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Portia
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Hey Ultra Rich Perfumistas,
These babies are expensive. So expensive my mind is having trouble grasping it. US$18.33/ml. Yes, you read that right. PER MIL.
Yes, I know they’re extrait but seriously, that is aspirational pricing out of this world. For the same price as 30ml of La Selle I can buy 2 x 100ml Serge Lutens with enough spare to buy a 7.5ml Byredo Roll On Oil in Mojave Ghost. So from a price point perspective they have set the bar extremely high, my expectations for performance, beauty and wit are through the roof.
La Selle by Byredo 2016
La Selle by Jerome Epinette
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Black tea, cashmere
Heart: Leather, tobacco leaf
Base: Birch, oakmoss
Opening is that 21st century niche woodsy scent with the slight throat drying bite of tea. Within a minute the leather has made itself known and the familiar birch component, that dark charred wood and sweat smell, comes forth. La Selle keeps it friendly and welcoming and even the most birch averse will not be totally overwhelmed. Not listed but I smell honey and beeswax, there also is a soft fruitiness like banana peel.
La Selle is all luxury. If this is saddle leather it has never been on a horse and never known a horsemans bum. It has also been sitting in the shop for a decade because that new leather saddlery smell is gone leaving much more of the waxy resins and the fabric & stuffing.
PDI
La Selle is to die for. I have three large spritzes on my arm and it is sheer but surprisingly insistent. I am not allowed to forget that I’m wearing it. I get busy and halfway through a process it comes back and reminds me I’m wearing La Selle. It seems very sweetly resinous but I can’t pinpoint which ones. Also I’ve smelled the dry down, or very similar before, but I can’t bloody well remember where. It hangs around softly pulsing into tomorrow, dry but sweet, smooth and lightly creamy.
Aha! Light bulb moment. La Selle’s dry down is similar to Guerlain Samsara in dry down. Not exactly the same but boy are they related.
If I wore a single fragrance daily and had $550 to spend on 30ml of fragrance (about two to three months if I wear it exclusively everyday) then I would be seriously considering a purchase here. I’m not that guy though. Actually I’m being a bit silly. A CHANEL 15ml of No 22 is $225 currently so La Selle is exactly double that, I wouldn’t bat an eye at paying that for No 22 and I honestly think I’d get more wear from the Byredo.
PDI
Further reading: Colognoisseur
LuckyScent has $550/30ml and Samples
Would you pay that money for something spectacular?
Portia xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 
Not while I have children. They come first and $500 plus buys a lot of school uniform!
If I were single…maybe.
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Yeah Kate,
It’s a big expense. If I ever buy this I’ll send you a ml so you can experience it.
Portia xx
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Would I pay all that money? Nope!
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Ha! Good to know where you stand Marzipan.
Portia xx
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Not even if I have unlimited money. Instead, I will get boatload of vintage Samsara edp for this money. I have some vintage edp already but it never hurts to get more.
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HA! Yeah Fazal, I hear you.
Portia xx
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This is one that is expensive but significantly less so in Europe than in the US, which I find very bothersome. Still more than I wanted to pay when I tried it in Rome this summer, but mostly because I didn’t have long enough with it to know if it was worth it. I did like it though. Must dig up the sample the lovely man made for me.
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Interesting Amy,
I just looked it up on First In Fragrance and yes, It’s only 350 Euro. That’s quite a difference.
I will definitely be buying it in Europe next year then.
Portia xx
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It sounds absolutely amazing and I feel I could be falling for it. Should I even try it? Or maybe not? …ok, the price is definitely out of my range, but a girl can have dreams, right?
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Neva,
If the price is above your means then don’t torture yourself. It’s gorgeous.
Portia xx
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If I had the money, probably not, but that is a damn fine looking bottle.
The only thing so far that I really wish I’d had the money for was a collector item for sale locally.
The very limited edition (made for cast and crew only) of the 12 scents from the movie/novel Perfume. Only one of the scents would be considered wearable (there was an extra bottle of that one). They were all by the very inventive Christophe Laudemiel who loves those kind of projects. In pristine condition for $800 Canadian.
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OMG Vindaloo,
How fabulous. What a treasure. I probably wouldn’t have bought it too.
Portia x
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No, I’m not crazy enough for that. I’d hold my credit card in my fingers for a bit longer, looking at the bottle of parfum, thinking how hard I had to work for the EUR equivalent of $ 500 and I would put back that credit card in my pocket again… And I would go home, with no regret. I think I have my limit somewhere around EUR 250…
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Hey LJG,
So good to hear from you!
Very sensible. Yeah, that’s a weekend away in Europe.
Portia xx
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Good/bad news! It’s 350 euros in Europe. Tax in Germany (for example) is 19%, so if you do a tax refund, it comes out to 284 euros. Still pricey (conversion is ~$350), but it’s quite a difference to the price in the US. Not sure why there’s such a massive discrepancy!
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