Rosewood by Banana Republic
Day 2 of the perfume diary and I’ve opted for a high street scent…well a high end high street scent, which, I think, is preferable to a low rent designer perfume (Yes, that’s you Ted Baker).
Reactions have been concededly mixed, ranging from bewilderment (“Why are you asking me how you smell?” Guy who cleans the windows) to complete indifference (“Why would I care how you smell? Lady in Post Office). Clearly gaging public reaction to my perfume is not going to be a daily component of the perfume diary.
Fortunately, Sion, the amiable translator who works on the same floor is both a.) short on visitors and b.) prone to smell in colours.
“Violet” he declared, as I poked my fragrant wrist round the door. Perfect. More from him tomorrow.
Jonesy thinks it’s too sweet so does Ian the nice Northener. I’m inclined to agree though I do think the woody notes temper the sweetness somewhat. Impressive staying power for a High Street scent too – I’m on hour 6 now and it shows no sign of waning. A great office perfume – inexpensive, not so nice that you resent wasting it on the office, and off the beaten track somewhat (well for UK residents at least – it’s not like I’m wearing CK One is it?) Long lasting subtlety is a difficult note to strike, but Rosewood does so with aplomb. Given it’s sweet overtones though, perhaps it’s better suited to a Tuesday or a Wednesday though – when the last vestiges of the weekend hangover have finally cleared.
Heapnose 
i love all your posts. this one sparked me to comment because i’ve been contemplating buying BR’s ‘Alabaster’, and i wanted to just ask if you thought anything of that one!
as well as because of the fact that you were spot on about a fragrance you thought would be good for me, which turned out to be a fragrance I already had and loved! (stella mccartney’s original one) (oh, speaking of that, i’ve since got her latest summer limited edition of the same fragrance, and it is less heavy but just as lovely).
i dont really know much about BR’s fragrances, i guess i just want to know if they’re really any good. i tested it today again though, and i can imagine wearing it more often.
oh this is a very long comment now….i’ll stop now!
hope you’re doing well
-r
Rach
i know the Alabaster one because i’ve been using the body lotion. Definitely give it a whirl – they have the mini versions on sale right now in BR (at least they did a few weeks back) so you could buy one of those before you commit? I really like it because it’s actually not that girly – you know it has that vaguely androgynous scent to it. I always like perfumes like that.
I wrote the Stella review after I read your note actually, as it reminded me of it. I still think that is THE perfect fragrance for you. Though, there’s a bunch of “purple” perfumes around at the moment. The other one I really like – again because it’s not that feminine is Armani Code. Try that one – it’s really different.
Ok I’ll stop now.
Miss you x
nice, i haven’t ever tried that one before. and i was so delighted to see the review of stella! i’d been trying a few purple fragrances a while back, but didnt find any i liked except for the new nina ricci scent, i forget the name, but i dont think id really buy it now because it reminds me of ‘nina’ which i also think is better. i’ll be sure to tell you what i thought of armani code once i try it out, i’m excited to go check it out!
miss you too!
-r