Red Roses
Jo Malone London (1996)

This fragrance has a very similar scent to Perfumer's Workshop's Tea Rose. When I first smelled Red Roses, I thought it was one of the most realistic rose scents I had ever encountered. It's almost indistinguishable from Tea Rose, with the only difference being that Red Roses is slightly more sour and sweet. However, I'm giving this fragrance a neutral rating because I cannot justify the price when Tea Rose achieves the same thing at a much lower cost.

This is one rose fragrance that doesn't receive much fanfare, perhaps due it being buried in the oeuvre of endless fleeting and gossamer creations from the Jo Malone line that often seem incomplete, skeletal, and without much substance, really. Sure, many are beautiful to start, but the development curve is steep most of the time, leaving a feeling as though the experience is anticlimactic.

Red Roses is one exception, however. This opens as a rose in Technicolor. There are no superfluous dulcet tones, no powder puffs, thankfully no screechy attempts to exoticize. A rose is a rose is a rose here: dewy, green, and somewhat velvety but not exceedingly plush. My technical nose detects a good dose of Rosalva, an aromachem that imparts an aldehydic dewy rose note. It is just the right dose; they found that sweet spot as I have found during my experiments that it can easily overtake a blend if not dealt with a light hand. Damascenone is evident for that ever-subtle tobacco-wine mystery that one could argue makes this rose "red." Then there is this rose oxide in the top notes that lifts it all with this ever slight metallic hue that paints a full picture of the rose in bloom.

I promise not to go all "ATH" on you folks and start using jazz hands but there is one more material from the perfumer's organ that I detect, and this is what I feel is most compelling to my nose. I could swear that Animalis base was included. There is this musky, sensuous, cedary, costus-like quality that others have pointed out but I feel certain that Animalis is responsible for it, and this is what won me over (and apparently repels others who have reviewed it). Oh well, you can't please everyone, but as someone who loves Animalis and its use in some classics, this is why this Jo Malone has appeal for me. It has true development, something to look forward to, rather than leaving the wearer yearning for more...but you have to like a little bit of an edge like I do to fully embrace it and I know that many out there do, so, yes, this happens to be one of my favorite rose fragrances.

The rose sillage that this puts off is fantastic - green and bright, with a limpid dew-kissed quality that feels subtle but doesn't take away from its strength.

That being said, there's some confusing chemistry happening here - possibly a slug of Iso E Super broadcasting that gorgeous rose sillage while the smell up close is nowhere near as good. Smelled closely on my arm, I smell burnt plastic hairspray aldehydes, pissy currant, and some rather unpleasant musks. This close-up unpleasantness has always kept me from buying a full bottle of this. But, it's worth noting that when I spray this up my shirt or dab a little on my neck, I can enjoy the wonderful rose sillage without any of the up-close oddness.

So, with that, I'm torn about my rating. I want to give a neutral just because I have so many issues with how it smells up close, but that rose sillage is just so utterly perfect that I can't bear to rate it anything less than a thumbs-up.

There is little to be added to the 19 reviews that precede this one. It is certainly an excellent soliflore based on seven varieties of rose with some lemon, honey and violet added.

What sets it apart for me from a million and one other rose soliflores since the beginning of perfume is the true evocation of the rose leaf, something I don't recall encountering in my olfactory past.

There are a number of excellent green rose scents out there (Silence, Nahema among them), but that greenness refers to the petals themselves, not the leaves.

It is for this evocation alone, of the green rose leaf, that Jo Malone's Red Roses stands apart from its competitors.

The rose oils themselves are rich, dry and well blended. No soapiness at all. Just real rose, the scent of a freshly cut bouquet.

Thumbs up for this one.

Absolutely spectacular fresh dewy wet rose with greenery in the background. This is the greatest rose fragrance, bar none. Of course as a guy I would never wear this, but this is the greatest rose fragrance ever for women. Sillage and longevity are both great.

5/5

As the name goes, Red Roses is quite all about rose, played in a way I really enjoy here. It's fresh, green and breezy, probably one of the most bracing and crisp rose-based scents I've ever tried. It avoids any soapy-camphorous effect, far from any classic rose inspiration; rather enhancing the natural fruity-leafy side of rose (also thanks to some citrus notes). Truly a basket of freshly-cut wet roses with no frills. I am not aware whether they used some particular variety of rose here (or if they used real rose oils in the first place), all I know is that this fragrance smells fresh, pleasant and refined – that sort of relaxed, playful, understated “weekend” kind of elegance. Obviously perfect for any formal situation as well. A simple, maybe a tad boring after a while but really effective and highly enjoyable all-rounder.

7-7,5/10