Rose Poetique

Manos Gerakinis Rose Poetique is part of the “Parfums de Jour” trio. As a fan of rose, I really like it. It opens with a lot of fresh greenness but dries down into a sweet and sensual mix, really enjoyable, but provocative enough to not be too formulaic or familiar. This is another note pyramid that makes sense. It has a sharp opening with a sweeter rosy dry down and even smoother sweet/woody landing in the base: Top = saffron, rhubarb Heart = rose, patchouli, labdanum, raspberry Base = vanilla, cashmere wood, sandalwood, musk I love Rose Poetique, aptly named, and it probably edges Immortelle as my favorite of the three, really a very well done rose fragrance in a sea of other rose-dominant options. It balances out sweetness, sharpness/greenness, and overall woody/musky smoothness and agreeability. Rose Poetique is priced slightly higher than Immortelle and Pivoine, at $168 for 60ml, but it does feel a little denser and richer, to that point. And like the other two, it’s only sold in the US via Perfumology, currently, as best I can tell. 8 out of 10

This smells so good to me. 🖤 A refreshing unique take on a rose. I’ve never smelled a rose like this so I was confused when I finally came to look at the page after sampling. At first I perceived it to be fresh, citrusy, aquatic, and green rose. Because of Intense Cafe, I feel like I’ve learned to associate watery smells with rose. Then I came to look at the page and realized I was smelling “balsamic” and what was likely the influence of the saffron note. The notes pair well together. It’s giving sophisticated clean girl who seasons tf out of her food. She’s cultured. She’s well-traveled. She vacations in Italy. She’s Sun-kissed. This is basically a powdery savory rose, to me it’s exclusively appropriate to warmer seasons. The more I describe it, the more I realize how much I love this. If you associate smells with colors, I feel like this is what a feminine olive green smells like.

I am writing this review from the perspective of a male on a more feminine fragrance. Rose Poetique's opening is delightfully sweet and as time progresses, the fragrance turns more floral. The raspberry and rose notes are prominent throughout the entirety of the fragrance's dry down and reminds me of a candyesque treat. As a male, if I were to come across a lady who was wearing Rose Poetique, I would be met with a joyous feeling. A male could wear Rose Poetique as well as it is unisex feminine leaning but for a woman, it would be quite nice. 9/10

A very different rose from every other rose fragrance I have smelled. Thick, deep, sensual, with a subtle sweetness. But it’s not heavy, it is sophisticated. It doesn’t have oud, but in my mind if there could be a hypothetical western kind of oud, then, rose poetic has it! Is it the cashmere wood? I don’t know... More feminine, but it could be pulled off by a guy too. Sensual, romantic, sophisticated, deep rose

Disclaimer: I won a 10ml mini on a giveaway here. My review will be unbiased, still. Summary: Different from any fragrance I have ever tried. Complex, elegant, unusual, wave-like. I like it but it requires more time. --- Has several notes I cannot recognize, and is clearly very complex and will need several testings to be correctly described and evaluated. It seems to oscillate between different notes, wave-like. Sometimes I smell the rose, deep, almost crystallized, almost sweet, not honey-like but in balsamic notes, and sweetish woods. Something very classic and almost regal. Other times it is dusty yellow flower pollen and something sour and vaguely juicy. I know how labdanum flower smells and sometimes I can almost see it, but most of the time it hides. Sometimes it's the resins mostly, almost sharp and alive. I like it, it intrigues me and I honestly am at a loss to describe in more detail how it makes me feel right now. (i am quite tired today). I will have to come back to this review again to complete it.