Reviews of Le Maroc pour Elle
by Tauer

Le Maroc pour Elle is basically a powdery, dusty rose with jasmine, and a small touch of cedar wood that smells a little incense-y/resinous. It’s kind of old fashioned smelling and very heady. It’s also worth mentioning that the rose in this is similar to the rose in Czech & Speake’s No. 88, but a lot more "powdery." I was quite disappointed, since Le Maroc is not really “sunny” like described on Tauer’s website. On the bright side, if you're looking for something feminine and bohemian, this might work. If you're a male, this might require some effort or the right kind of personality to pull off (it's pretty feminine).

Although it’s not bad, Le Maroc doesn’t evoke the kind of imagery or beauty as L’air du Desert Marocain – be forewarned that this isn’t the female version of it either. Creed's Jasmal is *kind of* similar to le Maroc, but I prefer Jasmal much, much more.

6/10

Le Maroc was not at all what I expected. Before I tried it and Reverie au jardin, I thought Tauer's signature was dryness and transparency, but those two scents are polar opposites to his other creations: dense and muddy and and musty-sweet, in the style of "natural perfumery", which I personally can't stand. I'm flummoxed to see Le Maroc compared to L'air du desert marocain or called "dry". To me, it's anything but dry - it's creamy, powdery, musty, dense and sweet.... Actually, I have one word for it: headshop. It smells exactly like that stale, musty-sweet mixed incense smell clinging to everything. Now, I love the dry, crisp, fresh, woody/spicy incense note in fine perfumes (such as Tauer's own lovely incense fragrances!), but that is something quite different from the smell of actual, unlit incense, which I don't particularly like. Le Maroc smells exactly like real, cheap hippie incense, not incense perfume. It doesn't even smell floral to me - floral incense, yes, but not fresh flowers. If I was to pick out one floral note I would say it was a creamy, warm, sweet, heavy jasmine - the rose is nowhere in sight, at least not any kind of rose I recognize from nature or perfumery. (Not that I mind, I'm not a fan of rose.) With my nose glued to my wrist, I sometimes get a whiff of something resembling sticking my nose in an actual flower, but it's like its buried under that headshop sillage. The scent is strong too - one tiny spray from the vial and I can smell it on the air all day long! It doesn't change much either, though perhaps the hint of real flower is replaced by an aldehydic powderiness by the end of the day. Not a favourite at all, but not downright unpleasant (like Reverie au jardin) so it gets a neutral thumb for me. At least I can see how someone might like this fragrance. Someone who wears a lot of tie-dye and smokes a lot of pot.

Maroc Pour Elle starts off with an unidentifiable spicy top note that seemed very mysterious. It definitely evoked thoughts of the medina I went to in Marrakech a long time ago. As the scent opened up, I then caught notes of incense, orange blossom and verbena. I am not an incense gal and so would not want to wear this myself but I certainly appreciate the artistry and effort it took to make such an unusual perfume. Andy Tauer is a very talented man!

I bought this based on Luca Turin's rave review (which likened it to a less brassy Bal a Versailles) and was surprised at how unlike BaV this is. It is an utterly distinctive dry exotic floral, but with an insistent, sweet and indefinably herbal joss-stick-like note that persists throughout the drydown. Another reviewer referred to "tasting" this fragrance, and that was how I experienced it, too; it permeates the nose and mouth. It took some getting used to, and I still have to be in a very particular, bohemian frame of mind to wear it. I prefer L'Air, and look forward to trying Orris.