A.Tauer Carillon pour un Ange: fragrance review

The newest fragrance by Andy Tauer, Carillon pour un Ange, takes its inspiration from a material that is often described as angelic, lily of the valley. Hence the working name during the creation process was Gabriel. Actually, truth be told, lily of the valley (or muguet as the French call it) is not exactly chastity material as a recent study revealed. Still, the piercingly sweet, very clear and green aroma creates the impression of puerile innocence, of tender cheeks and pouty small mouths.
A carillon on the other hand is a musical instrument composed of at least 23 cup-shaped bells played from a baton keyboard using fists and feet, its sound chiming with piercing clarity, much like the aroma of lily of the valley pierces the air with its declaration of spring's final assertion. So carillon pour un ange, a carillon for an angel... The seraphic allusion is certainly not lost, the fragrance is quite lovely.

The greeness in Carillon pour un Ange is delightfully tinted with the darker, oilier hint of hyacinth as was the case in a former Tauer scent, Hyacinth and a Mechanic. Even though the latter was an experimental batch, serving an SOS purpose on its bottle-message across the world (more details here), it featured at least two of the elements which infiltrated themselves in Carillon: the green hyacinth and the leathery note. In Carillon the leather is very subdued. Instead one almost loses the lily of the valley field for the hesperides grove at some point. Tauer has fetish materials which he uses over and over to great effect: I seem to feel his mandarin peel materialise again and again; it's such a great lifting note that it makes for immediately inviting openings, often coupled with rose as in Une Rose Chyprée, or Incense Rosé. (click for reviews of both)

The challenge with lily of the valley is twofold: One the one hand, it's so easy to lapse into the "salle de bains" hygienic note or the Aisle of Glade (as March puts it), due to its ubiquitness in functional products via several synthetic replications (natural extraction is not cost-effective or yielding enough). Andy Tauer is using a combination of IFF's Lyral and Lilial for his own creation, bypassing the problem of sharpness by the injection of a sweet note reminiscent of violets and lilacs (pink jasmine might be actually creating the lilac impression, the two share a bubble-gummy nectarous headiness).
One the other hand, there is the sacred Diorissimo, an über alles classic if there ever was one; impossible to surpass and one would be wise to not even try. Then again, now that Diorissimo is not recognizing itself in the mirror all too clearly these days due to multiple surgical interventions, one might reconsider. Still, the cleverness lies not in trying to create a limp-wristed or sharp rendition of lily of the valley, nor a pastoral gouache, but to boldly propose a third path: that which marries the white bell with other flowers and which contrasts it with elements to which it is naturally emerging from: the decaying leaves being eaten up by fungi, the woods where it grows, the green tapiserrie on which it sprouts its minuscule bell-shaped blossoms. Thus the base of Carillon pour un Ange takes on woody and skin-soft nuances, mossy, non dirty really (it would be paradoxical, after all), with the shades of love, death and rebirth winking to a theatre full of children watching mesmerised a play of magical marionettes.

Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner says "For me there exists only one music -good music"...and "I compose what is close to my heart". Substitute music with perfumery and you've got Tauer to a T.



Notes for Andy Tauer Carillon pour un Ange: Top: rose, ylang ylang, lilac
Heart: lily of the valley, jasmine, leather
Base: ambergris, moss, woods.

Carillon pour un Ange is available as Eau de Parfum Riche (which lasts very well) in small hand-poured 15ml bottles directly from Tauer Perfumes or on Luckyscent. Samples are available here. We're hosting a giveaway for two full bottles, comment to enter.

Painting Sleep lost in Dreams by James C.Christensen via morgenthruston
In the interests of full disclosure I sampled the perfume through the generosity of the perfumer himself; his is well documented.

The new Tauer "Carillon pour un Ange": Bottles Giveaway!

It's our pleasure to announce Tauer Perfumes is giving away two bottles of his latest fragrance, Carillon pour un ange! So leave a comment below and two winners will be randomly picked to receive their full bottle prizes!

Carillon pour un Ange was formerly known during development phase as Gabriel (fittingly, eh?) Andy is inviting you all (in celebration of his five years blogging and the unveiling of his new site, check it out!) on e-book charity project, "a panopticon on lily of the valley". The topic is: “A MOMENT WITH LILY OF THE VALLEY". You can write a poem, draw a picture, or write us a story.” Anything, really, as long as it's not copyrighted or previously appearing online or in print. You can either email it to them or mail it to them (instructions on this link). A selection of the submissions will be published in an e-book, with the proceeds donated to charities chosen by a vote on his blog. As Andy says: “I see an environmental, a human development and a charity devoted to push forward peace as the selection for the vote.”

As to the new fragrance? Tauer envisioned it as “a green choir of flowers; smelling lily of the valley is always a joy for me [ed.note: his mother wore Diorissimo]. I love the idea that you cannot buy a natural concentrate of lily of the valley, that the flowers resist to any large scale concentration of their fragrant soul.” It's an interesting note to be sure, in more ways than you had imagined as we had pointed out (naughty article is linked!) For a comprehensive article on Lily of the Valley as used in perfumery please refer to this link.

Andy constructed a base that bypasses some of the latest IFRA problems "rich in ambergris, then there is a bit of vetiverol (woody, vetiver like note without the dirty earthiness), some oakmoss fitting with EU regulators, a hint of a sandalwood note to fix things, and a fine styrax line that again fixes things, adds a hint of leather, sets an accent…“ The fragrance comes in those cute 15ml bottles he used for Une Rose Chyprée as well, as Eau de Parfum Riche (everyone knows you always get your bang for the buck with Tauer perfumes!). This is intended as a prelaunch until spring 2011 according to the perfumer, when upon the bottle just might change (I suppose this means if the fragrance is loved a lot, a bigger presentation might ensue).

Carillon pour un Ange contains notes of rose, ylang, lilac, lily of the valley, jasmine, leather, ambergris, moss, and woods.
I will follow up with a review shortly, but here's your chance to win one of the two bottles of the newest Carillon pour un Ange! Don't be shy!

Mystery of Musk: Graines de Paradis by Sharini review

Graines de Paradis is the alternative name of spice called "maniguette", a close relation to cardamom pods with a more peppery scent (hence the vernacular Pepper of Guinea), coming from a small perennial plant out of Africa. But in Graines de Paradis by Sharini Parfums Naturels, the paradisal spice is all its own and not due to any Amomum melegueta. Not that it would have hurt: The Arabian inclusion of the spice in rich dishes featuring flower petals in the traditional cuisine is not miles off the lush, taste-buds titillating floral musk that Sharini produced.

Sharini Parfums Naturels is a very small company based in Aniane, near Montpellier, headed by Nicolas Jennings, a perfumer who is also contributing to the harvesting and producing of some of the essences used in his all-natural perfume. Not only are they natural (a growing niche which has been knowing a true renaissance) but they're also bio-certified (Eco-cert), according to the website, where little bottles topped with wooden caps with a rough top-side hint at the somewhat rough experience of getting to know organic perfumes (I'm sorely tempted by Iris Véritable and Jasmin Céleste, too, I can tell you). Sharini was part of the German organic exhibition in Vivaness as well, while their workshop is open for the public from the spring equinox (March) till the autumn one (September) at Atelier des Sens, 8, Rue Font de Portal, St Guilhem le Desert 34150. It does look like a mighty fine cave of precious wines...

Sharini's submission for the Mystery of Musk project was amongst the first samples to arrive at my door for evaluation. Kudos for being so professional Nicholas! A lesson for all. And a nice experience it has been wearing the perfume for a few days.
Graines de Paradis (Paradisal seeds) is woven around the musky scents of angelica and ambrette seed, seeping in and out of the composition at regular intervals, while tiaré, neroli, jasmine and the unusual, bracken-like broom lend their own rich aromata. The flower essences yielded their spirit by the -now almost obsolete but utterly charming- method of enfleurage which captures the dying breaths of them as they wither in layers and layers of animal fat (in this case it was vegetal fat, please note), the process repeated for 20 to 25 times by the industrious Nicholas and Crystel (who harvested the broom themselves). The thick precious pomade resulting is then treated with solvents to release the aromatic droplets, gathered one by one; one can almost feel the anticipation, the drops of sweat on the brow dropping with an audible "plong" while waiting for the other, sweet drops to fill the glass vials...
Not only flowers, but other more succulent ingredients enter the formula of Graines de Paradis as well: wild cherries, Rooibos red tea and vanilla enter in the form of tincture. Tincture in perfume speak is an "infusion" of the materials which are seeped in alcohol until a light-smelling but sufficiently aromatized liquid is produced. This is the method that natural perfumers use to "fix" their alcohol via "heavy", animalic ingredients such as ambergris or other good fixatives (like blond tobacco or vanilla if the formulae are thus inclined). A bit like creating an aromatized grappa liquor by adding rind of kumquats! (Do try it!) Nicholas Jennings is using corn grain alcohol. There is a hint of musty bitterness too in the composition, which could be produced by the agarwood inclusion, which tempers the florals and the sweeter notes well.

The overall feeling of Graines de Paradis is rich, sweetly floral (very good quality flower essences) with the gourmand quality of almond paste in the background and intensely lasting on both blotter and skin, thanks to the tenaciousness of the base notes (patchouli, vanilla, ambrette seed).

The best thing of all? Only 25 bottles were produced, making it an almost bespoke scent for the very, very few. There was a draw for a bottle at Grain de Musc.

Please visit the rest of the participating blogs and fora on the Mystery of Musk project following the links provided.

The winners of the draw....

...for the Aftelier giveaway are: Lilacskin, Mimi Gardenia, Lavanya & arch.memory.
Congratulations, you get to pick your scented prize!
Please email me using the contact on the Profile or About page with your shipping address and your preferred prize, so I can notify Mandy to have your prizes in the mail for you soon.
Thanks for the participation everyone and till the next one!

Montale Mango Manga: new fragrance

Pierre Montale, the French brand which brings Oriental gardens closer to the Western lifestyle, is going to present his new fragrance launch Mango Manga at the Pitti Fragranze 2010 exhibition in September.


Created as an exclusive for the Japanese market in 2005, Mango Manga plays on the exotic allure of mango fruit and the very Japanese reference of Manga illustrations. Now it's hoping to catch the interest of Western perfumephiliacs as well. The fragrance is refreshed through the sweet note of mango, allied to neroli, orange, jasmine Sambac, and ylang ylang while the base rests atop the familiar oud note of the Montale line, alongside vetive, cedar and musk.

Available in Eau de Parfum 100ml.