WHAT I SMELL: Loretta opens with candied tart sweetness. It’s bright with just a tinge of sour. Quickly it moves into grape soda. Really??? Then quickly again, the grape soda is met with a light powder. Loretta is a tease. Am I going to like this or not? So far it’s different; not bad and not good. Thankfully, the grape soda is met with a bit of warmth that helps to anchor the sweetness. The plum (which to me smells like grape soda) completely dominates and therefore makes it hard for me to pick out additional notes even though I know they’re there as the fragrance starts to even out. Finally, Loretta settles down some to reveal a lightly sweetened patchouli woodiness tinged with a bit of what seems to be some coriander.
From Fragrantica:
The fragrance is a composition of sensual white flowers, dominated by tuberose and accompanied by jasmine and orange blossom. Dark ripe fruit like plum give the composition additional sweetness with velvety rose also on top. The dark side of the character is captured by notes of patchouli, ambergris, leather, sweetened orris root and woody – resinous tones.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Surprise…grape soda!
THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE LORETTA: fruity, persistent, unique
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT LORETTA: The Muse in Wooden Shoes, Fine Fragrants, The Candy Perfume Boy
BOTTOM LINE: Loretta confuses me. I don’t hate her and I don’t love her and am struggling with when I would want to wear her. I keep reading about the tuberose in this, but that is completely escaping me. Finally, besides grape soda, Loretta reminds me of what the penny candy aisle at the Ben Franklin store used to smell like. Not for me, but I could see someone else digging this for its uniqueness. One thing I do love though is the bottle…it’s perfection!
- Bone Rating: 3 out of 5 possible bones
- Scent: Oriental Floral
- Nose: Andy Tauer
- Classification: Feminine
- Expense: $160 for 50ml EdP
The Scented Hound 
June 22, 2013 at 2:16 pm
Oh dear. I just got a sample of this, and I have to say, the prospect of grape soda does not appeal to me. The use of the word “persistent” also worries me. Persistent + fruity= Oh dear.
And I had such high hopes for this one given the tuberose and the fact that Loretta — unlike Miriam — did not have aldehydes.
Maybe I will just shove this one to the back of my sample section for a while….
LikeLike
June 22, 2013 at 2:18 pm
Like Tom Ford, Andy Tauer is not meant to be my boyfriend! Based on your bad experience earlier of today, I would stay far away from Loretta or you may go running stark mad down the street!
LikeLike
June 22, 2013 at 2:20 pm
LOL!!! Sounds like excellent advice to me! I don’t think I could handle another traumatic experience on the heels of this morning.
Grape juice……
*sigh*
LikeLike
June 22, 2013 at 2:46 pm
This was one that took me a while to “get”… one, two, even three wearings wasn’t enough to tease out all the notes. I love it! Unfortunately, my husband kind of hates it, so it’s pretty far back on my buy list at this point. 🙂
LikeLike
June 22, 2013 at 2:56 pm
I have only tried this once and will definitely give it another go when I’m in the right frame of mine…but I doubt it will ever be on my buy list. Although I did notice that they have a small purse size on Luckyscent that won’t break the bank at $40! Thanks for stopping by Susan.
LikeLike
June 22, 2013 at 6:52 pm
The Tauer’s I like I really like. I have not tried this one yet. The grape soda is concerning.
LikeLike
June 23, 2013 at 9:09 am
Poodle – I found this interestingly strange. It seems that wearers each get something different. Who knows, maybe you will get something a little less grapey!
LikeLike
June 22, 2013 at 7:02 pm
Dearest Hound
Oh dear… I never do seem to get on with plum in perfume. It always seems odd as I love the things in life, but now you’ve put your finger on it.
Plum perfume does not smell of the fruit at all but of soda pop!
This one is probably best avoided by me, my skin’s ability to amplify anything remotely sugary would surely take this into the realms of syrup!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
LikeLike
June 23, 2013 at 9:10 am
My dear dandy…you indeed do not need to smell like sugary grape soda!
LikeLike
June 22, 2013 at 8:20 pm
I’m going to point out here that quite possibly at least a portion of your “grape soda” is actually coming FROM THE TUBEROSE. 🙂 Really. Methyl anthranilate is commonly used as a grape flavoring (particularly in the US, less so in Europe), but it occurs naturally in jasmine, gardenia, ylang-ylang, champaca and… oh yes… tuberose.
This thing is a freakin’ patch bomb to my nose. I am a little surprised that you haven’t picked it out, but the one item that has come out of ongoing discussions with other people about Loretta is that it reads slightly differently to just about every person who’s tried it. I mean, I do get the tuberose, and the berry-plum fruitiness, that does stick around. But the patchouli (it’s nice patchouli, for that’s worth, all aged and green) is just huuuuuuuuge.
I’m frankly still on the fence about it. I have a travel spray that I got along with a contribution campaign to Brian Pera’s movie last summer, and it skeers me, and I never wear it.
LikeLike
June 22, 2013 at 11:01 pm
That is super interesting about tuberose! I think if I close my eyes, I can see it.
I haven’t had the chance to try either Loretta (or Miriam either for that matter). I wonder if I would get grape soda or patchouli patch . . .
LikeLike
June 24, 2013 at 1:54 pm
Well if you get the grape soda, maybe you can use it for cooking!
LikeLike
June 23, 2013 at 9:14 am
Ahhhhhh…thanks for the info in the Methyl A. I knew that smell could not be natural, I am sure the patch is there, but I could not see past the grape. I can see how this can skeer you and make you question when to wear it!
LikeLike
June 23, 2013 at 10:47 am
I think the grape soda mainly comes from orange blossom (as this is what dominates for me also – along with a sharp, oily rose oxide kind of note). Have you sniffed Cuir Venenum by Parfumerie Generale? It also uses orange blossom in a very grape-soda way and pairs it with a smoky leather. I greatly prefer Miriam to Loretta, but still really loved Loretta :’) Glad you got to try this one Steve.
LikeLike
June 24, 2013 at 1:56 pm
who would have thought that grape soda could come from orange blossom!
LikeLike
June 24, 2013 at 3:28 pm
Yup! Well that’s only my assumption from smelling it so upfront in Cuir Venenum and then the same here – both orange blossom dominates… I guess it’s like how some jasmine because pure bubblegum… you know? 🙂
LikeLike
June 27, 2013 at 1:35 am
Loretta was too sweet for me and was straigh-forward unpleasant on my skin almost to the end.
LikeLike
June 29, 2013 at 5:31 am
An acquired taste no doubt. I love the concept and the bottle, but the fragrance just doesn’t work. Too bad.
LikeLike
Pingback: Tableau de Parfums/Andy Tauer Loretta | Kafkaesque