Rose d’Homme, as the name suggests, was meant by Mademoiselle Rogeon, the genius creator of Les Parfums de Rosine line, as a rose fragrance for men. I would urge and beg any woman who has decided against trying this perfume, because of the word “homme” in the title, to give it a chance. I am not prone to liking scents created for men and often find unisex scents leaning in masculine direction, but Rose d’Homme is a different story altogether. While entirely suitable for a man to wear (though I would guess an average man not interested in perfume might be put off by “rose” in the title), Rose d’Homme is a scent that any woman who likes rather dark, warm, sophisticated rose fragrances would enjoy wearing.
From the briefly hesperidic (bergamot) and earthy (vetiver) beginning, to the soft, sweet caress of the middle notes of vanilla and lavender, to the exquisite honeyed yet somehow at the same time dry base of rose with a hint of blackcurrant and vague accord of mandarin and even more vague one of jasmine, Rose d’Homme is a chic, extremely attractive and incredibly well-blended fragrance. I must add that although patchouli and leather are listed among the notes, they do not make an appearance on my skin. I do not miss patchouli but am a little disappointed that leather is not evident to my nose. Trying to come up with a scent that smells even a little similar to Rose d’Homme, I realized that there wasn’t one. Voleur de Roses by L’Artisan is much more about patchouli that it is about roses, Rose de Nuit by Serge Lutens is a darker, amber-heavy chypre that has a very powdery feel to my nose, Une Rose by Frederic Malle is darker still, a woody and earthy blend with a piercing geranium note. Compared to these three rose fragrances that could be also considered unisex, Rose d’Homme, though also somewhat a nocturnal, deep scent, is much softer, more “rounded” and understated, and, to me, much more wearable and enjoyable.
Rose d’Homme is available at Aedes, $98.00 for 3,4oz.
*The photo is from Aedes.com.
This is high on my wishlist and one of the best of the Rosine line, imho. Thanks for the great review!
The same here, on both counts. I also think this is one of Rosine's best and I would love to eventually have a bottle.
You make me want to leave this review right now and go order a bottle!!! I've always shyed away from scents that are labelled for men because I think that they would be overly masculine but I'm slowly finding out that's not the case.It was a pleasure reading this!
I gave my sample to my husband. I'm going to retrieve it now.
Interesting, thanks for such a great review. I would have never tried this one. La Rose and Rose d'Ete are my faves from this line.
I have so many favorites in the Rosine line. I guess I would say Un Zest and Flamenca are sharing the Top 1 spot.
I love Rosine. Love. I also found when I looked at Basenotes last night that I actually like a lot of fragrances that are the mixed use or masculines. This one sounds like it will be among that category when it joins my collection ASAP.
I like Rose d'Homme, but it does strike me as more masculine than I would have liked for myself, because it is essentially a rose fougere, and fougere is a category that I associate mostly with masculine fragrances. I do agree that it is lovely though--crisp and warm at the same time.
They should just stop doing this masculine-feminine thing. It confuses and often puts off people. I know I often overlook scents that have "homme" in the title or are said to be "for men".
It is strange how I used to loathe patchouli and now, when it is in small doses, I practically cannot smell it, as if my skin absorbs it. Or- in big doses, like in Borneo or Lust- it just doesn't bother me anymore.
As for lavender...I am craving it this days.
Rose d'Homme is quite dry and, in places, crisp. But to me, there is 40% of dryness-crispyness and 60% of softness and warmth. No, make it 35% and 75% :-) And so, I enjoy it very much. I am not ordinarily a fan of dry scents at all.
Hmmmmmmm... now that I'm learning to love the rose, maybe this is one I should investigate? I wouldn't miss the patchouli either. How vetiver-y? That's not always a note that loves me.
DH wasn't crazy about the rose, but it's the lavender that isn't working for me.
The vetiver note is there only briefly in the beginning. I think there is a chance you might like it!