Rosarium

Rosarium is probably my favorite release in this utterly compelling range. A smooth and highly comforting take on liturgical incense. There's something very familiar about this fragrance and yet, somehow, while bringing to mind of other similarly themed fragrances, there's still something incredibly unique about it. The incense is clean, waxy, white and with a crystal quality. It feels fragile in its beauty but never ephemeral. There's a sense of detachment that pervades Rosarium throughout its evolution but it's juxtaposed to something warm and comforting. In this context, it reminded me of L'Orpheline by Serge Lutens. Mind me though, the two are pretty different in smell but they share the same fragrance profile. Several shades of gray (I promise less than fifty) with a lilac dye thrown in the palette. They're both aloof and affable at the same time but while the Lutens feels somewhat like a Comme Des Garcons wannabe, the Ciampagna takes the rural / rustic route. There's the violet-incense combo of Maria Candida Gentile's Exultat, something to enhance the general grayness probably provided by the iris-cedarwood duo (Carthusia 1681) while the waxy incense give a remarkable sense of cleanliness. The drydown is all about a super warm and enveloping vanillic-woody-incense base with vetiver keeping the general powderyness / sweetness perfectly in check. Cedarwood is never overdone so that the fragrance can keep a well rounded structure from top to bottom. As most others *Ciampagnas*, Rosarium is incredibly easy to like while being slightly twisted to preserve its subtle but very defined identity. Fantastic presence and extraordinary longevity. Well refined, easy to wear and completely addictive. A winner. Rating: 8-8.5/10

A sepia photograph of the small village church in Almodovar's "Bad Education". A photograph of many such places at once. Sunlight through the windows, wooden benches soaked in frankincense for so long that they almost lost their smell of wood. Sweetness - abandoned honey jars. Dense, but also purifying instead of suffocating. Iris and violets smeared and dried over a stone surface. Not the grandeur of the big cathedral with thousands of people. Frankincense as a very personal experience.

This smells like Temples in Kyoto... Nostalgic. Resinous olibanum incense combined with temple's sweet woody interior in the humid heavy valley air. I am very impressed by the samples I bought from Angela Ciampagna. All of them have a very distinctive fingerprint. I will be exploring the house more.

A good example of how green iris can become if the perfumer choses to bring that property out. In Rosarium iris butter (the root extract) is mixed with carrot seed, juniper and violet. That combination creates a very sappy kind of smell as if someone has snapped green stalks in front of your nose.

Rosarium will take you to a gothic church. You may wear your gardening shoes - it is first spring or early fall, after all - but Madonna will be wearing Like a Virgin regalia and Michael Stipe might appear to sing Losing My Religion. Layered with Molecule 01 + Iris, this is even more memorable.

I enjoyed the sample I had of Rosarium. It begins with a slightly off putting carrot seed note that, frankly, just clashes with the honey. It’s...interesting, but unsure how pleasant it is initially. The violet can be glimpsed at times, too. I’ve only tried a couple of scents with carrots or carrot seeds and I just find that the note never goes away. I can always smell it. The heart of the fragrance is also an interesting counterpart to the carrot seeds - the woody notes and celery seeds, which oddly enough, seem to bolster the strength of the carrot. The juniper is drowned out mostly, but every now and then pokes its head in there. It’s kind of a weird scent - I am not crazy about the individual notes themselves, but somehow the overall effect of their combination works nicely. It’s unique and interesting, though I am unsure what social context I’d wear this in. The projection is very solid, but not entirely overpowering. The end of this fragrance is really what I appreciated most - an incense, vanilla and musk upheld by some light wood notes. Though I can still smell the carrot seeds it works well overall and I would definitely recommend giving it a go.

My favorite in this brand. Incense and flowers on the altar. For me it's mainly a warm incense and a powdery iris. A combination i've never smell before even in the huge amount of incense based perfumes who already exist (Comme des Garçons). The first impression is really close to Rêve d'Ossian (Oriza Legrand) but then grows the exhalation of the bouquet near the font and all these old polished wooden benches. Very evocative of an old country italian church. So nice that it makes you wonder and daydreaming.

Such unique beauty! I sense incense the most in the beginning and later carrot and violet. Not that powdery on me, more like sweet incensy carrot. Definitely reminds me of church in nature in the mountains and some village houses with bunnies . Very idilic. Underrated brand. It is really eternal but moderate. It made hard for me to choose which fragrance to buy for my birthday! Not similar to John Galliano, but it was the reason I tried it. Edit: I bought it and discovered that is a skin scent that doesn't last long as I first thought. I don't know how, my experience with the tester was different.

The birthday cake lactone in this is too strong. Hours after scrubbing this, I can still smell the same powdery aroma-chemical that you find in Heeley’s Blanc Poudre and Iris de Nuit.

This is like Calling All Angels on a diet to me. It has that same balsamic-gourmand take on incense, only its density is closer to the infamous CdG series than the more sugary April Aromatics scent. And I think that’s Rosarium’s real strength: there’s a lot of restraint at work given the fragrance's theme and the materials involved. It’s cedar and rosewood (I think) with a coating of honeyed vanilla and a standard frankincense. Included, however, is the tiresome aldehyde C-12 that gives Avignon it’s chill, but here it’s tucked away to minimize the material’s industrial feel, allowing the warmth of the honey to shine through instead. The C-12, which is essentially a wonky pine-smelling material, is strong enough to clash with the honey though — especially once the frankincense has died down and the gourmand notes have elevated. It dries down to a uninspired ambroxan base, which is a bit of a let-down as the ambroxan swells up and swallows everything else. Rosarium is not wildly original, but it takes a decent stab at attempting to bridge two disparate genres (liturgical incense and gourmand) without trying to rewrite either one of them. Sadly, I find that these genres clash too much, largely because of the pine vs. honey battle, and so this was a tough one for me to wear. It won’t satiate the sweetest of teeth, nor could it be used to bury the dead, but it might hold some appeal for folks who want their gourmand and liturgical incense experience combined. I’m not that person, though.

I've had a sample of this for over a year now and I tried it not knowing anything about the brand. I hadn't read any views so this was completely blind for me and with the 1st application I thought it was horrid and my heard started spinning. However an hour later and wow, it has developed into a gorgeous dark, earthy, berried, incense and vanilla scent and I'm like wow !! I can't stop sniffing it and it feels distinctly gothic and mysterious and it feels like love.. I can't detect any of the honey or the violet though, but having said that there is a smoothness and a roundness that tames the woodiness and they make this sweet; but not too sweet, if that makes sense. As you can also smell the veviter note. I think this fragrance is best worn in cooler months and I adore it and I would gladly add a full bottle to my collection in time.

This one was on my 'want to try' list, but sadly won't progress to my 'want to buy' list... Strong aldehyde and floral notes in this, a bit of sweet musk and lots and lots of vanilla and honey. The incense is minimal, and to be honest, I got very little to NO Exultat in this, unfortunately. It's just too -- it's a really incidental kind of scent. It smells like the baby's nappy/diaper. It smells like the kind of scent I'd get when I opened a designer good of some sort. Not for me...

بسیااار یونیک و بدون ادعا، تظاهر، فریاد و اغراق. اسمش گولتون نزنه خبری از رز بلد نیس اینجا. پودری ولی از نظر من متمایل به زنبق تا بنفشه به همراه حس مشک تمیز. جالب و متفاوت. ----------- Scent & Quality: 8/10 Longevity: 7/10 Sillage: 7/10 Creativity & Uniqueness: 8/10 Affordability: 5/10 ----------- Overall: 7/10

I agree with the below the opening is pretty bad, a soapy violet / juniper. However, the dry down - wow! Amazing earthy natural woods and seeds.

a very green smell with slight vanilla incense ,,good longevity.

a very green smell with slight vanilla incense ,,good longevity.

a very green smell with slight vanilla incense ,,good longevity.

a very green smell with slight vanilla incense ,,good longevity.