Alchimie Rochas for women

I am also waiting for the return of this great scent!

Krmarich, wonderful description! I am a fan and i'm waiting for "Alchimie the return".

I almost forgot, I had a small bottle of Alchimie
years ago from a closeout store. Everything about it was beautiful and exotic. It was perhaps the last big compositions of the 20th C. I foolishly gave my bottle away.

It was more purple than anything-hyacinth, lilac and wisteria waving prettily. It was also very gourmand with cucumber, vanilla, coconut, liquorice, caramel and peach. It was an all ages fragrance that was not childish, by any means. It followed the trend of Lolita Lempica-you can try this to substitute.

It was a very clean springtime fragrance that flirted well. I can understand its popularity and cult following. Sadly it fell victim to "perfumaggedon" in 2001. It was quickly yanked from the shelves without warning. There wasnt time for reformulation. This was one of the more foolish decisions of the time...Perhaps Alchimie will return one day. I see many fans waiting.

I'm searching this desperately...please, If someone have the eau de parfum and want sell it, contact me!I'm from spain. Thank you!

I love to put this on in winter and then snuggle up in a cashmere jumper. A sexy, intense smell, use sparingly but then this sort of scent should only be caught by the man nuzzling your neck, shouldn't it? Anything else would be screaming "hello boys!" ;-)

This is my first oriental flower fragrance and I loved it. I bought two bottles but now it is disappeared. Why?

This is my favorite scent,deliciously sweet and slightly powdery, definitely no cat's piss smell on my skin, and also no cucumber smell on my skin.
I can smell the scent throughout the day.
My most beloved fume.

Dearest Alchimie - how I love your soft sweet notes. Your fruit, your florals, your musk and spices interplay on my skin like the finest string quartet serenading me with a Baroque masterpiece.

Sadly, the serenade ends too soon and within an hour, you are gone, like the promise of love from a long admired star. I shall try you again in the warmer months in the hope that you will tarry with me a bit longer.

*Sigh*

Unique and amazing! A beautiful light oriental. Great fragrance, such a pitty it's been discontinued.

Here is my second review for "Alchimie".
This is really strange, but i have worn it today when it is very hot outside and it smells good and different now than it used to smell during colder time of the year. Now i can smell the flowers, coconut, vanilla and the pear very well. When i tried it back then when it was cold it was all so dull and now it is blooming. Guess if i want to enjoy "Alchimie" i have to wear it during summer time. Now i can fully appreciate it´s delicate smell.
That´s just a chemistry thing. That´s Alchimie.

I had it back then and liked it. It's so bad it has been discontinued since many people still want it. It's a warm elegant oriental that is not too strong. It's good for day and night wear.

I wanted to try "Alchimie" for ages since the whole Rochas range isn´t sold in my country since early 2000´s or even earlier. So i only could imagine how it smells like based on a reviews of other members written here.

This must be one of the biggest dissapointments in my history of purchasing perfumes blind. Based on the bottle, advertisment and reviews i expected something if not extraordinary, but at least truly remarkable. But this one simply smells like mossy wood to me. No flowres really (well, maybe a little bit in the opening) and only the slightest hint of vanilla. I don´t understand why, maybe it has not right chemistry with my skin????
Actually reminds me a lot of vintage "madame Rochas" in parfum de toilette concentration that i have, only lighter and with bit more flowers. Also i smell similarities with Priscilla Presley´s "Experiences". That´s how they all smell on my skin: woody and mossy.
Well, magic didn´t happen after wearing "Alchimie" for hours, it still stays very dry on me. Either i will try it later with different type of wheather or it simply not my scent.

Please do not remove this comment, since others might find it useful. Not every review should be positive, so people like me wanted to make a blind buy might find it very informative. Thanks.

I got Alchimie today in a swap with Galya.
It reminds me of Chanel Chance a bit but it is much better.
What a pity they discontinued it, specially when they are releasing things like" Muse", their last one which has a much lower quality. What is happening lately with perfumery? Is it me or there is nothing outstanding since let´s say Narciso Rodriguez?

Back to Alchimie,it is woody,I can smell also the peach and the flowers. Very balanced and nice for autumn.

Superb!!!!!!!!!!!!
So sad it is discontinued though
I will never let it disappear from me :)
It indeed smells like sweet pumpkin <3
So adorable.

Best perfume ever!!!

Was this one reformulated? Because it is hardly a floral oriental. More a Fruity Floral: that's Fruity, with a capital "F."

I get plum, followed by plum, followed by plum, followed by a fruity mix of plum, peach, lemon and friends, over nondescript, but not unpleasant, floral notes.

I've tried hard to close my eyes, sniff, and imagine the many notes listed on the pyramid above. There is not a drop of cassis (a.k.a., bouregons de cassis--not the the juicy fruit, but the dried buds used used in perfumery), which can have a cat-pee note if overused, but which can cut sweetness and add depth if nicely measured. I'm over-sensitive to cassis, but I believe that in this blend, it could do some good.

All of those gourmand basenotes blend to bland. None stands out. All contribute to the sugary quality already well established by the fruit cocktail.

Love the bottle.

I'm surprised this was discontinued. It's warm and pretty, and I liked it. It's not terribly unique, but it's also not comparable to many other scents on the market today, if that makes any sense. I guess what I mean is that it's not strikingly obvious in its difference, it's just a comfortable, familiar scent - but one that you find in many other frags. It's soft enough for the office, and it's a really pleasant scent.

When I think about fragrances like Alchimie being discontinued I seriously think we should start a FRAGRANCE GREENPEACE!

Love it ...was heart broken when I ran out. I am still trying to find a few bottles at a reasonable price. It is very seductive doesn't smell like "cat urine" to me. I would highly recommend it to anyone that doesn't want to smell like a copy cat perfume counter or magazine insert.

Cat urine? Wow. I wonder what happened to that nose.

I get nothing like that in this lovely, soft perfume--and I have a Siamese. A beautiful soft floral/citrus instead to me. One of my all-time favs. I keep my eye for a full bottle coming up at my fav online store. It always goes fast.

Different strokes for different folks, but I don't think this deserved the "urine" analogy. Give me another cat if so!

endymion, I do believe someone has the right to her opinion, especially for the fact that this is a forum whereby we can contrast opinions. This way comments will come out as a whole, showing the two sides of the same coin.

I understand you are upset - I guess you love this fragrance. BUT I don t think you should criticize and offend a person for expressing her views the way you did. That is disgraceful.

oooopsfauxpas, i love your review! :) you put into words what I couldn't and I just realised how right you are as i used to have cats when was a child! thanks for the enlightenment :))

i have decided there is really no such thing as black currant. they went out, and photographed some toxic berry that probably even kills innocent birds, maybe even rats, to put a face on a cheap and easy to get substance.

ok folks, the big reveal: black currant is...LE PEE DE CHAT.

i read a fragrance list that has my mouth watering, and then comes the stinger.

i don't have cats anymore, not because i don't like them, it's just that the 4 mangy mutts would tear it and themselves apart with one word in their little, pea brains: LUNCH.

however, having been a cat owner of many cats that lived many years, i have to say that only if i am dogless, and a starving waif turns up on my door, i am reluctant to have the entire house smell like cat pis ... black currant.

no matter how big a truckload of other ingredients they throw in to try to trick us, or at least me, that cat pee is, as one would expect, completely, totally and overwhelmingly THE only thing i can smell.

so i usually get some sandpaper and clorox to TRY to remove it. then, aha, an epiphany.

i pulled out the old pee wee - i kid you not, i think. anyway, it's what pet owners reach for instead of a gun when one of the beasties wees in the house.

but after reading the raves of you loonies (just kidding, folks. kindly called eccentric to my face, i'm the alpha loonie everywhere i go), i put up with having my palm smell like a ripe litterbox just to see if the urine evaporated.

i have to say, gradually, as in gradually the flood was over and noah unloaded his cargo, the smell did indeed go through a dramatic metamorphosis.

now i am 52. i don't know how many of you will relate to my final comparison.

the dry down, finally free of eau de kitty, is very different.

when i was a kid, they made these cheapo baby dolls made of a pungent plastic. you'd squirt h20 down their gullet with a water filled baby bottle, and immediately you'd find that baby had a very fast kidney to bladder to lap ratio.

anyway, that sickly sweet, and some other smell that is probably that of cheap plastic, has stayed in my nasal memory.

so alchemie is a brilliant combo of cat urine and disgusting, outgassing plastique. (i figure since we're talking perfume, plastique sounds better.) but frankly, this bottle of nature meets Mrs. Robinson ("plastics, my boy, that's where the future lies. go into plastics" i paraphrase, but that was the advice some idiot gave dustin hoffman in the graduate, at his graduation party), and neither cat pee nor plast-ICK deserve to be euphemized.

since it stinks to the max, doesn't have a good tune or beat, and you can't dance to it, and even though i am passionate about our civil liberties and don't believe in censorship, there is always an exception.

i would attend an alchemie burning with every bit of enthusiasm i could muster, and i am an enthusiastic kind of person.

i think what i'll do with my bottle of cat piss and liquid plast-ick is go out on halloween dressed as an acquaintance i actively dislike, ring the doorbell of my pain the ass neighbor, and set the whole bang shot ablaze with a flamethrower and run away.

this is among the most godawful smells in the world, and though i am devoted to hyperbolic metaphor, i promise that none of the above has an ounce of exaggeration included.

alchemie reeks to high heaven. it is well named, so i have read. alchemists of old (probably of today, as well) were infamous for producing smells so wretched they had to practice in secret, in the bowels of a castle or a dunjeon, IF they had a sympathetic, financially endowed patron. AND STILL they were constantly being discovered and driven out of town and country. if they were ambushed on their way to their next mole hole and met with a little accident, no one was surprised. they were just relieved.

so i say we mount a witches brew hunt against this good replica of the sludge at the botom alchemsit's athanor, and we change its status to that of the dinosaurs - (all of whom, bar none, probably smelled like heaven by comparison.)

i know somtimes i am vague, so in case i didn't make my point:

i hate, loathe and despise this bottled stench. it has me longing to antagonize a skunk, which, if it does its usual thing, will end up dousing me with a scent much easier to wear as miles higher olafactory appeal.

and that, my friends, is just one person's experience of alchemie. i can only assume that i am, or you are, nose deaf.

well it takes all kinds: those who are wrong, and me. (LO very L).

Ha ha Adrienn, I get a LOT of cucumbers too! I find it one of the most difficult notes in a perfume. I used to have the shower gel too and the cucumber was even stronger in the gel!

well, reading the reviews, I was expecting somewhat really magical. BUT half the time i only got CUCUMBERS.
I mean CUCUMBERRRRRRSSS?????

ok, i struggled myself thru and then I got somewhat like a nice caramel. Suspect this is not why other people adore it so much.

I think I am done with it. I do not like to smell like a grocery store, sorry. Would love to smell on someone with different chemistry , though

Does anybody know where one can buy this treasure at a reasonable price? To make the quest even harder, does anybody know an on-line fragrance store with worldwide shipment where Alchimie is still available?

So happy to find this a little mini of this perfume. Cant stop smelling my wrist. Its like floating in a magical cloud. Scent that changes and transforms into something that is so difficult to explain. Light and a dark notes together creating something special. Flowery, yet oriental. A real Alchemie of the perfume.

Sometimes a scent can tug at your heart in a way that you can't tell whether a sweet distant memory is resurfacing, or you have visions of your future self as you'd like to be - it's an entirely vague but utterly overwhelming emotional experience that you don't even want to describe but simply enjoy the waves of it. That's what Alchimie does to me. What an appropriate name for a potion that can do all that!

I don't even know how to describe the physical scent; decomposing it into notes seems sacrilegious, and is anyway best left to someone who has a less of an emotional response to this marvel (no judgment!). The best I can do is to remark on the dichotomy between its alluring sweetness at the top and the underlying dangerous darkness, present through all of its 4-hour life on my skin.

Alchimie is a master-genius, an elixir of feminity, sex-appeal, elegance and mystery. I am a lucky owner of 100ml EDP and have been using it for years, on special occassions.
It is a fragrance I immediately fell in love with. It is not a fragrance for a teenage glitzy Barbie girl. That sensual fragrance is reserved for a mature classy woman, self confident, determined to achieve her goals.
The notes are boldly composed in a way that it is hard to detect them on their own.
Alchimie is a magical mixture that will certainly get your man on his knees, you watch it :-)
I highly recommend it, not only to licorice lovers as to my surprise the note is not dominating others, unlike in other perfumes.
To me - all other fragrances may not exists as long as Alchimie is still available in some parts of our globe.
Shame that such a perfume wonder was discontinued - the Rochas decision that is completely beyond me.
It is like running a marathon and stop one meter before the finishing line.
A complete utter nonsense!

This perfume was made when the perfume industry was interesting. I like the bottle, the shape and the smell. I bought two bottles yesterday, they were VERY expensive since this perfume is very rare now and in my country Rochas doesn't exist anymore. Even if I'm a man I recomend this perfume in any way (for women of course).

This is an absolutely gorgeous scent which I wore during a dark period of my life so I can't wear it now without being so sad.

I brought it the same time as my best mate brought Thierry Mulger Angel. It boggles the mind that sexy, exquisite, floriental Alchimie has been discontinued and Angel is still out there terrorising people.

Alchimie is best fragrance.. I really really love it.. But so expensive :(

I have three sample vials of this that I am jealously guarding. I love this scent so much. The first thing I get is a gentle orange-peach, followed by soft florals and just a dab of caramel. It smells sweet without being too sweet, rich and almost "clean." When I wear it, it seems to disappear into my skin, but other people can surely smell it on me. It lasts about 4-5 hours.

I had heard that Naomi Campbell's "Naomi Campbell" smelled like Alchimie. The two scents are not identical, but very similar. I'm wearing NC right now, and it seems a little "fresher," but otherwise very much like Alchimie.

Wonderful and unique!
One of the best perfumes I've ever felt.
Sweet vanilla, slight but significant. Female, different, charming.
Could not have been discontinued!
Forever one of the best perfumes in the world!
I'm a fan of Cavallier.

I had this great perfume ones, many years ago and i still remmember it's wonderfull sweet fragrance. it's an amaizing perfume!! i love it very much. long lasting, sweet and floral... what a shame it's so hard to get nowdays.

A little bit old-fashioned smell, but absolutely in a positive way - reminding me of a tender and elegant upper class lady. Very delicate sweetness makes it sexy - not like a hot kitty, but smart princess knowing how to flirt appropriately

In addition to the fragrance houses, I am also very much in love with German ans Italian houses like:
German:
Joop!
Jil Sander
Bogner
Marbert

And Italian:
Luciano Soprani
Roberto Capucci
Enrico Coveri

But ROCHAS, together with Balenciaga almost have a perfect score for me (meaning, liking almost EVERY perfume they ever produced).

The thing with Rochas is, that they advertise very little in comparison with other houses. For me, Rochas is one of the top 5 houses, next to Balenciaga, Guerlain, Yves Rocher (vintage selection), Krizia and Trussardi. Rochas is outstanding and worth having almost ALL as far as I'm concerned.

I remember the scent, similar to Alchimie, it's Cinema by Yves Saint Laurent. It's a bit sweeter, but the light version is very similar, although I do prefer Alchimie. Cinema was such a hit in Europe, Alchimie wasn't and it was better. The advertising campagne wasn't that big, I think that made the difference, too bad many people are influenced by expensive campaigns (whom sometimes cost more than producing the scent).

I know there's a scent that's very similar to this, I just can't seem to remember. Posted it on Basenotes a couple of years ago, but everything has changed and I can't retrieve it.
I'll let you know as soon as I remember or find my post. I love Alchimie!

I suspect that if you like Alchimie, you might like LouLou by Cacharel. Remind me very much of each other, although LouLou is definitely drier/colder and not as rich or carmely as Alchimie... but the fruit and floral notes are similar, at least on my skin. LouLou might be a good substitute since Alchimie is so difficult to find nowadays.

And, strangely, even the bottles look similar.

I utterly love this - my bottle is getting low and wow, is it getting spendy now that it's discontinued! Rochas was just CRAZY to stop making this gem. So sexy and unusual, warm and inviting, and yet mysterious. I get an almost nutty undertone in Alchimie below the fruit notes, and it's just addictive. I hope I can afford another bottle, but it seems to be very much in demand now.

update: this scent drives me crazy... ^_^

words fail me, this potion is just so divine. I finally got my unopened bottle today, & i am deeply in love. It smells so good! My fiance said it is one of the most sexy fragrances he has ever smelled on me. :-)

Once you smell this scent, you will never forget it.
The most expensive smelling perfume ever made.
I have never smelt anything so enchanting and intoxicating.
If i ever see a bottle of this i will buy it.
Up until a couple of years ago, it used to be available in
Myers, but it suddenly disappeared from the shelves.
Why do they discontinue perfumes when they are so obviously well loved. Makes no sense whatsoever.

EBAY! I just bought a bottle today from a perfume seller on there, mainly because I saw it was so rare and sought after.LOL I have never smelled it so I hope it smells as fabulous as everyone says it does!! The notes described in this fragrance often blend well with my chemistry. I am truly a perfume nut. :)

I have to add,if anyone ever see it availible or something,please let me know because i am in love..

Really, for the life of me, i fail to understand why such a wonderful, SEDUCTIVE, fragrance had to be discontinued?!

This really is HEAVEN IN A BOTTLE. My goodness...

So unique, so sweet (not overpowering), so SEXY. I am normally very iffy about coconuts in fragrances but here, it's just so damn good. The coconut is just perfect, not too little, not too much. I immediately started dancing a little, when i sprayed it on - it's that good.

Perfect for day-wear (not for an office though), and great for nighttime outings.

I tried this on around the same time as Serpentine by Cavalli, and i do find bit of a similarity. Serpentine is greener and slightly lighter IMO. Alchimie is rounder, slightly deeper, sweeter, and definitely has more of a flirtatious flare then the latter.

Alchimie is synonyme for sex in a bottle ;-)
I miss Alchimie, I used to wear it years ago, and Iam so heartbroken because it has been discontinued. Rochas really made a big mistake! I've been searching all over Europe to find it, but so far haven't been lucky. There is nothing quite similar to it. I found some similarity in Givenchy Ange ou Demon top notes, but that scent is just not for me. I'll cherish Alchemie always in my heart, hoping I'll rediscover it someday , somewhere. Oh those sweet memories...

This magical elixir is just absolutely beautiful and one of my faves. To me it smells like creamy vanilla/caramel and has a softness to it...but still great sillage. I am sooo disappointed that it has been discontinued. I think Rochas made a big mistake. The sad thing is...there is nothing else that I have found that smells remotely like it.

my all time fav from Rochas! smells sweet and rich, warm and soft. it's a very femenine fragrance, had a good longevity. the bottle is gorgeous! sadly it's to hard to find it.

for me it smeell sexy, warm, hot and sweet

I've been looking for this perfume for quite some time. I have never been able to match up another fragrance quite as evocative and sophisticated as this one. It evokes a sense of mystery that is very classic and tragically romantic. However, I must say that this scent isn't for every skin type in my experience. I recommend 20 minutes of wear as a minimum to gauge whether or not it suits you. Very slight perspiration helps bring forward some of the more subtle notes...

For those that have it - this one is a little treasure. Gives every lady that wears it - the scent of aristocracy.

I bought it today without smelling it first and I am surprised in a good way.I liked it a lot.When i read about the frag I was expecting heavy, super sweet oriental with sticky sweet dry down ,but nooo,istead it is very soft ,light,creamy oriental , super sexy and addictive.fills me up with harmony....

I was in love with this fragrance! So warm and tender.But, yes, it's very hard to get it nowdays.

One of my first grown up fragrances, when it was first released, so it holds good memories for me. I recently purchased another bottle and it still smells divine. A true oriental scent, a winner, so sad its discontinued.

Simply the best, alchimie its a great name for a great scence, it makes you feel like a queen.

This fragrance confirms an old saying that every woman can be beautiful only if she wants to.Imagine the most subtle cocktail made of coconut, vanilla and peach.the deep base is rich and musky.
A true gem among fragrances.

This is good, warm and comfy fragrance. Sadly pretty hard to get nowdays.