L'Eau Froide

L'Eau Froide, released in 2012, offers an icy wind of freshness in which incense is magnified in its purest, most crystalline form. And what if L'Eau Froide were also a warm and sensual water? Who knows!

Is Lutens's L'Eau Froide as frozen as it appears?

The creation of the Eaux collection by Serge Lutens was as astonishing as it was... disappointing! The public fond of Lutens's soft Oriental fragrances reportedly felt betrayed by this olfactory novelty with its clean smell. Yet, on closer inspection, the Eaux earn their place, given how carefully Lutens worked on this novelty.

L'Eau Froide, the second installment in the collection after L'Eau in 2010, is presented as a “glacial fluid”. The visual, carefully crafted by Lutens himself, offers a striking play of images of melting ice cubes against a frosted blue background. One says: “I broke into a sweat”, “It sent chills down my spine”; I put this principle into an Eau. Serge Lutens on L'Eau Froide. With the artist's humor and irony, L'Eau Froide is also... warm!

A devotee of olfactory surprises, Lutens drew inspiration from the incense tree of the Somali desert to compose an icy ode to this precious warm and sensual wood. The result is a contrasted and original fragrance which, contrary to appearances, does not have the coldness of a characterless Eau. It should not be forgotten that Lutens is fundamentally allergic to falsely refreshing Colognes whose alcohol evaporates, leaving only the citrus notes on your skin.

L'Eau Froide could therefore be described as an “aquatic incense”... without any aquatic note!

L'Eau Froide, or the alchemy of an icy incense and warm, spicy aromatics

The Eaux collection by Serge Lutens comes in tall, slender, understated bottles where only the fragrance label is evocative. This time, one can easily imagine that the lettering on L'Eau Froide's label is shaped like a trickle of water, as a reminder of the precious liquid.

Moreover, once upon a time in 2012, there was a drop of water, Lutens tells us, and so begins the fragrant story of L'Eau Froide. A story that opens with top notes of basil, thyme, mint and anise, sweeping us up from the very first moment in a gust of aromatic freshness. Yet the icy wind also warms itself with pink pepper spices and is pricked by cypress. Then the heart of Guenièvre lingers in this warm spicy note, which brilliantly energizes the woody-aromatic ensemble established at the opening. Finally, incense brings its intoxicating warmth to the depths of the final sillage, adding its touch of sensuality to L'Eau Froide, eventually warming it thoroughly and wrapping it in a few soft, cottony white musks.

L'Eau Froide is therefore anything but a cold water! Of course it produces shivers, but also a few drops of sweat. In reality, L'Eau Froide plays with hot and cold showers, and one thing is certain: it cannot leave anyone cold and indifferent!