Coutureguru

I love Roses ... especially middle eastern ones, but give me a Rose fragrance and I am generally happy. I love Cedar too ... so add them together and a fragrance comes into existence that I absolutely have to have. Rose Malaki ticked the boxes enough for me to chance a blind, inflight duty free purchase ... and I couldn't be happier!

Upon initial application, I was a touch disappointed ... the Rose/Saffron combination too reminiscent of so many others in this genre. I suppose that when these two ingredients are used together, the way they combine is so typical that no other olfactory experienced could be reached.
I was sitting there, wafting my arm around in front of my face, waiting for the Oud to appear, which it did not. Instead, a really gorgeous cedar note started making it's way up through what, by now, had become masses of slightly dusty Damascus roses ... lifting them from midday stupor as if the Cedar was the herald of a cool evening.
The thick, velvety Rose petals in combination with a touch of leather create the feeling of soft suede on the skin ... while the whole experience is sweetened ever so slightly by the presence of a little Vanilla.
Rose Malaki is undoubtedly a spicy Rose ... but not in the way one would imagine a spicy fragrance to be. It's almost as if the spice here is carried into the room from afar on a subtle breeze while an open cedar box used to store suede gloves catches petals from a huge arrangement of Roses placed next to it.

I haven't been moved to poetic writing about a fragrance in some time ... this one conjures up very specific pictures in my head, of opulence and luxury, marble balustrades and dusty desert sunsets ... and silk window hangings fluttering gently on spiced breezes.

Try it ... I dare you!!

I am a Rose-aholic ... that's just the way it is! This bottle is a gift from a friend who spoils me rotten with fragrances from a divine little perfumery in Rome, after sending him on what appears to be an impossible mission to find a few bottles of Tea Rose EDP (in the pink and gold box) for me. The shop owner suggested this as a suitable alternative!

This version of Evelyn Rose opens bright and shiny (I have tried the other and find it a little insipid) just like the beautiful gold flacon it is housed in. A deep and luxurious Rose note is present from the offset, aided and abbeted by a soapy aspect that I, strangely enough, find myself rather enjoying! It's just enough to present a clean, freshly showered aspect without simply smelling like soap perfumed with Rose. When the dry down commences a lovely , soft powderiness ensues. If I had to make comparisons, I would say that Evelyn Rose 2012 is a cross between my beloved Tea Rose and Ombré Rose parfum, which I also adore! I'm never really sure how to comment on longevity and sillage as I am a chronic oversprayer ... I just keep my finger on the nozzle until most of my available skin is coated LOL. I have been told that this one is room filling in the amounts that I use it ... the people I work with have come to expect my scent trail ... so much so that if there isn't one they immediately inquire if I am unwell ... teehee!

It appears that this lovely Rose from Crabtree and Evelyn will find a permanent spot in my rotation! Highly recommended for lovers of powdery Rose frags!!

So then ... Clinique (essentially Lauder) rips off Lancôme nowhere near as stylishly (just compare the bottle of L'Autre Ôud to this one), and serves up yet one more rendition of an Arabic Rose a la Wood Mystique, Perfume Calligraphy, Velvet Rose & Oud (yes, Lauder owns Jo Malone) and Sahara Noir (yes, they own Tom Ford too!!). Each are subtly tweaked to make them appear new and different ... but at the heart, I'd hazard a guess that these fragrances are all out of the same catalogue.

The rub here is that I cannot call any of these fragrances bad ... they aren't ... just unnecessary! What drives me, a total Rose addict insane, is that if one is to call a fragrance 'Beyond Rose', then imagine the possibilities that could actually exist! If I, certifiably Rose mad as I am, can find never-ending Rose heaven in something as inexpensive and simple as Perfumer's Workshop Tea Rose ... then BEYOND Rose should literally have had my nostrils a-twitter ... which it didn't,
Granted, this is a nice fragrance that I have smelled in many incarnations ... amber-ish, sweet but not overly so and definitely Rosy, straddling the gender line with a woody and slightly metallic dry down that is so reminiscent of a multitude of oils and middle eastern fragrances that can be had for pennies in comparison to this $100-plus rendition of something the Lauder company has produced before ... seemingly ad nauseum. A little web sleuthing reveals that Harrods sells this fragrance for £110 per 100ml. Come and buy it here in South Africa, where it sells for R 1135 ... or roughly £65 per 100ml ... BONUS!!! I think the powers that be realised that no-one would spend nearly double on this here ... it probably won't be around for long in my neck of the woods either ... not in the current economic climate. A few hundred Rand more gets me a niche bottle of something down here ... I'm certainly not gonna waste it on a Lauder regurgitation!
Now, as I have said, this is not a bad fragrance by any means. In fact I have rather enjoyed wearing the generous test I gave myself this afternoon. Five or six sprays to each forearm have held up generously in the Summer heat, radiating about a foot and drying down fairly well ... if a little metallic. The promotional blurb maintains that Beyond Rose is "an elegant rose with spicy undertones and a tantalizing trail of amber. Aramia's past, present and future meet in a sophisticated fragrance that is both modern and complex. Engineered to blossom over time and linger in your memory" ... mmm-yes ... OK ... who the hell is Aramia?

I really wish some perfumer out there would take up the challenge and truly create a fragrance that is BEYOND ROSE. While this Clinique offering is nice, it certainly is not memorable, sophisticated or complex ... at least not to my nose. The Lauder company continues to disappoint.

My fascination with Iris continues and I was recently given a bottle of Iris Prima as a birthday gift ... yes ... I'm a lucky boy as my friends all know I'm a fragrance whore and try to outdo each other by procuring weird and wonderful stuff to spoil me with! Not that Iris Prima is in any way weird ... but it is wonderful!

This fragrance brings to mind a statue of Venus covered in graffiti ... quite a bizarre image, I know ... but it comes closest to explaining the classic/modern twist here. Created by Alberto Morillas (chemical Albie ... teehee) , I LOVE the fact that the note pyramid lists the aroma chemicals used in Iris Prima. I have a sample of the marvellous Hedione and it is very much present here! If I am not mistaken, Paradisone forms the basis of Armani Si ... which I enjoy on other people. I haven't, as yet, had the pleasure of smelling it in unadulterated form.
The star of this fragrance, obviously, is the Iris ... soft and smooth as a pair of chamois leather gloves! It is evident right from the first spritz ... on my skin the top notes are hardly present with the smooth leatheriness (is that even a word?) making itself known right off the bat. If one is going to call a fragrance 'Iris First' then I guess it had better deliver ... which this fragrance does!
True to Penhaligon's form, my skin devours Iris Prima in around 4 hours, depending on the weather. The final sweet leather phase sticks close to me ... but adheres gorgeously to my clothes, affording me luscious wafts every now and then.

Not inexpensive, my 50ml bottle will have to be treated with respect ... but then, this is one of those frags that I only really wear for myself, so I will save it for when my mood needs lifting. Do try this one if you love Iris ...

I'm writing this review on my 'phone which is damn irritating so it won't be a long one!

My bottle of Colors was on sale in a duty free I visited a few days ago during the constant traveling I am currently experiencing. There wasn't a tester, but I have enjoyed the odd Kenzo frag in the past and was willing to give this discounted bottle the benefit of the doubt.
Upon applying it this morning I was immediately positive that Colors contains a huge dram of di hydro myrcenol, a la CK One ... Which I don't mind at all since I am currently working in humid, tropical weather and this is rather cooling! A fresh vibe continues all the way through to dry down ... with a herbal, powdery idea lasting on the skin for a good six hours or so. I guess it could be described as somewhat 'barber shop-ish' to some extent, but it is vaguely comforting while still maintaining its freshness.

I've received about a dozen compliments on this fragrance today ... who knew it would create such a ruckus??