Feminite du Bois by Shiseido

I recently scored a mini of this along with Basara on evilbay. I really pulled the trigger for the Basara/Basala since it's one of my favorites. The reviews on FdB however had my interest piqued.

Let's just say that there's no mistaking this for anything but a Lutens. I find the thumbprint unmistakably Serge. In spite of my history with Lutens per se  this is a good fragrance. A few of the notes are predominant throughout the life of the scent, yet there is a multitude of other players.

This release is from 1992 ( I believe) and today this would be marketed as "shared" and probably don a different name. Chene seems to be from the same genre as this except it is woodier than FdB. I find this Shiseido very wearable and wonder what it would smell like layered with Chene. No matter, Feminite du Bois spotlights hints of peach, plum, cinnamon and clove overlaid on a subtle bed of cedar. Only in the extended drydown do I take note of soft spoken vanilla and a hint of muskiness.

The volume is lower than current Lutens, but FdB doesn't suffer from this. No, it's actually a positive. The color of the bottle and box is also very appropriate, because if I had to choose a color to describe this fragrance, it would be purple. This is still substantial and full smelling, just at a polite volume.

Thumbs up from Aromi for an extremely well done fragrance by my fragrance nemesis....The Serge.