Rose gets written off as old-fashioned by people who've smelled two of them. has been distilled since the Persian rosewater stills and it's still being pulled apart in niche labs today, which is why it can read powdery and vintage in one bottle and faintly menacing in the next. Nine of them below, classics first.

The Classics: Where Rose Perfumery Began

1. Tea Rose — Perfumer's Workshop

by is the cheapest way to find out whether you like rose or just like the idea of it. This is the flower with nothing standing in front of it — dewy, just-picked, a whisper of green stem, no heavy musks or clever base notes running interference. It's been an icon since the 1970s and it's still the reference point for what a transparent rose actually smells like. The honest catch is that there's no second act. At that modest price point, though, that's not a flaw, it's the whole proposition.

2. Ombre Rose L'Original — Jean Charles Brosseau

by came out in 1981 and smells like it, in the best way. Rose here is sitting on warm sandalwood, vanilla and a dusting of iris powder, and that iris is what gives the whole thing its velvet-against-skin texture. If modern roses read thin and scrubbed to you, this is the corrective. Be clear about what you're buying, though: it is unapologetically powdery, and if powder means talc and old handbags to your nose, Ombre Rose won't talk you round.

3. Chanel No 5 Eau de Parfum — Chanel

by isn't a soliflore, and anyone buying it for a rose fix will be disappointed. May rose (Rosa centifolia) is one of its pillars, but it's blended into , aldehydes and a creamy sandalwood base until it stops being a flower and becomes an abstraction. That's the point. It smells like the idea of flowers rather than any one of them, and the aldehydes are what push it from bouquet to something luminous and slightly unreal. It's here because a century of perfumery has been built on it, not because it'll scratch the itch the other eight will.

Modern Masterpieces: Rose Reimagined

4. Portrait of a Lady — Frederic Malle

by is the rose of this century, and the reputation is deserved. Dominique Ropion stacked hundreds of Turkish rose heads on a base of , sandalwood and frankincense, and it's that resinous underside that stops the whole thing being merely pretty. Monumental is the right word. So is loud — this doesn't do quiet, it doesn't do office, and if you want a rose that whispers you're in the wrong place. Genderless in any way that matters.

5. Rose 31 — Le Labo

by refuses to make rose sweet. Cumin, cedar and crowd in around the flower and turn it woody and slightly spiced — raw, earthy, stripped of the romantic clichés. It leans masculine and belongs to anyone who wants it. The cumin is the dividing line, and Rose 31 doesn't hide it: to some noses it's skin and warmth, to others it's a body odour accord with a flower attached. Sample this one before you commit.

6. Noir de Noir — Tom Ford

by drags rose somewhere much darker. Black truffle, oud and rich patchouli close in on a velvety Turkish rose, and the truffle is the strange, savoury thing that keeps it from tipping into dessert. It sits in an odd corner where gourmand, floral and woody all meet, and the rose at the centre is what stops the shadows swallowing it whole. Wrong at nine in the morning. Right in a cold, badly lit room in December.

7. Delina — Parfums de Marly

by is the crowd-pleaser of the list, and it earned that fairly. Turkish rose and peony get lifted by lychee and up top, then cashmeran and settle it into a clean, skin-like warmth. Elegant with jeans, elegant with a cocktail dress. The problem with a modern phenomenon is that everyone gets there eventually, and Delina has become close to a signature-scent shorthand — buy it because you love it, not because you want to smell like nobody else.

8. Rose of No Man's Land — Byredo

by takes its name from the nurses who tended soldiers in World War I, and the backstory does a lot of heavy lifting in the marketing. The fragrance is quieter than the legend: crisp pink pepper against Turkish rose, then raspberry blossom and papyrus softening the edges. Clean, modern, understated. That's what makes it the most wearable thing here — it's the one you can put on every morning without thinking about it, and still have someone ask what it is.

9. Roses Musk — Montale

by buries rose in white musk until it goes airy and almost weightless. Cult status, and simplicity is the reason rather than the objection — there's no puzzle to solve here. What it does have is projection and longevity out of proportion to how soft it smells, so a light hand goes further than you'd expect. If you want a rose that stays in the room after you leave it, this is the one.

Tips for Choosing Your Perfect Rose Fragrance

Consider the occasion. Transparent roses like Tea Rose belong to warm weather and casual afternoons. Portrait of a Lady and Noir de Noir are cold-weather, after-dark fragrances, and wearing them in July is a decision you'll regret by lunchtime.

Think about layering. Rose sits well on oud, musk, patchouli and vanilla. If there's already a woody or musky bottle on your shelf, a rose-forward scent is the obvious partner for it.

Sample before you commit. These nine range from green and dewy to dark and resinous, and what reads as romantic on a blotter can go somewhere else entirely on skin. Most of the fragrances listed above are available as discovery samples from their respective brands, and rose is the last note you should buy blind.

Do not be limited by gender. Rose 31, Portrait of a Lady and Noir de Noir were built for anyone. The right rose is the one you want to keep smelling on yourself.

If you're buying one bottle: Portrait of a Lady, if you can stomach the price and the volume, because nothing else on this list has that kind of presence. If you want a rose for actual daily life, Rose of No Man's Land is the better buy and it isn't close. Delina is the safe choice, Rose 31 is the interesting one, and Tea Rose is what you get if you're still working out which camp you're in — which is a genuinely good place to start.

Have a look at the note page to see what else the flower gets up to across perfumery, then read up on before you spend anything on it.