Loretta by Tableau de Parfums

*****
Year: 2012

Notes: fruits, coriander, cinnamon, clove, orange blossom, rose, jasmine, tuberose, orris root, vanilla, patchouli, vetiver, leather, ambergris
Loretta is the second contribution to the collaborative olfactory movie, 'Woman's Picture', with film-maker Brian Pera. But this is merely a variation of what Andy Tauer previously offered in the past.

Opening with a rich, dense and plummy fruitiness, which later gives way to a spicy and dusty bouquet of rose and white florals, one is perturbed by a strong sense of déjà vu. It's not so much that there's a vague similarity to Christian Dior's Poison but more the fact that, beneath all that spicy fruitiness, Loretta is basically Le Maroc pour Elle redux (with the same dissonant demeanour).

As an exploration of tuberose, the spicy tuberose gleams amidst a purple olfactory haze. However, that starch or wafer-like aroma still emits, alongside the subtleties of rotting fruit. By the time it reaches the heart, both the orris and vanilla help in pulling the composition together, as it exudes a powdery fruity-floral shimmer. As a trite woody leathery base looms, an unexpected animalic nuance peeks through intermittently.

While the succulent opening was promising, it was sadly not to be. And although it's a world away from Robert Piguet's Fracas, it also lacks the suave femme fatale broodiness of the iconic Poison.

Both staying power and projection are above average.


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