Serge Lutens Vitriol d’oeillet – Carnation dressed in worn leather over a white lace thong and teddy, perched on stiletto leather booties and rides a Harley custom painted in bright pink.
First, pop over to Grain de Musc and read Carmen’s review and the background on the carnation and Serge’s ideas for this creation, most — okay, all of which I didn’t know. I’ve always loved the little carnation – its spiciness, persistence, the dogged way it permeates everything around it. That such a dainty, small thing can scent a room or a garden in such a big way. It was always that clump or two of dianthus I had growing that just overpowered every other scent coming from that section of the flower garden. Not by brute force, but by filling your senses until that’s all you smell. Sorta like looking at pictures of pink Harleys for this post (none of them worked) and thinking – Hey! I want one!!!
Serge doesn’t not make some dainty little carnation perfume at all with Serge Lutens Vitriol d’oeillet. This smacks you over the head with pepper and spice, unfurling into a gale force wind. Notes of clove, nutmeg, cayenne, black pepper, pink pepper, and woods are the main notes. Bellodgia with spurs. I’m trying to tell you what it is, but it’s hard. I do not think it will be well-loved, though I’m completely enchanted with how familiar, yet foreign it smells. It’s not pretty or floral. It’s a surreal landscape of carnation. This is the Serge I like, weirdly uncompromising.
Hey, I love it on me, I don’t care what you guys think. This scent is about contrasts between what is ordinary/familiary and what jars your senses. Of course we’ll give some away. 4 samples up for grabs for four commenters.
Winners from last week’s draw for the Tauer Pentachord samples: mirandajane and Kelly. Just click over on the left on the Contact Us, send me a note reminding me what you won and your address, and I’ll give you a quick got it so you know I got the e-mail, and then I’ll get them sent out to you!
Of the “weird” Serges, and I don’t include Serge Lutens Muscs Koublai Khan in that anymore, which is your favorite? Anticipating this year’s releases or no?
“Carnation dressed in worn leather over a white lace thong and teddy, perched on stiletto leather booties and rides a Harley custom painted in bright pink.”
C’est moi!
Thank goodness dear Uncle Serge sent me a sample of this gem. Must try it, as I’m a big fan of spicy carnation ‘fumes.
To me Vitriol d’Oeillet isn’t as commercial and mainstream as Fleurs d’Oranger and Nuit de Cellophane but I find it easier to wear than Tubereuse Criminelle, my favorite “challenging” Lutens, in that it is less dark, softer on the skin.
My goodness, Golconda goes to the Tubereuse Criminelle sex change institute. I would be pleased to find entry in the giveaway.
Love, love, LOVE carnation…actually just love anything florally-spicy (wtf, is that a real description?!), lol. I think all Serges are weird but I love and/or appreciate them. I’ve always loved Bois de Violettes although I get pickles for the first 5-10 minutes.
PLease enter me in the draw…thanks!!
OOOOOH!….My favorite things are: weird/uncomprimising…and,of course,who does it better than Serge…add me to the draw,and I’ll cross my fingers….and,I wish I was rich,I’d buy Nava a whole dern bottle…smooches to her:x
I don’t think I like any of the weird Serges, but I sure would like to try this! :)
Wow, please enter me in this draw to win. This sounds really yummy to me. How does it compare to Golconda by Jars?
Thank you .
I love spicy carnation, and I love leather, so I’m really eager to try VdO. My favorite carnation is Dawn Spencer Hurwitz’s Oeillet Rouge, and I also like CdG’s Carnation. Strangely, Bellodgia was rather “meh” to me, but Carons just don’t seem to love me, so I wasn’t terribly surprised. I’m a big fan of Cuir Mauresque- own the export bottle – so I’m interested to see if the leather facet of VdO captures CM’s buttery leather essence.
Weird SL loves…hard to know what qualifies, but I own many SL’s and have tried most others. Looking at some of the nominees among these responses, I’ll confess that MKK, MdB and Serge Noire were absolute horrors on me…bad-weird. TC and ISM were meh-weirds…I’m mostly not a tuberose fan – although I do like the camphor note in TC – and ISM is just a bit too rooty for my tastes..it’s an interesting take on iris, but I don’t want to smell like I’ve been taking a dirt nap! For years, Borneo was my favorite of my Lutens, and that one seems to be making a lot of lists here. I love the interplay of cocoa, patch and camphor. That one seems to be a love it or hate fragrance for most. I still love it, but it was replaced by La Myrrhe as my all-time favorite SL. I don’t consider La Myrrhe “weird,” although it doesn’t get as much attention as I feel it should, and it definitely tends to provoke strong responses. Strangely, I generally hate aldehydes (Chanel is pretty much a no-go for me), but I make an exception for this fragrance. It’s ponderous and darkly lovely, a rich oriental carpet showered in frankincense. I’m hoping that VdO is similarly surprising and captivating for me!
Gris Clair is my favorite “weird” on paper, but sadly my skin hates it, which I understand from basenotes is a problem shared by many. My skin loves Borneo, so for me it’s not weird – it’s part of my regulars for fall. So maybe Filles en Aiguilles? That one’s weird and all good.
I am looking forward to the three SL this fall – Tuberose Criminelle is new to me, and Vitriol sounds fun. But De Profundis! OMG OMG OMG. It’s very rare to experience something chemically novel.
Does Jeux de Peau count as a weird SL? That’s my fav. I also adore Chergui, but don’t think that would qualify.
Please enter me in the draw!
Can’t wait to try this (hopefully as a sample from you!). It’s been haunting me for months now.
If we are not counting MKK (which has crept up to no. 1 on my SL list of favorites), then I would say the perennial Tubereuse Criminelle and Iris Silver Mist.
I don’t know if it qualifies as weird, but I like the unloved Serge Noire. I have a small decant of MKK from several years ago, and I like to sniff it every so often, but I am still afraid of it!
I’m new to perfume, so I don’t have much experience with Serges. The only time I got an opportunity to smell much of the line, a kindly saleslady offered to “spritz” me with A La Nuit, which I like in small doses, and then proceeded to cover me in about 12 sprays, on a hot and humid summer day. I made babies cry from half a block away, as what must have seemed like a wall of jasmine hit their noses. That end to the experience pretty much wiped away my memories of all the others I smelled.
I’d love to smell Vd’O. I’ve only tried modern Bellodgia for a carnation perfume, and it seemed very pale. That with spurs would be interesting.
My favorite weird yet wonderful Serge is La Myrrhe. I love my little decant and feel like I have to save it for the Christmas manger.
I don’t have much familiarity with carnation notes…or maybe I do but just have not recognized it. The spice is nice!
Cloves and pepper sound interesting. Put me in the draw.
I love carnations. I have placed “pinks” in my garden because I loved their spiciness and yet I have never thought of carnations in a fragrance. I would love to try Serge’s Vitriol d’oeillet.
I’ve never had a chance to so much as see a SL (except photos online), much less smell or spray one on with wild abandon :( I’ve always had an odd relationship with the flower; it smells dusty (not aldehylic), papery and peppery to me, not at all floral, and the *very* few carnation scents I’ve sniffed either relay that dust-bunny-coated peppered paper scent or no noticible carnation at all, just a peppery spice scent that I assume is supposed to be the carnation. Also, carnations always make me think of the first Friday in May and elementary/junior high school; I was in Catholic school from 1st through 8th grades, and there was an observation to honor the Virgin Mary the first Friday in May, and we the students had to bring flowers as an offering for part of the ceremony — I usually brought carnations and baby’s breath or roses and baby’s breath. SO carnations make me think of picking some up that Friday morning from the overly cold floral department at the neighborhood Winn-Dixie while wearing my uniform and breaking out in goosebumps.
ooooooohhh….I LOVE a spicy carnation! I hope this turns out to be as wonderful as the long-discontinued Coty Oeillet (as if anything could be). Please enter me in the draw.
I think almost the entire Lutens oeuvre is slightly off-kilter — that’s what makes Serge, Serge. but if I had to choose, the prize for favourite oddball would go to La Myrrhe, even if it is barely wearable in all its cold marble floor beauty.
yay! I was hoping you the posse would review this. This was given to me as a birthday gift because it was instant love. It was my second Serge; after years of searching for a Serge that smelled good or interesting on me, Boxeuse came along and then 6 months later Vitriol.
[My original carnation perfume experience was the tiny bottle in the prada series, I loved it but never bought it. Anyone else familiar with this one? I still pine for a dram or two of it :)]
I like MKK, but not on me (I have mentioned it smells like Body Shop musc on me). I kept thinking Fleur D’Oranger would be my ‘one’ but it changes and some times gives me a headache. JdPeau made me ill when I smelled it and I didn’t even want to spray it–the sweetness/milkyness was too difficult.
Each experience with a Serge means something interesting, even if it unsettles me and for that I am very happy.
Haven’t tried too many Serges yet. Borneo was musty cocoa, but Fleurs d’Oranger was a lovely, cuminy, orange blossom syrup. MKK disappointed on me – I wanted the goats-and-sex stank I kept hearing about, but instead got a vaguely cuminy and insipid peachy floral. It wasn’t until I put in on my boyfriend that I got a whiff of that borderline obscenity. I love it on him, but disappointed that it’s so tame on me.
I’d love to give this one a try, as I’m a big carnation fan.
Hmm, weird Serges. I’m not sure if Arabie counts as weird or just over the top. Either way, I love it, and Douce Amere is my desert island perfume. Not sure if that one counts as weird either. Please enter me in the draw!
Oh boy!! I’ve got some coming from a split….can’t wait to try it!
I might actually buy a Lutens at long last, and it’s a weird one for him, imo: Bas de Soie. It’s a weird one for me too, as it’s an entry under the category Expensive Hand Lotion, which normally is acceptable only as, yes, hand lotion.
I don’t think I’ve really even smelled a carnation scent ever, other than Old Spice, which I hear is slightly carnation-y. I’ve never smelled a carnation, as all the ones at the florist are of the non-smelly variety and we had pinks and dianthus in our garden years ago, but I don’t recall their scent. I’d love to try this though so please enter me in the draw. I haven’t really smelled any “weird” Serges either. The only SL I love is Chene, and only sniffed a few other “tame” ones (Un Bois Vanille, Daim Blond)
I have a sample of the Vitriol, so no need to enter me in the draw. . .It is interestingly odd. The clove/carnation is warm thick and dense, but there is a cool, sheer powdery quality to it as well. It shows different facets as it progresses on me. Each time I’ve tried it, I’ve had my nose glued to my wrist for hours. I do not detect strong leather in this, but will have to think about it on its next outing. I’m not the best at picking out indivual notes, and leather is a tough one for me, pun intended.
As for weird SLs? I *like* them at their weirdest. My first SL purchase was a bell jar of MKK. When I’m back in Paris, I want to pick up Miel de Bois. I love the opening of Tuberose Criminelle, and reapply it (dabbed! not sprayed) to get that camphoraceous/medicinal/metallic blast before the lush floral settles around me. The fun is the journey! Be well.
I’m not sure which Serges are the weird ones… Miel du Bois, I guess; I can’t handle that one. MKK, Ambre Sultan, and Fumerie Turque are among my regulars, but I don’t find any of them weird. Maybe Iris Silver Mist, which I like a lot, would qualify as a weird Serge?
I have a sample of the Vitriol- so no need to enter me in the draw. It smelt much more transparent than I’d imagined- I need to sample it again. (Although I was hoping for something like Caron Poivre which it definitely is not)
I tried MKK recently and didn’t find it very skanky/weird at all (though now a days I have a high tolerance for both. also my skin amplifies the sweet notes). My fave weird SL would have to be Tubereuse Criminelle ( it is my favorite SLs and one of my favorite perfumes)
My fave weird Lutens is la myrrhe. I am so excited about my upcoming pilgrimage to the Palais Royal! One of my favorite spots in Paris.
My fave weird SL is Miel de Bois, but I’m another in the camp that it isn’t actually weird on. Or is it, but I just don’t know it?
My fave unweird SL that I think is really kind of weird on me is Rose de Nuit. Weird, but drop-dead gorgeous. I would love to try the Vitriol.
I guess it says something about me that I no longer associate Serge Lutens with ‘weird’. Waaaay down the rabbit hole, we are. Anyhow, I’m DYING to try this one–it sounds as if it can stand proudly with TC and Borneo, Miel de Bois and Jeux de Peau (my current summer Favs. Although, I think my all time fav of the outré SLs is probably El Attarine. Funk? Check. Spice? Check. Golden honeyed incense? Check. Floral? Check. Who needs anything else?
If it counts, I definitely choose Tubereuse Criminelle. I think the weird top notes are utterly gorgeous! I wouldn’t want it to smell like that through its entire wear time, but I think, for a tuberose opening, that it’s genius.
thought I like Fille en Aiguilles (I’m a knitter so the name appealed to me, but it is too insistent in the dry-down. (I have a barely used bottle so if anyone is interested…)
I do love Chergui on my husband…
Hey hey, I’m interested. I’ve had my eye on FeA for a while now. Would you want to swap it or sell it? Please email me at elisagabbert AT gmail DOT com if you want to talk turkey! Please forgive if I don’t respond immediately, I’m moving at the moment, but will get back to you as soon as I can….
Would love to try this since my only try at a carnation scent was Bellodgia which was meh on my skin. CdG is on my wishlist. I love Miel de Bois!!
I wonder if you’d like Coty L’Origan? The vintage is still pretty easy (and pretty inexpensive) to get, via the eeeB. Carnation/clove/amber/vanilla. Supposedly the inspiration for L’Heure Bleue.
xo >-)
I find almost all SLs to be a wonderful mix of the beautiful and the slightly weird, but the best among the “weirdest” for me is Chypre Rouge and Serge Noir. I’m dying to try Jeaux de Peau, which sounds like it could land solidly in my it’s-strange-and-I-love-it category.
I don’t have a lot of experience with carnation in perfume, but when I was growing up, we lived next to a carnation grower, and it was wonderful to walk through the greenhouses among the thousands of pom-pom flower heads on tall thin stalks – another surreal landscape of carnations. :)
Love your review! I would love to try this. My favorite “weird” Serge is Miel de Bois. I am hoarding my little decant.
Your description sounds utterly delicious. Carnation, clove, nutmeg and cayenne? Yes please! Thank you for entering me in the draw.
Serge has broken my heart many times over with scents that should have been perfect for me, but just didn’t work. Fille en Aiguelles came closest, but I’d prefer it as a candle.
Aparatchick summed up my exact feelings on Serge and carnation…but I don’t have a decant, so thanks for the chance to win a sample!
I do love a great carnation scent so please enter me in the draw. It took me forever to get to the point of love for tubereuse criminalle, then a friend accidentally knocked my bell jar on the floor, and i became a grieving widower in mourning. They offered to buy me a new bell jar until they found out how much it costs…lol. such is our passions for the liquid sunshine we seek.
Carnation? ::pant pant:: I want! I want! This note is something of a Holy Grail for me; I haven’t found the perfect one yet. Bellodgia is OK, but can get a bit cloying. This may be the one!
I have never experienced a Serge Lutens fragrance, so I cannot comment on favorite or weird. I’m not sure if I’ve even ever had a carnation fragrance. I would love to try my first. I do love reading about all these niche lines, and will in time sample. Please enter me in draw. Thanks.
Carnations & leather? I’m panting! Please enter me in the draw.
Slooowly testing SL, b/c many are unique and wonderful and after applying I need to sell my blood or trade away Diorling or something to get a decant immediately! I love Santal Blanc, FdB, BdV, Daim Blond, Fumerie Turque, Chergui and Arabie. Wasn’t quite as fond of Jeux de Peau or Fleurs D’oranger.
erm…
trade away Diorling?
erm……what Diorling, persackly?
😕
xo >-)
Which ones count as weird? I love A La Nuit and Fleurs d’Oranger, but I don’t find them that weird. I’d love to explore more of this line, so please enter me in the draw!
The only Serge that I have tried up til now is Feminite du Bois. I love it. I am longing to try the new carnation. Carnations are my favorite flowers in spite of my name. Please enter me in the draw.
Please, please enter me in the drawing–I think this is a Serge for me, hands down!
A weird one for me that I LOVE: Serge Noire. It might be my favorite.
I love the smell of carnations, and yet don’t own a single carnation fragrance. Please enter me in the draw.
I guess my favorite “weird” SL is Miel de Bois. However, it isn’t weird on me at all, albeit a bit strong. It’s just beautiful honey and wood….one of the best honey fragrances I’ve tried. (However, I guess I should divulge that I’ve never met a honey fragrance I *didn’t* like.
I would love to try VdO. My favorite Serges are: Chergui, Forreau Noir, Cuir Mauresque, and Boxeuses.
Mmmmmm, spicy leathery carnation. Sounds wonderful.
I love so many Serges, and most of them have some weird facet to them. I wear Ambre Sultan, A La Nuit, Sarrasins, Chene, Tubey Crim, Un Lys… too lazy to go look in the perfume drawer right now.
I don’t know whether Encens et Lavande qualifies as weird, but it does have a somewhat weird effect on me. When I wear it, I almost feel as if time has stopped. It produces the most amazing calming and meditative effect. I would love to try Vitriol d’Oeillet. I love your description of it being a contrast between the ordinary and the familiar.
So, I guess what you’re saying is Vitriol d’Oeillet isn’t a replacement for Malmaison? I adore carnation fragrances and never smelled a weird one before. As far as my favorite weird SL, well, I haven’t tried any of them that have the “weird” reputation. I really enjoyed your review of this. It made me smile. :-)
My fave “weird” serge is fille en aiguelles. Please enter me in the draw, thanks!