Phtaloblue

Not only is Phtaloblue different from all of Tauer's other creations in almost every way (the closest relation would be L'Air des Alpes Suisses), but it's also in a category of its own when it comes to contemporary niche and indie perfumery. If you'd described this to me out of the blue (no pun intended), I would have asked you what you were smoking and if I could have any. A spicy-green aromatic marine fragrance with fennel and brine? Get out of here! But it works marvelously. There is indeed a fresh saltwater note whose alkaline qualities are accentuated through their interaction with spicy fennel and aromatic herbs. Tonka makes an appearance too, not in its usual powdery-tobacco garb, but wearing something gloriously green and satiny. There's a high note of sharp bergamot and a cool, metallic geranium running through the middle, vibrating on the same wavelength as the fennel and brine. As other reviewers have mentioned, there is something vaguely sweet—but not at all sugary—floating around the central accords, but it's vanishingly light, almost airy. Taken together, Phtaloblue is a totally unique, surprisingly realistic fragrance, particularly given the synthetic resonances of its name. It's evocative, but not figural; that is, it's as though the essence of a prismatic, sun-kissed tide pool has been distilled and bottled for everyday wear. Yet I would be loathe to say that it's mimicking the ocean, or the shore, or other marine/aquatic/beachside scents centered around calone or white florals. I'd instead say simply that it discloses the olfactory colors of the sea. It's totally genderless, definitely more casual than formal, and has incredible longevity and projection. It also melds very well with sweat and heat; it won't sour as other summery fragrances sometimes can when exposed to the elements. Thank you again, Andy!

Phtaloblue by Tauer surely is a special one. Some might consider this negatively, some positively. I personally feel like you either like this one, or don't, as there doesn't seem to be much room left in the middle. The opener brings a certain freshness to the fragrance that definitely puts it into the aquatic/summery category, although I fail to smell the swimming pool compontents a lot of people are talking about. As the base smell sets in, which happens fairly quickly, you start to smell the notes that set Phtaloblue apart from most designer brand aquatics. To me, it smells of seaweed and the sea, almost as if you're taking a walk on the beach during the low tide. Exposed rocks with algae on them, small pools of seawater with small marine life holding out until the sea comes back in. My wife says she can clearly smell the Tonka bean, although to me it just manifests as a sweet base note that blends into the described scenario. I've worn this scent for a few days now and I'm confident to say that this is a smell that doesn't have a low profile, as it sets itself apart from the standard aquatics you might smell around you. On the same note, the sillage is rather moderate on my skin so it doesn't overpower my surrondings by the time I get into the office. Finally, I do love this fragrance a lot but decided to not wear it when temperatures pass something around 31°C, because it just lacks the pure freshness I might crave during a specially hot day.

I love this. Best aquatic I’ve smelled. I don’t think it’s oceanic, more like a freshwater spring or something. I agree with @bebopkydd, there is a faint smell of petrichor but it’s more like 20 minutes after the rain stops and the sun shines on a cool day with a faint of lingering petrichor and a ton of fresh air and some ozonic scent. To me it is odorealistic to fresh aquatic adjacent air. I don’t know what memory exactly but it’s a good one! No chlorine for me or gym or gym pool smell. Longevity is incredible. Woke up the next day and it was on my hand. That’s a minimum of 13 hours. Not much development through the dry down. Remains this freshwater aquatic scent all the way through. The opening has some of the coumarin and I guess fennel, smells slightly of cinnamon to me, but I think maybe it’s the anise smell of fennel. And then the far dry down has a little coumarin again which to me adds to the fresh air sense of this perfume.

So this is different! Not what I was expecting at all, but so far, I can't stop smelling where I sprayed. Alright, let me try to describe this. I get punched in the face with Bergamot of the top--so sharp it makes my nose tingle. That goes away very quickly. Next, imagine you've got the dry down/far dry down of Bvlgari Black/Prada Luna Rosa Black once that Bergamot goes away. Now, mix that with some salt, some sand, and maybe a hint of suncreen. And, when you inhale deeply, you can still get a hint of the amber that Tauer is known for. That is what I am smelling so far from this far out take on an aquatic. I am certainly intrigued and very interested to see where it goes next. As for smelling like Squid--I saw that marked above--I'd have to say this is WAY more initially appealing/less challenging than that melon, ink, sea-salt combo that Squid starts with.

I just got a sample of this with my Incense Rosé and ahhhh, I'm obsessed with this sample! You know, I am going to have a hard time choosing which Tauer to buy next. I thought it would be LDDM, but Phtaloblue is giving LDDM a run for its money. Want to know how it smells? Uh, it's hard to say.. definitely aquatic, but not in the traditional sense, or else I wouldn't love it. I don't typically go for aquatics, but this is a work of art! This Phtaloblue is sending me.. where am I? You know when you first get off the plane somewhere warm in the winter time and there's palm trees everywhere and there's that smell in the air? What is that smell? It's so beautiful and indescribable. Then you go hang out by the pool and you're on vacation so you're escaping all of your normal responsibilities. Just an air of calm and beauty.

I have had this since the month it came out, and every time I where it, I like it more in more. It has quickly become one of my favorite scents in my collection, and I find it difficult to describe: As my bottle has matured a little bit, I find it minty and cool from the fennel, ambery, aquatic but like no aquatic I have ever worn before. I get less of the sand and sunscreen that in my initial wearing, and as the juice has mellowed, I even find it a very appropriate winter scent. This is a brilliant work from Andy Tauer. I own LDDM and L'air Des Alpes Swisse, and I have smelled or sampled a good 6 or 7 more from his collection, and Phtaloblue, while maybe not as exceptional as LDDM, is very, very much worth hunting down. It is so different, so good, and such a valuable part of my collection.

Takes me back to aquariums/marine environments in Old SFC and Coastal Oregon. That fresh marine scent I’ve always loved since I was a young one. This bottle captures this. Love it. Will purchase a bottle. A coastal ozonic aquatic that encapsulates the love of coasts throughout the world’s oceans. A beautiful blue. Kudos to Tauer. Is top on my list. Couple months later Phtaloblue is now in possession. Amazing! Probably my top Tauer bottle! Glad I purchased and not from a discounter. Shows how much I like this bottle. Full price buy. That good. For Summer blues Nishane Ege, Tauer Phtaloblue, and Ralph Lauren Blue are my fav when it gets hot. That’s before reaching for the Cologne. Which is another story for those hot and humid Indian Summers here in the States.

This is gorgeous man! Probably the most unliked frags by tauer but for my nose, my experience in the house, i can say it is great fragance. I like it. I have tonka bean in my kitchen so this frag is completely based in tonka bean with that especial hint of aquatic, herbal notes, orange bloom and tauer wax, wow! I cant stop to smell my arm. Its versatile.You can wear in the gym, nighout, dayout, any occasions. Age: above 25 Longevity: Long Lasting Sillage: Strong I would buy: yes Blindbuy: no, only because the mix of soup, aquatic note and Tauer's wax. Its not for everyone. Resume: its a soupy and aquatic perfume. If you like this kind of frag, go ahead. One of the most safe frag by Tauer until this day. Overall: 8,5/10

Had to get a tester of this before buying, and I'm still on the fence. Definitely aquatic. After the first spray I was transported to a green field with thunderheads on the horizon and the sharp tang of ozone in the air. Probably not intentional, but to me the most realistic ozone note in perfumery. And it lasts for days on clothes and at least 24 hours on my skin. At first it was borderline annoying, but I needed to get that whiff of stormy weather again! I'd say it's out of most people's comfort zone, but it is a remarkable perfume. As an artist I use phtaloblue and ultramarine as my blues of choice and Andy nailed phtalo! Think a Maxfield Parrish sky. Ithink I see a full bottle in my future.

I find the notes listed above to be a bit of a mystery, except for the tonka. To me, Phtaloblue carries a delightful fresh grassy hay note whipping off a seaside pasture on a warm afternoon, enhanced by more conventional marine notes that smell to me like others in the category (think watermelon) but blended ever so delicately! I'm quite smitten with this fragrance as I find it very evocative of my own experiences, which is not something I can say about many other aquatic fragrances. Long lasting and quiet, but sneakily lingers in the room. This is an aquatic for those longing for a trip to a wild grassy coast. This scent in a candle would also be great!

This is so underrated. So aquatic. A deep, salty, steamy, ozonic, somewhat chemical, balls to the wall aquatic, with a slight chlorine quality. It brings to mind a beach resort's swimming pool on a hot summer day. I realize that some people find this off putting, and I think that it must be due to the steamy chlorine quality that it has, especially in the opening, it really feels like vapors rising from a swimming pool, maybe even a sauna or the showers, it definitely has a bit of that very specific sweaty scent you get from these places but I personally don't find it offensive at all, it all kinda smells like childhood to me.

A different aquatic scent. I tested this on a hot and humid summer day where I don't expect performance. Phtaloblue lasted for about 4 hours on my skin and much longer on my clothes. As per the scent itself, it starts with aquatic and salty accords accompanied by a nutty and slightly sweet background. The nutty sweet background becomes more prominent as the scent develops but the aquatic feature remains. The sweetness is not cloying and it gives the perfume a chic and elegant edge. Easy to wear and suitable for all times of the year.

Opening feels a but harsh, like walking into a hotel’s indoor pool. Settles quickly into a better aquatic vibe— More like Monterrey Aquarium! Then something very different for me. Fresh air- like the first breath of surface air after a scuba dive. First time I think I recognize ozone. Not a dark fragrance. Not bright. Medium tone. Dry down is a woody not over the top ambergris. Really balanced. Distinct in its phases. A nice aromatic journey. Goes on the FB list.

Oh boy...a very expensive blind buy, but I just couldn't help myself: The idea of a Tauer aquatic--and some unexpected coaching money--got me to pull the trigger. This is coming with 2 Tauer minis: 5ml of LDDM and a 5 ml of Une Rose Kandahar. I own one and have a solid decant of the other, so if any one wants to buy these minis, shoot me a PM. ...And I will edit this review next week when the bottle arrives.

Sin saber de perfumes, diré lo que subjetivamente me evoca estar en un lago de agua salada rodeado de lavanda y menta, tiene una sensación muy fresca y relajante. Su proyección no es muy notable, pero cuando llega un viento sutil desde atrás se siente con una densidad bastante aceptable como en 4 horas de desarrollo (esto es lo que más me gusta). Entre más calor mejor. Duración 6-7 horas.

this an experience, a salty-anise-lavender experience... i can see almost anyone wearing this and turning heads. it’s incredible. it’s got amazing longevity and it smells wonderful both on skin and clothes. for some reason the pregnant woman at my workplace loves this perfume on me, and if a pregnant woman loves it, i think that’s pretty high praise!

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and this fragrance is exactly what every rainy day smelled like in a coastal town. It is heavily synthetic, but its a perfect aquatic petrichor fragrance. Can't say much more than that.

I love that it feels like going back to childhood summers at the swimming pool I smell the water,the candy from concession stand and i can sense the bright sunlight ❤️ It’s not one i wear a lot but I love to smell it

A salty, herby, airy, aquatic cocktail - 100% Andy! Highly recommended to all Tauerphiles for summertime! There is absolutely no justification for the sub-4 rating.

Very interesting dark aquatic. Truly displaying the art of fragrance making. Similar to Zoologist’s Seahorse, but deeper and darker.

I love this! It conjures up my delightful summers as a kid hanging out at the public swimming pool

Very polarizing scent. It happens to be one of my favorite fragrances.

Have worn my sample a few times now, and this is just an initial impression. This is definitely a Tauer fragrance! It is a summer freshy, and I do get an aquatic type feeling from it, but as with most of his masterpieces, it's uniquely his own! Very different than what you think it might be. It's an aquatic only in a loose sense. It's more of a fresh herbal scent. My nose can't really pick out individual notes very well. It's more of a masterful blend of all the notes. From the opening to the end, this fragrance is pretty linear, but the opening is crisper and louder. Then it dries down and becomes a little softer. I think the cedar/amber helps it keep going all day long and soften it up a little later on. The opening is very unique and shocked me. It was not what I was expecting, which is nice! I can't say I love this, but I do like it and would totally buy a full bottle of this. It's just such a unique scent, and it's SO hard to find summer freshies that actually last more than 1-4 hrs. The fennel, lemon, lavender and herbal notes are the main notes I can pick up on from beginning to end. And yet, it's almost impossible to pick each one out. Which to me, is always the sign of a great fragrance. They blend together SO well to create a very unique creative take on an Aquatic type scent. And the funny thing is, even though I wouldn't call this an aquatic scent, I can see how it's classified that way. As it just has the amazing way of making you feel like you're near the coast. Especially somewhere with a natural landscape of beaches, grass, driftwood, salt, sun and just a hint of sweet. The performance is good for being a summer freshy. It is soft to moderate sillage with 6-8 hrs of noticeable performance. And that's coming from my horrible skin that barely holds anything more than 2-6 hrs! I think in warmer weather with warmer skin, this might really bloom and last longer, as well as bring out some more notes I can't smell right now. More wearings are in order, but I think I'm buying a full bottle! It's that good. The only fragrances that remind me of this scent are Heeley Sel Marin, Tom Fords Costa Azzurra and Oud Minerale. With the first two being the most like this. But, as mentioned earlier, this is very unique and there's nothing really like it. Which is a huge compliment to a perfumer. And Andy is right up there with some of the best ever! A few female co-workers of mine actually asked me what I was wearing a few days ago when I was trying it out. They said it smells very happy, very nice, isn't too in your face, yet smells wonderful and reminds them of sun, the beach and being happy, haha. So it seems like it will play well with a large crowd. It isn't just for us fragrance enthusiasts. Which is always a huge plus. When you can find a fragrance that is interesting and amazing to us, but also to the masses. That's hard to find! I don't love all of his fragrances (I LOVE/own quite a few), but he always makes something unique! And this is no different. This is elegant, easy to wear, and very unique. Perfect for day or evenings on a warm vacation. It's not stuffy or super formal, just elegant and perfect. Great new summer fragrance with very good performance from one of the best in the industry!

Phtaloblue from Tauer Perfumes is, to my knowledge, the only aquatic offering from the house. The name phthaloblue refers to a deep, intense blue pigment often used in art, a color that feels rich, striking, and almost liquid in its depth. It is one of the most polarizing scents I have ever tried. Some people call it the worst thing they have ever smelled while others consider it a personal favorite. A few even say it reminds them of an indoor swimming pool. The opening is immediately striking. There is a lot happening at once and everything feels slightly out of place in an almost deliberate way. The first note I notice is fennel, which brings a slightly sweet, herbal, almost licorice-like quality supported by gentle lavender and a faint touch of citrus. The lavender is soft and slightly herbal rather than floral, adding a powdery clean-linen nuance that borders on talc. The bergamot is very subtle. It feels intentional that the top notes are restrained, as Andy Tauer seems to have deliberately moved away from the traditional aquatic theme and in that he has definitely succeeded. Within five to ten minutes the mid notes become more prominent. Orange blossom and geranium grow stronger and mingle with what the official website describes as "compelling aquatic accords." This combination gives the fragrance a steamy almost chemical quality that explains why it is so divisive. It is unusual but not unpleasant if you are open to something different. After about two hours the fragrance develops a slightly warmer character. Cedar, amber, and a touch of tonka come through, evoking a vivid sensory scene. It actually does remind me of a pool locker room with thick, warm air, nylon swimsuits dripping with water, and the subtle scent of freshly cleaned surfaces or a subtle orange-tinged room spray. Whether or not this was Andy's intention, it is the clearest way to describe the atmosphere the fragrance conveys. Phtaloblue is not what I expected and it is far from a typical aquatic perfume. For me, it’s not particularly challenging to wear, but it is distinct and memorable. I would not personally seek it out, yet it is absolutely worth experiencing for the unique mood and atmosphere it creates. For anyone willing to explore a bold and creative interpretation of an aquatic scent, Phtaloblue offers something truly singular.

If you are familiar with Clearwater, a 2016 solid cologne from Fulton & Roark, you’ll immediately recognize that scent in this perfume. They both seem to have an almost identical note or combination of notes that come from geranium and sea notes. There could be other very similar aquatic fragrances, but this is the comparison that comes to my mind. To me, Phtaloblue is slightly more refined (not necessarily better or worse). Not only that, but after some time on my skin, I also smell the same ambery sandalwood scent from Shackleford, also a Fulton & Roark solid cologne. Very interesting! Now, I don’t know how likely it is that Andy Tauer was also familiar with those fragrances and deliberately imitated and combined their notes here or was even just inspired by one of both of them. Nothing wrong with that - it just doesn’t make this perfume totally unique for me, but then again familiarity is a good thing. Anyway, this one is still pretty unique imo and it may even be an acquired taste for some. Idk how often I’d wear it but I do like it. UPDATE: I’m layering this with L’air des Alpes Suisses, and I’m really likin it.

This is a pretty fun, creative fragrance. It has grown on me quite a bit. There's an interesting duality with it... I get both a 'humid indoor pool complex, brightly lit with skylights, and damp towels baking on the warm concrete pool deck' vibe, as well as a 'summer morning along the coast, a thick marine layer, and smelling the sea spray in the air mixed with coastal vegetation' vibe. It's one of those fragrances that keeps you thinking about what it smells like. Definitely not boring in any way, and definitely not your typical perfume-y designer aquatic that smells nothing like the ocean. You can tell it was designed to smell raw and trigger scent memories of real situations when you were by the ocean or near the pool. The trail comes across as clean, mysterious, and approachable. The longevity for me is about 7-10 hours. Super interesting stuff. If you love fragrances that are creative, raw, and a bit mysterious, you will probably like Phtaloblue. If you like trendy, mass appealing, cookie-cutter beach or aquatic fragrances, then I'd steer clear.

This is high art, bordering on not being practical/functional perfume. Phtaloblue has a lot going on, but I'll do my best to explain experience. The opening is an indoor swimming pool. The mid is when you're changing your clothes in the locker room of the swimming pool. It's wet clothes, a sauna, the showers, and the smells of chlorinated water that has permeated that locker room over the years. The mid then transitions and transports you to the ocean. Seaweed and crustaceans. The smell of when you get out of the ocean and lay down on your towel in the sun. The smell of the ocean water on your skin evaporating, mixed with the sea air, sand and ambergris. Closest comparison scent wise would be a mixture of Comptoir Suds De Pacific, Atlante, and Bond No. 9 Jones Beach. Very artistic, to the point where it's almost unwearable art but stays just above the mendoza line. This fragrance covers every type of aquatic/marine type of smell you can imagine. Transporive Marine Aquatic. Scent 7.5/10 Performance 8.7/10

I’ve read everyone’s reviews with astonishment. I’m a Tauer fan and nearly blind bought a FB from Luckyscent with 3 other blind purchases and switched this to a sample instead. Glad I did! Not because it’s bad - in fact it’s very good, performance is exceptional. What I had an issue with was purely that it smells for all intents and purposes like most high quality fresh airy marine scents and I guess the marketing hype is what let me down as I was promised something groundbreaking when really it’s just high quality. For me there are only a couple of variations. This one errs on the briny side which is not one of my preferences bar Bulgari Acqua and Acqua Marine Tonique. So, I’m not going to describe it - there was nothing for me despite the listed note make up that made this exceptionally ‘different’. If you like a Fresh Briny Marine scent this should be on your list. If you have a few sample it first. For me House of Sillage 003 is the best.

It never dawned on me before but this is probably the closest thing to the discontinued and nearly extinct Penhaligon's Blasted Heath except the opening smells like an indoor pool and it's locker room. If you've ever taken swim class or been on the swim team this will smell nostalgic. Wooden benches and concrete with decades of chlorine water soaking and permeating into them. Its very niche and enjoy this scent on occasion, but it's not going to be something most people like. P.S. my factory travel spray is from the original launch in 2020. I don't get powder, or oranges at all, like others below perceive. Maybe it's been reformulated?

This has such an enjoyable, addictive take on "blue". I smelled a 2ml decant for a couple days on my hand. I didn't particularly love the scent for wearing, but the smell itself was so new and original to my nose I couldn't help but smell it. It is very unique, even hypnotic. I have nothing to compare it to. Unfortunately, I just dont want to smell like that or have people think of me as smelling like that smell. I see some reviews have some really negative views toward the smell, and it I do understand, but I do think the smell is neat. Perhaps as a bathroom scent or car freshener.

I don't like many aquatics. I am not running out and buying a bottle of this, but I love Tauer and like my sample. Here's the lowdown: ambergris and fennel mainly with some lavender, tonka and Tauer lovely sweet powderiness magic; orange blossom not obvious but sweetens it. It has the kind of saline in something like Womanity without the funk and rounded and sweetened and complex. Reminds me of Reveal on steroids with an amped up ambergris and more complexity. But it has characteristics of both of those. You have to like lavender, fennel and ambergris and sweetness.

Not sure — maybe it is my skin, but I do not smell anything challenging here. No fishiness, no urinal cakes as others have mentioned. It is sweet, but not mildly and weirdly sweet as the L'air des Alpes, which I dislike. This is straight up sweet, powdery orange to my nose. I also get this mellow-ish, fabric thing. And by the way, I can totally see a body wash smelling like this (Not a good nor bad thing necessarily) thus my surprise how some people hate it, but I guess its the skin.

Tauer Phtaloblue (marine paint color). Unisex with top notes of an oh so pleasing herb and lavender accord. Heart notes are two of my favorites -orange blossom and geranium. Base notes are amber, cedar. sea and sand. I was sure there was ambergris in this one but it is not listed in the notes. Still, this is a lovely day on the water. Longevity 6+ hours. A must try if you love aquatics.

This is the sea but with a lot of seaweed. It's a cold sea in the southern Pacific or north Atlantic. Think of a cold beach, with green algae left on the shore. DON'T THINK OF TROPICAL BEACH. This is a beach in Winter in southern Chile or Canada.

It's a very chemical smell, but not necessarily in a bad way. To me it smells like rubbing alcohol right before it dries on a surface. It's polarizing. You'll either love it or hate it. I only like it.

For my skin, it was bergamot and lemon forward, light lavender, savory herbal backnote, cedar and tonka. Reminiscent of fresh laundry in the middle. Did not get fennel.

Phtaloblue somehow made me think of an indoor pool. The clean rectangular shape, the chlorinated water, and the orderly blue and white tiles. It's an evocative fragrance for sure, and truly unique--I can't think of any comparison in the blue fragrance genre. However, this does not smell like something you put on your body. It's too reminiscent of a candle, bar of soap, or air freshener for me to want to buy a larger size. Edit 6/14/21: I misjudged this fragrance. The soapy note is still present to me, but it's a lovely, serene blue and green scent that manages to completely circumvent the usual aquatic pitfalls. I could easily reach for this in warm weather, and it's probably not a total crowd pleaser, but who cares?

At first it's kind of masculine and fresh, not salty at all sadly, but then it starts morphing into Acqua di Sale's ingredient (myrtle I believe) that smells kind of sweet and pretty much floral in a non-girly way. Must be the fennel-orange blossom combo. Marine fragrance this just isn't.

First, a disclaimer is in order: I firmly believe that Tauer are competent perfumers who know what they're doing and that they're fully capable of realizing their vision for each of their fragrances -- I guess this was supposed to smell this way. And different strokes for different folks, obviously. Now, for my subjective opinion: this is one of the most awful things I have ever smelled. The combination of organic, decomposing vileness and stifling synthetics is second only to surströmming, which basically destroyed my life for a brief moment -- after smelling that Swedish delicacy for the first time, I just had to go to sleep and be done with that particular day. Phtaloblue was only slightly more bearable. If you're ever in a position where you have to persuade someone that euthanasia should be free and legal everywhere, just spray them with Phtaloblue a couple of times and they're almost guaranteed to immediately start calling upon whatever higher power they believe in to strike them down where they stand. So yeah, a perfectly safe blind buy. Get it for your grandma, get it for your boss, get two for your parole officer.

I had to see why the reviews are so controversial, and as soon as I tried it I said "ah, of course, yes." It's like getting hit in the face with a blast of seawater that is completely dry, like just the salt, aerosolized, eyewatering and physically painful -- unfortunately, then it dries down to the flattest possible synthetic fresh linen, like a cleaning product or laundry soap. There's a sickeningly floral note that comes across like public restroom air freshener. Not quite powdery, more straight up diapery. Not that it has any fecal or urinary notes, just the type of fragrances that might be used in these contexts to cover them up. It is an immersive experience -- like standing in a janitorial closet. It does smell clean and fresh and slightly chemical but not in the way that you would want if you were looking for a "slightly chemical" fragrance (too subtle, overpowered by organic herbals/florals). Still, there is something truly unique in that first few seconds before it dries. It feels like a violation of physics, like salt shouldn't be able to behave that way, to become a scent.

Marine and deep complexity seldom go hand in hand. In this case I feel Phtaloblue fails to ameliorate the intensity of courmarin with citrus and aquatic notes. On initial application there's a hefty wallop of sea and spice which matures to a cloying blend of fennel and courmarin that I find repulsive. I respect what Tauer is trying to do here, however, I feel that Nishane actually pulls it off with EGE / ΑΙΓΑΙΟ - a highly sophisticated take on marine complexity. Subtlety isn't really in Tauer's wheelhouse, but as long as you're here for it it's worth a sample. Longevity: 18/20 Projection: 17/20 Sillage: 18/20 Actual scent: 4/20 Overall score: 14.25/20

Getting nothing but intense cloying aldehydes/lactones. There's a lot more green than blue in here. Not getting any citrus. Heavy. Disappointed by the perfumer's description. If I had to accept that it's a blue, then it's a very synthetic-plasticky blue.

Orange blossom bomb that I found quickly very annoying and quite nauseating. It reminds me of my grand mother's perfume. 4/10

I created an account just to write this review. I’ve smelled a lot of things in my life. Some smell great like the expression of the rind from perfectly ripe orange. I especially love the complex relationship of ocean and sand. The smells of sea and earth. I’ve smelled some not so great things too whose images I will spare the reader. Overall, I have a great relationship with my nose and the many pleasures it grants the human experience. I wouldn’t even call myself a connoisseur of smells but I will take the title of an amateur - neither a particularly devout worshipper of smell nor one atheistic of scent. Phthalo blue is by far, the most abhorrent, the most toxic, the most bone chilling smell I’ve ever had the extreme displeasure of coming across. Every whiff is an electric graveyard shocking the core of my soul. Neither god nor the bowels of an abyssal hell can recreate this feeling that Phthalo blue gives me. The only way I can describe it is that it smells like rancid static off an old tube tv. It smells like the metallic off-rust you taste after a problematic dental visit. I’ve developed something even worse than the knowledge of this perfume’s existence. I keep it in a special drawer. I smell it when I want to feel pain. I want to smell my mortality. And I do. I am the slave and the master. I am the flagellant and the prisoner; Phthalo blue is my barbed switch. I do not know what black magic Mr. Tauer used to concoct this poison but I hope that I am passed when he makes the next one.

The trouble with an indie perfumer trying to do a “new twist” on an aquatic perfume is that aquatic perfumes are inherently simple, synthetic, and cheerful, and most attempts to vary the formula wreck what Cool Water got right. Tauer Perfumes’ Phtaloblue is outright repellent. It mixes a wallop of the the synthetic “aquatic” note of calone with a strange, herbal, pungent scent here called fennel but not much like the actual plant. It may actually just be leaning into the musky off-notes that show up when you smell sufficiently high concentrations of some of these “fresh” aromachemicals. It’s bizarre, unfriendly, and neither reminds me of the actual sea nor the “soapy fresh” scent of a canonical aquatic. I suspect there are people who like the sporty-fresh scents but think they should be getting something fancy, expensive, and “different,” so they try to get a twist on aquatic perfumes from one of the greats like Andy Tauer. If this is you: stop. Think about your life. Think about your choices. Maybe someday someone will find something new and cool to do with calone, but I’ve never seen it work yet. If you like aquatics, stick with Cool Water or Nautica Voyage or something, which are perfectly good, and stop encouraging niche perfumers to mutilate nice normal perfumes, jack up the price, and call them art.

I don't get anything aquatic at all here. It smells eucalyptusy and medicinal on me, and completely linear. I kept hoping it would evolve into something I could wear but no dice. Definitely an "ugh! get it off me!" scrubber. I dislike it so much that I'm getting rid of my 5ml tester.

Okay, so, small little thing. The opening smells like that weird fishy smell you get from little specialty fish shops. It is nauseating to me. Reminds me of going to buy fish for my dad's fish tank. I absolutely can not wear this. That fishy oily scent will not go away.

I love Andy Tauer and his creations but this was a scrubber for me sadly... and with this I have discovered how much I hate calone. I also don't get anything aquatic out of this?

It must be the fennel, but it hits me with a wintergreen edge in the opening that just reminds me too much of sitting too close to someone wearing hemorrhoid cream.

this is quite repulsive vs the other Tauer creations which I enjoyed sampled.. Just does not smell like an aroma i want to have on me.