La Myrrhe (1995)
by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

Serge Lutens La Myrrhe

As an inveterate lover of all things resinous, myrrh is the hardest of the resins to get comfortable with. It can come off as medicinal and sometimes just presents too many rough edges that it makes it difficult, for a perfumer, to work with. I think myrrh has been one of the more mis-used notes out there but when a perfumer has a plan it can sing out beautifully. Serge Lutens and Christopher Sheldrake clearly had a plan when they composed their 1995 release La Myrrhe. They take the very prickliness of myrrh and use it to offset some other prickly notes and make an edgy modern classic. The myrrh in all of its raw glory is apparent, right from the first moments, and it is set against and enhanced by a burst of sparkling aldehydes. There is also an intense anise accord that feels just right, here. This is a typical Lutensian intense opening and it is not going to be for everyone. For me, it is full of razor sharp edges that I keep chasing down. I find the complexity on display mesmerizing. Eventually the aldehydes recede and then a sweet, contrasting honey note appears and this serves to highlight the sweeter character of myrrh and to mute the more medicinal aspects. As this continues to develop I get a lot of sandalwood which matches the sweetness level introduced by the honey but doesn't take it any deeper. Finally a musk and amber base helps warm this up at the very end. La Myrrhe is a beautiful piece of perfume composition that is not easy to wear. While I think everyone should sniff this I'm sure that not everyone can, or should, wear it. La Myrrhe has over 24 hours of longevity on me and is a close wearing scent with little sillage. For me, La Myrrhe is a classic baseline scent and an example of the pinnacle of what myrrh can be in a perfume.

This one is bizarre, complex creation. I like it, but I have no desire to wear it myself just because I think it is very feminine scent. Serge Lutens doesn’t usually use those gender categories, and that’s fine, but if he actually did I think this should have a female sign to it.

La Myrrhe obviously has a good doze of aldehydes in the mix. They are very prominent especially in the beginning at the time when they are engaged mainly with mandarins, flowers and couple of drops of bitter almond oil.
Fairly soon as the dry down kicks in the smell of La Myrrhe is strikingly similar to some specific sweets: Those liquorice bits with pink/purple filling. I have heard that some specific types of myrrh can create a little bit liquorice-like smell, and so I suppose that’s where it’s coming from here. Or does La Myrrhe actually have some anise seed oil in it..? Go figure. But it smells in times very liquorice-like, it is impossible for anyone to deny that.

The base is very smooth blend of honeyed flowers which creates a fresh fruity tone and a subtle hint of luminously resinous, still a bit liquorice-like myrrh.
In the late hours (about 6-7 hours after application) this smells more and more floral and perhaps a tad soapy too.

Copper coloured juice of La Myrrhe looks very beautiful.

Recommended, but basically only for the females.

Aldehydes in all their soapy fatty glory, with an powdery, slightly orange-like myrrh and anise.

The initial topnotes smelt slightly medicinal with a sharp bitterness. Although I wasn't too sure if it was really to my tastes, I found it intriguing. I did get a fleeting impression that its uniqueness could eventually win me over (in the same way Chergui did) and, as it dried down, it developed into something more feminine than unisex. Once again, this wasn’t too much of a problem for me.

Unfortunately, I came to the realisation that the dry down (hours later) was very similar to Bois d’Argent. Personally, I prefer Bois d’Argent to the harsh aldehydic nature of La Myrrhe.

[Original submission date: 25 May 2008]

Myrrh is an unusual odor: dry, medicinal, and more than a touch bitter, it will appeal to some and repel many. The myrrh note is firmly planted at the center of Lutens’s La Myrrhe, and your interest in this fragrance will depend entirely upon your tolerance for the astringent resin. The myrrh note is most forward and aggressive early on, before the fragrance’s sweet-spicy oriental structure assembles itself below. Like FloatingPoint before me, I pick up a distinct anise or licorice (i.e. sambuca,) layered over La Myrrhe’s heart. For me the anise conjures up Guerlain’s classic Après L’Ondée, but La Myrrhe is a more transparent scent, as it lacks the old Guerlain’s powdery vanilla base components. In fact, La Myrrhe is one of those rare Sheldrake-Lutens compositions, along with Tubéreuse Criminelle, Sa Majesté la Rose, and Sarrasins, that largely eschew the viscous and ponderous syrupy foundation that anchors scents like Arabie, Chergui, or Fumerie Turque. All said and done, this is an original, high quality scent that features an unusual central accord and extends the range of the Lutens line in an interesting direction.

The opening is incredible. It is soft, airy, aromatic, and beautiful… and I have a difficult time telling what it is. Someone said root beer, and I believe that that is fairly close to the right description – a smooth, non-sweet, near root beer, possibly anise, richness underscored by a gentle, incognito myrrh. It gradually – very gradually – shifts to lose its implied rooty sweetness to take on the more salient characteristics of myrrh. Then the heart presents a soft but astringent resinousness that could only be a refined, silky smooth myrrh. It is subtle and stays close as a wonderfully transparent and resinous skin scent. Much later a quiet oriental base shows itself with its amber, honey, and musk, and, retaining some of the original resin, holds for an hour or two. This is truly a unique fragrance, not really my idea of an Oriental, but it’s amazing. La Myrrhe performs close to my skin with minimal sillage and almost adequate longevity. Thumbs way, way up. (Edit of 26 December 2008 review)