Product Review: Elizabeth and James Nirvana Nirvana Rose Perfume

I always adore taking a sniff at any new fragrance. This leads me to repurchase the same fragrance very seldom. I can only recall four perfumes in my lifetime that I have ever owned multiple bottles of, but a crown jewel among this elite group is Elizabeth and James Nirvana's Nirvana Rose

Elizabeth and James Nirvana is the perfume house founded by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Though they are mostly known for their childhood and teenage-fame, these ladies have produced a line of very chic, unique, yet still very universally-appealing scents. Nirvana Rose is primarily a three-note scent of of fully ripe rose, vibrant geranium, and mossy vetiver. But it is the rose here that is the star of the show.

What I love about the rose note in this perfume is that it is not girlish and nor is it old. This rose is fully grown-up but with a lot of edge. This rose is not at all powdery, nor is it very sweet,. It is very rich and wine-like. It is captured here in full bloom, and, to my imagination, at nighttime. This is a very dark, moody rose scent, but ironically it does not read on my skin as overbearing or too heavy. Thanks to the herbal and almost sour quality of the geranium flower, it has a very natural and fresh quality on the skin, however, it is immediately grounded by the mossy and almost smoky note of vetiver to bring it back to Earth.

I always think of this fragrance as being what you'd smell when walking by a wild rosebush in the forest at night. You'd smell the flower, of course, but you'd also get whiffs of the damp earth in which it is planted, the smell of the leaves of the bush and the woods of the trees surrounding it, and all of this wears on the skin in a hauntingly beautiful way. In this way, I find it a great choice for the cold weather months and an especially evocative choice to wear as Halloween approaches! It has such a sophisticated, edgy, yet otherworldly quality like a mysterious fairytale in which you don't know for sure if all will end up safe or happily ever after but that all that surrounds you is unique in its beauty and intrigues with its dangers.

Nirvana Rose lasts on my skin for a solid 8 to 10 hours most days I wear it. I notice, though, that if I ever do choose to wear this scent in warmer weather, the lasting power is cut almost in half. But for me, this is not a knock against it as it is always a special occasion when I pull this one out and especially when it makes an early appearance in Spring or summer. so I embrace the experience of reapplying. For all its dark and mysterious qualities, it is not one that ever becomes overbearing to me or too heavy. It projects some, but is not so loud that it will be smelled from across the room. This is a particular balance that I appreciate in a fragrance, but if you want to amp up its presence, this fragrance is one that both melds beautifully with and really settles well into fabric, so spritzing it or rolling the rollerball gently along a scarf can be a nice treat.

Nirvana Rose, along with the other 5 fragrances from the house of Elizabeth and James is sold online only at Nordstrom. It is available in 1.7oz and 3.4 oz sizes for $85and $110 USD respectively. There is also a 0.30 oz rollerball available for $28 USD. For a truly special, unique, earthy, edgy, and sophisticated rose scent, look no further than Elizabeth and James Nirvana Rose.