I can't wear Lutens ... why oh why oh why????

Christopher Sheldrake and I seem to have a 'hate/hate' relationship going on . I would dearly love to be able to wear Lutens and I have tried a significant number of them. For some reason they just turn on my skin ... every last one of them I have tried ends up smelling like I've not showered in months!!! Stale sweat ... it's just hateful!! Does anyone else have problems with this house?
I suppose I don't have much room to complain as there are thousands of other frags out there which smell incredible on my skin. All the same ... once ... just once I would love to spray a Lutens and have it smell awesome after the first 10 minutes! I have just sampled Fumerie Turq and joyfully thought that it may be the one. I reached the 10 minute barrier about 20 minutes ago and now it just smells like unwashed armpit. Woe is me ... I have Lutens hating skin .

I own only one Serge Lutens fragrance (Rousse) which I bought when I was quite new to this hobby. Coutureguru, I think we have a similar opinion concerning this house.

They claim to be unisex, but actually, with lots of their issues they target a female audience who would like to go for men's fragrances. So they make decent gent's perfumes, and then spoil everything with vanilla! Even the L'Eau has that damn vanilla note in it which has absolutely no right to be there.

Also, I have the suspicion they very often aim to achieve that "Wow" effect. They want to get the instant buyers, and they do get them. Lately I was at a perfume shop in Düsseldorf with a friend from Parfumo. We were discussion the Serge Lutens fragrances, especially that cinnamon oil perfume "Rousse". Somebody witnessed our conversation and so, he went to test it. He bought it right on the spot, just becaouse it was "Wow"! That's the way the Serge Lutens scent bar works. Besides that, Rousse fades away quickly once the "Wow" has gone. They focus too much on attractive top notes without looking after the rest.

I think, Chergui is quite good, but anything else I tested was quite chaotic.

Phew!!! I'm glad it's not just me Apicius! Chergui on me smells like mothballs ... and of course the ubiquitous unwashed armpit accord I get from all Lutens. So weird ... but then, I agree with you that this line is about the WOW factor. I think Sheldrake is more of a mad chemist than a perfumer ... sitting in his laboratory cackling as the money rolls in .

Apicius: I agree that 'chaotic' is a fitting term for many of the creations of this house. What I continue to wonder is whether there is any method behind the madness. Maybe I just don't get it? Maybe this is a wild new aesthetic which crashes head on with my nineteenth-century commitment to beauty.

CoutureGuru: you are definitely not alone. I enjoy testing Serge Lutens, but in the way that I enjoy adventures more generally. With rare exceptions, wearing the perfumes of this house is to me similar to traveling to a strange and disconcerting place to which I will never return. I've already been there: I saw what I needed to see, and that was enough for me.

Or perhaps a more apt example would be migraines. When I was a child (about 12 years old), I had migraines for about six months. Then I never had them again. I'm glad that I had them, because now I know what they are. But would I want to have them again? Do I need to go back to that place? No, thank you.

I was shocked actually, when I finally got around to testing Serge Lutens, given the manifest awe and reverence I had seen for creations many of which, I began to discover, I myself would never wear. I, too, began to wonder whether this was all about shock appeal.

All of that said, I have found a couple of SL perfumes which I would like to have and wear again, one being "Ambre Sultan".

Sherapop, you make such a valid point with your migraine analogy!
I feel sort of let down with myself that I can't appreciate this house ... not just because so many people gush about it but also because I've always maintained that my skin can take just about anything and make it smell good. Perhaps it has less to do with my skin and more to do with the development of my nose .
In times past I would spray something on and 9 times out of 10 just love it ... simply because it was beautiful for that particular time and place. I guess I just want to give whatever is in the bottle the benefit of the doubt, as I am fascinated by the art of perfumery and can appreciate the work that must go into creating one. In saying that I also realize that with more education comes a finer appreciation and also the room to be more critically objective. Still, however, there are many things I smell nowadays that send me into paroxysms of immediate glee.
In point of fact I love the first 10 minutes of most Lutens I have tried. It's the darned drydown that doesn't love me back LOL.
Oh well ... c'est la vie!

That's the spirit Coutureguru:
Sometimes it just wasn't meant to be!

Yep ... moving right along!!

It doesnt love me eather
Which is great,less cravings
and spending

... you have a very valid point Michali!!

Oh my, I had to stop in and say that many of the Lutens things work just fine for me. One certainly hears about things not working with certain people's chemistry, and I think that really must be the case.

Plus, I think it's fair to say that not only may people's skin chemistry be different, but people's noses probably work differently too. So there could be two separate "chemistry" factors at work when it comes to people's perceptions of things. Someone could smell something that you think is horrible, and smell it off of your own skin, and think it still smells fine.

Having said that, Lutens things certainly do seem designed to be "distinctive", which could be a part of this too. As a relative newbie, without a lot of preconceptions, I tend to like them myself, perhaps for the very things that Sheldrake brings to them. In time I may decide that they are a bit over-the-top, but for now they seem fascinating and not at all offensive to me.

I love Serge Lutens fragrances so much that I'd like to think that they were designed specifically for me. At least it seems that way because of the way they blend so nicely with my chemistry. When I wear any of my nineteen Serge Lutens fragrances, I am always graciously complimented on what I am wearing that day. I have one of those old leather and spice noses that can't resist the unusual combinations Serge Lutens offers up. I have heard that others have issue with these fragrances but they suit me fine.

That's great Flaconneur ... I think you'd truly be horrified by how they smell on me tho'!! I have yet to try Tubereuse Criminelle. Being a 'dyed in the wool' Tuberose fan, it'll be a last ditch effort to see if anything from Lutens works on me. If it does, at least I'll be able to own one .

When I got into fragrance I hated Lutens. They were too strong, to in the face, too attentin seeking and vulgar. Ok, that was during my jc Ellena period. Now some of the Ellenas smell pretty artificial to me. Wel, although I hate that vanilla in bois de vanille and others I start appreciating some of his scents. I love Five o clock, fumerie turque. I'm even getting into Ambre Sultan, of which I didn't ike the cough syrup vibe in the first place (now I love it), and arabie.
I liked chergui upon my first test 1,5 yrs ago, it seemed very dark and tbaccoish. Then, I tried it in the heat. Sicky sweet. My mom said "Buttervanillearoma", that artificial buttery vanilla aroma used for bakery. And now I get this association whenever smelling it.

Nineteen! Impressive!

I believe that there are three on my wish list...

Isn't it interesting how our tastes evolve...

Admitted, Serge Lutens fragrances are strange. Sometimes very strange and more often than not utterly strange

My first SL scent was Datura Noir. I could not wear it for long, it wore me out. Next try was Fleurs d´oranger. Same thing but faster

In the course of time I owned Miel de Bois, Bois Vanille, Arabie, Santal Blanc, Fille d´Aiguilles. They all did not fit my nose properly.

BUT : I found and still dearly love these ones which I can wear :
Ambre Sultan
Fumerie Turque
Cuir Mauresque

At least one can say they are all worth a try and surely bring some kind of olfactory experience

I just received the complete set of wax samples and am considering doing a Serge Lutens challenge: can I don a different scent at bedtime for thirty-two nights in a row. Will I get any sleep?

Sherapop, please report your experiences....besides, the dreams following to sniffing his scents might be of specific interest to us

I was thinking the same thing: Serge-induced dreams could be really wild!

Hm, I´m not sure if that is true what you write about their target - or, more precisely, if that alone. I think it could as well be, that they are targeting for males who want to wear female-perfumes.
In any case, I was disappointes with "Cedre", expecting to get a cedar-bomb, but instead getting sweet spice-bomb instead, with the nice cedar drowning in spices and sugar. Therefor, I´ll rather find a good male-perfume with cedar instead.

I agree on that "Wow !"-effect completely. So far, all of what I´ve tested, have that Wow-effect on the top-notes ( if one likes them ), but after half an hour, latest after an hour, the scents have tamed into rather sweet skin-scent. I like "Louve" sometimes, but it can easily be headache-inducing, and if it did NOT tame, it would be just too much after a while. I still way more prefer gourmands that have more contrast, f.e. "Atelier d´Artiste" of Nez á Nez, or well-made linear like "Gourmand Coquin" of Guerlain. Those are my favourites on the gourmand-side at the moment.

Chergui I don´t know, but Clair de Musc is quite nice, as far as I remember. Does not jump into the face, and is quite mild and decent. I don´t remember any vanilla on that one - if there is, then very mild, since I also have trouble with some of vanillas.

I'm sorry coutureguru. I can't wear Montale so I know where you're coming from.

cryptic - what do you think it is about Montale? (I've never tried any. Getting ready to order samples.)

I can't wear Goutal. I don't know why, but they all smell off, on me.

I guess that everyone has a line of perfumes that just doesn't work with their body chemistry. I'm just glad that Serge Lutens sits so comfortable on my skin.

Right. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think many lines work off a particular base, and if that building block doesn't sit well with you then you'll have difficulty with the entire range.