The Moon

I've been looking forward to getting my hands on this for a while—then I lost interest, until now. The time has come! Has to be said again. I love Frédéric Malle frags. This is peak perfumery. The brand's collaborative platform is unmatched. The perfumers understand the art, they have access to the highest-quality materials in high doses, and they’re given creative freedom. The result? Banger after banger. The Moon sits at an insane price point of €500+ for a 50ml bottle. I am no stranger to paying big bucks for a great scent. This hobby pretty much lives off our “disposable” income. But Five. Hundred. Fucking. Euros for a fragrance is a lil steep. For that price I better smell Heaven itself or nothing at all. That said... I’m in love. This is the most definitive expression of a rose oud to my knowledge. It doesn’t shy away from being sweet and fruity, but it’s balanced with a real, powerful expression of a masculine, slightly “fecal” oud at the same time. That combination sounds contradictory, but the way it’s blended is so cohesive. As someone who’s deeply into real Middle Eastern oud—having smelled everything from oils to pure, high-grade oud incense wood—this is the rose-oud fragrance I didn’t even know I needed. And now I want it badly. This is one of the rare times where the note breakdown on the website is exactly what you get. An opening with realistic raspberry jam, watery pink-lychee softness, tangy and tart blackberry, and a metallic, textured leather saffron that pushes out so much but in a non-intrusive way. It just envelops the nose—strawberry sweetness delivered with both tranquility and authority. That opening sweet jam persists for a long time until it conjoins with a slightly sour red berry and citrus facets of Turkish rose, combined with resinous, grassy, dry-sweet minerality of frankincense with rounded soft edges. Nothing here is screechy or sharp. It feels floral and elevated. The oud joins the mid very early—robust, stanky, but also clean and fresh at the same time. It's not barnyard at all; this is not that variety of oud, but it does have that “fecal” edge that some strong ouds have, if you know what I’m talking about. On top a warm ambers, strong earth, smoking cedars. This stays on your skin till the end of times—we’re talking 12+ hours. It even leaves an oily residue, so this probably has a good amount of concentrated oud oils. And it better have that for the price. It’s simply amazing, no overreactions. It’s scents like these that keep me excited to try new stuff. Projection? Yes. Just like the actual moon on a clear night sky. What else? Does it smell like Heaven? I don’t know, never been there. If some rich oil sheikh wants to do me a solid, DM me and send me a full bottle please LOL.

FRÉDÉRIC MALLE The Moon Julien Rasquinet 2019 The Moon is absolutely exceptional, sumptuous, mesmerizing, mellow scent where addictive fruity notes meet beautifully gentle animalic Oud and smooth leather. That exceptionality has, however, been lost over the years as the fragrance profile has become so popular. It still doesn't diminish the magic of this scent. I’m crazy about the combination of Raspberry and Oud and Raspberry and leather so this blend is like a dream for me. It’s easily too much for many but personally it stays right on the border of being very versatile and it’s like a vivid magical potion that truly touches my senses. The right amount of the mellifluous sweetness together with the mysterious darkness has already made this concoction a legend. It’s warm and powerful yet soft and refined. Divine. I haven’t tried the most recent batches but I’ve read that they are not so fruity. I somehow understand the reformulation if it has something to do with the regulation- hate those though- but why to destroy the idea of the scent by reducing the fruity flavor. 😭 But I have read also about the scent being too fruity for some people so those who didn’t like these earlier batches could love the new formula. My bottle is from 2022 and I recognize the difference between the juice from 2019. My sample was that original formula and it was a little bit fruitier than this 2022. So if you are thinking to buy this scent, you should think what kind of amount fruitiness is best for you and choose the batch in based on that. TOP Raspberry, Lychee, Red currant, Blackberry, Saffron HEART Frankincense, Turkish rose BASE Oud, Leather (Nutmeg mentioned as well on their website) Other Rasberry/Oud perfumes that are worth to check out are Roja Black Tier, Roja O Exclusive, Widian London, Louis Vuitton Ombre Nomade, Pantheon Nerone And some beautiful Raspberry/leather are Omanluxury Paramour, Royal Crown Upper Class and Tom Ford Ombré Leather. Thank you for reading, I hope my review was helpful. I would appreciate a lot if you want to follow me on IG and/or YouTube (English subtitles): @ninamariahperfumes It gives me a lot of motivation to write more.

First 10 to 15 minutes are absolutely repugnant - the smell of fruits left in the sun in the summer, along with some weird, rancid notes. It's like the layers of the perfume are all trying to squeeze out together, and it results in one of the worst smells I've ever encountered in a perfume. Similar thing can be said about majority of Lorenzo Pazzaglia perfumes, and just as with most of LP perfumes after 10-15 minutes it turns into one of the most beautiful, well-mixed perfumes ever. But yeah, be warned, the opening is disgusting. So what is this smell? First and foremost it's fruity and sweet, but somehow without the typical heaviness of sweet smells - it can be easily worn in the spring, and even on some colder summer days. It's on the lighter (but not light like citrus and mint!) side, but rather sophisticated. I don't think the mentioned agarwood and leather are detectible by themselves - it's more like their point is to decrease the sweetness of the other notes, and by that make them more mature as well as - ironically, considering how heavy those two are - lighter. Maybe they are more visible in the opening (thus this weird pungent-like smell), but thankfully it goes away very quickly. Flowery accents are detectable, and with the fruits, it blends together beautifully - there's no annoying "flower shop" smell that you can sometimes encounter with mostly-flowery scents, but the flowers also tone down and add freshness to the sweetness, so it's not overwhelming. Truly, beautifully crafted and blended together. But I'd say the pyramid of the notes is in the reverse - fruits are in the base, and agar and leather are the top notes. About longevity and silage - you can easily smell it after 10-12 hours of wearing, and the silage might be slightly shorter, but it's still a decent 8-10 hours of "everyone around you will smell it, whether they like it or not". That's with a typical neck + wrists total of 3 sprays.

Fruity, oudy, and leathery. Opens with an interesting blend of red fruits, I get mostly the red berries and the raspberry with a hint of the lychee. Saffron lends a soft and spicy quality in the opening that quickly fades. The red fruits swirl around notes of brilliant red rose and a beautiful oud note. I don't think the oud is animalic or harsh smelling, it is tempered by the rose and fruit notes. Leather emerges in the base and lends a masculine edge to The Moon. This is an incredibly long lasting fragrance with an impressive sillage. I could smell it on the collar of my shirt days after wearing. In comparison to Fidelis by HdP, also made by Julien Rasquinet, the fragrances are very similar. Fidelis being a more gourmand take on this DNA with notes of coffee and chocolatey patchouli. If you don't want to spend a fortune on The Moon I recommend checking out Fidelis. They're both equally masterpieces in my opinion. The Moon is very expensive. This one is a must sample because the oud may not appeal to everyone. Personally I don't think it's worth the retail price, but it is an incredibly beautiful experience. Wearing this makes me feel like Middle Eastern royalty. EDIT: The Moon is such a beautiful fragrance. The opening is almost nuclear strong but have some patience and give it an hour or two to dry down. What you're left with is the most beautiful ruby red rose, dank oud, and juicy red fruits. Leather in the base is strong and noticeable, but it never overpowers the other notes. The oud has just the right amount of funk that bounces off the fruit notes and creates an incredibly unique aura. 10/10.

This is without doubt one of the most jaw-dropping perfumes I've ever experienced. At its heart lies a rose-oud, executed so gorgeously that Frederic Malle has split my fragrance journey in two: those before The Moon, and those after. It opens with a potent blast of fruity oud and waxy, spiced saffron. The raspberry is sour and juicy, softened by floral lychee, while the natural oud has just enough barnyard funk to evoke Middle Eastern grandeur, without feeling dirty. As the oud sheds its animalic bite, a dusky rose blooms upon a bed of supple leather, tinged with a red-berry sweetness. Cool, mineralic plumes of frankincense drift through, bringing an airy brightness that slices through the richness. Despite my personal sensitivity to saffron's plasticine edge in the opening, The Moon finally settles as a sweet and smoky oud with monstrous performance. It's a mesmerizing scent, yet not one that I could wear casually. It leaves an oily patch on my arm that's visible for hours and never seems to stop projecting from the moment it's sprayed until the moment you shower, and even then, it sticks around. I've never gone upwards of 3 sprays from my sample atomiser, so I can only imagine the potency of a regular spray. In terms of pure scent appreciation, it's absolutely full-bottle worthy, but considering it's strength, price and how infrequently I'd wear it, my 5ml decant will last for years.