Rossy De Palma by Etat Libre d'Orange, 2007

At first sniff I thought "oh no, another patchouli monster". I have sort of a love/hate relationship with patchouli. Perhaps it goes back to my High School years in the hippy haven the was and still is in large part my home town. Clouds of patchouli scented the corridors my High School. Put me off the stuff for a very long time. Only in recent years am I able to stand a certain amount. Thankful, after my first sniff of Rossy de Palma the bulgarian rose came up to greet me. Then the spice and incense. Oh, what wonderful stuff! So I am very happy to give Rossy a big thumbs up! Thank you Etat Libre for making a patchouli fragrance that we, the patchouli sensitive, can appreciate.

I find the experience of wearing this far better than testing/spritzing and sniffing. It changes a lot on skin and over time, so it doesn't just shout rose from beginning to end. I don't get any cold ashtrays thank goodness. It's bright, fruity and peppery to start, moves through a dark rose-patchouli heart and fades out on soft cocoa and amber. It evolves in about six hours on my skin at which point I can re-apply, which I like, because I love perfume(!) and I love spritzing and smelling it afresh, and I hate fragrances that over-stay their welcome with freaky musks that last for days. Overall RdP strikes me as an easier-wearing sister to FM's Une Rose and SL's Rose de Nuit (both of which I love), and I plan to wear it a lot this autumn.

Opened with great puffs of smoke (and a bit of rubber) on me which dispersed to almost nothing. Just when I was about to dismiss this as another Etat which was less than the sum of its parts, it crept back up. A refined rose (not ka-pow) which starts off peppery, but then shows hints of the initial smokiness and little lifts of green. The rose-pepper thing has been done better elsewhere, but theres no denying this has been artfully made with feet in quite a few different camps without toppling over. However, I find it provokes no emotional response; its all at arms length. Surprisingly, its after about 6 hours that I enjoy it the most when the impression it gives is of a huge Montale rose in the adjoining room, its brashness tamed by distance.

This is another chorus of my common refrain - this rose contains that most unpleasant and synthetic of rose molecules that turns harsh and hairsprayish on my skin. I love rose, but when this molecule is introduced it renders the fragrance unwearable. I smelled a somewhat sassy rose for one minute before it descended into synthetic rose hell. A scrubber.

I'm neutral on it: interesting but not entirely attractive. Good points: spicy ginger and pepper are well done, though at times so fruity that they suggest tinned fruit cocktail. The rose is deep and pretty good. Incense combines well with the rose. Poor points: more than a few times, there is the vague suggestion of an old, metallic ashtray. The scent gets a bit metallic and thin in the dry-down.

I'm looking for a rose based fragrance, sadly this is not it. Too sweet despite the incense which I usually adore. Smelt like a little girls scent from the 60s that scented little soft plastic dolls.

I don't know who Rossy de Palma is, which may be an advantage as I'm just taking this scent for what it is to me, rather than as an evocation of a person. To me this is a pleasant rose scent, starts fresh ... although somewhere mixed in I get Palma violet sweeties. It becomes a straightforward rose with a little milky tickle of a warm depth, but sadly the rose is over too soon. Its more green than powdery, though the freshness softens quickly. I like it, but its not the beguiling or tricky rose expression of mystery, protection and witchery of the marketing blurb, its too straightforward. I continue on my quest for 'my' perfect rose. But it may well be your perfect rose!

Greets you with a heavy blast of cardamon and to my nose, geranium. Over time these soften a bit while the Bulgarian Rose enters in. As it finally settles, all I get is a pretty linear Bulgarian Rose note. Rather feminine overall and uninteresting to me. If DC and 88 are too dark and complex for you, then you might try this one.

One of my best ELdO's. Very impressive openning (pepper,ginger, mandarin and blood orange tickle my nose) that creates a rather tart surrounding for the beatiful rose that comes next. A rose that starts young, bright and green and ends up warm, rich and sensual. Absolutely recomended only if you are a lady, over 35 and you love rose centered scents.

I've to admit I've a problem with Rose based scents. Besides a very few (Parfum Sacré, Black Aoud and a few others) I don't like them. It's my personal taste. Said that, Rossy the Palma is a crude, raw and tremendously realistic crimson rose. Almost uncomfortable but somehow delightful and fashinating, exactly as Rossy De Palma is. IMO this is one of the most appropriate and fitting scent name given by the guys at ELDO, but still no scent for me.