Rose Poivree

Some times I get bored with my seasonal lineup and go back through samples I’ve purchased (of which I have many, many) and Rose Poivree was one I unearthed a couple days ago. I most definitely got the sample within the last two years but I don’t think I ever tried it! Here’s my take! From all the reviews I’ve read now, it seems Rose Poivree has been reformulated a few times. On Katie Puckrik’s review the CEO of Different Company materializes out of the internet mist to claim there haven’t been any reformulations, that there are no stabilizers and the perfume blend grows darker in coloration and more animalic with time. I feel like that’s not true because I don’t get any civet at all, not even civetone. I had some vintage Versace blonde, and that most certainly had civet. I currently own a bottle of Marlou’s L’animal sauvage and the civetone is inescapable. There just isn’t any in Rose Poivree. There IS cumin though, and that’s not listed as an ingredient. The cumin comes on directly out of gate, but fades quickly into the mix. My husband says that cumin smells like NYC cab driver, but I have forged onward trying to find a perfume with cumin that would garner his approval. I think I have found this perfume in Rose Poivree or at least I hope I have because I totally bought a big bottle without asking his opinion. Other reviews have mentioned that RP is a vegetal composition, smelling like the rose bush and not just the rosebud. I concur. Some say it’s like celery others says tomato (even tomato juice). I get vegetal but I don’t get celery or tomato juice, not even tomato leaf. I think the veg smell comes from vetiver, and the particular tone it takes might be due to the black pepper. One of the reviews on basenotes mentions a chamomile note, others say bay leaf. I get this mysterious bay leaf & chamomile! On bois de jasmin’s review, rose bay is listed as note. I looked it up and rose bay willow herb is otherwise known as fireweed. I don’t know what it smells like and I didn’t find any descriptions of its scent profile. Could it be the source of this chamomile & bay leaf? The rose in RP is very dry, and when I first wore it all day I wondered after a few hours of maybe it was too dry and spicy and therefore too masculine. The spices seemed to completely obscure the rose. I took the sweater I was wearing off, and then smelled it a couple hours later and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t rosy as hell. I think for the some of the wearers, nose fatigue makes it seem as though the rose isn’t there but it most definitely is. The more I wear it, the more I wonder how I could’ve stopped smelling the rose. Another reviewer here says RP smells exactly like Rossy de Palma’s Eau de Protection. I have two bottles of EdP, and I disagree. They don’t smell the same, but the approach is similar. Both feature prominent rose, both have spicy notes (though not exactly the same) and both have an earthy vegetal contrast: EdP with patchouli and RP with vetiver. However they aren’t the same. EdP has a marked rosy sweetness, and incense as well. Personality wise, EdP is a more gentle and relaxed bright red rose. If EdP hurt you, it’s because she broke your heart. RP on the other hand, is a dark red rose and not to be crossed. Honestly, I’m more of the RP sort. Update: I initially got no civet from this at all, but recently I noticed a *slight* dirty underwear tinge and realized the civet was finally distinguishable. Update2: I now have two 3 oz bottles and seven 1.7 oz bottles. This is my new signature. I prefer it in slightly warmer weather when the cumin and vetiver are more noticeable.

I'm just coming around to sampling this fragrance and more so out of curiosity as I enjoy a good polarizing scent. This opens with a fresh, fairly sheer, slightly fruity-melon-y rose which smells wet. Soon it is joined by the spices, pepper and a touch of cumin being the most prominent. It is here that I can understand the perfumes reputation for its animalic quality. Although it's not something I haven't come across before in other perfumes which feature pepper, cumin, and sweat cedar (think modern Femme EDT, Amouage Jubilation xxv, Si Lolita, FM Une Fleur de Cassie ). The sheer rosy/fruity opening reminds me of another Elena fragrance: Hermes' Un Jardin Apres la Mousson which has a fresh watermelon joined by spices in its opening. The rose in RP has that watermelon/aquatic vibe going on for me. The spices intensify briefly and as the perfume starts to settle the rose becomes sweeter, almost honeyed before it fades. I find the whole evolution very compelling and found myself sniffing my arm frequently. So overall, I really like it enough to order a small decant to see how spraying effects my experience. But I'm underwhelmed after reading so much about how "skanky" and inappropriate smelling this fragrance is. I also believe that Americans, Westerners are obsessed with erasing all traces of the body's natural odor so any allusion or reminders are apt to repel and horrify. I think the French may be more relaxed about that and this perfume just seems "very French" as opposed to "very raunchy" Also, I can only speak to the current version, not earlier ones which may have contained real civet. Although the TDC CEO commented on a blog that the formula hasn't changed except for maybe the availability of rose absolute used. What else is he going to say? Shrug.

I think this can be pulled off by a guy. I think this because I'm a guy. and I think I pull this off. There's something masculine in here. Maybe it's the texture of the notes. Somewhat scratchy and sharp. The fragrance starts of with a fresh blast. The overall impact is of the whole rose bush. Not just the flowers. The leaves, the thorns and importnantly some soil with a tough of fertalizer. The fertalizer. The civet. The dirty part. It's really not that big. It's just in the backround, but it sticks out on some people. On me, it lays down patiently on the outskirts of the fragrance. Giving just a hint to the floral tones. The cumin yes, it kind of adds a bit to the rose facets. The part of the rose that is reminiscent of an old cork off a bottle of red wine. This part is much more evident with short sniffs. sniff sniff. But there's also a really generic clean part. I'm guessing this is post reformulation since it was bought a couple months ago. The scent of chamomile tea with Motel shampoo. This part is much more evident when you sniff deeply. Sniiiiiiiihhhhfff. For me, this is what makes this fragrance wearable. The balance of the dirty, with just a touch of clean. If you like rose bushes in real life, but don't really like rose perfumes- Check it out.

The notes, as listed, are all there. In typical Jean-Claude Ellena fashion each note occupies its own epicycle in a divine celestial dance. The joy in this scent is as much in the space between the notes and their constant and graceful passage in relation to each other. The lodestar of this fragrance is a clean soft rose around which orbit coriander, black and bink pepper each in turn occluding and being occluded by the rose and each other. Orbiting at a distance are the civet and vetiver, observable not in eclipse but in the faint gravitational tug upon the central planets of this stellar olfactory system. While in no way resembling Terre de Hermes in terms of scent, it is clearly a composition that shares both an aesthetic and a set of physical laws. I am not aware of any tradition of rivalry or dueling artistic commentary among noses, but Rose Poivree seems very much a response to Declaration d'Un Soir. Mathilde Laurent took Mr. Ellena's contribution to Cartier's portfolio and truly one upped the master by adopting his methodology and style and rebuilding a simplified fragrance around a rose note with caraway and cardamom. Roce Poivree is very much a conclusive response- this is a masterpiece of minimalist spiced rose, this is the Ellena Rose.

Oh, this smells like sin! The scent is unmistakeably warm and organic, I liken it to a nude womans' body glistening with sweat being warmed by the sun, she is lying on a bed of rose petals. Perhaps she has been ravished, a scent is emanating from her sex. It doesn't get any more seductive than that! There is heavy pepper in Rose Poivree too, it is in the beginning with fresh citrus. It begins to change up a little bit as the rose comes through blending with the black and pink pepper. The Damascus rose is so captivating, earthy with green notes and is supported by the animalic civet, cumin, vetiver, and coriander. I love rose perfumes, Rose Poivree is an incomparable and sensual take on roses with a dirty side! This will smell very appealing on a man too! My review is based on a decant, both longevity and sillage are both good on my skin!

I mostly smell rose and vetiver. This isn't very animalic on me (but I love animalics, so perhaps my tolerance is higher than some). When I first tried this, I got a blast of what smelled like patchouli and then almost overwhelming coriander for the first hour. I thought I was one this perfume wouldn't work on, and wondered what all of the fuss was about. After a couple of hours though, the rose came out, and it was exactly what I hoped it would be; real rose, not perfume rose. This has a kind of mossy, dewy quality that I love, and the coriander isn't nearly as strong when I'm not sticking my nose against my bare arm every 30 minutes to see what I smell--in fact, it's quite pleasant. Sadly, I don't seem to get pepper at any stage, but I love this anyway.

Rose and Pepper. Hard to describe why I chose this scent to sample, as TDC is not available in the UK. I love rose but not too fond of pepper in scents. After three seconds, I was transfixed! This is by no means a pepper mill, but a spiced-up rose scent, perfectly balanced and very masterfully put together. Another Ellena family masterpiece that deserves a bit more praise. Probably more feminine to my nose than masculine, I could definitely see some men pulling it off. Progression was great and it really lasted on my skin. Would I see this as a good rose scent? Frankly, no. It's a rose and pepper scent, so taking it for that I would be quite pleased with it.

I did once accidentally spray a bit much and regretted it, so one to be careful with. I love it so much. Deep, spicy, pungent rose. It has a sharpness to it that I really enjoy- like a rose version of white indoles, it is very interesting, I think it is the civet. Definitely not a light grandma rose, more like a dangerous, sexy rose. I remember at some time in my life smelling real stemmed roses that smelled deeply of pepper naturally and this reminds me of it. It is an unusual perfume and I can't stop smelling myself. I really want to try Aurore Nomade.

My kind of rose, old, dried rose from the old cabinet in the old English house. Spices, curry, bitter flower, smell develops and changes but through all the ride there is always real, slightly dried bucket of roses. I would love to buy a bottle with some juice in it :)

quite unusual - the rose note with such a background is just delicios.

This is like a dream of dried roses. Really beautiful.

amazing. one of the best from the house.

Second review after re-smelling: So this is made by Monsieur Ellena! Well, no surprise, he's genius! Rose Poivrèe is a very wild type of rose, very grown up and running into fields, deep, intense and taken together with stem and spikes! It must be pepper that makes that effect, because Rose Poivrèe smells EXACTLY like Rossy de Palma Eau de Protection, another masterpiece rose! In my previous review I said it smells close to Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie. I think the concept is more or less the same: rose, pepper, animal note. You need to like rose to wear this, I mean love rose in a deep, no compromise way, because this is no rosewater (even if rosewater is also very appealing to me). Most of all you need to like a rose drenched in warm smelling pepper and spices. It's an intensely attractine fragrance for me, but as same as Eau de Protection it doesn't pull crowds around you. Too much of a sophisticated smell! I would see a refined, artistic lady wandering in museums and old libraries, dressed in perfect style, with an apparent cold attitude, but totally warm and wild at heart! The sillage is average, it projects finely but not invadently and lasting power is very good. Like Rossy de Palma it goes on steaming for hours in a subtle way, closer and closer to skin but always present and slightly changing to different nuances. A beauty for sure, maybe not for all noses.

Well this is a weird rose. For me the opening is rose and pink pepper, the rose together with the spices makes this dry and weirdly green, there is also an almost fecal undertone which might be from civet, but I am not 100% sure. At this point the scent is rather unique on me, but I cannot say that I enjoy it completely. When at the opening the scent was at least unique, then in regret I must say that 15 minutes in, the scent gets rather boring on me, the rose is overpowered by pink pepper and the faint resemblance of civet has been drowned in pink pepper and coriander making this, I won't be afraid to say it - an extremely watered down version of some old civet + rose power-bombs. The base is rather nice - warm and spicy, but nothing that justifies the huge price tag. All in all - this is a nice scent, nothing particularly unique, has a great opening though, but in the end you will be stuck with a soft and spicy rose which you can get in many other cheaper fragrances.

It's a Big Sister of many rose fragrances. It's not a girl like La Rose Fleurette whose pink rose whispers on a cloud of heliotrope and light touch of honey. This rose is spicy in every meaning of a word, it's a little bit dirty, in every meaning of its word. It's not a girl, it's a woman of the world, quite experienced and ready for more experiences! Intoxicating slightly bitter rose, lightly breathing in the air. It could be perfect just like this, but the whiffs of pepper make this rose more original. They bring the impression of worldly originality. And when the slightly sexy animalistic smell comes in, there is already no doubt about the nature of experiences of the Rose's Big Sis! Too bad it didn't stay long with me. Apparently, my skin just eats up this scent, so I can brag that I can eat Big Sis for breakfast! Ah, and I do know that red roses rarely smell, but this rose is red. I can see it.

Oh niches... Sometimes very overrated & hyped. "Rose Poivree" smells very much like YARDLEY "English Rose". I kid you not! Only Yardley's rose is sharper. Not 100% identical, but yet still "almost like this". A big old-fashioned classic Bulgarian rose. A deep red rose in full bloom. Saprklingly vibrant, & with an fantastic strength, sillage & staying-power. The old-fashioned from the 1800-century. Note: Remeber to use it with a very light hand. A bottle of Yardley's rose will last you ages. YARDLEY "English Rose" is $10-15 for 100ml edt. "Rose Poivree" is $233 for 90ml. Well, the choice is yours to make - which one will you choose! ;)

The more I am learning perfumes, the more I am impressed by influence of names and color on the perception of the perfume notes. As the review below says, the name of the perfume is "Pink Pepper", nothing to do with the rose. Yes rose is present, but if one is trying to find the rose as if it was a "Rose & Pepper" perfume, such person may fail. Otherwise I find that this perfume is more like pink pepper, white musc rose. It is typical Jean Claude Ellena creation: subtle, polite, like water color painting. Longevity and projection could be better. It reminds me Max Mara Le Parfum, but 10 times quieter.

Fascinating scent. I am not a rose person, yet here I smell a bold pungent herbal rose that I actually find quite sexy. The pink pepper hangs around even after hours. No sign of civet to be found. The flowery softness that shines through makes it a chic feminine elegant scent I definitely approve of. I don't think I will ever wear it though because of the explicit feminine accent and because I prefer raging scents, those that hit you, accompany you, almost whether you like it or not, shake you, move you, balancing at the limits of indecency.

Uh! Here comes the beast! This is very animalic since the beginning and IMO a very well done one. The quality of ingredients seems very high. It is peppery and I like that part. The rest is predominantly rose on a dirty animalic background. It smells vaguely like Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie, but warmer and less distant. It reminds me a lot of old traditional perfumery renewed, because it's a very unusual type of raw ingredients compared to new releases. It could have been a signature scent for a wild eccentric grand-mother!

All the notes in this perfume blend together seamlessly into the equivalent of a beautiful, classy oil painting that my nose would hang up in its living room to show off its good taste (if such a thing were possible). It is mostly a dry and sophisticated rose with a slight hint of cumin that only really hits you for a millisecond right when you are finished inhaling. Aside from that, not really animalic on me. Like a dress falling off of one shoulder, it hints at sexuality; Rose Poivree doesn't flaunt, it suggests.