Hey there A Bottled Rose, It’s a Mood Scent 4 week. WOO HOO! This month the crew are looking at Roses, Roses, Roses. I’m a total rose fan and there seem to be loads of them in my wardrobe. I think it stems (see what I did there?) from my Mum’s love of roses in the garden. She had two major favourites, Mr Lincoln (deep red) and Freesia (yellow) both fragrant. My personal favourite (narcissistically) is a David Austin rose, Wise Portia, which is mauve/pink and if you cut one and have it in a room the whole room is suddenly full of sweet, peppery rose.
Can’t wait to read about your favourite Roses, Roses, Roses fragrances in the comments too. Please let me know the ones you thought I’d put in that didn’t make the list too.
So excited to be blogging with these three superstars again: Esperanza L’Esperessence, Megan Megan In Sainte Maxime and Samantha I Scent You A Day. Check theirs out too.
Mood Scent 4: Roses, Roses, Roses
Roses can be tricky. Loads of people find the go either too sour, swampy or jammy on their skins and wear as an irritation rather than a fragrance. Fortunately I’m usually OK but even for me some of the more photo realistic soliflors can go shrill and become a bit headache inducing. I have a friend who wears Perfumers Tea Rose exclusively and whenever I hang with him it smells so good I come home and try it again to see but sadly it is not the best fit. So, what do I consider my 6 most wonderful roses? Let’s see…
Amor Amor by Cacharel
The fruitiest rose ever. Well, in my collection anyway. Sweet and sugary with loads of citrus, blackcurrant and apricot. All underpinned by sugar and vanilla, giving it a fair ground fairy floss appeal. The original bottle was a gift from one of my besties, Anna Maria, and when I wear Amor Amor it’s like a great big hug from her.
Contradiction Woman by Calvin Klein
I’m talking about the modern version here. Apparently it’s quite different to the original. Here we have a space age, crystalline rose. It’s dewy and cold, like a cold spoon in your mouth, and has hints of snow about it. Never has a rose bloomed on earth with this fragrance but it is brilliant and fun to wear.
La Fille de Berlin by Serge Lutens
Sharp, green, honeyed rose jam. The opening is all about smelling roses in the garden in the morning and then cutting them to bring inside. Frosty and misty spring morning in the mountains. As you bring the cut roses inside and they start to warm, for about 20 minutes their smell is intoxicatingly rich, powdery and slightly feral.
Mohur by Neela Vermeire Creations
Here we have roses with the lot. One of the most hectic and tapestried roses I ever smelt. Sweet, jammy roses open in a cloud and then spices, herbs, flowers, woods, the dusty winds of Rajasthan and the warmth of familial hugs. All through thew roses are front and center till deepest dry down. One rose to rule them all? Then Mohur is the one. My number one rose by far.
Midnight Oud by Juliette Has A Gun
It would be improper to talk about rose perfumes in the 21st century without naming at least one rose/oud/patchouli/saffron blend. Though the genre had been coming for quite some time in Western Perfumery it was Midnight Oud that was the first to capture my heart. Dark, scratchy and brooding.
Voleur de Roses by L’Artisan Parfumeur
Patchouli and rose in spades but this time lifted and separated by tart fruity plum, rather than jammy. An early rendition of the radiant style of perfumery that would so heavily dominate the naughties of the 21st century. Voleur de Roses is that curious blend of sheer and hefty. This super cool vintage bottle is new to my collection.
Don’t forget to go across and read the other three members of the Mood Scent 4 crew:
Esperanza L’Esperessence
Megan Megan In Sainte Maxime
Samantha I Scent You A Day.
Please share your Roses, Roses, Roses faves
Portia xx
A Bottled Rose 
David Austen roses! I have Molineux and Winchester Cathedral, beautiful yellow and white flowers, and the smell when I bring them in the house! Wise Portia looks beautiful 😊 As for perfume, Lipstick Rose – rose and violet with the smell of wet, crushed raspberries. So lovely!
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ElizaC,
I am currently very jealous of your beautiful roses.
Lipstick Rose is sensational. I bet you smell fab in it too. That whole make up style of rose is so good, yummy!
Portia xx
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I’ve always loved the huge, incredibly fragrant, old fashioned roses and David Austen ones are just amazing. Their catalogue is a very fun and dangerous read 🙂
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I never knew there was a catalogue! Thank everything I’ve not got a garden anymore. that could be REALLY dangerous.
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Hey Portia
I love the way you describe La Fille de Berlin, it’s my current favourite rose. So beautiful yet so wearable. I usually fall for a rose and violet pairing but you’re right, rose perfumes can be tricky. The metallic, boozy or fresh ones don’t work for me at all.
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Which is really strange because the title of your blog had me thinking you ADORE all roses. You like the rose chypres too like No 19 and Miss Dior (though the rose is buried under layers of other stuff.)
La Fille de Berlin is beautiful. If I hadn’t already doused myself in Al Oudh for dinner I might have given myself a drenching in your honour.
Portia xx
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I love LFdB and Mohur. And does PoaL count, or Rose&Cuir? I get lots of rose in N°18, indeed Bois de Jasmin calls it a rose. Whatever, nice post Honey.
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Hey lovely Val!
Yeah, I think they ALL qualify. You are the reason I Rose & Cuir. Love it.
Portia xx
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PG Brulure de Rose for me, also Keiko Mecheri Mogador and Hiram Green Lustre. I also don’t care for metallic, boozy or overly green roses – and like them pretty full-bodied, but with a gourmand twist or paired with violet is fine.
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Hey Vanessa,
BUGGER! I completely forgot Lustre.
Mogador? I am pretty sure it never passed my nose. Thanks.
Portia xx
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I’m wearing Mogador today!
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Hi Portia! We both chose Mohur! Love how you describe it and it looks like you have used up quite a lot! You are right, roses can be tricky to wear, especially the rose/oud/Patchouli combinations can be tricky for me. Must check out the rose flowers you mention as I love them in the garden. Not sure if these are sold here. You are lucky to grow up with their fragrance and your mother being such a rose lover. XxxEsperanza
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Yes, I love that we both hit the Mohur button Esperanza.
Yes, it was a sunlit childhood. Not perfect but full of more fun and adventure than the other stuff. Mum’s roses were a treat, it was like she made them herself from scratch, magic.
Portia xx
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Oh Wise Portia, I love that your greatness is finally recognised with your very own rose. I love this selection and the way you mix the mainstream Amor Amor with some niche I never knew. Fille De Berlin was ice cold on me, very haughty and grand but I’d like to revisit it as my tastes change all the time. I’m definitely buying Contradiction on your say so though!
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Heya Sam,
Can’t wait to hear how Contradiction works on you! I spritz it often and plentifully.
Portia xx
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Hi Wise Portia. Great rose picks and I had a sneaky feeling you would include Mohur. It is a beautiful rose, but not just a rose. I nearly included FDB as well but glad you did. If I come across the Amor Amor I’m giving it a sniff too. Hope all is well in Sydney. xxx
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HA! Wise Portia is a very uncertain fit for me. There definitely needs to be an UN at the beginning Megan.
HA! Yeah, Mohur was a given.
Amor Amor is fun. I hope you like it.
Portia xx
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For a long time I was rather afraid of Rose fragrances – I found them ladylke (even matronly…). Up until I fell head over heels for Ormonde Jayne‘s peppery Taif. Looks like I go for spicy Roses: my 2nd choice would be Rose de Petra by Stephane Humbert Lucas.
I‘m off now to hunt down Vanessa‘s Mogador !
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Hi LJG!
Did you ever try Rose Kashmirie by Les Parfums de Rosine? It’s a spicy amber rose that I adore. It only JUST got pipped in this post.
Portia xx
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I’ve never been a fan of rose soliflore perfumes, although I love the scent of roses in the garden. I’ve recently become a fan of perfumes with rose noted including Ormande Jayne Rose Gold; Nina Ricci L’Extase Rose Absolue; Hermes Galop; FM Portrait of a Lady; Forte & Manle Harem Rose; and DAME Desert Rose (especially layered with DAME Duality); and Lush Rose Jam.
I love that you have a rose Wise Portia! xx
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Hey Kathleen,
WOW! What a glorious line up of rose beauties.
Those DAME fragrances are so good and unbelievably well priced. I love all their work I’ve tried.
Also good to know about the Nina Ricci L’Extase Rose Absolue. I looked it up and it sounds really good.
Portia xx
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Wise Portia! 🙂 Love it.
Today, before reading the topic of this post, I chose to wear Keiko Mecheri Mogador (same as Vanessa mentioned).
I love rose perfumes, though some of them do not work for me at all – Perfumers Tea Rose is one example, Jo Malone Red Roses is another one. But back to my favorites. Six… Let’s see:
1. OJ Ta’if
2. FM PoaL
3. Amouage Lyric
4. Parfumes de Rosine Rose d’Amour
5. Masque Milano Love Kills
6. Tauer PHI
But these are not all the roses I love: about 4 years ago I did a full month of roses where I wore a rose-centric perfume every day in February.
I used to love Amor Amor in my pre-perfumista days and used up 2 bottles back when I was still finishing bottles 😉
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OMG! I love that you used to wear Amor Amor Undina.
That Rose Month was amazing. I think I joined in for a few of those days. It was a really cool idea. Do you ever think to do it again? I bet I could do a month too.
Portia xx
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You had me at David Austin Roses! I grow several (not Wise Portia — yet!). One of my all-time best experiences has been to visit their display at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Heaven!! I want to visit their show gardens some day. You know me, I do love rose fragrances and I write about them often. I haven’t tried some of your picks! Onto the list they go.
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Hey OH!
When we can all travel again I would LOVE to go to the David Austin rose show gardens. Back in 1999 my mate took me to Huntington Gardens in Pasadena for high tea and a stroll through the roses and cactus there. It was flipping amazing.
Portia xx
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