Rosa Flamenca (2004)
by Les Parfums de Rosine

The first few minutes are Tabasco sauce then it slowly reveals a lovely soft scent like the old Ombre Rose.

1st June, 2010. (Last Edited: 6th July, 2010.)

Weird, wild, and wacky, this one. The opening burst of turpentine, camphor, and pimento left me wondering just what they were trying to get at when they concocted this stuff. Once the central rose accord secured its position, Rosa Flamenca began to make a certain type of goofball sense to me: it’s the fragrance equivalent of a dada installation.

The odors of damask, alba, and gallica roses (the ones most often used in perfumery,) all include a certain sharp, winey, yet “chemical” edge. Most perfumes try to round out this angularity with sweet white flowers, creamy woods, or vanilla. Rosa Flamenca sets it front and center, flanked by notes that you’d expect in a garage, not in a garden. I’m somehow reminded of Duchamp’s urinal mounted proudly on an art museum wall.

A mellow woods and musk base eventually reveals itself beneath Rosa Flamenca’s raucous surface, and it’s this eminently civilized foundation that ultimately renders the scent wearable. So while it flirts dangerously with being an olfactory joke, Rosa Flamenca winds up being a refreshingly original take on a commonplace note. Olé!

16th December, 2009.

I searched the pyramid for what might account for this harsh, chemical that I was smelling in the opening… The pyramid was no help – there was nothing in it that could account for the sharp edge. Then I read Vibert’s (now missing) review and he pretty much nailed it… turpentine and camphor. There it was… turpentine… and it took fifteen minutes for it to develop into something else – into something tolerable: a rich and fully dramatic rose accord that is lightly sweet and totally engaging. The heart of the fragrance is hugely rose. A Georgia O'Keefe rose augmented by jasmine and fig leaf that fill out and provide a white border and a green frame to the exuberant rose. I’m not a huge fan of rose, but I enjoy this rose / jasmine / green combination, and it holds on to my skin providing good sillage for a more than adequate length of time. The semi-sweet base – sandalwood and white musk – moves in to center the entire fragrance. Rosa Flemenca is a dramatic fragrance whose edginess could easily have gone over the top… but it doesn’t: It is successfully filled with drama, passion, and movement. It’s ingeniously assembled and well named. (Edit of 22 November 2008 review.)

22nd November, 2008. (Last Edited: 30th November, 2009.)

oo I love this one! warm, rich & sunny blend of orange blossom & rose. not too sweet or high pitched, it's well-rounded & full in flavor, yes a little more sheer than I like.. but it's so lovely & comforting a smell to me so I just spritz a lil more often!

7th August, 2008.

Notes: Orange Blossom, Bergamot, Petitgrain, Jasmine, Rose, Fig Leaf, Sandalwood, Benzoin, White Musk

As other reviewers have mentioned, this is indeed a warm, lovely rose. It's definitely not the typical sweetness and delicacy of an English summer tea rose. First impression is a bit spicey and active...the oranges and jasmine give it some body. Soon enough though, the sandalwood and musky notes take hold and set up the warm background for the rose to slowly smolder...in Andalusia, in the baking sun, on a midsummer afternoon. Lovely!

5th November, 2007.

Strangely enough, I HATE this when I first put it on. There's a single, overpowering sweet note at the beginning that reminds me of either Obsession or Poison. But once the overpowering first note dies away, it just smells really, really good, like the real garden rose named Tiffany. It reminds me of Rosine's Rose d'Ete in that it is a very ripe rose scent, without the lighter approach of Ecume de Rose or Zest de Rose. If you like a straightforward, natural, floral rose, you'll like this.

6th July, 2007.