Briar Rose

[brineydeep]

Thorny red roses swirled with mandrake accord, bois de rose, ambrette seed, and khus.

Fresh from the mailbox!

 

This goes on very bitter. Once it dries down, it's predominantly rose with a bit of dark woodiness underneath. This is the rose of Peacock Queen, refined and regal instead of a lush or innocent rose. The whole blend reminds me of Peacock Queen but a little darker and more complex. The throw is light.

 

It's a nice addition to my BPAL rose collection. I have already have Peacock Queen, but I think I like this better.

[zankoku_zen]

Dark woody roses, with a touch of ambrette. I agree with the assessment that it reminds me to a Peacock Queen, but gothier. Light throw, great wear length.

[ramblingrambler]

Mmmm. Though I love Peacock Queen, I cannot wear it because it goes sharp on my skin. This is a supremely wearable rose, remniscient of the regal Peacock Queen, but tempered with the addition of ambrette, I believe. Gorgeous, gorgeous.

[lady_pandora]

I keep moving Briar Rose in and out of the swaps box. I can't make up my mind what I think of it! It's definitely a challenging blend. You do kind of have to get through the briar-hedge to get to know this one.

 

It starts out bitter, dusty, kind of dank. Khus is vetiver, and it's strong in the opening. This is a rose locked up in the tower, or buried in the root cellar with the witch's herbs. At this stage I'm really appreciating the craft of it, liking it conceptually, but not necessarily wanting to smell like it myself.

 

And then it blooms. It turns into a lovely soft rose with just a hint of the dusty/basement thing, and the whole thing goes faint for a while, and as time goes on, it gathers strength again and I would even say it becomes a sweetened rose, reminding me, of all things, of Pink Fuzzy Handcuffs, which I've been wearing a fair amount lately. Is this the ambrette? The mandrake? I'm not sure I know what either of those really smells like.

 

Where do I wear this? On what occasion shall I smell like a basement for an hour and then sweet rosy heaven for the rest of the evening? Briar Rose confuses me, but I think I'd regret parting with her!