Ombre Rose, A Magnificent Perfume Revisited With Its New Kin

Once upon a time, there was a hat maker in Paris, who went on to create one of the most popular perfumes of the 1980’s. One that could be held up against such luminaries as N°5 Chanel, Samsara Guerlain, Opium Yves Saint-Laurent, Diorissimo Dior, L’Air du Temps Nina Ricci, or even Le Dix Balenciaga. His name was Jean Charles Brosseau, the scent: Ombre Rose. A name once lost, but now returns with familial links and perfect potions. Find out more in Ombre Rose, A Magnificent Perfume Revisited With Its New Kin

Paris, Jean-Charles Brosseau

Once graduated from the High Fashion school in Paris, Jean-Charles Brosseau created his own label and founded his fashion House on the Left Bank in Paris in 1955.

Place des Victoires

In 1970, he set up his salon in Paris on the Place des Victoires, which became, thanks to him, the new cool area for fashion lovers and creators to hang out. There is a mirroring of his initial journey, one of the most famous fashion houses, Chanel, as she started her design world with hats before going on to create one of the most iconic perfumes in the world; as he did too.

Paris Perfume Shops

He founded his own perfume house at the young age of 25, in 1979, as he started to play with the ideas of a perfume with notes of creamy Vanilla, sweet powdery-cherry facets of Heliotrope, and floral and spicy undertones of woody Rosewood alongside soft musky notes. But it took a few more years before this became a sellable perfume, and one that went on to become an iconic scent.

Called Ombre Rose, it was unveiled at New York’s prestigious department store Bergdorf Goodman and became an instant hit with New York’s perfume lovers before becoming a bestseller worldwide and being seen as an icon, even gracing the covers of books about scent.

The Ombre Rose L’Original features notes of juicy Peach, Brazilian Rosewood, the green-rosey faceted scent of Geranium, soft wood of Sandalwood, powdery Orris root and soft aldehydes. Alogside were notes of rooty grassy Vetiver, honeyed flower of Ylang-Ylang, fresh, green, and delicately sweet- dew like Lily-of-the-Valley, pencil wood of Cedar, regal floral of Rose, sweet tinges of Honey, creamy Tonka Bean, warmth of Cinnamon and comfort of Musk, Vanilla and powder cherry of Heliotrope. A complex set of ingredients that brings a powdery floral scent that was part modern interpretation and also part classical Parisian perfumery.

Ombre Rose was seen among classic perfumes such as N°5 by Chanel, Samsara by Guerlain, Opium by Yves Saint-Laurent, Diorissimo by Dior, and L’Air du Temps by Nina Ricci, so important was it to the world of fragrance.

The house grew over the years with the next launch in 1987, Fleurs d’Ombre Ombre Bleu, composed of Carnation, Orange blossom, Lily-of-the-Valley, Honey, Dried Fruits, Hawthorn, Egyptian Jasmine, with both Sand and Sea Notes, with Amber, Musk, Benzoin, Vanilla and Cedar. This perfume was launched as a limited edition and was designed as an ode to beach holidays. The purity of a tropical island is mixed with solar memories. This was long before perfumes had aquatic notes or even salty sea notes.

Ombre D’Or was his third fragrant creation. The composition, with the highly regarded Nose Natalie Lorson. Based on Rose, Ylang-Ylang and lily of the valley.

In 2005, more perfumes were introduced, including a collection of men’s scents. Atlas Cedar, a woody floral musk complex fragrance for men, composed of Clementine, Rhubarb, Nutmeg, Jasmine, Cardamom, Orris, Sandalwood, Amber, Musk and Cedar. Fruit de Bois, a woody aromatic was another fragrant creation for men, features dominant notes of Bergamot, Grapefruit, Clary sage, Geranium, Nutmeg, Juniper, Cedar, Sandalwood, Vetiver and Amber. The third masculine composition that was launched in 2005 was Thé Brun, an aromatic fougere. Accords of fruity notes, Bergamot, Orange Blossom, Lavender, Violet, Jasmine, Caraway, Musk and Brazilian Rosewood make this composition an aromatic fougère one. Another men’s fragrance was added in 2011, an oriental woody fragrance for men, with the nose behind this fragrance being Thomas Fontaine. Top notes are Pink Pepper, Juniper Berries, Amalfi Lemon, Mandarin Orange and Mint; middle notes are Cinnamon, Plum, Raspberry and Black Fig; base notes are French Labdanum, Musk, Sandalwood, Virginia Cedar and Praline.

Interestingly, looking at some of the notes used in these elixirs highlights what early adopters of ingredients the house has always been. Praline, fruity notes, dried fruits and sea notes are all common and popular facets in this current market, and were certainly dynamic notes over 20 years ago.

The women’s collection grew substantially from 2005 onwards with Fleurs d’Ombre/Violette – Menthe, a Floral Green fragrance. Fleurs d’Ombre/Jasmin Lilas in 2006, a Floral Fruity fragrance, Fleurs d’Ombre/Bergamote came in 2009, an Oriental Floral fragrance. Fleurs d’Ombre/Rose arrived in 2010, a Floral Fruity fragrance. Ombre Platine, an Oriental Floral in a metallic bottle, launched in 2011. 2013 brought two new launches to the market: Fleurs d’Ombre/Nymphéa, a Floral Fruity potion and Ombre Orientale, a Woody Chypre. From then until now, there have been eight more scents added to the collection.

The original House core values, as seen within the perfume collection, highlighted Parisian style, its cornerstone of elegance, uniqueness, and the optimum of chic. Complex and elegant elixirs, the house worked with big names Noses, highlighting its position in the world of perfume. But as time went on, even though the house had many fragrances, much less was heard of the brand.

For a while, the company operated under a license, but Benoît Brosseau, Jean-Charles’s son, recently took over the family perfumery and has been responsible for bringing the brand’s manufacturing and distribution back under family control. This has brought about the return to the initial high standards associated with the house. The highest quality fragrance notes, the luxury heavyweight of a divine etched-style glass bottle.

In this day and age, it is hard to imagine any perfume being as well respected and loved as Ombre Rose was once and still is. Every brand wishes it could make an iconic scent, one that goes past fads and fashions and is so good that it will be known for eternity. Well, this genius Rose scent will be.

There are currently 14 different fragrances with the scents of the house available back in the UK at Fortum and Mason, Les Senteurs, and fiole.co.uk

If you enjoyed reading Ombre Rose, A Magnificent Perfume Revisited With Its New Kin, why not read Explore Creative and beautiful Artists from Wales here

.Cent Magazine, London. Luxury Mindset