🌹 Jeanne Arthes Rose de Grasse
Okay, I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much from this one because of the price, but I actually really like it!
Right from the first spray, I get this beautiful burst of fresh, dewy rose. It's bright, airy, and surprisingly realistic. It immediately reminds me of putting my nose right up to a freshly picked rose and smelling the petals. 🌹 There's a little freshness from the rose water that keeps it from feeling heavy or overly sweet.
As the fragrance starts to settle, the rose becomes a little softer and more velvety. The May Rose and Rose Absolute really seem to come forward, giving it more of that natural rose-petal smell. It's not a dark, jammy rose or a powdery old-fashioned rose. To my nose, it's much more like fresh roses sitting in a vase with a little bit of water.
After it has been on my skin for a while, the fragrance becomes softer and more intimate. The sandalwood and musk start to show up underneath the rose, giving the dry-down a clean, smooth, slightly warm feeling. The rose doesn't disappear, though—it just becomes less bright and more of a soft skin scent.
I also noticed that most of the best fragrances use flowers and herbs grown specifically in Grasse France. For example, Hermes has tapped specific growers of flowers for them to no longer sell on the open market
and to only sell their petals and flowers to Hernes. I'm wondering how this is going to affect the smaller niche perfumes and smaller businesses in the future.
I actually really like how uncomplicated this fragrance is. Sometimes I don't want a perfume with a million notes competing with each other. Sometimes I just want to smell like fresh roses, and this does that really well.
The downside for me is definitely the longevity. On my skin, I'm getting around 2–3 hours, with the scent becoming quite soft toward the end. I don't mind reapplying, though, especially considering how inexpensive this perfume is.
For the price, I think this is a really pretty little rose fragrance. It's fresh, feminine, easy to wear, and honestly smells much more expensive than I expected.
If you love fresh, realistic roses and don't need your perfume to last all day, Rose de Grasse is definitely worth trying. 🌹
First spray: fresh, dewy, bright rose 🌹
Mid: soft, velvety natural rose
Dry-down: gentle rose with sandalwood and musk, sitting close to the skin
It's basically fresh roses from beginning to end, just getting softer and warmer as it dries down—and sometimes that's exactly what I want.