On request
Frederic Malle
Portrait of a Lady
Dark rose, clove, incense and patchouli
Brand
Frederic Malle samples
Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle opened in Paris in 2000 with nine perfumes and one idea: the perfumer is the author, so the name goes on the bottle like on a book. Dominique Ropion, Maurice Roucel, Olivia Giacobetti and Jean-Claude Ellena work here with complete freedom, time and materials. The results are generous, often extreme in one direction, a rose pushed to its limit, a tuberose in very high dose, which is exactly why a 10 ml decant beats a quick sniff in a boutique.
Build a set from these samplesIn short
- Paris, 2000: Frédéric Malle opens the house with nine perfumes
- The perfumer's name is printed on every bottle, as on a book
- Perfumers get free rein, time and the raw materials they ask for, the brand says
- Desert Gems, four volumes: The Night, Promise, Dawn, The Moon
On request
On request
Frederic Malle
Musc Ravageur
Amber, vanilla and a dense musk heart
On request
Frederic Malle
Carnal Flower
Fresh melon, animal tuberose, milky musk
On request
Frederic Malle
Promise
Dark rose, pepper, an illusion of oud
On request
Frederic Malle
En Passant
Lilac and cucumber, kept quiet
On request
Frederic Malle
L'Eau d'Hiver
Cologne clarity, softened with iris and powder
On request
Frederic Malle
French Lover
Green pepper, vetiver and a returning incense
On request
Frederic Malle
Lipstick Rose
Violet powder, raspberry, vanilla
On request
Frederic Malle
Iris Poudre
Powder, iris and a clean cosmetic glow
On request
Frederic Malle
The Moon
Red berries, rose, incense and oud
The brand
About Frederic Malle
Four Frédéric Malle samples to start with
Portrait of a Lady, by Dominique Ropion, is the rose of the house, with blackcurrant, raspberry and clove over patchouli, sandalwood and frankincense. Musc Ravageur, by Maurice Roucel, is its warm amber: bergamot and lavender falling into vanilla, musk and sandalwood. Carnal Flower is tuberose in high concentration, fresh and green first, milky later. En Passant, by Olivia Giacobetti, is lilac with a trace of cucumber over cedar and white musk.
What to expect on skin
These perfumes are composed to be worn, not glanced at: character first, then a stable drydown. Promise and The Moon belong to the Desert Gems collection, a Western tribute to Middle Eastern perfumery; Promise builds an oud illusion from cypriol and two roses, The Moon pairs raspberry, lychee and saffron with frankincense, rose, oud and leather. L'Eau d'Hiver, by Jean-Claude Ellena, is the quiet one, bergamot over iris, hawthorn and heliotrope.
Perfumers as authors
Frédéric Malle trained in art history and advertising and learned to smell at the creation company Roure before founding the house, which says it was the first to bring perfumers out of the shadows. The bottles are plain and the packaging borrows its codes from Gallimard book covers. Our decants are filled by FragranceGems from the original bottle and labelled by us; they are not official brand samples, and the house is not involved.
- Paris, 2000: Frédéric Malle opens the house with nine perfumes
- The perfumer's name is printed on every bottle, as on a book
- Perfumers get free rein, time and the raw materials they ask for, the brand says
- Desert Gems, four volumes: The Night, Promise, Dawn, The Moon
- L'Eau d'Hiver is an Eau de Toilette; the other perfumes we decant are Eau de Parfum
Frederic Malle samples
Frequently asked
Which Frédéric Malle sample should I try first?
Portrait of a Lady if you want the rose everyone talks about, Musc Ravageur if you prefer warm amber and musk without flowers, Carnal Flower for tuberose. Those three show the three big directions of the house; En Passant adds a light, green floral.
Are Frédéric Malle perfumes unisex?
Product pages carry no gender, though the website has women's and men's categories and lists some perfumes, such as Musc Ravageur and Promise, in both. In our data Portrait of a Lady, En Passant, Iris Poudre and Lipstick Rose lean women's and French Lover men's.
What are the Desert Gems samples?
Promise and The Moon come from the Desert Gems collection, Western perfumers' tribute to Middle Eastern perfumery. Promise recreates the effect of oud from cypriol, roses and labdanum without an oud note; The Moon does carry oud and leather under raspberry, lychee and saffron.
Reviews of FragranceGems (shop and sample reviews)
What FragranceGems customers say
DecantGems is new. These are reviews from FragranceGems customers about the shop and about the samples they ordered there. Collected by Judge.me.
4.7 out of 5
1,200+ reviews on Judge.me
Reviews of FragranceGems, the shop behind DecantGems
I really appreciate that I found a shop that has a wide range of authentic perfumes,fast delivery,great communication and very good prices. Thanks for everything!
Timely info when item was back in stock. Some confusion with info about shipment updates on gls app but what is important: perfume came in perfect condition!
incredible fast delivery l. the fragrance itself its magnificent, the dry down woody base, is intoxicating. it last on me 10 hours plus. great service great fragrance
Good experience overall. Fast shipping without any incidents. Prices are good as well.
Really happy of my purchase. Serious seller, quality products, fast shipping, large catalog. I will order a lot of more !
Shipping was 5 days to Finland. Customer service was very good. Happy with the product also. Will shop again. Only thing I hope is that you guys would negotiate better price for GLS shipping to Finland. But I know that is not always possible. And I noticed the prices were lower than the competitors so the steep shipping price was not that big of a deal. Good job all in all.
A selection of recent reviews in proportion to their star ratings.