Armani Code Femme

Armani Code arrived for men in 2004 and for women two years later, and the feminine version has had the stranger afterlife. Armani has always sold it as the seductive one — the brand's own copy calls it addictive, intoxicating, passionate, and describes a perfume redolent of a femme fatale. Two decades later it is still in the catalogue in Europe, where Armani lists it as Armani Code for Women eau de parfum, though it has dropped off the brand's United States site. If you are buying it in South Africa, expect to see it labelled either Code Femme or Code for Women; it is the same fragrance.

Armani reduces the composition to three ideas on its own page: orange blossom, honey and precious wood. The opening is citrus and floral at once — Italian orange and bitter orange over jasmine, with fresh ginger giving a small, dry bite that keeps the whole thing from turning syrupy immediately. The heart is where the fragrance earns its reputation, with orange blossom and jasmine turning creamy and slightly narcotic. Then honey arrives, and honey is the polarising material here: warm, slightly animalic, unmistakably sweet, softened by vanilla and sandalwood underneath. The overall shape is a white floral wearing a gourmand base, and it is much heavier at the end than at the start.

This is night perfume. It suits cold weather, restaurants and occasions where being noticed is the point, and it is genuinely difficult to carry in Highveld summer heat, where the honey and vanilla expand. Two sprays is plenty. Armani positions it firmly as feminine and it wears that way.

Longevity is very good — eight to ten hours is normal, and it stays on clothing considerably longer. Projection is strong for the first two hours and then settles close. One honest caveat: a fragrance this old has been through more than one formulation over twenty years, so a recent bottle will not be identical to one from 2006. Armani does not credit a perfumer publicly, so treat any name you see attached to it as attribution rather than fact.