THE BEGUILING LAMENT OF THE DESERT
Born in the gardens of Ispahan, Damascus rose returned from Syria with the crusaders; while in the 18th century the centifolia rose was colonizing Europe, Turkish rose remained the divine essence of Eastern magicians. Al-iksîr is the Arabic origin of the world elixir: a golden, sweet-smelling elixir that Arabian perfumers were the first to obtain through the water vapour distillation of fragile corolla.
The rose was one of the first flowers to yield the secret of its fragrance. And attar of rose, the flowers essence, became the perfumed secret with honey-colored reflections worn equally by men and by women. For Giorgio Armani, Damascus rose is the incarnation of sensuality; it has the rhythm of purple and gold silk: slow, radiant and shimmering. Rose d'Arabie is a majestic ode to the essence of rose. Spicy with flashes of saffron at the outset, it chooses patchouli and dark woods in order to develop at the heart. At the base it gives itself up to the sensual harmonies of golden amber.
