edenssixthday

Harvest Moon ‘05 is a warm and cozy blend. I don't smell any of the florals in this blend. Rather it's all baked apples and baked pears served with wine mulled slowly for hours at a low, low temperature with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. This scent is very appealing, and when I wear it, all day long I catch whiffs of something really warm and comforting. Simultaneously, the scent reminds me of potpourri. Normally that would be a bad thing, but in this case, it oddly works. If you've ever walked into a Christmas store and been greeted by the potpourri scent of Christmas spices and warm baked fruits, and it makes you smile and feel "at home," that's how Harvest Moon smells to me. I would have never thought this scent would appeal to me so much with the imagery it evokes of froofy Thomas Kinkaide paintings and whimsical doodad gift stores, but strangely enough, I find the scent warm and appealing, despite the cheezy "country souvenir store" aroma it carries. On my skin, it lasts about an hour before needing to be touched up. However, in a scent locket, it lasts all day long and into the next before it needs to be re-scented.

Snow Moon - Unfortunately, I don’t smell any of the floral in this scent. My skin apparently amps up the fir to the point that it’s all I can smell. It’s got moderate throw and good staying power, but I don’t care for evergreen scents, so I won’t be wearing this one again.

Holiday Moon was a scent I did not think I was going to like, but once again, BPAL has surprised me and I really like it. It's definitely a strong, green tea scent blended with something very bright and spirited, something slightly citrusy. This is an upbeat scent and not one I would have ever anticipated as a holiday scent, yet it fits the holiday spirit perfectly. It also would be a gorgeous spring/summer scent. It's an all-around beautiful blend, very unique, and I look forward to wearing it many more times. The throw is just right, and the staying power is moderate.

Sleepy Moon is quite possibly my favorite of all of the Lunacy blends and it's most definitely the one I use the most. It’s simply stunning. It’s simultaneously crisp, cool and calming. The chamomile and bamboo are by far the strongest notes on my skin. The lavender is soft and stays in the background, but along with the chamomile is what, I believe, lends such a calming quality to this blend. Since my Sleepy Moon arrived, I have been using it every night before I go to sleep and I think it works even better than Somnus. As with most of the Lunacy blends, this one doesn’t last very long on my skin at all. It’s incredibly powerful when it’s wet, and the slightest dab of this oil will fill the entire room with scent, but 15 minutes later, it has faded significantly, and 45 minutes later, it’s entirely gone. This is, however, not an issue for me because I use it as a sleep blend, and I don’t need to keep smelling it after I fall asleep. I just need it to last long enough to calm me down, relax me, and get me ready for a long night of restful sleep. I am glad I have two bottles of this, but I will really miss it when it’s gone.

Blood Moon - I tend to like Dragon’s Blood, and I was hoping this would be predominantly Dragon’s Blood. Unfortunately, while I smell the dragon’s blood, the musk, grains, and herbs mix with it in a way that I find quite unpleasant. It doesn’t have much throw, although the staying power is phenomenal – as Dragon’s Blood usually is on me. I’ll be moving this on to someone else, hopefully soon!

Milk Moon smells exactly like newborn baby spit-up. I don’t really want to smell like baby urp. Oh, and I should note that it has no throw – at least not on me.

Beaver Moon smells like artificial cheesecake. I can imagine that someone who likes bakery scents would enjoy it, but I find it cloyingly sweet. It does not last long on my skin, and has a low level of throw before it fades. I have also tried to layer it with other recommended scents (e.g., Pink Phoenix) and it still smells way too saccharine and synthetic for my preference.

Budding Moon - The first time I sniffed and tried Budding Moon, in my enthusiasm, I proclaimed it to be my favorite BPAL scent of all time. I have since recanted that claim. While it is positively gorgeous, and among my favorite Lunacies, it isn’t my favorite BPAL. But it is a nice one! The scent is initially sharply fruit-sweet with a soft, pink floral background, but after about 20 minutes on my skin, the sharpness of the fruit fades. At this point, a scent that must be the lovely soft peony blended with white musk and the tiniest hint of dry lotus root becomes the scent I experience for the next couple of hours until it fades. As with almost all of the Lunacies, this blend doesn’t last on my skin for very long, but it’s so pretty that it’s worth applying. When I wear it in a scent locket, the fruit note doesn’t fade, and serves to enhance the musk/peony/lotus blend just beautifully. It’s a bright and fresh scent that I think will be absolutely irresistible when spring bursts forth in a few weeks.

Buck Moon - I originally tracked down a bottle of Buck Moon as a gift for my sister because it's a Lunacy blend that was released for one day only, and that day happened to be my sister's most recent birthday. Combine that with the fact that she loves musks, and well, it was a perfect gift for her. The bottle didn't arrive from the seller when I had expected it to, and as I started to worry that I wasn't going to get it on time, I decided to track down another bottle so I would have something to give to her. Well, the first bottle arrived followed shortly by the second bottle, which meant not only did my sister get a bottle, but I did, too. My sister loves it. She thinks it's incredibly beautiful. I can barely smell it. When I open the bottle, I catch the faintest whiff of something that's a little different from the air I normally breath, but not much different. When I apply it to my skin, I may as well be applying water that has a few crushed herbs in it. It does nothing for me. If I apply it to cotton and wear it in a scent locket -- again, nothing. It's the strangest scent for me in the way it completely does not show up.

Dragon Moon - This is a really pretty scent that reminds me a lot of aspects of Holiday Moon and Sleepy Moon. It smells strongly of bamboo and tea, with the tiniest hint of dragon’s blood in the background – just enough to make it interesting, but probably not enough to drive away dragon’s blood haters. The scent is very pretty on my skin, but incredibly subtle with absolutely zero throw. Once it has dried down, I have to press my nose against my skin to detect the scent. Around the 45 minute point, all of the notes in this scent have disappeared completely, with the exception of the cherry blossom, which I can finally smell for the first time in this blend. My Cherry Blossom SN is one of my favorite scents, so I am thrilled to smell the cherry blossom in this scent. Sadly, because Dragon Moon has no throw on me and minimal staying power, I’m not going to be drawn toward it when I’m picking out my scents for the day, so I will likely end up passing this one along.

Spectre - The very first note I detect is rose – pretty, soft, sweet rose. As it begins to dry, a trace of something woody becomes noticeable. I also begin to detect the soft and “rounded” scent of lilies. It’s a strong floral, yet it is also somehow ethereal and wispy. It’s a pretty scent, yet it’s not particularly unforgettable – it’s just not very unique. It reminds me a lot of several of Beth’s other blends (Sepulcher and Venus, in particular) and I just don’t see myself lusting for more of this one. The scent lasts for several hours on my skin and it’s got some really great throw for such an “ethereal” scent – I keep catching beautiful, lovely wafts of the scent swirling around me despite applying only a small amount of the oil.

Single Note: Red Musk - This is gorgeous. I knew I loved most red musk scents, but smelling BPAL red musk pure and alone has me understanding exactly what it is that I love about so many of my favorite BPAL scents. I love red musk in general, but BPAL red musk is deeper and swarthier than any other brand of red musk single note I’ve ever encountered. It’s so thick and dark you can’t see through it. The scent is rich, deep, warm, and sweetly feral on my skin and is incredibly sexy. It lasts for a good six to eight hours on my skin and has a really amazing level of throw – a little dab on my wrists will keep me going all day. I love it!

Single Note: Dandelion - This is a very strong scent! It’s incredibly true-to-life and reminds me of being a kid and sitting on the front lawn with my sister, pulling dandelion weeds out of the grass, and examining the milk-colored juice that runs within the dandelion stalks. Beth managed to capture the scent of the flower, the green, weedy stalk, and that milky substance in the dandelion itself. It’s simply spectacular how genuine this scent is! It’s not one I would choose to wear by itself because I feel like I smell a bit too much like a giant green weed, but I imagine that blended with a scent that’s spicy and not otherwise floral (Bengal, perhaps?) it could work really well. It has a moderate level of throw and lasts over three hours on my skin.

Single Note: Violet - Violet is one of my favorite floral scents and I can't seem to find enough BPAL scents that have violet in it that I actually like and would wear, so I was just thrilled to come upon this imp of Violet SN. The violet is sweet, deep, and murky -- exactly the way violet should smell. It's gorgeous and while I probably won't wear it on its own as a single note, I may use it to make some of my favorite BPAL scents with violet (e.g., Faustus, The Raven) just a tad bit more violet. On its own, the throw is light and it only lasts about 3 hours on my skin. By hour 4, I can't detect it in the least.

Single Note: Coconut is an absolutely gorgeous single note! I wish this was still around and I’d buy bottles and bottles of it! It’s sweet, creamy coconut from the first moment it’s applied until about 4 hours later, when it starts to fade. There is a lovely level of throw and the tiniest bit on my wrist has the scent of coconut coming and going about me as I go through my daily activities. It’s positively divine. I will lovingly use up what I have and will probably layer it with my multitude of Coconut Hut lotions, body butters, and soufflés for an even stronger coconutty scent. Love it!

Single Note: Cherry Blossom - I don’t like most BPAL blends or other potions or lotions that have cherry blossom in them, so I didn’t expect to like the single note. As usual, Beth managed to completely surprise me. The Cherry Blossom single note is gorgeous! It is really strong, incredibly pink and floral, and reminds me of walking through Washington D.C. during the first week of April when all of the cherry trees are in bloom. It’s stunningly gorgeous, incredibly fragrant, has phenomenal staying power and a lovely level of throw – so much throw that this oil must be applied lightly. This is definitely not one I layer with any other notes/blends. I wear it on its own, and it’s proven to be a perfect spring time scent that doubles wonderfully as a “pick me up” scent.

Single Note: Honey - This smells exactly like the honey note in BPAL blends. It's sweet and heavy and to me, smells nothing like real honey (yes, I stood there with a big jug of honey and my honey single note and did a sniff-comparison!) I can understand why people who like honey in BPAL blends would go crazy over this particular single note, because it is very distinctive and unique, but it's definitely not a scent for me. The throw is also very faint, and the scent fades almost completely within 2 hours after application.

Single Note: Hyssop - When first applied, I went crazy over this scent. It’s bright and powerful with just the tiniest touch of bitterness, and it had some amazing throw. Unfortunately, upon full dry-down, it also becomes a touch soapy on my skin. When sniffed up close, I still smell the bright scent I initially smelled wet out of the vial, but when I catch wafts of it in the air, it smells soapy. It does last for a good long while and although the throw decreases upon dry-down, it’s still good and strong.

Single Note: Black Cherry - When first applied, this is not the über-sweet, medicinal, cough-syrup cherry that I often get from BPAL cherry scents. Rather, it is deep and mellow, and only has the slightest touch of sweetness. It’s a beautiful scent. As it dries down, it becomes very rubber-smelling, almost like a band-aid, and while I can still smell the cherry in it, that “hospital supply cabinet” scent detracts from the the nice aspects of the scent. This is a single note I was really hoping I’d like, but I can’t wear it. Not to mention that it sticks very close to my skin and doesn’t even last a full hour.

Single Note: Georgia Peach - this is a gorgeous scent, and from the first moment the tiniest dab of it touched my skin I could tell it had amazing throw. It’s has a slight bit of “artificial peach” scent to it (think of Nehi peach soda or Jolly Rancher peach candy), but for the most part, it smells like a summertime, fresh, juicy peach and it makes me want cobbler. And I just remembered I saved peaches last summer in the freezer so that on a cold winter day like this, I could have peach cobber with summer peaches! Not only does it have good throw, but it stays for a long time, too. Fabulous.

Single Note: Apricot - When I first apply this, it smells exactly like dried apricots and I absolutely love it. I’m positive it’s going to be a favorite among single notes. Unfortunately, as soon as it dries down, it takes on a weird smell that reminds me exactly like the scent of cheap drug store lipstick. It’s heavy and chemical and very artificial smelling, and doesn’t smell at all like apricot. Yet another single note that doesn’t work on my skin. It’s also very faint with virtually no throw and fades on my skin after about 75-90 minutes.

Single Note: Coffee Bean is a true-to-life coffee scent. It’s like sticking my nose in a pile of freshly roasted coffee beans – slightly bitter, yet invigorating. The scent is really strong on me and has throw that’s completely overwhelming. It works a lot better if I layer it with something like Bliss, Lump of Coal, or Misk U. The scent lasts about 2.5-3 hours on me, which is not too shabby for a BPAL scent on my dry skin. Coffee-scents have never been my favorite, but this one is genuine and I have to give it two thumbs up even if it’s not my particular taste in fragrance.

Single Note: French Lavender - I find almost all BPAL scents with French Lavender to be somewhat “gamey” to my senses, although I have been able to get used to some after regular use (e.g., Somnus). The French Lavender SN, however, didn’t have that gamey quality that I expected. Neither was it strong and powerful like most lavender is on my skin. Rather, it was light and soft and smelled like my favorite lavender room oil, which is a no-name brand from a craft store. I love that I have something like that room-oil scent to wear on my skin. However, it’s incredibly light and subtle and sticks very close to my skin. The lasting power is adequate, but it’s too subtle for my taste. I may use it to layer, or just use it at night when I don’t want throw, but just want something to mellow me out before bed.

Single Note: Gardenia - Wow, is this ever strong, heady, and a very bitter floral. The instant I apply it, it reminds me of the very first BPAL scent I ever tried, and I realize that’s definitely the dominant note in Sacred Whore. I could never, ever wear this alone. While it’s a dead-ringer of a true, southern gardenia, it’s way too heady and strong for me to wear by itself. I like it in Sacred Whore because there are other notes that smooth and mellow it out. By itself, it’s just too overwhelming and I worry that I smell like old lady. It has incredible throw and it lasts all day long.

Single Note: Red Ginger - This is incredibly strong, powerful, and bitter. It’s sharp and biting and smells like freshly-sliced ginger root x10 – only not as sweet. It’s almost too overwhelming in it’s pure form. Fortunately, after it fully dries down, it fades just enough to be bearable and is not so frightening anymore. The scent is true ginger and while it doesn’t have enough texture or depth to wear it by itself, I just know that if I layer it lightly it with some of my favorite ginger scents (e.g., Shub!) it will really bring out the ginger aspect of those blends. The trick is going to be not going overboard since this is the most powerful BPAL I’ve encountered. On its own, the scent has really good staying power – a good four to six hours.