Rose Seljuke

This is a great perfume if you love dark roses. On my skin, it goes into this smoky, dark, animalic rose, and I detect a civet-like warm furriness behind it. It's quite Oriental and has that Gothic quality that I appreciate so much in a scent. Elegance with a touch of filth, just the way I love it.

An absolute stunner right from the opening. The rose is always present , wrapped in woodsy spices that trail the floral base, or under scent . The behavior of this is nothing short of magical. If you're a man looking for a rose scent. This is it. Don't hesitate.

Is it actually quite good, but now knowing the nature of the name...

Update Nov 2024: So I'm sniffing right now perfume that is if not a clone, then very similar vibe to this. It is called - you'd never guess.... - Rosa Turca by Rua29. Highly recommended for the price and this scent profile lovers. Unfortunately not added to the Fragrantica database yet. First of all, Gardens Of Paradise collection is far more superior than 'standard' Chopard fragrances like Wish, Love, Iris Malika etc. However, it is as expensive as high-quality niche perfumes and I'm not sure that worth the money at the end of the day. In Poland standard price is around 250 EUR for 100 ml; from time to time you can get it at a discount for about 100-130 EUR and the discounted price is reasonable for what you get. I've been testing Rose Seljuke for a few weeks (in cold weather) and agree with most of the below reviews - it's an oriental rose and woody scent, but not a spicy Middle-East bomb. It is dry, slightly sharp and fresh. I wouldn't call it dark or very deep, or, to be honest, too floral. It's just in the middle of flowers and woods; as if dried rose and exotic wood blended together in a humid, sunny weather. Very feminine, especially in the drydown, when the first sharpness settles in. To me it is nothing like Love Chopard. I utterly HATE Love Chopard - it's like someone buried you alive under a tone of scented, wet sand. This one is not suffocating at all - bold but not sweet. Rose Seljuke is an interesting option for anyone who likes rose/general floral scents but is fed up with linear, pink roses or wants mild introduction to oriental perfumes. I've had 3 of the Gardens Of Paradise fragrances - Rose Seljuke, Miel d'Arabie and Orange Mauresque. If you're looking for a comparison, here it is: Rose Seljuke is - no surprise here - prominent on rose and woods and the sharpest of these three. Potentially the most fresh, feminine, romantic in the drydown. Miel d'Arabie shares a similar background but creamy spices and honey take place of the rose. It is not sharp at all - no pink pepper, cardamon or clove - which makes it more creamy and a bit of gourmand, leaning towards autumn-winter scents. Orange Mauresque is the creamiest of all - the opening is a blast of incense and sharpness but then it quickly sets on the skin as rather intimate, amber-vanilla scent. If you're looking for a good longevity/sillage, then Rose Seljuke is a winner here. However, all of them have good performance, with Orange Mauresque being more of a skin scent quickly. Somehow all of them are similar in their nature and very likeable. I'm not a fan of oriental scents and they are very wearable to me, even safe for office if you don't overspray. Probably safe blind buys for a lot of people, but I'd sample them first, being conscious of the price tag. Orange Mauresque is the safest of them - just don't be scared after you spray it. All of them are leaning feminine to me or at least are absolutely OK to wear by a woman.

Seljuk is a dynasty started in a territory of Kazakhstan. They had 3 branches located at territories of: - Syria - Konia (Turkey) - Iran and Iraq. Probably the name of perfume refers to the Syrian branch as the rose in it is Rosa Damascena. I got it today and should say it is a very Middle Eastern rose, but does not have longevity beyond 1 hour. So it smells deep and dark, but probably is not too offensive.