"Bois Oriental" by Serge Lutens

Sleeping Beauty, 1912 by Maxfield Parrish

When I first tried on a drop of this one I was sure that something had gone wrong with the labelling on my sample. It smelled strongly of violets, exactly like I remember "Bois de Violette", the only Serge Lutens I'd tried before my latest haul from The Perfumed Court.

But while I was getting myself together in order to write an angry letter, demanding a new sample, the scent started to transform. It was still packed with violets, but all of a sudden there were lots of vanilla pushing through and I don't remember that from "Bois de Violette".

Some 4 hours later there are still lots of vanilla. Not the creamy velvety type like in "Un Lys". This one is sweeter, drier and more powder like, like vanilla sugar. I can't pick out the wooden notes implied in the name ("bois"). A pity.

This is a very feminine scent. A a lot more feminine than I'll ever be. I love the scent of violets. It's a small flower, easy to overlook, but very unique scentwise. The vanilla I'm not as crazy about. The problem with vanilla for me is that I associate it with passivity and placidity. It's the goto scent and spice when you can't think of anything better. If I'm going to associate a person with this scent it would be a curvy, luscious sleeping beauty. Just laying around, waiting for someone to come along and shape up her life. Not what I want to feel like every time I sniff my wrist.

So, I'm rating this a 3. Great but not for me.