Rose

There is no material in perfumery with more history than rose, and none with more difference between one bottle and the next. The house works with rose oils and absolutes, including rose materials sourced from Bulgaria and Türkiye. Each brings its own light to a composition, and each rose chapter was written for the balance it needed.

What rose is

Rose gives two great materials. Rose otto is steam distilled from the fresh flowers of Rosa damascena, the damask rose, and is light, fresh and spicy, with a green, honeyed sparkle. Rose absolute is solvent extracted from Rosa damascena or Rosa centifolia and is deeper, warmer and more honeyed, with the heavy, waxy richness that distillation cannot carry. It takes several thousand kilograms of petals to make a single kilogram of otto, and the flowers must be picked at dawn before the sun opens them and the oil escapes.

Where our rose comes from

The house uses rose materials sourced from Bulgaria and Türkiye. Rosée Blanche combines Bulgarian rose oil with a rose absolute blend; Impériale Oud includes Bulgarian rose oil. These materials bring different shades to the rose, from fresh clarity to a warmer, deeper floral presence. The rose in Néroli de Nuit and Royale Oud is a rose absolute drawn from both Morocco and Bulgaria. The Moroccan flowers grow in the high Dadès valley in the shadow of the Atlas, and their absolute is warmer and more honeyed; blended with the Bulgarian absolute it gives a rose that is deep, sweet and enveloping. The otto is the rose at dawn; the absolute is the rose at dusk.

How rose smells

Floral and rosy, honeyed and slightly spicy. The otto is fresh, green and bright, with a faint pepper and a clean sweetness. The absolute is rich, warm and honeyed, with a waxy, almost jam like depth that lasts for hours on the skin.

Rose in our chapters

• IIINéroli de NuitThe Blossom · in the heart

  In Néroli de Nuit the absolute is a warm shadow beneath the orange blossoms, the rose that deepens the night.

• IVRosée BlancheThe Climbing Rose · in the heart

  In Rosée Blanche Bulgarian rose oil and a rose absolute blend shape the heart, the white climbing rose covered in dew, with geranium beside it and vetiver beneath.

• VIImpériale OudThe First Root · in the heart

  In Impériale Oud Bulgarian rose oil is the crimson rose laid over oud, the oldest pairing in the perfumer's book, sharpened by cinnamon and pink pepper.

• VIIIRoyale OudThe Taproot · in the heart

  In Royale Oud the absolute sits in the heart beside osmanthus and wormwood, the honeyed rose above the deepest resins of the tree.

A note from the atelier

The clarity of Bulgarian rose oil is one of the reasons I chose it for these chapters. A rose that is fresh and green at dawn can carry dew in one chapter and stand up to oud in the other.

Questions about rose