Une Voix Noire

I have found in Serge Lutens perfume house a group of florals that are less complex , not hard hitting , resinous, spicy and more wearable . I truly appreciate Serge’s artistry and uniqueness . I’m in awe of his mastery but I feel I cannot pull off some of his quirky , well received masterpieces and this discouraged me from buying those fragrances . Not for the faint hearted and I’m in that group . However , in the last three months I have amassed 8 bottles and counting . I just can’t get enough of his simpler and softer florals . Saying that , I decided to sample Une Voix Noire because as a white floral lover and a die hard fan of SL’s perfumes, I owed it to myself to try his renowned Gardenia scent . Une Voix Noire opens on my skin with gardenia and a heavy serving of rum. So much so , that the booziness rather put me off instantly . However, I knew that with SL’s fragrances I own, the amalgamation of notes required patience, time and openness before the fragrances’ strange beauty shone through. I had to wait nearly 30 mins before the boozy, rum/ scotch merged with the gardenia and then the gardenia became the star performer. I didn’t get much Tobacco like a lot of reviewers mentioned . I was rather pleased at that, , as the thought of an ashtray filled scent didn’t seem very pleasant to me . I believe it was there in the background but not noticeable to my nose . This is such a beautiful gardenia scent . I find it very similar to Fracas but not as potent and sweet. It’s much more bearable . I own Fracas but I find I hardly reach for it as its a heavy hitter. It’s mentioned on other perfume platforms that the sweetness in UVN come from Concord grapes and pink strawberries . Whatever it is , I’m thinking of buying a bottle when I go to Paris next year . Once I bypassed the alcohol scent , it was all uphill for me . Stunning !

What a strange scent! I could not immediately decipher it, is so strong contrasts. As soon as I opened the box, with the bell still sealed, it seemed the smell of Tubereuse Criminelle. A drop on the wrist and understand that it is a composition very intense, that opens immediately with a real Gardenia, palpable, smooth, fleshy, carnal, with a little dreamlike and abstract background, as one of those beautiful professional photos which can be find of this beautiful flower. The sharpness of the image is distorted by the games of light and shadow that the duo Lutens / Sheldrake likes to create. Before the flower is shown in a context of extreme grace, a simpering cleaness but that doesn't lead in the detergent as some predecessors; after the gardenia is dragged between strong alcoholic and smoked effluvia, a dark tone which also expresses its indole side (elegantly indole, this is the part that I associate with Jardenia of JAR, but UVN is more complex. This alternation goes on and on, and the phases expand more and more how to undo the stitches of a fabric, will pass a lot of time but then Lutens will give us the solution ... quoting himself ... again. The candied cedar in base, is again a variation on the theme of the Bois, but that is revealed only at the end. A Bois de Violette becomes Bois de Gardenia with even a slight leathery. The color is once again the violet, which is tinged at times of pastel and sometimes obscure velvet. Sillage, longevity... etc... are excelent. One certainty: the Gardenia will never leave you, in sickness and health, for richer for poorer, till death separates you. Amen.

Une Voix Noire opens with a bright almost soliflore gardenia note, with some tuberose added in as well. The opening is not girly or sweet by any means but provocative and voluptuous. You feel the whiteness of the blooms and the fragrance wafting off them, scattered on the ground where they fell off a blooming gardenia bush. It smells as if a woman has picked up the fallen blooms and rubbed them over her bare skin. This sort of animalic background, musky and woody, creates a floor, a depth under the topotes but it is very difficult to pick out any individual notes at first. After a couple of hours the smell of tobacco is recognizable, faintly, like a woman smoking out of doors, not wanting to be seen or smelled smoking, the smoke mingling with her sweet perfume. I smell a bit of leather, too, maybe a car seat in a long white Cadillac or Edsel and something green and dark, impossible to say what except that there are dark green leaves and definitely woods as well. The woods waft up to your nose and smell divine. I think there is some high quality sandalwood there, a bit of vetiver and a spice or two. Beautifully done and just gorgeous. This is one strong gardenia that I proudly wear. It is not screechy, it has warmth and depth. I bought a bell bottle of this gorgeous juice and I highly recommend this beauty. At least try a liquid decant. The drydown is a soft voluptousness that is so fine and comforting. Each time I wear this fragrance again I am struck by its astounding beauty and artistry.

Gardenia is the most amazing floral note in perfumery, as someone who has always struggled with white florals, let me tell you that any time I smell a gardenia, it’s nothing like a typical white floral. Mushroomy, creamy, boozy, the note alone is a fragrance in itself, and this one makes no exceptions to that rule. I will forever love gardenia. I never had a bell jar scent before, I accidentally tightened it too much and when I opened it, a little too much juice came out, but it sure was intoxicating! There I was sniffing my fingers like some freak, inhaling the beauty of this fragrance. This is a fragrance I recommend to go a little heavier on with application because the fragrance opens up far more that way than if you lightly applied it. Well, it’s a gardenia scent in all its glory, including the mushroomy, creamy aspect which I find addicting. To me it’s a very linear scent with not much movement (which is rare for a Lutens) so I’d say if you like the beginning, you will like the fragrance in general. And being Lutens, this is like a gardenia being shadowed in darkness, black dripping off its white petals. You can definitely pick up on some of the boozy qualities as well if you inhale deeply. As someone who has always loved gardenia fragrances but never owned one, I’m glad this was my first. Don’t miss out on this beauty. Also, don’t associate gender with a fragrance, this is as masculine or feminine as you make it out to be. Unisex through and through.

Elegant, sultry gardenia. Serge Lutens has the most incredible floral soliflores in the surrealistic, gothic style. I have heard that this fragrance is melancholic like Billie Holidays voice. I don't get sadness. I get soulful, radiance with great depth, unapologetic womanliness. Neither the singer nor the fragrance have a fragile, victim vibe. Like his other soliflores, Une Voix Noire exaggerates qualities of the flower in a theatrical way. Boozy notes bring out the narcotic aspect of gardenia. Tobacco gives it roots. Musk makes it carnal. Flowers after all are first and foremost grand seductresses. What I love about Serge's dark flowers is the lack of indoles or that mainstream clean vibe. My complaint is that it is too subtle of a fragrance for the price point, an issue i have with many of the bell jars. They are mesmerizing and complex and I don't want to have to bury my nose in my wrist to smell them. I haven't smelled earlier formulations and I'm sure these have been watered down over the years. Serge Lutens gave me my favorite jasmine (Sarrasins) and now my favorite gardenia!