I bought my Fidji type from The Fragrance Shop in the summer but brought it out today on a day of freezing rain and ice. It is perfect for this grey and very cold day, enveloping me in a fresh green floral.blanket. Fidji is a green floral chypre and as another reviewer has said, it is not tropical in the usual sense of the word. It is more like the coastline by the ocean of parts of Europe, where pine trees and herbs and flowers abound, and as such I feel it can lend itself to both hot and cold weather wearing, as I feel the true classic fragrances often do. Fidji is a classic and has been reformulated recently. From reviews I've read, the original version is smoother and creamier and less harsh and watery than the current reformulation. I am writing my review today comparing the Fidji type perfume oil to the vintage (1980's) version of Fidji, perfume strength. I have the perfume oil on my left wrist and the vintage Fidji on my right to compare. Initially, The Fragrance Shop version's Fidji had a slightly soapy note and the original vintage Fidji had a stronger blast of the galbanum note. However, within five minutes as the oil settled into my skin, the two became almost identical. Thirty minutes into wearing the fragrance, the woody sandalwood and vetiver note of the vintage original becomes a bit more prominent than the perfume oil. For both of them, the green and fresh hyacinth and creamy white flower notes as well as the other floral notes and spice from the carnation are equally present and well-balanced. The woody note of The Fragrance Shop's perfume oil then comes forward with the oakmoss. At the drydown it is a beautiful mingling of the woody notes and the resins and musk with some remaining oakmoss and florals. The Fragrance Shop's version is clearly formulated based on the vintage version of Fidji, and I feel they have done an outstanding job of capturing this wonderful fragrance, and enabling us to still experience it as part of our fragrance wardrobe. Thank you to the gifted perfumers at The Fragrance Shop!
