Féminité du Bois

 Born in '92, under the Shiseido's umbrella, by the hands of Christopher Sheldrake and Pierre Bourbon and orchestrated by Serge Lutens, Féminité du Bois' symphonie touched our flesh with its chords of ginger, cinnamon, clove, plum, peach, orange blossom, violet, cedar, sandalwood, vanilla and benzoin, in a way no other fragrance managed before. 

In 2009 and under the same umbrella, bandmaster Lutens and composer Sheldrake decided to rewrite Féminité du Bois and add it to the Serge Lutens lineup, with a consistent modification in both, formula and presentation (thank the stars on the latter, because i couldn't dissociate that bottle-shape from the colon cleanse bulb enema - blame the culture). 

With a simple load of woods (aka Iso E Super), Féminité du Bois's release was considered revolutionary for using that specific material, traditionally masculine, into a feminine fragrance. (What a bunch of maroon matter! Am i the only one having a problem with this narrative? It's like saying women put on pants for the first time in 2009. The florals might have been in boom in the 80s and 90s, and the "feminine" fragrances might have forgotten their the dirtier side and got "prettier", but let's not forget women used to wear tobacco on their leathers and civet on musks. No woods would make a woman less than she is.) 

Féminité du Bois 2009 and further versions introduces itself dry like a tree in the desert. Almost austere. A shot of warm spices gets injected into the sharp woods, and that's all for a while. When the floral accord starts to share its delicate sweetness and to transfer it to the unripe fruits, it's the moment the pencil shavings get colorful and start to shine their woodiness. Towards the end, the woods start to sweat a bit under the pressure of the violets. There's not much development, the slight fluctuations curl and uncurl around the cedar and its ego. Its beauty lies in the eye of this beholder.

Féminité du Bois comes from an era when i could buy a fragrance up on the first whiff, knowing it will be a love all the way.