Tableau de Parfums Loretta: fragrance review & draw

You might have heard that Loretta, the newest fragrant baby arising from the collaboration of perfumer Andy Tauer & film-maker Brian Pera, is a tuberose-centered floral; and yet smelling it you realize that on face value it's inscrutable. This tuberose, although natural and vibrant, resembles nothing of the moth love & hate relationship of tuberoses of reference (like Tubereuse Criminelle by Lutens or Carnal Flower by F.Malle) with the exception of Piguet's Fracas. You have to smell it to believe it, because we're dealing with an atypical example, much like its creator is an atypical perfumer who has deservedly gained a cult status.

The enigmatic scent: a tuberose unlike any other

Like Fracas (and yet also unlike it) Loretta is built on a white flowers given a resolutely candied, fruity veneer that is creamy, and Tauer embraces that note with lactonic woods that remind me of some modern version of sandalwood, with the liquor like tonalities of rose that Andy likes so, plus a touch of cardamom or nutmeg. The olfactory impression of this candied, fruity floralcy is the synergy of the banana note in ylang ylang with treacly and very diffusive orange blossom along with a grape and berries touch (methyl anthranilate, the thing that made L'Heure Bleue and Narcisse Noir so compelling); this gives a sweet, rotting flesh mystery that is tantalizing in a perfume.
This peculiar combination personally reminds me of the tuberose hiding inside the heart of Dior's original Poison from the 1980s: the "monster" inside is nothing compared to the buttressing via an overdose of musks and woods and yes, grape and berry notes. The composition is more than its description and somewhat less too, a cipher. Which nicely brings us full circle to Loretta, as this Rubik's Cube is built upon a succession of complimentary notes that defuse each other into unison. This isn't just random but relies on careful, painstaking attention from the perfumer; the common thread between grape and berry is the component also present in tuberose and ylang ylang essences.
Although the official notes mention aldehydes, the effect here is unlike classics of the genre and serves rather as the building block of a Schiff's base (A perfumer's "tool", with some technical challenges built in as well). In plain English, don't expect a sparkling, citrusy, soapy-smelling or metallic Chanel No.5, YSL Rive Gauche or Madame Rochas nuance here; Loretta is in a class of its own.

Comparison with Miriam 

Contrary to Tableau de Parfums Miriam, with its retro soapy, aldehydic halo ~to correspond with the silvery sheen of the protagonist Anne Magnuson, and her reticent, elegant aura~ the Loretta fragrance is a young and contemporary creature, a cleaning lady with sexual fantasies enacted behind closed doors; we're talking about a cleaning lady with a supreme taste in perfume, apparently! Loretta is hard to miss (it radiates and lasts very well, like all Tauer perfumes) and very difficult not to fall in love with, even for tuberose phobics.



The where, the how, the when, the how much

Tableau de Parfums is an ongoing collaboration between Tauer and filmmaker Brian Pera and Loretta is its latest installment, after the Miriam fragrance. The Tableau perfumes are portraits inspired by the shorts of Pera’s ongoing film series, Woman’s Picture (You can find out everything about the whole thing on www.evelynavenue.com).

The Loretta fragrance includes fragrant notes of tuberose absolute, aldehydes, rose absolute, orange blossom and woods.

For those in LA, the Scent Bar will be holding a launch party for the fragrance for the official launch on October 19th.
Loretta in the Tableau de Parfums series will be available in 50 ml Eau de Parfum concentration, packaged with a DVD and film poster ($160) or in a 7 ml Travel spray ($40) at evelynavenue.com and select stockists.

 Andy below presents Loretta in the Pitti exhibition in Florence via the Basenotes/Youtube.

 

You can also peek at an older interview of Tauer and Pera on FragranceScout.

For our readers, I have 5 deluxe samples of the new Loretta perfume to give away. Just enter a comment and you're eligible. Draw is open till Monday Oct 15th midnight. Draw is now closed, thank you for participating!

 In the interests of disclosure I was sent samples for the giveaway by the perfumer himself

Tableau de Parfums Loretta: new fragrance by Tauer & Pera & draw

Loretta comes as the second chapter in the Tableau de Parfum series (introduced by Miriam) from the creative forces of Andy Tauer and Brian Pera (in perfumery and film-making respectively). In this ongoing collaboration, Pera and Tauer engage in a discourse about perfume, film, people and emotions. In addition to the fragrance line Tableau de Parfums, the collaboration involves a related film series called WOMAN'S PICTURE. As per Andy: "Sometimes, I create perfumes inspired by Brian's films; other times, Brian reflects on the scents that I create using his medium. Our goal is to explore the possibilities of both arts and their related effects on the imagination".

The fragrance Loretta was inspired by the world of a short film of the same name from the Woman's Picture film series. For the launch of the Loretta fragrance, Brian and Andy wanted to present their version of "perfume spots". We wanted to see how the moods and themes of Loretta, the fragrance and its companion short film, might be further interpreted within this condensed and recognizable format. Loretta Perfume Spots

Brian filmed three spots, which the duo hope to share with perfume lovers as the centerpieces of a DRAW.





 Brian Perra and Andy Tauer will personally present Loretta on October 19th at the Scentbar in Los Angeles (late afternoon, 7405 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles CA 90036).

 Availability and price
Loretta will be available by mid October on:
www.luckyscent.com
www.firstinfragrance.com
www.scentsandsensibility.com
www.marieantoinetteparis.fr
 It will retail in the US for 160 $ (50ml packaged with a DVD of the related short film, LORETTA) and 40$ (7ml travel size purse spray).

 By October 15, all three Loretta spots will be uploaded on Evelyn Avenue (www.evelynavenue.com/blog). We invite readers to rate and comment the videos, favorite to least favorite. Brian will draw three winners. The winners get a Tauer fragrance of her/his choice from the entire range of Tauer, a DVD of the first three stories in the Woman's Picture series, and the vintage-style poster for the Loretta fragrance!
 Timeline and conditions for the lucky draw The draw starts October 15 and ends October 25. The creators pick a winner from all comments, there are no restrictions. Brian and Andy will inform the lucky winners and Andy will ship the prizes from Switzerland.

Tableau de Parfums Snapshots "Dark Passage" by A.Tauer: fragrance review & draw

"It was a hot afternoon, and I can still remember the smell of honeysuckle all along that street. How could I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?"
~Double Indemnity, 1944


Dark Passage is a limited edition, g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s perfume by Swiss genius Andy Tauer which doesn't smell of honeysuckle. It does smell of film noirs and danger though like there's no tomorrow. Last time Tauer issued a limited edition it was the legendary Orris. If this hasn't had your ears perked up, I don't know what will. Perhaps that Dark Passage is a dark alleyway of a scent, full of spilled booze, contraband and dangerous women with luring tentacles the size of Barbara Stanwyck's evil quota in classics of the genre. I can only say I was very honoured to be among the extremely few people who got to try this amazing perfume.

Dark Passage is also rebellious; as Tauer says about the creation: "For me this first SNAPSHOT fragrance comes as a relief. Finally, I can do a fragrance that does not need to go through any distribution and sales machinery and EU registration and other investments. It is just here. If you are interested in it: Get it."

Dark Passage is perched on the darkness of natural, dirty, raw patchouli, a note poised between the woody and the camphorous. "Patchouli coeur which means”heart of Patchouli” is basically a patchouli that is rich in patchoulol. I am using a quality that is 66% patchoulol. I use it together with “standard” patchouli.[...]Patchouli coeur is even a bit more on the light, airy, musky side. Yes, there is a musky aspect that is stronger and underlined in Patchouli Coeur. I got mine from Ventos, but the description on Robertet‘s internet site is wonderful. It is in French and thus even more mysterious: “Odeur : le cœur de patchouli présente un aspect olfactif très propre, ambré, terreux, patchoulol, oriental.” Thus, it smells clean, of ambergris, earth, patchoulol, and oriental", clarifies Tauer.

But that's not all, nor is it the whole truth: Dark Passage is a perfume full of patchouli and you can't but like that material to fully enjoy it, but there are other elements to entice and to sway the character. Labdanum I believe, coupled with [no, I was wrong] beeswax musky-animalic notes, giving a sweet, intimate, almost suede aspect; a very prominent cocoa note from natural cocoa absolute, not wrapped in gourmand wiles but rendered bitter, noir, dirty, tobacco-rich...There's also a bit of birch tar, which aids both the bitterness of the chocolate facet and the leathery note, as well as a snippet of vetiver, rendered musty and as black as the night on the swamp where someone is dumping bodies on the hush.


Most importantly: Dark Passage is not bound by IFRA rules!

If you want to compare with something you might have tested already, I can only think of Ayala Moriel's Film Noir, which is another dirty, deeply dark heartless patchouli; that one isn't as cocoa-rich, though as this one.

Packaged in 7ml enamel atomizers and available in limited edition quanities, the Tableau Snapshots are smaller in scale and with a different scope. You can find all about the inspiration, the project (part of Kickstarter to promote the new Brian Pera film "Only Child") and where to buy on this post.

HURRY!! Dark Passage is only available till March 29th!

One small sample available for one lucky reader!
Draw is now closed, winner announced on Home page.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: The power of "noir" in perfumes (with a film noir titles game included!)

In the interests of disclosure, I was sent a sample by the perfumer. 

Miriam: The Fragrant Story part3

“From the Desk of Miriam Masterson”, year 1969  

Father is a minor player in our home life. Mother always seems to me to be
the star. Father is a recurring character with an extended walk on role. He
seems to know what mother needs and makes sure that she has it. This all
takes almost no communication whatsoever, as if they can read each other’s
minds. Years later, it will occur to me that mother’s needs weren’t being
met at all, that she was possibly pretty unhappy, maybe even something like
miserable, certainly unfulfilled, and only seemed to be content because
she’d mastered the art of looking that way.

As a child, I think that my parents must do all their talking behind closed
doors. Their scenes together take place off stage: in the bedroom, or downstairs,
in the den, once I’ve gone to sleep. At dinner, mother tells me to sit
up straight, paying serious attention to the way I chew my food, the way I
look, the way I speak. She seems to know what I’m thinking, verbalizing
my insecurities.

Tension runs from her place at the table to mine. Father reads the paper,
or watches the TV. Something very important is always in the paper or on
the TV and one of the very first things I learn in life is that when father is
watching TV he must never under any circumstances be distracted or
interrupted in any way. I must be nine or ten, and we’re sitting there at the
table, and father is chewing as he watches something on TV - possibly the
news - and without taking his eyes off the screen he compliments mother on
her perfume. It’s as if he’s talking out loud to himself.
Sometimes, mother and I go to the department store together, which is like
a movie set, complete with backdrop displays, extras, and intersecting
intrigues. The smiling mannequins are dressed like mother and could be
her stand-ins. At the perfume counter, I search the bottles for anything
that looks like the one mother has at home, while she chats theatrically with
the sales associates. She acts as if she knows them, asking about their
families, complimenting them on their outfits. She knows everyone in their
families by name. She knows the ages of their children and remembers
their accomplishments and activities. She’s so friendly, so sociable, that I
barely recognize her.

In this alternate universe, she’s the picture of happiness. Her laughter
spreads around her infectiously, and I find myself laughing too, without
really knowing the script. The mall is full of women, and all of them smell
like perfume. The only man I see is the owner of the place, who emerges
from a doorway every so often, standing in the background, watching our
interaction. He acts as if he’s orchestrated the conversation, as if he’s the
director, but to me he seems peripheral, as if he’s been shut out of the scene.

If you missed part 1 and part 2, just click the links.  

photo via www.annmagnuson.com 

Tableau de Parfums Miriam: fragrance review & Giveaway

The dream of a hug, the vivid bitter sweet memory of her perfume,
her hair shining golden in the morning sun, so fine,
the violets from the garden in her hand,
freshly picked with the dew pearls dropping one after the other,
the green May roses on the table, lasting forever.
It is a dream of days long gone, with a smile on my lips.

Miriam Eau de Parfum is the first fragrance on the Tableau de Parfums line (you have a chance of getting to know it before anyone else, read on!), referencing the heady, diffusive fragrances of the 1940s and 1950s.

Some people who admired Tauer perfumes had asked on these very pages some time ago that he composes an aldehydic floral. Apparently he listens! Miriam is an old-school rosy-green aldehydic floral, like they don't make them any more; perfumey, rosy, with piquant notes that register between soapiness and fizziness, an armour of glamorous "clean". You imagine a highly strung classy woman that hides her woes behind an immaculate veneer; perfectly coifed & manicured, wearing delightfully constructed, tailored clothes and maybe a string of pearls. Male filmmakers of the 1940s tended to show this powerwoman stereotype having a meltdown at some point in the plot, perhaps a subtle nod to "punishment" for undertaking more than they should. Pamela Robertson explains that Mildred Pierce exposes this contradiction of female success and societal expectations, "because Mildred's success conflicts with the postwar ideology that demands that women give up their careers" [1]. There are even modern specimens like Amy Archer in "The Hudsucker Proxy". But not in Pera's universe. Miriam can be complex, alternating between regret, love, compassion, duty, longing...she's very human.  In the words of Ann Magnuson, who plays Miriam in the film: "The character of Miriam is kind of riffing not only on the forties women’s picture characters but also some of the characters that I’ve played."

Who is Miriam? The host of a long running home shopping network program (“The Miriam Masterson Show”), Miriam (played by well-known actress Ann  Magnuson) is the on air confidante to millions of women across the country, But behind the scenes, Miriam is at odds with the men who run the studio, a motley crew of suits who don’t understand her touchy feely appeal. At home, she struggles with a layabout boyfriend. Her mother has just been put in a nursing home suffering from dementia. What Miriam would like more than anything is the one thing she can’t have: the name of her mother’s signature perfume. What’s left of the fragrance sits in an unlabeled Baccarat decant on the edge of Miriam’s vanity. When it’s gone, it will take a world of memories with it. Does it remind you of something? I thought so. That perfume therefore represents the memory of her mother, the fragrance her mother actually wore, but also the images and thoughts that Miriam projects into her perception of her mother as a younger woman. Makes for contemplating sniffing.

Miriam the fragrance is vintage in spirit but with a contemporary character. “There is something slightly provocative in this perfume,” says Andy Tauer, its creator. “It isn’t naughty, but bold. It makes a statement, and its wearer needs a little bit of daring. A grand perfume constructed in the tradition of French perfumery, Miriam is the kind of fragrance they don’t make much anymore.” Indeed! When was the last time you actually heard of a major company launching an aldehydic floral? This is one of the beauties of discovering artisanal perfumers: They eschew trends into producing what they like.
The scent of Miriam Eau de Parfum is immediately expansive, filling the room with its citrusy aldehydes burst and violet leaf natural essence (coming from Biolandes), making an instant euphoric impression. Unmistakeably this is an old school rosy floral, fanning the tea rose variety into a soft woody base rich in irones. The woodiness is half and half Australian and Mysore sandalwood, giving a smooth underlay. I hear there's also ambergris/Ambrox, one of the notes that Tauer likes and uses as insignia. It's subtle here and very low-hum (resulting in less than plutonium-like lasting power in this case), while there is a hint of animalic warmth deep down (civet?), taking a sensuous path for a brief while. But never fear; like the corresponding character Miriam EDP knows how to behave, even if her heart takes her elsewhere from time to time.

Miriam Eau de Parfum was inspired by the character played by Ann Magnuson in Woman's Picture series by director Brian Pera. (It even has its own Facebook page! Check it out!)

Notes for Tableau de Parfums Miriam:
bergamot, sweet orange, geranium, violet blossom, rose, jasmine, ylang, violet leaf, lavender, vanilla, orris root, sandalwood.

We are hosting a giveaway! One purse sized atomiser (7ml) to a lucky winner and 5 deluxe samples (1 ml each), with a DVD included, shipped directly by Tauer Perfumes into the entire world. Draw is open till September 7th and winner announced at the end of next week. Just leave a comment re: this post.

Miriam EDP will launch in early October in Los Angels at Scentbar and Luckyscent. Tauer will not make it available on the Tauer website, but rather on Evelyn Avenue.

[1] Robertson, Pamela. Guilty Pleasures. Durham & London: Duke University Press. 1996.

A Fragrant Novelette & Film: Evelyn's Avenue & Tableau de Parfums Miriam

“All of us grow up in particular realities — a home, family, a clan, a small town, a neighborhood. Depending upon how we’re brought up, we are either deeply aware of the particular reading of reality into which we are born, or we are peripherally aware of it.”

Thus says Chaim Potok and today I am honoured to having been picked to introduce you an ultra cool project cinematographer (& man about the arts) Brian Pera and perfumer Andy Tauer will unfold in the coming weeks (We will have giveaways of samples and downloads and interviews, so stick around!).

Brian Pera introduced me to Evelyn Avenue, "a street in Memphis, Tennessee, located in the “midtown” area. There are tons of trees, old houses, people walking dogs or riding their bikes. [...]There are no garages, so you’re encouraged to say hello to your neighbors when you get in and out of your car, or to avoid them more creatively.". This neighborhood from real and lived in suddenly became an Internet small corner where the comings and goings of several creative minds are documented. They're also perfume related in a more tangible way, with a ten-year-long collaboration, with Andy Tauer's project Tableau de Parfums, portraits inspired by the shorts of Pera’s ongoing film series, Woman’s Picture; Woman's Picture is a series of short films involving childhood memories of the perfumes their mothers and grandmothers wore and what they represent to them. These shorts will be available for download on Evelyn Avenue and on DVD through the store at the time of each fragrance’s release, along with a novelette related to the character.

It is Perfume Shrine's honour to introduce you to Miriam's story today, through a perfume novelette:

"The sixties are saying bold patterns, geometric prints--and short, shorter, shortest--
but mother sticks to what she knows. Her nightgown is simple: a
pale floral design on a turquoise background, floor length, probably satin.

It has a mauve colored sash. She sits at the vanity, brushing her hair. At fifty, I’ll remember the feel of the fabric of this nightgown against my face, like the pillow on my bed, the feel of going to sleep, and how infrequently my mother let me near enough to touch it. The vanity is dark wood, possibly
mahogany. Mother got it from her grandmother, who got it from no one knows exactly where. It’s really just a table but mother has made it something more. Three generations of women have set themselves down before it, preparing, refining, thinking, rethinking.

The perfume mother wears, her signature scent, is its own little island, located at the farthest right end of the vanity. The crystal bottle reminds me of a tear drop. The stopper is long and sharp like a glistening dagger.
I’m seven years old. Mother is the world to me. Every morning, after I wake, I walk the hallway separating our rooms. I’m quiet so mother won’t hear me. I stop at her room and stand there in the doorway, watching her from behind. She finishes her hair and applies her make-up. She regards
herself for a moment in the mirror, pivoting to find the right angle.

I can’t read her face. It’s some kind of performance, it seems to me. It’s as
if she’s rehearsing. I pretend I know what she’s thinking, putting thoughts
into her head. I pretend I’m her audience and that in some way we’re
communicating through this performance. It’s the closest I come to under
standing her but I have no words for what I’m seeing and feeling.

She reaches for the bottle at the edge of the vanity, drawing it closer. She
lifts the stopper and dabs once on each side of her neck, observing her
reflection. Before she replaces the bottle she holds the stopper under her
nose and she closes her eyes, drifting off somewhere on the smell. She looks
like pictures I’ve seen, women lost in private moments, enacting some kind
of ritual no one else is meant to see. The pictures make the moments
public. Staring at them is like watching my mother from her doorway. You
feel you know these women. You might be them - if not now, then one day."

The Series launches its first episode of the portrait series, MIRIAM, on Evelyn Avenue, coinciding with the launch of the MIRIAM perfume, the first release by Tableau de Parfums. MIRIAM features Ann Magnuson as a home shopping network hostess whose life has reached crisis point. MIRIAM will be available for download in the third week of October, when there will also be a prequel of the companion ROSE. Miriam Eau de Parfum by Tauer Perfumes launches on October 7th at Scentbar (the brick & mortar store of Luckyscent) in Los Angeles, while the day before several of the Woman's Picture shorts will screen at the Royal T Gallery in Los Angeles.

There is a host of people participating as well so check them out for more news:
September 7: Persolaise September 14: Olfactorama September 21: Perfume Smellin’ Things September 28: The Non-Blonde October 5: Perfume Posse

Tomorrow on Perfume Shrine, a preview of Miriam EDP, a surprise and a giveaway!! Don't miss. 



Woman's Picture Trailer from brian pera on Vimeo.