SOLEIL LUNAR by Lalique

There's a big push at the moment for simplistic designs and uniformity across the fragrances offered by perfume brands. With the bottles remaining constant, it’s often just the label that changes. While the bottle clearly won’t affect the fragrance inside, the pleasure of holding a sculptural item in your hand definitely accentuates the act of applying your favourite perfume. Some bottles are iconic, think of Guerlain’s Shalimar or Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Male, and they certainly played a part in their legendary status. Bringing scent and design together is a definite skill, and that can absolutely be said of Soleil Lunar by Lalique.

The name Lalique conjures incredible glass sculptures, and its reputation stretches back to 1861. Founded by René Lalique, his quintessentially French company began life in jewellery design, before expanding into world-renowned crystal. Lalique’s first link with perfume was as the bottle designer for the famous Francois Coty, as well as the likes of Guerlain and the House of Worth, but they eventually launched their own fragrance line in 1994. Those original bottles had a unique sense of fluidity and radiance, along with French savoir-faire, and it’s this idea that they now also bring to each of their perfumes.

The Soleil collection first appeared in 2019, and arrived hot on the heels of the latest releases in its Les Compositions Parfumées. The concept was that it would celebrate the warmth, light and energy of the sun, and also celebrate the idea of the free-spirited woman. The first perfume, simply called Soleil, embodied the brilliance of the morning sun, thanks to its luminous citrus notes and pear granita. It was followed up in 2022 by Soleil Vibrant, which built on the original fragrance with deeper and more sensual notes of orange blossom and vanilla. However, 2024 saw us switch to the moment where the sun and moon come together.

Soleil Lunar was created by perfumers Nathalie Lorson and Alexandra Monet, and their brief was to conjure the “seamless transition into the night’s realm of the moon taking the sun’s place in the sky – asserting herself as the master of her own destiny”. Once again making the wearer the “sunchild” of the story, the perfumers created a fragrance that journeys on the skin, in the same way that the colour transitions on the bottle from golden amber to sensual purple, and skilfully completes a trio of scents that are as much of a joy to look at as to wear. So, are you ready to tread the exciting line between day and night?

The fragrance opens with deliciously fruity notes of mandarin and lychee, but the addition of pink pepper adds a golden brightness reminiscent of the exiting sunshine. This quickly welcomes the cestrum nocturnum flower, aka Lady of the Night, with its jasmine-like aroma, alongside a cherry-pie heliotrope that is irresistible. These combine to produce an indulgent and sensual quality that signifies the combination of the sun and moon. However, the development of Soleil Lunar sees a darkened musk pairing with a powdery moss, celebrating the night sky, but cleverly enhanced by a whiskyed ambrette and dry cedarwood to create an intoxicating animalic trail. A beautiful bottle, a sensual scent, the perfect pairing.

Soleil Lunar is available from the Lalique website at lalique.com, and also from Harrods, priced at £53 for 30ml, £79 for 50ml, and £110 for 100ml. [Sample provided by Helen McTiffen]