New Perfume Review: LVNEA La Forêt Dormante (April Lea) 2016 +The Sleeping Forest Awakens Draw

april-lea-perfumer-photographer-lnvea

April Lea of LVNEA Perfumes

Montreal based Lvnea ([lou – nay] – (n) the moon's day; day of the moon), founded in 2013 and formulated by photographer and perfumer, April Lea. Originally hailing from Philadelphia, April now develops high resolution yet hauntingly ethereal portraits of the natural world. Her 2016 debut EdP, La Forêt Dormante (The Sleeping Forest), is a fetish in the traditional sense: a semi-hallucinogenic reminder for me of the formidable power of pure plant perfume.

la-foret-dormante-perfume

La Forêt Dormante  Natural Perfume via LVNEA instagram

Total immersion is inevitable once the black, classic Lvnea bottles have released their shamanic stories, bringing with them landscapes familiar and estranged: 'Into the woods' was never a better beginning as La Forêt Dormante awakens us to a forest at night.

forestdarkat-night

From LVNEA pinterest digitalized

The density of the woods suddenly surrounds you as if but one step in- you are three steps deep- so skin shape shifting is La Forêt Dormante. Galbanic piñon white woods herald the call into darkness familiar in the fougère and towering formation of trees. Breaking through the canopy, a noble stillness of requisite lavender, made regal by rose de mai- slips through the velveteen of violet leaf.

dark-forest-man

The Greenman via LVNEA pinterest

Falling further into the forest, to find the  mossen ground thick with olbanium and patchouli; mosaic tiles of resin light dancing through the labyrinth of fern and foliage below the needled air. The perfume of Gaia or Greenman, a fougère is the equilibrium of bawdy and beneficent- an oakmoss drenched strength which saturates moments of supposed stillness when things are budding and breathing in the moments before dawn; Lvnea has been brought to light.

Notes: cypress, olibanum, violet leaf, oakmoss, rose de mai, bergamot, piñon pine resin, plant extracts, floral hydrosols

I received my sample from April Lea, Thank you

-Einsof, Natural Perfume Editor

 Art Direction:Photos from LVNEA Perfume pinterest and instagram 

lvnea-la-foret-dormante-april-lea

LVNEA La Forêt Dormante 

With much gratitude to LVNEA, we have a  50mL bottle of La Forêt Dormante* for a registered reader in the USA and Canada. To be eligible please leave a comment with why you would like to win La Forêt Dormante, and a memory of a forest at dawn or dusk. Draw closes 10/10/2016

*Comes in your choice of a black glass bottle (50ml / 1.7 fl oz) with a standard plastic spray cap /or an aluminum cap with puffer spray. Please specify in your comment

Follow us on Instagram  @cafleurebon and @lvnea

We announce winners on site and on our Facebook page- so like Cafleurebon and use our RSS feed option or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

5 × 9 =

22 comments

  • fazalcheema says:

    La Forêt Dormante seems like a perfume of contrasts, both cold and warm elements. At first, it reminds of dense cool forest atmosphere and then warm elements appear due to olibanum and patchouli. I remember going to a forest like area as a child with cousins. It would be quite fun visits, especially, on cloudy days and sometimes we would pack little food, too. I am in the US.

  • I have to win it so I can smell it after reading the review.

    Thanks for the chance, I’m in Canada.

  • Sounds hauntingly beautiful! Reminds me of the dark, cool forests I used to explore as a child. There is such a mystical power that hums through the ancient trees, as if they are sharing their secrets. I would love to sample this perfume. – I am in US,
    Thanks,
    Tati

  • Wow, I am a huge LVNEA fan and have a solid perfume of theirs — and I met the creator at a festival in Montreal, it was so neat. I love her stuff, and always tell people about it. She has the best pine scent.

    My favorite dawn is when I was in Paris at the Louvre and dawn rose over the trees outside, the city was so deserted and still at that early hour. It was really amazing.

    I would love to win the scent because I love the notes — especially pine! I am an enthusiast, weirdly, I have some perfume oil I made myself, room spray, perfume, and pine filled pillows. And incense. I just love that smell!

    I love forest perfumes, actually, that’s one of my areas of interest. I have quite a few forest ones. I’m in the USA.

  • I had never heard of April Lea or LNVEA but now it’s on my radar for sure
    Anything that smells like a forest reminds me of when I was young and would take a shortcut to my friend’s house
    Such a very interesting review please enter me

  • I would love to try April Lea’s perfume of a “sleeping forest” with the standard spray cap.
    This review reminded me of something from long ago. When we were older kids, my BFF and I would go exploring a woods that was considered haunted. They were lovely, until we were there one day at dusk and both of us were overwhelmed by an awful feeling of feeling of being watched. I don’t think either of us ever ran so fast. We never did go back. USA

  • doveskylark says:

    I would love to try La Foret Dormante because of the oak moss. I love the description of the forest at dawn, ” moments of supposed stillness when things are budding and breathing….” I have happy memories of waking up very early and walking in the forest in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. The light and air at dawn speaks of so much promise.
    I’d love to win the bottle with the puffer spray. I’m in the USA.

  • I absolutely love Cafe Vetiver perfume balm from LVNEA and their body serum. La Forêt Dormante sounds amazing!

    I love the smell of the fresh morning air at dawn especially after it rained the previous night. I love the smell of nature.

    My choice would be the bottle with the puffer. Thanks for the cghance! USA

  • I’d imagine this really does smell like a fragrant walk through the woods. The oakmoss and violet leaf combination totally sold me and you can never go wrong with rose de mai. Coincidentally, my forest memories all come from a beautiful birch forest close to Montreal. We had a cottage there while I was growing up and I’d sneak off to a small waterfall nearby early in the morning. I thought it was my secret place, but I’m sure it was common knowledge. I loved the early sunlight filtering through the birch trees, the smell of dried leaves crushing under my feet, and the supreme quiet of that time of day. I live in Canada, thanks.

  • MikasMinion says:

    I’m always on the lookout for good forest scents, especially with cypress and oakmoss. I don’t live near any truly forested areas but I spend as much time as possible prowling among the huge cypress along the river with my cats. They catch frogs and investigate things and I supervise.
    I’m in the US and would prefer the regular sprayer, should I be lucky enough to win.

  • I have met Lea at Souk@Sat last year in Montreal, I love her work. I had her Black Pine oil, it is a rich beautiful and very calming sent. I would love to win and wear La forêt Dormante. Notes of pine and oakmoss sounds like all those moments i have spend with my little sister in the forest during our childhood. Love from Montreal.

  • I absolutely am in love with LVNEA fragrances. Anything green is difficult to find when it comes to scents, even natural ones. I have fallen deeply for the Ghost Pine scent from her line…it just places me in the midst of the woods and I truly feel heals my mind consequently. I’m eager to try everything from the LVNEA line, and La Foret Dormant sounds incredible. Just the use of the word hallucinogenic gets me pumped to try it because that’s how I already feel about Ghost Pine. I live in Pennsylvania and would be honored to win a go at this fragrance.

  • I am a desert favoring person, but I have very fond memories of camping at numerous national parks with my parents and brother every summer. I remember the scent of the campfire and the damp pine trees in the morning. I am especially curious about the piñon resin. I think it will go nicely with the rose d’mai. I would love the puffer bottle. Thanks so much for the chance. I live in the U.S.

  • Hikmat Sher Afridi says:

    First time hearing about April Lea and LVNEA. Thanks for the introduction of this new house and lovely review. La Foret Dormante sounds interesting, its notes intrigue me and right up my alley. Puffer spray & dark bottle looks lovely.
    Thanks so much for the generosity of LVNEA and the opportunity by Cafleurebon for the chance to participate by giving my relative address in NY.

  • The sleeping forest is such an evocative and beautiful name! I love natural forest scents and this sounds lovely. The presentation is very sleek too, the black glass is gorgeous. Would love to try this. Please count me in for the generous draw! Canada, please, with the standard spray. Thanks!

  • oh my gosh i loved ghost pine so much and this sounds like my next favourite. <3 this description is lovely.

  • Etheral portraits of the natural world sounds very supernatural to me….I love it. I also love the forest and the creatures it holds, as a child my family and I would always go for hikes near where I lived in Germany called Odenwald. I love stories about forest creatures/fairies and such. and the notes in this fragrance sound wonderful. Thank you so much for the generosity and I would love to have one with standard plastic spray cap eventhough the bulb sprayer is soo pretty.

  • This fragrance sounds so mysterious and intriguing, definitely a head turner. I also think the bottle is beautiful. This is my first time hearing about this house, I look forward to hearing more about them in the future. I am in Canada and would love the puffer spray.

  • What a dark and captivating scent this is. Would surely be a great choice for nights out.

    The puffer spray would be my choice. Thanks for the draw and I’m a Canadian reader

  • skiclimblive09 says:

    I would like to win because the the woods and first are my favorite area to play as a child

  • Diana Devlin says:

    Sounds beautiful – woody with rose and lavender notes. My friend lives in northern Pennsylvania and the entire community he lives in is surrounded by trees/forests. It smells so clean and the air is so much fresher. Even in summer, it’s such a crisp, clean smell.
    I live in the U.S.