Baie Rose 26 Chicago

I happened by a La Labo perfume shop today at the mall and was immediately smitten with the aroma of the mixture of perfumes which was wafting in the breeze outside this shop. Wow! Heaven on earth for a fragrance nut like me. I had a great time today trying paper samples and chatting with the girl that was representing this line. We narrowed down a few great choices - and I really loved the Rose 31 blend, which was like classic rose with a beach bonfire aroma. After spotting a couple of perfumes in the regular category, I moved to the wall of perfumes where they had the "city" blends, perfume oils which have been blended to represent certain cities. I tried LA first, and that was OK... New York Second -- but really liked the blend of Chicago with the sultry jazzy notes blended in. This would have to be timed just right because they only sell this perfume one time of year. (Imagine that... wow, what a marketing tactic!) This is a memorable perfume, I really liked it. I can't wait to go back again and explore other city's perfume resonances -- What a neat concept! I'll have to explore this line a bit more - But so far, I recommend Chicago, New York, and Rose 31. Those were my very favorites, so far!

I've been on the hunt for the perfect rose perfume for years now. I wanted my perfume to smell not the traditional long-stemmed rose you buy at the florist but that fragrant, old-fashioned rose in your grandmother's garden. We grew up with one of those old-fashioned rose bushes in upstate New York. Every June the roses would bloom a vibrant, deep pink, with a fragrance that wafted through the lawn. I thought all roses simply smelled like that. When I started looking for a rose perfume I wondered if the smell I grew up with was something I had simply imagined. This is the closest I've found. I get a very rosey rose from opening to dry down. This rose is a bit dry and peppery and a little less sweet than I remember, but when I smell it I'm back home. The best perfumes in my collection are the ones that conjures up memories. This one does that perfectly.

My journey with this fragrance started this July when I was visiting the Bucktown Le Labo store on a misty hot Chicago summer day. I had tested most of their normal line of frags and happened to see Baie Rose 26 sitting on the other side of the counter, Figured I'd take a quick spray on the skin for fun as I went to finish my shopping. I didn't expect to fall in love with this frag like I did as it settled on the skin. I get wet roses on a spring day and church incense like others are saying, but the musk comes through and sticks. It it way overpriced but I was lucky enough to get my hands on a decant of it a few weeks ago. If you like rose at all I'd recommend getting a sample at least while you still can this August/ September. Not worth the price for a full bottle, but a beautiful fragrance.

Someone said that Rose 26 smells like the incense you find in a church. That's accurate. This fragrance smells like a rose garden after the rain (hence the somewhat dirt/earthy smell some people reference). There's also something smoky about it. I was surprised to discover it doesn't have frankincense in it when I first sprayed it. The notes that stand out the most are cedar, pink pepper, clove, and rose. Longevity and sillage are moderate-- use a light hand and you won't need to worry about offending anyone. Rose lovers will appreciate it, but I don't recommend buying it before testing, especially given the price-point. I recently sampled a novice niche perfumers' rose perfume and found it to be so much more impressive than this one.

As a rose lover, I really like this one but I've smelled variations of this scent elsewhere. It's a fresh, deep, red rose atop some spices and woods. I also get a slightly dank note which smells like frankincense. Surprisingly, it doesn't last very long on me and that bright rosy opening wilts rather quickly. It's in a similar vein as, or very similar to Penhaligon's Elixir to my nose. All in all, not unique and I wouldn't pay that much for it.

A powdery, musky rose that lasts quite long. It manages to not smell like a generic rose scented soap, but like a warm lively rose, gently incense-like. The cloves make it interesting to me, they were quite apparent a few minutes after spraying for me. I prefer this direction to the cumin note in Rose 31, which at times feels a bit too much like someone is serving me a curry dish in the middle of a rose garden.

Soapy rose + black pepper, with a touch of woody-musky undertones. This is Rose 31 if it was a person & decided to take a shower to rinse away that BO-smelling cumin note. I really love this one but this is not $500 lovely. Get yourself Musc Noble from Guerlain

All I can say is this is my favorite perfume I've ever smelled. The combo of rose, pink pepper and musk is perfect. Smells like me in a bottle. Sadly I refuse to spend $500 dollars on it. Anyone have any rly close dupes?

I didn’t understand why Chicago reminds rose. But now I know why. When I smell it, it reminds me black roses. Chicago>Chicaco Bulls>Derrick Rose>Black Rose=Chicago>Black Rose . I completely understood. nice scent

Gorgeous. Addictive. Overpriced. For me it's worth it because I've fallen for this fragrance. It's a throwback but it's modern. It's a beautiful, sparkling, flirty, yet interesting rose. My signature.

I love this stuff. Love at first whiff. I recently got my bottle and enjoying this stuff. $440 is a pretty high price tag but it is worth it. My second favorite of Le Labo right after Poivre 23

This is my top choice among Le Labo’s City Exclusives and also my favorite of all my rose fragrances. What a beautiful scent, I love it so much!

I’ve heard so many great things about this one, but can’t find it. Would someone please sell me a decant . I would really appreciate it.

Really nice, smoky, peppery alternative to rose 31. I prefer this to rose 31. Probably my fave le labo scent ive smelled.

Le Labo Baie Rose 26, the Chicago city exclusive, is a fresh- and natural-smelling rose fragrance, which, like Rose 31, has some darker earthy and woody elements that complement the abundance of the eponymous signature note. Pepper, clove, and cedar stand out somewhat for me, and I enjoy this as it dries down from a sharper opening to a smoother base. It's not so spicy from the clove or pepper, or so soft from the cedar, but somewhere in between. Well-balanced and comfortable, overall, but still ever so slightly challenging. Performance isn't all that special but versatility is high, as, while this would do best in warm weather, it could be a year-round option for men and women alike. Unfortunately, as with many city exclusives, the high pricing puts it out of reach as a "like" but not a "love." $295 for 50ml is steep! I imagine most would rather reach for Rose 31, especially at its more competitive standard Le Labo price, but I'm sure some would find Baie Rose 26 a nice departure. Surely worth trying, if nothing else. 7 out of 10

This is an earthy, mineral rose, like an untended rose garden in the early fall, the day after a fresh rain: the last spicy-sweet blooms stubbornly clinging to their thorny stems, while the rest litter the ground, slowly beginning to mulch. As Baie Rose 26 dries down, that atmospheric watery freshness fades to a drier woody rose scent, with a bit of soft, earthy spice to it. I'm ambivalent about this one. I didn't care for it at first, but it's grown on me. There’s something rubbery in the opening (like a bouncy ball fresh from the machine, or the soles of cheap kids sneakers). It's a sweet, crisp rubberiness though, with a tangy edge, but not at all dirty or sour. Before long, that rubbery note settles down into more of a spicy-green woodiness, that gives the central rose note a balance of cool freshness and warm, earthy spice.

Love love love this on the blotter. It really stood out to me in this city exclusive collection. I got this SOFTLY aldehydic peppery fresh petal-y rose. A very dewy fresh rose that is still complex and interesting is hard to come by. As I fanned all the blotters, this one again rose (pun intended hehe) to the top. It's intriguing to me in a way similar to how I experience The Noir. On skin however, it was a let down. It was not bad per se; just incredibly banal. The drydown is super pleasant though I find it almost identical to that of The Noir and Rose 31- that same DNA. I wanted to LOVE this one, but it did not perform on skin like it did on the blotter.

Despite the translation of the name meaning ''pink pepper'', to my senses it is a mouth-wateringly fresh rose, suitable for warm weather. I like the slight pungency of pepper and clove. It actually reminds me more of a rose than Rose 31. Baie Rose 26 also feels less synthetic and more feminine than Rose 31. I think I would buy a small bottle if it was widely available. Fortunately it's not and I have no problem to spent my bucks somewhere else. I really don't get why I should wait until next September to get this when so many good fragrances are being released every year.

This is my impression from spraying in the air and smelling on testers for 5 minutes so take it for what it's worth. This is a spicier deeper take on Rose 31. To me R31 is a cool Rose and this is a warmer variety. The peppers and cloves are done in the right amount so this maintains unisex without leaning leaning to masculine for a woman, ore too rosey for a man. It's a lovely Rose scent but based on what I smelled it didn't wow me like Rose 31 did. My wife and I plan to return to the boutique tomorrow and I'm sure she'll want to try it on skin.

A light musky and very authentic rose. Strong for about 15 minutes and then disappointing in that it becomes a skin scent quickly and for most of the 6 total hours I can find it. Feminine but wearable for me. If you are looking for a light touch and it agrees with your skin, it truly is lovely. It fades to a white floral and woody combo about 1/2 way through for me, though I get hints of that musky rose if I really bury my nose to wrist.