Rahät Loukoum (1998)
by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

Delicious! Not having read the list of ingredients I actually thought the cherries were a sort of screaming tuberose that got very food-y because of the sweetness of the juice. In the middle notes I got a very resinous vanilla, something reminding me of tonka... Along with a spicy, slightly burnt note which I guessed was something along the lines of myrrh or lapsang suchoung. A gourmand oriental would be my description. Couldn't stop smelling my wrist when I wore it.

11th February, 2011.

This scent is amazing! It is way strong, way sweet, and can be utterly overwhelming unless you use just the tiniest little bit - and the result will be with you all day in little whiffs of wow.

I use this only to layer - as a sweet accent to a wide variety of fragrances, and it is perfect for that.

I love it, my 1 ml sample lasted me for months but now, finally, I need a bottle - and that will last for the rest of my life! I'd buy a thimble-full if I could, that is all I really need for the next few years, it's that intense!

1st January, 2011.

Extremely sweet gourmand: cherry liqueur, bitter almonds, marzipan and vanilla. I enjoy the cherry note and I don't mind that it's strong and sweet and boozy, but it also has a sharp, plasticky quality that makes it smell really cheap and that seems to make me sneeze as well. Actually, the plasticky quality captures the tasteless jelly that is Turkish Delight pretty well, though the choice of gourmand notes does not really reflect the bland rose water, orange blossom and pistaschio aromas of the candy.

6th May, 2010.

I see that this has been labeled as a uni-sex scent. I don't understand that at all. RL is a sweet scent of cherries and marzipan. I bought my bottle at the SL store in Paris, brought it home, tested it and promptly closed it back up. It's sitting on my dresser in the box as a remembrance of my wonderful visit to the City of Lights. Ahhh....in my fantasy, I'm always in Paris.

14th July, 2009.

I don't get cherries or almonds, I get white chocolate. Waaaay too sweet on me, and yeah, nothing like Turkish Delight.

12nd October, 2008.

I don't care what anyone else says - this smells nothing like Turkish Delight. Maybe Lutens pranked us based on the Arabic translation ([i]rahat al-hulkum[/i], meaning 'contentment of the throat') and made cough syrup instead. This scent never gets past screaming CHERRIES!!! at the top of its lungs, and the cherry shriek sporadically takes on a metallic overtone which is just plain wrong.

16th April, 2008.