Dark Rose Czech & Speake for women

Before Montale, before all the aouds came out, I remember smelling Dark Rose in a niche shop and felt absolutely charmed in spite of its weirdness. WoW! this was really shocking back then and in a positive way! It was a deep, bright red rose soaked in aoud which I identified as "dentist smell" back then and I hate the dentist cabinet!
Very long lasting, too.
I'm talking about the first release.
With more awareness the strong medicinal smell of Aoud became more of a woody note to my nose.
I much prefer the Montale now, but Dark Rose was my first experience with aoud-rose combo and a glorious one!

Dark Rose was originally released in 2003 with notes of saffron, agarwood, rose, sandalwood and white amber and then discontinued (date unknown). In 2009, following the oud-hysteria, Czech & Speake re-launched it in an edc spray.

Dark Rose is fantastic but, if smelled today for the first time, it is definitely not original. It seats somewhere between Montale's Black Aoud, Malle's Portrait of A Lady and Amouage Homage but it lacks the Montale's obscure power, the Malle's sophisticated elegance and refinements and the humongous opulence of the Amouage. That being said, if you're looking for a dark/gothic oud/rose concoction but you feel like not daring too much, this is a terrific option.

Me? When it comes to dark fragrances I don't like to compromise.

Rating: 7/10

I have a rose garden and specialize in antique and old fashioned varieties that have the strongest fragrance. Of course the fragrances vary from tea to apple to clove. But none of them smell like plastic, and that is the note I am getting with this. When I first sprayed it on myself I got this strong "Department Store Cosmetics Counter" odor, though I do have to say it reminded me of a rather posh one. I keep waiting for it to settle into a less artificial perfume but it's not happening. I am getting this single note and am very disappointed that I am not smelling what others are sensing. So far my favorite rose fragrance is Cannabis Rose--it is complex, fresh, and herbal--as if you have rubbed your fingers on the sticky stem of a moss rose.

One of the most beautiful rose "perfumes" that I own, and there are A LOT OF THEM:) And hey: Has nobody mentioned it here :THIS is a COLOGNE!! It has GREAT staying power for such a concentration, and the others here have described it so well, there s nothing to add.. Spicy grown up gorgeous Indian DArk Rose but by no means a heavyweight...

There exists (in India and Pakistan) a heavenly attar called "Majmua", from the Urdu word for "a collection". It is comprised of a floral (honeyed hyacinths, etc...) attar, a baked mud *from the River Ganges* attar, vetiver attar and another "umbrella tree" flower-based one. THAT is my favorite scent, perfume, fragrance (what have you) in the whole entire world!! THIS is the closest ANY perfume (mass market, vintage or niche) has ever come to that heavenly scent...hands down.

This opens with a fierce woodiness and wonderful "incense" accord. Truly dark, almost black, roses combined with the scent of spicy warm saffron, all golden and pollen-rich, exuding a dark floral accord that makes me just sigh with pleasure at the very first whiff! One of my dearest fragrance friends (who I speak to just about every single day) said once that the "rose, saffron and oudh accord" had been "done to death"! That being said (and also quite true), Czech & Speake breathed new life into that composition and gave it just the right amount of smoky resinous "oomph" to really stand out as something not only dark, oriental and intensely exotic; but something amazingly woody and floral at the same time! As it continues, the thick rich and utterly unique scent of agarwood (oud, jinko, kyara, etc...) is braided not only with a thick heavy "oily" patchouli, but also a very dry sweet sandalwood resulting in something not unlike an olfactive orgasm for me! As it dries completely, a sweet dry golden amber and a rather animalic musk dominate, but the heavenly aromas of the other notes remain, blended in something very close to (dare I say it?) the "perfect perfume" for me. Majmua attar is darker, MUCH heavier and extremely "earthy" and slightly more musky with obvious thick and natural components. Dark Rose is like majmua (in its basic composition), but here it has been made not quite so dank, and instead of a fruity hyacinth and a thick waxy honey note; rose steals the show. This is more woody, where majmua is more grassy; otherwise though they are kindred soul-scents. This is NOT your typical "rose scent" (not by a longshot!). I expected something "dirty" (like GV's Rose Noire) after seeing the name and reading the PR on the sample card, and this was NOTHING like that. This is a dark scent that shows you beautiful things are not only sweet and bright and sunny; they can be shadowy, somber and mysterious creatures of the Night, that are nonetheless beautiful! Smoky and incense rich, exotic and heavily woody; all the while remaining darkly floral; Dark Rose checks all (and I mean ALL) the boxes on my checklist of what makes a TRULY great and awesome perfume. It makes me feel I am in a crowded bazaar in Karachi or Calcutta, where incense powders, spices, dried flowers, expensive woods and fancy bottles of magical perfumes and annointing oils are sold. My heart is racing, my face is flushed and something somewhere deep in my heart, on a SOUL level, this is whispering: "You remember!". What it is I remember...I do not know; but I am more than happy to continue sniffing and hopefully (one day) actually consciously recollect.

Sillage: great
Longevity: very good
Overall: 5/5

One of my favorite movies of all time is "Nightbreed" by Clive Barker. It is about "monsters" and how they were persecuted through history, for being different or having "special" (often scary) magical abilities. Rachel, one of the main characters, who could turn herself into smoke and pass through any door or obstacle would, no doubt, smell like this. She could KILL with a kiss, and was strong enough to rip a man's heart out of his chest (though she did not look it), and she was soft-spoken AND extremely beautiful. If she wore perfume: this would be it; and even if she didn't-THIS is how I os-magine she would smell naturally! Dark, smoky, sexy and arcane...full of magic and having centuries of knowledge within her memories.

The perfect dark and feminime rose, so wearable!

A moorish rose - somewhere in the middle east standing in a rose garden with the scent of the bazaar drifting over you! If you like your rose with a touch of oud - and a smattering of middle-eastern mystery ..... then this is for you!

The oud, saffron and rose really stand out on the top notes and the middle notes coming through are not as harsh as I would have thought but come together deliciously to create a sensual, almost, honeyed scent! Quite what I wasn't expecting!!!!

Classy and recommended!

Unusual rose scent. Elegant and very feminin.
The saffron is coming very clear in the opening, the rose just hiding in the first minutes. Then it's just comes beautifully and starts to grow on me.Rose infusion with oud and musk.I like the light soapy tone in it.
As I said: this is a very elegant,sophisticated, luxury fragrance.

I really like this rose! I got some on the sleeve of my jacket, and days later I couldn't stop smelling it. I thought, "What was I wearing and why don't I wear that more often...?" Then I remembered my sample. Another one on my want list!

These guys below compared it to Montales, which got my curiosity up.

Having applied it for the first time it did actually reminded me of Montales. Now I was thinking - i liked so far Black Oud from the Montale oud roses versions (although i did not test all of them). I even had a little sample of Black Oud.

Now I was thinking - never a better chance to find out which oud rose i wanted to add to my collection. Dark Rose or Black Aoud?

so now i have both Montale's Black Oud and Dark Rose on my skin - I can do my little backstage comparison study.

By description we are talking about two very similar fragrances - as well as going by the intensity of the notes. Main players for both will be aoud, roses, patchouli and musk.

So Dark Rose - all true the previous reviewers - this a powdery/saffrony/aoudy take on rose. To me it is almost transparent, not heavyweight. It is a nice fragrance and yes there is going to be a but.

Most probably i would be a big fan had I not smelled Black Oud before. I mean Dark Rose is quite rich and dark but next to Black Oud it would compare as David Copperfield to Gandalf.

All in all is a nice fragrance - but to me price value ratio is also important. So I shall go with the Black Aoud. More pleasure for less money :)

If you do not like the tarry smokeyness of Black Aoud - Dark Rose could be a good point to start.

P.S: the drydown is surprising - it smells like HONEY :)

The deepest darkest rose fragrance I have ever come across. This is elegant, mature and packs some serious oomph! I can pick up the initial decadent saffron note in abundance. The combination of rose and sandalwood is lovely, but spray only a little as the whole concoction can be a little heady!

You have to love rose to wear this perfume, as wearing it transports you to a moonlit garden filled with fragrant roses. I'm wearing this during the day but think it's much more suited to the evening. Good sillage and long lasting (about half a day on me).

Intense saffron? Oh yes. It's so rich and obvious, really intoxicating! On my skin the rose basically hides behind the saffron which amazed me. I often find saffron "foody" in a way, makes me think of heavvy pots of thick, pasty.. well.. food. This doesn't, it's golden! Luxuous and beautiful, deep and very easy to love!

My favorite in the Czech and Speake lineup, and worthy of a bottle. Light aoud and spices compliment a rich, slightly soapy and wilted rose. The dankness of the rose is very simple and linear, but quite lovely. The eastern influences clearly make this fragrance a contemporary niche offering, and I can see its appeal. If you're a rose lover, not having this one is a mistake.

Now that I joined Fragrantica I re-post my review of Dark Rose by Czech & Speake.

I bought this fragrance two months ago and I love it. It's a very decadent and dandyish scent. Saffron, oud and patchouly makes this rose maliciuos, sensual and dark. The persistence is good, and I think it's one of the rare rose-based fragrances that a man can wear without problems.

I bought this fragrance two months ago and I love it. It's a very decadent and dandyish scent. Saffron, oud and patchouly makes this rose maliciuos, sensual and dark. The persistence is good, and I think it's one of the rare rose-based fragrances that a man can wear without problems.

I love this juice, even though the earlier release had more clout and "oomph" to it. True, it flirts with the line of oud-based Montale fragrances, but this one has a slightly soapier and more transparent rose to it. The earlier version also featured a more prominent, and more natural saffron note that seems to have receded a bit in the new version, making room for the soapier rose element. I also lament the cheapening of the sandalwood in the currently available juice.

Overall, still, a unique scent that can still sway the western nose to appreciate the middle eastern style compositions - albeit, very safely.

I have very little to add to all those fitting descriptions...

This scent is warm, smoky, oriental and somehow Middle Eastern. The rose is dark indeed, mature and "sad" somehow at the beginning (perhaps as if already wilted a bit) and a bit overshadowed by the Agarwood, which - despite being a bit medicinal, of course - is actually quite tame and pleasant and doesn't seem to linger for too long on my skin. For me the start somehow personifies an old fashioned rose scent, something I used to despise before getting more interested in fragrances...
Very soon the rose becomes more prominent and as if it lifted it's tired head (maybe after a dose of fresh water), it is also more optimistic and jovial. :-)
I've put it on in the morning and thought that it's really quite generic rose, slightly gloomy even. And then I went out and the surprisingly strong, warm morning sun combined with the very cool breeze somehow carried around me those beautiful, light, but luxurious puffs of this dark, but now cheerful oriental rose. I am enjoying this one, although it is in my opinion a bit overpriced.

This lasted all of two minutes on me and the rose was smothered ( in a vile act of rosicde)by agarwood. A revolting experience.

This is an Arabian, indian, middle eastern knockout. It feels like my skin sets on fire even when i just lightly dab it on my arms pulsepoints. This is one of the only perfumes I've tested where I can easily point out each & every note. The fragrance feels "natural & powerfull", nothing feels artificial about it. AND as a huge lover of SAFFRON - this is the *only* fragrance I've felt a distinct true saffron note. But not like an "ordinary" saffron, but something really extra-expensive, & tremendously luxurious, made for a sultan ages ago. The best description of this perfume is like REALLY stepping into the saga of Thousand and one nights. It transfers you to an arabic desert, an hot fever-crazed dream, taking place thousands of years ago.

This is definitely a rose scent but I smell something plasticy that lingers. Also powder. Alas, it can't move to a love due to the fake note that lingers.

My sister bring me this perfum from Italia.Its strong and smell spice azafran

Oh, I really like this fragrance! It's sooo deep, middle eastern rose, interesting, womanly, long-lasting, quite sweet and a little syrupy.
It smells like a misterious exotic palace.
If you like orientals and rose smell give it a try!