Another week of Roses! Rose Cheapies – 2019
Winter has left me feeling exceptionally “blah” this year so I’m basically trying to do anything that I think will remind that my feelings and this cold season are temporary. As a distraction, I did something I tell all of ya’ll not to do. I blind-bought perfumes. But, let me explain! I bought rose-centric perfumes from a discount site, all of them selling for under $25. That seems like less of a gamble, right? This week I will see if the blind-sniffing odds were stacked against me or not…
I really didn’t know what to expect from this Oscar de la Renta. It’s in a pink version of the Esprit d’Oscar bottle. Esprit d’Oscar was an amazing perfume, like a modern Guerlain L’Heure Bleue. This has nothing do with roses, but if you see that perfume for cheap, grab it while you still can. Anyway, my love for Esprit d’Oscar is what influenced me to buy Rose.
Oscar Rose is rose soliflore. There’s really not much to it…and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It opens as a slightly screechy, but sheer green-leaning rose. It’s one of those dewy roses that frankly reminds me of something that retails for a lot more, Jo Malone London Red Roses. As it wears, there’s a more peony added to the literal roses. It starts to smell like a “pink rose”. The dry-down is a rose shoved through one of those photo editing filters that makes everything look like it is a watercolor painting. Rose is paired with laundry-like musk that very much reminds me of the base of Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely. I know I keep comparing Oscar Rose to other perfumes, but let’s be real here, this sort of rose is what perfumery loves to flirt with, there are many like it. After wearing this a couple of times, it reminds me of a dewier Stella McCartney Stella (which just so happens to be one of my favorite department store roses). I can’t stop with the comparisons and I apologize!
I paid less than $16 for a large bottle of this. I’m surprised by how much I like it. It is not amazing or a “must have”. But, for the money, I’m more than pleased. Most people will think of it like a watered down The Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose (review of that one later this week). It’s one of those pretty “English garden” roses with a musky base that helps it linger. It’s a rose for someone that wants to smell like literal roses, even if “literal roses” means “how perfumery interprets a rose”. Anyway, if you really love smelling like roses, you may want to try this one.
Notes listed include pear, freesia, lily-of-the-valley, rose , peony, white woods, white amber and musk. Launched in 2016.
Give Oscar de la Renta a try if you like crisp rose soliflores. Or perfumes like Jo Malone London Red Roses, Stella McCartney Stella, Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely, Juliette Has a Gun Miss Charming and/or Aerin Lauder Rosse de Grasse.
Projection and longevity are average.
A 3.4 oz bottle can be found at discounters like Perfume.com and FragranceX.com for under $20. I also hear that these show up at places like TJ Max. (I bought mine from Perfume.com). There’s an Orange Blossom in the line that I’m really tempted by too at this price.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Dewy rose soliflore and musk.Not bad at all for the money. At this price, it would even make for a luxurious room or linen spray.
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*Product purchased by me. Product pic from Fragrantica. Billie Holiday by by Carl Van Vachten, 1949, from Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Post contains affiliate links. Thanks!