Have any of you noticed that in some of my reviews I sound … insane? Or possibly like there are several of me, and depending on which personality is blogging you get anything ranging from Prrfume Grrrl to Miffy McSnob? Another blogger once did a post where she aped our review styles, and it´s both funny and a little painful to see. Anyhoodle (prrfume grrl!) I´m going to try to tighten it up a bit. I know, and good luck with that.
We all got samples of Andy Tauer´s new Une rose chyprée at Scent Bar on Saturday; some of you lucky readers had already received samples during his advent giveaway late last year. To use some technical perfume jargon: squeeeeeeeeeee!!!! Totally swoon-worthy. I agree with Tom that it´s likely to be a big hit. Like everyone else´s line, some of Andy´s scents are easier to love than others. Une rose chyprée has the radiance of scents like Orris and Incense rosé while embracing a more traditional style of perfumery. For those of you who´ve maybe liked Tauer in theory but think, dude, I can’t wear creosote, you might want to give this a whirl.
I asked Andy if there´s some sort of base or signature he uses in some of his scents, as I detect a unifying theme running from this through Orris and the Rosé. He says: “The signature thing. A truly interesting question. I do not have a set of compounds that you would find in every fragrance of my line. Well, maybe there is this Orris-root line combined with a woody-ambergris interpretation that you find in most of my fragrances. Not if you look at a formula, but if you look at how the fragrance manifests itself. Yes, this probably is one aspect.” Which is Andy´s elegant way of saying what I feel: while maybe there´s nothing like the Guerlain or Caron base afoot here, people who already like his fragrances will find again in Une rose chyprée his striking trick of working airiness and radiance into a scent that is still a relative powerhouse.
According to Tauer, Une rose chyprée is an oriental rose on a chypre base. It is built around two natural extracts from rosa damascena, the absolute and the steam distilled essential oil. Other notes are, bergamot, lemon, clementine, green Bourbon geranium oil, bay, cinnamon, labdanum, orris, oak moss, patchouli, vetiver and vanilla.
At first sniff it´s almost girly, a tad sweeter than Incense rosé and faintly edible for reasons unclear to me. (On the other hand: it smelled tremendous on Tom, so don´t let me scare you menfolk off. When we met him the next day our first question was, what gorgeous thing are you wearing?!?!) The citrus is a little soapy but not at all unpleasant. It goes through a phase where orris is relatively prominent, and I wonder whether this will be problematic for you who had trouble with his Orris LE. The geranium, herbs and spices at the heart are wonderful and the scent really opens up here in terms of sillage. It loses its sweetness and becomes rich, resinous and almost buttery in the drydown. This is easily the most elegant scent Tauer has done, but for all that it´s not stuffy. Nobody´s going to use the word “grandma.” Interestingly, for something driven by a lot of rose it´s not especially rose-y – more chypre, but soft. Less Mitsouko and more 31 Rue Cambon. However Andy does rose, he avoids that cough syrup/sour wine effect. The drydown is mossy and the vetiver and vanilla set each other off beautifully. It´s a little crisp and earthy without being dirty.
More good news from Andy: “With this rose, I start a new line within my line of fragrances, named Tauer Perfumes “mémorables”. Une rose chyprée is the first scent of a series of things to come. They will not be limited editions. All of them will either be eau de parfum or perfume concentration (Rose chyprée is eau de parfum), all of them come in the same size of 15 ml… a price tag in the US of about $65-70 is a reasonable guess. In my online shop I will sell it for around 55-60 Swiss Francs. In these recession times I do not want to charge too much. Launch will be somewhere in the coming months. I apologize for not being able to be more precise as I am still manufacturing all my fragrances here in Zurich, more or less by myself…”
Andy worked on the scent for about a year, you can find a link to his blog here. I´m delighted with Une rose chyprée, and thrilled to hear we have even more to look forward to.
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I want so much to like this line, but both that I have tried have a weird, stomach-acidy base that I dislike intensely. I can tell they are well made, and Andy Tauer himself seems like a truly decent chap, which makes me want to support the line, but I can’t ignore that… bile, I guess. So far, I’ve tried L’air du Desert Marocain and Incense extrême. Is that spicy acid smell typical of Tauer perfumes? Should I try others?
That’s so interesting. Well… hard to say. Maybe there’s something in the base, or the qualities of the base, that just aren’t going to work on your skin or are going to singe your nosehairs. The two you’ve tried are among the most popular, would be my guess. If you like leather at all I think you should try Lonestar Memories, it’s a riot.
See how loved you are with all your quirks, Marchele….
😡
I DO see. 🙂
I love the many moods of March!!! Keep writing how you feel, Hon! 😡
Rose Chypre sounds wonderful! I will be one of the first in line to sample it when it comes out. Perhaps even buy a bottle unsniffed. :”>
Gah, don’t scare me by saying buy unsniffed! :-ss Then I always feel guilty if it didn’t work out.
Oooh, this sounds like a rose I would wear! Can’t wait to get a sniff!
March, if I just wanted perfume info, I could read a half dozen other perfume blogs, but I don’t (no time). I happily make the time to come here every day because it’s a true joy to read this blog and that is in large part because your style of writing is so brilliant. *Please* don’t change it. And, as I’ve said before, I do hope you’re writing a novel on the side.
Andy’s new rose. YAY!! Can’t wait! And how wonderful that this is the first in a series of new scents!
Well, thanks for the compliments. They’re awfully fun to write, even if I sound a bit nutters at times. I am looking forward to his whole new series!
This sounds utterly delectable, and I’ve loved everything else from him, with the exception of Vetiver Dance. Personality-wise, I think of Andy Tauer as the polar opposite of Serge Lutens, and I’m so glad the Tauers smell better on me than the SLs, since I’d much rather hand my cash to the sweet, unpretentious guy! I know, I know, it’s very shallow to allow someone’s personality to overshadow his art, but what I know of Lutens bugs the crap out of me…
You think ‘you’re’ bugged? You oughta talk to his dog!:-@
(thanks to NST for what, to this day, remains one of my better belly laughs!)
xo>-)
Hah, I’m the one who came up with the image of Serge nattering on to his dog — you’re welcome! Although I can’t decide if the pooch just rolls his eyes and pees on Serge’s pant leg, or if it’s even more pretentious and cuts him down with a “Bah, you bourgeois fool! I spit on you!” and poor Serge goes slinking off, chastened and crestfallen.
Natalie, my dearest heart!
That delightful exchange between you and Robin had me shaking with laughter – still does! Thank you so much for that! Something about that just hit my funny bone – hard!
^:)^
xo>-)
I’m so smitten with a few other fragrances…I think you know which ones I am talking about…I have not gotten to my sample of Une Rose Chypree. But from what you, Patty, Tom and others have said, I think it will be a big hit for Andy, which is great because he is a total sweetheart!
Hope you liked the nail porn I sent you. I was in the nail polish doldrums, but not anymore!
Hugs!
Try it on, doll! I think you’ll like it! And I emailed you back. I am glad Run With It worked on you, and the thanks goes to several people on here who recommended it!
March, There is a great polyglossic character to your writing, and as you write practically every day your mood is captured and caught up in the words. Andy’s scent sounds like a hit indeed.
Thanks, C. I don’t know how you feel about the others (Jardin and Vetiver Dance didn’t really work for me) but this one is lovely.
March, I love your writing and should say so more often. I have never noticed the insanity of which you speak, but then, I’m not the brightest crayon in the box, either@-)
This fragrance sounds wonderful, Louise is my scent twin, too, and I am in love with both smaller bottles and lower price points. Sounds perfect! 🙂
Yep, you and your FT Louise will be loving this one, I think.
Stay just as you are, March! Part of the fun of reading your posts is seeing which side of you is writing that day. 😉 Besides, don’t all of us have rather multi-faceted personalities? ( Now, just because my facets are rather, uh, dis-jointed doesn’t mean that yours are..)
I’m waiting eagerly to smell Une rose chypree for myself.
Thanks for the compliments. You all have a lot of patience. :)>-
Delighted to hear your views on one of my most favourite people in the industry. He’s terribly sweet and how galant of him not to want to milk the fans out of their hard eaned cash like soooo many other brands do.
To hear the sour wine effect is missing from the rose is to put a smile of contenment on my face! :)>-
I think you will like this one very much. And I owe you for something else, I hope to post on it next week! 🙂
Looking forward to it! 🙂
Monday… probably. A tip of the hat.
“In these recession times I do not want to charge too much.” Is Andy the best guy ever? Why, yes, he is! If I didn’t love him for L’air, I’d love him for his blog, his democratic way of choosing the labels, and the way he runs his business. Although I’m not usually a rose fan, I know I’ll be sampling this one.
And March, I enjoy reading whatever the persona of the day writes.
I know, he’s such a great guy, making really wonderful perfumes. And he’s heard us about the smaller sizes, which I love. He uses really costly ingredients, so I understand about the prices.
Hello, March. I love reading your writing, imperious Lady Catherine and all, so don’t change!
I received what seems to have been an early mod of Une rose chypree in a swap a while back, and was really intrigued. Can’t wait to get some more! I have been on a rose chypre kick recently. Love L’Arte di Gucci and SL Rose de Nuit, and the other day I spilled a not-insignificant amount of precious Nombre Noir on myself (*swooooon*).
I think we must have the same “version”. I am interested to see how it will compare to the final scent. It did lead me on a rose journey, as well
I didn’t try the earlier one so I can’t say, although I *think* the advent one was pretty darn close to finished.
Jarvis — Louise just tried this, we met for coffee, and she really liked it. So to whatever degree you are scent twins…
I am so happy that you love this. I received some at Christmas and have been haunting the poor man ever since. It also helped me see a pattern, in my perfume sniffing, beginning to form. Turns out I’m a chypre girl, who knew…
I am a winner in many things in life, but never in drawings and contests. 🙂 That advent giveaway was wonderful. I’m looking forward to everyone’s reaction to this one.
Hey, I never know who I am on any given day until the drugs kick in. /:)
Sounds like Andy has another winner. I always shy away from anything chypre or aldehyde, but coming from him, you almost automatically know that it won’t be typical or smell like anything else. Could you possibly wing some in my direction? :d
We’ll have to meet up in Tysons one of these days. It’s hard to decant — his sample sprayers are very very misty, you just get it all over the outside. I speak from experience here. 🙂
March — Nooooo no no no, please don’t change the way you write. Noooooo! What’s wrong with being a little insane anyway? All the best people are…
This new Tauer sounds right up my alley. Can’t wait to smell it.
It’s official — Louise and I both like it. Our skin is so different that means it ought to work on a lot of people. And Tauer Orris didn’t work at all on her, so we’re clear on that one. Also, it lasted beautifully on her, the fragrance eater…
It is pretty fabulous-I am in line to get a bottle for sure.
Now, move along, you are Not Next in Line :d/
Missy March –
Like, so don’t even think about changing (as if you could – your ‘voice’ rings so true in your posts)….but I am curious: would LOVE to read what the blogger mimicked. do tell…..:-? I’ll bet it was hysterical.
And if you ever drop ‘squeeeeeee!’ I will have to kidnap and reprogram you – so there.
Funny…when I read the notes I read ‘baby oil’ and for a hot minute was horrified (not that baby oil isn’t a charming smell – on babies ). Then my brain caught up to the words and I was relieved. Not a huge rose fan myself but this sounds really intriguing. And I adore Andy, his charming Advent blog inking the deal. So it’ll probably find its way to me in some form or another…@};-
xo>-)
I’m baaack! Of course my nails are now five different colors. It’s a wonder to me they don’t throw us out of that mall. Also, don’t try to cut in line in Sephora in front of Louise. 🙂
Andy Tauer doing a baby oil fragrance is kind of scary sounding.
I think the mall with it’s minimal traffic (and now-reduce hours) is happy for any business, no matter how recently released from The Institution we are…8-}
And, hey now! The nice old lady was butting in o->
Well, she was. I just wish those joints would do their part to divert those issues, you know how crazy busy they can get in there. Although not these days, apparently. /:)
A little painful? Ack, sorry!!! (Is it as bad as the time I called you, what was it… twinkly?) I’m sure if you sounded insane when I “did” you, the fault was mine. One thing I discovered doing those reviews was that you end up overdoing people’s written tics, because capturing the rhythm of their voice is so hard. If anyone ever mimicked me, I’m sure I’d sound like one of those well-meaning, but dithery and digressive people you always seem to get trapped with on the bus or whatever.
YOU did it? Well I wanna read it! I love reading those mimics, though it can be unnerving when it’s done ‘to’ you;)) My group of longtime friends got together and did it orally (after many cocktails) – it was hysterical. One of our gang is a malaprop so we had Big Fun with that one. I got tagged as this imperious Lady Catherine sort, which was a little disconcerting (I keep thinking I’m ‘nicer’ than that – apparently not).
Anyway, the cocktails helped and it was a blast all around.:-j
am sending you an email, sep, on a Fabulous Find.
xoxoxo>-)
I’m running out to meet Louise (I really need to get a life, don’t I?) but look forward to my email. And Erin did a great job, which made it funny and painful. I think sometimes I sound like Robin, which is weird. The post must have been on NST then. I think having your friends do it to your face would be … tough. :”>
Well it could be tough if you were the only victim (in my case that would be Bad. My friends aren’t that crazy)
But if everybody gets a shot at everybody else – and everybody’s already hammered, and nobody’s mean about it, it can be a lot of fun.
My ‘life’ is way less fun than yours, dangit. I’m off to the bank, then the Post Office, then the plant, bless them, everyone! ^:)^
your day sounds a lot more fun. Smoochies to Louise!
xo>-)
ps. wearing Bandit today. Question: why is it smelling like grapefruit? Did they change something? I don’t remember the old Bandit smelling anything like this…I used to get leather – now I only get grapefruit…:-w
Well, exsqeeze me 😮 I am not your Life :-w ?
Musette, fwiw, I thought you seemed pretty darn nice when we met.
Thank you! That is a very kind thing to say. Right now I’m feeling a bit monsterish, as I just found out that my dad’s housekeeper is terrified of me! Very demoralizing. Neither the housekeeper nor my stepmom’s nurse will call me – they only call my sister who is, apparently, WAY less scary.8-x
xo>-)
OMG.
Nice emoticons!!
Musette, angel, it’s me, the other Anita. I just got home from a day in which I was told, by my wimpy boss, that I’m *too harsh* in dealing with people, and not for the first time. Honestly, I’m not. I scare HER, but I have found being direct a not-so-bad way to deal with some situations. I did make a girl cry one time, though :-s so maybe I’m worse than I think ;)) Luv ya! >:d<
I think we should get together and terrorize your boss -bwahahahaha!8-x>:)
A-Twin, you sound much like me. Probably no nonsense, which upsets a lot of people and is often mistaken for meanness. You come sit by me – we’ll wear scary perfumes and make folks tremble and obey!
xo>-)
It’s funny, I couldn’t remember if it was you or Angela who wrote it, and then I gave up trying to find it. Honestly, I think it’s hard to overdo my tics. 🙂 And by “insane” I was referring more to the multiple personality tonal shifts — I’m not even consistent, you know? The problem I have with tics is, if I exterminate one word (actually) others crop up immediately in its place (some, rather.) /:)
Hehe, I didn’t know it was you either, Erin.
Oh my! This sounds fantastic! You said all the right words for a non-rose lover. Could this possibly be in the same realm as OJ Ta’if and Amouage Lyric Woman for me? 🙂 I LOVE the idea of 15ml bottles. Way to go Andy!!
I have a very odd question. Do you know why his perfume names only have the first word capitalized with the exception of Lonestar Memories? Wondering what perfume personality I’m channeling today 😉
I don’t know, but I can ask him! Good question. I hadn’t even noticed. What about Maroc/Marocain? Well, he must have a reason…
Are all the other names in French? I think that’s a French titling convention–for instance, for English language book/movie/play titles, you capitalize nearly every word except articles and short prepositions, but I believe in French, they just capitalize the first letter and proper names and the rest is lower case.
Well there you have it. March, he doesn’t capitalize marocain.
Thank you for the information! I bet you’re right 🙂
March, I really like reading your posts, too. 🙂 I’ve never met a single rose chypre fragrance I didn’t like…my current favorite is L’Arte di Gucci. Thanks so much for this review! I hadn’t been keeping up with Andy’s blog so I didn’t know about this until yesterday. Being a huge Le Maroc Pour Elle fan, I really think I’ll like this one.
Given what you’ve just said, I think you’ll really like this one too! I think it will be at Lucky relatively shortly.
Yay! I am long overdue for a sample order from Luckyscent. I’m also going to get a sample of Party in Manhattan, which I’m super anxious to try.
I am really enjoying 31 Rue Cambon lately too!! Another reason I must have this new Tauer, given your comparison. And it’s so exciting that this is a part of a new series.
I’m crazy about 31RC. One of my go-to’s when nothing else is ringing a bell.
Oh, L’arte di Gucci! It’s been at the top of my list and I just keep forgetting about it. Thanks for jogging memory — now is the time!
Completely agree with Francesca above about writing styles. I love the fact that the fragrance blogs have such different personalities. And I don’t care whether Prrfume Grrrl or Miffy makes an appearance on a given day. In fact I look forward to finding out who’s around each morning! Maybe we should track which fragrances trigger the emergence of which personality. Hmmm, rich resinous notes elicit the characteristic “squeeeee!” that we identify with Prrfume Grrrl; airy transparent fragrances bring out an arched eye-browed Miffy etc. Either way, don’t change a thing!
I am so looking forward to Une Rose Chypree. The idea of an oriental rose on a chypre base sounds stunning. And kudos to Andy for starting a series that will feature 15 ml sizes.
I found it very sophisticated but still Andy (not that his stuff isn’t sophisticated… you know what I mean.) And I’m glad my change in voice, sometimes midstream in a post, doesn’t bother you. I did wonder. Or maybe readers thought I had ghostwriters. 🙂
I’m seriously enjoying this one and looking forward to the packaging/price point part of the program.
It smelled soooooooooooo good on you.
Oh! I want! I wish it were being released sooner as I was hoping to use it to distract me from my Homage Attar fixation and thereby save me a little cash #:-s But, nooooooo!
It’s funny, because for many years I wore (and I am almost embarrassed to admit this:”>) Tea Rose by Perfumers Workshop and, I swear to God, men would come out of the woodwork and literally chase me down the street demanding to know what it was. I am single handedly responsible for dozens of women receiving Tea Rose for Valentines Day or Christmas or whatever, whether they liked it or not. For that, ladies, I apologize, but honestly, MEN WENT WILD 8-}
But then I really started to get into perfumes and bye-bye Tea Rose, hello Guerlain $-) and I completely lost my attachment to rose in general. Now Homage Attar comes along and I’m like I’m on fire for it >:) and I desperately want to smell every rose scent ever made @};- to see if it measures up and/or can break its grip on me, so needless to say I have high hopes for Rose Chypre.
But can I wait for it?:- to see if it measures up and/or can break its grip on me, so needless to say I have high hopes for Rose Chypre.
But can I wait for it? No, I cannot! :((
My decision to see how may emoticons I could cram into a couple of paragraphs has obviously backfired horribly, but at least it was fun while I was doing it ;))
I’m reading this on a tiny iPhone screen and I thought, Little grapefruits! How cute!
=))
I think you’ve just got fruit on the brain lately (see facebook, pomelos)(~~)
I love those emoticons. I’m always happy when people give them a workout. BTW I think Tea Rose has been tweaked like everything else. But I know lots of people on here wore it at some point. @};-
It was such an ’80s thing. I think that I’m more embarrassed about living through the ’80s than I am about having worn Tea Rose:”>
Actually, Luca gives it four stars so maybe I wasn’t all that misguided after all. Plus, all the MEN <:-p
Tea Rose, bought cheapt from Ross, was my high school fragrance. I loved it. (My creepy chem teacher complimented me on it, but that’s the only bad memory I have of it).
I got rid of my last bottle because, after a college fling with first Santa Fe, and then Vanilla Fields (I kind of deteriorated, didn’t I?), I tried the Tea Rose again, and found it much harsher and intense than I remembered.
Maybe I’ll get another bottle. My local Longs carries it.
March, don’t you dare change the way you write! I love the way your and Patty’s voices change to reflect what you’re writing about, the personality of the frag, what you think about it, and how you feel in general. You’re not Bob Herbert. Of course Mr Herbert is a great journalist, but too serious for perfume crit.
Meanwhile, that new Tauer sounds luscious. The only one I’ve tried of his is l’air ddm, which I love in a certain kind of mood (maybe Marlene Dietrich in Garden of Allah?), though if I wear it to work Rick flares a nostril and scoffs, “That tarsicle!”
This is def on the to-be-sniffed list.
Yes, I do hope you sniff this one, because it seems rather “you.” (Rather=Miffy emerging…) It does remind me a bit of 31RC. And I read Rick’s comment as “testicle” the first time. :”>
Ha! Bob Herbert in red lipstick, smelling oh so lurvley ;))
Homage Attar! Is there a drooling emoticon?
Reply was meant for Carter, above. Damn you, tiny screen!
There is! =p~
Is there a drowning in drool icon?
I absolutely can’t wait for this! It sounds lovely…and I would buy it from Andy even if I didn’t love it. 😡 but I know I will…
I think you’ll be pleased. It’s a lovely addition to his line.