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Guerlain Eau de Cologne Imperiale ~ fragrance review

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Empress Euguenie

Celebrity fragrances have been around a long time. Like TV, music and movie stars of today, European royalty lent their names and seals of approval to many perfume house scents in the 19th century — and were supplied with all manner of toiletries in return. Having a queen, emperor, princess or other “noble” person or family associated with a fragrance helped sales, and Guerlain received royal “warrants” from the likes of the Queen of Belgium in 1842 and the Prince of Wales.1 Guerlain produced many perfumes with “royal airs” — Bouquet de Duchesse, Délice du Prince, Le Bouquet de Fürstenberg, Esterházy Mixtyre, Bouquet du Roi d’Angleterre, Bouquet du Jardin du roi, Bouquet de l’Impératrice and Bouquet Napoléon.2

Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain (who founded the Guerlain perfumery in 1828) was awarded a royal supplier patent in 1853 when he received permission from Empress Eugénie (wife of Napoléon III) to name one of his creations Eau de Cologne Impériale;3 Guerlain was given the title Perfumer to her Majesty the Empress Eugénie.2 Eugénie’s cologne became famous, and its “bee design” bottles are an enduring symbol of Guerlain…

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Tauer Perfumes Orange Star ~ fragrance review

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The Traveling Companions

Tauer Perfumes captured my attention when it described Orange Star as a rich citrus fragrance with a clean orange flower in its heart. That statement is partly true — but citrus and orange blossom are but fleeting elements of the Orange Star “story.”

Created by perfumer Andy Tauer, Orange Star contains notes of clementine, red mandarin, lemongrass, orange and violet flowers, ambergris, soft woods, vanilla, patchouli, and cistus (Ambreine). Orange Star starts off with syrupy (sweet) citrus aromas (this is not sparkling or “fresh” citrus) blending with a slightly bitter lemongrass note — a very lush, but fast-fading, opening. The orange blossom in Orange Star’s mid-development is neither twee (nor too clean)…it’s roughed up, and quickly subdued, by cistus. As with many Tauer fragrances, there is a long-lasting dry-down of incense-y wood notes and potent amber…

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Parfumerie Generale Bois Naufrage ~ fragrance review

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Carob

One of perfumer Pierre Guillaume’s inspirations for the new limited edition Parfumerie Generale Bois Naufragé was a photograph by Lucien Clergue — Le Nu au Bois Flotté [Ed note: the image is NSFW]. Taking into consideration the photo (showing a naked woman lying on a huge piece of driftwood) and the fragrance’s name (“shipwrecked wood”), I was imagining a salty perfume (salt of the ocean, salty skin), a perfume with a silky, sun-dried, and yes, salty, wood note combining with the scents of seaweed and sand. I was preparing myself for a summer sea breeze in a bottle, and Bois Naufragé’s fragrance notes gave me hope: carob tree, fleur de sel and ambergris.

Bois Naufragé starts with a sweet-milky accord that reminds me of candied figs stuffed with coconut: NOT what I was expecting. The ‘fig’ note loses a bit of its sweetness during the initial dry-down as a touch of mild, “green” musk emerges. I don’t find Bois Naufragé particularly “salty” but the fleur in fleur de sel is apparent in a sheer floral note, smelling a bit like “flat” jasmine mixed with tonka bean/vanilla. Most of Bois Naufragé’s “wood” must have been washed back out to sea…

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Tom Ford Azure Lime ~ fragrance review

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Tom Ford Azure Lime

Since I was old enough to pay for my own trips, I have not once taken a “beach vacation.” With my fair skin, I’d look like Georgia O’Keeffe: The Final Years if I sunbathed. I love beaches — but not in hot weather, so I must claim ignorance when it comes to the Caribbean and Mustique — the inspirations for Tom Ford Private Blend Azure Lime.

Azure Lime’s ingredients are “mysterious” (i.e. they are listed only in publications I don’t trust or they’re simply referred to as “citrus, flowers and musk”). Azure Lime follows a tried-and-true, summer-cologne recipe: it has a refreshing orange-lime opening with a touch of “white” flowers (mildly coconut-y and reminding me of gardenia), spices (perhaps a bit of cardamom and lemony nutmeg), and as the perfume dries down, I smell light, sweet woody (cedar-cypress) musk.

I tried Azure Lime several times at my local Nordstrom’s Tom Ford counter and was surprised at how quickly the Eau de Parfum faded…

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Cartier Eau de Cartier & Eau de Cartier Essence d’Orange ~ fragrance reviews

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Eau de Cartier & Eau de Cartier Essence d'Orange

So many eaux, so little temps. Though Cartier released Eau de Cartier way back in 2001, I’ve just tried it — along with the new Eau de Cartier Essence d’Orange. Cartier fragrances have never wowed me (I’ve only owned one: 1981’s Santos…and that was a gift), so I was hoping Eau de Cartier, and especially Essence d’Orange (I’m an orange fiend), would be “bright spots” in the Cartier perfume line-up.

Eau de Cartier Eau de Toilette

yuzu, bergamot, violet leaves and flowers, musk, lavender, cedarwood, patchouli, amber

Eau de Cartier opens with a burst of wonderful yuzu “juice,” violet leaf (diffuse and watery) and, if you pay close attention, lavender (more herbal than floral) with a hint of licorice. Eau de Cartier has an indistinct, vaguely sweet, floral-talc dry-down with only a touch of musk and a clear, slightly salty, amber note; this is a very light fragrance with minimal sillage…

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