Tauer Perfumes L'Air du Desert Marocain: fragrance review

So many of the fragrances inspired by lands steeped in spices and resins are redolent of the souk, of man made territories that ultimately take on a carte postale quality, so prone to the disillusionments of reality when one has been relying on armchair travelling leafing through Traveller and encyclopaedias. L'Air du Desert Marocain is different, because, rather than a man-infested territory, it evokes an expanse of land where the borders of orange-red skies and dry land mingle in the horizon making you feel as if you've glimpsed eternity for a split second.

via

It's hard to describe this Andy-Tauer-made marvel in a few words; it's both woody and animalic, floral and ambery oriental, all at once. The trademark ambreine that Tauer uses is very discernible, given the intensity of what feels like natural jasmine, or maybe a euphoric mingling of white flowers that recalls the orange trees which give welcome solace to the Moroccan traveler.

There are fragrances which you spray and go on about your day. This isn't one of them. The torrid complexity of dry heat, arid spice, sweet rosiness and deep, plush resinous notes which recall ancient pharmacopoeia, is capable of clearing a room if you're overzealous with the sprayer. But use it with tempered self-discipline and you can enjoy its luminous depths for days on end, on your skin as well as your clothes.

A single bottle will last you beyond your last will and testament. Very few fragrances can claim to deliver such tremendous value for money.

Giveaway: Tauer Advent Calendar & Musings on Perfumes to Be Confused

First things first: We are honored to participate for the 6th consecutive year in the Advent Calendar of Tauer Perfumes. You know what this means: prizes by Andy Tauer!!! The winner can pick an Explorer Set from Tauer, 3 x15ml fragrances of scents of your choice! Cool, if you ask me.  (it even gives the choice on some of the less popular but quite interesting in my books Vetiver Dance, Incense Extreme, Carillon pour un Ange, Zeta, or Noontide Petals, among many others such as the gorgeous and limited Phi Rose de Kandahar or the modern classic Une Rose Chypree.
Enter a comment on this post, below, to be eligible.
[NB. Limitations/shipping restrictions apply. Find them on bottom of this post].

And now on to musings on something that happened to me recently and put me into thinking.

I smelled a GORGEOUS scent on a very efficient and smart lady the other day. She was wafting it copiously, but the scent wasn't at all "thick" nor "cloying", it trailed beautifully as we walked through a gallery display, she guiding me, I listening attentively, distracted only by the amazing sillage. Initially I thought it was something along the lines of Teatro alla Scala (Krizia) which is a beautiful spicy oriental with a rich, satiating citrusy top note that I know pretty well, own and wear myself (and was wondering whether this is the trail I leave behind!). The lady in question was munching on a juicy mandarin at the time, too, as she was showing me around.
Before parting I had to confirm. I asked, point blank. Turns out it was .....Aromatics Elixir (which I otherwise recognize immediately on other people, I am practically surrounded by it, Athens adores this fragrance), her "signature for 20 years", as she added. Plus juicy mandarin orange...

And I got thinking. Much has been made of the growing resemblance of Aromatics Elixir by Clinique to (parent company) Lauder's Youth Dew and orientals in general. Maybe there's a bit of truth there, though I always remembered AE as very patchouli rich and powdery-mossy, and still do. But surely there are other elements at play and I assume we all have gotten confused as to what someone wears at a given moment, even if it is something we know perfectly well and could otherwise pinpoint.
Do you have such examples? What was it that confused you and what did you confuse it with? I'd love to read in the comments.   

LIMITATIONS: The draw is worldwide. Some exceptions apply: Italy, Spain, Croatia, Russia, Greece (Swiss FedEx cannot ship there). The prizes will be shipped for free from Switzerland, through FedEx. Local taxes, VAT, and import fee may apply and are not covered by Tauer. The winner is responsible to make sure that they are allowed to import the prize.
Tauer ships to the address given and do not contact the addressee afterwards nor will use the contact information for any other purpose than sending the prize, nor will they forward the address to anybody else except for the purpose of shipping the prize to the winner.

Tauer Perfumes Eau d'Epices: fragrance review

Eau d'Épices is an interesting study in how to make a non-typical "oriental" or "woody" spice which would float rather than sink. Does it succeed? You'll be the judge as this month sees the reissue of Eau d'Épices. Eau d'Épices has been in the works since at least 2007, you see, when the first samples were given to a coterie of Tauer fans. The official launch happened in 2010 and then the scent was discontinued, to be reissued now.

via pinterest

Those who remember the soap Mandarins Ambrés that Tauer issued during the countdown to Christmas will recall the chord of labdanum-laced tartness that remained on the skin for a long time. The cleverness lies in that this classically oriental chord is buttressed in the fragrance Eau d'Épices by an allusion to soap which brings us full circle to the creative process chez Tauer: the core of this "spice water" is made of orange blossom absolute which via its cleaner facets and the indirect use of orange blossom (as well as its greener, fresher analogue, neroli) in time-honored Eaux de Cologne brings to mind the sense of freshness and purity via association.

Tauer loves his orange blossom (and if you're following his line you know that) and this is a natural essence he obtains alongside the Egyptian jasmine material he uses. Some tart notes emerge in the evaporation, a feeling of bitter-fresh grapefruit (not listed) or something like lemony verbena or lemongrass (also non listed), but the overall feeling of this core is buttery to me and this increases as the fragrance prolongs its visit.

But that is not all. There are two other dominant forces in Eau d'Épices.

One is the evident one: the "indian basket of spices" as Andy puts it —which would make phobics of impolite bodily smells scour the list for cumin, the essence which is routinely blamed for a sweat and body odor note; let me here take the opportunity to clear this fear, this perfume won't produce questions about your state of cleanliness. It is a full on spice-fest at the start (lots of IFRA-defiant cinnamon, orange blossom complementing coriander, clove and clove), but that evolves very soon and I can see how the expectation of a typical spicy oriental would let fans of the genre conditioned to expect Caron's Poivre or Coco by Chanel somewhat down. Eau d'Épices, aka "Spice Water," doesn't distance itself from the tradition of "cologne," something meant to be splashed to impart a sense of exhilaration but done in a new way, a way of spices instead of herbs.

The other undercurrent (and it is a very prominent one) is the incense-y chord that Tauer loves so much. It's an interlay of resinous-smelling/amber notes of which ambreine and ambroxan are constants. Maybe it's the hippyish vibe, maybe it's the traveling bug, these notes bring on a sense of far away lands, away from our modernized antiseptic environments.

Eau d'Épices: back on the Tauer website. As love it or hate it as spices themselves.

Free Fragrance Draw for the Upcoming Launch of Tauer Eau d'Epices

It was a few days ago that I came forward and announced that Andy Tauer is relaunching one of his less well known perfumes in his line: Eau d'Epices. Personally I'm a huge sucker for spicy things (and if you've been following this blog you know it well) and Eau d'Epices is a hardcore spicy wonder, keeping your eyes (and nostrils and attention span) peeled to the last drop, but with sleight of hand, not crude clumpsiness. To give an analogy, it's the Dario Argento of spicy colognes, so you know it's love & hate territory, don't you.

And of course I have a draw which will let you sample if you hadn't had the chance in the past the re-issued Eau d'Epices before anyone else!

via pinterest/asri flickr

The specifics: I have 4 deluxe samples for the international readership (Europe, Canada, rest of the world) and 10 deluxe samples for the USA one. Please enter a comment posting your impressions regarding spicy scents and/or Tauer's line and you're eligible. Draw is open till Wednesday midnight and winners will be announced sometime on Thursday.

You know what to do. Keep them coming! I want to read them all.

Welcome Back in Production (Tauer Fragrance Re-Issue)

Next month, in March, Tauer Perfumes #12-Eau d'Epices returns to the shops after an absence of a year and a half.  Eau d'Epices is a quite interesting scent and very much falls into a love/hate relationship with the Tauer clientele. The "love's" are clamoring for the return and here it is!

I will be devoting more space to it since it is a perfume I personally like very much and hopefully there will be lots to discuss about some finer things in the production and distribution of niche perfumes. Stay tuned!

Tauer Perfumes Noontide Petals: fragrance review & draw for (unreleased yet) samples

From the noontide sun depart
Here belov'd awhile repose
And the murmurings of my heart
Let me tenderly disclose,
to my forest rose.[1]

Alles ist Licht (Everything is light)

Source: google.com via Perfumshrinee on Pinterest

Writing the first review on Noontide Petals, the as yet unreleased newest Tauer perfume, means I get to -in a way- shape how the fragrance might be examined by those who will experience it next. So if I were to give a direct image it would be light, blinding light scattered through a vitrail pane with geometrical designs, imbuing everything in its path, softening the delineations of objects, creating a haze of happy numbness. It was Luca who had long ago envisioned an apparition of light in regards to a Bernand Chant composition: seraphic angels singing a concert of clean notes with bits of an organic chemistry treatise and a woman dressed in white, with an impeccable silvery blow-dry, descending from the skies smiling, like an Atlantis TV-hostess. Different though the scent in question may be, the impression is nonetheless simpatico to the one that Noontide Petals created in me upon smelling it. This hugely aldehydic floral fragrance is simultaneously clean, very floral and sweetish in the White Linen, Estee by Lauder (a Bernand Chant composition, by the way) and Chanel No.22 mold, with that impeccably "coifed" feel of retro aldehydics, of which Tauer's Miriam fragrance was one great paradigm. In fact the turn that Noontide Petals takes for a while after the initial spray is referencing a segment off Miriam, with an even more retro, more sparkling soapy manner than the rather more soft-spoken Miriam.

Geranium and ylang ylang are commonly used as modifiers to leverage the intensity of the fatty aldehydes in classic fragrances. The trick works; a ton of aldehydes is almost too much to stomach without it, such is their engine combustion for flight that you feel like you're straddling the side wing of a Boeing 747. This sheen opens up the flowers, giving them the propensity to unfurl unto the ether. A giant rose is immediately perceived in Noontide Petals, much like in White Linen or No.22, soapy and warm, bright yellow [2] and strikingly spring-like under the winter sun. The citrusy touch on top serves as balance to the sweet floralcy of white petals (natural jasmine and tuberose), cradled into a soft, perfume, posh base with a warm, very lightly smoky effect that recalls things like Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels and other insignia of class and refinement of another era. Simply put, Noontide Petals makes me want to press my jeans, break out the Hermès scarfs and the long, 20s sautoirs of shiny pearls and go out for a morning sip of champagne for breakfast and laugh and laugh with spirited company.

copyright Andy Tauer for Tauer Perfumes

In short, if you're a lover of aldehydes in perfumes and have been longing for a good, potent, gorgeous dosage to hit you over the head in infinite style, look no further than Noontide Petals. If you have a problem with aldehydic florals you should also try it for the heck of it: it's definitely an impressive fragrance, very well crafted. For those of you who have identified a "Tauerade" base common in most of Andy's work, I can see no sign of it here, as I couldn't see it in Miriam either. In that way these are fragrant releases apart. But none the less beautiful for it!

For our readers, 3 samples of the unreleased fragrance by Tauer: Enter a comment, saying what you would most like or dislike about aldehydes, and I will draw three winners. Draw is open internationally till Tuesday 19th midnight. Winner will be announced on Wednesday.

[1]Rexford, George C., compiler and arranger; Lover, S.; Woodburry, I. B.; Thomas, J. R.; Wurzel, G. F.; Lavenu. Beadle's Dime School Melodist: A Choice Selection of Familiar and Beautiful Songs, Duets, Trios, Etc. Arranged in a Simple Manner for School Singing, with Elementary Instructions Suited to Children of the Most Tender Age . New York: Irwin P. Beadle and Co., 1860. [format: book], [genre: song]. Permission: Newberry Library Persistent link to this document: http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/file.php?file=beadle.html
[2]It could be Pantone 7404