“So, what’s your type?”
It’s something, as far as people go, that I didn’t really ask myself. I like clever, funny folks. I like people that are going to get my corny puns. I like a person that may even laugh at that corny pun. But, when it comes to perfume, I have a type. I have a few types.
“My type? I like Greens so bitter they’ll make your nose bleed. I like Aldehydes as big as the hair on The Porter Wagoner Show and as frigid as Joan Crawford. And sometimes I just want a filthy hippie Patchouli, you know, to make things more amusing.”
And really, those are my perfume “types”. Yeah, I like roses and the occasional creamy gourmand, but overall my type is green or “sparkling”. Knowing this, it shouldn’t surprise you that one of my favorite perfumes is Serge Lutens La Myrrhe. It’s an aggressively celebratory aldehydic floral amber.
I feel like if a perfume had the capability of making a clanging sound, La Myrrhe would. It opens with a symphony of metallic aldehydes and bitter citrus. It bubbles over like an agitated bottle of champagne. The heart is a like a honeyed breeze over a pond of heady, indolic blooming water lotus. AND it still has that shimmering brightness of aldehydes. I don’t even know how this is possible. This heart reminds me of a sun rising over a Monet-ish water garden. The dry-down is this soft, powdery latex-almond.
La Myrrhe is aggressive and I’d say it’s a rather polarizing fragrance. But, I love its aggressive, exultant aldehydes and florals. When I want “big”, I wear La Myrrhe. And we have a nice relationship. Le Myrrhe works for me.
Notes listed include mandarin, myrrh, lotus, bitter almond, sandalwood, honey, jasmine, amber, musk, spices and pimento. Launch date 1995. PERFUMER – Christopher Sheldrake
Give La Myrrhe a try if you like aldehydic perfumes. Or perfumes like Chanel No. 5, Estee Lauder White Linen, Coty L’Aimant, Blackbird Triton and/or Andrea Maack Craft.
Projection and longevity are above average. And I have a real tendency to “bathe” in this stuff.
The 2.5 oz bell jar retails for $310 at Barneys and Serge Lutens.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – An agitated bottle of champagne. It’s my like, “LIVE! Life’s a banquet and most poor sucker’s are starving to death!” sort of fragrance. Which can be good or bad. Just ask Agnes Gooch 🙂
Want more reviews? Try..
I Smell Therefore I Am – Yes, No. 5.
Yowza! Now I want to try it! And I do like Andrea Maak and Blackbird Triton so it should be safe for me to order a sample. Thanks 🙂
But, don’t blame me if you fall in love with it 🙂 I *hate* that it’s the expensive Serge Lutens!
I love this perfume. Even if I have very few reasons to wear it, I am just happy that it exists in the world.
I realize that I should wear it more than I do. It puts a smile on my face!
Loved your review. This one has been on my list to try forever (as have some other of the exclusives). I used to not like aldehydes years ago when I started sniffing (or at least I thought I didn’t)- but now I do. So I should probably try this soon.
I was the same. Then my tastes expanded 🙂 And now this is one of my favorite perfumes.
I adore green and aldehydes but for years La Myrrhe was just a tick off my taste. I’ve been wanting to try again.
It’s aldehydes shaking a tambourine. Obnoxious but that’s why I like it. The powder does help to tame it.
I read “….greens so bitter….” And my inner Golum apparently came out over this one. All I could think was YASSSSS!
Golum Greens = YASSSSS!
^^^It’s a fact.
I have a bell jar of this. It’s exquisite. It’s Serge at his best for me. xxx
It really is one of the best 🙂
My mule (OK, my friend) is in Paris this week. I shall finally have a bell jar! Yippeee!
[…] where in Paris offering to bring me back special things. I couldn’t resist. I FINALLY bought Serge Lutens La Myrrhe. This also included some other perfumes. That exchange range! Ooops. I have no […]