UN BOIS VANILLE - SERGE LUTENS (MASTER FORMULAS COLLECTION)

Un Bois Vanille – Serge Lutens
📆 2003 · 💧 Eau de Parfum
🔥 Oriental Vanilla
👃 Christopher Sheldrake
📚 Master Formulas Collection – Archives Gilbert Bendoni
🧮 Number of Ingredients: 33

The Cult of Vanilla

Un Bois Vanille is one of the great vanilla signatures of modern perfumery — a dark, woody, resinous vanilla that feels both intimate and architectural. Serge Lutens transforms a familiar note into something ceremonial, enigmatic, almost ritualistic.

The fragrance opens with a luminous, musky glow — Musk T, Habanolide, Galaxolide — creating the soft, powdery aura that defines many early Lutens creations. Very quickly, the vanilla rises: Vanillin, Ethyl Vanillin, Ethyl Maltol, and the creamy coconut-like tone of Gamma-Nonalactone build a plush, addictive sweetness that never turns childish.

The woodiness is its secret spine. Vertofix Coeur, Vetiver Haiti, Guaiacwood, and a touch of Iso E Super carve a dry, smoky counterpoint, preventing the vanilla from collapsing into gourmand territory. Ylang-ylang, citrusy linalool, and delicate green nuances from Cis-3-Hexenyl Salicylate add breath and movement.

Beeswax absolute and Amber Core melt into the base like a thin coat of warm lacquer over dark wood.

✨ The Result
A deep, resinous, woody vanilla — sensual, grown-up, and unmistakably Lutens. A comfort fragrance with an unsettling shadow, like candlelight flickering on polished ebony.