Tauer Perfumes Orris; Tauer Perfumes Lonestar Memories
If niche perfumery is an attempt at serving the tastes of a minority not catered to by the big perfume companies, then Tauer Perfumes is a niche within this niche, offering self-proclaimed "beyond the ordinary" and "truly exciting" mixes that appear designed to provoke rapturous exclamations from easily excitable bloggers rather doing what a good perfume should and blending seamlessly into your day.
My first experience with Andy Tauer's perfumery was L'Air du Desert Marocain, and it took a few tries before I clicked with its "beyond the ordinary" approach. I can appreciate it now (perhaps because I've become a little more accustomed to the sharp cedar element predominantly employed), but I haven't worn it again and I probably never will as iI found it required more bother and solicitation from the wearer than I'm willing to hand out on a casual, day to day basis. I read that Luca Turin wore L'Air du Desert Marocain for his marriage ceremony to Perfumes: The Guide co-author Tania Sanchez, and that pretty much sums up Andy Tauer in a nutshell: a perfumer that only perfume connoisseurs can truly love.
Which brings me to Orris and Lonestar Memories. Orris, a composition based on the root of the Iris flower, is an attempt at marrying a warm, woodsy quality to the higher pitch of the Iris itself -- start with the Orris, toss in some rose and citrus oils, some frankincense and a couple of sandalwoods, a little agarwood for sweetness, then sprinkle pepper and cinnamon over the top and the result is an expertly balanced (if not straying into safety) perfume that's floral without puttering around in the petunias and woodsy without hauling a lumberyard along behind.
So far, so good. I'm not bowled over, but Orris is nicely done (though it has the drawback of being a discontinued limited edition).
Lonestar Memories aims for bolder folks who like bolder strokes -- well, that's the impression the marketing copy would have you buy into. Evoking the wide-open Texas landscape was Andy Tauer's stated goal for Lonestar Memories, and there's an initial blast of campfire smokiness paired with a leathery scent that makes me think he's headed in the right direction, but unfortunately it all goes downhill from there.
The myrrh, tonka (vanilla) and sandalwood at the base of Lonestar pushes through too quickly and too forcefully for any great outdoors experience to fully take hold, and with the inclusion of geraniums and jasmine flowers, not to mention the fresh spicy notes of clary sage and cedar, what I'm left sniffing at is a likely memory of the fragrant potpourri Andy Tauer's grandmother placed in decorative jars throughout her Texas home rather than the dried rattlesnake skins and dusty plains I'd assumed the title might promise.
Lonestar Memories is nice enough, and if you've been looking for a scent that smells of dried geraniums with cedar wood/incense wood shavings, then this could be your holy grail, but it doesn't fully commit to its Great Texas Outdoors intention and I'm of the opinion that the swooning reaction it receives from some quarters isn't particularly deserved.
I'd applied Orris on the back of one hand and Lonestar Memories on the back of the other. I walked into The BF's office and he took a sniff at each. "That one's better," he said, pointing at the hand with Orris. "Oh, you like the Orris perfume?" I asked. "No," he said, "I just think it's better than that flowery, potpourri sh*t you have on your other hand!" -- and with that, he turned back to his computer.
Out of the mouth of the Brian, dudes.
8 Comments
haven't tried the orris, but lonestar memories smells just like maja (remember maja?) with smoke from a burned-out building over it. i happened to test it around the time i was out shooting promos with newspeople - and we were at a burned-out apartment in which kids had died - and the perfume has that smell. which makes my stomach turn. i also had the perfume on my hand at night in a spanish section of town, and the maja element was so strong i kept looking around for a woman wearing maja before i realized it was me.
l'air du desert is such a thick, sweet ambery gourmand on my skin i can't even begin to imagine a desert scene. even in morocco. i appreciate that he's doing different things, but so far, i haven't found one i can wear comfortably. even maroc pour elle, which puts me in mind of 24 faubourg on steroids. guess i'm not connoisseur enough. eh, beh, tant pis.
said:
Minette:
I haven't yet taken a swipe at Maja, but I'll have to look out for it, now that I know there's something I can compare it with. Sorry to hear about the photo-shoot, stomach-turning thing. That sounds . . . awful! I think I'd be running from Lonestar as fast as possible, myself.
"guess i'm not connoisseur enough. eh, beh, tant pis."
LOL!
Nathan, Andy is quite the darling of the nicheophiles and a sort of groupspeak has begun to obscure the perfumed object of his affection. I love his fougère, and the leather is quite nice (next to vintage Bandit and ELDO Rien) - it's no CdR though. His twinned gems are the incense scents.
I love The BF's reaction...
CV
said:
Christopher:
I have begun to notice the almost messianic regard with which Mr. Tauer's creations are greeted. I've read perfume reviews where I could swear the author's eyes are rolling back in her head.
His Incense Extreme was nice, but it didn't make me swoon, so I guess I'm not yet a full-fledged nicheophile. I haven't tested out the Incense Rose, though (of course) I hear it's heavenly, rapturous, divine, etc. etc.
The BF is always good for a quotable reaction.
If you have any unloved L'Air du Desert Marocain, you can send it my way. ;-) Sorry you didn't really enjoy it - I find it totally swoon-worthy. I also really love Incense Extreme (the Incense Rose didn't work on me as myrrh and I are not friends).
As for Orris and Lonestar Memories... well, the less said there the better. I could easily go a lifetime without smelling them again. They were definitely not for me. One POLer commented that Lonestar smelled like a saddle on fire with the horse still attached. That pretty much sums it up right there.
said:
Actually, I think I do have some very neglected L'Air du Desert Marocain samples that could use a good home. The cedar just isn't for me -- which pretty much makes Andy Tauer's entire perfume line a bust as far as I'm concerned. The man puts cedar in everything.
I think the one and only cedar-centric scent I've so far enjoyed is the Armani Prive Bois d'Encens that you sent my way a few months ago. Simple. Straight-forward. Dry and austere. Pretty much perfect.
"One POLer commented that Lonestar smelled like a saddle on fire with the horse still attached." -- LOL! That's hilarious. I'd include the smell of dried geraniums that they tossed over the poor thing's grave . . .
I just discovered your blog and have been picking through the reviews of things I'm familiar with, hence the untimeliness of this comment.
L'Air du Desert Marocain is one of my favorite frags, but then I clearly have more of an affinity for cedar than you do. Funny thing with Lonestar Memories, though... I'd had a couple samples laying around for the better part of a year and thought it a thoroughly unpleasant scent when I got it. But I would try it every once in a while because I just found it so weird. To me it smells like creosote, which I guess is the birch tar. I don't know what dried geraniums smell like, but potpourri is pretty much the last word I'd use to describe it... Anyway, a while back I just got a real craving for the stuff and knew someone who had a bottle that I figured I could barter for and I've been wearing it on occasion ever since, although I mostly just use a spritz or two along with L'Air du DM when I wear that scent. But while I can say that I like it, I fully understand why people wouldn't.
You like Montale Greyland though, right? I always think of Greyland and Lonestar Memories together because they both (while admittedly different) somehow remind me of the smell of a mechanic shop or some other place where grease-monkeys congregate; two representations of the stylized scent of the blue-collar male, if that makes any sense.
said:
My curiosity is piqued -- I now MUST compare Greyland and Lonestar Memories side by side. I very much liked Greyland (and actually purchased a bottle), but was less than thrilled with Lonestar. I don't usually get a completely different impression the second time around (L'Air DDM is probably the one exception), but perhaps my appreciation for Greyland can help me find something to like about Lonestar,
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