Portrayal Woman
Amouage (2019)

WoW...so, without doubt this is a lovely EdP fragrance with the highest quality ingredients...this much I know. But with that said, I initially thought, "I'm missing something because frankly, I just don't get this fragrance...I don't." But as time passed, I think I got it.

So, Portrayal Woman opens as a HUGE & loud fizzy jasmine bomb...nearly indolic. After time, I identify this bomb has elemi for sure, with earthy, leafy-green florals...most likely jasmine and tuberose. Yes, I identify the extremely huge opening as florals & elemi along with dirty resinous stems, moss & everything herbaceous, earthy & green. And I'm told some tuberose can smell like purple grapes.

Slowly, the elemi settles down, along with the strong opening floral notes and I detect the shrillest jasmine I've ever encountered. Seems like the jasmine is timidly trying to push through the power bomb opening. But that's okay because somehow it all begins to work.

And after 60-90 minutes, I detect the slightest, loveliest tobacco note...something I have to search for but a note that is nonetheless present and repetitive. Yes, there is a gentle tobacco leaf, along with very creamy vanilla in the dry down. And the sum of the parts really keeps this fragrance alive.

Intrigued by the scent and the notes, I went on to read about Craven Tobacco, which is a specific tobacco "brand" I suppose that is used exclusively in certain fragrant cigarettes. So yes, tobacco and vanilla, powdery jasmine & florals, elemi, herbaceous greens & earth all blend perfectly together making this perfume truly something magical. I kid you not.

Lasts forever, silage is perfect.

As silly as this might sound, Amouage Portrayal Woman initially felt too refined & sophisticated (if this makes sense) for my tastes. I couldn't imagine where I would feel comfortable wearing this fragrance.

But as the afternoon passed, the perfume and I settled down and the sun began setting, I actually felt an extreme calm & peace overtake me as I slowly inhaled this intriguing perfume.

Perhaps I could wear this anywhere.

Amouage Portrayal Woman is a lovely, almost ethereal delight.

Not recommended as a blind buy. Please sample before purchasing.

Oof. Portrayal Woman is a Big White floral on steroids, starting with a heavy, indolic jasmine and then opening up into an equally massive tuberose. It also has a sweet and crunchy amber accord in the base. I don't smell Annick Menardo's usual clever hand at work here, as it's such a common and bludgeoning accord.

The notes claim elemi is in the mix, and I love elemi. It is aromatic, cold, bitter, herbal, resinous, and almost anisic (if you have smelled Dune for women, and you really should smell it, if you have not, you know what elemi smells like). Anise/licorice is Menardo's signature accord, she uses it to extremely clever effect in the phenomenal classic Lolita Lempicka women's and men's fragrances, and I wish I could find it here, but it's hiding behind the monstrous florals.

It's not an awful perfume, it's made of obviously excellent quality ingredients, and like most Amouages, it is strong as hell. It just doesn't smell terribly distinctive, and what it does do, can be had for significantly less cash than Amouage's asking price. If you want an indolic floral with a crunchy amber base, go get Rogue Perfumery's excellent Jasmine Antique, which will set you back for about a quarter of Portrayal's cost, and also supports a smaller indie house. I'm sure I will finish my sample, probably when it's hot outside, and this screaming tuberose diva will pair well with a cold cocktail or iced hibiscus tea.

Amouage seems to be drifting into disapppointingly repetitive territory. Ubar Woman is a much better grand floral, with a lot more going on, and the house also has a couple of great gardenias, as well as a very pretty tuberose in Tuberose Love. I'll give this two stars, for quality and wearability, but I cannot recommend spending 300 dollars for it. But if you are a Big White Floral or Amouage completist, it is worth a try. Maybe I'll rethink this when winter is over, because I want to like it, as I am generally a fan of Menardo's work, and I almost always find that Amouage's fragrances grow on me. I'll edit this review if I discover anything new.

Another monstrous Tuberose concoction.
Someone compares to Lutens Sarassins.
Uh,No.

If the Lutens is Jasmine "Heaven in a Bottle".

This Amouage is Tuberose "Suffocating gasses of Hell".

The jasmine in the opening is on the dirty and woodsy side, emphasising the leaves and stems.

The drydown adds the central note here: the tuberose is it. Rich, at times fairly creamy, not very waxy and with a minimally indolic characteristic. Through the development whiffs of a tonka-like undertone are present. A sweet tobacco notes hovers in the background, but I get very little of the Craven A Virginia that was promised; it is a very nonspecific tobacco only that has a touch of spiciness added to it at times.

There is a permeating resinous undertone, contributed by the Elemi that grows more prominent towards the end.

I get strong sillage, excellent projection and and splendid thirteen hours of longevity on my skin.

This tuberose-jasmine scent for cooler spring days is a bit generic at times and quite synthetic, although at some stages it is quite pleasant and never cloying. 2.75/5

Annick Menardo is good at twists and does interesting things with vanilla – both tendencies are in evidence in Portrayal Woman which is an uber creamy, mega-thrust jasmine-tuberose perfume, but so craftily blended that those who would recoil in horror at such a thing (myself included) would be tempted to stay for the ride. The perfume fits the name – these are white flowers playing a part, made up, wearing costumes, revelling in artifice. Here they display only their honeyed essence – anything indolic or green-fresh about the odour profile is banished. And this unctuous sweetness is dressed beautifully – with a tobacco accord that is cured and mild and touched by cloves, and with vanilla that merges into the baccy but retains a rubbery, almost chewy otherness. At times this curious mix teeters too much towards artifice and reminds me of bubble gum, before it rights itself again and regains its rich sophistication. Slicing right through the perfume, from opening to end, is the resinous base, almost like a thin layer of silica, adding a contrast to the sweetness yet also bending to its will.
It's a creation with a strong personality and so won't be for everyone – but in it I see a half-sister to something as wilful as Dior's Poison, some of the same genes but with different fathers. Still, it doesn't quite touch greatness, as it is let down, some hours in, by its drydown. Now all the playfulness comes to an end and it turns into a rather straightforward vanilla-smudged sweet white floral. Admirers will find nothing wrong with that – but for me it's a bit common and not worth my hard-earned cash.