Soir de Lune (2006)
by Sisley

This is in my opinion a  less floral and darker version of the renowned Eau du Soir Sisley, i mean a more shadowy one due to a developed presence of sandalwood, spices, moss and patchouli. This one is  a classic green-floral-honeyed chypre, more stressed on the side of oakmoss than on the one of woods, a scent with an obscure, almost salty (and anyway deeply opaque), floral-laundry wake over shadowed by muguet, patchouli and jasmine. Here the flowers are darker. A more present rose is starring and sinister and, in its chord with mimosa, bergamot, iris, musk-moss and honey, develops a deeply soapy, fruity (peaches) and laundry effect that is overly shadowed by jasmine, pepper, patchouli and muguet and pushed up in attractiveness by the insertion of animal civet on the flank of honey, luxurious peach and amber. The duo iris-jasmine imprints sophistication to the general laundry atmosphere but is not enough to balance the modern charm with a may be too stressed traditional, british style, soapy-detergent laundry feel which stereotype this fragrance is a lot anchored to. The final issue is a classy, for sure, but may be too neutral, old school, soapy concoction, heavy in moss, rose, honey and mimosa while Eau du Soir is a bit more bright, luxurious and sophisticated.

12nd December, 2011. (Last Edited: 17th December, 2011.)

Luca Turin called this a "cheap, nasty knock off of Parfum de Peau" and gives it one star. While I have yet to get a sample of PdP, I can tell you there is nothing cheap or nasty about this (and at 240$ a bottle, you go in expecting good quality).

Maybe Luca Turin is a hack-- I will reserve my judgement until I get the (much cheaper) PdP-- but I was mystified and almost offended by his review. Maybe he just needs to revisit it. Or maybe he simply has a different aesthetic than I do (I love mandragore by Goutal, which he also panned.)

This is the first perfume I ever fell in love with and I love every facet of it as it evolves on my skin. It is a transformer that quickly morphs into a big complex rose tempered with honey and spice. And then it becomes an exquisite musky-moss still tinged, but with a different rose. It is complex and deep, with extraordinary sillage that lasts a blissful 6 hours or more on me.

There is not one disagreeable note in it, to my nose. It is harmonic euphoria in a bottle.

I do see, however, that there are some people who have a strong negative reaction to it, so I think it might be one of those perfumes like Angel, that you either understand immediately and love or that you hate. But it is far less radical than Angel. If you do not like rose, than this is not the one for you.

But it is the one for me and I am grateful I found it. It is, by the way, a true chypre with the oakmoss intact. It is mature, sophisticated and classic.

19th June, 2011.

Soir de Lune is a throwback to a genre whose heyday was the 1970s-1980s: the heavy rose chypre. Maybe it's a tribute, maybe it’s an attempt to revive a faded genre, but it lands squarely in the company of Ungaro’s Diva, Sherrer’s Scherrer, Lauder’s Knowing, even Paloma Picasso’s Paloma. It’s often compared to L’Arte di Gucci, which I’ve never tried.

It is as substantial as the others in the genre, but not as pleasing. It comes off as strong but simple, blanketing but not shadowy like the best of the rose chypres. I can’t actually say the balances are entirely off, but they aren’t inspired. The moss seems forceful but not deep. The citrus topnotes don’t lead into the rest of the perfume. The spices don’t lend richness. The rose is…well, it’s there.

SdL doesn’t reach the heights of the genre that its predecessors did. Perhaps its failings are due to the restrictions on ingredients that made the older rose chypres so robust and full. Fortunately, the chypre genre is forgiving, and while not breathtaking, SdL is not unattractive from any angle.

23rd April, 2011.

My favorite perfume! And I wear it whenever I feel like it, day or night, wherever I go.

I told an sa I was looking for a dark chypre, and she nearly sprayed me with ''Eau de soir'' but I managed to dodge her.
Only I didn't manage to dodge the ''Soir de Lune'' which she used to attack me with straight afterward. After my ''Eau de Soir'' experience a few months earlier I never wanted another Sisley sprayed one me. Lucky she did catch me!
To my surprise, for the rest of the day I kept getting these whiffs which brought me a sense of bliss...
I agree with earlier comments that it seems to go round and round in a circular motion. And as longevity is excellent it lasted until evening. It didn't leave me alone. I went back next day and begged for a sample, and then pestered family and friends to put their money together for my upcoming birthday and buy me a bottle!

Now my boyfriend loathes heavy scents, so I tried to wean him very carefully to this, he claims he discerns an oud-like smell in this. He thinks it's heavy but he does rather like it. Luckily, because we would have be having problems otherwise, I will not give up my Soir de Lune!
I have to be careful as to what we are going to do, once I sprayed myself just before we left in the car and the monster sillage wàs too much for him. And I can't blame him.

I agree this fragrance must have top quality ingredients, it has monster staying power, monster sillage. It lasts for weeks when sprayed on fabric.
Yummm.
Three thumbs up!

23rd February, 2011.

When I spritz this on, the air around me smells strongly of roses and nothing else.

On my skin, it is a whole different story: The first time I tried it, it felt as if someone had mixed Eau du Soir with Diorissimo and added some nutmeg to the mix. It just smelled too busy, as if it had too many notes clashing at once. It felt like a slap on the face.

After the top notes (mainly the lily of the valley and some citrus) evaporate, I get roses in full bloom (and what beautiful roses!), nutmeg and honey on a beautiful chypre base.
There is an animalic quality to Soir de Lune, which renders it sexy in a womanly (as opposed to girlie) way.

I cannot fail to appreciate the good quality of its ingredients, its evolution and tenacity.
I find it a very mature and elegant scent. Feminine and very sexy in an assertive way.

I cannot wear this every day but on the occasions I do, I feel very much of a femme fatale.

2nd January, 2011.

Soir de Lune is a heavy, warm, and dark take on the chypre genre, focused on rose and bolstered by civet. After a classical fruity-spicy opening, Soir quickly gets to the point, its core of rose, civet, moss, and geranium lasting for many hours and making it a close cousin of '80s power-chypres like Knowing, and more so, the now discontinued L'Arte di Gucci. Deep into the drydown it retains its animalic sheen but develops a certain faint soapiness - it may be musk, as some musks do that on my skin - that isn't unwelcome in the least.

The longevity and sillage are highly impressive; Soir lasts long and stays strong.

A fragrance out of its time, and all the more welcome for it. Get out your hairspray and shoulder-pads, this chypre means business.

26th January, 2010.