Historiae - Rose de France

Picture: Francis I (1494-1547)
Painting  1530 by Jean Clouet (1475-1540)
Wikimedia Commons

Rose de France is the fourth fragrance created by Bertrand Duchaufour in the Historiae-line.It's said to be inspired of the Francis I era in the beginning of the 16th century

Rose de France starts fruity with almost raspberrylike topnotes  blended with roses. The first impression, put in a plesant way, is the smell of a coughmedicin for chlidren which I've been medicated with as a child.After this bold opening the roses steps forward in a dry, but never overwhelmimg or cloying, potpurri-like accord.
The dry roses smells very authentic but after a while the fragrance gets moistier, sweeter and the roses alive and accompanied with other fresh blooming flowers as the dewy peony. The now fresh, medium purple pink rose  is the protagonist during the rest of the dry down. The musky base with some balsamic and patchouli touches reminds me of the creamy, very pleasant, but artifical smelling white musky base of the Oscar de la Renta Essential Luxuries line.

To me Rose de France is a pleasant rosy fragrance perfect for office- and casualwear for spring and summer. I can't see the connection with the era of Francis I as I image the roses of this century as dangerous, dark, dirty and heavy. Sillage is medium and longevity for more than a day.

Those who like pink musky rosefragrances as for example Bulgari Rose Essentielle and Burberry Body Tender could also appreciate Rose de France.

Rating: 3

Notes: May rose, damascena rose, pear, bergamot, tagetes, rose absolute, magnolia, mock orange, clove, davana, peony, géranium, listea cubeba,  benzoin, vanilla, musc, amber

Thanks to Fragrance & Art for the sample to test

Burberry Body Edt vs Burberry Body Tender Edt

Picture: The Absinthe Drinker, 
painting  by Viktor Oliva 1901, in the Café Slavia, Prague
Wikimedia commons

There is no secret I'm a fan of the original Burberry Body Edp, IMO a very well executed mainstream fragrance with the  tangy absinthenote contrasting the heavy but somehow bright, flourishing, flowers. Since Body was released in 2011 there has been some flankers/formulas/concentrations of the fragrance. In this post I will compare two of them: The Edt version from summer 2012 and the Tendre version from this spring. Both, just as the original Body fragrance, are created by Michel Almairac.

The Burberry Body Edt starts with a sparkling appledominated accord which is fresh and inviting, not too sweet. The typical Body absinth accord is present but very subdued comparing to the original and Tendre.
But soon, on my skin anyway, Edt becomes week and I it's mostly about some pleasant but quite indistinct contemporary musky floral with some crispy applenote. After a while, my favoured absintenote comes back in the game but just as subdued as in the topnotes. In this stage it smells like it's embedded with powder, which is pleasant but not interesting enough to my critical nose. The Edt continues like that, nice and pleasant, during the rest of the dry down, adding some nice chalky notes in the base.

The Burberry Body Tender Edt is another story. It starts up with heavy on my favourite absinthe-flower accord, this time featuring a medium pink rose. There is a pleasant tartness from the absinthe and there is also like the steams and leaves of the rose have been blended with the absinthe and this further strengthens the tartness. As Body Tender dries down some of the appelnote from Body Edt appears as a contrasting, sparkling effect to the rose and absinthe. The by me favoured tart note continues during the whole drydown and deepens and get darker in the moderate musky base.

Overall the Edt version is more polite, fruitier, more powdery, weaker and the absinthenote is much tuned down compared to the Tender-version. I prefer the latter and would happily wear it as a summerBody if a bottle fell from the sky.

Rating: Burberry Body Edt : 3,  Burberry Body Tender: 4

Notes: Burberry Body Edt: Green apple, peach, absinthe, rose, sandalwood, tea, musk, cashmere woods, amber, vanilla

Burberry Body Tender: Lemon, apple, peach, absinthe, rose, tea leaves, jasmine, sandalwood, cashmere woody accords, vanilla, musk, amber