Arabie Serge Lutens for women and men

Just blind bought a bottle out of curiosity because I loved that Chergui sample and was curious to try more of Lutens' scents. I'm not great at picking out singular notes, but here's what I get:

Dried fruits (predominantly fig).

Yup, that's about it. If you don't want to shell out the cash for Arabie, try giving yourself a thorough rub down with a slice of fruit cake.

Doesn't smell bad. Kind of pleasant even. Just not how I'd like to smell all day.

I am not a big fan of cumin notes in scents....or rather I am not a fan of BIG cumin notes in scents. Kingdom was just too troublesome & stomach-churning for my tastes.

Luckily, Arabie is not a cumin-criminal...just a pseudo-exotic, candied fruit & spice-bomb with good bone structure & a sweet tooth.

Scent-pictures float by: apricots in brandy, orange peel & spices warmed gently before the wine is added for mulling, pot-pourri, opening the lid of my spice box (complete with rogue, ancient, crystallised raisins....when will I remember to use them?!), wardrobe-wood (that peculular peppery/dusty old wood scent with a touch of mouse), my sweet Christmas fig chutney...I reckon that Arabie would taste delicious with a nice blue cheese!

Arabie's fume family is easy to trace: Aziyade tucking into a tub of candied fruits & peel, Kenzo Elephant clinging to my scarf & tinkering with the fruiter edge of XS Extreme girl. On my skin it is fruits & spice & all things nice dolloped on in bucket loads (Arabie is not shy).

I like bold & spicy fragrances, so I enjoyed the big personality & fierce opener that greeted me. My old RE teacher wore something like this - big & bosomy, loud & dramatic with crimson lips & jet black hair, a huge smile or a snarl always accompanying her sharp wit.

Arabie has strength & will last all day, bowing out with a sweet amber sigh. Maybe that's what grates: the sugar content. I think I need a diabetic version! Keep the spice & chuck in some more parched & resinous woods to even out all the dried dates & treacly jam.

All-in-all a strong like from me....but I can't help thinking that Lutens went easy on his magic faery-dust here.

“It’s Serge Lutens, so of course it’s great” doesn’t work for me, sorry. Arabie may be very rich and complex scent, but it isn’t attractive to me at all. Every time I smell Arabie I see a big woman in a big hot kitchen cooking curry and other kinds of spicy dishes all day long. Do I want to smell like this? Well no, I don’t.

When I first tried Arabie,I hated that smell so much..It reminded me of a dish that we have here in Greece,it is called ''Kokkinisto'',meat,red wine and tomato sauce with lots of spices in it.I dislike it so I immediately disliked Arabie. That day,this smell stayed on my wrist for hours and hours,I didn't really pay attention until I decided to test it again. Arabic cuisine now with lots of curry and spices. I adored it so much that I immediately bought a bottle! Arabie is so rich,so full of spices that really burns your nose for a few seconds.Very warm,almost like hot sauce! I call it 'my radiator',it always keeps me warm during cold months!Arabie is like being on fire!! It became my signature scent and it will stay forever!Lasting power is very good!Arabie is a love-hate perfume. Pour moi Arabie est 'lumiere,un merveille de la parfumerie,l'utopie'

the smell of this reminds me of a mix between kenzo jungle elephant and opium.
Its a warm scent just like a arabian souk can smell.

"This smells familiar" was the first phrase out of my mouth upon applying Serge Lutens ARABIE. Then it only remained to determine what, precisely, I was reminded of by this intoxicating—or is it suffocating?—perfume. With the help of the many able reviewers below, I have deduced that ARABIE approximates a collision of my grandmother's brandy-soaked dark fruitcake (not the wimpy light kind, but the one that is black as night, filled with raisins and dates and pecans and candied maraschino cherries and citrus rind, and so drenched in brandy that you could actually catch a buzz from eating a slice) and morrocan couscous with a very strong curry piled up on top. Or perhaps my grandmother, her sight failing as she grew older, reached for the cumin instead of the cinnamon as she prepared her cake?

What an odd assortment of rich and dark notes! But is it perfume? I think that, in the end, the combination of the dark, boozy fruits and the cumin-rich curry just puts me over the top. Similar to the way I'd feel if I feasted on a huge curry dinner and then my host insisted that I eat a fat slab of fruitcake before permitting me to leave. As the flavors mingle in my aching stomach, I begin to feel like a pot of chutney simmering on the stove, thick gurgling bubbles fighting their way slowly to the surface before popping. My speech begins to slur. My head is spinning, and it seems that I might actually hurl. There is simply too much going on in this kaleidoscopic culinary composition. In a word: No. De trop!

If ever there were a "try before you buy", ARABIE would be that. Does cumin mingle well with your skin? Spritz on this powerful potion and observe your friends' behavior. Do they appear to be sitting farther away from you than usual?

hhhmmmm... this is my first blind buy... and i have to admit: it was not the best decision i have ever made. but due to all the enthusiastic reviews on serge lutens i thought it would work for me too.

well, it took a grand while (half the bottle!) for me to understand the whole hype around this perfume. in the meantime i do like it to some extend but i wouldn't buy it again.

arabie - for me - starts off with quite a sharp blow of spices that somehow reminds me of chinese pharmacies (clove and nutmeg?) from my childhood days which i really like. and than... it turns into (as sfonativeboy says) BAKLAVA!!! it smells so sweet, that i can almost FEEL the honey dripping off me!

conclusion: this fragrance is ok for me pre-christmas at the christmas markets drinking punsch but it will not make it into my wardrobe a second time...

EDIT 19.01.2012:
hmmmm... somehow i am starting to really like this! i think, it will make it into my wardrobe a second time :-)

Horrible ! I can't get with most SL perfumes, and i think most of them are overrated , mostly because of their overrated price ( when you pay something that expensive you have to be convinced it's good)
I don't see the connection with arabia at all , to me it's more like "Spice shop in India"
It is as spicy as Kenzo Jungle , but as much I love Jungle, as much i can't stand this one , don't know why . By the way funny that some think they're alike whereas so many people hate Jungle and so many people love that one :-/
Better on men imo , even if gender perfumes is against SL philosophy ...
NB: I'm NOT writing negative reviews to seem different or for trolling, this is really what i think deep inside.

Arabie makes me understand the attraction of the dessert or gourmand fragrance, a category that otherwise doesn’t captivate me. Granted, Arabie is spared from the gourmand category by its emphasis on woods, but it is also sweeter than many gourmands, so the distinction seems weak.

Yes, Arabie is over the top: too much spice, way too sweet, too many dried fruits macerated in syrup. All true. But isn’t it lovely? Applied with a moderate hand it is my favorite sweet fragrance. I can’t say that there is any particular element that actually balances the sweetness, but the benzoin twists the sweetness a bit and makes it appealing.

The Captain Nemo of scents – so very, very misunderstood. Also, in my opinion, so poorly named.

When I was a child, my home city – in bog-standard England in the early 80's, not some remote Moroccan fastness – had a chemist's shop that still smelled pretty much like this. You could buy saltpetre in there, and if you requested oil of spike, no-one would ask what the heck you were talking about. All the old-school merchandise was kept in cedarwood drawers. Heavy on the nutmeg, heavy on the wood; the scent of esoteric resins, and expensive dust; the scent of sweet, harmful, refined, adult knowledge (but not sex, not at all).

And even this is a very poor imitation of what I fervently hope to be the true model of Arabie: an apothecary's den of the C18, when nutmeg bid fair to be the most expensive substance in the whole world, and dandies carried it on the hip, in ostentatious little silver cages. I like to think that if you cornered Jonathan Swift in a coffee house, he would have smelled a bit like this – intelligent, complicated and bitter, and coming on stronger than you could possibly believe.

I humbly suggest that Arabie, whilst a complex scent, has a definite tendency to be strong on the nutmeg. Love nutmeg? Gotta get this, IMO, but apply with a light hand. Hate nutmeg? Avoid Arabie as you would the assorted Plagues of Egypt. No compromise is possible with this one.

It's really anti-downer, very warm, very special perfume, I feel the notes of dried plums and it reminds me narghile tabacco smell. Love it.

I adore this fragrance, although it did take some getting used to. Arabie is one of those deliciously strong and potent spicy orientals that you can't stop admiring. It's also borderline gourmand, having a fascinating syrupy accord that really adds to its appeal.

At first, Arabie reminds me of clove cigarettes. A little smokey, aromatic and strong. I was intrigued by the top notes even though they burnt my nose hairs. The dense spices really enveloped me in something I can only describe as being a guilty pleasure.

In time, Arabie takes on an interesting sweetness, somewhat like the scent of golden syrup and dried fruits. Perhaps a little boozy at times too. It reminds me a little of Annick Goutal's Ambre Fetiche, just a less incensey version. The more I smell Arabie, the more complex the composition. There are so many notes to discover.

The scent is mostly deep, rich and heavy on the spices, although occasionally the boozy woods take over. The longevity and sillage are great, definite quality, there's no doubt about it. It's quite an addictive olfactory experience, one that I'm glad I took a chance with.

Arabie, for me personally, is something I enjoy but would probably never wear. You have to be the right person for this fragrance to really shine.

I was torn between buying Arabie and Daim Blond - very different from each other and i loved the leathery dryness of DB - but Arabie was so dominant that i went with it.

What i smelled first was star anise and cinnamon, although i don't see those first two spices listed, along with sweet benzoin and vanilla-y tonka. Gradually the scent became sweeter and sweeter - not my usual preference, as i adore the vegetal woody dry smell of vetiver - but the intriguing blend of spices held my interest. The sweetness didn't smell fruity to me, but i can see how it might to others. Fortunately it did not smell like what i think of as gourmand, an immature blend of fruit and candy. In Arabie the scent is intensely spicy. The dry down remains sweet but at last the woods emerge, although subtly. I hope with more wearing the woods become stronger, to balance the sweetness.

My daughter said it smelled heavy and like the incense a Tarot reader would use - and that wasn't a compliment. But i love incense and spices, so i'm happy.

My very first Serge Lutens. Never ever will I enter a duty free shop . This is the scent of heaven. This fragrance is to me what cat nip must be to a cat.
Irrestitable , delicious, cant stop applying it. totally addictive
Serge Lutens , I love you

A Serge Lutens, what else can I say?! Absolut favorite, I think their perfumer is a genious!!!

This is a challenging perfume. It flies out in forceful style from the bottle like a date and leather soup. It absolutely reflects Lutens country of residence (Morroco) and reminds me of the kind of souks which peddle traditional medicine. Dried crows, snakes in jars and spices in sacks on the floor all all here in this dizzying blend.

Rich, sophisticated, spicy, unique and so delicious.
This Serge Lutens is a killer.

You need a strong personnality and special behaviour to feel confident with this fragrance.

Only one spray on the chest is more than enough for the entire day. Sillage and longevity are way better than the average eau de toilette available on the market.

For those unfamiliar with this odor, it smells a bit like Gucci Envy for men with a small hint of sweetness and cinnamon.

And no, it's not only a fragrance for winter, if you have the personnality to wear it, try it out during summer and you'll see how magical this Arabie can be.

A real compliments getter.

But, be carefull during application. One spray max, two if you want to be recongnized half a mile away.

Let this Serge Lutens bringing you to a wonderful journey.

This is the most exotic perfume I've ever tried. Initially it's pure Christmas pudding on me, but thankfully after half an hour dries down to a wonderful mixture of spices, a little heavy on the clove perhaps. I couldn't wear this regularly, but this really is an exuberant scent.

Ok, let's break dogmas: I don't like Serge Lutens!

Just kidding, but I surely don't like Christopher Sheldrake (besides his creations for Chanel and a bunch of others) , just because most of his fragrances are really "too much". Too Rich, Too Sweet, Too complex, Too dry, Too heavy....Too Much!

Rating: 5/10

Arabie is just the way I remember it from when I tried it before - way heavy on the coriander , cumin, and dried fruits at first, a boldly foody blast that reminds me of walking into an old-fashioned Indian grocery store. You have to give Arabie credit for letting it all hang out and just be itself.

As the initial spices dry down, the sweet, fruit and resin notes emerge, slowly taking it out of the spice drawer and into the gourmand perfume arena. After an hour of resinous fruitcake, it becomes sweet, violet-like, and powdery. This phase persists for many hours, gradually fading away into into mild powder and myrrh.

For the first few hours, sillage is tremendous, gradually quieting down into moderation. The scent lasts at least 12 hours, more on clothing. Arabie is a different kind of powerhouse scent, wonderful if you like strong culinary spices and sweet fruit, also wonderful if you like mild, sweet, powdery scents. It has a combination of personalities to please or displease just about anybody. I like it, but I can see how people who are anti-spice would not.

Herbal, medicinal, dry, harsh, masculine, utterly unwearable. I detect no fruit, even less so candied, just some vile vegetal smell mixed with wood and some hard to digest spices. I can't imagine ever wearing or wanting to smell this one again.

I only have a decant of this... and it's very intriguing, very "lutenesque", even though I don't find it beautiful. To me it has a very distinct burnt note, very smoky and spicy in a foody kind of way. It's dense, rich, exotic, oriental, I think it would fit a belly dancer perfectly, but I am not that kind... I will surely however enjoy this for those rare winter nights when I want to drink some red wine boiled with cloves, cinnamon and honey to warm up...and eat some nice, old, stinky, cheese with it.... :) Well, enough said! If somebody was to give me a bottle I could learn to love it, until then I only sniff my decant when I need a break from all my florals.

Extraordinarily complex, rich, balanced. One of the best perfumes I've ever smelled, but I'll never wear it, it's too gourmand.
Perfect if you're going to dinner in an arabic restaurant, tho.

On me this turns a little bitter. actually a lot bitter. to be honest, I mainly smell cumin with a little nutmeg and something sharp & bitter I can't place - maybe the benzoin? There is a little of the dried fruits peeking out, but you have to put your nose right up to it and inhale deeply to get it - if you were just walking past all someone would smell would be bitter cumin nutmeg and something medicinal (clove?) that screams out in a harsh kind of way. somehow this scent doesn't "blend" well on me. not the warm quirky spicy scent I was looking for :-(

I love winter,only becouse I can wear such fragrances. I really love Arabie, it has nothing too much. Cinnamon, cloves and dried fruites, this is what I can smell on me,although my mum says that I smell like just baked Christmas cookie and for my husbend this one smells like medecine. But all I know that this Christmas and all the winter time I will use Serge Lutens Arabie:)

I saw people here saying Arabie is like fruitcake. On me it is not! It is very herbal and spicy - I cannot smell any wood, either. The smell I think of is stew - a vegetable food with lots of sauce. I think it is a scent for mature woman, not young girl like I am.

Arabie is only Lutens which I can't wear.
Composition is very good balanced, but fragrance is too heavy, too rich too spicy too sweet, 'cause I have impresion that one note draw other.
On my skin smells gourmand, reminds me on plate of exotic meal.
But I could understand why people love it.

Today I tested Arabie by Serge Lutens. Had a little on my wrist and a little bit of my boyfriends. He sniffed his wrist and said - it is really unisex? I can definetly agree with him as Arabie is so sweet that it could take a lot of courage for a men to wear it. Then was my turn to sniff my wrist. I was dissapointed at first, because the smell seemed awful, my boyfriend even said - your skin opens something disgusting on this fragrance. After an hour the scent settles down and is very pleasant, but way too sweet for my likening. Reminds me a lot of turkish delights which I have never enjoyed. Overall - I can appreciate it's beauty as the scent is very complex, unique and powerful and Serge has captured Arabie in bottle, but I can't imagine myself wearing this.

This is one amazing whirlwind of a scent. There are so many aromas swirling in this perfume. Sweet stewed fruits, rich resins, warm spices and something that somehow evokes the image of a wild nocturnal animal in a dark forest. I imagine that what I am picking up is reminiscent of the natural animal notes used in classic perfumery – things like ambergris, civet and natural musk. I've always wondered what the term animalic meant, and I really think I get a hint of that quality in this perfume – it somehow smells alive.

This scent is dark and exotic and really a fabulous creation. It also has this intriguing quality in that, when sprayed on my wrist, it smells different in the center (where I imagine the spray hits the heaviest) than on the sides of my wrist where the scent is not just fainter but of a different character. The “edge” of the scent is somehow more ethereal than the dense center - with a powdery sweetness and a hint of something vaguely like calamine lotion or coca cola.

Fascinating though it is, I'm not sure it is something I could wear - it seems a bit too masculine for me. I can see this being intoxicating on a man.

I appreciate the uniqueness of this fragrance, but unfortunately, i will never be able to wear it. On me, it's not sweet, but very spicy and warm (i get caraway, bay leaf and something nutty); the entire composition reminds me of fruits my grandma used to dry in the attic and used them later to make compote. This perfume is uncommon and interesting, but it's way to spicy for me. I might give it another try some time later, but I definitely wouldn't invest in a bottle.

Update: after some time has passed, i keep sniffing my wrist and now it reminds me of glüh wein))it's good and weird at the same time and i'm trying so badly to love this, but i still can't imagine myself wearing it(((

It smells to foody,i couldnt wear it.But it is well done and good notes but it is the foody thing.It smells like arabian sweets with lots of sugar and nuts,nothing for me

Rich, spicy, sweet, heavy fragrance
FIGS, CANDIED ORANGES AND HONEY!!
I smell like BAKLAVA!!

I 'll try another SERGE LUTENS
fragrance!

the fragrance is so unique and interesting. I'm putting it on my arm and enjoying the kaleidoscope of notes sparkling one after another. however I wouldn't wear it even in a cold winter time. too sweet, too spicy.

A real disappointment for me. The opening was delightful but it immediately settled into a thin faux-spicy aroma that had no depth at all. Smell is very artificial, like a Christmas room spray. Stays forever (good if you like it). I had to wash my hands multiple times to remove it.

I saw her in the kasbah between the spice merchants' cries and the smell of fresh fig cakes. Her eyes read me the verses of a lovedrunk troubadour and her hands fed me the sweet meat of fleshy dates. I drank her wine and she devoured me like an iftar at Ramadan's end.

One of the best fragrances i have ever tried...i use to hate spicy or oriental or musky patchouli scents..but tastes change....when i first smelled this i thought it smelled good i thought it smelled like a little "new age" boutique i use to go to to buy candles...the boutique was filled with authentic candles and spices and incense from all over the world...this smells exactly like this boutique straight from the bottle...but i didn't think it was "wearable" for a person...one day i decided to actually put it on my skin and i couldn't believe how beautiful this was...i also couldn't believe how versatile it was..i could mix it with a floral fruity or a gourmand or a citrus scent and it just got better...i have been married to my husband for 8 years...i have been through many many fragrances without a word from him..i thought maybe he just wasn't interested in fragrance or couldn't smell them on me...then i put this on... he said..."WOW...you smell good ..what is that smell????"...so i'm sold on this.

I also want to add this is a niche fragrance this is not for everyone...but if you like the thought of patchouli and all spice and earthy incense you might really love this

Oh dear lord have mercy .. this is loaded to the brim with powerful synthetics which radiate indian kitchen herbs and loads of sugar and honey. And its relentless. This 'oriental' just keeps on going with no change in dynamics. I would stick with the classic orientals from Guerlain et al for a less repulsive oriental.

This is the recipe for a delicious and thirst-quenching drink I like to make late on a summer afternoon as the sun gathers momentum and begins its dive towards the horizon.

1. Fill a glass with ice.
2. Pour the glass half-full with Pernod or similar liqueur.
3. Top off with club soda.
4. Add a splash of Angostura bitters
5. Settle into a hammock under the broad leaves of a catalpa tree, relax, and enjoy yourself.

If this is not possible, try SL's Arabie. It too is a rereshing and leisurely way to take it easy on a hot and sunny summer day.

Dried fruits with spices, acidic and light wood note. That reminds me acidic of Cartier Le Baiser du Dragon and Shiseido Feminite Du Bois.

Com[ote of prunes and other dried fruit with palmful southern spices. After the boiled compote , you pour it into the wooden carafe. And we have Arabie.

This is the best oriental fragrance I have ever smelled, no question. I agree with the spicy fruitcake comparison, but there's so much more to it than that.
Like Rebella said, it takes you on a journey. Wearing this I feel instantly transported to Morocco, a place I love so much, but not just to a Moroccan sweet shop - it takes you through the whole marketplace.
The scent is dominated by the candied fruit, the orange peel and the spices (mainly clove and nutmeg, hence the holiday association), but it also has a strangely dark and mysterious quality. That's exactly why it won't please those who are only in it for the sweetness. It doesn't stop there. It has way too much character.
It isn't quite as sweet and heavy as you'd imagine it to be (e.g. Douce Amere and Louve are much sweeter), but it sure is dense. It's rich and generous, warm and enveloping, it's very much alive and a profusion of all things good. If you don't appreciate this kind of generosity, you'd better stay away from it:)

I agree with TESSTURE. Very spice-cake like or gingerbread baking in the oven. It surely is a reminder of mouth-watering holiday yummies being prepared for our gracious bellies. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I can wear it. It faintly reminds me of the scented spiced pear candles and air freshner that I purchased during the holidays. It's nice...but I don't know if I want to smell like this.

Smells like gingerbread or spice cake. Gorgeous, edible holiday food scent. Very expensive, but such a wonderful scent for cold weather.

Very rich, spicy, sweet, heavy fragrance. I could smell grilled caramelized peanuts first, then the smell turned into the smell of spices market somewhere down in Egypt. One thing that scared me a bit is color. When i sprayed it on the white testing paper, it left a bright yeallowish brown trace. Would it leave traces on my clothes either?...

This is one of the most amazing fragrances I´ve ever tried. It takes me on a journey and enjoy it so much. It takes me to the church in my hometown way up in northern Sweden... The tick churchwalls, the brasschandelers, the sunbeams trough the churchwindows warming up the woodbenches... in my head the fragrance of dried fruits are very like the smell of funeralcarnations... I must be a very easily affected person, because this fragrance have almost hallucinogen effects on me.

I havn´t tried as many niche and exclusive perfumes as I want yet, but I find that they have one thing in common (so far) they make me feel and imagine a lot of pleasant things. They may not smell better than mainstream perfumes, or last longer... but they have this amazing emotional quality... I want moore! I´ve only have a small sample... and Serge Lutens perfumes is so expensiv and hard to get... oooh why???

The best oriental woody fragrance I have smelled for a woman. It's not too heavy, but it's strong enough. I can detect the smell of clove and orange peels ,with some cedar and sandalwood. This one worked on my skin nicely, but after a while it started to smell like a spicy pumpkin pie on my arm. That's okay with me because I love the smell of pumpkins and spice, but I wish it would stay on me the way it does at first :p