Ysbrand
Helpful Review
3
4 Rosezzzz
Rose 4 Reines (i prefer Eau des 4 Reines, though) is marketed as a rose soliflore that features 4 different roses (french, bulgarian, turkish and moroccan, which are actually 2 types, one centifollia and 3 damascenas, so i better say 4 origin denominations) so one would expect a very intense rose experience.
Thats what i expected and, well, Rose 4 Reines is indeed a very rose centered fragance but i wouldn´t remark the intensity or the beauty of the rose here, to be completely honest.
Basically i don´t enjoy the approach to this ingredient. Not every rose soliflore is my personal taste, like Diptyque´s Eau Rose or Goutal´s Ce Soir Ou Jamais (compared to some beloved roses like Frederic Malle´s or Perfumer Workshop´s roses) but they are well done and the rose is beautifully portayed and enhanced.
Not the case of this 4 slumbering (perhaps drunk?) queens. Rose is there, all the time, but smells kind of dimmed under a thick layer of powder and a slightly skunky musk. Truly a very conventionally femenine, boudouir type of fragance. A touch of violet pastilles, slightly cosmetic (ylang?) and definitely a very warm, almost ambery approach to the rose note that makes it not very suitable for the warmer seasons. Therefore, not a very fresh rose, and not a trace of the promised green opening (i have experienced this with other L´Occitane fragances, the opening notes are really thin and fleeting) and definitely lacking the depth, intensity and multiple facets that this rose compilation promises. Is it regal? i guess you can say that, if for you regal means boring.
On its favour, very good longevity and diffusion.