Expecting a new rubbish bin and an outside food recycling bin from the council within the next couple of weeks. Am ludicrously excited about this. Do these sorts of things make you cheerful?
I booked tickets for the farm shop’s annual pumpkin festival – for Halloween (yes, the 31st of October – my absolute favourite annual holiday). That’s sort of exciting. They will have different coloured pumpkins (otherwise known as squash) alongside the usual orange: blue, yellow, white.
You get to choose your own pumpkin plus they’ll have s’mores, soft serve gourmet ice cream, the ubiquitous pumpkin latte.
This sample, which I bought along with Guerlain Shalimar L’Essence, was chosen for the name: the past participle. The name felt interesting to me – and melancholy for no reason I can put my finger on. Alas, once I received the parcel, I discovered that this is discontinued. Best laid plans etc. Still, I thought it was worth a few words.
The last Lutens I sampled was, I believe, Écrin de Fumée, released a couple of years ago.
Launched in 2018, notes list for LPP (per Fragrantica): artemisia (see pic), bergamot, fruity notes, pepper, Egyptian balsam, resins, caramel, cumin, leather and patchouli.
On me this opens classical if sort of one-dimensional Lutens spices: a melange of cumin, fenugreek, pepper. I immediately thought of the underskirt of Arabie, but Arabie quickly gets plumped up with all that dried fruit plus cinnamon.
Further along, we’re in serious, gooey, immortelle – even though that doesn’t appear to appear on the notes list. Maybe that’s the caramel?
The drydown is spicy, ambre, a bit of coffee (??). Good longevity. Really like the maybe coffee note.
This sat within the Collection Noire range, which is where you’ll find many of the original dark Lutens, like Chergui and Ambre Sultan.
It is Lutens doing full blown Lutens without much nuance – if your fave bit of many of the fragrances is the heavy bazaar melange base. In hindsight I’m not surprised it was discontinued.
Me, I’m glad SL still offers Arabie. Here, it’s available for something like £250 for a belle jar. Ironically, you can also get ‘vintage’ Arabie in the flat, 50ml, bottle on eBay for around the same price. Go figure.
Pics: pexels, wiki
Perfume.com has it for US $123. Just sayin..
Definitely a bargain.
One of my favorites. I adore immortelle and can’t think of anything cozier then being wrapped up in that odd maple syrup/curry scent. Hmmm… if it’s been discontinued, maybe it’s on sale and I should pick up another bottle!
I expect it can be found somewhere—hopefully not mad pricey.
I too adore immortelle. My fave for the note would be Dior Eau Noire.
I’m not fluent in French, and I admit the name of this is something I cannot remember which put me off a bit, and that’s a “me” problem 100%. HOWEVER, how similar do you think it is to El Attarine? I’d kill for some of that, still kicking myself for not buying it when I could. (I know today’s is also dc’d but it might be easier to find.)
I don’t recall ever sampling El Attrarine but boy, that notes list is something. How could I miss that???
I know I must have tried this but don’t remember anything about it.
Which I guess says it all. I need to dig out my old bottle of Arabie. I think I got it when they were $92 USD
$92 … well, that’s not much. I recall my Rose de Nuit being £110 a couple of decades ago.
I am not sure how long LPP was around for but I don’t think it was too long. Although Portia said you can still find it in Australia.
I’m a huge fan of Lutens, and that was one of the last/later fb bottles for me. I quite like it, and it’s classic Lutens/Sheldrake, but it does not have some of the atmosphere conjured up by others in his oeuvre. It’s almost a “blend” of the bois line with Arabie and some others. You’ve reminded me, now that the days are getting crisp, to renew my acquaintance. Some days the heat has been so intense in California, I’ve opted for bare skin or something light that doesn’t require a lot of thought. Or just sunscreen!
That’s it — a blend of other things, not its own creature.
i am nowhere near heavier scents yet, except for testing and tuberose (which has been a thing all summer).
While I’m not a pumpkin spice latte girlie, I do love Autumn. Love the cooler weather and the leaves changing. We went to the Renn Faire on Saturday, and it was still hot and humid. I wore Kenzo Amour today — a distinct shift into the fall scents for me. I hadn’t heard of Lutens’ Past Participle. It sounds very fall-ish. Thanks Cinnamon!
Renn Faire? Is that a renaissance festival?
It’s very humid here today. I would appreciate the atmosphere getting a bit dryer. Indoor humidity reading is too high.
Yes, Renn Faire as in Renaissance Faire. The one in Maryland is the second largest in the US.
Yeah, humidity is such a drag. Makes the actual temperature feel so much hotter. Blegh.
This is the time of year where past participles take on so many meanings, almost all of them melancholy ( for me, at any rate).
I’ve always struggled with Uncle Serge’s oeuvre-with the exception of a few bombshells like Daim Blonde and the chrysanthemum one ( the name is escaping me right now… De Profundis!!!!!).. so this one isn’t calling me
That’s good ’cause it’s no longer around.
yes, agree on melancholy.
is De Profundis the purple one or is that a jasmine?
The purple one is Sarrasins. It was a gorgeous leather Jasmine. The latest version is a Jasmine soliflore with anything raunchy removed. So sad
I knew right away that you meant De Profundis. It has a gentle melancholy to it, but makes me sad because I cannot wear it. On my skin, it loses all its specialness and believe me, I kept trying!
Just looked it up: De Profundis is indeed purple.
Hey there Cinnamon,
Love Le Participe Passé and if you want it I can grab one here in Oz and bring it over next year. It’s way more affordable than Arabie.
Portia xx
That’s very kind but no need. I think I’ll be fine with my sample. I don’t crave this. It was just interesting to sample.
By the way, I have a date now for when I’ll be in Germany, so probably won’t be doing Paris except at that time (mid May I think). But, it’s always possible to come up to London …
Looks like we will be in London around late September or early October 2027. Let’s try and coordinate.
Have made note of timing. Feels quite far away…