Promise (Parfum) by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle

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Desert Gems

Promise Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle 2017 Parfum

8.2 / 10 641 Ratings

A popular perfume by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle for women and men, released in 2017. The scent is spicy-woody. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is being marketed by Estēe Lauder Companies.
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Main accords

Spicy

Woody

Oriental

Fruity

Floral

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Apple

Pink pepper

Rosemary

Heart Notes

Bulgarian rose

Turkish rose absolute Clove

Clove

Base Notes

Cypriol

Labdanum

Patchouli

Ambroxan

Perfumer

Dominique Ropion

Ratings

Scent

8.2641 Ratings

Longevity

9.1591 Ratings

Sillage

8.8591 Ratings

Bottle

7.9578 Ratings

Value for money

6.9435 Ratings

Submitted by Franfan20, last update on 09/23/2025.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Desert Gems collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Oud Aquilaria

Promise Brume Cheveux

Hope

The Unbreakable Vow

Swedish Wood Eau de Parfum

Yes I can

Reviews

36 in-depth fragrance descriptions

01/25/2025

7
Pricing 8
Bottle 9
Sillage 10
Longevity 10
Scent

Merlotsupern
90 Reviews

Merlotsupern

Top Review 10

This is it, the perfect niche fragrance.

According to my wife, this "smells like a souk" - and I’d add: drinking apple cider in a souk!

Now, when you part with a significant chunk of cash, you expect the full experience. Promise delivers it all: it's distinctive, smells luxurious, and performs like with a bold projection. Wear this, and people will notice you. Overspray, and you will be projecting for 5-6 hours!
Longevity is 8-12 hours and semi-eternal on clothes.

That apple note combined with rosemary results in that "apple cider" vibe. The “souk” part probably comes from the spicy mix - think pepper, clove, saffron, and roses.

Having sniffed my way through most of Frederic Malle’s lineup, I’d say Promise is one of the safest introductions to the brand. It’s niche, yes, but without veering into those funky, animalic territories. Oddly enough, it bears a strong resemblance to The Moon, but Promise is way more approachable for the uninitiated (and considerably cheaper).

While I don’t usually play the gender game with fragrances, in this case, I’ll make an exception. Guys who shy away from florals, don’t worry, you’re safe. The roses here, especially in the dry down, are blended in a way that feels decidedly masculine.

As for when to wear it, anytime you want to be noticed. It’s strong and complex, more suited for special occasions or evening wear. If you’re a more mature gentleman, this could even be your "secret weapon" on a date night.

03/30/2021

10
Pricing 10
Bottle 10
Sillage 10
Longevity 10
Scent

FilipMurray
18 Reviews

FilipMurray

Helpful Review 8

Promise!

The Night, Dawn, The Moon and Promise.
I think the appropriate name for Promise would be Darkness.

The opening is like a freshly painted laboratory with some crazy alchemist drinking an apple brandy.
After just few minutes, that vibe disappears and then you can smell apples, roses and Nagarmotha.

Drydown is full of labdanum. It literally suffocates how strong it is. I'm an oversprayer, but I can't do more than 2-3 sprays without consequences - nausea and headache.

This scent is the definition of a dark scent. I can imagine Sauron, Voldemort, Darth Vader and other villains smelling like this perfume.

Great oriental fragrance from my favorite house and from my favorite - Mr. Ropion.

Longevity: one week
Aura: 800 meters

Now seriously, 3 sprays are enough for at least whole day and everyone who has a nose in the room will smell you.

12/14/2017

7
Bottle 6
Sillage 9
Longevity 6.5
Scent

StellaDiverF
213 Reviews

StellaDiverF

Helpful Review 4

Virile Rose Oud

The opening of Promise hits me with a virile, but still quite convincing "oud" accord, the kind of nutty, leathery smoky smell of cypriol that is often used to reconstruct oud. The rose reaches out from the shadow very soon, along with a sour, almost fermented fruity note. The later sour note combined with the leathery cypriol, smells very much like ripened goat cheese to me.

The ripened cheese impression gradually dies down during the first hour, but the oud accord is still the driving force and maintains its leathery, animalic aspects. The rose thankfully does not automatically take on the sugary prune-like purple fruitchouli with the appearance of patchouli in the base. Instead, it keeps the soft honeyed floralcy of a true rose material. The initial fermented, sour note is also replaced by a bright, crunching green note that pops up around the 2-hour mark, albeit very subtle.

Up til now, I enjoy the plush rose note in Promise, the ripened cheese-like oud accord is also as challenging as it's original. However, it also has a fairly noticeable dose of a certain harsh, dry note, either from popular woody amber aromachemicals, or an unpleasant facet of cypriol? Either way, it's a note that I find heavily employed in many niche masculine or oud offerings to evoke the kind of virile, rugged image, which is an aesthetic that I personally do not appreciate.

Once Promise hits the dry down after about 5 hours, the fragrance becomes a skin scent dominated by these woody amber aromachemicals and an abstract clean patchouli-soft rose touch. The sillage is initially moderate, and retreats to be skin scent in the dry down. The longevity is almost 12 hours.

While I enjoy a few aspects of Promise, the unsubtle woody amber aromachemicals is a dealbreaker to me, even though it's not as forceful as many similar fragrances. If you happen to be looking for a virile rose-"oud" and don't have issues with woody amber aromachemicals, Promise might be an interesting fragrance to sample. But do not be fooled by the apple in the note list, as it's very different from a conventional pretty fruity rose.

09/23/2024

10
Pricing 10
Bottle 10
Sillage 10
Longevity 10
Scent

PerfumeUser2
41 Reviews

PerfumeUser2

Helpful Review 5

Personal opinion- no poetry, notes already described by others

This! If I could choose only 1 perfume from my whole collection, without sentimental value, this would be it.

Let me clarify why.
My skin (regardless I hydrate it or not) destroys any perfume, the perfumes that are declared here as being able to last up to 6 hours on some people's skin, on mine it lasts maybe 3 hours (at best, and very faint) . Frederic Malle Promise sticks with me the whole day. On my clothes I can detect it 3 days after I wash them (the last notes) .

The opening for me is a harsh peppery smell. Only after a few sprays and months, I started smelling some apple (if I get my nose really into the spot, and only for a few seconds) . Afterwards it progresses into a sweet note (the Roses) . The drydown is sweet sour to my nose, and a hint of roses (on the clothes at least) . This is a sophisticated, mature perfume. I can' t praise it enough, I can only recommend it.

I need only one spray, 2 are overwhelming
Projection is humongous
It truly lasts
It is expensive, however, seeing you save up on the amount of sprayings, it is worth it

I love this so much, that I ordered a second bottle a few months after purchasing the first, just in case.

Best perfume I smelled and owned, up until now.

This is the one and only perfume I' d keep from my small collection- best quality. End of story.

09/05/2024

6
Pricing 8
Bottle 8
Sillage 9
Longevity 10
Scent

Musicandarts
222 Reviews

Musicandarts

Helpful Review 3

A perfect 10.0 from Dominique Ropion

Promise is an absolute masterpiece from Dominique Ropion and Frederic Malle. This perfume belongs to the Desert Gems Collection from Frederic Malle, where the perfumers interpret Middle Eastern culture and its nature using the olfactory space. Frederic Malle website describes Promise variously as an amber perfume, an oud perfume and a rose perfume at different spots. We can easily debate any of these characterizations, but they are all true to some extent. Such is the mastery of the perfumer in this perfume. This review was originally written for a 10 ml bottle that is part of the 3 Roses set from Frederic Malle. I recently bought a 50 ml bottle.

What I report here are the notes that I perceive, steering clear of the marketing propaganda and the overwrought enthusiasm of many reviewers. The opening is a beautiful blast of oud-like splendor, which alone requires a longer conversation. It is clearly not oud, though it reminds me of some oud perfumes like Oud for Greatness. There is a hint of apple, but it is not a fruity apple. You can also get some rosemary here, though not much of the pink berry. I surmise that Ropion creates this oud-like accord by delicately combining cypriol, clove, labdanum and patchouli. The end-product is a gorgeous feeling, not a blend of notes. Once we move into the heart notes, the rose accords emerge. But these rose accords - Bulgarian and Turkish according to the website - are very subdued, happily playing second fiddle to the overall Middle Eastern incense-oud vibe. The base notes maintain the same vibe though at a much softer level, but the labdanum is slightly more prominent in the end. The dry down is intimate, but still very exciting. Please note that the olfactory pyramid is not very demarcated, so do not expect new notes to emerge at a later point.

The success of Promise is built upon the Middle Eastern oud-like personality without using real oud. Using this strategy, Ropion extracts the amazing woodiness of oud, while avoiding the mild sour note associated with natural oud. In summary, Promise is an amazing monolith that cannot be split into component parts. That is why the aforementioned descriptors - amber, oud and rose - fail to pigeon-hole this classic.

The performance of Promise is nothing short of exceptional. It lasts 8-10 hours as a solid scent on my skin, and a few hours more as an intimate woody dry down. The sillage is very long, lasting for many hours. These aspects may make Promise a less office-friendly perfume, unless you spray it small doses a few hours before you get there.

I recommend Promise over most other oud perfumes I have come across even though it is does not contain any oud. It is one of the most expensive perfumes in the Frederic Malle catalog, though it well worth the price. I would recommend a sample or a 10 ml bottle to start with. Promise will survive time as one the best creations by Dominique Ropion. I give Promise a perfect ten.

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