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Patty White launched Perfume Posse in 2005, and we've been yapping on and on about perfume endlessly since.

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Roxana Illuminated Perfume Impromptu

Apr 182014
 
 April 18, 2014  Posted by on April 18, 2014 7 Responses »
Griffin

GriffinIf you have been reading my random natterings for a while you know that I think that Roxana of Roxana Illuminated perfumes is a true artist. She’s resurrected one of her older perfumes, Impromptu. When I reviewed it on PST I wrote “Without being consciously retro, it makes me think of a scent from the 40′s. Mainly because it’s such a rich scent, taking the smoky-sweet aspects of Chaparall with additions of of butter-soft carnation and her botanical version of leather. For me the opening is all about the carnation, which is almost soapy but then quickly warms with the spices. As it progresses you get into the parts of Chaparall that I love- which I wrote of as the ‘distillation of California with it’s herbal woodiness and hint of wildfires.’ While the scent itself is delightfully smoky, as Donna noted the leather shows none of the birch-tar aspects of other scents. Nor is it of a new car; it’s more Hermes than Honda.”

Now this is a re-imagining or recreation of that version. I think it’s perfection- I love how it goes from slightly chilly and sweet on my skin to darker and richer. When worn with the solid, it’s adds a sort of buttery richness to the scent (and also makes it last much longer.) I love the fact that we have these people out there making these scents, basically in their homes, and they are so talented and committed to bring beauty into the world rather than just generate some forgettable flanker that will be at the discounters by the time you get home from Macy’s.

Impromptu is truly beautiful.

Impromptu is available on her site in several sizes. May samples were provided by the perfumer.

Image: Her Blog

Magnolia Grandiflora Michel by Grandiflora 2014

Apr 172014
 
 April 17, 2014  Posted by on April 17, 2014 16 Responses »
Magnolia Grandiflora Michel Grandiflora Fragrantica

Hello Lovelies, Portia from Australian Perfume Junkies with a new fragrance by an Australian company, Grandiflora. This is a tragedy and good luck story in one. One of Sydney’s most beautiful and prestigious florists, Saskia Havekes, decided to do a fragrance for her shop. Not wanting anything less than wonderful, backed by good taste and common business sense she started searching. Somehow, she came across the young perfumer Sandrine Videault, who was Edmund Roudnitska’s protege. Sandrine created an extraordinary fragrance and just as it was about to be launched tragically died. So young and full of promise and gone. Instantly the world of fragrance went into shock and mourning and the story of Sandrine was told everywhere, the story of the Grandiflora fragrance became headlines and the world was now aware of a tiny little shop in Sydney releasing a fragrance. Sandrine’s work is flawless and I’m sure you have read about it or tried it.

Magnolia Grandiflora Michel by Grandiflora 2014

Michel Roudnitska

Magnolia Grandiflora Michel Grandiflora FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Grapefruit, lemon, bergamot, jasmine, ylang-ylang, rose, magnolia, vetiver, patchouli, musk

Michel Roudnitska once sat below a Magnolia Grandiflora tree while it was in full bloom as a child. He loved the smell of the flowers in full bloom: a soft, whispering, sweet and buttery fragrance. Move forward to twenty odd years ago and Michel recreated that fragrance as a memory for himself. Move forward again to 2013 and when Sandrine died so suddenly Michel offered his personal interpretation of a Magnolia Grandiflora to Saskia Havekes as a second fragrance to release in loving memory. What an astounding story of Saskia’s right time/right place. Sandrine the only person not here to see the fruits of her labours become reality, tragic.

Magnolia_grandiflora Michel WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

What of the fragrance Magnolia Grandiflora Michel? My skin throws a fabulous breathy green, a fleshy, waxy, just been cut foliage scent that is buttery, soft and sweet with a clear watery feel but good heft. I have been quite lavish with my spritzing and I am at the centre of the most beguiling fragrant aura. It’s like I am lit up neon green. A beacon of Magnolia Grandiflora scent multiplied by 100,000 so even the heavens can smell my lavish magnificence. He He He. What I mean to say is Magolia Grandiflora Michel is big. A Big White Floral  resurrected from the past and brought bang up to date. After less than an hour it softens off too a musky, still very slightly citrus, wood and stays at this calm, peaceful and extremely luxe level for about 4 hours before I lose the ability to smell it. I think it may still be powering on softly though.

See the White Peacock below? See how it has a gorgeous creamy lustre, almost a soft caramel? This looks like Magnolia Grandiflora Michel smells.

Magnolia_grandiflora Michel vinoth chandar FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Grain de Musc and What Men Should Smell Like
LuckyScent has stock and samples
Peony Melbourne has $185/100ml

I am madly smitten.
Portia xx

The Beauties of Beautyhabit..annnd….a stunning draw!

Apr 152014
 
 April 15, 2014  Posted by on April 15, 2014 106 Responses »
TeresaPaula_cmyk

Musette sez:     I’m always interested in other business owners – who are they?  how did they start their business?  how’s it going? do you wake up, at 2am, screaming?   In the coming weeks I will introduce you to some of my favorite small-biz retailers.  A lot of us buy online (or even – gasp!- buy IN STORE) but rarely really know the folks behind those shops.  We shop their sites, cheer when they have a Sale and moan when their prices increase…but who the heck are ‘they’?  Well.  Let’s see, shall we?

TeresaPaula_cmyk

where my cherubs izzz?

 

Beautyhabit!  I love so much about this shop.  But what I love most is the stupid story I originally made up about the two sisters who own and run it, Teresa Mitchell and Paula Vazquez, back when we were setting up the LA Scentsation.  At first glance I just saw California Girls, that gorgeous blonde, healthy bouncy fabulous Breckness endemic to the Golden State – I imagined them, reclining in chaises longue in the Valley, sipping mimosas whilst cherubs who look like The Rock drift through the terrace doors, bearing the latest, coolest offerings from Paris and Neptune.

Yah.  Okay.  I didn’t say I had any sense.  These are BUSINESS people, Musette. Working their asses off.   Just. Like. You.  Only way cuter.

So.  Teresa and Paula. Oh, SO cool.  Did you know that Teresa studied Mysticism and Religious Studies at Berkeley before going to Beauty School to become an Esthetician ???(there’s a joke in there somewhere but …)…she started her business in her basement after she had to quit working in department stores due to an environmental (coughEL-relatedcough) illness.  At that time, 1995-96, her husband (a Silicon Valley guy) told her about this new ‘online shopping’ phenomenon.  She remembers thinking ‘who would ever buy beauty products Online?” .  I said the same thing about books, when Amazon first came on the scene.  Sigh.  Luckily, Teresa was smarter than me!   Also, luckily for us, she is a hunter, a self-confessed Beauty Magpie, JustLikeMe, flitting from product to product, which meant she could really bust the whole thing wide open, bringing a host of unusual, fun products to the fore. Lots and lots of trial, error and testing….  Though I still like the idea of The Rock-like cherubs bringing the products in through the window….or me trying the products ON The Rock (here, Dwaynebaby…let me smooth a bit of this on your chest…yah,  it’s research,sweetcheeks.  Research.”

my favorite conversation with Teresa:  we were yabberin’ on about treatment and we got all mystical about Luxury and the thrill of the hunt for the perfect organic French rosewater and omgosh, I was hearing those cherubs…when she chuckled and said ‘yeah.  and then I slap on my Retin-A! LOL!”  I LOVE this gal!

But!  We actually get the stuff because her sister Paula is a freakin’ dynamo!  Listen.  This woman is a size-zero Force of Nature!  She owned a successful printing company when her sister came a-callin’ and now runs the daily operations portion of Beautyhabit as well as all the design management (and THANK YOU for such cuteness!  Really!  I love your catalogues!).   Paula’s the Perfume Slut but she’s Beauty Faithful – been in the same Chanel eyeshadow for 15 years!

my favorite conversation with Paula:  we were talking about how much of her day involves running around  and she talked about how tough Christmastime is or, as it’s known at Beautyhabit: Paula’s Month of Sweatpants, when she would race to UPS and jam her foot in the closing door to get those last packages in so we get them On Time .  I didn’t have the heart to tell her I have Anita’s YEARS in sweatpants.  This woman is a WORKER (ask her about her trying to get a job at The Golden Door (at 14!   as a maid! okay! okay! no cherubs, dammit). Plus, she’s way cuter than me, too.  Even in sweatpants.  especially in sweatpants!  I need to run around more.

If you are in LA and can trek out to the Valley, I swear to Floyd you MUST go to Beautyhabit (go around lunchtime when Paula’s husband Chef Alberto is in the area.  A year later and I’m still thinking about that amazing lunch).  It’s sort of a brick&mortar wholesale spot, unprepossessing as hell from the outside….then…well..I remember March & I stopping dead in our tracks, right inside the door…we….omg…we couldn’t speak for a full 30 seconds…just stood there, panting!  You wouldn’t BELIEVE it, it’s so……omg.

They go all over the world (and the world comes to them), to find the most interesting, intriguing lines..  Racks and racks and RACKS of Fabulous!  It’s so fabulous it’s stupefyin’.    Some of my favorites are..

…heck!  You don’t care what MY favorites are.  You care what YOUR favorites are becauuuuuse:

 As thanks for taking the time to get to know them, Beautyhabit is giving away 4-fabulous-4 eGift Certificates!!!  What you need to do:  go over to beautyhabit.com, fall in love with something and come back here and lemme know what it is.  That’s all you have to do!  Bruno is feeling all better’n everthang so he will pick 4 winners!   You won’t win ‘the thing’ but if you win you’ll win the eGift certificate so you can buy the thing!  Draw ends Midnight 20 April – this draw is open to Everyone.

PLUS!  Shopping at Beautyhabit.com?   From now until May 31 we have FREE  SHIPPING! (Free Ground shipping to lower 48 only)  Code :  POSSE. So get on OVAH there! 

Can I just say how completely JEALOUS I am of you?  You guys get a chance to win a $50 eGift certificate.  I get a chance to write about it. Lucky me.  But I’m happy for you.  No, really!  Happy!

Byredo Flowerhead and Roja Dove Musk Aoud Absolue Precieux

Apr 142014
 
 April 14, 2014  Posted by on April 14, 2014 35 Responses »
byredo flowerhead and Roja dove Musk Aoud Absolue Precieux

 

byredo flowerhead and Roja dove Musk Aoud Absolue Precieux

Now, you may be thinking – is she crazy today?  No not more so than any other day.  First, the picture above, I’ve seen the Byredo Flowerhead graphic, which is cool, but everyone is using it, and I really loved this painting just for the pure weird.

Reviewing Byredo Flowerhead and Roja Dove Musk Aoud side by side may seem a little odd, but with Colorado weather being 30s and snowing one day and 80 the next, I need them both!

Byredo Flowerhead is the newest release in their line.  I was a little excited to see another pure floral showing up since I’m a big fan of the not-loved-as-much-as-it-should-be La Tulipe.  Flowerhead’s inspiration is the flowers worn by Indian brides.  Okay!  Notes include angelica seeds, lingonberry, lemon, sambac jasmine, green notes, rose petals, tuberose, suede and ambergris.  It opens very floral with a sharpish lemon/green note, then some fuller jasmine, tuberose and jasmine chime in.  Nothing naughty to find here, which is a darn shame, since I always think jasmine should avoid smelling clean’ish.  It’s not Tampax fresh, either, which is a blessing.  It’s a nice, charming floral that I would have loved had it been dirtied up a bit more.  For something that’s über clean, I’m sticking with La Tulipe, which is still my favorite spring perfume (yes I missed that last week, but I was sick all week).

Roja Dove has been one-upping high end lines and has a Musk Oud Absolue Precieux that sells for about $900 for 30 mls (regular parfum is less).  Okay, I confess, it was a shopping accident!  What I wanted was the regular parfum, but my finger wound up on the Absolute Precieux instead, and, well, I didn’t WANT to send it back once I had it!  I mean, the shrink wrap was a little loose, and I just barely touched it and it just came off enough so I could get my hand in the box and sneak out the bottle to sniff it a wee bit.  Oh, I’m lying. It was an accident, but no way would I send it back once I smelled it.

I know Roja can do skanky, but he hasn’t really gone there in his regular line. He saved that for his semi-bespokes he used to do (still does?)  So I didn’t expect some perfumed privates peep show. Hoped for it, but did not expect it.  Well, and I didn’t get it either, though it is a wee bit dirty and rough in all the right places.

It’s some lovely, smoooooooth oud. It’s rich and has a gorgeous birch muskiness oozing up through that throaty little oud roar.  Notes are bergamot, lemon, jasmine, rose, ylang-ylang, agarwood (oud), ambrette (musk mallow), birch, leather, musk, nutmeg, oakmoss, precious woods, sandalwood, tonka bean and vanilla.  It’s an oily, lovely smokefest. Because of the concentration, it stays close to the skin, which is an excellent idea. It’s not dirty, but there is a carnal incantation going on around this.  I like oud fine, but I’m not faithful to it at all, just enjoy flirting from time to time.  If I loved oud, I’d definitely want this oud with musk, birch and leather swimming around to make it more than a little interesting.  As it is, I’ve enjoyed the few nights I’ve spent with this happy little accident.  Pretty sure you could be pretty happified by the less pricey parfum instead of the rarefied Absolue Precieux.

Wearing Roja Dove Musk Aoud on one hand and Byredo Flowerhead on the other. I feel at home with the snow melting in April.  But now I want my La Tulipe!

Winners of the By Kilian Asian Tales two-perfume sample set of Imperial Tea and Sacred wood are – wordswrote/jillm, Audrey and Bridget B.  Click on the Drop Us  a Note at the top of the blog or e-mail patty at perfumeposse dawt c awm, remind me what you’ve won and give me your mailing address. I’ll send you a quick confirm that I got your e-mail so you know it didn’t land in my spam filter, and I’ll get your samples sent out.

Of course a drawing for today.  A teeny drop of the Roja Dove Musk Aoud and a sample of Byredo Flowerhead and Byredo La Tulipe for two lucky winners drawn from the commenter’s on today’s post.  Love oud, over it?  How many oud perfumes are too many, or is there always room for great ones, even if they cost four fingers and three toes to own?

 

French Lover by Pierre Bourdon for Frederic Malle 2007

French Lover by Pierre Bourdon for Frederic Malle 2007

Hey there Perfume Posse, Portia from Australian Perfume Junkies finding some samples in a little baggie hiding in my cupboard I have brought them forth ad we can smell them together. Today I have a carded manufacturers 2ml spray sample. An excellent size and I love that it’s spritzable so The rest, please…

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