S-Perfume Lust
I am telling my hands
not to blossom into rosesI am telling my feet
not to turn into birds
and fly over rooftopsand I am putting a hat on my head
so the flaming meteors
in my hair
will hardly show- Eve Merriam, “New Love,” from Fresh Paint (1986)
Alberto Morillas’ “Lust” drops me into a daydream. But is it my own?
Once again I am struck by how very much some of these S-Perfumes are like listening to disembodied voices from another room. Wearing them feels almost like eavesdropping; I’m listening, ear pressed to the air, to a conversation already in congress.
To smell it on a paper strip reveals saffron, cedar trees, deckle edged musk, and an element that I might best liken to the taste of a Ricola lozenge.
Yet on my skin, the saffron comes alive. You know the feeling you get when a suppertable is set, and the food has just been placed on the table, still beautiful in its presentation? There’s this fleeting moment when you forget the growling hunger, and happily enjoy the anticipation of eating your supper. Lust wears as almost gourmand on me, but without smelling explicitly like a foody fragrance.
Were this fragrance limited to a saffron element, it would be easy to dismiss. However, it unfolds into a lovely waking dream.
To wear it is to float alongside a cream-cloud of saffron.
Then I am hovering over the Olympic forests, the woody aroma rising up to meet me through the sun-shifting mists.
I sense fire without heat, as if only knowing it exists somewhere in the distance.
The tangling begins: musky and ambery warmth loosely weave weft and warp, spice and wood.
I am lightly dressed by its sensual naughtiness. This naughtiness is refined to the point of subtlety on my skin. The animalic layer refrains from grossing me out, while skewing to fit the other, more prevalent, notes.
Whether Lust’s daydream is a product of my own imagination or Morillas’ engineering seems irrelevant. It’s a wonderful one to have either way.
(Strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, Lust reminds me in some ways of Andy Tauer’s L’Air du Desert Marocain. I perceive them to exist on different sides of the same family.)
Lust can be obtained as a sample currently, but can be ordered in a full size bottle (approximately in late January or early February) ONLY if one has tried it as a sample from S-Perfume first. You can access the sample menu by clicking here.
Images starting from top: saffron stamens from itrademarket.com; redwood burl from sveneers.com; solar surface from spacedaily.com.
To find a link about S-Perfume’s Seven Deadly Sins, including Lust, please see my post about Sloth
December 23rd, 2005 at 6:14 am
Incredible account. And the scent sounds wonderful. I may finally cave on a sample of an S-Perfume. But what is this about not being able to buy a bottle wihout buying a sample first. Like you have to be initiated into the wonder that is S-Perfume first, bah! Not that I would, but now that I am told I can’t I want to buy a bottle without sampling. :-)
December 23rd, 2005 at 3:01 pm
Wow. You’ve made me lust after this one before I even finished your review. What a talent for selecting images you have. Are you an artist? That seems so intellectual, to make a perfume that projects the scent of anticipation! I love the way perfume can embody or induce states like this.
December 23rd, 2005 at 3:57 pm
Marina, it is. I have that same oppositional disorder reaction to the sample first policy too, but I think it’s one of those things where I have a knee-jerk reaction of wanting to be “contrariwise.” The samples are all pretty nicely sized, so you can get a good feel for what the scents smell like on you before you commit to a whole bottle. They’re not just wee little itsy-bitsy vials that you can only try out once and that’s it.
Cait, thank you. No, I’m not an artist, heh. If you only knew how awful anything I try to paint comes out: my hand never wants to cooperate with my head. Over the years I think I’ve only refrained from throwing out a few things, and that’s only because a friend or a relative asked if they could have it instead. The glimpse at anticipation is a lovely little moment I have with Lust, and it’s such a fleeting moment that it’s nice to have it captured in a bottle to use whenever I want.
December 23rd, 2005 at 3:57 pm
Great review, K! Was surprised to find that Sloth appealed to me more than Lust, but they are both very interesting scents.
M — am just guessing here, but these are not scents that were developed as personal fragrances. They were part of a conceptual art installation. Perhaps S-Perfume just thinks you should try before you buy?
December 23rd, 2005 at 4:07 pm
Robin, you slipped in there at the same time I was hitting enter. Yeah, these sins were for the conceptual work to experience rather than ones developed for individuals to wear, so the effect on the skin might be a little unpredictable from person to person. I can’t say I’d want to buy before I tried anyhow, but it’s like when you see a “Don’t Touch” sign: you have this sudden little kid urge to touch.
I think I know where you’re coming from with Sloth. It’s a little more challenging to wear, which I think makes it a bit more appealing and provocative for those of us who wear and smell perfume a lot.
December 23rd, 2005 at 5:07 pm
Okay, I’m intrigued too. I almost ordered 100% love before, at least a sample, then stopped, but I think I need to sample these now. Thanks!
December 23rd, 2005 at 6:43 pm
You’re very welcome Patty.
December 23rd, 2005 at 7:58 pm
I really liked both Lust and Sloth. I especially enjoy the earthiness of patchouli in Lust, which gives that seductive dark element I adore.
The images you selected for this review are great!
Happy holidays!
December 24th, 2005 at 6:43 am
Dear Katie
Merry Christmas to you and Fred and your family! I wish you for 2006 all the best, peace and love. I am glad that our virtual electronic roads crossed and that I discovered your blog that I hopefully may continue enjoying in 2006, please.
December 24th, 2005 at 11:18 am
I didn’t notice any patchouli until the very very end, how intresting V. Happy Holidays, to you too :)
Merry Christmas Andy - I too am glad our paths crossed, enjoy your Christmas :)
December 27th, 2005 at 8:28 pm
So I cracked under peer pressure. I gave in, I caved. Finally ordered samples of Lust and 100% Love. Something in me rebels ever so slightly against the whole s-perfume thing with sperm on their bottles…still, I am very curious.
December 28th, 2005 at 5:20 pm
I’m not sure about 100% Love, but I “know” you are going to find lots and lots interesting about Lust (and Sloth, too, I think.) Simply cannot wait to find out what you think, M!
March 9th, 2006 at 11:24 am
hehehe nice post bro keep it up…u have a good blog.