Hi, everyone!

Happy Wednesday! I’m here with the second part of my initial thoughts on the Rogue sample set.

40 Rogue: This one feels genuinely vintage without the contemporary edge that the other Rogues have. This is deliberate, as the 40 Rogue composition is based on 40 Love by Jean Desprez. 40 Rogue smells like a garden at first sniff, with fruity and green notes. There are notes of tarragon and basil, so it’s quite herbaceous. I get a nice bit of carnation coming through on my skin. And, of course, a hefty dose of textured oakmoss. There are some aldehydes, which on bounce around on my skin, and keep everything from becoming too dense or heavy. I’ve never smelled 40 Love, so this is a cool opportunity to get a feel for the real thing.

Fougère L’Aube: This one is an instantly recognizable fougère. I get plenty of lavender and a cool, metallic geranium. There’s lots of herbaceous greenery. I don’t sense much of the hay note, but I’ll have to wear it more in cooler weather. I wonder if it might come through more prominently then. Fougère L’Aube comes across as rather dry to me, which I like. It has a crackling cool edge to it, which is nice for the fougère genre. It’s a genre that can sometimes feel dated (although I personally love fougères). This one smells familiar enough as a fougère, but not dated or overdone.

Le Canotier: This is an extremely elegant and very dry vetiver. It’s blended quite cleverly with a pretty, soapy jasmine. Personally, I also get tons of bergamot from this one. I don’t know if it’s just my skin chemistry. I have a jasmine earl grey tea blend from Twinings, and that’s exactly what Le Canotier reminds me of! There’s some ambergris in the base to add some warmth and anchor this on the skin. Otherwise, I find it dry and cool-toned in nature. It’s a very intriguing composition.

Tabac Vert: This one really took me by surprise. I was expecting a somewhat heavy tobacco composition appropriate for fall/winter. Tabac Vert is delicate and elegant, with tendrils of tobacco smoke weaving their way through a soft, powdery composition. I get a black pepper spice mixed with soft jasmine. The base is an amber and wood accord, but it has a sheerness to it that lends a sophistication to the composition as a whole.

All of the Rogue scents are entirely unisex. (Indeed, all fragrance is unisex.) If you’re a woman who feels self-conscious about wearing a fougère or a tobacco fragrance, give Tabac Vert or Fougère L’Aube a try. Likewise, if you’re a guy who doesn’t typically go for sweet or vanilla scents, you might want to give Derviche a shot.

Lastly, don’t be put off by the fact that Rogue is available through Etsy. Ordering was simple and the shipping was faster than some orders I’ve placed with larger department stores. Manuel Cross is committed to pursuing his own independent view of fragrance as art. And, because he is not compliant with IFRA regulations, he can’t sell through the typical platforms that we’re used to. Personally, I think it’s cool that platforms like Etsy allow independent artists to reach their audience.

Final verdict: give the Rogue sample set a shot! You’ll be busy sniffing and testing for days on end!

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The photo above was taken by me. I purchased the Rogue Perfumery Boxed Sample Set through the Rogue Etsy store. Nothing in this post was gifted.

I have seen and heard quite a bit recently about Manuel Cross and his non IFRA compliant fragrance line, Rogue Perfumery. Rogue has been added to Fragrantica’s database and you’ll encounter photos of Rogue bottles all over social media. The positive commentary did not seem to be sponsored. I figured the hype might actually be real in this case and I ordered the sample pack!

The shipping was super quick from California to Pennsylvania. The sample pack includes so many scents that I’m breaking this overview into two parts. Part 2 will be up next week. I really want to take my time and give each of these little gems a fair wear test.

Champs Lunaire: This is a lovely creamy white tuberose compositon, bolstered by coconut and sandalwood. It’s like a cross between Fracas and Carnal Flower. There is something here that gives me a slight headache though, so I am using it sparingly.

Chypre-Siam: I find this one quite woody and herbal in the top. Apparently there is a basil note. The jasmine in the mid notes leans clean and soapy (some commenters on Fragrantica mention Irish Spring and I can see the comparison). The base is the star, with rich civet and oakmoss. It’s textured, damp, dense, weird, and amazing. It reminds me of an old sample I have of Cabochard by Gres.

Derviche: This is the undisputed crowd pleaser in the collection. This is how a crowd pleasing, mass appeal fragrance should be done. It’s a yummy amber accord that is delicious, but not quite gourmand. It’s very Autumnal. It reminds me of apple cider. And yet, it gives off a sunny vibe and it shines in this current August weather. Derviche is a crowd pleaser, but not one dimensional or juvenile. I can’t help but smile while wearing it.

Flos Mortis: If Champs Lunaire feels a bit too polite, then Flos Mortis is the tuberose for you! The opening is bizarre. It smelled like smoky cherry cough syprup to me. It started to make sense to my nose once the tuberose really became apparent. There is also a smoky leather and a fruity red currant (which is where my brain was getting the cherry note). This tuberose smells in turns: animalic, like melting plastic, and even a little like corn meal. I got whiffs of the corn tortilla tuberose in Tom Ford’s Orchid Soleil. Flos Mortis is the weirdest Rogue I’ve smelled, and also the most interesting.

Mousse Illuminée: This is my favorite so far. Mousse Illuminée brings every aspect of a forest to life. It’s earthy, woody, mossy. There’s a quite a bit of green, vegetal influence here even apart from the oakmoss. There’s some cypress that really elevates the composition. We’re taken from the mossy forest floor to the higher reaches of greenery. If this were a designer scent, it would definitely be marketed towards men. However, I love it and I think it’s a really sophisticated option for women.

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I ordered the Rogue sample pack online. Nothing in this post was gifted.

The photo was taken by me.