Guide
Rose in perfumery: from freshness to velvet
We think we know the rose because it is everywhere. Yet it is the flower with the most faces in perfumery: green and dewy, fruity like a lychee, powdery like make-up, or dark and spicy like velvet. This guide presents perfumers' two great roses and how a fragrance is drawn from them, then ten creations from our catalogue, signed by ten houses, arranged from the freshest to the deepest.
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Two roses for perfumers
Rose is the most widely used flower in perfumery. Among the hundreds of varieties grown in gardens, two species dominate perfumers' fields.
Centifolia rose, also called May rose, is grown in Grasse and Morocco. It blooms for only a few weeks a year. Its absolute is honeyed, powdery and slightly green: a soft, round rose.
Damask rose grows mainly in Bulgaria, in the Valley of Roses, in Turkey, Iran and Morocco. It is picked at dawn, when it is most fragrant, then distilled into an essential oil or extracted as an absolute. It takes several tonnes of petals to obtain a single kilo of essential oil. Its scent is fresh, honeyed and spicy, with an almost fruity richness.
Perfumers often complement these natural roses with molecules that recreate one of their facets, fresher, greener or more metallic. Above all, they surround them: it is a rose's company, citrus, fruits, spices, woods or resins, that decides its character.
Fresh roses, as if picked from the garden
Three bright, green roses for daytime and sunny days: a rose by the water, an English garden rose, a musky rose.
N° 01Diptyque
L'Ombre dans l'Eau
Woody · Eau de toilette
- Who it suits
- For anyone who loves green, tangy roses to wear in broad daylight, in spring and summer. A Diptyque classic, created in 1983.
- How it feels
- It evokes a summer nap by a river, beneath a willow. Blackcurrant appears in two forms, its very green leaves and its tangy buds, around a fresh rose, as if picked from the garden, made even livelier by a touch of petitgrain.
- Its rose
- Green and fruity: the rose seen through the leaves.
- Key notes
- RoseBlackcurrantPetitgrain
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View the profile : L'Ombre dans l'EauN° 02Penhaligon's
Elisabethan Rose
Floral · Eau de parfum
- Who it suits
- For anyone who loves light, restrained roses, far from heavy, powdery ones. A fragrance from Penhaligon's' British Tales collection.
- How it feels
- It celebrates the Tudor rose, emblem of England. The house makes it a light Damask rose, refreshed by a hazelnut leaf accord with a green, slightly woody garden note, while vetiver anchors it discreetly. An aristocratic, airy rose.
- Its rose
- A Damask rose, green and dry, very British.
- Key notes
- RoseHazel leafVetiver
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View the profile : Elisabethan RoseÀ la rose
Floral · Eau de parfum
- Who it suits
- For anyone who loves luminous, musky roses, both subtle and exuberant, for daytime. A fragrance from Maison Francis Kurkdjian, conceived as a declaration of love.
- How it feels
- It brings together the two great roses: the house states that each bottle contains the equivalent of two hundred and fifty centifolia roses and one hundred and fifty Damask roses. The Damask rose lights up the opening with hints of pear and lychee; the centifolia forms a floral base with honeyed accents, between violet, sweet pea and musks.
- Its rose
- Both roses together, in a luminous, musky halo.
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View the profile : À la roseFruity and powdery roses
Lychee, raspberry, pomegranate or almond give the rose a gourmand roundness; violet or cashmere wood, a powdery veil. Three tender, modern roses.
N° 04Parfums de Marly
Delina
Floral · Eau de parfum
- Who it suits
- For anyone who loves romantic, sparkling roses to wear by day, in spring and summer. A floral fragrance from Parfums de Marly.
- How it feels
- Bergamot, lychee and rhubarb open on a tangy, almost sparkling freshness. The Damask rose then blooms, lifted by a hint of nutmeg, before a base of cashmere wood, musk and vetiver with a powdery softness.
- Its rose
- A tangy Damask rose that turns powdery.
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View the profile : DelinaN° 05Guerlain
Rose Chérie
Floral · Eau de parfum
- Who it suits
- For anyone who wants a tender, fresh rose to wear every day, far from solemn roses. A fragrance from Guerlain's L'Art & La Matière collection.
- How it feels
- The rose beats here in all its forms: Damask rose from Bulgaria and Turkey, centifolia rose from Grasse. Almond brings it a soft roundness, raspberry a fruity sparkle, and violet a powdery, mauve touch.
- Its rose
- Several roses at once, gourmand and powdery.
- Key notes
- Damask roseRoseAlmondRaspberryViolet
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View the profile : Rose ChérieN° 06Stéphane Humbert Lucas 777
Rose de Petra
Floral · Eau de parfum
- Who it suits
- For anyone who loves androgynous, mystical roses, between fruit and spice, in spring and autumn. A creation by Stéphane Humbert Lucas for his 777 collection.
- How it feels
- Inspired by the Jordanian city carved into pink-hued stone, the rose first appears fruity, brightened by pomegranate and lychee. Then the Bulgarian rose blooms, generous and silky, before a base of pepper, cardamom and cumin sets a warm, spicy contrast against it.
- Its rose
- Fruity at the top, spicy in the base: the passage towards dark roses.
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View the profile : Rose de PetraVelvet roses, dark and spicy
Cumin, incense, pepper, patchouli or oakmoss give the rose a velvety depth. Four evening roses, to be worn regardless of gender.
N° 07Le Labo
Rose 31
Floral · Eau de parfum
- Who it suits
- For anyone who loves spicy, woody roses that anyone can wear, for autumn and winter evenings. A fragrance from Le Labo's Classic Collection.
- How it feels
- Le Labo set out to take the Grasse rose, a symbol of sensuality, and make it a fragrance anyone can wear. The centifolia rose alternates between softness and strength; very soon cumin, incense, cedar and a touch of amber answer it, then guaiac wood and cistus settle in an unabashed sensuality.
- Its rose
- A spicy, woody May rose, almost leathery.
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View the profile : Rose 31N° 08Matière Première
Radical Rose
Floral · Eau de parfum
- Who it suits
- For anyone who loves direct, genderless roses that own their intensity. A creation by Aurélien Guichard for Matière Première.
- How it feels
- Centifolia rose absolute is pushed here to its highest possible concentration, with roses the house grows organically near Grasse. Berry pepper underlines its luminous, spicy facet, while patchouli and labdanum reveal its dark, woody side.
- Its rose
- A May rose in its raw state, between pepper and resin.
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View the profile : Radical RoseN° 09Frédéric Malle
Portrait of a Lady
Chypre · Eau de parfum
- Who it suits
- For anyone who loves majestic, enveloping roses, for autumn and winter evenings. One of Dominique Ropion's great fragrances for Frédéric Malle.
- How it feels
- The house describes a Turkish rose used in unprecedented proportions, turning a familiar flower into a modern, opulent, dark rose. It dominates from the opening, immediately lifted by blackcurrant, raspberry and clove, before a deep, smoky base of patchouli, sandalwood and incense.
- Its rose
- A chypre Damask rose, fruity and smoky.
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View the profile : Portrait of a LadyN° 10Ex Nihilo
Rose Hubris
Chypre · Eau de parfum
- Who it suits
- For anyone who loves full, confident roses in a chypre structure, from spring to autumn. A creation by Olivier Pescheux for Ex Nihilo.
- How it feels
- An unrestrained tribute to the May rose. A hint of lychee opens the composition freshly; the rose then takes up all the space, enhanced by green, fruity and spicy facets, before a base of patchouli, oakmoss and musk.
- Its rose
- A fruity May rose set on a chypre base.
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View the profile : Rose HubrisRose and oud
In the depths of velvet, the rose often meets oud. This pairing, which comes from Middle Eastern perfume traditions, sets the flower's luminous roundness against the smoky depth of agarwood.
In our catalogue, Dior's Oud Ispahan has them face off as equals, Penhaligon's Halfeti imagines an almost black rose darkened by an oud accord, and Louis Vuitton's Les Sables Roses pairs them with ambergris. Our guide Oud in perfumery tells the story of this material in detail.
Wearing rose
Rose has no gender. Long associated with women's fragrances, it is now worn by everyone. Rose 31, Radical Rose and Rose de Petra are fine examples.
Choose by season. Fresh, green roses shine in spring and summer; spicy and chypre roses come into their own in autumn and winter.
Look at its company. If a rose seems too tame, look for it with cumin, pepper or patchouli; if it seems too heavy, with blackcurrant, citrus or green leaves. Our rose note page lists every fragrance in the catalogue that contains it.
To give as a gift, a rose is a delicate but rarely risky choice. Our guide Niche fragrances to give for Christmas offers more ideas, and The best niche fragrances for women more roses still. If your favourite rose is the one in Coco Mademoiselle, see Love Coco Mademoiselle?. For a fragrance to share, see also the most beautiful unisex niche fragrances.
Our advice
To smell the difference between May rose and Damask rose, compare À la rose, which brings both together, with Radical Rose (May rose) and Portrait of a Lady (Damask rose, according to our profile): you may recognise what our encyclopedia describes, the May rose more honeyed and round, the Damask rose spicier.
Fragrances described from the notes published by the houses on their official websites (see each profile); roses based on our notes encyclopedia. Arrangement from freshest to most velvety, seasons and moments: Volute's reading. Guide written with the help of artificial intelligence, from the information published by the houses. Links to our partner boutiques are coming soon.
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