ELLE Exclusive: This Bvlgari Scent Was Made To Feel Like Moonlight

It doesn’t announce itself with sugary top notes or throw its sillage like a weapon. Amunae—the latest addition to Bvlgari’s Le Gemme collection—is the kind of scent that lingers softly in your memory, like something you almost dreamt. It’s also, arguably, the quietest—and most emotional—perfume Sophie Labbé has ever made.

And that’s exactly the point.

The Perfume That Began With A Stone

When Labbé first heard the brief—moonstone—she didn’t start with ingredients. She started with a feeling.

She was captivated by the gem’s inner glow, the way light seemed to move within it. That vision, more emotional than visual, became her starting point. What followed was a play of opposites: luminous aldehydes and incense at the top, paired with a grounding base of dark musk and oak. In the centre sits jasmine Grandiflorum—transparent, soft, and slow-burning.

A Jasmine Grown Like A Secret

This isn’t your typical jasmine. It’s grown in Tamil Nadu, India, as part of Bvlgari’s Flower Gems of India initiative—a regenerative sourcing project involving over 80 farmers. For Labbé, that makes the fragrance more than olfactive; it makes it ethical.

The jasmine itself feels unusually fresh and airy, almost like light trapped in a petal. “I shaped it like a jeweller would,” she says. “Surrounding it with musks and woods that wouldn’t overshadow it—but let it glow.”

What Luxury Smells Like Now

Amunae reads as genderless—because it is. There’s no formula here, no “for her” or “for him” logic. Just raw instinct and olfactive contrast.

“When I create for the Le Gemme collection, I don’t think in terms of femininity or masculinity,” Labbé says. “I think in terms of sensation. Of harmony. Of balance.”

The result is a scent that feels personal. Interior. Less about how you smell to others, and more about how you feel in your own skin.

The Perfumer Who Reads In Silence

Labbé’s creative process doesn’t start in labs. It begins with novels, nature, and the sea. She reads Aki Shimazaki for her stillness. She gardens to connect with the process. She lets time guide her.

“You prepare the soil, you plant the seed. Then you wait,” she says. “That’s what we did with Amunae. We let it bloom.”

It’s a fragrance built on time, emotion, and quiet confidence. The kind of luxury that doesn’t need proving.

A Fragrance That Doesn’t Shout

Bvlgari’s Le Gemme collection has always been about storytelling through stones. But Amunae doesn’t follow a script. It reflects instead of performing. It offers intimacy instead of attention.

For Labbé, it’s about capturing presence. “I imagine someone who embodies the strength, radiance, and magnetism of the moonstone,” she says. “Someone who feels truly unique.”

And that’s exactly who Amunae is for.