I recently acquired a bottle of Rochas Femme parfum, but I don't know if it's the vintage or re-formulated version. Can someone give me a hand with identifying the bottle, please? Thank you.

It looks real to me...
That's how I purchased it, years ago.

I don't know if that's contemporary or vintage - sorry - but it sure is pretty :-)

This is exactly like a bottle I purchased arounf 1970, good chance it is vintage. It looks in great condition. Lucky girl!



Look on the bottom of the bottle and the box, for manufaturer and country. Please post what it says, and then we should know if it is vintage for sure, ok?

My new bottle of EDT had the same shape as this flacon, but it didn't come in such an ornate box...



One sniff will tell you whether it's the vintage: if you get a pronounced cumin and "red hots" cinnamon note, it's the modern. if it's more ladylike with more jasmin and bergamot, it's likely the vintage.



A great find either way.

It is definitely vintage.

Totally vintage.

that's the bottle my mom gave me last year - it's vintage. i just unscrewed the top (yes, it's a screw top) this morning, in fact - and dabbed some on - and was struck by its animalic, smoky nature. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

you know, i've been hunting for the ultimate, sexy, bombshell scent, but this morning i realized that like dorothy in the wizard of oz, it's already right here in my own backyard and i don't have to go anywhere else to find it.

There is nothing on the bottom of the bottle, but on the lid is: Marcel Rochas Paris. And the back of the box says: Parfums 154 Made in France. It's in excellent condition - can you believe I got this little beauty for less than $30?

I'm not getting any cummin smell from this, just a lovely sweetness with a hint of dark smoky spice. The dry down is more powdery - very understated and elegantly seductive. It's not a "Marilyn Monroe" sexbomb, but rather a "Lauren Bacall" sensuality.

Is there a website somewhere that provide a guide to perfume bottles and the year they were release? I have a few bottles of various perfumes that I think are vintage, but can't be certain and I feel really bad to keep on imposing myself on you lovely ladies.

I bought a bottle of Femme parfum identical to yours, two years ago. It did come in a somewhat different casing though; it's oval, looks like a hat box (yours does too), is cushioned on top and made with real gauze.

vidabo

Is your bottle round or flat? My bottle is flat when you look at it from the side. Do you know which year was the perfume reformulated?

I'm positively green with ... "N" "V"
Where on earth did you find such a bargain? Or, is that a secret?

Me, too, Quarry. ~smiling~

I cannot wear the funky newer version with it's cumin seed note which reminds me of tacos. I bet I could wear the classic. And I love the bottle!

No secret, I just got really really lucky on ebay. Possibly my best ebay bargain ever. I put in a token bid, never thinking that I would win considering the price vintage perfumes sell for these days, and walk alway with the price. Pleasantly suprised!

I have exactly the same bottle and box - same writing on the back, but it says Marcel Rochas where yours says Parfums Rochas. The cap is a screw cap, and made of plastic, not glass. I don't know how old mine is, but the scent seems to have a good dollop of cardamom rather than cumin. It is a warm (actually quite 'hot'), smoky and spicy scent. I have an old PdT as well, in a lacy bottle, which is similar, but seems a little sweeter - or at any rate it stays sweet whereas the parfum becomes quite dry after a while.

Avalon, mine is flat (without a belly) too.
It was reorchestrated in 1989
See boisdejasmin: http://boisdejasmin.typepad.com/_/2006/02/rochas_femme.html

ps: my bottle has a glass stopper (no screw cap).

Congrats, Avalon!



Ditto on both counts. Cannot abide the newer version at all, but the classic sounds very intriguing. I like smoky scents.

Bottles marked "Marcel Rochas" rather than "Parfums Rochas" indicate an older, possibly 60s fabrication.

You'll notice that two different fonts were used in the labelling: cursive letters, and straight. Both are authentic. The straight letters may have been for US-fabricated scent. Popular French perfumes were often "mixed" in the USA though the essences were assembled in France, and sometimes packaged slightly differently.
There were many concentrations at different times, from the extrait to the eau de toilette and parfum de toilette. Several different types of bottles too: apart from the classic bulbous flacon of the extrait, it could be had in cylindrical, purse flacon, and as a tall, rectangular spray bottle for the eau de toilette.

Vintage Femme is not incredibly hard to find : because it was so popular at a time, there are still quite a few bottles around. I got a whole stash from a lady who was selling a stock on eBay. But the price you got if for is still fantastic, Avalon.

It's normal you're not getting cumin from it: that was added in the 1989 reformulation. You're probably getting a plummy, dark note from the top.

Enjoy your find: it's one of the most beautiful vintage perfumes to be had.

Nutmeg I think our bottles are from the same period. Mine also have the plastic srewcap with Marcel Rochas Paris in a circle on the top surrouning the lady head. It's a gorgeous perfume, loved the smoke and spice in it and unlike Mitsouko, I can smell the peach note - a big improvement over the newer reformulated eau de toilette that I tested.

It's strange...but I have read somewhere (can't remember the sources) and have been told that Femme has actually had formula 'alterations' done twice, and that the last reforumulation, done in 1989 was supposed to be quite close to the original formula.
I started out with a vintage decant of Femme which was made in either the late 1960s or early 1970s and it was immediate dislike. In fact, I couldn't understand anyone wearing it because I considered it to be a scrubber and found it all to similar to Mitsouko.
Then I received decants of the VERY vintage formula and the new formula from a very gracious POLer...and I set them aside thinking I may never work up the courage to try either.
Curious creature that I am...I finally broke down and tried them both, one on either arm, and while the vintage juice was still good and smelled wonderful...I was more attracted to the new formula, which was spicier and smoother, imho.
Both of them smelled similar and it was easy to tell they were the same fragrance, but it was the newest formulation which made me fall in love with Femme.
The funniest thing of all...is that neither of these samples smelled ANYthing like that first one I had received. NOTHING like it! That first decant was good (not spoiled)...but it was not good on my skin.
Since it was also considered "vintage" I would have just assumed this to be the old stuff and would have been terribly confused about the other...if I hadn't read and heard what I did. I sure wish I could find that information, now. :-/
BTW, Femme is in my 'top ten' list...and it's a scent I'll never stop loving. Just too gorgeous and too great with my chemistry.

I just purchased the edt of Femme at Filene's Basement for under $30. It was a risk for me as I had never smelled it, but had read about it. I am assuming what I bought is the newer formulation; I love it, but am thinking I will buy a stronger formulation. Out of curiosity, I ordered a sample of the oil of Femme from The Fragrance Shop (I do that often with scents just to get an idea if I might like them, knowing the oil may not be "spot on"). But the oil from The Fragrance Shop has a smoother, more animalic essence. Very sensuous and earthy, which I love--not as sharp as the edt. I am wondering if The Fragrance Shop version is more similar to the vintage parfum? Does anyone know both the vintage Femme and The Fragrance Shop version?

P.S. I sample lots of fragrances (as we all do), but this one my husband is mad about!

Which Fragrance shop are you talking about, can you give me the URL?

javaslublu.com is where I go for that kind of information - bottle styles and dates - it's quite hit and miss but as it happens they have quite a bit on Rochas Femme:

http://www.javaslublu.com/jp/Rochas/Femme.html


Maybe this one? their prices are awfully high for dupes:

http://www.thefragranceshop.com/

edit: my 2 posts were merged - the last bit was in reference to a question about The Fragrance Shop.

It is thefragranceshop.com. Their prices are high, but the oils are very high quality. They send samples for $3 (at least that used to be the price). I have several 1/4 oz. vials, and they last forever. Some are definitely better than others; that's why I always get sampls first. Yesterday, I did a ""test" for my husband--on one arm the edt of Femme, and on the other, oil of Femme from The Fragrance Shop. I let them both dry down a bit, then asked him to smell each arm and give an opinion. He had a hard time saying which one he liked better because "they are almost identical." I pressed on, and he finally said he liked the one on my right arm, which was oil of Femme from The Fragrance Shop. So I will probably purchase a 1/4 oz. of it (even though I have the edt). I like the oils, too, because I mix them with jojoba or some other carrier oil, and put it on after my shower as a first layer for the frag. The Fragrance Shop also sells lotions to which you can add your oils of choice. One of my all-time favorite oils of theirs is oil of Vol de Nuit. I like it better than Guerlain's edt version. My husband likes TFS oil of Montana better than the parfum of Montana that I paid $100 for.

Thank you for the links caribou55313 and stephanie55. I'm trying to get into contact with the fragranceshop to see if they ship to Australia, but the email address doesn't seem to be working. As for Femme reformulation! I'm researching to see if it has been done twice like Catie Ribbons says. Wonder how close to the original my bottle is.

Oh, Paula, I say bring on the tacos! (-;



This is one of my all-time favorite scents. I wear it, no problem, even though it can be stentorian and very retro in sensibility. Not to mention, well, "femme".



I love the screaming musks (there appear to be several) which greet the nostrils upon first spray, and I love that point where sweet orange and plum meet cumin and cinnamon. One wouldn't think that MITSOUKO could be improved upon, yet I feel that FEMME (newest) is a slicker, hipper, more dimensional version of MITSOUKO.

thanks for the link, Stephanie! I look forward to trying these guys out someday.

I definitely see the similarity between Femme and Mitsouko. I have loved Mitsouko longest and most, so when I came upon Femme a few months ago, I was sort of afraid I'd ditch Mitsouko in favor of Femme. (Kind of like how I felt when my second child was about to be born: will I still love my first child as much? How can I love two so intensely?)

I've settled on loving both, but I am still afraid to smell them side by side and compare. I must say, though, and I know that my husband agrees: Femme is way sexier.