Ô Hira Stéphane Humbert Lucas 2013

Anyone who knows my reviews is probably wondering by now: Paris again? Is he talking about Paris, Paris, Paris again? Yes, he is, because the City of Light has spread through his thoughts like hardly anything else, and he can't help but lose himself every day in memories of his time there. Perhaps he should consider paying homage to the city with a novel in the style of Ernest Hemingway; so far, however, it has only resulted in a few perfume reviews in which he has documented his hot and deep passion for the City of Love...

"Gradually, over many years, I have come to recognize the world as a whole, as a single entity, an invisible rock full of remarkable individuals, great rulers, crowned heads, honorable tribal leaders, all with great responsibility and driven by their indelible faith. The zeal and restless souls behind these impressive personalities inspire me and propel me ever onward."

Anyone who thinks I am reciting a text from a philosophical standard work or a biblical-like book is mistaken. These are, word for word, the thoughts and vision of the French perfumer Stephane Humbert Lucas, who, as fate would have it, also hails from Paris. And one couldn't have laid it on thicker; one couldn't have illustrated his drive and passion for creating something creative in a more monumental way. What lies behind these grand words with which Monsieur Lucas describes his art?

I wish I could speak for all the little masterpieces of his niche perfume line "777," but I can only speak for some of them. They were first discovered, examined, and smelled during the pre-Christmas season of 2019 at "Printemps Haussmann," the well-known luxury department store in the neighborhood of the "Palais Garnier." The building, which has existed since 1865, has for some time housed an unparalleled treasure of luxury goods that the well-to-do man/woman desires. This includes a complete perfume department that stretches seemingly endlessly across the second floor of one wing of the store, likely causing sweat outbreaks in every perfume lover. After a few tentative steps (watched by several seller hyenas) through the familiar perfume brands (Parfums de Marly, Creed, Nasomatto, Le Labo, etc.), I noticed several very small bottles that did not scream for attention, but now did. They stood under the inscription "Stephane Humbert Lucas," and the display window (feel free to browse the SHL Facebook page, where you can find the mentioned window after some scrolling down) was enough to direct my nose exactly in that direction.

After Taklamakan and Soleil de Jeddah, both incredible works of art but in my opinion difficult to wear or not wearable at all, O Hira was the third bottle I held and tested. It was certainly not love at first sniff; too heavy, too unusual, too piercing, too difficult to wear were my first impressions and associations with this third Stephane Humbert Lucas fragrance. Nevertheless, this scent triggered something in my brain, and I was willing to take it home and test it again in peace (if you are unsure about a fragrance after the first test in a crowded department store, take it home as a sample and give yourself the opportunity to test it again in peace; they are two different scent experiences).

Said and done; since the very friendly SHL seller hyena unfortunately had no sample for me (whether she didn't want to or couldn't is another matter), I decided to give my wrist for this interesting yet hard-to-categorize scent.

Everything that follows I can only reconstruct in nuances. After about ten minutes, the scent completely enveloped me, numbed all senses, and made everything go black before my eyes. Continuously smelling my arm, I left the RER A, which was supposed to take me home, and got off at "Charles de Gaulle - Etoile" (the station by the Arc de Triomphe) because I urgently needed to get outside. Why? I no longer remember exactly, probably because I wanted to give the scent the backdrop and space it deserved, and it was threatening to suffocate in the crowded RER.

So I walked with the scent for a while through the early evening Parisian streets, away from the hustle and bustle at the Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe and towards Parc de Monceau, just a few hundred meters further. On Boulevard de Courcelles, I had finally become one with the scent, and I knew I had discovered a diamond. This fragrance, which according to the notes published by Monsieur Lucas online consists only of fossil amber and is available for a price not mentioned here but very proud, would not let me go. I stood in the middle of Paris and was perplexed. Captivated. In the smoke, in the dry resinousness, in the wonderful spiciness, and in the very small but fine parallel to my heart scent Grand Soir. In the royal cloud that enveloped me. In the apparent, impenetrable darkness that this scent evoked in me and that really only wants to match a completely black or dark outfit. And in the contrasting impressions that I was allowed to have simultaneously with the scent experience with my eyes; the brightly lit streets of the eighth arrondissement of the city, which means so much to me and which I love so dearly.

If you want to know how I felt in that moment, feel free to scroll up and read the words of the creator of this incredible scent once again. I couldn't describe it better, nor would I want to. Merci, Monsieur Lucas!

Bisous!