Discovery Kit by Roberto Dario

Roberto Dario is an Italian all natural perfumer who switched his career in chemistry for his passion in perfumery.  So far he has seven scents in his collection. His line is not a marketing based concept where each perfume represents a certain fragrance family to fit the widest possible customer’s preferences. Like for example four of his seven scents are featuring lavender in their name. Who would do something like this nowadays? I guess only a passion driven  perfumer with love for the beauty of the ingredients.

Recently he offered a Discovery Kit, a sample set containing 2 ml of each of his seven perfume in dab vials. A perfect  opportunity to try them all, listen to their stories and see how far they can seduce you. More about Roberto and his scents is on his website: http://esperienzeolfattive.blogspot.nl/

My absolute favorite from his collection is DolceDesiderio. Inspired by a story of seduction from the 17th century where a French Madame “enjoys” her younger lover. The tale is interpreted with the notes of rosewood, Bulgarian rose, Turkish rose, geranium, labdanum, patchouli, benzoin and vanilla.
Dolcedesiderio doesn’t pretend to be a very complex scent, but it has a very surprising classical, almost vintage feeling reminding me of Jicky and some aspects of Shalimar, Bal à Versaille and Habanita from the past.  It rises an illusion of something I smelled before – somewhere in my childhood, but can’t remember anymore.  It smells familiar, but doesn’t let me to remember the name… The simple beauty of natural raw materials suggests indeed that it could be a perfume from the 17th century. And I don’t have any doubts that it could be used by Madame to seduce her lovers.

The start of Dolcedesiderio is a bit too loud as if the components are arguing with each other for the right to lead. The winner is red rose with sharp geranium based thorns reminding me of Madam’s bright red lipstick she uses for seduction. But once the perfume settles on my skin, it becomes very pleasing. In fact it blends very well with my skin turning into a warm fragrance of a sensual, slightly powdery rose sweetened by vanilla and balsams inside a classic warm amber accord. It becomes a very warm, soft and romantic scent. Very attractive and seductive in that sweet old-fashioned way. I really love how it opens on my skin as well as my skin loves vanilla and balsams in perfumes.

A cup of roses

You probably know that baby wisdom. You should taste everything that attracts your attention. Especially if you think it’s beautiful. And when it comes to such a beautiful creation of nature as flowers, well… it’s difficult to resist temptation.

This childish instinct, a mixture or curiosity and inspiration, was tempting me while I was looking to the dried rose buds I bought for tincturing. Even dry they were still looking beautiful. So, I decided to make a tea from them. An Internet search delivered basic guidelines and I could start to experiment.

For a cup of a rose bud tea you need just two or three buds per cup (about 100 ml). You place them into a pre-warmed cup, pour over with boiled water (should be about 90 C) and draw for just two or three minutes (one or two minutes extra is not a problem at all). It’s better to cover a cup to keep the essential oils inside.
I decided not to take the rose buds away – they give a nice finishing touch to a very delicate fresh green colour of tea. They can give tea a bitter taste, but probably you finish your tea before the bitterness appears.

I was really surprised with a taste. It combines dry herbal note with rose and deep vibrant honey-like undertone (as you might know from the rose absolute). It’s not too rosy as I was afraid of and really delicate. To my taste I prefer it without sugar, but a little bit of honey might go pretty well with this tea.

Besides its delicate taste and amazing look this tea is very good to calm the nerves and even to relief headache. Rose has also been used as a remedy against hay fever and nasal catarrh.

Yesterday evening I tried a good synergy between rose and lavender. It was amazing to feel the effect of just a teaspoon of lavender blossoms and three rose buds. My head became calm, my eyes sleepy and I could easily fall asleep. Rose and lavender tea was a nice closing of the day. Now I understand a Dutch proverb “to sleep like a rose”…

The Rose is born...

This beautiful video is found on YouTube. Thanks to the user rulivede who has shared it there.

Everyone who has ever touched, seen or smelled a rose understands the divine nature of this flower. According to the Ancient Greek and Roman Myths the Rose was created by Chloris (Roman name Flora), the Goddess of spring, new growth and flowers, the wife of Western Wind Zephyrus. Once she was walking through her garden and suddenly came upon a lifeless corps of a beautiful nymph. Deeply touched by her beauty she decided to preserve it by turning the nymph into a flower. Chloris implored Aphrodite (Roman name Venus), the Goddess of Love and Beauty, for assistance. The Three Graces gave her allure, brilliance and elation. Dyonissus (Roman name Bacchus) gave her a drop of nectar to endue her with a wonderful fragrance. Zephyrus, the Western Wind blew the clouds away so that Apollo, the God of Sun could shine upon her. A beautiful rose came to blossom under the golden light of Apollo and was crowned with a diadem by Chloris to distinguish this most beautiful blossom, the Queen of Flowers.

Persians also recognized the divine origin of the Rose and believed it was a gift from Allah himself. From the times of Ancient Egypt Lotus was the King of the flowers. But he slept a lot neglecting his royal duties. All the flowers were complaining to Allah about this habit and asked to name another blossom for this position. The White Virgin Rose became the new Queen of Flowers. And to protect her Allah gave her the thorns.

Turkish legends have a different view on the origin of the Rose and believe that White Rose was born from the sweat drops of Mohammed during his night ascend of the sky.

The emergence of the Red rose in legends and myths are connected to the stories of pain, suffer and love.

Ancient Greek myths tell us that it was the blood of Aphrodite who turned the Roses red.

Persian legend says that the White Rose created by Allah was so beautiful that the nightingale felt in love to her from the first sight. Charmed by its beauty the nightingale embraced the flower so tightly that the thorns stabbed his heart and colored the rose petals with his blood. A beautiful Fairytale “The Nightingale and The Rose” is written by Oscar Wilde.

Well, if those stories of Red Rose made you a little sad, there is another version you might like. It says that Rose was presented to Eros (Roman name Cupid), the winged God of Love, by his mother Aphrodite. Being a playful child he spilled some wine on it and turned the Rose petals red.

And at the end I would reveal one more secret of this beautiful flower. Eros presented the Rose to Harpocrates, the Greek and Roman God of Secrecy and Silence. It was a bribe for not telling to Aphrodite, his mother, about the pranks of little troublemaker Eros. So the Rose became a symbol for confidentiality. And Romans believed that everything said under the Rose should remain a secret. Red roses often ornamented the houses also reminding the guests that everything said “sub vino” (under the influence of wine) is also said “sub rosa” (under the roses that means should be kept secret).

Rose III: the finishing touch

Russian version - click here

Image - a small red rose from Wikimedia

The introducing or rose alcohols to the first rose formula, hopefully made it softer, more floral and more rosy. But may be also more citronella like – depends on the quality of the rose alcohol used. There are some other important aromachemicals that might give this rose a finishing touch.

Rose oxide – is a very important aromachemical. Naturally less that 0.5% of this chemical can be found in a rose oil, but because our nose is 80 times more sensitive to it compared to citronellol, the influence of Rose oxide is comparable to that of citronellol. Commercial product consists of different isomers and may vary in purity grades. If you smell it even in 10% dilution you probably never link this gassy smell to a rose. Books says that the rose or geranium like odour can be noticed by extreme dilution or when used in a rose accord in low concentrations. The change rose oxides makes to a rose accord is subtle but noticeable. Use 0.5% or less in the rose accord and try to smell the difference.

Rose crystals or Rosone – is an nice fixative for a rose. It has a very difficult chemical name – trichloro methyl phenyl carbinyl acetate that you can find in some rose formulae. Also known as Rosatol, Rose acetale, TCMBA (guess where this comes from), Rosacetate, Rosalina etc. This one has a weak rosy odour with green nuances. It smells like “another variant of PEA” and you tend to underestimate this material as at first it may seem to have little or no influence to the rose compositions. The best is to compare the smell of pure PEA with a smell of PEA with 5% of Rose crystals added. Comparing two smelling strips I found that Rosone enriches the smell of PEA making the rosy smell more prominent and powerful. So, 2-4% of the rose crystals in the formula can give power to the rose and make it more long lasting. As I already have mentioned before – Vetiver oil, Guaiacwood oil and Cedarwood oil may also be used as fixatives in rose accords.

Beta-Damascenone – another very important rose chemical. Naturally it occurs in a rose oil at about 0.14% concentration. But the human nose is 55 times more sensitive to beta-damascenone compared to the rose oxide. Or 4400 times compared to citronellol. Thus, beta-damascenone makes almost 70% of the rose smell. This is an expensive aromachemicals that restricts it use in perfumery. You don’t find it in often in the rose formulae. A similar aromachemical Damascone (especially beta) may also be used, but it’s still expensive. It has a pleasant fruity floral odour recalling the smell of plum or a bit blackcurrant. I never compared damascones and damascenones, so, I don’t know if beta-damascone reaches the same effect in a rose as beta-damascenone, but 0.05 – 0.3% of it brings a nice fruity nuance to a rose accord.

Aldehydes and alcohols – waxy fatty notes of aldehydes finishes the top note of the rose smell giving some nuances of fatty rose petals of the fresh flower. Different aldehydes or alcohols might be used for that purpose (C8 – C12) in concentration of 0.01 – 0.2%.

Rosalva – is an unsaturated alcohol with ten carbon atoms (but don’t confuse it with Alcohol C10). This is an aromachemical with a rosy odour and fatty waxy nuances. Good to combine with aldehydes. To my nose possesses a harsh metallic note, but I haven’t found it back in a rose accord. Nice finishing touch to a rose.

Green notes – are also very common in rose accords. The simplest two are the leaf alcohol (cis-3-hexenol) and PADMA (Phenyl Acetaldehyde Dimethyl Acetal). The first one has a green fresh smell of a grass and the second one recalls a more sharp radish-like smell of arugula (rucola, rocket). One of them or both can be used to give some fresh nuances of green notes. Leaf alcohol is stronger than PADMA and should be used in lower concentrations – 0.1-0.3% for leaf alcohol and 0.2-1% for PADMA.

Naturals – are the best enhancers of almost any perfume. Rose oil and absolute are widely used in the rose accords. But a cheaper Geranium or Palmarosa oil is also a common natural constituent in a rose formula. Should be used up to 1-2%. Sometimes less sometimes more.

Well now our rose formula consists from about 15 ingredients. And this is a nice number for a good rose base. Enough space to play. Enjoy!

Introducing the rose alcohols

Russian version - click here

Image: a picture of a nice rose alcohol from http://www.craftdistillers.com

Rose alcohols are Citronellol, Geraniol and Nerol. They are major constituents of the rose oil and important aromachemicals in making of a rose accord (commonly used together with phenyl ethyl alcohol). A rose oil contains about 30-40% of citronellol, 20% of geraniol and 5% of nerol.

A rose accord formula may contain various proportions between PEA, citronellol and geraniol. Nerol is less common, but still widely used in rose formulae. Even the natural raw materials contains those materials in different proportions. The rose oils contains about 1% PEA, 35% of citronellol and 20% of geraniol that brings us to 1:35:20 ratio. And the absolute contains about 40-70% PEA, 6% of citronellol and 3% of geraniol that makes the ratio looks like – from 13:2:1 to 23:2:1.

If I see the 13:2:1 ratio I get an idée that the previous formula consisted of 15 druppels PEA can be enriched with 2 drops of citronellol and 1 drop of geraniol. And the amount of those alcohols can be gradually increased till I get the more rosy smell. In general the average amounts of those aromachemicals used in rose accords are – 20-60% PEA, 5-35% citronellol and 5-20% of geraniol. But the problem is that when you use rose alcohol you can get an unpleasant citronella nuance that you don’t really smell in a rose flower. Let’s have a closer look at those chemicals.

Citronellol – its smell is described as a fresh floral clean rose. But wait – I do smell citronella undertone. It’s time for some chemistry. Citronellol is a molecule that has different isomers (the compounds with similar chemical formula, but different structure). Citronellol has alpha and beta isomers and also so called stereo isomers. The first ones are a bit less important, but stereo isomers are much more interesting in perfumery – because of their structure they look like right and left hand – almost the same, but still not superposable – they are a mirror image of each other – they are called d-citronellol and l-citronellol (you may also find them as (+)-citronellol and (-)-citronellol). If you like more information on stereo isomers, please, visit a Wikipedia link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enantiomer The d-citronellol is found to be a natural compound of citronella and ginger-grass oil. l-citronellol is a major compound of a rose oil. Both occurs in geranium oil. As aromachemical you can buy either citronellol (that contains of both l- and d- isomers and called racemic) or l-citronellol. Although the most properties of stereo-isomers are the same, the perfumery books say that l-citronellol is sweeter than racemic, has clean rosy top note and has no “mint” notes. But there is another factor that is responsible for the smell variations of different citronellols bought by different suppliers. Citronellol can be obtained by different ways – some of them gives a better quality products containing almost no impurities and other ways give citronellol of a lower grade with more impurities contributing to the smell. For example, racemic citronellol can be obtained from citronella oil by hydrogenation of geraniol component. If it’s not purified properly, you may get some other citronella constituents in citronellol. The purest citronellol is obtained chemically by reduction of citronellal. So, if you can get citronellol from different supplier – it’s important to compare the quality of their products and to choose the good one.
Citronellol can be used in rose (red and white), lily, lily of the valley and other floral accords.

Geraniol is another rose smelling aromachemical with fresh mild sweet rosy odour and dry rose-petals undertone. To my nose it reminds a bit of dried rose hips. Sometimes you can also catch some citronella notes. Geraniol occurs naturally in many essential oils like Geranium, Rose, Palmarosa, and Citronella and can be isolated from the last two oils. But it can be also made synthetically from Citral. Thus, the quality of Geraniol may also vary depending on impurities. For examle, Geraniol from Palmarosa oil is preffered to the one from Citronalla oil.

Rhodinol is the most complicated aromachemical as the word Rhodinol is used to describe a whole group of chemicals. In the first place this name was given to an impure compound isolated from rose otto. Latter it becomes a kind of synonym to the rose alcohols derived from essential oils. For example, l-citronellol isolated from Geranium oil can also be sold under the name of Rhodinol. Rhodinol C or Rhodinol ex Citronella mostly refers to a purified Citronellol from Citronella oil. Rhodinol coeur or Rhodinol ex Geranium refers to a mixture of rose alcohols from Geranium oils. Rhodinol can be found in various rose formulae – it’s used as a substitute of rose otto, geranium oils or as citronellol or rose alcohol mixture. It’s very important to collect information on Rhodinol from the supplier and figure out what kind of Rhodinol he is selling. And of course – it’s useful to compare the quality from the different suppliers.

If I compare my Rhodinol ex Citronella from the Perfumers World with Citronellol (also from the Perfumers World), I’d say that I definitely smell some Geraniol in Rhodinol, so it’s not a higher grade of citronellol, but a mixture of rose alcohols. And they both has unpleasant citronella nuances to my nose. So, I think I need to compare the suppliers and to search for a better quality.

Making of a rose accord: the beginning

Russian version - click here

Image - dried roses to illustrate the PEA odor found on http://www.your-healthy-gardens.com/drying-roses.html

Phenyl ethyl alcohol (PEA) is one of the most famous and important aromachemical possessing the rose odour – soft sweet rose with green notes recalling a smell of dried rose petals. It naturally occurs in rose absolute (making 40-70% of it). However the rose oil has almost no phenyl ethyl alcohol – just several percents. Phenyl ethyl alcohol in perfumery is widely used in many floral compositions – rose, lily of the valley, jasmine and many others. A rose formula can contain a huge amount of PEA – in some cases it can be the only rose-constituent like shown in a formula below.

The foundation perfumery course form the Perfumers World suggests a simple rose formula based on phenyl ethyl alcohol:

PEA – 15
Methyl ionone – 3
Clove oil – 0.5 (or Eugenol - 1)
Cedarwood oil – 1

This formula is a part of the foundation perfumery course - you can follow it free of charge at the Perfumers World.

Let’s see the role of other ingredients.

Methyl ionone is an iris or violet smelling chemical. It doesn’t occur naturally in rose, but there is another aromachemical with a similar smell that is a natural rose oil and absolute constituent – beta-ionone. There is only 0.03% of it found in a rose oil, but even such a tiny amount of beta-ionone contributes significantly to the rose odour. Our nose is very sensitive to beta-ionone almost 100 000 times more sensitive than to phenyl ethyl alcohol. Because of that even 0.03% of beta-ionone makes about 20% of the rose odour. More information on that interesting fact can be found at http://www.leffingwell.com/rose.htm
Methyl ionone and alpha-ionone can be used in rose formulae instead of beta-ionone. Methyl ionone has a woody undertone that makes it a perfect bridge between the woody notes and florals (especially red flowers).

Eugenol or clove oil (can contain up to 90% of Eugenol) gives the rose a spicy note. A similar aromachemical – methyl eugenol naturally occurs in a rose oil together with eugenol itself.

One drop of Eugenol can be used instead of 0.5 drop of Clove oil. Both are used to bring a spicy note to the rose accord. Too much eugenol makes the rose smell not only spicy, but also old, dry and a bit dirty – think of dried roses and cloves.

Cedarwood oil is a fixative for the rose accord. Another woody notes can be used like Sandalwood, Vetiver, Pathouli or Guaiac oils.

When I made a rose accord by this formula I was very disappointed by its smell. Nothing like a real rose. Of course I could expect that a rose accord made from four aromachemicals can not smell like a real rose consisting of about 350 ingredients. But it still can be a part of a more complicated rose accord. And some formulae shows that a nice rose base can be made of 10-20 ingredients. So, the next step is using of the rose alcohols to give some freshness to a drying rose.

Rose is in the air

Russian version - click here

Image - a rose found on http://www.kunstflora.com/

Well, sometimes it's just in the air and you can see its influences... Like you read how Andy is busy with his rose or you read the discussions in a perfumer's group about the quality of citronellol and the use of damascones instead of damascenones in a rose accord. Or someone shares his rose formula and you get inspire to try it out and figure out why those components are used. Roxana has made a wonderful post about the roses and the yummy things you can make with it. The rose is definitely in the air.

Inspired by all of those I decided to make a rose too. When you are an experienced perfumer you get an idea in your head and try to recreate that idea in the smell. When you are less experienced you mix things and later try to figure it out what direction your mixture is going :o) Sometimes you get the picture and begin to enhance enhance and modify it. I am not that experienced yet. I wanted to make a rose, but I didn't know what rose I'd get.

First it was just a rose accord experiment. I took a simple rose formula from the Perfumersworld based on phenyl ethyl alcohol. Later I enhanced it with rose alcohols. They gave some unpleasant citronella like nuances. To get rid of them I continued blending and using of another rose chemicals. At the certain point I got the picture - I was making an Old English style rose - a bit dirty recalling the smell of drying petals. So, I added some galbanum - wow - it was wonderful to see how it makes rose old with its sharp green note - like a flower from a herbarium. More eugenol to enhance this effect and a touch of lemon. A woody base of Patchouli and Cedarhout with a non-sweet amber accord and a touch of animal notes.

The perfume I made smells from a bottle like an old fashion eau de cologne - as if you made an infusion of rose petals with a citrus peels. On the skin the rose becomes stronger and sweeter - a mixture of a fresh rose with dry petals - a smell of an old herbalist cellar, old fashioned eau de cologne and a single rose standing somewhere in the corner. The dry out was surprising reminding me of Rose Poivrée - with its dirty underpants undertones (not unpleasant though).

What I am not satisfied with is a citronella note coming from the rose alcohols. Well, it contributes to a herbarium smell, but doesn't really allow the fresh rose to come through. I think I should get better quality of citronellol and geraniol or try to use less of them and may be to try some modern rose aromachemicals.

Mostly when I am obsessed with happy blending I can forget to write the formula down. But this time I did it. And I also described the process of making of a rose accord that I shall place here in the following entries. So, if you are interested you'll be able to make a rose accord too.

Rose Chyprée by Tauer Perfumes

Russian version - click here

Image shows the samples of Rose Chyprée and comes from Andy's blog

Rose Chyprée is a running title of a new fragrance from Andy Tauer created in 2008. In December he presented it at his Apéro devoted to the Rose. Samples of this fragrance were available during the Advent-lottery for readers of Andy’s blog. Rose Chyprée doesn’t not have its name yet and her future is a bit unclear. Probably Andy will launch this new fragrance, but when and in what form?

The signature of Andy is recognizable from the first notes – the Rose is presented to the world by no other than His Excellency Incense. I suspect, that the dynamic of the relationship between Rose and Incense is the major source of inspiration (and probably for investigation) for Andy. Started in Incense Extreme and continued in Incense Rosé it’s clearly recognizable in Rose Chyprée as well. I will not be surprised if a drop of Rose and a drop of Incense could be found in each of creations by Tauer Perfume.

Meeting Rose Chyprée you should abandon the classic image of chypre rose known, for example, from Knowing (Estee Lauder) or Rose de Nuit (Serge Lutens). Andy surprises us with an abstract version of the chypre rose (as he did with Incense in his Incense Extreme). I can’t recognize an image of dark red rose petals slowly sinking in ambery honey, but I see sharp angles and shiny light reflecting edges.

The rose fragrance here is very close to its ancestor, the Rose Oil, but is presented in surprisingly unusual dress of the lemon candy. Like making a candied rose with crystalline petals from the real flower by drenching it in sugar syrup. Other rose components can be recognized by a thorough investigation. Like greenness of the fresh rose petals that comes jusr for a moment. Or the warmth of the spices gently merging with the background. The honey here is not a thick syrup anymore, but a placer of shiny golden crystals making a bed for the candied roses. Incense disappears quickly making place for the Oak moss that comes as a fine powder softening the sharp edges. This powdery note of Oak moss reminds me a bit of Rêverie au jardin.

It’s not the first time that I put this fragrance on my skin. And each times it opens slightly differently showing me its new facetted as if it doesn’t know yet which form to take on my skin. I am really curious what form it takes on someone else’s skin.

Knowing by Estée Lauder.

This fragrance is introduced in 1988 as a sophisticated and distinctive fragrance for a mature, refined and self-confident woman. It's served in a bottle resembling to the piece of crystal to please your every sense according to Estée Lauder.

Estée Lauder classifies this fragrance as a woody floral. Turin & Sanchez in their guide describe it as rose chypre. Well, it's definitely a rose and it's woody. Even oriental woody I'd say. Not sure about chypre as I can't recognize it behind the rose curtain.

Estée Lauder gives the following pyramid for Knowing:

Top Notes: Rose, Tuberose, Mimosa, Plum
Middle Notes: Jasmine, Patchouli, Orange Flower
Base Notes: Oakmoss, Vetiver, Sandalwood, Amber

Some other sources mention also spices like coriander, laurel and clove; melon, orange and aldehydes in the top; cedar as a part of woody component. Well – enough ingredients to compose your own bouquet.

My own olfactory experience is – it's all about the rose. Beautiful fresh petals of a dark red evening rose are sinking in a sultry syrup of floral honey and ripe fruit to the bottom of sweet woody amber. It's stupefying viscous and enshrouding directly from the opening. It's pretty linear and doesn't change much from top to the base, except may be the ambery honey sweetness that gets stronger. Knowing has a good sillage.

Summing up the opinions of perfume experts, I can say that this fragrance is appreciated for its finely balanced composition, complex structure and sillage. It's described as lush, European styled and multi-coloured. Five stars at Turin&Sanchez guide.

A good friend of my is using Knowing and I always like to catch a train of it when she is passing by. Really attractive. I completely agree with Estée Lauder's recommendation to use this perfume for a mature refined woman with a touch of class. This perfume gives me a feeling of a warm fond embrace – the one my mother gave me when I was a child.

Making of rose scent

Nederlands: http://aromax-mijnparfum.blogspot.com/search/label/maken%20van%20rozengeur

It’s very simple as 1, 2, 3 – 1 drop of geraniol, 2 drops of citronellol and 3 drops of phenyl ethyl alcohol. The proportions can be varied. This simple formula can be even used in a perfume as a part of a complex flower accord. The scent of a real rose is much more sophisticated – it consists of hundreds of ingredients (there are about 350 identified).

The natural rose fragrance is mostly made of rose alcohols – phenyl ethyl alcohol (PEA), geraniol, citronellol and nerol. There is a difference in PEA amount between rose oil (only 1% PEA) and a rose absolute (about 40-70 % PEA). From the rest of rose alcohols are geraniol (3 % in absolute and 20 % in oil) and citronellol (6 % in absolute and 35 % in oil) the most important and used in a rose fragrance base. Nerol (1% in absolute and 6 % in oil) is less popular and use in a few formulae to give a fresh citrus accent.

Pure phenyl ethyl alcohol smells like dried rose petals with some green note. I also smell an undertone that reminds me of bitter almonds or cherry stones. I don’t like that undertone and because of that don’t like the smell of PEA alone. It’s ok when combined although. Citronellol has a soft rose scent with an accent that reminds me of citronella oil (but not as harsh as citronella oil self).

Citronellol has a soft rose scent with an accent that reminds me of citronella oil (but not as harsh as citronella oil self).

Geraniol is a rose scent with a soft fruity accent that reminds me of dried berries (or let’s say rose hips).

That’s it – phenyl ethyl alcohol, geraniol and citronellol in varied proportions form the base of the rose fragrance. Some other important components are rose oxide and damascones. The natural rose scent has very small amount of a rose oxide (about 0,5 %). But because of the intensity of the smell it forms a part of a rose scent even in such a small concentration. It has a harsh gassy scent and diluted gives a green flowery note. Beta-damascone is also used in some of the rose formulae. In a natural rose scent it occurs at the concentration of 0,1% and gives a fruity plum-like note.

The base can be extended with essential oils of rose and geranium and rose absolute to increase the naturalness. 1 to 3 % of this precious oils is enough.

Clove bud oil can give a rose a bit spicy character.

Ionones, like methyl ionone and alfa-ionone in concentration of 1-10 % give a nice flowery accent with a violet or iris nuance. Alfa-ionone is more flowery and methyl ionone is also a bit woody that makes it a perfect bridge between flowery and woody notes.

Woody oils like guaiacwood, cedar wood or verivert could be used as fixatives.

To give some green freshness it’s possible to use cis-3-hexenol (fresh cut grass or smashed green leaves) and/or phenyl acetaldehyde dimethyl acetal (harsh green, rucola like).

Incense rosé. Andy Tauer.

Nederlands: http://aromax-nicheparfum.blogspot.com/search/label/incense%20ros%C3%A9

If L'air du désert marocain was a hot breath of the Simoom in a desert, than Incense rosé is a fresh swallow of oasis in the same desert.

The freshness in this perfume comes from Bergamot, Clementine and Cardamom with some Rose. So, don’t expect a sip of crystal water on the grass in a green forest. No, you’d rather be served wine and sherbet on the sand under a balsamic tree.

The rose of Incense rosé is not a fresh flower, but a jelly rose candy from Turkish delight. Reminded me of recipe when you take some fresh roses and drench them with the mix of gelatine and sugar. I would add some alcohol too after smelling the Incense rosé. Dried, powdered with fine crystal sugar and sprinkled with some gelatine-sugar mix it becomes a rose candy. I just see this perfume surrounded by those jelly rose candies.

The heart of this perfume exaggerates and opiates with its Oriental charm. But as an oasis in a desert still can be a mirage so is the heart of this perfume loses its exaggerating power and leaves you with a dry out of wood and resins.

I do like the woody base in Tauer’s perfumes. As in L'air du désert marocain you smell here a real peace of smoked balsamic wood used to build the decorations. In Incense rosé it’s less dry and hot than in L'air du désert marocain.