Scent of the day - Andy Tauer Orange Star

Just a quick post today, to give some sort of indication that I am still alive in bloggers' world, albeit barely.

I'm still wearing and enjoying perfume on a daily basis, mostly, but just struggling to find time and a bit of motivation to write about it.

Today I wore Andy Tauer's Orange Star for the first time in ages. It's a timely reminder of what a good and original perfumer Andy is. Orange Star is quite a simple perfume in many ways, but it has that knack of making me feel happy and uplifted. It's a genuine mood enhancer, and God knows we all need some of that. It has stellar longevity too - it lasts all day and then some. Some serious fixatives in that base. 

As some other bloggers have pointed out, Andy's direction seems to be lighter and more floral these days, but I do love some of his older creations.

For an earlier post on Orange Star, read here.

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.