Floral

Damask rose absolute smells like the most intensely fragrant rose you've ever encountered—imagine burying your face in a bouquet of the deepest, most perfumed garden roses, then concentrating that scent fifty-fold. It's honeyed and slightly spicy, with a subtle fruitiness reminiscent of dried apricots or plum jam. There's an almost indolic, slightly animalic quality beneath—vaguely reminiscent of skin musk or old velvet—that makes it feel luxurious and slightly dark rather than purely innocent and floral.

Smoky & Earthy

Harshness is the acrid, almost burning sensation you experience when inhaling smoke from a freshly extinguished candle—sharp, slightly metallic, with an underlying bitterness. Imagine the charred edges of burnt toast, the metallic tang of iron filings warming on a stove, combined with the peppery bite of black smoke curling through cold air. It's deliberately unpolished, confrontational even, lacking the smooth sweetness of other smoky notes. There's an almost medicinal quality, like antiseptic meeting ash.