Rose Cardin (1990)
by Pierre Cardin

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.

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.