Guerlain’s Moonlit Bee Bottle Is Back. Do You Want It, Or Do You Want The Story?

I’ve tried to fall for Guerlain Imagine the way I fell for that moody Black Bee 2022 bottle, but my heart refuses to play along. This year’s edition is undeniably pretty, almost cinematic, yet it’s the kind of beauty that asks for a spotlight and a locked cabinet. Perfume or prop, that’s the question.

French sculptor Géraldine Gonzalez has dressed the classic Bee Bottle with a metallic gold moon and a glass-beaded star, a detail you will absolutely want to photograph from every angle. The set is the familiar ritual package, 125 ml plus 30 ml mini and a funnel, priced at €790. Stateside, it’s reportedly landing next month around $880. There are 3,665 pieces, which sounds like a lot until you realize how fast these travel through collector circles.

If you like your extravagance supersized, there’s also a one liter version perched on a light-up mirror base. Only 64 exist, and the tag reads about €20,000. It’s a conversation piece, sure, though the conversation might start with “insurance rider.”

Here’s my candid take as someone who wears her perfume, not her status. The lunar styling by Géraldine Gonzalez is whimsical and smart, a sweet spot between couture and craft. But packaging romance can only carry a fragrance so far, and Guerlain Imagine still doesn’t seduce my skin enough to justify the splurge. If you collect bee bottles, you already know the ritual is half the fun, the funnel, the decant, the display. If you’re a wearer first, not a collector, ask yourself if you’d feel the same thrill pouring a decant into a plain atomizer. That answer matters more than a star in glass beads.

I’m holding out for something with more bite, the way that Black Bee 2022 felt like a wink to Guerlain’s darker glamour. Until then, this moonlit edition is a beautiful story you can buy, and sometimes that story is exactly what you’re paying for. If that’s your love language, take your shot before the stars sell out.