New Niche Fragrance Review: Aftelier Perfumes Wild Roses- Mandy Aftel’s Olfactory Genetic Hybrid

Abstract Rose 2 by Mark Webster

One of the things that allow the independent perfumers to stand out from the more commercial artists, I believe, is their almost intimate relationship with their ingredients. Many indie perfumers spend time laboring over their own handmade essential oils. I suspect this kind of understanding of creating your own isolate must help with insight into how the finished product will perform. I’ve also found that many independent, and especially natural, perfumers tend to have a garden of some kind to draw inspiration from. It seems obvious that having living growing fragrances surrounding you will be inspirational. Mandy Aftel has perhaps one of the more renowned gardens of any natural perfumer. So when I heard that the newest release from her Aftelier line of perfume was called Wild Roses I erroneously expected a rose soliflore of exquisite precision. Ms. Aftel is a bit more creative than my limited imagination and her version of Wild Roses is instead to create an olfactory hybrid of a rose. It is to entice you into re-examining what you think a rose is.

Abstract Geometric Rose 3 by Mark Webster

Every rose breed carries a slightly different aroma. Some have more body to them, others lilt on the breeze, and even others contain a concentrated core. I am guessing in Ms. Aftel’s garden she has a number of variations on a natural rose to study. When composing Wild Roses it seems as if she wanted to create an olfactory unnatural rose hybrid. To accomplish this she would use three different sources of rose. If she had just mashed them together it would’ve made Wild Roses a layer cake of rose. Ms. Aftel instead chose to keep each rose strand separate and uses a number of notes to enforce that separation. As a result you get the feeling while wearing Wild Roses that you are experiencing an entirely new breed of rose. It is truly a lovely experience.

Rose Nebula by Mark Webster

The three sources of rose in Wild Roses are rose CO2, Turkish rose absolute, and rose petals attar. The rose CO2 is the harbinger of things to come and Ms. Aftel buoys it on a slightly fruity floral sea and with a well-measured addition of rose ketone she sets this strand in place. The slightly spicy Turkish rose gathers around it a bit of fruit in apricot and pimento berry so the sweet of the fruit leavens the headiness of the rose. The final strand is where she throws all caution to the wind and truly lets her rose become “wild”. The intense rose petals attar is made even more so by using aged patchouli, vanilla absolute, and a pinch of indole. These three strands, like DNA, splice themselves together into something identifiably a rose but not exactly any rose you’ve ever encountered.

Abstract Rose 1 by Mark Webster

Wild Roses has above average longevity and average sillage.

If Ms. Aftel had chosen to create a rose soliflore I am sure it would be spectacular due to her relationship with the roses growing in her garden. I found Wild Roses so much fun to experience because instead of trying to give an olfactive mirror to nature she instead became an olfactory geneticist and allowed all of us to share in the wonder of discovering something new.

Disclosure: This review was based on samples purchased from Aftelier Perfumes.

Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

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5 comments

  • I loved this review, Mark. Wild Roses sounds like a complex rose fragrance and your descriptions, as well as the artwork, brought its unique compilation to life for me. I look forward to sniffing it with your review in mind.

  • I feel the same way Sujaan expresses it, Mark. Your writing combined with the images create a vision of what the scent is. And it makes me want to try it! Will order a sample right away!! Thanks.