Review

9 Rose-Based Fragrances For Women

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It’s sexy, heady, quintessentially feminine and immediately recognisable: you don’t have to be a perfumista to love rose, nor a mature lady to wear it.

Rose can be many different things and today’s perfume makers are able to decline it in many ways: sexy, playful, young, deep or clean. It has been around for a long time and is here to stay.

To help you choose which one to wear, here is a selection of my nine of my favourite perfumes for women with this magic floral as a main note. Nine roses like in eternal love.

Stella by Stella McCartney
This was Stella McCartney’s very popular first fragrance, launched in 2003. If mainly rose is what you’re looking for, and with a modern attitude, then Stella will be the one for you. Don’t expect a lot of evolution from it, but sure it will have a warm and reassuring depth.

Maitresse by Agent Provocateur
Name and packaging are quite provocative in this fragrance, after all at Agent Provocateur they produce lingerie. The final result however, is more sophisticated, and almost sober in the end. So don’t worry: you won’t have to be extremely cheeky to wear this. Rose is mixed with ylang-ylang (a flower with an intense, chemical smell) and other florals, which give a slightly acid and boozy result.

Idylle by Guerlain
Idylle is a quite and gentle character, with determination and strong emotions smouldering underneath. It starts soft, with a wide range of flowers, but then rose comes out, mixing with fruits, and other florals in the background. Idylle is intense without being loud, mature without being old.

Emporio Armani Diamonds For Women
This Armani perfume will leave you wondering if it’s mainly fruity or floral, and that’s a good thing, as it was probably the perfumer’s purpose. It’s probably the only perfume of the list where rose is not the main character but it’s in the very good company of other delicate florals and sweet fruits.

Especially Escada
For the first part, just like Emporio Armani Diamonds, Especially Escada will be half fruity half floral. Rose will come out in the second part, but it won’t be heady, nor intense in this case. It’s gentler and intentionally less sexy than it normally is, almost soapy.

Baby Doll by Yves Saint Laurent
If this perfume were a color, that would be pink. The florals will be quite generic at the start, but it’s just the set up for rose in full swing. At that point it will feel a bit more mature and sober. The finale is a very classic mix of musky and sweet powdery notes.

Creed Fleur De The Rose Bulgare

This one may be a little harder to find and more expensive than the rest of the fragrances on the list. But it’s worth every drop. The rose here is pure and green, mixed with citrus notes at first, and then it will gradually get a humid aroma, like of damp moss after the rain. It couldn’t feel more natural than that.

Chloe Eau de Parfum
Chloe EdP is ultra popular for a simple reason: it’s a great fragrance. Its rose is mixed with fruits and it will take its time to come out in full: heady and intense as it should be, but also young and playful. If you want to feel sexy and young without taking yourself too seriously, don’t miss this one.

Parisienne a L’Extreme by Yves Saint Laurent
In the first part of this version of Parisienne, rose is mixed with berries, and wrapped into a vinyl film. A hybrid you won’t find in nature. And after the fun, the fragrance veers towards a more classic rose, unfolding all its seductive potential with peppery dense notes.

My name is Angela Ricardo Bethea and I am the founder and editor behind KoreanDoll.net ( and many other online publications ) ... I love the finer things in life, I'm quite a shop-a-holic and a certified jet-setter. So if I am not behind my laptop to blog, I'd probably be shopping if not traveling.

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