Feminite du Bois

Comparison of the original Shiseido Feminite du Bois, a vintage Serge Lutens release from the early 2000s Palais Royal era, and the new Serge Lutens formulation Am I setting myself up for failure? I asked myself this question when I conclusively decided that it was time I compared my vintage Shiseido Feminite du Bois, vintage Lutens release from the early 2000s, a new batch from Lutens I recently purchased about two years ago, and put my thoughts on the three to paper. I thought this was going to be a missive that blubbered on for pages and was going to be of no use to anyone, including myself. However, as I sit here and study these three snapshots in time of one of the most successful releases in the last fifty years, I believe I can keep this pretty succinct and clear... hopefully. The Palais Royal and the Shiseido versions open very nearly identically, except that the Shiseido does so with a bit more brute force and urgency. Bergamot, ginger, herbs and spices, and woods give such a stiff, spicy, tight, and impenetrable presentation that it nearly makes my eyes water. It’s one of those openings that makes me say “holy hell, this is a lot.” In the RP and Shiseido versions it’s off-putting, honestly, like some freshly cut wood and hot, chemically, off-gassing lacquer are smacking you in the face. In the new SL formulation, this opening is still there but it’s been neutered to a considerable degree. The volume of this opening dialed back from a shriek to conversational levels, and the dried green herbs and cinnamon and cardamom spices given more room to play. The very pleasant culinary qualities of the herbs and spices give the opening in the new SL a softer and more warming disposition compared to roaring flame of the RP and Shiseido. Then the Shiseido steps far out on its own, a good distance away from the RP and new Lutens, by giving us a huge dose of civet. The Shiseido is classically fecal, and doesn’t hold back - very nearly Jicky-esque in the intensity of the civet note. The RP has a good dose of it as well, but it’s less than half the size of the Shiseido. The new Lutens goes the full prim-and-proper-and-safe route by dialing back the civet to almost imperceptible levels, and, if speaking relative to the Shiseido, virtually non-existent. The new Lutens offers up more floral and fruity spiced amber instead. The new Lutens desperately wants to be pretty, and it is. By keeping the animalics and pushy amber notes in the background, the softer and prettier characters have more distinct voices. The Shiseido, on the other hand, gives all of its energy and time to the animalics and ambers to the point where the florals, fruits, and spices have been quietened, buried under a pile of sh*t. It’s only after a few hours when the civet finally calms down and falls away do those florals, spices, and woods come through a bit more clearly. The RP version lives halfway between the Shiseido and the new Lutens. As mentioned, the civet note has been dialed back significantly, but the warm and sticky amber notes are thicker and louder than the new formulation. The fruit and florals of the heart in RP are, therefore and again, halfway between the Shiseido and the new SL: quieter than they are in the new, but louder than in the Shiseido. The final dry down and skin scents continue to showcase the differences of the three. The Shiseido has considerable longevity, still going strong while the new SL fades to a whisper, and the RP again being halfway between the two. In the Shiseido and the RP this difference is due to the heavier emphasis on the more durable amber materials - the woods, the benzoin, the civet, etc. In the end, all three are a sandalwood amber. The new emphasizes more musks and vanilla as costars to the sandalwood, the RP is deeper and smoother with emphasis on the benzoin and a loamy patchouli, and the Shiseido gives us a baritone growl with deeply colored and coarse amber notes and rich leathery animalics. Feminite du Bois has definitely changed a lot over its 33 year life, and at the risk of causing a ruckus I do think that FdB has changed for the better from a commercial sense. The Shiseido release wouldn’t work today little alone be accepted; the RP nicely fit with its time, but probably would have been a little lackluster in 1992, aligning with the changing trends at the start of this century; the new SL satisfies today’s noses by being a lot less pushy, more demur, and nuanced. Do I have a favorite? I can’t say that I do, but the RP is usually the first to come to mind. This is probably because it was the first FdB I smelled, and so it has taken up more space and permanency in my scent memory. In all of its forms, Feminite du Bois is a fantastic piece of work. A modern legend.

“I may be numberless, I may be innocent I may know many things, I may be ignorant Or I could ride with kings and conquer many lands Or win this world at cards and let it slip my hands I could be cannon food, destroyed a thousand times Reborn as fortune's child to judge another's crimes Or wear this pilgrim's cloak, or be a common thief I've kept this single faith, I have but one belief I still love you I still want you A thousand times the mysteries unfold themselves Like galaxies in my head On and on the mysteries unwind themselves Eternities still unsaid 'Til you love me” A Thousand Years by Sting One of the saddest and most poignant tales in Greek mythology, in my opinion, is that of Orion and Artemis. Artemis was proud goddess, a fierce huntress, and known to be cold...but she had feminine wiles that were just as memorable. She was beautiful, elegant, nurturing, and mysterious. Who wouldn’t want to touch her glowing face, embraced by that lovely head of shining, dark brown hair? This was a notion she perhaps never understood, and maybe the reason she may have killed the one man who loved her for all idiosyncrasies...her soulmate, Orion. Handsome, strong, tall and beastly Orion. Who wanted to hunt every animal on the Earth to satisfy his wild spirit, or perhaps to impress a certain wild woman. The lovable giant who had so much love to give and needed much in return, and never got. Through perseverance, he finally got his wish, and became Artemis’ favorite... So close they became that one day, Artemis’ brother Apollo (who was also unlucky in love) decided to give his sister a challenge. He knew very well of his sister’s prideful will, how she never backs down from a fight. He told her to shoot a black figure that stood in the ocean. Artemis did not know her beloved Orion could walk on water (a gift given by his father Poseidon), thus did not think twice to shoot her fatal arrows. That night, powerful waves rolled Orion’s lifeless body onto shore, and Artemis, realizing the error of her ways, placed his body among the heavens. For all the universe to see. He appears as a shining giant, with a Lion’s hide, his bow and arrows, and his faithful dog Sirius by his side. Chasing the Pleiades right above him, to keep him entertained. The moon that became his religion, lighting his way....is so far away, yet so close. A moon and a star never touch. This story has always inspired a pang in my heart, and unbelievably, so has this perfume. A beautiful masterpiece. The lady of the woods...mysterious, romantic, smoky. Who could resist her? Perhaps the most shallow of men...and even they fall for this. This makes me dream of what it would be like if Artemis and Orion ever made love. Strange but...wonderful. Violent, warm, and after, soothing, peaceful. They would spend their passion on grass kissed by violets, underneath a sapping plum tree. A campfire brings warmth. At the end, an air of recognition passing between them, as if they are wondering, how could so much love pass between two people, in such a fleeting amount of time. Something only they would know, hidden in that forest. Like the song (A Thousand Years) and the tale, not everything is supposed to be cheerful and light. Life would be too boring if it were. It's about love lost, the unanswered questions, the denial, still wanting and the uncertainty of life. It is the story of both genders, as I think this would fit both. The most beautiful love song I know, for one of the most beautiful fragrances ever made.

Some years ago I had the good fortune to acquire a boxed bottle of Shiseido « Fémininité du Bois » EDP and rediscovered it tonight. The presentation is stylish and classy, with its distinctive flacon designed by Serge Lutens. The sprayer is superb and responsive to even the slightest pressure, which is critically important with so potent an elixir as FdB. « Fémininité du Bois » (Femininity of Wood) alludes to its eponymous femininity with its rose pink packaging and iconic, curvy, striated brown-pink-brown bottle whose unusual form captures the imagination and prompts curiosity about what such a bottle contains. FdB creates an immediate impression of luxury - it smells like luxury - like a potion brewed from exotic and expensive flowers, spices and woods, which, as FdB evolves, present as dreamy idealised suggestions. The plum is lush, velvet, purple and has remarkable tenacity. With the spices and woods, on a resinous bed of styrax and vanilla, FdB is an ode to glamour, a sensory pleasure to wearer and entourage alike. In my mind’s eye I can see how popular this would’ve been and I imagine glamorous Tokyo ladies wearing this in Ginza or Akasaka, although I’m not sure how it would’ve performed in the heat of Tokyo’s stifling Summer. In any case FdB stands out as a rare and uncommon beauty. Performance is quite amazing (can’t think of any men’s fragrances that come close), longevity is easily twelve hours plus in winter, during which time it projects remarkably well, enveloping its wearer in an aura scented with a dry down that only begins to sit close to the skin after about the ninth hour. At one point I thought I detected an animalic note that reminded me of deer musk. A thought that just came to mind is that, given the date FdB was created, it might possibly contain some of the since-banned synthetic carcinogenic musks like musk xylene or nitro musk and that thought alarms me. Hopefully I’m wrong. The name « Fémininité du Bois » has always fascinated me: the legend goes that it was a challenge to traditional notions of masculine and feminine where women’s fragrance are stereotypically floral and men’s are stereotypically woods, and the name itself is at once an assertion, a statement, and a response to a tacit, unasked question - a challenge to the “pink for girls and blue for boys” mentality by staking a claim on woody fragrances in the name of womanhood. Elegant and enigmatic, sensual and luxurious, I can see why it’s a legend.

Explorations in the attic of my past, I trace my fingers across the buckled, bowed surface of a wooden artifact, with afternoon sunlight shining through a jungle of spider plants in the windows that face that backyard. Cedar, along with pine, are my earliest scent memories. There is a sober sweetness to a red cedar, a small face spelunking through the deepest hope chest in the world, pretending to be a vampire returning to his coffin. Feminite du Bois has a profound impact on my olfactory receptors. "Where have I smelled this before?" turns into a near dissertation each time I wear it. A transportive experience can only be applied with only a few dozen fragrances out of several that I've smelled, and this one is included. We know how highly regarded it is among perfumers and perfume critics for its innovation and avant-garde approach; it opened the world of woods to fragrance in an unprecedented manner, it was a benchmark for what would become niche perfumery (as we would see in further Serge Lutens releases throughout the 90s). It also blurred the lines between what constitutes gender in fragrance, particularly for the western world. "Femininity of the Wood," may scare some men, but this exploration has proven to be genderless, especially thirty years after its release, where perceptions of gender have been successfully challenged in modern, even mainstream fragrances. Those who love Hermes Bel Ami will find something kindred to it with Feminite du Bois as well. This also features one of my favorite plush, velvety plum accords in a fragrance, as it balances the sweet with the spicier qualities, underlined with a dusky cumin which mellows after its opening. The dry down has a stage that brings to mind violet scented beeswax candles, burning leaves, and smoke from a distant fire. When I wear this, I want to relish autumn days minute by minute, and retreat from the noise and into the forest. End scene with a slow fade.

Finally got a hold of some of this! And I'm relieved that it does smell very similar to my lovely Dolce Vita! I'm relieved because I was afraid I would fall in love with this and start selling off the furniture & the dogs to acquire bottles of it! I did spring for a big bottle of the Eau Timide, and I hope that it will suffice, scent wise. But yes, the reviews that compare this to Dolce Vita are spot on to my nose. D.V. being a bit more ginger (spicier/pepperier) up top, and yes, "sunnier"... brighter... (though the dry down of D.V., while not as richly prominent as FdB in the opening & heart, does result in a skin scented balmy/sweet/powder that, actually, has greater longevity than FdB. So, I'm happy to stay w/ D.V. just on sheer cost comparison & longevity of wear). These are not identical twins, but boy they sure seem like they came from the same womb. FdB has the feminine sensual sexual smell to it as well which I thought would be off putting, but I think if I was trying to ensnare a man, he'd be helpless around this stuff! VERY sexy! rarrr... Can't believe they'd stop making something this wonderful... this is a beautiful elixir. The cedar makes it magical, to me. I love a good woodsy cedar and plum and this is just divine love in a bottle. Sultry, balmy, plummy, mentholated at times, ginger as well (and reminds me of S.L. 5 O'Clock Ginger in surprising wafty moments)... shape-shifting, yet not, and I am now curious about the S.L. brand version of this. All in all, I'm glad I was able to experience this. I have two .25ml tiny little adorable bottles that I will keep for a long time I think and just use the Eau Timide. Those tiny miniatures will put my grand-kids through college at this rate! Even with my D.V. comparisons, I think I'll jump on the bandwagon here: >>>Feminite du Bois Shiseido perfume is liquid vintage gold!<<< (but thank GOD for Dior Dolce Vita... and yes, the NEW stuff!!!)