Champs Lunaires
Rogue Perfumery (2018)

Another one from Rogue knocked straight out of the park–Champs Lunaires is everything I want from a Big White Floral, summery, tropical, luscious, luminous, luxurious, languid, unashamedly itself. I loathe how some tuberose perfumes seem to try and hide their star ingredient under a layer of sugar, as tuberose has enough happening in it anyway, and it will always smell like tuberose, no matter what else is done to it. Those sweetened tuberoses feel *de trop*–like a hat on a hat, as tuberose is already quite sweet, albeit not in a sugary way, but more like honey, the sweetness of green things, and some overripe fruits, rather than the flat out crunch of cane sugar or, shudder, corn syrup.

The coconut in this composition is not aggressive, should that be a problem for potential testers of this perfume. I don't mind significantly more coconutty white florals than this one, but some people hate it, and here it is almost undetectable as coconut per se, as instead it had more of a presence, smoothing the tendency of some tuberoses to screech in their high register. This element keeps the florals in a pleasant, almost mellow contralto range.

Within this, I can smell the complexity of what must be very nice raw tuberose materials. I rarely smell the mintiness I always catch from real live tuberose, but it is on show here, adding to the pleasant cocktail-like accord along with the mint. I believe I also smell an almost orange-ambery tinted jasmine incense that reminds me more than a little of two of my absolutely favorite perfumes, Bal a Versailles and Le Maroc pour Elle.

The perfume has a lovely cushiony softness around its edges that becomes more evident as it dries down. This sets it apart from two other modern tuberose creations that I believe are considered the gold standard Queens of tuberose, Carnal Flower and Beyond Love–both great perfumes but, compared with Champs Lunaires, unnecessarily powerful and hard to find good reasons to wear, also both with with very intense base ingredients that seem to bounce off the skin rather than sink in. Champs Lunaires' base is a simple, soapy, slightly sandalwoodesque accord, less complex than some of Rogue's showy bases, although appropriately simple for this perfume's overall balance of rich versus light–the baroque intensity of the florals speak for themselves, but sotto voce. Luca Turin says that chic and luxury are, basically, mutually exclusive, but this perfume proved otherwise, in my opinion.

I don't really see this as a strictly seasonal, floral despite its obvious tropical-summery points of reference. As Wingie notes, it is incredibly wearable and would work as a daytime perfume for all but the absolutely strictest professional settings. Its performance is about 6 to 8 hours on skin, perhaps longer with more aggressive application, but I am being miserly with my sample, so I am wearing it to work, at dosage appropriate for my office, where scent is allowed but obviously not distracting ones. I have only been wearing it for a few weeks this summer, and I think I would love its bottled sun rays on an otherwise chilly day. It is on my purchase list for fall. Two deep coral thumbs up, and 4 glossy yet soft focus stars.

This may be my favorite current tuberose. It’s a creamy and beautiful tuberose, but manages to be light and airy enough that it doesn't overwhelm and can be worn during the day. Lovely for summer nights as well.

Rogue Champs Lunaíres is a tuberose-centered light musky accord with a quite central milky coconutty presence gradually lightened (in its initial stage) by a exotic fresh touch of citric pomelo. The latter provides citric (barely "minty") freshness and a vague apple-aroma with a tad of something tropical (perfectly enhanced in effects by coconut and white musk). The aroma, especially in this phase, is definitely modern, dreamy, joyful and summery (with a sort of coconutty tanning foam-effect in the top and central stage). I agree on that we are not dealing with a massive and glorious "madame style" chyprè tuberose a la Ungaro Diva nor with an aristocratic refined tuberose a la Annick Goutal Tubereuse or with a more modern "carnal" one a la Frederic Malle Carnal Flower (nor with sinny-poisonous floral potions a la Serge Lutense Tubereuse Criminelle which is dark, camphoraceous, rotten, narcotic). The musky tuberose (never particularly indolic) is in here well calibrated and never "relentlessy obsessive" a la Acampora Blu (a bomb, one of the most obsessive tuberose in perfumery). The musky presence is in here not particularly animalistic or feline a la Parfum d'Empire Musc Tonkin or dozens deer-musks or stuffs like those (since in here the muskiness is lighter and airier with a soapier milky cool aura and the right dose of final dustiness/woodiness). Along the way the aroma gradually darkens down (with a more "intimate" vaguely addled warmer vibe) but the feeling is still light and comforting (just a tad woodier or dustier and more structured). Frankly I don't catch the rose, probably lost in the central coconutty soapiness. Dry down is far more restrained and the muskiness gradually unfolds a tad of well calibrated dusty/camphoraceous "roughness" which finally guides the juice towards the unisex fields. I recommend this fragrance to all the lovers of light lovable wearable muskiness with the right (never out of the royalties) dose of "presence".

Champs Lunaires is a white floral (tuberose), with a slight waxy feel (can a smell have a feel ?). The opening is not overbearing, but the sillage is such that I can smell it faintly on my forearms when typing.

Tuberose is not a flower I have smelled IRL, and the only tuberose scent I have sampled (on card in-store) is Hermes Twilly. Champs Lunaires is far more grown-up.

Now there's something else happening - a smell of metal polish (Silvo, Brasso, Duraglit, that sort of thing). Whatever it is, it provides an airy lift and freshness, which is different to that in Derviche but serves the same purpose. This ushers in a milky, creamy note, almost white chocolate, and a hint of PVC.

Two hours later, and there's something fleetingly salty and a bit weird with the original floral notes, and then something else floral in common with Etro Dianthus (either rose or geranium, or one of the aromachems that make a carnation accord). And woody - that'll be the sandalwood at last. If this is the drydown, I like it, but it is a skin scent on me, after only 2-3 hours.

White florals are not my bag, so I wouldn't want to wear Champs Lunaires myself. Nevertheless, this is very pleasant and nicely balanced/weighted, with an interesting development. Good work !

Stardate 20200820:

A decent white floral. Nothing new here but well executed. A tuberose solifloral with just the right amount of indole.
Neutral to thumbs up.

I don't have that much of a point of reference for Champs Lunaires, and with it seeming more of a feminine not something I would go for again, but as usual it's been interesting to try it.

It opens up into a milky, abstract floral, and develops over the course of a day into a more creamy sandalwood drydown. The florals accompany it to the end and it makes for a pleasant wear on a hot day, which we're having plenty of in the UK right now.

Overall, it feels like a genteel, ladylike scent for those who want to get off the beaten track a little.