In The News: Czech & Speake Dark Rose Returns

The Czech & Speake website now lists Dark Rose as available for preorder and it will be in stock mid-March. This scent is a cult classic but has been unavailable for several years. Dark Rose may well have been reformulated, so we’ll have to see how the new version compares to the old, which was a rich, dark, unisex rose with spicy saffron. I would guess that they were forced to reformulate either due to ingredients that became unavailable or more likely ingredients that were no longer allowed by IFRA standards at the usage levels in the original formula (but that’s just my guess and I don’t think the company has ever said why it was out of production for so long).  Saffron accords in perfumes often include the expensive aroma chemical called Safranal, and IFRA now restricts the usage of Safranal for leave-on skin applications to 0.0050 percent. 

Here’s a link for fellow rose lovers:

http://www.czechandspeake.com/products.asp?catid=106&deptid=1

This is their listing of notes: “The spicy note of saffron is combined with an elegant bouquet of Bulgarian rose in the top note. Middle notes feature a mixture of exotic woods, patchouli, sandalwood, oudh unveiling a dry down of liquid amber and white musk.”

I’d sure love to get a sample of the new version!  (I had a small sample of the original version years ago.)  For other dark roses with this vibe and with oud notes, you can try the Montale line.

PerfumeShrine recently did a four-part series on saffron that begins here:

http://perfumeshrine.blogspot.com/2008/12/golden-sunshine-of-saffron-1-history.html