Black Rose
by Goya

I picked this up for a song online. Sadly, I didn't score a bottle with the exquisite 50s packaging, featuring a deep red rose over a green striped background. These are fairly rare and command decent prices on eBay, so I took a chance with a plain cylindrical spray bottle with a pink label, probably dating from a decade or so later (Black Rose was launched in 1955).

The cheapness of the packaging was a distraction, and initially I felt that the fragrance smelled dated and cheap, too. The word "bathroom" popped into my head: I was smelling rose soap, tiny whiffs from the toilet and traces of Intimate by Revlon dusting powder (OK, I'm describing a bathroom from my teenage years).

Oh why doesn't my Black Rose smell like the one that Ayala describes so beautifully? I smelled my arm again, visualising the beautiful packaging with the dark red rose.... and suddenly I could smell that velvety black rose! I couldn't get my imagination to stretch to Black Rose having a base similar to Nuit de Noel, but I will keep working on that. In all likelihood my version is a cheapened reformulation that's not true to the original.

Verdict: Powdery rose fragrances appeal to me, and I am intrigued enough to keep looking for an early version in that retro-tastic box!

[Curiously, Black Rose and other Goya products are still being produced and sold by a company in New Zealand.]

13rd March, 2011.

The most incredible and unexpected birthday present I received was vintage Black Rose by Goya. It came in a cute
little matchbox with a dark rose. Only 1/3 of the perfume is still there (about 1ml at the most I think). And it’s smells heavenly of dark burgundy rose, almost black petaled, almost dry yet fragrant than ever. The scent is quite old, and becomes faint after an hour or so, so I cannot give you very accurate impressions of the base. Overall, it is similar to Nuit de Noel, only with the rose being the theme, and less the dry Saxon moss. The base is slightly mossy, perhaps with civet and amber, only that it is not sweet. But the top to middle notes are divine and rosy, like tucking your nose in a cushion of dark petals.

24th March, 2006. (Last Edited: 25th July, 2006.)