Sunday Star - Orange Star

Apparently the earth is extremely close to the moon at present and it looks up to 30% bigger than usual. The 'supermoon' as it is being called, is actually a full moon known as a perigree full moon and is about 356,400 kilometers from earth, rather than the usual 384,000 kilometers and causes higher than usual tides.

That's all good and well, but is only exciting if one can actually see it, which here in the UK, with our present weather, is remote, considering the grey, drizzly skies! Anyway, moons aside, today was more of a star day for me, as I wore Andy Tauer's Orange Star, which while I found perfectly easy to wear on a hot summer day, works equally well on a cold and wet day. In fact, it was just the tonic to lift the mood, with its peppy orange accord. As some of you who have tried this will know, Orange Star is no ordinary citrus scent, with the zesty and sweet mandarine and clementine balanced by a rich and vibrant ambergris, tonka bean and vanilla accord. It is a curious, yet brilliant fragrance, in my opinion and nothing else smells quite like it. 

The strange thing is that the smell of Orange Star actually reminds me of a scent from my childhood, which I can't quite place. It makes me think of summer days and swimming pools for some reason, without any obvious connection, but what I do know is that it makes me feel happy. Very happy.

A belated thought on Valentines Day

Call me the scrooge of Saint Valentine, but I don't generally enjoy this day. I can't even really say why. The tempting answer is that one shouldn't need an excuse to express one's love for another, or spend ridiculous amounts of money on cards, roses and chocolates. I used to do this, but over the last decade my wife and I have agreed not to do anything special. So, I am not a romantic then. Oh well. Having said that, I have no issues with anyone else enjoying or celebrating this day, so if you did, then I hope you and your partner had a good time.

So what did I do on Valentines Day then? Well, nothing really, other than what I usually do on a working Monday, which is go to work, sit through boring meetings and wear perfume of course.

I tried two of my newly acquired samples, Frapin's Terre de Sarment and Andy Tauer's Eau d'Epices. I like them both. Very much. 

I must say that the Tauer takes the cake though. It's very good indeed. It's very much in the same spirit as Orange Star, I think. In fact add warm, snuggly spices to Orange Star and reduce the orange level, and you get Eau d'Epices. More or less. It's not quite that straightforward. I love them both though - they feel warm, cozy, bright, happy.

Terre de Sarment is also very nice, but I think I prefer Caravelle Epicee a bit more. I don't know why this line receives so little attention. Certainly what I've tried so far is very wearable and certainly worth sampling.

Andy Tauer revisited

Like Gaia over at The Non-Blonde, most of Andy Tauer's fragrances feel like they could have been made for me. The incense-based ones in particular wear so well on my skin, if I may say so myself. There are a couple that just do not agree with me at all, namely Reverie au Jardin and Vetiver Dance. For some reason they make me retch, which I hate to say, but it is thus.

The others are a different ball game altogether. I wore Incense Extreme and Incense Rose the other day, one on either wrist, for comparison. They are strikingly similar - if one were to remove the rose note from Incense Rose they would be an extremely close fit indeed. I think of the two I prefer Incense Extreme. It has a gorgeously true and striking incense note, with supporting notes of iris, cedarwood and ambergris. There's a lot more in there I think, but one is never left in doubt that this is all about frankincense. In a way it is quite straightforward, but the smoky incense is sweetened slightly and has a waft-like character, like smoke drifting on a breeze. Although a strong fragrance, it is not cloying and is well-balanced.

Incense Rose is a lot sweeter than Incense Extreme, with a strong rose element to it. It is possibly the most powerful Tauer I have worn. Without wishing to exaggerate, Incense Rose has a staggering longevity on me, lasting the whole day, through a shower and to the next morning. I would strongly advise not using more than a couple of sprays in this instance, where less is definitely more, if you know what I mean! As the fragrance progresses, the incense takes more of a starring role, but the rose is never far away. However, as I said before, these two perfumes are sisters and very alike.

Although I personally prefer Incense Extreme, I would not hesitate recommending you at least sample both. I wouldn't personally see a need for a full bottle of both in my collection but you might feel differently.

Image credit - http://www.thedifferentscent.de/