Stella
by Tocca

I've been indulging in a fair amount of blood orange of late: Loring blood orange soda, Ciao Bella blood orange sorbet, so it seems appropriate that I should take up Tocca STELLA today.

The entire Tocca line exhibits a governing aesthetic of simple elegance. The bottles are beautiful to behold and to hold, and the perfumes offer niche-quality notes in pleasing and accessible compositions. STELLA is no exception to the rule. Blood orange is, as advertised, the focal point of this perfume, with the other notes contributing harmonically to a very lovely citrus-floral olfactory experience. Neither loud nor cloying, this is a well-measured , natural-smelling creation. Simple but nice. In that respect, just like Ciao Bella blood orange sorbet and Lorina blood orange soda, only in a floralized fragrance format!

I find Tocca body products to be generously scented and to offer much better longevity than the edps (which seem more like edts to me...). A propos: in these eco-conscious times, it would be extremely kind of Tocca to offer screw tops to their lovely 50 ml bottles and to make larger volume refills available. Alternatively, they could increase the perfume concentration of the edp so that the small bottles would last longer. Just a couple of ideas for any marketers who may be hanging around these parts...

25th August, 2011.

Starts with a strong orange/mandarin blast that turns creamier by the minute. The opening is the best part of this fragrance, I never smelled such a delicious fruity opening. It´s not overly sweet but a realistic fruit/tart smell. When the cream comes in it reminded me of orange icecreams with vanilla icecream in the center. I could almost taste it. Then it fades off completly and it smelled almost exactly like Anaïs Anaïs. I´d buy it if they find a way to make the start last for hours.

17th February, 2009.

Stella is such a spicy, feminine scent. The freshness of the blood orange comes through after the first spritz, but what stays with you is the romantic scent of lilies and the sophistication of the orchid and musk. I love this scent... epitomizes femininity. It's breathtaking yet subtle.

The major flaw though is that it barely lasted a couple hours on my skin, and it is quite pricey for a little bottle.

1st February, 2009.