When I say Stéphane Humbert Lucas leaves me perplexed, I mean that in only the most stunningly awe-inspired way. I’ve worn this on numerous occasions and on numerous occasions, I’ve begun to write a review, only to find myself so perplexed I didn’t know how to begin, let alone what all it was I would want to say. With warmer spring weather beating on the door, my trying to be more conscientious about keeping track of my feelings about fragrances, and being aware of what I’ve worn and when, so that I be sure to give them all adequate wearings, today I’m going to force myself. Hopefully I can turn this bewilderment into words that make even slight sense.
First I’ll say I’ve seen this mostly compared to Musc Ravegeur and Shalimar. As luck would have it, I’ve not smelled either of those. However, that’s mostly due to having other fragrances I’ve seen compared to both.
Fêtes Persanes and
1899 both of which I’ve seen compared to MR, and
Kashnoir, which I’ve seen compared to Shalimar, all reside within my collection. In the opening / mid, I see the resemblance to both Fêtes Persanes and 1899 as the opening and mid feel dominated by the spices and vanilla which gives it a similar feel. I wouldn’t call them close, just mildly similar, a similar vibe / aura. When this moves into the dry down, I can feel / smell a somewhat similar vibe / aura to Kashnoir. Again, not real close, but distantly similar. Interestingly enough, at initial spray through about the first 30 minutes, I also pick up a slight similarity with the opening of
Wish Come True - I get a slightly more “coca-cola” sensation from Wish than this, but, and I haven’t quite made sense of the connection I feel between these two, I don’t get that coke feeling from Isra. Eventually I’m going to have to do a side by side and figure out this perplexing aspect / reminder / olfactive scent memory / similarity.
The opening of this is just simply delicious. To my nose I get the nutmeg and cinnamon with the vanilla of the mid notes front and center. The bergamot, tangerine, and osmanthus seem to be in the background supporting the frag as a whole as it’s in the earlier phases of development on the skin. I’ve seen some describe this as very linear and I just don’t get that at all. This one evolves and evolves again on my skin.
Something interesting begins happening as the clock ticks past 30 minutes and gets closer to about an hour in. SHL’s frags always hit me in a way the vast vast majority of others have not. His works have this power over my nose where my nose detects scent in a manner of scent + texture. To be quite honest, other than SHL, I can’t think off the top of my head, of another fragrance where I sense texture with scent. I’m sure there are definitely others where I do, just not so prominently as is the case with all SHL frags I’ve tried or have in my collection. Anyhow, as this gets into the dry down something really interesting happens with this one to my nose - the texture comes into play. But here’s the odd thing, usually when my nose encounters the magic of scent + texture, it’s one texture. This one, though, I’m getting 3 different textures in the mid, as I continue to whiff sniff and huff this in off my skin, and at least a 4th distinct to my nose texture in the dry down. Anyhow, in the mid, with one sniff it’s effervescent, sort of bubbly, like a carbonated beverage tickling your nose. At other sniffs it’s fluffy and reminiscent of cotton balls or whipped meringue. Then again, just when I’m sure that’s the end, I get powdery. This perplexes my brain. Like it’s doing too many things to be real and makes me question my sanity and nose with thoughts like “am I going mad? Am I really picking that up… let me try again,” and it just keeps changing up on me. I’m guessing the bubbly effervescence is the chamomile and citrus coming through, the fluffiness from a mix of the osmanthus, heliotrope, and perhaps the leather. The reason I say leather is the fluffiness causes images in my mind of soft suede, but almost as if you magnified the suede 10,000 x and lay on it to sleep. I get the feeling that soft suede, made much larger compared to self would feel fluffy. I swear, SHL’s frags make me feel like I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole to wonderland or am on some odd hallucinogen affection only my sense of smell. Friggin groovy, man. Powdery! The powdery clearly has to be from the heliotrope. Oddly I don’t much care for powderiness in fragrances, as usually when I encounter powderiness it’s less texture to my nose and more a scent of powder. This is just… different. When the powder begins to take hold it’s sort of an amalgation of notes into something other than the notes. I’m always bewildered when a frag can spark olfactive memory due to smelling like something from years, decades in the past. I’m just as bewildered by those whose frags just create something that makes you think “I’ve never smelled this in my life. What is this, where has it been my whole life, and why did it take until now to finally show up!?” This powdery sensation is accompanied by something new. I cannot discern what of the top, mid, and bottom notes are present. It’s just a new magical potion that has a powdery sensation but smells nothing like any powder I’ve ever smelled.
This new to my nose scent of the mid does some odd things as it gets into the dry down and the hours pass. Every so often those 3 tactile sensations come and go but a 4th one comes into play, a smooth, thick, creaminess. With occasional wafts of the scent in the wind or from moving about, at times the scent is spicy, at times the citrus is more prevalent, at times vanilla, and even some almond from the heliotrope. The prominence of scents and texture seem to mix and match and at times I’m left with that sum is greater than its parts brand new to my nose scent. SHL being the wizard he is, though, it gets even deeper. The oud, while not dominant as is the case in an out and out oud frag, seems to intermingle with the existing oddity of scent, as well as the sandalwood, amber, and patchouli to cause that sensation of smooth, silky, creaminess while the fragrance just gets richer from those same notes. It doesn’t change to something other than what it is, but rather just seems to get more intense, like it’s more well supported.
I’m baffled. This fragrance to my nose is like the opening to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas where Johnny Depp narrates Hunter S Thompson’s words “we were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold…” as it literally makes me question my sanity or if I’m smelling things, perceiving things that simply cannot be in the physical world. Bravo Stéphane, this stuff is otherworldly and one of the reasons why he is jockeying for numero uno on my list of fave perfumers.
Edit: forgot to add in my thoughts of unisex vs fem vs masculine. I’ve seen some men refer to it as fem, some women refer to it as masculine and Vice versa. This to my nose is 100% unisex and doesn’t lean either way. To me it’s unisex leaning otherworldly. The enduring mystery scent of the dry down and ebbs and flows into then opening and dry down aspects all defy fem/masculine character in my nose’s opinion.
Top Notes 
Ceylonese cinnamon
Nutmeg
Bergamot
Mandarin orange
Heart Notes 
Vanilla
Osmanthus absolute
Heliotrope
Base Notes 
Mysore sandalwood
White musk
Amber
Oud
Leather
Patchouli
BertolucciK
Liisa
BoBoChamp
Holscentbar
KimJong
NicheOnly
