Rose Perfume – Guide to the Best Rose Perfumes

Rose perfumes, yeah!!  The gardenia perfumes were so much fun, hey, let’s do the best rose perfumes!  

 

This should be a lot more contentious because there are a LOT more rose perfumes around with some incredibly unique styles. 

Same rules as best gardenia – the must be rose-centric, not a rose blend.  There are approximately 4,000 perfumes that use rose as a heart note, but I’m not considering them unless rose is the dominant note -meaning I have to get whacked in the nose by a few thorns before I am putting this in the rose perfumes pile.  

If you feel strongly I totally missed the boat on a rose-centered perfume that you love, let me know.  I may disagree with you, I may think it fell in some middle ground and isn’t a personal fave of mine or I may slap myself on the head and go, crap!  If so, I’ll do an updated revision in a few weeks and I’ll include it if I found it rose-worthy.  You may appeal my rosy decisions to the authorities at roseperfumejudgingfinalword.com. 

This will be divided into a few categories – mainstream rose perfumes, realistic rose perfumes, guy rose perfumes, and reallyf*ckingexpensive rose perfumes, which will include any rare, discontinued or you can only get it in Malaysia rose perfumes, and some other categories I’ll just make up as I go along.   Just go with it.

 

Rose Perfumes – Thorns and All

Modern classic rose perfumes –

There are two in this category that take the prize for me – Yves Saint Laurent Paris, Creed Fleur de The Bulgare and Guerlain Nahema.   And they fall on different ends of the spectrum and kind of meet in the middle.  Paris is all brilliance and light, there are no shadows for much of the time you wear Paris, until late in the day. Guerlain Nahema is a little dark, it has a longing with its rose, a velvety sensuousness.  The best news with both of them, the reformulations haven’t destroyed them. Changed a little, yes, but current formulations are not something to get all toss-potty about.  Honorable mentions:  Stella, Caron Parfum Sacre, Caron Nuit de Noel, Annick Goutal Rose Absolute, Agent Provocateur, Caron Or et Noir…   AND Chanel No. 5 and Patou Joy (I don’t think about these last two being primarily about rose, but just can’t take the number of comments that will point out that I didn’t include it – yeah, I caved to anticipated, imaginary peer pressure, I’m weak and ashamed!).

 

Smothered in oud rose perfumes –

Montale Black Oud, Czech & Speake Dark Rose.  These really aren’t my thing, so I’m including them, as these are two of the ones I like about as well as anything, and there are about 3,000 of these just available from Montale, not to mention all of the oud and attar companies that combine them.  My apologies to those of you that are big fans of this, but I really, really just can’t tell the difference between most of them.  

 

But there is one …

 

By Kilian Rose Oud.  You’d think once they did the Pure Oud, Amber Oud, Incense Oud there would just be no reason at all to do a Rose Oud.  Let’s all take a moment of silence and contemplate this fragrance.  I adore Pure Oud, it is my singular favorite oud go-to – well, along with Amouage Homage and Amouage Tribute and a couple of the Xerjoff Oud Stars – but it’s my favorite of my favorites, it is all comfort and depth, and it never fails to make me deeply content to the point that I arch my back and just start purring.  I loved the treatment of Amber and Incense, but we aren’t talking about those.  The Rose!  I mean, dammit!  It just wriggles up out of the oud and takes flight, leaving trails of cinnamon and cardamom in its wake.  Unfortunately, this runs perilously close to the Mortgage the House to Get Them Rose Perfumes, but the 50 ml refill isn’t as bad as it could be at $185.

 

Rose Whores (slutty, dark rose perfumes) –

There are so many great ones in this category, you can just throw your credit card in a pile of these, and whichever one it hits, buy it, and you’ll probably be happy. But!  They are all so different and smutty in different ways.  Serge Lutens Rose de Nuit is probably my favorite – well, maybe not, but it’s so damn dirty and amazing and smutty, you just feel like you should go tango with some smoldering hot Spanish guy that will break your heart.  

I’m going to try and not gnash my teeth and curse too much, but Gucci L’Arte di Gucci is discontinued and whyyyyy?????? Shit, Gucci, you make flankers of Envy, Guilty and that crap Flora (Oh, I don’t hate flora, I just don’t understand why they made it) and that really boring new Premiere crap and throw L’Arte di Gucci in the trashcan?!?! Did Tom Ford steal it on his way out and turn it into Noir de Noir?  You so suck, Gucci, and I am not forgiving you for this. You have a perfectly great rose chypre with a soupcon of civet in it, which is pretty much perfect and then stop.making.it.  Dumb.

 Amouage Lyric Woman probably should have gone in the heartbreakingly beautiful category, but it’s smutty enough to keep these other rose whores company.  Lyric is impossibly big, she is one big old rose diva, and it’s probably one of the most addictive fragrances I have. I don’t wear it very often because I get distracted  It’s spicy and sensual and has some skin kind of smell to it that blends in with the incense, and it’s incredibly swoony for me. This is one of those perfumes that I just give myself over to once I put them on.  I tried to save it for the end of some of my days of testing for this post because I just go with it and quit trying to figure it out because, well, I just don’t care, and then nothing else gets written until I detox with a long shower.  

I’m going to toss some more Rose Whore favorites out there because if I keep saying why I love each one, this post will be about 7,000 words long.   Miller Harris Rose en Noir, Tom Ford Noir de Noir, Tauer Une Rose Chypree and Incense Rose and the Vermeille, pretty much all of Andy’s roses and probably a dozen more.

 

Perfume shops that have made rose perfumes their obsession –

Les Parfums de Rosine, A Dozen Roses, Juliette has a Gun.  I love a bunch of these in every line.  They plump up every perfume with roses, dip them in fruit, in mint, in saffron, in sugar, dip them in sauce and serve them on crackers.  If you seriously just want a perfume company dedicated to roses, these three will overdeliver.

 

Realistic rose perfumes –

I expect some argument here, but these are my picks because how we perceive a real rose depends on lots of things, like, well, individual taste, perception, biases.  I’m not even going to explain it, just saying it.  CB I hate Perfume Tea Rose, Creed Fleur de The Bulgare, Comme des Garcons Red Rose.

 

Heartbreakingly beautiful rose perfumes –

These are the ones that make you close your eyes and sigh because they’ve taken rose and made it better somehow.  I’m tossing in By Kilian Rose Oud here again just because I think it should be on a few lists.   I know MDCI Rose di Siwa is billed as for a young woman, and I really just don’t care, this is fresh and dewy and so freaking pretty it takes my breath away.  I had this to say about it when I reviewed it back in 2007 – when we were still calling the MDCIs Mad Dogs and they didn’t have real names and I believed Claude Marchal when he told me he was 83 (until I met him for hot chocolate in Paris), so we nicknamed this “Pretty Princess” –  and nothing since then has changed my mind – 

This is the softest of pink linens and velvet and satin with a blond-haired cherub sitting in the middle of it. If you say a bad rose perfumes that should have a pink ferrariword about this, you’ll make the Baby Jesus cry. It’s like soft, pink babies, you can’t stop sniffing it. At first, I didn’t think this would be for me, no matter how pretty it was, but I’ve changed my mind… this is the one I have to have. The sillage on it is just stunning. I waft through the world in the Ferrari Daddy bought me, trailing pink furs, pink pearls, and tinkly silvery-pink giggles.”

Hey, even March-the-rose-hater  didn’t hate it, just thought she’d been kidnapped by aliens or pods.  

Guerlain Rose Nacree du Desert is all swirling musk and leather with that elegant Guerlain swishy elegance.  Now that they’ve freed it and it’s in the Guerlain boutiques in the United States, we can think about it in “gettable” terms.  Ormonde Jayne Ta’if has that gorgeous Ormonde Jayne juice and infuses the rose with pepper, saffron and dates. Ta’if honestly makes my heart ache.  So yeah, all of the rose perfumes in this category were made to

 

CRUSH other rose perfumes dreams

 

Mortgage the house to get them rose perfumes –

Shiseido White Rose (apparently only sold in Japan and not inexpensively either), MDCI Rose di Siwa (yeah, it gets on two lists too!), discontinued Shiseido Nombre Noir, and Amouage Homage and Amouage Tribute.

 

Rose Freak (rose perfumes that bend reality and probably taste) – 

Strange Invisible Perfumes has an absolute lock on this category with Black Rosette.  Mint, tea, leather rose – what’s not to love?  Freaks me out every time I put it on, until it dries down just a little, and then I fall back in love with this little Goth British rose.  Here’s what I said about it back in 2008 (I swear, routinely digging crap I’ve written out the archives is at turns embarrassing and mirthful).

This is like Annick Goutal Eau du Fier/CdG Tea with some Wrigley’s Spearmint gum wrapped around it on the open — weird and sharp and pretty wonderful.  The rose peeps out…  of the mouth of a dragon, all fire and smoky blackness, with that same stick of Wrigley’s tucked behind its green scaly ear.  Strangely perfect.”

Rose perfumes for boys –

I think there are a shittonne of great rose fragrances that trend unisex or masculine, but the two that I think no guy would ever even raise an eyebrow about once they put it on are Le Labo Rose 31 and Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady.  Le Labo Rose 31 has become the definitive rose fragrance for men, and about 40,000 Basenotes splits of the 500 ml bottle are more than enough proof. With good reason, but I can’t tell you what it is.  I get it when I use it in The Laundress detergent, but some ingredient they use for that fragrance goes all anosmic-whack for me, and I get nothing but alcohol.  I’ve read enough reviews and smell how amazing it is in my sheets and pillowcases, but that’s as close as I’ll get.  

That Frederic Malle, making a guy rose perfume and slapping Portrait of a Lady on it.  It’s not all guy either, but Portrait of a lady does not screw around, it goes right into rose, mainlining it like you needed it to start your heart.  It is not sweetness and Pink Ferraris, it’s rose and ashes lit from within, glowing darkly with spiced warmth.  Of Malle’s roses, this is my unabashed favorite.  

Ropion Rulz All. 

Oh, for those that aren’t deeply into the arcana of perfumeville and have no idea who Ropion is, Dominque Ropion is the perfumer that did Portrait of a Lady.

 

Rose perfumes from indies and natural perfumers –

There are a LOT I’d love to include here because rose gets done so brilliantly in this area, and I could have included all of these in other categories, but I wanted to single them out so they didn’t get lost.  Kerosene Whips and Roses is smart and leathery, at times chafing and at times soothing.  Masochist much?  It’s brilliant and could have easily gone up there in the Rose Whores category.  Liz Zorn has done some great roses for Soivohle, Annabelle’s Rose, Cordovan Rose, but I’m giving it to Soivohle Rosa Sur Reuse.  Warm, rich, blackberry, thorns and dirt. Liz does great rose.  Neela Vermeire Mohur is spiced rose, India-style, which means it’s unlike everything else. There was a moment in India, when we were sitting and leaning up against the Taj Mahal, watching India fashion walk by – swirls of vivid color, children peeking out between trouser legs to look at us, there is a vivid rawness to India that is so otherwordly that it is opaque and soft as your eyes grow accustomed to it.  That’s Mohur, and it could have easily gone in two or three other categories, but it is a rose you don’t want to miss.

Then I went around and asked for other Posse writers recommendations because I know I’ve missed some, there are so many I should shove in somewhere, but you just have to stop at some point. I needed  Annick Goutal Ce Soir and a Jo Malone and and and….  At some point you have to stop, these are my favorites.

 

Best rose perfumes

Lady Agnew

March’s picks for best rose perfumes (yes, she hates rose, but if you ask her about it, she can’t help but tell you that she hates rose, then offers the only roses she does like – Rosine Ecume d’Rose?  The salty sea one.  I don’t want to WEAR it, but I  like it.  I’d wear the Rosine Rose d’Homme or whatever it’s called because to me it actually smells like Guerlain.  A classic Guerlain, not one of those crap LEs they keep throwing up now, e.g., La Petite Beluga Noir Carapace Napoleon or whatevs. Oddly, the one flat-out rose I love and wear regularly (wore it yesterday in the cool fall weather) is YSL Paris (I have a couple vintage bottles, they smell better to me than the current iteration.)  It’s weird, I know it’s a rose-centered frag, but it doesn’t smell like roses to me.  It smells like champagne in Paris, while wearing a couture silk ballgown in pale-petal pink.  I’ll send you the link, YSL Paris smells like this painting (on the right) Although for all I know Lady Agnew never got to Paris in her life.  But I bet she wanted to go.

Anita’s picks for best rose perfumeRosine Secrets du Rose.  Leathery rose.  All rose, though.  But not that cloying rose.  Rosine’s Rose d’Ete – a nice, slicey, sunshiney feel to it that tamps down the weird thing that happens to so many straight up roses – that sense that you are smelling a Baroque facsimile of a rose.  Best leather/rose EVAH?  Liz Zorn Cordovan Rose, which I’m going to wear tonight, as it just turned blustery and downright cold.  Imagine Ricardo Montalban, in his Cordoba, presenting you with 3 dozen blood red, full-blown roses.

Tom’s Picks for best rose perfume  –  Serge Lutens Sa Majeste la Rose.   A perfect, lovely wine-dark rose perfuming the evening after absorbing the summer sun.

Portia’s picks for best rose perfumesSoivohle Rosa Sur Reuse, Tallulah Jane Gothan, Tauer Une Rose Vermeille, Creed Fantasia de Fleurs , Annick Goutal Ce Soir Ou Jamais, Kerosene Whips & Roses by Kerosene, Neela Vermeire Mohur, By Kilian Rose Oud, Lush Imogen Rose, Olympic Orchids Ballets Rouges.

 Rose perfume sample sets and big, mostly complete lists of other rose-centric perfumes are at Surrender to Chance, also donors of some of the samples, some are from my personal collection..

  • Patty says:

    Klara, great taste, two of my faves too!

  • Klara says:

    What a great post and I see that my two favourites are included as well: Taif and Lyric.

  • Teri says:

    All my favs have been mentioned except for one….Divine’s Divine.

  • Undina says:

    You’ve mentioned all of my favorite roses so all I can do now is just to say: “Wow…”, I mean, “Hi!”.

  • Suzanne says:

    Wow, this really is a comprehensive list! I haven’t tried very many, but so far my favorite rose is Pacifica’s Persian Rose, I just love how bright and fruity of a rose it is, mixed with some sweet citrus and a hint of something warm and mysterious, incense or spices or something. I also like Chloe, it has a similar really pretty fruity rose note, and when the amber comes out it’s really gorgeous, but it can get annoyingly fresh other times.

    • Patty says:

      But I missed a bunch too! I don’t have any of the Pacificas, so I couldn’t include those, but I do need to get around to trying some of them!

  • Patricia says:

    I have very freshly become a craver for an interesting rose. I would like to try seductive,not heavy, but creamy, smooth, silky roses. From what I read, the ones that allure me are Paestum Rose, Rossy de Palma, Lipstick Rose, Briar Rose by Ineke, and Angel Gardin – Rose. I own Cabaret, which I consider more of a woody, incense fragrance, and Madness, which is quite interesting.

    • Patty says:

      I know several of those might fit what you want, as might Amouage Lyric woman, depending on how you like the spiced part of it.

  • reene says:

    My favorite rose perfumes are By Kilian Rose Oud, Guerlain Rose Barbare, Diptique Eau de Rose, and Chloe. I get compliments whenever I wear any of these. I am really a fledgling when it comes to fragrances so I’m always looking to learn more!

    • Patty says:

      Hey, looks like a lot of my list, but for some reason I just don’t think about Chloe as being rose, it’s so blended, but okay!

  • Bea Biro says:

    my absolute favourite rose scent is Andy Tauer’s Une Rose Chypree, a real modern classic

  • Lenya says:

    I wear Etat Libre d’Orange Rossy de Palma all the time. Sassy neon rose!

  • Caitlin says:

    Hey 🙂 I’d be interested to smell some o these. I love rose as a flavor, I’m sure it’d be delicious as a perfum as well!

    • Patty says:

      Okay, Caitlin! There are some weird differences between the rose in the garden and what they do it it in perfume, and sometimes it’s great and sometimes it’s not so great! 🙂

  • Ingeborg says:

    I find rose a tricky note in perfume, but would love to try some more. I own Une rose chypree from Tauer and plan to get Citizen Queen as soon as it is back in stock locally. Romantina has not been mentioned here, I think. To me it is a very realistic rose,but that means it is too sweet and pretty for my taste. I do like the darker roses when it comes to perfume for wearing, perhaps got tired of sweet rose after some scents with tea rose many years ago.

  • Peggy Pasquinelly says:

    A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

  • Sooz says:

    Love rose fragrances. My favourite ones are Rosarium Shiseido and Rose Royal Shiseido.

  • Linn says:

    What a fantastic guide! My favorite is American Beauty; smells just like the full, red roses I grew up with in the front yard of our house in the Swedish woods.

  • Joy Silva says:

    I love rose perfumes!

  • Juliette says:

    My fave are Rose Oud, Ta’if and Mohur. Latest discovery Lancôme Mille et une roses. A bottle is on its way to my collection too. Thanks for the draw!

  • Marcia Fife says:

    Years ago, while reading in a medical library, a woman came out from a back office and asked the receptionist, “Where are they??” The receptionist replied, “Where’s what?” “My roses.” came the response. It took me a few seconds, but I suddenly realized that it was probably my perfume, Tea Rose, that she smelled. Apparently, it filled the air with the fragrance of a rose bouquet!! 🙂

    I love rose fragrances and would enjoy discovering new ones.

  • Susan Lunde says:

    This is a lovely give-away. I thought I knew some good rose scents – apparently not! LOL. I just added a bunch of these to my ‘to-test’ list. Thanks for the post.

  • Karen Kinkel says:

    I am not a rose fan. When searching for a rose parfum for my mother the vendor suggested Paris from YSL. I definitely recognized the scent as being one of the most classical and somehow easily wearable rose scent. My mother did never really use it which made me try all kind of “rose scents” for her. I found a large number of samples (most of them being in Patty’s list) I intended to offer her after testing them myself. Nahema was one of those samples I really liked in the beginning due to a very green opening and an exceptionnel lasting power, however it was a little bit too much “Guerlain stamped” to my taste. I went for darker roses and agree with Patty on the absolute “dirty” side of Rose de nuit by Serge Lutens with an animalic side that comes close to repulsion. After my mother fall in love with Daim blond and I finally realized she was not into rose but chypre parfums, I discovered the most intriguing rose scent for myself: “Portrait of a Lady” by Frederic Malle. This one really surprised me by the image of crushed sheets of newspaper when starting a fire and a sensation of old wool on the skin evolving into a very dry patchouli holding a crispy incense rose that stays even after a shower. I guess this one will remain the unique rose scent in my parfum garderobe. However I loved the complex construction of Neela Vermeire’s Mohur on tissue but unfortunately could not keep it on my skin for more than an hour…

  • Sarah Slye says:

    I love rose perfumes! I especially love the essential oil.

  • farawayspices says:

    I don’t have an ultimate rose favorite, not just yet, anyway….I have a perfume that I am making now, an overripe, fruity rose. A rose in full, plump bloom, petals curling backward, not long after, the petals will begin to fall.

  • Michelle says:

    Oh my. I’ve only just begun looking for a rose perfume and this has me swooning!

  • Sandi L says:

    Please count me in:) Love NVC perfumes.

  • sherobin says:

    Rose is one of my favorite notes, so I love this list. A good one that I don’t think was mentioned is Krigler Manhattan Rose. It is beautiful, wearable, photorealistic dewy rose. My favorite would probably have to be SL Rose de Nuit, although L’arte di Gucci is pretty darn close. The one I wear most, though, is Stella, because it is a great, casual, everyday scent. I’d try them all if I could. Thanks for the draw!

  • Elizabeth says:

    My faves are YSL Paris, Estee Lauder Beautiful, and my huz likes Tauer Une Rose Chypre. I never liked rose in my teens and twenties but I love it now in my 30’s!

  • Elaine says:

    lyric woman is intoxicating and gorgeous! Thank you for this post.

  • Gabriella Berggren says:

    Thank you for an interesting read! My own favourite was not mentioned, however. I’ve been using it for years and it’s the first perfume I haven’t grown tired of after the first two bottles: Rose by Paul Smith. Although descriptions mention green tea, violet, magnolia, peony and cedarwood, the rose scent dominates without being the least bit cloying.

  • Merlin Arbor says:

    I nominate Frederic Malle’s Une Rose for most “bloomy” rose. When you wear it, it truly mimics the process of transformation from shy bud, to Valentine bud, to warm and open bloom, to the flagrantly fragrant blown-open Rose. It just keeps rising and opening more and more as the hours pass. I’m enchanted every time!

  • Madie says:

    I saved and saved and bought Lyric. I wear it EVERY day!
    This is my signature and the whole world knows it 🙂

  • Joe says:

    Wow… there are just SO many roses, and even if I list 15, there will be some left off unjustly.

    So for now, I’ll pick one dark and one light:
    * Montale Black Aoud
    * Rosine Un Zeste de Rose — this has been a favorite for me lately

    But really, I agree with many that you all have put on your lists. Thanks for the draw opp!
    :Flowers-for-you:

  • LindaB says:

    As with everything, I go through phases of loving all things rose and then not touching anything rose for months. I’m off rose for now, although this post made me remember why I do love it so much. My faves are YSL Paris (including some of those springtime flankers), Lancome 2000 et une Roses, Avon Rebel Rose (I know, ridiculous right?? Smells JUST like the Lancome though), OJ Ta’if, and POTL A.maze.

    Great post and thanks for entering me in the draw!

  • Joan says:

    More favorites: Cannabis Rose, 100% Love, Tocade, and Habanita. I should definitely try Lutens’ rose: I bet it’s wonderfully dark.

  • Joan says:

    Liaisons Dangereuses By Kilian?

  • Caryn Spriggs says:

    Wow I am glad Annick Goutal’s Ce Soir Ou Jamais finally got picked by someone (thank you Portia)! It is, by far, my favourite rose scent and I am actually wearing it today. For me it is the purest rose touched delicately by wisps of mystery. This is a great article and much appreciated by this dedicated rose lover.

  • Cynthia Chaney says:

    Oh this rose ho has some sniffing to do! I heart POAL and YSL Paris parfum.

  • Christine says:

    For realistic roses, I will reach for Sa Majeste or Lancome’s Mille et Une. For exhilarating roses, Paris. For soft, girly, feminine rose, Drole. Safran Troublant for gourmand rose. Nahema for dark, sexy rose. <3 roses! Thanks for a thought-provoking article 🙂

  • Jean says:

    I love almost all the roses of Les Parfums de Rosine. But, of course, there’s also Ta’if that my cousin gave me just a drop out of her bottle — I swoon on my chaise! And Serge Lutens gives these a run, too. Oh, I can’t pick just one favorite rose!

  • Milena says:

    Please do not include me in the draw, as I have tried most of the perfumes mentioned here. Of coarse I missed to smell the two heartbreakingly beautiful – Rose Oud and Rose di Siwa and I will correct that soon.

    I love dark, spicy ( Lyric and Noir de Noir) roses and today in honor of your post, I wore Noir de Noir.

    The rose perfume I was most disappointed with was Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie. I have tried a few years ago and It did not smell much different than the Rosa Damascena edt, that can be found at any souvenir shop in Bulgaria and costs a lot less. I may have to smell it again though and see how I feel it now.

  • Zoe says:

    Seems like a solid list, and I’d love to try some/all of these. My favorite rose so far is Lady Vengeance. On me the patchouli burns off quickly and I’m left with a clean, elegant red rose.

  • Katrin Hakkinen says:

    Hi!

    One of my favourite roses is Teo Cabanel’s Oha. I’d include it in the category of ‘heartbreakingly beautiful’. It’s got my heart but I am not so sure it’s popular in America
    (judging by the negative reviews it received from some Luckyscent customers). It is an elegant and dreamy combination of rose and cardamom.

  • Helena says:

    Oh, I forgot, Tauer’s Un Rose Chypree is great, too.

  • leslie says:

    “whacked in the nose by a few thorns” ! well, its Safran Troublant for me tho’ I’ve tiptoed trough the rosebeds on the Rosine site a couple few times and had a blast. i usually prefer the fresher, less spicy ones and (despite my decrepitude) am looking forward to trying the Rose de Siwa. ooooh, and if i magically win the draw, i look forward to trying them all!

  • Helena says:

    I think Sa Majeste La Rose is very realistic rose. It’s not only “pretty rose”, it’s also very sexy IMO. Thank you very much for this draw! Rose is my favorite note 🙂

  • Melissa Hathaway says:

    Wonderful idea. Count me in for the draw.

  • Jessi says:

    Loved reading your reviews. I see you have listed several new rose scents I now want to try. I am by means no expert to rose but have always respected rose. I will mention a few I have discovered recently that I didn’t see. Cartier’s Baiser Vole & Van Cleef & Arpels Feerie Rose Des Neiges are quite nice as well as Rose Spendid by Annick G. But that’s all I have to add. Thank you!!

  • Rene Groyer (@ReneGroyer) says:

    My favorite rose perfume is Stella by Stella McCartney.Its really not that typical old lady kind of rose you don’t want.

    • Patty says:

      Agree, she did a nice musky base on that that kept it pretty sexy. Stella is one of the best maintream accessible roses that don’t feel blue-haired. 🙂

  • Irina says:

    I would love to be entered this draw- I think it’s a great way to get to know better many fragrances
    for many years, I was convinced I do not love roses, till I found Andy Tauer’s URC
    thanks a lot

  • Devon H says:

    Ohhh this cheered me as I am laid up in the hospital right now. I love rose perfumes! A lot of these I haven’t tried but definitely agree on the Zorn, Tauer, Goutal, Montale, YSL Paris and several others 🙂 I think I love your slutty rose category LOL.

    • Patty says:

      Oh, Devon!!! Yikes, I hope you’r okay and recovering well, and I’m so glad this cheered you up!

      I love my slutty rose category. 🙂

  • OhLily says:

    I like rose blends alot. So far the soliflores don’t seem to like me much, but there are all sorts of niche roses that I have yet to try. Some faves so far are Stella Rose Absolute, OJ Ta’if, PdE Eau Sauve, Lyric, and Rosine’s Un Zeste de Rose.

    Thanks for the drawing, Patty – It’s absolutely mouthwatering!

    😀

  • Kandice says:

    Thanks for all the great suggestions! Please enter me in the draw as I’d love to try them all! (You know, between the gardenia piece and this piece on rose perfumes, my wish list just keeps getting longer and longer!)

    • Patty says:

      Absolutely, Kandice! Wish lists are great things to have!. My wish lists scare me because I keep thinking they should be shorter!

  • Anna says:

    Crazy! I just recently found a precious 75ml bottle of YSL Paris Fleur de Parfum at a gigantic antique fair outside of Eugene OR the weekend before last. It was unused and in it’s box. And I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with it again. I’ve been stalking YSL Paris reviews on my perfume blogs ever since. Paris enchanted me as a high school student, and I bought my first bottle over twenty years ago (way over 20 years ago…). I remember wearing it once to work. Big mistake. My boss (a jerk really), said out loud during stand up that something smelled like cat pee. When I confronted him, he said that I smelled like cat pee. It crushed me. Perhaps I applied a little too heavily? Perhaps he was the biggest jerk of all time? All I know is that that bottle of Fleur de Parfum smells divine and I’ve been squirting a single spray before I go to bed. Heaven in a bottle.

  • Anna says:

    Crazy! I just recently found a precious 75ml bottle of YSL Paris Fleur de Parfum at a gigantic antique fair outside of Eugene OR the weekend before last. It was unused and in it’s box. And I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with it. Paris enchanted me as a high school student, and I bought my first bottle over twenty years ago (way over 20 years ago…). I remember wearing it once to work. Big mistake. My boss (a jerk really), said out loud during stand up that something smelled like cat pee. When I confronted him, he said that I smelled like cat pee. It crushed me. Perhaps I applied a little too heavily? Perhaps he was the biggest jerk of all time? All I know is that that bottle of Fleur de Parfum smells divine and I’ve been squirting a single spray before I go to bed. Heaven in a bottle.

    • Patty says:

      Isn’t it cool when you fall back in love with something?!?!

      Your boss is a jerk. Paris does NOT smell like cat pee?!?! Sheesh, he’s crazy, ignore him.

  • Elaine says:

    I love Ta’if so much! I also really like layering it with Encens Flamboyant. How about Sisley Soir de Lune?

    • Patty says:

      Layer Ta’if with Encens? wow, that sounds brilliant! You know, I just don’t know that Sisley. None of them every agreed with me.

  • Elena says:

    I can’t believe that nobody mentioned Diptyque L’Ombre dans l’Eau. So beautiful, and so perfect for September. My favorite for the tomato leaf note.

  • Jennifer says:

    I was raised smelling rose -Mom’s fav was/isThe Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose ,which is low priced but smells a lot like SL ‘s rose -Sa La Majestie ?sp? at least to my nose.At about a tenth (or less!) of the price too! I also like TPW Rosebud (harder to find though).
    How about Penhaligon’s Elizabethan Rose? And in the chypre roses EL Knowing?
    I second(or third or whatever) Ungaro’s Diva, Malle’s Une Rose,everything Andy Tauer does with rose,Cannabis Rose by Fresh,and add Aromatics Elixir and it’s flankers and Coriander ,and Pierre Cardin’s Rose Cardin. I would also add Paloma Picasso’s fragrance to the rose -chypres and Patou’s EnJoy ,YSL Baby Doll+flankers ,as fruity rose scents. I’d love to be in the draw-to revisit some and experience others for the first time!

  • I LOVE rose scents, especially in warm weather. Some of my favourites are Le Labo Baie Rose 26 (which, according to my husband, makes me smell like a teenage party), Serge Lutens Sa Majeste La Rose wich I find carry just the right balance between innocent rose, sexy honey and even sexier wood, and really just any unremarkable, middle of the road musky rose, layered with Mandy Afteliers Oud Luban.

    • Patty says:

      Yeah for Sa Majeste, it gets a lot of love with good reason. I still haven’t tried that Baie Rose, it’s the only city exclusive that’s eluded me so far.

  • I LOVE rose scents, especially in warm weather. Some of my favourites are Le Labo Baie Rose 26 (which, according to my husband, makes me smell like a teenage party), Serge Lutens Sa Majeste La Rose wich I find carry just the right balance between innocent rose, sexy honey and even sexier wood, and just any unremarkable, middle of the road musky rose, layered with Mandy Afteliers Oud Luban.

  • Diana says:

    My absolute favorite rose is Serge Lutens Sa Majeste La Rose. For me, nothing comes close!

  • Lala says:

    I’m so glad you mentioned Mohur, my favorite! One lovely rose/patchouli combo that didn’t get mentioned is Hippie Rose by James Heeley. It’s full of sparkling girly rose goodness and it’s what I wish young women were wearing.

    • Patty says:

      Mohur is so gorgeous, seriously. When I tested those three, I didn’t think that would be the one i loved, but it was!

      I’m going to have to look around for the Hippie Rose. I know that’s a good one, but I just forgot it!

  • Lily says:

    I have to pour over your list to find a few to try – roses are sometimes hard for me to wear. I like the Guerlains, Rose Barbare and even Nuit d’Amour since it doesn’t have a trace of sourness. I even like – gasp – Balenciaga’s Florabotanica – it’s mainstream but it has a vegetal quality and is light-years better than other dept. store roses, Chloe L’Eau I’m looking at you!

    • Patty says:

      I have to smell that Florabotanica! I have a sample around here somewhere, but I’ve been covered in gardenia and roses the last two weeks, no room for anything else!

  • Kneale says:

    Hi Patty, my favorite roses lately have been Poussiere de Rose from les Parfums de Rosine, the MDCI Rose di Siwa, and Diptyque Eau de Rose. I am still hunting for a scent to match the long-gone Agnes B Rose scent. What a great giveaway!

  • Nancysg says:

    Tauer’s Incense Rose and Kerosene’s Whips and Roses are my two rose scents at this point. But, I am searching for more. Thanks for the list.

  • Cheryl says:

    To be perfectly honest, I’m not a fan of the rose note and so I cannot state my favourite rose scent. I’ve tried to like it as most people rave over it, but personally I’m always reminded of the too-sweet rose syrup which I drank as a child. Perhaps I’ve not been exposed to good rose scents.

  • Cyn says:

    Oh, my gosh! So many Rose scents – so little time! Thanks for the draw.

  • Natalie says:

    For me that would be SSS Vintage Rose, which introduced me to A) Niche perfumes and B) the fact that rose perfumes actually could smell good and not at all only of cheap handcream. After that I tried quite some others. I also love Ta’if and Rose Oud.
    A big dissappointment however was the Mona di Orio Rose etoile d’Hollande. On my skin it turned into a patchouli powerhouse, I could not even find a trace of rose.

    • Natalie says:

      ps: I’m in Europe, so I’m not sure if I can be entered in the draw. Would be nice, but I do understand if this isn’t possible.

    • Patty says:

      I need to smell that Mona just for reference. So many ta’if and rose oud fans, that’s awesome!

  • Lisa Kasper says:

    Tauer’s Une Rose Vermeille!!! and Tresor Midnight Rose are two in my collection and two that I love!

    • Patty says:

      You can never go wrong with a Tauer rose, period!

      • Lisa Kasper says:

        Yes, I agree… and Andy is such a very nice person too. I love his personal touch via signing his perfume boxes (or rather the inserts), and personal emails as well.

        P.S. Pick me! Pick me! I used to dislike any perfume w/ rose in it. But it was Andy’s Une Rose Vermeille that turned me! Now, I love them and actually, having left my hunt for the “perfect Orange Blossom”, I am now on the hunt for the perfect rose (to meet or beat “my precious” Tauer)

  • jillie says:

    Don’t enter me as I’m in the UK!

    Surprised to see that nobody has mentioned Yves Rocher’s Rose Absolue, which is very good and quite similar to Lancome’s Mille et Une Roses, and good value and not discontinued.

    Also Cartier’s So Pretty, which is so like Nahema (and cheaper!).

    My favourite rose is OJ’s Ta’if, and I am glad to see it getting a lot of love here. And AG’s Rose Absolue.

    • Patty says:

      Oh, I’m fine with sending to Europe. so unless you really don’t want to be entered, I’ll put you in!

      Ta’if is seriously so beautiful. I sometimes forget about it, then pick it up and fall in love with it all over again.

  • Brooke says:

    I have always been a rose fragrance lover. I went through bottles of Ombré Rose as a teenager. Even now I have a collection of Roses to match my mood – Rose 31, Portrait of a Lady, and Epic when I am feeling bold. I love the new Atelier Rose Anonyme and found it refreshing and easy to wear in the heat – same with Antonia’s Flowers Tiempe Passant with it’s salty note. My favorite new rose is Mohur. The most heartbreakingly beautiful use of rose I have ever smelled was Hermes Doblis. Heavenly.

    • Patty says:

      Oh, what a great set of favorites! Agree on the Mohur. I keep contemplating a full bottle, but then I think a set of them in her coffret would be great!

  • JulieT says:

    Once while taking Ambien, I shopped in my sleep. I bought a bottle of Lyric. I had no idea what it was. lol I love it!

  • Tatiana says:

    What a great list! So many more roses to try. My three favorite roses are PoAL, L’Arte di Gucci and Le Labo Rose 31.

  • Jeff Berbert says:

    Fantastic list…so many still to try but for now it is Lyric forever!

  • dremybluz says:

    My favorites are Rosines’s Rose Flamenca, Nahema, and Jo Malone’s Rose Water and Vanilla Intense

  • Amy M. says:

    Patty you had me guffawing throughout the post!
    My favorite roses are POAL and Mohur. Thanks for a very very generous draw!

  • Lauren B. says:

    what a great list- now I have even MORE perfumes to add to my ever-growing “need to try” list 😉

  • kalli says:

    Oh and Tom Ford Noir de Noir, sorry about the double comment..I just had to mention! Oh and I really like Drole de Rose by L’artisan. Un Zeste De Rose by Rosine I like as well. Got me thinking of all the rose scents I like!

  • Ninara Poll says:

    I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. First a post on gardenia scents, now one on rose scents… are the Posse somehow inside my unconscious right now? :Wink: I’d add Paloma Picasso Mon Parfum to the list, as I seem to recall it’s technically a rose, but it is one of my favorites and I always use any excuse to recommend it to people :Happy-Grin: Thank you for not only hosting such an amazing draw, but also for making a non Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/social media method of entry available for those of us who just can or won’t use social media!

    NP

    • Patty says:

      I’m all over it! Crawling around inside your head and enabling like crazy.

      Paloma, ah, yess! I don’t really think of it as rose, but I do believe it’s probably more so than a few others that I gratuitiously threw on the list.

      I am always about you nontwitterers. 🙂

  • kalli says:

    I really like Stella perfume for a rose scent:).

  • Bluepinegrove says:

    This post has inspired me to expand my rose repertoire. I set the foundation for it with Sa Majeste La Rose when I needed a true, straightforward rose to come home to. I find it to be very comforting. What an exciting draw!

    • Patty says:

      Yeah!!; Roses for everyone! Sa Majeste is really spectacular. it never seems to hit a favorite list for me, and I don’t know why. I think I just allow one type per line in my head, and I love Rose de Nuit more. 🙂

  • TerryM says:

    Gucci Rose the One and Tom Ford Cafe Rose are wonderful. Love to sample more!

  • Janet in California says:

    I am not big on rose usually but I do love By Kilian Rose Oud.

    • Patty says:

      If you love Rose Oud, there may be a couple of other roses out there for you! But Rose Oud is really special. I keep staring balefully at the teeny sample I have and thinking I need to upgrade that!

  • nozknoz says:

    Totally with you and others on BK Rose Oud and Liaisons Dangereuses (total Calice Becker fan girl here), Nahema, Parfum Sacre, Paestum Rose (Duchaufour fan girl that I am) and Une Rose Chypree. I’ll also add a delicious rose: S-Perfume 100% Love, which is the most scrumptious chocolate rose – like a Godiva dark chocolate raspberry truffle melting in your mouth.

    • Patty says:

      Calice Becker Fangirl here too! And Duchaufour and Roucel and Ropion. I think I need to join a groupies list for perfumers.

      You know, the 100% Love I can’t get. I think it either works or doesn’t, and so far the wonderfulness of it eludes me! I thought about putting it on here because I know it gets some love, but not from me1 🙂

  • Cynthia L says:

    Thanks for some great suggestions. I must seek out By Kilian Rose Oud. I have a friend who wears Paris as her signature scent and she always smells fabulous. It just doesn’t smell as good on me, sigh.

  • Lemon says:

    This is the most gererous prize that I’ve ever seen offered by the Posse or any other perfume blog that I’m familiar with – thank you!

    Rose de Rosine was my gateway rose, supplied in a decant from Fragrant Fripperies back in the day. The combination of rose, violet, and tea are dreamy to me. I polished the decant off pretty quickly and then bought a 50 ml bottle. Then I bought the body cream which is the more delightful form of the two. It’s heaven in a jar and when I read about how rich perfumed creams suffer in the heat and humidity of the shower I immediately moved it off the shelf it shared with towels and extra toilet paper.

    After falling in love with roses, I tried lots of the montales, and I liked them, but not enough to spring for a full bottle.

    Then, last year I sampled C & S Dark Rose and fell in perfumed love again. I bought a large decant and am quickly spraying the life out of it. I’d love to get a bottle, but might content myself with a larger decant.

    A rose I cannot stand is Perfumer’s Workshope Tea Rose. Whenever I smell it I recoil just a little. I think it’s just too sweet or too one-dimensional.

    • Patty says:

      Oh, gosh, thanks! I just figured since I had all of these assembled I might as well let someone else share the experience. Maybe they’ll take some notes and write about it!

      the good news for all of you is, the prize winner for the gardenias last week still hasn’t claimed their prize, so someone else may win that!

      Wow, Fragrant Fripperies. I loved that name, and I still miss it, wish I’d never given it up. 🙂 March called it The Frip, which was such a great nickname for it.

      Yeah, I agree about the Montales, they are really pretty, I can’t tell any of them apart,except the Jasmin Full, which I love and definitely isn’t rose centric, but it does get a role to play in next week’s jasmine extravaganza

    • Farouche says:

      Lemon, agree with you about Tea Rose. It smells like cleaning solvent to me 🙁 yet somehow I wound up with two bottles of it!

  • Lavanya says:

    my favorite rose is probably black oud..i also remember really reaaly liking POTL AMAZE- nobody seems to talk about it anymore..i am dying to smell SL’s Rose de Nuit and Mohur

  • Lorinda says:

    Rose perfumes are a fav, and what got me interested in some of the niche lines. I thought I has tested most of the best roses but that must be from a much older list, because I have a lot more to add to my wishlist. For work I like Jo Malone’s Red Roses or Fleur de The Rose Bulgare, for nights at home it’s Paris or Frederic Malle’s Une Rose. And several more that I don’t like as much, but because they are roses I keep on trying them. And now more to try!

    • Patty says:

      It’s so good to have more to try! I was surprised how many there were, that made this probably the hardest one of these I’ve done or will do, whew!

  • Calrayo says:

    For some beautiful reason, the Neiman Marcus in San Francisco has a bunch of the Guerlains around in parfum, as samplers. This is how I met Nahema. I spritzed that on myself and on a tester I stashed in my purse and thoroughly enjoyed the purse for days. 🙂

    • Patty says:

      Oh, they have a boutique there! The Guerlain boutiques get the pure parfums, and I love that they just sit them out to test. The first time I saw them at BG in NYC, my eyes were saucers!

  • Judith says:

    I do love Rose Poivree (someone else mentioned it too), although I heard that the new formulation has changed. Fortunately, I have plenty left of the old. . . .

  • isayah says:

    My heart cannot get past Gerlain’s Nahema which is pure elegance and beauty, but I am eager to fall in love with other roses, thorny or not!

    • Patty says:

      As a recent convert to Nahema, I agree, it is just pure elegance, and I don’t get why it’s not much higher up on people’s lists of Guerlains. Maybe it’s the name?

  • Catherine says:

    I have been sniffing every Rose perfume I can come across lately eager to find the perfect one for a friend’s 50th birthday. This post was perfect timing and very helpfil – thanks!

    • Patty says:

      Oh, cool! So what you gonna get him/her? I’d love to know when you pick!

      • Catherine says:

        I ended up getting Jo Malone Red Roses for a couple of reasons – it was easy to find, is a lovely fragrance that I think my friend (a woman) will really respond to and was priced right.
        A great stroke of good luck was that in my search I found YSL Paris. I adore it! Much too bubbly for Karen (the birthday girl), but it was a bit of a revelation for me. I believe I will have to start dropping subtle hints for Christmas.
        Also, I tried the Red Roses bath oil on my wrist and put on a spritz of Chanel No, 19. It may have been a little bit of heaven in that it made me happy for the remainder of the day.

  • hotlanta linda says:

    Paris, AG`s Rose Absolue, and Nahema are barely nudging to the top for fave rose scents – I just love them all :-), Even Tea Rose!!! Thank you for the mini reference guide!!

  • Eden says:

    My favorite rose is POTL’s A*maze and LAP’s Drole de Rose. Rose fragrances are what lead me to the rabbit hole…I used to wear Stella and went looking for other rose dominated fragrances online. I haven’t stopped sniffing since!

  • Wesley Hall Parker says:

    Loved the post! I recently went off the deep-end on a mad rose quest myself lately – so I loved, loved reading this post. The one that really does me in is Lyric. Oh my god. Though, gosh, you know – she isn’t really *slutty* is she? (Isn’t Agent way, way sluttier?) But Lyric is so damn voluptuous and beautiful that you do just give up trying to smell anything else and let that over-ripe fruity rose dominate all. I’m also a big sucker for Rose Nacree du Desert when I want to feel more removed and mysterious….And finally (don’t hate) can I admit I have a soft spot for Rose Ikebana? To me it’s all pink lemonade sunshine and roses (and grapefruit and rhubarb) – so it’s perfect as a little summer nothing to throw on. Pink and refreshing and utterly undemanding. The opposite of all the others. I’ve always wondered why its the Hermenessence so many folks love to dis. But to each her own 🙂 Thanks so much again for posting the Rose Round up. Loved it!

    • Patty says:

      Oh, thanks!!!

      Lyric for me is I don’t know, it’s not out and out slutty, it’s just so sensuous! I just kind of forget everything.

      Oh, listen Rose Ikebana is at the top of my list, and I probably should have found a place for it. I wear it all the time and think it’s amazingly great. I love it right up there with Osmanthe Yunnan and Vetiver Tonka, probably my three faves! We completely agree. I may find a place for her in a revision, along with Paestum Rose and Rossy. so that’s three I missed!

  • kate mancini says:

    My husband, who grows roses, is convinced that he HATES rose perfumes! I must win this to convince him that he is wrong! I wore Portrait of a Lady recently and he conceded that it was “nice” but stil….. Thanks for a great read and a wonderful drawing! fingers crossed – oh wait NO fingers crossed that brings no luck, right?

    • Patty says:

      Okay! Let’s get him convinced! I wore Portrait of a Lady tonight out on a walk and got like four comments about how good I smelled. It really projects beautifully!

  • Dubaiscents says:

    What a great post since I have been on a quest to find THE perfect rose perfume. What I have found is that there are just so many varieties, it is so hard to choose! I am going with Ormonde Jayne, Ta’if, Tauer Rose Chypre and Rose Vermeille and by Kilian Liaisons Dangereuses (which I think should count despite it being a unique rose scent). I really need to give their Rose Oud a good trial as well.

    • Patty says:

      I know! it just depends on what you want, and I could have made another four or five categories, but then this post would have entered into waaaaay too long territory!

      I need to go back and smell Liaisons for the rose, I missed that.

      I’m going to get all swoony about rose oud. I love all of their ouds, they really fit my style with letting the note through and the oud just humming in the background.

  • elisa says:

    Last fall, I had an incredible meal that ended with a rosewater and dragon fruit dessert. The table was laid with extremely fragrant roses to perfume the air as we ate. I couldn’t stop sniffing my rose — I took it home, and it inspired me to pull out every rose sample I had, and smell late into the night. I had never been so intrigued by the rose note before!

    I think Serge Lutens Rose de Nuit is to die for, and Amouage Lyric is so creamy, spicy, and beautiful. I love the rose in Amouage Dia, too.

  • Christy C says:

    My favorites are OJ Ta’if edp, SL Sa Majeste la Rose, and NV Mohur. Thanks for the draw!

  • Joaquim says:

    I miss Frederic Malle’s Une Rose, one of my favourite roses so far! I NEED to try By Kilian Rose Oud, i’m only reading good things about this.
    Thank you so much for the draw!

  • RVB says:

    My favorite roses are FM Une Rose ,Paestum Rose,and Tauer’s Incense Rose.Thanks for the draw!

  • Eva S says:

    I love rose perfumes, naming my favorites will be difficult, but at the top of my head:
    PoaL, Rose Nacre, Mohur, Une Rose Chypree by Tauer and doesn’t Amoage Epic has quite a bit of rose as well?

    • Patty says:

      Epic is pretty rosy, yup! It almost went on the list, but I love Lyric so much, it was just not going to make it ahead.

      Great list!

  • Audrey H. says:

    Love the list, many for me to sniff and try. My DH gifted me with a tiny sample of the Shi White Rose, I was almost afraid to use it, seems so rare. Then my son bought me a bottle of Stella, it’s so wearable and pretty. Thanks for the giveaway, what fun it would be to try all of these rose scents!

  • Terry says:

    My favorite rose scents are Parfum Sacre, Or et Noir, Ormonde Jayne Ta’if, and Rose 31. Thank you for the wonderful draw.

  • Tod Babick says:

    I never owned any kind of scent until I tried LeLabo Rose 31 in a Barney’s a few years ago. Now I’m addicted. Montale’s Attar and Serge Lutens Rose de Nuit are two favorites. Tom Ford’s Noir de Noir is definitely raunchy good stuff!

    • Patty says:

      I think it’s the roses that can drag guys over into scent. My youngest son got captured by Rose 31 too. It’s a short hop over that fence, isn’t it? 🙂

  • Themis says:

    Roses are controversal to me, i actually started to like it after trying the Chloé series. I did not start yet to explore the world of niche, mainly because it’s such a vast universe of compositions, and such an expensive adventure….but this post and comments inspired me with great sugestions, and beautiful metaphores about many different kind of roses, that I’ m dying to try them all, now, and I’ll start a “quest” for samples of those, hehe! Thanks for the inspiration, beautiful smells make my life happier !!

    • Patty says:

      Oh, thanks! Niche is tricky because you can go overboard quickly, but it’s a thing where you should take your time and enjoy the journey!

  • Dionne says:

    Rose perfumes that are higher up in the register tend to go sour on me, but I love a dirty rose. Parfum Sacre and SSS Vintage Rose are my faves, and I’ll also add my love for Yves Rocher Rose Absolute. I just learned it was discontinued, and am seriously kicking myself that I did not buy a bottle when I could. (It was so inexpensive! Why oh why did I not move on one?) Another cheap thrill that hits my dirty rose spot is Smell Bent’s Bollywood or Bust.

    • Dionne says:

      Oh, and that new floaty Share button…… can we do something about that? It’s really annoying.

    • Patty says:

      Fixed the floaty button!

      Isn’t that the way it always goes? There are so many things you could get for a song, and they are just gone forever at any price.

  • TaffyJ says:

    Amouage Lyric. Perfect rose. Perfect name.

  • stellaglo says:

    some roses scare me….creed fleur de the bulgare (sorry!)and the perfumers workshop tea rose…too light and shrill. don’t even get me started on l’ombre dans l’eau. these all read as lemon to my nose.
    but give me the jammy drydown of rosine’s une rose d’ete and i’m in hog heaven.
    and a shout out to march’s description of guerlain’s new dreck. THANK you.

  • Maria says:

    I am still looking for my perfect rose scent but Chloe intense and Rose Anonyme come close!

    • Patty says:

      I’m always looking or my perfect everything. But I just keep finding things perfect in different ways. It’s a sickness, I swear!

  • mals86 says:

    Aside from the rose-centric brands, I counted 46 rose perfumes named specifically in this post. Add one more for “a Jo Malone,” which would of course be Red Roses, making 47. Of which I have personally put on my skin at least half. (27, actually. Plus several from the Rosine and JHaG lines. And as soon as I FIND that blasted Mohur sample, I’m gonna try that one. I know it’s here…) So no need to toss me into the draw, I’m pretty stocked up. But thanks!

    I like roses. Can you tell? Sadly, I cannot smell Nahema. (I NO RITE?? how weird is that?) I’d add a few other indie lines with wonderful roses – Sonoma Scent Studio has Vintage Rose and Velvet Rose, and DSH Perfumes does a whole slew of lovely ones.

    Favorites: L’Arte, Rose d’Ete, Parfum Sacre, DSH Rose Vert, MFK Lumiere Noire pour femme. Gres Cabaret’s nice, too (very sexy on The CEO). Rosa sur Reuse is terrific as well.

    (Incidentally, this post has a strange “Share” pop-up thingy that is blocking the text on the left side of the page. I thought it was the IE I have on my main ‘puter, so I got out my laptop, which uses Firefox, but it’s still on here. It is a PITB to read, I must say.)

    • Ann says:

      Yay, Mals, another MFL Lumiere fan!

    • TaffyJ says:

      I can’t smell Nahema either! I thought it was just an off sample.

      I’m in IE mode and reduced the Zoom to move the Share crawly to the left. (The option is in Tools, next to the Star, in the upper-right-hand corner.)

    • Patty says:

      This could be my big computer, I’ve got a ton of real estate on my screen, so it’s way off over to the side. I moved it again, I hope that makes it better. If not, I’ll uninstall it and go back on the hunt for another one! I’ve gone through like four, and I just hate them all, but you know, you gotta have it!

      Nice list. I agree on the indies, DSH, SSS, Soivohle, and more – there are so many amazing roses, you can’t turn around without bumping into anther one. That’s pretty much where I’d send a lot of people to explore roses, you have to work hard to get a bad one.

    • Mals86 says:

      OMG, I forgot to say Lyric Woman. (There there, Lyric sweetie, I’m so sorry I didn’t mention you…)

  • Anna in Edinburgh says:

    My favourite rose scent is my old Precious, “le rose” by agnes b.

    Coincidentally, lovely Vanessa (Bonkers About Perfume bloggist) sent me some rose fragrance samples today so I’ll be able to explore more of these lovely perfumes in the coming days.

    (I also get the weird floating Share icons obscuring the text and I’m using Chrome, but I enlarge the tiny comments text to see it more easily.)

    cheerio, Anna in Edinburgh

    • Patty says:

      Oh, have fun with those! It’s so much fun to go snooping around just one note for a while. I used to not have that much fun with it, I’d get bored, but now it just feels really nice!

  • ggperfume says:

    Even though I don’t like the scent of actual rose flowers – citrus blossom is my favorite floral scent on earth – I do like a few rose perfumes, Ecume de Rose and Folie de Rose in particular. Can you tell that I ordered the Parfums de Rosine sample set? Figured it was my perfumista duty to Learn About the Rose, so if I win the drawing I’ll get to learn more. Besides, I might fall in love with something unexpected!

    Also, I love Chanel no 5 madly, but it doesn’t smell like a Rose Perfume to me.

    • Patty says:

      The rosines were a rose gateway for me. I didn’t think I liked them at all, but I think there’s a Rosine that will fit almost anyone in there, some of the dryer ones to the salty ones to the fruit ones. They’ve done a beautiful job on that line, and just when I think there can’t be another rose, they come up with one.

  • Janice says:

    I can’t believe how many of the ones you’ve listed I haven’t tried… must fix that! Lyric and Ta’if are two of my favorites, and I agree with those who’ve added Rossy de Palma, SSS Vintage Rose, and Paestum Rose to the list. I would also give an honorable mention to By Kilian’s Liaisons Dangereuses, although maybe it’s not quite rose-centric enough.

    • Janice says:

      Also just adding fwiw… I’m reading this on a Mac and I get the share pop-up thingy in both Safari and Firefox, but oddly I didn’t notice it earlier using IE on a PC.

    • Patty says:

      After all the crap we gave Kilian when he first showed up, and it was so awful! he’s really impressed me with a lot of his scents. I liked everything he did after the initial launch so much more than the first series, and by the time we got to Beyond Love, Love and Tears and Redemption, it was so much love. Then the Ouds! Those made me a total fan-girl. I can’t wait until he releases Beyond the Garden of Good and Evil.

      Okay, I think y’all are right on the Rossy and definitely on the paestum Rose. I still can’t believe I missed that one, it absolutely belongs on this list!

  • NeenaJ says:

    For years, I shied away from rose notes until I found Le Labo Rose 31. While this may be the rose built for a man, I think it can easily bridge the gap for those of us who don’t like to smell too girly.

    • Patty says:

      Agree. Rose 31 is the perfect entry point for women who want to smell good, but don’t want to smell all perfumey, and for guys who would think they’d never wear rose or anything beyond Cool Water. 🙂

  • Liz G. says:

    I love YSL Paris. Ordinarily I go for smokey, patchouli-heavy scents but YSL Paris is just so breathtakingly gorgeous to me that I can’t resist it.

  • Style Spy says:

    Okay, I cannot read this because of the floating “share” buttons. Too annoying. Is this just my computer? Please make these go away.

    • Patty says:

      I moved it, is it behaving now? It shouldn’t be floating now and it should close up. Sorry, it sounded like a good idea in theory, and it looked okay and out of the way on both browsers on my computer, so I thought it might work!

  • Farouche says:

    Great post, and I’m excited about the drawing! My favorite rose fragrance is Parfums DelRae, Coup de Foudre, which for me truly was “love at first sight.”

  • jirish says:

    I didn’t even know I liked rose until I tried Andy Tauer’s perfumes. Now I own Incense Rose and Un Rose Chypree, and have my eyes on that Vermeille one. He’s also working on an aldehydic rose right now. Other roses I’ve come to love include the Montales, although I have trouble telling them apart. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve put a sample of the By Killian into my cart, only to take it right back out again, afraid I’ll fall in love.

    • Patty says:

      Andy does great rose!

      I hate to tell you, that Kilian oud rose is stunning. Have you ever tried the pure oud? I should go start a swap topic in that little forum nobody uses just so you guys can swap fo the note of the week. 🙂

  • LCT says:

    I love these ‘comprehensive guide’ posts! I’m with Tom – Serge’s Sa Majeste La Rose is the one that changed my mind about Rose. It will always be my fave because of that…

    • Patty says:

      You know, I’m really liking doing them! I’m not sure what I’ll do when we we get down to the obscure flowers with four perfumes that have them in it, it will be time to move on to something else, but this is fun for me, so I hope it’s fun for you too!

  • Maureen says:

    What a great post. I am really too new to perfumehood to actually really know what a true rose perfume is, but I have tried some you mention. I am a Chanel girl from way back, so I have had #5 & #19 and Coco (love). I like most Chanel anyway. I liked Voleur de Roses.. I would love to try all of these fragrances, just to compare. What is a poor perfumista to do…lemmings for rose perfumes now. (fingers crossed) Thanks for the great draw.

    • Patty says:

      Oh, thanks!!

      Being new to perfumeville is so hard. I remember just looking at my budget going, um…?????? how am I going to ever smell all these things?!? Invest in a couple of good/wanted things or swap for them and then trade on those to get more thing, it really helps stretch your budget.

  • OperaFan says:

    Oooh…. Roses…. My absolute favorite flower smell, and my favorite perfume note. I don’t like to categorize a perfume in the “rose” category unless I can pick out the rose in it. That disqualifies many that normally falls under the category.

    #1 Choice is AG Rose Absolue
    (Joy would be my #1 Jasmin scent as I regard the rose as a supporting player)

    After that there are Strong runner ups and rRegular unner ups.

    In the “Strong” category is Nahema, Montale’s Taif Roses and Highness Rose, Sonoma Scent Studio’s (soon to be re-released and rosier than ever) Vintage Rose, DSH American Beauty, and Chamade (yes, I get the Turkish rose in Chamade).

    In the regular runner up category is AG Heure Exquise (only because the rose doesn’t stand out for me but I ADORE this perfume), Sa Majeste la Rose (only because the rose only lasts about 20 minutes before it disappears into my skin), AG Ce Soir Ou Jamais, Rosine’s Rose Flamenco and Ecume de Rose, and last but not least – Lyric (again – LOVE – but it’s hard for me to isolate the rose in it).

    I may need to edit this list as I come up with more, but this is a good starter list, I think.

    • Patty says:

      AG is gorgeous. What a great list!
      On me, the Lyric rose is like a bell, though it morphs into something else, but I always feel it. Weird! 🙂

  • Mindy says:

    Funnily enough, the only rose I have is Parfumerie Generale Brulure De Rose, which I received just yesterday in a grab bag from Surrender to Chance. I had to run off and dab it on while reading this post. So far, it’s not knocking my socks off. I burned myself out on rose back in my youth with Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose. Maybe I should give some of the ones you’ve listed a try.

    • Mindy says:

      Good lord! The Brulure De Rose will not scrub off! Argh!

    • Patty says:

      Brulure isn’t my favorite at all. I remember from back when he first brought out his line, and it was one that I just didn’t care one way or the other for.

      if you like darker scents, go for a dark rose, seriously. Don’t mess around with the pretty roses, you won’t ever love them. Get something filthy or spicy and try it on!

  • I thank you Patty for the reference. I love Roses so much. Don’t put me in the draw though, I have most of these. Wanted you to know I’m reading.
    Posted from Jin’s iPad
    Portia xx

  • Mrs.Honey says:

    I love the smell of roses, but don’t generally love rose perfume. In my mis-spent youth, I wore a rose perfume from Victoria’s secret that was beautiful but mostly cured me of roses. Other people like rose on me, however. I own a roller ball of Stella and have received compliments, though I don’t much like it. I also received a compliment after testing the Lilly Pulitzer one.

    I love Joy and Chanel No. 5 but don’t get rose out of either: Joy is a symphonic floral with a heaping dose of civet and No. 5 is more of an incense scent on me.

    All that said, I keep trying. Tauer’s Rose Chypree is on my full bottle list.

    • Patty says:

      Yeah, I agree on Joy and 5, but as I was researching to make sure I wasn’t forgetting something, they wound up on every rose list, and I just wanted to ignore them, they are just beautifully blended florals.

  • pam says:

    My favorite rose is Nahema. But I also get rose in Diva and Yvresse. And i save all three for special occasions when I need a big hug, olfactorily speaking. Please enter me in the draw.

  • Since I’m logged in with Facebook I’ll not change to my perfume screen name, which is rosarita – an homage to my love of rose perfumes. Great post, Posse! Only thing I’d add is to the indie group: DSH American Beauty is my hands down favorite soliflore. Thanks for the draw!

  • Ann says:

    Hi, Patty — great post! But you forgot my MFK Lumiere Noir Pour Femme (or maybe it wasn’t rose-centric enough) … But it’s about as close to rose love as I get …

  • Poodle says:

    Roses I like would have to be Whips and Roses, Paestum Rose, Portrait of a Lady, and Cabaret. I’d love to smell some of the ones mentioned. I love roses growing in the garden but sometimes in perfume they go sour on me. I love rose scented candles too.
    I’m being pestered by the sidebar thing too. Very strange.

    • Patty says:

      I moved the sidebar thing, pinned it to the top so it doesn’t slide down with the page, and clicking it should make it shut and stay shut. 🙂

      Love your choices, but what is Cabaret?

      • Jennifer says:

        By Parfums Gres of Cabochard fame ,Perfumer is Michel Almairac it’s a Rose/Patchouli/incence scent.

  • March says:

    Lol, don’t send me any of these, thanks. Although I can’t believe I forgot Siwa, which I love.

  • Patty–HALP! There are “Share” buttons floating all over the left side of the page and they follow down the page when I scroll. I can’t read your post because the buttons are in the way. Any idea what I can do about this? Sorry to bring up technical issues here but did you do something new with the page or is it me? 🙁

    • March says:

      I just scroll until they’re out of the way of the text (they’re doing that to me as well.) That’s the extent of my technical assistance, although for laffs I suggest you watch The IT Guys or whatever it’s called on Youtube. Brits and NSFW. Cheers.

      • Ann says:

        See if a different browser won’t help. They were right over the comments when I used IE, but when I switched to Firefox, they moved out of the way, over to the left margin.

        • OhLily says:

          They’re in the way over the comments in Firefox too. I think it’s worse the higher up you go in viewing size, because it’s ‘regular’ at 100% but keeps moving more over the comments as you increase up. I’m at 150 cause I’m old. 😉

    • Patty White says:

      Yeah, try Chrome or Firefox. I can’t even use IE anymore because it doesn’t play nicely with anything, so I don’t even test new stuff in IE because no matter what, it will make me not do something that I want to do when everyone else will do it without complaint. 🙂

      sorry to suggest that, but the share buttons over there gets them out of the way of the post, which was becoming problematic in getting them above or below the post and squishing other stuff out of the way. I really hate wordpress coding and then testing it on every known browser! 🙂 Sorry!

      • Aparatchick says:

        I’m trying to read this using Firefox to no avail – the share buttons keep following me as I scroll down the page, making the left side of the main page and the comments unreadable.

      • Queen-Cupcake says:

        I do use Firefox. And I really, really hate WordPress!

    • Lisa D says:

      Elizabeth, this happens to me, too. If you click on the Share button, the list collapses so that only “Share” is visible, which helps a little.

      What’s more problematic is the font – I can hardly read it in Firefox. I experienced the same issue about a month or two ago, but then it got fixed, and now it’s back. :Tears:

    • Patty says:

      Okay, I made the Share button behave, now it sits in the upper right and stays closed. Is that better? I can switch to something else if it’s a big problem still!

  • Nick says:

    A Rose to make a big bluff bloke go all knee wobbly – PdI’s Paestum Rose…..

    and L’Artisan’s Voleur de Roses makes me sigh, a lot, when wearing; it’s kinda pathetic in a cute sorta way. 🙂

    • Patty says:

      Oh, I know, I completely forgot that one! I had it listed and somehow I missed it! I haven’t smelled it in years, and maybe that’s why, I don’t have any of it around here, but it’s so gorgeous, and I will be adding it to my list.

      I may have to go smell the two L’Artisan again. Maybe I smelled them when I was rose averse?

  • dinazad says:

    Etro Via Verri (the original LE – they’ve taken to marketing a cologne-y fragrance under the same name these days) was/is a wonderful true rose. You were taking your own private rose garden with you wherever you went when you wore it.

    I love the “corsage pinned to a ball gown” vibe of Nahema, the velvety richness of C&S Dark Rose, the unashamed sexiness of Agent Provocateur, the mature sensuality of L’Arte. Love the Rosines, the freshness of Diabolo Rose, the spiciness of Rose Kashmirie, the wintery coldness of Rose d’Argent. Even the over-the-top oud-and-rose mixtures of Montale (which I can’t tell apart but like anyway).

    But my go to roses are Andy Tauer’s Incense Rose. And Chopard Madness (roses and spices and a bit of leather).

    And the heart-breaking one? the small sample of Shiseido Rosarium I once got….

    • Patty says:

      I don’t think I ever smelled the Via Verri! Too bad, if it’s not changed.

      Nahema surprised me with how much I loved it,and I had dismissed it years ago.

      Chopard Madness? I haven’t even heard of that. Now I need to find it!

      • Jennifer says:

        Madness is a good one -discontinued of course -but not pricey yet. I find it focuses mainly on rosewood rather than roses though .Sort of Egoiste plus spices.

  • Andrea M says:

    I love rose, it just makes me happy! My favorites thus far: AG Rose Absolue (first place!), Keiko Mecheri Attar de Roses, Lancome Mille et Une Roses. I also like the VC and Arpels Feerie Rose des Neiges. I’m excited about the great drawing!

  • Perfumista8 says:

    I just became a fan of rose-centric perfumes this year. I haven’t tried many on your list and I can’t wait to. The three that I’ve fallen head over heels for are Rose Oud, Portrait of a Lady and Une Rose.

  • cheesegan says:

    Nice to see Rose d’Homme get a shout out. I love that perfume. Great article.

  • Lisa D says:

    I love Sa Majeste La Rose, Ta’if, and Rossy de Palma. Aoud Roses Petals also comes to mind, as does the rose jam of Gourmandises, and the cheap thrill of Yves Rocher Rose Absolue. Oddly, I’ve never tried YSL Paris, but it’s now making it’s way onto my “must sample” list.

    • Patty says:

      Paris is awfully pretty. I put it on the top of the mainstream list. It’s one I think I’d wear for some reasons, but probably not one that would be in regular rotation. but it’s pretty and affordable, as is Nahema, which is a great place for a good rose perfume to be!

  • 50_Roses says:

    I have tried quite a few roses, and my absolute favorite is Shiseido White Rose. Naturally, I would go for the one that is both really expensive, and nearly impossible to find. AG Rose Absolue is a strong second place, although it can be maddeningly difficult to find as well. For a cheap thrill, SSS Velvet Rose is incredibly rich and long lasting, and very reasonably priced.

    • Patty says:

      I think you can get some on ebay! It’s not discontinued. I see one for 373. There are a ton that are way too much on there. I hired someone one time to get it for me, and he charged a percentage of what I bought. I think I paid about $300 to get the bottle to me after I paid his fees and shipping. So it’s a lot, but that’s not too far off of what it would cost if you were in Japan.

  • DinaC says:

    I’ve only scratched the surface of the whole Rose category. I can say that I really like YSL Paris, the edp No. 19 (though I realize rose isn’t the star of the show), and best rose for me would be Eau d’Italie’s Paestum Rose, with its incense + rose combo. Love that. It’s on the short list for next FB.

    I think I’m one of those people who hasn’t had much luck with roses because there’s such a disconnect between the smell of the actual flower, and that cheapy Avon Roses, Roses, Roses type smell that is replicated so often in drugstore items. Does anyone else remember a hand lotion called Rose Milk from the 80s that came in pale pink bottles shaped like milk bottles? I think I’ve just been exposed to too many badly-done rose scented items.

    I’d love to be entered in the drawing. Thanks! 🙂

    • Ann says:

      Amen! I’m right there with you, Dina! Too many cheap-o rose stuff way back when nearly did me in.

      • Musette says:

        well, and so you say – but when you are presented with a QUALITY rose scent, your brain just blows all those Bad Memories away. I remember Tea Rose – in fact, ’twas that I referenced in that ‘Baroque Facsimile of a Rose’; done poorly, there is a synthetic quality that smells like the aftereffects of burning asbestos siding. Done well (as in Lyric? Tribute? Homage? Rosine’s Secrets? that stupid Serge that I always forget about and then cry because, once again, I FORGOT it). Kilian’s Rose Oud (I feel just as Patty does).

        Well, that’s when you ‘get’ rose.

        Of course, ymmv! And that’s okay, too!!!

        xoxoxo :Devil:

        • Ann says:

          So right you are, darling Ms. M! I have now come to enjoy Lyric, PoA, Gucci L’Arte and several others. Seems though that I like my rose a little darker, with a bit o’ incense or something thrown in …

    • Patty says:

      I remember Rose Milk!

      That’s exactly it, rose perfumes of old have been not that great, they were some idealized rose, usually too sweet, too nice. roses aren’t NICE! I have the scars to prove it. Every few months when I have to go in and prune the monstrosity in my front yard, I come out with everything scratched.

      Rose perfumes should reflect that passion. Even the lilting rose di Siwa does because it makes it so romantic! And giggly.

  • Natalie says:

    Want to form complete sentences, but overwhelmed by wanting to win.this.draw. 🙂

    I am currently rose obsessed. Reigning favorite is Lyric, but there are so many rose perfumes that I haven’t tried, because I didn’t used to think I was the biggest fan of the note. Definitely adding many of these to my to-try list.

    • Patty says:

      Haha! You know, I fully believe that if I had the MDCI, the Lyric, Rose de Nuit, Rose Oud, but ONLY if I had to, I could probably be okay in the rose perfume department. IT pains me to hit send because I know as soon as I do, I’ll remember three things I really can’t live without!

  • Big rose lover here. You mentioned most of my favorites, but I’ll throw in one more for good measure. LOVE DSH Beach Roses for a summer rose.

  • Denise B says:

    No love for L’Artisan yet? How about Voleur de Roses for a great, dark, masculine-leaning rose, and Drole de Rose for their softer, more traditionally feminine offering? Idylle by Guerlain has a beautiful Bulgarian rose at its heart, although the ad copy refers to it as “mist of flowers.”

    • Patty says:

      You know, I don’t know why, but I’ve never spent much time with the L’Artisan roses. I’ve smelled them, thought they were really pretty, but just didn’t smack me over the head as far as remembering them, which is pretty much the kiss of death in my world! 🙂

  • Rena says:

    My favorite rose perfumes are Rose Oud, Ta’if and Calypso from Robert Piguet

  • Senka says:

    I would love to be entered in the drawing. Is it really coincidence that I am on a “rose trip” last 5 days and I am reading your post on my way? I even bought edible rose water 3 days ago. Enjoying the most: still Lyric and just discovered Black Oud.

    • Patty says:

      Roses are so much fun. It’s not even my favorite note, but it’s one that perfumers have been using for so long, they have to get pretty novel.

      We were eating lavender and rose candy in Grasse. Where are you taking a rose trip? That sounds so cool!!

      Lyric is just amazing, period. It is always at the top of my list of loved roses.

      • Senka says:

        My recent days called “anything rose” were definitevely provoked by blogs I regularly follow (unfortunately without participating because my English is not good enough for such subtle theme). Even after falling in love with Lyric two years ago I didn’t look for other rose scents mostly because of so many fragrances ( and other products) that are misusing the wonderful smell of roses. I agree with some comments below that many products use our memory of smell of roses and we feel it but as a maltreated rose. Anyway I took a risk and ordered some perfumes that were favourite among bloggers and I am glad I did. They will certainly help me cope with approaching Canadian winter.

  • hd says:

    Oh this is fab! I love rose perfumes… Stella for work. SIP’s prima ballerina for date nights. And l’artisan drole de rose for Saturday mornings with the kiddos.

  • HemlockSillage says:

    Amazing list! Your categories made me laugh. I’m with Tom, my favorite photoreal rose is SL’s Sa Majeste la Rose, but for years FM’s darker Une Rose held great sway, until the casmeran ran me over one day.

    My recent love is Parfum d’Empire’s Eau Suave, which I think you’d lump with the saffron roses, but it has this weird dry herbal quality that has fascinated me this summer. I’ve blown through 3 decants. Last, I have to give some love to Fifi Chachnil, whether you’d place her alongside Agent Provocateur in Modern Roses or in Rose Whores (which seems harsh, as she’s such a playful scent!), I’ll leave to you experts. Now I’m off to drown in some swoony rose thing tonight 🙂 Be well.

    • Patty says:

      Sa Majeste is really beautiful, I just like the ends of the spectrum as favorites – either filthy, filthy roses or those achingly beautiful ones!

      You know, I think of Fifi more as tobacco. I know it’s not, but that’s the piece of it that sticks with me and that I love. I think she’s be a flirtacisou rose, she might need a whole new category!

  • Tony says:

    My favorite rose scents…. Have to be black aoud… Noir de noir close behind when I feel dirty…

  • jen says:

    I grow roses, love roses and my favorite rose perfume is, hands down. the great Canabis Rose.

  • rosiegreen says:

    My current top 3 Rose perfumes are:
    Caron Parfume Sacre
    Czech and Speake Dark Rose
    Les Parfums de Rosine Secret de Rose. Patty you are the Queen of the Enablers. NOW I NEED to smell all the perfumes you have listed. Thanks for such a great post.

    • Patty says:

      Oh, good ones! I take my job seriously as the Pied Piper of Perfume. If I’m constantly going off the cliff over these things, you guys all have to come with me. 🙂

  • Not a rose lover, but Rose Poivree (I think that would definitely belong in the slutty category) was my favorite before being displaced by Rose Nacree du Desert. They’re so different I definitely need both!

    • Patty says:

      yeah, Rose Poivree is slutty. I never could quite wrap my head around that one, though, much as I tried!! Those two couldn’t be further apart, wow1 You do need both!

  • Eldarwen22 says:

    Roses are a an odd group for me. Creed’s Fleurs de Bulgarie is probably one of my most disliked rose perfumes. I think that it’s the musk that’s giving me problems. Guerlain’s Nahema is not something I quite understand. It’s rose jam. Amouage Lyric for women is phenomenal and I love it in 90 degree heat. I keep returning to no. 19 in EDP form though.

    • Patty says:

      You know, The Bulgare is a great rose, but it’s so linear. I had to count it on the list, but I don’t think it’s something I’d wear. I’m not that much of a fan of linear roses. 🙂 Nahema I didn’ t think I liked until I tried it again, and I loved that darn thing!

      Lyric is my beloved, though. It’s one of the few scents that really do just keep me engrossed in how great I smell. 🙂

  • pyramus says:

    Among my favourite roses are Lutens’ Sa Majesté la Rose, obviously, because I adore Lutens, and Imogen Rose, absolutely the best that Lush has to offer. I am a bit surprised by the lack of a mention of Etat Libre d’Orange’s Rossy de Palma, because it is genuinely great, one of the best of a variable but always interesting line.

    • Elisa says:

      Rossy de Palma is my FAVORITE! One of my top three favorite perfumes, period.

      Another one I really love that didn’t get mentioned: Vintage Rose from Sonoma Scent Studio, really deep and dark and rich and super-honeyed. Crazy sillage, lasts forever. This might be the most powerful juice I own.

      I also love, love, love Broadway Nite. It’s my Paris, my Lipstick Rose, my every rose-violet-bomb-ever, so far.

      • DinaC says:

        Just found a sample of Rossy de Palma in my sample box that I have never tried, so I’m wearing it today. So far, it smells great! 🙂

    • Patty says:

      You know, I’ve only smelled Rossy one time briefly, I don’t have any here, so I was going completely off of recollection This one could be an oversight, as is the Eau d’Italie Paestum Rose, whcih is so gorgeous, but I don’t have any around to play with, so I forgot about them.

      But I do believe, pending my getting some and investigating, that both of these will wind up in some category on the list!

  • mariekel says:

    Patty, how could you raise le spectre de la rose only weeks after I have discovered my favourite of all time, Miller Harris Rose en Noir, has apparently been discontinued? For years I was safe from all things rosy. Didn’t much care for rose as a note in perfume. But then. I finally venture out into that thorny, stemmy world, discover the luscious Miller Harris Rose en Noir…and what happens? I get my heart broken.

    Though I am also with you on L’Arte de Gucci, EDP (I find the EDT a little screechy).

    Sigh.

    • Patty says:

      OMG, I LOVE Rose en Noir. Is it not at Liberty still? I haven’t tried to get it, and it may not be made anymore, but they may still have some bottles if you can find a way to get them!

      Rose en Noir is perfect – slightly dirty, not too much to make you feel like you need a feather boa, but also pretty.

      sorry! Why do they cast aside the really great stuff? Or make it so hard to find? It’s a ridiculous game we play, you know. 🙂

    • Patty says:

      BTW, e-mail me, I have a backup bottle of that that I’d do a split off of just for you. Nobody should have their heart broken. 🙂

      • mariekel says:

        OMG OMG OMG!!

        I would love a split — I was hoping to buy a nearly full bottle from someone on Ebay but my hound got really sick last week, and well, the ‘fume money got swallowed up in vet bills.

        You are the bestest!

        XXL

      • Juliettej says:

        If another lovely perfumista needs a decant of Rose en noir I have a 10 ml to swap 🙂 (Rhubarbara on mua)