Between 1817 and 1824, in Paris, Pierre-Joseph Redouté published Les Roses, three volumes carrying 170 illustrations. Most of the roses came from Empress Josephine's garden at Malmaison. Redouté gave the flower the full-page treatment, the way you would a portrait. Two hundred years later, the rose is still one of the hardest subjects in perfume, because everyone thinks they already know what it smells like.

Lancôme's answer arrived on 2 July 2019, when it announced Idôle with Zendaya as the face. The brand describes it as a musky chypre floral, created by three female perfumers: Shyamala Maisondieu, Adriana Medina and Nadège Le Garlantezec. Lancôme Idôle has Isparta rose petal essence, a Turkish rose made exclusively for the house, French centifolia rose, bergamot, pear accords and Indian jasmine. Fragrantica lists pear, bergamot and pink pepper on top, rose and jasmine in the heart, and white musk, vanilla, patchouli and cedar underneath. The bottle was designed by Chafik Gasmi, only 15 mm thick, with a T-shaped cap, and it is refillable.

The trick is to smell Idôle as a rose with the sugar taken out. The first grid is the whole family. Idôle Eau de Parfum with rose and jasmine is the original, and the one I would start with. Idôle Power is an intense eau de parfum and, per Olfastory, the first woody floral of the collection. Idôle Now and Idôle L'Eau de Toilette are the newer and the lighter-concentration options, and Idôle Peach 'N Roses is the playful one by name. The Body Up scented lotion is the layer for your skin, and Trésor Midnight Rose and Absolue 1001 Roses are the other Lancôme roses.

Check the drydown before you commit to a new bottle. Spray a strip, put it in your bag, and smell it again at lunch, because the notes you fall for in the store are not always the ones you live with.

Lancôme has a fragrance shelf much older than Idôle, and it is worth knowing. La Vie Est Belle, launched in 2012, is an iris, praline and vanilla eau de parfum created by Olivier Polge, Dominique Ropion and Anne Flipo. The vanilla bean and iris version here is the original, and La Vie Est Belle Very Cherry is the fruit-forward spin on it. Trésor, from 1990, was created by Sophia Grojsman, and Fragrantica lists rose, iris, heliotrope, apricot and peach. The Trésor Eau de Parfum is the original, La Nuit Trésor is the evening version and the Trésor Body Lotion is the layer for it.

Then come the quieter names. Miracle Eau de Parfum is the one I know least, which is the reason to sample it. Absolue Le Parfum and Absolue Oud Bouquet sit at the most serious end of the brand, the ones to look at if you already know you like oud.

A pairing I like: Idôle in the morning, Trésor at night. They are both built on rose, and you will notice how differently they wear.

What I would skip: sampling three Absolue scents in one afternoon. Your nose gives up before your wrist does.

Rose perfume is a wide family, and the quickest way to find your corner is to look at what sits next to the rose: coffee, leather, raspberry or nothing at all.

Byredo's Rose of No Man's Land is an absolu de parfum, the dense, serious end of the shelf. Tom Ford's Cafe Rose has ylang ylang and coffee in the name, and that coffee is the clue that it wears darker. Reservation's Feu de Rose and Frederic Malle's Rose & Cuir are the two with character, the second pairing rose with leather, per its name. Penhaligon's The Coveted Duchess Rose has the most storybook name of the group.

Lighter and younger are Dior's Miss Dior Rose N'Roses Eau de Toilette and Chloé's L'Eau de Parfum Intense, which lists raspberry, rose and amber. KAYALI's Fleur Majesty Rose Royale is the big floral of the set.

Against these, Idôle reads as clean and light, which fits its clean and glow accord. That is the reason people who say they hate rose sometimes end up loving it.

What I would skip: a rose and leather perfume as a first rose. Begin with something lighter and work your way toward it.

Wash with the scent, then moisturize with it, and only then spray. Stacking a rose body wash, a cream and a perfume in the same family is the easy route to a scent that lasts without getting louder.

Flamingo Estate's Jasmine Damask Rose Body Wash and Santa Maria Novella's Rosa Gardenia Bath Gel are the two for the shower. For moisture, Augustinus Bader's Geranium Rose Body Cream is the indulgent one, Sephora Collection's Bamboo + Rose 24HR Hydrating Body Lotion is the everyday one, and CYKLAR's Rose Bud body wash is made for the moisture barrier, per its name. Byredo's Lost Rose Hand Cream lives well on a desk.

For scent you can wear in your hair, Salt & Stone's Black Rose & Oud mist is the dark one, and Fable & Mane's Jaipur Rose has saffron and black amber for warmth.

These work well with Idôle's Body Up lotion, since the family shares a rose core. A hand cream is the small one worth carrying, because you reapply it five times a day and get a whiff of rose each time, which is a nicer reminder than any spritz.

What I would skip: a dark oud mist under a light rose perfume. They will argue all day.

For most people, Lancôme Idôle is where I would send a rose skeptic, and I would hand over the Eau de Toilette first, since it is the lightest. Wear it for a week before you buy anything else from the shelf, and notice whether you still smell the rose at the end of the day or only the musk, because that tells you which way to go next. If you love it, the refill is there.

Redouté gave the rose a portrait of its own. You can give it a bottle that is fifteen millimeters thin. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Lancôme Mascara Guide and Oakcha Perfume, Explained.