Valentine’s Day is just a week away, so of course I have to review a perfume based on the most iconic romantic flower. Isn’t that required for a perfume blogger at this time of the year? Not that I’m complaining, who doesn’t love a rose perfume?
WHAT I SMELL: Just Give Me Roses opens with a soft cashmere puttied saffron, that feels wonderfully sexy like silken lingerie that softly lays upon the skin and which moves with such ease like waves that caress the curves of the body. The perfume is warm, deep and lightly peppered. The rose is there from the beginning, but it lurks below the saffron fully enraptured and bold in a rather serious manner. As the perfume continues to develop, the rose begins to lighten along with a light woodiness and a bit of a tobacco note that smells like just baked bread. Here, Just Give Me Roses begins to grow as if the rose is about to bloom on the stem. And with the development of the green of the stem comes a brushstroke of radiating powder. As the perfume settles, a warmed woody tobacco acts as the perfect finish for the rounded red damask rose. Just Give Me Roses is a beautiful, full bodied rose perfume.
From the La Perla website:
It’s simple, yet utterly profound – the memory of a rose can melt your heart.
Like your most cherished memories of flowers received and gifts exchanged, there is no token of love more meaningful than the rose. Just Give Me Roses saturates the universal charm of the iconic flower into a warm, rich bouquet.
The scent explores the rose’s enchanting depths. Spicy top notes of oriental saffron and pink and black pepper evoke the friends, lovers and memories that have coloured your life. These aromas melt into the pure, single heart note of Damask rose , in celebration of all its infinite romance. As the fragrance develops, find yourself wrapped in the warm and woody intensity of amber-tobacco and musk, as if sitting on a cedarwood bench in summer, among a blooming rose garden
Key Ingredients: Top – Saffron, Heart – Damask Rose, Base – Cedarwood
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: The eternal rose.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE JUST GIVE ME ROSES: warm, passionate, semi-melancholic
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT JUST GIVE ME ROSES: No reviews found.
BOTTOM LINE: Give Me Roses may have a playful name, but the perfume is anything but playful. Instead, it’s a beautifully weighted, uncomplicated and serious perfume that is wonderfully unisex. And for those of you who believe the bottle is as important as the perfume; the La Perla bottles are fantastic and the Just Give Me Roses red bottle with the green cap is the perfect vessel for this gorgeous perfume.
- Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
- Scent: Amber Floral Spicy
- Nose: Dominique Preyssas
- Classification: Unisex
- Expense: Starting at $120 for 30ml eau de parfum
WHAT I SMELL: Ombré Leather Parfum opens with a light suede and a dusting of violet leaf. It’s soft and a little creamy with a clean finish. From the beginning, the suede feels smooth and pliable like a set of very fine gloves or the softest of slippers. As the perfume develops, the suede moves to more of a hardened leather. But don’t get me wrong, there is nothing but elegance here as the leather retains its’ gentlemanly demeanor. After some time, the leather adds just a touch of woody tobacco. Here, the perfume moves from the closet to the men’s club. Again, the perfume remains refined while being incredibly approachable. And then some time later, a light floral glides in that feels a bit spongy and which seems to float above the leather and tobacco. In the end, the perfume quiets to a soft and comforting light leather perfume that is topped with the prettiest of violet florals.
WHAT I SMELL: Cavatina opens with a lovely green barber shop bergamot that’s herbal, fresh and warmly inviting. It’s not too bright, nor too earthy, but it has a wonderfully familiar and comforting persona, and from first spritz the perfume sings with happiness and joy. As the perfume develops, a green floral starts to emerge along with a light clean and fresh soapiness and in short time a fresh and dewy muguet takes center stage. At this point, the perfume is neither loud nor quiet. Instead, it’s perfectly balanced in its freshness as it begins to grow and project along with just a hint of creaminess. As this happens, Cavatina begins to move to the more “bathtastic” with a finish that feels as if you just emerged from an exquisitely fragrant bubble bath. Continuing on, the perfume begins to center itself around a green jasmine accord which is soft and pretty as it’s wrapped up in a cottony musk finish. It’s all just so glorious; when you wear Cavatina, you can’t help but smile.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: I can’t argue with perfumer Pissara Umavijani’s inspiration; Cavatina is “music for the soul.”
The Scented Hound 