Cierge de Lune Aedes de Venustas 2016

The melancholy and coziness of the last warm autumn afternoon. That is the memory that Cierge de Lune awakens in me.
It is not exceptionally loud, nor groundbreaking new or even experimental. It is beautiful and gentle and incredibly comforting and melancholic at the same time.

At first, it is sweet-spicy but not yet savory. The crystal accord does not reveal itself to me; I cannot categorize it, but I imagine the fresh sprightliness that cuts through the normality of everyday air as soon as you spray it on.
Then comes the pepper with the bloom. A softness and spiciness that softens the sweetness of the vanilla; they do not come one after the other but together as a floral-creamy softly gourmand cloud. The spiciness is not cutting, not characteristic; it captures the vanilla much more and does not let it appear sweet like a pastry but gives it seriousness.

After a while, the base notes mix in very subtly. I have almost forgotten my wrist and now wonder what feels so beautifully familiar, so soft and warm and so subtly melancholic. It is the combination of the cleanliness of musk, the melancholy of incense, and the cozy familiarity of wild leather. The vanilla is still there, caressing the base notes; perhaps it is also the amber, it is a subtle warmth that now prevails, a sad warmth.

It is the last warm day of autumn; you can smell the cold in the distance while the sun still warms you just enough. The memory of summer and the blooms is already far away, the sun is warm and yellow and radiant, the wild leather coat smells familiar in the sun, and the melancholy of the blue hour approaches.