It’s strange how a flower so bold in colour, strong in scent and with thorns on its stem has somehow becomes synonymous with femininity. But for some reason, rose based fragrances have long been thought to be out of bounds for guys. To add insult to injury, over in the women’s perfume world, rose was often thought to be too “grandma” with associations of potpourri and cottage gardens.
However, in these days of genderless marketing and following some seriously good work by the better parfumiers in the business, rose fragrances have become a HUGE trend. And that means for guys too. You just have to be a bit careful about which ones you go for. Avoid too sweet and syrupy but instead go for something where the rose is blended with spice or woody notes. Here are some of my favorites from the flower bed.
Rose Prick by Tom Ford
Leave it to Tom to make rose sexy. Starting with the great, nudge-nudge wink-wink name, this has no resemblance to anything your maiden aunt would ever wear. The strong Bulgarian rose is kept relatively low in the mix with lots of Sichuan pepper and turmeric and even patchouli to make it spicy and full-bodied.
On A Date by Maison Margiela
The latest in Margiela’s “Replica” series takes the roses out of the garden and into the vineyard – the result of a creative collaboration between a perfumer and a sommelier. By blending the flower with grapes, it aims to conjure up the scent of a summer evening in Provence but, date night aside, this is a delicate and fresh fragrance with its sweetness coming from fruit rather than that powdery, sugar-almond aroma which can be so “old lady”. Snaps too for the very tongue-in-cheek romantic marketing images.
Rose 31 by Le Labo
Always a sophisticated brand aiming for an urban demographic, Le Labo’s rose fragrance takes the flower into a more woody realm. Apparently using the thorny stems as well as the petals gives it an earthier aroma which works well with notes of cumin, cedar and amber. And, in its signature industrial packaging, the bottle won’t cause raised eyebrows in the bathroom either.
Radical Rose by Matiere Premier
Matiere Premier’s fragrances always endeavour to place one key ingredient centre stage and here… surprise surprise!… it’s the rose. Claiming to have the highest concentration of rose centifolia absolute in the world, it is a full bodied and gutsy perfume that has hints of woodiness, saffron and pepper. As the name suggests, this is rose at its edgiest.
Roses on Ice by Kilian
Owned by the heir to the Hennessy cognac family business, it was destined that Kilian would also introduce a booze related element to their addition to the rose fragrance world. This one keeps things surprisingly fresh and clean by mixing rose centifolia with juniper, cucumber and lime creating something akin to a gin and tonic. Whilst, personally, the jury is out on the cut-glass tumbler bottle, this is a pretty good perfume that works really well for spring and summer days and very much subverts our expectations of what rose based fragrances should smell like.
