Reviews of Bois de Violette (1992)
by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

A boozy violet. Thick and medicinal like most of the Serge Lutens line (I love the "house accord"). Not my style. Love the woods, though. I think there's a hint of cedar.

I was delighted to find Bois de Violette available for testing – even purchase – at Bergdorff’s recently, and given its reputation I plied my way past one of the most pretentious and ill-informed sales associates on planet earth to try it.

For me, wearing Bois de Violette was like lying in a snug cedar box filled with candied violets. Funereal, isn’t it? Well, Bois de Violette is not a "happy" scent. In fact, it’s close, dark, and thick, especially for its first hour on the skin. After that the lugubrious opening accord begins to sweeten and soften – first very slowly, then with exponential acceleration. Just when I think Bois de Violette is going to careen into the side rail of my tolerance for powdered sugar, its engine catches fire, and the resulting cloud of smoke redeems it for me. Once Bois de Violette settles in to its drydown I’m treated to the familiar smoky, spiced honey base that so many of the Lutens fragrances share.

Bois de Violette is an impressive, hard-hitting scent, one of those that I can admire without actually liking. All for the best, as far as my wallet is concerned, since it’s at least one much-praised niche fragrance that I won’t have to buy.

(An aside: Smelling the two side-by-side, it’s clear that Bois de Violette is the inspiration for Tom Ford’s ugly little Black Violet. Were Bois de Violette widely distributed in North America, Mr. Ford need not have bothered.)

Much better than the disaster called Un Cedre. It's like Feminite du bois with a violet note that manages to be simultaneously soapy, cold, grassy and candied. Something in it feels foody too, savory, like cumin, saffron or some other spice? Or do I smell my lunch cooking in the kitchen? A cool and airy scent, despite the warmer, richer spicy/woody base. Intriguing.

Starts with a blast of fresh violets,green and tender. Then the cedar comes through,I get a Feminite du Bois feel in the middle notes.
Beauitful fresh light fragrance.

Many find this scent to be a breathtakingly beautiful compositon, a perfect play between the cedary woods int he background and the greenish sweet violet in the fore. I found it merely breathtaking--as in cloyingly sweet, the way violet scents can get. No woods show up on me unil hours in, and the violet is more confection than flower. I much prefer Keiko Mecheri's Genie du Bois (which may be using SL for 'inspiration), in which the woods are much stronger and slightly spicy and powdery, and the violet shrinks to the edges.