Feminite Du Bois

Beautiful spicy, woody, fruity chypre, quite different from most of the later Lutens scents, besides the Bois line (which are all iterations on this DNA). If you're smelling this in a vacuum, it does smell quite striking, even unique... but in reality it's part of a clear lineage, very clearly building off the foundations of the reworked '80s formulation of Rochas Femme, which has the same combination of plum, peach, and cumin in the opening. I've worn them side by side, and while I wouldn't confuse them, the overlap is unmistakable. Femme is ultimately louder, thicker, and more overtly floral; FdB feels like a wood-forward rendition of the same idea, rendered in watercolor. As with Femme, there are obvious flickers of older scents like Mitsouko EDT, and newer ones like Parfum d'Empire's Aziyade (which takes the same basic idea and turns it into an animalic, sticky-fruit, spice-market gourmand). For my money, this is as good as any of those and perhaps the most wearable, though it still has some cumin funk to keep you on your toes. As with everything in this vein, it's perfectly unisex despite the name.

very dry and woody (sandalwood, cedar), enveloping. i can detect spices too: clove especially. i think that contributes to my first reaction to it being, 'wow, this smells like something from an indie perfumer', it has that kind of non-mainstream bent to it. but then again, it is really seamlessly blendeded, beyond what most indie houses can accomplish. not getting too much of the fruits or florals. there is something medicalish about it, and i don't think it's all that feminine either. there's some shared DNA with l'orpheline in the resinous woodyness, but this is significantly less soft and sweet in the top and heart notes. the drydown after a few hours is sweeter, reminiscent of a scent i used to wear, vasilisa by bpal; a clean skin musk.

Strangely, I get no plum from this - it is vanilla, cinnamon and orange flower. Beautifully soft, gently sweet your skin but much better. An extremely safe blind buy, it would be hard to see how anyone could dislike this. This does not have much projection or longevity for me but is a lovely intimate scent. Lataffa have tried to copy this with Teriaq Intense, and somewhat with Khamrah (which also dupes Angels Share). This is more subtle and classy. I find Teriaq Intense very sickly but more plum based - Feminité du Bois is generally much more refined. TI has a more addictive dry down, but you have to get through a very cloying perfume for a longtime before you reach that which made me sell it on.

It took me a long time to get to Serge Lutens (why - because I blind bought la Religieuse and overlooked the house based on that) and even longer to Feminite de Bois as I am simply not a fan of dry cedar in women’s fragrances. What a mistake. This perfume is glorious. An absolutely genius blend of warm spices, animalic musks, stone fruit and beautifully blended florals on the backdrop of cedar with zero possibility of the blend becoming pointed and dry. Instead we have warmth, sexiness and intelligence - Feminite de Bois is effortlessly stylish, beautiful and timeless. This is a fragrance you can’t go wrong with. It also lives with the warmth of your skin and the temperature- ah so lovely.

This is a top contender for my signature scent, which is a big statement for me. Overall, I get cedar and rose, which comes across as a beautiful fresh floral. I don’t often like rose forward scents, but this is closer to what a real rose smells like, mixed with the stems and a wafting breeze in the woods. It’s not photorealistic, but that’s the impression I get. Great for every day, I haven’t worn it through summer so I don’t know if the aldehydic quality (I think this comes from the cedar which is the kind of soapy cedar scent) would work in the heat.