Gilles Romey: 1 post

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

French fauvist painter Henri Matisse once observed that “there is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted.” The same could be said about the perfumer and the art of creating a rose fragrance. At once familiar and desirable, the rose theme has been explored in the modern perfumery quite widely, which means that creating something new and daring requires not only forgetting the classical traditions, but also being able to erase the familiarity, to surprise and to even shock.

The beauty of Serge Lutens Rose de Nuit, created by perfumer Gilles Romey lies in its abstraction of a delicate blossom into a nocturnal animalic scent, as if the petals slowly transform into the warm skin. Every single quality one might expect of rose—sweetness, powderiness, brightness, is twisted into its opposite. Where the roses might evoke delicate softness, Rose de Nuit sheds dark petals, withered at the edges. …

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