Reviews of El Attarine (2008)
by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

Sorry, but I’m not impressed. Among the last few Serge Lutens offerings have been a few that read like safe, muted variations on the house’s more adventurous scents. There’s Sarrasins, a cautiously watered down approach to the indolic white flowers and camphor theme from Tubereuse Criminelle; there’s Louve, which is the super-sweet Turkish delight concept of Rahat Loukoum on training wheels; and now there’s El Attarine, which smells like a dilution of the idea behind Arabie: fruitcake.

El Attarine is all about potent sweet roses, spices, and dried fruit, in what I consider the typical Serge Lutens manner. It’s both more fruity and more floral than Arabie, but it’s not quite as thick and heavy. It may be more approachable, but it’s also less distinctive. My advice: if you like this sort of thing buy Arabie instead. It’s bigger and gutsier, and you won’t have to fly to Paris to get it.