Lunaratu

2007 Version: This is a foody but perfumey scent. I pick up waxy but fragile blooms with some kind of spice and food underneath. The floral mixes with some kind of hot apple cider. Upon complete drydown this becomes almost solely apple cider on my skin. A jug of apple cider. It’s nice but almost a little puzzling—it makes me want to look around for the stuff ‘cause I’m suddenly expecting to drink it. Rating: 3.5/5

This is really strong, astringent cologne. This dries into a wood and leaves smell swirled with fall air. There’s a warmth but a darker tone to it as well. Finally a scent that actually makes me understand when people call a scent unisex. This is certainly that because it is straight up being outside on a fall day, which has no gender. Rating: 3/5

This smells like extremely strong cologne when first on. As it dries this transforms into warm but with a hint of a chill autumn air with fallen leaves on the ground that crunch so crisply underfoot. It dries down to be quite warm with a tiny hint of apple in the background. This becomes very subtle, warm, spiced, and a tiny sliver of fresh apple somewhere. Next to All Souls on my other wrist this is a perfect pair and I love these two to no end. It just evokes such a wonderful feeling of fall and reminds me of walking near my high school, tramping through the leaves, with a definite feel of warm things in the background. It makes me smile and feel very calm just as if I were strolling back through those leaves. Rating: 3.5/5

2007 Version: This is very smoky with a tiny hint of the honey cakes behind all the smoke. I can pick up some incense and sandalwood in the foreground as it dries down. Upon complete drydown the smokiness and the warm honey cakes and fresh apples with definite spices and the offertory incense come out. I am loving this scent—it is so fall and is definitely a scent reminder. This is making me smile and paired with The Death of Autumn on my other wrist, which is a bit smoother and has a tad bit more apple in it, this is absolutely wonderful. Rating: 4/5

This is all rose which given that rose is rather icky on me is not exactly a good thing. This is drying down into a very sharp, almost salty floral on my skin. It’s quite a bit icky. I ended up having to wash this one off. Rating: 1/5

Ok, this is extremely clean herbal, grassy scent when this first goes on me which has me worried. It warms up a bit as it’s on however which does give me some hope for the drydown. This definitely smells the closest to salt air that I have smelled thusfar from the lab. Interesting but not my usual thing. Rating: 2/5

God, this is gorgeous, like roll-eyes-back-into-your-head gorgeous. Resinous, golden, lightly spiced, sweet, and so wonderfully sexy. This is the summer scent for all of us resinous lovers out there. I am certainly holding onto this imp with clutched hands because I can see reaching for this quite often when I want that perfect happy, golden, hazy afternoon scent. So gorgeous. I really wish it’d be easier to track down a bottle of this beauty. Rating: 4/5

Very dirty smelling with something a little floral peeking out is how this initially smells. At least this has something sweet trying to peek its head through the dirt otherwise I’d know right away Intrigue and I would not suit. It becomes quite sweet but still gritty. This is only a meh to my nose sadly enough. Very very gritty though still very sweet too. Rating: 3/5

First on this is so very dingy, dank, dark herbs that it’s putting me off quite a bit. This is like leaves rotting in a drain in the street it’s that dank, dark, and dirty. It’s just so noxious on my skin. Ick. I’m extremely tempted to wash this off and not even see what’s it’s like on the drydown because the wet stage is just too damn awful on me. And here I was hoping for more fruits with a few sexy herbs. Nope, rotting herbs in a gutter. Ick. Rating: 1/5

First on this is sweet and delicate and very fragile floral. Very pretty and quite happy actually. I can definitely pick up a very juicy peach cocktail or peach frozen drink that is heavy on the actual peach nectar and oh so yummy. The ambers start to come out on drydown and make this start to become even more wonderful. The foody quality is toning down to become very chic in a way. Like a very sexy woman who just happens to be imbibing a wonderful peach drink. For all those who were fans of Tamamo-no-Mae I highly suggest Aglaea. That same scrumptiously sexy peach scent that is also just a tad bit more. I am certainly holding onto this baby and doing some more comparing between the two. Very pretty. However, it’s a bit…sweltering and a little goes an awful long way. Rating: 4/5

I didn’t get to officially try this on but sniffing the sample strip with the Schwarzer Mond I was struck by how dark it smelled. Really dark and murky in a fluid, almost oil-slick type way. A bit too dark for my tastes so I am glad to say that I don’t think I need a bottle of this which is a very good thing given the rarity and the demand for this blend. Phew! I am glad to have dodged at least this bullet. Rating: 3/5

Thanks to GypsyRoseRed for the imp! When wet this is all lovely warm florals—very high-crust Victorian lady florals. The rose is turning a little sharp on me as it’s drying down but I’m really hoping that is just a phase because there are so many other notes in this that usually love me. Sadly that sharpness stays after it dries and even goes a tiny bit soapy. So it’s just a rather abrasive rose and some other florals scent on my skin. It’s sad that it doesn’t work but also very lucky because I don’t know what I would have done if I had fallen in love with this. Rating: 2/5

This dries down to almost Jolly-Rancher sticky sweet fruit on my skin and then disappears after a few hours. Only a meh, really. Rating: 2/5

The clean quality of Embalming Fluid made masculine somehow—like into aftershave or some such—that’s my first impression when I sniff this little guy on my wrist. As it dries a wood note comes out in the background but it is still predominantly a masculine Embalming Fluid. I can’t really describe it any more precisely than that. It actually reminds me a tiny bit of Spider in its clean masculine quality. However, I do not do masculine scents since I am very much into the feminine ones, lol. Not for me. Rating: 2/5

Bandersnatch musk, redolent of spicy carnations, wild plums and chrysanthemum The waft is lovely deep incense touched fruit when wet—the close sniff is like Big Red gum cinnamon sweet. I really hope the entire thing settles down into the prior because incense touched fruit just sounds very very good to me. The Big Red quality is settling down a bit as it’s drying and the fruit is still there in the background acting as a very good buffer. However it is certainly still predominantly cinnamon on the skin, though a more mellow, playing-nice-with-its-friends-in-the-sandbox-though-its-still-ringleader type of way. Dry this is still spicy but with a good grounding of plum—this is rather yummy but not in the typical slather-me-in-chocolate-foody type of way. No, this is like spiced-sugar-plums whose flavor is so complex you can’t tell if it’s an entrée or a dessert. I like. Mmm, by the way, this is absolutely amazing layered with Midnight on the Midway. The spicy and plumy qualities of FB pairs amazingly with the sugar and incense—definitely thinking spiced, sugar plums now. Rating: 4/5

Wet this is woody but in a vaguely minty way if that makes any sense—like smelling fir or some kind of evergreen minty tree. It stays very true to that as it dries—with a tiny bit of the spice coming in from the sandalwood that gives a glimpse of once being angelic. This is certainly apropos for it evokes the image of a character that is strong yet unbending and proud. It waffles back and forth between moments of smelling almost like the wood that has been in a church for a long time and soaked up the incense and being close to the heart of a large standing evergreen tree outside. Rather masculine but subtly so. Rating: 3/5

This is very cheery, sticky wet fruit when Eris first goes on. It’s extremely sweet like preserves or some such—a condensed sticky fruit smell. This just stays extremely sticky sweet but goes down the path of smelling a tiny bit like sugar-substitute kind of sweet which is making me wrinkle my nose. Where’s the martial spices and everything? This is just saccharine-laced fruit filling to my nose, ick. Rating: 1/5

When wet this is extremely lemon and clean but not in a lemon cleaner way—in just a clean, clothes fresh from the washer type lemon smell. It’s rather nice. Dry it is just a mellower version of this same scent. It’s just…clean with a tiny hint of lemon. Pretty in a very subtle way. Rating: 3.5/5

First on I had to place the scent familiarity but it finally came to me—this smells like black licorice! Like really old fashioned black licorice or black licorice liquor. As it dries the vanilla comes out deepening the scent and making it more yummy (I’m not a fan of licorice, sorry). It finally dries down to an aged vanilla smell with some of the black licorice and something like plastic in the background. Obviously just not a right match for my skin. Rating: 3/5

Very herbal florals at first. I accidentally put more than I intended on so I am smelling far too potent for my usual likes at the moment. The waft is a very clean, herbal, sweet floral however. Almost a little like a toned down Allison Gross thusfar on my skin. And it continues as such—very herbal florals. Rating: 2/5

All shrieking soapy florals on me when wet. However, this settles down to a very creamy, subtly spicy floral. I can sense the carnation struggling to come out here—the only problem is that sweet pea can have a tendency to amp and be slightly soapy on me so I’m only getting the tiniest smidgen of the lovely carnation here. Sad. Rating: 2/5

This is all civet and some kind of wood in the background trying to get through when initially on. This scent is really making me cringe I must admit. It’s just a bit…much and I have to clear my throat and blink each time I sniff it. Ok, I’m sorry but I cannot stick with this one, I just have to wash it off—I just keep having a very instinctive “get it away from me” reaction each time I go to sniff it. That is not a good sign. Rating: 1/5

This is very much a traditional perfumey scent when this is first on—smelling a tad bit like alcohol and everything. After it dries creamy florals surface, dark in persona, but still a tad perfumey for my tastes. Rating: 2.5/5

Phew is this musk—masculine and piney musk. It’s definitely making me want to rinse it off almost pronto. There is something very astringent about this—clean but in a very strong way with definite musk, almost like an aftershave of some kind. It calms down to a deeper, darker musk scent but it’s still a tad masculine on my skin. Rating: 2.5/5

This starts off with almost a light single-note of lavender. However after dry-down some kind of wood melds into this—perhaps sandalwood—that tones it down and makes it rather warm and comforting. Lavender usually hates me so to find a scent in which it works is usually rare. This is like curling up with a wonderful blanket—great to fall asleep with. It has only a very light throw so it’s non-obtrusive for sleep and just lingers in the sidelines of your senses. I will certainly be holding onto this little guy. Rating: 4/5