Serge Lutens L'Innommable EDP

Serge Lutens Parfums' L'Innommable EDP (in English Unspeakbale)is a seductive, brilliant perfume that walks the fine line between hot and cold and light and dark. This fragrance blends notes of Siam benzoin, cumin, sandalwood and frankincense for a resinous, ambery scent. "What you conceal will speak for you. My benzoin is Siamese, but its lifeblood is a caraway seed." - Serge Lutens

An excerpt from Now Smell This

L'innommable cuts loose on the skank, peppering powdery benzoin with a kegful of cumin. The sandalwood base only seems to get stronger as the scent dries down. What can I say? The Dude abides.

REVIEWS

The Black Narcissus - "La Proie Pour L’Ombre, is warm and nuzzly; a familiarly Lutensian, strangely gorgeous and mysterious scent ostensibly centred around leather (and licorice and vanilla), a powerfully immortelle, almost celery-like note cedared with spice in the top that at first is disconcerting but then begins to pull you into its own unusual sense of unique gravity. D thinks it smells like butterscotch: the ambered texture is certainly odd; almost chocolatey; with tones redolent also of coffee absolute; but also medicinally enveloping and pungent like some of the more extreme and esoteric Japanese incense towards which I quite often find myself gravitating. Unlike the flamboyance of the two other perfumes I have been describing to you today, I feel that La Proie Pour L’Ombre is more private; a dark, shadowy-like-its-name fragrance that suits these particular times: less a leather for a publicly viewed sillage than a quiet, personal cove of introspective luxuriance."

Cafleurbon - "Serge Lutens La Proie pour l’Ombre is for me a “true Lutens”. That is, dark, deep, heady and seemingly difficult to pin down...draped in soft vanilla, which twists around a  rosy floral note. I also perceive a chocolate facet  which gives an even more delicious roundness to the skin. The  earthy and sweet licorice is still present, but stays in the background, in perfect balance with the leathery and spicy side of immortelle. At the dry down  the vanilla remains, but the perfume doesn’t lose its leathery intensity"

Fragrantica - "One of the best fragrances I've recently come across. Starts off with a leather note similar in Cuir Mauresque, with a vanilla and coffee-like back-bone, but after about 30 minutes-1 hour the salty, amazing licorice note begins to emerge. This brings about the actual focus of this fragrance, immortelle."

Fragrantica - "Sophisticated very French leather perfume. The leather note is surrounded by vanilla, licorice, cacao, woody and balsamic notes. ‘The Prey for the Shadow’ presumably named to highlight the juxtaposition of the leather and vanilla notes exudes a gentle sensual warmth. The unisex scent has moderate sillage and very good longevity. Nothing particularly new from the house that defined niche perfumery but very delectable and sexy and so wearable. Enjoy!

Fragrantica - "Wow, I was trying Fumerie Turque in the store (also another stunner from the brand) when the saleswoman asked me if I had already smelled La Proie pour l'Ombre and wow this is good. I agree on the resemblance with Dior's Eau Noire as this is a strong Licorice/Vanilla (and sober leather) with a touch of Curry/fenugreek/cloves (this may be my brain tricking me however the Curry/fenugreek is less potent than the one in Eau Noire) and a bit of what smells like coffee as well...A masterpiece, the opening is straight Coffee grounds and dark cocoa before going on the licorice/immortelle/vanilla combo this is otherworldly the more I smell it the more it differs from Eau Noire, it is way darker and more suited for very cold weather."