Datura Noir (2001)
by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

Datura Noir brings to mind an old-fashioned apothecary and sweet shop with all the sugary, bitter and mysterious scents mixing together in the air intriguingly.

It is very appealing to remember long-gone old shops but for me it does not work as a wearable fragrance. It will go into my perfume museum, though, as worth experiencing every now and again.

One of the Lutens`s which doesn`t do anything for me, anything at all. I find it almost completely insignificant.

Very light and airy floral with predominating licorice accord. Hint of something notably green melting together with plentiful amount of white musk in the drydown. I get very little of that bitter-almond thing going on, although I see the coconut-heliotrpe combo creating slightly plasticine / rubbery vibe to it ; the smell that is so typical with these notes.

Datura Noir is like a shy and pretended relative of Au Masculin.

Datura Noir--Cherry, almond, vanilla, sweet latex rubber, bubblegum, overall very sweet. The almonds are beautifully sharp with seemingly contradictory sweet and bitter components. In the early stage, it actually reminds me quite a bit of Dior Hypnotic Poison, except that the latex note is much less prominent in DN. I am having a hard time believing this is a SL scent as it seems so light and joyful, if you can categorize an oriental in that way. It is definitely sugary and playful, not heavy like most of the other scents I have tried from this house.

After the top notes have burned off a little bit, I smell what seems to be a synthetic tropical floral note. It is not unpleasant at all, but a bit unexpected. It might be ylang ylang--it is very heady and it has a rounded bubblegum quality to it. The whole composition is rather candy-like, as if the tropical floral is sugar-coated in some way. About an hour in, the frag has remained fairly linear, with a sort of "thinning" or fading of the once bold and colorful candied flower. The sweetness is also fading, leaving a tart and sour note (like Sweet-Tart candy) which I have smelled many times in mainstream fruity florals. Also the ylang ylang is taking on its typical powder edge which is dry and indolic. Overall, I think Hypnotic Poison is a better composed fragrance, if the latex note isn't too off putting. However, the Datura Noir is worth a try for anybody who is interested in the light gourmand oriental genre.

Wow, sweetness overload on first spray! Give it a minute and you'll find it's a floral gourmand. Tuberose is the dominant species here with a genus of vanilla in the base and a tropical coconut feeling throughout. Very heady. I have no idea what datura is so I looked it up: "Datura contains the alkaloids scopolamine and atropine and has been used in some cultures as a poison and hallucinogen." Sounds intriguing! Though if you want Datura Noir to project, you'll need lethal doses for those around you to experience it. Love it or hate, I feel that this is a must try. Personally, I find this just too much to like.

Not as sweet as I'd expect from something with coconut notes, but it's better for that. There's a very definite bitter almond note to start with, among the slightly tropical, slightly fruity, slightly white floral composition. That makes it sound a mish mash and it's not. It's very good and rather unusual. I understand the bitter almond - as well as cutting any sweetness it gives a suspicion of something poisonous. Clever. I like that in a perfume.

Sadly, it doesn't last very long on me. After just a couple of hours I'm now down to a very faint slightly doughy, slightly coconutty, still not sweet skin scent. Not full bottle worthy for me, but I'll enjoy using up the sample and might get a decant one day.

First impression: Wow! I almost did a double-take. What just hit that blotter? Was it a cherry lemonade explosion served on a bed of tuberose? Or a marzipan confection with cherry jam and candied tuberose topping? Or some kind of exotic fruit punch mingling with sun tan lotion after a hot day? I had to try this on and boy, I actually really fell in love here. It's definitely rich, definitely sweet, but I enjoyed it so much it almost made me giggle with delight.