With the long, hot days of summer just around the corner, it is the perfect time to pull out Tocca's stunning blood orange scent, Stella. Blood orange is not as closely related to the fragrance of regular oranges as it sounds like it might be — instead of being tart or cutting, it is much more mellow and rounded, with a lush, honeyed depth to it.
Stella captures the fragrance of blood oranges wonderfully, with a lovely subtle hint of springy green leaves in the background to round out the fragrance. Tocca offers the scent in a wide variety of products, from candles ($16 for a 2.85 oz. pillar and $36 for 10.6 oz), soap ($12 for 6 oz), shower gel ($19 for 8 oz), lightweight body lotion ($28 for 8 oz), rich body cream ($45 for 6 oz) and Eau de Parfum ($68 for 50 ml). The Eau de Parfum puzzlingly (and disappointingly) misses the mark on scent, but the rest of the line, fortunately, executes it beautifully.
My favorite of all the products is the body cream, or the Crema Da Sogno. Rich, thick and creamy, it is a treat to apply. Like L'Artisan's Crème de Ananas, the texture is more akin to face cream than a regular body lotion — really luxuriant. Also luxuriant is the packaging: a heavy glass jar with gold inscriptions tucked inside a beautiful power-puff like box with gold trimmings. One of my absolute favorite body creams next to Crème de Ananas and People of The Labyrinths Luctor et Emergo Enriched Body Cream, but happily, at half the price of either.
For buying information, see the listing for Tocca under Perfume Houses.
Ed. note: Anjali is traveling and may be slow to respond to comments.
Well, this is worth retrying. I had tried the eau de perfume and was disappointed. Instead of round and gentle, I got a muddled bunch of flowers thrown on a table with blood orange rind tossed in. I didn't go further. But to compare it to my beloved Creme de Ananas, now there is something worth sniffing. (The Luctor and Emergo, alas, smells like cherry-flavorred Play-Doh on my skin. I wish I could get the cult experience.)
Sorry if this appears twice. I always have trouble posting here. I was disappointed in the eau de perfume, which smelled sharp and floral on me. The cream might be the answer. I love Creme de Ananas. Luctor and Emergo, unfortunately, smells like cherry Lifesaver crushed into Play-Doh on me. Sigh. I wanted a cult experience.
Hi, Quinn — I'm a fellow poster — this site does have this funny glitch, after you hit “post” your comment doesn't show immediately (or at least mine doesn't.) But if you hit your refresh button, or navigate away and return, it should be there. Hope this fixes the problem…
I liked the Tocca fragrance line, with Stella being my favorite, although they're all a bit much in the heat. The cream is lovely. I wish I were more of a product gal; I tend to prefer everything else unscented, including my rooms, so as not to distract from my fragrance addiction;-)
March, thanks — and will add that for some reason, this annoying glitch only happens on first level comments — not on “reply to comments” — so I tend to forget about it since I'm always using reply.
Sounds decadent! Maybe I'll treat myself to this when I use up my other lotions.