Roses Elixir

This opens as a bubbly citrus before smoothly fading into a soft rose aura backed by strawberry. It's fresh, uplifting and carefree. Pink and feminine but not necessarily girly. I really like strawberry as a note and don't think it's used as much as it should be. The rose and strawberry combination makes it slightly jammy but it's not really gourmand. It's undeniably happy and reminds me of Miss Dior Cherie in a way that I didn't think possible. I love Miss Dior Cherie and was devastated when I heard it was discontinued so when I smelt this I knew that I simply had to buy a bottle. It has that same girly shopping champagne cheer to it. It's adorable and fun. I think it's softer than and not as 'harsh' as Miss Dior Cherie which I like - infact I think I like Rose's Elixir more out of the two. It's very musky and light almost like a breeze. It's a perfume you wear when dancing, drinking or picnicking with your friends. It feels like a spring perfume with flowers and bubbles around you. It feels almost like a guilty pleasure perfume that allows you to have fun and give into girly urges. It IS sweet (as I'm sure you were expecting) but not so much so and it loses it's sweetness as it goes on. It gathers a sort of depth when it settles into it's warm base of amber and vanilla. It's slightly powdery and I get a lovely, particularly strong, amber. It has an almost Victorian lace feel. I really like how Montale does the note of Rose and this feels like a distinctly them perfume. It reminds me of their Intense Cafe of which I love. I find the sillage average but around the four hour mark it turns into a skin scent.

Well! This IS the twin sister of Cherie, no doubt about it! As for all twin pairs, tiny differences distinguish them - so here the musk is more pronounced and sleek than in Cherie. As for projection, Cherie could be the more extroverted of the two - Rose is a bit more demure. Longevity is again Cherie's thing, because Rose cannot be bothered - let's be honest - to stay around too long. She leaves after some 2-3 hours to cozy up as skin scent. BUT. What an absolute delight to have found a long lost love in this twin!!!! A must, and again a well deserved 9/10 for Mr. Montale - because Cherie, my dears, has that bolder, bubblier personality I love, but I don't mind his sister's company one bit! Try to believe, the two are one and the same stamp, with tiny, pleasurable difference which renders them just about recognizable from one another. What a pair! Rejoice lovers of Cherie, in her twin you can find solace from her absence! Perfect for day, any season, and office too (with moderation). Sharing a bed with Rose is a tender, lovely affair for sure!!! Update: I decide to go for a double test, side to side. Cherie is actually subtler and more refined (with that amazing popcorn note!), but Rose Elixir has incredible projection. I own originals and remembered Cherie for being projecting very far, but side to side is a win hands down for Rose - when it goes to skin scent, it is still the stronger between the two. Perhaps skin PH changes with ageing, affecting how perfume reacts with ours. In any case, they are almost identical, so I'm very pleased!!!

Sparkling strawberry-rose fruit-chouli scent... Rose is definitely present, but strawberry is the star of the show here, and it's a sweet, ripe, sparkling, citrus-y & fruitchouli strawberry. By contrast, rose is the velvety, musky & powdery substance that carries and projects the strawberry. Does remind me of Miss Dior Cherie 2005, however it's been awhile since I had my nose on Miss Dior Cherie after my bottle was stolen from a hotel room on a class trip to Puerta Vallarta over spring-break. After that, the reformulated versions never quite cut it for me, and always seemed to be missing something, so that I ended up giving them away. I probably still have a miniature of the 2012 but that's it. Whatever it was that the reformulated versions were missing, this has it - that je ne sais quoi. It doesn't have the popcorn or caramel, but it does go quite sweet in the drydown. With Montale powerhouse performance, it's beautiful & luxurious. Update 02/05/25: Sprayed this on today, and it's gotten even better. I was on the fence for awhile about whether to put this in storage for a few years, but I pulled it out today because a good scent is a good scent, period. I'm really appreciating the white-florals here as well as the strawberry-rose fruit-chouli. Layered it over Bodycology Strawberry Cheesecake lotion, and I'm currently in heaven.

As a huge fan of the long-discontinued Miss Dior Cherie, I was so excited to get my hands on this perfume as a possible replacement. I'm very pleased to say Rose Elixir actually exceeded my expectations! From first spray it's immediately recognizable as being very similar to Miss Dior Cherie, but there are some slight variations. The top notes are a bit more sharp, with a fizzy kind of green sweetness that cushions the jammy strawberry and prevents it from becoming too cloying. This perfume is less warm than Miss Dior Cherie - though it is still very sweet it has more of a floral/woody vibe (probably from the namesake rose note). It seems to have more patchouli, and more of a fruity sweetness than the caramel popcorn gourmand notes in MDC. As a bonus, the lasting power and sillage is NUTS, I will catch whiffs of this on my clothes literally days after I've sprayed it. Overall, I think this is a very good replacement for Miss Dior Cherie but not an exact dupe. I actually think I like this one better, it smells a bit more flirty and slightly edgy while Miss Dior Cherie smells more demure and elegant.

I've had this for a couple of years and find myself wearing it mostly in spring. It's good in heat, but I hesitate to wear this in high heat. My skin really pushes this to an atomic level. I've knocked a few friends out with this one before. Go easy on the trigger. I very much enjoy the dry down, but the initial spray is really synthetic and borderline cloying. It can come across as a bit on the grape syrup side of things. Once it cools down it's really pretty. I overall like how clean it is in my skin. I saw someone in the comments mention noticing a metallic note. I do as well, but on my skin it really works, especially if I sweat. This one is definitely synthetic and very much on the youthful side. I've found that I really like it in my hair. I feel like it's a really sexy/flirty hair scent, as well as on skin. This one lasts around 10+ hours and I will often smell it lightly humming on my wrist the next morning. If you spray it on clothes it's forever. Overall, it's really pleasant, but definitely has a time and place for me. Longevity 10/10 Originality 5/10 Playfulness 100%