Frederic Malle Promise

Frederic Malle Promise is the latest release from the line.  Inspired by the Middle East market, like Night, but without that high of a price tag, it has notes of rose, apple, rose, pink pepper, rose, clove, rose, patchouli, rose, cypriol (nagarmotha), rose, labdanum and, well, rose.

This is a rose fragrance from start to finish with some lovely other notes playing around.  But it’s rose – BIG ROSE.  If I smelled this rose in my garden, I would only approach it with a full bottle of holy water and a crucifix.  It is a scary rose – like turpentine is burning under the petals somewhere, but you can’t figure out where exactly.  How I love you, Dominque Ropion.

I loved it because it’s not like anything else. Shouldn’t there be more of those? There is an earthy component to this rose.  I mean, it’s got big horny thorns, dirt, petals.

Frederic Malle Promise is not for mass market, and I suspect there will be more people who hate it than love it because it is not what they are expecting.  It’s not Portrait of a Lady, it’s not a shrinking, shy, sweet rose.  It is surprising, and I love surprising.  But fair warning, you may hate it.  Probably will hate it, that’s a Promise. Me, I’ll keep  it over here and keep trying to figure out if I can sneak up on it and wear it before it wears me.  You know what?  Living dangerously, I put a spritz of the teeny bit of Night I have left on the other side of my arm.  I may throw on some Carnal Flower with it.  Lord, I am pungent!

Winners of Serge de Profundis, Puredistance I, Unum Lavs and Arquiste Anima Dulcis from Dia de Los Muertos giveaway – Jeanne and Maria
B.

October Grabbag winner – nicevulady

So all you winners – click on Drop Us a Note at the top, send me an e-mail, remind me of what you won and get me your mailing address (Figment winners tell me if you want the man or woman_. I’ll send you a quick e-mail to let you know I got your e-mail and it didn’t land in a spam filter and then get it on the way to you.

There should be a couple of you to try this. Drop a comment to be entered to win.  I’ll pick four winners. Will you hate it, you think, love it, be perplexed?

  • Koyel says:

    I expect I’m too late to enter this? If not, I’d LOVE to try this! I love a good rose, and am curious to try my mettle against what sounds like a powerful scent. On the other hand, I don’t find PoaL to be exactly shrinking, so we shall see!

  • Neva says:

    After having tried Rien and surviving it, I guess nothing can kill me. Rose is always good so bring it on 🙂 thanks for the giveaway.

  • Anna Egeria P. says:

    I hope that I’m not too late for the giveaway. I believe that I’d love, love this fragrance! Thank you.

  • Ingeborg says:

    I don’t get on well with rose in perfume usually. But I crave perfume with a big throw sometimes. So please enter me in the draw, it is a Malle after all! I love the thinking behind that brand.

  • Musette says:

    DNEM because that would just be weird – but I have to say “ohhhhhh, myyyy”. I’m intrigued because, in the past, FM’s roses and I just did. not. click. Une Rose? There’s a tiny little sweat note therein that gives me hives. POAL is just meh.

    Now you come to this – and my heart skips a beat, thinking those notes and that HUGENESS might be the one (not The One 😉

    xoxoxoA

  • SunnyDay says:

    I’m a new rose fan and would love to try this ?

  • Sarah says:

    This sounds right up my alley. I love Dominique Ropion.

  • Katrin says:

    Thanks for the review! I wasn’t curious before, but now I am…

  • Shiva-Woman says:

    I love POAL. I love Une, and SL Fille, and Rose de Nuit, and dozens of other Roses. I WANT this rose. I love dirty rose the best. Thank you for the giveaway! This just sounds amaaazing.

  • Kate E. says:

    Great review! I like a big rose scent in cold weather. I love the idea of you sneaking up on this one–thanks for the laugh and the draw!

  • Kandice says:

    I don’t do rose perfumes because they are sweet and heady and more often than not give me a terrible headache. I love real roses, but somehow in perfume the scent is just too concentrated or something. That said, I would love to find a rose that’s more like what you’d find in a garden with equal parts rose, green leaves, and dirt. So while the volume of this rose might scare me away, the other components would be well worth trying just to see. And besides, it’s Malle and Ropion. You have to try it for that reason alone! Thanks for the giveaway.

  • Gigi says:

    Perplexed, based on your description, but maybe also delighted. That’s what makes perfume so fun!

  • maggiecat says:

    So, is there any rose in this? 🙂

  • SuzanneS says:

    I diddnt vibe well with portrait..Im hoping promise is my Malle Rose. Thanks for the sample giveaway.

  • Tatiana says:

    Well I loved Portrait on my daughter and it took me a year wearing it off and on to figure it out and love it for myself. I suspect this one might take me just as long, if not longer to learn to love. Don’t know what it is, but some perfumes I’m willing to stick with and learn to love and others I just decide they’re not worth the time and effort.

  • Robert H. says:

    What Rina said!^^^^ Malle. Ropion. Rose. Hell yes!!! I’m in.

  • Nancy Myers says:

    I’m so intrigued! Thanks for the giveaway, please count me in.

  • Bastet says:

    Love dark roses so I’d be thrilled to have a chance to try this one!

  • Meg O. says:

    This sounds amazing. I love big perfumes, love roses, love big rose perfumes…I even like scary. 🙂 Thanks for the draw and the review! It sounds fascinating.

  • It sounds to me like I will love it! I love big scary perfumes with tons of character. Thanks for the review and giveaway.

  • Fabs says:

    A stinky rose, hmmm well that sounds very, very interesting.

  • Rosemary says:

    I don’t know how I missed the Dia de Los Muertos giveaway, I’ve sampled and loved all but the puredistance! Enjoy, Jeanne and Maria! Anima Dulcis is a bit of an obsession for me, trying to figure out if I should splurge on that, or SL Rose de Nuit, which I’m loving so much I can barely resist! Love them both!

    As a major rose lover, I’d be willing to try this new Malle scary rose, just to see! Thanks for the giveaway!

  • Queen Cupcake says:

    Big, scary rose? I have lots of rose perfumes–Parfums de Rosine, etc.–but nothing grabs me like hearing that Promise is unlike anything else! Thanks for the draw! XO

  • Audrey says:

    Rose! My favorite flower! I want to love it!

  • flowergirlbee! says:

    yay..a new malle..music to my ears : ) sounds interesting..i would love to smell it.

  • Rina says:

    It’s Ropion. It’s Malle. It’s Different. I am predisposed to love it. And for thst, I am truly afraid… Pick me! Pick me!

  • Tara C says:

    So how does it compare to Une Rose, which is of course a massive rose with dirt and leaves? I am looking forward to tryint the Promise but I doubt it will be available anywhere near me to sniff.