Maybe it’s spring and its buddy “spring cleaning,” or maybe it’s my wasted state of mind from doing taxes, but I’m feeling the “get it done” attitude. Let’s skip the usual framing about rose or flankers or budding leaves or whatever and jump right into a review of Elie Saab Le Parfum Rose Couture:
The facts: Perfumer Francis Kurkdjian developed Le Parfum Rose Couture. The notes listed in its initial press materials include peony, silken petals (whatever that is), rose, vanilla, jasmine, sandalwood and patchouli. Nordstrom’s online description adds orange flower, rose nectar, vetiver, mandarin tree blossom, gardenia and warm honey rose to that list.
Does this really smell like a flanker to Elie Saab Le Parfum, or is it something that smells entirely unrelated but cashes in on the original’s name? This is a bonafide flanker. Le Parfum Rose Couture shares detectable DNA with Le Parfum, although it falls short on spirit.
What does it smell like? Le Parfum Rose Couture is essentially Le Parfum minus the hint of cinnamon and cedar, but with a helping of candied rose and a few teaspoons of syrup from a can of cling peaches. Le Parfum’s glorious, trilling orange blossom is played down, and the fragrance feels less like an oriental and more like a sweet floral backed with the synthetic musky woods that I feel sure will one day come to signify a classic 2010s department store fragrance.
The sandalwood and patchouli in Le Parfum Rose Couture, as in Le Parfum, are muted and blended well enough not to draw attention to themselves. Instead, once the orange blossom, honey, and vanilla-inflected rose fade, Le Parfum Rose Couture’s dry down is sweet musky wood with a hint of bug spray about it.
I love roses. Should I sample this? Le Parfum Rose Couture’s rose is drenched in burnt vanilla and non-feral honey. It doesn’t smell like garden roses, and it isn’t a dark, sultry rose, either. In this fragrance, rose seems to serve more to make the fragrance “easier” and more friendly than the original, rather than to actually showcase rose.
If I like Le Parfum, will I like Le Parfum Rose Couture? It depends on why you like Le Parfum. For me, I adore Le Parfum’s over-the-top, piccolo-sharp orange blossom and jasmine, and how it fades into a sweet, spicy oriental. In short, part of what I love is its attitude. Rose Couture pulls its punches. It seems to say, “Ha ha ha, ignore my sister, Le Parfum. She doesn’t know how to keep her opinions to herself. My manners are better. Why, except for my sweet tooth, I’m hardly distinguishable from my brethren here on the perfume shelves.”
If it’s the honey and orange blossom in Le Parfum you love, and you wouldn’t mind if Le Parfum weren’t so danged in-your-face, you might prefer Le Parfum Rose Couture.
Oh, come on. Were your taxes really that bad? I don’t want to talk about it. I’m going to spritz myself with Chanel No. 5 and go lie down.
Fine. How much will this set me back, and where can I find it? Elie Saab Le Parfum Rose Couture Eau de Toilette is for $80 for 50 ml and $108 for 90 ml. Right now, in the United States it’s exclusive to Nordstrom. (There is also a 30 ml size in some markets.)
I hope No 5 helps you recover! And, thanks for the review that gets to the point and pulls no punches. I’m moving on.
The taxes are done! Hurray! You know, I really do think the No. 5 helped get me through it.
No 5 helps me get through A LOT!
Maybe I should make sure I have a decant in my emergency shelter supplies…
Absolutely, Angela! Good idea; I need to assemble an emergency kit, complete with life-saving fragrances.
It’s funny how the Red Cross never mentions that!
Don’t let Uncle Sam have your perfume joy!!
The money he’s taking is quite enough!!!
No kidding! Today is a new day, and I’m feeling good and celebrating with some Ann Gerard Rose Cut.
I quite enjoyed this review. Condolences on your taxes. (A nice thing about being a grad student is that I’m too poor to have complicated taxes.)
I remember the days when I could whip out the 1040EZ while I drank a cup of coffee. *sigh*
…Despite this fact, my father still does my taxes for me. My first year of grad school, I pulled up the forms on my computer, stared at them for a while, and then called my father and told him he could go ahead and do his thing.
Hey, having someone in the family who’ll do your taxes is great!
Couldn’t stand Elie Saab Original due to that “hint of bug spray”, so I expect I will skip this flanker. Thank you for speeding up the process! Very efficient!
Always glad to help!
Love his clothes, love the original’s bottle and color, and keep trying to like it, to no avail. Alcohol 2 x 4 to the head. Maybe gentler will be kinder to my senses.
Frequently in art, suffering equals brilliance. So it is with this review. Sorry about your taxes, but this review is a classic. Congrats.
I’m glad my suffering through my taxes produced some entertainment! And I hope Rose Couture is the take on Le Parfum that works for you.
Loved the way you formulated you review and enjoyed the humor. I remember testing the original fragrance at Nordstrom, but never for even one moment considered purchasing it (even though the reviews were good for the most part).
I think the original–Elie Saab Le Parfum–doesn’t suit everyone, that’s for sure. At the same time, it’s its over-the-top qualities that I like best (and the reason I don’t wear it a lot).
Who cares about the perfume, can I get that dress for my wedding?
Along with the built in little fan to keep the skirts billowing like that all the time…
Ha ha! So true.
Yes, well I assumed that came as a package deal!
Maybe you can get a cute pink extension cord to match the dress.
Classy!
I’m sure they’d be happy to sell you one, but you might have to mortgage your house for it. Congratulations on the wedding!
Thanks, Angela!
Yes, I fear it is *probably* out of my price range.
“I don’t want to talk about it. I’m going to spritz myself with Chanel No. 5 and go lie down.”…haha…you made me laugh so hard
Thank u for a hilarious review.
It doesn’t really seem like a fragrance, that will do much for me. If I want a delicate rose spritz, I go for Annick Goutal’s “Quel Amour” or my beloved “Lipstick Rose”…I even love the Stella McCartney one. For sweet memories, I love YSL “Paris” or Lancôme’s “Trésor”
Speaking of No. 5..I have a thing for the edt at the moment
I almost forgot about Stella! Is that still on the market? I used to spray my sheets with it. I think Stella was a gateway fragrance for a lot of perfumistas.
I’m glad you enjoyed the review!
It is still on the market
It was relaunched last year and still very lovely 
I wish she would make a scented candle as well..I bet it would be beautiful 
A scented candle is a great idea!
Darn it, now you are making me sad that I sold my bottle of the original Le Parfum. I caught a whiff on a friend of mine the other day, and felt a twinge of regret because it smelled great. She bought her bottle on the same day as me when we were shopping, a few years ago now. She is a person of few perfume bottles, whereas I sold my Le Parfum to raise money to buy others …
But really, I hardly ever wore Le Parfum, even though I liked it. I’m certainly not attracted to Rose Couture.
I might not have more than a modest decant if I hadn’t received a bottle as a gift. That said, I do like having it! Sometimes it’s the only thing that will scratch that particular itch.
Mon Angel, Angela! Your reviews never cease to bring joy to my heart! I love this article and even though I feel Le Parfum by Saab is one of the greatest fragrances of the last 20 years, OH MY GOD, does she shout in a Fortississimo High E above C!!! I do love that about the fragrance and as you said she is a screechy diva, yet like most divas you either hate her or worship her! I do want to smell this because I like rose accented anything and even if this isn’t Rose forward I am sure it is still something worth getting a sniff of! Does it need to be purchased, probably not since mom is getting a bottle of Mitsy for Mother’s day and some Creme de la Mer! But it won’t hurt to try it!
Dear Angela, please never change! You’re Fantastic! Even when you’re exhausted you still write poetry! And BTW… There is very little on earth that cannot be assuaged by a good drenching in No. 5 and a lie down!!!!
Thank you so much for the encouraging email! I do feel a lot better after the No. 5 and the lie down–and getting that tax return filed.
I’d love to know what you think of Rose Couture once you get the chance to sample it!
Absolutely! You can count on it!
Your review was so funny, which was something I definitely needed after submitting our taxes last night. Now we’re 8200 dollars poorer.
So it’s a good thing this doesn’t sound *that* amazing, since I should probably not spend much money on perfume these days anyways. 
I fell your pain! I had to write a (for me) hefty check, too. I suppose it’s a good problem to have–making enough money to owe extra taxes, that is. But, ouch.
I’ll be saving money by not buying this one, too.
This is a pure ethtyl maltol with some rose and patchouli. Not sure people who LOVE Le Parfum will love Rose Couture as Rose Couture plays in the genre of La Vie est belle, Armani Si, Nina Ricci L’Extase etc.
Thanks for weighing in! I could barely make out the patchouli, but perhaps it stands out more for some people.
I don’t think this is for me, but I enjoyed the review very much!
Also, in Estonia you file taxes online, the form is pre-filled and will take you about two minutes to submit. Five, if you want to check everything REALLY thoroughly.
I have been boasting about my home country for two days, will stop now.
Maybe we should think about setting up a perfumista commune in Estonia..!
At least the taxes won’t be hard to file!
That sounds so easy! My taxes probably took me eight or nine hours, all told. You’ve made me so curious about Estonia, too. I don’t know anything about it, but that will change by the end of the day.
Fun review Angela!
Thank you!
Ha ha! Always love your reviews, Angela.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!