Le Parfum de Therese Frederic Malle for women and men

I re-sprayed Le Parfum de Thérèse from an old sample I have and as first impression I thought: "OMG! the sample has gone bad!" I was immediately attacked by a cloud of very strong, almost syrupy fruit & leather brown juice on my neck. Also some part of my jaw since it was early in the morning and I was still sleepy ;-P I had to hurry up, dress for office and rush out! I had no time to wash the scent away. I thought: "Ok, worse for them, today they will keep me stinky!"
When I gt into my car the scent was already different, still very strong but softer and rounder, starting to make a dialogue with my skin.
By the time I got to work I felt a lovely deep, fruity leathery classic and sophisticated cloud on my neck close to my turtleneck sweater.
What a beauty! Not just a beautiful perfume. There are many around but LPDT has a special capacity of provoking something on me.

KTERHARK said it right: emotion!

This is not an easy perfume, not easy to wear, not too friendly, not frilly, not girlish at all, but for sure it is "Edmond Roudnitska"!
I still have to meet perfume made but this genius that haven't won me, even when it was not my type of perfume. What kind of imagination and mastery did he have? There is a special note that connect all his creations in spite of their difference. I cannot name it, but I feel it. That's why I think that Le Parfum de Thérèse smell similar to Rochas Femme in some way. another gorgeous masterpiece of tremendous feminity, when feminity was not about smeling as sweet as possible like a fruit flavoured candy.
If this one was inspired by ER's wife I bet she was quite a kind of her own. Or maybe a non-existant figure on which an incredibly imaginative man attached a smell. Rather the first I think.
I agree 100% with the reviewers that said that this perfume has a soul and it also smells like a perfume that comes from within the person but not like something that has been added on top of a grooming!
There are very few perfumes that can match skin in this way.
I heard about LPDT like a "naughty" perfume for naughty women wearing black leather, high stiletto and maybe a wip also?
Not so much for me. I see a very intense lady, not necessary pretty in a conventional way, no fake doll, not dominating according to a standard imagery, rather with gentle appearance and steel nerves, dressed somehow casual but with top class accuracy, used to luxury but not naive wannabe. Maybe also old French or old European.
LPDT kept sending me little but very present clouds from my neck any time I moved my head. If you like to forget about the perfume you're wearing this is not for you. I kept smelling it from time to time for many hours. Just when I fought it was gone a new smaller cloud came from my neck.
Please, wear only 1 spray, maybe 2. No more.
Being so taken by this perfume I wanted my bf to smell it on me.
As expected he was not fond of it and didn't understand all my personal hype. After 1 hour or so, as I asked again, he said: "Mmm... nice"
This is expensive but you get a lot back for your money, if you like it of course.
Then you will need only a spray.

Have you ever had a fragrance that doesn't seem like something you sprayed on your skin, but rather like something that seeps up from your soul and comes out of your pores? This is Le Parfum de Therese for me. I have other fragrances that I love, but there is something about this one that is so personal. Dior called Diorissimo "the scented expression of my soul" and I feel much the same way about Therese. It's probably not a coincidence that they were created by the same nose.

The notes on Fragrantica are incomplete, so here is a more complete list:
top- mandarin, melon, jasmine, pepper
middle-violet, rose, plum, nutmeg
base-cedar, vetiver, leather

Like others have mentioned, I could swear I smell a heck of a lot of lily in here, so if you hate LOTV, avoid this one. This is so well blended and just beautiful from beginning to end. As Kterhark mentioned in her eloquent review, LPDT is an emotional experience. My husband commented when I was wearing it the other day "That man loved the woman he created it for dearly". They could have called this 'Cherished One' and it would make perfect sense.

As for me, this wears so perfectly on my skin that it feels like it was made for me. The tangerine, melon, plum and suede were what I noticed the most when I was wearing it last, but there is much more going on in this scent and it's really not that easily pulled apart. Therese is totally feminine, but not weak. It harkens back to a time when perfumes were well crafted, but it is not dated in any way, just timeless.

After smelling this, I wonder if Roudnitska made any other perfumes for his wife. But on the other hand, what more would there be to say in scent? He already told her how he felt about her in the most beautiful way possible.

This perfume thing is starting to get addictive (ha ha, "starting") and now I'm getting into the hard stuff.

This perfume starts off with an odd but not unpleasant plastic doll's head top note. Juicy dark fruit immediately takes center stage, and the background reminds me of something herbal-soapy, like those Wella balsam shampoos used to smell. I can just imagine tight-lipped Frederic Malle boutique employees disapproving of these descriptors. I know I'm making this sound very weird, but it isn't, just unusual. My husband liked it right away, and said it reminded him of something from childhood he couldn't place. I felt that way too (with the old-time shampoos) but I thought maybe it was power of suggestion. But for all my husband knew this could have Justin Bieber's latest, so that '70's vibe was not just projection on my part. I suppose if we're going to be literal, it's actually a 1950's vibe, but my memory, which is genuinely being pinged, only goes back to the '70's.

The longevity is not fantastic but having sprayed on some fabric I can still catch a hint hours later.

Is this anything like Diorella? Only in that conventional pretty notes are paired with something a little odd. That oddness hooks you in.

I'm actually releived that I didn't love this fragrance from the first moment. Then I don't have to buy it ;). It's wellcrafted but too dry on my skin. I actually like it more on paper, where the citrus, plum and rose comes out in a much more prominent way. But on my wrist it smells salty, woody, leathery and far too dry. I'm sure it will work better on someone else though.

I see neither Lily of the Valley nor Lilac listed as notes, yet those are what I get from this the most! I can see why this would have been a professional perfumer's unique creation for his wife. There is indeed something one-of-a-kind about it.
Le Parfum de Therese really does not belong to any specific era; it is timeless. Equally, it doesn't seem more suited to a person of one age than another. Manages to have extensive sillage without being a loud fragrance...the kind of thing that tickles others' noses in a crowd, yet they can't find where it is coming from.
Unfortunately for me, there's a headache pixie zipping over the top and middle that's a deal-breaker. It's distracting and very "high-pitched", akin to the unheard buzz of an overhead fluorescent light that you don't notice until it's turned off.

A strong, penetrant fragrance. Sprayed it in the evening on my wrist in the living room and in the morning smelled the whole living room after this scent! It smells in the drydown exact like Fragonards Soleil.

Le Parfum de Therese has a wonderful vintage feel and I think it is a gorgeous example of 50s aesthetic in fragrance.

This fragrance turns out to be quite green and earthy on my skin, much in the same way as Diorella is (which, consequently, is another Roudnitska creation.) There is a damp, earthy note which lingers drawing the curious nose in for a second sniff.

After the initial greenness in the opening I start to detect more of the fruits and florals and it’s almost as though the perfume transforms at this point. Thick jasmine mingles with ripe plum, the fragrance becomes softer, gentler and rounder. As the fragrance dries down there is smooth leather and cedar combination, perhaps what one might class as a more masculine set of notes by categoric standards yet it works beautifully under that sweet, fruity middle.

A timeless and personal interpretation of the classical fruity chypre. This is a must to try if You like this cathegory. I think the proportions of fruits, the rose and the soft earthy vetiver and leather in the base are just perfect. Soft, sweet yet grounded. You can really sense You are wearing quality with this one, as the scent transforms during a wearing and different aspects of the composition reveal themselves. Very sensual. Perfectly blended, make other rivals smell blunt and harsh. This could very well be someones HG. I love it.

In Sydney we have the Flemington Markets, full of vegetables and other fresh produce, the smell of old cars and old furniture mixed in with the riotous smell of different body odours and a fixture of fast food and hot spices. Le Parfum de Therese cost me AU$455.00 and the price is very much justified by the quality and the incredible complexity and character of this fragrance. The scent has a slight dirtiness to me but this dirtiness is not prominent at all, its kinda like a layer for this fragrance and the leather note further enhances it making it surpisingly sexy and a bit naughty with the heaviness of its amounts. The mixture of Rose and Plum works beautifully with their sweet and sour scents blending to create this powerful and overwhelmingly elegant and unique perfume.

A very interesting and complex fragrance. Vegetables. Roses. Cucumber. Truffle. Currant. Honeysuckle. Metallic. Almost smells like two different perfumes were combined, it is like hearing one composition play over another written in the same key. A the scent of a womans skin after coming in from the garden.

This is the freshest scent I've ever tried. I've never come across a fragrance which is so light and yet complex. The aquatic notes dominate on me, and I find it hard to pick up the fruity notes. Perfect for a warm sunny day.

given the lovely reviews and notes, i had to sample this!

uhm. no joking, this smells like salted and peppered cucumbers.

First Malle that i had to scrub off :((((

Complex, special, a bit eccentric, with a touch of mystery... and utterly elegant! I get contrasting notes, which are forming a twister of yellow and black shades, as fresh citrus and delicate melon (I consider the melon responsible for the subtle aquatic feel) twirl on a more stern and sexy wood. The minute I characterise the fragrance fresh, it turns into something darker, playing with my mind. It's elusive. I'm just wondering what kind of personality this Therese lady was like- certainly multi dimensional, and very inspiring; Unfortunately, the tangerine note is too prominent for my current taste! If only it was a bit sweeter/flowery... But even so, I acknowledge and kneel before its beauty, because it's objectively beautiful. Apparently, Roudnitska didn't have ME on his mind when creating it, otherwise it would have been called Le Parfum de Alexandra (sigh).

Edit: I noticed that it blends very well with Chopard Casmir, where both share the citrus in different manifestations. Therese makes Casmir fresher, and Casmir's oriental vanilla is giving her the missing sweetness I was after!

The dry down is fabulous. It is a woody suede affair that is smooth and elegant. Unfortunately, I don't enjoy the rest of the composition. The melon is prominent on me until the dry down, and I also get an odd peppery note that just doesn't smell right. Therese is wonderful on my daughter, though. She is a cuspline Cancer/Gemini, and the melon is succulent on her.

There are certain things in life that mankind recognizes as 'master pieces', but when pressed it's hard to say why. The Mona Lisa: why does this stand out amoung paintings in the Louvre, when everything there is so good? The Grand Canyon: why does standing on the North Rim always take your breath away when the world is full of wonders? Mozart: why is this music still relevant after all this time?

The answer is emotions. When we experience a master piece it is our emotions that are evoked, not our sight, hearing, taste or smell.

Parfum de Therese is an emotional experience. I've now worn it over a two month period, and each time i appreciate it more and more. There is something 'masterful' here, the play between wet ripe fruit, salty flushed skin, electrifying citrus and stable leather.

Parfum de Therese can't be described any other way.

Hmm... this fragrance is like Cabochard Lite crossed with eau de Givenchy- it's interesting, but I'm beginning to think that me and chypres just aren't a good mix- and although this fragrance starts off strong, it seems to go weak rather quickly-

bring to your mind a french beatiful woman going in the forest.
FRUITY and after a few minutes comes the WOODY part.
in Edmond Roudnitska perfumes there is some classy style wich come in all he's perfumes.

It's like in he's perfumes there is "Edmond Roudnitska Ingredient" KIND OF AROMA.
wich i like so much

Definitely unique and interesting, fresh and melon infused...however, smells slightly of wet diapers on my skin and thus I cannot wear it! Usually Malles are pretty subtle on me-this one is a little odd!

As soon as I opened the sample vial I knew that this was something truly different. To me it starts out like a wet, green bouquet of those huge lilies that have such a strong fragrance. The perfume is worth wearing for the top notes alone! As it begins to dry down I can start to smell the fruit, but it's not a cloying "gourmand" fruit, it's a fresh and sensual honeydew melon and apricot mixture with just enough flowery notes to keep it from being edible. After a while the lily scent comes back and stays pretty much linear as it gradually faces away. The scent lasted most of the day. This is one of the few really "feminine" perfumes that I could see myself wearing.

Instant love! It came out of the sprayer very tangerine with a mellow melon note, but over time it became less fruity and more "sensual," I guess. I could wear this every day.

This perfume is the most beautiful love statement I have ever met with.
When I first smelled it I nearly shed tears, I'm serious!
Unfortunately on my skin too much melon comes out and that irritates me.
Anyway I bend my knees and wish I have created this kind of fragrance...

This is listed as a unisex scent but it is not- only a woman's scent, for sure. This is very unique, not for the masses (like most of the perfumes Frederic Malle has put out). I love everything Roudnitska has created, so, unsurprisingly, I adore this.

Le Parfum de Therese is a mistery for me. I got a sample and liked it a lot at first but then on my skin it morphed to an intensely woodsy linen old drawer smell I didn't like at all. Very musty, too woodsy, not very sexy in my book, very classic. I think it's a matter of chemistry. For sure it's an extremely complex and refined scent, just not for me.

Given the below reviews I read, I expected to experience a heavy, potentially cloying perfume.

Surprisingly I liked it.

It opened on a unique combination of watery melon and pepper(?)- this water fruit accord 40 years ahead of its time considers the fragrance a masterpiece -, then it loses the strong peppery note and becomes sweeter (fruity sweetness, but I don't obviously identify it as plum) and smoky at the same time. At this phase I smelled a green rose.

It is an outstanding sexy scent suitable for my personality; ideally wears for spring or summer. Lasting power is excellent too.

This is a perfume for Therese, and surtainly for many others, but not for me.

Like F_A wrote there is something not working with the plum and rose. I love rose fragrances, but I can´t wear plum fragarances so the outcome weren´t so surprising.

Still I consider this perfume a masterpiece, made years before the floralfruity perfumes become popular and I guess easier to make?

Very gentle and soft, but still noticable and longlasting. If you know you can pull off plum, you definitly must try this one.

The first time I smelled it, I could smell water. Yes, that's right - water! Still it is a strong fragrance, where watery and heavy notes have the perfect balance. It is incredible how Mr. Rudnitska managed to create a fragrance where water notes can be smelled even in the base.Very fresh and clean fruity water notes of this fragrance are enriched with woody, dusty, smokey notes. It is an interesting fragrance - light and heavy at the same time. I am sure it is dedicated to a strong, exceptional woman. I could not wear it because there's a smell in it, that irritates me. I am pretty sure it is the mixture of rose and plum notes.