French niche brand Serge Lutens has opened a second freestanding boutique, on Neglinnaya Street in Moscow (the first boutique, in Paris, opened in 1992). The 555 square foot store carries the complete range of the brand’s perfumes, cosmetics and scarves…
French niche brand Serge Lutens has launched five new fragrances in the luxury Section d’Or series that began with L’Incendiaire: Cracheuse de Flammes, Renard Constrictor, Cannibale, Sidi Bel-Abbès and L’Haleine des Dieux…
“The fire is not within the perfume but within me. I want to ignite the smoldering embers of the perfume world, to put the fire back in perfume!” — Serge Lutens, on his fragrance L’Incendiaire1, the first release in his “luxury” Section d’Or collection
Many creative directors wax rhapsodic (and incoherently) about their perfume lines and themselves. Just this week Roja Dove claimed he introduced OUD to the niche fragrance world in 2011…over a decade after he was beat to the punch by many others (niche, and non-niche). I smiled when I read this bit of hyperbole on the Serge Lutens webpage: “Section d’Or is infinite. Serge Lutens takes infinity to a new level.” Only Lutens can bottle, nay, expand infinity! Read his “writings” if you don’t believe me — read too much, and you’ll want to head beyond infinity yourself for some brain-rest…
Deliver us from Good!
Jasmine petals are as white as snow.
Black is my religion.1
I will say this for Serge Lutens, he continues to tempt me. And if you find elaborate but cryptic back story appealing, he is obviously your man.2 But it’s been some time since I’ve parted with my money for a new Serge Lutens fragrance, and my piggy bank is safe from La Religieuse.
La Religieuse, if you have been paying attention, is billed as the brand’s latest take on jasmine, following A La Nuit (“This jasmine has only one thought in its head: paint the town white!”) and Sarrasins (“I took white jasmine and contrived to make it as black as a panther, as black as night, which is embodied in this fragrance.”).3 The name has obvious religious connotations, but also calls up the pastry, shown just below in a (likewise enticing) violet version from Ladurée. Add to this the few notes mentioned in the press besides jasmine — musk, civet and incense — and yes, you could say I was interested…
Way back in 2008, Erin wrote a post called 5 Perfumes for: Gourmand Deniers. Her selection emphasized gourmands for people who are wary of gourmands; in her words, gourmands “that camouflage their intentions”. Like Erin, I don’t think of myself as a huge fan of sweet, dessert-based gourmands, although as time goes on I find more and more exceptions to the rule. Today, however, I’m thinking about an entirely different kind of gourmand. Here are five fragrances that smell like food without calling to mind the conventional offerings on a dessert tray.
Lush The Voice of Reason: If Dinner by Bobo were still on the market (and if it is, do comment), it would surely take top honors in any list of gourmand oddities, but as a reasonably meaty substitute I offer The Voice of Reason, which I described in my review as “rather alarmingly meaty”…