Although D&G’s spin-off perfume that takes its inspiration from their 2006 release The One would have most of you expecting a rose centered fragrance with soft powdery gourmand texture this is not exactly what you inevitably get. If you go in for all that sexy advertising bumf featuring an jaw dropping Scarlett Johansson looking more than good enough to eat and actually purchase D&G’s Rose The One this is actually what you end up taking home with you. Rose The One features the following blend of notes: black-currant, pink grapefruit, mandarin, lily of the valley, rose, litchi, peony, Madonna lily, ambrette seed, sandalwood, musk and vanilla. Read the list again, a little slower and you’ll discover that this is a rather stock blend of ingredients that has been done to death over the past few years to create rather sweet floral perfumes. Rose The One opens with grapefruit and although there is rose in there somewhere you’ll find that it is inevitably pushed to the side by the rest of that long list of notes that the perfume is brimming with. The heart of this fragrance is made up of lily of the valley, peony, and unripe mulberries that end up smelling rather strong and harsh even, both bitter and sweet. Don’t expect it to ripen into anything more seductive and nuanced as the perfume dries on you because unfortunately this does not seem to take place. As the heart of the perfume peters out you’ll find little more than a smooth vanilla base note that does not generally serve well in rounding the fragrance off, nor does it warm the fragrance. Unfortunately this seems like another exercise in perfume by numbers, testament to the fact that while people’s visual literacy is second to none nowadays, their sense of smell leaves much to be desired for I’m sure this will be a great success.
