The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Luna Holiday Edition 2019 is a limited collector's release from Nina Ricci, part of the Les Belles de Nina collection that gave the original Luna its playful, youthful character. The 2019 edition repackages that fruity-gourmand DNA into something suited to the colder months, when caramel and vanilla feel less like dessert and more like atmosphere. Christophe Raynaud and Marie Salamagne co-created this holiday edition, a pairing that brings together two distinct creative sensibilities in a single bottle. It launched in 2019 as a special bottle for women who collect seasonal releases and expect them to do more than just sit on a shelf.
What makes this composition worth a second look is the way immortelle threads through the heart. It's a note with a bittersweet, maple-curry edge that rarely plays well with caramel, yet here it does. The trick is in the neroli opening, which pulls brightness from the top and keeps the caramel from collapsing into straight sweetness. Pear adds a green softness that balances the sticky middle, while licorice in the base gives the vanilla a faint anise snap. It's a gourmand with backbone, and the backbone is what keeps it from smelling like a bakery.
The evolution
The opening is all tangerine and neroli, bright and immediate, with the citrus carrying a clean floral undertone right from the first spray. Lime sneaks in at the edges, giving the citrus a sharper, almost effervescent quality. Forest fruits add a dark berry whisper underneath, lending the top a layer of depth that keeps the brightness from feeling thin or one-dimensional. Then the caramel arrives. Not gradually, not politely. It just shows up, warm and round, and the jasmine opens alongside it like a flower pressed between pages of a book. The pear softens the transition, keeping the sweetness from cloying, its juicy quality acting as a bridge between the airy citrus and the denser gourmand heart. Immortelle does something unexpected here too, adding a dry, almost medicinal warmth that keeps the heart honest and prevents the caramel from collapsing into pure sugar.
Cultural impact
This edition sits within Nina Ricci's broader Les Belles de Nina collection, a line known for its collectible bottles and youthful, gourmand-leaning compositions. The holiday editions within this collection tend to push the gourmand elements further than the core line, layering caramel and vanilla into compositions that feel designed for colder weather wear. The caramel-vanilla warmth positions it firmly in the gourmand category, but the immortelle and licorice notes introduce drier, more savory undertones that prevent the sweetness from becoming one-dimensional.
