Rose
Rosa damascena, Rosa centifolia
The queen of the floral family. It can be lemony and fresh, honeyed, spicy, or dark and winey.
The note’s label
- Family
- floral note; among fragrance families, floral
- Position
- heart note
- Impression
- Pairs with
- Evokes
- a garden after rain · petals · red wine
- Raw material
- petals – distilled (oil) or extracted (absolute)
- Natural or synthetic
- Both the natural oil and the absolute are used, but they are among the most expensive materials. Most rose accords combine natural material with synthetics.
Perfumery’s two roses
The Damask rose (Rosa damascena) is distilled into an essential oil – rose otto. The cabbage rose (Rosa centifolia) is mainly processed by extraction into an absolute. The distillate and the absolute smell different: the absolute is fuller and more honeyed.
The typical rose smell comes mainly from citronellol, geraniol and phenylethyl alcohol; trace rose ketones (damascenones) have a very low odour threshold.
In perfume
Rose is a heart note. With patchouli it forms a dark, chypre-like pairing; with oud, a dense accord typical of Middle Eastern perfumery.
On the label
Citronellol and geraniol are among the original 26 allergens of Directive 2003/15/EC; rose oils and extracts (e.g. Rosa Damascena Flower Oil) were added in 2023, as were the rose ketones.
In the fragrance archive
- Calvin Klein CK One (1994)
The archive is for reading only. Nothing in it is for sale.