Through Olfactive Studio Dancing Light, you can see the mysterious Northern lights captured by photographer Frøydis Dalheim – bottle ©Olfactive Studio, Northern lights ©Frøydis Dalheim Photography, montage ©Emmanuelle Varron.

Eleven years ago, Céline Verleure launched Olfactive Studio, a brand whose concept was to associate a photo with a perfume. The first three debuted in 2011: Auto Portrait, Dark Room and Still Life. Since then, the collection has grown over the years, adding the Sepia in collection in 2019 (CaFleureBon Deputy Editor Ida Meister was the first to review Iris Shot and Violet Shot at Esxence 2019  and Sr Editor Lauryn Beer reviewed Leather Shot). Olfactive Studio Dancing Light, which has just been released, and is the thirteenth fragrance from the Black Collection, and the brand’s nineteenth.

 

Celine Verleure Olfactive Studio founder and DA (©Olfactive Studio), Robertet perfumer Sidonie Lancesseur (©DR) and photographer Frøydis Dalheim (©Frøydis Dalheim Photography) – collage ©Emmanuelle Varron.

The Olfactive Studio Dancing Light “project” dates back to the end of 2018. Céline Verleure wanted to work again with Sidonie Lancesseur, who had created Lumière Blanche in 2012: “This first collaboration went very quickly… too quickly! We understood each other so well that we wanted to work together again,” admits the founder of Olfactive Studio. “We then talked to each other and while taking stock of my collection, I realized that I had a lot of woody fragrances. We had to balance that”, she adds. The idea of a perfume full of white flowers was then obvious, since there was not a true one yet among the many perfumes of the brand. A perfume with a cold, refined and musky start, corresponding to Sidonie Lancesseur’s delicate style.

The name preceded the perfume. Initially, Céline Verleure thought that Olfactive Studio Dancing Light would evoke electric, raw lights. Then COVID-19 entered in our lives, and Celine Verleure and Sidonie Lancesseur wanted to convey a more “Natural” spirit, and therefore chose to work around the phenomenon of the aurora borealis and a tribute to the cold and intense lights. This  natural and mystical light was slightly different from the initial concept: the light would always be dazzling, but this time icy, even frosty and mint would be a key note.

White and green lights in the dark picture chosen by Celine Verleure to symbolize Olfactive Studio Dancing Light taken by Norwegian photographer Frøydis Dalheim – ©Frøydis Dalheim Photography.

As for each of her perfumes, Céline Verleure wanted to encapsulate the fragrance through a photographer’s lens. For Olfactive Studio Dancing Light,  she discovered Norwegian artist Frøydis Dalheim, on Instagram whose photography is inspired by the magnificent landscapes of her country. Through this “connection” on social media Celine found the perfect photo one which depicts an enigmatic landscape adorning the sky with veils of emerald shades, as if in an impalpable breath.

A magic night at Balsfjord – ©Frøydis Dalheim Photography -Here the northern lights add a poetry and mysticism  

But what does the aurora borealis smell like? As soon as Dancing Light opens, I am immersed into a contrast of olfactory sensations that are fresh, woody and floral at the same time. I first perceive bergamot mixed with pink pepper, with a hint of cardamom to amplify the hot-cold effect. The bursting minty note is both icy but also slightly creamy (probably thanks to the fig milk accord) and will be the common thread throughout the evolution of Olfactive Studio Dancing Light. The pine needles also come to rub against my skin, bringing their green and woody facet, then transform into branches allowing a multitude of flowers to bloom despite the frost: jasmine and neroli, sensual and hypnotic, freesia, suave and fruity and syringa, here very aromatic. This multiplication of raw materials does not weigh on Olfactive Studio Dancing Light, quite the contrary: Sidonie Lancesseur’s creation is light as a breath, with bursts of light reminiscent of the sublime effects of the aurora borealis. The evolution is very delicate, with sandalwood, cedar wood and musk which raise the temperature over the hours, without altering the spirit of the lights of the Far North, both fresh, mysterious and shimmering.

Icy mint and pine needles bring that coolness you get from the first seconds wearing Olfactive Studio Dancing Light – both ©Pixabay, collage ©Emmanuelle Varron.

Olfactive Studio Dancing Light remains in the spirit of its Black Collection predecessors, where photography and perfume are exquisitely linked. The swirls of light specific to the aurora borealis have found a fragrance faithful to the mystery they unfold, here magnified by the lens of Frøydis Dalheim. The fresh-woody-floral aspect gives it a unique and totally mixed signature I love to wear.

Notes: Italian bergamot, icy mint, Guatemalan cardamom, fig milk accord; pineapple accord, Indian ocean pink pepper, Siberian pine needle, Egyptian jasmine, Moroccan neroli, syringa accord, freesia accord, French lavandin, Indian sandalwood, Virginia cedarwood, ambery notes, mosses, musk.

Disclaimer: A huge “merci” to Celine Verleure for the Olfactive Studio Dancing Light bottle provided for this review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Emmanuelle Varron, Senior Editor

Olfactive Studio Dancing Light 100 ml bottle – ©Olfactive Studio

  Thanks to Olfactive Studio, we have a 100 ml bottle of Dancing Light for one registered reader in USA, UK and EU. To be eligible, please leave a comment on how you feel about Emmanuelle’s review, your favorite Olfactive Studio perfume and where you live. Draw closes 06/19/2022.

Olfactive Studio Dancing Light is available on Jovoy Paris and Olfactive Studio websites.

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