Pages

Monday, April 10, 2017

Sun Moon Stars by Karl Lagerfeld c1994

Sun Moon Stars by Karl Lagerfeld: launched in 1994 in association with Unilever. Created by Sophia Grojsman of IFF.





Karl Lagerfeld was inspired to create the perfume by his love of high quality paper. He states that "Sun, Moon and Stars smells of wet paper, I love the smell of good paper, which comes from wood. Not fax paper, of course."

At an opulent dinner to celebrate the debut of the fragrance, hosted by Lagerfeld at his luxurious villa on the Cote d'Azur, the assembled journalists were given a bottle of the perfume and a navy blue satin wrapped scroll that announced that a star had been officially named for each of them. Lagerfeld sat at the head table in the center of the room surrounded by the likes of Princess Caroline and Prince Albert of Monaco, famous photographer Helmut Newton and his wife Alice Springs, as well as late INXS singer Michael Hutchence and his then girlfriend, sultry model Helena Christensen. The event was heralded by a special display of fireworks.


Fragrance Composition:


So what does it smell like? It is classified as a fresh fruity floral-oriental fragrance for women. Described as a modern floral fragrance that reflects the magic and mystery of the universe. Its top notes include succulent peach and mandarin along with freesia, waterlily and white cloud rose. Its heart comprises heliotrope, precious jasmine, orange blossom and narcissus. The base blends sandalwood, sensuous musk and warm tones of amber.
  • Top notes: mandarin orange, pear, pineapple, living peach, bergamot, freesia, water lily and white cloud rose
  • Middle notes: gardenia, carnation, orchid, orris, lily of the valley, heliotrope, orange blossom, narcissus and jasmine 
  • Base notes: vanilla, cedar, sandalwood, amber and musk  


Sun Moon Stars was available in the following products:
  • Parfum
  • Eau de Toilette
  • Perfumed Deodorant Spray
  • Perfumed Body Lotion
  • Perfumed Bath & Shower Gel


Bottle:


Presented in a midnight-blue spherical frosted glass bottle embossed with stars, designed by Karl Lagerfeld in conjunction with Susan Wicker and made by Pochet et du Courval.



How to date your Sun Moon Stars perfume: if your bottle or box is marked with Unilever (Parfums International, it dates to 1994 to 2005, if it has the Coty name, it dates from 2005 until 2012, if it is marked with the Inter Parfums name, it dates from 2012 to the present.

The vintage version's glass is frosted and was distributed by a division of Unilever, however, I believe that to cut costs from production, the bottles were switched to non-frosted cobalt blue glass, these can be found marked with the Unilever, Coty and Inter Parfums name.

The images below are to show you the difference in the glass surface, frosted vs. shiny. Notice the swirling grooves on the original version's cap. The original version's cap is also a matte gold, the slightly newer ones have a shinier gold. The bottles made just after the change from the frosted to the non-frosted have caps that do have the swirling grooves, current bottles do not and are smooth.







Fate of the Fragrance:


Discontinued, date unknown. The fragrance has been re-released under the name United Colors and Prestige Beauty, and packaged the fragrance in the old style frosted glass bottles. If your box or bottle is marked with the United Colors and Prestige Beauty name, it is new.

CLICK HERE TO FIND SUN MOON STARS PERFUME BY KARL LAGERFELD

4 comments:

  1. I so wish they hadnt discontinued this -it is the only perfume which suits me -does anyone know of anything similar?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do not know of anything similar, I continue to buy this perfume on eBay and Etsy.

      Delete
  2. Oh no, I didn't realise this was discontinued. I have 2 bottles that I have had for roughly 18 years + and just started using one, as I had forgotten how nice it was. Looked on ebay to buy some more and WOW, how expensive!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sun Moon Stars was recently "reissued" by a company called United Colors & Prestige Beauty. Their intent was to reproduce it faithfully, so the bottles are frosted and have matte caps. Their price is $120, but you can find much cheaper bottles on eBay (being passed off as all kinds of versions, naturally!) I don't know how it smells, but be on the lookout.

    ReplyDelete

All comments will be subject to approval by a moderator. Comments may fail to be approved if the moderator deems that they:
--contain unsolicited advertisements ("spam")
--are unrelated to the subject matter of the post or of subsequent approved comments
--contain personal attacks or abusive/gratuitously offensive language