Portrait of a Lady

For the love of God do try before you buy. Opulent, dark, Gothic rose, church incense...to name a few of two hundred notes. The concentration of essential oils is high, plus the carrier and other ingredients used to fixate the main notes are *topnotch*. A masterpiece. But I don't like it. Just because I admire it does not mean I'm gonna be wearing it. It brings me down. Puts me in a bad …Read more

This is my favorite perfume. It makes me happy to just smell it from the bottle. I love it so much that I bought the body cream. The cream does not have as strong a sillage as the perfume.
The first thing that I smell is the rasperry, clove and cinnamon. I usually don't like gourmand fragrances, but, this combination grabs my nose and drives me crazy (in a good way). The middle …Read more

This perfume wowed me the second i sprayed some of it on. That has never happened! The first thought I had when i smelled it was "wow" followed by "I need to wear a dress, some high heels & red lipstick"
This perfume makes me think of a well to do woman, in a fabulous coat & stiletto heels. It smells expensive & DISTINCTIVE. I smell roses some incense & if …Read more

My main impression of POAL is new wood, perhaps cedar, not rose, not floral. This is unisex, despite its name, and wearable in all seasons and climates. Not heavy in feel, but it throws off silage and is noticeable when sprayed. IMO, the name, POAL, is evocative to my mind of new world modernity and my vague recollection of the straightforward quality of the protagonist of the novel POAL …Read more

Portrait of a Lady is perfume with a capital P, dense, evocative and full bodied. Light, fresh roses aren't for me but this is baroque, dark and smokey.

There's a lot going on here. The opening is all about deep velvety spiced red roses. There is also a hefty dose of raspberry that contributes on gaining a wine sense but apart from the roses there is A LOT of incense and …Read more

Update 07/15: Having used two 10ml spray decants of this, last week i bought a full bottle from Barneys in Chicago. I still do not get a light or airy rose here. With my body chemistry this scent is still dark and utterly gothic, a dark color rose that is a little musty, a little berry, incense and has cobwebs on it, which is the beauty of perfumes- a really well done scent becomes unique …Read more

My first perfume review, well I'm not a perfume expert, never was and probably never will be, so sorry but I just have to write down my feelings.

I moved to my aunt's apartment in 2011, it's in a beautiful neighbourhood, on of the richest in this area.. It is close to work place and school so I don't really care about that this is the city where even old (but …Read more

THE SELLER AT AEDES DE VENUSTA WAS SO EAGER TIO GET THIS TO ME, ITS HIS FAVOURITE HE GENERALLY HAS GREAT TASTE AND KNOWS WHAT IM LOOKING FOR AND KNOWS MY BASE PERFUME IS FRACAS SO I LIKE LOUD, ( GOLD BY AMOUAGE IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY BUT I LOVE IT) i find it dainty nothing like any of the other desrctippiosnat all i dont find the slightest thing "hippy: about it, its veryu …Read more

The opening of POAL is lovely, it goes down hill for me quickly and I am left with rose and benzoin...not a terrific combo. By the time I got home I had to scrub it off. This happened with Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille also....I'm sticking with Dior Addict, it never changes, comes through as a sexy vanilla and that's all I am really seeking. Nice try Malle but this was NOT a home run …Read more

this is my favorite perfume i have ever smelled, and i smelled a lot of perfumes from expensive to affordable. this is indeed a strong perfume that caught me off guard at first and was absolutely turned away by it. than for some reason i tested it again and slowly it grew on me more and more, til i couldn't deny that i have found a scent that i love so much, i have yet to find something else …Read more