— fragrance —

Pirouette Rose Musk EDP Natural Perfume Review

January 4, 2011

Pirouette Rose Musk Perfume Review

Have luxury, niche tastes on a Bath and Body Works budget? Let me introduce you to Pirouette Handmade Essentials. Pirouette True Perfume is a Seattle based fragrance line with affordable natural perfumes. k. Pirouette Rose Musk is the skanky, spiced rose that I’ve been searching for. And get this…it’s under $30!

Rose Musk opens up as a woodsy, dry cedar with lots of rose. This rose hits me as like a Russian rose attar. A perfect balance of the fruity aspect and the green aspect of rose. And it is on bed of warm, sandalwood. This is what gives it that smooth attar feel. It wears like a “woodsy rose” for a long time. The jammy, fruity rose is accented by the woods (cedar and sandalwood). With time, the cedar gets heavier but this still is a rose fragrance. The cedar is medicinal, camphoric. This adds so much dimension! After an hour or so of wear, I get a bit of skank. I like it. It is peppery, earthy musk and makes this a dark rose. Not animalic, but more “spice” musk. However, it (cumin) isn’t used in the perfume, so I’m thinking something gives the feeling of cumin. Like spicy geranium mixed with cedar? I don’t know, but it adds a nice spiciness. It has to be geranium with cedar. *Note-This “cumin” isn’t overwhelming, don’t be scared. What I’m trying to say is that this has an earthy, musky spiciness to it that vaguely reminds me of cumin. A muskiness that is plant like, not animal.* This jammy, fruity woodsy rose turns into a spicy, earthy rose. This is such an elegant “dark rose”, not a “garden rose” but not a “dirty” rose either (those with lots of earth, Rose Musk is more woods). Rose Musk reminds me of natural version of Montale Aoud Roses Petals. I actually like Pirouette’s much better. Naturals seem to like my skin, so I like them.

I love Rose Musk but like I said, Arabian inspired roses are my weakness. I purchased the full-size, that’s how much I like it. Every time I wear this, my husband comments on how good it smells. I think he’s been sneaking some sprays from my bottle too. But, I don’t mind. I like to smell it. Oh, and I had Montale Aoud Roses Petals on one hand and Rose Musk on the other. Those that participated in my “Pepsi Challenge” preferred Pirouette Rose Musk over the Montale. All of them. Montale didn’t get a vote 🙁

Being a natural blend, Piroutte has massive sillage. I usually “bathe” myself with like 5-10 sprays of a perfume, but not with Rose Musk. With 3 sprays (2 for most people), BAM, your arse has hit the floor. And it wears for hours and hours. Pirouette starts like a Montale and dries like a Kilian. This Arabic rose fragrance is easily unisex. Seriously, if you are a fan of Montale rose scents then you must try this! Piroutte smells way more expensive than its price tag. If it was given to me in an unmarked vial to try, I would of identified it as a Montale or a Kilian. Fragrance snobs will be shocked…and happy.

Notes listed include rose, sandalwood, and cedar.

You may like Rose Musk if you like scents like Francis Kurkdjian Lumiere, Frederic Malle Noir Epices, DSH Parfums des Beaux Arts Rose Vert, DSH Perfumes Arabian Rose, Etro Dianthus, Byredo Rose Noir, Montale Aoud Roses Petals, L’Artisan Pafumeur Voleur de Roses, Kilian Rose Oud (Kilian is woodsier but has the same vibe), and/or L’Artisan Parfumeur Al Oudh (Rose Musk is waaaay less dirtier by exactly what I wanted L’Artisan to be).

An 1 oz. spray of Rose Musk retails for $26. If you are a cool kid like me and live in Washington or Portland, Oregon, you can find this line at Whole Foods or other small, local grocers and boutiques such as Knows Perfume. Everyone else can check out Pirouette’s on-line boutique.

Product picture is from Pirouette

28 thoughts on “Pirouette Rose Musk EDP Natural Perfume Review”

          1. The samples arrived already!! I’m wearing the Rose Musk now – LOVE IT! I’ll do a blog post about all the samples, hopefully by Sunday. Thank you soo much for turning me on to Pirouette!!!
            bloody frida recently posted..Dior – JAdore

          2. That’s awesome! The more I wear Rose Musk, the more I love it. What others do you like? Well, I guess I can wait for the blog post 🙂

    1. I hope you like them, but warning this is ROSE, so I don’t know if you’ll like it being that you don’t like Montale BA. I think you’ll be really happy with the Moss, and maybe the Jasmine. Honey wore terribly on me. Haven’t tried the other 2 yet.
      Anyways, I look forward to hearing your opinion.

      1. Yeah, I’m not expecting to like the rose musk, but am very interested in the moss, jasmine, honey, there was another musk too. There was no option to get only certain samples. But I’m not worried about it because all 6 samples are only $9!
        Carrie Meredith recently posted..Fumechat!

        1. Oh, yeah, liking 1 or 2 will be totally worth it. I’m very happy with samples and the full-size products, very affordable. I’m happy I tried. But, like I said, I haven’t tried 2 yet: Heaven & Earth, Cherry Blossom Girl.
          Like I said, I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about Moss Garden.

          1. I think it’s always a little scary when somebody actually takes your recommendations! I’m very interested in the honey. I feel like if it doesn’t work for you, there’s a good chance it might work for me. 🙂 (evil scent twin)

            I have been wanting to try Aftelier’s Honey Blossom (I think that’s what it’s called). Need to get a few samples from her.
            Carrie Meredith recently posted..Fumechat!

          2. I really like this brand and I just want it in as many hands as possible!
            I must say that I’ll be jealous if Victory Honey works for you! I wanted it to be “mine” so badly, but it’s like it “curdled” on skin and went sour! But, after hours and hours of dry-down (I’m not a scrubber), it is this rich golden honey! If you can do “hay” then you should be able to do this.
            I feel quite powerful, muh-haha! You taking my recommendation and all! But, I take yours and so far, I’ve been really happy!

    1. Man, they really do ship fast! I got mine today too. I had a nice testing session, I was able to try all 6 on different parts of my arms, and when I was done? The effect of all 6 together was AMAZING. Jasmine Musk and Moss Garden are my favorites.
      Carrie Meredith recently posted..Fumechat!

      1. I think I got mine in less than 24 hours but I live really close to Pirouette. I can’t believe you guys got yours so quickly! So, yeah, they have fast shipping.
        Jasmine Musk reminds me of late summer evenings. The Moss Garden is good stuff but difficult for me to describe.
        I’m going to try the 6 together thing 🙂 Because I really do see them working well together!

  11. […] J. Pirouette Essentials Rose Musk EDP – Rose Musk is my “budget” scent in this guide that doesn’t skimp on quality. Rose Musk is a rich rose with a cumin-cedar that makes this unbelievale. The 1 oz retails for $32 (seriously) at Piroutte Essentials. Here’s my review. […]

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