Abbey Rose

I sort of liked this in the beginning. It smelled like slightly dried roses and was a relatively dark scent, not like spring-fresh roses. It actually reminded me of Westminster Abbey, so the name of the perfume seems right. The problem is that sometime after I sprayed it, a note started to develop that wasn't pleasant for me. I can't say it was lavender or anything in particular, but it was sharp and seemed to throw off what started out to be a nice perfume. Will have to pass on this one, although it was honestly my favorite of the Trance Essence fragrances that I sampled.

I really love rose scents, but this one doesn't do it for me. The lavender just is over the top for what is supposed to be a rosey fragrance. 'Abbey Rose' starts in a third gear citrus-rose and sputters along like that for a good while. I'm wanting the fig to overtake, but no. . . the lavender cuts it short everytime. Maybe 'AR' would be good for a little girl's first rose perfume, if she doesn't take to Oilily 'Spanish Rose'. The big girls need to take it higher. Ormonde Jayne's 'Ta'If', maybe. Or Frederic Malle's 'Une Rose'. This scent is not offensive, it's just not an effective rose fragrance.

This appears to be nice in the beginning, but within a few tens of minutes can be overpowering for its sweetness. To me this smells like a rose but not a modern rose but an old, dried, but at the same time very sweet rose. The name is very apt, as this perfume reminds me of a cough syrup or syrupy pink or yellow antibiotics - there is this apothecary, medicinal note.