Aromascope

Perfume Review: Rousse by Serge Lutens

Rousse is the newest addition to the Serge Lutens export fragrance line due for official release in February of this year. Rumor has it the scent was inspired by the finale of Mylene Farmer’s show “Avant Que L’Ombre”, particularly her haute couture dress designed by Franck Sorbier (“rousse” meaning “red-haired”). True or false, it makes no difference to me as there’s nothing particularly evocative or noteworthy in that finale neither does Rousse conjure up images of redheads. On the contrary, it’s a scent of honeyed, golden hues, very much in the spirit of Serge Lutens.

Rousse is all about cinnamon. Not as gourmand and vanilla-heavy as, say, Yves Saint Laurent’s Opium or Fendi’s Theorema. In Rousse, cinnamon is first illuminated by mandarin, enriched by carnation later, and polished by amber and sandalwood in the drydown. Picture Feminite du Bois by Shiseido minus the dried fruit accord and slightly less cedar. As much as I love Serge Lutens fragrances, most of them have a conceptual appeal (which simply means I find it hard to wear them). Rousse seems to be the exception. Not only does it strike me as wonderfully blended and very much wearable but also takes the first place among the latest Serge Lutens offerings, i.e., Chypre Rouge and Mandarine-Mandarin.

Rousse features the notes of mandarin, cinnamon, carnation, cedar, sandalwood, violet, vanilla, amber, resins.

Image source: www.femina.fr

22 comments January 14th, 2007

Perfume Review: Mandarine-Mandarin by Serge Lutens

Mandarine-Mandarin is the newest addition to the Serge Lutens exclusive, non-export line of perfumes. Created around Chinese motifs, it’s undoubtedly an oriental composition – a spicy oriental with a capital “o”. It’s said to be built around a “black mandarin” note, with smoky tea and amber as its base. The official notes are Chinese orange, nutmeg, candied mandarin, orange peel, smoky tea, rock rose, labdanum, tonka beans, ambergris. Needless to say, it’s been much anticipated and loved in advance. I’m happy to say it’s proved to be worthy of adoration almost instantly.

I find it a bit challenging to describe Mandarine-Mandarin, possibly due to the fact I’ve never encountered a similar fragrance before. It starts out not as much citrusy (the way citrusy top notes tend to be) as slightly pungent, sweet orange peel-like. I get a nutty undertone that’s most likely the candied mandarin note. I’ve seen Mandarine-Mandarin compared to another Serge Lutens fragrance, Fleur d’Oranger, and, while I see the reason behind it, I don’t really find them similar – maybe in the general, as I said, slightly pungent orange effect of top notes. In middle notes, nutmeg adds a mulled wine/cider accord. While the composition is very much aromatic throughout, the smoky tea adds a somewhat dusty quality, and amber isn’t your typical warm amber – in fact, I don’t find Mandarine-Mandarin a warm scent at all. It very much stands on its own, demanding to be approached instead of approaching. I’ve approached it, and it has won me over (especially the drydown), and I still feel like I can’t quite convey what it smells like to do it justice.

For other impressions, you can read Victoria’s review and Helene’s review.

P.S. After I wrote the review, I came up with another association – lacquer. There’s a pronounced lacquer effect in the drydown which makes the scent one of a kind.

Image source: www.salons-shiseido.com

27 comments September 28th, 2006