One of the things I’ve been thinking about recently is how perfume making has changed in the last century, and how those changes have affected our taste in fragrance over the years.
The first use of synthetics in perfume was in the late 1800s (Guerlain’s Jicky was one of the first, and it’s still being made). “Modern” perfume as we know it began with the use of large amounts of synthetic aldehydes in the early twentieth century. Chanel No. 5 (introduced in 1921 and still going strong) is probably the most famous of these.
Since then, thousands of perfumes have been introduced and we’ve seen all sorts of trends. Some of my favorites are the strange, swampy citruses of the early 1970s (Chanel’s Cristalle, Dior’s Diorella); the loud, florid statements of the late ’70s and mid-’80s (YSL’s Opium and Dior’s Poison); today’s fruity explorations (Hermès’s Un Jardin sur le Nil); and fabulous niche perfumes (Ormonde Jayne’s Champaca and Andy’s Tauer’s L’Air du Desert Marocain).
Along the way, some of these trends have produced classics, some will be revisited with joy, and some are best forgotten. The thing I love about fragrance is that it’s a reflection of the sensibilities of its time. For good or for bad, everything we wear makes a comment about where we are, what we’re thinking about, and how we view ourselves. Smelling something we loved twenty years ago but dislike today not only takes us back in time, but traces the evolution of our taste since then.
I have no idea if the two fragrances I’ve reviewed here will become classics, but they’re wildly different from each other, and reflect our current fragrance trends. One is from a mainstream perfume house, the other from a niche perfumer making his mark on the industry.
Orange Star, by Tauer Perfumes
When I think of Tauer, I think of incense and big, bold experiments in perfume, and Orange Star is all of that. Orange Star notes are clementine, red mandarin, lemongrass, orange flower, violet flower, ambergris, vanilla, patchouli, and ambrein.
Orange Star opens with a big burst of spiced orange edged with sharp lemongrass. The orange notes fade quickly, moving into a dusty violet with just a hint of orange blossom, which is my favorite part of the fragrance. Even in the middle notes, Tauer’s signature incense notes seem to be lurking in the background. It reminds me of a yoga studio before class: echoes of incense and exertion are there, waiting to be shaken awake. The drydown is intense: amber with a big dose of vanilla and patchouli combine to create a huge, bold incense cloud, tempered only by a rather powdery undertone. Orange Star is not for the faint of heart or nose and should be sprayed with caution. A small spray goes on forever; a large spray will get you ejected from the office.
