Reviews of Rose 31 (2006)
by Le Labo

Like Jenson, I thought that Le Labo 31 was rose water on first wearing. Second time, I got a little bit of that cummin note. My usual inclination is to try it once, maybe twice and form my opinion. I was thinking this would be a netural rating, in that while I liked it, given its price, it was not earthshattering. Well, it is just on my mind and having smelled more rose scents in the meantime, this keeps coming back.

Czech and Speake 88 is a darker rose for sure, more pungent, more earthy, more projection. But the 88 goes soapy on my skin, and reminds me of soap my grandmother used to have. The Different Company's Rose Poivree is much, much heavier on the pepper. Montales Rose Petals is perhaps more projection, longer lasting, but it is a more of a pure rose scent. Head up against each other, Rose Petals leans to feminine (but is not a feminine scent) while the Le Labo is certainly the more versatile.

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 :-(

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.

I'm a relative newcomer to niche scents, so my opinions of this fragrance may change, as this is one of the first niche scents I ever got a chance to smell. When I first tried it, I didn't expect to like it. I didn't consider myself a fan of roses. However, I enjoy the rose that I experience in Rose 31, well through the top notes and into the heart. The rose is not a fresh rose. It's a dry, metallic rose mixed with cedar, and some incense-like smell, which I can only guess is the oud or guaiac wood. It also smells so very feminine to me! So I was surprised to find out that it's marketed for men. I was also extremely bummed when I found out how much it cost, because it is rare for me to find a floral that I like. I agree with some of the other reviewers that it has a metallic smell. It also has a "doughy" smell, as Vibert mentions. It has so much doughiness, that when I first smelled it, I wanted to call it a "chewy rose." I like it very much, and it has changed my opinion about rose scents.

To this point, my experiences with rose fragrances have not been very happy ones. My reaction to Hammam Bouquet might be compared to the way one might react to having a black widow spider crawl up the side of one's neck while trying to fall asleep. I liked VdeR all right, but not a lot. I, therefore, approached Le Labo Rose 31 with misgivings, and maybe a bit of pornographic curiosity. Just looking with one eye open, I peeked and wondered: "How bad could this be?" Well, pepper married to a rich but not sweet rose makes a fantastic man's fragrance! It has been a long time since I was taken by surprise as much as I was with this. My experience is different that RS's. If I had found this to have been a sweet rose fragrance, I think I would have passed. As it is I found the red rose notes were clear and a touch austere, but not too strong, and the pepper is sufficiently sharp to make it truly a man's scent. They say there are 31 notes in this. I must be lacking in olfactory discernment, because I can make out only 2 clearly, but they are great, so I am not disappinted, or searching for the others. Maybe they will turn up eventually. This will suit a lot of men, I reckon; not just dandies or fragrances enthusiasts, but also a lot of stylish men of a wide range of ages and tastes. It also has decent longevity. I asked a couple of daring women co-workers to sniff this, and strangely and almost startlingly, they didn't detect the rose note first. The said it was clean and fresh and manly. True, they may not be NOSES, but they are the people I see five days a week, and they liked this. So, the results were very positive. For me, this is a true mood elevator. I can't help but smile when I put this on. What a pleasant smelling surprise!

When I put a spray of this on, it's like "new car smell" for the human body. Really crisp, transparent, and upifting. If I wake up feeling ragged, a shower followed by a spray of this seems to reset the odometer nicely. Despite the presence of cumin, this smells perfectly clean to me--the cumin here is like that in Baldessarini and Erolfa-- nothing like Kingdom-- don't be afraid. What I like is that this fragrance feels like it has no mass-- it's tenacious and long lasting, but it seems to weigh nothing-- it levitates. All the ingredients in this produce a very nice unified whole. A very modern rose scent that is masculine/unisex and well tailored. On top of that, it gives off a radiant, natural sillage that reminds me of Comme des Garçons Odeur 53, in that it doesn't come across much like a "cologne" or "perfume". It seems to slip quietly through the nostrils and olfactory center of the brain without triggering any "I SMELL PERFUME!" responses. Also, it smells sexy.

Le Labo Rose 31 came with such high accolades that I was naturally a bit wary. From my observations on the MUA Fragrance Board, it is one of those fragrances of which devotees have multiple back-up bottles lest it ever be discontinued, World War Three break out or other similar such tragedies occur. Now that I've tried it, I can understand why it has such a zealous band of followers.

To my nose, Rose 31 is cedary rose scent with a generous dash of musk and spices, and has excellent sillage. As compared to similar rose fragrances, it is a fragrance twin to Montale's Roses Musk and those who like TDC's Rose Poivree or Caron's Parfum Sacre might also enjoy this. As compared to Parfums de Rosine's pepper-rose offering "Diabolo Rose", Rose Diabolo is a teenaged girl whereas Rose 31 is a sophisticated woman. I personally don't gravitate towards heavy spicy fragrances with intense sillage so I cannot go on and on about how Rose 31 has changed my life. Also, given its relatively high price, my little sample is plenty for me and I doubt I will get another once I use this up. However, it is plain to see that this is a high quality, artistic fragrance. Well done!

Here are the notes, from The Perfumed Court: rose, cumin, pepper, clove, nutmeg, olibanum, cedar, amber, gaiac wood, oud wood, cistus, and vetiver.

It's incredible that how rose is turned into a virile masculine scent. It starts up with a punch of rose and after 10min it fades off a bit. After that however, a delicious hint of rose stays with the remainder of the frag. It is sensual, seducing, charming and masculine.

Scratch that earlier review. Crossed wires!

I find this a very presentable and pleasing rosse scent in a fairly masculine mode, accordin to the way things used to be considered. The cumin in the top is not what does that, although it is a nice tribute to the older style of slightly "dirty" rose scents. The cedar, vetiver, gaiacwood, and oud are what butch this one up a bit.

A very nice longevity and a good, steady sillage get Rose 31 a lot of well-deserved compliments. If you are willing to forgo the more obvious masculine commonplaces, though, I think there are other scents that can do the same in a more workmanlike way. Une Rose in the FM series and Montale's Black Oud definitely come to mind in this connection.

But this is for sure no slouch. If like me, you can't have too much rose, this is definitely worth owning.

Rose 31 is a dry, doughy, and peppery rose from the moment it lands on my skin. The rose is accented by attractively bitter green notes and bold cedar, which soon blend into a seamless, stark, and dusty rose accord that projects strongly from the skin and leaves plenty of sillage behind it. There’s a bit of powder, along with something mildly astringent in the background, and these notes can make Rose 31 a little bit sneeze-inducing if I sniff it too closely. In time the doughy element reveals itself as a tangy, yet well blended patchouli note.

Rose 31 continues on a straight course for some hours before the floral notes subside to leave a bone dry and powdery cedar-dominated drydown. When compared to some of the other fine unisex/masculine rose based fragrances, Rose 31 seems close to a straight up rose scent. It lacks the dark, spicy profundity of Czech & Speake No. 88, the leather bar cruelty lurking in Montale’s Black Aoud, and the crisp green notes and fruit that decorate Diptyque’s L’Ombre dans l’Eau. In the purity and focus of its rose accord, it comes closer to Serge Lutens’s Sa Majeste la Rose, but where the Lutens rose is moist and voluptuous, the Le Labo scent is desiccated, like dried petals in a cedar box. Rose 31 is a distinctive take on rose, and I’d recommend anyone who enjoys cedar-heavy scents like Tam Dao or Satellite’s Padparadscha give this Le Labo offering a try.

I really enjoy the cumin and rose combination in Le Labo Rose 31. The rose is not the typical heady, heavy rose – it is restrained and clean – deeply rich rather than broadly abundant. The rose is mitigated by a mild and gentle cumin – a cumin one does not have to worry about broadcasting a sweaty odor, although it does manage to be sensual and richly fulfilling. Then there are the cedar and incense of the middle notes that surround the rose / cumin with an almost aromatic woody brilliance. To my nose, the woody / incense unquestionably dominates the scent after the opening, but this usually happens to me when cedar or incense is involved: I’m over sensitive to them. The rose definitely hangs around in the background, and the whole rose / cedar / incense accord is joined by the exotic woods in the drydown. I find this a very sophisticated and inspired masculine interpretation of rose – probably the best I’ve found. Two thumbs way up – this is a great fragrance.

Intersting...there is something a bit mysterious almost sinister about this scent. This fragrance would pair well with a dark grey flannel suit, but it's not all business. There is a definate exotic undercurrent with this that I really like. I keep thinking of film noir, well dressed gangsters, 1930's Shanghai,opium trade,gentlemen exchanging pleasntries in an alley cafe, then off to do the dirtywork.

Le Labo Rose 31 is a synergy of fragrance bits where, like most great fragrances, the total evolves into much more that the sum of its parts. Yes there is rose up front but sometimes it is hard to find the rose, but it is always hiding around the corner - unlike Voleur de Roses where the rose disappears completely. The rest of the mix is spice and woods and incense and earthiness.Le Labo claims it has rose, cumin, oliban, cedar, oud (gaiac + cistus). But I also think I smell earthy vetiver root and slightest hint of patchouli. No one note really dominates. It is mysterious, very masculine, and gives a sense of inner strength. To me the opening is a beuatiful rose followed by warm spice & frankincense, and then wears down to an earthy vetiver/patchouli woood. A very special blend!

I find it odd that this is marketed as "roses for men." To my nose it smells very similar to 10 Corso Como, a fragrance that I find to be leaning to the "feminine" side. Looking at the shared notes this should come as no surprise, I guess, but still, it does. The two share at least notes of: rose, musk, vetiver, and oud. The sandalwood and incense are stronger in Corso Como, while the woods are stronger in Rose 31. But the oud is a similar type in each of these, the rose is almost equally prominent in both, and there is something fruity and sweet in both of them. Really, they are remarkably similar. I'd say perhaps Corso Como's over-ripe plum note makes it a tad more "feminine" than Rose 31...but not by much. Ladies and gents, don't let that scare you away though. I'd consider both to be wholly androgynous. Both have an exotic but not heavy or oppressive scent. It's good, but in the end, this just wasn't as ground-breaking or unique as I had hoped.

Two thumbs way up. This fragrance is an excellent Rose, jousting for first with Voleur de Roses for me. It's sweet, spicy, has decent sillage, and average longevity. I've gotten quite a few compliments from this, and I look to get quite a few more.
- Rich