique, the inquisitive Sophy, and Teal, a lovely lass who had decided to embrace aromatherapy after coming to a crossroads in her life.

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Photo: Homemade meringues with edible rose petals for morning tea

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After lunch, we got on to the creative part of the session: making our own scents. As someone who has loved contemporary perfumes for a long time, I was intrigued about exploring essential oils and having the chance to create my own scent rather than writing about others. Julie brought out her vast collection, a virtual menagerie of smells for the enthusiast. I was especially keen to try the musty herbaceous oakmoss and of course, the tuberose, which didn’t disappoint with the sharp mentholated opening segueing into buttery creamy goodness.

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Photo: Some of the oils we were working with

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Before I start on the creative process, I should point out that while natural perfume making is about combining essential oils, it changes depending on what base or carrier you use. Julie had said earlier that she used oils such as jojoba or a mix of almond, sunflower and macadamia for perfumes to be dabbed on the skin. For spray versions, as the ones we were creating, a variety of bases could be used from vodka to spring water, floral waters or a hydrosol, which is the first 30 per cent of a floral water gleaned from the distillation process, such as rose or orange blossom.

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Photo: The lovely Julie explaining her process

Before we started mixing, Julie asked us five questions to work out what kind of blend would suit us: What was our favourite colour? What was our favourite food? What were our favourite types of smells? What were our favourite leisure activities? What feeling did we want to have wearing the perfume we had created?

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My answers were: red; cheese and anything that satiated the umami taste; white florals, aldehydes and aromatic greens; reading walking and anything perfume related; confidence.

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Julie advocated a blend of petitgrain, jasmine, ylang ylang, oakmoss and patchouli for me and a number of other oils for the other ladies in the group. We then got to work. My resulting perfume was rather lovely, a very soft and pretty white floral with a slight aromatic tinge from the petitgrain and oakmoss and anchored by a dry chocolately patchouli.

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Photo: Monique and Dimi at work

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We had terrific fun blending and sniffing and perfecting, all capped off with a beautiful glass of champagne with raspberries. All in all, a fabulous day out and some wonderful insights into an area of perfumery I hadn’t explored before.

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Have you tried natural perfumes or do you use essential oils? Have you tried any of Julie’s line?

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With much love till next time,

M x

Blackbird by Ellen Covey for Olympic Orchids 2013

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Post by Azar

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“BLACKBIRD” AT BLACKBIRD

Hello Perfume Junkies and Indie Lovers,

Today I have news about a wonderful new fragrance debut here in the Pacific Northwest.  On Saturday, July 13th, at the Blackbird Apothecary (in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle) Ellen Covey celebrated the third anniversary of Olympic Orchids Artisan Perfumes and introduced her latest fragrance “Blackbird”.

Outside of the Blackbird Apothecary the Ballard Seafood Fest was in full swing.  Inside, happy perfumistas enjoyed a cool and fragrant haven.  Ellen’s line of fragrances were tastefully displayed along the walls.  Blooming orchids decorated the tables set with cheeses, wines and champagne.

As soon as I walked through the doors I headed straight for the new “Blackbird” fragrance.  Ellen sprayed the perfume glass and I generously doused my upper arm with the cabernet colored 25% concentrated elixir.

Photo Stolen MorgueFile

The following notes are listed on Olympic Orchids website,
Himalayan blackberry fruit, dry grass and leaves, elemi, cedar wood and resin, amber, fir balsam absolute, musk.

The first notes on my skin were a combination of very ripe blackberries and sweet, dry grass.  Ellen used real Himalayan blackberries to create “Blackbird”.  These same Himalayan blackberries (Rubus armeniacus) are everywhere in the PNW and, despite their delicious fruit, are considered noxious weeds, perhaps because they have overtaken the even tastier native Pacific blackberries (Rubus ursinus). The blackberry and grass top notes combined with amber to create an almost gourmand and seasonal scent of place, summertime in Seattle.

Photo Stolen MorgueFile

The blackberry, grass and a little amber stayed relatively close to my skin and were later joined by a refreshing combination of cedar and balsam fir.  “Blackbird” worked for me like a breeze through an orchard or vineyard.  The sillage, as I mentioned before, was quite intimate.  Regarding longevity:  I was enjoying “Blackbird” well into the evening.

Congratulations to Ellen Covey on her third anniversary and on this beautiful addition to her line. Olympic Orchids’ new “Blackbird” is at once dry and sweet, sensual and refreshing, an incense-jam of a fragrance, gorgeous, relaxing and intimate.

Photo Stolen Olympic Orchids

“Blackbird” is available for purchase on the Olympic Orchids website. A 30ml Parfum will only cost you $68. That is an amazing price.

Here are a couple of questions.  Do you have a favorite Olympic Orchids scent? And/or were you in Ballard for the Blackbird event?

Azar

Wedding Fragrance for Grooms + Photo Essay

Wedding Fragrance for Grooms

As if men don’t enough to worry about on their wedding day…right? You can imagine the poor hung over fools frantically fumbling around at the back of the bathroom cabinet on the morning of the wedding hoping they’d come across some scent Gran had bought them for Christmas eons past…can’t you? I’ve only ever had to prepare a groom for his wedding the once, I was best man for my brother and if he was an example of a typical man on his wedding day it’s a safe bet that pretty much all men fall to pieces in exactly the same way he did! He he he

I’ve been doing a little reading on the interweb to see if there were anything suggesting wedding fragrance for grooms and I was shocked, given that we live in an age of ‘metro sexuality’, that 99.9% of advice regarding which fragrance one might contemplate wearing on the day of nuptials and the exchanging of rings was directed at the bride. Many ‘advice’ rich sources even went so far as to suggest to the bride that she ‘ditch the fragrance he normally wears and buy him something you like instead’! Hang on a cotton-picking-minute! Roll back!! Remember? I clearly suggested in my opening paragraph that men cannot think for themselves. But really?

I hear you laughing already.

Imagine the chaos if two men were permitted to marry each other! Of course this depends entirely on which country you live in. Well this is exactly what my partner of 15 years and I did two weeks ago. After 12 months of planning we left the backward backwaters of Australia and jetted over to Las Vegas to get married. We were not alone. 35 of our nearest and dearest met us there to celebrate and share the love with us.

We had almost everything planned, which is no mean feat when we are in Australia and our planner the USA. We had excellent help from a few friends who bent over backwards to make it all come together and run so smoothly. My husband and I were left to our own devices and to make our own decisions (men cannot think for themselves remember) on a number of things, for example where we’d all eat and drink after the ceremony, what colour boutonnières we wanted and what we wanted to wear (very dangerous in my case as I dress for comfort, not style or fashion) and of course this included our personal choice of fragrance.

My husband played it safe and stayed with a fragrance he already owned and liked, but I went with something new. In my opinion one should wear a fragrance because one loves it. A fragrance can and should make you feel good, evil, safe or dangerous, attractive or aloof…it’s a personal thing right? Incidentally I’m not a fan of purchasing fragrances for other people unless I know they already wear it or have requested it as a gift. So what did we wear?

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

I wore Tiffany for Men on the day. I’ve often popped into Tiffany & Co. to spritz myself with his classic as I loved its powdery scent. Imagine how shocked I was firstly to find out it contained patchouli (my favourite) but secondly that Jacques Polge was the nose behind it. I don’t have a sensitive nose at all, but I know what smells good…and this is good. It’s powdery, light and very subtle – perfect for standing in front of a pastor!

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

My husband wore Chanel’s Allure Homme Sport. Again, this is another subtle but fresh fragrance and, once the spice from Allure mingled with the spice of Tiffany we were all spicy together! Allure doesn’t smell great on my skin, but, it’s not about me…it’s my husband’s fragrance. Chanel’s Allure Homme Sport is also pastor-friendly and wouldn’t you know it – slap me across the face with a wilted bouquet of roses – Allure Homme Sport is ANOTHER Jacques Polge treasure!

Until next time stinkers.

Kxx

PS. In case you were wondering…yes I did wear white!