Rose

I love this rose; it's one of my favorite single note rose fragrances. It's easy to think "why do I need to even smell another rose fragrance?" But this one is different. It starts out for maybe 15 seconds smelling like a lot of light rose scents, but immediately I get a blast of what seems almost wetness, which must be the aloe vera. (Decades ago when I tried to go hiking, I actually grew aloe vera to apply directly to the poison oak on my skin, so it's hard to think of aloe vera being added to perfume.) Other rose scents don't have this wet effect, and don't give aloe vera as a note, so the aloe vera must be what causes it. What also makes this Caron Rose so different is the vetyver. It's not heavy handed or wintry either, but it adds an element you're not expecting that turns this light little rose into a complex fragrance. I love geranium scents and I know I was expecting more geranium in this, but I just don't smell it. To my nose anyway, beyond the bevy of roses, this is a vetyver, iris, sandalwood and vanilla scent. It lasts 6+ hours on my skin. The perfume I'm describing here was not made in 1949, but it's in a bottle that is identical to the one in the picture, where the box is mainly pink with a green leaves design at the bottom. I believe this edition came out around 1999-2000, and I probably bought my bottle of it around 2003. I had a prior bottle of it that was a lay-down spray bottle I bought I think in Paris in 1993; the juice in it smelled the same. The 1949 edition I'm sure was a parfum, not an edp, and I don't know if the juice was the same as this. There is an implication that this Caron Rose was in continual production between 1949 and now, but I'm not sure this is true. I wore a lot of Caron scents between 1968-2010, and certainly lurked at a lot of Caron counters, including those that had urns, like I. Magnin in San Francisco. But I don't remember seeing this Rose scent until I bought that bottle in 1993 in Paris, probably in the flagship store on Ave. Montaigne, that had Caron scents other stores didn't have. I bring all this up because I have no idea what or whether what Caron may now be selling called Rose is the same as what I have. I think the one in the pink box with the green leaves is still around online, and that's the one I advise.

Having run the gamut of rose concoctions and usually emerged headachy, nauseous or with a feeling of having been cheated, I happened upon Caron's Rose. And I wanted to celebrate. After many a suffocation and mad rush to wash basins, finally a Rose to coexist with. It lives and breathes gently, reassuringly, in a world fraught with discord, as if to say, rest, I'm here to ease your soul. Caron's Rose is not an entity that goes through life stages, at least not on me. It's like a glowing Renaissance painting which gradually recedes into a rosy sunset, taking with it cherubs, angels, clouds and all. It's the rare measure of rather unremarkable ingredients, I imagine, that make it so lovely. But then that's the beauty of Caron creations through the decades. At this point, it must be said that Lipstick Rose is a must for those who worship at the altar of the rose. And if you love daguerreotypes, 1950s films and blue-red lipstick. I was heartbroken when Keep It Fluffy was discontinued. Heart restored, courtesy House of Caron. And please, let's get over Arabian Nights, much as I love them, and stop pushing exotica. I allude to those deafeningly garish Oudh-rose-gourmand-Loukhoum potions that threaten to deafen, blind and choke the name of the Rose.

Yet another reason why more than one or two tries is worth it! I won this from an ebay auction last year (the older curvy-style bottle with the blossom cap) from a personal collection. I have no idea how old it is, but it was barely used. I'm not really a fan of rose scents, but this one converted me! I wore it yesterday for the second time, and this is magnificent. All day I kept catching soft whiffs of something delightful, a rose-frankincense waft, and I kept thinking "what is that wonderful smell?" and reminded myself several times that I was wearing Rose. I am so glad that I hung onto this! It does seem to like cooler weather. I didn't smell much pepper and I didn't pick up on mint, but I think the geranium (maybe rose geranium?) lightens it. Rose perfumes usually crawl up my nose or turn very powdery on me, but this one is so classy and light, yet it lasts all day and leaves a soft aura around the wearer. I LOVE it! I have read that Caron discontinued it quite some time ago? That is to be mourned; it is a truly beautiful fragrance. Brava!

A fragrance as fascinating and delicious as it is incorrectly titled. If I would sniff this blind, I would swear this was a geranium fragrance marketed toward men! The aromatic components of leafy green, mint, and eugenol-tinged spice combined with the dusty woody base certainly make an impression up close, though the sillage whispers edwardian fantasies of a highly-saturated poisonous storybook rose. A generous blend of natural rose essential oils kisses the skin delicately and I'm in heaven. I can't generally wear more realistic rose fragrances; I usually have better luck exploring the fantasy side of the flower. You can feel the strange balance of Poivre in this; the influence of the equally strange Bellodgia is also apparent. My favorite rose!

a sweet jammy rose with an odd complex quality that is the Caron magic and some geranium there also is a vanilla in there but not vanillic. It just makes the rose creamier. Love.