Serge Lutens has launched a new website designed for US shoppers. At us.sergelutens.com you can find information on Serge Lutens, his work, creative vision, and of course, his perfumes. The entire collection is available for purchase via internet, bell jars included.
The collection is organized into several groups, such as Fouets de Velours (Sudden Sweetness) that includes perfumes like Ambre Sultan, Chergui, and Boxeuses, or Fleurs San Cueillette (Flowers Unpicked)–Un Lys, Rose de Nuit and Fleurs d’Oranger. The latest launch, Une Voix Noire is described as “jazz, drinks and the night, and, beyond all that, a troubling line of white, gardenia-scented smoke.” The only thing to keep in mind is that the prices on the bell jars are much higher than what you would pay in Paris.
Via Serge Lutens Facebook page
20 Comments
Barbara: Eye candy!! I dream of a bell jar. 🙂 October 20, 2012 at 10:12am
Victoria: They are beautiful! 🙂 October 20, 2012 at 12:01pm
Bela: The new website is so lovely. All those cute little bottles!
The markup is huge, but imported goods are always more expensive than non imported ones. I don’t think it’s going to stop people from buying those fragrances. Myself, I already couldn’t afford them two years ago.
Btw, in case anyone thinks ‘Fouets de velours’ actually translates as ‘Sudden sweetness’, it means ‘Velvet whips’. 🙂 October 20, 2012 at 11:05am
Victoria: I’ve noticed that the translations were, let’s say, loose. La Peau du Bois, for instance. Although, wood skin doesn’t sound nearly as poetic in English as it does in French.
Velvet Whips sounds much better than Sudden Sweetness, and it captures the idea of those fragrances perfectly! October 20, 2012 at 12:00pm
Bela: Yes, La Peau du bois can’t really be translated literally (it doesn’t actually sound that good in French anyway), but I don’t know why they couldn’t used Velvet whips. October 20, 2012 at 2:20pm
Victoria: I preferred their original Les Eaux Boisées appellation. 🙂 October 20, 2012 at 2:28pm
Bela: Me too! October 20, 2012 at 2:34pm
George: Victoria, as a Uk-ite not recently gone to Paris, I have only got to the smell the selectively distributed range. The only ones of the bell jar fumes I have got my nose around has been Tubereuse Criminelle (which is amazing) and Bois de Violette as it made the transition from Palais Royale line to selective dist, and Rousse (which went the other way). Am I really getting a sense of Serge Lutens from these lines that have been for selective distribution, or do I really need to make that effort to samples Sarrasins, De Profundis, La Myrrhe, Iris Silver Mist etc? It has to be said that I tend to like ‘difficult’ perfumes, and from what I have read (and limitedly smelt) the bell jar lines sound like they Serge in a much more perverse register, and that the vast majority of the selective disc. lines (bar MKK and TC) don’t really do it for me. (I also LOVE Coromandel and Sycomore which I know are both Sheldrakes) What would your take be on the difference between the two lines, and commentary on whether anyone can really get an idea of the Lutens range by only having access to the select. dist. range? October 20, 2012 at 12:48pm
Victoria: I think that both lines are very good, and they feature the same high-quality, rich fragrances. The main difference is that the exclusive line has some of the unusual compositions. If you love iris or cold, earthy scents, Iris Silver Mist is a must. That and No 19 are the best iris dominated perfumes available. Actually, La Myrrhe and De Profundis are among my top favorites. They are worth the effort to locate. Sarrasins is very good, but it is worth the major effort only if you love jasmine or heady white florals. A La Nuit is just as good IMO. October 20, 2012 at 2:26pm
Bela: I think we basically agree. LOL! October 20, 2012 at 2:35pm
George: Many thanks for that Victoria: your answer convinces me that its in the exclusive line that I’ll find the fumes most likely to convert me to being more fully a Lutens fan. If only he would open a shop with the palais royale line here: everything else that interests me is available one way or another: his is the only major hole in the fumescape. October 21, 2012 at 3:53am
Bela: (Not Victoria, but an old Lutens fan too.) I would say that, in general, the Exclusives have always been more ‘challenging’ than the Exports (why are they calling them Selective Distribution Fragrances? Everyone’s always called them Exports). Which, makes sense, if you think about it: fragrances that were meant to be released worldwide had to be more instantly likeable than those that had a more restricted distribution. Of course, once some of the Exclusives started being sold as Exports (which happened several years after the fragrances’ original release) the distinction became more blurred. I think there is a real difference between Iris Silver Mist and Clair de Musc, for instance.
Per ml the Exports are more expensive than the Exclusives so it can’t be a question of quality of ingredients; it has to do with the intended market. October 20, 2012 at 2:32pm
Victoria: Ah, that’s such a good point about the price. It’s true, if one has a chance to buy the perfumes in Paris something like Ambre Sultan in a bell jar is a better deal than the export square bottle.
Another good comparison is Santal Blanc (export) vs Santal de Mysore (exclusive). One is sweet and cuddly, the other one is dark and animalic. October 20, 2012 at 2:39pm
Bela: Oh, absolutely! Santal de Mysore is a much more ‘difficult’ scent than Santal Blanc. I chose to compare ISM and Clair de Musc b/c the former is such a complex fragrance and the latter such a simple one (perhaps deceptively so, I don’t know: I find it a bit boring). October 20, 2012 at 2:43pm
Victoria: I don’t find Clair de Musc compelling either. For a soft floral musk, I would rather go for Fleurs de Citronnier. October 20, 2012 at 2:53pm
Eric: I’m going to have a really hard time passing up a bottle of El Attarine. I wish I could trade in my bottle of Iris Silver Mist–I still love it, but it doesn’t move me in the same way. October 21, 2012 at 2:32am
Carla: I think they did a good job translating the feel of his store to a web page. I am so glad I bought bell jars while we lived in Germany and earned euros. The prices are outrageous! I am surprised to see Bois de Violette described as vim and vigor – not at all to me. October 21, 2012 at 10:41am
irem: Dear Victoria, if I can bother you with a question, I am wondering how you dispense the juice inside the Bell Jars. I have never purchased a SL full bottle before, but I think that the tall export bottles come with an optional spray dispenser. The lovely Bell Jar though looks to come only with a glass stopper. Is that correct? If so how do you apply it? I am no stranger to Guerlain or Chanel parfum, I’ve emptied several flacons by dabbing. But then those are really concentrated formulae and a drop or two is plenty. I have sampled Bois de Violette for example, and dabbing it would not do. Am I supposed to decant into a travel atomizer? If so, where is the pleasure of the Bell Jar? Could you please share your way with the Bell Jars. Thanks a lot. October 21, 2012 at 12:13pm
Victoria: I usually either decant from bell jars into small spray atomizers or else I use small disposable plastic pipettes to put the perfume on my skin (I get them from cookware stores, or even cheaper, on ebay). Works really well! The bell jars look beautiful, and as Bela said, they are a better value for money if the perfume you want is available in a bell jar. Of course, if that is not a major consideration for you, the oblong spray bottles are great. October 21, 2012 at 2:20pm
irem: Thank you very much for your reply! Alas, in the US at the current prices, the bells jars are much worse in the price-per-ml department: $140/50ml for tall bottles vs $300/75ml for bell jars. That means $90 for the Bell Jar alone!
I have to admit that the Bell Jar itself is an object of beauty, though, and has a magic that the tall bottles lack. Surely part of this magic is the years long exclusivity, the dream of going to Paris to get a Bell Jar – at least to us in the US. October 23, 2012 at 10:54am