Rose 31 (2006)
by Le Labo

I've had my Le Labo Rose 31 experience, and I'm here to say, guys, this is a manly rose fragrance--in a unique way. This is an animalic rose on the raunchy side. It has a funky musk base with a nice, smooth rose heart. It smells like a man wearing rose fragrance. In that way, it reminds me of a mild version of Muscs Kublai Kahn with roses. The only reason I give it a neutral rating is because it smells LIKE a man as much as FOR a man. Although I would enjoy smelling it on a man, I would not wear it (nor MKK) myself. If I were a man, I would give it a thumbs up. To be sure, it is not fecal like Rasa Extreme; rather, it is spicy like sweat and naughty like musk.
This is a well-balanced scent. The cumin does not bowl you over, as it did in Alexander McQueen Kingdom, and the rose is prominantly featured from beginning to end whereas, in Kingdom, it crept out of the sandalwood as a chypre rose in the final stages. Rose 31, it is fresh and real.
However, I repeat, it is animalic. Compared to Lorenzo Villoresi Musk, which is another rose and musk fragrance for men, the LV is clean, even soapy. The Le Labo smells lived-in, like a man in rose fragrance, straight from the bottle.

The first real rose scent for men. Everyone that ever hated rose will love this one. All you have to love is fresh spices of incense, pepper and vetiver. An amazing scent for men or women! Two thumbs up in my book...

I don't know what others are referring to when they say doughy, but it does kind of have that three dimensional quality to it. To me it smells more like a "winey" rose. I reserve this fragrance for 3rd dates or romantic occasions in general. Not overpowering, excellent sillage, longevity is decent. One of my current favorites, I just don't wear it often unfortunately :-(

starts out, to my nose, like a Rose Poivree or Voleur de Roses lite: peppery, cumin-y, and the "green" rose smell that is like a rose soap almost. I'd say like TDC or L'AP with the volume turned down.
After a spell, hmmm, about 30 minutes, it becomes rosy white-musky with a cumin note in the background, as though it were talking audibly in another room.
The stuff is nice, don't get me wrong. Will I fork out the TOP dollar for it again... I don't think so. Rose scents are, when done well, sublime. There seems to be this trend afoot whereby rose needs to be made spicy, or cumin'd, and quite frankly I'm over it. Get a new line folks.
In my opinion, Montale have done rose to absolute perfection in all of their myriad Aoud collections; that, coupled with Domenico Caraceni and Czech & Speake No. 88, will be the benchmarks of classical rose perfumery.
I'll give it a sideways thumb because, well, been there done that.

IMHO, best masculine rose scent ever. Period.

Cedary, crispy, clean, and with a radiant sillage "aura" plus excellent longevity. The cumin in here is actually pleasant -- not the ones you'd expect in say.. an Indian dish. (Don't get me wrong I love Indian food!) Either way, this is charming and bottle-worthy.

Not as assaulting as Montale's Black Aoud -- or "nice, but not that nice" like L'artisan's VdR, or hard to wear like FM's Une Rose. The list goes on... this one gets it just right.

... And this is coming from someone who usually dislikes roses.

Rose 31:

Day 1: well, it smells like rose water. nice fresh rose water, i m wondering whats the fuss all about?
Day 2: im at work and i cant get my head out thinking about it, the smell....im like, am i fallin in love or what?
Day 3: slightly generous application, and wow, it's Rose, fresh Rose buds which blooms into a beautiful rose in mids and then withers aways to a musky animalic base which stays close to skin in a very comforting way.
Day 4: my appreciation for this beauty jumps up by miles, it has me thinkin how beautifully its been concocted, it smells so real, just like a fresh Rose bouquet.
Day 5: i'm thinking i need to keep this sample away from my wife, she may just pour it on and finish it

well, bottom line for me, Rose 31 smells like rose petals to me with a musky animalic base, its unlike anything i have in my wardrobe, its light but possesses a mysterious quality of serenity, longing, love, and simplicity. It's a kind of scent which one will long for, a definite must have for one of those days, when you just want to smell, nice.