51 Pour Femme Essence De Parfum

I have both the essence de parfum (in the discovery set purchased directly from Roja) and the eau de parfum (50ml bottle with the all gold cap purchased from Harrods - as this was my favourite scent from the discovery kit). To me, these smell the way you imagine perfume *should* smell. Traditional, expensive, nothing offensive, like the waft you remember as a child when an expensive looking lady walked past, or the scent lingering when you had to hug a rich relative you didn’t know well. Something elusive that you searched for but never could quite find. The true scent of expensive perfume. Very smooth and balanced and well put together. But then I love amber scents! This a well rounded floral amber perfume. Not too young as it’s not too sweet. But doesn’t smell like an old woman scent to me. The initial scent (bergamot with raspberry?) of both is a bit sharp for me, luckily this disappears within 5 mins. It gets better as you wear it and the base notes and sweetness of the vanilla come through. I think the edp is stronger than the essence (surely it should be the other way round?!). The essence fades more quickly on me, turning into a lovely warm, slightly spicy ylang-vanilla patchouli fragrance, that is a bit softer and sweeter than the dry down of the edp. The edp stays a bit more floral for a bit longer; still a lovely smooth amber fragrance, but projecting the white florals, rose and raspberry for a bit longer than the essence on me. The essence is somehow softer, the edp shouts more. Overall a lovely amber perfume that is definitely full bottle worthy, but for longevity I’d buy the edp.

Like all the reviews below, I agree that there's nothing discordant or earth shattering about this scent. It smells exactly like the extrait version. But....it's beautiful. I get the bubble~gummy tuberose, I definitely get the fruits (bergamot is fleeting, though raspberry gives it a bit of tart to play off all the sweet) ylang ylang comes off loud and clear. But the vanilla is what catches my attention the most. To my nose, I don't get the woody vibe except the creaminess of sandalwood. Some days, depending on the humidity, I catch some of the spices. Those are lovely days, if fact, I wish those spices had been amped up. It would have taken this to an exceptionally beautiful level and given it a distinctive edge that it needs to really stand out. Nothing synthetic, nothing harsh, just a beautiful fragrance that that's well blended and smooth. Test first, bc if you have something that smells similar, it may be redundant for you. I have the Pour Femme Parfum version, that version lasts on me, but this EdP version doesn't have the sillage or longevity of that one. The cost of the EdP isn't justifiable, IMO, lasting only 2-3 hours vs 10-12 with Parfum. Sillage is harder for me to gauge, both drew the attention of other perfume lovers but not necessarily of ppl in general. When a scent is getting upwards of $300 + tax, I want more wear out it. I won't be buying this one but I'm glad I tested.

So, let me be very clear about one thing....this is one of the most beautiful scents I have ever smelled. I have the pure perfume and since it is so expensive, I bought the essence to wear daily (which is still a bit pricey). Now for the "let's be real" part. While I love this fragrance so much, I have to be honest. The essence version of 51 lasts all of 30 minutes and then you can't even smell it on your clothes...almost like it totally disappears. I mean, literally disappears. The perfume version, sadly, is only slightly better. The sad part about the poor performance is that while I don't mind paying the big price tag for a fragrance I love, I cannot justify over 800 bucks for the perfume version that takes triple the amount of sprays to get it to last even 4 hours. I wish this review could be something different and that I could call this my signature scent. Unfortunately, I have to call this a rip off. I also have to say that the BS explanation Roja Dove gives about skin scents, blah blah blah is nothing more than an excuse for poor performance. This is unacceptable at these price points (even for those of us who are willing to drop tons of money on perfume). I WILL NOT be buying this again due to the aforementioned. And this is the only negative review I have ever given on a fragrance....as I felt I had to be honest. Smell 10/10, performance 0/10. Do better Roja!

What an incredible blend! I recently had the chance to try all the essence line as well as some other roja’s from their exclusive lines and from the moment I sprayed 51 I new I had to have it. It is simply amazing. Such a simple yet beautiful fragrance. It has a little bit of everything, it’s feminine, sweet, powdery, floral, woody, fruity (why not?) but not a note really stands out because everything is so well blended. However performance is very unfortunate, it becomes a skin scent from the first spray with 2 to 3 hours lasting power on the skin. I read that all Rojas need some shelve time (about 3 months) until they deepen and start to project better. I will have to wait and see. I would still purchase it again and again but maybe the extrait version.

Oh yeah!!! This is a B E A U T Y 💜 I am usually not a fan of tuberose or gardenia or tropical flowers but this is so pure and delightful! It is softly floral and very slightly sweet and powdery but not at all excessively. Just lovely tropical flowers and even though it contains all these notes, it does not smell heavy or too much. I love it!! 51 is definitely one of my favorite from that Roja line! Definitely a joy to wear during the warmer months but I am enjoying it now at the end of October 🍂🍁🧡 Yes, the longevity is lacking a bit. On my skin, it lasts 3 to 4 hours but this is much better than some other perfumes out there so no complaints from me ; ) Definitely recommend getting a sample because it may not be everyone’s cup of tea ⭐️

The raspberry is detectable for a long time, though of course it's mostly ylang-centered. It has juicy/tart accords as well as creamy accords. Rather sweet. It's very elegant and sophisticated. Price point is high, but not entirely unjustified - it is distinctly high quality. Not a unique one, but then on the other hand, you can't really go wrong (unless you wear it to the pub - that's not what this is for). It's better for a formal setting, and one thing that has to be said is that it is a grown-up perfume. Mature may be a strong word - it won't outright "age" you (unless you're under 25 like me - I definitely feel a bit too young to wear it), but just something to look out for.

I absolutely adore this fragrance. I was talking with my sister about what perfume I would wear to my hypothetical wedding to an as yet undiscovered man, and I sprayed a bunch of frags all over my arms. I sprayed everything from PDM Delina, MFK Amyris Femme, and Creed Love in White to Lancome Idole and Guerlain Mon Guerlain. We thought it was going to be a hard decision until we sprayed this. My sister said, "This is just [Pachida] as a bride. I can see the venue. This is it. End of story."

This is one of those fragrances that make my eyes roll back when I smell it, absolutely love it! ❤ A classy, very feminin, high quality ingridients, velvet smooth blend of a perfume. I get about 6 hours, with an intimit scent bubble(about 10 sprays). But I can get wiffs of it during that time, and it makes me feel great. Yes, the pricetag is BIG for the preformance of this one. BUT if tou want to treat yourself to pure luxury, This is the one!

Its pretty much same as the original 51 pour femme but lighter. I have the original and prefer the original. It just has more depth to it. If you have one you dont need the other. Overall of course very beautiful, just unfortunately again Essence has poor performance. I also think that essence is even more simialr to Ylang in Gold by M.Micallef.

This perfume is a masterpiece, some say it’s too light but it’s an essence so it’s expected. In my opinion despite that it still performs great and the “lightness” actually suits the overall vibe of the product. I’ve sprayed this on clothes and it’s remained for days.

This is very very similar to the Parfum version but lasts even less. The opening is citrusy but the drydown is basically 51 Parfum with less fullness. I decided to purchase the essence version after buying the Parfum version so I can layer them together. 10/10 scent

Perfection in a bottle. This is amazing!! The smoothest blend ever, so it’s impossible to make out the individual notes. Very sensual scent, with great projection and lasting power... in my head I picture a divine feminine goddess

The opening is very beautiful, soft, feminine! However after 10 minutes it's almost gone. So quiet that you can only smell it if you put your nose to the wrist :( Not a great performance for such an expensive scent...

This is really nice! Elegant, rich and super well-blended. It smells expensive and beautiful. I feel really good wearing this.

Perfect! Love it and the lasting power is better than the parfum version. Very happy with this launch.

Gorgeous fragrance with abysmal performance. Will still keep though as scent is really lovely.

Seeing all this extensive note list I imagined the perfume a bit more complex smelling, it does not smell non-complex per se, but it's just much easier going than I imagined. This is a softly sweetened woody white floral. It smells quite princess-like. The sweetness mostly comes from ylang-ylang. I get the gardenias, some raspberry, some non-descript other white florals, some sandalwood, a bit of violet. These seem to be the main accents. Even though this is pretty, this is very faint. It is just too expensive for what it is. I would say that Micallef's Ylang Ylang in Gold is somewhat similar and has a better longevity. -

Gorgeous smelling - I get vanilla, orris, fuzzy coziness, and florals before checking the notes. There's a summertime flower in there, obviously a combination of all the white and yellow flowers listed. So it doesn't go full winter-time cozy, but it's more like creamy florals with a little lifting fruit (bergamot and raspberry, but it could've been apple if I guessed), and then the grounding notes of orris and cashmere. Smells like a rich mother, in a good way. The drydown reminds me of Burberry Body.

I was expecting this to be a sharp white floral but it's actually very warm and floraly. It's nice and smells quality but it's unfortunately it feels a little cloying in hot weather. I might like it better in the fall/winter but for now it's just okay. It also has weak projection, I have to hold my arm so close to my nose to smell it at all. I do understand the "smells mature" comments, it's not powdery/vintage but has a mature middle-aged woman vibe to it.

A seamless blending of fruits and flowers. I can hardly tell where the fruit ends and the flowers begin. The fruit has a tropical scent to me, not really berries or specifically raspberry. Out of all the Rojas I’ve smelled, this one is the most mainstream, the closest to a celebrity fragrance. It’s a blurry fruity-floral with soft vanilla, but the quality of the ingredients stands out. It’s not cloying and doesn’t cause migraines, which I’m very prone to getting from the harsh chemicals that typically make up these kinds of scents. It’s a feminine and playful fragrance. Sillage is not huge, but that is fine with me, as I prefer a softer, more mysterious aura, and Roja’s perfumes never disappoint in that regard. I think that if you like those sweeter celebrity perfumes with the fruitiness and vanilla, but you want something more elegant and greatly refined, 51 Essence will do the job. And I’m not insulting this by comparing with celeb fragrances because lots of people like them. But this is probably the only Roja that also doesn’t feel vintage or remind me of any classic Guerlain.