The fragrance Santal Blanc, an act of politesse Lutens Serge Lutens is not a conventional perfumer and cares little for following the trends of the moment.
Serge Lutens recomposes Santal Blanc...
With Féminité du Bois, the versatile artist Serge Lutens opened, in 1992, one of the most important chapters in his creative history, perfumery! And this Féminité du Bois would give women the strength of a woody, powerful juice that would exceed their expectations to such an extent that what was meant to be a test run for Serge Lutens and his perfumer Christopher Sheldrake turned into an intense and passionate bond with scents and an ever-growing audience.
Santal Blanc, an eau de politesse strong in character!
One might have thought that the great Serge Lutens, together with his perfumer Christopher Sheldrake, would keep carrying us away on the colorful, burning winds of Santal Majuscule, Fleur d'Oranger or Chergui, or else that the only departures from these oriental beauties would be the pretty flowers of La Fille de Berlin or Fille en Aiguilles… But no, with the Les Orphelines collection, Serge Lutens broke the rhythm of his burning sweetness to offer us icy, fresh fragrances in the image of Eau Froide!
With this Eau, there is the idea of rupture. I do not want to let myself be confined. It is a break with myself, in order to move toward something else. Every time in my life, I have always saved myself from what could happen to me. I have an allergy to what is too settled, too comfortable. Serge Lutens for Parfumista.
And going even further with this idea, in 2019 the house created a new collection of fragrances, Les Eaux de Politesse, bringing together already known compositions such as L'Eau Froide, Gris Clair, or Santal Blanc alongside as yet unreleased fragrances such as L'Eau d'Armoise.
A sandalwood, at times spicy, at times burning, named Santal Blanc
Indeed, Serge Lutens persists, for this break embodied by freshness is also an artistic act, all the more so when raw materials are played with to give them an entirely new guise. Like Santal Blanc, already known to the public since 2011, it has been reworked to offer this mysterious sandalwood, so full of resources that we did not yet know.
For those who know and appreciate the fragrances created by Serge Lutens will already have encountered sandalwood in its most majestic oriental form, as with the sublime Santal Majuscule, or else Chergui or Arabie. But for Santal Blanc, there are no oriental palaces or burning, gourmand splendors lined with spices; the sandalwood presents itself raw, and does not hesitate to adorn itself with a few powdery notes to become polite.
Thus Santal Blanc opens with soft notes of iris that bring roundness and supreme elegance. At the heart, however, cinnamon breathes its burning wind of warm spices, while pink pepper, by contrast, exhales sharp, icy freshness. Finally, musk and sandalwood reconcile warmth and cold, carrying them into a paradise of scorching, overpowering heat, without losing any of their iris elegance.