rose | The Scented Hound

February 7, 2022
by The Scented Hound 3 Comments

La Perla – Just Give Me Roses

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

December 21, 2015
by The Scented Hound 5 Comments

Rose of No Man’s Land by Byredo

WHAT I SMELL: Rose of a No Man’s Land opens with a sweet and citrus candied rose that sparkles with a refreshing and dewy and slightly “bathtastic” glow. The perfume goes on clean, fresh and pretty without being too girly as there is a heftiness to the rose that is topped by a lightly jammy raspberry. After a few minutes, the sparkling fruitened rose is met with a warm and radiant amber with just a hint of light spice. The perfume remains clean and fresh, but much more tame as it feels as if it begs to exist quietly rather than be pushed to the forefront in a noticeable way. After another 10 minutes, a layer of suede pulls itself over the composition. I really like the perfume at this point as the combination of rose and leather pulls the fragrance in and out of the masculine and feminine. After a few more minutes, the suede begins to fade and the rose begins to grow and project. Rose of a No Man’s Land is a comfort scent that wraps itself around the wearer with a clean, warm easy to wear rose.

From the Byredo website:

Rose of No Man’s Land is a tribute to the nurses (often referred to by soldiers as “Rose of No-Man’s Land”) who saved thousands of lives on the front lines of WWI, their story is one of selflessness and compassion.

Top notes are pink pepper and turkey red rose; middle notes are turkey red rose and raspberry bloom; base notes are papyrus and white amber.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: An Angora sweater…not heavy, rather fluffy, and all comfort.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ROSE OF A NO MAN’S LAND: easy, comfortable, clean

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ROSE OF A NO MAN’S LAND: EauMG, Now Smell This

BOTTOM LINE: The opening of the perfume is divine…very fresh and full of life and the perfume matures beautifully and is lovely. Actually, what I like about it best is that it doesn’t scream to be noticed but instead quietly does its job in a very unassuming way.

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Oriental Spicy
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $145 for 50ml Eau de Parfum

April 23, 2015
by The Scented Hound 10 Comments

Dame Perfumery Desert Rose

WHAT I SMELL: Desert Rose opens with a soft and delicate peach which is quickly met with a non-sweetened citrus; add to this the fact that it’s airy and semi-bright. As it develops the perfume gains some body with an ambered base. However, even with this body, this is one of the lightest and ethereal perfumes I have worn in a long time. And that’s a good thing. Sometimes rose scents when added to the heat of the summer sun can overwhelm, but with this light composition you won’t have to worry about that. Before I get too ahead of myself, the pretty Damascenia rose begins to make its way to the front. It’s floral sweet and not candied sweet and it has a sparkling and vibrant finish to it. The peach remains, but a lovely soft vanilla joins in to give the perfume a more rounded finish as well as creating this silky smoothness. The perfume then moves away from being ethereal, yet it never reaches to the point of being too large. It instead remains vanilla sweetened and silky soft and smooth (and just a tad spicy)…almost like a rose flavored egg cream.

From the Dame Perfumery website:

The composition is a blend of Turkish rose otto and Damascenia Rose with touches of peach, Sicilian lemon, Egyptian jasmine, geranium, carnation, heliotrope, sandalwood, musk, amber and vanilla.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: How can I resist… Sting’s Desert Rose. The perfume and the song go hand in hand, pretty, ethereal, exotic and dreamily lovely.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE DESERT ROSE: bright, peach-kissed, dreamy

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT DESERT ROSE: Scent of Abricots

BOTTOM LINE: I’m not a huge fan of peach notes in a perfume, but here its nicely infused with the rose. If you’re looking for something pretty and dreamy, Desert Rose would make for a nice addition to your summer scent wardrobe… and you can’t beat the price! But with Damascenia rose, it’s better to be safe than sorry, so don’t over spray to ensure that the desert rose doesn’t become a desert dragon!

Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral
Classification: Feminine
Expense: $65 for 50 ml Eau de Parfum from the Dame Perfumery website

Sample courtesy of Dame Perfumery.