I envy those of you in the Northern Hemisphere entering summer because rosé wine is in season! Here in the Southern Hemisphere, I'm shivering, and it's red wine time, but when the sun is warm, there is nothing better than a glass of pink. Rosé is the perfect balance between white and red; when the former is to light or tart and the latter is too heavy, rosé is just right! The fact that is comes in multi-shades of pink like a rosy stained glass window only adds to the perfection. The second Saturday of June is Rosé Day, so I decided to do a short post on perfumes that remind me of the wine.
The obvious choice would be rose perfumes, and wouldn't it be perfection if every time you tilted the glass toward your mouth you got a whiff of roses? Alas, this is not the case but there are aspects of rose to be found in the wine's scent. The most rose-centered scent I am putting forward that reminds me of the pink wine is:
Rose de Siwa by MDCI Parfums
Francis Kurkdijian created this beautiful rose perfume for MDCI and it is the sparkling litchi opening that gives it a wine-like feel to me. It opens with a slightly tart radiance, a little like the taste of grapes, and then rose and peony. The rose here is dewy fresh and remains fruity for quite some time. The overall feel of this scent is the euphoric serenity that rose can impose if you are susceptible and welcoming to the aromatherapy effects of rose scent, as I am.
www.Parade.com
Chloé Le Eau Eau de Toilette by Chloé
Let's talk about Chloé perfume. I was a fan of the original Chloé; it was my signature perfume in college. It was a big tuberose bomb but this was in the era of Opium, Poison, Georgio, etc. so it actually was considered pretty tame and ladylike. So the first time I smelled the ravamped Chloé many years later, I almost threw the bottle across the room, I was so shocked and not in a good way. And I know they still sell a version of Chloé which they cunningly call "The Original" but it is not. Did you see that Angelina Jolie movie about ten years ago called The Changeling? Her son has been kidnapped and disappears for a couple of years, when the local lawmen present her with a boy they've found and claim it is her missing son. She doesn't believe it and keeps telling everyone who will listen, "This is not my son!!!", and that is how I feel. "This is not my Chloe!"
However, we are not talking about the original, or the remake, which I still don't like. But the lighter, watered down version from last year, the Le Eau flanker, from a long line of flankers is one I can handle. It opens with rose, grapefruit, and litchi which give it a sour rose scent. Again, these sour fruits remind me of the pucker you can get from the grapes in wine. The rose is not too pronounced in this version. I get very watered down rose and magnolia, the tartness ever present, and eventually cedar and musk take over. I find this light and easy to wear, and I have to admit the bottles with their little ribbons and pleated glass, are cute.
www.WineFolly.com
My Buberry Blush 2017, Burberry Her 2018, Burberry Her Blossom 2019
All three of these are by Francis Kurkdijian, like the first one on my list. Does he possibly drink rosé? These are all somewhat similar in style, but emphasize different aspects of the fruits and rose notes.
My Burberry Blush is the most tart of the three, and if sour notes bother you, avoid. I find it a little weird, yet I also kind of like it. It does very much have the sour tartness which I find in wine. Lemon, pomegranate, and green apple are the fruity notes, along with rose, wisteria, jasmine, and geranium. Green apple is a strange note on my skin, so I think it's that note that keeps me unsure whether I like this. And although the juice is a pretty pink, the geranium gives it a very unisex edge.
My glass of rosé at Adelaide beach.
Burberry Her was introduced in 2018 to appeal to the youth market with Cara Delavigne as its face. I would like to think that Kurkdijian, being a class act, contained the fruity floral formula to a not too sugary format. Burberry Her is not earthshaking but it is pretty and easily likable. It has a nice strawberry note on the opening, but it also has raspberry, blackberry, cherry, and grape. Oh my gosh, it sounds hideous when I type the notes! But trust me, it's fine! The florals are subdued; it is the musks, cashmeran, vanilla, and amber that soften the fruitiness. This very much has the easy nonchalance of a glass of rosé.
Burberry Her Blossom is probably my favorite of these three, and on my skin has a sparkly, bubbly opening. The notes are quiet different from the original Her, less fruit and more flowers. The mandarin is accompanied by peony and plum blossom. It lacks the tartness of My Burberry Blush, and the slight sweetness of Burberry Her which remind me of the wine, but it does have a slight effervescence. I wish I got more longevity.
www.TheSistersWine.Co.NZ
Kelly + Jones Reserve, Notes of Rosé
Kelly + Jones have a line of perfumes based on wine and spirits. I have a sample of the original Notes of Rosé, a light scent with rose, green herbs, blackcurrant, and suede. But when I went to their website I see that just like with wine, there is a new vintage of Notes of Rosé from 2019, and the notes have changed, not slightly, but completely. Now it features mimosa, pink jasmine, marine notes, cardamom, and tonka. It sounds like a totally different perfume, so I'll update when I get to try it.
Lust In Paradis by Ex Nihilo
This one has similar notes to the ones above: peony, litchi, musks, amber, cedar, and I feel like I smell a slight rose note, which is not listed. Well I'm no Scooby Doo, but there is an obvious trend going here. Evidently, to my nose, litchi=rosé wine. Lust In Paradise is not what I expected. With lust I thought it would be erotic white flowers, or in paradise, I expected beach, water, sand. In fact, Lust In Paradise fits in very neatly with the perfumes listed above. It has a soft peony rosy note with the sourness of litchi that fit my rosé profile. I find it very pretty, but again, I wish it lasted longer.
www.shopcelebrated.com
These are just a few rosé-leaning perfume selections. What are your favorites?
Top photo: www.MonikaHibbs.com.
2 comments :
I'm rubbish at paring anything with anything, so I won't even try. But I wanted to comment on rose wines.
For many years I drank mostly red wines. Several years ago I discovered that great white wine might be as good as great red wine. So, in warmer season I switched to white wine. But until last year I didn't drink rose wines. And then something changed (age? ;) ), and now I really enjoy cool rose wines when it's warm.
Out of all perfumes you've mentioned, I think I tried only Lust In Paradis. I don't remember how exactly it smells, but I remember that I thought something along the line: it's neither "lust" nor "paradise." So, it looks like we both had similar experience.
I was surprised by that one. With a name like "lust in paradise" I was expecting something bold and tropical.
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