By Hernando Courtright
Rosy & Earnest Vanilla Rum Royal – eau de parfum photo Johanna Barlet
Last month, I attended Beauty Independent’s Uplink Expo, a trade show that connects entrepreneurs and suppliers who are focused on emerging beauty collections. The New York City event featured 60 commercially ready under-the-radar brands to discover and meet their founders in person.
Brand founders of Rosy & Earnest Marilou Hamer and Caroline Gelineault photo Hernando Courtright©
My show’s highlight was meeting Rosy & Earnest co-founders, Marilou Hamer and Caroline Gelineault. Rosy and Earnest is from Montreal, Canada has four fragrances to date, their “namesake” scents, Be Rosy and Be Earnest from March 2023, and in April 2024 the launch of two new gourmand scents, Pistachio Delight and Vanilla Rum Royal. As they told me the most satisfying decision for the brands was to pursue EWG Verified certification. Becoming only the second brand in the Eau de Parfum category (and the only Canadian) to receive it is quite an achievement. This decision made it problematic to find a perfumer with a mindset to work with a different range of ingredients and to fully disclose those ingredients.
Nathalie Feisthauer courtesy of the perfumer
So why did they go down this path I asked? As mothers, they had dealt with health and inflammation issues and questioned the safety of the ingredients in the products we were using, particularly fragrances because perfume ingredients are seldom listed due to what the industry calls “trade secrets.” This allows companies to withhold numerous ingredients under the generic term “fragrance” or “parfum” potentially concealing harmful substances linked to various health concerns. A report that alarmed them was “Right to Know: Exposing Toxic Fragrance Chemicals in Beauty, Personal Care, and Cleaning Products,” published in 2018 by Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP). I would concur being very familiar with the report (I’ve been a board member of two Breast Cancer Foundations). Rosy & Earnest fragrances are composed by Master Perfumer Nathalie Feisthauer, the perfect perfumer for this house. Madame Feisthauer has more awards and accolades that there are too many too list. She is that good.
photo Rosy & Earnest
Vanilla is one of my favorite ingredients and takes me to a happy place. I am very discerning because there so many on the marketplace, but Rosy & Earnest Vanilla Rum Royal smells unique. The bergamot here is engaging and elegant opening the door to the nuanced pink berries which add brightness. The white wine lees essence imparts a California chardonnay vibe with its vanilla tones and is deftly blended with what smells like top shelf rum, slightly, but not overly sweet, and worthy of its own snifter. The warmth of the rum balances the smooth, silkiness of the vanilla- a creamy, delicious treat for your nose. Rosy & Earnest Vanilla Rum Royal is a decadently enticing revelation, and here is where I raise a glass to Marilou, Caroline and Nathalie. À votre santé
Top Notes: Bergamot, Pink berries, White wine lees; Heart Notes: Rum CO2 extract; Base Notes: Vanilla, Oak, Labdanum, Musk
Perfume concentration: 22%
Disclosure: Hernando received a bottle, opinions his own
–Hernando Courtright, Senior Contributor, and Brand Ambassador
Vanilla Rum Royal photo Natalia Alaimo
Thanks to Rosy & Earnest, we have 50 ml of Vanilla Rum Royal for one registered reader in the US and Canada. You must be registered or your comment will not count to be eligible, please comment on what sparked your interest in Hernando’s review and where you live. Draw closes 7/10/24
Read Olya Bar’s review of Pistachio Delight here.
Nathalie Feisthauer was Nicoleta’s best Perfumer of 2023 and Michelyn’s of 2022 and 2021
Learn more about this women-owned brand here www.rosyandearnest.com
Instagram @cafleurebonofficial @CourtrightMgmt @nathalie.Feisthauer @rosyandearnest @marilou.hamer
