Femme de Dandy (2001)
by D'Orsay

I can see a relationship between this and Le Dandy – they both have that liquor (rum and / or brandy) note in the opening. Femme de Dandy, however, has a more present sweetness supporting the liquor note and is fuller and rounder in its delivery: This is more opulent and not as resinous. It doesn’t go nearly as far as in its exoticism as Frapin 1270, but it definitely belongs in that genre. As in Le Dandy, I don’t notice much progression in Femme de… at least not very much difference between the top and the heart accords. There are spices in the fragrance, but they seem to perform more in the background than up front; I’m not sure I approve because I do like “very spicy,” but the accords here are balanced and refined and allow the rum note to lead. Two more notes of note are the carrot and the tobacco. I’ve loved the use of carrot in several fragrances – it provides a unique, comfortable sweetness that is richer and broader spectrum than many other sweetening agents, and it works as well here as in those other fragrances. The drydown gets more traditional with its long lasting musk / vanilla accord – simple but more effective than it sounds, because there are still some wisps of liquor and spice present. This is an excellent fragrance but I do not see it as feminine. It’s a sweeter, more refined, less resinous Le Dandy and I see it as completely unisex – now I have two or three fragrances of this nature to choose from.

7th October, 2008.

At first I thought this was a floral perfume. But after the alcohol blew off, I realized, no, it's a FOODY perfume! Top notes of cinnamon. And an hour later, still lots of cinnamon and amber. Much much later, it was cinnamon milk. Very delicious! I sprayed it on at 19:10 and I could still smell cinnamon milk 5.5 hours later. I have been told that the perfumer behind it is Francis Kurkdjian -- the creator of Le Male -- but I don't know if that is true. It does seem, however, that both Le Male and D'Orsay's Femme de Dandy have the same musky vanilla smell on drydown.

19th June, 2008.