Jo's Scent Notes: Lancôme Absolue Rose from the Dark

‘Follow the perfumer.’

When people ask me how to find a new perfume, I tell them that one way is to research the perfumer for an existing favourite scent, and have a sniff of what else he or she has created.

Some perfume houses have a resident perfumer – like Olivier Polge at CHANEL, whose job is to make sure that every fragrance smells like it belongs to that brand’s perfume universe, or Christine Nagel at Hermès, who creates fragrances that fit the classic, green, often crisp and sometimes leathery vibe of a timeless brand that began with saddlery. Her predecessor, Jean-Claude Ellena, is known for the almost weightlessness of the fragrances he creates, with a minimalism that he once explained to me as being akin to writing a haiku poem. Less, sometimes can be more.

That’s also true of Lyn Harris at Perfumer H (whose fragrances I’ve so often featured here). She has an airy signature, a transparency that comes through, whether she’s creating something woody, or ambery, or floral. It makes sense. You or I have handwriting that we’re recognised by, and so do perfumers – only they write in air.

The snap I took on Dominique Ropion’s recent rare sighting (in Harrods)

And Dominique Ropion? This master perfumer, who made a rare London appearance to launch Rose from the Dark, for Lancôme’s Absolus collection, is a rose man. He is creator of one of the all-time great rose fragrances, Éditions de Parfums Fréderic Malle Portrait of a Lady (make that one of the great fragrances, never mind rose). You can read my review here. For Frédéric Malle, he created Promise and Rose Tonnerre for (formerly known as Une Rose, and delicious with geranium, truffle and patchouli). All must-sniffs, for rose-lovers – and you can kill three birds with one stone, sniffing them at a EDPFM counter.

He's made quite a few other stellar rose scents, too – including A Rose is a Rose for his own Aphorismes collection (you can explore this at Fortnum & Mason, and I won’t judge if you check out the Christmas decs on the same visit).

But if you like any of the above, you must check out Rose from the Dark. It’s opulent, yet not heavy, swirling with Damascena roses, Taïf roses (from a mountainous area of Saudi Arabia), as well as the roses harvested from Lancôme’s own fields in the south of France, part of what is now a protected World Heritage Site (and thank heavens for that, eh?) The price-tag matches the opulence, but while not overwhelming, it has great staying power. You don’t need to keep spritzing and re-spritzing. (And it clings gorgeously to clothes.)

Apparently, it was inspired by ‘a mysterious desert breeze’ – and, well, don’t know about that, but it’s just super-wearable and has been a compliment-magnet since we embarked on our full-blown love affair, when the weather started to get a bit chillier. (This is an autumn scent, for me, somehow the olfactory equivalent of tucking a cashmere scarf into your collar, to guard against the cool of the night). There’s a sweetness, like a soft, light but not cloying dusting of icing sugar.

Funny thing is, if you ask me: ‘Do you like rose fragrances?,’ I’d probably answer ‘no.’ But I like his. Indeed, within the Lancôme Absolues collection, there’s another of Dominique Ropion’s rosy creations – 6AM Rose. Dewy, fresh, as if shot through with little shafts of sunlight. On a perfect day, I’d spritz that in the morning, then layer on Rose from the Dark at twilight.

It’s on my perfume wishlist (we all need one of those). And as ever, I’ll be following Monsieur Ropion, to see what he has up his dapper sleeve for me, next. You might want to do the same.

Lancôme Absolue Rose from the Dark/£230 for 100ml eau de parfum – buy here

Lancôme Absolue 6AM Rose/£175 for 50ml eau de parfum – buy here