Louve, Sarrasins 2 New Fragrances by Serge Lutens + New Moscow Address {New Perfumes} {Scented Paths & Fragrant Addresses}
Rumour had it that Serge Lutens was preparing to launch a new fragrance based on almond. Well the rumour has been confirmed, together with the announcement of yet another creation to be also expected in the fall, in September of 2007. One is named Louve (She-Wolf), which centers on a soft balm-like bitter almond note "white like a snow castle atop a mountain". The other one is a velvet-like floral called Sarrasins (Saracens) inspired by Moresque culture and showcases a "petrifyingly beautiful jasmine, gloved in black ink the color of bats."......
Sarrasins will be exclusive to the Palais Royal Shiseido while Louve will be available in the export range in department stores and exclusive perfumeries.
Louve High Concentration edp will retail 95 Euros for 50 ml. Sarrasins edp will retail 105 Euros for 75 ml.
In other news, Moscovites will rejoice to learn that a Serge Lutens corner will open at the Tsum in July of 2007.
(Sources: Osmoz.fr, Cosmetic News)
Thanks for the info M-H. Sarrasins is a great name, though I'd expect something different than a jasmine from it. Does petrifying mean becoming indolic, or being terrified? The ink territory seems different.
And Louve sounds like its going to be a comfort scent, doesn't it? Perhaps a pared down RL?
Actually, you made me realize it's a literal translation of the French expression, "pétrifiant de beauté" which would mean that one feels awed by the beauty of that jasmine (awe being this mix of shock, maybe with some element of fear experienced in it, and admiration.)
I note that Louve seems to want to play on the theme of iciness and wildness coupled with the possibly gourmand theme too. A reference to the nurturing qualities of the she-wolf which Romulus and Remus suckled? LOL, maybe an aloof, distanced comfort scent?
Now I'm imagining Sarracins as some conflation of medieval Provençal love poetry (the idealised and idolised unrequited love object) with some decorative Mauresque thrust to take us further south. And Louve - a milky quality perhaps, as well. A comfort scent that bites and snarls (the bitterness)?
I think we could riff on the poetic allusions for some time if we so chose! I'm not sure it would help!
What do you think? If I were in the creators' shoes, I would be delighted to see that my perfumes are making people day-dream and re-invent the perfumes in their own fashions:)
Louve is so evocative and strange. Actually I started imagining a castle in the Balkans with count Dracula not far in the distance, but then realized the bats' allusion is for Sarrasins....hmmm, anyway, the smell of fresh ink is very interesting. Wonder if it will be literally an ink note? Am thrilled and looking forward to these beauties!
I have to say Romulus and Remus was my first thought as well, given my classical education. But almond doesn't bode with that? And not a note I'm crazy about, although the snow castle sounds delectable.We'll see I guess.
The name Sarassins is magnificent, though! And as a lover of jasmine I cannot but be *very* looking forward to what he comes up with...Sarassins brings to mind Spain and Sicily and all the mediterranean islands pilaged by pirates. And parchements with black ink in sweeping writing....Hmmm...come September, come.....
Well, there is such a thing as almond milk, but we can all agree that they don't have to be literal:)
Aaah yes, we're ready for them:)
I want to add just a little critical note about Sarrasins because although admiteddly the name itself is beautiful, poetic in a sense, it is also connoted as a word that designate the muslims as the others, the foreigners. It is not a completely neutral term.
About that last comment, M-H: I'm not surprised by the non-neutrality of the term. It seems to me that Lutens presents a very old-world, romanticized view of Muslim that doesn't entirely go over with those outside of France. I'm intrigued by the bats and ink, but less so by the jasmine. I like the sounds of chill and bitterness in Louve, too, but I'm not overly enamoured of almonds or "soft" "balm-like" scents.
Yes, I agree, there is an old-school Orientalist streak in his work, thank you for pointing out this aspect. I am just wondering if we have come a long enough way since the middle ages to re-use a term like "sarrasins" just based on its aesthetic merits or if with the tensions within the large French Muslim population, this might be felt as politically insensitive. On the other hand, I remember how when Arabie was issued and I was wearing it in Paris, I would get an approving smile by some French people of Arab descent because, I suppose that wearing Arabie translated into signalling that you liked Arab culture.
Greetings from the Balkans, although a safe distance from the Transilvanian abode of Drakul (sounds better than Dracula, n'est-ce pas? :) ). While I am romanticizing these new offerings from SL and anxiously awaiting September, I can't help but gripe over not having tried CR or Rousse yet. It seems a trip to Paris is in order. Shall we have that coffee then, say in September? :)
And thanks for the great news, M-H!
Oh oui, je préfère nettement Drakul! I think that coffee-drinking while testing the new Lutens will have to happen in Second Life for me at least in September:) I'm sure we'll meet someday in Paris:) Tous les chemins mènent à la Rome des parfums, to continue with the imagined Louve theme:)
Hello Marie,
I commented here a few days ago, but seems like it didn't get your approval. Well all I wanted to say is, you have a wonderful blog on perfumes and I like the way you do product reviews.
I just tried Sarrasins and I think it is exquisite, wearable and subtly new. Although I cannot say whether the jasmine note is original, I think the ink note is a valid exploration of an interesting synthetic tone and an inspired pairing with the jasmine.
A La Nuit may be a perfect recreation of real jasmin, but this feels wonderful to wear. Perfumery need not always be practiced as an abstract art. Like architecture, it must merge beauty and purpose.