Portrait For Men

Wow, one of the few times that the "reminds me of" section is completely accurate. This is a BEAUTIFUL fragrance, and it indeed smells like a wondrous fusion of GPHII, Kenzo Power, and Escada Magnetism. GPHII and Magnetism are two of my favorite scents ever, so it's no small wonder that I adored this fragrance from first sniff. The scent pyramid is really what you get. The fragrance opens with a spicy-fresh burst of pink pepper, cardamom, and a squeeze of bergamot, along with a sort of sharp, rosey element which I can only assume is the geranium-black currant blossom chord. The spicy/floral element persists throughout the life of the fragrance, but as it dries down the powdery, resinous base becomes more and more prominent. The way the tolu interacts with my skin in this fragrances really reminds me of the tolu in Magnetism and Power, while the spiciness puts me into the mind of GPHII or Spicebomb. But there's also the tea-like serenity of GPHII, and a slightly purple vibe which gives me shades of Magnetism. It is gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. Elegant, comforting, classy, soft, zen. It gives me an image of a medievalist scholar or classics professor at Oxford, dressed like Johnny Depp's character in "The Ninth Gate", but far kinder than him. The scent of a gentle soul, a lover not a fighter, someone that means warmth and safety and knowledge, someone that has traveled the world and seen things and done things but has no ego about it; instead, he is eternally grateful for the experience. There's not anything brash or garish or loud about it, but it's far from boring. It is a bit more reserved, a bit closer to the skin, but the sort of scent that invites you in if you get close. I wouldn't classify it as sensual, however; it's more like a warm hug, a cozy wool sweater, a cup of warm tea on a cold, rainy fall evening. If you wore it for a night out, it would be a night out in a bookshop, or a library, or a cafe, where you and your no-doubt similarly intellectual date plumb the depths of a forgotten manuscript to solve an age-old academic mystery. Really, it's perfect for rain, gloom, and mist. Projection is on the lower end, but sillage is good, sort of like an inexplicable wisp you leave behind you. I haven't tested it for longevity just yet, but I'd estimate that I get a good 7-8 hours out of it, which is more than enough for me. And the quality is absolutely fantastic. I got it for about $20 from someone who probably didn't realize what they had on their hands, and I couldn't be happier. Really, I love it. It just feels right to me. Could very well be my new signature!

This is Paul Smith's best fragrance by a million miles! So different to much of what is on offer in the designer game. In my humble opinion, Paul Smith has some pretty horrendous (or just boring) fragrances both for men and women but this stands out. I've never heard of Barnabe Fillion before but (a quick google search reveals he's a pretty french man with a beard) he must be a really talented perfumer because Portrait is unique. The resinous incense type combo of the fizzy, brightness of olibanum and mastic and the depth and heft of myrrhe, labandum and tolu balsam is sweet and intriguing but never warm almost cold and a little metallic. The main thing that stunned me was the fruity/floral top notes of what is listed here as black currant blossom but if I'm honest I had no idea what it was? This fragrance is interesting on a few levels drydown is good more of the same but kinda musky. It's quite an enduring perfume too, you can tell it's not massively high quality but Longevity is not bad, it's certainly not weak. The smell is the sort of thing that doesn't project but that's fine. A rare thing then...I'd almost entirely written off Paul Smith but this stuff is great and I want a bottle.

The balance between pink pepper and cardamom is executed perfectly in this fragrance. It's so pleasant, warm, elegant and intimate. If I had to choose a single scent to wear for the rest of my life, throughout every day and any age -- it would be something in the vein of Portrait. Of course, this is not possible because this scent has been discontinued and I only own one more 80 ml bottle. This is not a loud fragrance at all and leaves me wanting more in terms of performance -- but it's the weak scents that smell the best, for some reason. It's like the curse of perfumery. Mauboussin 'Star' has replaced this in my weekly rotation due to the scarcity of 'Portrait' -- but I wish I could wear Portrait in the daytime and Star at night. I'm hoping Portrait will make a comeback soon.

This is nice, very nice, such a soft sent. Wish it had better performance though. Not everyone will like it as it's quite different unlike the recent releases. Opens quite feminine with loads of pink pepper for the first minute or so then quickly becomes cardamom heavy accompanied by pink pepper and some floral for the most part, dry down smells like it has tons of vanilla probably it's tolu balsam and myrrh. I can easily picture an erudite academic wearing this for some reason. For the $33 spent on 80 ml it's definitely a worthy addition to anyone's collection with that unique androgynous looking bottle.

Portrait is more calm and day version of Spicebomb in my opinion. If you love pink pepper note it's definitely worth to buy. And there are also geranium's fizzy and cardamom's smoothness. The opening is similar to Kenzo Power. Good choice for fall and spring with white shirt and black jeans type of wear.