Serge Lutens Fragrances

[joie]

^good news about Muscs Koublai Khan...

I'm still kicking myself for not getting any of the Bois series when I was in Paris (I bought Sarrasins bell jar for me and Vetiver Oriental for my mum instead). I love Bois et Fruits and Bois de Violette. Next time!

I also own and love Chergui, Gris Clair and Miel de Bois. My all time favourite SL fragrance and one of my top fragrances since I started wearing perfume as a teenager is Feminite du Bois. So so SO glad to see it come out in Lutens' line after it got discontinued by Shiseido.

 

[Spike413]

where can one buy these? or maybe order samples?

I'm going to echo this question, because I've decided I need to try out MKK. It seems like an important rite of passage.

I've also been dying to try Ambre Sultan and Serge Noire.

 

[tangerine]

Barneys and Neiman Marcus carry Serge Lutens, so if you can get to one of the stores, you can try them there.

Other than that, the only samples I know of are the wax ones you can request from Les Salons. I've never seen liquid samples.

 

[tigerrouge]

I get my liquid samples from Les Senteurs in London, although I have to report that MKK turns into a soft musk on my skin, with slight tones of leather. I like it, but it's not the feral monster of perfumery myth and legend, perhaps on a man, but not me.

Borneo 1834 opens with this wonderful blast of spices and flowers, which soon reduced to what's been described elsewhere as 'high grade hash' - I had to layer it with something else before going out.

I have a full bottle of Ambre Sultan somewhere, it's gone off slightly with the passing of time, but I still wear it sometimes when I'm alone in the house, I can't imagine the world appreciating the harshness of what it's become. It would probably work really well if I turned it into a soap, but it seems like a sad end for a Lutens scent, to get turned into something as mundane as that.

Serge Noire I like, Clair de Musc was too soft for me, but the one I've worn the most this winter was Cedre, it reminds me of the fragrant green dampness of moss in the forest and the sap within the wood.

Cuir Mauresque I'd love to get a liquid sample to try, but I suppose I'll have to wait until it takes its turn in the export line.

 

[*Truffaut*]

you can order serge lutens samples on theperfumeshoppe.com and theperfumedcourt.com

 

[tangerine]

Good call, *Truffaut*, I forgot about theperfumedcourt.

tigerrouge, I have the same experience with Muscs Koublai Khan; a soft vegetal/floral musk, very pleasant. *shrugs*

 

[pucci_mama]

I recently bought Chergui and I adore it!

Chêne is also an old favourite of mine.

The Paris boutique will send you samples.

 

[Spike413]

Thanks everyone. The Perfumed Court is literally my new best friend.

I'm surprised to hear about MKK. You read about it and it's made to sound so epic, all sweat, dirty sheets and disheveled hair.

 

[tigerrouge]

Two new fragrances from Serge Lutens are set to come out in 2010, with Bas de Soie launched in June, and Boxeuses set to appear in September. Reviews suggest Bas de Soie seems to be an iris and hyacinth scent that follows along the 'clean' lines of L'Eau Serge Lutens. Boxeuses will be "a woody leather fragrance with gourmand accents including plum and licorice".

 

[Melisande]

Oh how could I have missed this! I adore Serge Lutens...although most of his scents I find too heavy and spicy to suit me personally, Nuits de Cellophane is my favorite, and Sa Majesté La Rose is one of the most amazing rose perfumes in existence. L'eau de SL is also beautiful but too light and disappears quickly...

The bottles and names are beautiful too.

 

[tigerrouge]

Luten's first new scent for 2011 is about to be launched - Jeux de Peau is described as a gourmand scent for both genders that's supposed to evoke the smell of buttered toast. Perfume Shrine reported:

The formula like a nurturing and appetising breakfast of tartines and butter exhibits pronounced sandalwood/milky notes at the top, progressing into a "toast accord" with a few sweeter and floral facets next (reminiscent of rosewood), alongside sweeter and spicier ones such as a mix of licorice and coconut. The finish is built around a fruity touch (between apricot and osmanthus).

"It gets me back to the 'don't forget to pick up the bread on the way back from school!' At the boulangerie at the end of the road, its captivating odour and its blond and warm light, a golden moment..." says Serge. To recreate this harmony, Lutens and his perfumer have assembled dozens of essences, but also wheat and barley.

There's also talk of another new release, Vitriol d'Oeillet, for this summer, possibly as a Paris exclusive.

 

[Belowen]

that's supposed to evoke the smell of buttered toast.

Wow, I'm not sure how that will come across but as it's a Serge fragrance it'll be beautiful regardless I'm sure. Keen to smell it!

 

[Jungla_Juana]

I love gourmands... and buttered toast sounds delicious!!!

 

[tigerrouge]

I got a sample of Jeux de Peau from Serge Lutens, and I was most amused that it did smell of buttery continental bread on me, with a touch of crystallised sweetness, like crunchy honeycomb. Eventually, hours later, I'm left with a light undertone of cedar or incense, something a bit autumnal and burnt, yet still warm and milky.

I see one blog has described it as a 'woody gourmand', I would agree with that... it's a scent that I would wear for myself, so I could marvel at how my own skin smells to me, rather than as a perfume that might please or impress the nose of other people.

 

[CarolineRose]

I got a sample of Jeux de Peau from Serge Lutens, and I was most amused that it did smell of buttery continental bread on me, with a touch of crystallised sweetness, like crunchy honeycomb. Eventually, hours later, I'm left with a light undertone of cedar or incense, something a bit autumnal and burnt, yet still warm and milky.

I see one blog has described it as a 'woody gourmand', I would agree with that... it's a scent that I would wear for myself, so I could marvel at how my own skin smells to me, rather than as a perfume that might please or impress the nose of other people.

that sounds divine . . . I haven't been to a Serge Lutens counter at Barney's for a while because the ladies have always been SO pushy, but I might have to stop in to smell this one.

 

[Spike413]

^ Actually since Serge Lutens will have online shopping for the US starting in April you can now request samples through the website without having to deal with overeager SAs.

 

[CarolineRose]

^really? that would be amazing . . . most sites won't let you request samples unless it's with a purchase, though.

 

[Spike413]

That doesn't seem to be the case with SL. I received a few samples from them after requesting the ones I was interested in. They were extremely generous with them, which is more than can be said for most companies.

 

[CarolineRose]

Awesome, I'll definitely check it out!

 

[tigerrouge]

The launch of Vitriol d'Oeillet is imminent, with another new perfume, De Profundis, set to arrive in late autumn. From graindemusc.blogspot.com:

Vitriol d’Oeillet is a fierce carnation that reminds us that "clove" and "nail" are the same word in French ("clou"), in the tough-powdery line of Bas de Soie, with hints of the lily which is really the carnation’s olfactory sister… Excerpt from the press release:

“After a moment of hesitation, the carnation – alias the clove pink – is what I am in every sense: this fragrance fraught with anger is my riposte. Its petals, laced with tiny teeth, hold out the solution: a burst of fragrant spikes. Would it make you smile to know that the wallflower packs a real fragrant punch, that the pepper comes from Cayenne and that the scent of cloves lies deep within this composition?”

De Profundis takes its name from Oscar Wilde’s letter to Alfred Douglas written in prison as well as Baudelaire’s “De Profundis Clamavi” (“Out of the Depths Have I Cried). It is built around the funereal chrysanthemum and, fatally, incense. The potion itself takes on the emblematic colour of the Decadents -- and of ink, to drive home the literary point --, "the color violet (love restrained, mysterious and veiled; the canoness' color)", wrote Baudelaire, veering towards the ultraviolet which is the only light capable of illuminating black. Excerpt from the press text:

“What if the hearse were taking the deceased, surrounded by abundant flourish, to a final resting place in France, and leading altar boys, priest, undertaker, beadle and grave-diggers to some sort of celebration where they could indulge gleefully in vice? Now that would be divine!”

Vitriol d’Oeillet is part of the export line. It will be launched in July at the Palais-Royal, then worldwide in September. De Profundis is part of the exclusive Palais-Royal line. It will be launched in October.

The limited edition bottles will be available in November. Both Louve and Serge Noire will also be edited in engraved bottles, the former with a Balinese puppet motif, the latter with a crucifix.