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

Although many Serge Lutens fragrances are based on a similar oriental accord of balsamic amber, violet and pale woods, I cannot resist yet another new interpretation of Lutens’ trademark exoticism. Five O’Clock Au Gingembre fashions the darkness of amber and patchouli into a piquant morsel by building the composition around the classical gourmand notes—chocolate, honey, vanilla and sweet spices. In any other hands this would have resulted in tooth numbing sweetness, but perfumer Christopher Sheldrake (who created most of the Lutens fragrances) manages to strike a balance between oriental amber fantasy and gourmand richness. Dark and rich, Five O’Clock Au Gingembre nevertheless remains effervescent from top to bottom.

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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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