With Valentine's coming up, it's only fitting that we at Perfume Philippines delve into the season's most favorite flower: the delicate and romantic rose. Roses are not only the most romantic of flowers to look at, but they are also an essential component of fragrance.
From the standpoint of the nose, it's generally regarded as the most significant flower of all: musky, woody, powdery, and fruity with notes that sometimes resemble clove or myrrh, but no matter its characteristics, the rose has always been romantic.
Roses are estimated to be present in at least 75% of current feminine scents and 10% of all men's perfumes.
How is rose used in perfumery?
Rose essential oil can be found in the form of rose otto or rose absolute. This component is extracted by steam distillation, whereas rose absolute is extracted using solvent extraction or CO2 extraction.
The most popular roses used in perfumery are the Turkish rose, Damask, and Rosa Centifolia, which is produced in the south of France in Grasse and is often acclaimed for producing the best quality of rose absolute. It is also known as Rose de Mai (as it blooms and May) and 'painter's rose' as it is often the subject of many works by old masters.
Bulgaria produces around 70% of the world's rose oil, while other notable producers include Morocco, Iran, and Turkey as well as valuable, scarce quantities from Grasse. The rose pickers’ job is to select the dew-drenched blossoms before 10 a.m when the sun dries up their lovely charm. Around 170 rose flowers are said to yield only a single drop.
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What does a rose smell like?
The rose blossom offers a wide variety of scents, many of which are the product of floral breeding during the previous century. The smell spectrum ranges from pleasant to unpleasant, including notes such as green tea, boxwoods, moss, vine, honey, fruit, with notes akin to that of many other flowers. Rose scents are made up of around 300 different components.
The enticing aroma of the rose flower, particularly its more unique derivatives, is frequently used in perfume and floral contests. For generations, perfumers have attempted to capture and bottle this aroma.
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Our favorite rose perfumes
Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy Rose
This perfume is designed for modern females who perceive the world through pink glasses and adore wearing pink, glamorous, and glittering outfits. Top notes of flowers and fruit are followed by a rich floral center of centifolia rose absolute, sambac jasmine, and white peony, with powdery shades of orris absolute, benzoin, and ambroxan lingering in the drydown.
Perfumers Workshop Tea Rose
Perfumer's Workshop TEA ROSE has fascinated women—and the men who admire them—for fifty years with its classic, well-balanced, and authentic ROSE scent. The fragrance features bergamot, rose, lily, tuberose, sandalwood, amber, cedar, and Brazilian rosewood.
Ralph Lauren Romance Rose EDP
This beautiful scent encapsulates the vitality of spring. It begins with the dazzling brilliance of bergamot, mixing with the juiciness of lychee, red apple, and black currant, and is structured over a rich floral mixture of rose de Mai.