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rdprf – :
if you have the audacity to wear Audace, you will be hated and adored depending on who catches the scent as you prowl past. It will fill a room and probably empty the room..but some will stay. Voila!…you’ve found your people! This was a blind buy and I’m not sure I have the audacity to wear this…but hell I’m going to try. I think this is a power scent, for the hard working woman whose crashed through the glass ceiling and announces her arrival, independence and takes no sufferers or for the bold adventurer, I can imagine women ski jumpers wearing this, fearless! I’m going to spray a tiny bit on something and then transfer it to my skin and see if I can somehow make it slightly more subtle..but then I’m possibly missing the point. To me this is the whiff of winter courage. There’s nothing subtle about Audace.
tor4 – :
Fragrance Review For Audace
Marcel Rochas
Top Notes
Bergamot Violet Jasmine Iris
Middle Note
Carnation Rose
Base Notes
Patchouli Oak Moss Galbanum Amber Juniper Pine
Wow
I’m in Paris for Fashion Week and have found a jewel that no million dollar diamond could ever replace!
Audace (Audacity)is a bold aromatic green chypre of French perfumery from it’s brilliant Golden Age. This is the oldest surviving fragrance of the Rochas line because I have not been able to find it’s predecessor and the first official Rochas fragrance Avenue Montaignon, in my hunt for rare vintages. This is absolutely stunning and I thank God for giving me a nose with which to enjoy beautiful perfumes like this. The reviews preceding mine speak for themselves. This is a winner. It’s one of the early green theme chypres which later would become the more well known and common greens like Vent Vert by Pierre Balmain, Chanel No. 19, Aliage by Estee Lauer, and Ivoire de Balmain. I would also like to add that this fragrance is reminiscent of Schiaparelli’s Arrongatissima in it’s iris-floral and woodsy order. This is a perfume with a capital P. Everything that makes up an epic aromatic fragrance is in this bottle. The green leaves of shrubs, petals of flowers, and woodsy bark of pine tree, and moss. The projection it throws out is atomic. Bathe in it and you’ll be smelling of it for a week. Put on too much and it will announce itself before you arrive at your destination. It’s an out of this world mature perfume for the woman who is confident, artistic, creative, alluring and dynamic. Not a youthful girly girl perfume.
The opening lacks aldehydes which surprised me for a vintage. What it has as it starts is a zesty lemony bergamot orange with a sharp citric blast. Then it follows a violet or lavender which is reminiscent of citrus based cologne for men or aftershave with a floral lavender. There is plenty of gorgeous violet and iris purple flowers at the top which I absolutely love because purple flowers are my favorite. The iris is not yet powdery as it opens and I wondered if it would ever get powdery but it turns progressively greener and mossier. There are no other fruit notes other than the bergamot. The jasmine embraces carnation and rose and these 3 notes of flowers are the biggest accords. The scent is gorgeously floral. It is rather starchy through the iris and yet fragrant, heady, a floral paradise. The aroma is to die for. It is a bit like Madame Rochas but far greener.
As the dry down begins, the patchouli herbs are detectable. Patchouli then meets galbanum and oak moss with woodsy notes of pine tree and amber tree. There is a sweet juniper as well. This is the first time I’ve encountered pine tree as a note in a woman’s fragrance. This pine and amber plus overdose of patchouli oak moss and galbanum, all those powerful green scents, gives this fragrance’s dry down a unisex and masculine air. This can pass for something like Tsar by Van Cleef & Arpels for men or Aspen by Coty. At the same time it’s wearable for women because of the sweet flowers which have enough time to let their aroma out and is decidedly feminine. That rose and carnation, the violet, the iris, the jasmine. The amber is resinous and warm, like a real graphic amber goo on a tree. The pine is glorious. The dry down is earthy and green like a forest. This is a French forest. Chinon. The air is fresh by the mountains and the valleys are flowered with violets. It’s audacious because it doesn’t give a damn about other people near her when she throws out that million dollar aroma of huge greenery. On a more practical note this is an autumn fragrance. It smells of fallen leaves and moss. Audace matches up with scarves, cashmere sweaters, turtlenecks, pea coats, trench coats and mittens. Very East Coast New England. Academic. Artsy. If you like greens go green.
Beautiful.
samael – :
I loved this is the 70’s. It was like the younger sassier version of Madame Rochas. Lots of layers that changed throughout the day. Definitely more green notes than MR.
smitfuk – :
I agree with Belle, when I first wore Rochas Audace my first impression was an impassioned, “Oh my this is so Lovely!!” There are no other words. My bottle is from the 70s, and even though it was first conjured in the 30s, this is just a beautiful 70s Green Woods Perfume. This is possibly better than Aliage and Jean Louis Scherrer.
On my skin the pine, juniper, and especially the green, green GALBANUM are prominent, and the green forested character of Audace never goes away. After about an hour the florals peek through, mostly carnation and a hint of earthy iris on me, with maybe a hint of rose? Slowly as it fades down the it becomes a little more woody, with patchouli-oakmoss woods, but everything is still green. Oh happy green mossy forests damn I love this perfume!!
This wears pretty close to the skin and lasts 6+ hours on me. It’s so depressing that this kind of perfume is so out of style, and probably never coming back. But my bottle of Audace smells fresh, even for being so old, and if you like 70s green wooded perfumes I think you should check this out.
kalina71389 – :
A lovely, classic ‘French’ perfume, Audace is sophisticated and feminine. The pine note is unusual in an old-school chypre, but the traditional violet, carnation and rose anchor the scent and give it a beautiful makeupy vibe. My bottle is vintage PDT, well preserved and vibrant despite its age. Audace and Balmain’s Ivoire both feature green notes on a chypre, a combination very attractive to me. Another can’t do without from Rochas.
Nedeemadalous – :
Very beautifull scent, love the pine note and its green texture. Think of the sophisticated and gracefull Madame herself, they must be familiar related. I am surpriced by the fact that it still smells so great despite the many years since discontinuation.
Zim91 – :
Just gorgeous. Opens with bergamot, pine and galbanum. Juniper, rose, carnation heart on oakmoss and amber. As the aromatic pine and juniper mellow it becomes very, very lightly violet/iris powdery, velvety rich from the amber and deeply mossy. This is a walk through a lush forest right before sundown.
Longevity is good for a 40 year old scent for both pdt and parfum, sillage is close with the parfum, moderate with the parfum de toilette.
I can’t believe I almost made it through a whole lifetime without smelling a Rochas perfume. Audace, Femme, Madame Rochas and Byzance are some truly impressive fragrances. I give this a 9/10.
rjhieyjd – :
When I saw this here I almost wept with nostalgia. This was my signature scent for almost the entire 70 decade. It was beautiful and never failed to get me compliments galore. I wish, wish, wish I could find it somewhere.
johnny76 – :
Wonderful! Green but with great combination of violet and Iris which makes it smell like makeup.
-=fonvizin=- – :
Adore!…..
90scorpion90 – :
04.march 2014
I have just recently purchased additional vintage bottle of this beauty. This time in a sealed box, spray version of parfum de toilete. I can honestly tell you it has preserved very well.
I will agree with myself below (i have already written a review almost 3 years ago, when i have just started my parfumista journey back then) and everyone else who say that this is a preceeder of another legendary fragrance and my personal huge love – “Madame Rochas”. I own a lot of “Madame” and have tried it by now in very different concentrations and formulations and i can tell that the “Madame” from early 80´s is a daughter of “Audace”. Almost identical, but “Audace” is a greener version, which has a very pronounced pine note (surprise!). At first it botheres me a bit, but it might be either a first spray out of vintage bottle or just the fact that pine smells bit too much in here. At first all i smell is a strong mix of oakmoss (the real one, you know), juniper and pine. Quite non-feminine, i must say, there is no trace of jasmine, and i gues it is due to it´s age, jasmine does not preserve well. It lasts for an hour or so and during that time pine becomes more pronounced than oakmoss. Then it starts to morph into a “Madame Rochas”, with soft violet and rosy undertones, but still preserves that clear pine accord. This is my favorite stage. I truly enjoy it as an epitome of something wonderful and it so perfectly captures a smell of old books and mix of mom´s perfume (i know, sounds strange, but that´s how i feel it). Smells like a smell of our old woodhouse i was living in as a child, with all the vintage powders my grandma had and smell of a bit worn clothes left ot of the closet for little too long, mix of men´s cologne in the air, a wooden floor, an old rug on the wall, bit damp tapestry, all that smell.
For me it is a very comforting scent, no matter what anyone else think and thatś why i most proably enjoy it so much. ANd that is what “Madame Rochas” smells to me as well, just less wood and green tones.
The closer to drydown, the more rosy-soapy-oakmossy it smells. And if by any chance you press your nose to your wrist you will also detect a very clear carnation (the vintage carnation) note. Fantastic! I don´t want to wash it off at all!
One spray lasts for over 6 hours and sillage is quite good, it is very much detectable.
I am very happy to be able to experience and enjoy this frgarance. I usually wear “Madame Rochas” when i feel tired of all other fragrances and want something very comforting and classy, i wear it mostly for myself, but don´t feel any old or depression, i feel very brave and daring on the contrary. Seems like “Audace” will be saved for extra special healing moments.
1983jeka – :
Well, I was surprised to find this scent here, as I had assumed it was dropped back in the 70’s, which was when I used to wear it when I was in college. I remember loving it’s green, woody fresh quality and it perfectly expressed the kind of optimism and sense of adventure there was in my life then. Takes me right back to a certain time and place. Yve Roche’s “Evidence” is a little like this.
silsbrefeasse – :
I believe this fragrance was discontinued in the early to mid-1970s, so it’s well to bear in mind that anything on the market currently would have to be very old. I’ve bought several little bottles over the years in hopes of recapturing the experience of how exquisite it was, but they’ve all been more or less stale, which distorts the balance. They remind me of its past glories, but are a sad reflection.
snorMaavera – :
17. july 2011
This is a review for a vintage Parfum de toilette.
I have applied it yesterday and i must say honestly that i like it more when i sniff it out of the bottle, than on my skin. It is indeed like “Madame Rochas” but more greener and has more violet (especially in the opening) and pine in it. I say it is not suitable for summer, it is strictly fall-winter scent, so i will have to try it later again, and i am sure i will like it muh more then. There is something very classy in this fragrance that makes me want to smell it again and again.
The lasting power is average and it stays close to your skin, but this is the kind of perfume that not everyone would appreciate so it is even better that way, so you can keep the magic all to yourself. It is mysterious and bewithcing indeed.
Splash PdT bottle (very vintage)
Sokol-17 – :
With my initial sniff I thought “ooh, there is pine in this.” And sure enough, there is. You’ll detect it right away and it will last throughout.
That said, this is more of a winter green than a springtime green. I like it.
Edit: I’m coming back to this a month later. Now I’m getting more base, more wood. I’ts more of a green woody chypre than a Christmas scent now. Audace is a dark green velvet dress hung in a mahogony closet. A real old school classic. If you can get your hands on a sample, I highly recommend it.
flash3230 – :
Ohhhh XSX!!! I looooove Audace by Rochas!!! It is SUCH a masterpiece!!! It resembles Madame Rochas very much, only a tad greener. The green twin sister of Madame!!!
LOVE IT!!