I consider myself a “rose person”. I wear and love a lot of rose perfumes. I like the versatility of a rose. Roses can be fruity or like citrus. A rose can be green or it can be dark. A rose can be the villain or the heroine. A rose can be anything. Being into perfume, I’m always surprised when people recoil at roses. It’s one thing to just not like rose or haven’t found “your” rose, but what I always find is that people say the dreaded, cringe-inducing phrase “old lady”. I think what they’re saying is that rose perfumes smell dated. Rose perfumes remind them of someone they know/knew. “Old Lady” is a rant for another today, but what I’m surprised by is that the timelessness, a trait I adore in rose, is the same thing that puts people off of it.
So, what does this have to do with a little designer perfume, Joie Folle de Joie? I don’t really know. I sampled this fragrance and it reminded me of a lot of other perfumes and had me thinking of citrus-leaning roses and this led to a rant.
Folle de Joie opens as citrus and florals. It’s like jasmine and crisp, green rose. And then it blooms into a huge floral bouquet that is predominantly rose with a sharp iris. Folle de Joie dries down to a modern musk (think along the lines of Narciso Rodriguez). It’s a rather simple scent; yet, it’s pretty. It’s a classic floral – a crisp, green rose.
Since this reminded me of a something else that I couldn’t place, a perfume that I’m sure was popular in the late 1980’s, I went to the internet to see if anyone else was talking about this. To my surprise, I found a lot of younger women on online forums and social networks raving about how beautiful this perfume is. I agree, it’s beautiful but this is coming from a person that likes roses. What surprised me is that this is the same age range that says rose is “old” so why does Folle de Joie appeal to this crowd, especially since if anything, I find it a little “dated”? I don’t have an answer. I think the citrus makes it more approachable. I think it’s a “sheer” scent so its density (or lack thereof) makes it more approachable. I don’t really care why people like it. I hope that it provokes some curiosity in people and has them trying more rose and floral perfumes. Maybe this is the time when roses aren’t viewed as old-fashioned? Or maybe that’s the Joie customer (a laid-back “Southern California” brand). I don’t know. I just know that I’ve been surprised to see how many people like this perfume that I thought was going to frighten people with its rosey-ness.
In conclusion, I don’t know what it reminds me of. Maybe like Stella McCartney Stella and a really light version of Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose. It’s a rose.
Notes listed include citrus, jasmine, iris, cognac, woods, leather and spices. Launched in 2014.
Give Folle de Joie a try if you like fresh floral scents. Or if you like perfumes like Clinique Happy, Tory Burch, Jo Malone London Red Roses, Maison Francis Kurkdjian A La Rose, Stella McCartney Stella, Annick Goutal Rose Splendide and/or Narciso Rodriguez L’Eau.
Projection and longevity are average.
The 3.4 oz retails for $98 at Birchbox.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – A sheer green rose. It’s not my favorite in the green, slightly citrus rose genre but it’s fine. And the price is good. After doing a lot of exploration, I like more complexity in my roses but it’s good to have a “fresh” rose soliflore in a collection. Sometimes I get in the mood for stuff like this. It’s rare but when I want it, stuff like this seems perfect.
Want more reviews? Try…
Fragrantica – Member reviews
*Sample obtained by me. Product pic from Allure. Gabrielle Ray from www.fanpix.net. Post contains an affiliate link. Thanks!
I always read rose perfume reviews as I hope one day to find one that’s definitely a rose, but which a) doesn’t turn sour on me and b) is completely me. I guess this one won’t be it, but I’ll keep looking. It definitely sounds like a perfume to bear in mind as a gift for some of my friends, so thanks for the great review.
You’ll find one! The search is most of the fun 🙂
I enjoy rose scents, especially realistic and jammy ones. My “old lady” nemesis in perfumes is dusty/powdery/musky notes whatever that means. I hate to use the term “old lady” though.
I like all sorts of roses but I do gravitate more towards the jammy ones.
I hate “old lady” as a term but even my old lady grandma would say that when she was alive. She’s be like “this smells like old ladies” and it was always a chypre, lol. One day Pink Sugar will be “old lady”.
Love it. I’d like to try it. Hope to hear more from you.
This one left me uninspired.
So many do that to me 🙂
This one isn’t bad, just was really surprised to see all the online raves.
I’m afraid I am one of those rose-haters. Well, maybe more a rose-disliker. Or not even that, maybe a rose meh-er. My mother used to wear Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose, and my grandmother used to hold up her nose at the stuff, remarking that she “smelled like a funeral parlour”. You’d think that would have worked it’s way into my psyche and I’d be all for it now, but sadly no. I would never say most rose fragrances smell old-ladyish; I hate it when people say that, it’s a lazy description and it’s also kind of rude, and if being old is something to be ashamed of. But rose scents definitely leave me cold, for whatever reason.
If you ever do a post on “rose scents for people who think they don’t like rose”, I will be all ears!
(I’d also love to see your “fruit picks for people who don’t like to smell like a fruit salad”, but I guess that’s another subject for another day).
If I grew up in a world of Tea Rose, I’d probably be a rose hater. Don’t get me wrong, I do like that perfume but it had gladiator strength. It was like the rose equivalent of Coty Sand & Sable…a fragrance from my youth that made me hate white florals. And I eventually tried enough white florals with an open mind until I found one for me. And then that led to finding more. If someone ten years ago would say that I’d wear tuberose now, I’d say they were nuts. But, I do…and they may still be nuts but I wear tuberose.
I feel like I should do a fruit post as I’m going through that right now. I’m trying to find fruits that are good and not like so you know, literal but still fruity. I think I have enough in mind to make a list 🙂