Serge Lutens Daim Blond

"Hi! I'm apricot suede!"



To begin with, it took me about four different visits to the Serge Lutens counter, discreetly hosing myself down in Daim Blond every time the sales assistant turned her head, to begin to grasp the alluring oddness of this eau de parfum.

Daim Blond is sort of a halfway house between Serge Lutens Chergui and L’Artisan Parfumeur Dzing!. It smells simultaneously manmade and of nature born -- both an abstract scent and an exalted skin niff. And it gets subtle pretty quickly, unlike the ongoing orchestral drydown of something like Chanel Coromandel or By Kilian Liaisons Dangereuses.

Daim Blond is good in the moment, but it's also unsettlingly un-pin-down-able. Like, what makes it smell like suede? How many chemicals are involved in that? I mean, I know chemicals recreate pretty much all the "natural" smells we love in our perfumes, but denial kicks in when it's a flower, because your brain paints a rosy picture of peasants crushing petals underfoot, or some such.

The SA at the Apothecary at Fred Segal tells me he sprays the inside of his car with Daim Blond. Whatever next? A spritz on the toilet seat with Miel de Bois? A blast on the kibbles and bits with Musc Kublai Kahn? I’m starting to smell a whole new off-label use for Lutens’ fragrances -- as actuality-enhancing “reality scents”.

Fumeheads -- what other real-life scenarios could be heightened with a spray of Serge?

Serge Lutens Daim Blond is available at LuckyScent.com, starting at $140 for 50ml

5 comments:

  1. I would be interested to learn how Dan's skin reacts to this one, because - regrettably, as this scent is so well regarded, and I even know someone who wore it on her wedding day - it is sweaty loafers on me and no apricot.
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  2. FS, I'm so sorry to hear that! It is exactly what it should be on me. Suede and apricot. It took a few wearings to fall in love though. I love leather scents and suede took a little getting used to. Now I own a bottle.

    Katie, it's always interesting to see where your nose takes you. A halfway house between Chergui and Dzing? So, I must spritz Chergui on one arm, Dzing on the other and Daim Blond on, oh, my shoulder or somewhere.

    Okay, leaving the halfway house imagery, have you worn Delrae Mythique? Everyone lovingly speaks of iris, but to me, Mythique says "Daim Blond's more feminine (floral) little sister". I get suede, only softer, sweeter and easier to wear on initial sniff. And yes, iris too. I would bet that both Daim Blond and Mythique have a decent dose of suederal in their compositions.
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  3. My commiserations, flittersniffer - "sweaty loafers" is no picnic in a perfume.

    And clever you, m61! I rushed over to my (as-yet-unopened) sample of Mythique, dabbed it on, and "that's a bingo!" (Col. Landa in "Inglorious Bastards") - it really is Daim Blond's floraled-up glamourpuss sis. Agreed 100%.
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  4. I love the imagery in your video!
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