By chance, I ended up with samples of Tauer Perfumes Noontide Petals and Hermès Jour d’Hermès the same week. Here were two fragrances embodying floral bouquets, created by two very different noses. Naturally, the fragrances don’t smell alike, but I didn’t expect that. What struck me was the distinctly divergent shape and feel each perfume takes on skin. Sometimes what's most compelling about a fragrance is how it feels.
Noontide Petals, by Andy Tauer, has top notes of aldehydes and Bourbon geranium; heart notes of rose, ylang ylang, tuberose and jasmine; and what Tauer astutely calls “body” notes of patchouli, frankincense, vanilla, sandalwood, iris, styrax and vetiver.
Noontide Petals’ aldehydes kick off the fragrance with a fizz, but aldehydic floral-phobes, don’t fear — this fragrance is no airy Chanel. Instead, the fruity aldehydes merely push the fragrance off the dock into lake. The perfume’s floral layer is juicy and June-pretty, with no one flower dominating.
For those of you who haven’t smelled Noontide Petals and have fixed in your mind a lovely traditional floral along the lines of, say, Parfums d’Empire 3 Fleurs, now infuse this vision with a weighty draught of wood, the tang of incense, sharp vetiver, and creamy vanilla. Within 20 minutes, Noontide Petals’ signature is set in this sweet and sour warmth, and the fragrance’s flowers have faded to a bare green tinge.
Despite its delicate name, as with other Tauer fragrances, Noontide Petals doesn’t pussyfoot around. It’s a velveteen coat of a perfume, cut in broad panels, and stitched together with strong thread. It wears dense and long. It has presence.
Here’s where it was so interesting to sample Noontide Petals and Jour d’Hermès at the same time. With Jour d’Hermès, Jean-Claude Ellena takes a floral bouquet that might be Noontide Petals’ sister, adds a hint of citrus, musk, and maybe a touch of black currant bud and blows it into a sturdy but whisper-light, personal geodesic dome of fragrance. Where Noontide Petals is almost palpable, Jour d’Hermès is another dimension, more sensed than definite.
How you like Noontide Petals might depend on how you prefer the “feel” of your perfume. Do you want a moody blanket, or a joyful chiffon breath? (Or, like me, maybe you relish the choice.) Despite its lighter-than-air name, for me, Noontide Petals’ medieval aura overwhelms the ideas both of midday and flower petals, but I think Andy Tauer’s many fans will agree that’s just fine.
Tauer Perfumes Noontide Petals Eau de Toilette is part of the Classics line and will be available in mid-April in 50 ml. For information on where to buy it, see Tauer Perfumes under Perfume Houses.
Andy offered to send me a sample of Noontide Petals a while ago. I really enjoyed the scent and wrote some positive impressions at my Chemist in the Bottle. I really liked how fizzy the aldehydes are here. And I love the opening and that creamy texture that Noontide Petals develops after some time.
For Jour d’Hermes – I was left cold. Ellena’s style is getting more and more ethereal with every perfume and I’m afraid that just a few more and I’ll get anosmic to his creations as they’ll be so dilluted. I must say I didn’t like this fume, to me it smelled like a bunch of carrots with some flowers.
I’m sorry Jour d’Hermes didn’t work for you! I really appreciate how delicate yet strong–like finely woven silk–the fragrance’s feel is. To me, it’s unusual in how it builds a real, yet sheer, sillage that lasts without being fussy or loud. I’m not sure that the actual scent is something I need to rush out and buy, but I hugely admire its construction.
And I’m glad you liked Noontide Petals!
With many of C Ellena’s scents I sometimes feel unsure about whether I can really smell something or am just imagining it. This was less of a problem with JdH. The veil seemed somehow steelier. (Maybe the steel though was a kind of Mithril – the elven chain-mail in L of the Rings).
I think “veil” is a great description, and “steely” starts to get at its strength, although there’s nothing metallic or cold about it to me.
There may have been a quality that was nearly harsh, to me – though neither cold nor metallic. Infusion d’ Iris is veil-like to me and ethereal but not exactly soft. Infusion d’Iris though still feels less harsh than Jour d’Hermes in that ever-so-slightly-detergent-like way. But then its been a few weeks since I smelled Jour dH –
Caveat: I think I’m quite capable of imagining up subtleties that may not actually be there:)
Maybe it’s the musk? I imagine all sorts of “subtleties,” too. Tell me a good story, and I see it everywhere.
I adored Jour d’Hermes when I tried it. It has made it onto my wishlist. Noontide Petals will have to wait. Andy Tauer can no longer ship directly to my country which means that I have to pay a lot more to get my hands on any of his fragrances. You make this one sound very good though.
Noontide Petals was fun to try, but Une Rose Chyprée remains my favorite. To me, the body and feel of Noontide Petals–incense, vanilla, vetiver, wood–was distinctively Tauer, and I feel I have that ground covered for the moment.
Une Rose Chyprée is lovely. My favourite of his is Le Maroc pour Elle with Lonestar Memories a close second.
I like Le Maroc a lot, too!
I just got my bottle of Le Maroc: LOVE IT! And I think I may agree about Lonestar, but then I am partial to L’Air du Desert and U.R.C…
It’s a good one!
Somehow URC reminds me of UTI. Sad, I know…
U.T.I.?
I wondered about that one too. As a medic I will invariably read that as urinary tract infection!
That’s exactly it!
I take it you are commenting on both acronyms beginning with ‘u’. Otherwise I am seriously lost!
Oh, that was going to be my question. The way you describe the creamy drydown makes me think of URC, one of the many features I love about that purfume! Any other commonalities (other than a general Andy Tauer-ness)?
Not too much, really, other than a similar weight and texture. It’s worth a try, though!
I agree with lucasai on the Hermes. I was excited to get my sample, as the list of notes looked to be perfect for me, and I’ve loved so many of Ellena’s perfumes. However, something about this one was simply unpleasant on my skin. And now that I’ve heard you say “carrots,” I know what it was.
I wonder if it’s a hint of rooty iris that comes out? I’d thought maybe the grapefruit might turn some people away. (Not me.)
If you don’t like that carroty iris note, stay away from SL Iris Silver Mist! As for Jour, the grapefruit note bored me. Between the green mango, rhubarb, orange peel and pink grapefruit JCE has featured already for Hermes frags I felt I already had bitter citrus covered, and in more interesting ways. I keep waiting for him to get his mojo back – or is he spread too thin now?
I generally love a good rooty iris (and a powdery one, and a juicy one…), but you’re right about Iris Silver Mist. Unless you’re a real iris lover, watch out.
So far, Andy’s scents have been kind of unpredictable for me but Noontide Petals sounds like the kind of things that I might like. I really hope that he can find some solution for international shipping soon because I’ve decided that I definitely need a bottle of Incense Rosé in my life and I’d really rather not pay Les Senteur prices.
Jour was a huge let down because – to my nose, at least – it smells tremendously functional. JCE can do an abstract floral (Dia) and he can do an ethereal veil of a floral (L’Eau d’Hiver) but Jour smells just like gardenia shampoo. So disappointing.
Shipping has been a huge hassle everywhere lately, it seems. The internet has made things so much easier to locate, but getting them is another story.
Gardenia shampoo! Ouch!
I know, I know. Really sorry to everyone who likes it but I’m no gardenia fan so, naturally, that’s all I smell.
Do you like gardenia flowers in the flesh? I don’t wear gardenia well, but I love having a flower in the bathroom or on my dresser.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever smelled real gardenia flowers but it wouldn’t surprise me if I liked them since there a quite a few flowers that I love the smell of but which don’t work for me in perfume. I like real roses, for example, but very few rose perfumes. Real peonies and linden blossoms smell amazing too but no perfume ever comes close.
I feel the same way about roses. Few rose soliflores have really moved me, but I love a vase of roses from the garden.
My brother came from England and brought me a Tauer perfume (on request). I didn’t realise Les Senteur made such a high mark-up, its really crazy…
That’s too bad!
La Maroc is 103 Swiss Francs on Tauer’s site, which would convert to 72 pounds. My brother actually paid 93 pounds for it. Yikes. Don’t think I’ll be getting quite so luxurious a gift for a looooong time.
That being said: I think there are brands which charge a lot more, from the beginning, and are of a much lesser quality.
That’s a very good point!
I was really surprised to see it myself.
Abyss, have you tried First in Fragrance? I haven’t compared the prices, but it might be worth checking out.
Thanks, Annikky, I haven’t but I’ll definitely keep them in mind. There’s no rush right now since I still have some in my sample and I doubt it’ll get a lot of wear over the summer so I’ll probably wait until Christmas…unless I decide to treat myself for my birthday in June.
I’m a “moody blanket” kind of girl so I’ll stick with the Tauer. I’d rather my perfumes be so strong that I have to apply with a light hand rather than be too light that no matter how much I spray they fade to nothing in an hour. I haven’t tried either scent yet but based on reviews I’ve read I think i will like Noontide Petals.
I definitely have my moody blanket days, too–especially this wet-spring week! If you do try Noontide Petals, I’d love to know what you think.
I second this Poodle. I too would much rather have the option of deciding the decible level of my fume rather than having my poor nose running around all day searching for one that has left me minutes after applying. I am getting rather tired of JCE. Would it kill him to break from this long streak of monochrome watercolor fragrances and put his enormous talent into giving us something of the heft of, say, First, which he created back in the day. I may be mistaken, but I think he also did Dia (swooooooon). I smelled Jours on a scent strip and immediately got muddled images of ….Sur La Nil, ….Apres Mousson, or whatever. I think he has the equivalent of a box of Duncan Hines perfume mix and adds a different ingredient for each release now. Tauer on the other hand? Love his boldness to pieces and cherish my little tin can protecting my Lonestar Memories. Really looking forward to trying this new one, thanks for covering it so well Angela.
I doubt JCE will ever go back to the style of First. I just finished–last night, in fact–his Diary of a Nose, and he talks about his own style and wonders to what extent it limits him, even as he defines his own approach, developed over years.
And now you’re making me hungry for a cake mix slice!
Well, if he wants to know how he’s limiting himself, I’d be happy to let him know, after all, I’m such an expert (in my own mind) :)!
Soooo sorry about the cake enabling! Consider it revenge for all the rabbit holes I jumped down after reading your many excellent reviews of chypres I loved and have come to love. While I’m in enabling mode, I also have no will power for cosmetics or shoes (especially Fluevogs and Old Gringo boots). I can feel your will power wilting all the way from the here on the east coast!!=>}
My weak willpower! Something about a boxed yellow cake with chocolate icing that gets me every time, dang you.
Hahahaha! I don’t even need the backstory to appreciate this exchange! 😀
The joys of a good sense of humor (and like of cake?).
LOVE cake! And laughing. Actually, that’s a pretty wonderful combination, huh? 😀
My skin gobbles perfume so I know exactly what you mean! That being said I am gaining more of an appreciation for ethereal delicacy than I used to have – thats so long as I can detect its presence, of course! What matters to me, with a subtle perfume, is longevity.
I’ve been appreciating more nuanced fragrances, too, in the past year or so. Finding something subtle yet tenacious isn’t easy.
Does this mean Noontide Petals has more the feel of La Maroc or L’air than the feel of Reverie or Zeta? I prefer Tauer when he works in oils!
I really do smell the incense in this one, so, yes, I’d say it swings closer to La Maroc than Reverie, for instance.
Yahoo! To use some Lonestar lingo:)
…or Silicon Valley lingo.
🙂 A dog trainer once showed me how to avoid a difficult encounter when walking a dog. Call loudly to dog, ‘Yahoo!’ (or something similar), and begin running in the opposite direction. The dog will pick up on the excitement, forget about about what was about to occur and happily follow you.
Now what I I need is someone to ‘yahoo!’ me every time I’m about to buy a perfume!
I’m afraid that with a perfume I can be like a dog with a tennis ball and no amount of yelling will shake it!
I enjoyed your comparison of the divergent styles with these two. Like you, I’m glad to have the choice – blanket some days, chiffon on others. I did like the style of Jour d’Hermes, although not the actual scent so much. Delicate yet strong sums it up for me too. Like a spider’s web.
Narciso Rodriguez for Her is not the same kind of fragrance at all but it also has that gentle but lasting presence. More skin-like than Jour. I’m sure that technically it’s a hard thing to achieve. It’s a style that is popular and Jour will surely do very well for Hermes.
Tauer no longer ships to me either, which leaves the decant services as the only way to sample, and that’s expensive.
(Speaking of spider’s webs, I was filling the bird bath at my place this morning and glanced at a nearby shrub to observe an empty snail shell that had been suspended, nest-like, in a spider’s web. It looked like it was floating mid-air. There were lots of fine webs over the entrance to the shell itself, and the new owner of the shell was presumably snoozing inside, after all his/her hard work. An amazing sight!)
I love your description of the snail’s shell/spider condo! Thank you.
When I first applied Noontide Petals, I was struck by it’s resemblance to Miriam by Tableau de Parfums/Tauer. Miriam leans more on the floral end as time goes on but Noontide keeps ahold of the frankincense.
I see the resemblance right away, too–but I completely agree with you that Noontide Petals is much incensier (is that a word?).
Great review, Angela, and I love your comparison of the two scents. I can totally see Ellena’s creation as a geodesic dome, and I look forward to sampling Tauer’s velveteen coat!
Let me know what you think when you do try it!