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Perfume review: Shiseido Rose Rouge

Posted by Marlen on 30 March 2006 7 Comments

Shiseido Rose Rouge fragrance

Shiseido’s newest creation, by perfumer Nathalie Lorson, is their first major fragrance launch for women since Vocalise in 1997 and the recent re-release of Zen in 2000. Of course it remains to be seen if this scent will cross the great divide and land at a fragrance counter near you. A fruity floral perfume focusing on Bulgarian rose, other notes include red peony, blackberry, raspberry, Morrocan rose, iris, heliotrope, velvet musk and sandalwood. I’ve heard rumors that there is also a note of cacao, but have yet to find it listed anywhere.

Rose fanatics, listen up: this is nothing new. Yes, sadly, this is another fruity floral, much along the lines of Cacharel Promesse, though slightly warmer and not as light or "pretty". I finally tried this out the other day at Takashimaya and while it's nothing to go wild over, it's a "jammy" rose fragrance that removes most of the edges from what I normally think of when I think "rose" — gone is the earthy edginess, removed is any trace of leaf or stem; instead, this is a well-blended, somewhat fruity (red berries) rose scent resting on a light musk. Overall, "nice" but doesn't hold a candle to the fragrances of Rosine in my opinion. I was hoping for "sexy", "groundbreaking", "rich" and instead I got raspberry and rose petal jam.

I tried the Eau de Parfum and was pleased by the lasting power, staying with me about 5 hours. The scent does have an odd development, opening with floral preserves and then relaxing with an almost powdery accord — must be the heliotrope and iris — before moving back to a less sweet rose and ending with a subtle warmth of musk. The uniqueness of the Bulgarian rose aroma is evident throughout.

Though not at all a groundbreaker, it’s a sweet and warm rose scent that I honestly wouldn’t mind wearing. When I want rose, I reach for Lutens, Rosine, or L’Artisan, and had high hopes for this one. Oh well…Rose Rouge can be found at Shiseido counters across Asia and is currently available on Ebay.

Filed Under: perfume talk
Tagged With: nathalie lorson, rose, shiseido

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7 Comments

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  1. Anonymous says:
    30 March 2006 at 11:52 am

    *crosses Rose Rouge off the wishlist* Thank you for killing this lemming for me, Marlen. :-)

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  2. Anonymous says:
    30 March 2006 at 12:09 pm

    Like the name, though! I wonder if this one was aimed at the Asian market specifically?

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  3. Anonymous says:
    30 March 2006 at 12:48 pm

    I have to admit that I think the bottle and the box are very pretty.

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  4. Anonymous says:
    30 March 2006 at 12:49 pm

    Marlen, I am going to ask you a question I keep thinking of and then forgetting to ask: do any of the SAs ever look at you funny when you try on fragrances?

    Also, you're back in the States, right? Does anything about it seem weird?

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  5. Anonymous says:
    30 March 2006 at 12:56 pm

    Sounds pretty good to me, I'm putting it on my list to try!

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  6. Anonymous says:
    30 March 2006 at 5:10 pm

    Col – I crossed it off my list as well and went with the new Shiseido Men instead – light years more interesting.

    VG – it may in fact be an Asia-only release, but no one here seems to know!

    CH – the packaging is lovely, but that is a pic of the parfum…the EDP is rather boring in a Very Irresistible look-a-like.

    March – still in Japan, only three more days! Yikes, nervous, excited, sad, elated…I usually explain to SA's that I was once an SA and that I write reviews.

    V – go for it! It's definitely a pretty scent!

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  7. Anonymous says:
    30 March 2006 at 5:49 pm

    I'm so ready for the trend to swing away from sheer fruity florals. Even the lists of notes for them now make me want to yawn.

    Our perfume counters need a caffeine injection, or something.

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