After an agonising wait, my sample of Parfum d’Empire’s Eau Suave arrived in the mail late last week. Would this be the Ideal Rose I have been dreaming of?
No it isn’t, for the simple reason that I can’t smell enough rose. For me, Eau Suave’s fruit notes – peach, apricot and raspberry – push the rose into the middle distance. And yet I love Eau Suave! A green opening is followed by a seamless blend of fruits, roses and spices. It all rests on warm slightly and earthy base that includes patchouli and oakmoss.
I’ve added it to my mental list of ‘ideal garden’ fragrances, a short that list so far consists only of Parfum de Nicolai’s Le Temps d’une Fete (the sun rising on a garden drenched by overnight rain); Olympic Orchids’ A Misdummer Day’s Dream (figs and blackcurrants, green leaves, golden sunshine); and Tauer’s Reverie au Jardin (a garden baking in a hot afternoon sun).
I love the Empress Josephine back-story to Eau Suave, beautifully evoked by Angela in her review for NST, and I am this close to ordering Eau Suave in its divinely pretty bottle. What is holding me back is that so far I’m finding Eau Suave’s longevity to be not great, and it would be more sensible (wouldn’t it?) to just get a decant that I could carry around.
Eau Suave is regarded by many as less adventurous than other fragrances in the Parfum d’Empire line. It was Dionne, commenting on my ‘Ideal Rose’ post, who initially thought ‘naw, nothing special’, and so did I at first.
Then I got to thinking that there are perfumes that are pretty but dull, and there are perfumes that are subtle and beautiful. The line between will vary for all of us but for me, Eau Suave does – magically – cross that line.
My quest of my Ideal Rose continues. More news next post, I hope.
beauty on the outside 
I really loved Angela’s review of this too and was very excited to try it on that basis. Unforunately, on me it was rather sharp and sour, but I am sensitve to that kind of thing. I’m glad it worked for you though! I think you’re better with green notes than me. It certainly didn’t say rose to me, either.
Looking forward to your next instalment in the search for your ideal rose!
Yes indeed, it does have a sour opening. I think Dionne noticed it too. I like it, and wished it lasted longer!
Quite a lot of people seem not to notice much rose in Eau Suave. I’m wondering if I am smelling the wrong sort of roses. Must smell more!
My dear friend MyBeautyBlog in Germany is a big fan of this one and came quite close to wearing it on her recent wedding day. In the end she opted for Kelly Caleche, which was very appropriate for a winter ceremony. I am not mad about it myself, but you are spot on with your “ideal garden” fragrances classification. MH Fleurs de Bois was one of those, but I ended up selling my bottle. I guess I am not big on gardens. Which a look out of the window will confirm.
Ha! Yes. I know what you mean. (I do grow very good tomatoes tho’. 🙂 )
I can see both Eau Suave and Kelly Caleche working as wedding fragrances. KC would be more winter appropriate. (Perhaps a little more long lasting too? Ages since I have worn it.)
Parfums d’Empire is at the top of my “it” list right now— I am utterly impressed with them. Eau Sauve sounds both beautiful and restrained; even if it’s not your perfect rose, having another perfect garden scent can’t hurt!
Restrained is right, and I admire that in fragrances and in other art forms as well. I’ve only tried a few others in the PdE line but they are beautifully done – fill of character. Each has something to say.
Thanks for your tags on this post dee – Josephine with her two married names! Stylish. I got curious again and went back to the Wikipedia entry and saw that she was born ‘Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie’. With a name like that, she sure deserves a perfume!
I haven’t responded to your post until now because you inspired me to do a couple of Eau Suave wrist vs. wrist, which isn’t a fast process for me. (Yes, that means I get good longevity out of Eau Suave. Applied it last night about 7:00, it was still there when I woke up this morning. Plus, my sheets smelled really good. :))
It went up first against Silences. Both have a green blast at the top, but Silences was drier, more powdery, and Eau Suave was still a tad sour. Once they moved into the heart, you could smell the rose note they shared, with Silences actually being lusher and sweeter because of the jasmine and iris. It’s the first time I’ve ever used the terms lush and sweet for Silences. 😉 Honestly, I kept looking for the fruit in Eau Suave and all I got was a “tangy” vibe. On my skin these are unripened crabapples. (Imagine my surprise to read an older review by Colombina over at PST where she complains about how sweet it was. Sooo not my experience.)
Next I wanted to see what would happen when I put it against a rose soliflore. Velvet Rose by SSS also goes sour on me, but it’s the only straight-up rose I have a sample of. VR was sour-er than ER in the beginning, but then got sweeter again. I get more fruit out of VR than ES, go figure. It’s obvious when comparing the two that ES is more blended florals than straight rose, and there’s a LOT of green on there, which keeps it in a higher register. Ahh, the wonders of skin chemistry.
You’re spot-on in calling this a flower garden fragrance. Now I want to compare it to Le Temps d’une Fete.
Oh I am going to try that comparison with Silences once my sense of smell comes back (dear God … ) after a heavy cold. I think I am gong to have the complete opposite reaction: Eau Suave rippling with laughter and sunlight, Silences watching reflectively from the shade. I agree that there is a lot of green in ES.
Speaking of green beginnings, Tauer’s Insense Rose has a sour beginning, to my nose, so I will get that one out for a triple comparison. Fun! Thanks.
I am wearing this today by coincidence. I never would have thought it as a rose fragrance, but you are right, it is quite rosy. But it smells more like a woody rose to me, No fruit here either. For some strange reason this one reminds me of two other scents, Mona di Orio Vetiver and M7 fresh. I catch similar accords resonating in those three.
No fruit? I get a lot, but much tempered by other notes, including green notes, which I love. I don;t know the other fragrances you mention, but it is certainly interesting how Eau Suave is nudging us in lots of different comparative directions!
It certainly is extremely versatile even though not as distinctive as some of the other Pd’E releases
I take it all back – what I said there about me and gardening. I just helped a friend rip up her old lawn and lay a new one! ; – ). I am a veritable landscape gardener, no less!
There, you see! Hidden talent …
I think Eau Suave is lovely! I don’t mind fruit if it isn’t, you know, FROOT, and Eau Suave’s fruit isn’t sweet or artificially-flavored. I get a lot of patchouli-chypre stuff in there, and it reminds me of L’Arte di Gucci’s young, innocent cousin.
There is SO MUCH IRIS in Silences that I wouldn’t have thought to compare the two. But yes, some congruent notes. Silences is a meditative scent for me, where Eau Suave (I only had a sample, and it’s gone, sad) was much more friendly and chattery.
Yes, sunshine and shade.
I’ve always hesitated over L’Arte di Gucci because it sounds a bit scary (in a good way, I gather from the reviews).
Well, I guess at least you found something you *like*, even if it’s not the ideal rose!
Yes indeed. Chasing ideals is often a bit pointless; it’s what you gain along the way that matters.