De profundis Serge Lutens 2011

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8.0 / 10 180 Ratings

De profundis is a popular perfume by Serge Lutens for women and men and was released in 2011. The scent is floral-green. It is still in production. Pronunciation

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Fragrance Notes

Chrysanthemum, Candied fruits, Violet, Frankincense

Ratings

Scent

8.0 | 180 Ratings

Longevity

7.5 | 152 Ratings

Sillage

6.4 | 158 Ratings

Bottle

8.6 | 148 Ratings

Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 04.01.2021.

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Reviews

11/27/2020

10
Scent 4
Longevity 2
Sillage 7
Bottle

Oriane
113 Reviews

Oriane

An Unfinished Masterpiece in Perfume History

I feel the word "stunning" is used much too casually anymore, but there is no better way to describe my reaction whence I first sprayed Lutens De Profundis onto my wrist.

Literally, my jaw dropped, my eyes flew open, and my heart raced with a delight I can only describe as being akin to what the heroin addict must experience upon shooting up. Seriously, I have never had an experience quite like this before. In that moment I forgot every other gorgeous fragrance I have ever smelt. De Profundis outshone them all with a blinding beauty so intense I was unable to utter any words. I just gasped!! I was in absolute awe. I expected De Profundis would smell quite nice, but I never once dreamt it would be like this.

De Profundis has the single most beautiful, realistic floral opening of any fragrance I have ever encountered. Words truly do fail me to describe how drop dead gorgeous is this fragrance (no pun intended). In a nanosecond I realised I absolutely had to have a bottle!

Alas, as stunningly gorgeous as the top notes were, they burnt off very quickly, too quickly. The heart and base notes were lovely but not comparable to the top notes. Sadly, projection and sillage were minimal at best. Longevity was reasonable with several sprays to arms and chest.

I am still arguing with myself whether or not I should pay that much money for this fragrance given the abysmal performance, but never have I smelt an opening as startlingly beautiful and arresting as this. If only those top notes could be sustained much, much longer, I would gladly pay triple the retail price for this magnificent fragrance.

I recommend everyone sample this fragrance for its unbelievably beautiful top notes, but I cannot recommend purchasing a full bottle because of the equally startlingly abysmal performance. Nevertheless, I cannot award it less than a thumbs up rating because of its beauty and artistry. It seems an unfinished masterpiece to me.

Fragrance: 10/10
Projection: 1/10
Sillage: 1/10
Longevity: 3/10

08/30/2020

9.5
Scent 7
Longevity 7
Sillage 10
Bottle

Gandix

Translated Show original

Gandix

Top Review 39

November

They were arguing.
Often.
When she got upset, he would laugh That made her even more upset But when the going got tough,
they held together,
pulled together.
Nice,
Worries,
not always easy,
but a good life Love...
Today she visits his grave.
No, it's not decorated with carnations,
he never liked them Chrysanthemums, purple, shiny, like velvet.
It's November,
Fog comes up slowly.
She takes a candy,
it's been in her pocket for a while,
the taste slightly like mulled wine.
Against the lap in the neck,
that keeps rising.
A lonely tear glistens darkly in the corner of her eye.
She had cried a lot,
a whole lake of tears A breath of incense from the evening service passes by.
Melancholy
Wistfulness
But also warmth that spreads in her heart.
Memories,
many,
wonderful memories...
surround her like a scarf
Purple

34 Replies

04/09/2020

8
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 9
Bottle

Isolani

Translated Show original

Isolani

Top Review 22

Chrysanthemum throne, at least.

Like when you
a new,
japanese
Monarchs equal,
your own
Chrysanthemum throne
would like to climb.

Timeless
and tradition
committed
festively dressed
in
black asphalt lead grey
Robe
with
light violet methyst
Supplements...

Strange things
on the head,
Loops,
or even a
Halo?

Yup,
even the halo
is indicated.
If the not
golden
his?
Although,
well,
you can still work on that
worked complementary
become.

The shoes,
they're weird:
Wooden slippers.
Look like shit,
rattle
and are uncomfortable,
and it's hard to dance with.

From a polonaise
not to mention:
"Ernie seizes the Heidi
from behind to the
Shoulder..."
My ass,
that never worked,
and between us:
that's not right either !

And because tradition wants it,
one likes to wear it -
even if most tender -
whitest
Socks;
possibly silk.
Wooden slipper
and silk socks:
slippery the whole thing.

That's how it happens
that you somehow
not such a firm grip
in it.

And then look
also still
half of the world public
between Mühlheim - Styrum
and Freising - Weihenstephan
to,
how you feel
spiky and wooden
to the melody of
"At the Christmas Bakery"
rhythmic
and passionate
moves -
like weiland
Romina Power
on the side of Al Bano...
who remembered
don't bother with it,
embarrassed.
However -
the hair was nice.

Only,
that was a long time ago,
you're rambling,
as always.
My goodness Hello!
Here!
Now!

All right You say:
"Still
have things
their depth
and the way
is possible,
feasible and
to a certain extent also
finally time."

Because,
with life
in the height, lebt in the depth
even death.

_______________________________________________________br />
It also works
about death ,
the silent pathos,
trapped and compacted,
breathtaking
and for cutting
as in a
semi-solid block
right in front of you.

It's about
the ceremony
and good-bye Chrysanthemums and incense,
squashed green,
Leaves,
for slipping smooth.

It works
for a merry trip
to a cemetery,
Choirboys are in,
Priests and undertakers.

( If it rained, you would stay
optionally until further notice
in the chapel,
or made it >br /> im dense
Chrysanthemum forest
really cozy )

__________________________________________
Und also the
REAL
are invited
and come.

Shhh,
they do not want to
be recognized -
for this is the time
not yet ripe.

However, she is mature
for the self-appointed monarch,
who's got his Asian flag
swivels
and to the joy of us all
in wooden slippers
the Schuhplattler
of the century
dances.

13 Replies

05/24/2019

8
Scent 8
Longevity 7
Sillage 8
Bottle

Taurus1967
3 Reviews

Translated Show original

Taurus1967

Top Review 16

Deep Flowers

Those who know me will think that I would more than like the colour of De profundis. This is exactly the violet tone that draws me deep into its spell.

Interest in getting to know each other was expressed thanks to my wish list and luckily also reciprocated. Only the ingredients alone would probably have interested me less, because fragrances with such an emphasis on floral notes are less my baggage scheme.

Both chrysanthemums and violets are elegant and not as massive as feared. De profundis is clearly a floral scent, but green tones and the welcome idea to have the candied fruit quoted, which goes in the direction of candied lemon peel & orange peel, are more than welcome. The latter makes the eau de parfum very smooth, sweet and somewhat relaxed, light-footed with a quite positive tuning vibe.

Incense is only present because one believes that it should be present. Perhaps very deep in the background at the threshold of perceptibility on the other side.
In total, however, it remains rather a rich, gentle fragrance, with which most women would feel more comfortable than men. Probably something more perceptible incense would have made the whole thing a little more mystical and thus more interesting, but I can confirm that among the numerous floral perfumes it is one of the most mysteriously profound, but by no means the most melancholic.

8 Replies

06/24/2013

4
Scent

Sfonativeboy
18 Reviews

Sfonativeboy

Very helpful Review 13

Sadness bottled

this is definitively an unusual
fragrance....

I find this scent oddly familiar...
I smell.....

a..Funeral... quiet on a cold foggy day.
Abundant Tears, Grief and Despair.
SADNESS!!!! all be it persistent Sadness, like Rain.

I also smell.......

a Cemetery...wet green earthy accords
The pale lily-dahlia-chrysanthemum flowers
and
funeral wreaths left on the graves...

There is the opening of the pale chrysanthemums followed by the rest of the bouquet,
flowers that have a bit of spiciness that lingers on your skin
The fragrance rings hollow, like an echo or
a watermark.

There is something perceptible like incense
but I find it only detectable as a feeling of
calm and quiet,
it isn’t a dominant note at all...and yet it almost feels like it is a main player of the fragrance because of the serenity it emits.

Perhaps some unmentioned chamomile petals which reinforces that sensation of.. rest,calm and peacefulness as the perfume slowly...
"Ascends" or "Descends"
into the base notes....
Like last words before its gone...
you are drawn even closer...to catch
it whispers its last breaths silently of spices and woody warmth.
I'm brought to tears .........for it brings to mind
the cemetery I visit with my mother every now and then .....
to leave flowers for my departed sister ...
she died 4 years ago...

It is a symbolic urn meant to be collected and preserved or a bouquet of chrysanthemums offered every 1st November when someone dear has recently passed away.

I read in some fragrance Blogs ...

"De Profundis" is NOT a perfume to be worn
and was never meant to be a "dark fragrance"
(smelling the perfume you"ll understand why it lacks all the qualities of a real perfume).

3 Replies

12/22/2012

6
Scent

MemoryOScent
37 Reviews

MemoryOScent

Top Review 11

mysterious skin

I finally got my hands on a decant of De Profundis. I was looking forward to it because it wasn’t received with the usual enthusiasm and this sort of reaction always attracts me. I cannot say that I have deciphered it yet. I am writing these lines in an attempt to put what I smell in an order, hoping to unlock the daemon that lives inside the purple liquid.

My decant came in a spray bottle and I sprayed eagerly to get a first whiff. Big mistake. Serge Lutens does not give this option for De profundis and I discovered there is a good reason for this. Actually I consider De Profundis an extreme in terns of how differently it manifests itself when sprayed and when dabbed. My first impression from a spray wearing was that of an astringent, cold incense tear fragrance that vaguely reminded me of Messe de Minuit. It took a lot of effort to separate the chrysanthemum note in the opening and when I did it was rather brief. Remembering previous experiences with Serge Lutens fragrances I dabbed a small amount to discover a completely different construction.

The opening is characterized by an acerbic floral note that has the sweaty, animalic characteristics of chrysanthemum but also has a sweetness and lift that reminds me of tagette. In fact I get a stronger resemblance to chrysanthemum from Kokorico than from this one. The floral note here is softer, rounder, sweeter and has a candied aspect that reminds me of a very familiar accord from many Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier releases. I think violet plays a big part in this candied illusion. There is a green hue in these flowers, just enough to keep them fresh and non-sensual. As the floral opening relaxes it becomes obvious that this will not be a big fragrance. It is very subdued, close to the skin and rather shy. Within a few minutes a rather soapy, cool, unburned incense enters the scene and composes most of the heart of the perfume. The incense in my opinion remains in the background, giving the flowers a more cerebral quality. It doesn’t try to steer the composition towards a different direction. In the deep drydown I catch whiffs of something warm and rather unexpected. To my nose it smells somewhere half way between coffee and baked clay. It has a spicy quality and reminds me the cloves in Iris Silver Mist. Barely there but still doing their work. I can only suppose that this is the reported soil tincture note but since this note is outside my recognition repertoire my guess is as good as yours. There is something ashen in this phase of the development.

De Profundis, unlike its dark promotional prose, is not a dark fragrance. It is another member of the ethereal floral family of Serge Lutens creations, right next to Un Lys, Bas de Soie and Vitriol d’Oeillet. It is not a revolutionary fragrance either. What I find most interesting is the way it juggles with some very feminine notes without dropping them, without allowing them to go full speed feminine. It is a very cold and detached fragrance and it made me think that if it had been bottled in the oblong, square bottles of L’Eau Froide I probably would be writing a dithyrambic review but the truth is that I was expecting something with more depth from De Profundis. Of course when it comes to a Serge Lutens I don’t get I always leave a window open for an epiphany. After all it has taken me about 5ml to reach to this very reserved review. The reason for this is because what I smell is something very pleasing but little engaging. I cannot help but think that this is exactly the purpose it is supposed to serve. It feels somewhat ceremonial and although death is not what comes to mind, I keep getting a mental image of a wax statue. Could it be a wax death mask? I have always thought of wax death masks as the last kiss to life. The reverse effect of dipping my face in a bowl of cold water. Dissipation instead of invigoration. And most death masks boast a mysterious Gioconda smile, like the model had finally found the solution to a puzzle.

4 Replies