Not my Ideal Rose but …

After an agonising wait, my sample of Parfum d’Empire’s Eau Suave arrived in the mail late last week. Would this be the Ideal Rose I have been dreaming of?

No it isn’t, for the simple reason that I can’t smell enough rose. For me, Eau Suave’s fruit notes – peach, apricot and raspberry – push the rose into the middle distance. And yet I love Eau Suave! A green opening is followed by a seamless blend of fruits, roses and spices. It all rests on warm slightly and earthy base that includes patchouli and oakmoss.

I’ve added it to my mental list of ‘ideal garden’ fragrances, a short that list so far consists only of Parfum de Nicolai’s Le Temps d’une Fete (the sun rising on a garden drenched by overnight rain); Olympic Orchids’ A Misdummer Day’s Dream (figs and blackcurrants, green leaves, golden sunshine); and Tauer’s Reverie au Jardin (a garden baking in a hot afternoon sun).

I love the Empress Josephine back-story to Eau Suave, beautifully evoked by Angela in her review for NST, and I am this close to ordering Eau Suave in its divinely pretty bottle. What is holding me back is that so far I’m finding Eau Suave’s longevity to be not great, and it would be more sensible (wouldn’t it?) to just get a decant that I could carry around.

Eau Suave is regarded by many as less adventurous than other fragrances in the Parfum d’Empire line. It was Dionne, commenting on my ‘Ideal Rose’ post, who initially thought ‘naw, nothing special’, and so did I at first.

Then I got to thinking that there are perfumes that are pretty but dull, and there are perfumes that are subtle and beautiful. The line between will vary for all of us but for me, Eau Suave does – magically – cross that line.

My quest of my Ideal Rose continues. More news next post, I hope.