Olfactive Studio- Lumiere Blanche

Lumiere Blanche by Olfactive Studios smells like a glass of cold milk and Christmas cookies left for Santa outside by the window overlooking a snow covered field lit by an almost full moon. It's warm and spicy inside, cold and metallic outside. The fragrance also moves between the comforting and familiar spices to a synthetic and industrialized world. It's interesting, if nothing else.

The opening of Lumiere Blanche is mostly about cardamom and star anise. It's quite intense for the first few minutes (I admit to spraying with abandon, something I've learned to do with Olfactive Studio perfumes). But before it becomes Dutch cookies there's a wood and pollution note that infiltrates the idyllic scene and dominates it for a while.

The sharp metallic air and ice cold milk soften Lumiere Blanche soon after, and there's a return to the comfort zone with more licorice-anise and the downy white musk is piled in layer upon layer, facet upon facet. Somehow, even with all that's going on, there's a very stark minimalism to Lumiere Blanche, and a very modern feel despite the hint of powder in the background.

Lumiere Blanche was created for Olfactive Studio by perfumer Sidonie Lancesseur (who's also responsible for several By Kilian perfumes) to go with the photo above (by Massimo Vitali). I can't think of another perfume that captures an iceberg so accurately, not to mention manages to make it feel wearable and inviting. The white light here is quite beautiful, though eventually Limiere Noire disintegrates into a whisper-light white musk and loses most of its unique features. I'd say that this is a gender-neutral office scent that can please many with its transition from a light gourmand to a smooth powdery woody-musk.

Notes: cardamom, star anise, cinnamon, iris, almond milk, Cashmere wood, cedar, sandalwood, tonka bean, white musk.

Olfactive Studio- Lumiere Blanche ($145, 50ml EDP) is available from Luckyscent and Bergdorf Goodman. Samples were provided by PR and retailers at several events.