January 5, 2021

Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme A Nice, Lighter Dupe of Kilian Love, Don’t Be Shy

I purchased this item and I receive a small commission if you shop using the links in this post.
5 stars out of 5

Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme is a nice, lighter dupe of Kilian Love, Don’t Be Shy and at a much more affordable price tag! I wanted to feature this in a review of sorts today because so many of you had ordered the smaller travel spray of Kilian Love, Don’t Be Shy and proceeded to email asking if I knew of a cheaper dupe because a bottle of Love, Don’t Be Shy will set you back $240. Ouch! Honestly, I do recommend the original because it’s pure marshmallow orange blossom-y joy! It’s super sweet and the perfect gourmand in my humble opinion. If you can indulge I highly recommend taking the plunge and buying the original.

However, for those that can’t or don’t want to spend that much on a bottle of fragrance Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme is a nice option. Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme is actually a nice option for those that found Love, Don’t Be Shy a bit too sweet as this is a lighter, less sweet version!

One of the most unique aspects of Pour Femme is it’s ability to mist right out of the bottle and envelope you in a gorgeous layer of scent. You don’t get alcohol here you just get straight fragrance. I found it’s rare for a fragrance to just come out of the bottle and smell like it’s supposed to. Typically you get a bit of the alcohol and as it settles onto your skin the fragrance develops. Not the cases with poor Femme! It’s straight fragrance right away!

The notes ares can be misleading as there’s raspberry, neroli, mandarin orange, orange blossom, jasmine, marshmallow, vanilla, sandalwood, and heliotrope. Out of all those notes you’ll likely smell all of three of them maybe four! When you have all these notes you expect a fragrance to be complex and breakdown from the top to the middle and finally towards the base. I just get the base of the fragrance with a few of the middle notes. It instantly hits the air and I smell marshmallow mixed with orange blossom and a bit of warmth from the neroli. No raspberry and no zesty layer from the mandarin orange! I’d like to say I smell something slightly floral and that may be the jasmine but the orange blossom and marshmallow mix are heavier and drown that note out unless you really concentrate on it you’re not going to smell it.

These is lighter and much less sweet compared to Love, Don’t Be Shy. Love, Don’t Be Shy has more depth and sweetness where as Pour Femme is more delicate. Don’t let the lighter side of this fool you though the silage is still amazing and surrounds you in a warm, snugly layer of scent! It lingers and has a beautiful throw to it and will garner attention and questions about what that lovely scent is you’re wearing. In some ways, it’s a superior version of Love, Don’t Be Shy as it’s a bit less intrusive and in your face.

I highly recommend Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme if you like orange blossom fragrances. It’s sweet but not too sweet, it’s feminine, has a certain cuddly warmth, and it’s simply beautiful! And much more affordable compared to Love, Don’t Be Shiny.

Try it, you might like it.

Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme is available now.

Own it already?

Share your thoughts about it!

Where to buy

Sephora Ulta

I purchased this item and I receive a small commission if you shop using the links in this post.

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Christina

    This sounds pretty. I once read on another blog that since the person started wearing luxe and niche perfume, she found regular perfume from mainstream brands too synthetic and not as appealing. Has wearing luxury perfume changed your perception of fragrances you used to love?

    • Isabella Muse

      I don’t really consider this a luxury perfume to be honest but I think wearing niche and more higher end fragrances has definitely changed how I feel about mainstream lines of scent! I wouldn’t say it’s about them being synthetic but I would say there’s a certain uniqueness to a higher end fragrance. There’s a lot of cheapie and mid-range scents that are simply wonderful but it’s like Bath and Body Works they all start smelling the same! If you spend a bit more I think you do get more of a unique experience in that not everyone is going to smell the way you do. Does that make some weird sense? 😀

      • Christina

        Yes, it makes perfect sense. I haven’t smelt either one, but was surprised that you thought Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme could be considered superior to Kilian’s Love, Don’t Be Shy. I usually expect luxury perfume to be more superior, but I guess I should be looking at them as more nuanced than superior. It definitely got me thinking about niche/luxe perfume versus mainstream.

        • Isabella Muse

          I think in certain ways it is because it’s much less intrusive and a lot less sweet but I still prefer Love Don’t Be Shy because I love uber sweet fragrances ;-D niche/luxe vs mainstream can be an interesting study! I like all perfumes really including Indie ;-D if it smells great I’ll wear it!

    • Donna Jensen

      Not to be too cynical but I would bet money that a lot of people that think their tastes are so rarefied that they can only wear niche couldn’t tell the difference between those fragrances and the hoi polloi department store fragrances in a blind smell test. I think what Isabella said below is exactly correct; niche fragrances tend to be more avant garde and unique but that’s not always a good thing. Go read the reviews of Secrets Magnifique on Fragrantica if you want a good laugh AND if you aren’t easily grossed out. (My favorite: This fragrance smells like a Civil War battlefield in the burning hot sun” or something like that.)

        • Donna Jensen

          if you liked that, you will love this:

          I got a small vial to test, out of curiosity and it’s been on my wrist for about a half hour now, and damn is it gross. It smells like seaweed, a cleaning product, drool and spoiled milk…so far. And pennies, old ones. The longer it’s on my wrist the more disgusting it gets, it almost turns my stomach. I cannot imagine choosing to smell this way! I’m glad I satisfied my curiosity and I can say with complete conviction NEVER AGAIN.
          Edit: whoever said this smells like wet dog is right on the money! I KNEW there was something familiarly disgusting that I just couldn’t put my finger on! I don’t think this smells like sex at all, more like a wet dog rolled around in a poorly cleaned up crime scene!

          Here’s the rest:
          https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Etat-Libre-d-Orange/Secretions-Magnifiques-4523.html

          • Isabella Muse

            LOL Oh I’ve already read these! BUT I have to say fragranitcas have been wrong in the past about Etat Libre d’Orange as they all say Like This smells like rotting fruit and on me it’s simply gorgeous! However, I will take your word for it that this stinks lol! possibly the best one is “sperm of a man who ate sardines” LOLROFL! Don’t forget Sarah Jessica Parker saying that Stash was supposed to smell like a homeless man on the train! God I love perfume! LOL

          • Donna Jensen

            I want to smell like moss and an old purse. Not everyone wants to smell clean or like shower gel. I feel as if SJP succeeded with her aim in Stash, I can’t wear it.

          • Isabella Muse

            LOL! I want to smell all vintage and old Hollywood glam! Lush Ginger! And Dianne Brill Eau de Parfum (I miss it madly)! I loved Stash! No shame! It smelled warm and cuddly to me!

          • Christina

            OMG! I can’t stop laughing! I wonder if brands create scents just for the sake of creating something unique and not intending it to be wearable. LOL!

            I’m unfortunate in that most perfume/scents make me nauseous, even perfumes that have simple notes and are inspired by nature. I love to read about perfume, but I can’t wear any of it.
            I’m not allergic to fragrance either; I just have a sensitive nose that makes me feel like I’m smelling 10x what the normal person smells. I’m like this even with natural scents found in our everyday lives. I can’t even imagine what would happen if I sniffed Secrets Magnifique. LOL!

  • Kimmwc03

    Thanks for this. I bought the rollerball of Love, Don’t be Shy but found it way too sweet on my skin. I’ll look for this. I love orange blossom scents.

  • Donna Jensen

    This sent me on a rabbit hole to reading about D&G Pour Femme, then the intense version, then the Armaf dupe….and I ended up w/ the Armaf because it’s allegedly much longer laster than the Dolce and Gabbana fragrance.

    To someone else’s point. I think a lot about cost and the justification of said cost when it comes to fragrance. I think there is a lot of malarkey when it comes to fragrance marketing and there are NO fragrances I think are worth more than a couple hundred dollars. (That is my arbitrary level since I own many many fragrances that cost between $150-300 so just ignore that part.) I am not even sure any are worth hundreds. The marketing language (rare Brazilian amber, headspace tuberose etc) is a lot of bunk. Most fragrances are made up of synthetics anyway.

    If you aren’t a fragrance nut, I think it’s the same thing as with makeup. Yeah you can go buy the Chantecaille or Sisley or Guerlain makeup but you can achieve the same effect with MAC or Tarte or Revlon and most of the time no one will be able to tell the difference. There are many fragrances that cost less than $20.00 that I would wear before a lot of popular fragrances.

    • Isabella Muse

      just a note the intense version smells warmer and a lot different compared to pour femme imho! I assume you got Armaf The Pride? let me know how it is! I’m just a fragrance whore period. Doesn’t matter the cost if it smells good I’m on top of it but you are right. There are many variations of scents that you can get cheaper versus buying a $300 bottle! It’s all about research. If you take time out and research the scent chances are you’re going to find a hell of a cheaper dupe of it. But I do slightly disagree in the fact some scents aren’t as easy to dupe and the higher cost is justified. Prime example, Jivago! Well worth the $175-$200 price tag. I have never found anything else like 24K. It’s completely unique and totally worth the cost. Good discussion ;-D I do some love talking perfume and don’t do it nearly enough on here!

      • Donna Jensen

        No, this one: https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Armaf/Italiano-Donna-27668.html

        I have had horrible luck with Armaf fragrances so my hopes are not high but we’ll see. The only fragrance I have ever had give me any kind of physical skin reaction was the Armaf dupe of Tom Ford Noir de Noir; it felt like a chemical burn.

        The time to research is not something many people want to do, and I get it. I love finding a great writer at Fragrantica and sitting down to read all their reviews and can easily spend an entire evening doing it but that’s very fragrance geek. Most people just want to find something that smells good and doesn’t break the bank. I love talking perfume too and always love it when you feature fragrance related content on your blog.

        I have a bottle of Jivago that I have never tried. I will have to dig that out and try it. Is it the bottle w/ the gold flakes in it?

        • Isabella Muse

          oh no! Italiano Donna smells more like TM Aura! It’s The Pride that has Orange Blossom and Jasmine! That’s suppose to be a dupe of Pour Femme. Oh god that’s not good. I love doing research on fragranitca! Totally a guilty pleasure. I can read the forums for hours and hours and go over reviews for equally long. It’s fun to do as you discover some gems in the forums! Ditto! I don’t have enough people to talk to fragrance about! Especially here on the blog as most people come for the makeup/skincare! I wish I could do an entire blog on just fragrance! IT IS! GO WEAR IT! It’s AMAZING! Wear is crap on the EDT though 🙁 but it’s a beautiful fragrance! Very unique!

          • Donna Jensen

            That is an OH NO. I don’t like Aura. Oh well. It just goes into the pile that I will sell or give away someday.

            You have me curious about the Jivago, when I get off work I am going to look for it. It shouldn’t be hard to find, if I remember correctly, it was in a huge tall box.

            I would read your fragrance blog!!

          • Isabella Muse

            Try it first maybe you’ll love it. I don’t like Aura either! Too intrusive! It is! It’s a gold and white box very big square box. Tell me what you think! Eager to hear if you like it! Maybe one day I’ll do one 😀

          • Fragrance Lover

            The Pride is actually supposed to be a dupe of Good Girl by Carolina Herrera. It smells like a CHEAP and immensely inferior version of GG with added mothball accord *shudders*. Armaf’s Italiano Donna is indeed intended to be a dupe of D &G Pour Femme Intense. It is a reasonable facsimile and doesn’t smell cheap (like many of the other Armafs I’ve sampled). I don’t find D&G Pour Femme to be a good dupe of Kilian’s LDBS. It has the fluffy factor but it isn’t as complex (I really dig the civet which cuts slightly through the intense sweetness). I think Pour Femmme is less polarizing and easier to wear so it is superior to LDBS in that sense.

  • Leslie Noel

    I enjoyed this article so much that I had to see who wrote it. And I just would like to say….the back and forth banter in the comments were just as MARVELOUS as the article. I absolutely love a good fragrance. I can’t see the makeup on my face all of the time, but I can enjoy the aroma that is me. Lastly, Ms. Muse, I wish that you could write about fragrance all if the time just as you wish…….just putting that out to the universe with good vibes so that it comes for you. Merci beaucoup ladies

    • Isabella Muse

      awww Leslie thank you! What a beautiful comment! Made my day! Glad you enjoyed this post! I LOVE fragrance and try to post it as much as possible 🙂 Happy to have you hear with all of us commenting <3!