On a recent trip to the city, I zipped through Sephora to pick up a thing or two and just scout out what was new. As I was heading for the door, a batch of familiarly shaped bottles along the wall caught my eye and made me pull a U-turn. Were those Atelier Cologne bottles, all sitting pretty in a row? Why, yes — yes, they were. Now you all might have known that this line was at Sephora, but I’m sort of under the proverbial rock, so it was news to me.
I looked over the lineup, thinking I had sniffed them all (except for the vetiver one, and I’m just not big on vetiver), but at the very end, the sly little bottle of Rose Anonyme winked at me, beckoning me over. Well, I am a partially reformed rose hater, so I thought –- what the heck? Alas, I couldn’t spritz immediately as I was a human patchwork of scents from my run through Neiman Marcus, but I felt sure the sweetheart SAs of Sephora wouldn’t mind making me a sample. And true to form, they did, bless them. I only spritzed it once a few days later, got crazy-busy and didn’t have time to really analyze it, but I really liked what I did smell, and not once did it 
have me thinking any unpleasant thoughts. Will definitely do a re-try when I have time to enjoy it from start to finish.
Speaking of roses, I popped into Lush (now an outpost at Macy’s; sadly, the stand-alone store in the mall has closed) to try the Rose Jam shower gel that I’ve heard folks carrying on about. I tried it on my hand with the SA and a bowl of warm water and enjoyed it, so I bought the smallest bottle, but have yet to give it a go in the shower. We’ll see how that does.
BTW, have any of you tried Lush’s limited edition Rose Jam perfume? If so, would love to hear what you think about it.
Oh, my — three mentions of rose in one post -– sheesh, you would think I was a rose lover from way back, wouldn’t you?
Anyhoo, what about you? Have you found any treasures or neat items in your mainstream travels?
Wierd. I got some ofthe rose jam bath stuff after reading raves about it. \to me, it smells like rotting roses….
Oh, no, Jen — so sorry to hear this. But don’t feel bad, I’m sure you’re not alone. Not everything is going to work on everyone. Think of it as $$ saved in the future, right?
Hi Ann!!! I’m totally a partially reformed rose hater. There are some that I can tolerate…but most end up sour and awful on me. With all the buzz about the Rose Jam shower gel, I purchased a bottle a couple of weeks ago. I also picked up a L’Occitane Rose 4 Reines hand cream (!?). And I’ve worn both Guerlain Rose Barbare and Encens Mythique in the past few weeks…and loved them. Hmmm…what is happening to me???? 😉
As for the Rose Jam shower gel, my DH walked upstairs after I’d showered with it, and said, “What smells like spilled beer?” Haha. I think it smells more like baby powder – smells great. But after he said “spilled beer”, I could see the connection. But too funny, huh?
Howdy, Karin!! Too, too funny about the “spilled beer!” My DH would run off with it and I’d never see the bottle again, ha! We should create the Reformed Rose Haters club, shouldn’t we? Your rose choices are nice (but I haven’t tried that hand cream). Have you tried Amouage Lyric or Portrait of a Lady?
I’m a big fan of the Rose Jam shower gel, as well as Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner, which is the same scent, so I figure the Rose Jam perfume is probably just about the safest blind buy ever. I’ve already missed UPS twice while I was gone for the holiday, so I have to make sure I’m home to get my bottle today. Luckily my apartment complex is at the end of the UPS guy’s route, so I’m usually home from work well before he arrives.
Hi, Jennifer! I have a little sample of the Ro’s, so need to give that a try, but it does seem a little wasteful to just rinse it off, but … Anyway, please do report back and let us know what you think of the perfume — would love to hear your review of it!
With the Ro’s, I usually don’t rinse it off. I like to use it before bed like a regular lotion. My skin can be pretty dry so it just soaks it up. As for the perfume, the lemon note, as well as the lemony/soapy top notes from the rose absolute, come through much more than they do in the shower gel or the moisturizer. That’s for about the first hour or so, and it cuts the sweetness a bit. After about the first hour, it gets closer to the shower gel and is pretty linear after that.
Thanks, Jennifer, good to know. I was hoping that if I put on the Ro’s and left it on, that my hands wouldn’t fall off 🙂 And I’m glad to hear about how the perfume plays out, so thanks for reporting back for us.
Hey there Ann,
I use the LUSH Honey shampoo and their UltraBalm to keep my fragrance stable. I haven’t bought or tried much new mainstream lately but I did like the men’s Bettega Veneta.
Portia xx
Howdy, Portia! is that Lush one of the “Honey, I … (shrunk the kids, etc.) ones? I need to spend more time in the Lush corner of Macy’s. Also need to sniff the men’s BV; if it’s even half as good as the women’s, it’ll be a winner
The BV is only half as good as the women’s but it IS a winner.
And no, the LUSH is justy called HONEY, I think it is a shampoo only, not in the range. It’s like chocolate honey to my nose and there is some amberish something too.
Portia xx
I’m waiting for the USPS to bring me my Rose Jam shower gel too. Can’t wait.
I went sniffing at the mall recently and found that Esprit d’Oscar is still one of the nicest things on a lower-end department store shelf. The newest Lauder, Modern Muse, isn’t bad either (though I didn’t try it on skin, and I well know that Lauders often start off great on me and then as the base begins to appear, 2-3 hours later, make me feel nauseated).
Hiya, Mals! I really like the Esprit d’ Oscar as well; very feminine and ladylike. The EL wasn’t too bad on me, but I definitely understand — if it makes you queasy later on, best to give it a pass.
i’m a non-secret rose lover and Atelier Cologne Rose Anonyme is one of my favorite roses these days!
and how I wish i could try that lush Rose Jam
Lucas, I’m glad to see another fan of the Atelier rose. I can’t wait to fully test it. I think Surrender to Chance has Lush Rose Jam samples that you could try.
I bet StC has a sample of Rose Jam. But I’m in Poland, too far away for a single sample 😛
I haven’t make it to the mall come recently but did manage to track down Bath and Body Works Cucumber Melon. I haven’t worn Cucumber Melon in ages and had to ask a lady to what happened to it. She said that it really wasn’t that popular anymore. To tell the truth, it may not be the hot seller that it once was 10-15 years ago, it put B&BW on the map and is still one of their staples. BTW, managed to get said Cucumber Melon stuff for $6 a bottle. That stuff is Christmas gift stuff though.
Yay! So glad you found the Cucumber Melon. I don’t think I’ve ever smelled it, but didn’t live anywhere close to a BBW back then. Enjoy your long-lost love!
How timely is this post…I am waiting for the postman to deliver my Rose Jam perfume too! I caved and bought this because I make soap and had found a dupe of this in a fragrance oil. The soap smells gorgeous, look forward to the perfume.
Ah, Jackie, they say great minds think alike 🙂 Lucky you to have a bottle winging its way to you. And that soap does sound wonderful. Mmmmm. Enjoy!
Hi! I haven’t been out in forever, but I did go to CVS recently and found these really cute nail polishes from Revlon, called the Perfumerie line. They are scented and the two I picked up smell good; the scent comes out when the polish is on the nail and it is faint but present. Kind of fun. I don’t think there’s a rose? Not sure.
Hey, dear, hope you are getting around better and had a nice Thanksgiving. Those nail polishes do sound very fun — now if only I had long enough fingernails to put them on, ha!
Would you consider Marni Rose mainstream? It’s currently exclusive to Saks and if it follows the distribution of original Marni, more stores will have it in a 3-6 months. There it is, ROSE, again! Also, a good number of the Hermes perfumes are at Sephora as well.
As to Rose Jam perfume, I am eagerly awaiting my bottle!
Hi, lady — so nice to see you! I don’t see why not — especially as the original Marni is now at Nordstrom and will probably be at Sephora eventually. Have you tried the Marni Rose, and if so, what did you think of it? And you are right — Hermes is well-represented at Sephora. Enjoy your Rose Jam when it arrives!
Haju, you’ll have to tell me everything about Lush Rose Jam, ok?
The new Old Spice flavor (sorry, fragrance), Hawkthorn, in the body wash form. Sort of a musky incensey cocoa, only more sheer (and soapy, obvs) than that might suggest. Whatever’s in it, I think it smells fab. Actually, I suspect it has the same “chocolate” aroma-chemical as Axe Dark Temptation, which is another guilty pleasure of mine. *spritzes on Chanel Coromandel as compensation*
Sorry, HawkRIDGE, not Hawkthorn. Whatever. Hawk-something. It has a hawk on the bottle! That’s the one. #drunk
Darryl, that sounds like a cool body wash. I’d be tempted to try it myself — or do you think it’s too masculine for a woman? And yay on the Coromandel — what a great scent and I know you smell amazing in it!
LOL! Darryl, drunk or sober, you smell GREAT! xoxo
I’ve been buying my (youngish) teenage sons Old Spice shower gels – Wolfthorn and Champion – and they’re really nice. (I particularly like Champion, which has this nice cuddly tonka bean angle.) They’re both too masculine for me, but my taste leans notoriously femme.
Oh man, I love the Rose Jam shower gel, and didn’t even know there was a perfume version until I read this… and it’s out of stock online with nary a Lush store nearby. Dangit.
Never fear — Surrender to Chance has samples so you can try it out. Glad to see another shower gel fan — can’t wait to try mine for my A.M. shower.
I really love mixing a bit of the Rose Jam shower gel with a bit of their Tramp shower gel, which is moss and patchouli scented, for a fruity chypre type effect that I just love, and I use their violet scented Daddy-O shampoo, which is all very happy olfactory combination for me.
I hope you enjoyed your shower!
Wow! Those all sound so lovely. Thanks for the heads-up — I really need to spend more time at Lush.
Snagged my bottle of the Rose Jam perfume right away and I am completely addicted! It’s a sweet candy-like rose on me and there’s a point about ten minutes after I spray that things get a little harsh and weird but it settles back into the yummy pretty quick so I can live with that 🙂
Speaking of Lush, just discovered that Dirty is almost a dead ringer for Grey Flannel! I’ve got the solid of Dirty on one wrist and the EDT of GF on the other and they are almost identical for me. I’m pretty new to my perfume addiction so being able to pick out what smells like what is pretty exciting stuff!
Ooh — lucky you!! The perfume sounds yummy. And that’s too funny about the Dirty / Grey Flannel — it sounds like you’ve got a good nose there!