Frédéric Malle Portrait of a Lady

So in one of my freebie bags was a sample of Malle’s Portrait of a Lady, a 2010 release created by Dominique Ropion. It’s a rose scent that was named after a Henry James novel (That I read eons ago…) I can’t comment on how well the scent reflects the heroine of the novel, but I do love a good rose scent, so off we went.

Notes (from Fragrantica) are Turkish rose, raspberry, black currant, cinnamon, clove, patchouli, sandalwood, incense, ambroxan, benzoin and white musk.

Of course Rose is the star here. It’s a big, lush rose, one of those cabbage-y looking ones whose scent says “ROSE!!” I do get a bit of fruity berries and surprisingly little patchouli and musk. It reads in the blurbs as being a lot darker than the scent really is on me, but I tend to eat musk scents that give brave men pause, so your mileage may vary.

Am I going to run out and buy it? Nope. It’s pretty, but I think there are a few less pricey rose scents that would do the trick for me just as well. $265 for 50ML isn’t the earth price-wise, but being merely “pretty” on me isn’t going to cut it. At the Usual suspects. I received my sample as a gift with purchase from Barney’s

Image: Barney’s

  • Diana says:

    I really, really wanted to like this one but it just has some sharp edge that doesn’t jive with me. I love L’Artisan’s Voleur de Roses, especially at this time of year because the smell reminds me of a vase of roses sitting in a dusty old room where the window is open and you can smell just the hint of the falling autumn leaves outside. Serge’s Rose de Nuit reminds me of something from days gone by too, so both are fall scents for me. I also really enjoyed Serge’s La Fille de Berlin but its been so long since I’ve smelled it that I forgot what it is that attracted me so much to the scent. Maybe its time to order another sample from STC.

  • Brigitte says:

    I tried this one a few months ago and thought it was pretty but wasn’t moved to purchase it which is just as well for the price of a full bottle is completely out of my budget.

  • Ann says:

    Hiya, Tom! This scent has a pushme/pullya effect for me; some chilly days I crave it, and others, I want to avoid it entirely. Am hoping to try the PoaL body oil one of these days and see if that isn’t the perfect happy medium. Thanks!

  • Tatiana says:

    Hmm, I have two bottles from the original release of this and what I love about them is how deep, dark, skanky, woody and patchouli they smell on me. Nothing pretty about it on my skin. I need to compare the sample I got in the recent Barney’s gift bag with my bottles to see if there’s been any tinkering with the scent since the Lauder acquisition.

    • Tom says:

      Oooh, let us know what you find out! My skin really eats musk up so it could just be that- I can wear MKK to work.