Serge Lutens Écrin de Fumée and Cannibale

Last week, for some reason, I rewatched the Bourne films, including the weird sort of related one with Jeremy Renner rather than Matt Damon (that one did not work, but I guess that sometimes happens when you decide to patch in a new but sort of related story with weird associated flashbacks). They are (bar the weird non-Damon one) really relaxing. I kept wondering if I could 1) learn all those languages and 2) learn how to run across rooftops like that.

Anyway.

Onward to the other two samples I ordered from the Tiny Fragrances site, which are both from Serge Lutens.

First off is the 2023 release, Écrin de Fumée, which I smelled on a ribbon during my wondrous day out with Portia a few months ago. We were both very taken with it and I’d been meaning to get a proper sample to be thrown on skin.

Écrin de Fumée translates as ‘smokescreen’. The marketing guff goes like this: “Infused with the sweet and sensual scent of tobacco, this is a poetic ode to those who burn life at both ends. To those for whom excess is a way of life …” Yeah, ok.

Notes for this include cocoa, tobacco, rum, ‘smoke’ and woods. It starts out on me as boozy cocoa smoke, which is very nice. It then gets a bit spicy as it opens up – and the rum gets more prominent. The tobacco comes to the fore in the drydown.

On paper it’s all this but slightly sour. So, much better on skin. The spice is maybe cloves and I wonder if there’s any sandalwood in it.

EdF is very nice, very wearable. But I don’t know where the marketing guff came from because it’s not edgy in any sense of the imagination. It’s a very well done smoky-woody, with some nice twists. But, it’s not terribly unusual – just really pleasant to wear. However, does not make my heart go pitter pat. So, doesn’t go on to the want list. Here, a 50ml (export-type) bottle is £125 (100ml is £182), which is a bargain in the scheme of perfume prices these days.

Cannibale is a very different creature. I bought this based on the name. And for once I wasn’t at all disappointed having done that. But, this, which was released in 2015, is discontinued. This is what happens when you buy something on the fly without researching it. Oh, well. I’m still pleased to have had a chance to sample it.

In any case.

Cannibale is quite intriguing. First, the marketing guff, which is, quite frankly, ludicrous. Sigh. Whoever wrote the EdF stuff, while still offering silliness, did much better than this: “The cannibal is famished. How can we mention him without a reference to love …” WtAF??? If you know where this derived from please tell me because if it’s not referencing something specific, I think the copy writer was on drugs.

Apparently, this was a riff on floral vinegars from the 18^th century. One review I read stated it was “a gorgeous sourish floral wood”.

Not on me. Notes are hard to find. Maybe rose, carnation, vinegar, ambergris, amber, frankincense, styrax, birch tar, castoreum, myrrh, tonka, patchouli, plum, some tuberose-related mothballiness?

Having written that, on me, the opening is immortelle: straight up. Dark, syrupy, slightly bitter and slightly sweet. Not as refined as Dior Eau Noire but it’s supposed to have something to do with a cannibal, after all.

The middle development sees floral incense on me – gentle, resinous and where did that immortelle thing go??? – and then things get a bit sweeter as the fragrance dries down. It finishes up as a sweet smoky incense – ie, something of a comfort scent in the end.

Even if it were still around, I don’t need this. The faux immortelle aspect at the opening is the most interesting part of the fragrance.

So, there we are. I’m really pleased with all three of my recent samples.  Anyone else done EdF and Cannibale when it was released?

Pics: Pexels and mine