Paradise Moon

I was actually planning to buy Cartier's La Panthere Parfum but I came across this fragrance because a lot of people voted it as a similar fragrance to the aforementioned. After looking at its simpler note breakdown, I was easily convinced to get this instead of LPP because I am not the biggest fan of fruity notes but then it's no use because this one also ended up smelling fruity lol (I still like it tho) Despite not being a WOWWW MINDBLOWING fragrance to my nose, it still left a great impression on me because it was an unexpected emotional ride. Who knew a simple bottle of smelly water would make you feel such things 3 I had high hopes for a leather and labdanum fragrance, I expected a chypre similar to my beloved Paloma Picasso (and yes if you've seen my reviews mentioning this fragrance? I still regret selling her). In the world of new, modern, or contemporary fragrances, it's given that old-school DNAs would obviously be watered down for the sake of mass appeal. Seeing reviews of La Panthere Parfum wherein people said it was chypre-esque and blah blah, it made me think that maybe this is also going to be reminiscent of old-school chypres as well since they're similar. Also, the ingredients on Paradise Moon gave me so much hope since it uses oakmoss oil (which is such a crucial note in chypre) but godddd the initial spray was so anticlimactic. It was simply HELLOOOO FRUITS !!!! umm this is not at all chypre??? But maybe it is chypre tho (gosh everything is chypre at this point as long as the marketing says so :p) lol I guess I'm just not used to fruitier takes on chypres. I will always loveee my dark floral chypres Amidst the disappointment, I suddenly paused and wondered why it suddenly felt so nostalgic. Why am I in a state of bliss? Why am I liking a scent profile I no longer enjoy and find extremely boring??? Welllll, that's the smell of peach for you. The smell of body mists I hoarded during my childhood. I then started missing the times when things were simpler. The times when a peach body mist was an easy 10/10 grab at Bath and Body Works. Times when a peach body mist made me feel like my "truest" self. Times when I was an insecure teenager. Times when my friends associate me with anything peach. Back when future was nothing but graduating high school and studying at a university without the fear of what happens next. The smell of peaches also reminds me of the childish mistakes I wish I've never done to every people in my life. The times I can never turn back to spend more time with loved ones who are no longer with me. Times when relatives were always around. The times when you thought your friends are going to stay at an inner circle and never be an inch-distant. Times when I should've been better to myself I miss youth. I miss innocence. I miss how carefree I was. Fragrance is litrullyyyyy the music of beauty products. It may be extremely melancholic but things happen for a reason (how cliche how original). This thing reminded me of my roots. The smell of peaches on the initial spray was a reminder that I am where I'm meant to be. In fact, it wasn't the same peach I smelled during my youth--it has now matured. It developed. The peach fragrances I wore back then were very one-dimensional but this one? milesss, if not, yearssss refined. It's not ur typical fruity peach fragrance !! it has different facets that appeal to someone who has finally grown out of their shell. It starts off super peachy but develops a medicinal bitterness and I think that comes from the "osmanthus trilogy" note listed in estee's site. I think trilogy is just a fancy way of saying flower, leaf, and branch haha !! and indeed, it smells like the whole shrub. As it warms up, the honeyed animalic sweetness from labdanum finally starts to bloom which elevates the composition into something deeper and more sensual, breaking the zen tranquility from osmanthus. Who knew that a light and fresh tea-like note could be sexy? The full dry down is where the money's at. Woody, stemmy, vaguely milky, honeyed with a great balance between green bitterness and a tart tang. It smells like dried figs, peaches, a splash of bourbon cream, and astringently zingy mango leaves mashed together then slowly simmered into a thick compote. The leather in this is undetectable. I would've preferred an actual leather smell to really make it extremely complex but heyyyy estee lauder isn't a niche house to push beyond their boundaries. I guess I'll just layer Guerlain's Cuir Intense to satisfy my leather needs in this one + it's a win because they have overlapping notes. It smells way cleaner on fabric. It smells veryyyy shampooey on clothes. This is a fragrance that should only be worn on skin as it's the only way to unleash its inner beast.

Since discovering last year this Luxury Collection from Estee Lauder, I kept wanting to get my nose on Paradise Moon. I like osmanthus in perfumes and this scent is supposed to be all about it. Today I have found it in store on display amongst other bottles from the collection and I am testing it as my fragrance of the day, plus a few sprays on a blotter. As a first impression, I love it!!! Smells amazing, floral, fruity, apricoty, leathery, ambery, warm and slightly spicy. It has so many facets and smells more complex than it would seem judging by the three notes listed. Has an interesting contrast between the intense fruity floral, feminine aspects and the masculine/ robust facets given by leather. To my nose, it smells like it could have tea or cardamom included in the composition alongside osmanthus, labdanum and leather. As it dries down, it gets a bit sweeter than as it opens and more leathery. Don’t worry about the leather aspect, it’s not overpowering the fruiy/floral dominance. It doesn’t reminds me of anything from my collection, which is awesome, but then again, I have just one osmathus dominant perfume that I’ve bought last year, Absolue d’Osmanthe by PMC. I think it’s a nice representation of this exotic flower and it’s very likeable, therefore if you’re interested in an osmanthus forward fragrance, I would say try Paradise Moon. It’s not too pricey and can be found on sale quite often, for about 20% off, and for a discounted price, it’s worth getting a bottle. It comes in two size bottles also, so if you don’t want to get a 100 ml bottle, they sell it in a 40 ml as well. Talking about bottles, this collection comes in a very classy, luxurious bottle with a magnetic cap. It’s really nice and unique because not many perfumes nowadays have prominent osmanthus note in their structure, so you’ll smell unique and distinctive wearing Paradise Moon! I will add this beauty to my collection in the future, I really love it. As far as the connection between the name and the juice goes, I don’t get it. To me smells more ambery, resinous/ earthy than anything celestial... Will update about how it performs at the end of the day. Edit: around five hours is a complete skin scent. On clothes last a bit better, as expected.

I tried this first from the new Lauder line because I’m an osmanthus and leather fan but wasn’t overly impressed at first; the leather aspects take time to emerge and the initial stages seem a bit candy-like and simple. However Paradise Moon eventually came to impress me a great deal and I bought a bottle. Starts off sweet and sour and slowly the cistus and other earthy parts come out, adding depth but letting the osmanthus stay front and centre the entire time. There’s a sweet-soapy-sour effect that I absolutely love and some of my favourites possess (Galop, Miyako). The general effect is smooth, rounded and glossy, with a lot of lushness and juiciness but not “damp” smelling or too sweet. Staying power is terrific and the scent projects amazingly, fruity and milky at a distance and darker and earthier closer up. There is a hint of chypre in Paradise moon that makes me think of Le Panthere by Cartier and Azemour Les Orangers by Empire d’Parfum. All of these have kind of bitter, hard fruit candy effect. The quality and value of this line is really good and I hope more bloggers/ reviewers start talking about it! EDIT: I tried this again when I bought a backup bottle at an outlet and it smelled much more leathery and smokey than my old bottle, but I thought it was even better. I have no idea which bottle is older and which is newer.

Sometimes I feel like we ask for too much from fragrance when we could simply embrace it as an emblem of beauty. When it's simple, it is expected to be complex. When complex, it may be deemed too complicated. It's like trailing for the elusive ideal that will finally, FINALLY, set our heart a-flutter and make the unrelenting search worth it. But this ideal never comes and we sometimes feel like we settle. Or maybe we start to pick apart and analyze the smell of something and we lose the visceral wonder of it all, listing notes and making comparisons and trying so hard to articulate when we can just feel. We could just let that feeling guide us. Paradise Moon is what I perceive to be Rodrigo Flores-Roux's love letter to osmanthus, letting it radiate beyond its natural inclinations, intensifying its qualities, especially its leathery undercurrent. The sweetness is just right, the amount of apricot meets tea is measured, and the inherent wearability makes it effortlessly wearable. The labdanum is the perfect cornerstone: subtly sensuous. It has a refreshing simplicity where lately I find many newer releases clobber one over the head with concept. It just feels good, it smells good, and there's rather no need to expatiate the matter. It clears the mind to just see it as beautifully rendered as that emblem of beauty and be on my way.

lol i've spammed the reviews in this particular fragrance but it's been 3 days since I had this and i've had pretty good wears with it. when i first had it, the leather note was nonexistent during its earlier days but the more i kept experiencing its bubble the more i detected the leather note overtime. I randomly started getting some faint leather nuances ala Guerlain Cuir Intense in the air while wearing this and I was confused because I didn't wear that fragrance today? and then it kicked it, there goes the leather note as promised in the note breakdown of Paradise Moon. WE FINALLY MET !! (after kind of ranting that the leather note is nowhere to be found) It's kinda given that Cuir Intense and Paradise Moon would have faint similarities with each other because of some overlapping notes but they're pretty distinguishable. (so yes, not a dupe, just vaguely familiar) Cuir Intense is less floral forward with less osmanthus (no apricoty, plummy, peachy opening), a more licorice smelling leather with a mild tobacco drydown Paradise Moon on the other hand has an OBVIOUSLY more floral forward opening with its osmanthus' peachy facets dialed up, and the leather here is nuttier and greasier compared to Cuir Intense. I have zero regrets picking this fragrance up !!