Based on the bottle, I cannot think of a more appropriate Valentine’s Day perfume than Tom Ford’s ‘Rose Prick.’ The matte pink opaque design just screams Valentine’s gift – and I am sure that is not accidental. Since i love anything  rose, I was of course more than excited to try this. And the notes looked interesting as well: three types of roses, schezuan pepper, tonka bean. I mean, even if it turns out not for me, it’s going to be at least interesting, right?

Too bad it’s not. The promised opening of pepper and turmeric kind of scared me, but on my skin it was just plain old musk. It didn’t even wake me up, just boring white musk. I do admit that the rose that came after it was gorgeous. It is a rose in full bloom, though if I must admit, a little on the synthetic side. Then I do get the tonka bean, which rounds out the base on the woodsy side. And then the patchouli, which gives this a very dry base. And frankly, nothing unique. Rose Prick smells like a hundred different things I have smelled before.

I was very disappointed in this. It’s so generic smelling, and at $335 for a 50 ml, I expected more. I can think of a hundred other choices for my Valentine’s scent before this one.