Recently I got a wonderful surprise and received a bottle of «Portrait of a Lady», which is an icon of haute perfumery. The scent is a new breed of oriental rose, a baroque perfume. It is based on an accord of benzoin, cinnamon, sandalwood and, above all patchouli, musk and frankincense. It takes off with an excessive dosage of the best Turkish rose essence that Dominique Ropion linked to the rest of the formula, thanks to a red berries and spice accord.

Hundreds of trials were needed to balance such an excessive formula. Portrait of a Lady is undoubtedly the perfume containing the strongest dosage of rose essence and patchouli heart. It’s a rare symphonic perfume appeared: a new amber rose, a sensuous beauty that attracts people like a magnet, a modern classic: Portrait of a Lady. It is an olfactory masterpiece of pure elegance, baroque opulence, and splendor that people will ask you about.

Top note: Rose
Middle notes: Blackcurrant, raspberry, clove
Base notes: Patchouli, sandalwood, frankincense

Dominique Ropion trained at the legendary Roure Bertrand Dupont laboratory before going to work with Jean-Louis Sieuzac, one of the perfumery world’s great technicians. Today he’s a star perfumer at IFF. He is the nose behind bestellers such as Alien (2005 Thierry Mugler) and Lady Million (2010 Paco Rabanne) An adventurer who abandons himself to instinct, Ropion is on a quest to create new, harmonious accords by pairing ingredients which are extreme opposites. His work is special because of the tension between precision and freedom.

TO SHOP PORTRAIT OF A LADY, CLICK HERE PLEASE.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Frederic Malle
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