Féminité du Bois by Shiseido (1992)

I have heard people sing the praises of Christopher Sheldrake's original Féminité du Bois. Jammy and plummy, with a cedar note that doesn't signify hamster cage,  a dose of Iso E Super that imparts a lustre to the notes like the iridescent veneer inside an oyster shell, and a cumin note that one either likes or recoils from. 

Top notes: Peach, bergamot, rosewood, tarragon, cardamom

Heart notes: Carnation, mace, cinnamon, orris, rose, jasmine, ylang-ylang

Base notes: Cedarwood, sandalwood, patchouli, musk, amber, civet, vanilla

What no one says about Féminité du Bois (or Femme, another plummy beauty with a significant cumin note) is that it is an intensely sexual perfume. It smells, quite frankly, like a poetic perfume rendition of a woman's nether regions.

When I think of a visual for FdB, I think of Belgian Surrealist Paul Delvaux. He typically portrayed Woman (with a capital "w")  either in the woods (sometimes even as part tree) as if to say that she, and her sexuality, are dark, unknowable, mysterious. (A familiar enough trope in art and literature, why not in perfume?) Similarly, FdB is Femininity in the Key of Woods. Cumin is often referred to as a "body odor" note disparagingly by those who hate it, and as a compliment by those who love it, as I do, when properly balanced in a perfume. Like civet, musk, or castoreum, those legendary stink notes that make a perfume "animalic," the cumin note (which I don't see in any official notes for FdB but which is unmistakeable), puts this perfume into a "human animalic" category. (This doesn't exist, but I think it should. Rumeur, with its dirty-hair Costus note, should be there, too, as Octavian has suggested on 1000Fragrances.)

In FdB, the cumin note, mixed with the woodsy flowers and fruit, is an unmistakably feminine sexual scent. It is not as brutally representational as Etat Libre D'Orange's Secretions Magnifique is with its blood/adrenaline/spunk accord, but then again, it's operating within pretty traditional gender parameters. (FdB couldn't date SM, in other words; I doubt he'd open the car door for her.)

Sensual and intense, FdB comes on strong. But after the intial blast of cumin you can smell a whiff of medicinal menthol (the clove note?) mixed with cedar, cardamom, cinnamon, honey, beeswax and plum. There's a hint of sexuality, after which time it all dies down or dries down into something quite soft, if still a bit spicy. 

The 4 ml. mini parfum I have looks like a tiny, phallic mushroom shoot, with a naturalistic little curve that hints at a woman's body but looks more like something organic growing out of the ground. (Sheldrake, Lutens and their designers had some gender fun with this one!) 

This perfume has definitely grown on me, and what struck me at first as shockingly cumin-y continues to dry down in my mind as velvety, plummy, woody, mysterious and dreamy. Wow.

Comments

[Chi Nguyen]

Ah, I wish I could try the original version!
This new version that I own still smells really nice, but it's sweeter in the dry down and it's very sheer and soft, maybe way too soft compared to the top notes, which totally makes the fragrance less mysterious as I imagine it should be.
Overall it's still one of my favorite fragrances :)

[Linda]

The new version by Serge Lutens cannot be compared to the original one! I´ve been told, that the new EDP is made with natural oils, but it´s only a shadow of what it used to be so called synthetic! It doesn´t last that much and has not that rich smell. When i spray an old formula by shiseido i go crazy and can´t stop sniffing my wrists. it asts and lasts. Now the new formula by Lutens is quickly dissapearing. I am very dissapointed and try to find a bottle of original one on ebay, but there are only a couple of them left. Don´t know what i will do when they all will be sold out :((

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Linda,

I have the vintage FdB (this review is based on it) and I've smelled the new Serge Lutens FdB. The new one is nice, but you're right, it's not as dark, rich and dirty as the old one. The ingredients are high quality (I mean, it's SL) but it just didn't smell as "rich," as you describe it. Vintage FdB is still pretty readily available on eBay, so stock up!

[Donna]

I own the parfum version, intense. The newer version is watery and ultra sweet compared to the original. I also own the body cream and it is very similar to the parfum. Its still around if you search Shiseido counters, usually hidden on a back shelf.

[Neva]

If my memory serves me right, the vintage version was less sweet. In the new version, I smell too much cinnamon. I owned a few bottles back then in the 90-ies but I don't feel tempted to buy the new version, unfortunately.

[Alicia]

The new version of SL, is the way "lutenesque" with a background of mellow fruity syrup .. Shame! I tried vintage Dior "Dolce Vita" and is less sweet and even better, something incredible feminite du bois was my signature scent and dolce vita seemed tremendously sweet. Now if I take a little vintage Dolce Vita cedar, cinnamon, fruits remind me much more the original FDB. To replace that I prefer vintage beauty or DV, lots, or fresher Bois de Violette, at least do not have that as sweetlutenes syrup.