Rose Ishtar

I’m part way into my Rania J Discovery sample kit and I have fallen head over heals for Rose Ishtar. I thought my next Rania J purchase was going to be Ambre Loup, and it’s indeed on my “buy list” but Rose Ishtar is going to be next. On my second wearing and I can’t beleive the scent that is coming out of my spray vial. The notes listed here surely can’t be complete. There’s something dusty and spicy in the mix. Deliciousness. Eyes rolling back into my head. This has to be one of the most unusual Rose-musk scents I’ve ever worn. My husband is my sounding board, poor guy, because he’s not a frag head like me. Without any prompts, he came home and asked if I was wearing a new perfume. I had sprayed it twice 3 hours earlier, and Rose Ishtar was still projecting. He then said, “this one really stands out”. (For the past year, I sample and write, on average, one review per day). So for him to comment this way is notable, and I have to agree. It’s not like any other rose perfume I own. And that’s no small feat, to create something original when there are literally thousands of perfumes in the world featuring rose notes. Kudos to the genius behind this scent. She has my utmost respect. Anyway, I’m not sure what else is in this composition, but it’s magic and I love it.

This has become my favourite Eastern Rose! On spraying, you might think, mm-hm, another arabian rose musk like Yves Rocher's Rose Oud, bit of smokiness, yawn, BUT a couple hours later you have something delicious. This is about the drydown, in the same unexpected way as French Cancan; and the drydown is beautiful. It's slightly powdery, smoky, vanilla, heliotrope, still with the rose note but airy, lovely and still projecting (it is a warm summer day). I'm calmed and soothed by it, it's a pleasure to wear. It lasts all night until the next day, and that's because I do 2-3 sprays. Really pleased and glad I checked this page before I bought, because a tiny sample doesn't give you enough to play with. This is good stuff. Bravo from me xx

Rose Ishtar by Rania J - wow, absolutely wonderful!! Such a lovely rose, and every other note that's in it. It actually makes me cry, this perfume. I so adore it. It's unbelievable. I feel so sort of touched by it. I don't know.......it's just sublime!!!! It's the most sublime, spicy, smoky, delicious rose, with a gorgeous patchouli, so earthy and gentle and green and rich and smooth, and the heliotrope!! Oh my god it's heavenly!!! I love love love Rose Ishtar!! It is so soothing and (as sistermoon rightly says!) meditative. So perfectly balanced and rich and gentle this beautiful creation is!!! Simply tremendous!!!!!

Absolutely gorgeous fruity, slightly candied, powdery rose. Refined and elegant but not stuffy. The edges feel fuzzy, and it's cozy and sweet. One of my pet peeves with rose/patchouli scents is when they dry down sharp, but this stays beautifully blended throughout, eventually drying down to a slightly powdery cotton candy. But it still doesn't feel cloying or overly sweet and my pillowcase smells amazing for days after wearing it to bed. I definitely detect some overlap with Delina, VCA Rose Rouge, and LO Rosamunda (and to a lesser degree, EP Rose Magnetic) which I also have in my collection.

Starts up with an explosion of red rose. The rose note is slightly greenish and underneath lingers a shimmer of citrus. The impression of the rose, I think, is depened and darkened by cassia and patchouli. I imagine putting my nose among the petals of a grand deep-red rose. After half an hour the rose becomes more spicy and less pronounced. The surroundings of the rose comes into the foreground. There is more greenness (Cassis?), and a to me unfamiliar presence (Heliotrope?). With Rose Ishtar Rania J has created a very natural and beatiful rose centered fragrance.

Though the rose note is the clear star of the show, it's offset by the sandalwood and tonka bean, giving it a smoky, woody, mysterious element. Very youthful and alluring! I wore a spritz out of the store and it made me feel feminine and sexy. I wasn't expecting to love it this much but I can't stop thinking about it. I'll be going back soon for a sample, if not a full size bottle.

Ok so, I definitely disagree with this fragrance being "very feminine". I purchased the Rania J discovery kit and honestly liked this frag the best. My girlfriend smelled it on me and loved it. I kept going back to it wondering why I was so attracted to it. I then realized what it was that made me love this frag so much. It smells very very close if not in the same ball park as Creed's Viking. The Bulgarian rose in this fragrance is definitely more present in the top and middle than with Viking but the dry down is incredibly similar. Although, the notes on this frag does not list pepper/pink pepper, but there is a definite spice accord that must contain similar or a combination of spices that gives it that Viking-esque quality. I wore Viking today and my girlfriend wore Rose Ishtar and both of us were blown away at the similarities. But, both frags are still different enough to garner individuality and respect. The longevity on this fragrance is beast mode...12+ hrs on my skin and NOTHING lasts long on my skin...not even Viking! Love this hidden niche gem and perfumer... Rania J!

Wow, I don't know how this can be but I have the exact opposite experience of Cereza. I wanted to write: for the ones who were disappointed about the opening, like me, please have some patience for the dry down! On me, Rose Ishtar starts kind of weirdly sour and watery on me.. Maybe I'm sounding strange but it reminds me of a rose that throbs and weeps and is very insecure. Nevertheless I appreciate the fact that Rose Ishtar has its mood swings, because some 20 minutes later the tonkabean sweetens (or cheers) it up, making it dry down to this sweet warm rose gourmand indeed, as the description states. I tried it yesterday in a way that the spritz of Rose Ishtar fell down half on my sweater sleeve and half on my arm... And today still the sleeve of my sweater, as well as my arm (with another sweater on) are smelling sweet! For a natural perfumery brand I'm really impressed about the staying power and the multi dimensional (or emotional) aspect of this perfume!

On me, Rose Ishtar barely smells like rose. I get a hit of a jammy rose in the opening but then it disappears. Instead, I get a pleasant mix of tart cassis, powdery heliotrope, sweet tonka and a touch of patchouli. I really enjoy the heliotrope here with its almond and anise facets - sometimes that note can veer too powdery but here it's modernized by the fruity-tangy-green cassis. The overall scent is pleasant and reminds me of the color mauve. It's just not really what I expected. Average longevity and projection. Like.

Opens with realistic rose with something dry behind it. Evolves into a very light vanilla-fruit-rose. Very sheer. Lovely. I would be remiss if I didn't disagree 100% with zephyr1973: I find absolutely no similarity to Coromandel, except that both scents are sweet. If Rose Ishtar were rosewater sherbert, Coromandel would be creme brulee covered in tiramasu, drizzled with white chocolate and honey topped with whipped cream. If you catch my drift. ;-)

This started much more promising than it developed. The opening has two completely different roses. On the one side there is this extremely sweet candy rose and on the another the powdery old lipstick rose. Soon it settles to a somewhat boring fresh spicy rose which does get more interesting when the patchoulli appears - adding slighfly cold feeling. Unfortunately it also lasts only three hours.

You're a collection of rose petals, imbibed with spicy herbs, then smoked over a fire, dried, ground into a powder, and smeared on the foreheads of some young witches preparing for a ritual in the woods. Rose Ishtar by Rania J.

I have tried Lavande 44 from this house, and compared to that one, this one is just... yawn. A bit like Guerlain Santal Royal, which is also a ho-hum fragrance. Nice but nothing special.

Smells a bit too similar to rose petal potpourri for my taste.

It's an okay rose scent, but not my favourite and probably my least favourite of the Rania J fragrances I've tried. That's not really saying much, though, as each of them is at least a 'love' - apart from this one, which is a solid 'like'. I found this to be transparent. I actually had to spray the entire sample to smell it for longer than 30 minutes. When I did, I wasn't overly impressed. It just felt too one note and, through no fault of the perfume, spraying the entire sample on myself was enough to cause a headache. Combining the overall lack of body, points of interest and (unfortunately) the namesake of the actual fragrance with self imposed stress of headache and illness from spraying too much I don't think I want to smell this fragrance for a long time. I don't hate it, I just want to isolate from it. I blame myself. Perfume PTSD

Rose Ishtar (testing from sample from Rania J) Wow, this is beautiful. It opens bright, fresh, citrus with green notes. The citrus notes seems to hold on to my skin for a few more minutes. I sense a bit of sweet rose, the citrus note is underneath the rose. The rose is bold, tart, and green. I imagine the rose to be still tight in the bud almost close to blooming, the scent smells like a rose bush to me. The rose smells natural to me softening, becoming just a tiny bit sweeter while still retaining on the sourness. After a time on my skin, the rose becomes sweeter , there are spices in the background. In the drydown, I sense a powdery rose with some patchouli and wood notes underneath the rose. This is a great rose fragrance, it is not a traditionally pretty, feminine, sweet rose fragrance but it is a must try for rose lovers. According to the manufacture carded sample- the top notes are Bergamot, Cassis, Middle notes are Rosa Damascena (Rose Essential Oil, BULGARIA) Base Note : Sandalwood, Patchouli, Vanilla, Heliotropine, Musk

Firstly, I would like to thank Rania for the sample pack. I have thoroughly enjoyed each sample and have been impressed with all of her offerings I have been impressed by the quality of the Rania J perfumes. Each offering has its own style and character and unlike many small perfume houses that are popular today, Rania does not overpower her creations with too many strong notes. Rose Ishtar is a rose centric perfume. I envisage one of the old fashioned roses that begs you to stop and inhale deeply as you bury your nose into the petals. The patchouli lurks in the background and doesn't dominate. The tonka and guaiac gives the rose depth and help it to develop an almost jammy quality that gives a slight gourmand edge. It is a beautiful creation and could be enjoyed by men or women.

Rose Ishtar is a beautiful spicy rose with lots of patchouli, and a woodsy, smoky drydown. It also has something green, almost minty fresh. It reminds me of the smell of Dr Hauschka's rose line. Very natural smelling, relaxing scent, suitable for meditation. It would be a perfect scent for a bath gel or oil. It's not "traditionally feminine", and I'm sure many guys (who like the rose note) would enjoy wearing it.

On first application you get a sweet watery red rose fragrance with a patchouli emerging not long after. This makes the rose smell like a old Victorian rose fragrance where the added patchouli gives it a earthy austere like smell. Though the sweetness does eventually soften this aspect. Eventually the sweet jammy like rose note does start to get a bit powdery in the dry-down.

Rosa SPLENDIDA, la combinazione rosa-patchouli è un' armonia vellutata...Profumo sensuale e caldo, una rosa profonda, da incontro d'amore. Una magnifica creazione di Rania, della quale apprezzo molto anche l'ambra, una delle più avvolgenti e ipnotiche che abbia mai incontrato.... Complimenti Rania ! :-)

I like the way the deer-like musk blends and warms the rose in this blend. Theres obviously more to this than the deer musk, perhaps a couple of different honey-type animalic scents which, though barely perceptible, have an incredible and positive impact on this perfume.

This is the one I thought I don't like. The opening is sweet rose, to me nearly gourmand and I was a little disappointed with it, but the heart reveals spices and edges. I still like this one the least of Ranias perfumes, but it's still worth a try.

This goes on with citrus and fruit top notes then dries down to a sour, powdery rose. It has no projection. I can small it a couple of hours later if I sniff my wrist. I like it but for me it's not full-bottle worthy.

Bit spicy rose, natural smelling. Can't speak for all guys (or you ladies) but think anyone that enjoys good rose scent would enjoy this, set apart from stereotype rose perfumes with soothing meditative quality.