Ann Gerard Rose Cut : Perfume Review

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Does the world need another rose perfume? I’ve posed myself that question on many occasions, as the variety of roses keeps increasing, but I invariably end up saying, yes. Jasmine, orange blossom and tuberose, the so-called white flowers, may seduce me, but rose makes me happy. Light and shimmery or dark and velvety, this blossom in the perfume bottle is my gateway to fantasy. Enter the new rose to tempt me, Ann Gérard Rose Cut.

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A jeweler based in Paris, Ann Gérard has already three perfumes to her name, Cuir de NacrePerle de Mousse, and Ciel d’Opale. All three were created by Bertrand Duchaufour, the perfumer whose name graces many niche offerings. Rose Cut is also his composition, and in creating it, he and Gérard were inspired by a diamond-cutting technique which gives stones a special radiance.

Radiance is the main feature of Rose Cut, but its character is soft and clinging. It’s less a sharp diamond than velvet that you want to stroke against your cheek. Before others notice the trail around you–impossible not to!–you feel the texture of Rose Cut. It starts out with a light fizz (pepper) and then transforms into a soft, creamy rose.  The rose is center stage, with all of its violet and raspberry nuances, and if it were sweeter, it could be a bonbon.

This doesn’t happen, because Rose Cut is flavored with incense ashes and smoky cinnamon. It feels indulgent, but a whiff of Christmas Mass incense gives it a restrained aura. It’s as unexpected as the lighthearted character that Rose Cut retains all through its development. Imagine a less serious Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin or a more bookish Frédéric Malle Lipstick Rose, with similar impressive tenacity.

Rose Cut is well-crafted and distinctive enough to stand out in the crowd. But if you already have perfumes like Lipstick Rose, La Fille de Berlin or even L’Artisan’s Traversée du Bosphore (another of Duchaufour’s creations), you may not find Rose Cut an essential wardrobe addition. But if you find Lipstick Rose too bold and La Fille de Berlin too flat, then Rose Cut is a possible alternative.

Ann Gérard Rose Cut includes notes of aldehydes, rum, pink pepper, roses, peony, patchouli, vanilla, oak wood absolute and benzoin absolute. 60 ml Eau de Parfum, $165.

Sample: Ann Gérard

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37 Comments

  • George: http://siskinbob.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/onesy.jpg?w=440&h=660

    I already have my Winston Churchill style burgundy velvet onesie in la Fille De berlin- not sure my wardrobe needs another. April 21, 2014 at 7:50am Reply

    • sara: ha ha ha ha! i need me a red velvet onesie. April 21, 2014 at 11:32am Reply

      • sara: i mean a perfume version April 21, 2014 at 11:33am Reply

    • Victoria: I love it, George! La Fille de Berlin satisfies me for me now too, and I really think that the two perfumes aren’t necessary (the smell is not identical, but the character is.) But who knows, maybe one needs more than one burgundy velvet onesie. 🙂 April 21, 2014 at 3:27pm Reply

  • Alice: I’m still looking for my perfect rose. Any ideas for something that smells like natural and not heavy? April 21, 2014 at 10:45am Reply

    • Solanace: I’m partial to Annick Goutal’s Rose Splendide. It was Victoria’s suggestion when I was pregnant, and for me it smells just like a fresh pink rose. April 21, 2014 at 2:59pm Reply

      • Victoria: Isn’t it so charming? It’s the closest to a rose garden experience to me. I also like Diptyque Eau Rose. April 21, 2014 at 4:52pm Reply

    • Victoria: Oh, Alice, where to start! I’m not sure what you’ve tried already, but Annick Goutal Rose Splendide is my favorite natural rose. For more ideas, please take a look here:
      https://boisdejasmin.com/2012/10/the-ultimate-rose-perfume.html
      And the comments have plenty of suggestions too. April 21, 2014 at 3:29pm Reply

  • Barbara: Happy Easter, Victoria! I’ve been dying to try Rose Cut. but maybe I don’t need it if I already have Rose by Frederic Malle. Do they smell similar, you think? April 21, 2014 at 11:08am Reply

    • Victoria: Do you mean Une Rose or Lipstick Rose? April 21, 2014 at 3:29pm Reply

      • katherine X: I have a similar question, but about Une Rose (FM) vs. Fille de Berlin. April 3, 2016 at 1:10pm Reply

        • Karen A: Will just chime in with my observation – La Fille has more depth on me, is not just a straight rose as Une Rose is on me. Une Rose is a very beautiful rose, maybe more of a fresh rose. La Fille wears more complex. I get none of the metallic or bitterness that others experience, just gorgeousness. My bottle is just about empty, and it’s a perfume I never want to be without.

          Interestingly, on me Rose Cut and Rose Flash both wear pretty “jammy”. I have a bottle of Rose Flash and when it’s right it works well but doesn’t always sit right, whereas La Fille always works well for me.

          And surprisingly, most of the rose ouds I’ve got did not work all that well in the winter – must be their Desert origins! I’m looking forward to warm weather and wearing Rose Nacree, but it felt wrong in the cold. April 3, 2016 at 2:04pm Reply

          • katherine X: Thanks Karen! Sampled them once on my skin and found them very similar, which surprised me. Stumped – I cannot discern what is different between them. April 3, 2016 at 10:40pm Reply

            • Karen A: Price? (hahaha, but only sort of joking) On Luckyscent, Rose Cut is $165 for 60 ml and La Fille is $110 for 50. If they both read the same on you and you are looking for a beautiful rose, then La Fille wins in my book. And although 15 ml more may not be a whole lot, 50ml seems like the ideal size – at least for me – other than FM’s 10ml travel size which allow you to try many of the line. April 4, 2016 at 5:14am Reply

  • Lucas: Hi Victoria!
    Happy Easter Monday? Do you also have that custom of splashing each other with the water in the morning as a charm for luck and health?

    I’m very happy to hear that you like Rose Cut. It made it into my top 5 list of perfumes I discovered at Esxence in Milan this March. On my skin rum accord is really prominent, with colder and bit metallic vibe of aldehydes and pepper. And the rose is beautiful in this perfume.

    I’m proud to say that my bottle of Rose Cut has arrived last week! I love it! April 21, 2014 at 11:31am Reply

    • Victoria: Happy Easter Monday, Lucas! Yes, we have the same tradition too. Not that we needed extra water, because we got drenched in the rain anyway. 🙂 But it was a lot of fun.

      Glad to hear that you’re enjoying Rose Cut too. I don’t need a full bottle right now (La Fille de Berlin is enough for me), but it’s beautiful. April 21, 2014 at 4:37pm Reply

  • behemot: A must try for me. April 21, 2014 at 12:01pm Reply

    • Victoria: I like the collection very much, except that I wish that Cuir de Nacre lasted a bit longer. April 21, 2014 at 4:38pm Reply

  • Patricia: I can never resist at least trying another rose, and this one sounds quite tempting.

    Although, since my collection is pretty rose-heavy at the moment, I hope I won’t like it too much :). April 21, 2014 at 2:56pm Reply

    • Victoria: Mine has plenty of roses, but I’m so easy to tempt with something nice and clever. 🙂 April 21, 2014 at 4:52pm Reply

  • Solanace: This sounds very nice. 🙂 April 21, 2014 at 3:00pm Reply

    • Victoria: It’s a really well-made, interesting perfume, so it’s worth trying for rose lovers. April 21, 2014 at 4:53pm Reply

  • Merlin: I guess its quite strange, but La Fille de Berlin does not strike me as particularly serious. The first time I smelled it I was greatly surprised: I approached it with all the reverence that the various descriptions and back-stories seemed to call for… And the first word that came to mind, on sniffing it was ‘giggle’. Perhaps it was the fruitiness, or perhaps I had just made it way too somber in my mind, but something about it struck me as quintessentially frivolous – the olfactory equivalent of a giggle. I have yet to fall in love with LFB, so perhaps I just don’t get it!

    Many rose notes turn either sour or metallic on my skin. But with a 4 star recommendation and so titillating review I am now wanting to try this! April 21, 2014 at 4:01pm Reply

    • Victoria: Rose Cut has enough violet-berry notes to add a dash of sugar to the rose, so it might be easier to carry off. But I remember a few other commenters finding metallic in La Fille de Berlin. I’d curious to hear if others find it in Rose Cut, because it doesn’t smell that way to me. April 21, 2014 at 4:56pm Reply

  • Elena: OK, that’s it, I need the Ann Gerard discovery set. There’s an updated one with Rose Cut included, and I just ordered it for myself for Mother’s Day! April 21, 2014 at 8:56pm Reply

    • Victoria: That sample set is terrific, and it’s going to be a great Mother’s Day gift. Enjoy it and please let me know what you think of the perfume. April 22, 2014 at 11:05am Reply

  • kaori: Happy Easter! When I saw your Easter table I didn’t know about the cake. Now I know, after watching a news at Russian TV, a cheese cake, right?

    Thank you for the review. I am tempting as I have finished a bottle of Traversee de bosphore. I also like the line 🙂 April 21, 2014 at 8:57pm Reply

    • Victoria: Happy Easter, Kaori! Yes, the cheesecake (shaped like a pyramid) is delicious. There are so many different recipes, and I keep trying something new each year.

      If you like Traversee du Bosphore, I think that you’ll enjoy Rose Cut very much. April 22, 2014 at 11:05am Reply

  • Austenfan: I love it that roses make you happy. I love rose perfumes, even though I may not wear them as often as I would like to. Too little skin, but mostly too much perfume and not enough time. I find them calming somehow, or perhaps soothing is a better word.
    I sort of wander off wearing leathers, greens, citruses, white florals and I always turn back to my first real perfume love, roses and aldehydic florals. April 22, 2014 at 10:46am Reply

    • Victoria: I try to rotate perfumes by wearing a small selection for a couple of weeks or a month and then switching again. I get tired of wearing different things every day, and sometimes I just want a comfort blanket and something familiar. Rose in one form or another usually makes it into my selection. But La Fille de Berlin has been a staple ever since it launched. April 22, 2014 at 5:28pm Reply

      • Austenfan: My perfume wearing habits are more haphazard. I do occasionally have “rose weeks” or “jasmine weeks”.

        While I like and admire La fille de Berlin it’s not real love. I prefer Rossy for a thorny and dark rose.

        Today I’m wearing Balkis, one of those “not masterpieces but wonderfully easy to wear” fragrances.

        Hope your having a wonderful time in Ukraine. April 23, 2014 at 5:00am Reply

        • Victoria: Thank you! I’m enjoying spending time with my grandmother and doing some sightseeing. The town where we live is full of so much history, which is recorded in its street names, and it’s fascinating to discover more of it.

          Rossy is another crush of mine. I love that it’s earthy and dark, but not overly somber and moody. April 23, 2014 at 3:33pm Reply

  • Ashley Anstaett: Thanks for the review, Victoria! This sounds enchanting; I’d love to try it. I’m pretty content with my bottle of La Fille de Berlin for now. It’s doing a great job at satisfying my spring rose needs, but I would still love to give rose cut a shot! April 22, 2014 at 11:26am Reply

    • Victoria: One can never have too many roses, I think. 🙂 April 22, 2014 at 5:31pm Reply

      • Ashley Anstaett: I have to agree with you on that one! 🙂 April 22, 2014 at 6:42pm Reply

        • Victoria: Rose lovers unite! 🙂 April 23, 2014 at 3:13pm Reply

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