6 Scents of Henry Rose

Actress Michelle Pfieffer found she missed wearing fragrance during her pregnancies and raising her young children, during which time she became aware of the many possible irritants found in conventional perfumes. She went on a mention to build a fragrance company built on the transparency of its ingredients using natural materials and well-tolerated synthetics to create quality scents that she could feel good about wearing, and Henry Rose Fragrances was born. The line has since grown to host a total 11 unique perfumes from fresh to woodsy to floral to gourmand that are available in full 1.7 oz bottles and travel sprays ($35 and $120 USD respectively) as well as body creams and candles to coordinate with certain scents. The line is fully available for purchase on their official site and some selections have now come to Sephora. On their website as well, their are an array of sample kit options including one with vials of all 11 scents for $45 USD. But, as I shop at Sephora the most, I decided to pick up their more limited discovery set instead ($26 USD) , which includes the six bestsellers Jake's House, Torn, Flora Carnivora, Char, Windows Down, and Queens and Monsters. This provides a great breadth of fragrance personalities from warm to woody to floral to clean and fruity, so I will share my thoughts.

Jake's House: Jake's House is the line's current bestseller combining refreshing elements of sea salt and sandalwood with a sophisticated floral mash of jasmine, peony, and musky yet sophisticated orange blossom. Though the sea salt is definitely present in the fragrance, the overall effect is not so much beachy as it is just invigoratingly earth and natural smelling. This scent is often cited as an aquatic because of its salty, watery vibe, but I find it a much more well-rounded, sophisticated, and much longer lasting fragrance than many of this time. This is not just a summertime or hot weather fragrance to me either as the woods and neroli orange blossom add so much elegant yet not ostentatious depth to the scent and the woods give it much more body. My best friend and sister who loves fresh and light woodsy smells as well as orange blossom has made this a signature and loves it year-round, and I myself really appreciate how every part of this scent is present right off the bat and lasts throughout the duration of the scent. For me, this lasts about 4 -6 hours, which is about half again as long as many fresh either salty or citrus-dominant fragrances perform on me. This is modern chic, giving me a polished contemporary Gatsby mood that would be great for parties or just one of relaxed sophistication for wherever you may go.

Torn: Prior to my purchase of this set of samples, many reviews I read of Torn described it as a lovely vanilla scent for those who don't love vanilla scents but also a unique take on one that established vanilla lovers would also appreciate. I do not consider myself a vanilla lover in fragrance. In fact, though there are a few vanilla-dominant scents I like, I dislike the note on my skin more often than not and don't usually feel that it suits my vibe aesthetically either. However, Torn-- true to the reviews-- does end up speaking to me. What sets it apart is the marriage between, yes, vanilla and rooty darkly green, almost spicy vetiver. The vetiver here is subtle and not too smoky but just smoky enough to not smell overly green or so clean that it is sharp. This element really rounds out the vanillas sweetness and makes the richness of it seem like something from the earth rather than a bake shop, and this is crucial for me to appreciate a vanilla scent. Often, successful-for me- vanilla scents balance the note with dry spices like cinnamon or clove, but it is the touch of forest that vetiver gives the vanilla here that makes the combination both truly grounding and truly special. Floral notes are also present here to add to the earthy vibe-- rose and jasmine-- but these really hang out in the background and are not really that individually distinguishable. This is one of the stronger scents from Henry Rose that is featured in the collection available at Sephora, and has good lasting power to rival those of Jake's House and Queens and Monsters (mentioned later). All total, it lasts about 4-6 hours, and it actually seems to get stronger the longer it is present on the skin. This is the lone feature I don't enjoy about this fragrance because I find for me the longer it sits on me, the sweeter and heavier the vanilla becomes. So at the end of the day, this non-vanilla lover was charmed by this fragrance, and others might be for sure. But for me, it was not the most lasting love.

Flora Carnivora: Hearing the name Flora Carnivora instantly conjures images of Morticia Addams and calls to mind a classic yet softly sensual, supremely feminine-smelling fragrance. In practice, the fragrance does not disappoint. It is indeed quite softly sensual and feminine, a modern take on a white floral. Jasmine and tuberose are the stars here, and even though these two scents can be thought of as "old ladyish" or overly heady and strong and sneeze-inducing, here they are very real, lifelike, and dare I say grounded. The groundedness comes more from the vegetal, pure plantlike essence rather than being settled by notes of woods or something gourmand or heavy, what we typically think of as the base that grounds a fragrance and that which lasts the longest on the skin. In fact, I have to say that in terms of that, this perfume seems to have no base and really not much more character than these two floral components. The notes listed also include vetiver, musk, Texas cedar, orange flower, and some others. But my skin brings out and retains very little of these other things apart from maybe faint hints of the musk and maybe-- if I sniff really hard a kiss of the cedar. Honestly, I don't mind the lack of most of this, though I do wish for more cedar, because the tuberose and jasmine are so likeable and distinguished in their purity that I have to say I really enjoy this. And while it may not be a complex femme fatale sort of scent, their is definitely sensuality and a fresh yet timeless statement being made. Lasting power and projection, though, are very light, and I would reserve this for daywear anytime of year, or if I wished it for evening, it would likely be in hotter temperatures. Side note: Flora Carnivora is my favorite personally of the bunch.

Char: If Flora Carnivora gave baseline impressions of Morticia Addams, Char I would have expected would be the Wednesday. Char is a combination mainly highlighting orange flower and spicy ginger, which are two notes I can really struggle with, especially the ginger for its bright sweetness despite its being a spice. I do, however, like this. But despite the boldness and darkness of the name, Char retains a lightness, an ephemeral quality to these warmer, spicier notes than I would have anticipated. It might not be as dense and intense as Wednesday, but their is a decidedly autumnal vibe to this, whereas Jake's House was more Summer into Fall to me. To compare the two, Char is is warm and spicy but also a has a crispy similar to Jake's House with also sharing its orange flower note. So if you want a light yet still warm true Fall fragrance, this could be for you!

Windows Down: Windows Down is perhaps the cleanest, freshest fragrance from Henry Rose at least out of what is offered at Sephora currently and in this sample collection. It evokes clarity and clean laundry for me, but without smelling too prickly in the nose. Instead a fresh clean earl grey tea clears the mind and is grounded by a whisper of musk. Citrusy notes of bergamot and grapefruit are also present and detectable on my skin, and thankfully the woodsy sheerness of bergamot is more dominant to the sourness of the grapefruit. Grapefruit is a note I despise in fragrance and can often give me a headache, but not so here. And overall, though this scent is a departure from my usual woodsy favorites and more earthy florals, it offers a refreshing change of pace, and there is enough going for it to make it surprisingly one of my favorites in this bunch. Like most citrusy fragrances and those that are billed as being "fresh and clean" this one dissipates the fastest. lasting only about two or three hours on me, but I don't mind refreshing.

Queens and Monsters: From its mysteriously poetic name alone, Queens and Monsters was the scent from Henry Rose that intrigued me the most. It was also the recipient of a 2020 Allure Best of Beauty Award and is the brand's take on a chypre fragrance. The term chypre in parfumerie is used to describe a scent that mashes floral, earthy, fruity, musky, and sweet notes all together to create what is usually an animalic, leathery take on a floral scent that offers more depth and sensuality than simple florals alone. Basically, it is an "everything but the kitchen sink" kind of maneuver but one that is done with meticulous craftsmanship. Queens and Monsters embodies this complexity of scent but in a surprisingly sheer and approachably wearable way. A leathery floral combination of freesia and orange blossom predominate with the freesia being the main player. Freesia is not a note I smell a lot of in fragrances, nor is it one I particularly love when I do, but it an unexpected star and represented well. I don't sense much fruit here-- except for a sweet milky coconut in the base-- or greenness, but there is a dry and sour sandalwood bringing the base here. Unfortunately, the sourness of the sandalwood in this combination is not something that reads well on my body chemistry, so sadly Queens and Monsters is not the complex personal favorite I had hoped for, but I appreciate the effort and its relative uniqueness. Also, whereas the other Henry Rose Fragrances feature here last really only about four hours on me, this one lasted longer. So it is one of the brands most longlasting scents along with Jake's House.

Trying these fragrances of Henry Rose was a lovely treat. I am always pleased to find the cleaner/ Green Beauty fragrance market expanding and creating artistically beautiful and approachable scents for everyone to enjoy, and this line certainly offers an abundance to choose from and maybe some new scent loves for me.