Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan (photo digitalized by Emmanuelle)

 

I am a perfume lover. Ask my friends.

Portrait of Emmanuelle with her lockdown perfumes (MonBazarUnlimited)

From my early years,  wearing perfume was as essential as taking my schoolbag. It was not a particular desire. It was like that. Like brushing my teeth. An essential step in everyday life. Of course, I hadn’t decided anything myself. Rather, it was my mother who educated me like that. And we do not discuss the teachings of the one who taught you to read and write; what she said was bound to be true. My luck is that from my early years, the niche perfumery was part of my everyday life. My mother was infatuated with a brand new brand, L’Artisan Parfumeur, created by Jean-François Laporte. At first, she had set her sights on cute terracotta balls, where amber crystals were inserted ; these have since become one of the brand’s bestsellers. Mum had bought about ten of them, spread all over our country home in Normandy. You should know that three smells strongly marked my childhood: the rosin that my father used on his bow to play the cello, the chimney fire I helped to start when we arrived in the country house, and the Amber balls from L’Artisan Parfumeur which delighted my nose as soon as I entered my room or my bathroom.

 

L’Artisan Parfumeur Boule d’Ambre (MonBazarUnlimited)

Since Amber balls were highly appreciated at home, my mother then became interested in their scents. Not for her or for my father, but for me. And so, at barely 7 years old, I wore two niche perfumes signed by L’Artisan Parfumeur: Pomme-Cannelle and Vanille Bourbon. I remember the very elegant bottles, the label (fir green for Pomme-Cannelle) and burgundy (for Vanille Bourbon) label embellished with gildings. I felt like I was wearing a luxury product. There, I entered the club!  As the years went by, I myself went in search of perfumes that I might like. As I was a young and wise teenager, I did not hang out in the streets of Paris, on an adventure. I stayed within the perimeter of my high school. And so that I would be left alone, I preferred to go to department stores, where I felt I could go unnoticed. As a student, I was wearing: Angel (Mugler). I’ll be frank: I fell in love with this perfume because it was unlike any other. Excessively sweet, irreverent, with a bottle of crazy originality. I was the right target. Unfortunately, I was far from the only one to adore it. And suddenly, the Paris subway, buses, streets, shops, classrooms, and even my office at PSG football club (I was an PR intern at the time): everything smelled Angel. It was a surge that quickly became unbearable for my nostrils. And that even made me almost sick. I realized that a perfume, even if I chose it carefully and in accordance with my personality, could be everyone’s. And that, I did not like it. At all.

Salon Palais Royal voûtes and Burean columns (Mon Bazar Unlimited)

Like any young woman, I read women’s magazines a lot. And so in 1993, I discovered that a perfume store unlike any other had just opened its doors in the heart of Paris, near the Palais-Royal gardens (and the famous Buren columns) and that it would be entirely dedicated to a brand, that of Serge Lutens, a former photographer and Artistic Director, lover of perfumes and the Orient. I didn’t know about him at all. But I had the opportunity to smell Féminité du Bois, which he had created for Shiseido. If I had not hooked with this fragrance, too woody and “adult” for me, I had been captivated by its originality. New perfumes, exclusively sold in this unique and deliberately discreet boutique : what if I found my Grail there?

 

 Palais-Royal garden (MonBazarUnlimited)

 

I remember my first visit. I couldn’t find the door to enter. The windows were dark, and all looked the same under the roof of the building. I must have walked past two or three times without seeing anything. Then I heard the sound of a small bell, and I turned around. A very elegant woman closed a large glass door, a Serge Lutens bag in her hand. Phew! I had finally found the place. Those who know the Salons du Palais-Royal will not be surprised by my next words.

Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan  Bell Jar with Emmanuelle digitalized

I remember that narrow, dark hallway, leading into a very dark room, inspired by The Arabian Nights. Black furniture, just like the displays. And then, a subdued light highlighting only magnificent bell-shaped bottles, with juices of various colors. The saleswomen were in tune with the decor, all dressed in black. How not to be intimidated in such an environment? I remember being greeted very kindly. And immediately, I was offered to smell the different creations. I admit that I no longer remember my impressions for each of them. But I have not forgotten these folded touches of paper, soaked in the heart of the bottle so that I could smell the beautiful notes. And that I immediately fell in love with  Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan. What struck me? The impression that the waxy notes of resins and amber crystals that I used to love as a child were mingled.  Of course, it was much more complex. It brought me back to my younger years and the smells that had strongly marked me. I did not hesitate. I immediately bought it. I was thrilled to have a perfume that would not be worn by everyone, in a sublime bottle which, moreover, familiarized me with a new way of perfuming myself, with the cap. I also liked the name, which made me travel. And I worn Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan for a long time and a lot.

At the time, I don’t think we were talking about “niche” perfumery. I wouldn’t even have known that L’Artisan Parfumeur, Annick Goutal and other houses were also part of this category.  I continued to dig into what is now called the “mainstream”, (but more and more rarely over the years), I became even more interested in these brands that you could not find everywhere. I have of course remained faithful to Serge Lutens, of whom I must have about fifteen perfumes at home. In this year 2020, which has spared us nothing, Serge Lutens Ambre is a breath of hope for me. My first adult perfume. My first niche perfume.

Ambre Sultan notes: Amber, benzoin, cistus, coriander, bay leaf, myrtle, oregano, patchouli, sandalwood, styrax

–Emmanuelle Varron, Guest Contributor, Former CaFleureBon Contributor and author of Mon Bazaar Unlimited

Michelyn’s note : It was Emmanuelle who first  introduced ÇaFleureBon to Jovoy Paris when it opened in Paris 2011 and reported on Francois Henin’s new direction as well as the Jovoy Paris fragrances. You can read her impressions here.

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