Anachronistic Modern, French Perfumery

Dolce Vita is part of the “bois” family, with her legendary siblings being Feminite du Bois, Bois de Violette, Bois et Musc, and my favorite (other than FdB and DV)— Bois et Fruits. Dolce Vita is head and shoulders above those, however, because it is the intersection of French tradition and niche artistry!

Sheldrake and Lutens had made their efforts with Shiseido and then Serge Lutens itself, with Bois et Musc, Bois de Violette, Bois et Fruits, etc.

The aim of the “bois” family, or just Feminite du Bois to begin with, was to have the contrast of feminine and masculine that defined the 90’s revolution in modern perfumery. Angel, Feminite du Bois, and cK One all occupy the gender-fuck or unisex category in different ways and did for different people. Pierre Bourdon, Maurice Roger, and the house of Dior rejected modernity and said, “make it French goddamnit!”

French perfumery, as a style, to me, is Guerlain, Caron, Dior, Chanel, Patou, and the likes. The most defining characteristic of French perfumes from 1880-1970 is that they have phases of development, complexity in the accords— or the opposite: simplified perfection, have a natural smell with synthetic back-bones, and possess at LEAST one quality that seems “dated.”

“Dated”: powder, bitter, green, mossy, balsamic, spicy, patchouli, ANIMALIC! The list goes on……..those are the ones that usually make people go “ick! It smells like the parent that transmitted their trauma to me across generations!”

Dolce Vita is French only in that it is powdery. It has all that Feminite du Bois has, neglecting some ISO E Super by replacing it with a powdery-Guerlinade-style accord that buttresses every part of the phases of development with a plush divinity of newness trapped in an old style. An anachronistic fragrance— new but old, old and new, referring to a time where it never could be but here it is!!!

The “esníf”:

Top: spices, bergamot, icy aldehydes, intense violet and cedar. A base of rich iris-powdery goodness is the pillow this strident accord sits atop. The fruits bloom- dried and fresh, overripe and underripe, green and purple— the full spectrum of fruit is here with a rosy floral underpinning.

Heart: the “Guerlainade” type base comes in and has a match with the Feminite du bois cedar/violet fight. They all fight and lose together, swirling into a creamy sandalwood-heavy woody-floral that is weirdly synthetic but super-natural as well when buttressed by the French accord— that’s what I’ll call it! It smells fkin French man idk!

Base: sandalwood, cedar, violet, spice, strong cleanish musk.

What makes this French? Idk, what makes fries French? Cause they are.

Top 3 of all time.