Fleur de Thé Rose Bulgare (1890)
by Creed

Was at the Theatre one evening and kept smelling this fantastic scent drifting towards me. Narrowed it down when this lady walked past to venture out for the Interval. Politely asked her what the fantastic fragrance she had on was called and we ended up having an enlightening half hour conversation on fragrance. I'm not over fond of most Creed fragrances but when she told me about FdTRB I immediately bought a flask the following week. Without doubt THE most classy fragrance I have ever bought. Expensive yes, but good sillage and exceptionally long lasting. Have never once worn it and not been asked what it was and been complimented on its allure. It's linear....but so fabulous and beautiful.....who wants it to change !!

8th August, 2011.

Fleur de Thé Rose Bulgare is one that threw me the few times I wore it. The opening is very "perfumey" to me, and maybe my sniffer is just off, but I swear I get raw alcohol off the top for about three or four seconds. This fragrance confuses me a bit in concept as well - instead of being inspired by actual Tea Roses, Creed is blending green tea with rose. But why?

The rose itself is very green, fresh-smelling, and hyper-realistic. As a man, I find it quite feminine, but because it is so well rendered, the rose never really makes me uncomfortable. The progression from rose to a faded tea and ambergris base, with its slightly salty twang, is nice enough. Before I tried it, Fleur de Thé Rose Bulgare was a potential blind buy. I'm glad I didn't do that. This wouldn't get much play in my wardrobe, but I can see it being beautiful on a woman.

18th December, 2010.

There’s an off, sharp green note in the opening that almost pushes the fragrance too much. At that point the fragrance borders on cloying, but these excesses have completely disappeared in a few minutes. Fleurs de Bulgarie’s initial heaviness is necessary in order to build up the energy necessary to release such a beautiful and lasting rose accord. This is one of the most flawless rose fragrances I’ve encountered. The rose note is clear and natural, beguiling and emotive. It is backed up by a light—very light—touch of ambergris and musk, but, for all practical purposes, it is a pure rose scent. Fleurs de Bulgarie is quite elegantly feminine, has excellent longevity, is linear, and is incredibly refined. No seeker of the perfect rose scent should miss this one—it is definitely a contender.

7th December, 2010.

The sweet and very adult florals in the headnotes speak of sensual slowness, sweetness, and sultry spicyness soon swelling up. There is something very assured and knowing about this scent. I can't imagine being able to put confidence in a bottle (it's scent anyway) but this has it. It's not trying to floor you with flowers or seduce you with sweetness, and it takes its time to get to the drydown where some of that floral achord takes on notes of incense and burning wood that remind me of old hollywood.

Class in a bottle to be sure.

6th July, 2010.

An interesting rose and tea scent- smells quite quaint and old fashioned- velvety roses to begin with a hint of tea. It's an airy scent. However as it prgoress, the scent loses that plush feel and becomes a little synthetic . Then it smells ordinary. It's a shame because the opening is beautiful ,romantic and classy.

17th June, 2010.

Ooh...how can i state what I think of this scent? I LOVE it!

Fleur to the Rose is the glory note of the US National Anthem; the scene in 'When Harry met Sally' that makes the whole movie worth watching; and the landing of Kerry Strugg's gold winning vault jump.

Edit: on this second wearing I am able to detect more of the note interplay; yesterday I was too overwhelmed by the overall affect. This opens with a faint, citrus kiss. Immediately you'll detect the tea and rose, which does remind me of a light 'rose bath soap' scent, but i"m not saying this is 'cheap' or 'generic'.

the tea throws me off a bit; this is a not a note I"m used to detecting. When I've smelled it before the scent was dry and I did't care for it, but here it is 'raspy and dewy', kind of like what my rose garden smelled like when I lived in Phoenix - thta mixture of faint luscious rose and parched, sandy earth that was watered each day to make flowers.

The ambergris dries down is powdery and maintains the hint of green. My opinion holds that this is one of the best floral greens I've tried (I had a similar feeling towards Antonia's Flowers Absoluto)

15th May, 2010.