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Post by Val the Cookie Queen
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“Myrrhe is mine it´s bitter perfume, breathes a life of gathering gloom …….” The Quest of the Magi by John Henry Hopkins Jnr.
Merry Christmas APJ friends, if you could just tear yourself away from your festivities for a moment …..
La Myrrhe by Chrisopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 1995
This wonderful deep, rich, golden, comforting, soft, chilly, yet warm, aniseedy, bright, beautiful and thought provoking perfume, La Myrrhe, comes in for a lot of flack. Those who love Serge for his reliable potions, and you all know what they are, will probably not care for this. It forces you to look outside of the box, which may be uncomfortable for some. If you´re thinking, awesome, I hope it smells like Chergui, forget it.
However , if it is one you have wanted to try, but not had the chance because it can be difficult to get hold of, I would love to share some of mine. Please leave a comment telling me WHY you would like to try La Myhrre. You have till 10pm December 29th 2014 Australian EDST.
I will get my daughter Hannah to pick the name out of the dead armadillo as always because it is fun!!
There again I might pick the winner myself if someone leaves a good and original reason for wanting to try the stuff. Who knows??
Enjoy the pictures that a good friend and photographer, Dayle Ann Clavin, took of my bottle.
OK. You can get back to your turkey, unpacking of presents or whatever. Our perfume love and hobby is very decadent. Spare
a thought for these who are not so fortunate. Let´s contribute to making our immediate environment a better place to live in.
Peace on earth, good will to all men.
With love
CQ
http://www.dayleannclavin.com
Look at her pictures yourself if you have time at Dayle Ann Clavin.
Australian Perfume Junkies 
Hi there Val,
It’s been a cracker of a Christmas here in Sydney. Loads of friends and family around the table. Games afterwards, presents galore.
I hope yours is at least as much fun.
La Myrrhe you say? MMMM Maybe yes.
Portia xx
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Had three great days. Finally sitting down to play with my new Kindle!! Yaaay!! Never wanted one, but now I love it. About to start reading Shantaram. Bussis. xxxx
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Hi Val! I like the look of this bottle and the way it’s been photographed, as if it’s some rare and slightly dangerous potion. Fairy princesses beware, this is a perfume that may transform you!
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Hi Jaybee! Season´s Greetings to you. It is a kind of rare and dangerous potion! Nice that you took time to drop in. Lovely pictures huh? Hugs, Val xxx
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I like that it departs from the line by being quirkier, and not in the more usual mass market direction. Gotta love Lutens. Happy holidays!
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Hello Solance. It is definitely not mass market. I doubt that, short of bumping into a perfume junkie, and let´s face it, we are few and far between (and even most of the junkies don´t like LM) you will ever come across anyone wearing it. Perfect. 🙂 xxx
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Sounds like a perfume from the golden age of Serge Lutens. Turin / Sanchez describe it as “resinous aldehydic” giving it five stars. “… wonderful deep, rich, golden, comforting …” is your description and, for me, an excellent recommendation. So, I do not need more than that. I’m happy that La Myrrhe is not Serge’s “reliable potion”. I have not tried it yet.
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Well Damir, I am sure I can manage to send you a little anyway. I mean you only live a few footsteps away. 🙂 xxx
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Nice neighborhood, Valerie! 🙂
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Hi Val! Mmmm, La Myrrhe. I tried the wax sample with my mom a few days ago and thought it was lovely, but you never know from those wax samples. And then the review on Olfactoria’s Travels. Unfortunately the opening was a bit rough on mom, she thought it smelled like baked scrod. But after a few minutes it coalesced. I’d love to try this!
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Connie! Baked scrod? I cannot imagine …… that leaves me kind of speechless. Haha. I bought mine after using the wax sample. As you rightly say, those wax samples are a little dodgy, but in this instance it was perfect and I don´t regret for one second having bought a bottle of it. Winter is the perfect time to wear LM. It shines in freezing weather. Merry Boxing Day. xxxxxxxxx
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This is one that’s on my list, I usually love Chris Sheldrake’s potions, own Chergui, Douce Amere, Arabie, Feminite du Bois, une Bois Vanille, Tubereuse Criminelle. Lovely photos. I hope it is a little quirky, something between vintage Magie Noir by Lancome and Caron’s Nuit de Noel. Spices and herbs, flowers, with an amazing drydown that lasts.
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Hey Marion! Happy Christmas to you. Photos are stunning. All her work is.
http://www.dayleannclavin.at (take a loof, my kids are in her pictures too!!)
LM is nothing like any of the fragrances you mention. At least not to my nose!!
In fact, it is not like anything I have ever sniffed. Which I guess should interest you even more!! Nice to see you. Bussis. CQ
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Dark and quirky always sounds like fun. Merry Xmas and thanks for the generous giveaway
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Hmmmm. Quirky? I don´t think so. Dark? I will have to ponder that. The start is very bright, but then …….. I better go and put some on. Hope you are enjoying the festive season. Love, CQ xxx
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My husband brought me a bottle of this back from a trip to Paris. It is beautiful!!!!! In ways it reminds me of Chanel No. 5 dry down but better 🙂
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High Five Elizabeth!! It is beautiful isn´t it? It also stirs memories of Chanel for me.
I love this. As I said above, especially in the winter. It is a perfume made for the snow.
And the deep red color ………. a potion. Happy New Year. Love Val xxx
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So Christmas is over for another year, family and other orphans fed, the dishes all washed up and the wrapping paper cleared away.
There is a small sense of anticlimax here and a bit of sadness as I fly home.
Would La Myrrhe be the perfect scent for me to try? I would like the chance!
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Flying home to where? Christmas is always tinged with a little sadness I find. You are of course, in the armadillo. Safe journey. Hugs, Val xxx
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I was on the other side of Australia visiting elderly parents…a bit hard to be so far away.
Always good to chat to Fragrance Friends though!
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Christmas for us was also a refreshing mix of family and friends.
I have gradually been discovering that I love incense in perfume. And of the Serge’s I’ve tried, the non-jammy ones were much more to my taste (Santal Majascule is amazing). I like some of my perfumes to be a little off the beaten track for my non-work days.
Val, I hope your Christmas was fun, not too stressful and filled with people (and food!) you love. Great photos, I like the way the flowers are in focus in the stopper.
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Hi greennote2! The flowers in the stopper are beautiful. That is my favorite piccie, although they are all gorgeous. This is of the beaten track. Absolutely unique. It should be tried before believing all the negative reviews out there in the blogosphere.
My Christmas was thoroughly enjoyable. I overdosed on Bois de Iles and still have not had enough. 🙂 🙂 🙂 Happy New Year. Thanks for reading APJ!! Bussis, Val xxxx
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I’m only about a year into falling down the rabbit hole of scent. The only SLs I’ve tried have been wax samples that I won here from Portia – thanks Portia! But I would love the chance to try an SL in actual perfume form. I love a lot of the more woodsy/incense scents, in particular sandalwood, frankincense, and amber. So I think I’d enjoy this particular fragrance. Thanks so much for giving us the opportunity to try it!
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Hi Kandice … you are in the the armadillo, of course. Where do you live? I mean, which country?? You need to try some in pperfume form, no question. Lots of love, Val xxxxx
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Hi Val!
I live in the US (Texas). This nicest stores we have in the area are Neiman’s and Nordstroms and I don’t remember seeing SL at either. One of these days I just need to order a few samples to try, but there’s such an overwhelming selection I don’t really know where to start. Of the wax samples I received, I did like De Profundis and Louve so maybe I’ll start there. Happy holidays!
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That´s the problem with SL. The wax samples do give a clue as to what you might like though. De Profundis wax sample absolutely made me want to try the real stuff. I have not had the chance yet though. I bought Un Lys, La Myhrre, and Tubereuse Criminelle all from the wax samples. And love them all. So I guess they do work!! xxxx
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No need to enter me, as I am stocked with a precious partial bottle of La Myrrhe (also, I live in the US)! I adore it.
I agree, it’s very unlike other Lutens-Sheldrake creations – but it’s the only one I really love. I *like* several of them, such as Un Bois Vanille, Douce Amere and Datura Noir… the “easy” ones, of course… and although La Myrrhe isn’t quite in that crowd-pleaser category, I love it so much.
I think you really have to be on speaking terms with aldehydes to get on with LM, as they tend to stick around for the duration. (For Marion, who was thinking of Magie Noir and Nuit de Noel – um, nope. At least not to my nose. I like Magie Noir and can’t bear NdN, don’t know quite why one and not the other, but my point would be that La Myrrhe is quite different in character. There’s no mossy quality to it, and rather than being dry it is rich.)
I like to think of it as being like sunrise over snow. There’s an unearthly beauty to it.
Happy Christmas to all you Ozzies. 🙂
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I could not agree more!! I just saw who you are. MIWS! Thanks so much for dropping by, my Christmas is complete!! Sunrise over snow is exactly what it is. 🙂 ❤ xxxxxx
Val CQ
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The pictures are gorgeous; most especially the second one with the bottle nestled in the greenery. I am relatively new to the rabbit hole of “perfumery as an acceptable addiction” although I have dabbled in aromatherapy and incense making a bit over the years. I do love the dark insidious scent of myrrh though. This time of year I will often throw a bit of frankincense and myrrh into the incense burner or fireplace coals. Of course in a compilation by Serge Lutens I’m sure it could be quite intriguing. And LOL about the dead armadillo. Nice coffee table conversation piece I’d imagine.
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Whoops. Replied in the wrong place. Duh.
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Hi Carolyn – my cookie business is called “armadillos”, hence the dead one! I got given it as a present a couple of years ago. “Perfumery as an acceptable addiction”, I love that! I wonder when they will offer therapy for it? Not that we would want it of course. As someone once said to me “enjoy your journey”. .Thanks for commenting. You are in the critter. Hugs. Val xxxxx
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I don’t want therapy!! So far it all smells so good. How could that be something that needs therapy? LOL. And very neat about how the dead armadillo come to be (so to speak) ;). Be well!!
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Of the Lutens that I have tried, I really cannot think of one I do not like, although, of course, some are very different from others. And there are some that I have not sniffed; La Myrrhe being one of them. Therefore, I’d definitely like to be included in the drawing. Please put my entry in the armadillo!
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Morning from the Salzburg area of Austria! I will surely put your name in.
Happy New Year to you and yours. Love, Val xxx
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Beautiful pictures!
I do not have any special reason why I should be chosen other than I just recently realized that somehow I managed not to try this perfume when I visited the store that carried those gorgeous bottles. But if it ends up being a random selection, I’d like to be considered.
Happy Holidays!
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Yes, Dayle is a stunning photographer. If you get a chance to look at her site:
http://www.dayleannclavin.com
check out her Venice series!!
You have been considered!! Hugs. Val xxxxxx
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Please take immense pity on me…I have sampled only 1 Uncle Serge (Iris Silver Mist). I know, I know. I should lose my “perfume whore card.” And, myrrh is something I lust for in perfumes. I might be tempted to ‘ho-stomp someone to get my hands on a sample of this!!! I jest. Maybe. 😉 thanks for the generous offer!!! And Happy New Year 😉
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Devon H …. ISM is beyond exquisite. Took me years until I got to try it, and a dear friend gave me a large decant. I cannot imagine not having it. LM is the same.
That does not sound like a jest. I am running scared!! You are in. xxxxxxx
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Hi Val,
Happy Christmas week! My Christmas was very meditative and quiet. Scent-wise, the month of December has been Lutens + Sheldrake. First, Fille en Aiguilles and then Serge Noire. I don’t have much experience with myrrh and would love to sample it. What a delightful idea to pair it with aldehydes; sounds enchanting. And your comment, “In fact, it is not like anything I have ever sniffed,” makes it irresistible!
Fragrant wishes for a beautiful fin d’année,
Jackie
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