Le Labo Rose 31


I was urged to tackle Le Labo Rose 31 by fumie Aimee Cox. As she wrote to me:
I am in love with Rose 31, but find that when I wear it, people either want to make out with me or kick my ass. I'm interested in hearing your articulation of this haunting -- and seemingly polarizing -- smell.
Making out vs. ass-kicking: that's polarizing, all right. No equatorial equanimity for those in Aimee's Rose 31 orbit, it would appear. I do my level best to tease apart the love-in/punch-out appeal of Le Labo's most popular offering in my video review, above. My celebrity scuttlebutt is that once on a visit to Le Labo's Los Angeles boutique, I just missed actress Mandy Moore purchasing her bottle of Rose 31.
Mandy Moore dares you to kick her ass.
I don't know if clarifies matters that Mandy (oh how I loved her in American Dreamz) is a Rose 31 fan, but judging from the fact that both Perfume Pen Pal Dan and I have little crushes on her, I'm guessing Mandy scores more kisses than knuckle sandwiches from the general population.
Rose 31 is available from LeLaboFragrances.com starting at $58 for 0.5 oz

17 comments:

  1. :) I love how your reviews make me laugh.
    I still haven't tried this but a decant is on its way to me so I'm guessing soon. :) ALthough I wasn't planning on sharing it with my boyfriend (and I know he has a rose inclination, he stole my bottle of Paestum Rose!).

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  2. Katie, you said it well; clean and dirty at the same time. Actually, it's the only perfume that makes me a little wild and crazy when I put it on. Like I'm in the circus and about to ride the trapeze with the greatest of ease...see what I mean? Rose 31 was supposed to be my birthday perfume this year. Maybe my Thanksgiving perfume instead. Thanks for the great review!

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  3. Ines, if he's a Paestum Rose man, he'll take an interest in the dry spiciness of Rose 31, too. Prepare to share!


    Josephine, sometimes you need to buy your own birthday perfumes if you want the job to get done right.

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  4. Katie, what is your own opinion on Rose 31? I get the feeling that you're not overwhelmed with enthusiasm over it?

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  5. Dear Le Katie-bo Rose 30-something:

    Quick quiz to determine if I'll dig this or nay:

    - compare it to the more musky offerings of the Frederic Malle line, the Musc Ravageurs and Bois D'Orages.

    Those for me are pretty sweaty, stanky, "need it now, up against the wall with your skirt up" kind of scents.

    How does this compare to them?

    Stefush

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  6. "Those for me are pretty sweaty, stanky, 'need it now, up against the wall with your skirt up' kind of scents."

    You're nothing if not subtle.

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  7. I just bought this a week ago...one sniff and I was lreaching for my credit card...and it is still in the box...I'm going to get it now to smell this polarizing fragrance. Ok, first of all, it does open with a rose to my nose, but a rose in a fortuneteller's parlor.
    I think the best part of Rose 31 is how abstract the scent is...it is just incredibly well composed. And it is darned sexy...in the aforementioned context exactly. To me that can be a good thing. But, to me Rose 31 doesn't end there, it also has this romantic and timeless sexiness that makes no apologies...maybe THAT explain the ass-kicking dilemma. this I wonder what my scent twin MM

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  8. would say about it...

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  9. Marie, I like Rose 31 fine, but it doesn't really seduce me the way Baie Rose 26 does, which strikes me as a rosier version of Rose 31's spice fest.


    Stefush, not sure how high your skirt's gonna get hitched with Rose 31. It's not thick the way those Malles you mentioned are. The aldehydes sheer it out, and the peppery/spicy aspect keep it from being a full-on knee trembler. I keep coming back to Baie Rose 26 as a rosier, muskier, sexier variation on Rose 31.

    By the way, Le Labo will be offering their City Exclusives to one and all for the month of November. Well, you'll still have to pay for them, but at least you don't have to travel to Chicago or Tokyo or wherever to buy them. They'll be in all Le Labo boutiques for the entire month.

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  10. Agreed, Fleurine, on the abstract nature of Rose 31. Just smelled Six Scents No. 5 by Philippe Roques (series 1) for the first time, and that smells very close to Rose 31. Just in case people want to sample every iteration of possible Rose 31 dupes...

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  11. Is there a perfume called Mother Nature's Finest Hindquarters? I'd wear dat.

    Roses on men are sexy. Takes a real man to rock a floral!

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  12. City exclusives everywhere in November? Hmmm...I will definitely check out Baie Rose, Give a sniff to Tuberose 41. :) How many of them are there?

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  13. Fleurine, there are 7 city exclusives now, and there will be a Dubai one launching in November, I'm told.


    Dante's Bra, the perfume that smells like Mother Nature's Finest Hindquarters is Le Labo Oud 27.

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  14. Mother Nature's Finest Hindquarters is my new franchise meant to capture some of the market that Victoria's Secret now enjoys.

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  15. I haven't got my sample of this anymore, but I remember it as more clean than not, and not especially memorable, which may be why I gave it away.

    But there again I am the fumie who famously failed to spot skank in Party in Manhattan or leather undercurrents in L'Agent, though I think I do now. : - )

    Meanwhile, SL Rose and FM Une Rose are kick ass roses, no question. They have been kicked out of my collection for that very reason.

    It's a tough gig to get, my fridge...

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  16. Vanessa, I'll side with you on Une Rose being an ass-kicking rose (rather than a rose that gets your ass kicked). How many bottles fit in your perfume fridge? It sounds like a good idea to have a built-in limit to the potential sprawl of a collection.

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  17. Ah yes, I momentairly forgot the difference between the passive and active ass-kicking!

    My mini-fridge currently houses about 65 bottles, a similar number of decants, and a box each of miniatures and samples. However, it is packed to the gunnels now, Vietnamese boat-style - every time you open the door at least half a dozen bottles and the thermometer fall onto the carpet.

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