Revisiting perfumes I've disliked

No, this is not me.

As I'm about to move within 3 weeks from now I've been in a major clear out mode recently. I've been going through all of my stuff, forcing myself to categorise it into "keep", "give away" or "throw away". My beloved perfume sample collection has been subjected to this as well. There are some that I'm very sure I'll never ever want to wear again (Hello Secretations Magnefiques and Serge Lutens Miel de Bois). But there are others I'm not so sure of how to handle. These scents I typically tried on once and either mildly disliked or just felt so indifferent about I never bothered to try them again. So now I've decided it's time to take on a few of them on and decided once and for all if they are keepers or not.

Frederic Malle - Une Rose. If I'd play "Guess the recipe" it would be the following:

• 3 parts rose
• 2 parts soap
• 1 part fresh cow urine
• 1 part beef broth

Does this sound like something you'd like to wear? First time I tried it I nearly shreiked in horror but the weirdo in me begged to give it a second chance. This time around I do like it better, it's resonating with the most sad, showy and melodramatic parts of myself. It's a "look how you make me feel, I'm all messed up and I'm desperatly trying to imply it's your fault"-kind if scent. Lets hope I won't find too many occasions to wear it - but I will keep it.

Tauer Perfumes - Incense Rose I remember trying this one on and thinking that the combo roses and washing powder felt old and that the sharpness hurt my nose a little bit. Shouldn't Tauer be able to do better? Now I tried it again and I can't believe I'm remembering the same perfume. The intro is absolutely wonderful, full of spices, reminding me of "glögg", the lovely Swedish mulled wine that's very popular here this time of year. I don't get a lot of roses at all but I do get LOTS of spicy incense. To me this is the perfect Christmas scent and I can't believe I even considered getting rid of my sample. 

Frederic Malle - En Passant. Bright and cheery lilacs. Washing detergent overdrive. When I was 12 real lilacs used to be my favourite smell, smelling them in En Passant makes me feel old. Another sample to be sent away.

Etat Libre d'Orange - Putain de Palaces. I'm perfectly aware of that this is one of the most loved and cherished ELdO scent. But it just doesn't work on my skin. I first tried it this summer and got "Suffocation by Play Doh". Now I also get bitter almonds, unwashed bodies and sun tan lotion. This sample is going away to someone who has better use for it.


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Le Maroc Pour Elle by Tauer Perfumes

Wearing "Le Maroc Pour Elle" has been a bit of a challenge for me. I'm sure that for at least 10 times or so, I've sniffed my wrist and thought, "Oh no, that's a note I don't like". Then, when leaning in to take a closer whiff, ready to condemn it forever, I realised "Hey, this is so not me, but I like it". The scent has been tip toe dancing on that thin line of wearability but every time so far it has landed on the ok side. 

In a way "Le Maroc Pour Elle" makes me think of Degas, a French painter that lived 1834 to 1917. He is famous for (among other things) his paintings and drawings of ballet dancers. When taking a first look at his drawings you sometimes think, "Oh, that can't be right, that girl is all wrong looking" and then you look closer and realise that he's been drawing his model correctly, all right, he just caught her in a very odd angle or in a middle of a movement, out of equilibrium. "Le Maroc Pour Elle" is just like that, I keep thinking "The guy who made this, what was he thinking?" and then then I sniff a bit more and go "Hmmmm, interesting...". And I'll choose interesting over perfect any day.

So, what does "Le Maroc Pour Elle" smell like? In the top note there is orange blossoms, sawdust, bad breath and tooth decay. To be honest, it's nasty. But fortunately this only lasts a couple of minutes. Things soon settle into a jammy rose, jasmine and cedar accord. I'm also getting vanilla. At this time "Le Maroc Pour Elle" reminds me a lot of SL "Cuir Mauresque" and I've been trying them wrist by wrist to compare. They both pack a similar rose and jasmine but "Le Maroc Pour Elle" is rougher and has a much more powdery vanilla feel to it. Cuir Mauresque is fruitier, tighter, and leaning more towards leather and cinnamon.

During drydown "Le Maroc Pour Elle" turns into a different beast altogether. The flowers go away and the wooden notes, cedar and sandalwood, get more prominent. At times I feel cedar with a hint of orange and rose jam. At times I'm getting rice pudding, spiked with vanilla, covered with dark chocolate shavings.

Another interesting thing about Degas is that he never really completed his paintings. When looking closely there tend to be some areas that are perfect and other areas that are just sort of smudged over as he didn't bother about them. I find this rather endearing, since I'm just the same, the fun stuff gets done and other things I tend to forget about. I feel that "Le Maroc Pour Elle" also is a little bit like this. The notes dance around, at times they come together perfectly, at times something is sticking out a little bit to far but mostly everything just comes across as charming and fun.

I'm rating it 4 out of 5. This has been a character building experience for me that has broaden my views on what I like to wear and I always take an extra liking to scents that broaden my horizons.

All pictures are made by Degas.

Orange Star by Tauer Perfumes

Orange Star starts with a bang, supernova style. There is orange peel, mandarins, aldehydes, honey and spices all over the place. I'm picking out cinnamon and cloves. It's sweet and syrupy and I keep thinking this should be pretty close to what you get if mixing Coca-Cola with one of those high quality Italians orange sodas in small bottles (San Pellegrino I think they are labelled), and then boiling everything down to a concentrate. 

Pretty fast the initial fruit frenzy of Orange Star calms down. What is left is warm and resinous. I'm getting a lot of resin actually, I'm a little curious about it as I haven't seen that in any other review. When I was a kid I used to play the violin and there is a note in Orange Star that reminds me a lot of the stuff you rub onto the bow, in order to get a sound. Also, there is still orange zest and some lemongrass that add a herbal bitter note. Half a day later there is resin and vanilla. I'm not catching any citrus or lemongrass right now.

This is my second Tauer, I've only tried Zeta before and I'm amazed about how much there is to discover in them. They both have such a distinguished style, it's difficult to explain, but these are big scents. Never a dull moment with a Tauer on your arm!

I'm rating it 3 out of 5. It's a big scent that everybody should try. I'm just finding that resinous note a little bit to much at the moment. Maybe it will work better in winter?



Pic: phenomenica.com

Zeta by Andy Tauer

The only thing I ever recall winning in a lottery or drawing was a can of Coke I got at a lecture at the computer club (Lysator) back in University. I suppose that was their evil scheme to lure people to come to those lectures. But now that has changed, Olfactarama hosted a drawing of 3 Zeta samples over at her blog and I was the lucky winner of one of those!

Zeta is labled to be a linden blossom themed perfume. We do have linden here, but I can't recall them ever smelling much. But I suppose there might be different kinds, some more fragrant than others. So I'm a bit handicapped reviewing Zeta, but lets try anyway. It starts out pretty heavy. There are tons of dewy honey laced white spring flowers. I also thought about honeysuckle and sweet yellow apples. There is beeswax, old fashioned nivea skin creme and oily orange in there, adding weight. To you wine nerds, if Zeta would be a wine it would be a Sémillion.

After an hour or so it lightens up and most of the heavy sweetness disappeares. No more honeysuckle. Now I'm starting to love Zeta! I wouldn't say it's so much about how linden blossom actually are, more about how they would be in a very perfect world. Still very delicate but a tad sweeter, fresher and gentler, somehow.

This is not a scent that makes me walk around sniffing my writs all day, discovering different notes and thinking about how they are fitted together (like the Serge Lutens I've been trying lately). This scent is more about being enveloped in a small cloud of spring air, very energizing and inspiring, nudging me towards new ideas and encouraging me to try out fun stuff that I normally wouldn't do.

I'm rating Zeta 5 out of 5. It's a scent I think everyone should try at least once and I'm very grateful I got the opportunity!