Hermessence Rose Ikebana Hermes for women and men

Refreshing citrus opening followed by slightly spiced rose. Nothing unique, complex or overwhelming. Light and breezy for daywear. Classy but inoffensive work wear. Drydown is quite lovely; light powdery rose. Very feminine, all purpose fragrance.

It is simple but very honest. There is magic in the initial spritz that turns a scent into a story. The story for me is having the knowledge of when a rose bud is about to open.
Knowing when the bud will open you take your child out to the garden by the hand with a spray bottle filled with pristine cold water scented by a tea of rhubarb stalks, grapefruit peel and waxy orange rind.
Knowing the rose bud is just about to open you hand the spray bottle to your child and say. "Use this magic juice to transform the dew speckled rose buds into open, vibrant red roses." Handing the spray bottle to her as if the life of all flowers depended on her, she nervously takes it and gently touches one of the wet rose buds reassuring it that she is there to help ... then she sprays. And suddenly she is stunned. Magic. The rose buds begin to curl open open as the early morning sun drifts above the shadow-line. She realizes what has happened and the wonderful scent of the newly opening rose buds mixes with the light cold water tea and engulfs the both of you in wonder and a youthful happiness.

She has saved rose-kind and their simple yet youthful beauty softly emanates in all directions in a scented dance of wonderful gratitude. Warming the sprayed tea into an evaporative joyfulness as the sun penetrates the silky new burgundy painted petals.

This is as honest and soft a rose scent as I have ever smelled - mingling with dew drops of rhubarb, grapefruit rind, waxy lemon peel in the early morning sunrise of a small, comfortable, cool, wet grass carpeted garden. Stunning in it's youthful shyness & simplicity.

Does not last, way overpriced for what you get. Otherwise ok smell with a good name on it and a nice bottle to decorate the shelf. Getting disappointed with J C Ellena works. Really wanted to love the scent, but it is no more than just 'nice'.

The citrus is strong and juicy in the opening moments of Rose Ikebana, giving this fragrance an intensive yet refreshing feel. The rose starts off dewy and mild in the beginning, taking a back seat to the orange and lemon. A few minutes in, the rose becomes more prominent and the spices start to heat up. As it wears, it becomes drier, spicier and muskier. The tea note is never especially strong, but it’s there enough to give this fragrance a sense of freshness amidst the dry spices.

Although the rose is ever-present, the citrus, spices and musk are just as strong. This is not a rose soliflore with hints of spice and citrus. In fact, the further it dries down, the more this becomes about the sweet citrus and warm spices...the woody-spicy classification does not surprise me. The cassis adds a satisfying tartness, playing up the earthy facets of the rose. I find Rose Ikebana somehow both animalic and clean.

This lasts very well on my skin, and has fairly good sillage. The exotic combination of citrus, spices, and rose is what I had imagined The Body Shop Moroccan Rose would have smelled like had it been much higher-end and better executed.

Undoubtedly a unique rose scent. I don’t think I would spend the hefty $ on a full bottle of this stuff, but I do think it’s a wonderful fragrance. For me it comes in second to Ambre Narguile in the Hermessence series.

I love this very much. The scent of citrus made the rose note not so sweet and much more juicy.

Very beautiful!! This is a delicate lovely rose with citrus playing in the background.

Edit: The dry down...Oh what a disappointment!! IMO the dry down becomes very typical Hermes. I bought this because the opening notes were so beautiful and I liked that it was such a departure from Hermes such as Kelly Caleche. The opening notes are so short lived. Save yourself the trouble and buy a bottle of Kelly.

I usually dislike rose scented products, but this one is so different. I got a small sample few days ago, and once i sprayed my wrist, i just could not stop smelling it.... soooo beautiful... i absolutely love the smell of the roses in this one.

I didn't get any spice from this at all :( To me this was a very citrus rose, that did not last longer than 2 hours on my skin.

Rose and spices are so well balanced I can't stop sniffing my wrist. Sillage is wonderful, everything is just perfect for me. And no similarities to Kelly Caleche as I see mentioned here. This is soft fresh scent of roses like a dew in the morning could be if it had a smell. I think I'm in love. Besides, I dislike cassia note, but it fits here so well.

I received a small sample of Hermessence ROSE IKEBANA from a generous fellow fragrance traveler, and I have to say that to my nose this is a very spicy rose. In fact, the spices are every bit as dominant as the rose. I do not find this composition to be at all fruity or citrusy, as others have reported, but I do find it intriguing enough to pursue it further. So far, based on this preliminary testing, I like what I sniff.

One thing is clear: this is not your grandmother's rose soliflore!

Rose Ikebana was a slight disappointment for me. I like it, I do, but I hoped it would be more interesting, intriguing and complex like some of the other Hermessence scents... and maybe it has to do with my chemistry, but what I got was a wearable, but somewhat cold, clean, sharp, and uninvitingly rustic bar of rose-scented soap... alas...

Very clean and a little sharp to open with brisk rhubarb that's both sweet and a touch sour at the same time. Also a splash of bitter grapefruit that is perhaps white, not pink.

Rose Ikebana is very delicate but strong, like an origami crane with perfectly crisp folds. The rose is beautifully fresh and dewy; velvety pink.

The musk and tea notes soften this composition on the drydown, creating an aura of gentle grace.

I love the minimalism of Rose Ikebana--austere beauty, perfectly arranged.

A contrast of rose petals and crisp rhubarb.Airy,delicate,sparkling.Rose petals,green note of rhubarb softened by a touch of vanilla honey.

This is a beautiful scent. Rosy, but in a very complicated way. Off-limits for underage girls.

We first met when I was at the airport and looking for a gift for a lady. I almost missed my flight when I decided to run back to the store to buy another bottle for myself! I don't like the word "unisex" and find this a very feminine scent, but then break the rules by wearing it too. Maybe we should not call this a perfume, but instead think of it as a French countryside garden blossoming with Old Roses, captured in a bottle.

I never knew I liked rose scents until I tried this one.

It's a delightful fruity-citrus-rose elixir that tickles my nose (in a good way), with the rose note being fresh roses straight from the florist's refrigerator. The longevity is okay, I can still smell it on my skin after a day at work. I have read that some compare this scent to In Love Again by YSL (also created by JCE) and Babydoll by YSL. But make no mistake, while they resemble one another, this scent is far and away superior in terms of sheer beauty and complexity.

Interestingly, the sales assistant in the Hermes boutique told me that Jean-Claude Ellena was given artistic license to use whatever raw materials he wanted for the Hermessence series, and that he spared no cost. She explained that he considers the Hermessence line his "babies" because he wasn't as constricted artistically as to how the perfumes should smell. Not sure how accurate this is, but it may help explain the high price per bottle.

Summer flirt! This is how I would describe my relationship with this perfume. I suppose it has happened to all of us. We enter a store with the idea of one fragrance, but we fall under the spell of another. This is exactly what happened with Rose Ikebana, which I decided to try only after a long wait at a busy airport. The rest, as they say, is history.

Of all of the perfumes in the Hermessence collection, Rose Ikebana is, doubtless, the most delicate and feminine. Jean Claude Ellena’s airy style is fairly apparent here, and the notes in the dry-down remind me of some of his other compositions, particularly Eau de Pamplemousse Rose.

Rose Ikebana is a very juicy aroma, and the zesty, refreshing grapefruit note in the opening literally makes me thirsty! Indeed, if there were a juice made of roses, this is how I would imagine it: a delicious concoction of something slightly sweet, slightly tart, and slightly piquant. As the fragrance develops on the skin, there is also the allusion to a green undertone, possibly created by the notes of rhubarb, a plant which also sports a bright pinkish red color.

Perhaps I loved Rose Ikebana so much because it reminded me of those childhood days in the summer, when my school friends and I would try to make our own “perfume” out of my grandmother’s rosebushes. Had we succeeded then, I am pretty sure our fragrance would have closely resembled Rose Ikebana. There is something innocent and almost spontaneous about it.

Some perfumes challenge us intellectually as their complex compositions prompt us to analyze them. This particular fragrance is not one of them. However, Rose Ikebana is certainly unpretentious, fresh, and manages to capture the incomparable feeling that only a carefree summer day can bring. Although the fragrance is an EDT formulation, it is surprisingly long lasting on me.

I simply love this!!! Expensive but nonetheless my signature scent!!