Reviews of 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.

This is the first of Serge Lutens I have tried and I wasn´t over the moon by it. I immediatly thought it smelled very familiar to me and of something by mother used to wear, which is hypnotic poison. Only the Sl isn´t as headache inducing but smoother and calmer. It is comforting to wear and I love the dry down, but it didn´t last very long on me. I thought the dry down was oddly refreshing and not as heavy and warm as the start which was a nice surprise. In total the scent lasted maybe 5 hours in total with 2 sprays. Not too bad, but I did expect more overall.

I mean let´s face it, you don´t buy Sl to get a milder version of hypnotic poison, it is better done and a nicer fragrance overall than Poison...but that isn´t what I´m looking for.

Very heady- I must like coconut because here I have another another perfume with it in it. This scent reminds me of a tropical island.

Datura Noir merits every comment posted by previous reviewers! It does lean more toward the feminine side ~ TVLAMPBOY's right, I really don't know ANY guy who could wear this one. Once the sweetness subsides, the powder takes over. I mean IT TAKES OVER!!! It's actually too much for me.

Definately a tropical scent, but oh, it is wonderful. I love the almond with the tuberose! A very creamy white floral for fancy parties in the summer.

Sweet? Definitely -- typically Lutensesque in this regard. Rich? Yes, just as I expected. Floral? Without a doubt -- enough tuberose here to bowl you over, and osmanthus aplenty. But satisfying? I don't know -- the jury's out on that one. I'll go ahead and give DN a thumbs up, but only with the proviso that I'd have liked it a helluva lot better had I smelled it on a woman instead of on my own skin. IMHO, no guy (however daring) could ever pull this puppy off.

Interesting - starts out very white floral, and devellops into spicy coca cola. Lots of sillage. Not like the Lutens' I'm used to (Arabie, Cedre, Fumerie Turque, Bois Oriental, Chergui, Ambre Sultan etc.

Datura Noir was my full bottle purchase from the Serge Lutens range. I fell for it as it is perfect concoction of tuberose, osmanthus, coconut, vanilla and musk. Perhaps I am just bias as I have this weakness for tuberose and coconut. It is the nicest tropical recipe which blends well with the Southeast Asia climate. Datura Noir have a relatively good staying power on me. It goes on heady but it quickly settled down and leaves a creamy sillage of a coconut pudding.

Because of the tuberose, this really reminds me of Do Son by Diptyque. It's too feminine to be called unisex, it's too sweet, and it's too short-lived, but it's not bad.

I admit I was attracted to try this because of the exotic-sounding name. It's definitely too sweet for me, to sum up my overall reaction. For me, it smelled like pistachio ice cream smells and tastes, which is the almond note, I'm guessing. The initial sweetness was dulled a bit by the fruity notes that came up next, but it was still too sweet for me. It finally fades to a long-lasting, pleasant vanilla almond scent. I CANNOT imagine a man wearing a perfume this sweet; I'm surprised it's promoted for both genders.

Very nice tuberose / almond accord—very nice mixed floral. Very nice use of fruit and gum Arabic. I find this fragrance quite enjoyable—it has a lot of breadth and depth to it, and this broad range of floral, fruit, and nut notes appeals to me. I like especially how the florals—tuberose, datura, heliotrope, osmanthus—play a game of team tag with the almond, the coconut, the lemon, the tonka bean, and the vanilla. It’s an active scent that subtly shifts and moves and it is always refined and balanced. It doesn’t have a lot of sillage, which I like; it has an excellent dry down, which I like; and it doesn’t have much longevity, which I don’t like. In the end, it’s an excellent fragrance that just maybe comes a little too close to Quarry’s comment about vanilla hand cream.

Datura Noir opens with tuberose, vanilla, and sweet citrus rind, joined quickly by almond and heliotrope. The smooth, smooth tuberose and its coconut accent bring to mind Frederic Malle's Carnal Flower, but this scent is sweeter, with almond and vanilla where Carnal Flower has sandalwood.

The almond in Datura Noir is not so overbearing to my nose as it has been for others, and blends into a powdery base that tempers its oily sweetness. All in all, Datura Noir does a better job of capturing the mystique of the datura flower than Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier's Secrete Datura, though it's not quite as compelling a tuberose recipe as is Carnal Flower. For all its sweetness, though, I find it somehow more unisex than the Malle scent.

Oddly for a Serge Lutens scent, Datura Noir dries down very quickly and does not endure long on my skin. The drydown is a pleasant, if rather conventional vanilla/musk skin scent, with hints of the floral heart hovering above it. I like it, but I'd like it better if it were more lasting.

Weird. The almond's too bitter to smell like almond, and the heliotrope is too sweet. Overall, like with so many Lutens, it's a variation on crystallized honey.
Miel for Serge!

Although the notes are different, Dat Noir feels related to Un Lys. If only it had Un Lys's sillage and staying power. However, I'm glad Dat Noir is nowhere as bombastic as Keiko Mecheri Loukhoum or Etro Heliotrope (which also rely on almond-like notes). This would be a safe scent to wear when you're sitting close to people, as in a car, but you may not solicit many comments from your fellow commuters, unless it's something like, "Is somebody wearing vanilla hand cream?"

Almond, tuberose, vanilla, osmanthus, heliotrope, apricot, datura flower, plus loads of rave reviews.... I should love this fragrance shouldn't I? But I really don't. I get a weird, musty, mildewy smell lurking underneath. I don't think its just my skin chemistry, as I get the same effect sniffing the bottle. Also, I don't smell any almond in this, and it smells nothing like the white datura I grew in my greenhouse.

I love this! It is a striking resemblence to the scent of one of my all time favorite shampoo that I can no longer find.....Ivory. Yes, ivory shampoo used to be found in wal-mart and smelled so clean and soft. Datura Noir smells exactly the same and if I can ever think a man can wear this, I might get it for myself to relive that magical aura!

Yes, it's true, there is a similarity with Hypnotic Poison, but DN is lighter, more streamlined, with notes of mandarin peel, apricot, lemon flower, datura flower, tuberose, osmanthus, coconut, heliotrope, myrrh, bitter almond, vanilla, tonka bean, musk.

The datura of the title is anchored at the bottom of the composition, ever-present set against almond and vanilla. It was love at first sniff for me and it is one of my most treasured scents. Just floral enough to keep me happy, just gourmand enough to satisfy my sweet tooth and yet warm and intoxicating.

Too sweet and vanilla/almond scented for my tastes. Not very long lasting at all. Nothing that justifies the high price tag. Avon & B&BW have similar scents in body splashes that actually last longer than this.

Never would I have thought that I could enjoy a scent with tuberose, bitter almond, osmanthus and coconut notes but probably thanks to the magic Lutens/Sheldrake touch I fell Datura Noir like 16 tons! It's a heady, narcotic evening scent, perfect pair for a little black dress. Smooth and sweet and intoxicating.

his Serge Lutens creation had me very intrigued, but alas, fell short of my expectations due to one note. It begins beautifully, with bright manderine, heady tuberose, uplifting osmanthus (which is one of my favorite flowers!) and powdery datura. There is also a perfectly lovely base of soft musk that the flowers rest upon.

Alas, but for one note. Almond. There is a strong sweet almondy-vanilla note in the base, and it is almost overpowering. Once this note begins to emerge from the base, it quickly takes over with its heady sweetness. Such a pity. Too sweet for me, and a little too almondy. The almond note reminds me of a sweet almond milk drink from the Chinese store that I use to like as a child, but soon grew sick of as I grew.

I'm giving this one a thumbs up because if you are not as averse to such heavy sweetness, you will enjoy it. However, I think it would be a much better fragrance for me, and indeed a much better CRAFTED fragrance if the sweet almondy note were softer, or less sweet, or both. Then it wouldn't overpower the lovely symphony of flowers that Serge Lutens created with the tuberose, osmanthus, and datura, which wind about each other magnificently for those brief first few minutes.

Gorgeous, refined tuberose/almond scent. Moderate sillage, moderate lasting power. Unique and delicious. Never overbearing. Only complaint is that if you want good sillage, you need several (5-10) sprays. However, this perfume is so incredible you'll want to bathe in it.

Love this one - very rich, somewhat sweet and perfectly refined.