Last month I was travelling to Scandinavia and as I was killing my time in the duty-free shop at the Larnaca Airport, my attention was immediately drawn to the Nina Ricci stand. Among all the beautiful, elegant bottles of various fragrances, two of them were standing out. They were adorably monstruous. One was featuring a cat and the other an owl. Each one was with a fluffy brightly coloured pom-pom around the bottle neck. These are Les Monstres de Nina Ricci, limited edition fragrances released in January this year.
The famous Nina (from 2006) and Luna (from 2016) scents from Les Belles de Nina range have been repackaged. Brazilian artists Ana Strumpf and Guto Requena have transformed the iconic apple bottle into cute little monsters. The scents have had a bit of a remix as well. The perfumers, Marie Salamagne and Christophe Raynaud, are behind Luna and Nina was created by Olivier Cresp.
As I am obsessed with anything cat-themed, I bought Luna. The Luna bottle is blue, featuring a cat’s face with protruding pink eyes and a detachable fake fur blue pom-pom around the neck.
The fragrance itself is a combination of fresh, fruity aroma of pineapple juice and lime at the top notes, creating a bright and sharp opening which is followed by the floral heart notes of freesia and orange blossom. The base notes of caramel and blond woods are those that prevail, once the scent sets on your skin. The fragrance is not overwhelming and it can be worn day and night all year around, except in the summer in my opinion.
The longevity is below average and you will have to reapply it often.
We all have our little inner monster and Nina Ricci is urging us to liberate it! Therefore, the hashtag of the advertising campaign is #freethemonster.
The fragrance is available as a 50ml and 80ml Eau de Toilette. The price for a 50ml bottle is 57,00EUR at the Larnaca Airport.
