When I think of Petra, I think dry dusty, and ancient. Of course the first image that comes to mind is of the great temple of Al-Khazneh, that’s carved into the side of the pink sandstone canyon wall. Al-khazneh, known as “The Treasury”, was thought to contain hidden treasures and pirate loot and is one of the most popular tourist attractions, if not the most popular attraction, in Jordan.
Rose de Petra is not a dry dusty rose however so it’s difficult for me to abstractly connect this fragrance with the location. To me, this fragrace is a humid, dewy, sweet, and boozy deep burgandy rose, growing in the proximity of an open air spice market.
Rose de Petra opens with a sugary candied rose, sweetened by litchi and pomegranate. It’s also very spicy with pepper and cardamom. It’s in the same vein as a rose/oud though oud is not listed as a note. But it definitely feels like there’s a small amount in the composition along with patchouli, though both are very much in the background. And even though cumin is listed, I detect none.
While I generally dislike overly ripened fruit notes, the litchi and pomegranate are perfectly ripe and are used here in the best way, supporting and enhancing the rose without ever becoming too dominate or cloying. Think sweetened rosewater, which is a very inexpensive luxury to have especially during the hot summer months. I keep an atomizer of rosewater in my bag to refresh and cool myself during the grueling summer days on the go.
For a spicy rose perfume, this one is very tame compared to others in this group. It seems to come and go throughout the course of the day, playing a bit of hide and seek. I almost concluded it had poor longevity then I would catch another waft of this intoxicatingly beautiful fragrance.
Though rose-centric perfumes are not in short supply, I think this one is different enough to stand on it’s own. The use of juicy sweet notes along with the dry spicy notes give this rose a unique feel and very modern, Western twist to the long held Middle Eastern tradition of spicy roses.
Season: All
Top: Litchi, pomegranate, Rose
Heart: Deep Bulgarian rose
Base: Pepper, cardamom, cumin