Monday, February 8, 2010

Update on Lutens discontinuations

A sense of panic ensued when we broke the news of Serge Lutens discontinuations the other day and quite justifiably, I'd wager. It's not everyday that an iconic niche line known for their attention to detail needs to halt one of their lauded fragrances. I feel like I need to assuage the fears a little bit and at the same time implement the news with something a little disheartening again, since another source (thanks!) informed me of the following interesting facts:

The discontinuations are planned for the export line only, meaning it's basically a US-discontinuation (my original source was of American interests): the four export fragrances will revert to their alma mater, Les Salons du Palais Royal, thus becoming Paris exclusives (much as Miel de Bois currently is) but the important thing is that apart from Miel de Bois, Chypre Rouge, and Douce Amère the fourth is Santal Blanc and NOT Clair de Musc! This puts a new spin on things, as Clair de Musc had us all wonder why it was getting axed. Of course in a way this last bit of news is even worse, as Santal Blanc is a seriously lovely, quite underrated fragrance and one which cannot be easily found on other price points... Luckily the discontinuations will take place at a further date (supposedly next year), so there is still time to stock up if needed.


  1. NO! Santal Blanc - that's worse news than Clair de Musc for me.
    It's good I just bought a bottle - it doesn't sound as bad once there is a bottle safe at home.

  2. Ines,

    yeah, it IS even worse!! :-(
    I have my own bottle too. And I guess we could always get it from Paris if they don't stop production but merely distribution.

  3. Not being distributed in the USA doesn't necessarily mean being a Paris exclusive. It is quite possible those Exports will still be on sale elsewhere in France (Sephora, Marionnaud and others carry the line) and the rest of the world. Where do these rumours originate from?

  4. Bela,

    These are quite substantiated, trust me, although officially the SL PR communication isn't forthcoming, I have already checked for you. You will see this development along the road, it will take same time, same as happened with other news which corroborated themselves (wasn't Miel de Bois pulled to Les Salons?)

    No, these cease to exist in the export bottles altogether! So no distribution at Marionnaud or Sephora or other more "niche" places who usually carry the line. Only at Les Salons.

  5. That' only half bad news for me as I just bought a bottle of Santal Blanc and live in Paris. Anyway I'm not sure Serge Lutens sells well at Marionnaud and Sephora, you already have to search a bit if you want to find some of his fragrances there. Maybe that's why they reduce the line.

  6. Anatole,

    thanks for chimming in! Right close at the source, so to speak. :-)
    At some point I had noticed that a bit too many "doors" had distribution rights of the export line. This had rang all the wrong bells for me personally, but I chalked it up to business acumen on the part of Shiseido and Beaute Prestige. It took me a while to realise that it didn't necessarily mean sales accomplished for all the scents.

    I still think that the quality for some of the SL fragrances exceeds the price point and I'm not sure they can be met when produced at vast quantities. A tighter distribution might mean a better upkeep? What do you think?

  7. Boo! Aside from FdB, Santal Blanc is my fave Serge Lutens creation!!

    Argh :-(

  8. T,

    Boo and argh indeed! I fact I prefer it to Santal de Mysore for some reason myself...

  9. It does seem that whatever one fancies-
    If it's edgy, it's BOUND to be discontinued...:(

    [Kisses to you, my dear !]

  10. I'm relieved that they won't be discontinued. Chypre Rouge was one of my favorites and I was very unhappy when I read that it was going to be discontinued. I've even bought a backup bottle on ebay before the prices started to rise.
    Well, will they be reformulated before going to the exclusive line?

  11. Ida,

    hmmm, I never pegged Santal Blanc as edgy, although it could be said of MdB and CR.
    Since these are not halted in production altogether, the matter is one of smaller production scale rather than bigger.


  12. C'est une tragédie!
    My order for MIEL DE BOIS here in Montreal was cancelled because of the new Serge Lutens dispositions.
    I am at loss. Snif Snif.
    - V

  13. Violaine,

    that goes to show doubters (who supposedly don't even read us, as per their declarations!) how accurate our information is!

  14. R,

    you probably did best, because they do become more hard to come back at Les Salons. And I'm happy for you.
    Serge himself has said that all the scents get reformulated every two-three years, so...

  15. good that the discontuations will be later and good for me about Claire but sad about Santal for those who love it

  16. K,

    It's at least worth it that some people will now have the chance to stock up on the favourites (instead of having to go pack up and go to LSdPR or hunting on Ebay and paying exorbitant prices later on!).

  17. Helg, do you have news as to whether Chene will be retired to the non-export line?

    I've a bottle of Chypre Rouge and Chene @ an overseas retailer, waiting to pull the trigger while they still have stock left!

    Not to create panamonium, far as I know, there's still a lot out there even on the discounters.

  18. Fragralicious,

    thanks for commenting and hope you like it here!

    Chene was always one of the Paris exclusives, only circulating as a limited edition export, therefore it's a case of "while stocks last". But as you say, there is still stock left on the etailers and people can accommodate themselves, if they need to.
    It's important to note that those limited editions are clearly meant to be limited editions: there is no misleading by the company itself. Just saying...

    I suggest you get what you can when you can, nevertheless. Leaving something for later is usually recipe for regret.

  19. Hi, I just saw this article now, when I was considering getting b.f. the Santal Blanc, soon as I have funds again which, sniff, may not be so soon. Have these frags now dissappeared from the export line?


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