Rose Prick

Rose Prick was built on the idea that a rose should have a defence, and Tom Ford keeps that structure in the All Over Body Spray. The published key notes are Bulgarian rose, turmeric extract, Indonesian patchouli, Sichuan pepper, roasted tonka and Tolu balsam, and the interest is all in the non-rose materials. Sichuan pepper opens with a bright, tingling spice that has a citric edge, and turmeric follows almost immediately with something far less usual: dusty, earthy, faintly bitter and slightly medicinal, the note that makes this rose recognisable in a crowded category. The rose itself is Bulgarian rather than Turkish or May, so it is deep and jammy instead of green and dewy, and it dominates the middle without being sweet. Indonesian patchouli grounds it in dark earth, and roasted tonka with Tolu balsam gives a warm, resinous, faintly nutty close. Tom Ford's own copy describes the spray as a pristine floral in an invigorating format, and at aerosol strength the spice thins first, leaving a soft rose-patchouli skin scent inside an hour. Best used as a base layer under the Eau de Parfum, or on its own for people who want the idea of Rose Prick without the price of committing to it. Spring and autumn suit it; it is too earthy to read as a summer floral.