L'Haleine des Dieux

First impressions: I love this, soft, green-spicey from the sage, smooth and a little sultry and cozy from the musk, cashmeran and leather. The Ambre Sultan dna is very much present to my nose but it doesn't have the accord that makes Ambre Sultan sharper and more 'medicinal'- according to my brother. This is unisex but in such a delicate and complex way, that I find makes this very wearable to me, as a person who prefers more stereotypically feminine scent profiles. I can barely smell it up close and have to really work to smell it after just 10 minutes (I haven't been obsessively sniffing, just 2-3 times), so I think I am nose blind to certain components. But for now, my impressions are that this is a very uniquely blended fragrance that combines the ever so slightly aldehydic touch from the sage, some greenness, with a very familiar beloved amber, that is softened with musk and cashmeran. Update: several hours later, it is going steady on my wrist. Not as faint as I thought. Still love how this scent balances its notes so well; I prefer this over Ambre Sultan.

This is bizzare imo because it conveys an ultra soft "beautiful" powderiness that's very cozy, I'm assuming it's the cashmeran+musk combo, BUT at the same time smells like Serge Luten's spicy amber signature (like Arabie and Ambre Sultan). So, as much as it's beautiful and musky/powdery cozy, it's very authentically ambery. Also, this "cozy" scent is so familiar, I can't put my finger on what it is, imagine a combination of baby scent + mugler over the musk (ambrette/cashmeran), kind of like that. At first I saw the comparison to Ambre Sultan on Fragrantica I was baffled, but after a few hours both on skin and blotter (more) the amber develops, so it's quite a complex scent imo because the opening and the dry down are 2 completely different things, although I should mention, the cozy feeling is there throughout the wear. This stuff lasts a long time, the blotter i got last week still smells.

‘The Breath of the Gods’ is a very strange but oddly addictive ambery beauty from this venerable niche line. The perfume opens with aromatic notes of pine, sage and cashmeran. It then starts sweetening into the heart of amber, labdanum and slight leather. The perfume finally settles into a vanilla synthetic musk base. Playing like an edgy version of Ambre Sultan from the same line this is an exercise in shape shifting modern perfumery with a medicated menthol like opening sweetening to a musky amber. The unisex scent has moderate sillage and very good longevity and is recommended for those into adventurous Orientals and amber based scents. Enjoy!

It's quite similar to Ambre Sultan but EVEN BETTER! It's more refined and balanced (without the weird opening of AS) with lovely floral tones that don't feel out of place; the projection and longevity is much better as well; however, it's not worth FOUR TIMES the price. $300 I'd buy, $450 is quite a stretch, but $600 for 50ml is simply ridiculous 😑 *This is now my all-time favorite Serge...

I find the opening of L'Haleine des Dieux quite intriguing: a creamy woody aroma reminiscent of bread and bowls of cereals and milk, with a metallic edge as a twist. The bread/cereal reference might call to mind Jeux de Peau, but in L'Haleine des Dieux, the dry woodiness is slightly more prominent, and it's also less oily and much less sweet. Unfortunately, this interesting juxtaposition of metallic and creamy doesn't hold for long. L'Haleine des Dieux soon dries down into a woody amber heavily coated with vanilla custard and a pinch of salt, reminiscent of nourishing shea butter body cream. The sillage is relatively close, and the longevity is around 9 hours. With its interesting contrast between cold metallic and smooth milkiness, and the cozy shea butter dry down, L'Haleine des Dieux is quite enjoyable to my nose. However, at the price range of Section d'Or, I honestly expected something with more depth or more daring. I think L'Haleine des Dieux could be fun to test if you happen to come across it, but overall I'd be hesitant to particularly recommend it.