Courtesan Worth 2005

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7.3 / 10 117 Ratings

A perfume by Worth for women, released in 2005. The scent is spicy-gourmand. It was last marketed by Designer Parfums.

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Main accords

Spicy

Gourmand

Sweet

Floral

Oriental

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Clove

Cardamom

Cinnamon

Bergamot

Pineapple

Red berries

Heart Notes

Jasmine

Orange blossom Rose

Rose

Magnolia

Base Notes

Sandalwood Musk

Musk

Amber

Cocoa

Dark chocolate

Raspberry

Vanilla

Caramel

Peach

Perfumer

Pierre Bourdon

Ratings

Scent

7.3117 Ratings

Longevity

7.891 Ratings

Sillage

6.578 Ratings

Bottle

6.874 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 04/26/2023.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Aphrodisiaque

Larissa

Femme de Montblanc Eau de Parfum

Le Mâle Eau de Toilette

Mon Amour

Desnuda

Reviews

6 in-depth fragrance descriptions

11/08/2012

LiliumLibido
51 Reviews

LiliumLibido

Helpful Review 3

Rich!

This is one of the rare perfumes that I reserve for cooler weather. I normally wear my scents year round, but this one is cloying in the heat.
However as soon as the mercury drops, it's delectable.
The notes suggest an unbearable mess of olfactory confusion, but somehow, it's not: The top is bracing, a little tart, with the texture of powdered spices.
The heart is all flowers, soft and feminine, with the barest touch of indoles.
The base is all yumminess, but not really sweet, very sensual and lingering.

Less is more, with this one, so apply lightly: It will expand on your skin instead of fading and will easily last until your next shower, no matter how hard you party!

12/31/2012

Sky
24 Reviews

Sky

Helpful Review 4

Cold spice

Oooo this courtesan has a cold, cold heart - it's true!

In some ways, Courtesan is Roma's odd little sister - they share a note that reminds me of cold, dry, grey slate & baked earth.

Where they differ is in their warmth & level of spice. Roma embraces you with a truly cosy & comely beauty, full of voluptuous curves & womanly charms. Courtesan knows her magnetic attraction & holds it like a steely gun to your head, keeping you at arm’s length with her chilly reserve & firey nature.

I adore spices & here they are all on show, not heavily & daringly as in Jungle, but in a refined way. I also find a distinct white pepper note that remains in the foreground throughout. Looking at the notes you may wonder where all the fruits, caramel & chocolate are: on my skin Courtesan isn’t candied, “frooty” or juicy in any way. It showcases the natural sweetness of cinnamon with its calm, dusty & dryness, echoed again in the cacao, & offers the wearer a grown up bitter-sweet berry tartness.

The base is very sensual…she knows how to please……soft musk, creamy woodsy sandalwood & a gentle amber. Yet, throughout the life of Courtesan a cold, grey blood pulses through her veins: the whole fragrance is built upon these great, grey foundations!

The longevity is good & the trail is obvious but modest, it is one if the most mysterious fragrances I own. This perfume is very unusual & well worth a try if you like distinct, dry fragrances with a cold, white heat. If you have ever read Memoirs of a Geisha I am reminded of Sayuri, the beautiful, tough Geisha with cold, blue eyes. Such beauty held in such a cold embrace.

01/18/2015

8
Scent

ScentFan
334 Reviews

ScentFan

3

Works for Me

Courtesan reminds me of Amytis Parfum Fin. I expected similar notes but they only share Jasmine, Vanilla, Musk and Woods. Courtesan's gourmand notes do mimic the effect of the Almond, Honey and Praline in Amytis, so they are somewhat similar in style. I've found nothing quite like Courtesan in the database, though. It's both a proper oriental (Bergamot-Jasmine-Amber-Musk-Vanilla) and a textbook gourmand, accented by mild spices. It almost smells good enough to eat. The Pineapple in the top note woke up my nose then the lovely heart flowers added prettiness. Finally came the base, smelling like my favorite chocolate dessert. To me this makes Courtesan a hybrid scent. After wearing it a while, I think I like it. The top is fresh, the heart is beautiful and the base is kind of deep and sexy, actually. Guess that's why they called it Courtesan.

07/14/2013

7.5
Longevity 6
Scent

Very
18 Reviews

Very

3

The bitch

Why doesn't the top note smell on my skin as nice as it does on paper, cotton and co? It is a chemical mistery!
Sweet gum! Dear Courtesan, you are really a bitch!

In the heart it is flowery, powdery absolutely beautiful and the more the fragrance develops more mmmmmh! The base is just yummi! Amber, musk and cocoa with a berry for decoration. More and more dark chocolate appears.
And all of that without indulging in sticky sweetness. A gourmand made for me!

And the durability is sensational!

If the head of the bitch would harmonize better with my skin, 100 '% would be safe!

08/02/2014

Omni
70 Reviews

Omni

2

Blind Buy, Is it 'Off' ?

I ponder at this fragrance, ponder some more and realise I am pondering its raison d’etre. Prompted by Victoria Frolova’s reaction to ‘Pineapple Compound’ in her perfumery training I question why it had to open with pineapple. I’ve been wearing Annick Goutal’s Musc Nomade in recent times, it being the epitome of sheer gauzy musk and so the transition to wearing Courtesan was not out on a limb; they are both ephemeral and arcane. At first I thought there was no fragrance at all; applied on freshly showered skin it simply disappeared like a wraith. I’m still not sure if the bottle I got (online discounter) was past its best.

The next morning, still warm from sleep I sprayed it on some bare skin and went downstairs to make tea and toast. It transmogrified into a pineapple fruit salad and the dry down asserted itself, soft floral, a little like Eau Claire des Merveilles. (EDCM is far superior IMO) Now, this was a little more like it, the Isoamyl acetate (Juicy Fruit) was tamed and there were soft skin scents. These wispy tendrils that emanate from a woman’s thigh were called ‘Cuisse de Nymph’ ...sigh, petal soft, and the French named a rose such to titillate. The Victorian English couldn’t cope and called the rose ‘Maiden’s Blush’

There are better roses, better accords, better musks and better pineapple. I don’t know why they bothered. I don’t know Courtesan’s ‘reason to be’ I would be grateful for other contributors input as to how this perfume should smell. It will nag at me, is my blind buy ‘off’?

The perfume was named for Cora Pearl, a Courtesan, associated with the Worth family and its ‘Haute Couture’ The gorgeous creature looked like Viven Leigh if the pictures are anythng to go by.

There is an experiment for Courtesan that I will leave you with. If, whilst wearing the perfume, you enjoyed a little lovemaking, might it bloom into a sex siren’s scent?.

I won’t tell and I don’t expect you to either. Cora Pearl’s life was not a family show, but
it could be its ‘reason to be’

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