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Penhaligon’s Portraits Chapter 1 ~ new fragrances

Posted by Robin on 7 September 2016 32 Comments

Penhaligon's Portraits Chapter 1

Penhaligon’s will launch Portraits, a new collection of four fragrances (with more to come in 2017): The Tragedy of Lord George, The Revenge of Lady Blanche, Much Ado About The Duke and The Coveted Duchess Rose.

What are the secrets of the British aristocracy? Are they as well behaved, courteous and polite as they seem to be? “Portraits” is a tribute to the English spirit; between establishment, humour and provocation.

The Tragedy of Lord George ~ "Deceptively traditional, Lord George is a perfect reminder that one should be aware of appearances. He himself maintains that one should never be able to divine what a man is thinking. This ability being, of course, the key to a happy marriage. Honourable, to a tee, his fidelity to King and Country is resolute. His penchant for muttering “the flesh is weak” over the breakfast kippers is entirely without explanation." A woody amber fougère from perfumer Alberto Morillas, with rum, tonka bean and ambrox.

The Revenge of Lady Blanche ~ "Lady Blanche is a picture of devotion, charm – and criminal intentions. A social butterfly with a dangerous bite one might say. Shakespeare did try to warn us “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. Indeed, a woman does always know. Lady Blanche wishes, oh how she wishes! that she did not. The real crime you see is the inelegance of not having kept all of this where it belongs – in the dark, with the lights off! (Cross her at your peril.)" A green floral from perfumer Daphné Bugey, with narcissus, angelica and ginger flower.

Much Ado About The Duke ~ "Who could say if it was the evenings spent at the theatre that gave the Duke his ravishing, ravished air. A slight perfume of intrigue engulfs him nevertheless. Exquisitely ubiquitous, a decadent dandy, an utterly charming chap, virulently ambivalent, a thoroughly ambiguous first son-in-law – hearts throb wherever he goes, but not the ones you might think. His wife agrees that the theatre is no place for a Duchess. Sometimes she longs not to be a Duchess…" A spicy woody rose from perfumer Daphné Bugey, with rose, gin and cumin.

The Coveted Duchess Rose ~ "A fresh, sweet Rose – ready for the picking. Ever since her recent marriage (anything but a bed of roses) our demure Duchess is urgently desirous of desire. Her bosom is aching for release from the corsets of Victorian life, she dreams of nothing but Paradise Regained, again and again. When one’s husband is at the theatre every evening, one does become terribly bored…" A woody rose from perfumer Christophe Raynaud with mandarin, rose and ambrox.

Penhaligon's Portraits Chapter 1 The Tragedy of Lord George, The Revenge of Lady Blanche, Much Ado About The Duke and The Coveted Duchess Rose will be £178 each for 75 ml.

(via press release)

Related...

Penhaligon’s Portraits The Revenge of Lady Blanche & The Coveted Duchess Rose ~ fragrance reviews
Penhaligon’s The Tragedy of Lord George & Much Ado About the Duke ~ fragrance reviews

Filed Under: new fragrances
Tagged With: alberto morillas, christophe raynaud, daphne bugey, penhaligons

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32 Comments

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  1. AnnS says:
    7 September 2016 at 3:14 pm

    Those bottles are kind of awful….. It makes me think of “Sex Panther” cologne from Anchorman.

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    • Petunia says:
      7 September 2016 at 3:34 pm

      Aha, ha, ha, ha. The backstories are eye rollers too.

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      • Robin says:
        7 September 2016 at 3:40 pm

        You know, a little backstory is good, but these are drowning in backstory — I didn’t even include all of it.

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        • AnnS says:
          7 September 2016 at 4:40 pm

          I am frightened to think of what you have saved us from reading.

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        • Lindaloo says:
          7 September 2016 at 5:09 pm

          Are you sure these aren’t entries in Prix Eau Faux?
          Or editors’ rejections of author-proposed jacket blurbs?

          Possibly for the masochists among us you could add them as an update with the warning “Not Safe for Sane People.” ;-)

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  2. Uday Parfoom says:
    7 September 2016 at 4:10 pm

    ‘The Revenge of Lady Blanche’ and ‘Much Ado About The Duke’ is possibly the most ventilated and slightly puerile ad copy I’ve ever read on this otherwise very fine site. I’d rather not imagine the kind of businessperson who would look at this press release without a tinge of bitterness.

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    • Robin says:
      7 September 2016 at 4:47 pm

      It’s pretty bad. I assume it’s meant as very tongue in cheek, but it’s totally missed the mark.

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  3. TeaInTheGarden says:
    7 September 2016 at 4:57 pm

    Makes me wonder if someone at Penhaligon’s has been following Imaginary Authors.

    The pricing here strikes me as rather serious considering the goofy story lines. Probably just me…

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    • Elisa P says:
      7 September 2016 at 11:22 pm

      No, not just you.
      I was thinking the same thing about Imaginary Authors. The fictional stories don’t really do anything for me with those either, but the perfumes are at least pretty reasonably priced.
      I think I’m the only one who doesn’t hate the bottles, though(maybe they’ve been following MDCI-or MDCI meets Monty Python?)I especially like the deer head!

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  4. FearsMice says:
    7 September 2016 at 6:09 pm

    The Tragedy of Lord George is that the bottle cap is going to take an eye out…

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    • Kyril says:
      8 September 2016 at 1:32 pm

      And now I have to clean water off my computer monitor. . . . :-)

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  5. MikasMinion says:
    7 September 2016 at 6:53 pm

    Wait. When did Penhaligons develop a sense of humor? I assume this was meant to be humorous. If I imagine Bertie Wooster enthusiastically describing this fabulous new line to Jeeves, it makes me snicker.

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    • Robin says:
      7 September 2016 at 7:57 pm

      Really, the quartet should have been Bertie, Jeeves, Aunt Agatha and Gussie Fink-Nottle.

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      • Parley says:
        8 September 2016 at 5:50 am

        Gosh I’d love a Gussie Fink-Nottle perfume!! Eau de newt, with orange juice and gin! I wonder what kind of customer Penhaligon’s is aiming for with this release though.

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    • Petunia says:
      7 September 2016 at 8:20 pm

      I’m guessing that the Penhaligon’s marketing dept. thoughtful that people would laugh with them and not at them. Plus, their regular bottles are so much nicer.

      The real joke will be if the scents are gorgeous and we’ll all have these rediculous looking bottles on our dressers. ???? I wonder if these will show up on the discount websites next season?

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      • Petunia says:
        7 September 2016 at 8:24 pm

        Stupid auto correct, thought – not thoughtful

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      • nozknoz says:
        7 September 2016 at 10:59 pm

        It will be a tragedy if any of these actually smells good!

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    • baconbiscuit212 says:
      7 September 2016 at 9:16 pm

      I was recycling papers the other day and accidentally mistook the Penhaligon’s Times for the Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer!

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  6. foxbins says:
    7 September 2016 at 7:30 pm

    I looked at those golden decapitations and burst out laughing. I don’t know if that is the reaction Penhaligon’s is going for or not…

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    • pyramus says:
      7 September 2016 at 7:43 pm

      They just look so *cheap*. The price is staggering considering those chintzy, tacky, plasticky caps. For all I know they’re metal, but if so, they’re really badly photographed. Add in that overheated, risible ad copy and it’s just a complete failure.

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    • Lindaloo says:
      7 September 2016 at 8:59 pm

      :-D

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  7. cazaubon says:
    7 September 2016 at 8:18 pm

    Hideous packaging. Pass.

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  8. hajusuuri says:
    7 September 2016 at 9:06 pm

    What the — ??? If I squint, the 3rd one from the left looks like Scooby-Doo’s head in shadowed profile.

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    • Petunia says:
      7 September 2016 at 9:24 pm

      Ha!

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    • Jalapeno says:
      7 September 2016 at 10:48 pm

      Zoinks! Now I see it, too!

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    • AnnS says:
      8 September 2016 at 11:17 am

      ;-) !!!

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  9. TheNoseKnows says:
    8 September 2016 at 12:09 am

    DYING! DEAD! LOVE THESE! Those stories are just deliciously lascivious potboilers all unto themselves! GOSH! Sometimes you feel the Verve and Fun have been taken out of everything and so much is so serious or just gag-inducingly awful… These are Purest Fun! Delightful Knee-Slapping Fun! I want to smell them and own them all! Kitcshy Bottle tops included (especially that Stag one… That’s Kind of Over-Over-The-Top!)

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  10. She-ra says:
    8 September 2016 at 12:29 am

    At first glance I honestly thought these were Game of Thrones perfumes based on the houses and their respective animals, etc. I guess those perfume releases are yet to come from HBO…they are churning out so much GOT merchandise.

    Maybe we will see Eau de Cersei yet… ;)

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  11. Carolyn says:
    8 September 2016 at 12:59 pm

    Oh dear, over the top back story, ridiculous prices – those who know me from NST will be aware how much I love Bluebell, but they may lose me as a customer completely if they continue down this path. A new release from Penhaligon’s used to be a rare & much anticipated event…

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    • swiftgrade says:
      8 September 2016 at 3:58 pm

      I completely agree. They are diluting the brand.

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  12. swiftgrade says:
    8 September 2016 at 3:57 pm

    I actually bought a bottle of the Lord George today (some Penhaligons shops have it as a soft launch).

    My initial observations are:

    1) the bottle is really pleasing in real life.

    2) the cap is metal not plastic.

    3) the bottle is a decent evolution on the classic Penhaligons shape but feels better made (for instance it has a sort of soft close click and is fairly heavy).

    4) the caps are now silver not gold.

    5) the price is ridiculous.

    6) the marketing reads like the PR department drank the fragrance before they wrote it.

    7) my initial view of the fragrance is that it is pleasingly classic, has a definite resinous complexity, but is not quite up to the level of the hype.

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  13. bunny75 says:
    20 September 2016 at 10:44 am

    Why so negative? Have any of you actually smelt the fragrances ?
    Duchesse Rose is amazing

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