Serge Lutens Borneo 1834 is the smarter, wiser, more accomplished brother of Thierry Mugler’s supra-exhuberant Angel Men. It’s patchouli with respect, not patchouli with sugar and coffee and caramel and cotton candy and vanilla, and it’s all the things you’d expect out of intelligence and wisdom: a direct nature, a forthright attitude and a low tolerance for frivolity.
Borneo 1834 (the 1834 reportedly refers to the year patchouli was first introduced into Paris society) is dry, smoky and with a serious camphorous bite at the beginning that mellows way out until it’s a nicely mannered dusty-cocoa scent that stretches out across the skin.
It holds its own in the thick, summer heat, too, but I’d stress that it’s best approached with caution — I put it on five hours ago and it’s still kicking like a stubborn mule. One dab too much and you’ll bowl over anyone within nose-shot. I’m still feeling a little sorry for the owner of the mom-and-pop grocery store I stopped into on one of my first errands this morning.
Borneo 1834 is not my favorite patchouli scent — it adheres too strictly to the sharp, insect-repellant nature of actual patchouli to inspire that much love in me — but once it starts its wind-down into dry spices and bitter-sweet cocoa, it’s easy to understand why there are people who luxuriate in it.
Serge Lutens Borneo 1834 is inexplicably a “non-export” item (I’m sure there’s a reason, though one isn’t offered), and can only be purchased from Les Salons du Palais Royal in Paris (and they don’t ship to the United States). I got my sample from The Perfumed Court.
UPDATE:
This review was revised July 25th, 2008.
