Douce Amere

Bittersweet according to a direct translation. But who knows if that’s literally true; this is Serge Lutens remember. It checks out though. Douce Amere is a beautiful contrast between sweet and bitter. My nose is acutely toned to detect sweetness, sometimes to my own detriment. Sweet smells and sweet flavors are my least favorite palate category. So, to me, Douce leans quite a bit more sweet than bitter, but that could also just be me. So let’s break it down that way: The sweetness comes in the form of muguet, and a lot of it. Lily is given a big wrapping of spun sugar; I have an image in my mind of a bouquet of muguet surrounded by cotton candy. But this is not to the detriment of muguet’s other characteristics, namely the meaty and unctuous, slightly salty, and watery qualities. Muguet often smells heady and honeyed, but here the sweetness is more of a hot sugary aroma, something akin to a lightly browned caramel, a touch vanillic, if not cotton candy. Then comes the bitter, which is, unquestionably, a wormwood accord. Ahhh, now this is much more my speed. It is herbal and woody at the same time whilst being bitter and bracingly green; bitter herbs and young wood. It is most readily apparent in the opening, which, in terms of this lily imagery in my head makes the lily seem like it’s still a bud and unbloomed. Curiously, it stays unique, and separated by a distance, from the cinnamon and anise notes, which seem to want to accent the sweet muguet. The spices with the sweetness is scrumptious, but my interest lies with the bitter and portentous wormwood stringing its way from top to bottom of the perfume. It holds into the heart but considerably less strident than it was in the opening, holding on for dear life. Just like my life; always holding out for something other than sweet but being beat down. Its watermark is ever present throughout the life of Douce, just not as much as I wish it was. It is present by proxy via a pungent, green, and piquant cedar note in the dry down. I’m not throwing out many compliments here, and certainly a fair number of criticisms, but that is not reflective of what I truly think of Douce Amere. This is one of Serge Lutens’s underrated gems. That’s probably because Douce is a little weirdo. It is so angular and highly contrasted, a black and white presentation - no grays, light versus dark - no shadows, that I’m sure many of the average consumer segment find it difficult to understand and adding polarity to their individual experience of it. “I want my sweet, creamy, baking spice flecked latte - what is this bitter stuff?! Coffee?!” Whereas the coffee lovers are asking the same but vice versa, “what have you done to my coffee, you heathen?!” I can understand both perspectives, but I live in the middle of them with the grays and the shadows. Wonderful work.

I've never met a fragrance which fits its name so perfectly like this. Douce Amere. Bittersweet. My first experience with it tested on my wrist has been rather disappointing so in this light I was not prepared for the loveliness of Douce Amere, but being a hot sunny day today I craved for a refreshing scent so I gave it a second chance. The choice was just perfect. Bitter and sweet notes blended beautifully, none of them tried to dominate. Soon after the first sniff I envisioned ouzo. Ouzo is an anise flavoured spirit (optionally added other flavorings, such as star anise, coriander, cloves, and cinnamon) traditionally known in Greece (and Albania as I know from a friend). It does not change drastically on the skin, this note never really fades made the scent so lively throghout the day. The sweetness is presented by flowers but I am unable to identify them although I'm fairly sure that I can't smell jasmine which is one of my favourite notes. The tenacity is exceptional - with a lovely sillage - considering that I sprayed it at 5am and 12 hours later I can still smell it in full bloom. (I have to admit that I could seen Douce Amere to tend annoying when the wheather warms up because of the toothpaste-like freshness. Nevertheless, I would definitely want a bottle for the hot summer days.)

Surprise! On opening the sample vial, the first thing I smelled was lots of sandalwood, not what I thought an absinthe-inspired fragrance should smell like. Within seconds, however, the anise came through loud and clear, like pure ouzo being drunk from a sandalwood cup. There’s something dry and herbal along with the wood and anise, presumably the artemesia that one would think should be a prominent note, and just a little hint of flowers. I like the fact that the cinnamon doesn’t overpower the anise, but instead blends perfectly with it. Wow! Once this develops it is unique and marvellous. After a few hours it dries down into a mostly woody scent with notes of sandalwood and cedar, nice in its own right. Later, the vanilla becomes prominent, and for the last several hours it is a sweet and almost ambery skin scent. It’s a lovely sequence of very different perfumes, three for the price of one. Sillage is good, and the scent lasts all day in one form or another. I read that Douce Amere being discontinued - why, oh why, when it’s one of the best SL creations?

I was on a short trip to Paris and I defiantly wanted to go to Serge Lutens flagship store at Palais Royale so I could try all "old" perfumes that they sell now in bell jars because you can't find then anywhere else. I made a list of 8 perfumes that I wanted to test out and out of those eight I liked Douce Amber the most. It's really beautiful and interesting green vanilla scent but absinthe alcohol green like and because of that it leans more on the masculine side IMO. Yes it's sweet and little bit powdery but still it doesn't go into average sweet powdery vanilla scent profile. Definitely unique scent and everyone that likes vanilla as a note should definitely try this one because I don't think they will find anything similar to Douce Amere. In the end I got my bottle from Vinted (old Palais Royal version from 00's) because I was not sure how I'm gonna use it if I buy bell jar version because I like to spray my perfumes. (they prob supple you with a small decant bottle that you can fill them up and then spray it but that's a bit annoying for me)

Just found a bottle of this scent--I forgot how cozy and comfortable it is. It's hard to believe it didn't do well enough in all markets to stay in the "export" line, as it always struck me as very loveable. What I appreciate most about it is that the bittersweetness is so well balanced. The wormwood and anisic notes are absolutely there, but the vanilla, musks, a light white florals provide such a complementary counterpoint. This has also always smelled to me a bit like Chergui but without the big coumarin note--in other words, the contemporary haziness of hedione, iso e super, and various white musks cocooning a huge vanilla. In Douce Amere, that beautiful base serves as the structure for a gorgeously green and herbal wormwood/white floral core instead of the spices and incense and hay of Chergui. Some other light touches of things (a hint of citrus and one of those pineapple-galbanum aromachemicals, maybe a light sprinkle of something like cinnamon) continue to contour and shape it.

So many others below have done such a great job describing Douce Amere, I especially like gtabasso describing this as having a cake batter feel without the sugar. I feel that pretty accurately describes the gourmand feel: a dry cake batter Douce Amere is so expertly blended that no single note stands out, they are all there except for the jasmine (thankfully I can't pick it out). There is a slight tropical vibe, a slight gourmand vibe and a very slight spicy herbal vibe. This is one of the easiest to wear from the Serge Luten line-up, but sadly I believe Douce Amere has been discontinued. I guard the remaining 20 ml I have left in my bottle and only wear it on special occasions. I think it's perfect accompaniement on a warm Spring or Fall day. I get about 4-5 hours of longevity with very light projection. An absolute stunner, one of my favorites from the house of Luten.

The opening is vibrant. There is Absinthe listed on my card from Serge Lutens, not listed above in the notes. In the opening, the Absinthe comes through like licorice, a spicy anise, with a cutting dryness. The Vanilla peeks out, but awaits in the background, letting the florals burst and bloom and play out. I cannot individually distinguish the floral notes, but they are a pungent bouquet. The dry down comes too quickly for me, but it's such a beautiful mix of spirited Cinnamon, creamy, gourmand Vanilla, and very light Absinthe remains. The dry down has lasted for many hours now. This is an artistic, lucious, luxurious, inspiring scent. One might use it daily to exeperience the best sensations in life at all times, or, use it only with the finest black velvet dress for special nights, to savour it slowly.

Do you want comfort in a bottle? I do and I've been wearing Douce Amère since the early 2000s when it was in spray format. It may seem a shame that it's now only available in bell jars but that makes it more special and uncommon. Not many people will have come across such a beautiful blend of scents in one fragrance: An opening of mild medicinal, absinthe, liquorice mix gives way to bitter almond (like the essence used in pastries), then the journey continues from marzipan to marshmallow (of the traditional type) to settle onto sweet vanilla. So you guessed it, we travel from bitter to sweet and back and forth - Douce Amère means bittersweet, how apt. It all comes in waves and it envelopes your senses in a beautiful comforting blanket that says sophistication and class.

Very nice. Like it a lot, but not really love tough. On me it smells very dry, herbal and a bit of hay... reminds me a lot of the north swedish countryside in the late summer, when the flowers have overbloomed and the hay is ready to been cut off (don ́t know what it is called in english!?) Underneath the surface of dry herbs and hay there is something soft and lush lingering... like the next summers flowers waiting to bloom again... Absolutly worth trying, nice non-offending, good stayingpower and with quite much personality...

I discovered Serge Lutens with Douce Amère, have loved it since (2002!). At the time, it was as niche as I had ever tried, and the unusual presence of artemisia and absinthe captivated me. An enchanting, real unisex perfume, so wearable by a woman that I have never been without it since, but gorgeous on a man - the salesman was wearing it to perfection. The longevity is very good, much better than newer Lutens fragrances, I have to say; it shares longevity with Un Bois Vanille, another Lutens favourite of mine.

I too sort of overlooked this lil gem; tried it years ago and reminded me of five o'clock (which came later); a bit cloying & not my thing. But I recently 'blind bought' a used bottle for peanuts and voila! what a sophisticated, original and impressive frag. it does indeed manifest a duality of pastis & wormwood, sharp & soft. even has a chanel pour monsieur vibe for the first 30 min which is very interesting and pleasant, drying down to a soft vanilla musk. great juice!

Absolutely unique and elegant stunner from the eclectic Serge Lutens line This cheery floral wood showcases the beauty of the tiare fower in its full bloom. Surrounding this central note are hints of vanilla, cinnamon, jasmine and artemisia. Light, lingering and happy, this unisex (slight female leaning) perfume has moderate to strong projection, sillage and longevity. Perfect for hotter weather, this is a very unusual and haunting fragrance. Enjoy!

The perfect library scent for me and a fantastic creation to my nose! Old books on dusty shelves, peaceful solitude, and the vanilla comfort of a friendly, worn space. Afternoon shafts of light pouring through the decrepit yet happy windows, highlighting the dust specks. Tea is being served in an adjacent room into delicate little cups. The few souls present are whispering or silently reading. A cat sleeps on an old cushioned chair.

Note: hard to wear sometimes, because of how green it is. One sniff and I fell in love. I love an anisic component (in this case absinthe) in a sweet fragrance (Love & Crime from Ex Idolo, Vanilla & Anise Jo Malone) ; this one nailed it. I love how its sweetness is sugary, and how the florals flirt with the absinthe No idea how artemisia smells like. This might be my favorite SL 🤭 on par Ambre Sultan and Un Bois Vanille

This is a gorgeous herbal-vanilla. It's not overly herbal. It still reads as a vanilla-dominant fragrance. This makes me want to hunt down other herbal+vanillas and other fragrances with absinthe as a note. When Serge Lutens gets it right they really get it right. Absolute love. It feels special. I don't find it that similar to Angelique Noire at all, but would say it's in the same family. I prefer this to AN.

I have regret my last review a little. I do love Douce Amere, but it ́s a soft, laidback and quiet kind of love. Some perfumes from SL keep growing on me, it can take some months to realise that I really cant live without them, Douce Amere is one of these perfumes. Longlasting, beautiful, soft, mature and extremly caressing. I am feeling totally comfortable when I wear this.

Vanillic green woods, not sweet at all despite it being so creamy. Surprisingly cool and refreshing, though rather warm & soothing. Contradictory, but like with Serge Lutens scents, never offensively so. Lovely in spring or autumn, I honestly prefer it in spring. Moderate sillage, lasts over 8 hrs in my experience with this scent.

What a tranquil scent! Not mentioned, but i smell liquorice above all. With anise, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar. Adorable! In the 35° this is a dream! I'm happy wearing it!

Someone elsewhere said that Douce Amere felt like the elegant, sophisticated, un-sleazy version of Casmir, which I think is about right. Casmir (which I also love) is a nasty lady until two hours in, at least; Douce Amere gets there within ten minutes. The openings are totally different--Douce Amère is an unusual blend of anise, cedar, peppery cinnamon (all together it is bitter green stems, the fresh-cut dahlia smell), that shifts (so smoothly you can barely tell) into powdery floral cedar smoke and incense-inflected vanilla. The combination of creamy gourmand and floral sweetness strongly resembles the later moments of Casmir--the later, the more alike. But Douce Amère remains more crystalline from start to finish. I'm convinced that's the bitterness, which you don't really smell after the opening but which makes itself known in the unusual lightness and clarity of a scent that would otherwise be oozingly scrumptious. It sits somwehre between clean white floral, oriental, and gourmand in a way I can't untangle. At times these two are so similar that I thought I'd made a redundancy mistake the first time I tried it on--but really it's like comparing a perfect raw almond to a honey-crusted, salted, sugared, roasted one. Both are good, but only one is the Platonic ideal of an almond. This is the only SL so far that doesn't turn on me, which I can wear and adore from start to finish. No matter how much put on it doesn't seem to project very far and I generally like that--though this is so good I almost wish it were louder. Longevity is okay--not as monstrous as most SL(why couldn't it have the lasting power of the ones that went putrid on me and gave me headaches?) or Casmir for that matter, but within the acceptable range for quality formulations. Unusually for me, and for Serge, I don't get any dirty notes on this at all. Whenever I finally finish my big Casmir, I'll splurge and get a bell jar of this one. I have the 5ml mini flacon, dabbing only, and while that's wonderful, I'm terribly disappointed you can't get this in spray form anymore, even in France. The thought of how that smoky-fresh, bittersweet anise opening would open up, billowing forth from a vaporiser, is too beautiful.

Douce Amere is quite unique, in the beginning as if it is not clear in which direction to develop, whether bitter or sweet (or vice versa) after a while you are lost in magic.I was amazed, I had to have it. I did not know even if I wore it, is not oriental, not spicy or citrus, and neither woody nor chypre. I have not felt so strange smell,tiare flower can be discerned, cinnamon is interesting, but I had the impression that there must be something more not mentioned, a closely guarded secret, endless and somewhat fragile. Attracting and repelling me, as I'm not sure do I like it or not. I love to wear it,though rarely,but then really enjoys. If there was a group of floral-spicy, it was a Douce Amere - totally different from anything I tried, so unusual...for ladies somewhere in Paris a hundred years ago, but the fragrance is just as inspiring today (only not dressed in jeans).Although the fragrance came out recently(2002.) it's intriguing as it has a long history. You can not say that it is sweet, because there is bitterness in it or some bitter sweetness. Perfume, which has an unusually beautiful scented trail close to the skin.And lasts for hours!

Douce Amère is a little startling at first: it smells equally strongly of sweet, gourmand notes and of prickly, inedible green ones, which creates the confusing effect that what you're smelling is in fact poison candy. But then the two aspects start to melt together and what remains is unmistakenly a typical Serge Lutens scent, a smooth and comfortably quasi-gourmand one with a bitter spicy edge that keeps it interesting. Very nice! The most dominant notes to my nose are artemisia, vanilla, sugar, and anise, in that order. I can believe the floral notes are there, but I can't separate them from the composition. Longevity and projection are both average, and to my nose it's more feminine than masculine, although I can imagine it on a man as well. Serge Lutens really must be the single most reliable source of wonderful, high quality borderline-but-not-quite-gourmand scents that are perfect companions for the colder seasons, and this is another shining entry in that long series. I'm glad to have it in my collection, although I'm not so smitten that my little decant won't serve me for quite a long time.

This is a nice, woody scent that starts a little too sweet on my skin but after a while the sweetness seems not so overwhelming. It's elegant and comforting and feminine without trying too much. It's a perfume for every day and every season that won't ever offend anyone. At the same time, I find it a bit boring. Not too comfy for my tastes -I prefer stronger, 'rounder' scents like amber and vanilla (this is vanill ic rather than vanilla to me) or cocoa for this role- not too fresh or spicy, just a bit of everything. Also, I don't get the absinthe as others do; I adore Fou d'absinthe by LAP and this is nothing like it. I'd probably wear it once in a while if I somehow found myself a bottle of this, but I can't see myself stretching my budget's limits to get it. Lasting power though is great, 10 hours and counting.

At first sniff, I do get the pollen-like effect mentioned in the description – a lightly sweet, somewhat powdery scent with a bit of a dry herbal quality. This floats atop the aroma of a blooming white flower (I pick up jasmine mostly). The white flower scent is definately present, yet somehow softened, almost as if it were bleached by the sun. As the perfume dries down, it develops more of a gourmand character. The sunny floral /herbal smell remains, but is now dusted with flakes of creamy chocolate just starting to melt in the warm air. The cinnamon and anise are not easily detectable to me, but do lend a delicate spiciness to the mix. This fragrance is so well blended that none of the notes take over, but rather combine to form something unique and lovely. Why is this being discontinued?

As soon as I have applied this to my skin I was like "eeek..this is Vinegar"! Indeed it has this acid start... Stunning how all Serge Lutens are able to strike me with strange notes at the beginning and then make me change my mind soon after. No worries. The vinegar note is just the first seconds and is soon calms down. Then Douce Amère is the softest frag of all. It is a stunning soft floral, very cozy and warm. You can smell cinnamon, tiaré, jasmine and a lot of vanilla, hence the sweetness. Then there is this note of absinth - I like it for its powderiness and freshenes at the same time. Very well balanced... a lovely skin scent. I do not get the "Bitter" part (douce amere means sweet & sour), to me it's just sweet & soft. Average staying power, not a lot of sillage. Very peculiar scent.

A skin scent that is cold and warm as Perfume Empress said but I would say leaning cold. It is so so odd. It opens sweet yet dry with the SL herbal note then becomes ever so slightly gourmand without being sugary, kind of like a very very dry vanilla or as someone said a cake batter that has been deconstructed to its essence. Yes, I see where someone says the herbal note is almost like an anise. This does remind me of smelling a pizzele Italian cookie. That kind of dry bakery scent. The flowers are not floral but they balance the herbal and vanilla. I would never call this a vanilla scent. These are all elements like a modern art painting. Like Renee Magritte. This is NOT a vanilla. This is not a floral. This is not herbaceous. But they all are here if you look at it sideways.

Douce Amère! More like douce AMOUR, am I right?! This fragrance is the equivalent of an oversized cardigan. Plush, warm, and comfy, something you’d wear to cuddle up with a good book. Douce Amère seems to run on two tracks: a green, herbal absinthe accord and a dryly sweet vanilla (whoever said “cake batter” nailed it). As the scent matures on skin, the two accords soften, then converge. Douce Amère never smells “perfume-y”; rather, it seems to just enhance one’s aura, radiating a sense of quiet goodwill to others in close quarters. I agree with others who have noted similarities with Coty’s Vanilla Musk. That could suffice in a pinch, but it’s no true substitute for the beautiful nuance found here.

I used to love this one. And I still like it a lot. However... it is very, very similar to Angelique Noire, which to me feels like a cooler (meaning colder) sister of Douce Amere which much better longevity and projection that is a little less sweet. Douce Amere is lovely, cozy and approachable. Angelique is cold, distant, yet absolutely stunning. At the moment I am not sure which of them I love more, but having both is redundant. I will likely declutter Douce Amere, as much is it hurts my little hoarder's heart.

A wonderful sensual scent which would work well either for summer evenings or winter. If you like Arabie but find it just too much, try Douce Amere. It has that definate 'Lutens' base of spice and is overlaid with a very Shalimar like oriental of vanilla with a light anise like freshness which keeps it bright and herbal, rather than really plush. I really like this, but will probably stick to Shalimar as the budget won't stretch to owning several slightly similar fragrances!

ohh how lovely this juice is . So refreshing different and luminous. Lilys mixing With anis and slightly sweet Herbs. Tiare flowres lingering to make it a bit tropical in a way ;) I love it. But the downside of this one :( It will not stick to my skin. only one hour it lingers on my skin . just to disapear This to me did not smell very masculin on my skin. This reminds me of the Hermes Un Jardin series refreshing and Nice but not that long lasting

I'm surprised about all the strong opinions on this one. On me it's a mild, slightly smoky cinnamon scent. Pleasant, but so far unremarkable. I think I may have liked the solid sample better than the actual perfume. I think I can smell some of this other stuff at the opening, which is sort of a mess to me, but before too long it settles into that incredibly mild spicy wood scent.

Have you a parfume you like to smell but not to wear? This is for me douce amere. Too dusty and dirty on my skin. It doesn't make me feel feminine and sexy. It doesn't protect me. It doesn't change me. And this is exactly what I ask a parfume: seduce me, protect me, change my mood. Anyway I understand it's a beautiful scent with a great idea: mixing bitter and sweet notes.

On me, the bitter outweighs the sweet in Douce Amere. Bitter in a good way. Like, the sweetness that is in there is just a ruse to get you lulled into complacency so the sharpish and slightly acrid anise can poke you a little bit. Just a little ... but it's not exactly a friendly poke, either. I think it's a little contradictory, and I enjoy wearing it.

I can clearly understand the love around this perfume, but this is a bit too floral for me, I expected more cinnamon, more spices, most of the stuff I get is heady tiare flower + some spices. You should try this, this as every Luten's is perfectly made and very high quality, they just don't work on me most of the time.

After a weird opening one gets rewarded with lovely vanilla, lily, jasmin and woods: a fluent stream of velvet, in a very light color: ivory. My luck: I found a bottle on the net. This is so special, so elegant, so bizarre: get it back on the market people!!!

Old books! Vanillic papery dustiness, dried flowers in a disused library. Rich wood, honey-camphor cough drops, liniment (old furniture polish, maybe). A bit of almondy booziness, but it's tamed. Dried sweet tobacco. Unisex.

That opening! Herbal, bracing, verging on mentholated... it’s stunning, but oh so fleeting. The green vanilla that remains in its wake is pleasant, but unremarkable and short-lived.

At first I thought it smelled like poison, just wait 5 minutes before you try to sniff. It’s a bit masculine but sweet and snuggly

For me it's all about floral and vanilla - I like it; elegant and not overpowering; it is more underlining your personality ;)

Hot and creamy, well mixed, sensual or sexual vanilla. I evaluate this: Smell: 8/10 Projection: 6/10 Longevity: 7/10

The best toothpaste scent ever!

Wow, I see the notes above. From the sample I got, it smelled nothing like that. It was coconutty and minty. I almost smelled marshmallow with a hint of licorice. After a while, it got powdery, but I could still smell a hint of coconut. It really dries down to a spicy vanilla without coconut/licorice.

Very soft, creamy, a bit sweet fragrance, mix of herbal, powdery and gourmand notes. Nothing to die for frankly speaking... Quite complex, no single note sticks out, almost no development in time, sits close to skin.

I am a hater of green aromatic scents but this one does not offend me. I get absinthe a bit in the opening, which I like. But it dried down to a soapy green-ish floral scent on my skin, and I do not care for that.

This is my first time sampling a Serge Lutens fragrance. Hmm—not impressed! I tried some on this morning, on my arms, neck and behind the ears. 30 minutes later, on the bus, I wondered why I smelled damp umbrellas when it hadn't rained in 24 hours. It couldn't be Douce, could it? Once I got to the office I smelled my wrist and thought—yummy, yummy, yummy! Smells just like the Byredo Seven Veils I tried yesterday. Then I realized, oh, it is the Byredo Seven Veils I tried on yesterday, which is showing amazing longevity despite time, a shower and numerous hand washings. I couldn't smell a trace of anything else which was strange as I had doused my arms in half of my 1ml sample of Douce. Now, home again, I've put some more on my arm and again I sniff. Uh oh—there's that wet umbrella smell again, mixed with vanilla and light spices. Every time I bend my head to sniff my arm for another smell, my nose wrinkles. I already live in a rainy city—I don't need a perfume that literally rubs my nose in the fact. Note: Upon sniffing my arm again a couple of hours later, the damp umbrella smell is gone (perhaps just a "weird" phase as another member described), and there is a refined, subtle spiciness that has emerged. However, the overall experience has been too underwhelming for me to try again any time soon.

Hmmm normally I love Serge Lutens, but this smells like stale cookie dough on my skin. Weird. Perhaps I got a bad batch.

Aromatics are hardly ever easy perfumes to describe and explain. It is almost always a "love-hate" affair and trying the scent on one's own skin is an absolute must in my book. I absolutely love the absinthe - anise - artemisia opening for its smooth and green serpent-like coiling feeling. Even though I do not like anise 95 times out of 100, Christopher Sheldrake managed to make it into a soft and sensual note, which provides a brilliant accompaniment to absinthe, the blend of two becoming a seductive whisper of sweet vices in my head. Artemisia lends her herbal facet, deepening the green hue and impression of a bohemian gathering of artists, poets and writers in XIX century Paris. Heart's florals are masterfully blended together and unfold as a singular sweet and creamy note, with sparkling fruitiness of tiare flower elevating the composition. The green is now joined by the golden streaks, loosening up the serpent's coils, and making them move in an eternal and hypnotic dance. The mood shifts from melancholy and contemplation into exuberance and revelry. The green fairy is still fluttering in the background, but visions are no longer of the heavy smoke and ennui. Cedarwood and musk are a perfect duet, maintaining the sparkling, lighter note, adding anchoring freshness to the composition. I get no cinnamon as a solo note, believe it to be there, as spiciness does come through in the base. "Douce Amere" or "BitterSweet" in English is a fascinating concoction, with brilliant visionary and daring composition of the olfactory ingredients, and, in all honesty, I am delighted I did not know of them (pyramid notes) when I bought the perfume, for I would not have trusted in their compatibility one bit. I bought this perfume purely on my nose and instinct and that was the only right decision I could have made. The final accord is of a chocolate haze with sandalwood and musk, and last whispers of green absinthe viper slithering away, melting into the air. "Douce Amere" does bring up "A Queer Night in Paris" by Guy de Maupassant, and its line : "M. Saval sat down at some distance from them and waited, for the hour for taking absinthe was at hand." For the absinthe hour was almost always a bittersweet one.

This opens with a sensational wormwood oil, Artemisia absinthium, the very oil used in absinthe itself, and readily recognizable to those who have a penchant for this potion. Arresting and sharp, the herbaceous, bitter, tonic qualities of wormwood may perhaps read to one's noses as "poison" but to others as delicious. Of course, I am in the latter camp, and the anise and vanilla accords that soon follow reminds me so much of the taste of Leone Absinthe pastilles (you need to try them if you can!). The sugar cube in the heart quells the bitterness just a bit, and animated ornate absinthe spoons dance in a patch of Casablanca lilies, pollen flying everywhere, landing in bowls of cake batter and trays of anisettes. There is feasting and frenzy, and a bit of intoxication, and a warm satisfaction as it winds down and there's no room for one more digestif or even a wafer-thin biscuit, and I love feeling this satiated. The ghost of wormwood lingers for a long time, longer than any other fragrance I've smelled that features this note—that and the white florals prevent Douce Amere from being a full-fledged edible gourmand. It is an extraordinary example of Sheldrake's magic and of bitter-herbal contrasted with vanilla cake sweet. Unfortunately, SL has now limited this beauty to the bell jars. I wish I knew the reasoning behind these decisions.

I was a bit shocked after reading both the notes and reviews on this scent. It was almost like taking a drink of something you thought would be Sprite and it turned out to be Coke! So~here's the Douce Amere that I experienced. Absinthe? Check. Vanilla? Check. Cinnamon? Check. Florals......? Florals......? Florals.....? Musk? Check....wait a minute. No musk listed. Bittersweet, or Douce Amere on me is an exotic gourmand. She starts out with a beautiful musky, warm, rich, anise vanilla which is very potent and true for a couple of hours. Then the cinnamon comes into the composition drying it out a bit and bringing a lovely wood note forward. Douce Amere is all about the anise and on me it never transitions into a secondary note. It's a true oriental perfume with everything nuanced to interact with the star~the mysterious Absinthe. I used to have a bottle and traded it. It was just too much for me. It's been about 3 years and I recently ran across a sample that someone had sent to me in a swap. Apparently my tastes....or chemistry have changed. I wouldn't repurchase a bottle, I would never go through the whole thing. But a decant? I may very well search one out......

I've been on a fence with this fragrance for over a year - but I finally took a step and splurged on a bottle. Douce Amere is all too floral and all too sweet for me for the first hour or so. Even at this phase it does not completely fail, the absinthe note gives a cool dissonant tone to the opening, the greenness and bitterness feels almost violent against the gentle backdrop. The pollen note is beautiful with the white flowers - well, after all I guess that it is the overwhelming sweetness that bothers me in the opening. But it sneakily evolves to something more wearable, to a fresh, gently spicy vanillic oriental with still a distinct absinthe note. Lightly woody with beautiful cinnamon undertone, still sweet (but not overtly so) and caressing. For me wearing this fragrance is bit like getting some sticky feeling goop to my fingers when baking - then ending up licking the fingers with a great satisfaction...

Says here it's got an Absinthe (read: anise) base, with cinnamon, tiare (what the hell is THAT?), jasmine, and lily. Hey, urban Americans (apologies to others): Ever spend time in your city's little Italy? Most first generation Italian - Americans came from the south or Sicily, where they go gaga for anise and fennel. Ever walk into an Italian bakery and smell the anise cookies, straight out of the oven? Ol' Serge (bet he'd hate to hear himself called that) and his buddy Sheldrake have nailed that scent dead on, mounting it on top of that signature Lutens base that's his own personal Guerlinade. This one is scrumptiously edible, and it's probably the ideal perfume to wear when your'e going out ot a nice Italian restaurant. Highly recommended. Of course, I AM a cook...