James

I just received this, so I need to sit with it a while, but I think it’s my new signature for fall, which keeps changing by the day haha. I couldn’t decide between rose or white floral as my signature for fall / winter for date nights & every day. So I have a little of both in my rotation. My fragrance mood shifted a bit recently. I’m now looking for something that just makes me feel clean, pretty, feminine, like a skin scent that is just “me” but better, but then I realized I wanted less of a skin scent but more of a: how my hair smells after washing / styling, how I smell after being put together, that vibe. Like I want to smell like: beautiful French hair. Hair I don’t even have, long swishing hair over a trench coat. That’s how I imagine a pretty French girl smells. Hah ... This evokes all of that somehow, like it’s floral enough but not cloying or too sweet, hint of lactonic coconut really comes through on me, must be the fig note ... woody, natural shampoo like without being shampoo-y ... clean without being sterile or soapy, something sexy underneath it with the amber. It reminds me of Aveda products / hair products in a good way. So here we have what I was wanting. Voila! Very natural, organic, clean girl smelling. I didn’t know I wanted that sort of thing exactly, but I like it. & I was worried about the gardenia. I had tried another gardenia fragrance oil based on Kai which was crazy strong & smelled like pure gardenia soap, (never smelled the original Kai.) so I have to use that just for a bubble bath when I’m in the mood. Gardenia can be absolutely nauseating, soapy & I hate to use the phrase, but old lady like. This gardenia note doesn’t overpower it. It just makes it enough “floral” to be feminine and pretty to me. So I would say it’s a very refined blend for not being a major expensive house ... More of the “gamine” fragrance of the line. She is shy & mysterious & reads books in the park. But she likes bubble baths. Only shy until she gets to know someone new. I think I like her / him the best. That’s me. I hope a date will like it on me soon if I decide to choose this for a man. I’m glad to have it in my fall line up, blind bought travel size on whim bc received compliment on Rosie. I like this better now personally.

I have a sample size of this, and I tested it out yesterday. Immediately after spraying, even from a short distance (~2 feet), I can detect a light scent. Low to moderate silage seems to be pretty common for Rosie Jane, so I am quite satisfied with that. I don't have experience with many gardenia fragrances, but I can detect those tones, and combined with the light (very light, a bit happy about that since I don't love heavy ones) fig scent, it blends together to smell like fresh homemade lemonade without much sugar and with the pulp still in it. I almost feel like I can smell a very mild orange undertone, but I think that might be the amber mixing with the other accords I wore it on my skin (1-2 sprays per wrist, 1 spray behind each ear) for the entire day, and it faded slowly, but I could still detect it on my skin by the evening if I tried. The scent does have fantastic longevity in fabric and hair though, so if you want to have it last longer, then I would spray it on your clothes. In general, as I wore it for longer, the lemonade scent I described remained throughout, but the amber and woody musk grew more noticeable. I absolutely loved this fragrance though, and will definitely get a full bottle! Fantastic for Spring and Summer when you’re outside most of the day.

Green & creamy, ethereal & sensual, there is a duality to this fragrance that makes it surprisingly enigmatic & delightfully evasive — as a whole, the scent evokes that wonderful phenomenon following a rainstorm when foliage seems more verdant & all the world seems freshened, dew-laden. The gardenia is lush & bright, velveteen petals rain-wet & plush — this floral heart is complemented & complicated by a carnally lactonic fig; sensuous, plump, & dewy. This marriage between the sweet ingénue gardenia & the lusty hedonist fig makes this fragrance sexy to me in a way that is anything but obvious & deeply memorable — I have woken to the celadon ghost of this perfume in a sweet miasmic fug between my sheets & felt a deep romance for my own life. For those who say it doesn’t last well for them: I love to wear both the oil & the perfume, the perfume lasting better on clothes & the oil on skin. Additionally, I have been stopped & asked what I was wearing long past when I could smell the perfume myself, so keep that in mind. Truly special & delightfully indescribable, James is comforting & surprising, nostalgic & evolving, sensuous & intuitive — a fruit filled with rain, a flower blooming beyond any human eye.

I did not expect to love this scent as much as I did. I was hesitant of the fig because I have never had a fig scent before but now I see the light! At least for this cologne I do. It starts off super green and sharp, almost overwhelmingly so. Like spring in a fresh cut garden. Then the gardenia takes over for a very rich floral (but not TOO much, gardenia can be overwhelming sometimes), but the fig really rounds it out with soft, milky, nutty sweetness. Its a beautiful scent overall and I find that I get compliments every. Single. time. that I wear this. I wish it lasted longer, but its just such a good unique scent that its worth it to reapply. I ended up getting the body oil and body wash in the same scent (which were very reasonably priced IMO) and the fragrance lasts longer when I use those. It's also a really good scent to layer with. The milky nutty richness of the fig goes very well with amber oil to boost the amber base or even with a milky almond scent to work with the fig. TDLR: Starts off a really sharp green but ends a beautiful scent. Milky, slightly sweet, nutty, floral, and warmth from the amber. Super nice, just wish it lasts longer.

reviewed this a couple months ago when i was just starting to get into fragrance and write reviews, so let's redo it. i still love this scent. i'm a sucker for fig, and this one is so green and milky and cozy.... the gardenia adds something interesting in there that's hard to place. a note that almost reminds me of like.... grape juice? but not really sweet or tart.... like i said it's hard to place. i've started layering this with a really figgy oil (tree of knowledge from champagne socialist, it's supposed to be a philosykos dupe) and it helps with the otherwise pretty bad longevity. man i wish i could smell this longer! it's probably the closest thing i have to a signature scent. it's wearable in all seasons: not too fresh for winter, not too cozy for summer. i always come back to it. it's just instantly comforting.