Released way back in 1970, Eau de Rochas has proven to have a lasting appeal, or at least be part of something of a rediscovery and revival. Originally released as a woman’s cologne, nowadays it smells like more of a fragrance that either sex could enjoy equally. It is astonishing that a fragrance that was created forty years ago can seem so contemporary and fresh today, more than this, it even seems to have qualities that are mysteriously absent from the fragrances of today, cologne or not. What makes this particular cologne so special though, and guarantees its place up there as quintessential cologne, is the fact that unlike other colognes it doesn’t make the error of overdoing the coolness and freshness. This is a marked feature of colognes that they open fresh and tend to move all the way through the entire olfactory experience that they provide with coolness and freshness from top to base notes. As a result, not only are they boring and smell quite alike, but they also feel rather cold and unsexy after a while. This is due to the fact that overwhelmingly, the sexiness of a fragrance boils down to how it dries on the skin and how it starts to warm and spice up from the heart notes onwards to the base. This is precisely what Eau de Rochas manages to do, once the pale rose heart begins to fade away you get a wonderful warmth beginning to emanate outwards, no doubt created by the subtle blend of amber and oakmoss in the base. As a result this fragrance has it all, the fresh cool and breezy entrance, the understated floral heart and a warm sexiness at the base. It is comprised of the following notes: verbena, lime, mandarin, bergamot, wild rose, jasmine, coriander, carnation, oakmoss, amber, and musk and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
