I have to confess that I haven’t been keeping up with Amouage very well lately. My interest in Luxury-with-a-capital-L fragrance houses, never too intense in the first place, has dwindled over recent years; meanwhile, Amouage’s pace of new releases has been fast and furious. The fragrance duo of Portrayal Woman and Portrayal Man, in their matching iridescent white bottles, was launched back in April and I’ve just had a chance to try a sample.

Portrayal Woman, developed for Amouage by perfumer Annick Menardo, is “an olfactive portrayal of the 1920s cultural liberation” with a “playful refinement” and notes of jasmine, tuberose, “Craven A tobacco accord,” elemi and vanilla. I don’t know whether I understand the 1920s reference; I don’t associate big white florals with that era as much as I do with the 1940s (Fracas, Billie Holiday with gardenias in her hair, etc.). In any case, Portrayal is a classical white floral…

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