De Profundis

Have Skyscraper edition got reformulated? I recently tried a 1 ml official sample of the Skyscraper version of De Profundis. I am not sure whether this version has been substantially reformulated compared with the Bell Jar edition, but my experience was quite different from the dark, funereal, and gothic descriptions often associated with this fragrance. To my nose, De Profundis is almost linear. It is airy, peaceful, and quietly meditative rather than gloomy or abyssal. The main impression is an airy white-floral accord, almost like jasmine with its indolic aspect removed, accompanied by a very restrained touch of incense. The white-floral treatment also has a distant resemblance to Jasmin Angélique by Atelier Cologne, not because the two fragrances smell alike, but because of their similarly airy and luminous floral quality. There is also a green facet here, although, as is usually the case with perfumery’s so-called green-tea notes, I would not call it a convincing recreation of green tea. It belongs more to the familiar perfumery shorthand for “green tea”, like the green accord used in Armani’s Thé Yulong … etc. It's simply a clean, airy green nuance after all. This floral-incense treatment reminds me of Passage d’Enfer by L’Artisan Parfumeur. The resemblance is structural rather than literal. Passage d’Enfer focuses more clearly on a lily-incense accord, whereas De Profundis feels closer to a violet-green-incense structure, with even less incense in the foreground. I do not get a particularly recognizable chrysanthemum note here, despite occasionally enjoying chrysanthemum tea. Another distinctive feature is its departure from Serge Lutens’ familiar oriental signature. As a result, it feels unlike a typical Lutens composition. The Bell Jar collection does contain other exceptions, including my favorite, Iris Silver Mist. A calm and unusual floral-incense fragrance, but not the dark gothic perfume its marketing led me to expect. And, to be honest, I still do not quite see the hype. Rating: 6.5/10

I don't see the hype. I appreciate something that recaptures the quiet-somber aura that Lutens can do so well, but this would be nothing without the imagery and juice color doing some heavy lifting. A nice inoffensive floral-green with a fresh cut stem I would go crazy for as a hand soap, but it's simply not as a fragrance. They keep this as the true Paris exclusive now, not being sold online whatsoever. Not a sales tactic that I hold in high regards. Disappointing.

I'm gonna miss this so bad when my sample runs out 😭

Clean and soapy like an expensive hotel en suite, but also reminiscent of a flowerbed in a gloomy misty late summer forest. That's the only way I can describe it. Gorgeous.

Vibrant flowers plump with life, soil drenched in rainwater, and whispers of incense adding an element of sweetness throughout its duration. It epitomizes vitality in an almost haunting way. Smells like walking alone through a wet garden lit by moonlight.

I can’t get enough of De Profundis! It’s feeding my melancholy (in a good way). Can anyone objectively compare the old formulation vs the gratte ciel? I would like to know how different they are from one another.

I can see what it's trying to do and I almost like it, but unfortunately my nose interprets this particular combination of notes as indistinguishable from a car air freshener. Like the 99 cent "New Car Smell" ones.

I believe this is a true masterpiece. There is always a story that SL tells in his scents. But it does not have to be his story, in fact this is what is so special about his art. Different people hear their own stories. This one is not about how you project yourself to the outside world, not about sillage, it is about how you feel inside this cacoon. It takes me to exactly the place that I knew from my childhood. It was a flower shop opposite our house where in the winter I spent a lot of time just looking at various flowers in vases with water, all different kinds chrysanthemums of course, tulips with their juicy stems, carnations and hyacinths, cyclamens in pots and branches of fur trees for those you did not want a big Xmas tree.It was always very cold there, water dripping from the stems onto the granite floor. From the Depth lives up to its name, my childhood is long gone but this perfume takes me back and brings memories of a very happy time.

Su di me è come la religieuse. Non sa di niente di cosi evocativo come lo descrivono. Ne ero affascinato dal 2011 quando veniva presentato, ero curioso di sentire questo cimitero pieno di fiori,incenso, ma poi messo sulla pelle esala solo di fiori tropicali. Non viol dire che sia brutto ma non mi porta dove volevo andare.

i hear a lot of people say this is like depression in a bottle and i don’t necessarily disagree with that but to me it also reads as more alive than that. i think i saw a review that said something along the lines of this smelling as if flowers are sweating and are at the highest state of aliveness just before the brink of death and i would agree 100% overall, it’s profound and vulnerable but beautifully tragic like flowers that soak up every mineral in the soil to stay alive. i’m completely in love with it, it is very unique.

Very realistic flowers. Dark and gloomy but in a delicate way, there is a dampness and almost some kind of acidity from the soil tincture which makes this smell like an insanely realistic funeral garden. But to be honest , if you are able to separate the naming, the color of the fragrance (super vivid purple) and the raving about how depressing this fragrance is , you find a very nice and beautiful green fragrance. But there is a definite dark depth to this one, make no mistake. This is kind of like the gothic version of Margiela’s Flower Market. Both smell like flower shops but Margiela is nice bright and colorful and Serge Lutens is brooding and has a permanent purple filter on top of it. Unisex but perhaps more traditionally feminine leaning due to the flowery nature. I don’t find many similarities with Kurdkjian’s Narciso For Him (2007) besides the emotional streak they both share. They also both have violet but they go separate ways. This is gothic, pure green and soil, Narciso is much more musk, wet cement and brutalist. If this was a song it would be something like You and Whose Army? or something out of The Cure - Desintegration.

Opening is 97% identical to wet garden by demeter which i already own, and a hint of violet leaf is present. It has a weak longevity and lasts about 2 to 4 hours, this has to be a joke........... I could get violet perfume and wet garden perfume bottles from demeter for no less than 45$, combine them to certain levels i wish to archive and recreate this very fragrance with 70% more strength and sillage, smh. This is the second Serge Lutens that has disappointed me today, both smell cheaper than some brands with less cost.

A masterclass in perfumery. Before I got my nose on this, I was quite skeptical of how good it’d be because floral-forward fragrances are either a hit or a miss for me 50/50. However, the presence of dark green soil & incense notes in this really had me intrigued. Between this, Iris Silver Mist, and Fille en Aguilles, I was ready to jump on them as soon as I found a good deal online. Lo and behold, I found a bottle on Mercari for a pretty decent deal. It isn’t the bell jar but I liked the tall black bottles better anyway. A lot of people (mainly goths) describing this as an austere, ghostly, gothic type of fragrance, I find this quite perfect to wear in a beautiful, sunny, breezy spring day. The green, stemmy notes wrap around the perfectly blended chrysanthemum, with just a whisper of earthiness, but not enough for it to be a main characteristic of the fragrance. It then dries down to a very sophisticated violet still hidden among a pile of dewy leaves. At first I thought the drydown smelled very similar to La Religeuse also from Serge Lutens, but with more wears, it blows La Religeuse out of the water with that extra green note. It also pairs beautifully with something like Arso from Profumum Roma and Tam Dao EDP from Diptyque. It stands on it’s own for sure, but layered with other masterpieces makes this one magical. Highly recommended for someone who can rock the vibes. Of my 100+ bottles, this sits firmly in the Top 10.

stemmy and green, if purple was emerging from the earthy depths as twisted blooms in the middle of january. so evocative and emotional to me, distilled bittersweetness.

if grief were to be translated into the olfactive—in all of its pomp, theatricality, and rawness—it would emerge from the depths of de profundis. this is, by some margin, the most virulently emotional scent i have ever smelled that feels removed from myself. it is purple blossoms on cold tombstones in the middle of a frigid fall day during a rainstorm. wet soil and water droplets cover your hands as you kneel onto the ground with a wail escaping your throat and your bloodshot eyes squeezing shut. incense floats through the air in faint whispers from the nearby church and yet, in all your anguish, all you can smell are the flowers. the grief is so carnal—so raw and animalistic—that you cannot waste time processing it. it comes from the core of you in the same way your happiness does. it is an emotion you do not care to interpret yet. like the flowers that were picked for the bouquet you set down on the grave, this tragedy is a natural thing. memento morí.

he bad thing about the Gratteciel is that we cannot see the colour of the juice which is a paramount experience in smelling a Lutens. In this case, the juice is purple bright and as a matter of fact, the scent evokes more the timid violet for me than the mournful and doulful chrysanthemum. De Profundis opens on my skin with a fragile, haunting and delicate bouquet of flowers. There is chrysanthemum with violets, green notes, white lilies and sweet, wet earth. Lurking at the edges are the peonies, chamomile flowers, incense and green notes. The chrysanthemums are the core base but, at this stage, the top notes really smell (in order) like white lilies, violets, delicate, light roses, and purple lilacs. The incense is interesting because it doesn’t feel like churchy smoke but, rather, more like something sweet. Perhaps, myrrh with its lighter touch. The violet accord is the same used in Vitriol d'Oeillet; it is powdery enought and very sweet, but here the sweetness is balanced by the moist soil accord. De Profundis is, at the start, a slightly cool fragrance; it’s almost chilly in its delicacy. As time passes, however, the floral aroma becomes stronger, more robust, almost as if the flowers have fully bloomed in the sunlight. The dew has evaporated, the petals unfurled, and the meadow floor comes to life with earthy softness, light smoke, and every bit of green around. The peony and dahlia combination adds some warmth to the dryness of the chrysanthemum and to the coolness of the lily notes. As the incense recedes, the bouquet feels even sweeter. De Profundis is not a bouquet of flowers but, rather, the whole meadow and adjoining forest — from the earth to the green stems to the suede, buttery woods. It’s a discreet, unobtrusive, but haunting scent, and I think a very wearable one, too. It is introverted, haunting, slightly melancholy, cool fragrance that is always elegant. It truly evokes purple twilight and Spring flowers. IG @alexolympia6

absolute solace. when the rain falls the clouds turn grey cheeks turn rosey the soil releases all that was held from years of burden tea steeped with a metal grasp releases steam quietly, going alongside the rain

just bought a 2ml decant off depop it’s so good the smell of eternal somber

I am heartbroken that I cannot find a bottle of this in the bell version bottle. If anyone is selling decants, or even has a bottle up for sale or trade, please PM me.

Melancholy in a bottle. Hauntingly beautiful, but you've got to be in a quiet contemplative headspace to fully appreciate it--maybe a drizzly walk in a cemetery.

Just bought this in Gratte-Ciel format. They recently moved it back to bell jars and made it Paris boutique exclusive. So if you want to buy this, you'd better hurry while there's still stock of Gratte-Ciel format in retailers.

One of the most special perfumes I own in my collection. Not sure if I will be able to use it a lot but It is a masterpiece. I was able to buy a couple of units in Hong Kong Serge Lutens boutique. If you are interested in adquiere one of them please contact me. Just UE

Ok so people who have tried both the bell jar and gratte ciel. Given the astronomical prices of discontinued r4agrances right now. Is the gratte ciel a good buy at retail or will I be disappointed by a massive reformulation?

Like Amouage, Shiseido has discontinued its greatest creations and now tries to live off its past reputation. But those of us who have purchased their creations know full well that the Serge Lutens brand has lost all relevance in the niche perfume world. A notable example of this is that the Gratte-Ciel edition of De Profundis is quite different from the bell-shaped bottle version, which has lost that cult fragrance status that made it, for many, their best perfume of all time. Replacing the earth tincture with ash was a very bad idea. Beside, synthetic chrysanthemum is easily detectable. Another example of decline is the discontinuation of Borneo 1834, which was an unparalleled combination of cacao and patchouli. Those of us who like this level of perfumery are not easily fooled, and with the fall of Serge Lutens' prestige, we are already migrating to other brands.

De Profundis feels unmistakably floral-green, like stepping into a flower shop. It opens very green, almost astringent, but you can sense the plethora of flowers underneath. I don’t exactly know what chrysanthemum smells like, yet this fragrance creates the feeling of a shop where individual flowers blur into one humid, living mass. There’s an acerbic green sharpness, as if the flowers are sweating. Everything feels wet, alive, slightly cold with a dark purple hue lingering on top of deep green as if the scent has caught the moment just before decay. The greenness is not decorative; it comes across as if the flowers are still bearing the memory of their stems being split open, their leaves crushed, green debris from the back of the shop mingling with the florals out front. As the scent moves into the heart, that greenness softens but never disappears. The flowers become rounder, gentler, slightly sweet, and violet seems to help achieve that. In the drydown, I get damp soil as if the roots still carrying the memory of it, along with flowers and fading chlorophyll dissolving into slightly soapy incense with a faintly indolic feel like some of the flowers in the shop are in brink of death. Guess in that quality, I understand why people describe De Profundis as melancholic, but to me it feels more reflective than dark. Unlike most florals, it is cold and detached, shy and aloof, does not seek comfort or intimacy, but observation. It draws you close only to remind you that closeness has limits and at any second it may retreat into its own inner world if things become too emotionally demanding. Even the performance mirrors this present but never insistent quality.

My sad and useless nose can't get anything from this. I tried, I go back to the shop, testing it on skin regulary. Nothing. A bit of a dewy then soapy white flower. No soil, no violet... I kind of get it on the strip but nothing compared to what other people are describing. I'm disapointed, but not by De profundis by myself.

This is how I wish Nosferatu smelled. You really get the watery notes to the perfume, it's the damp of stones and cold florals. Chrysanthemum is the heart of it, with purple flowers and an indescribable base note that keeps it from flying away entirely. This begs to be someone's signature fragrance. All seasons and all moods frankly.

If you happen to sit on a bottle(and willing to part with it) of this or partial bottle, everything is of interest really, please send me a dm. I NEED this in my life. EU only though. 😶

Serge Lutens #24 – “Depression is like a woman in black, if she turns up, don’t shoo her away. Invite her in, offer her a seat and listen to what she has to say” – Carl Jung “Happyness is a blessing that not everyone receives in life” is one of my own sayings. Melancholy is more often then not, just a temporary phase that many people experience at one point in their lifes. It can be triggered by something as simple as the lack of identity of a teenager who’s personality hasn’t fully developed yet. In other cases, it can be the result of a more difficult period in one’s life or unexpected negative events. Eighter way, most people grow out of it or move past this mindstate at one point or another. Then there are those individuals born with melancholy as part of their personality and that is no small burden to live with. These individuals, even in their best moments, remember that “This too shall pass”. Its the curse of always viewing the glass as half-empty, not the greatest problem in the world, but one that has no cure eighter. De Profundis is a perfume that paints such melancholic feelings and aims to be a window to the hidden depths of broken hearts. In some ways, my own heart “from the depths called out” for De Profundis. Some perfumes embrace absence and loneliness as a concept. My beloved L’Orpheline is one of them and De Profundis knocked at her door, sat down by her side and gently grabbed her hand. In that moment both realised that even tho they walk different paths, they carry the same burden. De Profundis smells like the shadow of an once beautiful and lively floral perfume, or an old woman on whom the unforgiving passing of time left its toll. Her once beautiful appearance is now just a memory only known to her. Now her hair is grey, her body is frail and her face and hands are thin and wrinkled. She dresses in black and keeps to herself, mourning not only those who passed away but her own past aswell. Its a realistic, green, plant-like floral perfume with a wet and cold ambiance to it, as others before me noted. There’s a strong soapy layer that attempts to suffocate the florals, as if she is not allowed to even hold onto the hazy memories of her youth. This soapy nouance makes me think of dirty and murky soap water. De Profundis doesn’t make me think of funerals or cemeteries, but of loneliness and old age. Perhaps this makes it even more tragic, because there are solitary old souls out there who welcome death as a friend who is long overdue. Unfortunately, just as death itself is often a “quick affair”, coming unannounced and leaving in a hurry, De Profundis too is quick to vanish off my skin. Performance is no longer a defining benchmark to me but, without expecting miracles, i sincerely hope that time and some oxydation will work in favor of this perfume.

Sisheido, please!!! Bring this jewel back again!!