Saturday, December 27, 2008

Public Service Announcement: Serge Lutens exclusive Santal de Mysore now in the US

Bergdorf Goodman, as well as Aedes, are now stocking the Paris exclusive Santal de Mysore by Serge Lutens and Christopher Seldrake for $200.00 a pop: the fragrance comes in the oblong 50ml/1.7oz bottles that normally carry the export line (and not the Parisian "bell" jars as depicted here) and it is the season's "gift" of an exclusive having a limited distribution on US soil
Of course dollar for dollar, the price is much more advantageous if you get it in Paris (110 euros for 75ml) and you get to sip a demi-tasse at Café Flore in the process, but I thought reporting it would send a certain frisson of excitement through Lutens' fan base anyway!
Notes for Santal de Mysore include: cumin, hot spices, styrax, balsam, Siam benzoin and sandalwood.

Personally I rather think that the meeker, creamier Santal Blanc is the better sandalwood in the Lutens line and sandalwood as a note is problematic right now anyway, because of the infamous shortage due to it being an endangered species and the subsequent restriction on harvesting.
And it would have been assuredly more interesting if they released the painfully beautiful Tubéreuse Criminelle, the naughtily spicy, densely golden fruity El Attarine or the gloriously animalistic Musc Kublai Khan that evokes intimate pleasures. But there's always next time...

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: news on the latest Serge Lutens: Nuit de Cellophane and Lutens scents reviews.



Pic through Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido.
Thanks to Polk/POL for the heads up!

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous16:56

    Dear,

    first of all Merry X-Mas!
    Second, my congrats at the awards, I love your blog!
    Can you help me insert the google translator gadget in my blog?

    if so I would appreciate it so much!

    Thanks Simone

    shitrit5050@yahoo.com
    www.maisqueperfume.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Simone,

    thank you so much for your wishes, your most kind compliment and for stopping by.
    Of course it would be my pleasure to help you. I am mailing you now! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. E,
    I have smelled most of the SL perfumes available in the US, and Santal Blanc is my favorite. I love its understated woodiness :-)

    Hope your holiday was lovely and I'll be hearing from you soon!

    Trish

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello, E --

    The price they are charging for Santal de Mysore, Bois de Violette, Bois et Fruits, and Un Bois Sépia irks me somewhat. $200 for 50 mL?

    Now that you mention MKK, I feel like I read somewhere recently that MKK was poised to join the exports in limited release, too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous07:55

    Dear E,

    Hmm...as much as I find SL thought-provoking it's almost a transgression to think about $200 fragrances! Even the bell jar since Euro is going strong...

    BTW if you believe in conspiracy theory ISM is being kept as a Paris exclusive on purpose. (Surely other bloggers have thought of staring a petition.)

    Oh well, I'm glad that I'm a blogger & not a business exec who has to worry about these kinds of things! Knowing too much about the administration stuff really takes away the beauty of this business sometimes.

    A

    ReplyDelete
  6. Trish,

    SB is lovely :-)
    It was tiring byt satisfying and you will be hearing from me very soon ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. J,

    you're exactly right: preposterous! They're not beyond making bucks, obviously. Perhaps the whole "exclusives demand" thing however has raised the level.
    Who knows?

    MMK for the American market? That would be interesting to watch.

    ReplyDelete
  8. A,

    yes, they're not cheap. But at least the bell jars have their own allure, which somehow justifies the price for those of us who get them from Paris. The other ones in those "exclusive" oblongs? Why??

    ISM is lovely, it's a mystery why they're keeping it so.

    ReplyDelete

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