Recently I put together a perfume sample set for my friend, a gift for his wife as they are both now fully vaccinated and celebrating getting back out into the world. They were looking for a naturalistic rose perfume currently available in the US, with a budget limit of $190 for a full bottle. I had a lot of fun with this assignment—I don’t usually seek out rose perfumes for myself, so I discovered some beautiful perfumes in the process.

The biggest revelation for me was the house Perris Monte Carlo, which I had never tried before but found at Indigo Perfumery. Their Rose de Mai and Rose de Taif are platonic ideals of rose scents, lifelike and pitch-perfect. Rose de Mai is delicate where Rose de Taif is richer, spicier.

Masque Milano Love Kills is a bit darker in mood, inspired by the life and death of a rose stem in a vase. 

Ormonde Jayne Ta’if is a sweet rose with orange blossom, candied yet still fresh. 

Chronotope Perfume Spite EdT is a green rose garden with wings of leather and burned sugar. 

Hendley Perfume Rosenthal is a woody rose with wisps of incense. 

Essential Parfums Rose Magnetic is a light daytime rose with grapefruit, soft woods, and a whisper of mint. 

Villa des Parfums Toujours Espoir is a big floral charmer of a perfume, petally with peony and jasmine alongside rose. I was also able to include an assortment of rose materials—oils, absolutes, and accords—I had kept from an online event with Villa des Parfums through Tigerlily Perfumery, a perfect supplement to an assortment of rose perfumes.

Lastly, I like to include a perfume that’s somewhat adjacent to the actual assignment, for fun and because sometimes it opens up a whole new avenue you didn’t know you wanted to go down. So I included Arquiste ELLA, a beautiful chypre with a rose-jasmine heart. The brand story features a ‘70s disco queen, which is a fun take on the celebratory occasion for this set, but also, ELLA is a lovely, subtly earthy floral perfume that deepens into a beach-vacation skin scent. Plus I got to include its corresponding “masculine” perfume, EL, a bold fougère—in case my friends want a “his and hers” set!

What rose perfumes would you include in a sample set?