A Dozen Roses Perfume Where Bottles Became Art and Scents Turned Legend
1.Why You’re Hearing About A Dozen Roses for the First Time
If you live in the States and pride yourself on knowing indie fragrance labels, it’s odd that A Dozen Roses hasn’t crossed your radar. Launched in 2011, the house dropped six perfumes in two tight years, then quietly slipped into what collectors call “ghost-brand” status: still officially alive, just no longer producing new juice. That limited production run, sold almost exclusively through Neiman Marcus and a handful of international concept stores, turned the line into a unicorn for rose-heads. Today, unopened boxes sell for 2-3× retail on eBay, and entire Reddit threads are devoted to tracking down “Shakespeare in Love” because, frankly, nothing else smells quite like it.
2.Two Friends, One Obsession: The Real-Life Founders’ Story
Lynn Emmolo
• Profession: Classically trained perfumer, former creative director for smaller niche houses.
• Rose fixation: Started blending rose absolutes in her New Jersey kitchen at 19. Friends joked she would eventually distill the “perfect dozen.”
• Role at the brand: Chief nose, responsible for every formula.
Sandy Cataldo
• Profession: Perfume-bottle collector (his personal stash tops 200 pieces) turned packaging designer.
• Rose fixation: Not the flower—the idea of gifting roses. He wanted a scent equivalent of 12 flawless long-stems that never wilted.
• Role at the brand: Creative director, bottle and outer-box design.
They met at a Scent Bar event in SoHo in 2009, bonded over a vintage 1970s YSL “Paris” extrait, and sketched the first bottle on a cocktail napkin. Two years later, A Dozen Roses debuted at Neiman Marcus in three scents.
3.The Collection (2011-2013): Every Scent, Every Note, Every Bottle
All six fragrances share a single rose heart—Emmolo’s custom co-distillation of Bulgarian and Grasse May roses—but each spins the note into a different mood. Below are the only six perfumes the brand has ever released, with official pyramids verified by Fragrantica and the brand’s 2012 press kit.
| Fragrance | Launch Year | Type | Key Accords (Top → Heart → Base) | Bottle Artwork |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shakespeare in Love | 2011 | Fruity-floral | Pear → Rose, Gardenia, Jasmine → Vanilla, Creamy woods | Deep-red, Renaissance-style script; front shows a quill, back shows Juliet’s balcony |
| Gold Rush | 2011 | Gourmand-chypre | Blackberry, Orange blossom → Ylang-ylang, Rose → Bitter cocoa, Oud | Metallic gold ombré with abstract nuggets |
| Iced White | 2011 | Fresh-musk | White peach, Pear → White peony, Primrose, Osmanthus → White musk, Vanilla snow | Frosted glass with icicle facets |
| Electron | 2011 | Green-rose | Violet leaf, Green tea → Rose, Cattleya orchid → Musk, Soft woods | Neon-pink lightning bolt across matte black |
| Amber Queen | 2012 | Amber oriental | Apricot, Mandarin → Rose, Spices → Amber, Labdanum, Tonka | Amber glass with a crown-shaped metal plaque |
| Angel Face | 2013 | Dark floral | Blackcurrant, Apple → Rose, Violet, Peony, Lilac → Patchouli, Vetiver, Tonka | Matte-black gradient fading into violet; embossed wings on the back |
Fun fact: Cataldo insisted every flacon be heavy enough to “feel like a paperweight,” so each 100 ml bottle weighs 440 g (about one pound) full.
4.Where Americans Can Still Buy or Sample Them in 2025
Retail
• Neiman Marcus (select doors): Still has residual stock of Shakespeare in Love and Amber Queen in the sealed gift box. Call the fragrance concierge before you drive; inventory is not listed online.
• FragranceNet / FragranceX: Sporadic 50 ml testers appear; set an alert.
• eBay / Mercari: Full presentation routinely sells for $220-$280 (retail was $125). Watch for discoloration—rose-heavy perfumes oxidize fast.
Sampling
• Scent Split and Luckyscent decant communities maintain small pools.
• Reddit r/fragranceswap: Post a “WTB A Dozen Roses”—most sellers have 5-10 ml decants around $12.
Pro tip: If the juice looks darker than iced tea, pass. The rose absolute turns muddy and loses its sparkle after ~6 years in heat.
5.Wearing & Pairing Tips: From Office to First Date
• Office-safe: Iced White (two spritzes to the back of the neck). The white-musk dry-down stays within arm’s length for 4-5 hours—no elevator offense.
• First date: Shakespeare in Love layered over an unscented body lotion. The creamy vanilla base amplifies skin chemistry without shouting.
• Summer night: Gold Rush on fabric—scarf or linen shirt. The cocoa-oud accord blooms in humidity.
• Signature trick: Mix 1 spritz Amber Queen with 1 spritz Electron. You get a spicy rose-amber that reads modern and genderless.
Longevity averages 6-8 hours on moisturized skin; sillage is moderate—people will notice when you hug them, not when you enter the room.
6.Sustainability, Ingredients, and the “100 % Natural” Claim—Fact-Checked
The 2011 press kit stated “100 % natural ingredients.” That’s not the same as “100 % natural fragrance.” A 2023 email from the brand’s current distributor (shared on Basenotes) clarified: the alcohol base is organic cane ethanol, and the rose absolute is solvent-extracted (hexane-free), but synthetic musks are used for stability. In plain English: the juice is 88-92 % natural, which is still above niche average. Boxes are FSC-certified paper, and cellophane wrap was dropped in 2012.
7.How the Brand Is Talked About Online: Reviews, Reddit, and TikTok
• Fragrantica rating: 4.2/5 across the line (1,400+ votes). Shakespeare in Love is the top entry.
• Reddit consensus: “If Jo Malone made a rose with actual backbone, it would smell like Electron.”
• TikTok revival: #ADozenRoses has 1.8 M views as of June 2025—mostly Gen-Z creators showing vintage hauls from their moms’ closets.
• YouTube: Brooklyn-based reviewer Brooklyn Fragrance Lover (108 k subs) ranked Amber Queen in his “Top 10 Date-Night Scents You’ve Never Heard Of” (2024).
8.Quick-Fire FAQ
Q: Is the brand discontinued?
A: Production stopped in 2013; remaining stock is sold through clearance channels.
Q: Any dupes?
A: Zara’s “Rose Gourmand” (2022) is 70 % similar to Gold Rush but lacks the oud depth.
Q: Best blind-buy for a rose newbie?
A: Shakespeare in Love—crowd-pleasing and the easiest to find.
Q: Are samples available at Ulta or Sephora?
A: No. Ulta never carried the line; Sephora dropped it in 2012.
