Rose Absolue
Goutal (1984)

Nice simple rose scent, goes on sweetly be-dewed, but dries down unfortunately too sweet on me then fades away rapidly

This is a pure rose from beginning to end, and the opening blast is the harbinger of things to come. A full, rich and smooth rose mix, with Damascene and Bulgarian varieties prominent, with the sweetness of the May Rose remaining more in the background. Turkish, Egyptian and Moroccan varieties seem to be added a bit later.

This creation comes in two stages on me:
Initially, the roses are bright, a bit sweet not only discreetly so, soft and of medium lightness and weight. Pure and beautiful. After about six hours they gradually peter out.

Just when I had concluded that that is all there is, an olfactory resurrection took place: the fragrance got another lease of life in the shape of a rose potpourri that was moving away from the blossoms and focusing on the wood stems and leaves, green with the aroma of soil, and and ever increasing earthy feel. There is minimal waxiness and no powderiness, but an indolic undertone is present at times. Eventually a nigh- musky and nigh-mossy impression comes to the fore and lasts until the final final moments.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection and a splendid overall longevity of twelve hours on my skin.

This rose-y spring scent is a hothouse of roses, a walk in a magnificent rose garden. The risk of lack of development, an issue in many soliflores, has been avoided skillfully by combining various contrasting species of this flower. The quality of the ingredients is very good, as is the blending. 3.75/5.

As the name implies... There are various layers of rose. Most are too bitter for me. Sharp. Some greenish. There is even a dusky, old rose here. I love rose perfumes. However, for me, they must have other notes present. This is just too pure a rose perfume. This IS a good quality rose perfume. Don't get me wrong. I give it three stars because eventually, I do get some powdery, relaxed rose notes.

I cannot pass a rose bush of the open petalled variety without leaning over for a sniff, and the familiar scent (despite some variation) remains surprising – deep, nectarous, narcotic but somehow also soft as down, airy and cooling. Each time, it is a love renewed.
I have yet to come across a perfume that gets this contradictory balance of a natural rose right – and why should it? Artistic perfection must aim for different standards of excellence and modes of expression to natural perfection, imitating which is a thankless task.
Rose Absolue is a successful rose perfume, but lest we forget, it is a perfume not a rose. Its opening is strongly reminiscent of rose water, which has that delicate but strong quality that is so bewitching, and a huge dose of the sweets. It's ringed by a faint whiff of mothballs – perhaps indoles were employed, as they often are, to plump out the floral bouquet. Given time, all indolic suggestion vanishes and the rose becomes cloud-like, super soft, and floats from the skin like a comforting aura – it has traces of both soapy and deeper attar roses to it, but it's the gossamer, lilting quality that lifts it above many another perfumery rose. A visual analogy helps – Rose Absolue is like a canvas with a thin band of deepest crimson and a huge fade of feathery pink bordering on white.

A skin scent after 4 hours.

All I can smell from this is rose. I came to check the notes, and the only notes listed are roses, and Darvant's review further supports my impression that natural-smelling rose is the effect of this perfume.

In my experience, I notice a correlation between perfumes smelling natural and not feeling especially strong, and that applies here. I feel like this wears close to the skin. Up close though, it is a beautiful, natural, soft rose smell.

Stardate 20170223:

This one starts like a synthetic rose smell of toilet spray/laundry detergent. But then it gets better. Much better. After 30 mins it is a blooming rose bouquet and as it dries down it goes through the various stages of rose bouquet as it decays.
Just avoid first 30 mins and you are good