Inspired by her daughter Julia, Carine Roitfeld teamed up with famous French perfumer Dominique Ropion to create her latest scent –

“Forgive me is a timeless perfume with allure and intensity. It is wild , bold, almost irreverent like a black bouquet of voluptuous white flowers. It’s a fragrance expressing feelings duality, passion, irresistible attraction as well as unexpected urge to escape.”

Firstly let’s take a look at the bottle. I love the intense purple colour – to me at least it implies a bold and daring scent. But does the fragrance inside live up to its striking packaging? I love how the bottle feels ergonomic to hold, whilst also being aesthetically pleasing, and the heavy, magnetised lid offers an additional luxurious touch.

Forgive Me opens with notes of tangerine, pink pepper and orange blossom, or so I’m told, as interestingly I don’t really pick up on any of these notes specifically, maybe a hint of pink pepper, but my initial impression is this is a very well blended fragrance, it’s intense, heady, and heavy, projecting what can only be described as a huge bouquet of white flowers and woody patchouli.

After a while, often in scent the top notes will start to disappear, but I feel the notes don’t really change in Forgive Me, however the scent definitely intensifies. This is a fragrance that’s heavy on the white flowers, they bloom and envelop you in heady notes of tuberose, ylang ylang and gardenia through the longevity of the scent. There’s something quite indolic about these florals, they demand attention and have an almost animalic element to them. The base notes are very apparent too, especially patchouli, giving the fragrance an added layer of richness.

I have to say Forgive Me really is a powerhouse of a fragrance, and it’s this intensity that gives Forgive Me an edge. This is a perfume not for the faint of heart. Forgive Me is seductive, dark and voluptuous, and I find it incredibly addictive.

I’d say this is definitely more of a feminine leaning scent, it feels thick and all enveloping. There’s an underlying darkness here, something slightly off – but not in a bad way, it’s incredibly alluring. This is a scent that’s intriguing, captivating and really a must try if you love heavy white florals.

Carine Roitfeld Fragrance Perfume Review