Curionoir Moon Moss (Tiffany Witehira) 2023+ Lunar Reverie Giveaway

January 25, 2024January 25, 2024

Curionoir Moon Moss photo by Indigo Perfumery

Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white;

Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk;

Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry font.

The firefly wakens; waken thou with me. ~ Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

photo of Tiffany Witehira via The New Zealand Financial Times

New Zealand native Tiffany Witehira is the Creative Director and founder of Curionoir, a small, independent perfume house dedicated to composing fragrances which are inspired by Ms. Witehira’s Maori background, personal history, and unique interests. These extraits (and all Curionoir fragrances exist solely as perfume extraits) tend to be singularly exquisite and unlike any others you might have smelt previously – precisely because each one is visionary in its scope. I was fortunate to receive a sample of Curionoir’s 2023 oeuvre Moon Moss this past week, and I found it so compelling; the perfume demanded that I review it. Far be it from me to deny fragrant exposition to something as lovely as Moon Moss.

“Drawing from the intelligent organs of the earth, the wetlands with moonlight, and visions of swans in the shallows.” ~ description of Curionoir Moon Moss via website

Curionoir Moon Moss Art Direction by @praires.locket, photography by Tash Kennedy©

Ms. Witehira’s depiction of an Antipodean nocturnal landscape is palpable and very nearly visceral in its description: primaeval environs moist and fecund, dappled with silvery shadow. What evokes the gliding of swans for Tiffany translates as a white peacock to Lord Tennyson; they share the serene imagery which cries out for the lover’s awakening. To be as one with a natural setting may be as holy as it gets – and Curionoir Moon Moss possesses a distinctly sacred sylvan quality; it is tranquil and mysterious.

Curionoir Moon Moss Art Direction by @praires.locket, photography by Tash Kennedy©

Some of the notes which are listed may be interpreted in several ways, (I try to be a thorough researcher). Some say that acquiring an orchid essential oil or absolute is highly unlikely – yet there are sources available where one may locate an orchid-infused oil or maceration – primarily for cosmetic usage; the same goes for white lily. To evoke their aromas, skillful sleight-of-hand is required, and the employment of some of the fine fragrance houses’ offerings (such as Firmenich’s Lilyflore®, Givaudan’s Nympheal®, or cyclamen aldehyde, amongst others). Algae may or may not refer to seaweed absolute, an olfactory material usually sourced from France: it is an extremely complex aromatic adjuvant to verdancy best utilized with great care. Curionoir Moon Moss gleans its green facets from these materials in combination with the inky, forest floor tones of oakmoss (oakmoss and seaweed get along famously!), and the über-green floralcy of hyacinth, with its indolic, slightly-soiled-petticoat decadence. Amplify green? Birch (betula lenta) is present and on the job: fresh and slightly medicinal, birch essential oil is chock full of methyl salicylate – that which is readily identified as wintergreen scent and flavor – and present as a topical analgesic in many sports rubs. In small doses, it imparts a welcome liveliness. Tiffany Witehira rounds and gentles Moon Moss with the comforting balsamic, warm dryness of cedarwood.

Credit: Ganapathy Kumar on Unsplash

Curionoir Moon Moss conjures one particular word for me whenever I smell it: wistful. It is a perfume filled with longing and crepuscular beauty; a multi-tiered fragrance possessed of classical bone structure. Resolute and wise, it clings to both garment and flesh with tender tenacity under the light of the moon.

There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon. ~ Matsuo Basho

Notes: orchid, hyacinth, white lily, algae, oak moss, birch, cedarwood

Sample graciously provided by Indigo Perfumery – many thanks! My nose is my own…

Curionoir Moon Moss 4 ml photo via Indigo Perfumery

Thanks to the generosity of Indigo Perfumery, US stockist for Curionoir, we have a 4ml pocket perfume of Curionoir Moon Moss extrait for one registered reader in the U.S. ONLY. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what appeals to you about Curionoir Moon Moss based upon Ida’s review. Draw ends 1/28/2024

Please read Indigo Perfumery’s owner Ann Bouterse 8^th Anniversary article from 2021… they celebrated their 10th on October 15, 2023!!

Enjoy Lauryn’s reviews of Curionoir Diaphanous and 415 AD

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