Serge Lutens - Five O'Clock au Gingembre

Cozy comfort on a cold day

It's a numbingly cold February day, and I'm wearing the warmest perfume I could find: Five O'clock au Gingembre. Sweet, spicy and cuddly, FOaG is the perfect antidote to winter.

FOaG starts with a chewy, sweet ginger. The ginger is gradually surrounded by hot cinnamon and pepper and sweetened with honey, turning it into gingerbread cookies. FOaG drifts back and forth between this ginger-spice aspect and a bergamot-tea aspect, making it seem like the gingerbread cookies are served with a steaming cup of Earl Grey tea. The slightly astringent smell of black tea balances the sweet ginger. The perfume dries down to a nice woody amber.

I don't know how I missed FOaG when it was released in 2008. Its woody, spicy comfort is exactly my cup of tea.

If you like Five O'Clock au Gingembre, you might also like Like This and Omnia.

House: Serge Lutens
Nose: Christopher Sheldrake
Notes: Top notes are tea and bergamot; middle notes are ginger, cinnamon and woodsy notes; base notes are cacao, honey, amber, patchouli and pepper.
Where to buy: In Toronto, you can find Serge Lutens at Andrews, or online from The Perfume Shoppe

Photo: Tea Party by Charlyn W

Tauer Perfumes - Rose Vermeille

A delicious vanilla and rose-scented macaron with raspberry cream.


Une rose vermeille, (the crimson rose), starts lemony and herbal. It puzzled me at first - I thought I knew that herb, it was so familiar, like a face in the crowd I had seen a million times but I couldn't name it. I struggled to identify it on my own and then I gave up and read Andy Tauer's blog and I knew it was the lavender I was smelling.  Lavender is a tough one for me - it's not my favourite herb. But it's well blended here and not sharp. It did make me think "soapy" when I first smelled it but that didn't last long.

Then, the rose that is the heart of the perfume. The rose is beautiful and lush and real. The quality of the ingredients in this perfume, as in all the Tauer perfumes I've tried, is astounding. It's very peppery in the beginning and I thought that might be from violet leaf, which sometimes has a peppery edge, but I didn't smell any green in the perfume. Again, I consulted Tauer's blog and I read that the bulgarian rose he used was obtained from a steam-distilled essential oil that has a peppery edge to it.

Tauer describes the oil as having a "marzipan" quality as well. Oh yes, that is exactly it. The rose develops with sweet vanilla which seems to open it up, round and creamy. It becomes like those little macaron cakes, made of almond flour and flavoured with roses and raspberry buttercream filling. The raspberry is jammy and never tart but sweet and smooth and rosy at the same time. A hint of violet adds to the fruitiness and reminds me of the lovely wine-purple violets in Serge Luten's Bois de Violette.

The drydown is all gourmand. My wrist smells like a delicious little cake and I almost want to eat it. Une rose vermeille isn't crass or young like many fruity florals, the ingredients are too beautiful - the blend too elegant. This macaron is from a master chef.

I would highly recommend Une rose vermeille to any rose lovers or any fans of gourmand perfumes. It is truly, mouth-wateringly, gorgeous.

House: Tauer Perfumes
Nose: Andy Tauer
Notes: HEAD NOTES: A citrus chord with lemon and bergamot with a hint of lavender.
HEART NOTES: A lavish bouquet of roses, raspberry and violett flowers.
BODY NOTES: A rich body with vanilla, sandalwood, tonka beans and a hint ambergris. (From Andy Tauer's blog)

Photo: miss karen
I won my sample in a random draw from Andy Tauer's blog. Thank you Mr. Tauer!