halfwhiteboy

There's really something about these bottles from the Penhaligon's Portraits Collection that draws me in. I may not be a fan of the paper label but I adore the heavy glass bottles and of course, the ornate, gold-plated animal head stoppers. There's the menacing eagle (or is it a hawk?) of The Uncompromising Sohan , the utterly regal rooster of Monsieur Beauregard , and above all, the very imposing deer—complete with antlers—of The Tragedy of Lord George . With Roaring Radcliff , it's a lion.

I'm a sucker for the intricate, animal head bottle cap designs of Penhaligon's Portraits Collection . Never mind the not-so-chic paper label but the bottles do make a handsome-looking collection nonetheless. Banking on my overall positive experience with this house, I blind-bought Monsieur Beauregard .

Vial Trials  are my reviews of sample fragrances given out by sales people from various store purchases. Compared to my posts about full bottles--which are mostly positive because I already like them in the first place, that's why I bought them--Vial Trials are hopefully less one-sided since they were just given to me; I didn't pick them. Here I'm writing about The Uncompromising Sohan from the Penhaligon's Portraits Collection . I admit that I was taken aback by this fragrance when I first tested it. I felt like it didn't agree with my body chemistry that it smelled pungent on my skin, like BO. I tried it again, same reaction. Then I finally decided to wear it one Saturday out to the mall and only then did I start to appreciate it. It helped that Kwittiegirl said it definitely does not smell like BO.

What a gorgeous-looking bottle, don't you agree? Admittedly it's part of the reason why I bought The Tragedy of Lord George , a 2016 release from Penhaligon's for its Portraits Collection . Yes, it is such a lengthy name for a fragrance but then again this collection has entries like The Revenge of Lady Blanche , Much Ado about the Duke , and The Coveted Duchess Rose , to name a few. They all come in identical bottles but are differentiated by their dedicated animal head cap.