ROSE WEEK 2019 – A Gourmand Rose
It’s Rose Week on EauMG! This is the annual celebration of rose-centric perfumes! This week I’m reviewing 5 fragrances that display a different aspect of rose perfumes.
Turin and Sanchez brought attention to the Maison Lancome line in their “Perfumes: The Guide 2018“. In my opinion, until then, this line-up was a real sleeper for most Perfume People. Why? I think because we’re all fatigued by “luxe” lines by designers. They come out with a dozen or more perfumes at once and charge us three times what we are used to seeing from that brand. There are some of these collections that I avoid, mainly because they don’t seem to warrant the price, especially in a world where there are so many better niche or indie options. But, there are others that I genuinely adore, such as Chanel, Dior and the Maison Lancome line.
Parfait de Roses is one of those gourmand, sweet roses that mutes the rose with spoonfuls of sweetness. To me it’s really “French” but not from the technical aspects of the composition (i.e. it doesn’t smell like classically “French perfume”). Instead, it’s like that idealized “French” that you only see from francophiles or even by people that have never been to France. It’s not like the France that the French are necessarily proud of or relate to but they’ll happily export it. Parfait de Roses is a pink, frou-frou scent that brings to mind pastel pink macarons, silk ballet slippers and imagery of the Eiffel Tower.
Parfait de Roses opens as a jammy, sweet rose that is almost like a rose custard. It reminds me of candied rose petals. It’s like rose petals glimmering in sugar crystals placed on top of a creamy, rich vanilla crème pâtissière. There’s a side of red berries but they vanish rather quickly. It’s not a note listed, but in the heart, I pick up on iris that is starchy and reminiscent of unbaked dough. The rest of the perfume is like a “doughy” rose with a creamy, rich tonka bean which provides an underlying balsamic sweetness. The dry-down is a creamy vanilla (and even more tonka). It’s like this perfume starts as silk and dries down to cashmere.
I’m not the hugest fan of gourmands, but if they’re paired with rose, I can’t help myself. Parfait De Rôses satisfies all my “can a perfume spike your blood sugar?” cravings. In fact, I’d say this is my favorite gourmand rose, or possibly even my favorite gourmand.
Notes listed include pink pepper, rose, ciste labdanum, tolu balsam and vanilla. Launched in 2017. PERFUMER – Nathalie Lorson
Give Parfait de Roses a try if you like sweet, gourmand roses. Or perfumes like LUSH Rose Jam, Armani Si, Tauer Rose Flash, Lalique Amethyst, Mancera Roses Vanille and/or The House of Oud Grape Pearls. Also, if you like the sweet “exclusive collection” Guerlains, you should really try Parfait de Roses.
Projection is average and longevity is above average.
The 3.4 oz bottle retails for $198 at Nordstrom. What I love about this collection is that they also offer travel sizes (with a spray!) that retail for $34.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Powdery, creamy gourmand-custard rose. It’s sweet and almost sickly romantic, but I love it.
Want more reviews? Try…
Beauty Meow – Video review
*Product was purchased by me. Product pic from the brand. “Americans in Paris” from 1947 LIFE by Yale Joel. Post contains an affiliate link. Thanks!
I’m not really a fan of Lancome,but this one sounds lovely.
I didn’t think I was a fan of Lancome fragrances either until this line came out. I have 3 of the travel sizes and would like to add another one! They seem more Guerlain than Guerlain is right now.
Really enjoyed reading your wonderful review thanks.
Thank you for reading!
This sounds very good. I love the way you describe it. I’ve come so close to blind buying the travel size of Jasmin Marzipans, and now I want to blind buy this one too. The bottles are adorable, so that helps. Have you tried the other rose in this series?
Not to enable and I especially hate encouraging blind-buying but omg, Jasmin Marzipans is so good. I have the travel size and actually see myself using it up rather quickly. It’s one of those perfumes that just works for me.
Now to this one…it’s much sweeter than I usually wear but it is such a good one for that genre. Like it smells like when rose is used in desserts. The iris is really good in it too.
I haven’t! I was tempted to blind-buy it because so far, I love this collection (and I love rose). I talked myself out of it. I will try it when I see them in store. I have a feeling I’ll want it too.
I really like the size of the travel sprays…and they are travel sprays (not roll-ons). The size is perfect for people like us.