Bois Oriental

I find this to be a lovely skin scent. No sillage monster here I`m afraid. In the beginning it reminds me of Bois et Fruits, but with added warmth of spices and if I`m not wrong, a tiny hint of coconut. (And no, cumin is not a prominent note, at least not on my skin.) The big surprise comes after 2-3 hours, when it suddenly morphs into a powder/ vintage make up kind of scent. Although violets are not listed, I can swear that they are there somewhere. (Maybe Mr.Lutens and Sheldrake plays triks on ones mind.) Anyway, this is my favorite part of Bois Oriental. The drydown remotely reminds me of Frederic Malle`s Lipstick Rose(!) but, when LR comes in a happy, bright, pink colour, Bois oriental are dark,red/ magenta hued.

A delicate and beautifully constructed sophisticated Oriental woody scent centered around a lovely Virginia cedar note. The perfume opens with the cedar surrounded by spices first (cardamom, clove) and then florals (violet, rose) and finally fruits (peach, plum). It finally settles on a bed of vanilla and synthetic musk. The unisex scent has moderate to strong sillage and very good longevity. Very nice. Enjoy!

This vintage dry down is absolutely stunning. I would probably get more of this fragrance if it wasn’t hard to get.

Classy but underwhelming cedar with the odd fragrant touch of spice around the edges. Think Feminite du Bois, but a little more unisex and slightly less sweet, and you're virtually there. I was a tiny bit disappointed as the name and house had led me to expect great, rich, surprising, opulent clouds of exotic woods and spice, but this just doesn't get all the way out there. Perceptibly high-class and done by someone who knows what they're doing, but compared to Fille en Aiguilles or Cuir Mauresque, say, this is a much more discreet affair - maybe even lacklustre, if you're feeling ungenerous. Even Bois Vanille, while about three thousand times sweeter, still feels stronger and more pushy to me than Bois Oriental. On my skin it's never less than lovely but there is still an awful lot of bare, unclaimed olfactory space in there. The overall emotional effect is like the atmosphere of a house where you've only just moved in and only unpacked half your stuff - it's clean and spacey and half-familiar, but not yet comfortable or fully welcoming. I can't detect exactly what all the individual aromatics are (? violet or violet leaf? bit of vanilla? pepper for sure...) - so you don't need to worry about some lurking ambush by an unexpected spice. There are no rogue cloves or skulking fenugreek to give your nose an unpleasant surprise mugging. So, all in, it's a classy, controlled, middle-of-the-road cedar cabin, not the dark exotic wooden toy box of sinfulness I had anticipated. Sillage and performance, also, both more discreet and less robust than its name or rep might lead you to expect. Really not bad at all - I'd be delighted with it as a gift - but won't be saving every penny for it, or hunting it down for rare bell jars or special editions or stratospheric prices. Other more conventional, mass-market Lutens (or even cheapies like my beloved Montana Graphite!) can probably fill the cedar bill for me instead of Bois Oriental.

Bois Oriental A cedarlovers dream :) This is beautiful and warm cedar with a touch of euchalyptus ,At least thats how i smell it ( and thats where its gets wrong for me , i cant take that note..) But this is most sertenly long lasting on skin , all day long a cought wiffs of it, This is typicl Serge Lutens , To me they almost all have a sertan feal to it woodsy and warm. I would not say that is over spicy at all . I am pretty sensitiv about to much spice in perfumes , This is soft spicy and warm cedar , It has a esimblens to Feminit Bois to me . Beutiful but sadly not my type when it comes to it

Contrary to what my username may suggest, I actually hate most amber fragrances. This perfume, however, has one of the best caramelly-vanilla amber drydowns I've yet to experience. Like, actual labdanum-and-vanilla amber on top of that creamy/amorphous Lutens sandalwood accord which I happen to really dig. I'm enjoying the Bois fragrances as a technical exercise; as the first releases of Lutens, how do they compare to each other and their Mother fragrance (Feminite du Bois)? Each shares its own facet. And I can enjoy them 'technically' if not personally. Musc is nice, has an an animalic feel similar to MKK, but MKK makes me feel like a sex kitten and Musc is a more socially-friendly, less neuro-hacking alternative. Fruits is also nice but I'd much prefer the way the fruits are dialed up and accented by other accords in Feminite du Bois. Violette is screechy-synthetic to me and besides, the opening of Angel Violette has my heart in the Violet department. I saved Bois Oriental for last because I was sure it would be an interesting technical exercise but a personal yawn. Bois Oriental is my surprise favorite. It's subtle and discreet; next to Feminite du Bois it verges on austere. Woods and amber. Hardly baroque or opulent. No fruits or flowers here, and my sample to my nose on my skin, less cedar than any of its siblings. Lasts all day. But the whole ride is so enjoyable on these fall days. It smells so nice! And the drydown is rich, complex, and endlessly sniffable--a homemade pastry in a sea of Entenmann's donuts. Definitely scores some hygge points. I don't have much to add to any of the extant reviews, but wanted to give this seemingly unloved frag a bump, as it's my favorite of the 4 Bois.

A few notes to add to the two very good reviews before mine: Warm, smooth and harmonious, the spiced vanilla of Bois Oriental evokes images of an opulent Mughal palace in its heyday. Gourmand without being saccharine, it's comforting, boozy lull and sweet-cedar base is very signature Lutens.

Bois Oriental is the "masculine" version of Feminité du Bois - they are similar enough, but different between the lines. both superb.

I have just the wax tester, and from that I get the cedar and perhaps pine and eucalyptus.

one of the best Lutens masculines - rounded oriental woody. Underated Lutens.