Lunaratu

ooh, that is indeed quite pretty--the swirling pen and ink also matches the art of Singing Moon perfectly! yummy!

I've been really wanting to see a picture of the Emathides bottle! Singing Moon just looks so lovely so I'm very curious as to what it's monster partner is going to look like--I'm hoping for something just as beautiful! Would someone pretty please post a picture?

I think I read somewhere that the Salon imps that the Lab sells in Exhibit packs have miniature versions of the art that's printed on the bottle. That they do

This starts out very much the sugar note on me but it smells like a fake sugar—as if someone melted sweet’n low on my skin. After a bit the sugar fades down a bit to meld with the violets which start to come out but this is still very saccharine sugar which I find a bit off-putting. I can see how this might smell like fantastic violet candy on some people but, sadly, it took a wrong turn on my skin somewhere along the line. Rating: 2/5

First on this is clean but with a good deal of warmth from the spices and then this turns into fairly strong cologne. I keep wanting to like this and, truthfully, I think this would smell fantastic toned down with some vanilla in a lovely homemade lotion but at the moment it smells too much like aftershave on me—wonderfully sexy and appealing aftershave but aftershave nonetheless. Rating: 2/5

Very sweet like melons and definitely sweet pea with something slightly aquatic and green smelling. As it’s drying that melon and sweet herbs amps a bit. This is reminding me of a stronger, sweeter version of The Unicorn on my skin thusfar. Which I guess is nice enough but given that my sun is majorly in Cancer I was really hoping to love this here. It is refreshing in its sweetness though which at least makes it wearable in the beginning for my tastes. It quiets down after awhile and stops amping to become something very watery green and fruity that also sticks close to the skin. This is an interesting scent—it dries down to something crisply succulent and lightly green with something thrown in there for interest. This is a scent for when you’re sunbathing and want to smell fresh and clean while doing so by the pool. It eventually becomes this light, fresh, sweet herb scent. Pretty but certainly nowhere near the type of scent I’m usually attracted to and yet there is something about it that I like very much. It reminds me of the “Still waters run deep” cliche as if you smell this calming scent but there is some undercurrent there that draws you deeper into it. The end scent is certainly appropriate for us Cancers. I can actually see myself scenting my sheets with this and snuggling right down into them because it really is a comforting scent, oddly enough, mixed in with that little bit of herbal spice. Rating: 3.5/5

At first this was a bit overpoweringly burnt smelling to me but as it dried….wow is all I can say. This became such an intriguing scent, very complex and magnetic. It reminded me very heavily of an old Beltane ritual performed during the medieval ages. The entire town gathered round the bonfire to celebrate the fecundity of life, getting drunk off of mead, strewn with flowers, with a type of fierce magnetism underlying the surface of the dance. Something almost wickedly sensual in its strength in the orange light. Mad Meg is definitely a scent with presence that I was greatly surprised to like and like I certainly did. I couldn’t help but be drawn to this scent…and I mean literally! I couldn’t stop sniffing myself! I have smelled nothing else like this in bpal’s catalogue and think it is just amazing. This was a scent I was on the fence about even getting in the imp pack and wow has it shot up my list right quick, despite my dislike of its wet stage I couldn’t help but be so drawn to its dry stage it’s that indelible. This is both dark and glowing with some of the burnt nature to it but also this sweetness from what seems like honey, oranges, and herbs with some savory spices thrown in for good measure (I’m gathering that’s the cinnamon bark). This is yummy without being foody and aggressively sensual without being trampy in that it seems just above skin scent. This is definitely a scent I could see a succubus wearing while she embraces you—very “yeah, I’m from hell but I’m so sexy you don’t really care, now do you?” mmm, love, definite love for this blend. Rating: 4.5/5

Very herbal lavender. I have to admit I was a bit frightened of this perfume since lavender usually hates me with a fiery passion (it amps and is hard to scrub off). This isn’t really amping as much as lavender usually does on me yet but it is very much the plant lavender since it has this definite just picked flower smell. It quiets down a bit in the few minutes while it’s been drying, melding with the amber is my guess, but it is still very much an herbal lavender which is much better than the lavender funk I usually get. This at least is a straight clear lavender plant on my skin with a tiny bit of underlying sweetness underneath from the amber, and perhaps the black musk, that also quiets it down to non-ampage on my skin. Rating: 2.5/5

Definitely salty ocean smell but also warm as if watching the sun touch the ocean waves at that exact moment it refracts across the surface to create this golden nimbus of light. This sweetens a bit as it dries and exudes this lovely waft of scent that I can’t help but love. It’s salty, clean, but sweet. Like fresh fruit rinds are off to the side while you’re enjoying the view on the ocean. It then quiets down even further to become practically a skin scent with just a gentle waft of scent that is that salty, clean, but subtly fruity sweet aroma. This is truly lovely and I will certainly be holding onto my imp. Rating: 4/5

This starts off with a very gingery-peppery blast but then the sweetness starts to round this out beautifully. The pepper melds with the sweetness of the florals to create this gorgeous waft of scent. This is truly lovely and a good GC back-up to my bottles of Pink Moon 2007. I am so glad I got a bottle of this right off because I can see myself wearing this quite often. This is a creamy blend of spicy and sweet notes with a clean tone to it that is a more mature version of Pink Moon 2007—very appropriate for Hermia and being girly with a kick. yum! ....and then it initially dries a bit soapy--which makes me want to and then half an hour later it becomes a warm, spicy, but sweet amber that is comforting with some sauciness to it that I love. I'm definitely gleeful about this scent and I'm hoarding my bottle for now! Rating: 3.5/5

I guess I can pick up the florals and night air immediately which smell a bit like pleasant soap on me. As it dries though it starts to amp floral soap on me so that it becomes a bit strong for my liking. Dry it softens a bit so that it’s mostly all night-time florals but it is still a bit strong and soapy for my tastes. Bat is probably gorgeous on someone who doesn’t have my skin chemistry is my conclusion. Rating: 2.5/5

Something about this reminds me very much of the early stages of Purple Phoenix—I guess it’s a myrrh incense quality that dominates on my skin perhaps. However, it certainly doesn’t dry into the same scent. This is definitely a golden scent while Purple Phoenix was, well, very dark purple. I can definitely pick up a bit of smokiness to this one which is very appropriate yet it’s also sweet, I’m gathering that sweetness comes from the Galen’s Kyphi. As it dries it becomes even more golden and resinous with that smoky quality—this scent is filled with shadows and inspiration. Not exactly what I expected when I read the ingredients but beautiful nonetheless. Rating: 3.5/5

Mm, within just a couple of minutes the warm carnation definitely comes out on this one yet there’s also something just very very slightly woody about it as well. The warmth of the carnation is very similar to the almost sugary-carnation nature of Pink Moon 2007 (which is my favorite scent) but rounded to be made deeper, darker, and more mature. This also smells more like a, well, perfume. The carnation fades a bit however over time on the skin but wafts carnation as I move. I happen to be a carnation lover so I’m very tempted to up this to a bottle simply for it being such a predominantly warm carnation scent yet there’s enough woodiness in this that I think I can hold off for quite a bit. This dries down to stick close to the skin however so it is a very subtle scent but definitely both warm carnation floral with a tinge of dry woods. I think this is definitely a carnation lovers scent but more for the cold months--very pretty and grounded. Rating: 4/5

Ok, this one smells almost very alcohol-based perfume on me—one of those aggressive floral alcohol based scents that are way too much for me. I’ll try to stick with this one but my nose can’t help but yelp every instant I take a sniff. Ok, I had to wash this one off it bothered me so much. It was just way too aggressive and alcohol-like on me. Sad since quite a few of the other reviews sounds wonderful but, alas, not for me. Good thing the rest of the salon has been very pretty thusfar. Rating: 2/5

This was a scent I wasn’t sure about since I'm not usually an aquatics lover yet in sniffing the imps I found a certain appealing quality to the saltiness of this scent. However, it starts off with that tinge of salt water and immediately begins to sweeten up on the skin—I almost do not recognize it as the same scent! And then a bit of the salt comes back making that sweet scent more interesting—I really like this point of when the salty ocean smell and the sweet feminine scent combine with a clarity that comes, I’m gathering, from the matcha. Very nice and certainly evocative of the painting even in its stages! Rating: 4/5

When I first put this on it is the most delicate floral without being astringent or bothersome in any way like some “delicate” florals go on me. A tiny bit of pear slips in to sweeten up the delicate floral. I know someone above described this as diaphanous and I have to agree. It is a skin scent and very delicate yet there is something very comforting and feminine about this spirit. I had such hopes for this one since I love the painting and while it doesn’t wow me exactly I am certainly not disappointed in any way. Very nice! Rating: 4/5

Very aquatic with a little bit of cucumber thrown in. It’s juicy and clean but also extremely herbal and herbal doesn’t always like me. the herbal calms down a tiny bit after awhile but it isn’t exactly me. Rating: 2.5/5

Mm, I can detect the sugar right off the bat…and something soapy? And then it turns into sugar and old incense. This reminds me of an old wiccan store perhaps or some other type of sweet incense. The sugar melds with the incense almost immediately to become a very unified scent that reminds me of a sweet nag champa. Nice but not an everyday scent for me though I think I will definitely enjoy my bottle. I’m thinking this would make a fantastic room scent, mmm. Rating: 4/5

anyone have any pictures of the newest lunacies? I have them on order but I'd really love to see the label art and gush even more so over them

I can detect that chocolate type nut quality right off that people were talking about with the herbal/floral behind it. This scent reminds me a bit of the latest 13 formulation actually even though they don’t have a lot of ingredients in common. Except this is more honey with spices and less herbal and I’m liking this one quite a bit more. This dries into a spiced honey cake with some herbs. It is perfect for the painting with the honey portraying the golden light, the spices the gorgeous colors that pop in the foreground, and the light herbal qualities that waft in the background much like the condemned which are off to the side and background. I am definitely holding onto this scent! Rating: 4/5

Mm, this is straight fuzzy, creamy peach off the bat…and I happen to be a peach lover. Usually peach scents go a little fake on me, however this is beautiful, ripe, and real peach. As it is drying it’s lightening ever so subtly and there’s a slight tingle of clean ginger coming in which I can detect very very subtly. Wow, this is beautiful. Perfect for warmer months or for the promise of warmer months. I can definitely see how this would seduce an emperor. This is wonderful and beautiful, ripe yet delicate, golden yet refreshing…mmm, Tamamo-no-mae has definitely shot up into my favorites. It’s a gorgeous blend! Rating: 5/5

This is definitely richly chocolate but I’m picking up something minty as well which, well, I’m not as much a fan of. I dislike mint chocolate stuff. I like the richly chocolate quality mixed with the spicy, resinous quality of the Snake Oil but the mint tinge isn’t making me so happy. I’m hoping it goes away. The minty quality does fade a bit however the chocolate fades a bit as well yet it’s still deeply resinous and reminding me of some very dark velvety color. Definitely nice enough but not my favorite out of the Snake Pit. It settles down to plain Snake Oil is my guess (since I’ve never tried it) but if that’s true I think I’ll just get Snake Oil and skip the minty chocolate stage which I’m not that big a fan of. Rating: 2.5/5 Throw: Very good

First off I have to say I love this snake. I can definitely detect the acai berry in this. It’s berry with spice and resinous vanilla. It’s darkly golden and wonderful. I don’t know if I can describe this better than that. This snake is the perfect blend so as not to be foody but the perfect mix of berry, spices, and resinous vanilla. In fact, the acai berry kind of lightens this blend and makes it more golden pink, like it’s glowing. Rating: 5/5 Throw: Good (as in a bit above skin scent but it doesn't amp like the rest of the snake pit seems to on my skin)

There’s something very…woodsy about this one right off. Very grounded with grit. Mr. Jacquel then turns into a subtle, nice scent. I could imagine aged black or dark brown velvet found in an old trunk smelling like this. A little bit of spice but dark and slightly dusty smelling. What’s really interesting is that I have Bloody Mary on my other wrist and the two together smell *really* good when I didn't like Bloody Mary by itself at all--I think it's just Mr. Jacquel working his magic here. This dries down to have a more powdery, almost sweet, feel to it—which I guess is the amber coming through. I love this stage, it's so comforting and warm yet intriguing still. There is something initially intellectually stirring and then comforting about Mr. Jacquel—very appropriate for the character and lovely in its own right. I was so hoping to like this blend since I love the character in the novel and I’m so glad it lives up to Gaiman’s creation. Bravo Beth—this is fantastic! When I have the finances this imp is probably going to be upped to a bottle. Rating: 4 (or a 4.5 even)/5

At first it’s a red lollipop with twinges of red cough syrup in there….and it dries to exactly that. It never changes on me and that cough syrup twinge is a little odd to my nose. off to the swaps with thee Bloody Mary... Rating: 2/5