Hermes Rose Ikebana (Hermessence Series)

I don't get much leather out of Kelly Caleche so perhaps for that reason Rose Ikebana smells very similar to me. I like RI but not enough to plonk down the extra money for it. Maybe the materials are more expensive in RI, but if not, it's pretty cheeky of Hermes to be charging so much for it! Unless of course they are making a loss on Kelly Caleche, which is possible I guess ...

I won't write a review on the scent, because I think everyone described it well and you have to smell fragrance yourself to figure out how you would perceive the scent. I want to talk about the packaging. The bottle is simple and beautiful. I think the glass is too thin on the sides and the cap doesn't go on very well. The cap is in a form of a metal with a leather strap around it and revealing stitches. I have to stress out that the cap does not go on very well. As for the spray, I find it distributes nicely.

Rose Ikebana is a light and airy rose. Starting with a citrus burst, the rose emerges soft and weightless, I also smell fresh rhubarb and a tea note. It is easy to wear, undemanding, uplifting, a pink rose on a day in spring.
I love it for it’s lightness and unpretentiousness, for me it smells like the color pink, a soft, light pink, like ballet shoes.

Jean Claude Ellena is not called "The Nose" for nothing!
I am not a rose perfume lover, per se, but this one is MAGNIFICENT!
I handed the perfume sample to my mother who then waltzed around the room spraying herself almost.......indecently!
When I first smelled it, I was reminded of an Yves Saint Laurent perfume I used to own, called "In Love Again". I looked it up, and Ellena was responsible for that one too. Turns out I have been a fan of Ellena for years without even knowing it.
The first sniff of Rose Ikebana, is reminiscent of In Love Again, but then this composition does something completely different. It is less sweet, and more complex.
Interesting that it's called "Ikebana" Japanese for the (almost cold) art of flower arranging, when this scent is so lush, and close to the skin and, well, HOT.
If you like Rose, this is almost what love smells like.

On my second bottle of this....still in sticker shock in how much the price has gone up since my first purchase in Rome 2006. I paid $240 for this at the Hermes store in NYC. Alas, I am addicted to this fragrance in the summertime...roses but not too strong and overpowering. I can't speak of all the nuances that other MUA "noses" poetically speak of, only to say that it is a favorite and I will always have it on my bureau.

Super fresh green rose with pucker power! Very pretty, feminine and well balanced' after all it's Jean Claude Ellena. JCE's fragrances are ALWAYS well balanced and finished. He leaves no loose ends and it's always smooth as silk. In fact -- Rose Ikebana is the 'silk' fragrances of the collection, as all Hermessense fragrances have a simile... Indeed.. it's silky on the skin and lies nicely with medium sillage. It's clean, rosy but not old fashioned roses, as the rhubarb makes Rose Ikebana modern. The top notes of Grapefruit stay linear. I can smell the grapefruit even in the drydown. This is odd to me, as I may be wrong but top notes are suppose to fade aren't they? Not Rose Ikebana... it's pretty puckery grapefruit notes stay throughout the whole arrangement. Even more so than the rose! Lovely.. and long lasting...... FBW. Another lovely one from JCE~

Added: 7/23/10

The drydown of this is the newborn baby scent that I've been lemming since the birth of my daughter almost 17 years ago. Amazing... If you have searched high and low like me... this is it. I can smell roses, warm skin, a little sweet & sour with that natural lanolin note of all babies have ... it's just heaven!

This is similar to Diptyque's L'Ombre Dans L'eau (based on their popular Baies candle of bulgarian rose and blackcurrant leaf), but Rose Ikebana is slightly rindier (like grapefruit or yuzu) and sweeter. It's a stemmy green floral with prominent rose; light, clean, ozonic. I like it a touch more than the Diptyque because of the citrusy sugar note. If you are looking to spend less than the costly Hermes, do check out the Diptyque.

Its a light fresh sharp rose. Its very feminine and smells like cut roses to me not too heady and overpowering as some rose fragrances can be. Great for summer

Lovely fruity rose tea scent. It's soft, dry and quiet. I don't smell any similarity between Rose Ikebana and Kelly Caleche. To my nose, Kelly Caleche is leathery but Rose Ikebana is not at all.

Lovely scent all around: tart, floral and fresh, with a lovely tea background. Rose notes dominate-- but if you are frightened off by the powdery rose scents out there, don't worry! The rhubarb and tea keep this rose scent fresh and sharp. The rhubarb is esp strong in the top notes. I agree with comments that it's similar to Kelly Caleche (in theme, though they use different notes). Lasting power is excellent on my skin and even better on fabric. I spray a scented handkerchief which I take to work, and it lasts for days.

On a budget? Find Yves Saint Laurent's (now discontinued) In Love Again. It's one of the earlier Jean Claude Ellena; it's a gentler Rose Ikebana (not as sharp, without the tea note). It's less refined and sophisticated, with a warm and informal berry note. If you can afford both, get both! YSL ILA can be easily found on ebay and is absolutely worth sampling!

Like this? Also try: YSL In Love Again, Un Jardin Sur le Nil, Kelly Caleche, Osmanthe Yunnan and Ecume by Rosine. Here's why: In Love Again smells like the "first version" of Rose Ikebana imho. Ecume by Rosine is another rose fragrance that isn't powdery (balanced with aquatics); less feminine on me. Un Jardin Sur le Nil is the second cousin of RI, with mango and citrus; less tart, slightly sweeter and more sparkly (less floral). Osmanthe Yunnan keeps the tea note but removes the rose, and uses apricot and osmanthus flower instead of the rhubarb and rose. Kelly Caleche keeps the rose, loses the tea, and adds in a bit of leather (someone suggested it as "leather for beginners"-- this is true; it's not too much). Edp and edt are both worth a try (and quite different); the edt in Kelly Caleche has an interesting herbal top note; the edp is gentler with smoother edges.