Une Rose Vermeille by Tauer, 2010

Une Rose Vermeille opens with a very subtle lemon and lavender tandem before quickly transitioning completely to a very synthetic smelling rose and raspberry duo with a soapy violet undertone. The raspberry and rose are heavily sweetened by a major tonka bean presence emerging from the base along with equally sickeningly sweet non-powdery supporting vanilla. Projection is minimal and longevity is average. I keep waiting for a Tauer scent to wow me as I really like the perfumer's high level of customer service and his industry "secrets" candor; alas I'll have to keep looking as I really dislike Une Rose Vermeille. It really reminds me of a very cheap smelling shampoo with its low quality soapy synthetic nature, and it veers way too heavily on the sweet side of neutral for my tastes. Adding to its many deficiencies, the vanilla in the base really smells weird here and does not mesh well with the rose at all. Even raspberry that works so well with rose in my favorite scent, Portrait of a Lady by Malle seems entirely out of place here. I guess I'll just have to match Tauer's candor in saying this one is a nearly complete failure with the only saving grace being the five second subtle lemon and lavender opening that was at least "pleasant" smelling. Definitely pass on buying this 2 star out of 5 disappointment as there are far too many excellent or better rose scents on the market to settle for a poor one.

Une Rose Vermeille somehow pulls off the trick of seeming innocent whilst giving free rein to a streak that can only be described as cheeky and mischievous.

The first step in its seduction ritual is a fizzing firework display of raspberry, so sparkling, it takes you by surprise each time you re-spray the scent. The gourmand sweetness is allowed to grow larger, before making room for the eponymous floral note: a deep, velvety, peppery rose that whispers intimacies in your ear and pulls you further into a realm of sugars. And just when you think your system couldn't possibly cope with any more olfactory calories, the base of the fragrance reveals itself to be a delicate layer of the finest marzipan, spotlessly white and enriched with the complex contrasts of almonds.

This is Andy's most feminine scent to date, designed for Snow White on an evening when she feels like letting her hair down. She borrows Little Red Riding Hood's cape, paints her nails crismson and applies glossy scarlet lipstick to her coquettish pout. She puts on a ruby ring and slips her feet into pillar-box stilletos. And then she hits the town, racing through the streets in a blood-red Lamborghini, looking for someone willing to bite into her deliciously wicked apple and succumb to the delights of her playful poison.