Lipstick Rose Frederic Malle

Desirability: Full bottle

Lipstick Rose was one of the first violets I tried when I started falling in love with violet scents slightly more than two years ago now. So how does she compare with other violet/powder combinations?

Source: glamourdaze.com

If you can't choose between violets or roses Lipstick Rose may be the perfect answer for you, having both violets and roses and vintage compact type powder, (think Besame's 1940s chic violet powder compact) it also stays true to its name with a waxy lipstick smell. Lipstick Rose eclipsed my first violet love Guerlain's Insolence Eau de Parfum, a thickly berried and candied violet covered with a good dose of retro-licious powder. I prefer the musky undertones of Lipstick Rose and that it's not as sugary sweet but Insolence EDP has its charms for sure. 

My sister keeps Creed's Love in Black as a staple in her wardrobe and although I've never been a fan of Creed I decided to try it since it smelt like an alluring goddess scent on her. This is where chemistry reminds us again that it is important as Love in Black started dry and earthy ( I think the iris showed up more than the violet) on me before evolving into a candied berried violet that loses its steam over time and becomes a tame floral perfume at the end featuring iris and violets. Not bad but nothing to write home about either.

Source: pinupgirlclothing.com

Borsari's Violetta di Parma, Parfums Berdoues' Violettes de Toulouse Eau de Parfum and Penhaligon's Violetta are all lovely powdery violets but Borsari although inexpensive is too linear and not long lasting, Violettes de Toulouse has a plastic fruitiness that overshadows the violet note and Violetta I have resigned to a pillow spray due to its dismal longevity. 

Lipstick Rose does smell like how Guerlain's lipsticks smell, a similar waxy floral smell but here the flowers are sweet violets and roses, very feminine in a retro style like full circle skirts, T-bar shoes and crimped hairstyles. There's a vanilla tinged musk that's fluffy like cotton candy and smells more like white than dark musk, although white musk tends to feel a bit stretched out and thin compared to dark musk which smells more concentrated and potent. The vanilla musk only comes in in the later half of the scent for me but it's a sublime ending for me, a perfect medley between two of my favourite floral notes and a creamy vanilla muskiness. 

Wearing Lipstick Rose, I am taken back to the musical/movie Grease and in particular am reminded of Frenchy with her candy floss pink hair after a disastrous day in beauty school which resulted in her dropping out.