Illustrations by Gordon Conway, c. 1920s

A late-night party of The Coterie in Belgravia, London. The French doors are open to the night which swoons with jazz. Flappers and debutantes mingle; fringe skirts swing, bare arms click with bakelite bracelets, and cigarette smoke curls lazily in the air. In the corner, a countess sporting a tuxedo and a monocle argues about Marx with an earnest poetess. And through it all seeps the honeyed perfume of the jasmine blossoms outside.

Nancy Cunard, c.1920s

Amouage Portrayal Woman is one of the two new Portrayal releases that are inspired by London of the 1920s and the people who transgressed boundaries during times of dramatic social change. In the words of creative director Christopher Chong, Amouage Portraya Man and Woman is about “A person who dares to defy the norms of their society … and the people who pushed beyond the limits of mass culture during their times. It is a reflection of the birth of a new age and the freedoms that come with it.” With its unconventionally rich jasmine and tart, green tobacco, this is exactly the sort of luxurious but quirky perfume transgressive socialite Nancy Cunard might have favoured.

Christopher Chong photo by Jay Brooks©

Firmenich perfumers Annick Menardo and Pierre Negrin have created a dizzingly complex and multifaceted fragrance with few ingredients. Even in the bottle, the creamy, rich scent of jasmine is so saturated that it seems to be several flowers folded into one: its syrupy headiness emits echoes of green leaf, orange blossom and tuberose that twine together like lovers in a slow waltz. Sprayed on, the jasmine releases its crushed-flower sweetness more fully, its indolic side edges in and the flower’s full sensuality is released.

The Red Hat by Gordon Conway for The Tatler, 18th December, 1929

Unexpectedly, a piercingly sharp note cuts through all that intoxicating bloom, like a break in the music. At first, its smells like petitgrain; acerbic, citric, slightly flowery. But I gradually realize that this aroma is distinctly herbal, moist tobacco leaf. Together, the thick nectarous fragrance of jasmine and the chartreuse, soil-and-earth bitterness circle each other in counter tempos: one slow and languorous as a waltz at the end of the party; the other with the staccato, deliberate strides of the tango. For some time, it steps back and forth between the masculine, loamy bite of the tobacco and the lazy voluptuousness of jasmine, never quite settling on either.

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 Tristan Tzara and Nancy Cunard at the ball of the Count of Beaumont, 1924  © MAN RAY TRUST / ADAGP, Paris, 2013

In the dry-down, an unaccustomed, powdery vanilla adds a layer of sweetness that bridges the bitter and floral notes like a handshake at arm’s length. Elemi comes in near the end to provide some resiny ballast in the base. By the time Portrayal Woman has fully developed, its multifaceted jasmine and tobacco are full display. The effect is exuberant, take-no-prisoners sensuality. Heady, offbeat and glamourous, Amouage Portrayal Woman is not a scent to be taken lightly. But then, neither are rulebreakers.

Notes: Jasmine, Craven A tobacco accord, vanilla, elemi.

Disclaimer: Bottle of Amouage Portrayal Woman generously provided by Amouage. My opinions are my own.

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– Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor

Amouage Potrayal Woman