Miel De Bois

Miel de Bois is a weird and quirky creature that I like a lot. It is surely not easy to wear in the beginning but I do love this bold and unique interpretation of the honey and beeswax notes. The picture that this scent is painting for me is of an old and dusty log cabin in the deep woods surrounded by beehives. The beehives are maintained by a hermit who prefers to be alone with the nature. The smell of fresh honey, beeswax and woods are mingled together with a scent of the earth, falling leaves and the nature. I can even picture hungry bears lurking in the shadows. This is not a cute and playful honey scent but it is a scent of a wild nature, unbridled and uncivilized. The scent opens with a strong and pungent scent of woods. The ebony, guaiac and oak are indeed the wild nature in the bottle, quite powerful. The woods smell smoky, strong and a bit animalistic. This mixture is odd but it is definitely interesting. The scent becomes warmer and smoother as the honey notes appear. In the heart notes, the raw honey is mixed with a bit of a smoke, incense and woods. The scent continues to develop on my skin for hours. Finally, the beeswax notes become more prominent. The beeswax is raw and naturally smelling. The scent is warm and comforting at this stage. It is like coming to the wood cabin after a long day in the woods, starting the fireplace and then lighting the beeswax candles. The scent has great sillage and longevity. Overall score is 8.5/10. I love the smell of honey and beeswax, so I am always trying new fragrances with those notes. Miel de Bois is definitely something that captured my imagination. This is not a fragrance that I would wear every day but it is something that I would like to keep when I am in the mood for it. For me it is not a full bottle worthy but I have ordered an 8ml decant for those occasions when I would like to experience the wilderness in the bottle.

I bought this blind, trusting in my love of wood, honey and Uncle Serge. Miel De Bois opens with a blast of sharp, pale honey, oak and carroty iris. The iris-wood combo base will be familiar to anyone who's smelled much of the 'De Bois' line, especially Feminite du Bois. The similarities however, end there. Miel De Bois projects like a beast from the get-go, unusual for a Serge Lutens. The only other Lutens I can think of that rivals this for sillage is perhaps Fleurs d'Oranger. The honey is clear, sharp and bright. It plays out over a rich, woody base - not as dark as the ebony and guaic would suggest. The sillage cloud smells absolutely divine. Authentic honey, soft, dusty woods. An absolute pleasure to be surrounded with this olfactory aura. The drydown is fairly linear, with a hint of animalic, dirty musk picking up as time goes on, rendering the scent somewhat feral. The only place this falls apart for me is with my nose pressed to my wrist. Because of the impressive projection, I become anosmic to it rather quickly. Pressing nose to wrist however reveals only a thin, shrill, carrot-explosion of iris - A note I've always found challenging. Over application also results in a bewildering cloud of carrot juice. Lesson learned with this strange beauty. Apply sparingly and in the right weather. Longevity is damned near eternal. Sillage is firmly in the 'heavy' catagory and distorts horribly upon overdose. Unique, unisex and challenging. Enjoy responsibly.

Miel de Bois is an unsung Serge Lutens gem that transcends gender and season. It can be worn by anyone at any time of year, largely because of how natural it smells. The honey is dominant, bolstered by a woodiness underneath. In many fragrances, honey can feel thick and heavy, but there’s an airy diffusion to the accord here. It’s unlike any other honey scent I’ve experienced. Notably, too, it lasts FOREVER, even through a shower, and dances in the ether with each movement of the body. Though it’s a love for me, Miel de Bois is one of Lutens’ most controversial—probably even more so than another love, Muscs Koublaï Khan. Yes, it does open with an acidity that’s uncommon in perfumery. Some have likened it to apple cider vinegar. I get that, but, to me, the smell is closer to that of white wine or pure grape juice. I get nothing like urine—particularly cat urine. If I wanted that, I’d spritz Guerlain’s Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune! Don’t let those comments scare you away from trying Miel de Bois, for this is a singular fragrance experience. ETA: I see a few people have suggested a similarity to Cartier’s L’Envol in the “reminds me of” section above. That baffles me, as I sense no similarity between the two. They’re worlds—or universes—apart.

The newest addition to my Serge Lutens collection. This was not easy to find, but I did find it, a nearly full bottle from 2005. I, frankly, didn't know what to expect. I had a tiny 0.75 ml dabber sample 10 years ago, but I did not remember how it smelled at all. I sprayed it on my wrist and neck, two sprays. I have certainly have never smelled a honey note like this before. All honey perfumes I tried (including Chergui) are "pretty" honey. This is not pretty. This is a BRUTAL musky animalic honey scent. I do not get anything overly gross like urine, like some people here describe, but there is something here that is extremely provocative. This honey does not pull punches and does not mess around hiding behind pretty florals and fluffy vanillas. This is straight in your face raw pungent honey. I also smell musk, a lot of it, but this is not a musk of today's Kirkes and alike. I do not smell iris, but it does get a bit powdery about 3 hours in. It's bone dry too. Needless to say, I LOVE this. Not work friendly. Very strong and long lasting, I'd say uncharacteristically strong for Lutens. Marvelous all around, but not an easy or crowd-pleasing creation. Miel de Bois is an experience that is best enjoyed alone. A masterpiece.

MdB and I were fated to meet. I had this on my want list for almost a year with plans to get it on my next trip to Paris. However, on my last visit to a perfume shop with lovely SAs, one of them whipped out a full tester bottle of this and gave it to me for free as they no longer stock this, it being a Palais Royale exclusive. Words cannot express how stunned and lucky I felt in that moment cradling this precious juice in my hands. Until now, I can scarcely believe my luck. Back to the juice. Where others get loads of honey, I get loads of woods and animals. On me, it gives off the same vibe as Jean Desprez's Bal de Versailles. Not that they smell alike, but both have that animalistic character that is unmistakable. I think an unflattering description would be "urine/faecal" but for me I enjoy the smell and actually find it seductive and warm. I do get the honey but I would not say this is a "honeyed" perfume like Tokyo Milk's Honey & The Moon. It sweetens the musky-woody mixture in MdB. I have much, much love for MdB and the serependitous circumstances as to how I came upon my bottle finally, will make me a lifetime customer of that particular shop.