Paestum Rose

Exploring rose-centered scents is such a wonderful thing to do. You see, for me, there is a sizable difference between rose and any other flower in terms of how much I like it. Paestum Rose is one more rose interpretation I find extraordinary good. Paestum Rose opens with a mix of peppers and spices in general, giving way to a rather strong and powerful rose, slightly different than what I used to smell - Turkish rose is mentioned so I guess this is it. A combination of rose and mostly pink pepper dominates the heart. Then it starts to get more serious, heavy and masculine with a wave of incense and myrrh, slowly putting the pepper note aside and making a beautiful rose-incense combo. With some woods in the background, this is a drydown to die for, and the best part of the scent evolution. Now, a small, unnecessary objection. If you totally focus on the names and the names only, this perfume would be a mix of Rose Poivrée(top and heart) and Incense Rose(base). Now, I haven't tried those two, but I think you get my point. The longevity of PR is excellent, approximately 10 hours - rose with pepper phase lasts a bit longer that an incense-rose phase, and it projects a tad better as well - the whole projection of this scent is solid, with a rather thick cloud. What I don't like about this perfume is a matter of its combination with my skin. The peppered rose is a phase I like, but it really seemed a bit too feminine on me, even for my taste. In fact, while I had a share of compliments wearing this perfume - I had three samples of it until recently - I also heard some 'You smell like my grandmother' comments. And while I like my perfumes to be complex, for the sake of my wearing I would prefer this one to start with incense much earlier - it smells, to me, better and more masculine. All in all, this is another beautiful rose and another winner from Duchaufour. 8.75/10

Cold weather is the best time when this should be worn. On my wrist if opened with the most amazing combiniton of rose and cinnamon, extremely warm, cozy and feminine. The cinnamon here is very dominant and as we all know, there are many kinds of cinnamon. Sometimes it's just spices, but here it's more than spices. Paestum Rose's cinnamon is freshly baked cinnamon cookies like. It has a christmasy feel to it because of that. I can agree to previous reviewers that this is not floral. For me it's more woody spicy or I don't even know...the scent is so complex, that it changes all the time. After the cinnamon cookie phase it starts to get more dry and woody, I can definetely feel myrrh and the patchoulli show's it's herbal/medical face. At the heart phase, together with patchoulli tea and black currant's make this scent little bit fresher, refreshing, so I can see why people consider this to be more made for hot weather. Pity, but the rose for me is almost gone at the heart part, which is weird, but not definetely bad thing, because everything else is still there which makes this fragrance very loveable. It is a masterpiece and I love it.

Rose, incense, myrrh and cedar wood! The perfect combination in perfect proportions, accented with some subtle spices and other woody notes. The incense and woods render the rose dry and transparent, not sweet or moist or floral, like rose petals stored with precious resins in a cedar chest or burned along with cedar chips and incense. The scent is more or less linear, with the cedar eventually fading somewhat and the rose and myrrh becoming a little more prominent late in the drydown, but the end is still basically the same as the beginning. There’s plenty of sillage, but it’s not overpowering. Longevity is good, but it’s gone from clothing by the next morning. For the first few hours that I wore Paestum Rose I was head over heels in love and knew that this was a perfume that I had to have a larger amount of, but by the end I was a little disappointed that nothing had really changed. The sample vial has gone into my “favorites” box, so as I use it up I’ll decide whether I need a larger decant. Whatever my final decision, I have to say that this is one of the best perfumes I’ve tried in a long time.

Paestum is an ancient ex-Greek, now Italian city where old temples of forgotten Greek gods still stand under the southern sun. Where roses are climbing up grey stones and during starry nights they exhale their passionate rosy souls into the Universe. If you will happen to pass by at that moment you probably will loose your head just as it happened to me once I inhaled this very essence of most mysterious rose of Duchafour. In this perfume you not just smell notes, you SEE this night, you see those roses, you are in Paestum. I only smelled something similar at night in old part of Athens where people put hundreds of pots with roses right outside their little houses. And silly tourists sometimes knock them down walking up or down town. I liked to come on those steps just to sit at night and look down the Athens but mostly because the smell was as you already came to heaven. Its not spicy rose, not incense rose, not any other rose, because its too smooth, to perfectly blended to be even divided in two. Incredible.

I was never a big fan of rose, but this scent is converting me. The rose here is so perfect and natural and surounded by intoxicating spices and woods. I find this scent highly evocative. I makes me think of the joys in life. Enjoying high culture, touring the most beautiful museums, enjoying the finest wines. I feel motivated to take a big bite out of life when I smell this on my wrist. I would classify this scent as an oriental spicy. And I think it can be worn anytime of the year. Day or evening. I love it! Edited to add: Ive worn this a few times now and I have a different interpretation of when I wore it the first time. I get more rose than anything else now. The rose again, is the most perfect Ive ever smelled. Very pure and crisp. The musks makes the rose soft and the faint incense in the backround gives it warmth and depth. The scent lies close to my skin and is very romantic. I can see now why its classified as a floral woody musk. No longer spicy on my skin. Interesting.