Loretta Tableau de Parfums 2012
1
If Poison is Nouveau Riche, Loretta is old money
First reviewed on October 21, 2012:
I have been anxious to test out Loretta since its announced arrival here on Fragrantica. Spicy tuberose by Andy Tauer?! Loretta seemed to be a sure bet so when an opportunity to test it out—and meet the mastermind behind the creation—came up I seized it. It was a dream to test it out but it was a surreal experience to have Mr. Tauer spray it on a blotter strip himself and ask for my thoughts. Hmmm, my thoughts…
I have to come clean and admit I was not knocked out that first spray. It begins as pure, over-ripened plums with loads of spice. My mind immediately went to Tom Ford’s Black Orchid Voile de Fleur. I love the plums in BOVdF but it has been done once already. I was too tongue-tied around Mr. Tauer to grab the bottle from his hand and try it on my skin. I brought home a sample and tried again.
I tried it on freshly showered skin around 8 am yesterday morning. Again, I was met with very spicy plums that had lingered a day or two past their prime. However, Tauer’s genius made its appearance about a half hour later with the transformation from pungent plums to a dried bouquet of tuberose, dotted with orange blossoms and jasmine. Tauer stated he wanted to show a duality of the perfume’s nature and he does it so well with a slightly dusty bouquet of preserved flowers that could easily belong to a Miss Havisham-type of tortured soul. It is at this point absolutely no other fragrance compares.
A few hours later it was still going strong, but not overpowering, and transmuting once again. This transmutation became sensuously skin-like without resorting to a muskiness and sweet without being gourmand or ‘vanilla’ (both literally and figuratively speaking). There was a strangely beautiful sunbaked-skin note—I swear I think I even smelled a faint sunscreen note—which I can assume came from the ambergris and an ambery, resinous quality that kept things a bit dark, a tad sinister, and abundantly erotic. This feeling of vintage eroticism was not dirty, tawdry, or gratuitous; it was a reminder that every woman is a sexual being, even the Miss Havishams of the world. This phase of the scent stayed through the night into the morning. I’ve since showered and spritzed myself with Loretta, ready to take the ride again.
I can’t say I am well versed in all of Andy Tauer’s creations but I’ve noticed a pattern where his fragrances may not exactly knock its wearer head over heels initially. The ‘wow’ moments have hit me upon a second or third wearing. Loretta has continued to leave me awe-struck with every wearing. This will be the third day I’ve worn it and I'll definitely mourn the day I finish my sample.
Updated thoughts on August 1, 2023:
I'm a little more well-versed in the ways of Andy Tauer. And I'm still a little star-struck by that meeting. I babbled like an idiot while he kindly tried to distill a coherent thought out of me. I needed time with Loretta; she was simultaneously complex and straightforward, alien but familiar, dowdy yet sensuous and seductive. She was a bottle of contradictions and I was obsessed.
I started saving my pocket change and extra cash in a jar like a child. When I finally had enough to get a bottle, I ran over to The Scent Bar like a child on her way to the toy store. I wore Loretta day and night, disregarding any situational awareness--hot weather, close quarters, the opinions of colleagues, et cetera. I was in love.
Over time I picked up on the similarities between Poison Eau de Toilette and Loretta. Heady yet dated tuberose, which I love, bonded both of them. But there's something so "extra" about Loretta that set it apart and made it a big love. I've had my coveted bottle for about ten years now. It's richer and more opulent with time. I'm more selective about when and where I wear it. It's discontinued so, there's that.
I love it as much as I did when I tried it but our love has metamorphosized. We're both different: she's more leathered, more fleshy, thickened with stewed dried stone fruits. I'm more aware of what makes her more that a Poison Eau de Toilette clone. I'm sad others won't get the opportunity to enjoy her as I have.
I have been anxious to test out Loretta since its announced arrival here on Fragrantica. Spicy tuberose by Andy Tauer?! Loretta seemed to be a sure bet so when an opportunity to test it out—and meet the mastermind behind the creation—came up I seized it. It was a dream to test it out but it was a surreal experience to have Mr. Tauer spray it on a blotter strip himself and ask for my thoughts. Hmmm, my thoughts…
I have to come clean and admit I was not knocked out that first spray. It begins as pure, over-ripened plums with loads of spice. My mind immediately went to Tom Ford’s Black Orchid Voile de Fleur. I love the plums in BOVdF but it has been done once already. I was too tongue-tied around Mr. Tauer to grab the bottle from his hand and try it on my skin. I brought home a sample and tried again.
I tried it on freshly showered skin around 8 am yesterday morning. Again, I was met with very spicy plums that had lingered a day or two past their prime. However, Tauer’s genius made its appearance about a half hour later with the transformation from pungent plums to a dried bouquet of tuberose, dotted with orange blossoms and jasmine. Tauer stated he wanted to show a duality of the perfume’s nature and he does it so well with a slightly dusty bouquet of preserved flowers that could easily belong to a Miss Havisham-type of tortured soul. It is at this point absolutely no other fragrance compares.
A few hours later it was still going strong, but not overpowering, and transmuting once again. This transmutation became sensuously skin-like without resorting to a muskiness and sweet without being gourmand or ‘vanilla’ (both literally and figuratively speaking). There was a strangely beautiful sunbaked-skin note—I swear I think I even smelled a faint sunscreen note—which I can assume came from the ambergris and an ambery, resinous quality that kept things a bit dark, a tad sinister, and abundantly erotic. This feeling of vintage eroticism was not dirty, tawdry, or gratuitous; it was a reminder that every woman is a sexual being, even the Miss Havishams of the world. This phase of the scent stayed through the night into the morning. I’ve since showered and spritzed myself with Loretta, ready to take the ride again.
I can’t say I am well versed in all of Andy Tauer’s creations but I’ve noticed a pattern where his fragrances may not exactly knock its wearer head over heels initially. The ‘wow’ moments have hit me upon a second or third wearing. Loretta has continued to leave me awe-struck with every wearing. This will be the third day I’ve worn it and I'll definitely mourn the day I finish my sample.
Updated thoughts on August 1, 2023:
I'm a little more well-versed in the ways of Andy Tauer. And I'm still a little star-struck by that meeting. I babbled like an idiot while he kindly tried to distill a coherent thought out of me. I needed time with Loretta; she was simultaneously complex and straightforward, alien but familiar, dowdy yet sensuous and seductive. She was a bottle of contradictions and I was obsessed.
I started saving my pocket change and extra cash in a jar like a child. When I finally had enough to get a bottle, I ran over to The Scent Bar like a child on her way to the toy store. I wore Loretta day and night, disregarding any situational awareness--hot weather, close quarters, the opinions of colleagues, et cetera. I was in love.
Over time I picked up on the similarities between Poison Eau de Toilette and Loretta. Heady yet dated tuberose, which I love, bonded both of them. But there's something so "extra" about Loretta that set it apart and made it a big love. I've had my coveted bottle for about ten years now. It's richer and more opulent with time. I'm more selective about when and where I wear it. It's discontinued so, there's that.
I love it as much as I did when I tried it but our love has metamorphosized. We're both different: she's more leathered, more fleshy, thickened with stewed dried stone fruits. I'm more aware of what makes her more that a Poison Eau de Toilette clone. I'm sad others won't get the opportunity to enjoy her as I have.
Exciter76
