Signature Collection : Lux
Mona di Orio (2006)

This fragrance opens with a sharp lemon note that quickly morphs into a lemon meringue. Lux is a unit of measure of light. This is a light fragrance for sure. After 15 min. I'm still waiting for the middle/base notes. The lemon and vanilla are all I'm detecting...Mona has some real masterpieces before she died, unfortunately this isn't one of them.
UPDATE: Dry-down has morphed into a Laudanum and musk aldehyde that is less pleasant than the lemon meringue.

Lux gives the impression of frantic splashing about in an attempt to swim. The star of its opening is so conflicted it probably needs therapy. This is a lemon that waxes and wanes, one moment tart almost pungent but with some of the refinement of classic colognes, then the next more like some lemon-scented floor cleaner. There are hints of lemongrass and lemon verbena, and then there are none too flattering nods to soap and pesticide-like powder. Some of this is enjoyable but what my nose senses most of all is a muddle, the overall impression demonstrating that there are negative aspects to the adjective ‘undefinable'.
There are resinous components evident from the start but they seem superimposed rather than integrated. The sharpness of much of it (probably the vetiver and cedar bolstering the lemon) gives the impression that a fougere-chypre cross is being attempted, but things get decidedly ambery in the drydown which also reveals some warming incense-like notes, possibly the sandalwood used. When this finally settles some time in and with a significant drop in projection, it is a pretty standard issue vanilla-woody amber. Although I can't take to it, I don't find it an absolute flop; some of the ingredients have a richness that makes it worthwhile in part.

The opening blast with its lemon and petitgrain promises a bright and refreshing citrus-based experience, but this is not a very bright version, but a bit darker and more restrained - more gently uplifting than truly refreshing. This is partly due to the nature of the added litsea, which is a darker citrus-style scent, and partly due to a darker and a hint earthy vetiver that contributes to the top notes.

The drydown is woodsy, mainly a somewhat bland cedar, whilst the basenotes are more convincing with a offering of a light musky foundation, which is given a nicely balancing sweetness by a vanilla impression that is actually as well done as it is unobtrusive, with whiffs of a sweetish amber are making an appearance at times.

The performance is very good, with moderate sillage, good projection and ten hours of longevity on my skin.

This is one of those summer fragrances whose citrus-fresh notes are tones down; Versace's old formulation of the vintage Versus for men and the green Jaguar, inter alia, come to mind; they are great for daytime on days that are not too warm. A nice composition. 3.25/5

Got a slightly spicy gourmand effect with this one. There's a citrus note in here that kind of disturbs the fragrance for me. A slightly boozy vanilla note gives this a calming effect. 7/10

Reviewing as I wear:
Initial burst of lemon pledge - really, I was not expecting this. I'm surprised and slightly...no, really put-off. I'm learning to appreciate citrus as a supporting role in fragrance, but this is sorta gross. It sticks to the back of your throat, like you've sucked all the sugar off an old lemon drop you found at the bottom of a forgotten candy jar in Aunt Edith's parlor.

I'm 15 minutes in now. Waiting for anything...I mean ANYTHING to happen.

20 minutes: I think I smell something else! Is that AMBER??? Oh dear please say it is...no...maybe? The lemon is demanding my attention. Its like a cat while its owner is on the phone. DAMNIT!

30 minutes: ARE there any other notes? Did I get a bad sample? This is an official house sample...so what is going on here?

(Husband just yelled up from downstairs to ask what I was doing - thought I was dusting and was confused...apparently this has incredible silage...I only had a tiny sample, and only used one spray on the back of my left hand!!!)

45 minutes...I might as well be running a lemonade stand. There is nothing else in here. The back of my hand is very shiny, and feels sorta weird. Not so sure about this fume in any way, shape or form.

1 hr. ok...I *think* I may be smelling some sandalwood...very faint, and in the deep recesses of the lemon. I want it to be much closer and LESS LEMON!

Does Lux mean Lemon in another language?

1.5 hours. FINALLY less lemon...but seems like less of everything...whatever else "everything" was supposed to be.

So, I think I caught whiffs of both amber and sandalwood, but they were overpowered by the lemon, and did not last.

If you really like lemons, and have always yearned to smell exactly like the rag you sprayed with lemon pledge, this might work for you.

BTW, I own straight labdanum, and if there is any in this frag, I am completely blindsided. Perhaps the lemon ate it?

Ok...now, it's been a few hours and I FOUND THE LABDANUM!!!! Why in the world did I have to go through that nasty Pledge hell to get to such a lovely dry down several hours after application??? Is this a test of my fortitude? Did I do the equivalent of a fire walk??? Help me understand! I truly do not understand the construction here. I am at a loss. No, I will not buy this, even though NOW it smells pretty nice. This mental nonsense is just too much work for something that is supposed to be enjoyable...and I never liked dusting anyhow.

Social psychology as a discipline has given relatively little attention to the problem of LIGHT in perfumery, it seems that banality could be a creative strategy to make perfumes.
First of all: Neutrinos are not faster than light! Denied the discovery of Italian researchers. The results that questioned the theory of relativity were falsified by an error in cable connection between a GPS sensor and a computer used to calculate the time in which neutrinos were fired from CERN in Geneva to the Gran Sasso Laboratories.

Here we want to define the speed of light. If we take a period of fifteen years, we find that the light gets faster and faster and even changes. Let's start with Luce (2000) by Beth Terry Creative Universe. Among citrus notes leave the first rays of light, between a cover lavender, a synthetic musk and much crap... The rays come up to Lux (2006) by Mona di Orio. Now we can smell again citrus notes with cedarwood and sandal, then amber, benzoin, musk and vanilla. Finally the Light picks up speed reaching Luci ed Ombre (2013) by Masque, or would it be more accurate to say Giuseppe Imprezzabile (alias Meo Fusciuni). Here the perfume is very different, in fact we have musk and cedarwood but jasmine replaced citrus notes. Then the light ends this creative journey: here it is, Luce (2013) by Meo Fusciuni (alias Giuseppe Imprezzabile). Here some cedarwood, sandal, amber, benzoin, vanilla.
Ops! If you mean Light as Luce, you have also to remember Light Blu by Dolce & Gabbana: here again cedarwood, musk, jasmine, amber.
Are you wondering why Mister Pregoni is talking about ingredients? Simple, to give form to the banality I need substance, which is why I speak about ingredients!
Ambroxide, widely known by the brand name Ambroxan, is a naturally occurring terpenoid and one of the key constituents responsible for the odor of ambergris and bla, bla, bla…
Please, next time could you add a little of art… We need neurons and not neutrinos!

The Mona di Orio Lux's zesty citric/hesperidic opening is quite familiar with its classic "vintage eau de cologne like" prevailing accord of bergamot, lavender, petit grain and vetiver" (Eau de Cologne Imperiale Guerlain, several vintage 4711, several Aqua Allegoria, Roger&Gallet, Mugler Cologne etc jump more than vaguely on mind). The note of bergamot seems central while vetiver and aromatic herbs are just accessorial. In a while it seems to catch (I'm quite sure about) in the air a sort of dissonant civet note providing a mouldy sort of "rotten" undertone joined with the bergamot fizziness and on this plain I detect a sort of Jicky's like initial sort of accord as a zesty animalic (and slightly vanillic) prelude to a classically appointed powdery (yes poudree sort of) mossy-ambery chypre dry down somewhat pointless nowadays. Nothing against Lux but frankly it seems to deal with a "useless" olfactory remake of previous better appointed classics and a take on a "tons of times" runned way. Faint longevity on my skin.

*This is a review of the 2014 reissued version of Lux.

Lux goes on with a dulled lemon with slightly powdery vanilla support. As the composition moves to its early heart the vanilla spiked lemon remains, gradually adding relatively potent animalic musk and amber to the fold until the musk takes control. During the late dry-down the lemon vacates the composition as the slightly powdery vanilla and amber infused musk smooths out, shifting the accord to co-star with natural smelling cedar emerging late with vetiver support adding effervescence. Projection is average and longevity excellent at around 12 hours on skin.

Lux is perplexing at times. It opens quite nicely with the dulled lemon that smells quite lovely, but slowly turns into something unexpected and not pleasant... The musk that comes out and increases in intensity through the heart kind of resembles the ingredient found in Mona di Orio's later Les Nombres d'Or Musc composition, but in this case it makes for an odd fit with the lemon and the powdery vanilla and amber that come along for the ride. The overall accord was somewhat off-putting, making one pause and wonder if the composition had gone over the deep end... Luckily, the late dry-down redeems things rather nicely as the musk and vanilla accord tones down on the animalics, becoming more refined while pairing in its revised state very nicely with the cedar and vetiver base notes leaving the odd additional lemon in the dust. The whole experience resembles riding a scary roller coaster that while exciting is near unbearable at times, but as with the best roller coasters with Lux there is a great payoff before the end of the ride. The bottom line is the $195 per 75ml reissued Lux is far from a complete success, but it is rather unique smelling and the late dry-down is extremely enjoyable, earning it a "good" 3 stars out of 5 and a sample first recommendation as its middle section can be quite polarizing.

The rich, sweet citrus opening is lovely, but also rather "perfumey" in a familiar way that I can't quite place. Although there's no lavender note listed, I'm reminded of Jicky, minus the civet.

As the scent develops a distinct powdery note emerges to underpin the heart, which remains sweet and fruity, with an overlay of gentle wood notes. A very light and delicately balanced vanillic accord comes to the surface as time passes, integrating with the powdery note in a velvety, yet somehow very bright base.

Eventually the sweet fruit and vanilla drive Lux into a candy-like domain, without enough dry notes for my nose. The powdery vanilla and wood drydown seems a bit conventional after the rest of the trip, but it's certainly pretty and still very well-balanced. I think I'd like it better on a woman than on myself, by the way.

I get the tribute to Roudnitska, this is in fact a citrusy chypre with a poudrée feeling and an animalic base, quite a classic fougère cologne. The opening is decent, a bit close to Jicky, but then again... the same random weirdness which is the signature of at least other two fragrances by Mona di Orio, occurs abruptly. A warm, odd, soft gingerbread note comes in, blending with the stale smell of a cadaveric boudoir. Still with a totally out-of-place citrus note. Then you smell like if you accidentally poured a lemonade on your dead grandma for a while, and then it's all basically gone. It must be me, but I don't get this.

4/10

Lux is a moving scent for its progressive aroma and for the story behind its creation - Mona di Orio's tribute to her mentor Edmond Roudnitska - quite beautiful in many ways . Lux meaning 'light' in latin but also I feel this scent is about the marriage or union of opposites.

Light and dark, masculine and feminine , happy and broody and so it goes on.This scent IS yoga- a union. It begins light and ends dark ,it is both male and female ,it 's both uplifting and thoughtful .

It starts intensely citrus yellowy -lemon with hints of lemongrass and slowly moves through to green with vetiver. The basenotes and the dry down are simply superb with rock rose or labdanum ,vanilla, musk and amber. There is so much depth of feeling in this.

Now I have to say that Lux ,though gorgeous, is not very original. It smells like Shalimar and somewhat similar to Le Labo Labdanum 18 - in the dry down . The lemony ,vanilla feel and the sexy lingering basenotes. Lux's vanilla ,to me, is slightly sweeter , a little more gourmand than the special burnt vanilla of Guerlain.

The middle notes of Lux remind me of Eau Sauvage by Edmond Roudnitska. Benjamin at the Harrods' Haute Parfumerie said that Lux is Mona's finished version of Roudnitska's Eau Sauvage so it is closely related. It's Eau Sauvage with a lasting base - when that was explained to me, I understood the scent more. To me, it's also Shalimar and Eau Sauvage joined - what a combination !

Longevity is also very good - the labdanum stays and stays especially on hair .
The bottle is quite something with heft. Love this. Well done .

Candied lemon with a creamy, animalic undertow. According to di Orio the scent is indebted to Edmond Roudnitska, but I'd say the Guerlain dynasty is a more obvious influence, where notes of lemon and petitgrain, vanilla, and civet constitute a kind of admiring tour group drifting between the landmarks of Eau de Guerlain, Shalimar and Jicky (the bottles too, with their champagne cork design, are reminiscent of the early Guerlain parfum bottles). Di Orio is quick to claim a classical heritage, but she says 'Lux' and I, unfortunately, smell 'Lite': while I get a kick out of what's here – it makes me think of lemon cheesecake eaten off buttocks – the scent is a little vacant, heartless if you will, with an insistent absence between the sherbet lemon head and oozing musky base. Tasty but incomplete.