There are just over 30 fragrances in the current lineup for Louis Vuitton but there are some fragrances that have been discontinued for a while now, most notably Sun Song and Cactus Garden. For some odd reason, Au Hasard is STILL listed on their website but every time I go into a boutique and ask of its whereabouts I get a lot of shrugging shoulders, but at least they smile when they do it. But the top two have always been the unforgettable green bottle of Cactus Garden and the bright yellow Sun Song bottle. Cactus Garden is still purchasable on the second-hand market, but the prices are heavily inflated due to lack of stock or people willing to release the green bottle from their clutches. And while that fragrance too may be seeing it’s resurrection day sometime soon, for now we have Sun Song back and…better than ever?
Sun Song (2019) – 7/10
Released in April 2019 Sun Song was part of the Les Parfums line produced by in-house perfumer Jacques Cavallier. The notes were as simple as the fragrance, but not much was really needed in this fragrance to make it great. Citron, orange blossom and musk are the three notes for the original fragrance and right off the first spray it’s a heavy dose of nothing but citrus. However, that citrus really doesn’t last long at all and you’re mostly left with the orange blossom and musk notes in the mid and dry down. It’s really quite pleasant and has a rich softness to it making it easy to wear, especially in the sun.
Where the fragrance shines is also where it meets its eclipse – performance. The performance of the original Sun Song is heavily diminished after only a few hours on my skin, but it could also be in the weight of my spray. I’ll explain.
Take a fragrance like Afternoon Swim. If you sprayed that fragrance 4 times on your skin and left it at that, you’d smell nothing like an afternoon or a swim in about 3 or 4 hours. But, if you sprayed 8 to 10 times on various parts of your exposed skin and clothes, you’d probably get 6 or so hours of performance. Same is with original Sun Song. The more you spray it on, the better you’ll smell for a longer period of time. Don’t blame the fragrance or Louis Vuitton for that matter, there are a LOT of summer citrus freshies that suffer from the same fate. These types of fragrances that are heavily reliant on citruses as their base need an amazing supporting cast of characters to help drive these citruses into longer performers. Look at Lovers for example. Top notes are citrus notes but the addition of ginger, cedarwood and sandalwood help make the citruses last longer and feel more vibrant in warmer conditions. Which brings me to the newly released Sun Song.
Sun Song (2025) – 8.9/10
Released from the basement of Louis Vuitton and the recently dusted off recipe booklet – Sun Song is back and better than ever! There is no denying the fact that re-releases are here to stay, whether it’s movies or fragrances, it’s what people do best now-a-days and it’s either a hit or a big miss. I’m here to tell you today, for Sun Song, this is a hit.
Top notes in Sun Song are Lemon and petitgrain, middle notes are orange blossom and neroli and the base is that oh-so-familiar musk from the original. The opening of the new Sun Song is a sweeter citrus, almost like a candied citrus but has a familiar tone to it. It’s these florals with the musk that are the added supporting cast of characters that Sun Song needed to make it better, and Jacques did a fantastic job on this one.
I watched a YouTube video recently from a fragrance reviewer who is also a perfumer, and he just so happened to be reviewing a Louis Vuitton fragrance. Coming from his fragrance creating knowledge, he says that Louis Vuitton utilizes a specific compound in most of their fragrances for their citrus notes, and now that I’m smelling the new Sun Song, I can tell that this DNA for this type of citrus is definitely familiar to a lot of other really good Louis Vuitton fresh fragrances. I know this because I now have about 6 or 7 other Louis Vuitton fragrances on various parts of my arms and knees to see if I can tell which one. I wouldn’t call it cutting corners, I’d say it’s more like an artist using the same brand of paint over and over again to craft their masterpiece. The ingredients are the same, but the end result is different every time.
The sweet citrus lends itself to a more floral-heavy mid with a touch of musk in the dry down. Overall, it’s a great fragrance and in my quick testing, I actually got a few people to stop me and comment on the fragrance I was wearing. As you become anosmic to the fragrance yourself, it’s good to know that people can still smell you even if you can’t. The general consensus was that it was very fresh smelling and really nice. I’ll take that as a win any day!
Final Thoughts
I’d say for re-releases in 2025, this in so far, my #1. While controversies always swirl with the original purists up in arms about keeping the formula the same, I say embrace change or don’t embrace it at all. For Sun Song, I say embrace it. It’s a beautifully crafted fragrance that smells amazing and has great projection and performance. Also, for what it’s worth, I sprayed the original Sun Song on my hand about 5 more times after the initial spray so I could really test the performance on it, and the new Sun Song got one spray and was all it needed. That, in my opinion is a bright ray of sunshine worthy of your shelf and collection. Hope you enjoy the rest of your summer and I’ll catch you in the next one!
