Rykiel Woman (2003)
by Sonia Rykiel

Perhaps it is partly due to the Bedrock-inspired packaging, but RYKIEL WOMAN strikes me as eccentric enough to have been a bespoke perfume commissioned by either Wilma Flintstone or Betty Rubble. It really is both odd and rough-hewn. One thing is clear: it smells like no other perfume familiar to me.

The combination of dates--which smell more like burnt sugar here--and leather, produces a serious source of discord in this composition. It may be an acquired taste, so I'll have to wear this perfume some more in order to decide whether it is ingenious or just a mistake, better suited to the wife of a troglodyte than to someone like me.

Anne Flipo created RYKIEL WOMAN, which provides me with some motivation not to simply give up, and I'm certainly not going to be parting with this wild box and bottle anytime soon. I especially like the pseudo-gold-pebble-encrusted cap, the pattern of which is reproduced on the front and the back of the box as well. Pebbles, lest we forget, was the daughter of Barney and Betty Rubble! Moreover, a version of this very landscape-inspired pebbled pattern may well have used by some of Bedrock's haute couture dressmakers, who, as we know, were frequented by both Betty and Wilma.

Other reviewers, now apparently devoted to RYKIEL WOMAN (one reports having bought out the 13 bottles of remaining stock at a store where it was being discontinued!), have expressed confusion with their early experiences of this perfume as well. Perhaps, then, there really is some method to the neanderthalic madness--the apparent cacophony of what seems to me even after a few wearings to be a fairly random assortment of heavy-handed notes.

14th September, 2011.

I bought a few bottles of this blind, based on reviews. I must say, at first I did not like it. I sprayed about four good pumps of it and it killed me all day long. Eight hours later, I could still smell it! Lesson learned, I used it again, this time only spraying once on my wrists and rubbing it on my neck. WOW! Much better without the overkill. I can immediately smell something that reminds me of YSL's Paris. I think it is maybe the dates. But about ten minutes later, the incense and leather come out to play and take over, pushing all the other kids off the swings. The dates still try to show up though, along with some violets, keeping this fragrance ever changing. I really like this, it is feminine without smelling like candy and flowers. Too bad it is getting harder to find. I got enough to last me a long time though.

In addition to this, I have also fallen in love with Barbara Bui. Had a truly difficult time finding it anywhere, but found a retailer who had 13 bottles of them and grabbed them all up. I will smell good forever!

19th June, 2011.

Top Notes
Pink Pepper Violet Dates

Middle Notes
Jasmine Rose Pepper Sunflower

Base Notes
Leather amber Musk

This is a wonderful gem if you like violets,pepper and leather notes!Spicy woody lasting with so unique blend!

3rd April, 2011.

Rykiel Woman starts out as a floral fruity leather very similar to Cuir de Lancome (2007). I was surprised and checked the notes, nope not the same but they sure present like close cousins. Rykiel Woman than morphs into a drydown related to Lorenzo Villoresi’s Musk. I’d summarize RW as a powdered violet musk with a hint of dry leather and LV’s Musk as a powdered rose musk with a hint of sweet vanilla. I like all three.

11th February, 2010. (Last Edited: 12nd February, 2010.)

Rykiel woman has a lot in common with Trussardi Jeans. Rykiel however is not cloying and overpowering. It is subtle and dries down to have much more distinguished woody leathery notes with an almost masculine air. Lovely, light and unique.

21st December, 2007.

Rykiel Woman is my all-occasion fragrance. It's a skin scent that's multi faceted so I never get bored wearing it and the whole room doesn't have to share it with me (only those who get close!). I pick up a prominent violet note early on. Not the cloying 'old ladies' cologne type of violet but uplifting and fresh (almost herb-like). On me, the violet remains and is balanced in the middle by the other florals (rose, jasmine, solar flowers). Then in the final stages the pepper, wood, leather and amber merge with something really really soft (like musk and vanilla) to dance gently with your skin. This fragrance is light and carefree but not necessarily ultra feminine. More along the lines of quietly confident.

12nd November, 2006.