Samples, I got Samples..

Well, my purchase at Uncle Serge didn’t qualify me for one of the nifty travel sprayers (and there was nothing at the site like SL-branded $20 nail files I could toss in to qualify) so I had to content myself with the proffered samples. Not that that’s a bad thing. Some of them I have tried and some of them are new:

Dans le bleu qui pétille was one (along with Écrin de fumée) that I had received in a previous purchase from Uncle Serge. Second time was the charm on this one. I liked it before but this time I am really liking it, and my usual reaction to anything “eau” is a hearty “Eau no, thanks.” Not sure that I need a full bottle (sorry Uncle Serge, but not at $200) But I do like it more and more.

L’eau Serge Lutens was, if I am not wrong. the first of of the houses into the l’eau territory and was met with gasps galore- as if Halston announced he would start selling at KMart. Oh wait that happened. Luckily this worked out better for Uncle Serge- mainly because while I didn’t need it (his Clair de Musc is about as “clean” as I need to get, thanks) I could see where it fit in his oeuvre and why shouldn’t he go in this direction? Patty agreed, so I am in good company. Still didn’t buy a bottle.

Écrin de fumée was again, a sample in a previous purchase. Cinnamon wrote about it previously and said it better than I could. Last time I tried it I was underwhelmed. This time I was a bit overwhelmed. There was a particular cherry pipe tobacco that my Dad used that the last time this reminded me of. This sample seemed to amp up the Smucker’s and dial down the smoke, which is for the worse. It’s gone from “meh” to “no.”

La Fille tour de fer is the newest of these, having come out in 2024 and has been getting a lot of positive play on the interwebs. It’s a big rose scent, as in BIG ROSE. It opens with a big fat dose of rose that will be familiar to anyone who grew up in the 1970’s. It’s a big dollop of unapologetic, unfiltered and unfettered rose that has nods to everything from the rose oil you’d get at hippie-type shops to rose air freshener from Airwick and Glade to the cabbage roses everybody planted back then to get the most rose-scented bang for the buck. It’s the rose that you think of when you think of rose. It is also bloody strong- I actually had someone come into my office to mention the smell of perfume in the corridor, which they never do, and I didn’t even bathe in it. After the initial rose smack-down it starts to get somewhat stemmy and earthy and a little sweet- with a hint of candied violets and something like nutmeg? Cumin? I actually started out not liking it (because of the initial malaise era bell-bottomed Farrah-flipped retro rose explosion) but as it wears I like it more and more. Not sure that I like it enough to $200 for 50ML, but that seems to be the standard price of admission these days. I might just have to rose tint my world after all- which seems like the best metaphor for this one: it’s a Rocky Horror rose: Dr. Frankenfurter’s finest creation. Let me check the discounters.

Have you tried any of these? The rose explosion? I’d love to read your opinions on them. Please share in the comments.

My samples came from Serge Lutens concurrent with the purchase of my bottle of Borneo 1834.

Photos: my  iPhone, Pexels, and Wikimedia Commons.