Style

Bois Sikar by Atelier des Ors
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Bois Sikar by Atelier des Ors

Heya Crew! Do you have brands that you sincerely love yet you have never bought a full bottle? This is my story with Atelier des Ors. Way back when I went to Esxence Megan even offered me a bottle of their newest release but I knew my bag was right at the limit so asked for a couple of sets of samples, one for me and one for a giveaway. Kicking myself ever since. Their bottles are so beautiful, I love the gold flakes and the fragrances are all so thoughtfully produced. Dozens of times I’ve had them in my basket but they just never seem to make it all the way through checkout. So I’m currently retrying a few to decide which one I’ll buy to congratulate myself on finishing my Celebrant Course (when I finally do!).

Bois Sikar by Atelier des Ors 2018

Bois Sikar by Atelier des Ors

Atelier des Ors gives these featured accords:
Top: Nutmeg, Precious Wood, Guaiac Wood
Heart: Vetiver, Styrax, Cedar Leef
Base: Tobacco Absolute, Cyrpiol, Incense

It’s easy to know why Bois Sikar is near the top of my to try list. Tobacco/wood/incense are all in my wheelhouse, add some spices and resins and I’m right there, front and center. of course, Atelier des Ors does it in their own way so let’s chat about it.

Dark, charred, smoky woods open Bois Sikar. There is also the smell of greenery torn and trodden. Like the cold dawn on a campsite with only coals left in the fire pit and the smell of dew drying on the trees. Add the scent of kicked up leaf mulch and someone not very far away cooking super crispy bacon.

As we head towards the heart resinous tobacco becomes noticeable and Bois Sikar becomes a warm fragrance. Lightly spiced and cozy with the smoke of burning incense wafting through. Some of you may remember the spicy woods of the 1980s mens fragrances? Imagine that genre but elevated by interesting, modern style. It’s almost oudh-y and has a deep whiff of band aid and barnyard.

Bois Sikar by Atelier des Ors decant

The base is very traditionally masculine woods, dark and mysterious. It stays interesting and a little raunchy right to fade. Having said traditionally masculine, I know you are mostly for sex free scenting, me too, but giving you the traditional names means you have a place to start in your head while reading. So, obviously, if you like the sound of Bois Sikar then it doesn’t matter where you lie on the scale, try it. You never know.

Were/are you a Bois Sikar devotee?
Portia xx

I bought my decant from Surrender To Chance.

Sunkissed Goddess by By Kilian
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Sunkissed Goddess by By Kilian

Heya Crew, Yes, I know. MORE recently purchased decants from Surrender To Chance. That this decant cost about half of last fortnights Guerlain may surprise you all, it did me. Remember when By Kilian were one of the most aspirational priced perfume houses in the world? Sure, they’re still expensive US$295 for a refillable Sunkissed Goddess 50ml from the By Killian site but that only seems pricey now rather than outrageous.

Since 2016 when Estée Lauder acquired By Kilian I’ve kept a little eye out, not really focussing but now that they’ve released this Limited Edition fragrance based on the Polynesian staple Manoi oil I’m interested. One of the brands famous pillars is Bronze Goddess which retails about US$85 for 50ml EdT (US$98 BGNuit EdP) and is a favourite of both Undina and myself. My memory (correct for once!) tells me Undina loves to take it on tropical holidays and I tend to use it to blow away the winter blues. It’s a staple. Plus the Lauder crew have also been doing a slew of Soleils over at the Tom Ford counter that range from US$300-405 in 50ml EdP. So they’ve deduced that tropical sunscreen with a boozy beverage sells (rightly so) and made them in accessible to aspirational offerings. Clever.

Sunkissed Goddess by By Kilian 2024

By Killian gives these featured accords:
Ylang-Ylang essence, Tiare Flower, Coconut

On first spritz my mind goes in a hundred directions. Oh yes, tropical beach suntanning in the late afternoon with a Pina Colada in a big glass and sunscreen slathered on. The slight prickle of salt still on your skin and through your hair and the smell of hot sand. I remember a few years ago Manoi oil became a thing here in Oz. Particularly among the early 20s club kids. For a brief moment, maybe a couple of summers, you’d walk in the club and it would smell like you’d found paradise. The older girls sun baking by the local swimming pool, their skin glistening with Reef Oil when we were kids. It’s all here in the first whiff.

Ylang in spades, coconut and vanilla all rolled together in some very luxe body lotion that does smell good. Really good. The heart into the base gets a lovely green banana leaf that lifts the experience. Apart from that Sunkissed Goddess is pretty linear and lasts well. Good projection for the first couple of hours then a whispering skin scent.

Sunkissed Goddess by By Kilian decant

So then, does Sunkissed Goddess smell like it’s worth more than three times Bronze Goddess? Yes and no. While Sunkissed Goddess does seem more luxurious and 5* hotel lotion-y I enjoy the story that the Bronze Goddess line tells. They seem more interesting, especially the Eau Fraiche ones with their citrus top over the rest. 2019s Bronze Goddess, with remarkably similar notes list still manages to be less ponderous and more jumping with life.

Now I’d like to read your thoughts please. Do you have favourites? Is this a genre you like?
Portia xx

 

 

Iris Pallida Extrait 6 by Guerlain
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Iris Pallida Extrait 6 by Guerlain

Dear Looking Glass-ers, I have a decant from Surrender To Chance. Yes, it cost an arm and a leg BUT I really didn’t want a full bottle. What I wanted after trying the Les Extrait collection in stores was to have enough to really get to know them in my own time, without the miasma of all the other perfumes beating my nose to death. So that’s what I’ve done. My 2ml spray decant has lasted months because I put some on a forearm and spend the next few hours luxuriating in Iris Pallida Extrait 6.

If you can afford these then I envy you (just a bit). US$630 for 50ml of extrait.

ALSO! arrived this week in the mail from the lovely Ingeborg, all the way from Norway to Sydney! Thank you. I seem to have lost you on social media (if we ever were connected) so I thought the best way to get my thanks to you is here on ULG. Jin and I are really touched. HUG. They will have pride of place on the fridge.

Ingeborg Xmas Postcards

Iris Pallida Extrait 6 by Guerlain 2023

Iris Pallida Extrait 6 Guerlain

Guerlain gives these featured accords:
Iris, almond, musk, suede, sandalwood

First breath of Iris Pallida Extrait 6 is almond meal, dry orris and something quite bittersweet like nougat with wood chips and some weird greenery darkness. It’s like fermented grass in an unturned pile during the hottest peak of summer. Sounds vile but actually it adds depth and interest to a fragrance that would otherwise be too simple, pretty and dull. As I head into the heart the suede and sandalwood become more apparent and a streak of cold wet cardboard heads in. Cardboard is one of my favourite facets of iris, combined with the other perfectly blended notes it is interesting rather than repulsive. The super glam Guerlain version of cold wet cardboard.

Towards the end of the heart my ride gives old fashioned make up vibes. Powdery, lipstick-ish and a little of hairspray. Very movie star and every housewife trying to live up to their impossible standards of beauty.  This stays and gets more woody, yet still that distinctive iris/orris till fade.

Iris Pallida Extrait 6 by Guerlain decant

Iris Pallida Extrait 6 is gorgeous. I’m unsure why we got these as a group instead of dropping one each year and why on earth did they come in extrait? I would quite like to have enjoyed it with more effervescence in an EdT and a swipe of the extrait to give it some extra depth (Did LVMH not think these perfumes worthy of pillar status?) This though is what we got and if I could spend that money right now I would without hesitation.

What did you think?
Portia x

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Shalimar Reflections

Hi Crew. We are in the summer heat here in Sydney. It’s gorgeous but there are days when I’d like to shirk my skin and lie around just bones under the fan. The heat itself is fine but the humidly tends to have me wilt just a little. So how does Shalimar fit into the heat? Well, I have a bottle of the extrait on my desk. It was a gift from one of my dearest friends. Whenever the world gets overwhelming I give myself a swipe on my forearm and suddenly everything seems less spectacularly oppressive. This year has had some significant bumps, mainly business related. Though I’ve run businesses for years I’m not actually very good at it. Fortunately my ideas have been good enough to push through my basic inability to function. Of course with every changing of the guard there are growing and dying pains. Study has also been a big part of the year and I’m poor at focus and time management, HA! That’s being generous. Seriously. Add to that the many plates spinning at any given time. Trivia, apartments, blogging perfume, cleaning house and laundry PLUS now studying and doing book reviews. One wheel gets shaky and my whole train collapses in a heap. I know, definitely the problems of the wealthy. I’m super grateful for everything we have. Also, fully acknowledged how fortunate we are in terms of home, work, love and friends. Jin recently moved up and across at his work and if I can get my bloody Celebrant Course done then there will be an extra cash stream to pick up the rising interest cost of the mortgage.

Sorry, I got sidetracked.

Shalimar Reflections

Shalimar and Reflections

There are dozens of note list but here’s a pretty good summation:
Bergamot, lemon, iris, jasmine, rose, patchouli, vetiver, opopanax, tonka bean, frankincense, sandalwood, musk, civet, ambergris, leather, vanilla

This evening the world got overwhelming. Just too much input and it left me breathless.

SWIPE

Seriously, the relief to just let myself revel in the inimitable beauty of Shalimar extrait. Suddenly my shoulders unclench, my back straightens and I can quietly go have a lie down under the fan for 15 minutes and get lost in the fragrance.

Shalimar is also chock full of happy memories of Mum and some of her girlfriends that wore it as daywear. Big fragrant hugs and them all laughing, planning, chattering, sniping over lunch or afternoon tea. Not always happy, there were meetings of solidarity for all of life’s aches and pains, home troubles, illness or financial woes. Still, though there were tears, the love held them all together.

It has since become one of my go-to event fragrances. The event might be a big gig, party, dinner or it may be to make a mundane event like groceries and cleaning into something wonderful.

So with Shalimar I get not only to drift off with the scent but also a plethora of memories.

Do you have a fragrance that gives you surcease but also is full of magical memories?
Portia xx

 

Secret Joly Oriza L. Legrand
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Secret Joly Oriza L. Legrand

Howdy ULGers! I was trawling around in my cupboards this week and wasn’t quite sure what was going to get the spritz. I had plenty of time and a hankering for a forgotten beauty. Something I love but that has sat unremembered for a long while. The box with my Oriza also has Robert Piguet, Andrea Maack and Miller et Bertaux. To be honest, I thought it was going to be a Piguet kinda day. Maybe Bois Bleu or Alameda. When I looked in the box Secret Joly, a fragrance I’ve not worn in ages, called my name. OK. So I spritzed, and remembered why I bought it in the first place. I’ve pulled it out of the cupboard and it’s now own my desk. So wearing it for the third time in less than a fortnight I realized it needed a post.

Secret Joly by Oriza L. Legrand 2020

Oriza Legrand gives these featured accords:
Top: Hyacinth, Ylang-Ylang
Heart: Gardenia, Tuberose, Jasmine Sambac
Base: Civet, Tonkin Musk, Peruvian Balsam

Floral creaminess, a rich and hefty tropical miasma that is utterly entrancing. Secret Joly smells like nothing else but also has hints of a sneaky side eye reference to the BWF stunners of the 1980s. I think it’s the animalic undertow. Already the chosen flowers are pretty meaty but add some civet and musk style depths and GROWL.

If you’re expecting some gardenia blue cheese you will be disappointed. Well, it doesn’t show up on my wearings.

Normally I save Secret Joly for cool weather wearings. It is so ripe and warm and feels really cozy. Today is 36C and super humid here in Sydney and THIS PERFUME HAS BLOOMED!  I just took the dogs for a walk and the combination with the days heat and my bodies extra walking warmth and a bit of sweaty man. WHOA NELLY! I smell amazing. Eye rolling, mind blowing, heart racing amazing.

The last few wears since rediscovering Secret Joly have been fairly sedentary. Yesterday, by the time I went to aquarobics most of Secret Joly must have burned off beforehand because I just got some pretty reawakening and then the last vestiges washed off.

Definitely aimed at the girls but only a minor stretch to the guys and it smells F I N E!

Did you ever get your sniff on Secret Joly?
Portia xx

 

P.S. I also really loved Oriza Scotch Lavender and wish I’d bought a bottle.

Portia Reconnecting with Etat Libre d’Orange
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Portia Reconnecting with Etat Libre d’Orange

Hey there Looking Glassers, I have long loved the fun and whimsy of Etat Libre d’Orange. They have so many distinctive fragrances, do a fabulous job of reimagining old tropes and twisting them with a new skew. Plus they are very reasonably priced in relation to modern niche as a whole. They were a lot more outrageous in their earlier years, playing for gimmick and shock in their marketing and presentation. I’m not terribly sad they’ve pretty much left that behind in favour of more staid and general public oriented display and scent.

 

Portia Reconnecting with Etat Libre d'Orange

Portia Reconnecting with Etat Libre d’Orange

Maybe you’d like to have a wander through my collection of Etat Libre d’Orange bottles with me? Just for clarity, some of these bottles I paid Retail for, bought off Sale Docs or at the Discounters and others are Press Bottles. My mate Bronwyn was the Australian distributor for ELdO so I’ve been lucky enough to try almost everything. This selection are the favorites I own, maybe I’ll do the others another day.

Fat Electrician

Vetiver and sparks from electrical wires. Slightly salty, dark and weird. One of my favourite vetivers ever.

I Am Trash

Worst title, loveliest scent. The apple is all loads of people talk about but it’s peripheral to me. My ride is a creamy floral, I’m constantly surprised it’s rose and not ylang or jasmine. Dry down is floral woods. So pretty and wearable.

Jasmin et Cigarette

This was on my To Buy List or a very long time but never seemed to make it all the way to a check out. Well, it finally did not so long ago. Bubblegum jasmine that pretty quickly gets a dark coating of tar and smoke. It’s bloody amazing how two such diverse scents work together in perfect harmony.

Noel au Balcon

Very elegant honeyed fruits and Christmassy cinnamon underpinned by vanilla rich amber and musks. I don’t know why this gets so little attention. It’s a stunner.

Spice Must Flow

True to its name. Spicy. Not ALL about spice though. Here we have the perfumers rose/saffron mix that has been so popular in the 21st century niche market. The way we smell it here is a little different though. Add on pepper, cinnamon, incense and patchouli in bucketloads. It’s beautifully created, hits my nose exactly how I’d like it to. Starts a bit rough and ends up smooth as silk.

The Afternoon Of A Faun

Immortelle and a bunch of other stuff. Thick and gluggy on arrival, freshly windswept by the end. So wearable but it’s HUGE so maybe a few less spritzes Portia.

Tom of Finland

Tom of Finland is not a filthy, sex laden, piss soaked, leather bar in Berlin. Shame really, that would have been revoltingly alluring. What we get is the waft of someone wearing their leathers in the next room while we are in our high heel cupboard, but a very soft version of that. It smells luxuriously subtle.

Yes, I Do

Sheer soft focus Lily of the Valley (LotV), sweetness added by the marshmallow and a very clean jasmine/orange blossom. Very little of the oft hyped funk and a bit of plasticky patchouli, but on the whole fresh, youthful and prim.

You or Someone Like You

The fragrance made to fit the mother of writer Chandler Burr in his semi autobiographical novel of the same name. What it smells like to me is a hike in the Australian scrub near a watercourse in early summer. Magic!

 

So what are your Etat Libre d’Orange loves and loathes?
Portia xx

Ombre Nomad by Louis Vuitton
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Ombre Nomad by Louis Vuitton

OK Looking Glass peeps, A mate of mine decanted this from his bottle for me. Bought it, not a gift. I remember trying Ombre Nomade in store when it was released and thinking it was very nice but wasn’t ready to lay down that kind of money to have a bottle. So I have had this 10ml a few years and every now and then I get the urge. HA! Trying to find it today was a bit of a thing. In my memory it was a gold bottle with white sticker so I overlooked this decant at least 10 times before the light dawned. Time just evaporates sometimes. My seriously scheduled day derailed. Oh Well, going with the flow.

Ombre Nomad by Louis Vuitton 2018

Ombre Nomade Louis Vuitton

 

Louis Vuitton gives these featured accords:
Oud Wood, Frankincense, Raspberry, Benzoin Tears

There has been a lot of talk in recent years about that smoky woods amber oud style base that is so prevalent in modern niche perfumery. It’s in so much and I can understand why people are bored of it or it may bring on migraines because some people just don’t have a stop spritzing button. I feel like every era of perfume has a few bases it works with. We look back at the 1970s floral chypres with such reverence but they do all smell within a certain wheelhouse. Then we had an era of spicy, amber rich florals which segued into the Big White Floral and then moved on to aquatics. See, eras of perfume are defined by certain styles. In 20 years time the kids now will be begging for confectionary gourmands, middle eastern style rose oudhs and heavily smoked woody ambers.

So here we have a smoky woods amber oud with raspberry as the defining difference. It’s fairly bombastic and smells pretty good. Actually, there are some marked similarities to Creed Carmina. While not the same they do have some crossover but Ombre Nomade is far less screechy and desperate for attention.

Ombre Nomade Louis Vuitton

I really like the way Ombre Nomade opens with darkness, a slightly medicinal woody oudh. Then it lets the raspberry sinuously slide in, snakelike and beautifully alluring. This is where the fragrance hits Carmina buttons and skews a little cough syrup, but luxuriously here and low key. Then a smoky amber woods comes through and pumps out long after I’ve lost the ability to smell it. The most common remark is that it smells like a smoky leather.

Masculine leaning unisex, extraordinary longevity and quite diffusive even when I can’t smell it anymore.

Did you ever?
Portia xx

 

Stash Unspoken by Sarah Jessica Parker
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Stash Unspoken by Sarah Jessica Parker

Hey there ULGers, I have this perfume in my collection, Stash Unspoken. It’s not niche leaning, pushes zero boundaries and does not make me swoon with rapture every time I spritz it. So you’d think I would ignore it and wear other more interesting things, right? Nope. It gets the spritz way more often than many of my super amazing, eye rollingly gorgeous, weird and wonderful bottles. I have a theory, probably we have talked about this before. Sorry if it’s old news. While the boundary pushing elixirs are fabulous, fun to write about, share with perfumista buddies and swoon over; what I really want in my day to day life is to smell good. Simple, easy to waft, pretty and friendly fragrances that don’t overtake my mind with rapture in the midst of doing my daily whatever. I also love that it was relatively inexpensive. So if I get really busy or distracted and totally ignore it then so what?

Stash Unspoken by Sarah Jessica Parker 2017

Stash Unspoken

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Quince, Pink pepper
Heart: Honeysuckle, Peony, Wisteria
Base: Musk, Sandalwood, Tonka bean, Frankincense

Quince? I dunno. Maybe if you squint your nose, from a distance, backwards with a following breeze. It’s kind of fruity, a cross between fig and citrus so it could be quince and the zingy pink pepper berry gives it a lift.

None of the amorphous bouquet heart really seem to match the notes list at all, maybe some fruity rose. Maybe honeysuckle.

The base is a pretty, nondescript waft of sweet-ish woodsy nothings that don’t really have definition as notes.

Sounds like crap? It’s not. Well, not for me anyway. Stash Unspoken is so easy going and stress free. It got a really bad rap when released because the original Stash was so damn good. After that high bar everyone was expecting more fabulosity and what we got was something tame and friendly.

Well, stuff the haters, I really love Stash Unspoken and while wearing it last week noticed how empty my bottle is. So I jumped on FragranceNet (not affiliated) and bought a new one. 50ml for under US$20.

Are you a lover, hater or meh-er on Stash Unspoken?
Portia xx

Portia 56
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Portia 56

Hey there ULG crew. Yes, it’s birthday time. This year I’m leaning into the celebration.

Sunday night trivia at Austral Bowling Club they had a cake for me. Here is my super butch reaction to snuffing the candle with wet fingers.

Just had my Birthday phone call from Varun in India (my last long term partner) can’t believe he left Australia 22 years ago. Still miss his stupid face.

My Birthday day (Wednesday 25th) is all about study because I’ve been too busy to get anything done in the last week and I have stuff due. Actually due weeks ago. It’s causing me stomach curdling anxiety. Thing is, weddings, extra gigs and funerals aren’t something that can be put off.

The evening will be Trivia with my Greystanes Inn crew. Jin, BFF Kath and her Dad are coming for that. I’m pretty happy with this small scale on the day event.

Thursday night Jin is taking us to the Darling Harbour Sofitel for the night with dinner at a restaurant I like and hotel breakfast. Just us. Super chill.

Saturday we are having a bit of a party at the local Chinese restaurant. It serves Authentic 1970s Australian Chinese Food. Believe me, it’s a thing. We have this extraordinary history of Aussie Chinese. It’s getting hard to find nowadays because everyone is going much more Traditional Chinese FROM China. Anyway, it’s cheap as chips and the food is So Good!

It has been a toss up whether to buy a big ticket perfume that’s been on the To Buy List or art. I haven’t been able to decide, and we already have a surfeit of both. So I’m hoarding my money for our November family trip to Taiwan.

Rahele by Neela Vermeire Creations is my birthday perfume. It’s the scent of events ever since our wedding in 2018. It has been the perfect fragrance for important moments because it’s beautiful enough to be intoxicating but not so overwhelming it takes precedence. Osmanthus, violet and mossy leather with a whole bouquet to back it up. Perfection.

Notes of green mandarin, cardamom, cinnamon, violet leaf, osmanthus, rose, magnolia, jasmine, iris, violet, cedar, sandalwood, oakmoss, patchouli and leather.

Well, I’m off to get things done,
Portia xx

Encens Suave by Matiere Premiere
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Encens Suave by Matiere Premiere

Hey there ULGers, Encens Suave by Matiere Premiere has been sitting on my desk awaiting the Northern Hemispheres cooling. It feels like a good time to give you some good perfume news. I’m pretty sure this arrived with a Libertine Parfumerie order as a GWP. I do love a boxed manufacturers sample, so cool. This is one of my favourites from the line and I’ve given myself the odd spritz while in the big Sydney city department stores.

Encens Suave by Matiere Premiere 2019

Encens Suave Matiere Premiere

Accords include:
Top: Coffee
Heart: Incense, Madagascar Vanilla
Base: Benzoin, Labdanum

That coffee note is really rich, more like chocolate on me. Dark chocolate. It’s a very interesting opening that is soon cut through with a smoky, very Asiatic incense and warm sweet resinous amber. For all the simplicity of my words Encens Suave is very nuanced and a some beautiful trajectory.

Once it hits dry down, an hour or more in the fragrance becomes a lightly smoky amber, with some charred woods. There’s sweetness but it’s low key for me, though on other people it seems to wear sweeter. This is my favorite part of the ride and it hums away for hours and hours. We are now in very linear territory and I love to get random huffs throughout the day/evening.

Encens Suave by Matiere Premiere 2019

Unisex, very fragrant and longevity is off the charts. Encens Suave is definitely pandering to the Beast Mode Bros love of all things enormous and everlasting. The first time I wore it while out frag sniffing with a couple of mates I may have gone a bit overboard. It was HUGE and eternal.

One thing I really like is that Matiere Premiere offer 6ml, 50ml and 100ml. This is one perfume brand that I think is worth the extra $$$ and still manages to be within my boundaries. 50ml is €155 from the brand.

Have you? Would you try Encens Suave?
Portia xx