Glycyrrhiza glabra
Vanilla
Leather
01/11/2026
Scentine
13 Reviews
Scentine
The Lutens Spectrum, Season 21
I was confused for a moment. I could have sworn that I applied La proie pour l'ombre, but all I kept smelling on my arm was Ecrin de fumee with a hint of Un bois vanille.
I initially thought that this notion that I have of Lutens fragrances falling on a spectrum was mostly limited to florals specifically. But now I'm starting to believe that it's just the core of how Lutens composes. There are outliers of course, or perhaps it's best to say that there are compositions which combine conceptual modules that have not yet found their way into more fragrances. It's perhaps La proie pour l'ombre which has solidified this understanding as applying to the whole olfactory universe of Serge Lutens.
La proie pour l'ombre seems to form a constellation with it's predecessors Un bois vanille, Santal majuscule and it's descendant Ecrin de fumee. I wouldn't get too hung up on the lack of overlap in listed notes. I'm not actually sure if Lutens does this consciouslly or not, because it seems a bit counterintuitive given the exclusivity of some of these fragrances (the gratte-ciel collection, the black and gold bottles limited to certain regions etc). Funnily enough, trying this has relieved me of some of the Lutens-related fomo that I've accumulated.
To my nose, La proie pour l'ombre is 70% Ecrin de fumee, 20% Un bois vanille, 10% Santal majuscule. It's not my intention to "reduce" this fragrance at all, but I also can't get around how it's entirely familiar, made out of recognizable building blocks that have been used by Lutens befor and after its release.
Having said that it's to my nose it's a decidedly gourmand leaning vanillic treatment of tobacco and leather with a slight liquorice-laced edge. Neither overtly masculine nor feminine, but a wearable and familiar Lutens.
I initially thought that this notion that I have of Lutens fragrances falling on a spectrum was mostly limited to florals specifically. But now I'm starting to believe that it's just the core of how Lutens composes. There are outliers of course, or perhaps it's best to say that there are compositions which combine conceptual modules that have not yet found their way into more fragrances. It's perhaps La proie pour l'ombre which has solidified this understanding as applying to the whole olfactory universe of Serge Lutens.
La proie pour l'ombre seems to form a constellation with it's predecessors Un bois vanille, Santal majuscule and it's descendant Ecrin de fumee. I wouldn't get too hung up on the lack of overlap in listed notes. I'm not actually sure if Lutens does this consciouslly or not, because it seems a bit counterintuitive given the exclusivity of some of these fragrances (the gratte-ciel collection, the black and gold bottles limited to certain regions etc). Funnily enough, trying this has relieved me of some of the Lutens-related fomo that I've accumulated.
To my nose, La proie pour l'ombre is 70% Ecrin de fumee, 20% Un bois vanille, 10% Santal majuscule. It's not my intention to "reduce" this fragrance at all, but I also can't get around how it's entirely familiar, made out of recognizable building blocks that have been used by Lutens befor and after its release.
Having said that it's to my nose it's a decidedly gourmand leaning vanillic treatment of tobacco and leather with a slight liquorice-laced edge. Neither overtly masculine nor feminine, but a wearable and familiar Lutens.
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