August is a month of reflection. It is the month of rest before the harvest, and it holds for us a time between toils, a brief period of relaxation before we take up the burden of our work again. It is the Time of the Phoenix, a season of celebrating health, vitality, warmth and joy, but it is also the time at which the Corn God dies for the sake of the land, his blood soaking the earth to ensure a bountiful harvest in the fall. The Full Red Moon of August was named thus by some Native American tribes because as the moon rises, it dons a reddish veil, visible through the hot, sweltering summer evening haze. Our blend for this Moon mixes traditional lunar oils with the warmth of amber, tolu balsam, and heliotrope, the russet haze of dragon's blood resin, bittersweet red currant, and crushed orange peel, and a swirl of summertime herbs: chamomile, cilantro, rue, elder flower, yellow yarrow, and marigold. I hope this post is helpful. I am so new to BPAL that I was unsure if I should even do a review, but what I lack in experience I make up for in enthusiasm (hopefully)! In the bottle: slightly medicinal but, to me, bottle scent means nothing and gives you no insight to what the actual smell will be once on your skin. Initially upon application, I smell straight up Dragons’ Blood Incense. Within a few minutes, a bit of orange comes peeking through. Just a few minutes after that, the orange leaves and the scent turns again, becoming more floral. What kind of flower, I don’t know, but it’s definitely a warm flower. I have no idea what heliotrope smells like, but I do know that heliotropic flowers follow the motion of the sun across the sky, and this makes sense to me because it is a warm floral, almost honeysuckle-sweet (though only slightly) with the incense moving to the background. A few minutes later it becomes more clean, almost a dryer sheet smell (but in a good way) with a very slight herbal sweetness (cilantro and chamomile?) swirling around. The boy describes it as “clean” and acknowledges a bit of incense in the background. At arm’s length it’s warmth and a nice powdery floral (natural, well-blended floral, not in-your-face floral) with oh-so-slight taming, citrusy herbs. Closer to my nose it’s more dryer sheet clean. And this is where it seems to sit with soft amber peeking through a bit more, especially at arm’s length. I like it a lot. My birthday is at the end of the month and I was hoping for something that suited me. I definitely got it. The throw seems pretty good but not overpowering and I didn’t need to apply a lot. I like August because, despite the heat, you can feel that the hot/sweet/sticky days are drawing to a close and fall (my favorite season) is near, especially on the nights that are cool and breezy. This scent feels like the end of summer – warm and sticky initially but quickly making way for a slightly lighter scent. It continues to be warm but more of a glow and less of a haze. *And the pissiest cat of the bunch just jumped in front of the keyboard and licked at the Red Moon* For such a logical, precise person this scent has got me feeling awfully ethereal. Addendum: I get a lot of headaches in the summer. Going from AC to heat and back again kills me. It is worst in August, which seems to be the hottest. Not unlike my summer issues, after about 2 hours of wearing Red Moon, as the scent was in full swing, a dull headache set in. And then, just as fall comes in to rescue me, the scent faded a bit and the headache subsided. I like it but I have to use a light hand. I wonder, as I become more versed in bpal, how my feelings on scents will change....
