Silky Rose

I just received both this one and 'Secret Amber' in the mail, and I have to say that I am impressed by both! 'Silky Rose' is not prominently "rosy" (as others have also stated), rather it is sweet and fruity- yet not overly so. Two noticeable notes not listed are orris and lavender, adding a very "clean", soap-like and just-slightly-powdery effect- but again not overtly- and keeps the fragrance quite unisex. The strongest note for my nose is orange-blossom, and underneath that cassis/currant, then rose, followed closely by jasmin sambac. I honestly don't smell patchouli as strongly as others seem to, but I do sense something like myrtle and cypress adding to the "clean" vibe. Overall, a very elegant and refined scent- well-done, smoothly-blended. 'Secret Amber' I absolutely L.O.V.E. It is something like a cross between 'Elton John Rocks' by Slatkin and 'Arso' by Profumum Roma: definitely tobacco-leaf, benzoin, sandalwood, a hint of smokey birch-tar, deep black vanilla, cocoa, cinnamon- one of those "near-gourmand-but-not" scents, but definitely oriental in character- delicious, sensual, mystical! No regrets. Get this one for sure while you still can! 14 Feb 2014- Received an 'Intense Oud' today. First of all, let me tell you (if you aren't familiar) that it is based upon a very-classic Arabian composition, traditionally centered upon rose-oudh-saffron. Jovan added a few subtle twists, however: the top is highlighted with bergamot and coriander seed, which sharpens the rose and saffron heart, which in turn melts into a quite floral-fruity oudh... which in turn is subtley tweaked with cassis to underline that fruitiness magnificently; this all rests upon the lower, woody/cedar-y facets of the oudh on the drydown, blended strikingly with frankincense and creamy musk. I have a few other examples of the rose-saffron-oudh combo in my collection- all slightly-different. My very-favorite is an itr produced by a niche house in Delhi; 'Intense Oud' comes very close to that seamless blending; almost on par is Swiss Arabian's 'Mukhalat Malaki', but definitely Jovan's rendition far exceeds the quality of 'Oudi' by Al-Haramain with its disappointing linear-ness. So, to conclude, Jovan 'Intense Oud' I find complex, sensuous, and impressive- especially given their proclivity to market to the masses with high-volume and low-markup, affordable to many. 5 stars. I can now see why stock of this one keeps selling out!

I received a bottle of this in a giveaway recently and I am so glad I did! Going back a year, I bought the trio of Jovan LE fragrances ; the Amber, the Oud and the Rose scents. As I don't really care for rose fragrances in general, I gave away the Silky Rose unopened as a gift without trying it. (I tried the others, didn't love them and ended up giving them away, as well). I should have tried the Silky Rose first; I love it! Although I feel a more fitting name to what I get from this would be "Candied Rose", I actually don't detect much rose in this...someone below described it as a "fruity incense"...that is EXACTLY what I feel. I don't get much patchouli in this, thank goodness! This is not a romantic or classic or deep scent; it's a "feel good" scent for me...brings back memories of my high school years in the 70's...carefree, happy, fun; Friday night in a bottle! When I'm feeling "old", I'll just spritz a little of this on and be transported back a few decades. I will be purchasing a couple of back-up bottles of this before they're all gone. EDIT: I got 3 more of them online...I hope I never run out!

On the opening a lot of red currant with jasmine. The rose is definately a background player. After a while the currant fades and the jasmine and neroli really take the stage. The rose is really not very evident throughout. Quite a lovely scent. Seems very well blended. Not a huge sillage monster. Subdued and somewhat elegant.

Short version: Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssss,excellent. Long version: Fruity rosey sweet with some almost Angel style patch in the background. Almost feels like a rosey summery Angel flanker, cool and refreshing but not without depth. Very nice.

Jovan Silky Rose is the next in line for my series of reviews about rose scents. It is easy to compare it to a Blue Girl Hybrid Tea. Blue girl doesn't have the absolute perfection of its parent Sterling Silver but it is much easier to grow with a higher frequency of blooms and is much more rewarding to the diligent gardiner with its fair share of rose show blue ribbons. As far as the scent goes, it is Jovan and it is musk. The Jovan Musk line of scents should be familiar to most who take the time to read these words. Surely, Jovan has to have one of the best selling fragrance lines ever produced. Almost every scent from the Jovan line has a signature musk DNA and this one is no different. Its Jovan musk with rose added as a flanker note. The rose is good and additive but like with all Jovan fragrances the musk is the star. I view this as a lilac rose because the white musk seems to intermingle with the rose and whiten it up. There is something almost pale and fragile about this rose compared with others and you almost feel that it is a scent that much like crystal has some brittleness and could break. It lives in the pale lilac version of a classic rose fragrance. Performance for JSR is excellent. Almost all Jovan scents easily give me 12 hours. Musk is long lasting on my skin and it seems to cling with me until I shower it off. I expect a drug store scent to give me 4 hours of projection and performance and this one easily exceeds the expectation. I find my nose to be sensitive to the musk and with this one, I have to wear less sprays. I imagine that some will find the rose fleeting and overwhelmed by the musk which is strong and long lasting. And all Jovan scents seem to submit to the parent note of the company. Value is also excellent. This came out as a limited edition 3.5 years ago. Its not hard to find a 3 ounce bottle of this for under $15 and if one were to look maybe $8 or less. Still, I do not think it is in production and prices are starting to slowly creep upwards. Even though Jovan mass produces their fragrances some have been discontinued, are hard to find, and have rising prices associated with rarity if you can find them at all. I expect drugstore scents to sell for $10 an ounce or less and this one is readily purchasable for under $3. It gets absolute top marks for value to the point of wanting to give it some extra credit for a final rating; and yet not doing so because Im certain it will become hard to find, will have skippy availability and prices will rise. As far as usage goes, sadly I have not used this one a great deal. I do not like to review fragrances until I have drained half a bottle and this one has to be well over 90% full. If I waited until I used so much, this might be a rare fragrance. The time to buy it should you like the notes is now. Still, I feel very familiar with Jovan scents and this is like most of them. Lots of musk and a dance of complimentary notes that whirl from product to product. I own probably 10 different Jovan fragrances even though this is not a favored house or in the drugstore realm of fragrance appreciation. There were 3 flankers released as limited editions in 2012 including this one, Secret Amber, and Intense Oud. And I cannot look at Silky Rose without hand drift to Intense Oud which I enjoy the best of the 3 and pull more than the others that I own. I own a backup bottle of Intense Oud and wear it reasonably often and probably will never need or own a backup bottle of Silky Rose. I have never met a musk based scent that I enjoyed in the summer and it is not a note that seems to agree with me when perspiration gets involved. So for me, I wear these Jovans almost exclusively in winter with perhaps a few chilly or rainy days here and there. Overall, I am going to grade Silky Rose out at 78. It is clearly above average and tiptoes into the like range but I do not think it quite gets to good. I know that I am being unfair to it because I really like the Jovan Oud better as well as a few other flankers from the line. It is really quite good but its relatives outshine it a bit. And of course musk is not my favorite note though I do respect it. One of the things that fascinates me about the perfume world is how trendy it really is. In the 80s you had Oakmoss perfumes charging out of the wood work. And in the 90s everyone was jumping on the cool water bandwagon with aquatics and citrus based fragrances rising with never ending cheshire cats of copy as if being waved into existence by the sea. These days it all seems to be about Oud. You have reviewers on youtube rolling their eyes and screaming to the heavens about how real men wear oud. Its over done. Its hard to tie ones shoes without tripping over 15 ouds. Friend, off the top of your head, how many oud rose fragrances can you name? Still going ? Yeah ... very good. Now how many musk rose fragrances can you name besides this one? There will be people that sniff and assume synthetic based on the price but you know what ... if we killed enough musk deer to meet all the perfumery needs of the world they would be an extinct species in a week. At least 99% of musk used in perfumery these days is synthetic and I imagine most Oud as well. And soon, almost all the Oud will be synthetic. Nobody in the designer or budget world has as much experience with musk or sold more bottles of it or really does the note better than does Jovan. I can point to a few niche fragrances that have clanked the musk note. If one were to sit down and think about it, this fragrance right here might very well be the best musk rose fragrance made and sold. If one were to like oud rose then a $200 bottle of Bond Signature or Oud Ispahan might be more to your liking. Regardless of price, Jovan Silky Rose might be able to stand toe to toe with most of the rose blended fragrances and claim best of class. I am not a huge fan of musk but you might be. At any rate, it might be worth your while to invest in a musk rose than in maxing the plastic for just another rose oud. It is different and has its own unique character and honestly is a fine scent. A best in class musk rose for $10 versus a best in class oud rose for $100 an ounce. Let me think .... When one thinks or visualizes roses, usually reds and pinks come to mind. A few might think of yellow roses or even whites. But the silvers and blues get pushed to the back of consciousness. These days oud roses get a lot of play in the fragrance world and scents are dark and brooding. But for those in the know. The sterling silver rose is arguably the best rose ever grown. Its perfect in bloom, form, fragrance, and beauty. Its an extreme challenge to grow but perfection if one can do it. Jovan Silky Rose is obviously a lot more mass market than Sterling Silver so I compared it to Blue Girl which is easier to grow and stunning in its own right but with a hint less character. Blue Girl is still a challenge and it doesn't bloom or repeat as much as most of the reds. But it has a rare beauty in its own right. There are wonderful stems produced from this flower that win ribbons in shows and the fragrance is divine. While most are thinking dark and red, Blue Girl holds to lilac and white and has a bit more richness of blue compared with its pale silver parent. Jovan Silky Rose is not a rose for lipstick and lovers but rather one for one's clan, friends, and relations. It stands apart from the red rose world of passion and embraces the comfort of familiarity and love found at home. There is something comforting about the Jovan scents that my Mom wore and that I have known all my life and I joyfully embrace owning a rose that is different than the rest of the many ouds that all compete for attention and space on the shelf. A perfect Blue Girl rose is pure beauty. Like all Lilac and Blue roses it is finicky for who it chooses to bloom and like. And perhaps musk holds itself apart as well. But there is something about a Blue Girl rose when it hits that outshines all the other reds, yellows, pinks, and whites that offer wealth of bloom. Many have sung the praises of blush, oud, and swarthy rose. But the rare heart that blooms blue, has wealth of soul.