Frédéric Malle’s new Portrait of a Lady, developed by perfumer Dominique Ropion, marks the line’s 10th anniversary. Happy anniversary, Frédéric Malle Editions de Parfums, and here’s wishing you many, many more. Oh, and can you please do jasmine next?
Portrait of a Lady is not jasmine; as many of you undoubtedly already know. It is rose, an oriental sort of rose with woody notes and spices, quite different from their earthy masterpiece Une Rose and even farther away from the powder-puff classic, Lipstick Rose. Portrait either was or wasn’t inspired by the Henry James novel of the same name — I’ve seen both claims — but was certainly inspired by, or grew out of, ideas from Géranium Pour Monsieur, Ropion’s last outing for Frédéric Malle.
The notes — raspberry, cassis, rose, cinnamon, clove, benzoin, sandalwood, patchouli, frankincense, ambroxan and white musk — sounded comfortably familiar. Fruitchouli we’ve seen plenty of lately, and patchouli + rose (to say nothing of incense + rose) combinations aren’t exactly thin on the ground. But of course this is Frédéric Malle. Portrait of a Lady doesn’t smell like your average teen-bait fruitchouli, and it’s considerably more elegant than your average patchouli rose…
