Portrait of a lady or Noir de Noir

[Quintar]

I have quite a few rose fragrances and while I like them a lot I think I could do better...
So in my searching I came across Tom Ford Noir de Noir and Frederic Malle portrait of a lady. they both look interesting to me because rose is the main focus of the composition, as in this is DEFINITELY a rose scent, yet they have some woodiness to give it some interest and steer it away from the feminine, but not a lot of crazy oud or musk or things or get in the way.

Has anyone tried either of these? what do you think? and have you seen decants anyplace that aren't TPC $30 for 2ml?
Also anything else you guys like in rose that might be worth looking at?

These are what I have and what I think of them:

Montale Black Aoud - fantastic rich dark rose with a lot of "oudiness" I like it a lot but the "oud" can get in your face and overpower the rose
Penhaligons Hammam Bouquet - Very nice strong rose scent but after an hour it just turns STRONG animalic musk, which i like but the rose is gone
Czech & speake #88 - its ok, heavy rose scent but has a strange plastic potpourri smell to it
Le Labo Rose 31 - really nice easy to wear rose scent with some fresh woodiness and cumin, problem is there's hardly any rose in it
Creed Windsor - I don't like this, smells like straight gardenia not rose at all
Chanel Egoiste - I HATE this, the rose note in it makes me want to cut my nose off
Davidoff Zino - there's rose in this? smells good otherwise
Domenico Caraceni 1913 - Thought this would be amazing since I like roses and I like incense, but it's just kind of whatever...
The perfumer's workshop Tea Rose - ok its my GFs perfume but it smells amazingly like fresh cut roses just too plain and rather feminine

 

[tehtimmeh]

Looks like you have tried most of the best rose scents out there. Between the two you are considering, I prefer Mr. Ford's offering.

 

[Lamb Root]

I have had the chance to smell straight coumarin. I was deeply shocked when I red that Nior de Noir has anything else but a coumarin with a drop of rose oil. More so, it has no coumairne listed on fragrantica.

?

Of course, I'm no expert. I like Noir de Noir a lot. It's a great scent but it's wearability is really and I can't emphasize that enough 'REALLY' narrow. So, be careful.


The roses I liked:


- Rose d`Ete by Les Parfums de Rosine (feminine, but very wearable nevertheless, and works wonders with the skin)


- L'Ombre Dans L'Eau by Diptyque (it may be a feminine scent now, but in few days/years it will be a masculine scent I'm sure, this one fulfills me)


- Armani Privé Rose d'Arabie Giorgio Armani (nothing to add or to subtract from this goodness, it's that good)

 

[Schad]

I didnt like NdN (thought it was too feminine) and have never tried PoaL.

 

[jakespoppy]

Another you might want to check out is Francis Kurkdjian's Absolue Pour le Soir. According to Fragrantica, notes include rose, honey, incense and benzoin are blended with ylang-ylang, cumin, Atlas cedar and sandalwood. Also, Cologne Pour le Soir is preferred by some as the gentler version.

 

[CHSeifert]

I have quite a few rose fragrances and while I like them a lot I think I could do better...
So in my searching I came across Tom Ford Noir de Noir and Frederic Malle portrait of a lady. they both look interesting to me because rose is the main focus of the composition, as in this is DEFINITELY a rose scent, yet they have some woodiness to give it some interest and steer it away from the feminine, but not a lot of crazy oud or musk or things or get in the way.

Has anyone tried either of these? what do you think? and have you seen decants anyplace that aren't TPC $30 for 2ml?
Also anything else you guys like in rose that might be worth looking at?

These are what I have and what I think of them:

Montale Black Aoud - fantastic rich dark rose with a lot of "oudiness" I like it a lot but the "oud" can get in your face and overpower the rose
Penhaligons Hammam Bouquet - Very nice strong rose scent but after an hour it just turns STRONG animalic musk, which i like but the rose is gone
Czech & speake #88 - its ok, heavy rose scent but has a strange plastic potpourri smell to it
Le Labo Rose 31 - really nice easy to wear rose scent with some fresh woodiness and cumin, problem is there's hardly any rose in it
Creed Windsor - I don't like this, smells like straight gardenia not rose at all
Chanel Egoiste - I HATE this, the rose note in it makes me want to cut my nose off
Davidoff Zino - there's rose in this? smells good otherwise
Domenico Caraceni 1913 - Thought this would be amazing since I like roses and I like incense, but it's just kind of whatever...
The perfumer's workshop Tea Rose - ok its my GFs perfume but it smells amazingly like fresh cut roses just too plain and rather feminine

Try Azzaro Acteur - wonderful cheapie rose frag !

I prefer Portrait of a lady over Noir de Noir btw
Noir de noir is a bit too feminine for my taste and I enjoy a lot of unisex frags FYI

 

[BillC]

I own and like most of the ones you mentioned. Rose is probably my favorite note but I've moved away from it a bit because I was overloaded towards rose for a while. Starting to explore a bit again. I haven't tried Portrait of a Lady or Noir de Noir though - please post your notes if you sample them.

A few others you might try:

Washington Tremlett Black Tie: I'm not sure why this doesn't get more love around here, really nice rose singing out over a woody saffron. Think Le Labo Rose 31 with the Rose amped way up and no cumin.It seems sort of delicate and pretty, but longevity and sillage are pretty good - was surprised by that.

Van Cleef and Arpels pour Homme: I just blind bought a bottle and have only worn it a few times. I think this must of have been diluted from the past because its sillage and 'linger' isn't as huge as I was warned. It's a masculine, deep rose. Reminds me of a tamed down Yatagan with rose over the top or perhaps a perfumed version of Tabac soap. It's definitely an 80's scent and might be 'classic' or 'dated' depending on your perspective.

MFK Cologne Pour le Soir mentioned above is excellent. A very complex, sophisticated frag that includes prominent rose.

UNS Rose Attar: Rose extracted into sandalwood oil. Beautiful. A clear rose rings out at first. Gradually the creamy sandalwood appears. In one way very simple - it's just rose on a sandalwood base. In other ways, very complex because the two notes themselves are complex. If you're a rose lover, pick this up and put some on when you're alone and relaxing.

 

[The Chandos]

I haven't tried Portrait, unfortunately, but Noir d'N is one of my favorite TF frags ever made. It has a hypnotic potpourri incense-like vibe to it but nothing like SMN's version. I've actually never thought of it as much of a rose scent, but would have to try it again to be sure.

Other roses:

Amouage Homage attar - pricey but worth every penny
Bollywood by Smell Bent - very affordable rose/sandalwood, one of my favorites for either note - the balance is simple but well done and one of the few Smell Bents I bought twice.

 

[Quintar]

Thanks for the comments on the rose scents and for all the suggestions! I know I could go on forever ordering all these decants but I will definitely have to check out some of these

- Rose d`Ete by Les Parfums de Rosine (feminine, but very wearable nevertheless, and works wonders with the skin)
- L'Ombre Dans L'Eau by Diptyque (it may be a feminine scent now, but in few days/years it will be a masculine scent I'm sure, this one fulfills me)
- Armani Privé Rose d'Arabie Giorgio Armani (nothing to add or to subtract from this goodness, it's that good)

I would love to own the whole armani prive line! i'll have to keep an eye out for the rose since black aoud is probably my favorite so far.

Another you might want to check out is Francis Kurkdjian's Absolue Pour le Soir. According to Fragrantica, notes include rose, honey, incense and benzoin are blended with ylang-ylang, cumin, Atlas cedar and sandalwood. Also, Cologne Pour le Soir is preferred by some as the gentler version.

rose honey incense cedar and sandalwood...sounds like a winner to me!

Try Azzaro Acteur - wonderful cheapie rose frag !

I googled this one...$25. I think I might just have to order it, I love those super cheap 80s fragrances. wonder why I had never heard of this one. thanks for pointing it out

Washington Tremlett Black Tie: I'm not sure why this doesn't get more love around here, really nice rose singing out over a woody saffron. Think Le Labo Rose 31 with the Rose amped way up and no cumin.It seems sort of delicate and pretty, but longevity and sillage are pretty good - was surprised by that.

Van Cleef and Arpels pour Homme: I just blind bought a bottle and have only worn it a few times. I think this must of have been diluted from the past because its sillage and 'linger' isn't as huge as I was warned. It's a masculine, deep rose. Reminds me of a tamed down Yatagan with rose over the top or perhaps a perfumed version of Tabac soap. It's definitely an 80's scent and might be 'classic' or 'dated' depending on your perspective.

UNS Rose Attar: Rose extracted into sandalwood oil. Beautiful. A clear rose rings out at first. Gradually the creamy sandalwood appears. In one way very simple - it's just rose on a sandalwood base. In other ways, very complex because the two notes themselves are complex. If you're a rose lover, pick this up and put some on when you're alone and relaxing.

I already have a sample of VCA pour homme, I didn't notice it was a rose scent. I'll have to dig it out tomorrow and give it another try
the black tie sounds interesting too
I'm a bit scared about getting into attars...or i should say my wallet is.

Amouage Homage attar - pricey but worth every penny
Bollywood by Smell Bent - very affordable rose/sandalwood, one of my favorites for either note - the balance is simple but well done and one of the few Smell Bents I bought twice.

I checked out smell bent, they have a 6 scent sample pack of travel sprays, including bollywood for $30. I think i might order that right now

 

[StylinLA]

Quintar, you strike me as a bit of a rose purist. You might be well served by getting a very strong rose scent like Jo Malones Red Roses and layering it with something else to man it up a bit. Red Roses is pretty straight forward rose, and I could see a purist enhancing any of the male rose scents with it for an extra kick. From your comments above, I could certainly see it pumping up the rose in Rose 31. Or with VC&A. I'm actually considering this combo now...

Amouage Lyric Man is pretty rosey too.

 

[Timmy Dee]

If you find you like Noir de Noir, may I suggest you also test out Oud Ispahan by Dior?

I found it to be a very nice rose/aoud with similarities to TF's effort - it has the rose feature more prominently than other rose/aoud fragrances I've smelled.

 

[professorchaos]

Domenico Caraceni 1913 - Thought this would be amazing since I like roses and I like incense, but it's just kind of whatever...

Blasphemer!

Amouage Lyric Man is pretty rosey too.

Lyric Rose is nice indeed. For the 33 seconds I can smell it.

Have you considered anything from By Killian? Rose Oud might appeal to you too.