A Rose by any other name

Whether you were in ancient Rome, where water fountains were spiked with rosewater, filling the air with their scent, or in Persia, where rose oil could be found in rich stews and pastries, the rose has transcended its role as a mere flower into a symbol of beauty, romance and sensuality. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the rose was used as a metaphor for the paradoxical qualities of love, suggesting even 400 years ago, it had become a cliché in the cultural imagination. In cosmetics, the same is true today: nearly 75% of women’s perfumes use rose as an ingredient, and even 10% of men’s. With such cultural omnipresence, it can be hard to think about roses in a way that feels new, especially in the fragrance world, where sickly-sweet rose perfumes ruled the roost for years. 

Enter BDK Parfums. The cult French fragrance house was set up by David Benedek when he was just 24, operating out of the Palais Royal district of Paris. Benedek comes from a long line of perfumers: his grandparents set up Benlux, one of the last remaining independent perfumers in Paris. Everything about the brand, from the bevelled bottle to the hand-applied label, is done in France, and their scents betray a similar respect towards heritage. Inspired by childhood memories of rose gardens, Benedek’s first scent, 2016’s rose-forward Bouquet de Hongrie, has since become an influencer favourite. Nearly a decade and 22 perfumes later, the brand is returning to its floral roots with Impadia, a wonderfully summery take on a classic ingredient.

In the Harrods Beauty Auditorium, Benedek shared stories about his brand’s various rose perfumes. The aforementioned Bouquet de Hongrie, inspired by the verdant gardens of his grandmother, was sweetly fruity, with a beautiful blend of jasmine, pear, and Turkish rose. It was remarkable to smell that same Turkish rose in a radically different context with Tabac Rose, a gnarlier, more urgent take on the ingredient. Benedek noted the inspiration he got from Mark Rothko’s pink paintings, in which layers of different hues of pink paint create depth and complexity to the overall artwork.

You could sense this artistic spirit in Impadia, the brand’s latest launch. Two years in the making, Impadia was inspired by Paris at sunset, a time when the streets buzz with artists and dancers and the Seine is beautifully illuminated. Opening with fizzy citrus notes, the scent settled into a generous, rose-forward middle. Featuring both Bulgarian and Turkish rose, as well as vibrant orange blossom, it is a profoundly sophisticated take on the flower, one that chimes nicely with a dusky sandalwood base note. Highly wearable, it’s the kind of fragrance that will sing in summer, leaving a light but intangible scent trail to enchant any suitor.

In her 1913 poem “Sacred Emily”, author Gertrude Stein wrote the indelible phrase “Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose”. The meaning of the line came from the philosophical problem of universals: what makes something a “rose” and not just a flower, a bunch of petals, a colour? Even after using roses in fragrances for millennia, we are still entranced by their fundamental mystery. As Impadia demonstrates, the rose is far from a simple, fixed symbol. It is a vibrant, evolving entity that continues to evoke layers of romance, sensuality, and even mystery, forever offering something new to explore.