Serge Lutens de Profundis

Serge Lutens de Profundis was created by Christopher Sheldrake. From one of the Psalms, de profundis clamavi means "From the Depths I Cried." Oscar Wilde's "De Profundis" essay written during his imprisonment says "Prosperity, pleasure and success, may be rough of grain and common in fibre, but sorrow is the most sensitive of all created things." Centered on chrysanthemum, the funeral flower, this fragrance is not sad or funerial, it is a cry from sadness reaching up to hope - sorrow can only exist when there is hope. Chilly icebox chrysanthemum, woods, hay, incense, these are fall scents, the swan song of summer, when you gather in all the abundance of life and hold it tight as the earth starts to sink into winter. This fragrance twists through the spring, crisp green notes that soar. This fragrance is one of Serge Lutens' masterpieces, coming at a time when rumors started that he was retiring.  After smelling this, you'll be glad those were only rumors.  Exquisite and memorable, it is wearing art.

Reviews of Serge Lutens de Profundis from noses that may or may not sniff like your nose does. 

from Kafkaesque - "Sunrise to sunset in a Spring field of flowers, touched by creamy woods — that was my experience with De Profundis, a 2011 creation of Serge Lutens and his favorite cohort in olfactory adventures, Christopher Sheldrake. It’s a lovely fragrance — matched by an even lovelier purple juice in the bottle — and one which is quite ethereal at times. De Profundis is described as a chrysanthemum soliflore — a scent devoted primarily to one single flower — but it is much more than that in my opinion, and far more than the mere “chrysanthemum and incense” summation provided on the Lutens website. I’ll leave the rest of the Lutens description for now, because I truly don’t think the back story for the fragrance really applies to De Profundis and it may, in fact, be a little misleading as to what scent you should expect. "

from perfumeposse - "I’ve been sniffing on Serge Lutens de Profundis for the last week or so, waffling on what I think of it.  Inspired by death?  This may be a strange way to feel about it anywhere but amongst you guys, who I know understand, but I like that.  I’ve always loved spending time in cemeteries, it is peaceful, the sign of time rolling on, churning you and your life and hopes and dreams under.  Chrysanthemum, violet, earth, green.  

I really can’t tell you what Serge Lutens De Profundis smells like as far as notes. The mums are beautifully fierce, smelling a little of decay.   

What I can tell you is how Serge Lutens De Profundis feels.

What I think of when I hear de Profundis is, of course, Latin -> Catholic -> Seven Penitential Psalms. I don’t know a lot of Latin, but what I do know is churchy Latin.  All the references I’ve read are to Baudelaire for this scent, but I’m just ignoring that and skipping right to the original de Profundis since it speaks to me and Baudelaire puts me to sleep.  Oh, hush, I’m a literary cretin, I know it, and I’m perfectly okay with it.  “De profundis clamavi ad te, domine.  Domine, exaudi vocem meam.”  

Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord.  Lord, hear my voice.

Is this scent de Profundis the broader meaning, crying out of the depths?  It is full of pain and longing for hope, supplication to be heard, seen, acknowledged.  Every person wants their life to have meant something, even a small something – wishing all they have done that’s been ugly and small did little damage, hoping that the good they have done had some value.

It is a long, dark hallway we walk through life, sometimes briefly shot through with brilliant light and joy, but too often a trudge to the end.  And everything ends.  At my end, Serge Lutens De Profundis can meet me.   Just a tiny bit bitter, still carrying some of the light it has gone through, pungent, slightly decaying into earth.

My love for Serge Lutens De Profundis is the same ambivalence I have with death."