Rossy de Palma (2007)
by Etat Libre d'Orange

Wow. Just lovely. A serious, elegant rose -- by far my favorite of the ELO's I've tried, and to me the most successful use of the ginger/leather/incense accord also found in Charogne and Putain des Palaces. Here, the rose stays true and lovely all the way into the dry-down, with the base giving solid support but never overwhelming the fresh, honeyed florals. I feel like I could wear this anywhere and always feel perfectly dressed.

This fragrance is a tapestry of rose, jasmine, peppercorn, ginger, vetiver - a thorny tangled weave of soft and hard elements from nature. It is essentially a pepper rose blend all the way through but it is a strange mix of crunchy pepper, woods and intoxicating florals. The rose tapestry fragrance is softened further by a chocolate/patchouli velvet border. A strange, but satisfying fragrance. This blend that could be the love child of two very strong rose fragrances: Rose Poivre and Voleur de Roses. You smell at different times woven into the blend of roses, pepper, ginger, the indoles of jasmine, soft chocolate and a bit of darkness of rose next to patchouli. There is a truckload of personality in this blend. This is a fragrance that is not for everyone, but very unique if you can wear it rather than it wearing you.

a red red rose that oozes a drop of red red blood. love it!

Etat Libre D'Orange Rossy de Palma

Etat Libre d'Orange has made its mark on the clever names of its different scents as well as what is contained in the bottle. That's why it was surprising to see them putting out an actress inspired scent. On the other hand Rossy de Palma, star of Pedro Almodovar's Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown, isn't likely to be confused with Jennifer Lopez anytime soon. This is a rose-focused scent which is also unlikely to be confused with the rose water your grandmother used either. Perfumers Antoine Lie and Antoine Maisondieu combined to make a modern rose which also contains elements of the new. For me the difference comes right at first sniff as the rose is present but also a tart manadarin note which plays antagonist to the rose protagonist in the first act. The mandarin slowly fades and as the curtain goes up on the second act the co-star is honey and a sweet aura wraps the rose in what at first seems like a gentle middle when from stage left enters a hint of spice in the personages of cumin and cinnamon. As we move into act three the rose maintains its central role but now gracefully shares the olfactory stage with patchouli applied very lightly over musk and vanilla. The top and heart of this one are a joy on my skin as the rose holds my interest but the mix of citrus honey, and spice as the scent develops really add depth. The base is almost disappointingly normal but then one does need to ground the unusual in the familiar at some point. All involved need to take a bow as I stand and wrist pressed firmly to nose give the Basenotes Salute.

I've gone right off rose fragrances -- I think they all smell better on women anyway. But I did hover over my wallet with this one as I think it's lovely -- very much like Paestum Rose by Eau D'Italie. What's all this nonsense regarding the words 'synthetic' and 'artificial' in perfumes-- just accept that as a fact with 99.9% of fragrances -- 0.1% is for the super rich -- don't let perfumers tell you otherwise.

The opening of Rossy de Palma is very alluring, with an almost fizzy berry-rose accord. But, as others have mentioned, the drydown is too flat, artificial and old-fashioned for my liking.