Portrait of a Lady

Top

Clove opens the composition on a spice note that evokes mulled wine and gingerbread. Its raw material, the dried flower bud of the clove tree, owes this character to eugenol, a warm, pungent molecule that also gives Christmas cakes their familiar scent.

Heart

The heart brings together rose, warm, honeyed and waxy, and raspberry, between sugar, acidity and sweetness. Blackcurrant adds a sharp greenness with sulfurous undertones, while cinnamon contributes its spicy bark. Velvety sandalwood, earthy and camphorous patchouli, and waxy incense with spicy accents give this tier its woody warmth.

Base

Benzoin, a resin drawn from styrax, delivers facets of vanilla, caramel and toasted almond. Musk accompanies it with a woody warmth tinged with an animalic nuance. These balsamic and musky materials form the foundation of the accord.

An oriental family

Benzoin, incense, cinnamon and clove carry the oriental tonality of Portrait of a Lady. This family combines balsamic resins, warm spices and vanilla notes; here the caramel of the benzoin and the wax of the incense give it its roundness, which sandalwood and musk extend with a woody warmth.

Reading the label

Among the declared components, eugenol recalls clove bud and cinnamal, a cinnamic aldehyde, recalls cinnamon bark. Citronellol and geraniol are constituents of rose essence; benzyl benzoate is found in balsams such as benzoin. Limonene, linalool, citral, farnesol and alpha-isomethyl ionone, with citrus, floral or powdery tonalities, complete the list.