Friday, January 14, 2011

SOTD: Serge Lutens Borneo 1834


There are fragrances that I love and am determined to own. There are fragrances that I sniff and have no desire to own, even if I like them. And there are fragrances that I would buy if I had more space. Borneo 1834 is in the third category--I only like it (a lot), but circumstances deny it a space in the (nearly full) breadboxes that house my collection.

The opening is a pleasant combination of foody and medicinal notes, with just a few cobwebs to add texture. Over time the medicine goes away, the food blooms a bit more, and there's something herbal, probably well-behaved patchouli, along with it. But the medicinal edge isn't sufficiently different from Fou d'Absinthe, the foody part isn't different enough from several other gourmands, and the patchouli's just a little too well-behaved. 

None of that would matter if I were in love, but I'm not. And now that I know that it would be better to remain out of love--now that I know that this is functionally redundant with other things--I will make sure that I'm never sufficiently re-exposed to change my mind.

I hope.


2 comments:

  1. You are having a tumultuous relationship with perfume lately, lady! You're a tortured sniffer. I'm not that crazy about when SL does medicinal, so I'll probably skip this one. There are plenty of others I'm fawning over at the moment, though. Cuir Mauresque is nice (recently tested), Chene, Cedre, Ambre Sultan. All nice but I would only buy Cuir Mauresque (but similar to Keiko Mecheri Cuir Cordoba, and I like KM's better), and Ambre Sultan. When it comes down to it though, I'd pick Chergui over all of them.

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  2. Hey, Carrie! Well, it is, of course, possible that I'm over dramatizing on occasion. Winter clouds will do that. :)

    I have so far failed to appreciate the really intense Lutens fragrances, but I did fall for Chene, so my taste may be changing. I'm going to give Ambre Sultan another try.

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