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Sunday, July 31, 2011

Tango by Aftelier Perfumes


Earlier this year I spent some weeks on the "Tim Ferriss diet" in order to get rid of those last post-pregnancy kilos. That means, somewhat simplified, 6 days a week you eat low-cal-high-fat food. The seventh day is your "day off" - you get to eat any amount of anything you like. Tango from Aftelier Perfuemes pretty much sums up what I did on my day off, plus a bit more.

But, lets start from the beginning. First time I put on a few precious drops of Tango, I just went "?????" I couldn't figure it out. There just was nothing familiar I could hold on to. Nowhere to begin to understand this thing. I felt so confused. But then the notes started to unfold. The first thing I got took me back to when I was something like 10 years old and went to the dentist to get braces. The dentist took out this metal mould that he filled up with some type of putty. This he shoved into my mouth in order to make a cast of my teeth. That putty tasted a bit like the first seconds of Tango. A very unexpected first impression.

By then things should only get better, and fortunately they did! I started picking up spices. First charred ginger, then cloves and in no time I had a nice little orchestra of spices playing gingerbread dough on my wrist. I also got, at some points marzipan, Cadbury milk chocolate, Kahlua, chai and lots and lots of sweet pipe tobacco. The notes kept on moving, dancing, sometimes disappearing but then showing up in a new guise. Like watching the face of someone you love, discovering new cute things all the time.

At the time I did the testing for this review I was staying at my in-laws house out in the countryside and I asked my mother-in-law if she'd like to try my Tango sample along with me. She did, and Tango turned out very different on her. In fact, if I had not seen her apply about the same amount of Tango as I did at the same time I had never thought it be the same perfume! When I had this symphony of spices and tobacco, she got a bit of sweet wood and some cinnamon during drydown. No gingerbread and no pipe  for her, whatsoever! It was like her skin was eating all those notes alive. On the other hand, we also tried Mandy Afteliers Honey Blossom and the florals there turned out much better on her, more vivid and longer lasting. So now she is the Flower Power Woman while I'm the Spice Girl.

Also, when reading other reviews on the net, I seem to get a sweeter and foodier treatment than others. Actually Tango is listed as a floral on Fragrantica, and Champaca is one of the official notes, but that one is not revealing herself to me at all. But, as a gourmand scent Tango is fantastic, containing all the stuff I love but shouldn't eat too much of, with a bit of pipe smoking thrown in just for fun. It has grown on me every time I've tried it and now I know, if I ever have to do the "Tim Ferriss diet" again, Tango will be what gets me through those 6 days tedious diet days every week.


17 comments:

  1. As most people know, this is one of my favorite perfumes, so I really love reading other people's takes on it. It really seems to behave differently on some- that's part of the beauty of naturals. To my mind, Tango is one of the best tobacco-based perfumes out there. It actually soothes my nerves, so I use it when I'm stressed out and before bed. Very useful, very beautiful.

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  2. Carrie, I've read your review of Tango and it's hilarious :) I also think Tango is the best tobacco based perfume I've come across. Recently I tried Etat Libre d'Oranges "Jasmine and Cigarettes" and I got "very bad teenage hangover", I nearly barfed. Tango is much more my thing.

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  3. And, one more thing I realised about Tango today. It's so forgiving! I spent the whole day out the sun, sweating. Tango just seemed to effortlessly integrate the way I was smelling into itself, smelling as good as ever. Gotta love a perfume for that!

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  4. Thank you so much Sigrun, I’m delighted by the intimate gourmand details you found in Tango! And so glad it worked well on your mother-in-law too - you discovered how much our individual chemistry combines with natural perfumes, keeping us in touch with our animal side. Mandy Aftel

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  5. I enjoyed your review! My first sniff of Tango surprised me too- I did find familiar footholds (for me it was black salt and ginger )..I seem to have found it much more savory than you did. Tango really grew on me and I love this sentence : "Like watching the face of someone you love, discovering new cute things all the time." It does fit Tango- this is one scent which grows more and more beautiful, the more I get to know it..

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  6. Mandy, im so honored to have you commenting on my blog! Ive been trying out some of your scents this summer and theyre all so awsome and unique. I have a few morre reviews planned that hopefully will be up soon. Thanks for your great work!

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  7. Lavanya, Im intrigued that you found black salt, i was also thinking about India a lot when I wrote my post, but more of the chai wallas and how they scent the air with sweet spices when they pour the chai back and forth. I havent seen yor blog before but i had a look now and it looks great. I also love good food, and especially authentic Indian food :)

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  8. This sounds like such an interesting effect in Tango. Thanks for sharing how it worked with your skin. I'm looking forward to trying this one.

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  9. Sigrun, thanks for your note today. I've seen your pretty face at some of the blogs I read...I should have clicked and followed it here. Love your blog! I just read your most current entries and your writing is delightful.

    I received Tango, Cepes & Tuberose, and Shiso samples (in both edp and parfum, to see how they compare) last Thursday. I'm looking forward to testing them, and when I do, I'll check back with your review to see if I get any of the wonderful gourmet bits you get with Tango.

    Will also add you to my blogroll by the end of the week. As I mentioned in my email, I'm a fan of Stockholm - such a beautiful city! (And Cow Parfymeri, where I had the pleasure of meeting up with another Stockholm perfumista last summer.) :-)

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  10. anotherperfumeblog, it will be interesting to hear what you think about it. I'm looking forward to your review!

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  11. Suzanne, what a suprise that you're a fan of my home city:) In summer it's the best place to be and COW perfuemry is the best place to go perfume shopping. Those friendly SA:s of theirs make you happy, no matter what!

    I'm looking forward to hear your opinions on your Afteliers, I'm wearing Shiso today, my god, I love that one! And thanks for putting me on your blogroll, I deeply appereiciate that :)

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  12. I keep reading all these nice reviews for Tango so it's just a matter of weeks before I give up and buy a sample. It's interesting that in the same post you've mentioned the second perfume I plan to try - Honey Blossom.
    About tobacco-centered perfumes, have you tried A MEN Pure Havane by Thierry Mugler and Tobacco Vanille by Tom Ford? I like both of them but cannot compare to Tango (yet).

    ~ Undina ~

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  13. Undinaba, I haven't tried either of those two perfumes. I'm really very new to the whole perfume thing :)

    I found Honey Blossom to be great as well. First, spring flowers heavy with nectar, then a sweet almondy drydown. If you like the sound of that, I'll deeply recommend Honey Blossom.

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  14. Hi Sigrun- Thanks for the nice words about my blog. I love authentic Indian food too- especially now that I don't live in India..Can't wait for you to resume posting on your food blog..I am as much of a foodie as a perfume lover and am glad to have found people like you who are passionate about both food and perfume..:)

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  15. Thank you! I really love to cook, but it's hard to cook food I find interesting enough to write about as I have 2 small kids, one of them doesn't like to eat at all and the other one has only 2 teeth yet... But, I do believe that this is a passing phase, so sooner or later... :)

    Where in India did you live? I travelled there for 2 months when I was at uni. And my husband worked in Gurgoun, outside Dehli, a few years back. I think India is such a fascinating place!

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  16. I was born in Madras/Chennai but I've lived all over - in Delhi for around eight years, then Madurai (a South Indian Temple town) and then in Bangalore. Where all did you travel in India? I really wish I had the time to be a tourist in India for a while- There are so many places I still need to visit..:) [That said there are gajillion places I want to visit outside India too..ah well!]

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  17. I was there, first time, in 1998. We did the classic backpacker route of Chennai, Madurai, Kerala, Bangalore, Goa, Jaipur, Jodpur, Jaisalamer, Agra and then Nepal. Then I went again in 2005 (as my husband worked there). Now we stayed mostly in the Delhi area but made smaller trips to Shekawati in Rajastan and Varanasi. So - amazingly - I've managed to visit those cities that you mention :)

    I think India is a great place to be a tourist in. Amazing food and so much culture and history to revel in. For our first trip we had allotted way to little time, we mostly slept on the night trains and just hurried through all those places. The second time was better, we met more Indian people and learned a lot more about the country in general. I even took sitar lessons :)

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