Vanilla Flash

Oh my Lord! This is STUNNING! Andy Tauer is a God!!! Vanilla Flash is indeed a different take on vanilla. After several disappointing blind buys of recent, I requested a sample to be included with my purchase of this perfume so I sprayed my little sample, with my fingers and toes crossed. HOPING for a successful purchase. Well, I'm absolutely in love with this. On first spray, I was a little worried it was maybe going to be a little too 'green' but within seconds, that Andy Tauer signature came thru with a strong reminder of his classic 'L'Air du desert Maracain' which is a beautiful perfume, representative of a hot Moroccan desert breeze, unlike anything that I smell in other high end perfumes, (the 'Tauer' sig) followed by a dark vanilla, not sweet but stunningly cozy. (L'Air du Desert Marocain, I believe is Andy Tauer's best seller.) A 'must have' for niche perfume lovers. So, if you took LdDM and added a splash of Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille, you'd have Vanilla Flash! (Or something similar) I'm also grateful for the AFFORDABLE and SENSIBLE 30ml bottle size! ($99AUD @ mensbiz, authorised Australian stockists of Andy Tauer and Tauerville fragrance lines. The review below this describes the perfume beautifully. There's nothing I can add to that other than I too get superb performance and excellent longevity. Big YES from me! Just divine! Seriously divine, a real winner for me, and it's right up there in my 'most adored' perfume list. EDIT, the rest of the 'Tauerville Flash' line is well worth checking out too. Incense Flash, Amber Flash, Fruitchouli Flash, Rose Flash and Tuberose Flash. :)

STC was having a white flower/vanilla samplethon, so off I went! I really enjoy Tauer perfumes; they all have something "in common"--the Tauerade, that is a little chemical, a little acrid, pungent and peppery. It's not for everyone, but I like it. I love the incense series and his roses. I'm not a big rose fan, so the dry down with Tauerade in the rose is quite nice and there is always a smoky burnt aspect--again, that I like. At first spray, I got the vanilla--but then Flash quickly moved into something else. I don't really get a lot of rose or patch. The pepper shouts to me, and then, in the dry down wisps of vanilla appear here and there; they are not the typical gourmand sweet vanilla (THANK goodness), but a dry vanilla and tobacco quality without sweet aspects, more of that Tauer base. Vanilla is not my thing, but I wanted to explore it in a different way, and this succeeds in "Not your mother's vanilla." Actually, that should be, "Not your daughter's vanilla..." This is vanilla with a difference; you won't smell like suntan lotion, or "hippie" vanilla roll-on, or some kind of vanilla body spray. It's quite nice, different, spicy/pungent woody vanilla--but very, very light and evanescent. The latter is a problem--this goes on huge for all of 30 seconds, but dies down quickly to a low humming, on and off again skin scent. It is not big. Just when I thought it was "gone"--it came back. When I went to bed, I could smell whiffs of it off my pillow. I like it, but I'm not FBing. When my sample is gone, I'll be back to my Tauer Desert Marocain.

The first Tauer fragrance I've ever tried... At first it was much too rosy for my taste, a very in your face deep rose. After a little while it starts to transform into a boozy, vanilla tobacco leaves scent, quite lovely. I need to test this more to be sure, but it's pretty good if you're looking for a simple tobacco/vanilla scent but still want something "perfumy" smelling, hence the strong rose theme. The rose does tone down as it dries which is nice if you're not too keen on the floral end. In my mind as I smell this I imagine a fine tobacco shop wafting the aroma of sweet blends of tobacco leaves flavored with the richest vanilla from a far away land...as you walk outside that scent mixes in harmony with the rose bouquets that adorn a florist wagon nearby. It's such a soft aroma, you can almost "smell" the softness of VF as it wafts off your skin to caress your senses. Vanilla Flash is a happy medium for folks who are looking for a good "beginners" tobacco, vanilla, combo fragrance but not looking to delve into the (easy to get lost) world of exotic niche perfumery, no Vanilla Flash keeps it simple, to the point, but delivers what you would want from a niche fragrance: a well crafted scent that develops into something wonderful on your skin. If you love the notes of tobacco, vanilla, or bold rose, then this should be on your test list. It is definitely worth a good try! Unique and beautiful, this will generate compliments. The perfect romantic scent in my opinion...I feel inspired to write when I smell this.

Vanilla Flash was such a wonderful surprise to me! I'll admit that I tried it because of all the Tobacco Vanille comparisons I was seeing. Vanilla Flash is is not a TV clone, but I do understand why some people mention it as a similar less-expensive alternative. I actually think I might **gasp** prefer Vanilla Flash. My bank account certainly does. It opens with dry vanilla and tobacco, just lovely and fresh, not at all a cupcake scent. I get the barest hint of soft rose in the background, a true rose garden smell instead of a synthetic rose chemical mess. After a bit, bam, it transforms into almost pure patchouli for a brief time, with the vanilla and tobacco coming back to play softly in the background. Then, bam, another transformation, this time the tobacco steps up and the patchouli and vanilla take a backseat. Then at the end, everything rounds out and becomes balanced again for the duration. I love all of the stages! I couldn't stop sniffing my wrists throughout the day, and more than once I unwittingly exclaimed "Damn I smell good!" I was worried a slight bit during the brief omg-patchouli stage because it was on the edge of being overwhelming (in the way Angel overwhelms me), but it never crossed that line. Vanilla Flash had great longevity on me, 6+ hours with one light application. Projection is only moderate, but that's ok with me. I prefer to walk into a room before my fragrance does. Vanilla Flash is just lovely to me, and I expect that it will be one of my frequently worn favorites.

This reminds me of Tauer's other scents (particularly rose khandar and rose chypree) very, very strongly. I guess it's the tauerade or whatever. But to me this is a GOOD thing, as I can't get enough of his stuff! It is also similar to TF's Tobacco Vanille, as others have noted, but I don't find it to be a dupe or even overly similar. TV comes off as much more cinnamon candle/clove-y smelling than this does. This is also not as syrupy sweet, it's dryer and softer. I kind of wish this had the punch of his other Rose Flash, but it's more of a skin scent.. may have been more appropriate for him to release it in winter as it does not seem like a summer fragrance at all to me. Still, it's gorgeous and definitely worth buying a full bottle. Longevity is great too, just wish it had more projection. Do note that at around $60 for 30ml, it is less expensive than his other scents, which is nice. Overall, recommended. Edit- I just got a bottle of Fumerie Turque, and upon smelling it I thought to myself "I've smelled this somewhere before." Turns out, Vanilla Flash is pretty similar to Fumerie Turque. I'm sure I am not the only one who would think so, as they share many notes. Worth trying this one if you are interested in FT but can't afford it, as this is very inexpensive compared to $300 for a bell jar.