La fille de Berlin Serge Lutens (2012)

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7.3 / 10 291 Ratings

La fille de Berlin is a perfume by Serge Lutens for women and men and was released in 2012. The scent is floral-spicy. It is still in production.

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Perfumers

Christopher Sheldrake, Serge Lutens

Fragrance Notes

Pepper, Rose

Ratings

Scent

7.3 (291 Ratings)

Longevity

7.4 (217 Ratings)

Sillage

6.7 (225 Ratings)

Bottle

8.0 (223 Ratings)

Submitted by Freeestyler, last update on 21.06.2019

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Reviews

05/26/2019

8.0 7.0 7.0 7.5/10

Serenissima
0 Reviews

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Serenissima

Greatly helpful Review 15

What's a name?

"What's a name? What Rose means to us, as it would be called, would smell lovely."

Quoting William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" here makes it easier for me to bring this fragrance and its name into harmony.

"La fille de Berlin": I wouldn't have associated a girl from Berlin - as a real Berlin woman - with this kind of rose scent.
Therefore the first acquaintance with this nevertheless very impressive fragrance composition from the house of Serge Lutens surprised me already.
But even Shakespeare's invoked "lovely scent" doesn't exactly hit the nail on the head; his words therefore serve me more as a door opener to this commentary.

For this rose fragrance is mature and ripe, full and passionate, reminiscent of a woman who knows passion rather than love and yet hidden in her heart longs for and seeks its eternal magic.
Heavy dark red, full-blossomed fragrant roses come to my mind: the velvety heavy flower heads, almost black in special light, stretched out towards the sun and emitting their bewitching scent.
And thus not only attracting insects and butterflies.
For a moment the medieval picture of a Fräulein in the rose garden pushes itself into this fragrance painting.
A woman in expectation of her beloved and therefore a beautiful woman!
Of her beloved, whom she already recognized; who lowered a seductive dose of pepper into this rose's blood.
It was the lover who provided this heavy sensual aroma with a peppery, sometimes burning spiciness that will characterize his beloved rose forever!
For her he lets his troubadour sing a very special love song!

"La fille de Berlin" is at first almost omnipresent; it is demanding and passionate, warm and spicy.
At the same time, this fragrance is mysterious and keeps its secret until the end, which sometimes comes too fast for me.
Because this demanding lover does not have a very long shelf life. Eternal faithfulness is not their thing!
What remains is a very authentic breath of the slowly decaying rose petals - a memory of transience, but also with a little hope of eternity.

"La fille de Berlin" is really not a business fragrance; but a successful and refined fragrance homage dedicated to every woman and every love.
Just like you, we should be open for this fragrance creation.
It could be worth it - who knows if this acquaintance will not awaken a slumbering passion?
Didn't the prince (who wasn't a frog) already come through the hedge of thorns during "Sleeping Beauty", which suddenly carried roses?

9 Replies

04/06/2019

8.0 9.0 9.0 8.0/10

Cambrium
0 Reviews

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Cambrium

Want to buy fruity fresh rose???

Hmm, somehow I had to test you after someone mentioned "Desert Rose, Urban Scents" with the comment, "Rose doesn't work otherwise", except for those two scents. I was very excited about you and enjoyed your 2ml sample completely. And yes, your name is quite suitably chosen, you remind me of a cherry chewing gum chewing crab (Berlin for young girl) that was like mother's perfume bottle.
The fragrance has a minimal fruity hint, a beautiful freshness and a lot of rose. And just because of the rose, I'd rather put you on very thin. I still like the scent very much (I bought a used bottle after all), but only on a few days.

09/04/2018

8.0 6.0 6.0 7.5/10

Rosie88
0 Reviews

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Rosie88

Kissed by the sun

I can't quite understand why the Berlin girl doesn't get away so well here..
The little one really has something, doesn't she?

Thanks first of all to Serafina for the great scent sample :)

When I tested the little one, the first thing I saw was a wonderful rose hovering towards me, red, very noble and slightly spicy, but not too strongly spicy... the way I like it :)

Then comes, in my opinion, a light summer rain, which pours itself finely over the rose..... A few rain droplets stick to the rose...

Shortly afterwards the noble rose is kissed by the warming sun and lovingly embraced... The rain droplets evaporate slowly with the continuing warmth of the sun....The rose gets warmer with time and with me somehow creamy with a light sweetness...

So it remains then also long until it dissolves slowly slowly into air... A great rose

3 Replies

12/22/2017

8.0 7.0 7.0 8.0/10

Smora
140 Reviews

Smora

Helpful Review 4

Innocent Rose

Scentrack: Alphaville - Summer in Berlin

Although not big fan of roses, to me this Lutens is irresistible. Simple, dewy wild rose with just a touch of pepper and wrapped in musk. Unbelievably natural, innocent and lovely. Marketed as unisex, but it really shines on women skin. Girl from Berlin tears down any wall around the hearts.

Rating: 8/10

1 Replies

03/05/2017

10.0 7.0 8.0 9.0/10

K1
121 Reviews

Helpful Review 3

Rose - musky - peppery

Naked and straightforward, La Fille de Berlin is a nostalgic European rose and a tribute to a timeless genderless classic without conjuring up retro air, which registers for a solid polished rose opening which itself promises for a raunchy musky base. Transformation of opening with juicy metallic crimson rose to dusky earthy/woody, blurred sinful animality and neutre peppery dry down, is like a book you can't stop reading.

I said genderless, a man wears easily but to be honest the first impression of the scent on skin is as smooth as silk stockings and garters on finely lotioned legs. Lutens cleared his mind from Moroccan or far eastern moods and pictured a truly European, truly natural and greatly impressive rose.
4/5 though I hate roses!

08/17/2015

8.0/10

ScentFan
325 Reviews

ScentFan

Old Berlin

The girl from Berlin. Discovered this during an early sniff fest when I was exploring rose perfumes and promptly bought an FB. This is an intense rose. Pepper and rose are the only notes listed but can they be the only ones here? Ah, Luckyscent says rose, violet, pink and black pepper and musk. Sounds more like it. Violet accounts for the darkness in the predominantly rose scent, making it accessible to men, and musk adds sultriness. This SL has no trouble projecting. It’s a sophisticated beauty. Berlin before all the bombs fell.

It sat on a shelf until my recent SL sniff fest. Today I put it on and fell in love all over again. Violet is so important here. It sophisticates the rose, makes it velvety. The pepper is tamed: someone eating steak a poivre in the next room. In this one, rose.

03/25/2015

Platinum1
59 Reviews

Platinum1

~ Opulent Rose ~

~ The beauty of an initial impression review is you are relaying how a perfume is making you feel in the moment only! And what lovelier SL than La Fille de Berlin to express that moment. From the blood red juice inside to the velvety plush red rose this is real and being there. Holding that bouquet of long stems with all their greenery behind your back at her door. Very feminine in composition but as a man I would wear this only to the most formal of tuxedo occasions. Opulent, lovely, realistic, breath-taking maybe? My first love is Gris Clair and Lavender but this is something special a classic beauty! The plush red petals are linear here of course and exactly how I would want them to remain. With very muted subtle notes of pepper as a supporting cast this generous gifted sample will linger in my memory of desires for a longtime!
Kind Regards, Plat ~

06/18/2014

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd

Very helpful Review 8

daily rose

The Serge Lutens line is known for the heavy and the heady. Apart from the nouvelle orientals, Féminité du Bois, Bois de Violette, and the others in the Bois series, there are two styles that capture a large portion of the line. Perfumes like Ambre Sultan, Cuir Mauresque, and Chergui fall into a range of amber, wood and resins that makes them dense and dark. They are unavoidable, and blanketing.

The other side of the Lutens coin is the heady, expansive perfumes. This category has two parts. First, the ultrasonics. These are like angels, mostly above our range of perception, but with their feet dangling just enough that we can sense them. La Myrrh, Iris Silver Mist, and Sa Majesté la Rose are three ultrasonics. Three stylistically different perfumes, one shared acoustical range. Part two are the ferocious florals. Tubereuse Criminelle, Fleur d'Oranger, A la Nuit: the flower as sociopath. They'd just as soon kill you as go fishing. I'm a sucker for these.

So how to categorize La Fille de Berlin? If the extremity of the above genres is your sole gauge, then La Fille fails. But if you want a companion, a perfume you can confide in, La Fille is just the thing. It is beautiful and easy to wear, but striking nonetheless. The top and heart notes, all rose and spice, reminds me of the succulence of fresh strawberries with a bit of balsamic vinegar. Two tastes, both complex but instantly recognizable; one fresh, one aged. Each is the perfect enhancements to the other.

These complementary pairings, whether the balsamic berries, or the pepper-spiced rose, suggest impossibly perfect combinations like youth with wisdom make for a perfume that would be ideal to wear every day. The paragon every-day perfume will not spring from focus group and should not be a set of least common denominators. It should be the best of both worlds, and la Fille de Berlin is.

Many perfumes in the Lutens line smack of the special occasion. Going to a show, looking to get laid, visiting a special place. Berlin stands apart from these one-off perfumes, but isn't without precedent. Gris Clair, Bas de Soie, Daim Blond. These are stylish beauties that could be worn every day. Noticeable and exceptionally composed, but more likely to accentuate the attractiveness of the wearer than to stand out as a Gorgeous Perfume.

La Fille de Berlin is a stellar example an ideal everyday fragrance. It is flattering, suggests confidence and intelligence, and indicates an appreciation of classical beauty.

Sign me up.

from scenthurdle.com

2 Replies

06/07/2014

7.5 5.0 5.0 3.0/10

WRoth
153 Reviews

WRoth

La Fille de Berlin

Opens with an oriental rose and spices accord. It is heavy and sweet with a musty - animalic nuance worked into the spicy base. I do not like what I see here very much, mainly because I am not a fan of Attars and the like. The fragrance gradually loses some of its initial heaviness, but it is still very dense and opulent. To me this is more of a fall/winter scent suitable for an older woman. The dry-down is surprisingly nice.

05/01/2014

7.0/10

Belgwen
94 Reviews

Belgwen

Helpful Review 6

This daughter of Berlin is a red rose!

Due to the wonderful reviews this perfume has garnered, and being a total rose-freak, I was more than a little interested in La fille de Berlin when I ordered it. I was so anxious to try it out, I practically ripped the beautiful little sample box it arrived with in order to get to the little spray bottle inside. I must say I’m more than a little disappointed that I couldn't get any of the results that majority of the perfumistas have been getting on their skin. La fille de Berlin starts out with the prettiest rose note I have ever smelled. The bad news is: Though the petals here are sweet and red they are shockingly wilted! I am surprised as to how nobody else seems to be smelling this because it jumped out at me from the first moment I sniffed it on my skin and all the way to the faint dry down, which came about 12+ hours later. The outstanding sillage and lasting power tells me that this is, indeed, a Serge Lutens creation. However, I still cannot account for that wilted edge in this delicious rose juice. The notes pyramid is listing rose and pepper and, personally, I have never known pepper to add a “wilting” edge to a flower. It almost always adds a spicy edge – at least up until now. I also sprayed this fragrance on a piece of testing paper to ensure it wasn't my skin chemistry gone bad. I had my mom, (the supreme perfumista in my life!) smell it on paper and my skin as well. In her words: “These roses are a few days past their freshness!”

Because I am absolutely in love with roses and constantly in search of the perfect rose fragrance, I’m having a tough time letting this bewildering creation go and am seriously jealous of the perfumistas who are getting these splendid results. Oh how I WISH I could say the same! The composition portrays such a beautiful, linear, and scarcely found red rose note that I want to give it another chance to see if some magic will transform that wilted rose into a fresher one. I will update this review if I find that this is a juice you need to test out several times before it agrees with your skin. In the meantime, to the rose lovers out there who might be tempted to blind-buy a full bottle of this soliflore: Be sure to test first!

Last but not least: Do any of you know of a great red rose fragrance out there? Amongst the many I have in my possession, I am particularly in love with some magnificent roses such as Yves Rocher Rose Absolue, Stella Rose Absolute, Jo Malone Red Roses, Juliette Has a Gun Miss Charming... None of them, however, quite hit the mark and satisfy my thirst for that elusive, velvety red rose. I’m open to suggestions in the replies and my post box.. :)

1 Replies

06/02/2013

7.5 10.0 5.0 8.0/10

Drseid
670 Reviews

Drseid

Greatly helpful Review 12

Roses, Violets and Near Perfection...

La Fille de Berlin opens with a jammy red rose with just the faintest hints of an underlying black pepper and high quality soap tandem in support. As the fragrance enters the early heart phase the starring rose continues to grow in intensity as the mild soapy undertone remains. During the late dry-down the rose finally begins to fade as a sheen of fine powdery violet joins as co-star quite late. Projection is outstanding early in particular and longevity is on the high side of average at 8-10 hours on skin.

While many call La Fille de Berlin a "peppery rose," I view this composition more a linear rose soliflore through the mid phase with a powdery violet driven finish. The rose is full, "feminine" and voluptuous while the supporting soapy undertone does not get in the way of the rose like in so many other rose compositions (here's looking at *you* Une Rose Vermeille and Briar Rose), instead providing further depth. As the rose fades late, powdery violet from the base adds a slight twist to the otherwise minimalist linear composition. The bottom line is La Fille de Berlin is an absolutely captivating (near) rose soliflore that ranks right with the best of a crowded field. It may not break any new ground, but it smells absolutely incredible and that is more important. As this rose presentation leans to the "feminine" side of the spectrum it might be better suited to a lady, but quite frankly it smells so good I think I will be buying a bottle for myself (and wearing it). The $120 per 50ml bottle La Fille de Berlin earns a well-deserved "excellent" 4 stars out of 5 and is highly recommended if you love rose-focused compositions as I do.

4 Replies

03/30/2013

5.0 7.5 7.5 10.0/10

FloraMilena
47 Reviews

FloraMilena

Greatly helpful Review 10

PURE ROSE SEDUCTION

LA FILLE DE BERLIN

The most unapologetically voluptuous and womanly pure rose I have ever smelt on my skin. This is the whole pristine magnificent rose in full bloom along with the powerful tangy bite of rich crimson fruit of the rose; the Rose Hip Berries. The rose hips impart a rich jam-like and delicately citrusy succulence to the creation that is unsullied by any additional syrupy sweetness and lends its own increased amplitude to the scent of the rose itself since it is actually part of the plant.

This is like a pure blood red rose on steroids. A whole barrel full of rose blossoms and rose hip jam all mashed together in perfectly, without any added sugar to foul or dilute the tangy fresh blast of divine floral crimson richness rolling down the mountain like an avalanche into your nose! It makes me want to devour my arm!

The barest trace of pepper lends a touch of spice, but is very subdued, and is so fantastically well blended that it smells like the amplified spice within the rosebush itself in some of the naturally spicier varieties of the plant. There is just a touch of the most subtle musk and amber to ground the jammy, spicy floral richness and impart a warm velvety clean-skin-like coziness to the entire composition.

Blood red, opulent, smooth as silk, lusciously feminine, elegantly voluptuous, narcotically soothing, and just incredibly gorgeous.

All of this is conjecture regarding the notes since Lutens gives no specifics on his site. My review is based upon how this magnificent beauty dances on my skin. It is presently my absolute favorite among all rose perfumes I have ever encountered.

8 Replies