Une Folie De Roses by Les Parfums de Rosine, 2004

Like a rich fruit cake; where the weight of spices and dried fruit and time passing has rendered any former sweetness into a bitter dark memory, yet you believe it must be sweet because it's still called 'cake'. This is a nighttime rose, an essence left in the barrels once the girly happy fruity summery roses have been distilled away and forgotten. Under the rose lurks a morbid patchouli that twists the rose into to a not quite so nice graveyard sweetness, the oakmoss and spices adding to the earthiness. I also get licorice and dry incense. My husband thinks this is a great chypre, I find it unsettling and on the edge of nauseous. This doesn't make it bad, just not for me.

A nice dark rose. Apparently, it's technically a chypre, but it's core and most of what I smell is that synergy you get when you mix the classic attar ingredients of patchouli, rose, and sandalwood. There's also a baby powder smell that I think is what is causing the "old lady" complaints. Despite the official notes, if you can imagine a powdery Portait Of A Lady, or even Montale's Black Aoud with the rubbery medicinal oud taken out (but retaining the remarkable depth of the patch/rose combo) and replaced by powder, that's about what I think Un Folie De Roses mostly smells like. As a matter of personal taste, I much prefer the smell of oud over the smell of baby powder, so I'd go with Montale over Folie, but this is nicely done and worth the thumbs up.

Old fashioned and old smelling, like it had been left in the bottle too long. Opens well enough with vapours of soft, sweet, lightly spiced rose, until a sharp, fusty sandalwood-dominated spike rises to eviscerate its belly. This one's a doddering aunt clad in yellowing furs, with pancake slap and hair sprouting out of the mole on her chin. But hark, what's this? A few days later, I return for furtive further sniffs. And by my second wear, there's romance in the air. This one's doing funny things to my head. Must remember: addictions are usually damaging to health. Must remember: screwed up look of disgust on partners face when I first tried this.

It resembles Lady Vengeance, but just a little darker (the oakmoss and vetiver). This really should be classified as a unisex. The men's selections from Rosine are their very worst ones, but don't despair, some of these "feminine" Rosine frags can work for us guys. Case in point.

Les parfums de Rosine UNE FOLIE DE ROSE has a slightly dark and dirty, oakmossy edge. The rose petals seems somehow black around the edges in this perfume, imparting a distinctly gothic feeling to the composition as a whole. I would describe the overall effect as somewhere between a floralized light leather and a rose chypre. Although to my nose this is a fairly linear presentation, it might open up differently under various weather conditions, and I suspect that it would heat up quite nicely on the skin in the depths of winter. I'll save the rest of my generous sample for now and try again once the temperature has dropped this fall...

What a pretty, spicy, rose chypre! I agree, it's definitely more chypre than floral. I could see how, if this one goes wrong, it goes really wrong, because it's definitely not a shrinking violet. NB: I dabbed, rather than spraying, which probably reduced the aldehydes, as well as the potency.

I'm surprised at the reviews since I've not found it strong or cloying -- but perhaps the difference is in the application. I applied lightly from a dab vial and I'm getting a lovely floral with an aldehydic top and a chypre-like base, not unlike some of the Chanels (perhaps Rue Cambon?). Very elegant and almost understated. The rose is present, but is wrapped in other "Chanel-like" notes, which is fine by me since I'm not a fan of straight up rose. The drydown is lovely and lingers a long time even after a light application.

Un Folie de Rose is heavy, thick, rich and powerful. I compare it to the likes of EL's Youth Dew. For my own selection of fragrance, I cannot enjoy either one! Way too much for me, smells like the "cloying old lady" perfume on my skin - however, I am giving this one a thumbs up because when I washed it off ~ the remaining 'core' of this frag was gorgeous. Yeah, the true essence of it's composition is worthy of praise. So if you like 'em strong, with full speed ahead type sillage, give this Rosine a try!

1st try wow! smells lovely like the red/yellow roses at work. gets the sour chypre twang later on but still nice

2nd try keeps being too sharp & twangy on me

This is a chypre perfume, and a good one at that. I can understand that people are disappointed when they expect Les Parfums de Rosine to issue only floral perfumes. Yes, this is a departure, but it is wonderful.
As a chypre lover, I do not seek sweet, fruity florals. Une Folie is a superb, spicy rose. A citrusy bergamot opening evolves a into lovely jasmine and rose absolute. Tea rose keeps it lively. Spice and a slightly sweet base make it delicious.
This perfume shares a few similar notes with the venerable Chanel No. 19 and the expensive Jean Patou 1000, two of my favorites.
I'm glad this company took a chance. I hope more chypre-lovers take a look at this review and try a sample from Aedes.