Fumerie Turque – sensuous and sumptuous and complex

Photo: perfumeniche

Cold, snowy, blowy, dark and deep. This is winter where I live and I love it. For me, winter is the most sensuous of the four sessions. Shorter days mean darker interiors that glow golden with candlelight or firelight; kitchens are warmed by ovens and stoves. Food is heavier and richer. Clothes are thicker – cotton giving way to wool, pastel colours giving way deep rich reds, greens and blues. Outside snow softens the hard edges of bricks, concrete and steel, giving winter a silent, powerful elegance.

What I crave most at this time of year are fragrances that match this season, this mood, this feeling. I want deep, dark, rich complex fragrances that smoulder on my skin, like Fumerie Turque by Serge Lutens.

Fumerie Turque means Turkish den in English, and with the first sniff of it on my skin, I see opulent colours, feel rich textures, hear enticing, exotic music and I smell smoke from a vibrant, rich smoky/leather accord. As it blooms, it is sweetened by a note of dried fruit and tempered by juniper berries. Lush Turkish rose at the heart along with jasmine, add a floral dimension that lightens the darkness of the opening but allows a note of smokiness to weave throughout the fragrance highlighting the honey/caramel facets of blond tobacco. This is when I start to lean into it. Beeswax adds a fattiness that bolsters the smoke, keeping it rich and deep. The base has a soft note of leather made earthy, from patchouli and resinous from styrax and sweet from vanilla and Tonka bean.

Fumerie Turque unfolds slowly, languorously undulating its way into every sense and drying down to a sensuous, sumptuous fragrance. It has a complex elegance that is perfect for cold weather, but honestly, when would you not wear something this good?

 Check out Fumerie Turque in our Shop.