A House Divided

On Now Smell This today, the community scent of the day project is A House Divided, or to wear two scents by the same house.

I chose Serge Lutens Santal de Mysore on one wrist.  On the other, I'm wearing Santal Blanc, a recent purchase.

I was in Barneys a couple weeks ago and just happened to try this on and was surprised how much I liked it.  I ended up ordering it directly from the Serge Lutens web site.

Comparing the two, I think I prefer Santal de Mysore.  It smells more like true sandalwood.  I'll have to wear Santal Blanc alone to get an unbiased opinion.  Compared with Santal de Mysore, Santal Blanc smells more of sandalwood with white musk.

I suppose I could have worn Santal Majuscule..... but I don't think it smells of sandalwood at all.

Serge Splurgin'

In which I continue with the mess this year started.  Two more Serges. Yep.  Including one more bell jar.

I was able to find a 50 ml export bottle of Bois de Violette online for a reasonable price (although, had I gotten it a year ago or so I would have paid maybe $40 less).  Weirdly, it was through Amazon.com sold by Parfum1.  It was a lot more expensive on the Parfum1 site itself.  Which makes no sense.  And Parfum1, always the best in my book, were gracious enough to include some nice samples of things I have actually not tried.  I need to buy from them more.  Lately, though, they seem less a discounter than legitimate sales outlet, so things are not usually on sale like they used to be.  But if I need to get something like ELDO fragrances, I might as well buy from Parfum1. Also.... is Parfum1 connected to Twisted Lily?  I thought so, but then wasn't so sure. Included in my order was a Twisted Lily post card, so I'm assuming so.

The bell jar i got was, as usual, through Barneys and in order to get a lousy $25 Purple Card (which I still haven't gotten, btw):  Santal de Mysore. The good news is that it smells even better than the sample I had from The Perfumed Court. Which means if there have been recent reformulations it has been for the better. Reading reviews online, I am kind of confused my comments indicating it smells of curry, or that there is no sandalwood. Well, I don't now what  you whippersnappers think sandalwood smells like, but Santal de Mysore is the closest scent I have gotten recently to true sandalwood.  When I lived in Japan, they used to sell folding fans on train platforms in the summer which were scented with sandalwood (I wonder if they still do, considering Japan's disregard, usually, for international sanctions). That, plus true sandalwood fragrances used to be more readily available and I have had a few. Anyway, I know a thing or two, thank you. I wonder if it is indeed true that Serge Lutens used real sandalwood they had reserved before it was sanctioned. It's beautiful in any event and not at all syrupy, as I have also read.

Bois de Violette photo from liberty.uk.com
Santal de Mysore photo from Fragrantica. 

Fleurs d'Oranger

After circling around it for several years, I finally got a bottle of Serge Lutes Fleurs d'Oranger.  I've always kicked myself that I never got a bottle of the L'Artisan Fleur d'Oranger, but it was not ever available here when I wanted it.   Maybe one day....

Anyway, the Serge is exactly how you would think it would smell, coming from Serge.

I've also ordered Fleurs de Citronnier, since I saw LuckyScent still had the export line version available.  It hasn't been delivered yet, though. (EDIT: Dang. I see Parfum1 had it and at a lower price!)

I've really pull back on buying stuff lately, if you noticed.  A good thing.  The Fleurs d'Oranger was at a price point I was willing to pay for it.

Next week Barneys is having their seasonal bag sale.  I sorta promised this sales assistant there I would buy a bottle of Le Labo Gaiac 10.... so if one is available, I guess I'm getting that... Last year, by the time I got there, it was gone.  There is plenty of other stuff I could get.

O also ordered some samples from Surrender to Chance.  A bunch of Serges I had never smelled:  Sarrasins,  La Vierge de Fer, Santal de Mysore, and Vetiver Oriental.  I also got a (very small) sample of Shiseido's long-lost Nombre Noir which, after a brief dab, smells very perfume-y on me.





Photos from us.sergelutens.com.