Demeter Fragrances Moonbeam and Vanilla Bark – Review

I had heard about Demeter Fragrance Library from my friends in USA who loved the unique, sometimes quirky everyday scents that Demeter captured in their colognes (Wet Garden or Gin and Tonic anyone?). So when I heard that these colognes were finally available in India, I was really eager to try them out. Here’s the review of two of their fragrances, Moonbeam and Vanilla Bark.

With a mission to “create environments where people can rediscover the wonderful world of scent that is too often overlooked or forgotten in our multi-tasking, modern world”, it is no surprise that Demeter Fragrance Library consists of more than 250 different fragrances inspired by everyday objects and experiences. These are simple, friendly and familiar scents, scents inspired by the beautiful smells that surround us everyday, adjusted to be both, wearable and recognisable. The assortment includes wonderful smells like “Vanilla Cake Batter”, “Baby Powder” and “Honeysuckle” and many more unusual fragrances like “Dirt”, “Leather” and “Gin and Tonic”.

Demeter Fragrance Facts:

* 95% of the ingredients are derived from natural or renewable resources.

* No artificial colors.

* No binders or emulsifiers.

* No Phthalates.

* Alcohol naturally fermented from corn.

When I was in school, I was in the Girl Guides and each year, we went for a week-long camp. It was torture central with terrible places to stay, horrid, horrid food and a hectic routine. The highlight of the camp for me were the astronomy classes (only for a select group of interested girls) where each night, we would observe the night sky and constellations at different times. On one of the camps near Marve beach, we went for “star gazing” at 4am. The full moon hung low on the horizon and seemed to almost touch the water and the moonbeams created a shimmery path leading to the moon. It was magical! It almost felt like if I were to start walking on the calm, shimmery, watery path, I would walk up to the moon.The reason for that flashback is because the name of this fragrance, and it’s description, both instantly reminded me of that night. “Demeter’s Moonbeam captures the dual nature of the moonbeam, reflecting elements of both, the innocence of light and the passion of night.”

This fragrance is really difficult to describe. It starts out with sweet floral notes blended with vanilla but warms up to a spicier, muskier fragrance after about an hour or so. It’s quite a complex fragrance and yet very subtle so if strong fragrances give you a headache, you should definitely go for this one. Another interesting thing about this cologne is it’s unisex appeal. It’s neither overtly feminine, nor is it outright masculine and smelt wonderful on me as well as on hubby.My only gripe is with it’s staying power. On me, it lasted just around 3-4 hours after which it became really, really faint. Nevertheless, a beautiful fragrance.

VANILLA BARK