Rochas Femme (original)
Rochas (1944)

Femme by Rochas (1944) is very clearly an early work of Edmond Roudnitska; it has all the hallmarks of his particular idiosyncrasies, with fleshy fruits, lucid florals, crisp and somewhat transparent woody materials, but it does not have his later mastery of extreme futuristic use of modern aromachemistry. The original 1944 Femme is still very much a perfume of its time, but with an eye to the future, using what was more-conventional for the time in very innovative ways; in later years towards Roudnitska's retirement, he would recompose the perfume himself alongside a for a 1989 relaunch, using materials that just weren't available in 1944 to bring the fruit notes he was looking to convey in the original further into the fore. Of course, the average person probably noticed little unless they were lifelong users of the perfume, but collectors and enthusiasts screamed into the void as they often do with any change, even when they come from the perfumer himself.

The opening of Femme is full and round, almost like an Ernest Daltroff composition for classic-era Caron, with big peach and plum notes, osmanthus imitating apricot, with ylang-ylang, full indolic jasmine, and a carnation continuing that roundness into the heart. Femme feels like a compromise between a wife's perfume and a perfume found in the boudoir of a night walker, but the 1940's was tumultuous to the say the least, and many women were taking on hitherto traditionally "masculine" roles, socially earning them more risque or downright dominant perfumes in the eyes of designers who catered to them. The base of Femme is most conventional to the 1940's, with a big plush sandalwood, oakmoss, patchouli, vanilla, benzoin, civet, and mousse de saxe. This early in Roudnitska's career, he likely wasn't adverse to using conventional construction, including pre-made base materials, as he hadn't yet founded his own lab.

Performance is a warm glow of scent for hours, and Femme would be a very popular perfume for Rochas, so popular that they maintain a version of it even today; although ever since 2013, Olivier Cresp has been responsible for keeping Femme in whatever shape it is currently in; I haven't smelled anything other than Roudnitska-era examples, so I can't speak on the quality of current juice. Femme definitely had inspiration from Guerlain Mitsouko (1919), and would also be iterated upon both with the unreleased "Plum" Roudnitska would ultimately give to his wife - later released posthumously by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle as Le Parfum de Thérèse in 2000 - and Diorella by Christian Dior (1972), even if by then the peach had been joined by an innovative melon note while the plum took a hike. Femme is good, and for guys into dipping their toes into classic feminines, this one may be a harder wear than some others, but worth sniffing for the experience. Thumbs up

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 into 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 natural 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 parfum, 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 acquired 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

How to describe Femme? It is "fashionably skanky" The civet and cumin give an unwashed body smell as a foundation. Someone else mentioned "Tang drink mix powder" and it's true! There is a powdery/dusky artificial orange Tang smell. I usually despise anything 'peach' but it is subtle and unobtrusive. There is a floral jasmine note that balances the body odor fragrance. It is fashionable, formal, and daring.

A friend sent me a sample of the vintage PDT (1980s?) and all I can say is - wow. Sometimes I find vintage perfume to be a bit over-hyped, to be honest. I prefer not to live with the idea that the best in perfumery is behind us (or available at an extortionate price on eBay), and often try to get along with modern versions of the scent instead. But this is one of those instances when you put on a vintage and immediately begin to mourn its brutal reformulation. I tried the new version once in a shop and found it a bitter, woody fruit chypre, overloaded with cumin and obviously trying to come across as the less celebral sister of Mitsouko.

The vintage juice, on the other hand, is a deep, brilliant orange in color, almost announcing its radioactive power. It is superb. A rich, luridly-hued pile of peaches and peach skin, dusted in warming spice and set against a backdrop of lacquered woods and damp moss. There is a fair amount of cumin or civet in this, enough to set my hair ends at vibrate alert anyway, and certainly enough to imbue the perfume with a curvaceous sensuality. Yes, there is a kinship to the great Mitsouko, as all fruity/woody chypres must have, but Femme is slightly looser and sexier - and dare I say, perhaps even a bit easier to wear. Edited to add: the heavy cumin/civet, fruit, and moss actually remind me a lot of the first half of Jubilation 25, when it still behaves as a bitter, fruity chypre rather than its creamy oriental second act. But Femme is chypre all the way through.

The first of the so called (and badly named) "dirty" scents for women.

This simply means scents that imitate and enhance the natural body aromas from madame's nethermost regions.

It is strong and heavy, combining the cinnamon, cumin and coriander in an unforgettable way, bringing a new scent category into being.

This is not to be worn for casual flirting. The woman wearing this means business and is hoping for serious love-making. Definitely not an office scent unless the woman is a heartless tease. The male equivalent of this would be to my nose Ernesto Sebastiano's name scent.

Top notes: Peach, Plum, Bergamot, Lemon, Rosewood, Apricot, Cinnamon
Heart notes: Ylang, Jasmine, Rose de Mai, Clove, Orris, Coriander, Immortelle
Base notes: Musk, Amber, Oakmoss, Benzoin, Patchouli, Leather, Sandalwood, Civet, Sandalwood, Cumin.

Turin called it a "woody floral" - ??? and gave it three stars. Barbara Herman called it a "fruity chypre."

It was Mae West's signature scent. Need one say more. One of the greats.

Just received a vintage bottle of this masterpiece. I cannot really detect the different notes in the remaining drops at the bottom of the bottle, but I perceive a smell of old good well balanced scents. The kind of scents they used to create to give women a sense of luxury and elegance. The kind of scents are so difficult to buy today. Even the cardboard box speaks of elegance and luxury, with its lace design. Why oh why is it so rare such a meticolous care in details today?