Absolue Storm & Roses

I just came across the Lancôme roses collection yesterday at Nordstrom. No idea how I’ve missed it. I’ve really been into rose perfumes lately so I was excited to try these. With 12 different ones to smell (and various other perfume on my arms) there were too many to get a handle on in one visit. However, after sniffing all the caps, Absolu Storm and Roses was the one I sprayed on a card and asked for a sample to bring home. Trying it today and looking it up on fragrantica I’m shocked at the low rating. I’m quite drawn to it. I am a patchouli fan so that would not deter me. It’s definitely a black current rose patchouli scent. A tiny bit of sweetness from the blackcurrent but pretty green all around. I quite like it. Unlike another reviewer, I don’t get any similarity between this and Coach Dreams (which I own). The jury is out as to whether I’ll buy a bottle, but I’m enjoying the sample. There were others in the collection that I also liked based on a quick sniff (6am Rose and 1001 Roses) but this is the one that jumped out as the most different. I may pick up the sampler set so I can work my way through them.

This one stands out from the collection especially being a new creation; however, it still shares similarities with other fruitchouli-roses (although it would've been a winner for me if it was less sharp around the edges).

I like this one, but as it dries down, for some reason it smells like many fig fragrances that I own. Very odd.

To my nose this is aromatic moss in the forest. The pachouli and blackcurrant overpower rose and in all the line up ( rose collection) this rose is most faint. I keep smelling the blotter and this patchouli is super mossy which progressively overshadowing anything else. This fragrance has a solid character but it is a tough rose to swallow. Same rose is in Estee lauder Desert Eden collection - it is instantly recognizable! I don’t like it at all.

Storm & Roses (I do like the name). As usual, I applied this blindly without reviewing the listed notes. The opening is rather bitter, for a minute, I imagined something akin to Noir de Noir. ...but not the bitter note revealed itself as the juicy greenness of black currant. Now looking at the listed notes, they do seem accurate black currants and a standard rosechouli accord. I do enjoy many green rose scents, but I just don't find this blend to be particularly compelling. Among scents I frequently wear, this reminds me most of Dark Roses by Demeter, but S&R is actually the darker (more bitter) of the two. Comparing them side by side, reveals a sweetly ambery base to Dark Roses that I usually don't fully acknowledge. Marketing-wise, they both seem to lean into gloomy, Gothic imagery, but if so, Storm & Roses casket is buried far deeper in the crypt. Layering the two could work well for locating a pleasing midpoint, ...but by itself, Storm & Roses is just too bitter a brew. Edit: Later in the drydown the black currant burns down and the rose takes on a dry powdery aspect. This is the better part of the show, though not extraordinarily so.