Gleam Of The Moon (Into The Gourmand)

I have found a bottle of Gleam of the Moon on sale in TKMaxx for 7 euros and I knew I had to have it! It’s such a delicious, creamy, lactonic, yellow floral/rice scent with a sweet vanilla base. It’s supposed to be a dupe of Blanche Bete, that’s how I found out about it two years ago when it was released but I can’t comment on this since I haven’t gotten my nose on Blanche Bete, but as a standalone fragrance it’s pretty good. I love mimosas and I have a few mimosa flower forward fragrances in my collection but I don’t have anything with a rice note, so Gleam of the Moon really captivated my attention. I knew I am going to love it because having vanilla and mimosa in composition is a sure recipe to create a delicious floral gourmand! It’s a shame that it’s not longer available on Zara website because this kind of gem of a fragrance should be a permanent addition to their feminine fragrance line. Therefore, if you’re interested into something that sounds like a creamy, mildly sweet, vanilla/rice/mimosa perfume, check out your local TKMaxx, you might find it on a shelf for a steal of a price, like I did. The performance is quite luck lustre sadly, but I’ve got a 100 ml bottle for less than 10 euros so I don’t mind spraying heavily to make it last a bit longer. Lasts only around 4 hours on my skin. But for that price it doesn't bother me overspraying. Gleam of the Moon is an absolute treasure of a scent!

If you have been in the fragrance game for more than five minutes-and let’s face it, you probably have, you are here, after all, on fragrantica reading comments about a perfume. It’s OK. We’re all here. You’re in good company. As I was saying, if you have been in the fragrance game for more than five minutes, you already understand that you can either have your perfumes or wear them. But you can’t have both. Undoubtedly, we have all encountered a perfume that has made us painfully aware of this truism. We all have met a fragrance that was a splurge or is discontinued and has torn us asunder simultaneously wanting to wear that scent all day every day but keep that perfume forever. I am in the lucky unlucky position to have quite a few of these sorts of perfumes in my collection. It’s with a heavy heart filled with joy that I say that Zara’s Gleam of the Moon, is now part of my list. This scent could convince anyone that beauty exists on a plane we are lucky to fleetingly observe. Don’t go looking for it- as I said, it’s discontinued. You’ll invite trouble into your life.

Such a yummy, creamy, sweet but not too sweet scent. The rice and vanilla play off each other very nicely - rice pudding is an accurate description. This perfume is light and cozy, even with those notes it veers more into skin scent than gourmand. I actually get a bit nose blind to this, but my sisters think I smell amazing when I put this on. I’m not sure if this is the mimosa or because of the laconic element to the fragrance, but there is also a bit of a light coconut element to it. I could honestly see this perfume being worn any season, any time of day. Very office friendly, but not something everyone else will be wearing. If I didn’t know better I would guess this perfume would be a milky white color vs transparent. One of the most unique and versatile Zara fragrances I own!

Creamy vanilla-rice pudding with the mimosa note on top! It's slightly powdery, cozy. When I tried it the first time without knowing the notes, it strongly reminded me of coconut milk, but the more I wear it the more the rice note seems to appear. At the very end of the day of wearing it the drydown seems similar to the vanilla of Zaras "Friday" perfume (80% the same, same family, not the same perfume!), I'm guessing they used the same vanilla for them both. It was a lucky find since I wanted to get Crystal Noir, I love it on paper but the perfume leaves a weird cat piss+fecal smell on my skin, it's not the same perfume obviously, but it is a nice coconut sub for me and my skin chemestry. (Gleam of the moon is not as much of a night out perfume as CN, more like everyday wear)

I just noticed a couple of mixed reviews on this. I got the bottle as soon as it came out. I was testing all of the Christmas line and this one stood out to me the most. The package was super cute and the name pulled me in even more. When it comes to strength wise, it kind of reminds me of Hypnotic vanilla by Zara but way more softer and less strong which I love. My parents told me it smelt like cookies once it settled down on my skin and it compliments it in a nice way. I totally get the powdery whiff, especially if you spray a lot. I didn't really notice grandma-like scent. It smells yummy and creamy and it lasted on me till the next day. If you let it marinate for longer, it's gonna turn into really sweet mix of rice and coconut pudding.