Lune Féline Atelier des Ors 2015 Eau de Parfum

Exquisite Perfume! The most intoxicating vanilla fragrances I have ever experienced… just beautiful. Please note this is a luxurious perfume of the highest quality. Some may assume a vanilla scent would be typical or designer. Lune Feline is not that. It is 10/10 and the presentation is impeccable – a true gem masterpiece. Lune Feline is completely unisex with a Durability which is above average. Take a chance and try this perfume. It's worth it.

“Oh my goodness!” are the words I uttered when I first sniffed this. And then I gasped after because I was just shook at how freakin’ beautiful this fragrance is. I’ll preface by saying Lune Feline is actually the most fitting name for this fragrance. It definitely gives off a hot, feral, raw sexiness. Think of Beyoncé’s Kitty Kat type energy.

This one is definitely for my spicy people out there. The spicy top notes, especially the cardamom, really pack a punch. But it also has aromatic lightness to it that keeps the fragrance from being too too dense. The vanilla is gentle here and really gives room for the Peru balsam and other balsamic/amber notes to shine. I don’t get too much greenness, but again, there is an airiness to the scent that you wouldn’t expect given the notes. It’s a strong scent, but it’s not as dense and heavy as I expected.

The performance is out of this world. Lasts well over 10 hours, and projects like MAD for the first 3+. Definitely a cold weather scent, and can be worn day (lightly) or night. One of the rare love at first sniffs for me. Understandably not everyone’s cup of tea, but honey she’s MY cup of tea.

Another amazing gourmand that smells different. Love the cardamom and vanilla combination while it’s not heavily sweet. I’m a gourmand lover and own many amazing gourmand fragrances but this one definitely smells different. I never buy 2 fragrances that smell too similar. Some people said this smells like Musc Ravageur but I totally disagree. I own Musc Ravageur too but they smell so different except they shared the same vanilla note. I cannot really smell the musk from the Lune Feline and Lune Feline is pretty cardamom dominant, which makes it unique. I love Musc Ravageur too but it has a total different gourmand direction with strong scents of the vanilla, musk, cinnamon and tonka bean. Some people may think it smells like crispy bacon from the cardamom but I love it so try a sample before committing to a full bottle.

I first sample this at Bloom's parfumery in London and absolutely fell in love. To my dismay this was the most expensive bottle they had in store, so I returned home and ordered a 10ml decant.

Now I own a full bottle.

This perfume is a warm cardamon blanket. It reminds me of sipping a golden milk latte on a chilly morning, sitting by the fireside. The pepper is hits just right, and the vanilla dry-down is beautiful.

And the bottle... Well the bottle is art in itself.

I was kindly given the opportunity by a blogger friend (thank you!) to test a few Atelier des Ors offerings, here are my thoughts on Lune Féline:

The cardamom-dominated opening 30 minutes of Lune Féline on my skin is wonderful! And it makes me want to embark on an olfactory journey to explore more cardamom-prominent perfumes!

The cardamom here is paired with ginger. Together they're spicy and woody as expected, yet also have sparkles of an almost green freshness. This creates a lovely contrast with the thick, doughy vanilla in the base, still dormant at the moment and not yet having revealed its true power.

10 minutes in, something unexpected but thouroughly enticing happens: besides the spicy woody aspect of cardamom, a salty and somewhat meaty nuance rises as well. Maybe it's a combined effect of cinnamon, styrax and ambergris accord, of which I'm not entirely sure, but what I know is that it transfoms the aromatic cardamom into a fleshly, even carnal spice like clove and cinnamon sometimes can be as well. There is also a soft fruity spiciness discreetly gaining momentum, Combined with the fuzzy woody texture of various spices and the soft creaminess of the not-yet-awaken vanilla, Lune Féline smells almost like a delectable saffron-cardamom rice pudding!

If Lune Féline contines as such, I might have found my Arkenstone of cardamom fragrance, but as fate would have it, the giant beast of vanilla awakens and scorches the earth into gooey toffee and burnt cotton candy. The syrupy amber also bursts from underneath like molten lava. The combined effect of these two elements is a boozy plum-like amber-vanilla that I struggle with in general, and is reminiscent of the similar syrupy plum aspect in other boozy vanilla such as Guerlain Spiritueuse Double Vanille or Annick Goutal Nuit et Confidences in broad strokes.

Lune Féline then remains as this gourmand boozy vanilla during its long dry down. The woody yet fleshly spices try to make a comeback but never succeed. Occasionally, when the syrupiness softens a little, the woody, slightly powdery vanilla reminds me of vanilla-scented sunflower seed fairly popular in China, as well as a faint chocolate undertone, but the caramelised syrupy amber is still very much present until the end.

Lune Féline has a heavy-to-moderate sillage and an excellent longevity of almost 12 hours.

Because my tolerance of boozy ambery vanilla is fairly low, Lune Féline is too intensely sweet for my personal taste. However, the fleshly cardamom opening is very impressive to my nose, and I think it's well worth a sniff for a cardamom fan even if one is not so keen on gourmand boozy vanilla. Additionally, I'd also recommend it to those who enjoy boozy, caramelised amber/vanilla in general but would like a more spicy, cardamom-laden variation.