Dirty Rose

Cute rose although it's dirty... Musky oudi rose indeed with light patchouli, bits of milk, cardamom, & hints of yuzu. I detect some black spruce as the one in "Black Spruce" by TRNP beside some hints of vetiver with vanilla bourbon flavor. I also get a very light touch of the skank that is in "Al Oudh" by L'Artisan Parfumeur, & the dates in "Across Sands" by Maison Martin Margiela. This is not a rose, this is more of dirty oud with sweet bourbon and smoke flavor. brilliant indeed. Edit (45 mins in) Surprisingly, the cool down is similar to "Amber Noir" by Angela Flanders top note but lighter.

Official notes: there is no oud in this fragrance Top notes: Bergamot, Black Spruce, Laurel, Cherrywood Smoke Heart notes: Rose, Nagarmotha, Teak wood, Tobacco, Cedar, Mahogany, Earth Base notes: Amber, Costus, Leather, Vetiver Bourbon (from Bourbon Island), Labdanum

I like Paul and his style, and I like this, but I do find myself really wishing this had the oud and animalic notes as planned. This is rose through and through with PK's complex, layered, translucent green effects, a bit earthy. It smells very natural and complete, but I can definitely see where the oud and musk would have gone. There was an "intense" version planned to include those things, but I don't think it was ever released. To be clear, it's just my preference that this would have some weightier, darker, dirtier things to anchor it, because heavier fragrances work well for me. It's still a perfectly lovely rose, and one that's set apart from the standard mainstream-niche rose accords.

Spicy gothic rose would be more my description if this than dirty. Yes it has a good dose of patchouli to give the earthy (dirt-y) part but a dry spicy wood is what I get mainly with the rose over the top. It’s quite a dark take on rose, not a bright happy airy one, this is thick and jammy. I don’t think this is as good as say POAL but it’s very nice and certainly better value than that for an interesting take on a rose fragrance.

One of my least favorite PK perfumes. Heady and headache inducing. I prefer Tom Ford's Noir de Noir for an earthier and better executed fragrance without the civet. Considering his other creations are so excellent this was a bit disappointing.