I don't know why I always feel so uncomfortable every time I wear the 1994 Bulgari Pour Femme. It's a very pretty perfume and I like it quite a bit in theory. Unlike many rose-violet compositions, this isn't too candied and there's no hint of the sour note that kills so many roses when they meet my skin. Instead, there's a white floral heart that is all about various summer blooms. It feels like a romantic date on a summer night, well-dressed and properly jeweled. I wouldn't be surprised to learn Pour Femme is a favorite among the bridal crowd.
Part of the problem is that Bulgari Pour Femme tries too hard. I suspect the original creative brief had a paragraph or two about creating a modern classic (using such adjectives as timeless, eternal, elegant and refined). The Bulgari people unintentionally hit the jackpot big time with Jean-Claude Elena's 1993 Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert, a perfume first created as a limited distribution item for the boutiques. It makes sense they wanted something more substantial and jewel-like to make their mark in the perfume world but still sell it by the bucket.
Pour Femme, a Sophia Grojsman creation, answers these requirements. It's also easy enough to wear, inoffensive and dries down quietly and without putting up a fight into a clean and soapy wood. It's one of those scents that would attract compliments from people close to its wearer and always feel appropriate, like pearl earrings or small diamond studs. But whenever I pull out my decant (a mini bottle I transferred into a small atomizer) it feels like I borrowed a dress from someone else and it's all pink and dainty. Even the jewelry is wrong because my ears aren't pierced and I prefer big cuff bracelets. I can appreciate the idea and the thought that went into creating this Bulgari perfume, but it looks like I'm more of a Cartier woman.
Bulgari Pour Femme costs $92, 1.7 oz at most decent department stores and Sephora, but can be purchased for far less if you know your way around the various discounters.
Ads from 1993, 1999 and 2003: couleurparfum.com
Hi, you non-blonde,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with you. This is a wonderful perfume but it takes the right woman. My very good friend is a blonde, beautiful and fantastically attractive in a Marilyn Monroe way. She wears Bulgary Pour Femme since I know her, 10 years ago, and on her it smells gorgeous, it smells like intimate skin, like what comes out from the decoltee of a beautiful woman coming out of the bed, still warm and relaxed. On her it has also the quality of not being strong, you smell it only when you come close and it's discreet and sexy. This is, I'm not a blonde and on me it doesn't work though I would love to.
I feel the same with some other wonderful perfumes which I would love to wear but it doesn't work. Aqua di Parma Iris Nobile comes now in to my mind.
Very discriminating, huh.
Interested to read Maria's association of BPF with a blonde bombshell like Marilyn Monroe. I also picture this scent being worn by an iconic beauty, and maybe because of the violets, which I always associate with dark colours and brunettes (as in Creed Love in Black + Jackie Onassis), I imagine someone like Sophia Loren or Gina Lollobrigida wearing this one!
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Exactly my sentiments.
ReplyDeleteIn theory BPF is beautiful. I spray it on myself and I still think it's pretty, so there's no chemistry problem at all. The stuff is really nice.
But it's just not me at all. And, honestly, I'd rather go sans perfume than Bulgari Pour Femme.
And, I am BLONDE!!! (highlights of course but I am fair skinned considering my original ethnic origins. I think the Vikings got involved somewhere).
Very interesting review, I adore this perfume but then again I am a pearly and frilly pink kinda gal haha
ReplyDeleteHello. I really enjoyed your post and love your blog in general. This is my first post, so hello everyone!
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more regarding BPF. I don't understand why I do not enjoy wearing that perfume. It's pretty, it's not intrusive, and I think it could be a good 'everyday' scent. Yet, it doesn't do anything for me when I wear it. It doesn't evoke any emotion for me, I suppose.