Atelier des Ors Lune Feline: Panther, Sweet and Incensed

by: Serguey Borisov

The new French perfume house Atelier des Ors was launched in 2015 and presented at both the Esxence and Pitti Fragranze perfume exhibitions. It all came about through the efforts of creative and artistic director Jean-Philippe Clermont, perfumer Marie Salamagne and Maitre Doreur Jean-Christophe Rousseau. The presence of gold leaf inside the bottles and the gold-embossed packaging reflects that the art-director is inspired by everything noble and generous, so experience in the world of jewelry was very useful in the product creation process.

Nobility can be expressed in different ways: by using noble materials (inside and outside the bottle), making a perfect design and by even coloring the juice in golden color. Gold is a noble metal. Adding small pieces of gold leaf in order to have them whirl inside the flacon is the simplest and most obvious choice, especially after the international success of Ramon Molvizar’s perfume collection. I could be found watching the snowflakes falling for hours – so, I see myself watching the golden flakes for hours as well! (By the way, Atelier des Ors argues that they managed to solve the gold-clogging spray problem, although it does not disclose the solution). Less obvious is another symbol of the noble metal, the sea horse, which is depicted on the Atelier des Ors packaging and stopper; in France, a sea horse is a symbol for pure gold (it`s stamped on 24 carat, or 999 gold).

Our respected colleague Sandra has described briefly all five of the Atelier des Ors perfumes in a previous article. For my review, I chose one of the golden five,  Lune Féline Atelier des Ors, for its especially alluring and sultry character. The creators describe it as a magnetic star, attracting and seducing. I do not know how stars may guide or pull behind them a ray of light – but perfumes work differently. We were like kids and bears, salivating profusely to the sweet temptation.

Seductive vanilla, dark animalic musk, balsamic (smoky styrax and Peruvian balsam) and gourmet notes can be considered part of the Lune Feline sweet fluid magnet. Such sweet perfumes attract the noses of people with a sweet tooth at first, then their hands and at last their soul. For example, I know girls who do not count the money spent on salted caramel or raw vanilla macarons. That's how they escape being upset by squandering their money on sweets and measuring those sweet moments of happiness in new handbags, new shoes or summer days in Barcelona.

However, there is more gold to be found in the sweetness of Lune Feline. The very first moments of development reveal another precious spice more expensive than gold – my adored cardamom. As an absolute or essential oil, green or black pods, milky masala tea or Christmas gingerbread cookies – I love it in every possible form. This cold, resinous, energetic, and then sweetish spice knows how to convince me to put my money down.

On top of that, a nice thick vanilla appears that feels like a warm fur coat and also recalls a black spiderweb with shiny tar strands. Its goodness is not just white vanillin crystals on the surface of soft (or brittle) bright pods, promising cakes and puddings. The smell of vanilla, as with many natural perfume ingredients, is a rather complicated smell system, consisting of hundreds of different components

 I especially like the vanilla resinoid smell for its thick shade of leather suitcases, castoreum and brown gouache, a small animalic counterpoint to the enveloping, fluffy, cozy sweet side of vanilla. (Castoreum with some other fragrant substances used to replace natural vanilla in vanilla flavor products). This brown phenolic smell matches  shiny and dark brown vanilla pods so well, and its smoky and leather tones could be extended further by storax, birch tar, castoreum, cistus, and Peruvian balsam.

Good vanilla resinoid always smells like wild animal – and I think it's a panther.

In certain medieval books, the panther is shown as a wonderfully beautiful beast. The gentle beast sleeps for three days after feasting, only to wake up with a loud roar, and while it is roaring a sweet smell comes out of its mouth. Any animal (except the dragon) that hears the roar follows the sweet smell to reach the panther. Only the dragon stays away, hiding in a hole because it is afraid of the panther. Then the panther chooses its prey, and the cycle repeats.

In heraldry we can find not only a panther, but also its sweet smell that comes from its ears and mouth as fire flames and smoke (called Panther Incensed). It was not only a feline, by the way – it could be a fire-breathing dog or donkey, four-horned horse, and other chimerical creatures colored in heraldic colors.

Lune Féline from Atelier des Ors proves that some part of the legend was true. The sweet smell of vanilla, cardamom, styrax and musk can attract not only four-legged creatures, but women and men alike.

Lune Féline: Sweet Panther and Panther Incensed. Lune Féline Atelier des Ors Top notes: Cinnamon, Cardamom, Pink pepper; Heart notes: Green notes, Woody notes, White Cedar, Ambergris, Styrax; Base notes: Tahitian Vanilla, Balsam Peru, Musk.