A Rose for Midwinter, and a Prize Draw: Shalott Rose (Wing and a Prayer Perfumes)
 Review by Marla Ever since I discovered her work through the Mystery of Musk Project, Jane Cate (Wing and a Prayer Perfumes) has been my go-to perfumer for warm, natural florals, particularly roses. Her newest of this family, Shalott Rose, is a perfect midwinter floral, warm, comforting, and sweet, with a few twists that make it intriguing. Jane’s inspirations were the Pre-Raphaelites and one of their favorite heroines, Tennyson’s tragically beautiful Lady of Shalott, and early 20th century perfumes that enveloped their wearers in rich, warm amber. The result is romantic in the extreme, while remaining wearable and chic. The opening has an almost fizzy, aldehydic effect, yet without aldehyde’s waxy/oily qualities. The floral heart is dominated by a rich rose, with iris to ground it, and carnation to add a slightly spicy effect. The base is warm, slightly powdered amber. Sillage is average and longevity is good, particularly for an all-natural perfume. Here are the notes: Top: Bergamot Heart: Carnation, Iris, Rose, Neroli Base: Amber, Sandalwood, Tonka Bean tincture, Labdanum, Jane says, “With Shalott Rose I wanted to create a fragrance that captured the unique quality of classic scents, but with my own signature florals. I just loved working with my own tincture, the tonka bean and the labdanum gave the blend a powdery scent. I also love the sparkling effect of Shalott Rose.”  Shalott Rose debuts this week at Wing and a Prayer Perfume’s etsy shop. The prices are $125 for 15ml in a cut- glass falcon dabber bottle, and $100 for 30ml of the spray perfume in a standard bottle. Jane wants to give away a crystal bottle necklace containing 15ml of Shalott Rose to one lucky reader. Please leave a comment mentioning your favorite rose garden or Pre-Raphaelite painting. This necklace is exclusive to this drawing only and is not sold in Jane’s shop. Disclosure: I requested and received a sample from the perfumer. Labels: Marla |
posted by Marina |
12:00 AM
55 Comments:
My favorite rose garden was my father's, who planted 50 rosebushes the year before he died. My name is Elaine, and he called me Elaine, the Lily Maid of Astolat - a variation, in the Arthurian legends, of the Lady of Shalott.
And I love your blog, and would feel very fortunate to have this perfume!
I don't have a favorite rose garden or a favorite Pre-Raphaelite painting- but can i still be entered in the draw?..:)
but seriously, I am probably one of the few people who prefers rose (but warm/rich not too pink) in perfume/absolute form than as a flower. Though on my Univ campus, there is tiny patch of roses that I love to pass by to catch a whiff of the gorgeous smell.
What a lovely description of Shalott Rose! I love Jane's gentle floral perfumes. No need to enter me, however.
My favorite rose garden is the one at Heirloom Roses about 40 miles from where I live, and I love to visit in summer - it has about 3,000 different varieties growing there, so more than one visit per year is needed to catch them all in bloom!
The roses in my mother's garden were always my favorite. They were so full and luscious and aromatic. She also grew the best tomatoes I ever had. The best.
This is quite a lovely draw!
My favorite rose garden is the one right here in Portland, Oregon. We have an amazing collection. Sometimes I like to go there just to eat lunch.
Thanks for the amazing drawing!
Botticellis Venus.
My mothers rose garden as I was a young girl.
What an extraordinary exceptional giveaway.
Its like being in dreamland
I really really really hope to win this!
My favorite rose garden is in Bucharest, Cişmigiu Park. There is also a really good one in Boise, Idaho outside the public art museum. All the Waterhouse paintings are beloved to me, he's a distant relative. :) Katherine B.
My favorite rose garden is the Tacoma Rose Garden. There are different variety of roses all with their unique smell. Thank you for having this great prize draw.
Elaine,
What a beautiful anecdote!
-Marla
Lavanya,
Of course you're in!
-Marla
Flora,
I'm jealous, I want to move to that garden, do they need an on-site gardener??
-Marla
Thanks for the information i got through this post..And it is very informative..
My favorite pre-Raphaelite painting is Waterhouse's The Soul of the Rose. It depicts a young woman drinking in the fragrance of a rose in full bloom. She steadies herself by putting her hand against the wall; the rose is so heady and intoxicating. This painting speaks to me of the power of a beautiful rose scent and the grace of a lovely woman.
queen_cupcake,
I know that painting, and love it!
Welcome to the drawing.
-Marla
Ths is a gorgeous crystal bottle necklace and i am looking forward to sniffing Shalott Rose. Thank you for this very generous draw.
My favorite garden is my only garden in NY, Central Park! But I would LOVE to go to the Baha'i Gardens on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel......someday.
My favorite rose garden was the planting box outside my young childhood bedroom. It held only 4 rosebushes, but lying awake in summer with the window open I could smell the roses. During the day we often mixed rose petals with water to create perfume.
My favorite rose garden was my grandmother's. She planted every color and scent she could find. Please enter me in the draw.
My favorite rose garden is the Roseraie de Bagatelle, in Paris. As I walked around, the varied scents of the many different roses in bloom came together, then apart, then together again. Utterly lovely.
My favorite Pre-Raphaelite painting is Marie Stillman's Love's Messenger. Too Romantic!
My favorite rose garden is in Wasco, CA.
Oh, the bottle! Gorgeous. I want to dip my nose and inhale its heavenly scent. So many evocative comments to ponder here. What a beautiful name-Shalott Rose, and I'm sure it's divine. There was a lone crimpson rose still in bloom that I saw this week, passing by a cobblestone alley here in Philadelphia-in January, no less.
I love my mum's roses because they have really nice scent. Every time I visit her, during the season, I smell them.
Hello, I do not know if this draw is open to UK people but if you are ever in the UK in June a wonderful rose garden to visit is Mottisfont Abbey, a National Trust garden near Romsey, Hampshire. It has a collection of over 300 varieties of old roses, most of which have the most beautiful old fashioned rose fragrance. Best wishes!
It may not have been extensive nor the 'in' roses but it was the most beautiful rose garden ever, the rose garden my father made for me alone when I was little girl. A modest, middle income home with a rectangular backyard in southern California in the early 70's was the setting for my special place. There were only a half-dozen roses in a border edged with red bricks but the memory of those roses fills me with heavy scents and joyful tears with the memories of my late father and that special gift.
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My favorite rose garden used to be in the backyard at my mom's house: she had several huge bushes of antique roses that scented the entire acre when they bloomed in summer. Sadly, they eventually died over the years and a pond has replaced them. :(
Thank you so much for the draw, I would love to try this!
What a wonderful draw, thank you!
My favorite rose garden was my own at the first house I lived in as a married woman.
I asked for a garden in lieu of an engagement ring, and my new husband built arbors and proudly planted the 50 roses bushes I carefully chose from various catalogs and local nurseries. Leaving that garden many years later was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do! The rose garden at Descanso Gardens is my favorite public rose garden.
As a redhead, I love just about every pre-Rapaelite painting, but I have a special fondness for A Mermaid and also for Veronica Veronese.
The Kennedy Rose Garden in the NY Botanical Gardens enchanted me as a child. I never really appreciated roses before going there and seeing them in their varied glory.
My mother always asked for rose bushes on Mother's day, so my favorite roses were the ones right outside my window. I also remember particularly one my grandfather gave her before he died.
Please enter me in the drawing. Edward Burne-Jones: The Dream Fulfilled (I love those blues...)
I'm a HUGE lover of rose perfumes and this sounds wonderful - please enter me in the draw.
I walk through my favorite Rose Garden every T/Th mornings as part of the my "routine" with my lab, Gypsy. The garden sits smack dab in the middle of a beautiful park in Riverside Ca with ponds/ducks, a small outdoor theater, and lots of bike/walking trails. It's really quite beautiful.
Hi Marla: I particularly love a painting of Lady Godiva-- I think the artist is John Collier. Godiva is draped in her red hair, and her horse is covered by a red blanket, with rampant griffons embroidered in gold. For roses-- wmy mother has some rose bushes at home which are more than thirty years old-- plus, a number of others she has planted since she became serious about roses 15 years or so ago. She has particularly fragrant english roses, blooming in the southern california sun. Her roses are extremely beautiful and fragrant, and provide ample grace and richness in exchange for the labor of growing them. I have seen more composed gardens, but my Mom's is my favorite. Would love to try for that necklace! Mary
There is a small rose garden on the grounds of the John Ringling estate in Sarasota, Fla. I used to go there and just sit in the sun on one of the benches to inhale the scent. Thanks for the draw.
My Nanny (grandmother) had a wonderful garden with twisty little paths that ambled throughout. She would tell me stories of her youth in France and her own grandmother's wonderful rose garden. My grandmother would let me pick roses and lay the petals in spirals along the paths. My time with her was one of the foundations of who I grew up to become.
Of course my father followed in her footsteps. His roses were heavely. As our last name is Dixon, he particularly appreciated the Grandpa Dixon rose, although it was certainly not one of the most beautiful.
I love the name of this new perfume as I have a wonderful framed print of the Lady of Shalott hanging over my couch. I have always loved the poem, since first reading Anne of Green Gables where Anne and Diana attempted to recreate it.
With the name Kathleen Isabeau Moniot Dixon how could I not grow up to become an incurable romantic?
Sorry for such a long post but today's blog entry brought up so many wonderful memories for me. Kathleen
PS I almost forgot ~ Of course I would love to have this perfume!!!
Thanks to all involved for the wonderful drawing! My favorite rose garden belongs to a neighbor we had years ago. His house was old blackened brick and he had planted a multitude of roses in salmon pink, all around his house. The kind of roses that people would go out of the way to see and sniff; he was proud of his work and welcomed visitors. And I love too many paintings to name....
My favorite rose garden probably would be the Berkeley Rose Garden for its incomparable view and lovely collection of scented roses. But I love all rose gardens.
Your description of the Lady of Shalott makes me want to try this perfume as soon as possible! Please enter me in the draw. Many thanks.
My favorite rose garden would be the one that a former neighbor of mine had. Every year I couldn't wait for the flowers to bloom!
Thanks so much for the draw! :-)
I think that my favorite is Miranda the Tempest by Waterhouse, but I have both of his Lady of Shalott paintings here as well. I would love to win this Lady of Shalott perfume sample!
My favorite rose garden was my father's(when I was a child) and we have a wonderful Municiple Rose Garden here in El Paso and it's beautiful....
Thank you for including me in the draw!!
The Huntington rose garden would have to be my favorite as it is the one that comes to mind ~ I had to stop taking pictures because I just couldn't capture everything~
Thank you so much for this fun opportunity to win such a lovely thing!
My favorite rose garden was a little wild brambling rose garden surrounding a small cottage I lived in during a summer long ago, hidden and tucked away in an alley way in downtown Eugene, Oregon.
One would never know this magical place existed unless they happened to take a detour off the beaten path, and peek through the bushes. It was a garden where I first began to love roses.
And my favorite Pre-Raphaelite painting is a lovely piece called, 'My Sweet Rose' by John William Waterhouse.
I love this painting because it reminds me of my dear friend Kristen who passed away many years ago. This painting hung in her house for years and she was trying to re-create it as a quilt on a board resting near it, out of two inch cotton fabric pieces...creating an impressionistic 'water color effect. She only got about half way through before she left this sweet world.
Her husband was never able to take the unfinished art piece down...of which I am glad, knowing it is still there...a work in progress...keeping her memory alive.
I can almost smell the roses.
Linda
My first rose garden love was in my hometown of Fort Worth. They have a long rose covered arbor that is beautiful in spring, until Texas summer heat kicks in. I haven't seen it in a few years, and I have no idea if it survived our horrendous drought last summer. But a memory is implanted: I'm about 7, and my much older cousin was getting married in the rose garden. She walked down the long, rose covered arbor. It seemed incredibly romantic, and still rates as one of the prettiest weddings I've been to (as well as best scented). I would love to be entered in the contest. Thank you.
The description of Shalott Rose sounds gorgeous! When I began my perfumista journey, roses did not interest me, since I equated that note with various old-fashioned objects and incenses. But over time I realized that rose combined with other notes is a favorite of mine.
My Mom-mom's favorite flower was the rose, and she grew them in her garden as far back as I can remember. I always have and always will associate the look and smell of roses with her. Thanks so much for the draw.
My favorite painting is Collier's Lilith. It depicts a nude Lilith with a snake wrapped around her.(Even though the thought of that makes me run in terror!)The crystal bottle necklace is truly a work of art!
There is a lovely rose garden in San Jose, CA.
Shallot Rose and the necklace both sound wonderful.
The closest to a rose garden here are the many `rock rose` bushes in the neighborhood - and they are both hardy and pretty!! :-)
I've seen many lovely rose gardens, but my favorite is the one I hope to plant this spring!
I'd have to go with the Huntington Botanical Garden Rose Garden, a three and a half acre rose garden designed by Myron Hunt and first planted by William Hertrich as a display garden in 1908.
The rose arbor is planted with nineteenth-century shrub roses, descended from old European varieties. Climbing and rambling roses from all periods and groups grow on the arbors, arches, and pergolas. It's stunning!
Shalott Rose would fit right in!
Marla, thank you for sucha beatiful article that describes my Shalott Rose Perfume to perfection.
Shalott Rose Perfuem is also offered in A Wing & A Prayer Perfumes Mini Sampler, just incase
people would like to try it out for a song ( $10.00 for the Mini Sampler, which is three 1/8oz bottles of any of my fragrances). Just a Thought! Thank you again for all the lovely comments.
Jane Cate
One of my favorite rose gardens isn't really a garden per se, but is more a gathering of roses. Every year on Mothers Day weekend, the Landis Valley museum in my hometown of Lancaster, PA, holds an Herb & Garden festival. They have a seed house that collects hundreds of heirloom seeds and a portion of the seed house focuses on heirloom rose collection. In the shade of a grove of trees on the museum grounds you can find heirloom rose bushes for sale of the most beautiful hues and fragrances - its breathtaking. I love winding my way through the grove and delighting my senses.
Thank you for the draw!
I don't have a favourite rose garden as such, but love wandering my neighbourhood during certain times of year when the roses are all in bloom. There are a lot of older homes in the area whose gardens still contain heritage rose bushes that smell exquisite! The home owners must think I'm a little strange, wandering the streets on my daily walks, burying my face in the blooms...lol. Some are so incredibly scented, the rosy perfume greets me from several houses away.
As to Pre-Raphaelite paintings, I have a number of favourites such as A Mermaid by Waterhouse.
What a magnificent prize - thank you for your generosity.
Warm regards
Holly
Wow! I would love to be included in this drawing, this sounds like an amazing juice. I'm not much of a one for rose perfumes, but this sounds really delicious.
I can't say that I have a favorite rose garden or Pre-Raphaelite painting, either. I do enjoy going to the Zilker Botanical Garden here in Austin which does have some roses.
I keep meaning to order some heritage roses from Texas in order to try my hand at them!
Thanks for entering me in the draw.
This sounds lovely!
I have so many favortite Pre-Raphaelite paintings... Waterhouse's other scenes of the Lady of Shalott looking out the window and getting up from her loom are some of them. Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Persephone. Millais's Autumn Leaves. Anything by Elizabeth Siddal.
So beautifully, the bottle and the scent. My favourite painting is The Ophelia of Sir John Everett Millais and The Soul of the Rose of Jhon William Waterhouse (hanging on the wall at home in Sweden). Pre-raphaelites take us to another dimensions...
My favorite rose garden is the garden my mother had when I was a child.... roses are all linked together in my head with my mom and my childhood home.... I love the Waterhouse paintings, so many beautiful roses!
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