Penhaligon’s Portraits Scent Library, A Review

Part 3 of 3 for Perfume Heads

TLDR: The Portraits Scent Library contains 10 scents: The Tragedy of Lord George, The Revenge of Lady Blanche, the Coveted Duchess Rose, Much Ado About The Duke, The Bewitching Yasmine, Chagning Constance, The Blazing Mr. Sam, Terrible Teddy, Heartless Helen, and The Inimitable William Penhaligon. Ever bottle comes with a stunning brass topper in the shape of an animal, and each perfume comes with a different backstory. To my knowledge these are the only perfumes in their collection with dye.

Among them, Duchess Rose and Terrible Teddy were my favorites.

For more top, middle, and bottom note specifics, read on.

DALL-E generated image, prompt “luxury perfumes, of different colors, on a bright, neutral background.”

The Portraits Collection

Despite more than one dud, this is Penhaligon’s strongest collection, in no small part because of world building not often seen in olfactory circles.

Not only do you have the depth characteristic of this luxe perfumer, each perfume comes with a story for the corresponding character. Even the bottles feel intentional, shedding original trappings for hefty brass head pieces in the shape of corresponding characters. Each perfume has a name, animal character, and (most delightfully) a corresponding backstory explaining how each character relates…