Rousse Serge Lutens for women and men

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT layer this with Agent Provacateur. I thought this scent alone was too sharp and much like the clove oil I apply onto bugbite, so I assumed that the rosy muck would balance out. Instead, the strong medicinal note in that scent fused with that of this one, and together with the musk it just ended up smelling like that useful but unpleasant body part that I shall not name.

Copied from veruska' review:

"To me it's more cloves and amber than cinnamon resting on a sweet floral citrus bed."

I couldn't agree more. From the reviews and descriptions I expected a cinnamon powerhouse like Diptyque's Eau Lente, but didn't find it here. Instead, this reminds me very much of Arabie, just a little less spicy, so if you like Arabie you'll probably like this too. I'm a great amber and cinnamon fan, but surprisingly this didn't work for me; I think it's the sweet citrus base which is a bit too sweet for me. I was seriously considering a blind buy of this now that it's gone from the export line and I'm very glad I didn't. Not bad, but I certainly can live without it.

Not sure, I just can smell cinnamon from start to finish..

Love it! Can't stop smelling myself. Cinnamon done right.

Darn it but I REALLY wanted to like this. There is a soap quality to it that ruins the whole thing for me. Another blind buy. GOSH I have learned my lesson. Can't even pull out the cinnamon for having to wade through the soap cloud. For those who don't mind the soapy in their frag, this one will please you.

Will trade this full bottle (minus 3-5 sprays). PM me.

cinnamon and resin with clove. It smells a little bit like medicine. Like a pine with oranges in the kitchen with some baked spicy cookies. Interesting, not sweet, definitely for cold weather. Smell of a cozy luxury. Special.
Longevity 9 hours.

Too cinnamon to me,What I got are all baked cinnamon.

i was disappointed. on me it's all cinnamon. perhaps a sheer veil of red hots candy. not unappealing, but i don't want to wear it.

Interestingly, I do not get a lot of cinnamon at all. What I do get is a big dollop of gorgeously oldfashioned lipsticky orris butter up top and pretty much a carnation soliflore all the way downwards. Mind you, I'm not claiming there is actual carnation in Rousse. More likely, it's an illusion of carnation, created by the presence of all its usual entourage: cloves, a tad of resin, a smidgeon of orange peel... Similar to what's done in Guerlain's Nahema - a rose without rose.
I've only tried it so far on a relatively cool rainy day and found it lovely and very compelling. I'm waiting for the real cold though for Rousse's true beauty to reveal itself.

And again, what an aptly named fragrance! I'm not usually the one to stereotype, but this must be stunning on its namesake, a redhead.

Mostly this is cinnamon spice with something in the base to keep it more complex than just cinnamon. Still, it's primarily cinnamon, so if you don't like that scent, stay away. If that's your Holy Grail of perfumery, this is your baby.

Do I love cinnamon ? YESSSSS ! :-)
This scent is perfect for my current winter-christmas-feeling but goes beyond.
As most Lutens frags Rousse conveys more than just some exquisite ingredients. There is a feeling of warmth, sensuality and to some extent also comfort. Despite the spiciness its gourmand character remains subtle, no sweet cinnamon pops here but a dry cinnamon wood note. Very nice.

Doc Elly, you basically said what I would have about this fragrance. The only thing is, the lasting power with me was less than what you experienced. I ended up liking it a bit more, after another testing. I'll see if I will buy a decant of this. To anyone else trying Rousse, you really have to like cinnamon.

Serge Lutens fragrance esthetic is quite challenging, because he seems to use more part of his experience as photographer and make-up is translated in his fragrance offerings. Rousse illustrates it quite well. It`s a cinnamon dominated fragrance, but it doesn`t have the same aroma everyday you wear it. Sometimes i love it, sometimes i just hate it. It`s like the fragrance has a light source that depends on the analysis point of the fragrance evolution. Sometimes, you get a quite cuisine cinnamon, slightly powdery, warm, sweet, soft. But then, there are days were the cinnamon seems more hot, embodied by a medicinal citrus aroma, and amber base and a big section of clove. And then there are days where you get a neutral perspective point where both sides, the more pleasant and the more edgy one, gets combined.
For these reasons, Rousse is not a fragrance that i can reach so often. You never know how it`ll react on skin.

I love cinnamon and this perfume is the most luxorious way to wear cinammon...it's a jewel in my perfumes' collection

Sexy, Classy and Mysterious ... Those are the three words that come into my mind when i wear Rousse.

It starts with a woody Cinnamon. Than the woody turns down and cinnamon stays a little sweeter, but not too much.

I wished i could describe better how wonderful this scent is. My Boyfriend just loves when i wear it.

Definitely one o the bests in my opinion!!

At the begining it's spicy cinnamon, a bit sweet something like cinnamon bubble gum and I love beggining part the most, drydown is not that sharp it's like cinnamon tea smooth calm and not that intense, all in all it's very nice fragrance.

Cinnamon & cloves = heat. I have only small decant of this and doubt I will never get a full bottle, but it is not bad at all.

On my skin this is pretty linear scent with lots of cinnamon and cloves, with very light balsamic-woody-smoky backdrop. The amber is barely detectable. I would very much like to use this on layering, actually I'm wearing it right now with Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca - the lush and moist greenness of it lifts the cinnamon & cloves to all new dimension, a vibrating combination. Can't wait to experiment with it and some sweet scents - well that might not be for the hot weather we are experiencing right now...

Cinnamon bark and sticky play-doh (you know that flour-y salty note? That's it) Just not good on me in any way. Pass.

Oh, I am so glad I got to try this! Thanks Solvita :)

Straight up: cinnamon tic-tacs, Big Red chewing gum. Bold, strong, sweet &....well, just very, very candy-cinnamon.

After some time the clove-tinged cinnamon mingles with a note that reminds me of orange peel beeswax oils rubbed into ancient, dry woods....but all-in-all this is one big, dusty, cinnamon bomb.

I love a good spicy scent, but worn alone this is a little linear for my liking. I am in concord with Nuppu - layer this up to add interest to more genteel orange-fruity frags & spritz liberally to corrupt those innocent rose scents.

Would I fork out for a big bottle...probably not....but this would be a nice scent to own in decant-size to perk up some of my more calm frags.

Cinnamon and cloves in high concentration.Not gourmand,but woody.Reminds me of Feminite de Bois by Shiseido.

My family loves when I smell Rousse. Come up to me, draw the air and say :what a wonderful cinnamon! Indeed, Rousse is cinnamon perfume, but not edible,Rousse is elegant, mysterious, very feminine. Character, haze reminiscent of the great L'Heure Bleue, even though it smells different. Beautiful smell - as the summer, late evening.

Cinnamon! The first thing out of the vial. A dry, woody cinnamon, not a sweet candy one. There are some other things underneath the cinnamon that were hard to define, but as the scent dried down it took on a little bit of a floral character. I did not smell amber at all, at least not anything that I’d define as amber. Rousse is mainly dry spice, cinnamon with a hint of cloves, all the way through. The longevity was moderate, about half a day, maybe a little more. To me, it’s a pleasant scent, but not one of my SL favorites.

I love a good spicy Oriental fragrance that shape-shifts on my skin-and Rousse is not it.

I can't elaborate too much-since Rousse was a scrubber for me...Not too much cinnamon-but too much cinnamon and cloves-together, the opening doesn't promise any of the desired resins or the toned down yet voluptuous amber of dreams.
There is no fair way to review a fragrance that gives one a headache-but I think this fragrance would actually shine on somebody else, as it has a strong personality, yet a natural smell-natural materials and some true-to-olfactory-group true-to-Lutens quality. Somebody, please sample this and come hang out with me for a few hours, so I can smell its transformation-on you.

Another one that I am confused about. This one is very cinnamon spicey one... Maybe too much for my taste. On a woman its not bad but I am thinking too much about christmas cinnamon cakes exactly like CDG White. Not bad but I wont buy it.


7/10

Ive only tried about 5 of SL's perfumes and I havent had much luck, as all of them have seemed, to me to have a really dirty heavy skanky undertone. I thought this would be the same, but after a bouple minutes its a nice slightly sweet ambery cinnamon, the sweetness comes a hint of fruit, the mandarin must be but it doesnt smell of any particular fruit really to my nose, anyway this isnt groundshaking but its nice and the best SL ive come across so far. I doubt id buy the FB but i wouldnt mind a decant.
Tried it again and I don't know how I liked it before, I smell all of the spice/fruit from the notes, but the undertone of this is wax. Yes it smells like a waxy heavily perfumed lipstick rolled in a christmas fruit cake that has orange peel and cinnamon in it. Don't like it.

It reminds me Vietnam balm that cures headaches and flues which we call "Zvezdochka" ("the star").

very harsh in the beginning (like putting cinnamon bears up your nose). after it settles down, it is sweet and creamy. smells classic to me. i do not picture many men pulling it off. would be a good scent for a barista.

I used to hate Rousse, but this winter i toyed a bit with my big sample and without really thinking that it's for me, i kind of like it more.To me it's more cloves and amber than cinnamon resting on a sweet floral citrus bed.Not great shakes but universally appealing.

Rarely does one come across a perfume
that evokes memories to reckon with .
This opens with cinnamon alright .However its the cinnamon bubble gum flavor with hints of spice, that takes me back in time.
I love this soo much and this has gotten me compliments as this smells wonderful on my skin.
Another brilliant one by serge lutens!!

Pure cinnamon,strong but not sharp and though I like cinammon, but I felt sick from this one in around 5sec.

Truly cinnamon, warm yes, but not hot or heavy on me. If you crave for almost dry feeling cinnamon scent, this is it, you coud imagine it brown cinnamon powder on spraybottle. There is mildy sweet tone also, making this little bit towards mulled vine. So comfortable.

The thing that make Rousse exceptional good, is it great potential in mixing with other scents. I've always loved spicy cinnamon in perfumes, and now I can make them more cinnamony, or mix it with something really different, like now, Bvlgari Rose Essentielle, so lovely spicy rose! And one of my comfort classic, Chloe gets in winter mood with Rousse. Peach, creamy tuberose and warm, brown cinnamon, pretty damn good together, I might say.

I bought a bottle on my trip to NYC last year. The cinnamon candy notes can be a bit overpowering at first, but the dry-down on this fragrance is absolutely beautiful. Woody, balsamic, slightly sweet. When I spray it on to go out for the evening, I can still smell the base notes when I wake up the next morning. Good fragrance for the winter months.

Heavy, strong cinnamon to me. Overwhelming at first. It wasn't even sweet, but I didn't wear it so I am not sure of the dry down. I bet the dry down is very beautiful. I'll have to try it again.

I love this ! Beautifull, sweet cinnamon...

Warm cinnamon, airy and light, gourmand ;o) For cold weather