The only rose fragrance in the world to use Rosa Centifolia oil from the perfumer’s own organic farm (in France), this is the rose fragrance that you will smell that makes you realize that there is a Radical Rose-shaped hole in your fragrance collection. This is a rose that transverses the entire rose spectrum from peppery and bright (in the beginning) to spicy and earthy (in the heart) to mossy and ambery (in the basenotes), circling briefly through rose lokhoum, rosewater, soap, and wood stations along the way. It is, quite frankly, a rose tour de force.
It all hinges, of course, on the complexity of Guichard’s home-grown Centifolia rose oil. Inhale the fresh, spiced rose plucked from the garden before it develops that velvety, truffled (almost candied) edge that makes you wonder if you should be burying your nose in it or nibbling on it. Soon, the patchouli makes it presence known. This smells like clean, dry earth particles whipped up into an airy musk rather than heavy soil or chocolate or booze. We like this aspect very much because it makes the rose feel grounded without being weighed down or subsumed by a darker, grungier material. Saffron adds a mildly bitter, almost oudy bite. Together with the warm, soapy-leathery labdanum in the basenotes, it is fair to say that Radical Rose displays a slightly chypric character. Either way, Radical Rose is a sophisticated and original rose scent that will pluck at the heart strings of the even the most rose-wary.
Rose, pepper, saffron, patchouli, labdanum
Perfume rating 4.24 out of 5 on Fragrantica