Rose de Nuit Review

In its original, Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido conception (above*), Rose de Nuit was as much about the idea of rose as that of oakmoss, conjuring an impression of crimson petals strewn on bitter-dark soil.

Whilst the name cues us into a nocturnal setting, the story in fact begins at dusk, an early, peachy blush reflecting the rays of a setting sun. It’s a clever narrative device that simultaneously references the world of classic Chypres, most obviously Mitsouko.

Yet quickly the rosy fingers withdraw, and the dry, woodsy-earthy characteristics are left to develop atop a leathery, resinous (esp. labdanum), honeyed base that’s pleasantly animalic.

Comparing a more recent formulation, the mossy facet is less earthy more Veramossy, the rose slightly paler, though on paper it has greater substantivity. There’s a distinct sour note too that I find wanting in the vintage.

Nose: Gilles Romey

House: Serge Lutens

Release date: 1993

Notes (per Fragrantica): Turkish rose, yellow jasmine, apricot, amber, musk, sandalwood, beeswax.

*Photo-credit and sample thanks to my good friend O. 

La Fille de Berlin Review

The luscious, fuchsia coloured juice of La Fille de Berlin is an apt reflection of its olfactory profile: a lively red rose with hints of iononey raspberry and violets.

Rose oxide lends the composition a metallic green ring, as well some subtle spicy facets that are picked up by a rather restrained pepper note. It’s a shame more wasn’t made of this pepper for, as it is, the scent fairly slides into a very ordinary musk base that has just a touch of vanilla-like sweetness and creaminess.

Nose: Christopher Sheldrake.

House: Serge Lutens.

Release date: 2013.

Notes (per Fragrantica): Rose, pepper.

Iris Silver Mist Review

The story of Iris Silver Mist’s conception is now firmly established in the canon of perfume myth: Maurice Roucel, it is said, plugged the organoleptic term ‘iris’ into his fragrance database and set about combining all the results returned to create this scent. Besides a very respectable amount of orris butter (4.5%), the perfume contains a high dose of Isoraldeine (methyl ionones) and the IFF base Irival.

As its name suggests, Iris Silver Mist is intended to showcase orris’ impressive vocal range, from its ringing, silvery-metallic ‘top notes’ to its damp, vegetal-earthy fond. It’s in its mid-register however, where the scent sings most sublimely, developing a delicately powdered green-floral accord of intense beauty. The natural woodsy facets of iris meanwhile, are elaborated by the addition of cedar oil that coaxes forth a distinct nuttiness in the composition. Then slowly, almost imperceptibly, the perfume begins to darken in hue as the sweetly spiced, clovey odour of (Iso-)eugenol takes over, guiding the transition to a base of coumarin and plump musks.

Nose: Maurice Roucel

House: Serge Lutens

Release date: 1994

Notes (per Fragrantica): orris root, galbanum, cedar, sandalwood, clove, vetiver, musk, Chinese benzoin, incense, white amber.

Sa Majesté la Rose Review

Sa Majesté la Rose is a peerless rose soliflore at whose heart lies an unusually high dose of Rosa damascena absolute.

Following a nostril-singeing flare of waxy citrus, there emerges an astonishing facsimile of a freshly-cut, Madame Alfred Carrière-type blossom; all pink and dewy with an unmistakable lychee fruit accent. As the perfume develops, it gains a honey-like hue that’s shaded by dark spices and yet, somehow, Sa Majesté la Rose never looses its geranium-like brightness and verdant vibrancy - no mean feat given its remarkable longevity.

Nose: Christopher Sheldrake

House: Serge Lutens
Release date: 2000

Notes (per Fragrantica): Moroccan rose, guaiac wood, clove, white honey, musk.

Laine de Verre Review

With Laine de Verre, Mssrs. Lutens and Sheldrake remain at the nexus of functional and fine fragrance in their meditation on ‘clean’. Where the original L’Eau evoked the scent of a hot iron and freshly laundered linen, the latest addition takes us in the direction of personal hygiene products as are familiar from the morning routine.

After a mentholic, pepperminty opening whose icy freshness is a quotation from mouthwash, the fragrance is overtaken by a blend of aliphatic aldehydes (esp. C-12 MNA) that are zingy, metallic and waxy, and responsible for a textbook ‘soapy’ accord. In the background, citric notes combine with floral ingredients like Geraniol to give a vague impression of rose, but it’s a rose that’s been run through the wash so many times as to loose all its colour and become almost indistinguishable from the anonymous, musky base.

Nose: Christopher Sheldrake

House: Serge Lutens

Release date: 2014

Notes (per Fragrantica): Citruses, aldehydes, musks.

L'Eau Serge Lutens Review

L’Eau Serge Lutens opens to a generic, ozonic-floral accord with slight cinnamic accents. As the assembled cast of musks take their turn in the spotlight, the perfume moves from clean laundry, through hot iron (in the direction of Habanolide) to dry, delicately spiced woods.

A truly chilling portent.

Don’t say Uncle Serge hasn’t warned you…

Nose: Christopher Sheldrake

House: Serge Lutens

Release date: 2009

Notes (per Fragrantica): aldehydes, citrus, magnolia, white mint, clary sage, ozonic notes, musk.

Douce Amère Review

For the lips of a strange woman drop with honey,

and her palate is smoother than oil.

But her end is as bitter as wormwood,

sharp as a two-edged sword. 

(Proverbs / Mishlei, 5.3-4)

Douce Amère, as its name suggests, is a study in contrast between the bitter and the sweet.

The opening is dominated by a realistically cool absinthe accord, combining the intensely aromatic yet fresh, woody-green scent of wormwood (Artemesia sp.) and a sustained anise note. As the Green Fairy departs, a comforting fond of vanillic, creamy woods is revealed. 

Nose: Christopher Sheldrake

House: Serge Lutens

Release date: 2002
Notes (per Fragrantica): sweet-sourish pollen, cinnamon, tiare blossom, jasmine, lily, vanilla.

Miel de Bois Review

For all the hyperbole that surrounds Muscs Koublaï Khän, I’ve always considered Miel de Bois the true animalic beast in the Lutens stable.

Despite some minor tweaks to the formala, the perfume remains pleasingly pissy, thanks to a good dose of phenylacetic acid that’s instrumental in creating the honey (miel) smell.

Bridging the gap to the woody-amber base is an impressive amount of beta ionone, which adds a dry, orris-like facet with slight floralcy.

Nose: Christopher Sheldrake

House: Serge Lutens

Release date: 2005

Notes (per Fragrantica): Honey, guiac wood, oak, wax, iris, animal notes, hawthorn.

La Myrrhe Review

In Christopher Sheldrake’s perfumed paean to myrrh, the titular resin’s rays are refracted through an aldehydic prism and rendered crystalline.

Comparisons with No.5 are perhaps inevitable, though where the Chanel famously relies upon the series of aldehydes C10-12 for its characteristic fizz, most prominent in La Myrrhe is mandarin aldehyde whose long lasting mandarin-orange sparkle extends through most phases of the perfume’s development. Benzaldehyde seems to be present too, noticeable in the top as a nutty, almond note and possibly some anisaldehyde complementing the natural licorice-like facet of myrrh.

From time to time, I detect faint terpenic whiffs resembling pine, together with some beautifully inconspicuous spices that add a slight piquancy. Pillowy musks and a none-too-sweet amber accord anchor the fragrance and provide the merest whisper of powder.

Nose: Christopher Sheldrake

House: Serge Lutens

Release date: 1995

Notes (per Fragrantica): mandarin, myrrh, lotus, bitter almond, sandalwood, honey, jasmine, amber, musk, various spices and pimento

El Attarine Review

El Attarine's orchestration involves a delicate interplay of the dry and the sweet.

Borne aloft on the cedar-like breeze of Iso E Super, a judicious dusting of cumin and cinnamon soon blends into the spicy, maple syrup tones of immortelle while violety ionones dance above a subtle accord of dried fruits. Offsetting the arid base of pale woods is a consoling drizzle of honey that lends the composition a softsmooth texture.

If the theme is a familiar one for Lutens and Sheldrake, it is here explored with a uniquely light touch, felt also in the perfume’s relatively modest sillage.

Nose: Christopher Sheldrake

House: Serge Lutens

Release date: 2008

Notes: Solaire. Traduit tout ce qui est odoriférant. La route des parfums en un jus solaire.

Mandarine Mandarin Review

A gourmand of superlative credentials, Mandarine Mandarin ranges the breadth of the consumable plant kingdom.

The opening impression is strikingly redolent of celery and fennel with woody jasmine nuances, indicative of cis-jasmone. For a short while, the titular mandarine (/orange) appears zesty and bright but is soon tempered by the perfume’s brooding heart of smoked tea, maple syprup-like immortelle and familiar spices from the Lutens palette. Bon appétit !

Nose: Christopher Sheldrake
House: Serge Lutens
Release date: 2006

Notes (per Fragrantica): nutmeg, chinese orange; mandarin orange, tea, orange peel; labdanum, amber, tonk a bean, rose hip