Femme by Rochas is one of the most important chypre fragrances in the history of perfumes. A spicy, oriental, warm, and enveloping chypre. Over the years, the animalic notes (the original formula by the great Edmond Roudnitska) were replaced by a wonderful caraway note (formula by Olivier Cresp from 1990). This is one of the rare reformulations that maintains the structure of the original perfume without distorting it. Warm and spicy opening with caraway, spices, and a delicious note of ripe, juicy peach. Then it becomes smoky, spicy, and woody. In its further development, it is very difficult to distinguish the individual notes. When the notes in a fragrance are indistinguishable, you are almost always dealing with a masterpiece! There are great similarities with Diaghilev Roja and Jubilation 25 by Amouage. In 1944, there were no spicy and oriental chypre fragrances yet. Femme was the father of all these fragrances and will remain so forever.
So beautifully described. I wore Femme as an EdC for a while at the end of the seventies. I still have a splash bottle of the Extrait, and yes, it does resemble Jubilation. But it also reminds me of scents like Mitsouko and Azuree.
Dear Regina, thank you for your comment!
Yes, Femme is a key fragrance in the history of Chypre scents.
I love it because it's warm, enveloping, and opulent.
Mitsouko, Shocking Schiaparelli, Jubilation, and Sikkim by Lancome all have a strong resemblance to Femme.
Azuree by Estee Lauder is also a great Chypre, but I find it "drier," "androgynous," and stricter than Femme. The sample you sent me is still with me, and it's a fantastic perfume that I love 😍❤️.
Warm and enveloping, yes, that's exactly how I feel about Femme too, and I find its DNA in many fragrances-both old and new. I’m not always up to the challenge of its disarming beauty.
Thank you for the great review!
….. a wonderful tribute to this fragrance …… I own the vintage from 1945 - and -, it seems the animalic note was still 'present' here ;) …. 'When the notes in a fragrance are indistinguishable, you are almost always dealing with a masterpiece' ……. I absolutely agree with that! …. :-)
Yes, Femme is a key fragrance in the history of Chypre scents.
I love it because it's warm, enveloping, and opulent.
Mitsouko, Shocking Schiaparelli, Jubilation, and Sikkim by Lancome all have a strong resemblance to Femme.
Azuree by Estee Lauder is also a great Chypre, but I find it "drier," "androgynous," and stricter than Femme. The sample you sent me is still with me, and it's a fantastic perfume that I love 😍❤️.
Thank you for the great review!
Cheers to that!
🏆
Yes, you might like it 😉!