Rose Red

[awesomeoverlord]

The perfected winter rose, dew covered and freshly cut.

 

This is THE rose. It's what I've loved about the drydown of Zombi and Seance once all the other notes fade out (which inevitably tends to happen as far as rose blends and I are concerned) except all the time, no waiting, and no interruptions.

I don't really get sharpness or greenery, just beautiful fresh rose.

This is what roses *should* smell like. Gah!

[kbrighton]

2005 version

 

Pure rose, rose, ROSE. Just like the (very expensive) straight rose essential I used to wear. I've grown to love the lab's rose blends and found this pure rose almost too much, I swiped the wand through my hair, and oh boy, this is one strong rose.

 

Beautiful. Pure. Red. Rose.

 

 

[ouch!]

2007 version (Just for the record).

 

Hmm what can I say that hasn't been said before. The first thing will be that this blend proves how much of a true master Beth is at her passion!

This is the realest red rose, the perfect balance of flower & greenery. It's like stems and petals and it's brilliant. It's not something I would wear often which is why I just hunted down an imp to smell this talked about blend!

 

It's very true to it's description...genius...

[MellowCello]

Wow, my first review on the forum for my very first BPAL! My nose is still a novice, but here goes...

 

In the bottle: a fresh cut rose but very, very, VERY green! The scent shot straight to my head. Maybe too much green for me.

 

Wet on my skin: Not SO green, but still green. The rose scent came through a lot more, a very sweet rose smell. Still wasn't sure if I would like it

 

Drydown: I am loving how it's working with my skin chemistry! The sweetness of the rose became more subdued and the sharpness of the green toned down but remained just enough to keep it smelling young and fresh! Such a beautiful balance!

 

Rose Red had me worried at first, but now I love it! It's very interesting how scents can transform on your skin.

[Xylis]

i tried on this scent with the preconceived notion that this is THE definitive BPAL rose scent, so i was really excited and hopeful that i'd find a grail. the version that i've got is the 2008 one in an imp.

in the imp:

 

this is sooooo very GREEN! i feel as if i'm holding my nose right up close to a rose stem and sniffing it. i must say that i am rather amazed by how realistic the smell is; my only quibble is that i'm finding it really hard to smell the petals amidst the greenery.

 

on my skin:

 

unfortunately, i was distracted and missed smelling it while it was still wet. the drydown was swift and the green-ess of the rose's stem is still dominant although i'm starting to pick up some rose in the mix. this is a highly fresh, young and realistic rose; very much unlike my beloved whip. to be honest, i'm amazed that my skin is amp-ing up the greenery so much. i normally amp rose like anything [to my delight, i adore rose], but in this scent, the rose is taking a backseat for once. i'm just that bit disgruntled because this wasn't what i was expecting somehow.

 

verdict:

 

perhaps it was my own fault for having an inaccurate expectation for this scent. to be fair, i find it amazing how beth managed to capture such an authentic rose smell in a bottle, but while i admire this evocative scent, it's something which i wouldn't really wear out as a fragrance. i'll definitely keep this, because i want a whole collection of BPAL roses and hopefully, once i've weaned myself from the expectation that every rose should smell similar to the one in whip, i'll give this blend a shot again.

[Katherynne]

Holy crap. I can't believe for all those years I thought I hated rose scents -- Zombi & Seance broke me through that wall, and now here I am trying on Rose Red.

 

It is beautiful. It is Seance without the golden warmth, like a silvered and cold version of that beautiful blooming red rose. It smells like the heart of a rose in frost. I am in love with this. If it is ever reissued I am totally buying multiples.

[Suusje]

It's a very fresh, very real and very green rose. Absolutely lovely!

[London]

2007 Rose Red

 

In bottle: Like leaning over to smell roses in the garden.

 

Wet: Green, thorns..eek. The green went very sharp on me, overpowering the rose.

 

Dry: Perfect. I love this stage, and it made surviving the attack of thorns and stems worth it. It dried to a very pretty and soft sweet rose scent. Not powdery/or grandmotherly at all.

 

[Indigo78]

From a decant of Rose Red 07.

 

Woah. Hi, rose. Freshly applied this is an electric rose. A supercharged mutant rose whipped up in the cavernous recesses of a mad scientist's secret laboratory

 

There is a sharpness right alongside the central rose note that I don't know, and I can't even guess what it is. But my gah... Wet, this has punch and is not what I would normally tie in with traditional rose scent. As it dries it continues to have this blasting blue-green scent-hue to it. Almost aquatic but also TART. It's weird.

 

I like it enough to hold onto my decant, but Rose Cross is still my all-time favorite rose from the Lab.

[TheIceMaiden]

When I first discovered the Lab in 2006, I had heard this was the "Holy Grail" of rose scents so I tracked down a 2005 bottle. Sadly, I wasn't impressed. It was too much sour greenery and not enough rose to suit me. Fast forward several years, and I was frimped an imp of Rose Red 2007. Now I understood what everyone was talking about. This is the most realistic rose I've ever smelled, crisp and cold and beautiful. The greenery is still present, but its very soft. This is beautiful, and although its not my favourite rose scent, its too pretty to not have in my collection.

[Invidiana]

Though this is a strong rose as Black Cat is, what sets Rose Red apart is the fact that it's more of a deep, velvety, voluptuous rose. As it dries down, there's a crisp snowy feel and at the same time what seems to be warm spices underscoring the deep rose, which I imagine to be a rich burgundy in color.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Invidiana

[ImperatrixMundi]

Rose Red 2007 - Thanks to khiseer for the Frimp.

 

Not a big fan of rose here, I never wear anything with a dominant rose note but amp it to hell. Never mind.

Rose Red has a very fresh, moist and strong red (of course...) rose note and something sharp, spiky and green. It does not paint a picture of soft, gentle rose petals but rather a dew-covered and cold red rose freshly cut with a long and spiky green stem. Rather evocative, I grant you that.

[skylarkza]

Not sure which year it is, the imp does not say.

 

In the imp: Rose! But sharp and tangy... like the petals have just been crushed in your hand and you are still pressing them.

 

Wet: Rose petals and leaves. THIS is the whole darn rose bush!

 

Dry: A rose. This smells like a red rose, but concentrated.

 

A While Later: Rose. A lot more subdued - this smells like a single red rose, stem and all. I can almost feel the cellophane around the stem.

[bianca]

la la love this rose

(rose red 2007)

bottle: rose and lots of green. like crushed up rose stems and petals

wet: sweet, juicy, wet, crisp, and green. like, almost apple-y

 

dry: it keeps some of the hint of green, but that goes away pretty quickly on me (and apparently that was what was making it very apple-y.), it is just lovely and lush and soft and ROSE-y on me. instead of smelling like i am wearing perfume, it smells like i just rolled around on a bed of roses and rose stems (less the thorns, i suppose!) and it just imbued my skin. my perfume doesn't smell good... my skin does, if that makes sense. anyway.. . i love love love it. so glad i got it.

[kohimame]

--Rose Red '05--

 

Going on my skin, Rose Red is green. GREEN. I can smell a wee bit of the petals, but it's mostly stem, leaves and sap on me. But slowly as it dries down, the rose appears.

 

This has to be the most accurate scents I've ever smelled from a perfume. It's like a grabbed a rose and rubbed it energetically against my body. Sadly, I think I prefer more of a sweeter scent. I'll keep this around to slather on in the winter though, to remind me of the greenery of summer! Thanks again to Sarajane for letting me try this!

[fieryredhead]

I LOVE THIS SCENT. I always thought of myself as a fan of rose scented things but this just took it up so many notches. It's the perfect rose & not your 'Grandmother' rose either. I have quite a few silk roses and some of them came with little 'sponges' in the middle of them scented with 'rose'. I've taken all those out & thrown them away; THIS is how a real rose smells!

 

[HerbGirl]

Rose Red 2010: I absolutely LOVE this rose...and I can count the perfumes with rose in them that I actually like on one hand...

 

Crisp, deep, almost aparkling...this is truly a perfect rose scent. This is a stick-your- nose-in-a-wet-rose scent.

 

Rose Red smells almost identical to a particular rose in the Point Defiance Rose Garden in Tacoma that I just can't remember the name of! I will tell you that this rose isn't red...it's yellow...and I love it! I don't think one bottle will be enough. This perfume has become one of my top 10 (most likely 5) in the past month. Thank you for creating a perfect rose scent...I will cherish this rare find.

[reena1]

This is a perfectly uncomplicated rose. I imagine this being in the garden with little droplets of dew on it. Its the kind of rose you dont pick because you would feel too bad interupting its beauty.

 

With all of that said i think my imp will be enough because I dont imagine it will get worn as much as it deserves. Its beautiful and girlie but not quite me. Although ive been known to change my mind so its really anyones guess lol

[sunlitgarden]

Rose Red (2010 Version)

 

I love rose, both for the scent and for its associations (I'm an Utena fan, enough said) and have been building up a collection of BPAL rose blends, so I was very happy when Rose Red returned this year! And, I have to say, I loooove it. I think it's the closest BPAL I've tried yet to smelling a fresh rose in the garden. The flower smell is strong, but there's also a damp greenery note, and it's just lovely. This is backup worthy on me.

[meaganola]

2010 incarnation: Ooh, *so* keeping the half-bottle left over from the decant circle on this one! I have a deep attachment to roses since I was born in Portland (aka the Rose City), but every single rose scent I have ever tried has just left me feeling kind of blah. Until this one. Rose Red is the the sort of deep, velvety rose that my parents had in the front yard under my bedroom window. And there's something in there that reminds me of raspberries, but *fresh* wild raspberries straight off the bush, and this isn't really *fruity*. There's just something there that is making my mind make the connection. In short, this is the rose scent that I hadn't even realized I had given up ever finding.

 

Side note: Last year, I got Hod. My birth flower if I go by the month is carnation. This year, I got Rose Red, my birth flower if I go by my birth city. Maybe next year we will get a gorgeous violet scent to go along with my zodiac sign!

[Incendiare]

2010: The first time I smelled this, I thought meh, what's the big deal. Granted, it was a very brief sniff since I wanted to smell all of my decants that arrived in the mail, but I thought I already had enough rose blends. But then I dotted it on my skin and everything changed. It was amazing. Going back to how it smells in my decant, it's a simple, fresh rose. Not heady at all, just amazingly fresh. Wet, it's somehow even fresher, like walking into a florist's. Fresh, green stems and vibrant, yet deep red petals. I had no idea a rose blend could ever smell like this, since most rose notes are headier and sharper, but not this one. This almost smells juicy. I definitely need a bottle of this.

[milo]

I believe I've tried this before, but I'm definitely not getting the same vibe. At first slather, this reminds me of swimming pool, and I can't really figure out why as there is no chlorine scent. At first I thought it was a rose lotion I may or may not have used when I was a teenager lifeguard. It then hit me. This was a hot tub fragrance I used for our hot tub several years ago, which I loved. I think it was tropical passions or something. I just loved smelling it while the hot water swirled around me. Although I like this, it's kind of artificial smelling on me, and just a teeny bit rose-like, more of another kind of floral to me. This is all probably to do with chemical chlorine association, and if I ever get my hottub going again, I'd love to smell it in there.

[dronzeka]

Wow, this REALLY smells like a fresh-cut rose! It begins VERY green, like you've just got roses from the florist and you're cutting the stems to put it into water. It's almost too sharp, but it's amazingly evocative. The greenness tones itself down eventually, and you're left with the rich sweet smell of a red rose. It makes me think of the roses in my aunt's garden in England. It's maybe a little one-note for me to wear it all the time, but I do love how very realistic it is, and I bet I'll put it in my oil burner when I want to sit in an English rose garden.

[jeaniejenks]

A followup review after aging 2 years (Rose Red 2008) - i had some trepidations on how this would age as prev reviewers thought if it contained authentic rose oil it would age beautifully, if synthetic then it might not. But in my experience aging it has brought forth another layer to it. True the top note smell of rose does not last as long as when absolutely fresh but after an hour or so the rose starts wafting in and out and a more haunting green sweetness (but not too sweet) comes and goes with it - i cannot begin to tell you what this note is but it maybe similar to boronia, a fruity floral - somewhat raspberryish w/rose or violet nuances. The next day the smell in my cuffs and collar was just to die for. This is my fave scent to wear when working outside on a cold, crisp December day. So inspiring to everything you do really. A true winner in my opinion.

[Lorelai1945]

This is a very realistic rose scent- it smells like a real, wet rose. It's not just blossoms, though. It smells like the leaves and the stem- the green, woody parts. I end up getting more greenery than rose petals; it smells like the scent I'm blasted with when I cut off the bottoms of roses in order to put them in water. Not something I think I'd wear, but if you really love roses, this one's for you. Once this has dried a bit, it becomes rather spicy- spicy rose and greenery.

 

ETA: 2010 version

Edited December 22, 2010 by VioletFemme