Desert Rose

This will be my final of 12 rose scents reviewed from my collection for Valentines day 2016. And I have saved the best for last. I will compare Desert Rose by Jeffrey Dame to the magnificent Mister Lincoln rose. Mister Lincoln probably is the best selling garden rose of all time and it just does everything well. Sterling Silver might have the best form of all time and Mister Lincolns grandparent Oklahoma might have a deeper darker richer fragrance. So there are some roses that beat Mister Lincoln in some respects. But when you put them all together and consider, form, function, frequency of bloom repeat, fragrance, ease of growth, and beauty. Mister Lincoln is the President and in charge. Desert Rose by Jeffrey Dame is like Mister Lincoln. I think that anyone could buy this fragrance, and genuinely know that they have a rose fragrance that is as good as any ever put in a bottle. Desert Rose is that rare bouquet of 12 perfect long stemmed red roses with a hint of babys breath that every person that's ever been loved hopes to get at least once in their life. While I gave a good review to Sirene, I think Desert Rose is better. I believe that Jeffrey Dame is the nose behind the both of them and that he took the template of Sirene and improved on it. With Dame you have Rose, Geranium, Jasmine, Peach, Vanilla and Musk while with Sirene you have Rose, Geranium, Jasmine, Peach, Vanilla and Musk. However there is a slight divergence. Sirene has violet and Dame runs to Heliotrope and Sirene claims woodsy notes while Dame admits to using Sandalwood. And also Dame uses Sicilian Lemon versus the Sirene note of Orange. Where I feel that Desert Rose stands out from Sirene and many of its other competitors is that Jeffrey Dame has created a rose scent where Rose gets to be the star. And that is what I am looking for in a top tier rose fragrance. This is not an ensemble piece like Sirene. And you do not need an oud to distract from the rose like you see in so many of the so called top rated rose scents by youtube reviewers. This is that fragrance of very rare note that stars rose and lets it get top billing. Jeffrey Dame is obviously a man that loves the desert. However, I find this fragrance to be less of a Desert Rose and more of a perfect garden rose. It shines and absolutely glows for what it is not. It is not a blend. It is not a musk rose or a spicy rose or an oud or darkened rose. This is a rose fragrance without need of distraction. It is not overly loud or screechy and it is not retiring or afraid of its beauty. It is a rose that lives where it needs to be. Mister Lincoln comparisons hold apt. It sits in the garden, here I am and I am beautiful and I am what you want me to be. And it grows, and repeats its bloom, and does not demand attention and work, and is ready for you whenever you care to notice it. Its beautiful in the garden from spring to fall, and its beautiful when cut and brought inside. Its beautiful as a gift. And it owns respect. I shall rate performance and sillage as good. I like to see Niche get to 10 hours and this one does. Honestly, there are many roses that outperform Desert Rose and I think that in perfumery Rose is one of the loudest notes. Jeffrey Dame has toned things down just a bit but kept the heart and strength of the note. It would be easy to over spray this one as it is with almost any rose fragrance and if you do then it is going to be loud and you just might not like it. I almost feel that if Dame did try to go beast mode with this fragrance that he would have taken it too far and tilted it towards performance instead of quality of scent. This is where I want a fragrance like this to be. I can tone down the volume by spraying a bit less or amp up the performance by spraying more. Its my choice how I want it to behave and it hits the sweet spot of where I want my rose fragrances to live. Value is average. Desert Rose lives in the Dame artisan line. And he charges more for them. They do come in perfume strength. And the best thing is that his father does the artwork for them. I cannot decide if I love the artwork of the Artisan line better than the fragrance itself. Im such a fanboy of this mans father. The guy can paint but I really like the line of the drawings he has done for this fragrance. If you order this fragrances ask for a postcard. Its frameable. Anyway, its rare that I am willing to pay over $50 an ounce for any fragrance including niche and this one clocks in at around $40 an ounce. If there is a problem with price it is only that there are many other Dame fragrances that are also amazing that give you twice as much. This fragrance is not the most affordable you could find but it stands toe to toe with any rose fragrance ever made and some of them cost a whole lot more than Desert Rose. As far as usage goes. For me, it is good but not heavy. I came home from from a long trip a year ago and found a sample sitting on my porch. And I insta bought a full bottle. Dame has been generous to me and I think other of his customers about making samples available. And as much as I do love this one, I do find it to have a bit of similar dna to Sirene and frankly, I own a lot of Sirene. Desert Rose is the better scent but its close. I use Sirene for normal use and Desert Rose when I want something a bit more special. I think its safe to say that I wear both a lot. As for repeatability of purchase, there is no question in my mind that should I drain the bottle that I would rebuy this fragrance. Id buy a backup bottle if there werent other Dames I still dont own. Again, I have never smelled any rose fragrance that I like better than this one. I have smelled many many many that were different and that had lot of good attributes. But never one that could outshine this one on a total basis. If I have a problem with the value of Dame Fragrances it almost is that there are starting to be too many of them. I used to own them all but there are now 20 of them to buy and another if you consider an extra version of Musk Man. I wear Dame a lot and its probably my most worn fragrance house but I am buying them faster than I am using them and I have some that I haven't tried yet that I want to buy in the near future. Its getting hard to use up some of these bottles when I have a dozen others from the same house sitting on the shelf smiling at me. And then there is Ulysse and Sirene and Animale and Bronze .... etc. Overall, I am going to grade this one out at 95 and a solid A grade as being excellent. It is the second highest grade that I have given a fragrance only behind Mate Heliotrope and Patchouli. Like Mister Lincoln, I think there are slight areas of improvement here and there but overall I think that Desert Rose is a masterpiece. Im honestly tired of fragrance companies making rose fragrances that come at you with megaphones and stentorian voice and then try to distract you by adding oud or dark notes to shadow the screech. Tom Ford just gets so much love in the fragrance community and his fragrances all seem dark to me with doom and gloom and heaviness. Jeffrey Dame is a being of light. His fragrances like himself have a sense of kindness and brightness and a wealth of glad. And I think Desert Rose is another of note. I do not get the Desert vibe of this one but its beautiful and maybe it has a sense of the desert after the rain where you just know you are walking in beauty. Not so much the rose that you find but the process of the hike itself. I do not need a rose to yell at me. And I do not want one that hides its beauty to change focus of attention. I do not need youtube reviewers shaking their fists at the skies and screaming, "BEAST MODE !!!!". I have spent more money buying samples and decants of Tom Ford fragrances than I care to admit. And not once, have I ever met one that I wanted to buy a full bottle or even admit to myself that I honestly like. Sometimes, I think if Tom Ford were to pass to the life next that Saint Peter would meet him at the gates, "Black Orchid ?!? Really Tom? a crotch note? Really?" If Tom Ford scents come from a devilishly dark place, Jeffrey Dames seem to be wearable and heavenly. When I want to wear a rose, I want to put it on, smell rose, and enjoy it. And Desert Rose lets me do that, perfectly. As honestly do all of the Dame scents when you start talking about actual wearability. I use these guys. My bottles have dents in them. Even Herb Man is starting to get low. Jeffrey Dame has fragrances that I havent even tried yet and Im wondering if I should buy them first or start in on backup bottles. Mister Lincoln is a hybrid tea that sets the standard to which other roses are judged. And Dame perfumery is doing the same thing. Andy Tauer is a great guy and he has a budget line these days that is called Tauerville. Hes giving discounts on pre sales of new products and being generous with samples. And I think and hope that he and his line will do better because of it. Desert Rose has 2 problems. The first is that it lives in a lineup of other Dame scents and there are many others from the house that are also very good and its getting harder to own them all. The other is that it is at the very least a cousin to Sirene which also is excellent and far cheaper. When you think of Mister Lincoln you think of a rose that's popular, affordable, hearty and disease resistant, easy to grow, productive, long stemmed, well formed, and fragrant, and for the last 50 years there have been a lot of imitators that have come and gone with very few of them stil kicking around trying to compete. I hope that Desert Rose achieves this kind of success. When you factor out distractions like Oud, Musk, Spices, competing florals, loud roses, soft roses, fruits, jams, sweets, or whatever. Jeffrey Dame Desert Rose is to my nose the best let the rose be the star of the show fragrance that I have yet to smell. It sells for an entirely reasonable price and outshines dozens of others that sadly get more hype and buzz. Desert Rose is unquestionably excellent and perhaps aptly named as it is a rose that desert blooms in a sea of rose scents that seem lost and know drought.

Wonderful! Before I tried Desert Rose, I had a secret hope that it would be a waxy rose, like a votive candle, and indeed it is! I got that waxy rose vibe from Aqaba, but the cloves were just too much. Here we have a sweet, waxy rose with just the faintest, most delicate touch of spice, almost imperceptible. I knew it wasn't clove. I knew it wasn't cinnamon. Now that I see carnation in the mix, it makes absolutely perfect sense. In fact, Desert Rose reminded me of the original Miss Dior Cherie. Wait a minute--hear me out! It *reminded me*. It wasn't the same by any means. But I could have sworn this was a strawberry rose, it was rather fruity. As it dried down, the waxiness became more prominent, and the strawberry-ness faded almost completely. I don't know about a desert rose because to me it is more like a church rose. What I mean is that votives remind me of churches and alters and such. It's a stretch, but I guess the waxiness kind of makes me imagine the way that melted sand might smell. While there are these enjoyable subtleties, Desert Rose behaves like a rose soliflore. It's all about rose here. I loved rose perfumes as far back as my teen years, and about 3 years ago I guess you can say that I "OD'd" on them. Desert Rose has re-sparked my interest.

I am completely in love with this scent. I love rose, but it usually turns soapy and sharp on me. Not this one. On me this is sweet (but NOT in a childish, candy floss way), dense and creamy. Opulent is the word that comes to mind. What I love about Dame Perfumery scents is the masterly way they blend the ingredients. I can smell the peach, but thank goodness it's subtle as I don't like fruity scents. And the fantastic staying power! Did I mention what a wonderful staying power it has? Finally, a scent that gives you your money's worth. Not like those ripoffs that cost the earth only to evaporate before they dry on your skin. I will most certainly get a full bottle of this gorgeous scent. Jeff, may I suggest a turly spicy oriental scent next, for those of us who prefer our scents on the dark, more sinful side? Perhaps something with cinnamon and clove and resins and stuff like that? You would do it SO well. :)

What a treat. Luscious and delicately spiced rosiness for people who love to catch whiffs of of real roses, but don't want to smell like grandma's bathroom. I think it is special because of the carnation. My husband and sons have rejected about 3 other rose perfumes already, but to this one they had the same reaction as I did: "mmmmmmmmm so pretty!" Doesn't that say it all? I think this takes a turn about 2 hours in and becomes a really intriguing scent, one I actually don't associate with roses, kind of addicting... is it the heliotrope and amber mixed with carnation spice? Whatever it is I'm all in and love the dry down. This is a beautiful feel-good scent for sure. Lasting power is good, and is just the most perfectly pleasing rose perfume I've ever smelled.

As a desert rose gardener here in Scottsdale, this fragrance is Me in a Bottle. This rose is not a sweet, pink musk rose, nor is it a florist red Tea Rose...it's a huge, apricot Abraham Darby rose...pale, cool, yet containing a secretive spice. It is refreshing in heat, and full of energy. Years ago I fell in love with a Dame perfume called Wanderlust. Its rose notes made me swoon. Desert Rose reminds me of that long-loved fragrance, only its even better. It has that classic Parisian rose feel, complete with the warmth and the mystique of the Sonoran desert. A must-have for me.