Perfume Review: Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan

Review by Tom It's almost impossible for me to think of reviewing Serge Luten's Ambre Sultan during an uncommonly hot and humid July in Los Angeles, (I know Al Gore's movie said the climate was changing, but by this week?) but I wrote that I would, so I will. Actually, maybe this is the perfect weather to review it: Beverly Hills feels like Morocco, so perhaps this is what it's supposed to be like... Ambre Sultan starts with a blast of spices, a bit more muted version of his trademark fireworks, this time in coriander, bay and oregano. The initial bitterness is almost immediately mitigated by a creamy undertone of amber, vanilla and balsam. Various other notes weave in and out: (very light) patchouli, sandalwood and vanilla until it settles down to the purest and most sensual amber. This is not the cold and hard amber of other perfumes, this is a thick, resinous musky amber that is almost as sexual as Musk Kublai Khan is to musk. Others have written that this is very close to the scent of a woman (not that I'd know, but I am willing to send on a sample to Mr. Colombina for confirmation), I feel that it's more the scent of tanned skin: the scent of a teenager who had a vacation on Santorini, who bathed in the ocean and spent the days on the sand. In any case, its sillage is not too much if you are sparing with the application (as usual with SL, something that applies to men more than women). Personally, I love this scent in winter: on one of our February days when it's pouring outside and my office is about 23 degrees to keep the computer happy, I can surreptitiously pull the collar of my shirt and get a grand whiff of that Greek Isle that I somehow only got near watching "Summer Lovers". Since it's only $92 from Barneys, Aedes or Neiman Marcus, you can save on that trip to Greece, and Peter Gallagher is on the O.C. anyway Next: It's too hot to commit myself. Can I review Air conditioning?