The Rose perfume by Balenciaga: Rosabotanica. There is no doubt about it, flowers are by far the undisputed stars of perfumery. For hundreds of years they have managed to enhance feminine beauty.
Released in 2014, Rosabotanica is a fragrance that enhances the beauty of flowers. The house Balenciaga here outdid itself and offered us a nectar that is among the most floral and most feminine. Eccentric, Rosabotanica is a fragrance that resembles a garden of flowers. This garden is like an olfactory journey, astonishing, surprising, enchanting. After the success of Florabotanica in 2003, the house Balenciaga renews the beauty of flowers through Rosabotanica, which symbolizes a vegetal, enchanted and spicy rose.
Jean-Christophe Hérault and Olivier Polge at the helm of a Balenciaga flower so particular
In order to create this truly extraordinary composition, Balenciaga chose two talented perfumers, Jean-Christophe Hérault and Olivier Polge. Jean-Christophe Hérault was born in Grasse, the capital of perfume. Jean-Christophe Hérault states that he became a perfumer in order to put his dreams into bottles. Considered a gentle dreamer, Jean-Christophe Hérault loves simplicity and beauty. He is behind beautiful fragrances, such as Ambre d’Alexandrie by Boucheron and Florabotanica by Balenciaga. Olivier Polge is the son of the very famous Jacques Polge, who spent his career within Chanel perfumes. Considered one of the most talented perfumers of his generation, Olivier Polge won the International Perfume Prize in 2009, for five of his creations. Some claim he is simply a genius… Olivier Polge is behind very great successes, such as Spicebomb by Viktor & Rolf, The One for Men by Dolce & Gabbana or also Midnight in Paris by Van Cleef & Arpels.
The rose at the heart of the perfume Rosabotanica
It is of course the queen of flowers that is here honored. Mysterious and enchanting, the rose has never ceased to conquer the world. It is radiant and feminine no matter what. The top notes are a clever blend of citrus (orange, grapefruit) with pepper and fig leaves. The fig tree is one of the first fruit shrubs cultivated by humans. Its leaves are large, wide (about 25 cm), thick and rough. Fig leaves are used for their many medicinal properties. In perfumery, fig leaves release tonalities that are at once green, woody and sweet. The heart of Rosabotanica is of course laden with rose, paired with hyacinth and enhanced by the presence of cardamom. It is known that the Hebrews and the Greeks adored roses, which they cultivated mainly for wedding ceremonies. In the 1800s, Empress Joséphine sent botanists all over the world to enrich her personal collection of roses. The Damascena rose is one of the two rose varieties (along with centifolia) most used in perfumery. Cultivated mainly in Bulgaria, the Damask rose releases tonalities that are very floral, powerful and enchanting. Finally, the base of Rosabotanica is enveloping and sensual, it wonderfully combines amber and white woods. The bottle is dazzling, in keeping with the composition. Rectangular and transparent in shape, the bottle is adorned with ultra-colorful flowers. Its cap, drawn in horizontal black and white lines, is oversized, offering a final touch of extravagance.