Rose Prick vs Plum Japonais
Side by side. Scored honestly.
← Compare different fragrances
No shared notes — these two land in very different territory.
Side by side
Comparing the originals — price, breadth, listed-note depth.
Damask and Turkish rose hit immediately in the opening — full, saturated, almost brutally floral, sharpened by pink and Sichuan pepper that add a genuine bite rather than decorative spice. The heart keeps that rose in focus while jasmine deepens it without going powdery. Dry-down is where it earns the oriental tag: tonka bean and vanilla warm the base into something almost edible, with patchouli grounding it just enough to prevent sweetness from going cloying. Projection is bold for the first two hours, then settles into close, skin-level sillage — intimate but persistent — Fall and winter evenings; wears best on someone who wants a rose that refuses to be polite.
Opens with a ripe, almost bruised plum that's more lacquered than juicy, immediately softened by osmanthus lending an apricot-skin sweetness with faint leather underneath. The heart deepens into smoky incense that keeps the fruit from going gourmand-syrupy, holding everything in elegant tension. Dry-down is warm sandalwood and amber with a skin-close musk — projection is moderate to low, sillage intimate rather than commanding. The overall effect is a sophisticated, quietly smoldering oriental that wears like a second skin — ideal for cold-weather evenings and anyone who prefers depth over spectacle.
How they overlap
Rose Prick and Plum Japonais share no notes in common — these two fragrances target very different olfactory territory, and the comparison is a question of which direction you want to go rather than which version of the same accord.
The buying decision
Plum Japonais is the cheaper original at $365 compared to $395 for Rose Prick — about 8% less. Both wear best across the same fall/winter — they're interchangeable on weather fit.
Recommendation
These two land in genuinely different scent territory — there's no "better" answer, just which direction you want to go. Read the scent descriptions above and pick the one that sounds like you'd want to smell.