Hollyrose

An instant love on my unending quest for rose perfumes. I have at least 10 more rose fragrances I want to try, and there are already several rose fragrances that I either have a full bottle or want to buy a full bottle, but I am very tempted to grab a full bottle of this because I just can't stop wanting to spray this on me every single day. The patchouli and leather are less intense than expected. The rose is sweet and jammy (due to the black current), the obvious star from beginning to finish. The pepper is moderate and fades quite quickly. I don't really detect the orchid although I have to admit I'm not very familiar with the smell of orchid. This is a simple yet gorgeous rose that is very easy to wear. I known it's an homage to the groupies of the 70s but this reminds me of a young Courtney Love prior to the successes of Hole and her Hollywood career, although she said she never wear rose. To me, Hollyrose is Courtney's teenage whore, with her soft babydoll dress, low-heeled Mary Jane, smudged bright red lipstick, messy hair, smoking and doing drugs - imitating adults, trying hard to look cool and sexy, to be noticed, to be valued and loved because she feels an empty hole inside of her. Courtney wasn't big with leather jackets or combat boots but those are statement pieces in the kinderwhore aesthetic that she pioneered. Hollyrose is a girl who looks like a beautiful, dumb doll but is full of ambition, hunger, rage, and intelligence. Black currant is her childishness and idealism, pepper is her hot temper and combative personality, rose is her sexuality and womanhood, leather is her rebellious nature and armour to the cruel world dominated by men, and patchouli is her hippies influence. The only thing I would like is some cigarette smoke, although that can easily be achieved by smoking. This is a very feminine fragrance that captures the youthful spirit of rock-n-roll lovers, regardless of age, because the souls of such women never ages. She ages like fine wine - she wears grey strands in her hair with beauty and grace, fills her closet with vintage style flow-y dresses, lives in a house with a beautiful garden and several cats. She keeps her vast collection of records and CDs, and photo books filled with memories of her youth, full of pretty boys and wild adventures. People will often wonder how a woman with such an interesting past is content to be living an ordinary and uneventful life anonymously in a quiet town, but she just smiles and says nothing, because she knows deep down that the hole inside of her is no more.

I never write reviews but I feel compelled to write one for this, mostly because I'm confused, but in a good way. My initial impression of this was off base. When I first tried this, the leather was so overpowering to me. I liked that leather was one of the notes, but I thought it was way too much combined with how smoky it was. This is still true when it's first sprayed. It takes awhile to turn into what I like about it, which is something completely removed from the initial smell. Like the other posts have said, it really is a jammy smell. The more it dries down, the more I smell something sortof powdery in a spicy way, but it's so faint, and I wish I smelled that more. (And it reminds me of something I've smelled before and can't put my finger on, which is probably part of the allure for me.) Honestly, the marketing got to me. As a lover of Pamela Des Barres book "I'm With the Band" and all things LA, I will probably like this more than other people. Overall, I like that it doesn't really smell like "perfume" in the candy sort of way. It's feminine without being heavy and syrupy. EDIT, I bought a full bottle of this and despite trying out a lot of different scents, this one is just always good compared to them. It's a bit intense on the first spray, sure, but to me, nothing really compares to it. It's different and feminine and powdery in a spicy-ish way, without being what I would consider to be the bad version of any of those things. It is perfect.

I can't believe how good this fragrance is! The notes on my skin are totally out of the pyramid order. Hollyrose opens with an intense combo of a good dose of patchouli and rose (that seems to be on steroids), then the leather starts to dominate almost immediately and to my excitement, making it more of a dark scent. It's made of high quality ingredients and it feels almost oily. After 20 minutes Hollyrose changes drastically, letting the black currant and pepper to take over. I feel like I'm slowly squeezing the blackcurrant leaves in between my fingers, slowly inhaling this amazing smell so familiar to me from my childhood. The dry down is finally making this fiery scent to mellow down. The blackcurrant and pepper are gone, and whats left is the beautifully blended mature rose and leather. To be honest, I can't tell where the orchid went but I didn't miss it a bit. The projection is fantastic and people around me can smell it. Longevity is about 4-5 hrs. My skin absorbs fragrances pretty quick so I think on someone else the longevity might be much better.

Rebellious bloom This is no dainty garden rose. Holly Rose has a wild streak — velvety petals with a pulse, fragrant with defiance. What begins as a gentle, dusky bloom deepens into something darker, sharper — a rose with a stare. Sometime its delicate petals sharpen into a fierce, rebellious witch, intoxicating and unpredictable. It doesn’t fade quietly. Holly Rose lingers, clinging to skin and memory, announcing itself with a bold whisper others can’t help but notice. A scent of contrast — elegance with a shadow, romance laced with danger. Beautiful, but never tame.

Rich, dark, rose/leather/patchouli scent. The rose is rich and sticky, rather than fresh or sweet. You can really tell the difference of using rose oil rather than a standard rose note. It’s very patchouli heavy, giving it a dense, earthy character. The leather is there, but the other two are stronger imo. It’s a supporting act to give depth, but there isn’t a classic smoky leather more. If you like this style of perfume (which has been done a lot!) then I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Definitely better for night time and cold weather.