The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
In 2010, Rituals marked ten years in body care and home fragrance with their first true perfume collection. No. 18 arrived in that launch, composed by François-Raphäel Balestra with a single conceit: two ingredients in tension. Wild rose. Sandalwood. The brief asked what happened when you let them speak to each other without apology, one soft and already untamed, the other warm and patient. The result was designed not for a room, but for the skin of someone who wanted presence without volume.
The wild rose here doesn't perform. It's already wild, captured rather than cultivated, green-stemmed and dewy, the kind of rose you'd find growing where it chose. Sandalwood brings warmth and quiet weight, the cream of the base notes pulling everything closer. Together they form something sensuous without announcement. The composition keeps its distance at first, then settles. It's the difference between perfume as statement and perfume as companion, built for the hour after the last obligation, not the entrance.
The evolution
The opening takes roughly ten minutes to fully arrive. Pink pepper sparks first, a clean prickle that announces the rose more than the rose could alone. Then the wild rose comes in cool and dewy, green stems still attached. The geranium underneath keeps it from being precious, herbal, slightly bitter, the floral that argues with itself. Cedar provides dry backbone. Pine whispers in the background, evergreen and grounding. This is the heart of the wear, lasting two to four hours depending on skin. Intimate, woody-floral, unhurried by design. As it moves into the drydown, the florals step back. Sandalwood takes over, creamy, almost lactonic, wrapping the cedar in warmth. The rose becomes a ghost. The pepper fades to nothing. The sillage turns fully intimate, close enough for your clothes but not the room. What lingers for hours is wood, warmth, and something that smells like presence.
Cultural impact
Discontinued now, No. 18 has quietly become a find for those who know the Rituals archive. The woody-rose pairing predates the current wave of similar compositions, it arrived before the trend, which gives it a different kind of authority. Its relative scarcity has only increased its appeal among collectors who appreciate its understated warmth.
