La Fille de Berlin Serge Lutens for women and men

I have no idea what Berlin has to do with roses but Fille de Berlin was the absolute disaster on my skin.A bouquet of roses with black pepper on the top!Maybe too much pepper which doesn't compliment roses..Sticky,wet and sour roses..Aggressive opening that ends like you 've covered yourself with red wine (not only a glass,maybe the whole bottle)Poor lasting power on me and undetectable sillage..

A boring rose, and unfortunately this stain the shirts.

I tried this today at my local boutique after SO MUCH anticipation. This ended up being completely different than what I expected!

I guess I was judging too much from the color, thinking that this would be a bomb of straight up red tea rose, straight and simple.

This isn't a complicated fragrance at all. What you smell is what you smell, and it stays this way for five to six wonderful hours.

The smell however is much different than what I expected, because this is much warmer than I thought it'd be. If you've ever had rose jelly, rose bubble tea, rose ice cream, etc, then you'll be familiar with this scent. It's not rose, as if it's a freshly cut flower, but rather the essence of rose. Sweet, yummy, warm, and inviting. It reminds me a bit of gingerbread.

If you're expecting a fresh, sharp, green, natural rose, this isn't what you want to reach for. I'd recommend maybe Florabotanica by Balenciaga or Drole de Rose by L'Artisan Parfumeur.

This fragrance is entirely gorgeous, warm, long-lasting, and comforting. For once, we get a rose fragrance that isn't sharp, pungent, or mean. This shows us that the Queen of Flowers has a nice side. Don't get me wrong, I love that sharp, green side to the rose...but it's nice to see another facet to the flower of flowers.

I'll definitely be snagging a bottle of this when I have the money. Serge does no wrong, and this is another excellent addition to his marvelous line.

This rose perfume by Serge Lutens is unexpectedly simple, sharp and sweet. It is definitely a Western rose - something you'd find in Europe or North America, the kind of rose that finds itself in city bouquets serenaded by car horns and accordions. It starts out with a distinct sweet-sharpness that is almost green, but not quite. Is this mace, or nutmeg or pepper or mint? It's hard to tell exactly, but some sparkle, perhaps from aldehydes, greets the nose. Then immediately after, it's pure, fresh rose.

I can almost detect a note that hints at cellophane or paper... which pushes this idea of the urban rose bought from a street market.

The rose is linear, with some variation of sugary and spicy turns. It makes for an extremely pretty and feminine scent that sparkles and speaks of mornings when a city is just coming alive in the spring.

It's like spill a rose-flavor beverage in a dental clinic. very spicy and rose. also rose is artificial like YSL paris's, not nowadays trend. It's very Serge Luten. not my tastes anyway...

A true rose without too many embellishments. The pepper gives some depth but not as much as you would normally associate with Lutens. This perfume has had some criticism to date for being more gentle and linear. We have been conditioned to expect perfumes with atomic strength from this house. Yes, it's a deviation, but thats not necessarily a bad thing.
La Fille will appeal to the true rose lover. It is pretty, leaning towards feminine and completely appropriate for work or office wear. I also think this would be fabulous for layering. Don't write it off!

Just bought this fragrance today. And was very upset after trying it.

Where is the shop tester roses cloud?! The fragrance is almost invisible. Lately it started to open more powerful, but not as powerful as almost all fragrances by Serge Lutens. I don't want to spray it every minute to feel it. After the quick rosy start it goes more to grounded violet (even violet leaves) and not sharp pepper notes. Where is the rose beauty?! It's not light, but it's too quiet. The start really sounds promising a warm dark roses cloud. But unfortunately it's not so. The lasting power is poor, too, very poor!

Maybe this one is more floral comparing with Sa Majeste la Rose, which is more fruity. Luckily it's not as sweet as the honeyed sweet second one. But the second one has a powerful stunning rose sillage, besides it's long-lasting. I hope that it wasn't a mistake to buy this one instead of Sa Majeste la Rose again. I really want to believe in it.

I give this fragrance one more chance, but actually I'm disappointed. I wouldn't be if the rose note was more powerful, but unfortunately it's weak. Too close to skin, intimately close.

I'm not sure that this fragrance is for me as a noticeable fragrances lover. Especially, I appreciate it in rose fragrances. I can only hope that it will become deeper with the time, because now it's not.

I saw this in the latest Barneys New York mailing described as "...a thorny rose, with pepper, spice and persistence." Ok, corny perfume porn, which of course meant that I had to try this for myself.

If you are a rose lover, this is stark and unapologetic. There's enough pepper to maintain an interest, but overall it's a linear experience that is perfect for someone who wants rose, the whole rose, and nothing but the rose. My wife, a rabid fan of rose notes, loved this to bits and could easily find herself gravitating toward this from her other fragrances that lack that same potency of note.

Also, it's not too purely feminine -- as a guy, I could see myself wearing this and not have it feel too light or powdery since the dry-down doesn't come across as most rose scents.

Overall, a really good effort.

This perfume is one of my favorites. It is really, really nice. It reminds me of roses at their peak of their bloom while there is a slight decay at the edge of their petals. It is as though the rose is bleeding scent, a last desperate hope to show their finest to the world before they die. I love, love, love this perfume.

Totally not what i was specting! despite thinking that it is not at the level of the early SL creations and not being very original, it is a pretty interesting and well balanced perfume that turns out very enjoyable.

It starts out with a blast of pure stright forward rose in the style of Sa Majeste La Rose. In fact in the beggining my thinking was that 1 of these 2 perfumes was not necessary in SL line...however as it dries down the violet (which btw is not listed in the notes)starts to emerge, making the scent more compplex and rounder. The violet comes out sweet and powdery, and kind of dark as if it had a bit of amber in the mix. It comes out rich and deep, and with that "vintage boudoir" feeling that powdery violet often has. In fact this one is pretty deep and dark, so it reminds me the 20's decade pretty vividly. It has a feeling similar to Histoires du Parfums "Moulin Rouge"....and i love it!!

Will deff get a bottle of this one!! love how it morphs from a pure strightforward rose to a deep decadent violet scent! My only complaint is that projection si so so, staying rather close to the skin. I still have to test its longevity..so far i have been wearing it for arround 4h and it still there, richer, denser and more powdery as it develops.

Advertising works. I'm testing this one and in my head Marlene is wondering where have all the flowers gone...bloodstained roses anyone? The opening is lush but restrained compared to the knock you down and drag you off by the hair roses in Sa Majesté La Rose.

Then again, why would Marlene douse herself in this? I can only imagine her smelling like an ashtray.

I don't like loud roses, or too linear roses. I just need to see how long this one lasts. My other SL love Daim Blonde seduced me and vanished in twenty minutes....

Mr Lutens and I haven't quite seen eye to eye in the past. I've determinedly tested a solid dozen or more of his scents and have owned decants of two but it was never quite love. Even though I find Ambre Sultan fantastic, I think I would struggle to wear it. But as a rose lover I was excited to try this one, the moment I heard about it. I had tried Sa Majeste la Rose, but, as with others, there was something a bit off with it for me, it was a bit too green for my tastes.
But this. This was different. It clicked with me the moment I sprayed it on. This is simply a wonderful full-bodied jammy rose. Velvety deep red petals envelop you, soft, but a little bit bruised. For some reason a beautiful and mysterious brunette comes to mind, strong but somewhat reserved. Pinches of powdery violet soften it a bit as it dries down, but this is all about the rose. The base reveals that this dark rose beauty can unravel a bit, its musky rosey ending reminiscent of Narciso Rodriguez for her EDP. However La Fille de Berlin is a different creature, more earthly and womanly than NR's pristine coquette.
What it reminded me of was Jo Malone's Velvet Rose & Oud - both rich, dark rose scents. Velvet Rose & Oud is sweeter and a little less floral, but I'm not sure a collection needs both. Which will make for a tough decision for me! Beautiful rose scent, finally a Lutens that has made a lasting impression.
As a note however, this is not to be sprayed on clothing as the vibrant pink colour stained the tester strip and went on my skin pink too. Also Luckyscent lists the notes as: rose, pink and black pepper, violet, musk.

People have compared La fille de Berlin to Red Roses by Jo Malone, and I do see some similarities in the presentation of rose, however there is much more sweetness and subtlety in the nuances of La fille de Berlin. I cant help but think it is in an entirely different arena, though if you enjoy one, you may very well appreciate the other.

Jo Malone's Red Roses is straight, fresh, beautifully unadorned, robust and voluptuous deep red roses along with their crisp, wet, green stems and leaves. Just breathtaking. Now take those roses, tenderly envelop them in a gauzy black shroud, and you have La fille de Berlin.

Like JM's Red Roses, La fille de Berlin demonstrates a certain clarity of vision within the rose genre and not just because it's a soliflore, but because it gives me a sense of the heft and the texture of the flower; I can envision the appearance of the particular rose I am smelling. For this reason it is a unique and admirable fragrance which projects very well and sticks around on my skin for quite a while. The warmth of the pepper and sweetness in the roses make it an ideal fragrance for the bone-chilling, damp Spring morning when one wishes it would just be nice out already!

The amount of pepper in this is perfectly calculated. Just enough to set off the features of the rose: bright red petals against an off-black background. Much gratitude to Serge Lutens for my sample.

As it dries down, it does take on a sweet earthy/powdery quality and a good deal of the clarity is lost; I feel like the rose is naturally decomposing into some sort of powdery rose compost, though I would not go so far as to call it musty. The emergence of the powder is surprising and I could do without it (its absence in Red Roses is one of the many reasons it's so gorgeous), but I will tolerate the powder here in exchange for the addition of pepper, which the Jo Malone rose is lacking. A soliflore depicted as an entire scene, suitable for both male and female rose lovers. Very well done.

This is uncomfortable on my skin. It feels numb and filmy where applied--maybe it is the dye they used to color the perfume (I'm one of those people who has to use Free & Clear laundry detergent).

That being said, the fragrance itself smells like a battle between tons and tons of beautiful crushed rose petals and a vat of stinky hair perming solution. Neither one of them wins. It fades away within an hour.

My skin chemistry doesn't play well with rose about 60% of the time though, so don't take my word for it. Try before you buy.

LA FILLE DE BERLIN

The most unapologetically voluptuous and womanly pure rose I have ever smelt on my skin. This is the whole pristine magnificent rose in full bloom along with the powerful tangy bite of rich crimson fruit of the rose; the Rose Hip Berries. The rose hips impart a rich jam-like succulence to the creation that is unsullied by any additional syrupy sweetness and lends its own increased amplitude to the scent of the rose itself since it is actually part of the plant.

This is like a pure blood red rose on steroids. A whole barrel full of rose blossoms and rose hip jam all mashed together in perfectly, without any added sugar to foul or dilute the tangy fresh blast of divine floral crimson richness rolling down the mountain like an avalanche into your nose! It makes me want to devour my arm!

The barest trace of pepper lends a touch of spice, but is very subdued, and is so fantastically well blended that it smells like the amplified spice within the rosebush itself in some of the naturally spicier varieties of the plant.

There is just a touch of the most subtle musk to ground the jammy, spicy floral richness and impart a warm velvety skin-like coziness to the entire composition.

Blood red, opulent, smooth as silk, lusciously feminine, elegantly voluptuous, narcotically soothing, and just incredibly gorgeous. I adore this completely.

I sniffed it yesterday and was totally unimpressed: It's rose, ok, nicer than "Sa Majeste la Rose", which I find utterly boring, but nothing compared to my LOVE "Rose de Nuit". I know, it's Paris-based and all, but if you like "La Fille de Berlin" please try to get hold of RdN to make up your own mind!!! This is rose heaven, I promise! :)

Also, LFdB is too sweet for my taste - something Lutens likes to add to his fumes of the export line; his exclusive line is more distinguished in that matter, imho. But sweet sells, isn't it?

To the talk about "the women of Berlin after WW2": I lived in Berlin for a couple of years and I am far from being a Nazi (more liekely the opposite), but I guess, what Lutens insinuates is the life mostly without protection from male family members (they were at war or in camps) in a city, that was bombed to pieces, not enaugh food to live, enaugh not to die and being raped on a daily basis. Sorry for being so frank, but this is what has happend to these women. One of the dairies of one of the women of that time is famous and very vivid in discribing the hell on earth, which those women lived in. Sure, it's everybody's right to think "they brought it on themselfs", but often this were the usual "folks", often younger of age (so not really responsible for anything); the high Nazi party members and the likes were for sure not in the city at that time.

Maybe Lutens is a Nazi, I wouldn't know, but from the title of this frag I would suggest, that he was moved by the strength, those women showed, the power of life we all have inside us, every one of us. But this is just an assumption.

Was in John Lewis today and spotted this. The ONLY Lutens they have there 'because it's new out'. :( hmmph! Why only stock one?!
Anyway, the fragrance is indeed PINK. A rather alarming and artificial looking pink which was kind of clotted around the spray of the tester bottle in Lewis'.
One sniff and I was once again smelling my beloved childhood Victoria Plum rose scented bath oil.
The exact same smell - from the bottle anyway, I never sprayed it.
That bath oil was very sophisticated, I think, for something marketed for kids. Pink oil in a clear plastic bottle, with a big burgundy plastic stopper and a big sticker of VP on the front.
In brief, SL Berlin is a nice pink/red rose smell! Rather stronger and different from the Stella type of rose, a better rose imo.

This is a lovely fresh-spicy rose and definitely feminine. I like this more than Sa Majeste la Rose

I like this a lot. Though the top notes brings to mind a precautious little girl with jammy hands trying on her mother's clothes and heels. I also get a hint of something metallic... like blood, in the top notes. The best part for me is the extreme dry down. The note is either sandalwood or cedar. It's a lovely, light scent with a clean woody dry down. Somewhat betrays SL's description of it. I want to give this one multiple sampling before I decide if I want to add it to my SL collection.

wallywinthrop - Serge should hire you for marketing! ;-)

You write beautifully - I enjoy your reviews and I look forward to them.

The girl from Berlin - her parents named her Elfriede when she was born in 1907, the chubby little girl with golden ringlets, and as she grew up she was more and more headstrong. She bit the ribbons off her dresses and played horsey all the time, insisted on being called Frida and never ever missed the plate of poppyseed pastries her mother would put out after every meal. After Papa came back from the war, he dandled her on his knee again, but with a distant look in his eyes. She came to prefer her Mutti's warm presence most of all, who took her to Church and told her never to forget the Lord's teachings.

Later she grew up, did well in school but was restless. The 1920's in Berlin held many forbidden pleasures, so exotic after the privations of the war. She smoked a bit, drank a bit, rode in fast cars, kissed but shied away from heavy petting although she told all her friends she was as loose as any cabaret singer. When they bloomed, she wore her favourite red roses in her hair every night she went out, and fell asleep with their petals on her pillow. She took her Abitur but because she couldn't focus didn't pass - her parents frowned but let her take a secretary position with a local doctor instead of attempting university, hoping she'd settle down. Some of that spirit found expression when she laid eyes on Kaspar, who took his mother to Frida's doctor every week for her hip problems. After several weeks of coffees in the cafe near by, she and Kaspar fell in love, met each other's parents, agreed to marry. The girl from Berlin stood in the Church with her mother watching and pledged to love for ever and ever the man next to her.

In the 1930's, with two small children, Frida and Kaspar worked to beautify their home and their shared life. Kaspar worked every day as an art dealer, while Frida stayed with the little ones. She would play in the backyard of their small but cozy home with the children Liesl and Matthias, who loved to tug at her blonde hair. Frida, retaining some of that old spirit, would pull it away out of their reach but relented at seeing how they marveled over her curls, and got her mother's recipe for poppyseed pastries to tantalise them too.

Their happiness was short-lived, when Kaspar came home one day with a grim face and told her of the changes which came rapidly from then on. What followed was a maelstrom, in which Kaspar was forced against his will to join the new Fuhrer's party, and Frida and even the children were enlisted in Nazi groups. To Kaspar and Frida, who loved their neighbours, the ideas of Hitler were an abomination, but they expected better days until the horrors of Kristallnacht, and then the invasion of Poland. They tried to leave, but their parents were too infirm and their hearts broke at the idea of separation - nor were they sure what would be ahead of them, in any direction.

The war forced Kaspar to leave and for Frida to watch what unfolded, alone, uncertain about what was really happening since the nation frowned at women knowing politics and she was afraid for her family's sake to stir. She kept on, listening with a sinking heart at the strictures forced upon her children. Her fingers trembled in the morning as she wound the perfect Aryan braids around her head, and her heart beat with loneliness and fury. She felt she could no longer be silent and wait, but do something - she hid her Jewish neighbours in her cellar, giving them rations from her own, already strained larder, hoping against hope she could save them. The day came when the fists sounded at the door, and only the rapid disappearance of her friends at the back and the influence of a cousin at Party headquarters could save Frida. Her parents passed away, and she was more alone. Still, she waited, for summer and the roses to come again.

Near the end, Kaspar returned on short leave and never went back. He rushed his family away to the countryside, hiding with Frida's sister-in-law at their farm until the deluge had passed Berlin. When they returned, they saw despair, ruins, and the horrible news of what had been done in their name. Kaspar and Frida wept in each other's arms, at their shared guilt and what they saw, at the pain of uncertainty. Afraid of the Soviet soldiers for his wife's sake, Kaspar insisted they leave Berlin to go back to his sister's farm, poorer though it was. Frida left, hating to go, hating what had happened to her city and what she felt would forever be partially her fault. She heard what her old girlfriends suffered in the city, and wept. But in the country, the sun shone again on her blonde hair, and the neighbours called her 'the girl from Berlin' as a term of endearment. She planted roses with her children, and waited for their blooms.

~

I adore the Lutens line even if I can admit the man is a bit eccentric. I do think it is unfortunate that Serge decided to specifically talk about postwar women of Berlin for the negative connotations, I'm hoping this is a bug in translation although I am not too optimistic on that score. What I can say is that I love deep, rich roses so I will be sure to try this - and while, yes, it is sad that these associations have to be so dark, I think the perfume can be respected as a tribute to German women who were only very briefly liberated - and only in some places - during the Weimar period and then were repressed all over again during World War II, with the hyperstrict rules of 'Nazi motherhood' (think the NS-Frauenschaft). The horrors of what happened subsequently during Soviet Occupation do not need to be repeated.

Yes, millions suffered both in war and through genocide, and I think if we are going to do tributes they should not be through perfumery and should go first to the victims of the Holocaust and other war crimes. Nevertheless, the German women did suffer too, and I don't begrudge them the name of a perfume perhaps as an homage to the nobility of spirit that some still did possess - a tribute to the fierce vigor of Sophie Scholl for example (although she was from Munich, I feel my point still stands). There were many German women who risked death by hiding Jews and other minorities and giving them food. The mad shifts in society and what happened in the first half of the twentieth century affected these women too. I think that just because the connotation may not necessarily be happy or good, it does not have to mean that it can't be thought-provoking and ultimately useful. Perfumes form part of our psyche as much as anything else.

These are of course all my own opinions and I mean absolutely no disrespect to anyone here.

Very-very lightfull rose! Clean and fresh scent with a quiet girlie feeling and huge romantic and charm. I like it.

it is so true to its name- I can almost see the ruins of what used to be Berlin (a nice city before WWII) and young, sensual women left on their own in the middle of all this with no hope or ways out. Just strength of female power to cope with what is left.
To me, the scent is almost true of rose- with a hint of sadness and sensuality (skanky notes) on it. The light allusion to bittersweet smell of blood and young blooming rose aside it.
It is simple, dignified and poetic- true companion to very sensual and deephearted woman

Quite frankly, the name as "A tribute to the resilience of German women during the Soviet occupation," creeps me out. The well-known (now) atrocities suffered by women make this blood red liquid seem to be more of a reminder of brutality than an accolade. I wanted to try it until I read of its inspiration. Now I doubt I'll ever bother to smell it.

This perfume is a bit like hearing the question part of a riddle but never hearing the punchline. It's a very nice almost sole fleur rose but it's very juicy and very sweet. (Punch line: "so after the guy puts it on he says...") I just can't see this being unisex in any way. Also the name is a tribute to the resilience of German women during the Soviet occupation. Huh? WTF? I'm waiting for the punchline on that one also.

In any case, as I said, it's a beautiful very juicy red rose scent with some gentle almost undetectable spice notes--the main ones I smell are cinnamon and cardamon. I don't find any pepper or anything with bite in this at all, not at the opening, not after several hours of wearing it. Very well made, very romantic. If you like rose scents this is a good one but there are several very good rose scents so I'd try a sample before I'd invest. Excellent longevity for a floral.

Persistence: 4-6 hours
Fabulosity: Red delicious apple
Value to price ratio: typical for a Lutens
7/10

I've been tricked by the unisex mention. This is 100% feminine. I smell absolutely no pepper in this fragrance. This smells identical to Jo Malone Red Roses. The longevity and sillage is strong. I put this sample on at 8am. It's still kicking at 430pm. I couldn't imagine a man wanting to smell like this.

this sounds very intriguing, I must find it soon to smell myself. Only I have reservations about the name. Berlin is an unfriendly, dirty and proletarian town, where I can't associate anything poetical or even luxurious like roses.

Sprayed on the skin La Fille de Berlin looks like blackcurrant juice, and is probably best kept well away from light-coloured clothing.

The top notes are a green and sappy fresh rose, somewhat like Sa Majesté la Rose, but pinker, redder and more complex and containing the full raspberry-jelly scent of true rose oil (it also feels oily on the skin).

After 30 minutes or so, it becomes sherbety, sugary and quite fondant, like a rose-flavoured dessert of some sort, though never such an artificial neon pink tutu as Paris, before morphing slowly into a softly woody rose. I detect no pepper, but perhaps a creamy sandalwood in the drydown.

Compared side by side with Sa Majesté, the latter is crisper, greener, more springlike, more soapy, whereas La Fille is deeper, redder and more velvety (oddly, if I smell Sa Majesté and then La Fille, the latter has no fragrance at all, though I can smell them both if I sniff them the other way around).

Persistence is about eight hours (sprayed at night it was still there in the morning), though faint after about three, and the sillage is moderate. The scent is very much a 'true' rose fragrance rather than a rose-based fragrance with a bunch of other stuff in it, such as Goutal's Grand Amour.

In the Lutens canon, La Fille, I would say, falls somewhere between the darkness of Rose de Nuit and the brightness of Sa Majesté.

This is really intriguing. Love the concept, the minimalist bottle, emphasis on the colour of the liquid. I will be curious to sample this.