Bois, bois, bois: Serge Lutens Un Bois Sepia, Bois de Violette and Bois et Fruits

By Tom These three have been exclusives at Bergdorf Goodman for about a year now; they have debuted at ScentBar (available only by phone, no internet orders) Lutens Bois series seem to be the four faces (including Bois et Musc) of Feminite de Bois, his scent for Shiseido. Bois de Violette has a slightly candied sweetness to it's woody amber on my skin that smell to me exactly like candied violets before settling into a delicious grassy violet over resinous woods. Bois et Fruits starts with a lusciously vivid blend of fruits: pears, plums and peaches overlaid with spices and underpinned by the cedar. Those of you who were frightened by Arabie's rather raucous take on the same thing should try this. It's gorgeously smooth and wonderfully full-bodied without having that just-too-much quality that's part of Arabie's charm. Un Bois Sepia is perhaps the least challenging of the series, with its vetiver and sandalwood/patch drydown. It's also arguably the most wearable and certainly a beautiful fragrance with its dance of cool cypress and warm woods. All of these are really good, and a reminder of how great the House of Lutens can be. I do wish however that they weren't $200 for 50ML but I suppose that's churlish of me. Image source, allposters.com