Alchimie

I managed to get this in a vintage sampler set and I’m so upset I can’t buy a full size! This is my kind of vintage. Fruity, floral, and fresh, but without all the powdery heliotrope notes that can sometimes make vintage scents less appealing to modern audiences. While they aren’t dupes, if you want a classic vintage with a similar vibe, try Allure from Chanel, or YSL Cinema. They have a similar gentle fruity floral classy vibe.

Ah, those were the days when buying an affordable, not terribly expensive perfume guaranteed you a world full of magic... that's what Alchimie by Rochas was like. Sweet and musky-vanilla with marvelous fruits and wondrous flowers that were never cloying. Back then, we didn't know that perfumes were heavy or cloying... but we did know that it was sweet beauty. Wearing Alchimie is like stepping into a dream, it's a fantasy film, it's like flying on a dragon through Tolkien's infinite landscapes... I hope the perfume industry reconsiders and realizes that people don't need to show off with a perfume; people need to dream with it...

I have half of a vintage 50ml bottle. Message me if you are interested.

Lo avevo comprato nel 99 perchè mi piaceva la bottiglia. Il profumo l'ho usato una volta sola,dopo l'acquisto. Non sa di niente, non sento quasi nulla. Ogni tanto lo vado a risentire per vedere se sento qualcosa ma risulta solo una debole sensazione di caramello o lacca per capelli.

Please bring it back Rochas, it's the perfume love of my life

Beautiful retro sweet amber vanilla with some fruits . It's got a nice body and heft to it. Hard to believe this is from 1998 ! The bottle is screaming 1968! I want to explore this house a lot MORE! This is my second blind buy from Rochas and I am very happy with it!

This was a banger, sexy, femme fatale.

Alchimie should be back on the shelves. Rochas it is the time !

Hi Dear Fragrantica Friends, quality Perfume Lovers! ❤️ Please write to the customer service to Rochas Company to bring Alchimie back! It is such a GEM! Please help me, I decided to write to them yesterday, but one voice wouldn't be enough. I hope there are others who had or will have the same idea! It is such an interesting and original scent! Such an enjoyable, special composition! Fragrances of that kind are pure Art, which is timless... like music! ...and they should be staying on shelves to be discovered by next generations. What if we stopped playing Mozart or Bach..???

Bring it back!!!

Rochas, please bring Alchimie back, like you did with Byzance! I promise to buy 5 bottles immediately!

Sweet powdery floral & amber, the fruit notes are not individually identifiable to me. I didn’t like my sample, it smells like it’s suffering from an identity crisis. Like it’s had a bit of everything chucked at it, a real mish mash. I tried to categorise it, floral? Oriental? Gourmand? ..well I felt it decided to be a mixture of them all. It is cloying & whilst I love some vintage scents, this smells dated to me & not in a good way. It’s brash bordering obnoxious, & I would feel extremely self conscious & uncomfortable wearing it. I kept trying to wash it off, but could still smell it after several hours. Not for me.

This was a treasure to have twenty-five years ago. I'll never forget how lucky and purely coincidental it was to come across this. For me this was the ultimate smokey dark cherry (black currant) that almost went in the direction of liquor, but kept burning rather than smelling like a drinkable tonic. I had the fancy bottle which was a sight to behold. Then two years after, I found it again! A smaller long bottle that lay flat on a surface. Big projection without suffocating me and lasted days on clothing. How many perfumes do the same today? NONE.

Alchimie. My mother kept her bottle, carefully stored in its box, like a treasure. I had a delicious but somewhat confused memory of a powdery vanilla scent, enhanced with a warm plum and a soft, enveloping caramel. A wonder. Unfortunately, 26 years later, it has aged very poorly. On my skin, I could only detect a light and fleeting vanilla note. Disappointment, I who loved this perfume in the past, I would have liked to be able to smell it again in all its splendor. This will no longer be possible. I would love for Alchimie to make a comeback, but it's a pipe dream...

Smells like old makeup to me. It's a very heavy and powdery scent. Persistence is good though, washed my hands with soap and could still feel the smell.

Atrevo-me a dizer que é um dos melhores perfumes alguma vez pensados e concebidos. Na minha pele a duração era imensa e tinha uma grande projecção, não deixava ninguém indiferente por onde eu passava. Uma fragrância Única, Audaz, carismático, doce, quente e atalcado e algo que nos deixa enfeitiçados. Não percebo a razão para terem descontinuado esta maravilha, venderia milhões com certeza.

@Nimu if yours smells like window cleaner it is - definitely - off!

This is one of my all time favourites. I imagine a woman in her 30s, who's seen the world, who used to be free-spirited, and now her curiosity and unquenchable thirst for the world matured into a quest for wisdom and compassion through her past experience. It's gentle and sophisticated, but alluring and so charmingly intoxicating! Though I fall short of that imaginary woman, it grounds me and gives me a boost of confidence whenever I wear it. To me, this fragrance is an inspiration in a bottle. When I first discovered it in 2017, I bought a backup bottle without hesitation. My only regret now is that I did not get the pure perfume version of it that I could still find back then. Without hesitation, I call this fragrance 'the' floriental of my life.

Got a 2ml sample vial. I get Johnson’s baby shampoo - heavy on the florals. Pleasant & clean fragrance but it doesn’t spark something in me sadly. I don’t know if it is just my sense of smell or the old sample but I didn’t get any fruit, except for a hint of coconut perhaps. Disappointed about that. Overall, I wouldn’t bother paying ridiculous prices for a vintage bottle as it will probably smell as mine does. Glad I didn’t take the risk. If you can get a bottle for a normal retail price (not eBay prices) and like powdery scents you’ll enjoy it. Otherwise save your money.

Absolute love. Its a well blended compact scent, not too sweet, not too strong or coying, not tart. If you get your hands on it - BUY IT

Look like I'm one of the lucky few that found a vintage half full bottle rummaging through drawers. It was my mother's and is at least 30 years old. She stopped wearing perfume many years back. I primed my wrists, pumped 2 sprays and was reminded for a fleeting moment how good she smelled because it was gone in seconds. I'll be keeping the bottle, though. It's gorgeous.

Remembered that one as a magic perfume from my childhood and as many others was hunting it for years. Finally got beautiful not used 30 ml bottle - definitely I expected much much more. It's recognizeable peach and maybe bit plum, not over sweet, with hint of warm spices. I do not feel that crazy variety of notes from pyramid, it smells nice and warm and feminine, but nothing to die for. I dare to say that for 90% of experienced fragrantica members that would be nothing special, and it's much more about how rare and expensive it is, and maybe bit of good memories))

I was lucky to score a brand new 100ml flacon, sealed and in perfect condition for a very cheap price, some years ago, and it is one of my most treasured perfume unicorns in my collection.. It opens with fresh sweet notes, of peach, florals and sweet caramel with a woody drydown, when it gets deeper and deeper. A shame that original perfumes like this had been discontinued.. I wear it very sparingly since it's so ridiculously expensive and hard to find, but every time I wear it I feel enveloped on warm sweetness. My bottle is from year 2000 and the color and scent still amazing, very happy to have it in my collection.. this is one of a kind.. and very representative of its time.

I found one unopened bottle in my aunts drawer. Still wrapped and boxed sitting there in the dark. She gave it to me and I am so happy. I opened it and I think it is still good no sourness at all. What a fragrance! Elegance in a bottle. It is mixed so well, it is woody, sweet and musky at the same time but nothing is cloying or overwhelming. I can't get any notes on it's own. I feel so deep, elegant and sexy wearing it.

Love it, love it, love it. Why oh why, has this gem been discontinued? A perfect creamy balance of fruits, amber, and spices. Never cloying, always enveloping. Such a beauty. So glad I still have a small stash. (not really very close but giving a similar albeit less complex- vibe, mainly due to the similar base notes: Cap d'Ambre by Dr. Ricaud -actually Cd'A is even closer to Caron's Aimez-Moi, come to think of it.) If you find it, buy it.

World’s silliest think is to discontinue this georgous parfume. I cant believe. This is the best fragrance ever made since today. This must be a joke. When u wear this parfume everywhere you go, everything you touch smells. This is the fathet of all signature parfumes. The biggest problem today is always this: This parfume is so poor, its nice but poor. I want to ask ROCHAS WHY???? You have made one parfume and it was Achimie. Congratulations you discontinue 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Unfortunately, I discovered this perfume last year when it had already stopped production. Omg, what a beauty scent. It is so rich, ladylike, feminine, elegant, seductive. If I had to choose one for my whole life, it would be the one

Summary: A warm, sweet but airy powder. The sweet but airy part is an unusual combination and very well done. I own a sample. (thanks olgaolga19) --- I have tried a lot of powdery perfumes and enjoy them and their diversity. This is the first one I tried that, in my opinion, manages to be both clearly sweet and warm, and clearly airy and almost crystalline. It is very very well done. The peach is sweet and juicy, while the pear is watery and fragrant, but not too sweet. I experience these fruity notes in oscillation, sometimes sweet and fuzzy warm, sometimes watery and flowy like a river. The vanilla is elegantly present without overpowering, and the powdery flowers are light and airy like a white winter morning. The other notes, I experience them as an elegant, balanced perfume-y (in the best sense) mix I cannot describe well. The end result is simultaneously cozy, serene and energizing, very elegant but also sexy in an understated way. And bright, clear bright. I like it very very much. -- Edited to add: after some hours (5 or 6h) it morphs into a sweeter peach-vanilla sweeter mix, but never veers into sticky or jammy territory. Just loses the bright and clear quality, keeping the warm and cozy one. This last phase keeps the scent close to skin only, but remains there for a further 6 or more hours.

I am so lucky to still have in a sealed box the special edition of a crystal bottle of Alchimie. I still have two bottles of the normal packaging that i do sparingly use. Its is a fragrance that is complex yet simple and clean. I love how the fragrance changes from fresh in the initial spray it is, then transcends to summery, warm and cozy. It is creamy and oh so smooth. When wearing the fragrance I do get people asking what the scent is. So sad it was discontinued. If anyone knows of anything similar I sure would love to know, but until thenIll be keeping my rare stash close. Truly a real jewel of a fragrance.

I received this in a lovely giveaway and it's quite an intriguing scent. It starts with a warm pear/peach on me with hints of vanilla. It's a warm, soft fragrance with some mystery. I'll have to edit my review as I try it again. The bottle is an adorable little pumpkin shape, and that matches the season I imagine I would wear this in: Fall/autumn. EDIT: Ultimately this reminds me of scents my great-grandma would wear when I was growing up. It's comforting in that way but not something I would personally wear as a perfume so I've decided to swap it for something I will appreciate more.