Demi-Jour

A fabulous floral! Aldehydes sizzle, bringing together the floral notes perfectly! It is heady, sultry and oh-so-feminine. I can definitely smell the violets, heliotrope and rose. The jasmine is faint and I get no LOTV. The oak moss emerges and softens the blend into a gorgeous soft bouquet as the aldehydes fade. There is definitely bergamot in this even though it is not listed as a note. The dry down is just glorious! A soft meltingly delicious floral. I wouldn't call it an oriental, but a gorgeously and expertly blended floral. It would be too much for warmer weather, but on cold days, it is sublime. (I have the Dana version, as it is stated on the back of the box.) Sillage is heavy fading to moderate Longevity, on me is long lasting

I have a vintage splash non Dana bottle and it’s gorgeous. Rosey, sweet, strong floral.

Review of vintage formula, in the round cut glass bottle, silver cap, with "Houbigant, France" on the bottom. I have no idea what the concentration is, as the bottle doesn't specify, and this came without a box. Above, the description states that Demi Jour is an oriental, and the notes imply it is an aldehyde. To my nose it is neither, instead presenting as a robust fruity floral. DJ opens with a strong fruit note, cherry to my nose, although perhaps raspberry. In the heart ylang ylang is forward, supported by the slightest touch of LoV, rose, and jasmine, a very bright and cheerful combination. This is the first bright and cheerful Houbigant I've encountered. Demi Jour is quite unexpected, and just lovely. The dry down brings out a lovely crisp cedar, and a creamy sandalwood (pre IFRA). The cherry note remains throughout, but softens in the dry down. Heliotrope showed up on my skin during the dry down as well, lending a powdery feel to the scent. White musk also appears, keeping Demi Jour clean and fresh smelling. Demi Jour feels like an Easter picnic, with everyone wearing their crisply ironed best, children and dogs rioting on sugar highs, and adults decked out in flowered hats and crinolines relaxedly watching the madness while sipping the first batch of sweet tea to be served that year. Cheerful, lively, playful, relaxed, but still dressy. This is definitely a day scent in composition, but has enough strength for evening. Long lasting, very good sillage, and generally a sweet, fruity floral. Dainty in composition, rather than in volume, this one has some power to it. I didn't detect any violet, oakmoss or cedar here. Periodically someone will ask on the boards for a strong shampoo like perfume recommendation- I think this might qualify as such.

Smells like a heavier version of YSL Paris. In this the violet is stronger and the rose toned down a little. This appears a bit spicy too as if there was some coriander added. Plus the orris root, which smells kind of earthy in that slightly moulded, Iris-sultry way. Just a wee bit, but enough to make a difference. I used to dislike Paris and find it a boring, generic rose-scent, but today I’m able to appreciate it as a rather joyful, little spring-tune. This one smells as if Paris has lived through another summer and now it’s autumn and she becomes moody or even a bit gloomy. I kind of like it, but cannot see myself wearing it.

This confuses me. I have a tiny bottle of Demi-Jour in a box, that I bought on ebay some time ago - they are still for sale and cheap. The box is cheap-looking and the plastic tray inside, even more so. However, it says Houbigant on the box, and also Made in France. It calls itself Parfum and I have no reason to doubt it as this is some potent and long-lasting juice. And it smells - proper. I don't remember this from the 80s so I have no olfactory memory to compare with, but it's a rich and complex floral oriental with a prominent violet note. It has that big over-the-top 80s feel and no mistake. I like it :)

I was going through an old box of fragrances that I had grown tired of years ago and stashed away in the bottom of a closet, when I began to buy new ones on the market. Oh my! I discovered this half-full bottle of Demi-Jour, made in France! I had not used it in 20 + years and it just smelled wonderfully new on me again! I feel as if I have found a lost good friend, especially after reading these reviews and comments about the newer formula. What a classically lovely bottle it is indeed, as well as smelling very lady-like and unique, not strong.

Oh how I wish I had kept my bottle of this...if not just for the bottle which is so pretty it is one you would definitely want on display front and center on a dressing table. The scent is very full of aldehydes, so if you don't like them, stay far away. There is something so glamorous and old fashioned about this scent. Very balmy, lots of sandalwood and a classy silage that won't be forgotten. It reminds me of a mixture of Chanel No.5 and Tojours Moi by Dana. Good stuff.

Very elegant and powerful smell, top notes are lovely and very catchy. Once you smelt it you can not smell anything else for a while the smell lingers in you senses, middle notes are somehow strange to me, little bit stale but that clears away to leave you with very long lasting sweet but very pleasant note. I would recommend it! A whole rainball of aromas.

I have the vintage in the big cut glass bottle with the silver cap. Splash version. This is a big yellow floral that has lots of aldehydes, lots of violet, a little indistinct rose that makes it sharp, some sweet ylang, some musk and some oakmoss to give it a sharpness and tang. I hate oakmoss. I really like this fragrance. Strong and long-lasting.

I'm wearing the newer version today in the round cut glass type bottle and silver cap. It feels old fashioned rose with plenty of aldehydes to me. Some violet but the rose is stronger. I like but it isn't a favourite. It is very floral - like a flower heavy garden with touches of play dough. It's a little too Victorian garden for me.

I just won a bottle of the EDP (I believe - maybe EDT). This is a blind buy, based upon my love for Quelques Fleur and it's flankers, and my respect for Houbigant as a perfume house. It is definitely not the Dana version. It's in it's original box, unused, and in great condition. Given my love for florals, I am hoping I will love or at least like this very much. Will update when I receive it and properly test it. EDIT - Bottle arrived. I immediately tried it on and it was Rose's everywhere. In all fairness, my allergies are preventing me from fully evaluating, plus I am a firm believer in giving my perfumes a few days to settle down after a long journey, particularly in the summer. Two concerns I have. First, I thought this would be a spray, but it's a splash. That's easy enough to solve - just decant some into an atomizer. The other concern is one that I am sure most of us who obtain our fragrances from Ebay must share. This was not a wrapped box, nor did they claim it would be. The box and bottle both say Houbigant and Made in France, but for all I know, this could either be watered down or a counterfeit. I've seen bottles go for far more, but since this was an auction, I may have just lucked out. I can't wait to properly test it to see if this stands up to all the good reviews here. Time will tell!

I obtained a bottle with a quarter of the fragrance left inside. The sticker on the bottom of the bottle says it's the eau de parfum, but the fragrance may have turned a little. Smells a little funky in the opening, very perfumy, then gets pretty powdery in the dry down. Not the rosey fragrance I was expecting. The bottle is beautiful and I am glad I have this in my collection.

An old fashioned scent. Possibly the strongest concoction of rose and violet I have ever smelt, with eyes and nose running, I headed for the bathroom after one spray! The drydown was something akin to mint or menthol (possibly patchouli?) which stayed for hours on my skin and forever in my jacket so I was forced to get it cleaned. An absolute hate! Similar to YSL Paris but worse. This is very powerful stuff! - if you normally wear subtle scents or get headaches/breathing issues with strong perfume, stay away from this one.

Pasted from the Dana page (my review) because if you are searching for the Houbigant version-- beware! Ugh, I'm so disappointed in this. I bought the super cheap 7.75 oz bottle from Fragrancenet, and the situation isn't their fault... They have it advertised as Houbigant EDT, but what I got was DEFINITELY Dana. There is the raised word HOUBIGANT on the bottom of the bottle, but ON TOP of that lettering, is the Dana sticker and although Eau de Toilette is PREPRINTED on the bottle... the Dana sticker says Eau de Cologne. And this is pretty much lightly (LIGHTLY!) scented cologne water. On skin, you get a nice pleasant aroma, but on cloth-- it's pure alcohol/nail polish remover. And so light. Def just a fruity floral water. So, on ebay, I bought ANOTHER 7.75 EDT that the seller shows the bottom of the bottle and it says HOUBIGANT, so I thought I was getting vintage EDT (same bottle) but now I can see-- it's prob this shitty EDC with the Dana sticker REMOVED to show the Houbigant lettering, and without the Dana sticker- you wouldn't know it's EDC and not EDT. And you don't know it's Dana. Crap. Kinda a lotion/shampoo smell. Disappointed to say the least. Can I pretty much assume if it's this big 7.75 oz bottle-- it's Dana? Trust me, this is ruined. I haven't even smelled the vintage/original, but this watery crap is useless. :( Do not buy the 7.75 oz and expect actual Houbigant or EDT/vintage. It's just the Dana with the label peeled off (easy to peel).

I was lucky enough to find an almost full vintage 100 ml EDP bottle on eBay for a ridiculous price (28 euros) so I am now holding this beautiful it glass bottle in my hands. The bottle itself is absolutely gorgeous and elegant, it is very similar to some perfume bottles my Grandmother used to have on her dresser. The juice, which is ambery-brown, has the charms of a precious liqueur, and it smells opulent and sultry. I can detect plenty of roses, violets and ylang-ylang, along with aldehydes, which make it "perfumey" in the eighties' style, and woods in the background. I am surprised that no animalic notes are listed because I would say I can smell some (civet?). Anyway, since the first moment I smelled Demi-Jour I thought that it smelled like something that Marie Antoinette could have proudly worn. This fragrance surely has some similarity to Quelques Fleurs, but the latter is brighter and more joyful; Demi-Jour is posher and a bit more dignified, so I would say that maybe Marie Antoinette as the Dauphine could have worn Quelques Fleurs, then she could have moved to Demi-Jour after she became the Queen of France. I suppose I am letting my imagination run wild LOL The longevity is very good, it stays some hours on my skin, which is very dry and so it usually does not retain perfumes for very long; the silage is heavy so I would apply sparingly. Recommended for the evening and for romantic wear, not su much for office wear.

This is a review for the Dana version. I blind bought it against all warnings, because even if it was horrible, it was over 7oz for only $7, so it didn't feel like a big deal to me. I've never smelled the original. I thought of that as a positive, like it can't taint or make this one look bad in comparison. The bottle is big and roundish, and there's just a hole in the top for application. So I splashed/spilled some on my neck and arms. In the bottle it smells like straight alcohol and a little bit of sweetness. And then on me it's REALLY sweet. I get that turkish delight comparison. It's extremely gourmand. I think it's too sweet for me, and it makes me a little nauseous. The dark orangey peachy brown color of the liquid is also a bit disconcerting. It smells like it was $7. Very linear and just gross. It smells like chemicals. Chemical sweetness? I would not recommend.

I only have the vintage Houbigant version of Demi Jour which I feel is really an unusual perfume. I believe I read somewhere that it was a remake of a Demi Jour which was launched in the early part of the 20th century, but I have no proof of this, so can't be sure. I have tested the Dana version, but I felt the fragrance smelled very cheap, likewise the packaging. In fact, all the Houbigant fragrances bought by Dana have been cheapened and ruined. I'm so glad I bought the Houbigant versions before Dana got their hands on them. I'm wearing vintage Demi Jour today. In common with many fragrances from the 1980s it needs to be worn with restraint and has great lasting power.

Nov. 2013 : I am a big fan of everything vintage and every time I feel like hiding behind a fragrance to make a statement (instead of, say, dyeing my hair loud colours) I reach for my bottle of DemiJour by Houbigant. It's a must for any fan of girly-yet-not so "i know what you're wearing" smells. I tend to go for niche fragrances these days or go back to old classics. This fragrance is a little over the top ans screams gourmand with flowery sweetness (much like Boudoir by Vivienne Westwood, it's distinct and so original) : Am I the only one who smells a little bitterness in Demi Jour ?

I agree with other reviewers. I used to buy Demi-Jour by the flagon in the late 1980s and early 1990s! I loved it and used it as a signature scent. In evenings or winter it was a good base scent to mix with more complicated oriental perfumes popular at that time. Now I use Chanel No. 5 as a signature scent. The Demi-Jour scent is floral with an oriental undertone that is very elegant and pure. Then when I tried to buy more about three years ago, I found that Dana was making it. I bought two bottles of it. And it just didn't smell the same. It came off as 'fake' and chemical. Very sad.

Not for me. Found a bottle of this in a charity shop. It appears to be the original Houbigant and not Dana. The perfume is a dark amber and the lid silver in colour. I sprayed some on myself and it was like being beaten into submission by a mob wielding big fat bouquets of flowers. It is faaaaar too sweet for me. It certainly is long lasting but it's the olfactory equivalent of falling into a vat of sugar. I do have a sweet tooth but not a sweet nose. Fraid this will be getting bumped onto ebay. Perhaps if they'd thrown some more spice into the mix... hmmmmm....

I very, very much hope the newly acquired Houbigant re-issues this gem of a scent. Powdery violets, sparkling aldehydes, rich sandalwood, a beautiful sillage, and great duration combine to make wearing this a luxurious 'old money' experience. This perfume needs a good dry down time - especially the parfum! The champagne aldehyde fizz settles to a sophisticated balmy floral with undertones of No.5. Wear while rushing through Charles de Gaulle airport with your Louis Vuitton luggage... or (in my case) running up the high street trying to catch a bus!

I own the original Houbigant version in the fancy glass bottle with silver cap. The fragrance itself has surely degraded some with age, but still smells good. I wouldn't call it an Oriental floral at all. It's a floral aldehyde, heavy on the rose. Very strong, very perfumey. Too intense for hot weather, but perfect for an early spring day. This was one of the "girly" fragrances my mother bought teenaged me, in a not so subtle attempt to sway me from my beloved age-inappropriate Obsession, Opium, and Poison.

I'm assuming the House of Houbigant no longer makes this. I wore it when it came out and a friend loved it so much she bought it. I am dying to smell their orange blossom perfume but it's in the extrait form on their site for $600! I do not understand how one of the oldest perfume houses, Marie-Antoinette carried vials of its perfume to the guillotine, could create some lovely scents like the old Chantilly and they end up under dime-store companies? What is going on?

This is more of a lovely floral than an oriental. If you wonder why the prices vary so much it is because the true Demi-Jour made by Houbigant must be marked "Made in France". Dana is making it now and using the Houbigant name. Anytime you purchase this from eBay make sure the dealer confirms it was made in France. I have a lovely one ounce gift presentation box of the French Demi-Jour.

I still have the bottle of the 100ml edp I bought in the late 80s and Demi-Jour perfume from the 1990s and I can say that it is far superior to the Dana version. I feel privileged to own it. It is a classical floral which owes a lot to Quelque Fleurs. I hope that the formula can be rescued (as were the Grossmith fragrances) and that a version close to the original can be found.

I still have the bottle of the 100ml edp I bought in the late 80s and Demi-Jour perfume from the 1990s and I can say that it is far superior to the Dana version. I feel privileged to own it. It is a classical floral which owes a lot to Quelque Fleurs. I hope that the formula can be rescued (as were the Grossmith fragrances) and that a version close to the original can be found.

I inherited a bottle from my grandma. Love the bottle, so gorgeous. Less so the scent. It's a very vintage powerful scent, like Eau de Joy and Chanel number 5, which I also inherited, which I love. However, this has an unpleasant note, I think it's the violet note. The perfume may have turned a bit. It's probably about 40 years old.

Houbigant's Demi-Jour is an absolute marvel of a floral aldehydic perfume. Elegant to the bones, it is an exquisitely blended bouquet with a delicious base of oakmoss, something you don't find too readily post-EU rule changes Sadly, Dana bought this one and ruined it, but if you can find the original you will not be disappointed

I am not sure which version of Demi-Jour I own, the Dana one or the Houbigant one, can anyone tell me how to tell the difference? Regardless, I like the one I am using, and if this is the strength of the EDT, how strong is the EDP? On me, it is floral and woody, maybe slightly astringent.

My sample must also be vintage. It is a lovely old-style (NOT old fashioned or 'old lady') floral that is surprisingly sparkling. It has similar notes to the classic orientals but lacks that heavy oriental base. Definitely an elegant evening-out perfume.

Houbigant vintage Demi Jour of the late 80s was my signature scent, sadly I was sorry to hear it was sold to Dana. I would love to purchase a vintage bottle on e-bay but am afraid that it,s notes may be compromised due to age, could that be true?

I liked it at the time (15 years ago) when i was going through a brief Spice Girl phase,but I'm not sure I would like it now- the bottle looks beautiful on top of the vanity table, though-

WAY TOO FLORAL FOR ME! Don't get me wrong Its not horrible but not absolutely gorgous either. Its a better looking bottle than the scent is in my opinion.

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