Today’s Guerlain Advent sample is Rose Chérie, launched in 2021 and created by perfumer Delphine Jelk. The only notes listed for it are: Bulgarian rose, rose, violet, heliotrope, tonka, and musk. It is meant to evoke the chic of Paris and “la vie en rose.” The fragrance smells pink, too, like a fresh pink rose but with no greenery attached. The heliotrope accord is immediately evident to my nose; I really enjoy heliotrope in fragrances, I like the powdery aspect it lends. Here, it blends with the violet and rose accords to create a scent reminiscent of pink lipstick and face powder. The scent itself isn’t as retro as that sounds, though.
The heliotrope accord also smells like a mix of almond and vanilla, giving Rose Chérie a slight hint of gourmandise. It isn’t an actual gourmand fragrance though, which I appreciate because I have a limited tolerance for those. If there is any food it brings to my mind, that would be delicate pink macarons, lightly dusted with sugar. Now my mouth is watering, remembering the stacks of rainbow-hued macarons I saw in Nice a few years ago, in the patisseries of the old town and market.
Rose Chérie definitely leans toward the feminine end of the spectrum, but it could smell wonderful on a man. It doesn’t last as well on my skin as, say, Épices Volées, but its longevity is fine. Its development is quite straightforward, almost linear to my nose. The tonka bean emerges after a while, once the floral notes have mostly faded. It gives a little oomph to the fragrance, like vanilla without any sugar.
This is a very pretty rose, and if you like semi-gourmand florals, you should probably try it if you get the chance. I own so many rose fragrances (hello, Roses de Mai Marathon!) that I wouldn’t feel the need to add this one; besides, I tend to favor richer or greener rose scents. But sometimes, one just wants a macaron! Do you have any favorite gourmand florals?