Serge Lutens will launch De Profundis, the latest addition to the exclusive range, in September. The fragrance was reportedly inspired by death, and named for an prose letter written by Oscar Wilde in prison.
De Profundis is a floral unisex fragrance based on chrysanthemum; other notes include incense, violet and candied fruit.
Serge Lutens De Profundis will be available in 75 ml Eau de Parfum; shown above are the limited edition engraved bell jars. (via extrait.it, osmoz, conseillere-de-beaute.fr)
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Inspired by death + First note is chyrsanthemum = Serge Lutens’ Funeral Parlor.
Sounds like it! Could be quite interesting.
Yet, I adore those limited edition jars. Guess they’re going to run about $900, or so.
Oh, yes – the bottles are gorgeous!!
Just add lilies and some dust and you have Eau de Funeral Parlour!
My inner goth liked the idea of a fragrance inspired by death but to my mind that should include incense, earth, smoke, wood and stone with maybe a bit of gardenia- it could be called ‘ Morbide’
There is incense…and of course we know that isn’t a complete list of notes
True on the notes list but ‘floral unisex’ is definitely translating as ‘funeral parlour’! I’ll have to wait and sniff- love the purple jar though.
Incense and earth = Messe de Minuit. Sure smells like a damp crypt. In a good way.
Love MdM!
Cheery
And, as usual, rather intriguing; chrysanthemum is not a note you see very often.
Oh and did anyone else receive an email from SL offering a sample of Vitriol d’Oeillet? I’m quite looking forward to trying it now.
No, I didn’t…but wish I did!
Do you subscribe to their newsletter, Robin? I do and this is the second time this happened, earlier this year they also offered samples of Jeux de Peau and L’Eau. I’m wondering if it’s some new thing they do now. If it is then that’s very impressive and more brands should do it
Any time I’ve gotten those emails the samples haven’t been available to the US.
Oh, that’s really annoying! They should definitely remedy that.
Hey Miss Kitty!
Yes, this was going to be my question! I got the email offer, but the little drop-down menu doesn’t let me choose the US! I was hoping someone knew a way around it!
I don’t…but looks like from what others are saying I don’t need to!
I did – but samples available only in EU..:(
Hello Everyone,
I have a slightly off-topic and/or duh! question to ask.
I have received some of the SL wax samples and would like to know what is the most effective way of using them.
I haven’t opened them yet and I’ve never used solid perfume.
Just rub on skin? Also, how close are they in smell to the liquid EDPs they represent?
Thanks for all replies! :0
(I warned you it was a duh! question)
Not a duh question at all…I know some people try to use them as solid perfumes, but I just rubbed the wax between my fingers to warm. To me, the consistency was not right for a solid perfume. The best I can say past that is that I would not make up my mind from the wax — the liquids are different enough to be worth seeking out when you can. To give just one example, Muscs Koublai Khan is a gentle thing, to me, in the wax, quite a different beast in liquid on skin.
I think the wax only exposes the main facet of the fragrance, it’s a linear odor, the wax is not meant to be used, only experienced. I love MKK in liquid.
It’s meant to be experienced in any way you like, and that includes using it as a solid perfume.
That’s how I use them: dig into the little dollop of wax (it’s not like candle wax, more like lard in texture) with a fingernail and smush it around on my wrists. Each sample is good for about three uses. It doesn’t give you the whole story of the scent, mostly the core of it, but that can be enough to tell if you like it or not. I definitely wouldn’t buy a full bottle based on the wax sample, though; Lutens has a way of doing things with top or base notes that change the overall scent drastically.
I agree, I only think that the wax samples are closer to the base of the perfume rather than the heart. And you totally miss the opening which is about more than half of the pleasure of wearing any SL. So see if you like something on wax and then get a sample from Perfume Court
Until now, I had never experienced bottle lust.
Very interested in trying this one (as I am with most SLs, which rarely end up working for me). Love that purple bottle!
Oh and is that a purple bottle or a similar purple juice as Sarrasins (?) which supposedly stains everything?
According to both the text in Conseillere de Beaute, the juice itself is purple. According to the picture, it’s really, really, really purple.
Thanks! Purple juice is what put me off trying Sarrasins so far and I’ll probably avoid this one too. What’s the point of falling in love with a perfume if you can’t apply it without the risk of staining everything it’ll come in contact with? Perhaps it’s not a concern for goths and other folks who only wear black clothes but hardly practical for the rest of us.
this is the most gothic serge lutens yet.
It’s been many moons since I was goth (for all of about 3 months before I realized I wasn’t that tortured at 13 years old, or ever for that matter). The bottle is cute yes, but something about a fragrance “inspired by death,” isn’t appealing to me on any level. There are some that will love it, of course, but when you’ve lost several people you’ve cared for deeply, who wants to smell something on a regular basis that evokes the memory of that loss?
Yes. I think “inspired by death” inevitably sounds like the youthful romanticism of death–Romeo and Juliet or Heathers or Harold and Maude–not real loss, slow illnesses or pain. I would not want a scent that reminded me of convalescents homes or hospitals. I think the alternative–imaginary, romantic death just smells like church to me–incense and flowers and lipstick. Kinda feel like that’s been done, already.
I can only agree, and I will not try this scent.
Hmm, at the moment there is a trial going on in Florida in which a woman (Casey Anthony) is accused of killing her own child. Part of the (heavily disputed) evidence against her was that when her car was retrieved from an impound it had a distinct awful odor, which the prosecution insists could only have been the odor of a rotting corpse and not festering household garbage.
Maybe Casey Anthony could be the “face” of this fragrance?
Or maybe not.
I’m about as far from goth as you can imagine, ha ha, so the concept of this one falls flat for me. However, the notes intrigue me a lot!
I’m with the rest of you – Beautiful bottle, scary idea…. I think I’ll just get the new Amouage instead. I know I’ll love that!
I’m with you on that. Plus this one will be too hard to get my hands on anyway!
Violet and candied fruit! Wilde would have loved it! (I probably won’t though….)
A death fragrance with candied fruit? Sounds like Death in a Souk to me
The candied fruit is a bit of a curveball!
It’s probably not a major component; a lot of his scents have a candied or stewed fruit note to them, usually in the top. Maybe somebody is eating wine gums or preserved kumquats at the funeral.
I’ve never read De Profundis, and only skimmed the Wikipedia entry, but I am intrigued by its themes of forbidden love, prejudice, betrayal, and stifled art. Is this a personal reference, or a dramatic flourish? Or could this funereal perfume be a witty protest against the senseless death of perfumery at the hands of IFRA et al?
De Profundis and Vitriol d’Oeillet are the first SL offerings that I’ve been looking forward to for a while.
or in a while.
Cannot wait to try during my annual pilgrimage to the palais royal shop!
Wilde’s “…long, dark teatime of the soul…” (anachronistic, yes). It certainly sounds very Victorian, to me. Modern violet is so fresh and crisp, but the “old school”, powdery, candy kind, makes me think of weepy, morose poetry, oppresively oppulent estates and buttoned gloves. A little musty, stuffy and dusty – but still cozy, in their own, “flowers and love letters tucked into books”, kind of way. I wonder if it will smell…sad? Like…have that lost-in-time, wistful “L’Huere Bleue” quality? To me, “Serge Noire” was “Dorian Gray”, all the way. But this sounds far more serious.
I’ll bet we’ll catch a resemblence to poor, endangered “Douce Amere”, with its tagette and dried fruits. I loved that slightly decaying quality to it – the bitter, dried flowers smell, tempered by the sterile briskness of absinthe and the jammy, overripe sweetness of the fruits. Baudy, even – the “Toulouse-Lautrec” side of The Victorian Era.
Osmanthus, opoponax, chrysanthymum (I think), tagette and stephanotis, all share an almost sweaty, leathery, sweetly astringent kick that gives so much character to the blends they’re included in. I’m thinking of Patou’s “1000″ and “Chaldee”, “Arpege” by Lanvin, “Mitsouko” and “Chamade” by Guerlain, even “Chere Louise” by Crazy Libellule and The Poppies. That noticable “bite”, no? I wonder if this will have bite? Or if it will just smell…maudlin?
(Insomnia? “Now Smell This” to the rescue
!)
“Maudlin” was rude. I meant “self-reflective” – emotional and thoughtful, given the inspiration.
I’ve read De Profundis (the complete version) and I find it a great book, to me it’s Wilde’s best oevre. But I don’t understand what does it have in common with death? In “De Profundis” there isn’t anything about death, and Wilde dies 3 or so years after going out of prison. It’s true, though, that his health is greatly deteriorated by the very bad conditions in prison.
Last, I hate when companies use the names of famous people (who are dead and can’t sue them) as a marketing trick — to name a Citroen Picasso, or a mobile phone Mozart… I think it’s a really bad taste and as Wilde said “I can’t live up to my blue china”, can they live up to these names?
Just got a sample from Surrender to Chance. Not sure about this one.. I wanted to “get it”.. I really did. But when I dabbed it on from my sample vial all I could think of was Juicy Fruit gum and soap.
Much ado about nothing.