Ingredients · Florals · heart note

Rose otto (Rosa damascena)

Say itRose OT-oh

A fresh red rose, still wet with dew, with hints of lemon, honey and wax.

Perfumers call those hints facets: the smaller smells around the main one.

What it is

Oil distilled from Damask rose petals, mostly in Bulgaria and Turkey.

When you smell it

Heart: the first hours.

What perfumers do with it

The luxury rose heart; lifts and naturalizes florals, chypres and orientals even in traces.

Worth knowing

Up to 15% of the oil is odorless plant wax (nonadecane), which makes genuine otto turn solid in a cool room.

Known in

Portrait of a Lady (Frédéric Malle, 2010); Paris (Yves Saint Laurent, 1983)

Rules

Limited. Capped by natural methyl eugenol (IFRA); EU allergen label required

Also called

Rose oil, attar of roses; Bulgarian / Turkish rose essence

On the label of 30 of the 232 perfumes read so far

SauvageDior · printed “Rose flower oil/extract”ShalimarGuerlain · printed “Rose flower oil/extract”Bleu de ChanelChanel · printed “Rose flower oil/extract”Coco MademoiselleChanel · printed “Rose flower oil/extract”Side EffectInitio · printed “Rose flower oil/extract”Atomic RoseInitio · printed “Rose flower oil/extract”

See all 30

Named by the house, not on the label, in 42

MitsoukoGuerlain · “rose”Portrait of a LadyFrédéric Malle · “Rose”Fougère RoyaleHoubigant · “rose essences and absolutes”GuidanceAmouage · “Rose”Power SelfInitio · “White Rose”Epic WomanAmouage · “Damascene Rose”

See all 42