The Flowers Series | Rose

I have always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the scent of rose. Proclaimed “Queen of the Garden” by green-thumbs around the world, its aesthetic beauty is undeniable. Yet, our desire to forcibly feminize the flower – a cliché perpetuated by the beauty industry since the days of Queen Victoria – has always made it far less interesting to me – olfactively speaking that is. Like dresses, bows, and the color pink, I was of the opinion that rose was just another generic stand-in for “lady-like,” an indication that little or no imagination was used in crafting rose-scented products. In many ways, crafting Asphalt Rainbow with Cecile was me coming to terms with my bias. I now stand corrected. Deeper fragrance exploration has taught me to not only respect the plant, but made me in awe of its legacy.

Rose’s importance to fragrance history is indisputable. From China to North Africa and the Americas, civilizations throughout time have imbued special meaning to the flower. Examples of its significance and ritualistic use are vast and varied, a sentiment further echoed by its ever-increasing botanical diversity and proliferation. Rose is possibility. It is resilience. It is strength. In dumbing down the importance of rose, we have done the flower a grave disservice. Rose is beauty and so much more.

“It is only by enlarging the scope of one’s tastes and one’s fantasies, by sacrificing everything to pleasure, that the unfortunate individual called Man, thrown despite himself into this sad world, can succeed in gathering a few roses amongst life’s thorns.” — D.A.F. Sade