Rose Week 2012
I love rose because rose has many personalities. A rose can be so many things. Because of these multiple personalities, you never know what to expect with a rose soliflore.
Penhaligon’s Elisabethan Rose opens up as a citrusy and sharp rose. It’s most definitely rose geranium. The top is sharp, effervescent, playing up the citrus quality of roses without smelling like lemon zest. The rose smells slightly “florist-y” meaning that it smells refrigerated and cool to the sniffer. Think cool aldehydes and minty, rose geranium. And then it becomes rose. But, not a rich or thick rose, more of an innocent violet-rose. The dry-down is a mellower version of the “proper” rose with a hint of squeaky clean musk. Elisabethan Rose seems much older than its 1984 birth date.
I really don’t see too many people liking this fragrance becuase it is so “rose” and literal. It’s the quintessential English tea rose fragrance. I don’t know if you have positive or negative stereotypes of a fragrance like that. I imagine people sniff this and think “elementary” or “centenarian” or “I love it”.
Notes listed include aldehydes, geranium, chamomile, violet, rose, musk, amber, and sandalwood. PERFUMER – M. Pickthall
Give Elisabethan Rose a try if you like old-fashioned rose soliflores or “cool” roses or perfumes like Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater, Annick Goutal Rose Splendide, Diptyque Eau Rose, Juliette Has a Gun Miss Charming and/or Yardley English Rose. I see Elisabethan Rose as a feminine fragrance. It really is the classic “English” rose scent.
The fragrance has average projection and below average longevity. It wears like many of the other Penhaligon’s EDTs. Since it wears sheer and has a “coolness”, I think of it as a rose perfume to wear in the summer or in warmer climates.
Penhaligon’s Elisabethan Rose retails for $80 for 1.7 oz at Beautyhabit. Samples are also available for purchase.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – A literal, old-fashioned English tea rose. Elisabethan Rose is too darn literal for me. I love roses and I love it as a note. But, there is something about this soliflore that I don’t like, well, I don’t see myself wearing it. It seems rather matronly to me. There’s nothing “wrong” with it, it seems pretty enough, it’s just something I don’t see myself wearing.
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Basenotes – Member reviews
I’m loving rose week 🙂 I discovered that I actually like rose notes, though I haven’t explored many at al.
Larie recently posted..Illamasqua Libido
For years, I thought I disliked roses but I only disliked those cheap-o ones. I’m finding it’s ones of my favorite notes. A rose can be so many different things. I would say it’s my favorite floral because of its flexibility.
[…] a bit of trouble trying to identify what it was about this perfume that I wasn’t liking. EauMG described her dislike of this scent being too “literal” and I think that’s a great descriptor […]
[…] Miss Charming, Diptyque Eau Rose, Caron Delire de Rose, Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose and/or Penhaligon’s Elisabethan Rose. This perfume is marketed as unisex and I would agree with that. However, I do feel it leans more […]
[…] Penhaligon’s Elisabethan Rose review published February 7th, 2012 […]