Hey, guess what?! The three-week plumbing job that could have been done in two days is finished, woohoo! Slowly migrating my possessions back into my bedroom and closet. This place really needs some tidying up since Winter is Coming … do you do fall cleaning? Spring cleaning? As little cleaning as possible?
Today I am pining for a lost Serge Lutens – lost to me, that is. I was wild for El Attarine back in the day (i.e., ca. 2009). Basically, “Cumin? Sign me up.” It certainly wasn’t everyone’s cup of … souk, although Robin at NST also loved it, here’s a link to her review. Like Robin, I much preferred El Attarine to Arabie – separate from the cumin, it was quieter and more honeyed. But Arabie was certainly the more popular, and remains in the line today as far as I know.
courtyard, Al-Attarine Madrasa, Fez, Morocco.
The Lutens release blurbage for El Attarine was the usual amount of unhelpful with the notes; Fragrantica says cumin, immortelle, honey and woody notes, which sounds about right to me. I remember it being less spicy and savory than Arabie, and less of the stewed fruits. It was more … elegant, more straightforward (to the degree that any Lutens fragrance could be described that way) and I thought it was wonderful.
I went through a couple of decants while I was cleaning up my mess of a life at that time. When things settled down and I got around to pondering a bottle, it was gone from the line and could not (and still cannot) be found. I had one 10ml decant left when I moved out here, and along with a couple of other things it disappeared. (Nobody stole anything – they were all packed in a giant cooler, and my sorting and packing was chaos by that point.) So, no more El Attarine for me. I keep an eye out but my guess is they didn’t sell a ton of it to start with, which makes the resale market thinner. I keep holding out hope they’ll reissue it, which they do occasionally with older scents. In the meantime I’m making do with Lutens’ Fleurs d’Oranger, which isn’t the same at all but it does have that unexpected cumin top note which slowly morphs into an astonishingly lovely, deep and syrupy neroli.
I googled for anything remotely similar, although what are the chances of that? El Attarine was distinctive in its stripped-down way. I’m ordering a decant of Pierre Guillaume’s Fareb which is supposed to be in the same general vein, we will see. Maybe I give Arabie another whirl? Also, if anyone reading this knows of a source, I’d happily buy a squidge just to smell it again, all these years later; send a message to perfumediva at gmail.
Do you have a favorite departed Lutens? Were you smarter than me and stocked up when you could? If you tried/remember El Attarine, can you think of anything similar besides Arabie?
cover image via Pexels – traditional lanterns in a Marrakesh souk. Image above via Pexels — the Al-Attarine Madrasa in Fez, the inspiration for this fragrance.
El Attarine lost out to Arabie, which I adored. Fd’O is the only scent to have given me a rash. I now have a travel size that gets sprayed on tissue or a hankie.
Other Serge loves are Fourreau Noir, Ambre Sultan & Daim Blond
oh NO, it gave you a RASH?!?!? That’s terrible, I wonder what got you. So grateful that we (by and large) seem to not react to scents like that. I’m glad you found a way to enjoy it!
Patty kindly sent me a decant of this and I loved it (and wrote about it when I was writing at PST) but it was a bell jar and only available at the Mothership, and I’d already used up all my “ if you love me you’ll carry this back from Paris for me” points on Chene, Borneo, and MKK. On different friends. I’d buy it in a heartbeat were it available.
https://perfumesmellinthings.blogspot.com/2009/09/dirty-sexy-candy-serge-lutens-el.html
Whyyyyyyyyyy will they not reissue this! Ok and a few others. I feel like the back catalog had so many delights in it that would be so much more appreciated today. Thanks for the link, you are probably the reason I love it!
I’m wearing Ambre Sultan today. I have a weird relationship to it. I love it but don’t like it. I wear it because it’s so well suited to the north woods where I live and I have a complicated relationship to this place. My other cold climate north woods love is Muscs Kublai Kahn which they only sell in the bell jar now – $400 as you say! For pity’s sake. A couple times a week I take the cap off my empty spray bottle and sniff
What a great choice! Also, hello! I don’t even know where you are living now. Who knows, maybe Serge will bring these back in smaller bottles. FragranceNet has a bunch of them (not ones I want) for like $75 in the tall bottles.
I’ve actually had an email exchange with them – they’re heartless when it comes to providing a lower cost option to the bell jars!
Well phooey!!!
March,
I’m so glad the plumbers have finished! Finally! As for cleaning, yes. I deep clean in bursts — what my husband calls “white tornado.”
El Attarine is a Serge Lutens I don’t remember sniffing back in the days of Art with Flowers. Too bad, it sounds nice. I’ve got Clair de Musc, Bas de Soie, Iris Silver Mist (travel size), Fille en Aiguilles, and Fleurs d’Oranger (in the mini size). I’m wearing Fd’O today hoping I get that dreamy drydown you described. Love neroli!
FdO absolutely BLEW MY MIND. I remember the day — I’d put it on for the first time (some sample) and took the kids to the park, gorgeous fall day. At some point I kept getting whiffs of some astonishing scent … eventually I figured out it was me! It changed that much in a surprising way. Love “white tornado,” I think we have similar cleaning styles hehe.
FdeO was one that I adored and introduced to my staid Mormon boss. We ended up getting her a bottle of it for her wedding. I also introed her to Fracas. Loved her.
Oh, what a lovely story! And I very much like her taste in fragrance, too!
She was one of us. When she knew she was leaving she made sure to wear Fracas to the office when she had to meet her hateful boss. The day he got canned I bought champagne.
Hurrah on plumbing being done. As to cleaning I am a wipe down and vacuum person with bursts of more thorough stuff a couple of times a year. Oh, the bathroom gets cleaned weekly. I do do clothing clearcuts fairly frequently at this point. Oh, and the dog’s toys get a turn in the washing machine around four times a year.
El Attarine … This passed me by. No clue why. As noted, I do love Arabie and I think you are right that it is a strangely accessible Lutens. Cumin and immortelle. Sigh.
The only Lutens I can see buying a backup of at this point is Rose de Nuit, and I actually need to do that. My last bottle cost me £110. I think we’re way over £200 now (looked it up: £250). Next time I’m in Paris …
Next time in Paris — the stuff of dreams! Yes, general house cleaning combined with more focused cleaning is absolutely the way to go. It’s interesting how some tasks seem worse and some better, and how differently people can feel about them.
Heya March,
I’m sure I smelled El Attarine but don’t remember it. Sorry. My most worn Serges are Five O’Clock au Gingembre and Fille en Aiguilles (which I didn’t’t even wear once this winter! GRRR!) but I have quite a lot of them.
Cleaning? Every week I go over this place with duster and vacuum but deep cleaning not so much. As and when bits become outrageous.Sometimes not even then.
Portia xx
My friend, get out that Fille en Aiguilles! It’s a good thing nobody can hear the way I pronounce some of these in my head, I didn’t take French and don’t have any skill beyond “baguette”. I think I’m like you — I dust and clean areas that I care about most, for whatever reason, and turn a blind eye to others. We do hire someone several times a year to get in here and deep clean.
HA! Yeah, the Serge box is right behind the desk too. No excuse.
The big thing I’d like to get done is have the carpets cleaned but we have less than a year of dog and I’m going to wait till she’s gone. THEN there will be a super deep clean of massive proportions.
I’m currently cleaning like a rabid lima bean because Winter is COMING!! I can’t stand all the mess and ick I pay little attention to in late Spring/Summer because PoRCh!!!
Daim Blonde. My beloved Daim Blonde.
i just saw “Official USA Serge Lutens” site. It has Daim Blonde in bell jars. Bell jars are -gasp- $395 but is says “custom duties included in delivery costs”. I put a bell jar in the cart to see all costs – says $9 shipping and that there are “no surprise charges”, so it seems it’s all in the new price of the perfume for US customers.
If i were Quing I’d get SL to reissue a BUNCH of our favorites in the smaller bottles!
As for the three questions on cleaning – my answer is yes to all three! lol.
I don’t remember even hearing about El Attarine. I have no problem at all with cumin. It plays very nice on my skin. (Dare I say it…..Perfumed Court has 1/2ml samples for $9.99.) I really like Fleurs d’Oranger too.
Ooooh! I googled and didn’t catch that, off to buy some, thank you!!!!
Pity you didn’t mention this nine months ago, I just sold my sealed vintage backup bottle. It is indeed lovely but I think Aziyadé and Arabie are close enough for when I run out.
Oh, no! Well, to be fair, I probably don’t need a bottle anyway, and Maya has just tipped me off to a sample source!
Why do I love that you mentioned your life was messy at one point? Cause mine is. And yes-I clean in the fall and especially in the spring. In the fall cause I know winter is coming, and in the spring cause the light has changed.
I have three favourite Serges that will be hard to replace: A La Nuit, Daim Blond, and Fille en Aiguilles. These three suit me and make any day better. I have Tubereuse Criminelle and Bone, both in the grate riel version. They’re both beautiful but the other three I mentioned are my faves.
Life is just freaking messy sometimes, and there you have it. We muddle through. I really wish SL (the brand) would rifle through their back catalog and issue, say, sets or travel sizes. A girl can dream.