Perfume Review & Musings: Lonestar Memories by Andy Tauer
Lonestar Memories is the latest creation by Andy Tauer. People who are familiar with his first two perfumes, both introduced in 2005, Le Maroc pour Elle and L'Air du Désert Marocain, will find that it departs from the previous two in that it is not a perfume with Oriental references but rather an ode sung to the naturalness and freedom expressed by the myth of the American West. I will add that it is also, to me, a perfume that contributes to defining without any ambiguity or restrictions a classic ideal of rugged masculinity as conveyed by a fragrance; it is rather efficient. In case we had forgotten, Tauer reminds us that certain perfumes just might smell more erotic on a man's skin than on a woman's if we are to recognize that to be able to provoke "trouble" (in French) could be a perfume's ultimate mission...
Lonestar Memories starts with, to my nose, a slightly boozey accord reminiscent of whiskey mixed with the sweetness of dry fruits preserved in liqueur then segues very quickly into its dominant theme, Leather. Whereas Ambre Russe by Parfums D'Empire evokes a cosy and plush library with luxurious leather armchairs, aged liqueur, and a roaring fireside, Lonestar Memories evokes vast open spaces, the warmth of a cattle herd, coffee, and a campfire. The leather accord that develops in Lonestar Memories is dark, raw, smoky, animalic, with sweet undertones. There is also a bit of a fatty aroma that ties in well with the theme of the prairie. Later it will become drier. Cedar, birchtar, and a smokiness evocative at times of Lapsang-Souchong tea and at other times of a campfire weave their motifs. The dry down is woodsy and reminiscent of the base notes in the other two perfumes by Tauer but with less of a marked sillage making it more masculine in that sense too.
We are transported to another place. I feel as if my nose were pressing against horse trappings or that I am back in Anatolia visiting a local saddlery. It is very evocative of the olfactory impression made by a freshly made horse saddle that has not quite lost touch with its origin and thus it also evokes raw hide. Even more than that, this very animalic leather, to my nose, goes as far as to suggest the live animal and its perspiration, the fume of its very presence however transfigured enough as to be evocative rather than present.
I have no trouble imagining what Andy Tauer probably wants us to picture in the eyes of our minds: horses, cattle, a man, a fire camp, pasture with some medicinal herbs scenting the air, and even dark syrupy and smoky coffee drunk by a virile and nonchalant solitary cowboy staring silently into the fire, sipping his coffee, and resting from a day of hard work half-leaning on a horse saddle that bears unevaporated marks of sweat. It is a multi-sensory experience; now, I can even hear the clicking sounds made by the horses' trappings as the animals move, their neighing in the background, and contemplate the mauve crepuscule descending upon the prairie. This scent is both eminently evocative and realistic.
For people who fall for the idea of unabashed virility (like I suppose I do when smelling this perfume), this is an über sexy scent. This is, to me, going deeper into our unconscious, how a centaur might have smelled had it ever existed. Once, in the depth of history and mythology, there was a being who was half-animal, half-man. Then civilization separated the two essences. The human essence often feels nostalgia for its fuller nature, and at times attempts to recreate its former state. Being a horseman or a cowboy is one way. Using a perfume to recreate that fuller essence is another way. Lonestar Memories hints at a type of human energy based on deep nostalgia allied with raw eroticism, an energy that lingers on like the memory of ourselves originating from our archaic animal natures.
As a woman, I would much prefer to smell this potion of love on a man but if you like your leather dark, smoky, and very rustic, this is a perfume that should be made part of your collection. Of course, as we know, rusticity is an urban invention, so it is actually a very sophisticated leather scent that simply toys with our fantasies of or nostalgia for the primitive, the unadulterated, and the raw.
Mr. Mimi Froufrou just came in and a few drops later he says that he likes the scent and that it evokes for him "civilized wilderness." I did not communicate with him about my impressions; he just got it from the perfume.
Notes are: Geranium, Carrot seed, Clary sage, Birchtar, Cistus, Jasmine, Cedar wood, Myrrh, Tonka, Vetiver, Sandalwood
You can purchase Lonestar Memories for $65 on Andy Tauer's website or $80 at Luckyscent
Previous Posts in Perfume Review & Musings:
Perfume Review & Musings: Fire Island by Bond no 9
Guerlain Terracotta Voile d'Eté (1999)
Perfume Review & Musings: Siberian Barber no1 by Novaya Zarya
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Comments
Wow. Just wow. That review is enough to drop me where I stand. Wonderfully evocative! I think I have been waiting all my life for a fragrance that smells like this. I cannot wait to try it!
Posted by: Flora | July 19, 2006
Flora,
Thank you! I am so glad it struck a chord in you. I hope that you will love this fragrance!
Posted by: Mimi Froufrou | July 20, 2006
I think this fragrance is brilliant; to me it is very much a virtual-reality fragrance that presents all sorts of mental associations. I also got a funny, peppery, spicy note -- maybe some aspect of the birchtar? But I found the whole thing so outrageously ... real?... that it was not so sexy to me. I mean, it was not UNsexy in any way. Maybe I'm just searching for an excuse not to share it with Mr. Marchlion....
Posted by: marchlion | July 20, 2006
March,
I agree that the virtual-reality aspect is uncanny but at the same time it speaks so much to me of an archetypal rough masculine world that I find it sexy, even sexual to stress my point;) It's also probably because I think it fits very well with Mr. Mimi Froufrou's brand of masculinity.
What did your better-half think of it?
I do get some spicy accord towards the very end of the dry down; it then smells a bit of cocoa and spices. I think it's the Tonka + sandalwood. The latter I find can make a fragrance smell spicy although it's technically classified as a woodsy note.
Posted by: Mimi Froufrou | July 20, 2006
Fantastic review. I adore the gorgeous dark, animalic leather accord of Lonestar Memories on my skin. It is indeed evocative of the wild west.
Posted by: Elle | July 20, 2006
Elle,
Thank you! It is a great leather scent indeed and very sensual at that.
Posted by: Mimi Froufrou | July 20, 2006
What an amazing review Mimi. You have captured in words what this scent means to me too.
Posted by: Prince Barry | July 20, 2006
Wish I'd gotten all the lovely associations others seem to get from this one... but to me it smells at first like a home that's been burned to the ground (a queasy-making smell I smelled years ago and again just a few weeks ago - after deadly fires), then later it smells like the Spanish classic Maja, overlayed with a light veil of smoke - a bit old-fashioned and soapy. I didn't dislike it, but neither can I rhapsodize over it. Too bad, as I live in the Lonestar state. Le Maroc did much better on my skin - like a 24, Faubourg on steroids.
Posted by: minette | July 20, 2006
Prince Barry,
Thank you so much! It makes me happy when I see that, somehow, my review of a scent expresses what is in other people's hearts and minds.
Posted by: Mimi Froufrou | July 20, 2006
Minette,
I know someone who cannot stand the smell of a log fire in a fireplace because of bad associations, I suppose.
Just to think that a man might be wearing this fragrance adds a lot of charm to it for me;)
I love Le Maroc too!
Posted by: Mimi Froufrou | July 20, 2006
Funny thing is, I love woodsmoke - especially in the autumn when the air is crisp and sky is intensely blue. My favorite room spray is Diptyque's Feu de Bois, which I also wear. Love leather scents, too. So, it was disappointing when this just did not work on my skin. And I cannot escape the Maja connection! Does no one else smell it in the dry down?
Posted by: minette | July 20, 2006
I can see how it was all the more disappointing!
I smelled Maja a while back, well, actually a few weeks ago too but I can't remember it very vividly and wouldn't be able to make the connection.
I'd be interested on the other hand to test Knize 10 soon since this is a conscious leather perfume reference for Andy Tauer in his work in general.
Posted by: Mimi Froufrou | July 20, 2006
Oh, don't get me started on Mr. Marchlion! I was going to do a post a month or two ago on the wonderful process of us selecting a fragrance for him, since he wanted one. I went out and sniffed and narrowed it down to five or six. But now I can't get him to choose one because he's "too busy right now." Ridiculous! As if there is anything more worthwhile than sniffing fragrance!!!
Posted by: marchlion | July 20, 2006
March,
I'm puzzled. Why choose just one fragrance? It's not really in your habits, is it? ;)
Posted by: Mimi Froufrou | July 20, 2006
Lovely review, as befits a stunning perfume! I agree that it is very evocative - it reminds me of a campfire by an icy cold river in Corsica, pebbles still warm from the day's heat, the manifold scents of the macchia around us - and a piece of driftwood, its sap boiling in the flames.... no leather in my memory, even though Lonestar Memories is predominantly leather.
Posted by: dinazad | July 21, 2006
Dinazad,
I'm glad you enjoyed the review! As you show with your lovely and evocative description it can bring one to other places than the West but always, it seems, somewhere in an open space and a bit wild.
Posted by: Mimi Froufrou | July 21, 2006
No, no, if he loved them he could have them all. But I want him to at least TRY them, maybe I'm completely wrong in my first attempts. But he Is. Too. Busy.
Posted by: marchlion | July 21, 2006
Sounds like he's too busy but not indifferent.
Posted by: Mimi Froufrou | July 21, 2006
blackjacks
Posted by: blackjacks | September 26, 2006