I don't make it much of a secret that Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is my style queen. Her pared-back, quiet luxury aesthetic is everything I strive for. I have long admired her sartorial excellence and her make-up choices (her own brand, Rose Inc, makes one of the best dewy skin tints of all time). Something I have wondered over the years, though, is what somebody with as much style and grace as Rosie Huntington-Whiteley might consider their perfume of choice.
A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to meet my style idol and see what she carried in her make-up bag. Her fragrance pick that day was Byredo Gypsy Water. But since then, I have noticed somewhat of a beauty and style evolution with Rosie HW—and it seems her fragrance taste has shifted. Nowadays, she's into something far more niche (and, in my opinion, even more luxurious). I've discovered that a bottle of Maison Crivelli Tubéreuse Astrale sits in her handbag.
Last week, as I scrolled my Instagram feed, one post from Rosie stopped me in my tracks: an image, nonchalantly nestled in a Carousel post, that showed the contents of her handbag (the year's it-bag, The Row Margaux, no less). Alongside a pair of sunglasses and some very beautiful AirPod paraphernalia was a bottle of one very luxe perfume—a niche perfume I just so happen to already have in my collection.
If you haven't heard of Maison Crivelli before, you are forgiven—it's not the sort of brand you'll find on every high street. Having said that, the French haute perfumery house is, in my opinion, one of the greatest fragrance brands of our time. Each scent is created from a specific discovery and experience—every fragrance sets a scene in which you can instantly imagine yourself in. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's current Maison Crivelli creation of choice, Tubéreuse Astrale, is one of my personal favourites. It depicts a childhood memory of brand founder, Thibaud Crivelli, whereby he remembers smelling the scent of tuberose while standing under the Milky Way.
And to me, a Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Tubéreuse Astrale pairing makes perfect sense. It is, after all, one of the most luxurious and stylish perfumes I have ever encountered. While expensive-smelling perfumes tend to lean towards heavy wood notes, like oud, this one is different. As an extrait (the punchiest form of perfume out there), its sillage and longevity on the skin is second-to-none. When I first tried it, I sprayed it on my arm at midday, and by midnight I was still getting sweet, beautiful wafts of it.
So what makes it so special? Well, for me, it's in the craftsmanship. On very first spray, Tubéreuse Astrale is teeth-clenchingly sweet, but within a split second it transforms into something creamy and warm (the very nature of tuberose) to deliver something akin to a strawberries and cream hardboiled sweet. It possesses that warming, comforting allure that attracts people to you like a magnet—the same draw that Baccarat Rouge 540 has.
But to stop the description there would be selling it short, because it's so much more than just creamy and warm. It is sparkling and effervescent on the nose but binds to the skin with unparalleled richness. You see, nestled at the bottom of that creamy, sparkling punchiness is a deep, leathery base. My final description? It's like liquifying velvety white petals, stirring them into some cream soda and pouring it over a sheet of aged leather.
Truthfully, I'm over the moon to learn that Rose Huntington-Whiteley is a fan of this masterpiece, but I'm even more over the moon that we have it in common. Now I just need to secure the Margaux bag to keep it in...
