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

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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

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

Milano Caffe GIVEAWAY WINNER

Hey there all,

We have had a lovely response for the Milano Caffe Giveaway. Thank you all so much for getting involved, I hope you also took a moment to go and follow the La Via del Profumo crew on twitter. If not this is the handle: @LaViaDelProfumo

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

WHAT COULD YOU WIN?

1 x 2ml Manufacturers Sample of Milano Caffe
1 x 2ml Manufacturers Sample of Palermo Don Corleone
1 x 2ml Manufacturers Sample of Venezia Giardini Segrett
P&H Anywhere in the world

These are remains after I have sampled them so not exactly 2ml (1.5-2ml)

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 to be eligible. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You had to go to La Via Del Profumo and find me ONE perfume and ONE of its ingredients. NO DOUBLE UPS!! EASY!

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday August 4 2013 10pm Australian EST.
Winner chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, put on a tray and Jin picked a winner. He hardly even looked up from his iPad because he is choosing a hotel for a weekend in Melbourne. YAY!! I love Melbourne, can’t wait.

AND THE

Photo Stolen ganjer

NATALIE

CONGRATULATIONS!! You have till Thursday August 8 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.

Thanks everyone!!

Portia xx

Milano Caffe by AbdesSalaam Attar for La Via del Profumo 2013 + GIVEAWAY

Heya Frag Hags,

Recently there has been a flurry of excitement because La Via del Profumo, the natural perfume house from Italy, run by a French ex-pat who dresses like a fairytale Arabian desert bedouin (plural of badawī بَدَوِي,) is releasing a series of fragrances in honour of his adopted country Italy. The first of these arrived today with samples of two others for me to try. VERY EXCITED!!

Milano Caffe by La Via del Profumo 2013

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Coffee, cappuccino, chocolate, iris, woody notes, spicy notes, opoponax, tonka bean, amber

Milano Caffe, the name alone is fabulous. I have a 15.5ml spray bottle and love its aesthetic. Chunky square glass with a smaller version repeated in the lid in plastic, its simplicity is exotic, feels expensive and is so perfectly simple. I have only had Milano Caffe 3 days and have worn it all three mornings, just for myself, completely selfishly and have enjoyed it immensely.

A warning: Give Milano Caffe a minute to soften off before you put nose to wrist, or in my case down your top, it will burn you out very quickly and some of the enjoyable development will be lost for you.

Photo Stolen Özge Okcuer Flickr

OK second go. First spritz gives me a blast of woodsy, resinous amber that could be the creating of coffee at the barista bar, that blast of hot water meeting ground beans, the milk being heated and the street smells of cars, pets and humanity all encompassed in that five minute rush of excitement. It is big and loud and in your face, just like a busy Summer streetside coffee house (though I’ve only done Florence, Rome and Venice, assuming similarities) in the middle of the tourist section.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Interestingly here I get the amber and other resins through the heart of the fragrance with some totally gorgeous smoke, still with a coffee teinté over the top. The whole fragrance then softens off and becomes a sweet/woodsy very sensual wash before drying off to cool, earth and woods, then just wood, dry wood alone and then gone. Around 4-6 hours before I lose the scent completely depending on the day, it may still be hovering over my skin but I can’t smell it. That’s pretty good longevity for a natural.

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and Now Smell This
La Via del Profumo has €12,40/5.5ml (Splash), €33/15.5ml (Spray), €71,40/33ml (Spray), €98/50ml (Spray)

Photo Stolen Kesha&Co

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

1 x 2ml Manufacturers Sample of Milano Caffe
1 x 2ml Manufacturers Sample of Palermo Don Corleone
1 x 2ml Manufacturers Sample of Venezia Giardini Segrett
P&H Anywhere in the world

These are remains after I have sampled them so not exactly 2ml (1.5-2ml)

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 La Via Del Profumo and find me ONE perfume and ONE of its ingredients. NO DOUBLE UPS!! EASY!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie La Via del Profumi ITALIAN SERIES GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p2fQBU-1QK @LaViaDelProfumo #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday August 4 2013 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
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 Thursday August 8 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.

Good Luck Everyone!
Go To It.
Portia xx

Le Cherche Midi: Kickstart Program

Hey All You New Niche Nerds,

I found this wonderful new (to me) fragrance house and their idea through Perfume Shrine yesterday, and this is what they had to say about Le Cherche Midi:
This is the page on the Kickstarter site and they have 11 days to run till completion. There are clips and information on the new fragrances there and you can see the rewards for the pledges (yes, there is some instant gratification built in too)
As you can see the participation starts extremely low (just 1$!) so everyone can help out.

Le Cherche Midi 3 Pack

Nathan and I had to chat because originally it was only being shipped to the USA. So Portia, the most annoying Aussie on earth, wrote and begged for a worldwide shipping availability. Guess what? Within an hour Nathan had organised it so with a little extra payment you can get your lovely new fragrances shipped around the world. That’s the kind of Customer Service that deserves rewards! So I bought the fabulous 3 pack of 100ml bottles for under $200 including shipping! What a great deal.

If you happen to have $1000 lying around they will do a bespoke fragrance for you! I know it sounds a lot but Mandy Aftel starts at $1600 and Francis Kurkdjian goes from $15,000-$250,000. There are many in between too.

Jump to KickStart now and help this wonderful company grow by pledging some money, and get terrific gifts for doing so.

Le Cherche Midi Bespoke

http://kck.st/11lMPGP

http://www.lecherchemidi.com/

http://www.bespokefragrance.com

Thank you!
Portia xxxx

Jitterbug by Kedra Hart for Opus Oils 2008

Heya,

As you know last month we were on the Scentsation Bus Tour of Los Angeles. It was a fabulous day and I can’t wait for next years installment. Our very last stop of the day was at Opus oils where Kedra Hart and her posse were there creating mayhem and glamoursphere. The shop is incredible, and perfectly showcases the magic that Kedra creates. Jitterbug is a sample I was given with my purchases on the Scentsation bus. I will come back with more stories about the bottles I bought very soon.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Jasmine, lemon essence, honeysuckle, orange blossom, “beach found” ambergris, blond tobacco and sandalwood

Jitterbug opens with a burst of boozy, almost narcotic, flowers and tobacco. It’s warm and rich and decadent like plum pudding and cream, there is something so food-ish here and I can’t work out what it is. The initial rush leads you to believe that Jitterbug is going to be E NOR MOUS!! but after the opening burns of it settles quickly into a mid range fragrant waft, very pretty and decidedly wearable with a very definite nod to fragrance of the past, there is a depth and seduction at work here that feels like the nuanced magic of naturals and the ambergris is giving it a chiaroscuro effect, dappling the prettiness with a darker denseness that is both salty and vanilla sweet. Helooooo! Did I say sexy? This is sexy, Sexy, SEXY!! I feel like the most beautiful, sensual, siren wearing Jitterbug. This is the good stuff. Thank you Kendra, next year I will be in to buy a shit load of this.

Photo Stolen siliconeer

Jitterbug is a beautifully blended Princess of a perfume, elegant and graceful yet still fun and a little naughty especially towards dry down. You will be fragrant and the sillage is excellent but you won’t be skunking people unless you apply massive amounts. Most workplaces friendly and an enthusiastic 2 thumbs up for dates!

Opus Oils Jitterbug Perfume Parlour opened August 2008 in Hollywood, CA, USA after Kendra Hart being a successful underground and above ground perfumer. Here’s a little (edited version) of what the site says:
Kedra Hart was one of the developers of The Apothecary at Barneys New York in Beverly Hils and founder of the natural perfume and aromatherapy line Precious Petals. She designs custom scents, teaches perfumery in LA and Paris and is blender and co-founder with Joshua Hart of Opus Oils Jitterbug Perfume Parlour.
“It’s hard to describe our Jitterbug Perfume Parlour when people ask,” says Joshua Hart, “I usually say it’s a cross between the movie “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls” and the book “Jitterbug Perfume”. Mix that with the TV show “Hart to Hart”, sprinkle it with “Moulin Rouge” and then add a dash of Flapper Speakeasy Culture. Yeah, I think that about says it all.”

Photo Stolen VickieLester

Do go and check the Opus Oils site, here a few of the ways you can buy Jitterbug and the prices. Had I done my homework I would now own a 100ml Body & Bath Oil of Jitterbug. DAMN!!! Oh well, there’s always next year
1 Dram Parfum (Airport travel size) Roll-on $40.00
1oz Eau de Parfum Oil Spray $65.00
3.3oz Bath & Body Oil $50.00

Have you tried any of the Opus Oils? How do you rate them?
Portia xx

La Isla Del Sol by Jane Cate for A Wing n A Prayer Perfumes 2013

Hello Happy Huffers,

There is a lovely lady, Jane Cate, tucked away in Menlo Park of the San Francisco Bay area in California. Her work is wondrous and I have written of it before for you all. Today I opened a package from Jane Cate to find samples of her three new fragrances for 2013, the first you can see reviewed on the Perfume Posse, but I saved this one for APJ because I’m, a selfish bitch and it’s my favourite. He He HE!

La Isla Del Sol by A Wing & A Prayer Perfumes 2013

Photo Stolen Etsy

Jane Cate gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot
Heart: Orange blossom, honey absolute and sweet orange
Base: Amber and tonka tincture

La Isla Del Sol means Island of the Sun and the bergamot opening is sweet, tangy and already slightly resinous, very much like sitting in cool, sunny parkland in the morning near a citrus orchard. It’s lovely, lively and invigorating: a soft and sexy cologne-esque opening that hints at warmth beneath. As the sun warms up the day and thebodies there is a very animalic orange blossom/honey accord that feels slightly feral as if it’s going to turn fecal but never crosses the beauty line into disgusting. There is a definite hark back to old fashioned perfumery in La Isla Del Sol, I really feel that it has depths that are lacking in much of the market today, even some of the niche lines are becoming castrated by their success, not so here.

The amber and tonka move in slowly and take over the whole beautiful production leaving only the smallest trace memories of citrus till about 4-5 hours later I am ready to respritz.

I cannot believe that the A Wing & A Prayer crew can make such fabulous scents at these amazingly good prices, do go check them out. You’ll thank me for introducing you.

Photo Stolen Etsy

A Wing & A Prayer have an Etsy Shop (<<JUMP) where you can grab their fragrances. A great was to get to know them is to buy the Mini Sampler Set with 3 x 4ml spray or roll on in your choice from the whole range for only $10!! What a BARGAIN!

Kisses, hugs and love till tiomorrow,
Portia xx

En Passant by Olivia Giacobetti for Frederic Malle 2000

Hello my lovelies,

While in Vienna recently Birgit and Sandra from Olfactoria’sTravels took me to the only known place on earth where they let you mix & match your Frederic Malle 3 x 10ml set when you grab it!! I think it was called Day Spa? Anyway, tell Birgit you are coming to Vienna and she will give you the address. Here is one of my lovely scores:

En Passant by Frederic Malle 2000

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Lilac, surrounded by watery and green notes, cucumber and wheat

This morning in Sydney the weather is beautiful. Crisp, sunny, warm: it feels more like spring than Autumn 10am and 21 degrees celcius. I am writing a week ahead of today and Kath and I are doing the office work, well Kath is doing the office work and I am writing to you. As I went to spritz myself this morning I also gave Kath a healthy squirt too.

I love the pretty green sappy swoosh directly after the spritz, the cucumber and watery greens, it’s fresh, wet and slightly plastic. I find flowers often give me a plastic vibe, not a wet Tupperware stink but a slightly unreal-ness, lilac has it in spades. I could walk out the back door into a spring garden in my mind. This is crisp and elegant but in a less formal tone, less knowing than Chanel 19. A younger, free-er, lighter and happier version of one of my favourites, without being like it at all.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

It’s hard to get my head around how beautiful and delicate En Passant is, usually not my style at all but there is something alluring and beguiling about this little Frederic Malle stunner that keeps me coming back to my wrists again and again.. En Passant is seriously selfish, introverted fragrance. You won’t skunk anyone at the office or anywhere, you will give an aura of fresh vitality and exuberance.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Further reading ISmellThereforeIAm and PerfumePosse
MeccaCosmetica in Australia has $194/50ml (Free shipping within Australia)
BarneysNewYork has $155/50ml
SurrenderToChance starts at $6/ml

There is something magical and whimsical for me even in the name Frederic Malle. His scent curation adds a patina of glory to everything with his name on it. I wonder if I would find En Passant as alluring and interesting if it was by Woolworths Home Brand? Would I sneer at its trite simplicity? What do you think?
Portia xx

Bull’s Blood by Josh Meyer for Imaginary Authors 2012

Hello Everyone,

These Imaginary Authors have been on so many blogs in the last year, I have been totally intrigued to try their stuff. To be honest, the sample set arrived months ago and has been sitting in my To Do list ever since. While we were doing the sample cataloguing they floated to the top of the pile again. My first is the one that has garnered the most praise and hoopla, start at the top I say.

Bull’s Blood by Imaginary Authors 2012

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured notes in one line:
Patchouli, Rose, Costus Root, Tobacco, Black Musk & Bull’s Blood

WOW! This is an experience. Maybe it’s the hype but I really smell that tinny taste you get when you bite your lip or if you have gingevitis from lack of oral hygiene during my 20s then when flossing you will get blood too. It is a very specialised taste and Bull’s Blood definitely has a smell of that taste. It’s interesting and confronting but not disgusting like Secretions Magnifiques can be. I feel like I am wearing the olfactory correlation to art, it makes me think and I am seriously moved by the strangeness.

Notes swirl here like a merry-go-round or a school of fish, turning beautifully and precisely and I am not going to ruin my trip by trying to parse the magic, though I do get wafts of patchouli, rose, sweet tobacco and musk throughout the frag life, it’s more about the kaleidoscopic pictures than each singular piece. Waves and waves of beauty, with an edge, a touch of something slightly off kilter that keeps it interesting, a fine line between absolute beauty and terrible disgust. I AM HOOKED!! Bravo Imaginary Authors, this is drama in a bottle.

Photo Stolen pbs

It’s now tomorrow morning and there is still a sweet, bloody musk, quite strong lingering around my body. It is now very much like the opening of MKK. The staying power on this baby is extraordinary, I think it may be the costus that has stayed so beautifully. Maybe I am plagiarising but THIS is what Lady Gaga’s fragrance could have smelled like, did anyone else write this. Beautiful and weird. I am definitely in the market for an FB. I can’t believe how reasonably priced this wonder is.

Further reading SmellyThoughts and CaFleurBon looks at the whole range.
ImaginaryAuthors has $85/60ml (which is a bargain for niche so beautifully constructed)
You can also grab the 7 x 2ml sampler at Imaginary Authors Site (<<<JUMP)

It’s a great name isn’t it? Do you have a favourite freakily named frag?
Portia x

Sorry, I couldn’t bring myself to add a photo of a bullfight, they make me want to cry. I don’t judge or want to change the Spanish tradition but I can not look at them without stupid sad tears of shame and anger pouring down my face.