Christmas Crazy: Serge Lutens Borneo 1834

Patchouli flowers

I feel that everyone, after a period of virtue, has the right if not the duty to indulge in something silly. Not ruinously silly, like buying a boat, or even just super-silly, like that Keepall 55 Bandouliere I have been coveting for 25 years and never bought. No, my silly indulgences have rules. Like they have to be on sale. And I have to have the cash on hand and not be taking it from something else like savings. Well, I tell myself that anyway.

I am also not immune to, even if aware of, marketing. So when I got those mailings from Serge Lutens over the holidays trying to entice me to buy I was careful. They offered discounts, but not always on something I would want to buy- as lovely as the make-up is, I never could pull off the sloe-eyed vamp look, even with the priciest and smokiest of shadow.

But then they got me.

They apparently have decided to can the “Tower of Power” Gratte-Ciel packaging, or have just decided to shift some of the scents that were in that range back to bell jars. Of course they made it seem that the packaging or even perhaps the scent was going the way of the buffalo, and that my beloved Borneo 1834 was on the chopping block. And that was not to be borne.

The Mothership at the Palais Royale

Borneo 1834 was my introduction to Serge Lutens. I had sort of heard about them but at that point (2005) never really smelled them: I can’t remember if Barney’s or Fred Segal carried them then and even if they did, at that point Lutens stuck to it’s maddening but admittedly effective marketing gimmick of two-tiered releases. They would have the export line, which was available “everywhere” and came in tombstone shaped bottles (priced at I believe $70? Can you believe it?) which were all well and good, but the good stuff was in those bell jars. Those “Exclusives” which were only available at the Paris mothership and could only be shipped in the EU. Someone I know bought a bottle of Borneo when they went to France and from first sniff I needed it. Despite the fact that I should have loathed it. I am not big on Patchouli in general and was frightened at a tender age by Angel- which I think March referred to as “choco-vomit” (which I still wish I’d said first.) But Borneo’s dark cocoa and dry, rustling pachouli leaves were, and are 180 degrees from Angel’s Hershey-and-headshop vibe (Yes, I know on some people it’s gorgeous. but people bathed in it in the early 90’s, and just no.) I have a friend who’s parents lived during the aughts in Switzerland and he would visit them twice a year. He didn’t mind carrying my purchases back to the states to me, and his mother didn’t mind receiving the package. since the accompanying samples were of course hers. That bell jar is the one in the photo- so you can see how much I have used over nearly two decades.

So of course I needed a back-up.

Well, it was $25% off, was shipped free, and I got to keep the samples..

So, is there a difference? I would say a slight one, but I cannot say whether that’s due to reformulation or just age. The older bottle seems a little more mellow and the new one a little spikier. There’s also the fact that the new bottle is a spray and the bell jar is dab only. It’s kind of one of those “love it of hate it” Lutens. Patty liked it, March not so much. Luckily Surrender to Chance has samples so you can try it without going to France.

Borneo 1834 is still listed as available (both as “Best Seller” and “Last Chance” in the Gratte-Ciel bottle as of 1/6/25) at the Lutens website. Samples are available at Surrender to Chance. I purchased my bottles as mentioned above.

Images: My iPhone, Pexels and Wikimedia Commons