I spritz this addictive, spiced rose perfume every morning once autumn hits - and I can still smell it at bedtime
Opulent, long-lasting Portrait of a Lady was made for cosy days and dark evenings
I'm not 100% sold on autumn beauty switch-ups. A solid skin or haircare routine isn't instantly invalidated by spotting a conker on the pavement (they're dropping early this year, don't you think?)
But that's not to say I don't enjoy some aspects of September's 'mini new year' mood, like embracing dark nail colours, staying in a bit more therefore actually bothering with face and hair masks, and switching to rich, spicy, long lasting perfumes.
One particular scent is the first thing I reach for once Strictly's back on telly and I've dug my knitwear out of its vac bags, and has been for more years than I'd care to count. It's rich, it's opulent, and to be frank, probably 'a bit much' for some people, but I've never tried anything that smells, or lasts, like it.
This is most assuredly not a budget buy, but I truly believe the juice is worth the (financial) squeeze. To put a blunt point on it, Portrait smells like you spent a lot of money on it. It opens with a huge dose of rose that isn't old-fashioned or pretty; it's decadent, tempered with tart, mouthwatering blackberry. Beyond that, we get a great whack of hypnotic, heady resins and woods - frankincense, sandalwood, patchouli - plus a surprisingly calm and cosy finish from amber.
To further justify the investment, I will say this scent has both strength and stamina. The projection is so good I can identify it across a tube carriage, and I can still detect a couple of morning spritzes at bedtime. No top-ups required.
Trying to work out which perfume lasts longest isn't an exact science. But experts generally advise finding one with a high concentration of perfume oils (tick - this is EDP strength) and seeking out notes known to linger, such as woods, rich florals, and resins (tick, tick, tick)
Perfume, obviously, is big business. Brands can charge a fair whack for them, and they tend to inspire loyalty and repeat buys, for years if not decades. Because of this, things can get a bit risk-averse at the mass end of the market, which is flooded with created-by-committee fragrance designed to appeal to the maximum number of customers. Boring!
When I included Frederic Malle Contre Jour in this column, I also wrote about the brand's commitment to counteracting samey scents. They let individual perfumers do what they want, at any cost and put their name on the bottle.
Unsurprisingly, given what we know about singularity in art, this results in excellent, distinctive perfumes time and time again - and things you'll return to season after season. Sounds good? Great! Let's chat next Sunday.
