Something Old, Something New: Rochas Femme

9/28/11 (yeah, it takes me forever to finish a post here).After a busy day at work the work husband offered me a ride home (as usual) and I agreed. Surprise flat tire. I offered to get security to help but he refused and changed it himself. Not without a bit of fussing trying to find the jack and tools. He keeps a lot of junk in the back of his van/truck type car, he does landscaping and other odd jobs when not at the regular job. He moved all the junk around and  two shopping bags full of empty cans spilled all over the back. Since I couldn't really help with changing the tire, I gathered up all the cans, found a bag in my purse to put them all back. When I stuck my head in the back, he was one side-still looking for tools, I was on the other side and I got a whiff of, uh, well, sweat. He worked up a sweat fussing over the tire. Cumin scented sweat. The unscented man isn't unscented anymore. He smelled very much like Rochas Femme, the modern version with the cumin note, a sweet spicy sweat. Nice........

********

Femme by Rochas

Created in 1943 by Edmond Roudnitska whose other creations include Diorissimo, Eau Sauvage and Rochas' Moustache.

• Top Notes
• Peach, Plum, Sandalwood, Rosewood, Lemon, Rose
  
• 
  Middle Notes
• Jasmine, Oakmoss
  
• 
  Base Notes
• Patchouli, Musk, Amber, Civet, Leather

Illustration from Basenotes.com

What I'm going by is an old bottle of parfum de toilette, which seems to be an aerosol spray type so possibly from the 60's or 70's. When you push down on the nozzle it makes a "swoooooish" sound when spraying. *Since I began this post I acquired an old bottle of EDC that smells as deep and rich as the PDT. I haven't given a good wearing yet. {Yeah, it takes me forever to finish a post here!} Both are completely different animals from modern Femme. Original is all about plums, cloves, amber and leather. Warm & spicy. A deep vibe.


 Wearing this Femme it's like having a constant mellow aura of warm spiced plums around you. Not sugar plums, but dry, slightly sweet from their ripeness plums. And peaches, as in peach skin-similar to Mitsouko-a hint of sweet and lots of fuzz. Peaches & plums dipped in musk and moss. Later a nuance of spice, leather and amber surrounds you. Smooth, soft and mellow from start to finish, no bumps in the road with this one. It's like you've got this fabulous warmth around you with Femme. It's an intimate warmth, like the warmth of a body, sensual & rich-but not only the scent of a warm body, it's got the plums, peaches amber and such going on.


Modern formulation Femme {post 1989}: 

Oliver Cresp re-orchestrated Femme in 1989, to give it a modern interpretation, I believe. Why does everything have to be modernized?

Modern Femme. Because of all the hype surrounding the cumin note I hadn't ventured out in public wearing it, until today.  Cumin screams perspiration to me. And Taco Bell. Upon first spritz, the cumin note is really LOUD, once it settles not very noticeable, the spice notes move into cinnamon territory. Not bad, not bad at all.

The modern Femme's got the plums, the peaches, which seem fruitier rather than rich as they are in the vintage. It's got a touch of the amber, musk and leather but by the time they show up they're drowning in spices. Once it's been on for a few hours it's all spice, that's all I get. Nothing animalistic, no warm aura, it's got a spicy aura.


Modern Femme isn't all that bad, compared to some other formulations I've encountered. I wouldn't call it "a shadow of it's former self" it's more of "a different facet of it's former self." Like a flanker. It still smells unique, rich, has depth-it's that damn cumin and spice again-giving it it's depth. 

Between my bottle of PDT ( I have 2 of them, one full, one with a small amount left) and EDC I have enough Femme to last me forever. If by any chance I exhaust my stash & I could wear the new Femme, but there are other perfumes I'd probably reach for first, or instead of. When I think of modern Femme I think of spices, and when I'm in the mood for spice I grab Kenzo Jungle Elephant.

********

Once I packed up all the cans I could grab, I sat down on the ground, lit a cigarette and watched him change the tire. The weather was perfect, we were out of work somewhat early and the sun was going down. I could have sat there forever watching him change that tire.
When it was changed, I did help, I picked up the tools and handed them to him and dropped one on his foot while doing so. He swears that it didn't land on his foot, but I think it did. Whoops.