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Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Perfume Review: Bvlgari Au The Rouge


Au Thé Rouge is the latest addition to the Bvlgari’s family of tea scents. With notes of pink pepper, red tea, figs, and walnut, the fragrance was supposed to evoke Rooibos tea (Red Bush Tea) native to South America. Rooibos has a sweet-woody-fruity-nutty taste, and, as Robin noted, unfortunately Au Thé Rouge does not really succeed in replicating it. The intention to make it smell like Rooibos is certainly evident, but to me it smells more like a rather strong, slightly smoky black tea lightly flavored with fruits and berries and –even lighter- with roses.

Having said that, I really like Au Thé Rouge. The tea note here is the way I like it, it is, as I already mentioned, smoky and has an interesting bracing undertone to it, probably due to the pink pepper note. During the middle stage I actually do smell walnuts, or what I think are walnuts, a bitter-nutty note that adds a certain raw depth to the composition. In earlier drydown the fig is quite evident, with the slightly coconutty accord that this note always has to my nose. If Au Thé Rouge were a color, it would be black with a red shine to it, indeed like a cup of fragrant, full-bodied tea. The fragrance is subtle yet rich, and even though it is Eau de Cologne, it has quite good staying power on my skin. To me Au Thé Rouge is one of those scents that, though not exactly extraordinary and amazing, are extremely wearable and enjoyable.

Right now Au Thé Rouge is available exclusively at Saks, $57.00 for 1,7oz or $82.00 for 3,4oz.

8 Comments:

Blogger Caitlin Shortell said...

Yum! I will try this one, although my white tea by Bulgari is burning a hole in the dark box I keep it in. Don't wear it much. Does it smell like popsicle sticks? Because that's the way karkady aka hibiscus aka another red tea smells to me.

11:38 PM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

Cait,
My friend and my dad used to love karkady, so I remember the scent of that, and Au The Rouge is not similar to that. It is a "darker" scent, to my nose, it is like a black tea with some (little) fruitiness to it.

9:21 AM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

Vika,
It does not make the earth move for me either, but it is very pleasant and wearable. And I am just so relieved I like it, because I got it unsniffed :-)

12:16 PM EST  
Blogger Caitlin Shortell said...

Now I am reminded that Black is the one I wanted to get. Did your friend and dad spend time in Egypt?

12:25 PM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

Cait,
It is quite easily available in Russia. At least it was in the late 90s. :-)

12:35 PM EST  
Blogger Kristen said...

So excited to see your review after we discussed on MUA (I am ksk216 on MUA). I keep sniffing this and I swear I detect something like tobacco flower in there. What do you think?

12:40 PM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

K,
*Waves*
I do detect a certain smokiness. I just attributed it to the tea note, but it may just as well be tobacco flower. They never tell all the truth in the official list of notes. :-)

12:49 PM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just a point of accuracy ... Rooibos is native to South Africa, not South America!

12:37 AM EST  

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