L'Eau d'Armoise

I love artemisia, especially so in the hot weather, but usually this scent is unlucky: instead of artemisia in perfumes there appears to be absinthe. Which, actually, isn’t bad at all, but I wanted artemisia! In the “Artemisia Water” Serge managed to catch the right note. The scent is light, surprising and unconventional. Official pyramid is following: herbs - spices - bitterness. But it reveals like a movie! In the top notes - a distinct gin and tonic, not a cold drink in a misted glass, but a warm smell floating in a bar. Also a faint echo of bergamot appears to be there, or maybe some kind of strong liquor, like aftertaste on the tongue, when you just took a sip of burning alcohol. Then the utter bitterness of something green comes, not necessarily the artemisia - when I trim a tamarind tree, the cut branches smell very similarly, a lot of green notes and some kind of woody scent appears. The bitterness of a freshly cut wood - that’s what it is. But my favorite is in the base: close to the body there remains a smell of bitter fall, smell of fallen leaves, softened with a hint of sweet wood smoke, as if lemon jam was being cooked on apple wood fire somewhere far, far away... Such a philosophical fragrance! In the end it seems to tell us: “So be it...”.

I am hesitant to assume a condescending role, positioning myself as someone superior in understanding or taste. However, upon perusing reviews that delve into descriptions of sweaty armpits or scents inducing nausea and even grievances about the perfume’s longevity, I cannot help but wonder about the varied approaches individuals adopt towards perfumery. It appears as if some may lack the requisite perspective on the brand or the fragrance they are evaluating. In the case of L’Eau d’armoise, I see it as an unparalleled embodiment of mugwort, a herb renowned for its pronounced bitterness among the notes employed in perfumery. Mastering its incorporation demands a level of artistry generally associated with perfumers of such high caliber as Serge Lutens (or Christopher Sheldrake, which is the same... but that's another story). Notably, L’Eau d’armoise has been created by Serge Lutens himself, an unusual fact nowadays for his eponymous line, and that alone warrants appreciation. As for longevity, I am relinquishing the burdensome narrative embraced by those with limited imaginative capacity. Instead, I choose to embrace the fleeting nature of a perfume that endures for just a moment: a sensory ephemera reminiscent of a memory worth cherishing.

Fantastic! I don't know what immortelle smells like, but I certainly know bergamot, and I absolutely know the smell of artemisia: I grew up on the central coast of California, spending my free time as a youth in the coastal sage scrub habitat along the ocean bluffs. This is almost exactly the smell of Artemisia californica, or California sagebrush, the dominant species in this coastal scrub plant community. To this lovely artemisia note the bergamot lends a fresh, bracing, bitter citrus which we all know and love. There's a bit of clean white musk underneath all of this, holding it together. This perfume is simple, to the point, and stunningly gorgeous. It is what Jo Malone's Wood Sage & Sea Salt really should have been. Like walking the coastal bluffs of Montaña de Oro in thick summer fog, wearing a wool overcoat and sipping earl grey tea. This is the smell of my spiritual homeworld. I'll be buying a full bottle as soon as possible. 90%

As someone who has no prior familiarity with mugwort, the first thing I thought of when trying L'eau d'Armoise was pine. Over its wear time on the skin, it gradually shifts from cool and slightly camphorous to a gentle and herbal warmth tinged by the grassy sweetness of immortelle. There is dew, tree bark, and perhaps some distant flowers. The overall impression is that of a landscape painting, attempting to capture a meadow as it transitions from dark into dawn. There is a naturalistic quality that almost seems more in line with the scents of Diptyque, rather than the expressionistic complexity of Serge Lutens' more popular offerings. L'eau d'Armoise has decent longevity but modest projection, and so is a fragrance one would wear much more for themselves than for the perception of others. The scent profile is inoffensive, generally speaking, but someone would have to be very close to you to detect it anyway.

This is so herbal and gorgeous. It's zesty, green, beautiful and overall very well-balanced and easy to wear. It's unisex and will look good on anybody. It smells delicious, like a green summer field, with notes of spice, florals, greens and zesty citruses in the background. I do not perceive it as feminine at all. I do agree that it slightly slightly remind me of absinth for some reason (maybe because it's green booziness with light spice notes?). It's a surprising and unique scent that's good and universal for any occasion. Overall, I am very impressed. It reminds me slightly of Sisley's perfumes as they are always green and mossy to me, and also are perceived as light ones. It also reminds me slightly of Jo Malone's newest green collection (thistle, achillea) as it has a very similar "light" green but zesty theme.

In late summer and early autumn, especially on a misty, damp day, the sprawling fields of mugwort that grow at Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary in Natick, MA perfume the air with their scent that is sweetly camphorous and tranquilizing. It is reminiscent of sage, juniper, and chrysanthemum, with an ineffable quality that can only be described as the smell of cool dew. L'Eau d'Aromise smells just like this. Sweet mugwort dreams. Spray this on your body and your linens for the perfect fragrant nightcap. Footnote: To those who keep referencing wormwood, mugwort/armoise (Artemisia vulgaris) is a different species from wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) and while there are some similarities, their scent profiles do differ.

My signature fragrance. Didn't fully understand this one until I woke up late for work one morning. Got ready, doused myself in this, stepped into a cab, and headed to work. Driver went through the park. Early SF morning. Grey skies, forest fully enveloped in thick white fog. Remote by Tetsu Inoue politely blaring in my headphones. Unrolled the windows and it struck me how wonderful this perfume is. Its cold bay fog in a bottle. So confident, different, and tranquil. Otherworldly and delightfully aromatic. I bought two bottles and intend to stock up a bit more. Need to carry a bottle around in my purse at all times.

I love this. It smells like fresh herbs, slightly bitter, extremely cool and inoffensive. It’s not a loud scent, it’s an essence of added freshness, a gin and tonic scent minus the sharpness of alcohol - like a wet forest on a summer night. For me it’s the gem of SL L’eau line and what I wanted the original one to be - like opening up a green artemisia stem, it smells the way cold water feels.

Bitter, green absinthe, with the sugar cube implied. It reminds me of the Mallorcan liqueur Hierbas, which is made from the various local aromatics. Opens mint-lavender herbal and settles to a lovely anise-laced absinthe murk. I'm surprised again to love it.

My favourite from the SL L'Eau series. Fresh green bitterness (basically mint and artemisia), that's the best way I can describe it. Soft sillage, but good longevity. On my to-buy list! Spring/Summer days, 30+ Edit: now got a full bottle!

Huge fan of this scent! It's a truly cool, atmospheric scent that reminds me of the air before a storm hits. It unfortunately doesn't last long and the projection is intimate, but it would be perfect for scalding hot weather!

The opening is very fresh herbal and reminds me of classic men's cologne, but the dry down is very spicy, a little bit bitter, pleasantly green, but also kind of salty. I want to eat it on a tomato.

you will smell like those woman with black veils on their faces from Dune.... this is something else guys... out of this world, literally, you will smell like a royalty from Dune... lm in love...

Subtle, breezy herbal goodness with an unsweet aniseedy twist. Very light but also very longlasting, an aromatic breath of fresh air, just a hint of hay-like fading foliage to ground it. Lovely.

Oh wow, oh no, what, I thought I smelled something really delicious. I really would have thought that I just smelled something amazing.

My favorite bedtime scent. Calm, herbal, airy and incredibly soothing.

L'Eau d'Armoise, I come across L’Eau d Armoise (for short : LEdA) by chance. After one meeting where I have chance to sniff 3 of Les Eaux, I like theme. There are great cologne fragrance. However, I didn’t have chance to sniff LEdA. I am blind buy this solely when I am looking for bitter fragrance yet there a note I do like it soft herbal smoke effect (immortelle). L’Eau d’Armoise, the bitter-sweet, softly musty yet clean, slight earthy combination of Artemisia and immortelle seems seamlessly merge into each other. It is pleasant herbal experience that both clean and herbaceous at the same time. Behind the aroma of herb, there is light aldehydic property (notice the slight sharp, soft powdery feel) and aquatic property (fresh, dew, watery effect) twine the clean feeling in the far back. Apart from other notice Mint, Clove or Geranium. I think another key player here is lavender and soft white musk in tiny amount play a show in the back ground. Support herbal tone. LEdA in anyway, is a good herbal juice thar wrap wearer in cologne manner, not citrus heavy. Master blend as you could notice the difference herbal piece. Time to time, it is nice relaxing afternoon in Summer after all.

This is nice, just nice. Once again Serge has captured a realistic smell in a perfume. I always say most of the time the name of a Serge perfume usually gives you an accurate description of what they're going for. This translates to "Mugwort Water." The brands write up really adds to this experience. "How could I have known when I distractedly picked a leaf from a bush and rubbed it between my index finger and thumb, that mugwort would later speak to me from a perfume bottle?" This one is very light, herbal, green, leafy and slighty floral. This actually reminds me of a better version of Mediterranee by Molinard. The use of immortelle in both come across as similar. The main difference is that I don't like Mediterranee because of the overly strong calone note. I like this. It's pleasant, light, airy but unfortunately quite faint. I have a sample and I can tell the performance won't be anything special as most noted it's quite weak. As I said, it's nice but just nice. Perhaps this would be nice to over spray on an extremely hot humid summer day. I have a sample and that's fine for now. May not be full bottle worthy for me. Still good.

Very nice. To me it smells like a fancy gin and tonic. Quite a bitter herbal/medicinal opening (which I happen to love), but it sweetens and deepens as it dries down. I was thinking this would be just for summer, but I find myself wearing this in mid-December and it's strangely perfect--it has a snow & evergreens feel, too. I was expecting it to disappear immediately on my winter skin, but it is holding its own. I'm on this unexpected Serge Lutens spree because several SL fragrances have appeared at really good prices at my local TJ Maxx. I have made so many unfortunate blind buys at TJ, but Lutens is 3/3 at this point.

This is a godsend relief in extreme heat! It's beautifully bitter and refreshing, like a big gulp of tonic mixed with full glass of ice and some citrus peel sqeezed in! Keep it in your bag during the day because it is ephemeral it needs reaplying, but the light formula is what keeps it so delightfully fresh. Anytime I need a boost I spray some on my chest and arms and in a second I feel like fresh out of cold shower. Seriously I don't understand something so simple could be 10/10

As a botanist, I’ve worked a lot with plants, including immortelle, and this scent is exactly it. If you’re looking for this particular aroma, this is the one. Overall, the fragrance feels very natural and authentic, without any synthetic or soapy undertones that perfumes sometimes have. My only wish is that it were a bit stronger — it’s quite subtle, barely noticeable, and stays close to the skin. But otherwise, it’s beautiful.

This is a realistic herbal scent..there is a fresh plant scent I cant identify but it reminds me of being a kid and playing outside in the early morning, its chilly out, there’s a cold breeze and you’re picking leaves off bushes, tearing them apart with your fingers, and there’s now a lingering scent on your hands. The dry down strongly takes me back to memories of the inside of a cathedral.

I’m loving this on snow days. To speak to the “gin and tonic” quality a previous commenter noted, while this is certainly cool, herbal, fresh, bright, buzzy and bitter, it has an effect much like real gin that is all those things and at the same time warm, like liquor touching the tongue. I feel very lucky to have found an SL at a T.J. Maxx for $25.

L'Eau d'Armoise by Serge Lutens is all about bold herbal notes. The main focus is on artemisia—bitter, green, and sharp. It doesn’t last all day but gives a quick, intense burst of freshness that stays close to the skin. This isn’t a big, showy fragrance—it’s personal and for those who like strong herbal twists without overpowering.

Whimsical melancholy! Very delicate green herbs brush against your skin, they get a bit sweet and resinous, and then they fade out. You're left with a quiet immortelle drydown which lasts about 4 hours. Great for starting the day, or for days that You don't want to wear anything complicated, but still very inspiring.

I agree with Florista, this is a nice herbaly green fragrance. It's quite light, quite fleeting, but while it lasts and during the dry down it becomes almost warm and soft. Very simple. Perfectly reasonable for herbal lovers. 5.5/10

Like Goutal Nuit Etoilee, but murkier and mustier. That's not a bad thing. I normally love bergamot, but here it plays a bit sour, which is really the only part I don't like.

L'Eau d'Armoise is dry but fresh with a spearmint note. Light green and herbal, I also get a smoky wood note during the dry down. Complex for a light scent.

Very nice soliflore that begins with a strong blast of almost turpentine-like scent, but mellows out quickly. Unfortunately, it's gone in half an hour.

I don't know what I was hoping for. Never encountered a perfume that had a realistic wormwood or immortelle, for that matter. Initial impression: artificial everything, plastic bergamot, artificial artemisia (why?!! why?!!!!), maybe the stem of an immortelle....In 10 minutes it settles down to a safe, citrus wisp of a scent. I love SL house but come on. An invisible scent. If you want something similar with longer life and projection, get Angel Schlesser. A disappointment for me.

A simple minimalist new offering from Serge Lutens which is perfect for hot summer weather. The perfume is centered around a herbal artemisia which is surrounded by two other notes, a crisp bergamot and an aromatic immortelle flower. The perfume is simple and actually quite lovely in a minimal kind of way. Unisex with moderate sillage and projection and average longevity. Not the best from this house but not a total disappointment either. Enjoy!

Most days when I wear this, it comes across as an herby aftershave with a bit of spit mixed in. But once or twice it showed up as something so beautiful- fresh, gray-green, herbal, magical. I don't know if it's a temperature thing, or a hormonal thing, or if I was just wearing the right complement of lotions that day...if only it could always be like that. But I just can't trust this not to gross me out.

I probably was expected too much, perhaps then I wouldn't have been disappointed so. I love artemisia scent both in nature and fragrance but this was disrespectful to artemisia. If there would be wormwood La Croix, this would be the closest thing to it. Maybe if it was a stronger scent, I could learn to like it, but it is very wispy and weak. Get Angel Schlesser instead.

Smells like someone who forgot to put on deodorant but at least brushed their teeth.

pure lemon cleaner citrus solvent, nothing like the artemisia plant

At first it is a nice fresh scent then begins to oddly smell like black seed oil

I was not sure what to expect from L'Eau d Armoise. It's ultimately not much of a summer freshie. I find it to be very pensive or contemplative. I think its better suited to spring or early autumn. And It is certainly more than just an artemisia note. It starts with bitter herbal greens, like sage. After about 20 minutes, it softens to something nearly sweet edible, in addition to pine needles and tea. Almost like sweet tree sap. After this stage, the greenness retreats more and it becomes warm. The tea and pine needles are still here, but they're smoother. I can smell cardamom fairly clearly as well. In the later drydown, a warm, clean musk also becomes apparent. The prior notes stick around, but again gradually become smoother and warmer. Interestingly, this reminds me of Olfactive Studio Lumiere Blanche. They don't smell alike, but there is something in L'Eau d Armoise that echoes Lumiere Blanche. Like Lumiere Blanche, it does not quite fit my skin.

I love this one. I’ve never been a big fan of the SL L’eau clear bottles so I ignored trying this for awhile. But that herbal scent, it is fetching and rich with character and beautifully rounded out and supported by musk and citrus and green filler. Well done. When I am in the mood for green, this is the kind of green that I’m hoping for. It’s like tasting fresh herbs, basil or mint in a desert and appreciating the addition, surprised at it’s freshness and the unique twist that it provides the flavor. Mugwort. Who knew? Edit: I was disappointed with the full bottle and will probably sell it. I don’t know what happened here. The herbal opening in the samples I tried is almost nonexistent in this bottle. Oh well. 3 out of 5.

Just a fascinating fragrance. Somehow it reminds me of The Secret Garden/Lion, Witch and The Wardrobe. Mysterious and mystical, but not really sexy or beautiful. Fantastic summer alternative to citrus fragrances. Extremely crisp and very refreshing. Doesn't last very long or project very much, but the performance is OK. Not exactly my style of perfume based on the notes, but I was able to grab a bottle on Ebay for like 35 bucks. What a steal. Oh and don't forget, this was created by Emperor Serge himself, not his minion Sheldrake.

Have you ever plucked a small branch off of a tall fir tree? Ya know, the kind with the feathery fronds? If you have and happen to have smelled the once connected end where the scent lies you will know what D'armoise smells like. I have these gorgeous trees in my yard and love their fresh green fragrance so much I had hoped one day I'd encounter it captured in a bottle. I have and am happy. Nifty bottle, too. {Blended with Serge Lutens Leau de Paille- Gorgeous!}

Just purchased and received a bottle of this from fragrancenet.com. Today -- the first wearing. VERY DIFFERENT!!! And I am loving this so far.. It's definitely a quiet scent. Perhaps its the combo of anise and artemisia that give a slightly herbal-honey feel during the opening. Hmmm (smile)... Comforting. Of course, this also reminds me of "Bush Tea" (ask a Rasta... He'll/She'll tell you) -- herbal, sweet, green, cleansing... So far, so good! I'm pleased!

It is hard to describe a fragrance that barely graces one with its presence for a couple minutes. It seems to be the most fleeting piece I've ever tried, and I had a couple ephemeral fragrances, but this one takes the cake. While it lasts, however, it is incredibly refreshing and crisp. Cooling, herbal, minimalistic. A modern take on the classic old school colognes that some people call dated. An ice cold spring hidden in the hills.

Interesting, not quite what I expected, but that's probably on me. Definitely has a green + anise + plant facet, which I suspect is the genuine Artemesia, as opposed to what they usually use for that note. High quality, beautifully blended. If this is a little too realistic for anyone, I highly recommend Roger & Gallet Jean Marie Farina Eau de Cologne. Gorgeous, very affordable, superb quality.

I got it for a present. Sorry to the person who gave it to me, I couldnt like it. It smells like sweat for me. I thought it would be a smell of green, bitter, aromatic but only thing i can smell is sweat. more specific,it doesnt feel like perfume to me. smell of man who wear a perfume which is blended with his smell. DARK GREEN / ★☆☆☆☆

I love Lutens I really do. Sometimes the scents veer off in a direction that's not for me but i can appreciate the idea. Like Lutens Noir. What can I say about D'armoise? ....DING! DING! pretentious perfume city centre.

green & herbal, licorice, basil leaves, light woods after 30 mins it smells like soapy cosmetic powder, sweet soft musk with hints of florals, dried herbs 4 sprays, between light & medium projection

Sorry to be rude but on the test strip this smells straight like sweaty armpits !!! Even the Sephora SA saw that nausea caught me by surprise, I wasn’t expecting to smell something so horrible...

I detected white peppery spiciness with herbal bitterness. A touch of frankincense, maybe. It's rather heavy for a 'L'Eau' scent. I can't say it's meant for those hot summer days.

The reviews are correct: smells like body odor. You do not need this in your collection.

Minty lavender and herbaceous powdery...