Fille en Aiguilles (2009)
by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

This scent’s cool, bracing conifer resin opening is deep and rounded enough to avoid smelling like a room air freshener, which is always a danger when dealing with fir and pine notes. In any case, a rich smelling frankincense descends so quickly upon the pine needle blanket that there's no chance for this composition to smell cheap. 

The conifer, frankincense and spice mélange at Fille en Aiguilles' heart calls to mind Comme des Garçons'  Zagorsk, but the Lutens scent is much warmer and sweeter, set as it is upon a candied fruit and cedar foundation not far removed from Feminité du Bois or even Arabie. Indeed, once the contrastingly bracing conifer needle accord dissipates, what remains of  Fille en Aiguilles smells a touch disappointing in its familiarity - a kind of "standard issue"  Sheldrake-Lutens drydown accord. Even so, the pleasantly surprising juxtaposition of warm/sweet and icy/crisp at Fille en Aiguilles' core makes it one of the more enjoyable of recent Serge Lutens releases.  

Serge Lutens Fille en Aguilles

I truly enjoy the moment I get surprised by something when I smell it for the first time. Based on all of the advance word on the 2009 Serge Lutens release Fille en Aguilles I was expecting a typical Serge Lutens take on pine needles. The name translates to "girl on needles" which seems appropriate for something that has the following list of notes; pine needles, vetiver, frankincense, fruit, and spice notes. The last two almost need to go without saying, in a Serge Lutens scent, and in many ways those last two come to dominate many scents from this House. That is why this is such a surprising scent to me because Christopher Sheldrake chooses to keep the trademark accords but he dials them way back and creates as linear a Serge Lutens scent as exists. The top is the promised pine needles. So many time when you read pine needles it really means pine sap, the thick resinous accord. Here this is the needles, lighter and airier containing a hint of resin. For those who miss the resin you don't have to wait long as the heart has a full house of resinous notes which starts with a sharp vetiver followed by incense and then slowly joined by a camphor note. This camphor note has the same exhilirating quality that it has when it appeared in a previous Serge Lutens scent, Borneo 1834. The interplay of the astringency of the vetiver, the dry aspect of the incense, and the vaporous quality of the camphor makes the heart of this simultaneously warm and icy. The scent lingers at this stage for the great majority of its development on my skin finally giving way to the dried fruit and spice notes that I've come to expect from the scents of this House. Fille en Aiguilles feels like another great scent for cooler weather but it is light enough that I won't hesitate to wear it in the heat, either. Like almost all Serge Lutens, Fille en Aiguilles has incredible longevity and above average sillage, on me. For a scent with "fille" in it's name this one feels more "homme" to me.

Interesting scent - completely in style of Serge Lutens with its pronounced sugary sweet exotic oriental base. To me it opens with incense, burnt sugar and smoke combined with a balsamic coniferous breeze of fir needles. It's deep and introvert. For me it's a perfect autumnal scent to walk in a park or forest - somewhere you can be alone with nature.

Osmoz shows amber, fruits, spices and vetiver in its pyramid. Well - I don't really get amber - rather burnt sugar combined with sweet resins (that is perfectly nice with me). Fruits - they are a bit undefined - sometimes I get a fruity note (like peaches), but it's not really easy to name. Spices - just enough to strengthen and brighten the composition - like a pinch of salt. Vetiver is pretty transperent to me - a salty woodiness.

It's interesting to see the play of warm woody sugary resins and cool notes of incense and fir. Sometimes it can turn into a kind of tooth-paste note. But fortunately not that often. In general it sits pretty close to the skin (although I'd expect a greater silage) - this one is quiet, but really remains to be noticeable and long-lasting.

Very nice. The pine needles are fun, but to my nose, what makes the scent are the unspecified spice notes. The woody oriental drydown works very well with this set of notes, as does the sap note, which lends a touch of sweetness. Some sources list fruit notes in this, but I don't get that out of it. I think it's the sap notes that are pushing the sweet thing, along with some sweet spices. Characterized by considerable longevity and decent sillage.