Beauty

Southern Bloom: Sweating It Out Down Under
by

Southern Bloom: Sweating It Out Down Under

Hi there ULG crew, While most of our readers are from the Northern Hemisphere and feeling the cold, down under I am sweltering in one of the weirdest weather summers I can remember. It’s either blazing hot and humid or raining, cooler and humid. We are normally (till the last couple of years) practically a desert here in Sydney. We get a few really big thunder storms that drop oodles of water in a relatively short time and then blue skies. Out here in Parramatta, about 25km from the city, it usually doesn’t get ridiculously muggy very often. 2023/4 summer is like living in a tropical monsoon area. Without the daily afternoon downpour. I’m not complaining, just letting you know how unorthodox this year is. OK, maybe I am complaining, coz.

Southern Bloom by Goldfield and Banks 2018

Southern Bloom Goldfield & Banks Australia

Goldfield & Banks gives these featured accords:
Boronia Absolute Tasmania, Jasmine Sambac India, Cassis France, Sandalwood Australia, Vetiver Indonesia, Ylang Ylang Madagascar, Coconut Accord, Iris Italy

Australians are incredibly proud of Goldfield and Banks. They are an Indie House gone global. It was a thrill for me to see them in such diverse cities on our recent trip as Vienna, Paris, London, Budapest and Seoul. I can’t think of a perfume brand of ours that has ever had such distribution, especially with such a niche feeling product. Maybe Grandiflora is getting close? Tommi Sonia gave it a red hot go, if they had stayed the distance I reckon they’d be global by now too.

Anyway, I’ve been wearing Southern Bloom a bit in this strange weather. I want to say it’s a white floral but that is so much less than the whole experience. Straight up there is a lightly sweet, clear eucalyptus green. I’m thinking it’s the boronia and cassis but doesn’t really smell like either of them. This top stays but is overshadowed by the white floral dripping with tropical ylang and sandalwood. This heart is eye lollingly gorgeous and hums away merrily for a long time. It’s both warm and cool, sultry and exactly the fetishized dream of carefree tropical holiday nights.

Southern Bloom by Goldfield and Banks 2018

The heart also has a boozy component and makes me think of those creamy cocktails that sometimes come in a pineapple or big glasses with fruity embellishments.

The base is very sandalwood heavy and I’m surprised there’s no vanilla noted, it’s a luscious creamy confection.

While anyone can and should try Southern Bloom it does lean towards modern traditional femme. The first hour or so is very fragrant and its lasting power is impressive. It fits most seasons but this super weird summer it is working perfectly for me.

Sound good?
Portia xx

 

 

Knize Sec
by

Knize Sec

Hey there ULGers, On our recent European journey our last stop was Vienna. Ostensibly to catch up with Birgit from Olfactoria’s Travels and Val the Cookie Queen from APJ. Sadly Birgit and family got the dreaded C19 so that was out but Val, her daughter Hannah, Jin and I spent a wonderful day and night wandering, eating, shopping and catching up. It was heaven. All the Christmas Markets and lights were out, it was lightly snowing and we basked in the joy of just being together. Vienna has been my favourite city since the 1990s and it was so fabulous to be back. We even stayed in my most loved Vienna hotel, the Royal. HEAVEN! Here’s the pic with us in front of Cafe Mozart, the place we first met face to face in 2013! So much has changed. Our love? Nope, fire’s burning bright.

Knize Cec Portia Val Hannah jin Vienna 2023

Jin and I also went into Knize (Ker Neez Ya). The main reason was to buy a couple of Thank You and We Love You gifts. We grabbed the Gold Edition of Knize Ten for leather lover Anna Maria and Knize Forest for Scotty who never met a deep green he didn’t love. While there  I grabbed a bottle of Knize Sec. Long on the To Buy List and changed some since I first fell in love with it, still it gave me a shiver of thrill and purchase was made.

Knize Sec 1985

Knize Sec Jan 2024

Knize gives these featured accords:
Top: Citrus fruits, orange, amalfi lemon, coriander
Heart: Lavender, jasmine, sage, bitter orange
Base: Leather, incense, amber, musk

Straight out of the gate I get a slightly screechy aldehydic soapy citrus with herbal greenery. A sparkling masculine aromatic, still soapy and lightly sweaty, comes through. Refreshing! Now that I’ve worn it a few times I’m noticing it smells like Paco by Paco Rabanne. Not quite as metallic but definitely in a similar olfactory ballpark.

As we move into the heart I notice the white floral aspect. It’s not very jasmine off the tree though. Much more perfumery and working in beautifully with the lavender.

My memory of Sec in the past was that it ended up with a mossy leather amber base, a little like Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme. It’s much less sophisticated and deep now. Actually, it smells a little of pine and juniper.

It’s funny, until I sat down to really parse and write about Sec I was thinking that it’s a heady aldehydic aromatic with a light base. It’s kind of that but I also think that Knize has cheapened the mix and that Sec really hasn’t recovered properly after being made to fit current guidelines. It’s still wearable but not what I remember.

Looking for something new for a guy who wants to smell nice all day in a traditional way? He probably only has one or two fragrances going at any time and scent is not really an important part of his regime. He knows that the spritz is expected though and does it dutifully. He will smell nice to leave the house and then softly masculine all day.

Portia x

 

 

Carmina by Creed 2023 NEW! NEW! NEW!
by

Carmina by Creed 2023 NEW! NEW! NEW!

Hi there ULGers, Before going away in November the Libertine crew invited my mate Ainslie and me to the launch of their latest blockbuster. I often hear perfume people say Creed is a blokes brand and that the women aimed perfumes aren’t as good. Honestly, I beg to differ. The only Creed bottle I paid full retail for was Fantasia de Fleurs. It’s a very lightly salted, spicy Bulgarian rose. Sure, the guff about it being Empress Sisi’s personal perfume might be bullshit but the fragrance is glorious. Vanisia, Iris Tuberose, and Angelique Encens have all been decants in my collection, leading to a pre-loved bottle purchase of Iris Tuberose.

Carmina by Creed 2023 Launch

Carmina by Creed 2023 Launch

Carmina by Creed 2023 Launch

Launch night was a big deal. The perfume world of Sydney. Execs, SAs, marketing teams, bloggers, vloggers, TV stars and hoi polloi. I had already spent the day in town and was so completely underdressed it was hilarious. This was a dress to impress event. Oh well. Nobody got seriously hurt by my poor fashion choices.

Carmina by Creed 2023

Carmina by Creed 2023

Creed Australia gives these featured accords:
Top: Black Cherry, Saffron, Pink Pepper
Heart: Rose de Mai, Violet, Cashmere Wood, Peony
Base: Frankincense, Myrrh, Amber, Musk

First let’s look at the bottle. After the massive fail of the Wind Flowers bottle I’m really interested that they have taken this route. The colour is gorgeous, like seriously and ridiculously fabulous. Cherry pink! They have reworked the cap, it’s fine but I don’t really understand why they needed to. Then they’ve used the traditional male bottle shape. It’s definitely sturdier on the foot than the shield bottle. Maybe I’m a grouchy old goat but that shield bottle was one of my favourite in perfume land.

OK, enough about that, how does Carmina smell? The opening moments are CHERRY! Sweet cherry soda pop. Roses make an early appearance and the sweet sizzle of the pink pepper berry makes both the fruit and flower zing. Big, overblown, jammy roses only very slightly tamed by the green, white-floral-adjacent-ness of violet. This is a fun confection. I’m so not sure of this but the whole shimmering opening makes me think there are some aldehydes giving everything some razzle dazzle.

Do you remember Modern Muse Le Rouge Gloss by Estée Lauder? Kendall Jenner was the face? It was a similar vibe but had this weird saccharine backtaste to the fragrance. Carmina is like they’ve taken a similar route but without that chemical waste undertow.

The heart becomes more peony as it goes forward. Not like a real peony though, this is the perfumers peony dream. That rose/peony/cherry accord is so good. It’s probably not exactly what I picture myself smelling of but that damn gorgeous bottle keeps me coming back for more.

Carmina by Creed 2023 bottle

The base remains sweetly cherry soda and rose floating over some woodsy ambers that you’ll definitely recognise. Carmina continues thus quietly pumping itself out for hours and hours. Creed has definitely listened to the masses wanting longevity. While not beast mode for ladies the projection and sillage are both excellent. It’s right up there with Baccarat Rouge and its horde of lookey likeys.

Do I love it? I’m totally ambivalent. I will say that I keep returning to Carmina and giving myself a cheeky spritz on one arm. The bottle calls me as it sits on my desk.

What about you? Sound good?
Portia xx

Going Back to my Full Bottle Wardrobe
by

Going Back to my Full Bottle Wardrobe

Hey there ULGers, Welcome to 2024. Hoping it’s a safe, prosperous, fun, comfortable and fragrant year ahead for us all, maybe with a side order of delightfully preposterous. What are the three things we are meant to wish each other? Health, Wealth and Contentment! I wish them for you, and for us.

Welcome to 2024

Maybe you know, last year I tried to scale back my perfume samples and decants. I’m still to do a final tally but in my mind it sits at around 300 thunks for the year. While that sounds like a lot, and I have emptied a few small boxes of them, it also feels like it hardly made a dent. Compounded by my continued purchasing. Yeah, it’s clearly an illness. Anyway, now I’m free to roam the perfume wardrobe again and it is daunting! I want to wear everything at once, yet curiously I’m also so overwhelmed that going through the cupboards and remembering what I have is too much. So I’m wearing the things I can see. There’s the grab tray, actually in my wardrobe. Also, all around my sewing machine and desk there are a bunch of bottles that are either new or awaiting reincorporation into the cupboards. So that’s where I’ve been spritzing from.

Going Back to my Full Bottle Wardrobe

Going Back to my Full Bottle Wardrobe

There also seems to be a gold theme running through my spritz selection so far in 2024.

Aqua Allegoria Neroli Vetiver by Guerlain

Yes, this got the gong for New Years Eve and so it was my first fragrance for 2024 too. I love its sweet juicy opening and smooth white floral heart made extra fresh and green by a dry vetiver, all over a lovely laundry musk base. Jin and I had a VERY lazy night. We had duck Korean table BarBQ at home with all the side dishes and some pork chipolatas for extras. While we were eating one of our besties Phil dropped in on his way home from family and that was really nice. Then we lay around the couch with Paris the greyhound watching both the Exotic Marigold Hotel films back to back. After midnight I took Paris out for a walk and then we hit the hay. VERY chill NYE.

Soleil Brulant by Tom Ford

This was a gift from one of my dearest, Ainslie Walker: Scentsmith. It’s a honeyed white floral with resinous amber base but there is also this delightfully strange greenery. It’s leaning bitter and astringent and that creates this alluring contrapuntal effect. Also unusual for a Tom Ford it isn’t a top heavy beauty that crumbles to banality in 30 minutes. It lasts all day and has some interesting sideways movements. I’m not sure why this hasn’t become one of the most talked about fragrances of the 2020s. The first morning of 2024 dawned cool and cloudy so this was a lovely rich choice.

Montana femme by Claude Montana

This bloody bottle doesn’t fit anywhere in the cupboards so is constantly out. the pic doesn’t show it well but they’re over 1/3 gone. A full tilt hark back to the days of perfumey perfumes. An aldehydic floral top and sweet woodsy amber base. Not for the faint of heart and smalls bloody fabulous. It really does smell like shoulder pads and jewel bright peplums with big hair. It’s beautiful in the cold weather but in the humidity and heat of Sydney summer it blooms even more gorgeously. If only it came in a less cool and annoying bottle.

 

So how have you spritzed in the new year?
Portia xx

Trastevere by Pantheon Roma
by

Trastevere by Pantheon Roma

Hey there Crew, Trastevere by Pantheon Roma was a blind buy decant from Surrender To Chance a while ago, so long that I don’t remember buying it. On looking it up it was only early 2022. Anyway it got an early spritz and then put in the already full to overflowing Must Try This Again box. So now I’m going through that box and there are SO MANY good things hiding in it. Many of which ring no bells in my memory. Knowing in the Northern Hemisphere it’s starting to get VERY chill up there about now I thought something cozy might just hit the spot. I can also imagine this being a perfect Holiday Season gift to yourself.

Oh, and that bottle looks bloody gorgeous too. That’s the 100ml bottle, the 50ml is clear glass and very squat.

Trastevere by Pantheon Roma 2015

Trastevere Pantheon Roma bottle

Pantheon Roma gives these featured accords:
Top: Vanilla, Licorice
Heart: Vanilla, Caramel, Jasmine
Base:  Vanilla, Davana, Chestnut Cream

They also write this: It is the evocation of when, in 1500, the district of Trastevere it was considered “the oven of Rome” and was teeming with bakeries and young girls. Let’s imagine one walking slowly through the narrow streets of the neighborhood, and the scents of sweets and bread come out from the small windows. Warm, gourmand olfactory construction: it moves around the tones of Davana (Artemisia Pallens), whose taste characteristics of licorice and coffee are enhanced here by tones of chestnuts and vanilla. A truly extraordinary jasmine accompanies the bouquet.

OM G! Cookies, and licorice all sorts. Trastevere opens like them exactly. It’s spooky and fabulous.

Not long before the caramel makes its presence known, smelling just like a Worther’s tastes. I’m smiling from ear to ear. This is ALL my favourite snack foods in a fragrance. YUMMO!

All that happened in the first couple of minutes. Trastevere’s opening is amazing and delightful but TBH it’s not how I want to smell through a day.

Here’s the cool thing. At about the 15 minute mark the direct correlation to lollies softens. Yes, still very vanilla, a little custardy, but much more fine fragrance smelling. You will still get your gourmand on but with much less chance of nasal diabetes. Trastevere becomes a very elegant amber with gourmand overtones. Beautiful, wearable and dead sexy.

Trastevere by Pantheon Roma 2015

Leaning seriously traditional feminine but wearing Trastevere was lovely for me. No worries, I love the idea of fragrantly messing with the binary. Longevity and projection are moderate plus.

Though not a new fragrance, and already available at the discounters, I thought you might like to know of something that I’ve not seen much chatter about,
Sound good?
Portia xx

by

Uden Overdose by Xerjoff

Hey Hey Crew, Xerjoff Uden Overdose. I’ve got a vial and wanted to be excited by a Xerjoff. Had read some nice things about this being a winner. Maybe I’m missing something, it could need to be spritzed to get the full effect, maybe my body is rejecting the beautiful bits. It’s just so cheap smelling on me. Like a 1990s Diesel release. Not ragging on Diesel, they are cheap and cheerful and do their thing so well at their price point, punching well above often.

Uden Overdose, 50ml is over AU$400 here.

I know, I’m getting boring complaining about price but for what I smell here, on me, in this moment (yesterday too). I don’t get it.

Uden Overdose by Xerjoff 2018

Xerjoff Uden Overdose

Xerjoff gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon, Bergamot
Heart: Tobacco Flowers, Ginger, Coffee
Base: Amber, Musk

OK, I smell a little citrus up the top. The tobacco flowers smell like scratchy woods. In the heart I smell some coffee and more dark oily woods. The base is more of those ubiquitous woods and a spiky, labdanum rich amber. None of it is AWFUL, this is wearable. A bit scratchy and average, maybe it smells a bit lazy. Anyway, I’m disappointed.

That late, on its way to dry down amber base is nice. It’s no Pierre Guillaume amber, but it is doing a good job of amber-ing.

Maybe my hopes were just too high? or expectations?

Please tell me I’m missing a whole piece of the story and that this is not the ride you’re getting.

Edit: This morning I woke and thought, before I’d become fully conscious, “What is that beautiful amber?” Just a whisper but so beautiful. Warm, honeyed, not too sweet and hints of chocolate. If only my whole wear had been this gorgeous.

Portia

 

PS I’m away but will come and read/answer comments ASAP.

 

Twill Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine
by

Twill Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine

Hi there ULGers, Twill Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine was made for the gents. Don’t believe the hype. It’s totally unisex. Nice that Les Parfums de Rosine did an act of inclusion. I remember why this decant is in the collection. Back in 2014 Michael and I were in Paris and he bought bottles of this, the extrait of it and another Rosine gents release. While having bought my fill of perfume I stood and ached with wanting to own them. The next time I was in the Rosine store they had been DCd. I was devastated and bought my decant from Surrender To Chance so I would at least have a smidge to refer to. Lately I rediscovered the decant and now I’m going to use it all up and enjoy the having, without worrying about the saving. This way I’ll also have a reference post for later, and you will have a memory, through my nose, too.

Twill Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine 2006

Twill Rose Les Parfums de Rosine

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Galbanum, Green notes, Pink pepper, Mandarin orange
Heart: Rose, Violet
Base: Woods, Patchouli

SOOOOO green! This is heavenly on open. It’s a nose full of greenery and a little broken twig. Sadly as a solo scent this lasts a minute and then my nose notices the familiar sweet sizzle of the pink pepper berry and some fruitiness that doesn’t smell at all like mandarin.

The rose is fruity, like those gorgeous roasted pears and rose. Still there is greenery, slightly dark, flowing underneath. There’s also something resin-ish. Not smoky incense, vanilla or labdanum but like tears of elemi? I am not sure but it brings the fragrance together while also smoothing it out. The heart is gorgeous. I can see a man wearing it but it’s lovely enough for anyone. WHY is this DCd? It must have had rotten dales. deep into the heart I am getting sugar crystals above everything else, so interesting. Not confectionary or candy floss, just putting those coffee sugar crystals on your tongue. Still through the heart and well into what must be the base pear/rose/greenery is the centre accord.

If there is patchouli it’s not like patchouli for me. Not like any patchouli I know, from head shop to the clean I don’t know this. There are some greenish woods but even they are not a big deal.

Twill Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine

Am I terribly sad to not have a bottle? No, but I am a little sad. Twill Rose is lovely. I would have bought a bottle.

Did you ever try it?
Portia xx

 

 

 

 

Rake n Ruin by BeauFort London
by

Rake n Ruin by BeauFort London

Hi there ULGers, Rake & Ruin by BeauFort London has been a First in Fragrance decant lying around this apartment for ages, years. It gets picked up and then put back, over and over again. So while I’m doing this New Idea 2023 thunking challenge I finally bit the bullet and sprayed the half that was left all over myself. WOWZERS! It’s so riotously over the top! You must try this fabulous freak.

Rake & Ruin by BeauFort London 2018

Rake & Ruin BeauFort London

Featured accords:
Top: Smoke, Angelica, Gin, Juniper, Sichuan Pepper, Pink Pepper, Licorice, Coriander, Orange, Lemon
Heart: Smoke, Cypress, Pine needles, Castoreum, Cade oil, Labdanum, Costus, Orris, Violet
Base: Smoke, Woody Notes, Ambrarome, Sandalwood

Smoky woods with a side order of peppery blue cheese. So outrageous and good in the Sydney heat.

The heart calms down a little and yes smoke but now it’s BarBQ smoke with some delightfully charring meat and twiggy greenery.

Dry down is BarBQ Shapes. It’s a spicy biscuit in Australia, don’t know if you have them in the world. Drizzled over charred wood, smoke and maybe a little burning tyre.

Rake & Ruin BeauFort London

Sounds ghastly? It’s not.

This is so fabulous. A true freak of fragrance.

Do I want it? Yes

Would I ever wear it? Probably not

HANG ON…. Maybe I would wear it. Do this crew do 10 or 15ml travels?

Rake & Ruin is something you at least need to try. Just for the fun of wearing something so wholly OTT.

Have you? Would you?
Portia xx

Perfumista by Anatole Lebreton
by

Perfumista by Anatole Lebreton

Hi there ULGers, Do you remember in 2019/20 first reading or hearing about the audacity of Anatole Lebreton to make a perfume named for us? Perfumista?!? Honestly, the few people I talked to were in agreeance that it would definitely bomb because how could he encapsulate EVERYTHING we would expect from such a title. So I ignored it. Then, a while ago, I saw it on the Surrender To Chance site and was so curious to find out what I’d dismissed so easily. Into the cart it went and made it all the way through checkout with a few other things that piqued my interest. Here it has sat, unloved and forlorn, awaiting the attention of this perfumista. Today is the day. Please come on a journey of discovery with me.

Perfumista by Anatole Lebreton 2019

Perfumista by Anatole Lebreton

The Anatole Lebreton site gives the featured accords:
Top: Pear, Plum, Raspberry
Heart: Bulgarian Rose, Indian Jasmin, Patchouli
Base: Virginy Cerdarwood, Peru Balsam, Musk

The opening is like a vintage chypre. Aldehydic fruity floral, clean and clear as a bell. GOSH! it even has that slightly over ripe fruit and feral backbeat you’d expect from vintage but one that has been kept perfectly. There is even a touch of the hairsprays that make vintage feel so glammed up and ready to hit the town.

The heart is jammy rose with some other florals but I don’t smell jasmine per se, more a bouquet with maybe some bulb flowers, lilac, peony and marigold. The word that keeps popping into my head sniffing the heart is petal-y. There’s a soft, fluffy, powderiness like rubbing flowers against your cheek. Though not a big bombastic scent, Perfumista is quietly noticeable through the heart. That jammy rose also has some earthy greenery as we head towards dry down.

The dry down brings back the fruits (now canned) over a woody, smoothly resinous base. It’s a surprising revival and makes the last couple of hours very sniffable. Get up close and breathe deep. You’ll be amply rewarded.

Perfumista by Anatole Lebreton

 

Well, that was 200% more glorious than expected. A real modern reimagining of a vintage ride for a true perfumista. I do love to be proved wrong and thrilled by a scent. I”ve only worn it three times but right now a bottle is right near the top of my To Buy List. Why am I so late to this brand?

Though anyone could and can wear it Perfumista veers heavily traditional femme. Longevity is good and the first hour, more really, are quite fragrant before softening into a streamlined, still interesting, dry down.

Do you remember when Perfumista launched? Were you intrigued or dismissive?
Portia xx

 

by

Saturday Question: What Was Your First Job, Did You Buy Scent?

Hello Fellow Fumies,

At ULG we have a Saturday Question. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it’s a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back regularly and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them. The aim is to generate real conversation and connection even though we are scattered around the globe.

Just to be clear, it’s Portia hosting today’s Saturday question. Undina is doing stuff and asked me to fill in this week. Can’t wait to read and respond to all your comments. Feel free to chat to each other too. Let’s see how many comments we can accrue.

Saturday Question: What Was Your First Job, Did You Buy Scent?

Ahhhhh! Memories of my teen years, how I came to be who and where and what I am. You all know how much I love discovering things about you all, so here’s a piece of me. Please share a piece of you in the comments.

My Answer:

Even before it was legal for me to work I spent my Thursday nights and Saturdays (after sport) sweeping up hair, making coffees, washing heads and selling tobacco products at a local hairdresser/tobacconist. The one thing I wanted more than anything was financial freedom to choose what I got. It was $small/hour (cash in hand) and at the age of 13 having $small per week PLUS my pocket money from Dad for house chores (which I did soooo grudgingly, what a shit kid i was!) I was the richest kid I knew. The joy of being able to take myself to the cinema or McDonalds (which was my first proper job when I came of working age) without having to beg for money was a big incentive. Having enough to buy my choices in clothes, though Mum enjoyed clothes shopping with me so much that I rarely had to pay.

On the naughty side, by 13 I already looked like an adult so I could buy booze and cigarettes. Being able to buy the people I loved gifts was another amazing thing that I’ve never lost the joy of. So I didn’t buy scent for myself but I did buy it for my Mum a little later on when I was old enough to be a Squirt Bitch at the department store. Those early days she got a soap, some powder with a big puffer and/or lotion from our local chemist (drug store) that would come in a boxed set, boxes were best because easiest to wrap. My Dad was easy, he wore Tabac Original and that always came in a sensible pack of scent, soap on a rope and deodorant.

My Saturday Question to you is:

What Was Your First Job, Did You Buy Scent?