Portrait of a Lady (2010)
by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle

White skin under a dark red velvet corset. A knife hidden near a pumping heart. Blood rushing in her ears. By no means will she spare them. Her mind sharp as the knife , her intentions dark but just ..... a lady who stands up for herself. No galantuomo needed. She is free and upright , no one will bend her

A fragrance for a woman deciding her own destiny. Powerful , dark, refined , noble. Red rose , earthy tones and a glimpse of humour when a small raspberry allows a sneak peek on who she is when she is in a good mood.
She can kill or caress ... up to you

Opening blast is a volumtuous rich rose with a hint of sandalwood. The smell is very high-end and I've been surounded with this kind of scent cloud in posh areas of London with a rich Middle Eastern clientele.

The rose becomes jammy and fruity (raspberry/cranberry) and then quite soapy. There is also a green element.

This is clearly the mother of any number of illegitimate fruittychoulli scents. It brought Lancome LA vie est belle to my mind and (surprise suprise) it's the same nose.

Unlike many males on BN I don't find POAL easy for a man to pull off, it's decidedly feminine in scent and theme and has inspired too many other common feminines. It does have the quality rose smell of so many expensive rose-Oud combos and perhaps that is why many males feel comfortable with it. For me there is no counterpoint to the dominant rose to bring it back to a unisex center-ground.

Performance is really good which may make one feel a little self conscious if not 100% comfortable with the theme.
Overall 80/100 as a feminine perfume but not necessarily safe for to use as a unisex. A viable male alternative might be Diptyque Oud Palaou

What is there to say about this fragrance that hasn't already been said? This a stunning masterpiece of a fragrance that you owe it to yourself as a fraghead to try. Deep, rich, smoky, sensual, fruity, dry, sweet, creamy, soft - PoaL covers almost all the bases. The combination of rose and patchouli - tried and true - is enriched by glowing incense, creamy sandalwood, autumnal spices, and a photorealistic raspberry note (so real that you can smell the tannins in the seeds). It is intoxicating, it is full-bodied, it is exotic, it is powerful, it is perfume with a capital P. This is what you wear when you want to make a statement, when you want to impress, when you want to stand out from the crowd and make everyone smell you. Simply put, one of the best rose fragrances ever made.

Portrait of a Lady? Okay, sure, whatever you say, Mr. Ropion. Maybe if that lady was a former headshop hippie from 1975 who goes on to become a rock star, part Stevie Nicks, part Steven Tyler, while regularly atoning for her sins at Catholic Mass every Sunday.

Dark but never heavy, fruity but also funky, with a luminous, clove-y rose that holds it all together. Probably one of my top-ten favorite scents of all time.

Beautiful. Easily distinguishing rose, patchouli, clove, and incense. I was worried about this one, because I generally am not a big fan of incense forward frags. This has a proper amount in it as to not overpower the rest of the composition. The patchouli gives it an earthy greenness, while the berries prop up the jammy-ness of the rose in the opening. Its performance is big all around. The cloves here bring the rose down to a more masculine place, though I'm not sure its quite there for me. I get something that makes me think aldehydes, but I see it nowhere. Really well blended, there are no hard edges.

I'm going thumbs up here for quality, and because it is labeled as a feminine fragrance to start with. The biggest detractor is the unwieldy cost, which is not enough to drop its rating.