Rochas – Tocade eau de toilette review

Tocade is an overlooked and little-known perfume classic of the Rochas brand that appeared in 1994. Few people know that it is actually Tocade that, by combining perfectly two titanic forces – rose and vanilla, inspired many other niches and designer perfumes to do the same. It is debatable how successful they were in that, since the power of vanilla and rose cannot be easily controlled, and the end result is often fatal for the people around those who wear such perfumes. This is not the case with the masterpiece made by Maurice Roucel, because Tocade envelops the lady who wears it with a heavenly fragrant cloud, vibrant, delicious and enchanting.

At the time it appeared, in the nineties of the twentieth century, Tocade was anything but trendy. After the powerhouse perfumes that reigned in the eighties, like Opium and Kouros, the perfume audience wanted a fragrant detox. Intense and penetrating aromatic notes of white flowers and notes of animal origin were set aside. The leading role was given to hesperidic notes as well as refreshing marine notes. The superheroes of everyday life became CK One and Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey, and cult perfumes, regardless of quality, as was the case with Thierry Mugler Angel, took years to break through the citrusy cloud that loomed over the world’s metropoles.

It can be said that the moment for the launch of Tocade was not the most fortunate. Chanel Egoiste, an equally high-quality and noteworthy perfume, which has never received its recognition precisely because of the trends, has experienced a somewhat similar fate. But that does not mean perfume lovers can’t discover long-forgotten gems, bring them back to life, and give them a new destiny. Especially having in mind the low and favorable price that Tocade currently has.

The perfume composition of Tocade is an oriental floral, so-called floriental, rich in numerous floral notes of freesia, mimosa, iris, and jasmine, as well as woody notes of cedar and patchouli, with the inevitable fragrant resins and musk. Again, the only notes that are essential in this composition and that sing perfectly in unison, like the duet of Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe, are two divas, vanilla and rose, whose essence is recognizable among thousands of others, just like the voices of Freddie and Montserrat. In Tocade, they merged into a harmonious whole in which nothing is surplus, and there is no shortage. A new whole that is more than a simple sum of its parts that smells unique, unrepeatable, and in which each component can be recognized and loved both for itself and as a part of the whole. Tocade teaches us about love and togetherness…when two become one and do not lose even a part of their being. So simple, and so exceptional.

The creator of the perfume is Maurice Roucel.