Description
Edmond Roudnitska made Femme Rochas in Paris during the War in 1943. Femme represents a real masterpiece with its warmth of a woman’s gentle skin and dense note of plum. The composition is based on the harmony of aldehides, fruit, wood, and musk notes. The dryness of chypre notes is softened by the purple plum.
The richness of tropical fruits is followed by the rich scent of sandal. Femme Rochas is a splendid perfume which is not aimed at every person, more at a femme fatale. The perfume was reconstructed in 1989 and has become lighter and more gourmand thanks to the peach note in harmony with plum.
The notes are: bergamot, peach, pear, rose, an immortal, jasmine, ylang-ylang, grey amber, musk, oakmoss and sandal. The lovely bottle recalls a woman’s curves. Femme Rochas was launched in 1944.
romakrivoy – :
Femme’s original formula (1940’s) did have cumin as a key note! 🙂
Just like Eau d’Hermes, and many other creations by Roudnitska.
He used both cumin essence and cumin aldehyde to impart a touch of raw carnality in his perfumes, but also to emphasize the smell of leather, a facet he frequently made use of.
The bold and frequent use of cumin by this master perfumer became one of his trademarks.
Unfortunately, cumin fades away in a fragrance after years and years of aging.
So if your Femme is vintage (an old bottle) chances are that the cumin note is fairly subdued or barely perceptible. The current formulation is quite unbalanced and that’s why the cumin note seems so prominent. :/
denisshwarew – :
The original Femme (not the current abomination) is to me as if Mitsouko, had forgotten the fact that her husband, and lover are both in the war, and she decided to have a torrid affair with a third man, who is keeping her very busy during the evenings… What an incredibly beautiful and erotic perfume this was! A Roudnitska child, given as a gift to the world -via Rochas. May you rest in peace darling…
SAirma – :
My review is for the EDT current not vintage version. Lately I fell into ! not out of the chypre wagon. It happened rather slowyly to me because although sampling many and except Mitsouko which I liked but felt hard to pull off for a while, I am usually attracted by deep or dark warm orientals. I had Jubilation 25 in the collection because I found that it is the dirtier more oriental and warmer twist to Mitsouko but even that one worked for me only here and there from time to time only. The switch happened recently with Amouage Gold Man and especially the beautiful civet / oakmoss dry down that lasts into the next day and made me say hey, I think I can surely pull them off in the end. And from there a few days of Weekend à Fontainebleau samples by Ideo Parfumeurs definitely made the switch. Now to Femme. I wanted first the vintage version fearing the 1989 reformulation but in the end the new version had some good reviews (despite even more reformulations on the road) – and hey, in the end Olivier Cresp did some great gourmands and cumin ties me to my oriental gourmands that I am not afraid of! Rightly so: the opening is a little bit disappointing as it comes out a bit on the cheep side but this lasts about 5 min. So it’s bearable. Likely fault of “do the same with much less money” disease of the mainstream houses. I think the nice part comes after that where I find a striking resemblance with Jubilation 25 (it’s the cumin add to the chypre structure) but a bit more mild, more gourmand (but also less intense) than J25. I think it depends on everybody’s tolerance or like of cumin, on my side it’s not one of my favorite notes but have no issue with it and find it interesting. But no need to be afraid of either as it is very far from the cumin infused souk of Ayzade by Parfums d’Empire for instance. So unless you are totally in dislike of cumin, it should not put you off. So overall lovely and I will wear it, but with the regret that it is like a grand unkept villa. You can see the past oppulence and brightness and imagine the elegal parties that could have taken place there but in daylight you see the cracks in the walls and the dust all over and old curtains So I will try to see if I can get my hands on a vintage version to really see how it was supposed to be.
Why don’t big houses do 2 versions instead of new collections all the time: do a cheap version for big distribution (if they have to!!) and then do limited edition original formulas with all the costs and the initial proper ingredients in there so that we can also buy the real thing!
Яхонт – :
October is here again and Femme is the mood.
My unapologetic adoration and unrelenting curiosity for vintage powerhouses was immediately piqued by this juice.
After poring over review after review, scrutinizing the individual notes, and borderline obsessive ebay scavenging, I finally snatched up a delicate little bottle of vintage pure parfum. The box itself, with its black lace motif, was so utterly inviting that when I opened it to find the richly ambered juice within, topped with the little satin magenta ribbon, delight took over immediately. Make no mistake, even though the bottle was sealed, the intoxicating scent began wafting up shortly after. Bold and lush and perfectly pronounced straight out of the glass, I applied a very delicate drop to my wrists and the bombshell took over.
Femme is the kind of fragrance who will wear you if you’re not careful, and she is absolutely uncompromising, perhaps not quite to the extent that vintage Opium or the draconic Youth Dew embody, but there is an air of command to this juice. That oakmoss is no joke, lush as it is. The cumin note is what intrigued me most about the scent, but after application, there seemed only a whisper of it amongst the other notes, and it read mostly as a faint, warm skin musk beneath the rubied, heated plums, peaches and cinnamon. I will perhaps have to try the eau de parfum instead of the pure parfum, because apparently the cumin note is more noticeable in that particular formulation! (I’m absolutely mad about cumin in fragrance – it’s a problem. Salome is my signature for a reason!)
The fruit in Femme is what keeps me coming back, however. Previously I had only encountered an extremely ghastly plum in Marc Jacobs Decadence, which rather put me off fruited scents for a very, very long time. After being encouraged to try vintage YSL Yvresse, with its sparkling nectarine-peach magic, however, I was ready to give it another shot. I am so glad I did. The plum feels infused with what seems like almost violety ionones? It’s very “more-ish,” and I find myself with my nose almost constantly pressed to my wrist because of it. That might be the rosemary I’m reading, though, because there is an herbal quality undercutting the sweet richness of the fruit that keeps it beautifully balanced, but extremely magnetic all the same.
To echo others, I’ve also found the sillage very intimate, but also I’m pretty conservative in my application. I can see Femme becoming overwhelming when applied with abandon. It is VERY hard not to apply more, because it’s so, so beautiful, at all stages.
This sustained beauty in a perfume is admittedly new for me – even some of my most adored scents have moments in their development that I’m not overwhelmingly fond of. Femme, however, is delicious and ripe at all stages, from application to drydown. Alternately bold, inviting, soft, elegant, sexy, refined – Femme is a kaleidoscopic, profoundly sensual experience that demands indulgence again and again.
79196452181 – :
This is femininity in high voltage flourishing at full tilt, à la Rita Hayworth in Gilda. Roses, violets and sliced peaches macerating in plum liquor inside of a clammy cellar, the autumnal beauty of mulled spices, dried fruits and auburn shades but intepreted with a raspy voice sensuality, a 1940’s silver screen beauty singing “Fever” seen through a sepia lens filter.
Worn outside, it makes me a bit too aware of its sensuality though, its purring on my skin is like wearing kitty heels, ample cleavage and catcalling strangers inside of elevators, makes me want to run to where I think it is its appropiate setting: a carpeted dusty attic with a single phonograph playing Etta James songs wearing a skin-hugging black satin dress.
dead n bass – :
This is a powerful gem, one has to be careful with it. Absolutely best in winter. Spicy and adorable in small dosis, suffocating in larger and in summer.
According to Alicia Dujovne Ortiz this was the signature scent of Evita Peròn.
Waiting for cold weather to be able to wear this again!
prulson – :
I love FEMME, and I’m a guy. I’m going on my fifth bottle, in fact (the 1989 Olivier Cresp version).
Perhaps Luca Turin is right when he says that updating a grand old feminine paradoxically makes it seem more masculine. At any rate, on first spray, I get a head that smells remarkably masculine… a barbershop-py quality of rosemary and menthol and siberian fir… I adore this part.
Soon, though, FEMME descends into its sweet, musky cocktail of stone fruits; they smell not like fresh fruit, but like a stewed compote.
The spices are clove, cinnamon and the famous cumin addition. Love-love-love it. With the musks going on, yes indeed, the cumin bestows a hint of… ahem… “olor feminis”, which travels suggestively, but delicately, in the sillage. Exquisite. This scent DOES make a woman seem as if she is “ready and fair game for romance”… It’s so not an “ice princess” scent, so be forewarned. Men WILL notice this inviting perfume on a woman and cannot help but react to it. It’s a “Hello Sailor” number.
The cinnamon in the modern formula smells both barky cassia… and also “red hots/Dentyne” candy cinnamon. Fewer and fewer fragrances nowadays really feature cinnamon as a focal, undeniable note, and FEMME is my go-to cinnamon scent.
I like the way this scent can have so much gourmand-y notes going on, yet it definitely is seated on a bitter chypre base, not an overly-vanillic oriental or dessert-y gourmand base.
FEMME may be a “femme fatale” or “bombshell” fragrance, but she always seems very happy and outgoing and festive to me. I don’t read the scent as being dark or foreboding or goth or aloof. I think it is indeed fair to think of FEMME as a “friendly and cheerful” Guerlain MITSOUKO.
Somewhere, 3/4 into the development there is a note I adore also: maybe it’s the benzoin; but it smells balsamic and also musky and animalic. Maybe it’s a synth of deermusk or ambergris.
The sandalwood in the base is gorgeous and warm, not “mystical” or “Eastern’ necessarily.
I was privileged to try some old, vintage (Roudnitska) FEMME in the pure extrait. It is much more restrained and “serious” than the 1989 Cresp formula. It smelled very “contained”, red rosy/floral and jewel-like, without the aldehydic diffusion or cumin sweat going on. It is considerably more oldschool and classily feminine, you’d say. Believe it or not, I actually prefer the modern “hooker-with-a-heart” reformulation.
Because FEMME is so warm, spicy and juicy, it is probably best used in cool weather; in hot weather, it might prove to be “too much of a muchness”.
nokinokinoki – :
Oh barf!!!! I mean, I’m sure there is some lucky soul out there that this smells wonderful on, but oh my god! This is literally the first time I have gagged upon sniffing a perfume! I’m really shocked by this one.
I love all those crazy controversial vintages out there like BaV, My Sin, Habanita, Occur!, Shocking, etc.. I love orientals too, like Youth Dew, Coco, Tabu, to name some. But I can’t deal with this one!!
It smells like straight up BO after eating Indian food. Coriander and funky onion sweat with an undercurrent of bile. Oh no, no thank you. This one is going back where it came from. Nothing Femme about this at all.
TultTauntyTax – :
Oh dear, another blind buy in the sales that doesn’t work for me! I get an overwhelming patchouli, carnation and sandlewood mix that fades in an hour or two to something that reminds me of sandlewood soap at the back of a dusty cupboard. Must be my skin chemistry!
gara15d – :
This is a like that I wish I could love but unfortunately in a very vintage version the aldehydes are cratering all my lovely fruits. What I’m left with is a Femme that smells very soapy, but still with an undercurrent of rich, plummy spices and the occasional twinkle of velvety peach. Delicious, and well worth trying an aged bottle.
MYMNREODO – :
I have been on a chypre binge for the last year. I had stayed away from Femme bc I do not particularly favor fruity smells, but I finally took the plunge and got a vintage parfum de toilette bottle (maybe from the 90’s?) and a current edt bottle. The findings led me to a personal discovery.
Current femme is very transparent, with initial smells of passing fruits and it quickly settled on a powdery base of iris and carnation. I barely detect any other notes, like cloves. Stylistically, Femme is directly linked to the wonderful Mitsouko, which seems to have fare much better in recent incarnations. But while Mitsouko remained distinctively Guerlain, Femme led me the realization of how many current “niche” offerings are probably inspired on her: specifically, LAP coeur de vetiver sacre, traversee of Bosphore, even Lutens vetiver oriental. And it was until I had a full wear of Femme that it finally hit me the other obvious reference: PDE Cuir Ottoman. They r all obvious different creations, but the unmistakable spirit of Femme, and its notes, is there.
The vintage bottle gave away some turned off top notes, something to expect when u r dealing with fruits, but in essence it had far more depth than the current watered-down version.
I layered them only to be reminded of another Lutens: chergui.
The other realization was how niche perfumery has only been trying to replicate the beautiful scents from the golden age of perfumery. I wish corporations had more respect for these landmark scents, because, after all, they still are relevant through the inspiration they provide to new scents. I probably will never know how Femme smelled originally. But it’s current ghostly state is still generous enough to share its opulence.
Smell great, my friends.
1q2w3e4r5t – :
Current version with the golden and plastic cap:
i’ve never understood fully the expression “skin scent” or “this fragrance suits perfectly my skin chemistry” until i tried this. I’ve always thought that a fragrance sits on the skin and envelop the person…but Femme melted into my skin!
Well blended,a mixture of dried fruits(plum and a faint peach)very warm spices (smelled the cinnammon very clearly and the cloves)and woody notes.
The cumin is pungent, i love it actually, but i have to say that i never eat any food with it, so for my nose is just another spice with no association with the kitchen…cumin adds that hint of human skin, not really sweat but as if the fragrance was already on a warm body.
Femme lasted a lot on my skin even after sleeping(only strong fragrances last on me after rubbing into the sheets) i can detect the trace of the perfume.
Is the more feminine perfume in my collection with Shalimar and one of the most unique scent that i ever smelled.
For the way it melts into the skin, i see it being perfect with a silk robe or a beautiful dress that shows lot of skin. It’s so intimate but i feel that can be worn outside with confidence.
EDIT: i got an old splash bottle of Guerlain Mitsouko (edt), it was of my grandmother. They are very similar, even if the bottle is old i get the similarities in the dried peach and spices.
refor – :
Plummy, cinnamon, oakmoss, and peaches. (Vintage)
It’s a dark light contrast that consists of more apricots, cloves, carnations, lime, and rosewood. Like a cinnamon fruitti chypre.
Interesting blend.
Paruchik – :
ان كنت تبحث عن عطر بهاري
من الدرجة الأولي .. هذا العطر هو ضالتك
..
حساء الكمّون الحار
مقدم من افخر مطعم هندي في المدينة
..
بهاري للغاية .. هل تستطيع !!
BakyElaby – :
Oh my goodness how raunchy! Makes me gasp a little in a good way. Deep and spicy; earthy dried fruits rather than fresh. It’s more velvet than sequins. But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming, just apply with restraint. It’s aptly named – smells like a woman. Not a lady, a W-O-M-A-N. Not freshly bathed either, but not in a dirty BO way. More like a pheromones kind of scent. Like you’d catch a whiff in the street and start following after it with your nose in the air and your feet floating behind you. When I first smelled it, I had a kind of raised eyebrows, make a suggestive noise kind of reaction. But I don’t really feel that this, or any fragrance for that matter, is “too sexy” for work. I think it would work fantastically as a date night fragrance for sure, but if I smelled it somewhere neutral, like work, I’m not sure that it would conjure up any inappropriately dirty thoughts – it’s a context thing! Maybe that’s just me and I have a chaste mind at work! I had read lots of reviews suggesting that this is a sexy scent before smelling it, so that had me primed I guess.
I have the vintage parfum de toilette and also the fairly recent version (pre-2013 I think? With the flat top lid.) I don’t *hate* the cumin in the more recent one… it does make me think “curry”, but I also don’t think I’d necessarily have identified it if I hadn’t been on Fragrantica going through reviews. My nose isn’t that talented. The more modern version seems pretty similar otherwise, and I’d be happy with it if it’s all I had. In fact I appreciate the pop of the top notes balancing the rest of the fragrance, which can be on the heavy side. My vintage has a murkier quality.
emin1234 – :
Femme combines every element of the classic chypre in such an effortless and elegant way that it fully deserves its place in the ‘masterpiece’ category of perfumes:
Rich, warming fruits up front (the peach/plum combination in this is so ridiculously good and makes it one of my hands-down, all-time favourite fruity chypres). Mellow spice weaving in and out. A subtle but clever citrus that provides just enough bitterness to undercut the fruits and spices. A mossy, earthy, slightly dirty underbelly which makes this wickedly feminine and delicious. Lastly, an old fashioned ‘make-up’ scent in the dry down which I think comes from the leather in this one and is just the perfect development for such an initial sillage beast.
A beautiful, timeless creation and one I will always love.
tiscenko – :
Sophia Loren
Creefibia – :
I can’t do it. It smells like my armpits after I eat curry. I feel really let down, because I *adore* Edmond Roudnitska. I think Le Parfum de Thérèse is an absolute masterpiece and in my top five all time favorites. I really love spice fragrances as well — Kenzo Jungle L Elephant, Ferragamo’s Tuscan Soul, Opium, Putman’s Tan D’Epices — but this is all curry armpit and benzoin to me.
fzokshcu – :
Femme is super warm, earthy & sexy – & the word that always springs to my mind when I think about this scent is PLUSH. It’s fruitiness is imo, strictly Autumnal. It’s an “old school” vintagey type of perfume & (for me) is definitely an Autumn & Winter perfume for a big night out. I don’t get any summery fruit cocktail/sun dress association from this at all.
My Granny often used a phrase to describe very glamorous seductive women, she used to say “they’re all fur coat & no knickers” – nothing wrong with that ! lol Anyway, that’s just how I think of Femme – a “fur coat & no knickers” type of perfume. It’s very distinctive, rich, & lovely..
I had an older bottle in the 1980’s, (long gone), now I’ve only got a vintage mini, & the newer version. I think it’s a perfume that has retained it’s character & spirit quite well following reformulation. My current bottle still smells like Femme to me – spicy, woody, animalic..
I originally wrote this review to try & balance those of Gigi The Fashionista/Southern blonde/ Parfumee/Lucia Lawson/Aurora Mccandless/Shauna Parra/Carolyn Parker etc, which are frankly all over the place. All these “members” are allegedly all the same person writing “fragrance fiction reviews” as different characters – They also made me wonder if the author had ever actually smelled Femme. Sorry, but this is NOT a summer fruity/floral, or gourmand, imo.
Edit: Deleted & re-posted Jan 2018 – now add Eliza Gelman, & Marina Zubov it seems. It’s crazy, all bullshit & not fair on genuine members who read reviews in good faith.
PAI – :
I love this perfume. Sweet spicy warm. Not sugary. Sexy. Feminine.
ndv2 – :
I decided to order the latest formulation of Femme after being so disappointed by Mitsouko. And yesterday I received it. Made by Interparfums, the bottle is slightly re-shaped and the top is golden coloured under a thin layer of clear plastic.
I’m delighted to find it so well done!
The bad P&G days are over.
Spices, plum, peach… sexyness in a bottle. Femme is strangely a real gender bender. Dare! And it’s warm and conforting. Today is so grey and windy but I feel confident wrapped in wool and perfumed with that often forgotten beauty.
Hope that the EDP would be reissued in the future.
staffon – :
I am very intrigued by scent. However, I know very little about perfumes. I have tried about 20 of them, no more. The ONLY perfume I can wear without feeling a little bit sick is Rochas Femme. I LOVE it. It hits me at an emotional level. I always feel better when I wear it. It can elevate my mood when I’m feeling a bit depressed. For me, it’s perfect. I’m a true believer.
pelya – :
An extraordinarily feminine, may I say A Female fragrance. Very much fishnet stockings and open cleavage kind of perfume. Hmmm… I liked it, but… I guess this damn cumin thing kills all that plum-rosy-peachy sweetness for me which I would love otherwise. It’s a beautiful perfume, a great one and it’s a great shame that just one single note of food spice ruined this beauty for me in an instant. Food spices like cumin or cinnamon, if strong and well pronounced as here in Femme, are a big no no in my perfumes. Well… Unless I’ll become a doe-eyed, every day curry eater with a lot of cleavage to rejoice (which is unlikely), I just can’t see myself feel comfortable to wear this in public places.
P.S. The same is with Mitsouko, I can’t bear a slightest smell of anise seed around me, unless I have a flu…Ugh…
Lexsus222 – :
Rochas Femme is a very unique scent. When I spray I instantly smell the plum and the apricot-peach combo. Very fruity and subtly sweet. But after a while I recognize the skanky,dirty effect that many of you mention. But not dirty in a bad way. There’s something like a natural womanly body odour scent and clean sweat. Very sexy and addictive in a special way.
It’s a really complex scent. Fruity,soft spicy,earthy, a bit sweet and very very feminine and classic scent. It’s also in a very good price. It is really worth trying.
maichePah – :
Elizabeth Taylor wore this perfume in the 50s—before she discovered the more lewd Bal a Versailles and way before she created Passion or White Diamonds.
To me, this fragrance perfectly suits her. It’s very sexy (mainly the cumin, I suppose) but sweet and feminine. In a way it makes me think of the smell of skin, sort of peachy-musky.
I am a firm believer that perfume should not be gendered BUT I think Femme really is traditionally uber feminine. Screams woman. Elizabeth Taylor was a glamorous sex goddess, but also a loving mother and funny, smart woman. Femme is all of this and encapsulates every feminine quality.
(I can’t speak of the vintage, but the reformulation is a beautiful, beautiful scent—and I prefer it to other famous musky-peach perfume, Mitsouko.)
OptistReelp – :
Femme is so classicly dignified, sensual and utterly womanly.
This fragrance is mature, serious, but at the same time lascivous to the core, without being obscene.
As many of the vintage classics, Femme takes her time to open, develop and settle, so don’t be the inexperienced nose and judge on the first whifs. Wait.
The opening is dominated by meaty/fleshy (not fresh/light!) fruit accord (I dominantly smell plum), thickly enveloped in sweetish spicy cinnamon/cloves accord. I’ve red comparison to vine, and adjectives like “boozy”, and yes – the opening (only) bears some resemblance to spicy dessert drinks.
But, as the scent settles, fruits are pushed back, leaving only the sense of fleshy fullnes, and from spicy cinnamon/cloves accord the cumin slowly rises and strenghtens, like a shadow of more polite and common spices.
Flowers are tame, I can (to the point) resemble their presence somewhere between fruits and spices, and before drydown, but except from certain lightness in the middle of the developement, I really can not pick any of the given notes in particular.
Cresp’s cumin indeed plays the “ghost note”, mimicking the woman’s warmed flesh and skin beneeth the noted fruits and spices, and it is blended tastefully not to jump, but to masterfully intrigue while the fragrance settles into plush and smooth mixture of balmy woods, oakmoss and leather.
The body of Femme temptingly intimate, yet nobile.
This perfume is subtle, but very present, it doesn’t project to grab attention, it smoothly lingers and whispers to invite.
For me, this is “The Scent Of The Woman” – that’s how the archetypal woman smells, when she is either completely nude – and/or – impeccably dressed up.
For EDT, Cresp’s version, issued (based on batchcode) 2011., bottle with black top, the box with “Rochas” written in red letters right under “Femme” in the middle of the box:
*LOVE (In my “top 5”, considering the fact that I usually have a problem with most of the fruits in perfumes, I find it fascinating.)
*silage: arms lenght
*longevity: long lasting (8+ hours, generously aplied)
*weather, time: For me, this is strictly colder weather scent, starting from late-autumn. Casual to very formal. Day, but works perfectly as seriously elegant night scent.
*discontinued: this version (Cresp’s , 1989-2013) is still available, but the prices are going up.
I’m planning to compare this version to the newest reformulation (Femme 2013), so update follows.
ZVERushka69 – :
This perfume is SOOOO freakin’ good. Yes it’s in the same vein as Mitsouko only warmer, fruitier, and more animalic. I really love vintage Mitsouko extrait too and actually have an affinity towards Guerlains in general, but I’m starting to love this one more. It’s easier to wear I think and much more budget friendly. It’s just… FANTASTIC!
I love how SuzanneS put it when she said it smells “lived in”. That’s a perfect way to put it. There’s definitely something animal in here but it’s not a dirty animal. But the cozy type of animal scent, like puppy fur. I don’t get a ‘lady bits’ vibe from the cumin at all but it DOES have a bit of a body odor vibe, though not in a gross way. This is sexy and warm and comfortable and feminine. LOVE it!!!! ❤
petrovna-gallina – :
I found an old round bottle with Femme written very small on the bottom, and Rochas written on both sides of the bottle. I wonder from whic year it was from… it still smells good though i’m not sure since I havent sniffed any other version of Femme beforehand.
romariote – :
If you want to experience cumin and spices smelling extremely sexy..I dont think you can do better than Femme. Its animalic, mossy, cumin/body smell that makes it warm and lived in. The fruits come to the forefront and its one of the classics to explore. A definitive fruity animalic chypre.
As it ages, the juice turns orange so dont let that bother you…Just a luxe experience. Vintage 80s EdT reviewed.
zepremsbleala – :
My bottle is an older parfum (?), but I have no idea how old. Twist off clear plastic cap with Marcel Rochas Paris on top, and a burgundy ribbon with tiny goldtone cameo on the neck. The bottle just says “Femme” in gold script. No main box, just the black and white lace print pedestal.
The fragrance starts out as an old fashioned chypre on me, heavy on the oakmoss and leather notes, with something else, almost hay like that I can’t identify (possibly a degraded top note?).
But after a couple of hours it blooms, and I can smell the spices and fruits and other notes that all blend together into something very sensual and warm.
medvedsssi – :
This is fruitier, and more “juicy” than dry-mossy Mitsouko- but they def are similar.
I like this, but it lacks the Guerlain sophistication from the powder-Guerlainade.
But it’s very likable, strong, affordable, and a nice heavy bottle!
5995812TAV – :
Not for me. Smells like Madeira wine. Or fermentet plum.
Mecbm151InsuffBooni – :
After the first spray I smelled something very familiar. And then I realized that it is Mitsouko. It is a bit sweeter than Mitsouko but in some way very similar. So I love it because Mitsouko is one of my favourites. For me there is more cinnamon and less fruit but very nice.
After using it for some time I must add that it is absolutely gorgeous. Every time I wear it I love it more. If you like Mitsouko and cinnamon it is a must. I really recomend to try it. I really look forward to winter to wear it.
ppx331Bessinepome – :
Very ladylike. Warm and round but with an edge that gives it just the right kick to make it stand out. I don’t wear it often. Mainly because I just forget about it. It is not one of the at the top of my head fragrances when I open my drawer chest to get inspired as to what to wear for the day or night. But each time I spray her on my skin, I realize that I actually like her more than I remembered from the last time I applied her. She is very heady and boozy on me and undeservingly forgotten by me way too often, and I intend to do something about it. I just hope I won’t forget. 🙂
Okay, I realized once more than this is a frag I really, REALLY love. It needs a couple of hours to blossom into a real beauty, at least on me, but she is wonderful. I will give her way more attention from now on than in the past.
Memozavrus – :
Фрукты и специи
Beautiful parfum for summer. This is a favorite of my sister when we lived in Russia. Smell fruity like the fruit juice with orange apricot peach and plum. Smell like honey and cinnamon. The flowers are the iris the rose the jasmine the ylang ylang flower. Smell powdery spicy musky with amber and with wood. Last very long time. Is warm feminine and exotic tropical. When she is dry this parfum is a cinnamon vanilla with honey and amber wood. One of the most beautiful parfums for women who like strong parfum. I wear very little and is more like soft powder. My husband he like this parfum on me and my friends. I wear her in summer afternoon or night. Is evening parfum. Delicious.
prel – :
It was my signature scent in 80s and I was wearing it all the time – day and night, work and special accasions… I could never get enough of it! Moving to another country, across the continent, adjusting to a new life had little place for the perfume. Years went by and I am revisiting this wonderful perfume – got a vintage edt from eBay. Unfortunately, the pure parfum is hard to find, but the edt version is pretty good too!
Gogf – :
I have been wearing Serge Lutens Feminite du Bois lately but was tidying my bedroom (or, to be honest, indulging in my favourite waste of time by going through my perfume collection) when I came upon a long-neglected botle of Femme. It hadn’t struck me until then that Femme is the older, curvier and more sophisticated sister of Feminite du Bois – the same combination of wood and plum, but Feminite du Bois seemed thinner and less generous than Femme.
According to the notes on this site there are aldehydes in Femme, which I don’t pick up at all, but thedry down is just sublime.
In Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez’s “Perfumes, The A-Z Guide”, Luca Turin says of Femme that when you cheapen the formula of a big classic feminine, it morphs into a masculine and Femme might as well be called Homme nowadays. That book is the one I go to first when I’m looking up a perfume, although I also rate “Scent and Subversion” by Barbara Herman and “Perfume, a Century of Scents” by Lizzie Ostrom, but I have to say I can’t agree with his review of Femme (and BTW, it is his review as it has his initials after it). For me, there’s nothing androgynous about Femme. It has a glorious warmth and depth and is almost too sexy to wear during the working day. I wish I could experience the original version, but the modern reformulation is still wonderful.
miki-maus12 – :
Femme
Marcel Rochas
Nose
Edmond Roudnitska
Year
1944
Femme by Rochas comes with a 1940’s/early 50’s soundtrack!
Andrews Sisters Rum & Coca Cola
South American Way
Therese Brewer Choon’ Gum
Carm