Rose of No Man's Land
Byredo (2015)

I"m not a huge rose lover, but the name of this made me want to try it, as I am a WWI buff. And it turns out I really love this one. It’s a green rose with cedar-y metallic woody notes and fresh spring vibes. So pretty. It’s not powdery or old fashioned at all and lingers for days on fabric as a lovely wood with hints of green stem and fresh rose. The price is the only thing I'm unhappy about.

This is very Byredo. Think Pulp of roses. It's not real rose (and I don't think it's even trying to be). It leans too feminine to me and has a quality so soft it's almost depressing. I can't feel good wearing this.

A rose impression greets me, admixed with white peppers, a slightly green undertone and a fruity raspberry side note.

In the drydown the rose moves into the foreground. This rose is on the brighter side, friendly and nice; not very strong but rich enough.

The base adds a paper-woodsy touch.

I get moderate sillage, good projection and six hours of longevity on my skin.

A lovely spring scent with a good core of a natural rose, with the base's generic and non-distinct character being the main drawback. 3.25/5.

The first time I wore this, I quite liked it. Definitely a clean, light, biting rose made for a man. It gave me some grapefruit thoughts, and mellowed out to pleasant pepper amber.

The second time around I was trying to analyze and it almost choked me. The opening pepper is quite strong to my nose, along with a green sensation of leaf. I never can get on board with pepper tied up to a well known floral. It always strikes me as unpleasantly dissonant, and this is no exception but not the worst I've ever smelled.

It certainly is a rose, but I can get completely caught up trying to decide if that aromatic bite is lavender or some other aromatic that just feels like lavender. I see the raspberry blossom listed above but I just get aromatic sharpness without berry or fruit.

There is a clean, lightly soapy undertone to this rose. Laundry musk, I'd say. By two hours, it's down to a very nice powdery amber and if there's papyrus in here you couldn't prove it by me. The pepper really hangs in there.

Fancy name for such a simple but pure rose scent. Rose is such a clean radiating and uplifting aroma and I appreciate this simple presentation of turkish rose. The opening is pushed a bit with a touch of raspberry and pink pepper and the base is a simple dry paper papyrus wood with invisible support from amber. This is a simple but clean rose fragrance that reads very close and similar to the also excellent Rose de Taif by Perris Monte Carlo. Rose of No Mans Land has its own piece of slight perfection.

Stardate 20180316:

I suppose if you are an injured soldier stuck in battlefield, nothing would smell as sweet as a red cross nurse.
Byredo, tried to create that smell and I think did a good job of it. Rose, soft white florals (no indoles), musk and sweet candy(amber?). I have small complains (too sweet, not dirty enough, little development) but on the whole a nice fragrance. Leans feminine.

And here is the excerpt from the original poem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rose_of_No_Man's_Land) :

It's the one red rose the soldier knows,
It's the work of the Master's hand;
Mid the War's great curse, Stands the Red Cross Nurse,
She's the rose of No Man's Land.