Reviews of À la Nuit (2000)
by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

A la Nuit is reference jasmine. It is an astute study of the jasmine flower from opening bud to decaying blossom. It is in no way "death by jasmine" as The Guide states; it is a true jasmine fragrance with a bright start and a dark finish. Longevity is moderate. At Serge Luten prices, this is for the jasmine lover (not the "jasmine liker"). There are so many lovely jasmine perfume oils and fragrances (La Haie Fleurie) that I probably will never make a purchase of this one to satisfy my occasional jasmine craving. But, in my opinion, this is the epitome of jasmine and a must for those who are passionate about jasmine.

À la Nuit is a sweet indolic jasmine scent with a certain intense clarity about its structure. It shares this clear, focused character with two other Sheldrake-Lutens floral compositions: Un Lys and Sa Majesté la Rose, but the more potent indoles in its jasmine make it a more heady, decadent, and indulgent perfume. À la Nuit rests on a sweet vanillic base that's common among Lutens fragrances, but this version is less opressively viscous than some of the house's heavier orientals. À la Nuit is one of the more enjoyable jasmine soliflores I've tried, especially because it displays plenty of depth without becoming cloying.

When I first tried it I felt like I was in heaven!THIS IS REAL JASMINE!It reminds me of home,the smell of a summer hot night in my jasmine garden!The drydown is really beautifull and warm because of the musk.It is my first Lutens but not the Last.If you like jasmine,this is the purest jasmine for you to try!

Beautiful and simple, charming and very feminine. Innocent, and pure. Love it!

A heady, thick and beautiful jasmine scent.

Out of all of the more feminine Lutens scents, this one is my favourite. On a man, this would smell both divine and very androgynous. However, I’m not too sure if I’d be able to pull it off myself.

[Original submission date: 10 April 2008]

Simply the best jasmine fragrance I know.

Full-on jasmine that smells more “real” than many jasmine absolutes. It has a green quality and an extreme, fruity sweetness that exemplifies the most expensive jasmine extracts. This is a strong, heady, airy, totally floral jasmine devoid of any off-putting indolic notes. Jasmine lovers must try this unabashed soliflore. It is simply brathtaking and unapologetically straightforward, a true celebration of that flower that anyone who loves jasmine will flip over.

I wore A la Nuit on my wedding day, 2 years ago today on Hamilton Island (a tropical island in Australia). I bought it specifically for that day. It was absolutely perfect for the occasion. Now whenever I smell it, it reminds me of the island and the whole experience. I recommend any bride do this - with any chosen perfume - that way you always associate that smell with the day and sometimes smells can bring back memories better than photos.

And whoever said men don't like A la Nuit is wrong. My husband loves it, I think it's simplicity is perfect for men, on a woman. It's not androgenous to me at all, but each to their own.

I finally got my own bottle of Serge Lutens A la Nuit after spraying samples of this at Blue Mercury. It is an amazing jasmine scent. Complex, the scent stays close to the skin and forms a sexy layer underneath your clothes. It is sweet without being girly. Definitely a woman's smell! The sillage is great and in the drydown, the floral notes remain very strong, mixing with my body chemistry to give a sensual flower aura. It is my new favorite! I sometimes layer in underneath Jo Malone's Red Roses if i want a big flower scent and it becomes my floral musk layer. It is a sweet sensual floral. A masterpiece!

If you think this is unisex, then anything must go. Extremely feminine to my nose, bright straighforward jasmine. Very fresh with animalic undertones. In colors, this is a pink fragrance with white backround. One of the worst scents ever to be smelled when you have a hangover - believe me.

Men, stay away. This is a nice romantic scent for women. For evening wear, and remember to be careful on the trigger.

A wearable jasmine scent! Almost all jasmine scents do something funky and evil on my skin, but this is truly gorgeous. More green than sweet, the jasmine rings like crystal. Pronounced yet, I want to say sheer, but it's more like a deep lake in green mountains with water so pure and clean that you can see straight to the bottom. I didn't know I could wear jasmine! I ended up wearing this with a brown linen dress in the springtime (when I typically wear pastels), and loved how it felt-- sheer, green jasmine and brown linen in warm weather rocks.

FULL-on, sweet, indolic, potent Jasmine. I love Jasmine, but sometimes too much of a good thing is too much. This is a neutral from me - not because I don't think A la Nuit is beautiful, but because I prefer my Jasmine when blended in with other notes a little more.

My only prior experience with smelling jasmine prior to fragrances, was in drinking hot jasmine tea. I became addicted to drinking jasmine tea each and every weekend morning for a while - one particular brand I found of loose leaf tea was addictive and highly fragrant.

My first spray of A la Nuit on my skin triggered the olfactory associations with jasmine tea - but ALN manages to take this flower and plunge it into a poetic, long-lasting and diffusive fragrance that, IMO, has no equal. The sharp, tangy indoles in the flower butch it up on my skin (as long as I don't over apply) and yet still make it a refreshing fragrance. Nothing is better than taking a warm wet washcloth and spritzing one spray of ALN - before rubbing all over ones face and body.

Try A la Nuit once, and searching for other jasmine scents that are just as good, will be a complete waste of time.

Such a beautiful jasmine fragrance. The jasmine in A La Nuit is captivatingly sensual and heady, but it is manages to stay well within the realm of tolerability. The opening is fresh, sensual, and alive with the sprig of green, the bouquet of jasmine, and an echo of spice. There’s no question about it, the star of this scent is the jasmine – rich, erotic, and indolic as only jasmine can be. After an very long time, the fragrance mellows to a heart of jasmine so soft and pure that it becomes an unforgettable memory. From there the unique honey / musk base takes over. A la Nuit is not very complicated or complex fragrance: it is quite linear. But the pure elegant, sweet, sensual accord is spectacular – linear or not. One of the best jasmine fragrances I’ve encountered, if not the best.

Astonishing take on Jasmine -- sensual, heady and great sillage. It's a shame, but I don't think I could pull it off -- as it veers towards the feminine just too much.

Kaern

Not a fan. I usually love Jasmine in fragrances, mens' and womens' alike, but the jasmine in this has an odd, unerving quality.

In fact, I find pure Jasmine essential oil much more grounding and seductive.

I am a great lover and coinesseur of fine fragrance...alas, Lutens' fragrances have failed to satisfy me.

Sorry Serge, thumbs down again...I simply can't justify hundreds of dollars for many of thy jus...

Notes:
Indian, Egyptian and Moroccan jasmines, green shoots, honey, clove, benzoin and musk

One of the better and more sensual jasmine based fragrances around. The quality of jasmine oils used in this one is excellent, and its the darker more indolic interpretation of the flower...however as all thing Serge Lutens, the jasmin is flanked by lots of benzoin honey and vanilla to give it a rich decadent and at times suffocating feel. Infact, it can at times feel like a scrubber because the top notes are uber strong and sweet. But ofcourse, if you are a Serge Lutens fan girl or fan boy, you know what to expect from this honey-and-benzoin-morocco inspired house, so you are probably prepared to handle this assault. Things do improve and simmer down by the drydown phase, and A la nuit fares better if applied lightly. During cooler weather, the indolic jasmine melds well with my skin to give it a bit of a dirty and sensual metrosexual skank, but in warmer weather, the honey and benzoin infuse into the jasmine oils to surround me with an aura of transexual confusion (which I am not a big fan of).

If you are looking for a rich indolic jasmin fragrance, A la nuit might fit the bill. I personally prefer Creeds' beautiful non-cloying Jasmal, which highlights a superb jasmine heart with sophisticated green accents.

Jasmine lovers unite! Jasmine is such a common flower used in perfumery, until sampling A la Nuit I haven't been able to truly appreciate it's ability to stand alone as the starring note. This is one of those perfumes that when you first breathe it in, it's beauty stuns you, rendering your senses helpless with it's captivating presence. The jasmine here is fresh, raw, sweet, clear, delicate and yet firmly present - with excellent sillage and longevity to spare. I'm not one to wax and wane forever about the intricate nuances of each note within a fragrance...so I'll simply say, A la Nuit has made a jasmine lover out of me!

I got my first whiff of this yesterday in Liberty. At the time, I had a bottle of Miel de Bois and a bottle of Sa Majeste La Rose, which I was about to take to the till. Then I tried this, and I put them both back. Not that I don't love Sa Majeste and Miel, but A La Nuit surpassed them. It is the most divine jasmine fragrance ever, and I just wanted to drown in it. Utterly gorgeous.

A total masterpiece. Perfect and pure jasmine, heady, thick, and fresh, like earing a full bouquet of jasmine flowers around your neck.

This is the best I ever got! A perfume so close to the flower. when one loves jasmine, this is it! It stays all day and keeps the beautiful frangrance.

Having spent my early twenties almost exclusively in a white floral (read Chloé), the smell of perfumes basically centered around tuberose, jasmine or orange flowers, often evokes an abstract memory of normality and everyday life. Still, I crave this cathegory of fragrances, but more so I love the smell of the living jasmine flower. Á la nuit, in my opinion, is a jasmine scent that stands out. Though delicate, it is also in it´s own way potent: the bottle appears crammed with full blooming jasmines of highest quality. It is not the adorable prettyness of fragrant white flower buds that is accentuated here, as for instance in L´Artisans "La Chasse...". Á la Nuit instead plays upon the intensity of a multitude in full bloom. There is a threatening shadow of indole and harshness, but only enough to underline tensions, like the ones between night and day, innocence and temptation. On me it stays purely floral throughout the whole time, and much unlike the other S. Lutens I have tried it is quite linear. Obviously, this is not the most challenging creation of C.Sheldrake, but it smells expensive, in the right sense: skillfully crafted of prescious raw material.

Received a sample of this and immediately fell i love with it. The jasmine is surprising at first but the over all scent is fresh, clean and alive. Really lookng forward to purchasing this one.....

very heavy jasmine but not overpowering, very simple, definatley to be worn at night. perfect for a night out on a garden terrace somewhere hot :)

This scent is so well done that that when wearing it I became disoriented and thought my window was open, letting in the smell of fresh jasmine in bloom. Then I remembered it was winter, and that it was me who smelled so intoxicating and lovely!

Just received a sample of this fragrance. The top note is intoxicating jasmine; not cloying, but like the living flower. I found it to be a wonderful mood lifter. It melts down to a benzoin/soft musk accord that stays very close to the skin. This doesn't have the staying power, complexity, or depth of most Serge Lutens fragrances but is sparkling enough for summer and penetrating enough (at least right after application) for winter. One of the nicer jasmine-based scents.