By Woman (1997)
by Dolce & Gabbana

As I was feeling a little nostalgic recently, I decided to hunt down this perfume and was rather disappointed to discover it now appears to be discontinued. I was certainly only able to source it from internet auction sites and the like. The reason for the nostalgia is that this perfume was the first 'real' perfume I owned, at the age of 18 when it first came out, and was bought for me by my first 'real' boyfriend. I remember finding the smell intriguing, sexy and above all, warm and inviting. I also loved the funky packaging, which seemed to symbolise a playful, teasing sexuality. This is certainly a young scent and now I'm entering my 30s, my tastes are quite different although I do still have a soft spot for this and wish they would keep it on the shelves a little longer. My boyfriend at the time was as besotted with this smell as he was me as far as I could tell and in fact bought the men's version to match! Well, we were very young! The men's version was less exciting I must say, quite average and indistinguishable from the crowd of smell-alike aftershaves around in the 90s (although the packaging certainly made it stand out). In conclusion, a great perfume and I would advise anyone to give it a whiff if they get chance.

18th November, 2009.

Smokin' black rubber.. An incredibly sultry powerful perfume quite capable of staying 10 hours but becoming simmeringly sexier and sweetly smokier. Strongly animalistic in a leopard-tiger-lioness way. I don't wear it very often,like Shalimar, but when I do I am infused with its power and optimism. .

2nd August, 2008.

Very sexy in the great European tradition. This smells like a grown up, self-assured woman who knows what she wants - and goes after it. If Lovely epitomizes Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie in Sex and the City, then By would be worn by Samantha.

First impression is relatively bright and perky, but it doesn't take long for the inner growl to emerge. After it's had a chance to settle, it smells like a coffee/bourbon/sandalwood second skin, with the florals making a subtle appearance now and then. The vanilla is there, but very restrained, just giving the composition a round smoothness. Very chic, no trace of "old lady" here. I'm loving it, and going to purchase a big bottle soon.

7th July, 2008.

This is one of my favorite perfumes that confounds the laws of nature and "the art of a scent of a woman", as on me it is absolutely delectable. I
find men sniffing around me and women frowning when they find out this gourmand, on me, is very sweet, yet sexy is BY. And I don't know how, as this is a very sultry perfume. Definitely Not for the shy-girl.

19th October, 2007.

I strongly disagree with Sanzio, there is absolutely nothing even remotely fecal in this scent. Why anyone would want to wear a 'fecal' scent confounds me, and we almost didnt buy this based on his review.

A very seductive, sexy gourmand/oriental mix. I love this on my g/f, it is second only to Hypnotic Poison. Sexy and different enough to make an excellent evening scent, yet if discreetly applied a woman could easily get away with this for office wear. The flowery oriental topnotes dry down wonderfully to the vanilla and coffee basenotes.
I own the male version myself and see very little similarity between the two - so dont buy based on your experience with the other, you may love one and hate the other.

8th August, 2006.

I received a small bottle from a generous swapper. My HG Scent is D&G for Women (red cap). I think a bit of my disappointment was that I was hoping for a similar love affair with this perfume. Upon first applying I found this very unpleasant. After drydown it REALLY improved. It turned into a very sexy yet contemporary scent. It is VERY UNIQUE- to me a little too eccentric. If you are looking for an unusual fragrance- I would recommend this. It's a little too new wave & unusual for my tastes. I don't think I would repurchase. I picture this scent on someone in a rave club where someone is in a cage suspended in mid air dancing half nude.

13rd February, 2006.