Nirvana Rose Elizabeth and James 2016
2
Blows me away.
This damn perfume evokes so many incredible associations for me...it's poetry. The note list is absolutely dismissable, because there is so much happening here in great nuance.
This is deeply gothic, a dry, spiced, prickly, and slightly bloody (yes, truly) rose. It's even a little musky, subtly sweaty, with the funkiness of green geranium (the geranium scent doesn't come from the blooms, it comes from the thick spongey leaves). Like a man you're attracted to on a chemical level who hasn't bathed. But, also it's *you*, and you smell beyond *pretty*, you smell like raw sexuality. It's both of you, and he's the type who makes rose oil from the hippy market his b*tch, and cares nothing for gendered stereotypes. It's you in an oversized flannel he wore over the weekend, without deodorant. Completely grunge.
But the bloodiness...it took trying Parfums Quartana's Bloodflower to get it. Now, I can't shake it, and I'll be able to detect it in other perfumes too. Someone said "rose oxide" was the culprit for the blood accord (I'm nobody's perfumer, but I believe it). This also must contain it, because it smells oddly similar. Fear not though, because while Bloodflower is like the perfume equivalent of a horror movie (in a good way), Nirvana Rose is something more akin to The Crow - an anti-hero story with gothic overtones. Yes, violent. Yes, dark in tone. But also, deeply romantic and meaningful. A cult classic (as you can see from the reviews). I've had multiple messages (on other platforms) inquiring of any possibility of me selling this, but it's irreplaceable to me, and I couldn't bear to.
This is without a question, one of the most AWESOME perfumes I've ever smelled. It truly speaks to me. It reminds me of more than a few songs, and instead of depressing me, helps me lean into any angst, process things...keep fighting. Keep loving, even if I'm crushed. When roses get f*cked up, they release their finest fragrance.
This is deeply gothic, a dry, spiced, prickly, and slightly bloody (yes, truly) rose. It's even a little musky, subtly sweaty, with the funkiness of green geranium (the geranium scent doesn't come from the blooms, it comes from the thick spongey leaves). Like a man you're attracted to on a chemical level who hasn't bathed. But, also it's *you*, and you smell beyond *pretty*, you smell like raw sexuality. It's both of you, and he's the type who makes rose oil from the hippy market his b*tch, and cares nothing for gendered stereotypes. It's you in an oversized flannel he wore over the weekend, without deodorant. Completely grunge.
But the bloodiness...it took trying Parfums Quartana's Bloodflower to get it. Now, I can't shake it, and I'll be able to detect it in other perfumes too. Someone said "rose oxide" was the culprit for the blood accord (I'm nobody's perfumer, but I believe it). This also must contain it, because it smells oddly similar. Fear not though, because while Bloodflower is like the perfume equivalent of a horror movie (in a good way), Nirvana Rose is something more akin to The Crow - an anti-hero story with gothic overtones. Yes, violent. Yes, dark in tone. But also, deeply romantic and meaningful. A cult classic (as you can see from the reviews). I've had multiple messages (on other platforms) inquiring of any possibility of me selling this, but it's irreplaceable to me, and I couldn't bear to.
This is without a question, one of the most AWESOME perfumes I've ever smelled. It truly speaks to me. It reminds me of more than a few songs, and instead of depressing me, helps me lean into any angst, process things...keep fighting. Keep loving, even if I'm crushed. When roses get f*cked up, they release their finest fragrance.