FRAGRANCE | Rose de Russie EDP by Tom Ford: Alluringly dark and sensual

Last month, Tom Ford released a trio of rose-centric fragrances dubbed the Tom Ford Private Rose Garden Collection. But knowing how it takes a while before any new release reaches our Third World shores (heck, I haven't even smelled Ébène Fumé yet!), I wasn't as excited. I did look the notes up but that was it—until I stumbled upon a chance to get Rose de Russie from abroad. I was giddy all of a sudden because of the three, Rose de Russie was what I was most interested about.

Spraying the pinkish liquid, I was greeted with a fresh, peppery citrus and of course, rose. There's a mild sweetness underscoring it all but in spite of it, the rose maintains a fresh, dewy vibe that's far from jammy. The accompanying spices and sourness complement the freshness quite beautifully, resulting in an opening that's characteristically bright and vibrant—but not for long.

After only several minutes, a deep, smoky leather slowly rises from the ground. As it steadily works its way up, the scent loses a bit of the fresh, spicy sharpness and transitions to a half-hearted, warm spicy vibe. The leather trumps the rose in no time although the fragrance's namesake puts up a fight, finding more success in the air than on skin. The scent also develops an intense bitterness reminiscent of another Tom Ford creation, Noir Anthracite. Interestingly, I find that it complements the smokiness really well although on the other hand, it's a little too much of a counterpoint to the floral note—but then again, only on skin.

The leather's dominance increases, the rose and the sweetness sadly relegated to the background but continue weaving in and out of the scene nonetheless. By now, the citrus and pepper have totally let up. Eventually, the rose embraces the sweetness and takes on a quasi-jammy persona. Perhaps realizing it could never win this fight on ground, it latches on to the leather, imparts its own essence into the material, and then takes the battle up in the air. 

In a belated twist hours later, the leather, along with its accompanying smokiness and bitterness, soften considerably, allowing the now sweet rose some room to finally wiggle. The peppery sharpness from the opening is also making its presence felt once more although the scent never goes back to its perky character at the start. This structure carries on until the scent fades. 

Even though it starts on a totally opposite tone, Rose de Russie unfolds as a dark and sensual fragrance, masculine-leaning even, that's fit for formal occasions, evening affairs, and colder temperatures. It projects rather strongly for about three, maybe four, hours before gradually losing steam. It's really long-lasting, though, so you're still afforded sporadic whiffs of it throughout the day (or night). As mentioned, the rose behaves differently on skin and in the air. And while I wish the rose was accorded a bit more prominence for the sheer reason that the label says rose on it, I'm at peace with how it leads the charge in terms of projection and sillage. All said, Rose de Russie is a beauty worth trying.