Rochas Lui (2003)
by Rochas

Well... Rochas Lui is a good scent to be in the front line of any wardrobe. It has great longivity e good sillage, and that´s too important for me. For me a unisex pherfume. I don´t igree with all those cedar people says before here... What is very dominant here is the spice and florals... i would swear it had jasmin into there (remember me minotaure) but it is not described. Its comfortable, and i imagine using it for a walk, as a well-being state of my soul... just that...

9th May, 2011.

Smelling Lui made me think about how much we can be silly when we try obstinately to cathegorize perfumes. Niche, Designers, Mass Market, Up-Market etc. etc.. IMO, sometimes (sometimes), we should simply stop making many differencies and divide perfumes into good ones and bad ones. No matter who released or created them. Lui is surely a good one. A very good one.

The bitter-sweet character of this awesome composition left me stunned, amazed and completely fascinated. A perfect blend of aromatic patchouli, vanilla, lemon and neroli joined by a subtle floral accord and laying on a solid cedarwood base. A bold composition perfectly crafted to never cross the border of vulgarity. Great lasting power.Together with Rochas Man, Lui stands at the top of my "favourite fragrances list" from this house.

When I smell a perfume like "Rochas Lui" I understand why I love fragrances.

3rd May, 2011. (Last Edited: 4th May, 2011.)

Rochas Lui starts with a blast of alcohol that quickly fades into my nose as a citrusy, oriental spice opening. Cedar and Neroli take over and eventually the vanilla notes come through. Overall though it is just a rather too sweet fragrance for me and as other have noted, the burnt sugar or candy shop smell is just too much to handle. Not something I view as terrible, but not something I'd want to own or wear on any sort of basis.

22nd March, 2011.

Talk about longevity...Rochas created the wonderful Moustache in 1949 and fifty-odd years later releases another gem.

Lui has a distinctly classical feeling while remaining modern. The bottle is quite nice, too and for the affordable pricepoint, Rochas Lui is a fine bargain to boot.

It is fairly linear on me, with the very pungent and sharp cedar and neroli persisting throughout. I'd swear violet leaf was in here, although it's not listed in the note pyramid. It's nearly a powerhouse at the start, but not overbearing. With time it mellows while retaining the sharp dryness. Vanilla is often a problematic ingredient, but not for Lui. It is judiciously applied and never becomes gourmandy.

This is an excellent bridge fragrance: it spans the decades from That Man, Habit Rouge and the like through the woody/floral assertions of Grey Flannel and Fahrenheit right into the modern era and puts to shame most of its contemporary designer competitors. In my estimation, this is among the best men's offerings of the last decade.

13rd March, 2011.

RL is interesting to me as a point one notch more toward the floral end among woody orientals...almost like the jasmine (?) and honey components of Bois du Portugal had been amped up. The florals resemble the orange blossom extract water that you can buy at middle eastern markets, or the super-sweet, flowery Namoura pastries that are made with it (uncannily similar to RL!). There's enough patchouli to give it sweetness but not sharpness. Generally, I think RL is too "confectionery," reminding me of the ever-present smells of a candy shop or ice cream shop, which can be sickly sweet, even though RL doesn't actually smell like waffle cones or fudge baking. I like it as a creamy wood scent, but the florals and honey make it too assertively sweet and buttery...for me it's like a good cake that's been ruined by having too much standard white frosting on it. Alas.

20th January, 2011.

This scent was almost impossible to find as early as 2008, at least in europe. Lots of bottles at discount stores have turned to vinegar, urine ect. I tried it last week, and it immediately smelled like a rotten fragrance, with the unmistakeable vinegar note at the start. It would be great if rochas would relaunch Lui, but I doubt it. So for the moment, any review dated past 2008 must be taken with a grain of salt.

31st December, 2010.