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Recently, as I was making a dry perfume blend to flavor my holiday gingerbread, I found myself wishing that I could capture its bright cardamom, coriander and cinnamon fragrance in a perfume. Naturally, I wondered whether someone else might have done so already, as the gourmand fragrance genre has grown considerably since the launch of Thierry Mugler Angel in 1993. Its suggestions of caramel, bitter chocolate, cotton candy and candied fruit has introduced a whole new concept of fragrances that unapologetically appropriated the most opulent patisserie ideas for perfume. In fact, there exist quite a few fragrances that range from abstract allusions to gingerbread to quite realistic flavor renditions. I find this genre, a subset of the oriental fragrance family, rather playful and quite enjoyable to explore, as the spicy gourmands being warm and enveloping suit my winter mood perfectly.

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When I was recently exploring the use of woods in feminine fragrances, I realized that half of the perfumes I wanted to mention in an article were either discontinued or reformulated to the point of no longer suiting my theme. Therefore, I unpacked my older bottles and started comparing and taking notes. Since Guerlain is one of the houses with a particularly impressive collection of classics, I was curious to see what difference exists between the old and the new versions. Below are my observations.

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Original (Shiseido Féminité du Bois):

Reformulation:

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

When Shiseido Féminité du Bois was launched in 1992, its strong core of cedarwood (a traditionally masculine note) was truly avant-garde. It presented a break with tradition and a new vision for feminine fragrances. These days, feminine scents based around a strong accord of woods are more common in the niche category but also in the mainstream launches.  It is telling that Estée Lauder Sensuous, the first pillar brand release since Beyond Paradise, chose to take the rich fruity-woody character of Féminité du Bois as its starting point. Recently, Féminité du Bois was relaunched under the Serge Lutens brand, and once I got a hold of two versions, the original and the new, I decided to compare them.

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Whenever I encounter yet another luxury line that probably spent more on the plastic to wrap its box than the perfume inside the bottle, I think about Bath & Body Works and Demeter. For once, here are brands that do not pretend to be anything but accessible, affordable lines of fragrances and scented products. At under $15 for 2.5oz, Bath & Body Works fragrances are in fact quite competent and well-made. Moreover, given its large portfolio, from aldehydic florals (Moonlight Path) to woody orientals (Black Amethyst,) if one does not expect fragrance haute couture, it is possible to find something interesting. Cherry Blossom, one of Bath & Body Works best sellers, caught my attention for being a bubbly, girly fruity floral that can hold its own next to most prestige launches in this genre. Plus, I occasionally like to challenge myself with exploring scents outside of my comfort zone (niche, classics, vintages.)

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