Femme Rochas Rochas for women

Rochas Femme is a timeless masterpiece and one of the all time greatest perfumes ever created in my opinion. I have a vintage bottle of the parfum and it’s just glorious in every way. Immediately you’re whisked away by the warm spiciness of cinnamon and clove, contrasted by a juicy yet dry combination of peach and plum.

That iconic floral medley in the heart soon begins to shine, with carnation at the forefront like so many other great chypres. All of this lends to a generous dose of creamy oakmoss and smooth leather resting on a warm amber base, creating one of the most refined and comforting scents I’ve ever had the pleasure of smelling. It’s skanky and lustrous despite no animalics being listed, wearing it makes you feel oh so empowered and attractive.

With this scent, Edmond Roudnitska took the idea of a classical leathery, mossy Chypre and amped it up a whole bunch. Rochas Femme took the idea of a fruity, spicy take on Chypre introduced by Mitsouko, and elevated it to something far better in my opinion. I adore this.

As worn by Mae West, Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn. Came on to the market in 1944. A timeless classic, totally original and unmistakably French. This is one of those rare, hypnotic, habit-forming, cult scents. Aldehydes, fruit, wood and musk notes....could very easily be worn by a (very masculine) man...I saw this advertised today (03/03/24) on MyOrigines.com for £33.82 for 100ml eau de toilette, but always shop around...

This is one of those fragrances that smells delicious but isn't a gourmand.

It has a warm, woody cinnamon and a bit of cumin suggesting not a sweaty, bodily vibe, but a slightly savoury, curry like touch to the traditional fruity chypre core made up of a creamy, aldehydic peach with an indistunguishable blend of smooth, cushiony, powdery florals, tinted with some damp, green, earthy moss, similar to Mitsouko.

The cinnamic-cumin spices of this scent interacts to the peach in a similar fashion to Dolce Vita, except this one obviously has a chypre body.

The spices with the fruits isn't too strong and fighting off each other. They're well balanced. So it's not assaulting but more enveloping. I get that delicious blend of fruits and spices and powdery florals from the opening to the mid, which then dries down hours and hours later gradually unveiling its classic chypre skeleton.

This has similarities to Mitsouko in a way that they are in the same family, probably even siblings, but with different personalities and aesthetic. Mitsouko is more bright and fizzy and carbonated and sprakling and green, and perhaps a bit more bitter to some, while Femme is much warmer, cozier, delectable and spicier and fruitier and sweeter but again, never gourmand. Mitsouko is more for a warmer, sunny morning while Femme is for the cooler nights for me..so it's justifiable to own both if you're a fan of classic fruity chypres. Having the privilege of owning both is such a luxury!

At the end of the day this doesn't smell good to me, no matter how much time i spent trying femme it just smells too outdated and NOT Timeless unlike L'huere Bleue, Mitsuoko, and Antaeus.. those smell like vintage fragrance from the past BUT their dna is still very much hold the sense of classiness and thoughts of those era, and is absolutely wearable

Review from the Vintage Parfum the toilette bottle

This really is classic, but timeless! I truly believe that younger audiences would be intrigued by this scent too if they didn't associate it with anyone already. And even if they did, the idea of carrying on a sort of tradition of perfume is very romantic to me. While I typically think that vintage fragrances are operatic and grand, I don't think that femme follows suit. It is more of an alluring, understated elegance. I can picture this being worn by someone who is laid out on a red velvet couch, hidden by large red curtains, and wearing black satin. It has this dry, animalic musk from cumin or civet, that really grabs your attention. As you come closer this juicy plum reveals itself and keeps you interested. It is all resting on this dusty (like a dust of cinnamon on a wooden table) woody base, that is deep enough to smell a little smoky, like a light incense. I don't think this is a very floral fragrance, but I do think I smell carnation surrounded by cloves and cinnamon in the background of this show, supporting all the main players. This was just so masterfully balanced, because while these all sound like heavy aggressive notes, they are soft and warm. I love it when the fragrance projects off my skin, but I love it even more when it settles on my skin, it works with my chemistry so well, and I like to think it makes it much more alluring. I hope these kind of fragrances come back into fashion in the coming years, because they are so much more thoughtful and artistic than the modern, relatively boring designer releases of today!

This is a beautiful fruity floral chypre. I love the clear glass bottle. I ordered mine from ebay and it came with a liquid that was more like dark red or wine-red, not the orange colored one as pictured in this photo. It was an EDT which meant the concentration was lighter and unfortunately not very long lasting but while it lasted it was heaven. The first accords I am smelling at the time I first spray it are the fruit notes. This is a fruit based gourmand, really, by today's standards. The first of it's kind in 1944 when first released, when most fragrances were soapy aldehyde florals. For this to be a fruity perfume in 1944 the wearer was likely a young woman in her 20s or 30s. I can smell this on the Andrews Sisters, Rita Hayworth, Judy Garland, Mae West (who supposedly inspire the bottle design and shape) and Betty Grable. The young ladies would have worn it in the day time with a pretty dress just to smell feminine as she went about her day casually. Nothing formal and or sexy-glamorous about this one. The fruits are a delicious with citruses, peaches, apricot and plum. It's like a light smoothie. The spices come through to keep it from being overly sweet and tart. The whole thing turns into a kind of fruit scented honey. To my nose the big fruit in it is the apricot. By the time the fruits start to mellow and slowly fade, the flowers merge with their sweet scent so as to become a vague fruity AND floral hybrid. There's definitely a carnation which was quite common as a floral note in those days. Another perfume coming out at this time at the end of WW 2 included Nina Ricci's L'air du temps which also prominently featured carnations. Then there's a jammy red rose in the heart but there's also a delicious bouquet of several other flowers i.e; rosemary, jasmine, iris, and ylang-ylang. To my nose the other floral note that stands out other than carnation is the note of rosemary and ylang ylang. The iris seems to come through for a while as the scent wears on and starts to get a little bit powdery but I don't find this to be a big powder bomb at all and not nearly as powdery or soapy as L'air du temps. The rosemary and ylang ylang are very nicely blended. The florals dissipate and in comes the spice notes. There's cinnamon but not too much of it, cloves, vanilla and tonka bean, just a very unisex kind of spice accord. The spices also make this fragrance come off as exotic. It's taking me to the South Pacific (where WW 2 was fought in part) and so it smells like the Philippines, Tahiti, French Polynesia, or Hawaii. It transports you to the Hawaiian islands too. The exotic air of spices is also further enhanced by the note of leather and musk. There's a dark vanilla. It's earthy, and just slightly mossy and woodsy. There's more musk to my nose than wood but definitely the classic signatures of Oriental base dry downs - amber, vanilla, musk. The dry down is warm. This perfume makes me feel so womanly so sexy you have no idea. No fragrance today selling at Macy's can do that for me. Femme can do it even in it's reformulated state. To me fragrances are personal and can turn into something for me that can't be the same to anyone else. It's my personal escapism. I love to wear this perfume, put on a vintage flower pattern dress, put on a hibiscus flower in my hair or a tiare white flower and look inviting and like an island girl in the day time for lunch dates. This perfume is so Heddy Lamarr, Dorothy Lamour who was the queen of the sarongs. This has to be worn with a sarong. Very hard to pull of that vintage look with this perfume but if Dita van Teese can do it, the young woman with the right make up and clothing of yesteryear can also do it. This perfume is so enchanting. If you're like me and love vintage clothes and vintage perfumes to go with them, then this is totally for you. I wear it in spring, summer and early fall. The scent is so intoxicating and it will seduce you most of all.

I tested a vintage edt of Femme. I’ve also been currently testing many other vintage perfumes that contain oak moss (Magie Noire, Mitsouko, Nuit de Noel, Ysatis, Miss Dior, etc etc). Saying that, I ultimately found Femme to be nice but ultimately underwhelming. All I could really pick out from it was the oak moss, the fruits and florals are well blended into the composition to the point my nose cannot find them. Femme is a nice perfume, however when comparing to these other vintages, I find myself liking those more and finding Femme a little boring. Vintage Madame Rochas and vintage Byzance are much more interesting vintages from Rochas to check out. TLDR version: Nice vintage perfume but their are more interesting vintages out there to try.

I have a new bottle and I don't get much spice at all but instead a smooth and not too sweet fruit to powder. I didn't really care for this at first because I was expecting a very spicy dry down which I never got.
After wearing it a few times and wearing it for sleep I've grown to like it a lot.
I applied it very liberally today and was pleasantly surprised that it stayed with me for the entire day. I think my t-shirt will still be faintly scented with it tomorrow.
Though not my favorite, it's growing on me more and more. Beautiful, classic bottle as well.

Spicy plum, peach, and apricot skins suspended in clove & carnation oil. Oakmoss and leather emerge as it dries down, provides a dry counterbalance that works with this profile.
I have the newer formulation so it's no where near the glory of the vintage, but it's still very lovely, heady, and perfect for cool/cold weather. This is one of those scents that gets very overwhelming in warm/hot weather, so autumn & winter only.
Bold projection, very loud before tampering down at the 3hr mark.

I hope I am not going to offend anyone by saying that the initial Femme spray reminds me very much of Charlie Gold Eau Fraiche.
Of course, the first is timeless, classic and well blended while the latter is more coarse and some alcohol is present during the initial blast, and the peach is a bit more prominent, but I am wearing both frags on the inside of my wrists, and on my skin, the similarities are uncanny.
I just looked up the notes, and they are more than 80 percent similar.
I'm having an "aha" moment right now :D

What a scent. As someone who appreciates FM Noir Epices but couldn’t get over its feminine leaning florals Rochas Femme is a masterpiece. I blind bought knowing full well theirs a risk I could suffer the same fate as FM Noir Epices - Ironically Rochas Femme is bang in the middle for me, if anything masc leaning. It would take a very seriously confident lady to pull this one off. Just pure spice and classic vibes all round. One for the more trained nose for sure. This is niche without the price tag and a staple in any serious dark spice scent lover.

TRADITIONAL CHYPRES

🍁 Amouage Jubilation XXV 2007

There is missing some main elements of Chypre scent here but it performs very similarly like Chypre anyway. This is soft and Ambery, very refined. The warmest of these all.

🍁 Guerlain Mitsouko 1919

Mossy and earthy, new epd is a little bit sharp while my new extrait is soft and more round, polished. I used to layer them to get the best from both. This new epd is the most dry of these ones.

An extrait version of Mitsouko, even if it’s the most recent one, is mesmerizing, rich and intoxicating blend. It’s very different than edp where the beautiful sweetness from Peach is very faint and a deep, mellow, mossy base is just earthy and very dry. Extrait is so amazing and evocative definitely one of the best Chypres. I highly recommend that one, there is a huge difference between those concentrations.

🍁 Rochas Femme 1944

A little bit more fruity than others, beautiful Plum, Peach and Apricot brings a gentle sweetness. Feels smoky/earthy after the opening but not for long time. Performs darker on my husband’s skin than on mine.

🍁 Roja Parfums Diaghilev 2010

Very strong and majestic dark blend, a challenging to wear for many. This one definitely needs the right kind of clothes, otherwise you look and smell totally ridiculous. Sharp and spicy, leathery@and musky, the most masculine of these ones, actually there is nothing feminine in this.

It’s wet and cold in London. This October announces a gloomy autumn 🍂 and winter ❄️. I only have enough in my bottle to last over the two seasons, and I cannot wait to wear it. In the office, in the evening and whenever I am awake. I am sure this mellow masterpiece will produce many compliments.

This is another 'classic' that I decided to blind buy (Arpege was another one as well).
I believe I have the latest version- clear and gold capped EDT.

I watched lots of videos and read a plethora of reviews; I'm perceiving this is a much different way that what I anticipated.

This is almost straight up stone fruits to me. It's gorgeous!


Foremost, the plum is prominent and there is a spiciness that pulls it from being overly sweet to sultry. Not spicy in the form of it smelling hot or reddish in any way...but in a warm and coziness found by the heat of a wood fire.
I think the cumin is the spice I'm picking up most but it does not smell like the bottle from my spice cabinet. It could be bolstered by cinnamon or maybe something like nutmeg (neither listed in notes).


The dry down is still plum on my skin with that warmth and a bit of vanilla. This is not gormound but my skin pulls a charming amiability from this.
I do not find this difficult to wear or get any unsavory whiffs AT ALL.

While this is not like most present day scents I don't find this old fashioned or vintage to my tastes. But perhaps I'm just starting to show my age. LoL



Might be worth mentioning my husband does not like this after it is first applied, but he does compliment it after it settles.

I have the most recent version and it feels very collected and warm.
It's like a warm, mulled wine on an autumn night.

But its also spice and cider like scent wafting through a beauty parlor. Wood counters, beauty powders, and a vanity lined with perfume bottles. Its so gorgeous and one of those scents that just excites me. I'm about to turn 21 and this feels like I could wear it for years.

This review is for the Eau de Cologne spray. My bottle is pre ‘79/EMB code.
Best guess is late 60s, but I don’t know.

Delightfully subtle, dry and luscious simultaneously, the notes on this are so well blended that I have to concentrate to pick them out. For example, the Brazilian rosewood and peach notes are close together for me. I smell the comforting, dry, rosewood but it’s accompanied by the juiciness of the peach. So harmonious and engaging.

I can wear it just to feel great, or I can wear it to really *consider* it and both versions are a delight. Something tells me this is the only place I can say that and be understood, lol.

The overall feeling is one of confident allure.

Love.

Aldehydic, slightly spicy, warm, and with a touch of sweetness. It exudes classiness, sensuality, and is perfect for everyday wear.

I can't pinpoint specific notes as everything blends together into a unique scent. There's nothing offensive or challenging about it.

In 2023, this fragrance easily leans unisex, making it suitable for men without any hesitation. I find it to be more masculine than many modern releases.

The performance isn't outstanding, but it's not weak either. I get 5-6 hours with moderate projection for the first 2 hours.

In my opinion, this fragrance is a hidden gem.

Rating: 9/10

Emotional 1944 Wartime Masterpiece by Emond Roudnitska: Vintage Chypre PLUM-OAKMOSS-PEACH with Leather & Cloves. This emotional scent represents the high-water mark for vintage chypres imho. Smelling this makes me think of the movie Casablanca which was released two years earlier in 1942, and starred Humphrey Bogart & Ingrid Bergman. I could imagine Bogey hanging on to a scarf scented with this to remind him of his love, or catching a trail of this and thinking it was her. Reviewers have done a great job describing it, and ranking the top notes. My experience is with the latest version - clear & gold flat-top bottle (Batch code: 1L277 - 2021-10-04). There's a lot going on, but it's beautifully blended. I find the perfume pyramid here fairly accurate with the caveat that the leather is partially built from civettone & cumin. These 2 notes won't be for everyone, but perfumistas & chypre-lovers who have experience with these notes will likely enjoy this. There are some similarities with Mitsouko Guerlain, but this is fruitier and less challenging to wear. The performance is excellent, and you get a vintage chypre that's round, dense, fruity, sweet, spicy, mossy & faintly animalic. It's love for me. Enjoy!

I have the latest version and I enjoy it a lot. That wasn't always the case as I tend to be a heavy sprayer, and that is a big no no with this fragrance. You have to spray lightly otherwise you'll just smell like you sprayed perfume to mask body odor. When sprayed lightly it is a beautiful fruity floral with a lovely undercurrent of soft spice. My husband loves when I wear this. He thinks it is very sexy. So, do I. Just remember, easy does it with this scent.

This scent is SO comforting to me! It’s not sickly sweet at all, but the sweetness that is present is smoky and woody like a wonderful harmony of ambers. The fruits are also delectable. Yes it's "femme" but it's also deeply maternal. It's a scent that envelops you like a mother's hug. My mother didn't wear this fragrance but somehow it reminds me of her every time I wear it. Not to say this can’t be worn by men also because it’s SO complex that it will meld and harmonise with any body chemistry. I own both vintage and Cresp reformulations and they’re both so well done. This is certainly a masterpiece. Another extraordinary gift from the fragrance gods.

The legendary Edmond Roudnitska has crafted this in the times of the WW2 while death and losses was the trend he came out with a beautiful thing, amazingly blended plums with oakmos, peaches, leather and cloves which is so hard to blend those notes to perfection like he did.
But again that's what set apart a master perfumer from an ordinary perfumer.

I'm lucky enough to own a vintage Extrait version of this from the 70s, before the reformulation. What can I say? One of the most beautiful Chypre perfumes that I have ever smelt, and probably my favorite. I've tried everything perfume related, and it's still one of the most beautiful perfumes that I have come across.

DariaFrancesca, where can we find a stock of this irreplaceable masterpiece? My bottle is nearly finished.

Absolute rarity in the history of world perfumery. I managed to grab a stock fund, through my faithful trusted perfumer, a great expert in vintage and artistic perfumery. A wonderful 100 ml bottle from the 90s has officially entered my collection, a feminine sculpture. Historic fragrances for which I have great respect, but also a certain awe. Femme di Rochas embodies the magic of women of the past, a structured, full-bodied fragrance with fruity notes, immersed in a persuasive warm spicy blend of rare beauty. where cinnamon and cloves are the protagonists. The heart gives way to triumphant floral notes, appreciable carnation and rose. When dry down, the leathery, woody and musky notes make it enveloping, irresistibly warm. A fragrance of great impact that deserves to be experienced and understood.

I only wish that the current version of FEMME (Olivier Cresp) were available in an eau-de-parfum strength. The ubiquitous EDT is gorgeous, but I'd love to get more scenting oils in the drydown happening...

Smells so niche that its almost illegal in this price point...LOVE her with all my heart is the perfect wearable vintage one. I love all 3 Rochas i own (madam Rochas, Tocas and this one).
Is not that potent but i love her anyway ....

i over spray her and keep Francesca Binachi's "Lost in heaven" on pals points. I wish i can test the vintage one some day.

I haven’t tried a vintage, but for the recent bottles, look up the notes on the Rochas Femme 2013 page. They’re much more representative.

As those notes suggest, cumin is very prominent here. I don’t mind cumin in fragrances—don’t mind it in Cartier Declaration, and actually like Declaration Parfum and Rasasi Daarej. But in those, the cumin is mixed with other notes (cardamom, vanilla etc). Here, it smells like straight up cumin from the kitchen, and it’s all I smell in the opening and mid. Not BO or bad, just pure food cumin. In the dry down, it mellows a bit, and you start getting the plum, but the cumin is still a main player.

The notes for the original perfume gave me high hopes of a wonderful chypre. I love Mitsouko and Estee Lauder Knowing. A “plummy Mitsouko” sounded perfect—it’s what I imagined this would be like. But honestly, this doesn’t smell like a chypre with this amount of cumin.

Not a safe blind buy, not even if you like chypres or cumin as a secondary note. You have to want cumin as the primary and main note to like this one.

This scent make me feels complete. And I love it!

My current bottle is a clear top from 2016 and it’s quite strong and abrasive at first blast but settles nicely after about 15-20 min and wears beautifully for the rest of the day. I get absolutely no cumin whatsoever. I believe this batch was created several years after the cumin heavy reboot was released. I don’t like the smell (or taste) of cumin at all so I cant say I miss it. I have also had the luck to have never got any of the cumin in any of the vintages I owned/sampled over the years. The degree of cumin you smell in Rochas seems to vary, there are batches like the one my bottle is from where you cant smell a hint and then are bottles both vintage and from the last 10 years that will have very obvious cumin. What is most obviously missing from more current versions is the genuine oakmoss. For that alone, the vintage bottles are the ones to have. What I love about Rochas is that it is very luxurious smelling… all rich syrupy fruit and spice. It’s too much for me during the hot summer months here in the desert but it’s amazing for fall/winter and that’s when I start reaching for it. Even in current formulations Femme is head and shoulders above most of the modern mainstream scents.

One of my favorite perfumes, I’ve been wearing it for years.

I love to read about my favorite perfumes and I found this from a member of another perfumery website regarding the cumin note in Femme. Obviously I can't vouch for the veracity of his claims but it sure is fascinating:

[from user PERFUMEKEV]
Hello Team, Yes I am a perfumer and an avid collector of vintage perfumes. I have been collecting since I was 8 years old and am now 40. I started training as a perfumer when I was 18 and worked in the industry for 22 years. I have worked with I.F.F.,Symrise, Fragrance Resources and drom fragrances internatonal. I am now self employed.

I have a Huge collection of antique perfume bottles more than 4000 bottles at this time.

OK enough about me :o) and onto Femme de Rochas, I have spoken with some wonderful perfumers who are no longer with us and some who are who knew Edmond personally. Femme is built around a fruity peachy leathery base from DeLaire called Prunol. Prunol has a decent amount of Cumin Aldehyde in it.

Most of the Classic perfumers worked in solutions of alcohol to save money, time, and to prevente accidental overdoses. So perhaps when Femme was originally constructed it had the prunol added in as a 10% alchohol solution. The reaction of Cumin Aldehyde in alchohol forms dimethyl and diethyl acetals of that Aldehyde. The Diethyl and Dimethyl Aldehydes are uslually much softer and much less appernet than a fresh aldehyde. Therefore the older the bottle of Femme is the less "cuminic" it smells. I have a very old bottle of Femme Parfum and I can definitely discern the Cumin note. It is very degraded and almost unapparent, but it is those cumin aldehyde degradation materials that I smell.

The bottles from the 1960's and 1970's smell more "cuminic" than the 1940's and 1950's bottles. because they have aged less time.

The other material that is so important to Femme de Rochas is another base from DeLaire called Fut Cinque.
"Barrel 5 in English". It was used in the original Femme and it came from barrels that where out in the stock yard of DeLaire in the South of France. This "barrel 5" was a reaction accord and it had sat in the sun and the cold for many years. The Roudnitskas realized that there was something really beautiful about the smell of this barrel 5. The original batches of Femme where made only as a PERSONAL GIFT to the best clients of Marcel Rochas. However when the perfume proved to be extremely popular the team at DeLaire whent back to research what had gone into barrel 5. forntunately at this time exact records where kept as to all experimental materials the company was working on. They then Came up with a process that replicated the contents of barrel 5. It was then called Barrel 5 substitute. This secret base apears in many of Edmond Roudnitska's formulas. From Eau D'Hermes, Moustache Rochas, Mouslene Rochas, The Original Eau Fraiche Dior, Dior-Dior, Diorella, Eau Sauvage just to name a few.

I also smell Prunol DeLaire in almost all of these great treasures of perfumery. These two notes were central to the style of M. Roudnitska.

What happened later when Edomond and his wife moved from DeLaire to form their own company called "Art et Parfum". I belive at some point and time Perfumes Rochas was taken over by other people other than Marcel Rochas and Edomond Roudnitska. I know by the time the cumin monster version of Femme came out in 1989 either the Prunol base was very fresh or Quest the perfume house that reworked Femme could have used their own version of Prunol. Also at this time Haarmann and Riemer now Symrise took control of the DeLaire Specialty Bases. They shortend and modernized the production methods used in the original DeLaire formulas.

Also what probably happened as well was that the way perfumes were constructed was done differently in the earlier decades of the 20th Century. It is a technique called nesting, where pieces and parts of the formula are made and aged in specific order giving a very special note to a finished fragrance.

Edmond's Wife Therese was a chemist who worked at DeLaire. She understood the importance of reacting certain materials together to make notes that other perfumers would not have. One example is a certain natural material would be heated with a synthetic material for many days, and then could be distilled ,and then heated to a point that it would almost burn this creates a very unique note, this is only one example of the types of tailored made materials that the Roudnitskas' liked to work with. If you use enough materials that are made like this it is virtually impossible to recreate what the original perfumer made.

With the amount of variables the perfume will always have a different smell. However this is what made classical perfumery so wonderful. It is the inconstancies and consistencies that makes something truly fabulous.

foot note.
Fete de Molyneux has a very good amount of Prunol DeLaire in it. That is why it smells somewhat like Femme

The pages here are confusing, but Rochas may have contributed with muddled history, blending and marketing. My bottle has a gold coloured, solid, round, flat top. The bottle shape is as per Femme advertised on Rochas website as part of their Heritage collection. The perfume is a rich amber colour, allegedly an EDT.
Anyway, I'm a sucker for rich chypres, this really is incredible, where it differs from others is the slight fruit and sweetness. It is slight though, whilst noticable it doesn't overwhelm. The opening is strong, pungent even (yes, some cumin) but it dries quite quickly to a gorgeous blend of fruit, florals and moss. Performance is good on me, the scent is enduring. There are so many great chypres around but at £40 for 100ml this is fantastic value too.
5/5 (biased by personal love of this type of perfume)

This To me smells like no other, has everything I could ever dream of in a scent. Delicious, feminine, complex, sophisticated and classy. A Masterpiece in the fullest sense of the word. I love many perfumes but this one is in a league of its own. I love everything about it from top notes to dry down. I have seen a lot of comparisons in the comments, but I don’t see the resemblance with any of them. I guess this might smell different on others. I have the old eau de parfum, but not the vintage or the new 2013 version btw

Beautiful fragrance. Starts like Mitsouko before turning into a fainter version of Feminite du Boise.

When I opened the outermost box surrounded by black lace, I already knew that Femme is a beautiful perfume that can be seductive, I think Femme's appeal should not be limited to a single gender, it has the ability to drive men and women, let the world crazy .
Femme exudes a mouth-watering aroma of ripeness, and countless flowers together produce this sweet forbidden fruit that is ripe and rotten to the extreme, wandering on the edge of corruption.
This fragrance looks at women from a male perspective. Should they wear such a sexy perfume?
Peel off the hairy outer skin, cut the delicious orange flesh inside, and swallow the plump and delicious peach and apricot into the belly - this feeling comes from the fragrance base Prunol, which contains peach aldehyde C-14, ionone and other materials.
Femme creates female ketone bodies with rich spices.
Suitable for any tonal bergamot, it adds acidity to the powdery floral notes, and the floral aromas swarm, iris, ylang-ylang, jasmine, jasmine is the most important among them, because Femme is by Edmond Roudnitaka.
The floral notes then transition to a lot of pepper, eugenol (carnation) and woody notes, with cinnamon, anise, and cloves flanking each side and doing their part.
A hot and flamboyant wave was set off.
The salty base of chypre-resin is organized by patchouli, amber, musk and civet, oakmoss, sweat seeps from the pores of the skin, sticks to the spicy leather, and the oil is smooth.
Turin once mentioned: "chypre and fur are inseparable."
After so many years, still irreplaceable, my only beloved Femme.

[350] I have long wanted to try a vintage incarnation of this legendary chypre, as I've heard that the modern Femme is a shadow of its former self. I recently found an unopened vintage miniature from the 1980s on eBay, and it is simply beautiful. A rich, fruity chypre with a generous helping of oakmoss in the base, it reminds me of two of my personal favourite scents: Amouage Jubilation 25 and Frédéric Malle Le Parfum de Thérèse, the latter of which was also composed by Edmond Roudniska. There are echoes of other classic chypres present here also - most obviously Diorella and Mitsouko - but its most striking similarity on first sniff is to Jubilation 25. The beautiful plum note - a more unusual fruity note to feature prominently - reminds me of Le Parfum de Thérèse, which, while not a true chypre, shares some chypre characteristics with Femme et al. Rich yet nicely balanced throughout, Femme (or at least the vintage version) is up there with the very best. As a chypre lover, this is an excellent example of one - a real classic.

Femme opens with a sweet, fruity accord, led by the aforementioned plum note. Some citrus adds freshness, and peach/apricot round it out, but the plum is the most prominent note here. Soft woody notes are present from the beginning, bolstered by spices; namely sweet, warm cinnamon and clove notes.

After a little while, a herbal quality makes its presence felt, alongside the floral heart. Big, powdery rose and jasmine are most prominent. The chypre accord emerges pretty early on, developing slowly from the first spray, and by the time the florals emerge, the oakmoss and patchouli are very prominent - adding that delicious earthy mossiness typical of a chypre. It becomes just the right amount of animalic as it dries down, with a nice leather note and a soft, salty amber accord. It fades to a musky, mossy skin scent after several hours. Sillage is moderate and longevity is pretty decent. As is often the case with vintage chypres, it could be unisex today.

A beautifully composed classic chypre from one of the all-time great noses, (vintage) Femme is up there with classics of the genre like Mitsouko, Knowing or Givenchy III as well as the aforementioned modern great that is Jubilation 25. I must try the current formula for comparison, but I don't expect great things. The vintage however - a masterpiece. 5/5.

Hello everyone it's July 2022 & we are currently experiencing a heat wave in Bournemouth England. I cannot believe it has taken me so long to Review a classic Rochas Femme.
Rochas Femme! I have 2 full 100ml bottles! the new version which is outstanding with see through plastic gold lid and also an older version with Black cap as seen in the photo. This is a outstanding chypre from 1943 it has stood the test of time and is a gorgeous smell, it was created by Edmond Roudnitska who is a GOD in the perfume world. Instead of peach from Mitsouko Edmond Rodnitska added plum. This fragrance is not a dry as Mitsouko and I feel easier to wear.

Spicy, warm, sensual & sexy, it is absolutely gorgeous & so feminine the title is perfect. It is not a perfume bomb it's not really loud or overpowering just sensual and how a woman should smell.

Plum, Woody, cinnamon, think of walking through a wood full of beautiful coloured leaves on the trees in the Autumn with the suns rays shining though ..... this is Femme.

The advertisement photos of Eva Mendes on a bed this is Femme carnal, animalistic, erotic.

Not sweet at all, not green or floral. Not like any modern fragrances or fruity bombs of recent years.

Possibly would be better in Autumn Winter months as so warm and cosy feeling however I've enjoyed wearing it at the moment.

Excellent value for money. The new version with see through plastic gold/silver cap is fabulous. Highly recommended.

Just acquired a vintage (80s?) bottle of Eau de Parfum Intense. It's wonderful and mossy! Worth tracking down for hardcore Femme fans. It's a pressurized 2.6 oz spray that fits in a brass sleeve.

90% Mitsouko but less overwhelmingly powdery and a little more dirty/skanky. Very sexy and sensual chypre that feels so seductive and womanly despite its leathery oakmoss base. The peach in this isn't sweet, it's bitter and tangy and the heady combination of aldehydes and oakmoss almost smell like a tobacco or a rich and resinous cigar. This is more balanced and less dated than the original Mitsouko, honestly.

At 24 I don't feel fully worthy both in lifestyle and composure of wearing a fragrance with so much presence, but at 18 I also did buy a bottle of Mitsouko and rarely wore it because of its powdery and aristocratic feel, it lacked a sense of youth and sensuality I craved as I wore perfumes to the club and out on dates primarily. This is still a bit of a more mature and old soul fragrance but more what I would've been looking for at the time. A genderless and incredibly addictive masterpiece of perfumery.

Rochas femme.
A rich fruity chypre.
It dries down soft spicey, musky with the dried fruits peeking every now & then.
Superb.
Very unisex also.

I absolutely love this classic chypre ♥♥♥

I am 30 years old and I wear both Mitsouko and Femme. I find them similar time-travelling perfumes. Yet different enough to own both. I am very grateful that this is still available, juice in great condition, for an amazing price, in a beautiful boudoir-worthy flacon !

Vintage 60s cologne spray smells SO similar to the modern yet has a depth the 2019 version lacks. I can't smell skank or cumin or animals in either formulation (I wish I did). Just lots of prunol. I love the vintage, modern is just OK. 2019 smells much better layered with Charlie blue, I found out accidentally. It's like the modern Femme has no base notes.

Edit: The more I wear either version, the more I like Femme, either version! I want to get my hands on an 80s/90s bottle for comparison, and the 2013 Cresp. I can definitely see myself going through 4 bottles of this in my lifetime. I've been spraying some in my bed! Such a comforting scent. Definitely a strong resemblance to the fruity side of Mitsouko. Like feminine, warm hugs from my aunties.

2nd Edit: I have the ribbed gold and clear plastic cap EDT version (2019 I believe.) I am addicted to this. While I CERTAINLY would love more oakmoss or leather, this is still a very pleasing perfume. I think it needed to rest after its mail travels to give me what it had to offer. At first I thought it was insipid and all I was getting was sickly sweet plum. My nose can't seem to detect more than that, but it MUST have more going on if I am enjoying it so much, RIGHT? What I appreciate most is the sweetness without being edible. Many of these old scents that have peach are sweet without sugar and not gourmands, and I love them. She's a dream for layering, love it with Mitsouko, Cabochard, Charlie Blue, and Emeraude. You can get Femme, even OLD bottles, for less than $40 on auction sites. If you love drugstore, legacy perfumes, and vintage, it's a must-try. It's definitely the same scent as my vintage cologne spray but sitting on a chypre base that's been neutered by IFRA. 😞 Lovely just the same, and has become a "dumb grab," which is almost unheard of for me.

There should be multiple pages for this scent besides the 2013 Cresp version.

8/10 for the 2019--Great performance, feminine & sweet, but lacking moss and leather notes. I still rated this a "love" because while I DO love the scent; it's not pure perfection, when I know what I'm missing!

9/10 for the vintage--Scent is outstanding, but cologne formulation has poor longevity (which is to be expected for a cologne. I'd say get perfume de toilette or pure parfum if you can.)

Another edit: do NOT over-spray, you WILL get a tummy ache, like eating too much pie 🍑🤢😂

I've given up on this fragrance. I tried the original, and while I liked it, I wasn't crazy about the fruit compote in it. It was nice, but a little too syrupy for my liking. Not that it was sweet, but it just gave off that rehydrated dried fruit vibe, where the fruit becomes syrupy when put in water, like dried fruit does. I then tried the Cresp version, and it was cumin overload. The fragrance was so spicy it actually felt hot, and it completely smothered all the other notes. And that note was unrelenting. It never let up. It was there until it became a skin scent.
Well, I read on numerous sites that this fragrance had been reformulated yet again, by Duriez, and this time there was no cumin in it. Not true, it also has cumin in it and just smells like a watered down Cresp version, again with a cumin overload.
Doing a lot of research on this fragrance I also found that the original had that note in it, along with clove, cinnamon, and other herbs and spices, but all were much more lightly done where they didn't overpower the other notes. I wish they would have kept it the way it was originally intended, though I doubt I would like it any better since I'm not a big fan of the composition. Besides, I have other adult fruity florals that I like more; specifically Fath de Fath and Patou's Nacre. But if you like cumin I would suggest the Cresp version over the Dietz, since it has more Oomph to it, has much better silage, and lasts until you wash it off. And you can pick up a bottle for only a little more than the latest version.
For me, it's 3 strikes and I'm out. This fragrance just doesn't work for me in any version.

Wanted to try this, i love my chypre fragrances and this is one of the classics.
Second full wear today. (Vintage 90’s or possible early 00.)

Unisex! Once unthinkable for men. Today, nemas problemas.

The plum note in the opening is overwhelming. First five minutes is a challenge - for me. Don’t think it has to be that way for somebody else. Well, it’s a very fruity opening.

Give it time to settle. It becomes a floral leather with (smoky?) oakmoss! This stuff is great!

Huge projection. Be aware. Not office safe.

Both men and women should wear Femme.
Soundtrack: A disco hit with Donna Summer from early 80’s.

Love!

81st
I received my bottle and it was nothing like the edp samples I tried-peachy, plummy, spicy, restrained leather; none of it in the bottle except an alcohol blast and OAKMOSS. Bottle batch showed 2000. Returned it! Not going there again with this one…

7/10 for the original edp samples. Too bad, I wanted to see in full force if this scent had grown on me! Would not repurchase.

Just a comment on how scent is closely tied to history, which can be both personal as well as societal. For example, my husband says this fragrance is masculine and reminds him of his grandfather (his aftershave perhaps). His grandfather was born in the early 1900s, and my husband was surprised to hear that this is classified as women's perfume in the 50s and 60s. It doesn't smell masculine to me, neither is it super sweet/light though. And I was so interested to hear how the 90s perfumes were considered "old" as I associate it with "modern" as I was a teen growing up then. Thankfully, I'm game for any perfume (except perhaps a few of the classic 90s perfumes as it's so closely tied to my youth :) Anyway, thankfully for my husband, I liked Femme but didn't love it like Jolie Madame (which he doesn't care for but I'll wear that one as I love it). I think it's the clove/cinnamon. I love spice (esp cardamon), but not those, especially cinnamon.

Edit: Sample of vintage, pre reformulation from Cresp pdt

Edit 2: The drydown is awesome. Vintage drydowns (the 3 I've tried) are amazing. They are almost 3 dimensional, an aura radiating to your nose. Modern drydowns are flat compared to this. I'm glad I am sampling the vintages. This is fun.

Alphairone describe this scent perfectly, so there is very little to add. This is Eau d'Hermes (on top) that meets SL Feminite du Bois (in the base), sharing also clear similarities with Mitsouko.
The top leans a bit masculine with the combo of citrus and cumin (Roudnitska's signature, but the cumin is surprisingly an add-on by Cresp), as well as rosewood and leather, with a hint of plum. In the base, it leans a bit feminine with peach and apricot take the lead together with a dark cinnamon, benzoin and cloves. That said, it's overall very unisex. Projection is modest on my skin, but my bottle is probably ~25/30 years old, so I will not judge that point. The fruity cinnamon is the recipe for failure in my book (given my disliking for both those notes), and in spite of that, this is probably one of the fragrances that has stunned me the most. I hate FdB, but I love Femme. Go figure.
Just beautiful, and at under $30 a pop, this one is a no-brainer. Colder days, unisex.

Note: my impressions are based on a vintage bottle from the 90's (first reformulation by Olivier Cresp).

I have the 2019 formulation, and I must say, it is outstanding to my nose. Of course, it would be nice to explore the older iterations, but for now, this is splendid and then some: brimming with prunol base, apricot confiture, and a hunk of glorious skank. We are talking dirty spices for which I have a weakness: cumin, caraway, cloves, cinnamon, spice cabinet porn with a voluptuous bouquet of flowers in a vase nearby, occasionally wafting through the thick, sensuous air.

A rosewood runs through like a current through the development, with leather leaning in to kiss and seduce through the dry down. Reckless abandon unfolds on a tuffet of moss by a benzoin pond at sunset, so hazy, smoky, blurry, and intoxicated. Femme knows how to have a good time.

This will bring out the masculine or the feminine in anyone who wears it. The duality of demureness and debauchery can appeal to anyone who finds that sort of stuff exciting. I know I do (just look at some of my other favorites: L'Air de Rien, Mouchoir de Monsieur, Eau d'Hermes, Mazzolari Lui). Men who fear the name, I have a suggestion: just tell them you're wearing "Masc." Put a sticker on your bottle that says "Masc" if need be. Does that feel better?

Luscious! I'm going to try to figure out how old my PdT bottle is, in time. The juice is dark, often when perfume darkens, my 1st thought is "the vanilla is aging" or "top notes may be fading". Nope, not here... the vanilla is deep, sweet and very present, and all the top notes are very much there; a warm compote of delight.

After 40 minutes, the flowers greet your nose, in the background you can sense this evolution will be special .I don't think I'm getting the rosemary, The flowers and cloves remind me of the potpourri I loved to cook up on the stove to waft throughout our home. There's a balance that conceals the overcooked rice I burned the night before. IYKWIM.

This 1st hour reminds me of Guet Apens/Vol de Nuit Evasion. Peaches, jasmine, iris and rose..... yummiful! So I'm huffing my wrist ~ 75 minutes after application, oakmoss peeks out and I blurt out "Mitsy!" Yup Rochas paying homage to Guerlain. This is a charming tribute, if that was the intent.

I'm getting a soft leather/benzoin that is a hallmark of the vintage beauties that I love from the 1930s-1950s. This is a classic. I feel that I can only wear this with my makeup done and red nails. Chic, to be worn with black lace and heels. But ATM, I'm here at home, watching the World Series and wearing my bunny slippers. I still smell fabulous.

Vintage, pre-cumin formulation: peachy chypre with a baby powder skank reminiscent of Bal a Versailles. I know this style is not in fashion, but I find it beautiful and comforting.

#1989

Damn you sensual filthy Femme, dear LORD this is stunning and dripping with lust. Femme is warm and near, the ripest stewed peach lacerated with filthy cumin that smells like overheated skin at the end of a long day. Drowning in lovely rosewood and spices too, but the skin lust of the cumin, woods, and fruit lasts at least an hour before calming down. Still the peach is laced with cinnamon, clove, and an indolic dirty jasmine, and rose. And iris! Lovely iris and woods here. The base dries in a dry, dark wood of vetiver sandalwood and oakmoss...and for me a rich sweetness, an incense like accord hovering above it all (maybe a synthetic ambergris?)

Femme today is simply unacceptable, it's dirty and carnal--truly carnal, and sexy in a way that is verboten now, when sexy is more stripped of all humanity and washed and doused in detergent and rendered sterile but clean. This really smells like a woman who had sex all night and had to wear last nights dress home the next day. This is also so wonderfully woody in a way that women's perfumes aren't anymore.

I only have a P&G bottle made in about 2010, . This isn't even anything truly vintage, or special in terms of accessibility--this can still be found for $25 for a full bottle...with the fact that it's still able to be found being the true miracle. A lovely throwback--you've been warned.

After years of searching for the right bottle, I found the bottle of Femme with my name on it. I have determined it to be from the 1970s. No UPC code or long list of ingredients. At long last I tried my first spray and was completely taken to a magical place. One that doesn't exist anymore in our world. This is Haute Couture in a bottle. This is as high as you can go! I feel completely magical wearing this, like Endora from Bewitched. Glamorous magic with no boundaries. Yes, its empowering!

Fortunately, this was mass produced over the years and so many bottles waiting to captivate the curious buyer. So many other classics have been lost. Here is a bottle that captures a lifestyle and the rarest of beauty. The comparison to Mitsouko is inevitable. It is so much darker and seductive than Mitsouko or any other comparisons other than Gem, now completely lost to time. Femme towers above so many others. She is an acquired taste. She generally doesn't conform to modern trends and seems to be a bit old fashioned...

Haute couture means black patten leather pumps, floral stockings, a black velvet tubedress and black veiled hat. Wearing elaborate jewels and Femme Rochas sets the mood. The harkens back to the time when women would spend one day shopping, the next at the salon and the rest of the week showing off her beauty. Working 7 days a week was unheard of...True, this is a fairy tale of the 20th century. Some may find this world contingent upon sexist archetypes. Not really. Many women would find themselves in control of their destiny. The Parisienne femme is a unicorn for many women in this world. Working 7 days a week at Walmart just doesn't get it. Keep dreaming, focus on what you want and who knows?

Oddly, Femme can be easily worn by Hommes. Its not very floral, however rose and jasmine peeks out occasionally. Its dark woody/leather/ patcholi/oakmoss accord lends more of a gender bender appeal and may even scare off modern noses. The bottle is simple and as elegant as its contents. If you are curious, by all means search for a bottle of this beauty. Its perfect for autumn and winter holidays.

Push past the few seconds of intense torture and embrace the long lasting allure of Femme Rochas. It’s an adult, sexy, and slightly fruity fragrance that will coax you into smelling yourself every chance you get.

It’s worth noting that Femme has a tendency to lean cleaning disinfectant on certain body chemistries (could be the benzoin). I just found out I’m one of the unlucky ones lol. Hopefully the rest of you have more luck with this stunner!

This perfume is unlike anything I've smelled before. Upon the first spritz, it's brutal, but luckily after a while that goes away, and it transforms into something beautiful. It's feminine, sexy, smokey and spicy, and faintly fruity. It's "I'm here". Very vintage in the most amazing way. You can really detect the cloves, the cinnamon, the plum, the apricot, and the patchouli. It's like wrapping up in a warm blanket of spices. Or taking a walk in the leaves on an autumn night.

After reading many positive reviews, I thought it would be fun to try this classic, in particular as I remember as a child I absolutely loved Madame Rochas, another of the perfume house's famous scents. After reading the reviews here, and studying the perfume pyramid, I was sure I would like so i ordered a huge bottle. It turned out to be a huge mistake. The strong smell worked like a real slap in the face, and I hated it completely from the first moment. An overpowering smell, intrusive and sticky sweet, with a background of spicy aroma reminiscent of cheap oriental cigarettes mixed with a third-class shaving salon without air conditioning during a hot summers day. I was immediately struck by a severe headache with accompanying nausea. Definitely one of the most disgusting perfume-related fragrance experiences of my life. Only "Lou Lou" can be compared to this fragrant disappointment, and needless to say I gave away the bottle asap.

Rochas Femme is an absolute masterpiece. Somber, elegant, beautiful but charming and light. It's the Little Black Dress of women's fragrances. Not even a little bit sweet. Woody and tart in the best way possible.

Rochas Femme (1944) - plum chypre - you can see how this perfume shaped #edmondroudnitska ‘s future perfumes with Hermes and Dior. Starts with a spicy (cinnamon, cumin, clove) almost civet-like topnote, this may be polarizing to some, but wait. He rewards your patience with a beautiful and deep chypre: Stone fruits contrasted by Rosewood, mossy Oakmoss mixed with Patchouli, amber-like resins and leather. Don’t let the Femme fool you, can easily be worn by Homme.

Vintage formulation, old bottle with a gold cap (not the new clear and gold cap).

Not really very floral on me, but lots of Brazilian Rosewood and spices and fruit. As it dries it becomes richer and darker in it's fruit notes, taking on musk and amber and a hint of vanilla and leather undertones. Absolutely sensational, lasts forever and leaves a lovely scent trail/cloud wafting around me.

Also, I've discovered that layering this with Narciso Rodriguez Rouge creates something stunning and completely out of this world - so if you have both, try it!

Oh, this smells a lot like something from Lush! In a good way

My current favourite perfume.

It smells of deep, plush plums and peaches when first sprayed, almost percolated or wine like. Usually I don't like fruity scents but this is dark and fine enough for me.

I don't get much of the flowers, but I do get the spices. The drydown is a warm and sweet amber which I adore. The cumin does give it an animalic edge, but it smells like clean sweat to me.

I wear this perfume to sleep sometimes. Or, I wear it to work. The longevity and sillage is very strong on me, so one spray in the morning is enough, and I can curl into the drydown scent for comfort as I come home. But sometimes even one spray feels too much. It's very strong.

This is my signature scent for night. It's perfect outside or in an airy dance hall. I'm still trying to find my signature day time scent.

I'd recommend this perfume if you like old fashioned, bold perfumes, chypre fruities, and sweet spicy scents. This is for people unafraid of being noticed and who want to flirt with a little skank. I think it's suitable for all seasons, even summer. A little bit of summer humidity helps the fragrance bloom, but maybe reserve it for night in any case.

I have a vintage bottle (gold lid, box is black with black lace pattern)
Dry spicy scent, similar to vintage Givenchy III, but without the buttery unctuousness of that one, more dry powdery, similar to things like Shalimar. Almost baby powder with dark, bitter spices. Very very strong! Gave me a headache

This is one that is well worth trying again once you've educated your nose a bit. Now I get velvety iris from it, with a hint of fruity sweetness. Very lovely. Worth trying if you like chypres and iris

Femme Rochas - peach pits, old paper, sealing wax, a faint musky aroma of dry-in the dust, leaves. Open Gitanes in a suede glove: oh, that smell of foil, cigarette pack cardboard, printing ink and tobacco! The final chord is a leather note - a little dried cloves, cinnamon and dried fruits...
The bottle, the packaging-just like in the picture, that is, not vintage. In the heat, good, thoroughbred, and yes-similar to Mitsuko t/v, modern. A year after the purchase.

I actually have my grandmother's old bottle of this from the 50's! There's not much perfume left in the bottle, but she never got rid of it. As a child, I always thought it looked so glamorous, because she kept it on a vanity next to her gold jewelry, and when she passed, I had to keep it for myself.

It's not a scent I wear, though. Not out, anyway. On me, it's extremely powdery, a tad spicy, but not fruity at all. It's not a scent I associate with "me," but sometimes, if I'm feeling nostalgic, I'll spray a bit on my wrist before going to bed, and it reminds me of when I was a kid, sleeping over at my grandparents' house!

Ahhh, FEMME de ROCHAS, I have worn this gorgeous fragrance for many years & adore all iterations both vintage as well as the newer reformulations, although my preferences are for the earlier parfum's and the parfum de toilette version aka eau de parfum, I just don't understand why oh why cumin was introduced to the reforms, I own a fabulous parfum presentation housed in a oval box covered in black lace & gold outlined impressions of flowers, the coffret houses a flacon made by Lalique circa late 40's early 1950's, it was sealed when I received it and the bottle was almost full, after carefully removing the stopper the emanating aroma hit me with the most beautiful absolute of Turkish rose and a soft herbal note akin to a blend of ginger, nutmeg and the softest grey ambre imaginable. I keep this in climate controlled storage while using it now and then for those rare special occasions, for regular applications I use some of my other bottles of both the eau de parfum & toilette concentrations, not overly crazy about the cumin but that usually dissipates relatively quickly Thank goodness, all versions make good use of plummy fruits and the rose used is of the highest quality as well, the vintage parfum 'imo' has slight similarities to vintage Chanel's Bois des Iles, the oakmoss/patchouli chypre base + gingembre spicy/herbal accords and again the ~Damask~ rose as the main floral note. This is not for everyone but I for one could not be without a few bottles of this fragrant juice in my collection, a must have and a definite LOVE especially the vintage parfum, on a final note I was so fortunate to have won a 50 ml tester spray bottle of the vintage extrait a few years ago and delight in spritzing liberally this dark boozy heavenly jus, it always pays to keep one's peepers on eBay, you just never know when these pre-loved treasures manifest & most times for reasonable sums, one can never have too much vintage FEMME :) keep searching folks, there's a bottle out there with your name on it !!!!!!! Bon Chance fellow Fragranticans...

I was expecting a lot more spice and complexity. I smell almost none of the listed notes, just a very faint peach pie and makeup scent; quite dull. I rated it "ok" because it's utterly inoffensive. Will return.

Based off of the current formulation, purchased from eBay, clear & gold cap.

Sensual. Romantic. Elegant.

Femme opens with slight spice and syrup, but distinct fruitiness. It is not saccharine, but it is also not sweet, fresh, ripe, and juicy the way one would expect plum & peach to be. It's fruit skin, dried and dusted in cinnamon, but also, the cumin note that seems to horrify so many people here seems to work well with me, properly evoking the idea of skin musk without veering into savory insanity. There is fleshiness, and it stays present throughout the entire duration. The cinnamon is not too sharp, but more like bark, providing woody warmth as opposed to zest. Cloves and carnation play a similar role, but I would not call this "spicy" for the fact that it feels so soft. The opening almost feels like a fake-out, providing age and bombast to a perfume that actually becomes something much calmer, timeless, but somehow even more desirable.

As Femme develops, it loses sillage (the opening is boisterous, but fades rather quickly), quickly becoming something so intimate that it very well mimics the idea of a natural scent, that the wearer exudes this aroma themselves. A Rochas corset and lingerie lying about in a boudoir, the Marquise de Merteuil observing herself at her vanity, undressed (though she certainly would wear something much grander when out; this is strictly for her in private).

Though the scent seems to simmer down quickly, the dry down lasts quite a while on me. I find myself whiffing myself hours later, reveling in the leather and oakmoss, still livened by rosewood and plum (much more subdued than the opening, which isn't Poison-like venom, but a single drop of plum juice dripping down the lips, chin, and neck of the eater). The spicier elements, cinnamon and cloves, are harder to detect after the first hour, and while I can't quite chalk it up to olfactory fatigue (of which I suffer terribly, especially with some of my favorites), I do not mind. About 5-6 hours after application, the cumin note is more apparent again, but it doesn't offend on me, it truly mimics the slight musk of skin, without becoming too overwhelming.

I expected something spicier and more overtly sexual, but Femme redefines "sexy" for me, in the most softly, seductive way. Lounging about in a slip, not as a sex kitten, but purely relaxing. Fur coats and bare skin. The nape of someone's neck. The sight of someone's waist when their shirt accidentally lifts. The imagery of human skin keeps coming to mind, a lacey underwear drawer of a wooden dresser. Though I am trying this in the winter, I wonder how it may fair in the summer; perhaps the fruit & spice may come out more, or it may fail to develop. Either way, I enjoy it now.

Especially compared to the powerhouse orientals I usually go for, Femme feels like an incredibly intimate understatement. Some may call it inappropriate, but this would be my answer to something "formal". This is perfect for days I want to pretend I don't have perfume on. Other times, I very well might wear Femme, and nothing else at all.

If Le Heure Bleue was recomposed for a sex worker, you'd have this. I only bought a sample in order to know what it smells like as a reference point. It's a classic. I really thought this would be a dislike. Mitsouko did not work for me. I thought this would be the same. NOPE!! I love this to pieces. Instant favourite. It's so old school dirty/sexy. All the civet. I'm in love. It really reminds me of a more lascivious version of the old standard, Red Moscow.

Honestly, I was afraid to try this perfume for a while. It's that cumin note that made me hesitate, plus I wasn't sure how the fruits would come across. But, I love big vintage chypres and orientals, and that's very much the territory of Femme. I finally caved on a blind buy and, thankfully, Femme is a "love" for me. At the price it sells for, the perceived quality of ingredients, and the fact that it lasts forever and projects pretty well, it's also an incredible bargain. I bought my bottle in 2020 and it has the clear/gold cap. Not sure how this compares to other versions.

I like my fruit dry (not dried) and more "mature" rather than juicy, sweet, and youthful. The fruit here is exactly the kind I like. The plum is the dry bitterness of the peel and the refreshing but restrained taste of the white/clear flesh inside. It isn't a syrupy purple plum like Poison (which I also like, but, it's very different). The apricot does remind me of the apricot in Tresor- sort of a shampoo apricot, but it's tempered here. The peach is a Mitsouko peach. There's a spiciness (cinnamon, cloves) and the slightest touch of rosemary that makes all this fruit lean savory. All this fruit is very front and center from start to finish.

Mitsouko EDP is probably the closest "if you like" type of comparison I can come up with. They both share the same approach to fruit laid over a dusty bed of oakmoss and woods and swirled with autumn spices. There's an austere refinement, depth, and a harkening back to older times that they both possess.

Where Femme veers off for me is in the absolute femininity it evokes. Femme is indeed well named. I can't help but think of that photo of Audrey Hepburn barefoot in the kitchen and pulling some tasty baked good out of the oven. Both Audrey and Femme are quintessentially feminine in the stereotypical 1940/50s way: domestic, pretty, elegant but soft, and with this ephemeral boudoir air that is never overt but very much there.

The leather is very apparent from start to finish and makes me think of the softest, finest grain light-brown kidskin gloves. The word "supple" comes to mind. There's also a waxy, almost creamy unscented but ever so slightly floral candle wax thing going on. Like tallow or the same kind of feeling that oily lilac can sometimes evoke (think the lilac in Mitsouko or Chamade). I find this appealing.

I'm not sure if it's the cumin, the rosewood, the patchouli, and the musk (all of which are definitely present, but not distinct like the leather and fruit...they more act to provide shading and character to the main leather/fruit), but Femme also makes me think of fluffy fur coats. Not faux fur, but real fur with that tinge of animalic scent...possibly worn with nothing on underneath. The leather and that waxy scent probably play a role in this too. Again, something from another era but still a recognizable luxury today.

This also brings out the other side of femininity, the more animalic, sexual side. While I don't think Femme screams sex! there is a definite undercurrent of sensuality here. I picture it like this: you're invited to a holiday dinner (Thanksgiving or Christmas, definitely, this scent encapsulates fall/winter to me, complete with crackling fire, mulled wine, and snow on the ground) and the hostess is beautiful, elegant, composed. Her jewelry and clothes are classic and high quality. She cooked everything you're eating from scratch, and it is delicious. Her manners are impeccable...And you know that as soon as the guests leave, the children are put to bed, and the dishes are cleaned, she and the host are going to have an incredibly passionate night together.

Modern Femme seems more Oriental Floral than chypre, especially dominated as it is by cumin. It's weird cumin isn't listed in the notes, given its potency in this perfume.
I love chypres and I want to enjoy this, but I'm struggling. its been a couple of hours since first spray and I'm still waiting for the cumin, cinnamon and cloves to recede and reveal what's underneath. I'm getting a potent clove-syrupy, sweet-spicy plummy floral (carnation, ylang-ylang dominant) and barely a whiff of green or bitter, dry oakmoss. Patchouli and amber are creating a warm atmosphere in the dry-down but combined with the syrupy cloves and cumin, its edging on becoming cloying. Has it transformed from femme fatale to gothic funeral?
I'll try it again in different moods and places, with respect for Femme's history and potential character, but I really can't fit this into a chypre categorisation. Perhaps once upon a time, before reformulations, Femme had a chypre spirit but this has undergone metamorphosis (don't we all?).
I can enjoy the spicy plum and peach - perhaps ideal for Christmas! - but I'm left wanting more of a chypre dry bitterness from this Grand Dame. Maybe next time...
Gorgeous bottle!

Today's haiku

voluptuous scent
dessert with a grand old dame
syrupy spices

no cumin on the list, but the cumin note is very strong from beginning to end on my skin. it smells like a curry dish.

Lord what a piece of jewelry created Olivier C in 89. Powerful, strong but amber perfume in tune with the feminist movement of the years and with the desire to reborn a slightly boudoiristic perfume in a luxury piece for high career respected dames. A perfume that, like Eau the Rochas, was obviously approved by the incomparable Helena Rochas. If you find this option ladies ..... don't miss it, it's gorgeous, especially on the lapel of a jacket worn by a strong woman. The 40 version is pleasant and warm, it is a romantic perfume for moments in two, it's not really for street wearing but it's not to be avoided on the contrary it's even better like a "romance" scent for a strong woman than Estee Spellbound. But this 89 .... no words.... wonderful, fantastic, mirobolant, nothing can describe it. The new version made by Jean-Michel Duriez, as good as C.'s is that bad is this one. He tried to reformulate the original, not the one from 89 and from a boudoir scent suitable for a strong woman, a sweet thing came out, with a jasmine who give headaches, nothing green nothing luxurious, is like a contemporary Nina Ricci, so sweet it grits your teeth, vulgarity, dry and uncontrolled.
I miss this gem 💎, I find it very hard.

GORGEOUS fragrance!!! Pure love in a bottle. Very reminiscent of Mitsouko, a classic fruity chypre. While Mitsouko is heavy on the citrus, Femme Rochas is more peach, plum, and cinnamon. The first whiff is a burst of spices, plum, peach, bergamot, and sandalwood, and the drydown is delicious mix of cinnamon, cloves, amber, cedar, musk, rosemary, ylang ylang and rose. This perfume is a Middle Eastern bazaar of silk, spices, incense, fruitiness, sensuousness, and lusciousness. The reformulation of 1989 that made it lighter and more gourmand was a smart move, in my opinion. Femme Rochas is a classic perfume that smells modern, sexy, and luscious. You will get noticed. Easy 5 stars. *****

I just received a current (March 2020) EDT bottle with the clear and gold cap, produced by Interparfums.

My box does not list Oakmoss amongst the ingredients.

The cumin/caraway note is very strong from the beginning, it drowns the rest of the composition. Underneath the cumin, I can detect something very reminiscent to the original Champagne (Yvresse) by YSL.

I'll give this a few tries in different weather conditions, as I have a feeling that a warmer temperature might help it develop more

Ah, the joy of discovering another Proper Vintage Perfume that is still available and so affordable. Femme Rochas to my nose is sweet carnation and dark plum, very warm, and very rich. Like a fine cognac on a cold night. It reminds me of a spicier Nahema or a more sophisticated darker subtle Yvresse. My only concern was a brief detection of cumin, but fortunately that faded fast and all the notes blended supremely. My nose and wrist are almost glued. Like Arpege, you get a lot for your money ($50 AU for 100ml). If you are a reviewer who uses the term 'nana' it's not for you. But if, like me, most of your true loves were made prior to the 50s, this is gold. A keeper for sure.

This is a review for the EDT. This scent is absolutely gorgeous to me. It is warm and aromatic (intoxicating almost). When it dries down, it is very similar (to me) to Clinique Aromatics Elixir. I love Clinique AE with a passion, and it is probably my all time favorite. I know that is not everyone's cup of tea, and if you hate that one, you probably won't like this one. Of course, a little goes a long way, and although I just tried this for the first time today, I can already tell that the lasting power is not that great. However, it's okay because it is inexpensive and it is a strong scent overall. I will update on this later. This is a very versatile scent too, can be worn to work, a date, or a classy night out in my opinion. Better for cooler weather and nighttime.

This is one of the best perfumes I've come across in my life so far. Classic, but not offensive, fruity but not sweet, spicey but not tikka massala style. If I could say just a one word I would say a masterpiece. Every single note blends with one another so effortlessly that you might have a hard time to pick them. It takes a little bit of time and different moods to find everything what it offers and it still might surprise you - just if you don't expect it. Plum, oakmoss and leather is what my nose recognise the most.

If you don't like chypre - you don't buy chypre (just as if you are on low-carb diet, you must stay away from pizza). But on the other hand if you know you like darlings like Estee Lauder Knowing or Guerlain Mitsouko you better try it. They are not really related as brothers or sisters, but the general idea is the same - full bodied and ballanced (and chypre of course). I have the latest (Interparfums) version in EDT (the one with clear cap with black and gold top, bought in store) and it last for over 10 hours on my skin and days on clothes (I could even smell it from pillows on my sofa if I take a nap in the afternoon).

It is EDT that outperformes many present EDPs (both in silage and longevity). I don't get that pronounced cumin note that's so much talked about with it, but I bet it's just my own skin chemistry, that loves this scent. Don't be discouraged by me and try it if you are not afraid, but you must have a balls to wear it (or confidence at least).

I have “love-hate” relationship with this fragrance. One day I enjoy it and keep spraying more (probably too much, because it’s strong, but after some time I just want more of the harsh opening). Next day I want to get rid of it, thinking that I won’t ever wear it... I feel like I have a bipolar disorder when it comes to this perfume :) Probably just should keep it and indulge myself when the mood strikes...

Whew! This one can be a bit challenging but I like it. It has a very strong opening but does start to mellow after a few minutes. Dark and spicy plum with a big dose of leather and oakmoss. I don't pick up much of the floral notes. Sensual, mysterious, and alluring. A definite keeper!

I'd seen this compared so often to Mitsouko (which I own and love in the EdP version) and to Diaghilev (which I've tried and would like to own, but is out of my price range) that I knew I just had to try it. I'm somebody who doesn't like a lot of redundancy in my collection, but I liked Femme so much, and found it different enough from its fragrant cousins, that I immediately ordered a whole bottle.

This is indeed pretty close to Mitsouko, which I've reviewed extensively. The dusty, herbal oakmoss, the lactonic peach, the leather and spices—they're all there in similar proportion. The big differences here are the plum and civet. Femme is juicier and richer compared to Mitsouko, precisely because of the prominent plum note, which is very realistic and sweet. The civet is dialed way up here, but not to Bal à Versailles level. So whereas Mitsouko is dry, spicy, refined, and austere, Femme is animalic, spicy, and herbal. I may just be more biased due to my undying love of Mitsouko, but I find her a bit more timeless than Femme, which dates itself, in large part thanks to that strong, dirty civet. Femme is more cloying, yet also more erotic.

Compared to Diaghilev (which I will review separately someday once I own a bottle), Femme is less complex and floral. Diaghilev—supposedly an attempt to restore Mitsouko to her former glory, with a nod to fin-de-siècle Russian aristocracy—takes Mitsouko and adds spices, florals (especially ylang-ylang), and civet to create something stronger, sexier, more daring, and closer to the olfactory Zeitgeist of the early twentieth century. It is more animalic, but forgoes the boozy plum of Femme in favor of more oakmoss, narcotic florals, and cinnamon.

If you love Mitsouko EdP, you'll like Femme, but probably not love her. The grandest of these formulations is Diaghilev, which is out of reach for most of us who aren't rolling in money. I myself am still torn between Diaghilev and Mitouko extrait, which is also exorbitantly expensive. But I digress.

Femme is entirely wearable today, but you have to have to really wear her, or she can very easily end up wearing YOU. The complexity is there, but it is so easily reduced to a plum-civet waltz with an oakmoss orchestra. Definitely need cooler weather to make this work. In terms of gender, Femme is (perhaps unsurprisingly) more feminine and more old-fashioned. The thing is that she's so damn gorgeous (as is her bottle), a real show-stealer. Save her for yourself, or for large, boisterous gatherings, because that is when she truly comes alive. Definitely a more mature blend, but if I smelled this on a younger person (I'm 30, by the way), I'd be incredibly intrigued and impressed by their daring. Femme is an imminently affordable landmark fragrance worthy of any collection. Dance with her at your own risk. ;)

This is the second of the classic Rochas I am trying for the first time after getting a set of vintage mini’s for a great price. Ok, I usually can’t stand old school fruity scents. The nastiest thing I ever smelled is Spellbound. Loud florals, fruit, spice, animatic notes. Looks very similar BUT I am surprised to discover I absolutely love this one! I get an almost Christmas vibe from the spices and fruit. The floral notes that stand out most are indolic jasmine and spicy carnation, a bit of elegant rose in the background. All this dreamy floral fruity spice is overlaying this amazing buttery leather and dry moss. It’s a bit much at first, all of this kinda hits your nose like a jackhammer hits concrete but after a few minutes this cacophony settles down into a sweet symphony of nasal bliss. LOVE it. Very loud silage, very long lasting.

Rochas "Femme" is absolutely so aptly named and it couldn't get any more precise.

As a gender neutral perfume advocate and as tolerant as I am (I'm gay so you know my tolerance level is on the higher end), I couldn't help thinking:

"Rochas Femme smells like bust" - upon the first spray.

I must say this is the most fem perfume I can think of today. It is "Dita Von Tease" and burlesque type of fem. Almost erotic, yet elegant and classy.

The plum, peach, suede are silky smooth, bold, and voluptuous. As it develops, it will lean towards the more gender neutral spectrum.

You know what, it actually smells like Serge Lutens Daim Blond too.

"Daim Blond in a corset."

-AB-

Perfume has no gender. Charlie Chaplin's personal fragrance was Mitsouko, Juan Domingo Perón favored Femme... In the end, the fragrance "right" for you is the one you feel comfortable with. In other words, if you love it, you own it! Regardless of what the world thinks of your choice.

Edit: My college English teacher always wore Guerlain's Vetiver and boy, it truly smelled heavenly on her :)

Loving the lastest EDP and EDT formulations. The EDP lasts well and is respectful to the original formulation, to my nose. I would welcome bath/shower/body products

I do wish we could have the pure parfum version back as is my ultimate go to fragrance.

Femme is too much for me. It's so unbelievably beautifully sensual. When I wear it I think specifically of the amazing psychedelic orgy scene in season one of 'Happy' on Netflix. I got a vintage but it had lost its top notes and the animalic quality was so heightened I couldn't take it.

Thinking I could tame it with some citrus sharpness, I got the latest version hoping it would be 'less'. I find it just as strong and just as beautiful, and equally too much to handle. I learnt the hard way I can't wear it (or Shalimar for that matter) on or around my period. At other times I use with caution. One spray on the decolletage is enough for all day wear. Any more or any closer to my nose and my brain will actually explode à la la petite mort.

To me this smells like A-1 steak sauce. I got a vintage parfum de toilette from eBay and it doesn’t have a label, the seller claims it came off and we had a conversation about the bottle I believe it to be authentic. If anyone wants to buy or trade let me know
Edit: so I’ve come around to this.. back when I first reviewed I was still just getting into frags and didn’t have a nose for anything that wasn’t blatantly sweet. I’m happy to say my tastes have changed! Did more research, found out my bottle is authentic.
This to me now smells like spice and powder but not iris type of powder or sweet spice.. it’s more skank cumin spice and mossy powder. I read the newer version is more fruit heavy and the vintages are more powder. Never tried the new but this is definitely old school powder. I enjoy wearing it out when I’m feeling daring because I feel it doesn’t fit many situations. I like it with a big sweater and a book on the couch in cold weather.

@ Jacinto I'm afraid if you confirm that you have an EDP that it should be 20 years old, at least... Not the best material to make an opinion. Femme is only available as an EDT.

My review is based on a sample of eau de parfum splash, surely the latest reformulation. In fairness, I should state first off that I must have body chemistry that is peculiarly unfriendly to fragrance, in that even scents that rate as long-lasting and with enormous sillage have no staying power or projection on my skin. That said I am sooo disappointed in Femme. My all time favorite, my signature fragrance for 30 years is Mitsouko and Femme is recommended for us Mitsouko lovers. Femme starts out faint. Within a minute, I get a strange note I have never encountered in any other fragrance. I can only describe it as the smell of a pencil eraser!!! What the hell is that? In 5 minutes, it is gone completely without a trace on skin or clothing.

I love Femme, yes it’s woody and earthy and yes i feel the tingle in my nose from the lemon and lime notes. It’s feminine and classy. Don’t be fooled though. Femme is feminine and maybe old fashioned but she is definitely not shy. She definitely is loud and wants to be noticed. I was trying to decide what fragrance to wear so I sprayed a small amount on my wrist but then decided to wear a different perfume for the occasion. Femme was not going to be outdone. The small amount I sprayed on my wrist was overpowering the fragrance I decided to wear. Femme was outdoing the other perfume but not at all in a bad way. I was kind of disappointed that I changed my mind and didn’t wear Femme because it is just so beautiful and wanted the attention.

I have the current version. Not having had the opportunity to try vintage versions, I have no basis of comparison, but I am quite happy with what it is now. It really does smell like clean but sweaty bodies, which gives it a raw, animalic edge. The peach and plum add a nectar-like quality to the juice, while the cinnamon, cloves, and carnation lend just the right amount of spiciness to keep things interesting and not overly sweet. The resins give it body, and contribute to the overall feeling of eroticism. I would love to try this as Roudnitska intended it to be, but in the meantime I will enjoy it for what it has become.

I read a review of Femme many years ago, and was really intrigued. It was basically described as pheromones in a bottle! It has since become one of my favourite vintage fragrances, although I can see it definitely isn't for everyone, and very far removed from most modern perfumes.
To me it is very animalic. I get leather, antique wood, and also a subtle clean body odour smell, but in a slightly sexy way!
I love the shape of the bottle, longevity is good and it is a great price.

@ Avarie Perfume didn't survive the 1989 reformulation. The box if you have it could give you an information about how old your formula is.

Sample of vintage *parfum* (not sure how vintage we're talking, but I don't get a cumin hit like others have mentioned, so I think it's pre-80s). After years of ogling from afar- what an interesting lady. I feel as though I've found one of Jessica Rabbit's favorite perfumes. Her bright sequined dress stays the same, but this time switch out her purple silk gloves for dark purple leather gloves.

I get plenty of earth and plummy moss at the top, then a gradual hit of smoked leather. But for me it comes off as a very edible leather, neither treated nor vinyl. More like smoked beef jerky.

After an hour the "beefiness" goes away, and morphs into powdery, mossy peach jam, close to the skin, with little flecks of cinnamon and still deep from the stone fruits and other distant spices. It IS like a sexier, animalic Mitsouko.

Vixen of a fragrance that baffled and nearly put me off at first, then reeled me in lightning fast with her drydown. It's not a dark, freaky whiplash like other leathered fragrances, yet still so feminine and..."evening-appropriate." I'm happy I got to try this, finally. I envy those who have hunted down good, full vintages and can wear them with confidence.

I have the latest formulation with the transparent plastic cap. I have to admit that I quite like perfumes that have a scent little bit reminiscent of (a woman's) body odour, I mean, in tiny little doses I find it sexy and appealing instead of disgusting. New Femme has this distinct smell but it's not overpowering, not even obvious at all. Fruits and flowers dominate this fragrance hand by hand with warm spices. The chypre character is very well hidden but a light shadow of it can be found in the drydown, this is my favourite part. Overall, Femme is much more spicy, powdery, way more floral and less chypre than I expected, but after it dries down, I like it very much, maybe even love it. Actually this is by far the best warm spicy (cinnamon, cloves) perfume I've ever met including even Mitsouko (that makes me always a bit melancholic), Diamonds and Sapphires, and so on.

Hi @DomfromBE, the 2013 version I'm referring to is the one that has the asymmetrical black stopper and the black box with a compact-beige flower imprint on it. Haven't smelled the other two. Thank you for telling me about the new one, didn't know they already got two more out since then, wowzas.

@ Pandarapt Would you please tell us the colour and shape of the stopper/the cap. There are 3 versions since 2013 and the latest (clear plastic on golden stopper) is pretty good even if strong on the BO like cumin.

What used to be (1989) Femme? It used to be a chypre veiled by curves and black lace. The rusty copper autumn sun reflecting on Rita Hayworth's tawny pin curls. Mae West's throaty laughter heartening a Manhattan penthouse party. The velvet lap of prunol, the husky contralto of cinnamon-cumin peaches with a naughty quip from labdanum. The suavity of amber shimmering over the baroque bodegon art of fruity chypres. Mitsouko if she took to brandy, lipstick and dancing, stealing Gilda´s elbowlenght black gloves to read her russian authors at night. Cognac butter, Carlsbad plums and the warm intimacy of female skin. It used to be awesome is what it used to be. The latestlatest (ca.2013) version ? A heroin-chic pile of cumin bones pretending to be Femme. There's a ghost of her still haunting the cavern of her hollowed eyes but I´m not one for contacting the dead so I exorcise the paranormal encounter from my mind and summon this warm blood incarnation from my collection instead.

New bottle with golden cap entered my life few days ago. It was on my wish list for years and as it's rather affordable, something else always had priority.
There is nothing cheap about Femme. The box is, as tradition commands, delicately laced even on the inside, the bottle and cap look imperious. I'm delighted that 2013 design was abandoned, the cap was ugly and plasticky in the worst way.

The initial burst of fruity cumin is disturbing until it settles after 20-30 minutes. The classics like to take their time and tend to get better every passing hour, quite the opposite to most recent creations who have charming entries but get boring if they last long enough.
Femme is subtle, sultry, refined, captivating, and I could continue with adjectives all day. With each whiff I discover something new. It really smells like your skin but better, warm, cozy and comfortable. Soothing. The harmony is just astonishing.

I understand that Femme may not be everybody's cup of tea, but this kind of balance, complexity and sheer quality these days that appears effortless is exceptional.

I'm grateful that beauty is not always ostentatious and overpriced.

I have the vintage and hate it: smells like aldehyde and stuffing, oakmoss, cumin

I received a vintage 1oz. bottle of the edt. that is in the same round shaped bottle as Byzance, but having a different cap. I'm assuming this was from a batch created at that time. There is no batch code on the bottom of the bottle so I only have the bottle shape to go by and from research found out that Rochas was selling their 1 oz. perfumes in this bottle shape in the mid-80s until 2010.

On first spray it smells amazing. Citrus, plum, and peach were the first to show but within a few minutes it is cumin overload. Where is that coming from? There is nothing listed in the notes that would indicate that there is even cumin in this scent. Some are saying it smells like BO, coriander, or curry powder, but to me it smells like cumin. I feel like someone threw a plate of Mexican food on me. Ugh!!! I'm waiting for it to pass, but 20 minutes later that's still the predominant and only note I smell. Too bad. Silage for an edt is great. It appears, much to my dismay, that longevity will be great too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will change and become the beautiful scent that so many here say it is. I think it is trying because I can vaguely smell something delightful underneath, but the cumin note is drowning it out. It looks like this scent may not work with my chemistry, but I'm still holding out hope.

I bought this one today, a bottle produced in 2011.
"Femme", is a spicier "Eau Sauvage" (yes, the male classic by Dior) with the cumin note enhanced for the first hour or so.
In my mind, this is the perfume that inspired the creation of "C'est la vie" by Christian Lacroix (another femminine perfume with a strong cumin note, if my memory serves me correctly).
Males can wear it but do try before you buy if possible.

Ravishing!
That’s the word that makes the most sense when talking about Femme, one of Edmond Roudnitska’s finest creations and one of the jewels of Rochas.
Review based on a Parfum de Toilette from the 70’s.

In the early 1940’s, with the devastation of WW2, fragrances sought to bring optimism and joy. Miss Dior was one, joyous and optimistic. Femme was another. But Femme was different; it was more sensual, more voluptuous. Originally dedicated to Hélène, the young wife of Marcel Rochas, it soon won the heart of its exclusive clientele and went public in 1944. Although it was created during a period of scarcity and post war devastation, Femme was incredibly rich, both in beauty and composition, featuring the now famous Prunol base from De Laire. Edmond discovered it in an abandoned warehouse and made copious use of it, creating the signature of Femme, and setting the path for future compositions.

With a strong connection to Mitsouko, the fruity chypre from Guerlain, Femme amplifies the peach lactones, and marries them with stewed apricots and plums and prunes, creating a boozy fruit compote. Ionones, with their violet and rose tonalities, create a sepia haze of deep oranges and browns that shimmer in a silver ray of light. It’s fruity in a decomposing nature, almost rotting, honeyed; and it’s the most erotic ripe fruit accord in modern perfume history.
Femme also makes use of warm spices; cinnamon, cumin (which degrades over time, making the vintage richer but also giving the impression it lacks cumin), cloves, with spicy carnation and a touch of rose and jasmine to create a tantalizing melange that feels warming rather than spicy. Rosewood, civet and castoreum, leather, resins and oakmoss in all its glory...they anchor Femme on skin for hours on end. It’s a candlelit glow, the warm embrace of a loved one finally returning home. Femme is sometimes oriental, more often than not chypre, but always gorgeous and profound. And this worn, lived in sensuality, is what makes her all the most appealing, less cerebral and more human than Mitsouko; they could be relatives, but while Mitsy was brought up among royalty, Femme had to fight her way through, gaining the experience that life brings the hard way.

Femme, like many classics, was inspired by others (Mitsouko) but also inspired many; the rosewood in Habit Rouge is highly reminiscent of the woody accord in Femme. The bergamot, furocoumarin heavy in the vintage, has a dark edge just like in Shalimar, another inspiration that lends certain smokiness to Femme. Quadrille, Jubilation 25, Mon Parfum Cheri...tributes to the artistry of Edmond. Le Parfum de Thérèse; Edmond’s tribute to his own wife.
There is a certain sensuality, eroticism, that Edmond knew how to infuse in his creations. He worked with many bases, he aged ingredients and created his own accords. His signature is complex, multifaceted, and never duplicated. There isn’t a creation of his that doesn’t scream elegance, carnality and beauty. And that’s why reformulations of his work are very inferior; they lack the artist’s touch.

Femme was kept more or less loyal to Edmond’s formula until the late 80’s when it was reformulated to comply with the first big waves of the fragrance industry. From there on, Femme has been losing its chypre character and beauty to slowly become a spicy oriental, which is what is sold today. The complex formulation of the past, with its myriad of ingredients and accords, alchemically composed in a scarce period, as if pure magic, is now a simpler spicy peach that somehow still retains some of its beauty. It’s been facelifted, tummytucked and botoxed, but underneath there is still a glimpse of la grande vieille dame!

Vintage: a spicy chypre, full on sensuality. Impecable, complex, engulfing. Not a single flaw.

Modern: a less complex spicy ‘chypriental’, light on oakmoss and animalic notes, heavy on spices and cumin to make up for lost ingredients.

Okay I just ordered Femme a week ago and it just got here. I was a little nervous because the reviews said it smelt like body odor. But not on me thank goodness. At first spray I get the cloves, cinnamon, and peach. It’s very strong on the first spray but then dies down a little to a soft sensual skin scent. The reason I was nervous about it was because I had never smelt this and I had to blind buy it. And I do not regret blind buying this beauty. It smells so fabulous and it’s everything there is to being seductive and sexy.

How different is the new juice from the vintage formula, can anyone please let me know?
I remember the original was out of this world good: has the reformulation ruined this masterpiece? I hope not.

I’m a Mitsouko lover but have Femme in my collection. I adore cypress, owning some vintage Coty Chypre. I love the fruit or florals added to soothe straight up chypre. I adore Femme in the winter. I’ve worn perfume and Eau De Parfum in vintage. have to say, Femme is a masterpiece but Mitsouko is my ultimate comfort.

Everything about Femme intrigued me.

The notes. The backstory. The vintage appeal, the storied scandalous cumin stank. I wanted to know more; I had to know more.

So I blind bought.

Never mind the repeated references to Mitsouko, that eerie ghost of a fragrance with its oakmoss-and-dried-fruit must that always conjured images of dark basements and lifeless things in my mind. It too was a blind buy, and I sprayed it once and capped the bottle for good. Its loveliness on others was not to be found on me.

Nevertheless, Femme arrived in the mail. I dutifully showered off my signature Tresor that evening, anticipating what '40s bombshell delight might await. I picked up that beautiful bottle of captivating amber liquid and spritzed.

A plum bomb broke the atmosphere, and my heart jumped with delight.

Ten minutes later, there it was. THAT note. That drier-than-dry, peach-atop-oakmoss scent that I so hated and feared in Mitsouko was now sitting right on my decollete.

I decided to be patient and wait it out. I'm glad I did, because I did get these wafts of my beloved cinnamon and cloves, almost as though they were familiar friends there to reassure me. There was a wonderful, buttery leather, too--one that I felt could almost stand on its own as a single-note fragrance that I'd wear time and time again.

But that dry peach and oakmoss. It was too much. I had to scrub it. And then I spritzed on some SpellBound and firmly decided that I like my stone fruits juicy--damn near honeyed--than dry and cold.

I respect Femme, as I respect Mitsouko, for the legends that they are and deserve to be. I respect them for also teaching me about what I like, and what I don't.

Oh Femme, how do I love thee!

This was an accidental purchase as I was just getting into serious perfumes a few years ago. Blind bought this beast based on recommendations. The bottle is probably from around 2013.

This is one of the most standout, unique scents I have. If this was packaged in a minimalist, tall, rectangular bottle with a fancy name on it, you'd all be paying $200+ for a bottle and swearing it was groundbreaking and your "holy grail" scent. But alas, she remains in her classic bottle and is relegated to the "fogie" scents.

Well, come on fogies, cause we just won the day. Nothing beats this classic. I dare you to prove me wrong.

I've rarely been at a loss for how to describe a scent, but this one is not easy. It's so artfully blended that she is difficult to categorize. First blast is animalic. Not filthy, but raw hot flesh and passion. Secondly I get blasted by spices. What I don't specifically detect are the fruity or floral notes. They're there, definitely. Especially the ylang. But they are not dominant. This could be a unisex scent of it wasn't so persistently "femme."

It's my "come hither" scent, and has never disappointed in that department. . . And yes, that did cross my mind as I selected it from my tray this morning. After all, hubby is off work today, and I'm on break at the university. Lots of leisure time. . .

I sprayed the EDT and it instantly reminded me of the ginger perfume that Lush used to carry as one of its initial perfumes in spray version along with Karma.

It stayed that way throughout and i couldn't believe it -like entering a Lush store but without that sugary sweetness.

I really like this!! Lasts very long with low sillage.

Vintage Perfume, I think from 70-80s:
I don’t like fruity fragrances and bought Femme just because I liked yellowing vintage lacey box standing on the bottom shelf of a small fragrance store. I heard the name before, but all I remembered about the notes that it was supposed to have some oak moss and tobacco (my favorites) and felt like I wanted a surprise. If I’d remembered about any plums and peaches – I would’ve left it on that shelf. It was around Christmas time, cold and snowy, and I opened tiny amphora bottle with a red ribbon in my car (couldn’t wait, you get it) and dabbed some on. Surprise I had! There are sweets made of whole dried plums and apricots covered with dark chocolate with just a touch of cinnamon – this is what I got first in cold winter air, but those plums were not too sweet, candied or artificial, no, they were real black plums on beautifully balanced base of oak moss and leather with some jasmine and rose picking through. When I came indoors Femme warmed up on my skin and added so slight muskiness and patchouli which translated into very comforting scent. I see that not all will like it, it’s easy to overdo, my bottle is old, no cumin (before it was added?). Femme is breathtakingly beautiful on a cold fall or winter day, but I cannot imagine using a concentration other than perfume. I have a 90’s (?) flat round bottle, pre-bar code EDP, for several years, but cannot make myself to open it, dreading disappointment.

EDITED: I did open that EDP and now can understand some negative reviews. It is "Eau de cumin" for the first, seemingly very long, 20 minutes. Later it becomes somewhat like Femme I know, but I don't like it at all. If you disliked EDP, try the perfume; if you are one of those who likes strong cumin notes - EDP may be for you.

VERSION "MADE IN BRAZIL" BY NIASI

Few people know that several famous perfume brands have already been produced in Brazil by the brand Niasi.
The Niasi brand was founded by Niasi Melhem Abdo, a young man from the interior of São Paulo who at age 23 entered this segment selling hair clips and nets.
Around the year 1934 the Niasi brand became the first importer of professional cosmetics in Brazil and now represents exclusively in the country brands such as Helen Curtis, L'Oréal Profissional, Revlon and Wella.
Brazil finally began to have access to what the world had the best after beauty products in salons.
Around the year of 1950 the brand passes to be a licensed company to produce in Brazil perfumes of the brand Colgate and Marcel Rochas.
Niasi has produced in Brazil the whole line of perfumes by Marcel Rochas such as: Audace, Mouche, Femme de Rochas, Mousselina, La Rose and Eau de Rochas.
And also Madame Rochas and Monsieur Rochas.
The production of perfumes in Brazilian soil made the lovers of lovers of imported perfumes happy, a time when imported perfume was a rare and difficult article of difficult access.
The production of Marcel Rochas perfumes in the country was yours until the end of the 70s, more specifically until the year 1978.
Around the year 1980 the licenses were extinguished and the importation of direct from the products direct from France took place.

After searching for years on end, in the year 2016, I finally found the sale on an online auction site a bottle of perfume Rochas produced in Brazil by Niasi.
At the time I thought, "I do not need to, but I do. It has to be mine. "
But the value was well above expectations.
The seller had overvalued the item and its price was way above a bottle of perfume imported for sale on the same site.
And after following this item for about 2 years finally the seller became aware that his price was out of the market and started to download it.
Until finally it reached R$99.00 or US$26,00. I thought, "Now I can buy it."
And in November 2018, I finally closed the purchase of a legitimate perfume Made in Brazil. I bought a Femme of Eau de Cologne Rocks 100ml.
The bottle in question was probably produced in the mid-1960s.
Because the package includes the address of Niasi at Av. Miruna 971.
I counted every second until his arrival.
And three days later I was in possession of a rare item. A Marcel Rochas perfume made in Brazil.
I did a whole ritual to try it on. I took a bath with a neutral soap so there was no other scent that would interfere with my sensory experience.
I applied the perfume to the cuffs and elbow bends.
I sprayed it on each wrist and on the folds of my elbows.
I immediately noticed that his departure was very different from the output of Femme de Rochas Eau de Parfum made in France.
The exit notes really are if a colony, same colony.
In the output awaken the notes of Lemon and Vetiver. In an undeniable comparison the colony Lagerlfeld Classic.
The background notes sparkle the same dated scent look.
Shown are notes of Orange, Incense, Sandalwood, Ambergris, Benzoin, Tobacco and Fava Tonka,
An inescapable comparison to Dana's perfume Tabu.
The verdict is that even the Rochas brand having a very strict and demanding quality standard, which Niasi should follow, it was not possible to produce in Brazil a perfume with the same characteristics of the perfumery Rochas de França.
On the other hand, as previously said it is a Cologne or Eau de Cologne.
Which in a way would be another fragrance pattern.
More citrus and more stale.
Durability is also very limited. 2 to 3 hours.
The projection is also limited. 1 meter maximum.
The moral of the story is that even though it is a designer perfume, following rigid world production standards, the perfume in question differs from its relative Frances.
Not knowing if the difference in its aroma is due to the concentration Eau de Cologne or if there was a failure in the quality inspection during its production.
It is not possible to say for sure, because I could not get another item at the Eau de Toilette or Eau de Parfum concentration also produced by Niasi.
If I can, I'll make a new review.
But in any case it is very gratifying to know that a perfume brand Rochas has been produced in our country.

This specific item follows the perfumes.

Cologne Lagerfeld Classic by Karl Lagerfeld from 1978
Pierre Cardin Pour Monsieur by Pierre Cardin 1972
Dana Taboo of 1953

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 cheap 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 elegant 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!

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.

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!

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".

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 !!

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.

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.

Sophia Loren

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.

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 in any way a summery fruity/floral, or gourmand.

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.

I love this perfume. Sweet spicy warm. Not sugary. Sexy. Feminine.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.)

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.

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!!!! ❤

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.

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.

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.

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!

Not for me. Smells like Madeira wine. Or fermentet plum.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

Carmen Miranda Tico Tico Chattanooga Choo Choo

Josephine Baker Don't Touch Me Tomatoes

American Flags, Victory Rolls hairstyles, Lindy Hop, Bobby Soxers, Sock Hops! Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Pearl Harbor, Harry Truman's picture on a dance hall wall, red white and blue balloons, Glenn Miller Orchestra, these are the images that come to mind.

Femme is a sweet exotic gorgeous one of a kind fruity floral gourmand! Thanks to all the reviews here I was fascinated and bought it online. I don't regret it.Yes it is a vintage perfume but wears like a modern fruity floral but closer to something from the 1990's. Femme still sells online from sellers on eBay. This beautiful fragrance matches up with a vintage dress something worn by Dita Van Teese. This is a summer dress high heels lipstick and big hair kind of scent. Festive. Flirty. A party perfume. Youthful (for the 40's). O how I love these vintage perfumes. I think of someone like Lucille Ball wearing this or Rita Hayworth. Big red hair and glamorous fashions.

The opening is a sweet fruit cornucopia. A plum note is really there a dense very juicy plum like someone made a juice made of plum and apricot, peach, nectar, and citruses. This is not terribly citrusy and it's mainly a plum with a very distinctive peach & apricot. The aldehydes give it a freshness and a booziness like fruit flavored liqueur. There's also a strange waxiness that I'd never experienced before. Smells like scented candles with a fruit scent. The freshness is straight up aldehydes and old fashioned aldehydes that were very established as traditional notes for vintage perfumes since Chanel No. 5. Like No. 5 and Shalimar, Femme is a high ranking vintage. The scent is really big on fruit but I'm referring to the cologne spray and the EDT (eau de toilette). I have both the EDT and EDP. The parfum concentree is more of a green mossy chypre with musk, definitely more mature and Oriental, seductive and exotic. The cologne/toilette is really much nicer and more my bag.

A honeyed apricot comes through in a bigger dose as the frag wears on your skin blending with your own chemistry and it reveals a honey and cinnamon spiciness. Cloves and leather/musk appear in the dry down giving this scent an earthier, warmer and more unisex quality. There's also something smoky. I can't tell what it is but it's not like incense. Something like tobacco but that could be the patchouli or benzoin. A rosemary note is the big floral note here at least for me. I love rosemary and have a ton of rosemary scented domestic products like shampoo and body wash. Rosemary gives it an herbal touch. The flowers include a sweet subtle rose, a powdery iris, a white jasmine, and a banana flavored ylang ylang. The florals are not the stars because the spices and cloves are at the core. This is more of a fruit top with a light floral heart and a spicier-muskier base. Femme is very exotic, almost Latin flavored, with a lot of sweet things about it like sprinkles of cinnamon over fruit cake, honey, and booze.

Lovely little senoritas with roses in their hair, bullfighter boyfriends, public dances in city squares, a summer love. This is a very romantic, feminine fragrance that nevertheless has a unisex deeper spicier muskier leathery smoky Oriental body. I don't know too many guys that wear this but there is a time and place and context. A friend of mine is a drag queen who has a show in which he dresses up as Carmen Miranda and this is the perfume he wears for that get-up. This is a gorgeous fragrance for a costume for a 1940's film or a play. It has an enchanting sweetness and deliciousness, just like fruity rum. It is best worn in the summer time. I love how it has some "red" notes that match up with my hair! Red rose, carnation, red liquid, booze (I love booze) in the form of aldehydes, not too many florals, lots of spices, rosemary and musk. A beloved vintage classic which like Shalimar has stood the test of time.

What an elegant beautiful fragrance! They just don't make them like this anymore... warm and inviting. I can picture a real lady at a 1940s style dressing table applying this for fancy evening out.

My mother-in-law owns (and I mean *owns*) this perfume; it's been her signature for many decades. This is a beautiful old-skool scent, built out of many contrasting notes, ranging from ripe plums and peaches to leather and oakmoss. It is rich, velvety, sweet and sexy in a rather oldfashioned way, hence nowadays it is probably regarded as a mature, elegant evening fragrance. My mother-in-law has recently turned 70; in her youth she was a great beauty, a raven-haired double Scorpio, and I can imagine that this fragrance suited her perfectly. Nowadays she rarely wears it, and her splash bottle must be more than a decade old, but it still smells wonderful.
Btw this must have been the scent that inspired Edouard Flechier to create the original Dior Poison, because there are quite a few similarities between these two fragrances.

Femme (Woman!) by Rochas was created by the superior nose Edmond Roudnitska and launched in '43 when World War II was still raging in Europe and the Pacific. I don't want to say my age but even WWII was before my time however my father served in both the European Theater (France) and the Korean War. He gave this fragrance along with Chanel No 5 to my mother. This is literally the first perfume I remember smelling as a child - on my mother. Femme is the fragrance of my farthest and longest scent memory. I was a child under 10 and my mother would dab this on her neck and bosom on Easter Sunday or during summer before a house party at our house. I would watch her as she applied it in front of her mirror in her bedroom. She would smell the bottle first then turn it over so that the stopper would catch the scent then she would put the stopper on her neck shoulders and chest. It smelled like cinnamon to me. That was the only fragrance note I was familiar with at the time. It smelled like spices and very sweet at the same time. She would smile at me and let me smell it but never wear it. We would both go downstairs to meet our guests with that perfume so heady on my mother. My father loved this fragrance on her and she wore it out to dinner dates with him.

Femme is a beautiful fruity spicy musk. The vintage original was in a vase-shaped bottle with a tomato juice reddish liquid. The newer formula is an orange amber colored liquid. The new formula lacks the muskier and mossier scent of the original. I wear the new formula because I can't find the exact same one my mother wore but I do like the new formula. The opening is of exotic fruits despite the fact that it is really very ordinary aromatic chemical recreated fruit notes of plum, citrus, peach and apricot. I smell plenty of apricot and peach, a kind of sweet but not too sweet peach, like peach liqueur or peach bellini. This part is my favorite. The fruit. Delicious boozy plum, apricot, peach and citruses.

The rest of the performance of this perfume is floral but for whatever reason it's not as powdery or sweetly floral as other florals. The rosemary note is very big as is the carnation and ylang ylang. I thought perhaps there was a violet but I realize now that it's an iris flower. The iris flower is not as powdery but more starchy. The carnation is gorgeous. It can be floral but it progresses into spices. Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger, and other nondescript spices. Cloves and oak moss finally emerge with a patchouli and amber. These dry notes also contain leather or suede. This is a very spicy fruity cocktail. It lasts a long time unless you wear the lighter weaker Eau de Toilette. This is great for wearing in the day time and in the summer. It matches with floral print sundresses and summer dresses.

The musk note. I was apprehensive especially because I was anticipating a civet that I recall from the original. With the leather and musk in this, she is not that masculine and in fact I can't call this unisex at all. Finally a vanilla and cedar wood or sandalwood conclude the performance. This is an elegant mature summer perfume for the woman who is confident but caring. She smells of my mother. May she Rest in Peace. I wear this now in her memory and to smell fruity and delicious in the summer time. All my friends here in Mount Pleasant and Charleston love this perfume on me. Highly recommended for fans of vintages by Edmond Roudnitska and for the curious who want to smell what the first fruit perfume smelled like. This was the first gourmand or fruit perfume. But it's well rounded with florals, spices, woods, moss and leathery musk. A divine delicious drink!! Nectar of the gods! Thank you Roudnitska!

I start it off with the fact that it was a blind buy. I adore everything Rochas, yes, even the disappointing frags they`ve done, but I knew this one is a vintage/reformulated vintage..So being the last bottle available I had to get it..100 ml bottle also. As I opened the bottle and sprayed on, and sniffed away I found a gorgeous, rich sensual perfume, something heady and heavy, remarkable strong clove-benzoin-peach-vanilla concoction, similar to Lanvin`s Arpege in a way. I was much younger than now, so at that point I found that it`s too strong and spicy for me at that point in life and in the end I gave it away to my Granny for her birthday and it became a fave with her..I`d love to have a bottle of it for my collection now, and I surely will buy it down the road, hope I`ll be still able to find it..

The one word that describes this gorgeous scent - sex.

I just bought a little vintage splash online and I really love it. At first it's a little SPICY but it tones down to a beautiful, womanly scent that hovers close to my skin. But I don't have a spray bottle yet so I feel like that makes such a difference and can makes these big vintages easy to wear - a dab is so different than three or four BIG sprays. I really want a full bottle of this - to me it is a sister of Bal A Versailles in that it is sort of skanky and dirty and sexy. But I still wear it during the day! To me, I don't feel any fruit in this. It's all spices and amber and musk. I don't have a great nose for these things but it's definitely a warm and cozy scent. I wore it to bed last night and it was amazing! Definitely let this one sit on your skin for a bit before you make a decision. I imagine it could be far too much if you sprayed a bunch on, but the parfum dabbed from the bottle is really, truly, beautiful.

Edit - I love this SO MUCH that I bought a big 100ml bottle online. I adore it. The drydown is like warm, musky, female skin. And it is sexy, but sometimes, after I've been wearing it all day and its faded, it smells like my daughter's warm hair and sweat after she's been playing in the yard all day, and if you're a mom, you know that there is just no better smell on earth. :) Of all the vintages I own, this is the one that smells most like "me", and not a perfume. It's seamless, timeless, to the point where I can't believe it was created by a man, because it literally smells like a woman. Not in a "private parts" way, but what I smell like after moving around, working, and LIVING. It's a very ALIVE smell.

I have the vintage version and still trying to decide whether I love it or too vintage for me...My favourite style is warm spicy / woody and this is that, however I think like with a few other vintages there are simply far too many notes. It's a big blur of notes and I think it's a little much. For example there is rosemary AND bergamot AND everything. I think there are a few notes here (and in other vintages) that just don't gel that well with others. So while its a big complex perfume, a few of the notes I reckon should have been left out. It's like cooking a big pot of stuff that just has every spice imaginable. Some just don't belong and take away from the others that might bring out the best in eachother.

Similar to Mitsouko but in my opinion smoother and not as harsh/loud. I wonder which came first. Hmmm, something more to research. Years ago, right after my daughter was born, I read that this fragrance smelled of lady-parts and I was curious. I now now of course, they were referring to the cumin note and yes, I do get a hint of that in the first fifteen minutes or so, but to my nose--I smell the cumin the way I do in a fine Indian dish when the plate sets in front of you while it's still hot. It draws you in. Over time, this fragrance begins to settle and becomes a soft woody, spice with aldehydes lingering still in the background. This one is definitely on my "Masterpiece" list and there are not many up there. I treated myself this Valentine's day to a vintage bottle with the gold cap and it is perfect in every way. Womanly. Elegant. Just divine.

I bought this particular fragrance in the 1990's and for reasons that I didn't understand at the time, found that on some days I loved its deep musk base note, on other days it smelled quite "unwashed" and on one or two days, I ended up with a monster headache. One of the other reviews hit the nail on the head: whatever the reason, this fragrance really does smell different to the wearer depending on the hormones they are producing! So, that said, I love this one. I find it deep and mysterious on me, with no obvious accord standing out other than the headiness of the musk and benzoin. There's a reason it is so dark in its bottle, it's a full on fragrance for a woman who carries herself with confidence and femininity.

How many immortals were sacrificed to create this masterpiece?

Ok so my previous smart ass response aside (haha, the typo's still there, still amazing!) I'm ready to leave my review.

This intrigues me so much that I can't imagine trading my 100ml,which usually overwhelms me as far as bottle size goes.

Depending on how much you spray, it opens with a rich, soapy aldehydic mix and an obvious animalic tone just beneath that. The warm, spiced resins are also there, which tend to form the usual offputting 'old school' peach/spice tone, but there's a wearably modern twist here that somehow manages to be a less-outdated plum and cardamom fizz. Maybe it's thanks to just the right touch of uplifting florals and cinnamon? Anyway from this I mostly get a neavou vintage skank scent, which explains my recent obsession with this as a (natural) musk and resin lover. The richness and depth of this marry perfectly my love of skanky warm animal skin-smelling musks and spiced, semi-sweet warm resins in the colder weather, but at 26 years old it doesn't seem dated. I feel like I'm embodying a generation past... but in a sexy, primal, still feminine way.

Try it if you like skankies, resins, or interestingly femme fatale vintage reinterpretations. I think this works great for people like me who find the concept and glam imagery of yesteryear's scents appealing, but usually find the scents from that era hard to wear. As long as you have an appreciation for musks and an aldehyic (soapy/clean air) top, and a slight discordance with modern scent trends though you were born close to the '90's, I think you'll dig this, too.


[12.26.16]

A summer fragrance of fruit

This was not my kind of perfume before I let go of my own misconceptions about vintage classics. I never thought I'd wear Shalimar or L'Air du Temps but I have loved them & will love them my whole life. I embraced Femme today & have never been so enchanted by a perfume. I don't know the history of the perfume as well as some other reviewers but I feel that for a perfume from 1944 with this many fruit notes, it must have been quite an innovation at the time, something very different from all the aldehydes, florals & chypres musks or Orientals i.e. Shalimar Mitsouko Emeraude Chanel No. 5 Bal A Versailles. This is so fruity that you just can't wear it after August. Nothing about it is "old lady" ish. I find it very sweet, fruity, delicious, edible, and juicy like a fruit cocktail or fruit punch, the biggest fruit punch bowl at a summer party at a beach house.

This is a summer time fruity gourmand. It's sweet with notes of bergamot orange, apricot, peach, plum and perhaps currant. It's a fruit juice when it opens. There's an alcoholic content which I suppose is aldehyde? Whatever it is, it gives the fruit a plummy booziness like a plum flavored wine or fruit cocktail. It's downright intoxicating. One can get drunk on Femme by Rochas! A dry down of moss & musk, very simple; perhaps patchouli and vanilla, almost Oriental but still so sweet & fruity. I would also agree with reviewer Aurora McCandless (love your review by the way) that this is a little dark (but still sweet) very exotic and Latin American in flavor. It smells like Brazil or Argentina in the summer time. Carmen Miranda's fruit hat comes to mind, and salsa and cumbia dancers - i.e. Tito Puente music. Received lots of compliments when I went out dancing with it the other night for a Christmas party.

This is a party perfume. I live in Southern California (Malibu) where even at it's coldest it's only 50 something degrees, so these kind of perfumes which are evocative of summer & fruit bowls, are perfect to wear. When I spray this on me, the fruit scent just never goes away. However my nose can discern the scent of some spices & woods, musk and vanilla. It's got a kick to it, so it can come off as mature or confident, spicy for a spicy woman. But we all have to grow up some time and we all need some spice, color and fruitiness in our life! Ole! So this is a very delicious perfume and the only more modern perfume I can compare it to is Chloe Narcisse

PS If you like this perfume you should also check out these perfumes which I feel are in the same fruity gourmand class and all great fragrances

Champagne Yves Saint Laurent

Rumba Balenciaga

Casmir Chopard

Chloe Narcisse

Parfum culte dès 1944 !
Parfum de peau pour un épiderme bien dans sa peau... ;o) En clair : si je le mets et que je suis stressée le parfum tourne... Hé oui !
Parfum de soir pour mes goûts, je le mets en tête à tête avec l'Amour de ma vie soirée chandelle au coin du feu en hiver ou sur la terrasse en été avec un verre de champagne et quelques amuse bouches. J'évite de le mettre au boulot quoique je l'ai déjà senti sur une collègue et elle le portait à merveille...
L'accord prune/mousse de chêne est à tomber.... Même encore maintenant !
Et ce flacon en forme de hanches de femme....Aaaargh !

I just got this yesterday, so this is rather early to give a proper review. First impression...this is GORGEOUS. I bought it because of the comparisons to Mitsouko, which I love, and crave this time of year to the point I could wear it daily. Femme has several notes in common with Mitsouko, as well as a similar feel, but the actual scent is quite different. Femme is more fruity, the cinnamon is more promenant, and the oakmoss is more subtle. Femmes most prominent floral is jasmine, where Mitsoukos most prominent floral is ylang (though sometimes the rose stands out more). I believe this would be easier to wear than Mitsouko for most people. However, if you are uncomfortable wearing fragrances that bring up sexual conitations, you may want to skip this one.

I so wanted and expected to love this..fruity chypre is right..it smells just like fruitcake. sadly..even on christmas day..I don't care to smell like a fruitcake..I want to smell like a woman.

There really is not much to add to what has already been said. count me among those who love this fragrance. I am not one for fruity/sweet fragrances, but I love this spicy, warm, womanly fragrance. It is elegant, full and rich. I love the warmth of the cinnamon against the plum fragrance. Not too sweet, not so dry. I feel this one should be a classic and what is lovely is it is affordable. I had great longevity with it (about 7-8 hours) before it became more of a skin scent. I find it best in the cooler days of fall and in the winter. But it likely can be worn anytime.

I have hoarded vintage Rochas Femme in several versions, Eau de Cologne, Eau de Toilette, Parfum de Toilette and Parfum. Each are slightly different and the age and how they were stored is a huge factor in how they will smell. I'm curious about which version each review is based on if not mentioned.

Obviously, I love Femme and that is why I have so many. I actually prefer it to Mitsouko. They are very similar to me but Femme is more fruity and well, more femme. The cologne is the least fruity, it is more mossy and earthy and has more leather. It is like a lighter version of the parfum in my opinion. The EDT and Parfum de Toilette are a little sweeter. But my parfum is ancient so maybe that's a factor.

I also have the newest EDT from 2013 and it's not bad at all. I find it very nice, especially for the price. But it obviously doesn't have the richness and beauty of the vintage but I think they did a good job with it, again, considering the price.

Femme is one of my favorite fragrances of all time.

Femme is a vintage Forties fruit cocktail that's been in the family for years. My childhood was spent in London during the Blitz. I was only a small girl when the Nazis tried to destroy the spirit of the United Kingdom. Times were hard but we made the best of it. Femme was a French perfume so my mother had to literally beg my father to buy it for her. She had heard that it was a sweet fruity perfume which was rare in those days as mot were floral chypres. The first time I smelled Femme was on my mother. It smelled like a fruit bowl and spice bowl. The scent might have been more floral at one point but when I began to wear it the flowers were quiet. I wore this back in the 50's and 60's. The scent opens with a plum and apricot to die for. It's a delicious and dark fruit, like the fruit has been dipped into a wine. It's boozy. It eventually turns somewhat flowery with rosemary, carnation and rose. The fragrance develops into a soft powder and it's hard to believe there's patchouli and musk in this perfume. I also can't smell any leather. It's a beautiful and very enjoyable fragrance even by today's standards. It can be worn by ladies of any age but I see it as a party perfume. This is not seductive nor terribly musky/mature. It's a sweet scented fruity perfume, the fragrance that started the trend in fruit topped fragrances. I associate this scent with my mother, and I remember, with nostalgia and with melancholia, the little house where we survived the War, the drills, the raids, the radio, the stern and confident voice of Winston Churchill and the beautiful singing voice of the angel named Vera Lynn. Her voice brought comfort and courage to our soldiers. I always aspired to be a singer because of Dame Vera Lynn. Femme is a perfume that ought to be in every true vintage lover's collection. This is a masterpiece.

I really tried to understand this perfume because of the history of it and the beautiful bottle so different in comparison of what are in the market.I simply dont understand the notes listed.Fruity? Peach? The only thing i smell is cinnamon cinnamon and cinnamon.Disappointed.. I had high ecxpectation for this.Sorry thats not for me.

Femme is timeless, and quite seductive. I can detect sweetness flittering around the deep, dark notes like oakmoss, clove and leather. Very earthy, natural. The peach and plum aren't the juicy variety; they're powdery, spicy and rolled in cinnamon. That warm cinnamon is my favorite part of Femme. For some reason, this strikes me as animalic - probably the cloves. It's spicy, sweet, and encapsulates the '90s perfectly. Femme Fatale, indeed!

It vaguely reminds me of Poison, for a frame of reference. Mysterious, angsty, dark, sexy, provocative... It's classic as well as classy, it's got that rich, warm, vintage feel, with the deep & rich complexity you'd expect from a chypre formula originating from the '40s. Despite my praise - it's probably not for everyone, though!

Just received my vintage bottle of femme this morning(pre 1989). I wore Femme for years and I have never really been able to move on from this fragrance. The only actual perfume I have ever owned... However as gorgeous as the 1989 version was, the 2013 never spoke to me and had lost it's essence for me.I stroke lucky with my vintage 1980 'parfum de toilette' bottle today, the fragrance is as fresh and beautiful as ever, The harmony of the notes is sublime...Wearing this perfume is a very different experience, like finding yourself again...

It goes on a little "minty" for me, and then it begins evolving.
First spray is boozy, sweet plum with cumin. Lots of it, but stays wearable.
Then into a "green" scent, keeping the sweetness.
Funny enough, I cannot detect any peach.

As it dries down, flowers and wood.
There is rose nearby with lily of the valley right behind it, all set in an dark earthy forest. I think I even smell soil.....well, it could be the cumin.
Then all the scents mellow as one.
Great sillage, last at least 4 to 6 hours on me.

I wouldn't say it's a dark scent ( surely, not a bright scent) It's like a twilight scent.

It's a keeper for evenings.

UPDATE After wearing Femme for a few days in a row, the last dry down stages the cumin is completely gone. It is now a close to the skin scent and smells like the initial first notes of Chanel No 5.
Taking this into account, this frag lasts more than 8 hours, sprayed on the underside of your arm.

Mea culpa, mea culpa Rochas Femme lovers.

I had to come in and write an addendum to my initial review.

I am actually quite shocked as my current feelings are so vastly different from my initial take.

How can this be? I promise that I don't have any mental concerns...well none that can be found in the pages of the DSM.

The rave reviews of this perfume that smelled nothing like what I encountered (the perfume made me sad and utterly repulsed me) caused me to pick it up again and take a small sniff before selling it.

I was intrigued. No sadness there. No body funk--the cumin was still in place but mollified and blended well. Suddenly I was smelling a creamy buttery richness with a fruity top note that was pretty and very sensual.

I sprayed some on and I fell in love as wafts of chewy buttery fruit laced goodness enveloped me.

How can one go from a tragic soliloquoy that needed only the melancholy strings of Itzhak Perlman in the background to professed love and a desire for a back up bottle?

I thought about this for a while and then it hit me.

This may or may not be it and if so it may be something to think about for other women on the board. I sampled my bottle on a day in which I was "indisposed" (for those of us in the 21st century, menstruating). I never thought that one's sense of smell could be so drastically affected by hormonal changes but it must be that because same bottle, same human and only a week's time difference.

I think I might avoid sampling new things during that time. I know that during my pregnancies, ordinary smells that I'd previously loved made me want to die, so maybe it's possible.

Wow !!!!! My mother used Femme in the 70s (so it was not vintage, probably already reformulated) and it had great longevity, she wore for work at 6 30 AM and went she came back at 19/20 she still smelled of Femme. Sultry, very feminine, though not a huge bomb (a perfum for seduction not fight) it had oakmoss, plum, cinammon, peach, leather in a balanced, extremely sexy whole. It also was one of the sweetest perfume at that time (sweet perfumes were very scarce, now most of the 60/70s scents are used by men), though for our times, not too sweet.

Is this discontinued?

I don't know what I have.

Perhaps, it's the reformulation or the vintage bottle. My bottle has the shape of the bottle above but with a gold cap.

This perfume represents unequivocal sadness to me. I picture a beautiful woman dressing for a very fancy winter ball. She slips on a stunning velvet gown and douses herself in a rich lovely perfume. Little does she know that her world as she knows it is about to come to an end that very night. At the party the orchestra is playing a lovely waltz, the champagne is flowing, and the eyes of so many are upon this woman with admiring eyes.

Suddenly the music comes to an abrupt stop as a military official decked in full regalia sweeps into the room. Soon other lesser officers follow him. The beautiful woman looks out of the floor to ceiling window and sees an entire cavalry of officers and foot soldiers beneath along with trucks. A shiver runs through her spine causing each hair on the nape of her neck to stand on end. When did the room become so drafty?

The commanding officer speaks quietly with the party host who becomes flustered and visibly upset. At first the host refuses to comply with whatever he's been told to do, but then the officer seems to say something to him that changes the mind of the host with great reluctance and sadness. He obeys because he is thinking of his own wife and their children that sleep in the nursery above the party...but he will never again look at himself the same in the mirror.

The host's voice trembles as he announces to his guests, "I have a list of individuals who must accompany these officers outside for questioning..."

The beautiful woman in the stunning gown and the lovely perfume is among others called forward from the party and roughly shuttled outside into the cold snowy night. Before being pushed onto the waiting truck, she looks back at the window that she only minutes before had looked out from. The lights that reflect from the window seems warm and brilliant, casting a gentle sea of peace and calm onto the icy morass of the winter night. It is that brilliant light that warms her skin exposed to the evening. She presses her wrist to her nose to be calmed by the lovely perfume that she'd applied only hours before. It's warm plum booziness is still faintly there but it has been muddled by the smell of the feral musky scent of her fear and anxiety.

Rochas is the smell that remains of a lovely perfume, once harmonious and joyous when first applied but hours later has been marred by fear laden sweat and soul numbing sadness.

I've never said this about a perfume, but it honestly almost brought tears as I applied it...

I think if someone is in love with the dry down of this perfume (the remnants of the lovely perfume), one might be better off searching for YSL's Yvresse/Champagne. It's the beauty of the perfume without the hefty cumin note and spice overkill.

Longevity is way too long, I ended up scrubbing it off when I'd had enough emotionally.

Sillage is an arms length or more.

I don't know what I have.

Perhaps, it's the reformulation or the vintage bottle. My bottle has the shape of the bottle above but with a gold cap.

This perfume represents unequivocal sadness to me. I picture a beautiful woman dressing for a very fancy winter ball. She slips on a stunning velvet gown and douses herself in a rich lovely perfume. Little does she know that her world as she knows it is about to come to an end that very night. At the party the orchestra is playing a lovely waltz, the champagne is flowing, and the eyes of so many are upon this woman with admiring eyes.

Suddenly the music comes to an abrupt stop as a military official decked in full regalia sweeps into the room. Soon other lesser officers follow him. The beautiful woman looks out of the floor to ceiling window and sees an entire cavalry of officers and foot soldiers beneath along with trucks. A shiver runs through her spine causing each hair on the nape of her neck to stand on end. When did the room become so drafty?

The commanding officer speaks quietly with the party host who becomes flustered and visibly upset. At first the host refuses to comply with whatever he's been told to do, but then the officer seems to say something to him that changes the mind of the host with great reluctance and sadness. He obeys because he is thinking of his own wife and their children that sleep in the nursery above the party...but he will never again look at himself the same in the mirror.

The host's voice trembles as he announces to his guests, "I have a list of individuals who must accompany these officers outside for questioning..."

The beautiful woman in the stunning gown and the lovely perfume is among others called forward from the party and roughly shuttled outside into the cold snowy night. Before being pushed onto the waiting truck, she looks back at the window that she only minutes before had looked out from. The lights that reflect from the window seems warm and brilliant, casting a gentle sea of peace and calm onto the icy morass of the winter night. It is that brilliant light that warms her skin exposed to the evening. She presses her wrist to her nose to be calmed by the lovely perfume that she'd applied only hours before. It's warm plum booziness is still faintly there but it has been muddled by the smell of the feral musky scent of her fear and anxiety.

Rochas is the smell that remains of a lovely perfume, once harmonious and joyous when first applied but hours later has been marred by fear laden sweat and soul numbing sadness.

I've never said this about a perfume, but it honestly almost brought tears as I applied it...

I think if someone is in love with the dry down of this perfume (the remnants of the lovely perfume), one might be better off searching for YSL's Yvresse/Champagne. It's the beauty of the perfume without the hefty cumin note and spice overkill.

Longevity is way too long, I ended up scrubbing it off when I'd had enough emotionally.

Sillage is an arms length or more.

My god, i snagged a vintage 1950s unused perfume on ebay and the scent is gorgeous. Its plummy, a bit spicy, i find it fantastic, easy to wear and not drowning in cumin. its more fruity, sandalwood, i dont have the words to describe it but it is marvelous. delicious and i fear i will become a vintage Femme addict and never find something this good again.

Plum and leather that reminds me Daim Blond in the opening... and of Mitsouko during the drydown. A classic fragrance. More tart than sweet, but still pretty sweet. As it dries down it becomes spicer (again like Mitsouko). I agree with a previous commenter that there's a faint furniture polish thing going on here. A warm, sexy, comforting fragrance; chic but relaxed. It doesn't smell big to me but, according to my co-worker, this one is noticeable. It also lasts for hours and hours. One of those amazing old school perfumes that you can get for next to nothing.

(A review originally posted on MakeupAlley in 2006, I wanted to re-post it here now because I do not use MakeupAlley anymore [but have many fond memories of using it] and I am trying to get back into writing reviews, using old 'work' as inspiration...): I am in love with Femme and think that Edmund Roudnitska is now my favorite historical perfumer. Femme is rich, round, and plummy, only sorry that this is an edt that I have and that it has been reorchestrated--when I get a vintage bottle I will try to add to this review.
For now this is an HG scent, along with Bandit from Piguet, Carnation from Mona di Orio, Biche Dans L'Absinthe and Seve Exquise from Gobin Daude, and Minuit from Dawn Spencer Hurwitz--and two more, Keiko Mecheri's Myrrhe et Merveilles and La Nuit from Paco Rabanne.
This is the category that Femme falls into for me. Hope you enjoyed reading this list (always love to see what's intriguing people).
Femme is like a devilled prune with orange coulis/sauce opening up a hole via my skin to my soul. It is, like all Roudnitska's creations, one of the most unusual perfumes I have ever smelled, and it opens my mind and makes me happy and uplifted.

On me it was a very sensual fragrance with a mature (25 and over) sexyness and great longevity and sillage. Plum, an ambery sandalwood, spices and incense (though not listed, it has a smoky spicy vibe), its bottle was curved like a woman's body covered with black lace. I had an 80's big bottle till it was used up. It is vintage but has no aldehydes and civet, and feels much more modern, though not a fruitchouli or vanilla intensive, and has the same sexy vibe as Obsession, smelling much more provocative on me.

One of the only peach fragrances I can wear (other than Obsession). This one is a boozy peachy rosy plum brandy on me spiced with cumin (this note sounds weird but it really softens the fruit down nicely) cinnamon and vanilla at the start and what I swear is powdered ginger, it turns into a peachy rosy ginger beer concotion quite quickly, a soft oriental fragrance loaded with woody notes and incense, I get honey and beeswax from this and it reminds me quite alot of Toujours Moi. It is a vintage classic and very womanly. A softer take on Obsession which I actually prefer. It is actually quite easy to wear for a vintagey oriental and keeps compelling you to sniff you wrist for a good whiff so it's not too strong that it over powers you. My bottles have has a gold lid and is amber in colour so I think it must be pre-relaunch but is not quite vintage so not quite sure of it's age. A gorgeous wintery classic.

I've been smelling this fragrance for such a long time - on others! My mom's friends have always worn this even back when I was a little girl in Charleston. I can't wear it because it's super spicy on me. It smells....it smells like a fragrance for Sophia Loren. This is a sexy and seductive scent made up of ingredients that remind me of dark haired Italian women. Fruits and spices in a bowl. I can smell oranges plums, roses, iris, jasmine, carnation and oak moss. Not your typical fruity floral. It's as spicy as spicy can get. I realize that this is a classic fragrance beloved by the vintage loving crowd but on me it's too strong. I much prefer to smell of softer or more floral scents like Arpege, L'air du Temps and White Shoulders. This one reminds me of that song from the musical South Pacific There is nothing like a Dame which coincidentally mentions that the soldiers in the Pacific during WW 2 received letters "doused with perfume, we get dizzy from the smell". The perfume in the letters they received from their wives or girlfriends smelled like this.

Ripe peach dipped in a boozy, plummy concoction, sexy, womanly, love it!

Not only the design of the bottle reflects the curve of a woman, this immaculate liquid gold, is everything 'femme' in a bottle. The depth of its floral note along with the plum-peach-oakmoss trio is narcotic, making the alluring concoction, worth eternally cherished, and to die for. Indeed, this is a 'must have' classic for every avid perfume collectors.

I totally agree with karrykins! People, PLEASE be succinct and get to the point. We don't need a history lesson, just describe how your body reacts to the perfume and how you feel about it. If a post is longer than, let's say 10-20 lines, I don't bother reading it. BTW, this is a lovely peachy frag, and I love it! One of my favourites!

This is so lovely, plummy and rich and at £23 , for 100 ml the biggest bang for the buck imaginable - its gorgeous - another Luca Turin review to ignore . I don't get cumin at all which is sweaty armpits - ripe , soft and sumptuous - its a leathery peach in the grand dame tradition - fabulous . And that's from someone who feels if she doesn't wear Chanel Exclusivs , she's not wearing class - this is a keeper . And yes, it's sexy !

Extremely mellow, delicious, cozy gem of a scent.
Out of everything I have this is the only one that I
got complimented on by mY daddy. He won't let
it go, kept on the subject not just smells good but
smells "SO" good, which he NEVER says. What's
to say? It is a cabin in the winter type perfume or
a candle/fireplace/bon-fire cozy-up time wear. It's
not to wear to the office, to meetings, to bed or all
alone. It wants to be around others, not just you;).
A friendly, social, introverted perfume that's simply
just too bubbly and smoldering to stay alone with
you. Her effervescence tends to spill over, & you'll
be sorry if no one else is there when that happens.
Wear amongst some GOOD company!!! ...Peace...

It's New Year's Eve and I'm immersed in Femme's magic. The plums and apricots we deal with here are of an unordinary quality, for these times at least. The vintage fruits, the peach of a Mitsouko by Guerlain "vintage" type and Femme's are of an otherwordly kind. Femme's fruits are dipped in leather. Cinnamon, cloves, oakmoss, everything set in a perfect place. I've decided to wear Femme by Rochas for this night, a perfect fit for a glam, vintage look, fancying to spread its enchanting charm through all of this year. Happy New Year Fragranticans, lots of sweet magic to all of you!

My review is based on the eau de cologne splash (vintage, don't know what year).
The first 2 minutes on my skin: bergamot and rosemary, not a good opening for me. But...by the 3rd minute the plum and the peach, riding on the oakmoss, leather, cinnamon and cloves, kick in. The only flower in the background is carnation. In this particular bottle, there is no cumin. Femme is no ordinary fragrance, it is a masterpiece. I respect it, but it's not for me. I realize now that perfumes not only go with your physical chemistry, but your aura, your emotions, and other factors. So, just like I respect Chanel 5, Shalimar, L'Air du Temps, and many others, including Femme, they are not meant for me. And that's OK.

Sanıyorum ki yorum yapan kişilerden farklı bir parfüm elimdeki! Eski vintage versiyonuna sahibim ve çok çok çok ağır bir koku.

I liked this at first, but it got boring, all I could ever smell was cinnammon and more cinnammon

FEMME OF THE FORTIES

I own a vintage Femme called a cologne in a splash bottle with dark red almost blood like liquid and the eau de toilette version which is identical. Femme is the war time equivalent of the post war fragrance L'air du Temps by Nina Ricci, with the famous white doves on the stopper, a celebration of the end of World War 2. That one was a floral fragrance that sold very well in the 50's and 60's, and was beloved by peace loving hippies. The white dove is the universal symbol for peace and the hippies had never known the hell of war (World War 2). Today is Veteran's Day and I'm wearing Femme, created by Edmond Roudnitska for designer Marcel Rochas in 1943. Think about the time of this historic fragrance. World War 2 was raging in Europe and in the Pacific. Women were out of the house while their husbands were off on military duty, without knowing whether they'd come back or not, and they had to take care of the entire household by themelves. There were children to raise, mouths to feed and work to be done. Women of the 40's were strong women who found that they had to work and keep jobs to support their families, even if for the duration of the war, which for a time, seemed like it would never end. Would the Allies ever reach Berlin? It would be a whole year after D-Day and the victory at Normandy's Omaha Beach that World War 2 would be officially over on V-E Day (May 8) and V-J Day (August 15) both dates in 1945. The atom bomb was dropped over Hiroshima and the world as we know changed forever, as we entered the Nuclear Age. How can a woman of this time go to work, as either a nurse, a telephone operator, or even a car mechanic and airplane/parachute factory, a "Rosie the Riveter" job, jobs which were traditionally masculine, and feel like a woman, beautiful, feminine and sexy? How to remove the smell of grease and paint and replace it with the aroma of flowers and how to feel softer than the metal and steel you've been lifting? The answer was FEMME, the fragrance for the hard working women of World War 2. This is a beautiful CHYPRE with fruits, flowers, woods and musk, seemingly every note found in all other fragrances. This perfume is a masterpiece. I recommend it for fans of vintage perfumes like Emeraude, Shalimar, Arpege, L'air du Temps, White Shoulders and others. It will take you on a time traveling trip to the 40's and you will understand just how beautiful women smelled and just why their husbands in the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Forces longed to return to their wives, girlfriends and fiancees. Women of this time even sent their men letters while they were stationed in Hawaii, the South Pacific islands and Europe and they doused the paper of the letter with their perfume. And it had to be Femme. It was a scent to bring them back home.


NOTES IN ROCHAS' FEMME

Head Notes: Apricot Plum Cinnamon Peach Bergamot Brazilian Rosewood Lemon

Heart Notes: Rosemary Carnation Iris Jasmine Cloves YlangYlang Rose

Base Notes: Leather Amber Patchouli Musk Benzoin Vanilla Oak Moss

The desgin of the bottle is rumored to have been inspired by the curvaceous figure of Hollywood sex symbol Mae West, whom WW II soldiers would have been very familiar with, but I have never found any evidence in my research that supports this notion. Mae West would have been the type to launch her own fragrance, but she never did nor did she actually claim to have been of any help in the making of this fragrance. Also, Mae West during World War 2, although still very popular as an entertainer at the Hollywood Canteen and on USO tours, was not the most beloved pin up model nor the biggest sex bomb. That title went to Betty Grable and actresses like Lana Turner and Rita Hayworth. The Mae West connection appears to be an invention by vintage lovers of today. To me the bottle looks more like a vase, a vase for flowers. The original color of the liquid was a tomato juice red or blood red. The frag has been reformulated and the perfume sold today has a honey-yellow color. The old and new versions are completely different. The new formula is much sweeter and lighter as a skin scent and has no "cologne" unisex quality that the vintage has. The vintage has a shocking similarity to Guy Laroche's FIDJI. It's virtually identical, in that there is a lot of aldehydes and fruits and a strong foundation of woods. I have a vintage Fidji and was surprised at how much the same it smells as Femme. Femme however has a lot of musk, and perhaps other animalic notes, possibly even some civet. The fruity notes are incredibly strong, but in a sweet, and delicious way, like fruit juice or fruit cocktails. There's a potpourri of apricot, peach, plum and orange. There is probably unlisted fruits as well: grapefruit, strawberry and could there even be a tomato? Sure smells like it. The flowers whose scent are noticeable: carnation, iris rose and ylangylang. There is a rose in the heart of Femme which pays tribute to the queen of all the flowers in a beauiful way. But the floral scents are hanging in there, and are often subdued by the muskiness of patchouli, leather and all of the wood notes. I don't believe patchouli was there in the original composition. Most of the muskiness and cologne quality of women's perfume in the Golden Age of Perfume contained plenty of civet and musk. Wearing this can indeed feel rather old fashioned and it suits a mature woman 30 and up, but for those of us in our 20's this can be delightful as a vintage if you've already worn Shalimar Arpege L'air du Temps and other "before you were born" fragrances. This is absolutely delicious, just like drinking fruit juice or fruit punch or having fruit cocktails all day long. The fruitiness is overwhelming. It made me visualize women of the 1940's taking a break from their jobs, getting into floral print dresses and going out to the bars to have cocktails. Don't think for once that this is an old lady perfume. This frag is like Chanel's Mademoiselle of the 40's; the fruitiness makes it very girly and it's a young gal with a flower in her hair going out to dance at the dance halls with navy guys, sailors, marines, GIs who only had a few moments of fun before heading out to sea and to danger. This was probably a fragrance women wore out on dates and to go dancing to those swinging tunes of Glenn Miller. This was so beautiful and such an honor to wear. It might be too fruity for my own tastes, but its a classic vintage fragrance that should be experienced. In it's similarity to Laroche's Fidji it made me think: oh this is not taking me to Fidji, it's taking me to Hawaii, to Pearl Harbor, to the time we entered World War 2. This fragrance tells a story of a GI and his gal who have only one night together to swing and dance and even make love, before war drastically changes their lives.

Other Fragrantica reviews appear to be analyzing the composition of the reformulation. The vintage is definitely what you want to experience. It's sweet and yet powerful, fruity and floral, musky and light, and all the beauty of women, inner and outer beauty, qualities, but definitely of the women that got us to where we are today, the strong women of the 40's. I was expecting something a lot smokier, sultrier, darker and more seductive. I thought it would turn me into Rita Hayworth in GILDA, but instead I was a sweet young girl going out to dance with her GI boyfriend, and drinking a lot of fruit cocktails. But even this trip is worth the price of this perfume.

Wonderful fruit, then an enormous blast of cumin. Which retreats into something softer and well blended. Mature, intimate. I get a very soapy note. I appreciate rather than love this perfume (Mitsouko still has my heart) but I have no hesitation recommending it to anyone interested in a darker fruity chypre. This has got to be THE fragrance of that category, no?

Let me start by saying this is an amazing scent. It is the second Chypre I ever owned, the first being Paloma Picasso. I didn't know what to expect after dealing with PP.

From the first spray it's a spicy, plum and peach scent. A little heady initially, but it softens very quickly into muted cinnamon and clove, sprinkled over ripe plums and peaches. Brief hints at the flowers, but they are so well balanced and blended that I can't really single one out. The amber, leather and vanilla notes sneak up on you softly in the drydown. The wood and spices linger throughout. Musky, yes, but not in an 'unbathed' sort of way. Just the soft scent of a human body type of musk, so it's not overdone.

It's a wonderfully seductive and womanly scent. I don't usually classify times to wear perfumes, but this is a scent that I save for those special, romantic times. A perfume for the seductress, or enchantress. I have to say, I find it appropriately named "Femme", because it does smell like a woman, if you know what I mean. On the one occasion I did wear it out I did notice that it caught a few men's attention, in a good way. Now, I usually save it for the bedroom.

If you have scent eating skin like me, you will want to almost douse yourself with a moisturizer. It seems to turn into a skin scent on me, though it lasts for hours. So, it has a soft sillage, but lots of longevity. You will smell this on your bedding when you wake up in the morning. When I work odd shifts, or go out of town I spray this on my husbands pillow to make him think of me. This is the only perfume that will make him wait up for me when I get home.

I can only imagine what the vintage formula must have been like. If they could restore it to it's former glory it would be a strong contender as a replacement signature scent for me. The men would drop like flies!

Scent: 10/10
Sillage: 7/10
Longevity: 10/10 (8-12 hours)
4.5/5 stars

Wow! Absolutely beautiful clovey, mossy beginning that evolves into a luscious peach after 15 minutes. Elegant and soft and sexy. Very classy and one of my absolute favorites!

Bought it recently. I could only imagine what the original might have smelled like. The current - one dimensional slightly sweet fragrance gone in less than 30 minutes.

My first go around with an eBay purchase for Femme was a huge fail as all I received was a bottle of a fake, water downed perfume. A few months later I built up the courage to try again and found a small bottle of (vintage?) parfum de toilet that struck me as nothing less than amazing from the second it hit my skin. This is a gorgeous, warm and voluptuous scent full of cinnamon, cloves, peach, leather and oakmoss. It's a classic feminine perfume and even though civet isn't listed it's got an animalistic, come-hither smell to it. So sexy!

I received my sample from Mi55anthr0py- thank you!

Femme opens with a pure, powdery cinnamon note. This actually lasts for quite a while, and makes me feel like I'm prepping to bake cinnamon rolls. In the heart I get a lovely blue incense note, supported by bergamot. In the dry down I find a delicate carnation note (not nearly as heavy handed as this note usually is) combined with rosewood, sweet clove, and just a touch of sweetly fragrant, slightly buttery ylang ylang.

Overall, Femme is warm, cozy, powdery in the way that cooking spices are powdered, seductive in thee way that the smell of a kitchen during baking is seductive. You can't help but be drawn towards the source of the smell. That may not sound sexy, but the scent actually is...it is also borderline gourmand.

In the extreme dry down, at the end of the day, the remaining scent has become fresh, with soft, warm oakmoss, what smells like creamy orris, a touch of soapy white musk, and just a hint of vanilla, and a touch of rosemary. It's actually quite pleasant, this change in character, as I find it refreshing, to suddenly smell fresh and clean as I head home.

12 hours after application, the plum note appears, accompanied by a soft leather accord. At this point, the scent is reminiscent of the original Poison by Dior- not the same, but it hits some of the same notes. What impresses me the most about Femme is that it transforms throughout the wearing experience, and it almost feels like it is responding to my mood- Early in the day, is is intriguing, energizing, spicy. In late afternoon, it is clean, fresh, and uplifting. And by late evening, when it's time to play, that's when the jazzy fruit and softly sensuous leather appear. Just wow.

Try this! If your skin reacts poorly to orientals, or you dislike strong spice, this might be a test-before-buying scent, but otherwise it strikes me as a safe blind buy. Just lovely! I am enjoying this in the heat of summer, but I suspect that Femme would also be terrific for the holidays.

Ugh - I think this fragrance may have suffered from a very horrible reformulation, as the sample I am smelling is nothing like the positive reviews have described it to be. Mine smells like some dark fruits/woods but it is overpowered by a musty dank cumin note that strongly resembles body odor. Unfortunately, sharron's review is spot on - the cumin note is boring a hole through the rest of the fragrance and ruining it entirely for me.

I so wish I could smell a vintage version of this, as I have no doubt it would be much better!

Imagine entering a perfumery to treat yourself with a perfume or giving it to someone, if you look into the shelves decorated with all those fabulous bottles, you will see all of them getting excited, waiting on which one among them will be elected; they even whisper to each other words of encouragement and hope, especially if the lady who enters in the store is stylish, smart and not afraid to life.
I can see Femme Rochas the warrior, still in the dusty Allies’ uniform, hidden in the rack behind Angel of Tierri Mugler, an universal favorite. He is used to be so ignored and depreciated that nobody realizes he is there, because many of those women only go out with any other bath of fruit and cotton candy ... or wrapped in the glamour of the celebrities juices. Sadly, he thinks he was made only for Grannies...
Not yet have been done enough justice to this elixir. Many of the reviewers talk about it having cumin in their composition which perhaps it has it, but I do not distinguish components; what I know is that the 3.3 oz. bottle I recently purchased at Target online, smells exquisitely and the result of this spray on my skin is wonderful, not only for me but for the ones around me, lucky me! I very much regret not having discovered Femme Rocha’s much earlier to have paid my respects to this fabulous veteran war hero.

OMG. The king of perfume. My grand mother wore it and this smell is so her that I can't wear it without feeling sad that she's not here anymore. Fruity sexy. Femme.

I have read a lot of people saying that Femme has been wrecked, it isn't was it was, it is a shadow of its former self and so on. Well, back in the 1940s it must have been truly mind-blowing, because it's still pretty amazing. To me, chypres are boardroom, take me seriously scents and the chypre side of Femme is there in full force, but there's a sexiness to Femme that isn't there in Miss Dior or some of the other classic chypres. Incense isn't listed among the ingredients, but the spiciness somehow blends with the woods to recreate a frankinsence-based incense. This was launched in 1943, in the Second World War. I doubt it is possible for us to imagine what the impact must have been back then of this wonderful breath of exoticism and sensuality in a world of rationing, utility and total war.

I had this for some time and I must say it has been beyond expectation. For those seeking another girly fruity floral quit now. This is a powerhouse of seduction! The Rochas Femme has balls! She is a sexy, powerful dominatrix. I guess it is the leather. I so love this marvel. It starts fresh and spicy, the leather note is just fabulous, smooth, persistent, sexy, I get the plum but it serves as a means to smooth the overall effect and give a touch of sweetness to the leather note. The spices are ever present but so well blended so they create a very sophisticated result. From the florals I can detect only the alluring carnality of jasmine, there is also a slight touch of smokiness contributed by the hefty dose of my all time favourite benzoin, another bonus is the carnation, together with cloves they add a spicy, deep, irresistible input which defines and enriches the whole of the scent. Deep, spicy, smooth, leathery, this is lethal for the senses and I personally can't get enough of it. The combination of notes makes this a more unisex fume, but this is all mine, no sharing...

I don't know about the rest of you, but any scent that has "an immortal" in it... I gotta have it! ;D

(best typo ever in the description, I just laughed my ass off!)

Love this kind of scenses ... powerfull, little spicy, alcoholic, sweet ... remaind me some licuor . . . In the 80s strong fragances (several of them came from decades ago) In the Coco, First, La Nuit, Armani for her 1982, Givenchy III ... Unforgettable collection of vintage fragances . . . fabulous, may be a such unisex? as Van Cleef pour homme ... I get the vintage Femme - bottle and box as this site pic - Not 2013 version... Gorgeous scence ... Only for Nights Winter!!!