Perfume Review: Frederic Malle / Edouard Flechier Une Rose

Edouard Fléchier is, without a doubt, one of my favorite perfumers. He created the first fragrance I have ever loved, which I still love dearly, the big, the luscious, the incomparable Poison. His is the genius of bold, generous strokes; to borrow O'Keefe's words yet again, he "paints his flowers big" (Lys Méditerranée, with its ethereal coldness, is still a big flower). That unapologetic sumptuousness is a quality I adore in perfumes. Having said that, Fléchier is just as capable of creating compositions that are poignantly delicate. Shiseido's obscure gem, Chant du Coeur, would break your heart with its gentle, melancholy loveliness. Edouard Fléchier was also born in the same year as my father, and, with his handsome mustache, actually looks quite a lot like my dad...but that silly tidbit of information is rather beside the point... You might know by now that I am not the biggest fan of rose scents. They quite frankly bore me, even the loveliest and truest -and perhaps especially the loveliest and truest- of them. I want my roses to be dark, brooding, strange, to have something more than "just roses". Une Rose, described as "garden rose pulled from the ground with its roots", is a paradox in a sense that, while smelling like the most luxurious and life-like rose imaginable, it also has that "something", the nocturnal depth, that I find incredibly attractive. On me, Une Rose, does not appear to go through the traditional three stages of scent development. The notes, rose, trufle, geranium, wine dregs, woods, are apparent from the beginning, all at once, in perfect dark harmony. The development manifests itself in the change of intensity of certain notes. Thus at first the smell of honeyed, truly ambrosial roses is very strong, it is intoxicating, supremely sensual, like a passionate embrace of someone gorgeous and sultry and just a little wicked. In a short while the sharp piquancy of geranium becomes more apparent, and then the even sharper accord surfaces and that is the point at which I fall completely prey to the witchy charms of Une Rose. The accord has a spicy, slightly musky, very earthy and woody quality. It is the smell of rose thorns, of the promised roots, of the black soil in a mysterious garden in which the crimson roses grow. The contrast of the sweet, lush, slightly inebriated smell of over-ripe roses and the dry, almost harsh earthy-woody accord is, to me, absolutely irresistible. Une Rose is one of my favorite rose perfumes and proudly resides in my favorite fragrance "category", that of Perfumes for a Femme Fatale...Although I must say that, in my opinion, the austere, dry earthiness and the prominent woody notes should make this scent easily wearable for a man. Une Rose is avialable at Editions de Parfums, €65.00-€165.00, and at Barney's, $100.00-$245.00. Image sources, editionsdeparfums.com, krasivoefoto.ru.