Frosted Moon

Lune de Givre

Cloon Keen Atelier 2013

Dew-fresh meadow, silver moonlight, ghosts, herbs, a few sheep huddling together. This is how the Ireland-influenced stereotype could already look for the scent of the Galway perfumers. Rough (sea) air and fairy dust. Dance in the breeze. Astringent ethereal beauty that is not seeking scene applause. Despite the almost scratchy angelica and the predominant green components, the iris root shines through like light - the sun by day, the moon by night - through a cloudy sky. The island of a thousand greens, of course. From velvety moss to grasses and shrubs swaying in the wind over the cliffs, everything is included. Daffodils come to mind as well, splashes of color, a brief rain, and again sunbeams falling through the clouds. All of this is reflected in this scent, which shifts between milky-herbaceous and shimmering light effects and somehow seems to mirror the earthly unreality of moonlight.

Such a thing cannot be accommodated in the mainstream. Nor in the guidebook. Frosted Moon/Lune de Givre is not quite the tourist route but rather the hidden modern as well as Celtic Ireland, including goblins and trolls and fairies, and as a panorama, the dilapidated cottages covered with a bit of grass. Somewhere, a rusty car lies around, and the people have long since moved away for work. Behind a gate, a dog barks. The city, on the other hand, is lively, and the people there are friendly.

The Galway scent is the opposite of opulent; the iris is dry, while a bit of moisture and rich herbs waft through the scent's landscape. The fragrance remains linear, only at the beginning is it harsh-spicy and somewhat carroty, while it transforms at the end into a soft, bright musk base that lingers gently on the skin. The astringency is masterfully intertwined by angelica, galbanum, and vetiver, while the underlying, the beyond the horizon, the other side is olfactorily embodied by the iris root, which so often, and especially here, carries an enchanting sheen, a pull, but also an icy seriousness; its celestial sphere is radiant but cold. A rainbow.

You often see that due to the climatic conditions and changing weather in Ireland, so it’s certainly no coincidence that the perfumers from Galway have created a wonderful scent around the rainbow goddess Iris and dedicated it to the silver moon.
Despite my associations influenced by the romance of Ireland and perhaps also by Heinrich Böll, the scent is abstract and modern and also a bit uncomfortable behind the facade.

The fragrance manages well not to overdo it and maintains its longevity so that it remains subtly but noticeably present throughout the day. I don’t find it light or simple, but very complex, and that’s why I love wearing it. It creates olfactory identification surfaces that cannot be described through fragrance notes or images. I’ve tried anyway; it’s, as always, just a snapshot.
Although it is fresh-green-herbaceous and suitable for men, the frost moon seems to suit women a bit better, says AugustA. Definitely a scent for all those who seek shimmer, depth, and yet something real, as it is not at all fairy fantasy or Irish kitsch.