Datura Noir
Serge Lutens (2001)

The perfume reminds me of the song Bali Hai from the South Pacific.it has that same kind of longing for an escape into a paradise of fruits and flowers,of warm sun and beaches,and no worries or toil. she is an exotic dark haired young woman that you see coming and going to and fro from unknown location in the jungle and to the beach where she seems to mingle with tourists.she has brown eyes and long,savage black hair. she is also rather sad and keeps to herself.but beautiful.

The floral accord is rich and heady with the tuberose gorgeously supposing,and somehow the subtle fruit and vanilla notes lighten the olfactive load.in concept,it is a perfect pairing with osmanthus which has a light apricot scent with nuances of almond and creamy almond.the apricot adds a pulpy,fresh sweetness, playing up the fruity undertones of the osmanthus flower.in fact there is a subtle touch of tuberose not too much,which is a real blessing. osmanthus is quite a subtle fragrance, and tuberose is a note that had a tendency to overpower,here the nose behind it got the balance just right. this is a lovely,creamy whisper of coconut and almond on the dry down. the fragrance is subtle yet powerful.

I entered into this one with some trepidation, as the heart notes are not my cuppa. The citrus on top is nice enough, though fleeting. The dominant notes are then tuberose and coconut oil, with perhaps a smidgen of heliotrope: basically, high-rent suntan lotion. Pleasant, but so not me.

After a while, the coconut recedes and the base doesn't so much assert itself as round out/warm up the tuberose. This is a fine thing to do with tuberose, which in the wrong hands can be made so piercingly sweet you could use it to put in a nose ring, but it doesn't make this of any greater interest to me, or particularly exciting in general. It's well done, so if the notes are your thing, don't let me put you off it. I don't need more than 1ml.

I remember how mesmerized I was by this intoxicating and sensual scent two years ago when I smelled it on a blotter, and then it felt strangely soapy and plastic on my skin, and after a couple of hours it made me nauseous because, well, it is truly intoxicating to me apparently.

And no wonder, since datura is known for its intoxicating, mesmerizing (and some say atrocious) scent that - as people say - can drive one mad if one smelled it for too long. No wonder it's also called devil's trumpet, devil's weed and hell's bells in English - and its official name in my own mother tongue could be roughly translated as a madman's turnip or a fool's turnip so that we could take it as a caution that this pretty white flower can and will drive us mad if ingested.

But the scent is just the scent, the main danger is the plant itself, as daturas are highly toxic and dangerous - and truly intoxicating, as they have been used in spiritual practices for their narcotic properties. Alas, it is also known to give wildly unexpected and mostly very bad experiences so it is strongly advised to stay away from it.

Anyway, a datura is a datura, and a perfume is a perfume, and this one is beautiful and safe to use - albeit intoxicating.

I kept thinking about it and finally felt brave enough to retry it - and no bad reactions this time, and it didn't feel like plastic on my skin this time, just this gorgeous, alluring, thick white blossom hanging out with its friends almond, vanilla, tonka and a bit of coconut. It is a beauty indeed, and a delicious beauty, too. Had it behaved like this on me that day a couple years ago – I would definitely have a bottle of it on my shelf to accompany me and make me so much prettier and lovelier than I already am.

But since I know myself better now, I do feel it's not really my style - I suspect I would get tired of this murderous gorgeousness through the day. And it also doesn't smell like "me", it's for someone much more sensual and feminine I guess.
But oh, it is a beauty.

A brief moment of bergamot brightness with touches of mandarin and lemon flower is soon followed a tuberose note. This tuberose is indolic, but not very strongly so.

After a bit of input from some heliotrope with an underlying transient fruitiness - peach and apricot - a sweeter mix of a pleasant but not too dominant vanilla, a touch of coconut oil, and a rather realistic incarnation of a almond impression - the latter is not as bitter on me as the scent pyramid claims. Whiffs of honeysuckle appear briefly - and at times possible a feel of an Datura impression.

In the base phase the almond-vanilla sweetness is modulated by a restrainedly spicy myrrh, which is enhance by an unusually soft musk in the background that blends in well whiffs of caramel transient appear off and on. The osmanthus mentioned in the scent pyramid is quite undetectable to me.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection, and a very good nine hours of longevity on my skin.

An agreeable - intially tuberose-centred - floral, with a fresh start and a strong tendency towards the gourmand in the second half. It has generic stretches here and there, but good development, and overall a good creation. 3/5

Serge Lutens does Beach Scent.

3*

Mini spray

Datura Noir is overall a pleasant scent but I think its a bit too feminine for my tastes. White flowers are hit or miss for me. I generally like them when they tie into a beachy feel. I'm surprised that with both coconut and vanilla in the mix this doesn't really come off that beachy/sunscreeny. It's pretty light and powdery (maybe that's the heliotrope/osmanthus?), which to me makes it comes off a bit more feminine than something like Carnal Flower or Soleil Blanc. Worth a try if you like white florals though.