Rose Cardin (1990)
by Pierre Cardin

Though "Rose" begins with a loud wash of cheesy, ironic, post-'new-wave' 'lollipops and 'Kool-Aid', it quickly simmers down to a complex and respectable, more-animalic chypre...a very good one, not unlike YSL's 'Y'.

It reminds me of the San Francisco Victorian homes, which the first generations of 'Yuppies' painted day-glo peach and erected glass brick and mirror showers in...

Sporting an essentially-insubstantial and actually-funny 'visage' of its era, but whose fundamentally "great bones" can and will redeem it and forever garner its admiration.

This one is potent and lush, it smells great all day, and has mad sillage.

While it is somewhat 'rosey' -- I guess -- I'd personally term it a 'musky chypre', and not a rose scent at all.

I relish my little vintage bottle of it, with its massive dose of heavy-hitting, now-defunct ingredients; it feels to me like a little vial of gold, and I hope I can 'score' some more of this treasure soon.

Wonderful stuff!

23rd January, 2010. (Last Edited: 12nd February, 2010.)

I’d like to think that my sample of Rose Cardin is off, since the top notes are a venomous combination of vinegar and stale urine that surely violate some clause of the Geneva Convention. An intense, powdery rose wells up soon after application, but the sour vinegar persists for some time alongside it, rendering the whole composition grievously unpleasant. Whether the vinegar eventually fades or is simply drowned out as the rose gets louder over time is open to debate. The rose accord sweetens as it expands, while some woody base notes slide underneath to provide support, but little else happens after that.

There’s nothing novel or nuanced about this composition – it’s pretty much a straight-on rose, and not among the best - even without the horrendous top notes. Any number of great rose scents, from Sa Majesté la Rose to Cabaret, render Rose Cardin superfluous, and I see no reason to seek it out.

12nd December, 2009.

This interesting oriental floral owes something to the 1980s craze for wearing essential oils as perfume. That rose and rosewood concoction gives the nose a full-on wallop and can at times make my eyes water -- but that is Rose Cardin's charm. This is no timid little petal. It is spicy and intoxicating; it almost tries too hard to be sexy. I enjoyed wearing it in my 20s (when I, too, was trying to be sexy) but these days I don't think I could wear something that was, you know, like, SO OBVIOUS. If I were hankering for a perfume with a very vigorous rose note, though, I would probably come back to this.

16th April, 2007.

Top notes: Aldehydes, Cardamom, Coriander, Fruit Notes, Rosewood
Middle notes: Carnation, Jasmine, Lily of the Valley, Rose, Ylang-Ylang
Base notes: Amber, Patchouli, Sandal, Vetiver

The aldehydes in the top notes are not as strong as I have been used to in other fragrances, and there are hints—just hints—of synthetics. The fruit notes and the rosewood and the other notes in the opening also are understated: the first note I actually can identify with is a straight, clear rose note—certainly not as elegant as the rose notes I’ve been encountering in the niche fragrances lately. It’s almost a cliché rose note—a little raw…a little aggressive, a very “pink.” The rawness I like, the aggressiveness of the rose mellows quickly and disappears into a very nice floral accord, and there’s nothing I want to do about the “pink.” This rose / floral accord is the rather usual designer rose accord …medium level designer fragrances, that is. Rose Cardin is not extremely refined but it is well done and quite pleasant. The dry down features the usual rose / patchouli combination supported by some regressive wood and amber. The accords of Rose Cardin are nice enough and varied enough and have enough sillage and longevity. It is actually a pretty good rose fragrance and, it doesn’t cost $160-$210, either.

3rd February, 2007.