rodrigo flores-roux
Editor’s note pending — every credited perfumer eventually gets a written profile here.
The compositions
Ambre Ardent
Leather
Little Black Dress Weekend
First Date of Turkish Rose
Falling in Love with Neroli & Iris
Velvet Black Patchouli
Velvet Desire
A Marriage of Jasmine & Tuberose
A Marriage of Jasmine & Tuberose opens with a bright citrus flourish—orange and mandarin softening the white floral onslaught to come.
Star U.S.A.
Cologne
Essence Wenge
Fougere Royale (2010)
The 2010 reformulation opens with a bright lavender-bergamot rush that quickly gives way to something warmer and more enveloping than the archetype it references.
Dark Rebel
Dark Rebel opens with rum — a warm, slightly sweet, almost boozy note that doesn't read as literal alcohol so much as the atmosphere of a room where it's been poured.
L'Ame Perdue
L'âme Perdue
John Varvatos 10th Anniversary Special Edition
Black Cashmere
Black Cashmere is a serious dark oriental and one of the underrated masterpieces of the early 2000s.
The Formal
Cologne Nocturne
Artisan Pure
The opening is brisk and herbal, dominated by a lemony thyme that feels more kitchen garden than citrus grove.
John Varvatos Platinum Edition
Velvet Desire Dolce&Gabbana
Bronze Goddess 2011
The first spray delivers bright bergamot sharpened by coconut, a pairing that immediately conjures sunscreen and salt-warm skin.
Bronze Goddess 2011 Estée Lauder
Bronze Goddess opens with a flash of bergamot that quickly dissolves into something richer and warmer—coconut milk stirred with caramel, offset by white florals that smell more like resort poolside than formal garden.
John Varvatos
The opening announces itself with a leathery dryness and a thyme-like herbaceousness—not green or fresh, but dusty and slightly medicinal, like the inside of an old apothecary cabinet.
Vintage
The opening arrives with a peculiar coolness—basil and fennel collide in a bracing, almost medicinal swirl that feels more apothecary than cologne counter.
Dark Rebel Rider
Dark Rebel Rider opens with a dry, almost metallic saffron that feels more like worn leather than spice.
John Varvatos Oud
John Varvatos Oud is built like a Middle Eastern-inflected American leather.
Jasmin Rouge
Jasmin Rouge opens with a sharp jolt of spice—cardamom and ginger crackling against bergamot's brightness, immediately warmer and more assertive than many white florals.
Connected Kenneth Cole Reaction
La Mar
LA MAR House of BŌ
Ébène Fumé
The pepper here doesn't snap—it smolders, darkened by incense and something vegetal that keeps the opening from feeling too polished.
White Tea Eau de Parfum
Vacation
Vacation arrived as a collaboration between Arquiste and the Vacation sunscreen brand, and the brief was taken literally: this smells like a swimming pool.
Nanban
Sahara Noir
Sahara Noir opens with a blast of raw labdanum—sticky, leathery, almost medicinal in its intensity.
Jasmin (2020)
ESPIRÍTU House of BŌ
Espiritu
Velvet Black Patchouli Dolce&Gabbana
Champaca Absolute
Champaca Absolute opens with a brief flare of bergamot before the champaca bloom itself takes center stage—honeyed, creamy, and faintly banana-like in its indolic richness.
Misfit
AGUA DE SANTOS House of BŌ
Agua de Santos
Artisan Black
Artisan Black opens with a jolt of bright herbaceous energy—mint and basil cutting through citrus—before quickly settling into something darker and more textured.
Aquafortis
Artisan
The opening is herbal and faintly medicinal, thyme cutting through with a savory edge that feels more kitchen garden than cologne counter.
Neroli Portofino
Neroli Portofino announces itself with the sharp clarity of citrus and herbs—bergamot and lemon sliced through with cool lavender and rosemary, like stepping onto sun-bleached stone still damp from morning.
Bourrasque (2020)
Green Tea Honeysuckle
Green Tea Honeysuckle opens with a bright citrus sharpness—lemon and bergamot cutting through like early morning light on wet leaves.
Green Tea Jasmine
Neroli Portofino Acqua
A paler, more aqueous rendering of the original Neroli Portofino, this flanker leads with neroli stripped of its heavier indolic warmth.
Oud Grandeur
Peau
White Tea Wild Rose
Sydney Rock Pool
L'Astre
With Love
**With Love** opens with a sweet, fruity clarity—mandarin and pomegranate meeting clean florals without tipping into syrup.
Oeillet Bengale
Flor Alegria
Passion Victim
Fleurs de Nuit
Artisan Acqua
The opening is all green bite—galbanum arrives sharp and resinous, almost medicinal, cutting through with the kind of clarity you associate with a good herbal tincture.
Green Tea Revitalize
Green Tea Lotus
The name doesn't lie—this opens as a clean, transparent green tea accord brightened by yuzu's sharp citrus edge and a whisper of soft plum sweetness.
Green Tea Exotic
Motion
Imari Elixir 2015
Imari Elixir opens with a tart blackberry sweetness that feels more juice-stained than candied—bold and immediate, almost startling against skin.
Hidden Fantasy
Hidden Fantasy opens with a bright neroli-orange burst that feels effervescent and uncomplicated, like sunlight through citrus groves.
Walk On Air
J.Crew No. 31
300 Km/h Gamer
Green Tea Pomegranate
Green Tea Summer
Green Tea Sakura Blossom
Radianza
Paradise Moon Estée Lauder
Paradise Moon
Green Tea Tropical
A warm-weather escape in six notes: lychee and passion flower fizz at the top, green tea and magnolia cool the heart, and blackberry lends a soft purple sweetness to the dry-down, all supported by a clean musk that keeps the whole thing afloat.
Green Tea Lychee Lime
Velocity
Velocity announces itself with a tart, purple-dark blackberry that feels more candied than botanical—almost like a fruit compote concentrate rather than fresh berries on the vine.
Little Black Dress | 2016
Gap Established 1969 for Men
Inconfessable
Cerruti 1881 Collection
Clinique Happy
Happy opens with a bright citrus-and-fruit salad—crisp apple and plum tempered by bergamot—that feels deliberately cheerful without tipping into artificial sweetness.
Sweet William
Green Tea Yuzu
Possession
Eau de Prep Tommy
CK Free
ck-free opens with a jolt of star anise, cool and medicinal, before spiraling into something darker and more ambiguous.
Peace, Love and Juicy Couture
Peace Love and Juicy Couture opens with a brash sweetness that announces itself immediately—candied fruits drenched in syrup, unapologetically loud.