Rose Privée – rosy and elegant and sophisticated

Photo: Courtesy of L'Artisan

When I read the press release for Rose Privée last month, I got more than a little excited: "This April, L’Artisan Parfumeur launches a new and irresistibly modern Eau de Parfum. Rose Privée is a celebration of the rare and iconic May Rose (Rose de Mai). This Eau de Parfum is the result of a singular collaboration between a master perfumer, Bertrand Duchaufour, and his apprentice, Stéphanie Bakouche."

May Rose, Duchaufour and Bakouche. I have a weakness for all three, so what could be better? Well, the fact that I was actually going to be in Paris in April around the time of the launch that’s what.

And that’s how I found myself at the Rose Bakery in Bon Marche on May 2 for a celebration for Rose Privée Eau de Parfum.

The fragrance is based on the Rose de Mai, or the Provence Rose, which grows in Grasse. It’s a hybrid rose developed by Dutch rose breeders somewhere around the 17th century. It has highly scented round, globular flowers and is cultivated for its particular clear, honeyed-sweet fragrance. The flower is so fragile and that it can only be harvested when it blooms in the month of May.

I love a baked good as much as the next person and the treats designed by the Rose Bakery for the event were delish, but it is the eau de parfum that I came for and went home with.

Rose Privée opens fresh and citrusy from green mandarin while basil adds a green herbal note along with it’s lovely anise facet, violet leaves keep it fresh and green. This is not the sweet violet smell traditionally used in retro fragrances. The violet leaves make Rose Privée modern, contemporary and unisex. Then, the most tangy, fruity note of blackcurrant shows up, with its distinguishing cat pee facet, and just makes the opening just the beginning of a gorgeous journey. It doesn’t take long for the Rose de Mai to appear - clear, and sweet and just rosy perfection. Carnation gives it a gentle spicy hum while magnolia gives it a lush, creamy, floral depth. There is a whiff of lilac that is a reminder that this is spring. I don’t think I’ve ever smelled anything like this. The rose stays right through to the oakmoss-free chypre base. This is a game changer where regulatory standards are concerned. There is a note of dry hay at the base, and it echoes the green at the opening, while beeswax adds a deep animalic note, all of it warmed and smoothed by musk.

The drydown is richly rosey, elegant and sophisticated. It radiates quietly from skin instead of sitting on it. Maybe that’s what makes it a rose privée – private rose in English. Rose Privée is why I love rose-based fragrances.

Check out Rose Privée in our Shop.