Thank You Berry Much: Valentina Pink by Valentino

It was bound to happen someone finally realized the money to be made in bottling the scent of LUSH's Rose Jam and I mean the actual scent of the bath fizzy or body wash*. Valentina Pink takes the scent of LUSH's Rose Jam smooths it out in places and refines it a bit. I should start now by saying I am a rather unabashed lover of Rose Jam that uber girly mix of roses, berries, and jammy goodness. Oh it is sweet and probably most of all appeals to the 14 year old girl in me and you know what that is okay, the 14 year old girl needs an outlet.

Valentina Pink starts of uber-berries, think currents and strawberries crushed in sugar, actually lets say they are macerating. Added to this mix is splash of bright pink rose syrup, think of the syrup used to make falooda. For awhile you have this over the top girlish concoction.

As the perfume changes the berries tone down a bit. The sugar recedes and the berries take on a musky undertone and the rose becomes much more prominent. There is the slightest hint of lemony tart that keeps the scent from strangling the wearer.

Eventually you have a nice easy jammy rose of scent on a very easy going musk. Yes, this a very expensive dupe of LUSH's Rose Jam but on the other hand if you found yourself disappointed by LUSH's perfume version of the scent this will definitely fill that gap.

Try Valentina Pink if you Montale's Fruits of the Musk, Julietta Has A Gun Miss Charming, and of course LUSH's Rose Jam.

*The perfume version that LUSH put of Rose Jam was a bit of a let down, the beginning very much like the scent of Rose Jam but the dry down was very similar to Pink Sugar, the rose and berries having disappeared.

first image from www.nordstrom.com


second image from www.sbs.com.au

Best Cheap Thrill I've Smelled In Awhile: Rose Oud by Laurence Dumont

I'll be honest I'm not an oud fan, most of the time I find it to be a note not used kindly, or even with much understanding. I like oud scents that are not really actually about oud for an example Jo Malone's Velvet Rose & Oud. So as things go Laurence Dumont's Rose Oud would not have been on my radar until I read a lovely review mentioning how rose forward it is and it reminded someone of Velvet Rose & Oud. So at the mention of Velvet Rose & Oud I had to try it.

Rose Oud by Laurence Dumont is not a dupe but it takes a lot of parts of other things to create something that smells far more expensive than it is. What I am first reminded of just for a moment of in the beginning is of L'Artisan's Safran Troublant's creamy saffron opening, it quickly leaves but it is a herald of the nice scent. What follows for me in the lemony jammy rose of LUSH's Rose Jam with a very light dollop of oud, this stage is long lasting and the most representative of the scent. The dry down is a fruited rose with hints of amber. Overall, Laurence Dumont is offering a really lovely entry into the world of jammy roses with touches of oud but without the ginormous price tag. Give it a try if you have ever wanted a rose oud combo that didn't take itself so seriously.

Try if you like: LUSH's Rose Jam, Jo Malone Velvet Rose & Oud, or Yves Rocher Rose Absolue.

image by Sofia Perina-Miller

Floating in a Dark Rose Heaven: Jo Malone Velvet Rose & Oud

I fluctuate between favorite notes, they guide me to perfumes, sometimes I will find something completely different to adore, but there are those notes that always grab our attention when mentioned in perfume. Mine are: ylang ylang almond, vanilla, tobacco, rose, orange blossom, osmanthus, loukhoum, raspberry/blackberry, fig, and cinnamon. Of late I have been on a rose quest, the type of rose quest that has been down the path of gourmand roses. I have always tended to like the juicy jammy rose scents, the ones that make you want to bite down onto rose petals. I had never fully gone down the road until last year when I purchased a LUSH Rose Jam Bubbleroon and suddenly all I wanted was gourmand roses.

One of the great finds of this never ending gourmand rose quest is Jo Malone's Velvet Rose & Oud, it happened rather accidentally I was trying to smell Jo Malone's Rose Water & Vanilla but could not so randomly decided to try this and I was blown away when I suddenly smelled one of the most delicious jammy rose liquors on the scent strip. I was rather dumbstruck as I stood in the mall smelling the sort of rose scent I was looking for and in of all places at the Jo Malone booth. Jo Malone and I style wise had never met in the perfume catagory, always something was off when I tried one of her scents, although I had admired them on friends.

Velvet Rose & Oud is mainly about perfect dark jammy rose liquor the scent is then supported by a very mellow oud that thankfully is not medicinal. The praline acts to add sweetness but I can really not distinguish it in the scent, I think it more of as a gentle melder, depending on the day every once in awhile I will get a peak of the spiced clove. The quality it makes me think of like being surrounded in a forest with lush red roses and perfectly velvety night, it reminds me of those strange warm autumn nights when the leaves are changing, there is the smell of change in the air, and yet the chill has not arrived. It is seductive but there is no heavy animalic notes, it is easy to wear because it makes the wearer comfortable in its plush smoothness but elegant in the obvious quality of the rose.

Try if you like: Keiko Mecheri Attar de Roses, LUSH Rose Jam, Caron Parfum Sacre, Parfums Generale Brulure de Roses, and Yves Rocher Rose Absolue.

images from: http://purplehandsss.tumblr.com/post/40261682536 and http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/77/4d/97/774d97f429f0bac273531e8acf612e2f.jpg

I swear I do this too often..a return?

Oh perfume blog land suddenly I want to return. Go figure, or maybe I should say this is all the roses fault, the fault being of LUSH's Rose Jam scent that has suddenly made me go down the rabbit hole of rose grails specifically jammy rose searches. The best find so far being Jo Malone's Velvet Rose & Oud, which was a shocker for me. Jo Malone and I have never really met in the chemistry department (the orange blossom one becoming jasmine indolic on me, the pomegranate noir spiced patchouli, and the red rose one very green and stemmy) until a random spritz of VR&O and it was heavenly rose liquor. So lovely and exotic but very amiable in the just smells gorgeous department but then because perfume lovers are absurd you suddenly have that quest of wanting to smell all of those edible roses. Am I back? Probably for a time.