Storm Moon

[Cielamara]

The Storm Moon marks the darkest portion of the year. A season of long, impenetrable nights and turbulent tempests. A raging, electric and wet scent: slashing rain notes, rolling thunder, and sharp, cold winds layered by a breath of softly wafting lunar incense, a hint of Luna’s blooms, and the brittle herbs of winter.

Hee, my first review.

In the Bottle

Hmm, this is an appealing scent. Mostly cool pine, to my nose, with something almost creamy to soften it.

Wet

This is a very cool pine. Very clean--though not "soapy", and watery and cool. It smells like it feels to step out of a cold shower. There's still that creamy sweetness; it smells delicious. I can't stop smelling my wrists!

Dry down

Those creamy florals have taken over. The pine is still present, but it's like a knife slicing through soft-serve ice cream or something. It's still a clean scent, but now it's a little warmer, and gentler.

My first BPAL fragrance, and I'm in love!

[ChupaChup]

Even though Storm Moon doesn't really work on me, at least this time it's not because of the lunar oils. It's just too harsh for me, the ozone is like shaving off pieces of Irish Spring soap and shoving them up my nose. My girlfriend loves it and I don't even like it on her, I really can't breathe when she's wearing it. But I don't tell her that, I hate it when people ruin BPAL for me like that.

[Savannah]

I am not familiar with ozone, so I asked for a decant of this in swaps mainly out of curiosity, and because I love cool, aquatic type scents.

 

Turns out I DO NOT like ozone. That is, not if that is the predominant scent in this blend. Apparently my nose doesn't do Beth's aquatics, so I get ozone plus some flowers, which are probably really nice in themselves but do not take to being fried by rain-free lightning in this scent.

[sookster]

wickedly fresh and clean smelling....just like freshly washed, wet clothes.....

 

warms up on me after awhile but i can't quite figure out what those pretty scents are on me & with my crazyass chemistry

 

floral....remains slightly soapy.....has more of a "warmth" to it now if that makes any sense

 

i dunno.....not a top 10 for me

[yeahbutnobut]

Storm Moon

 

In the imp: fresh and citrussy! Like limes or even, dare I say it, washing up liquid!!! There's a little hint of salt there too.

Wet on skin: the citrus note sticks around, but the salty note strengthens. It's very very fresh.

Dry on skin: I can now see why many people associate citrus scents with cleaning products, because this is what this reminds me of slightly There's also a hint of sea salt, thrashing waves, cold gales…there's a cold note in there which might be mint. It feels very fresh and cooling to my nose.

After a while: there's ozone here, there are salty waves there, but there's also this powdery scent that reminds me of detergent. The scent is ok, it's got it's cooling, refreshing scent, it's got sea saltiness (and even a little seaweed), it's got a slight metallic twinge of ozone, but I'm not digging the washing powder scent I get from this, I'm afraid. I don't get much incense here either.

After an hour or two, the washing powder scent has toned down, and it smells rather metallic. That must be the ozone.

Verdict: I was very apprehensive to try this, as I am not a fan of storms. I probably don't mind the smell of stormy ozone, but I don't like storms or thunder and lightning at all, so it's much deeper than an olfactory reluctance. However, I wasn't expecting this to turn into Detergent Moon rather than Storm Moon on my skin! There is a sea salt and ozone scent in this which is rather nice, very fresh and cold, but this also has the effect on my skin of turning into a scent like washing powder. I'm afraid to say that this is the moon scent I like the least out of them all.

Edited July 14, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[sophia_helix]

This was one of the first oils I tried -- I borrowed a dab from a friend's imp, fell crazy-in-love, and knocked myself out to buy a 5ml on Ebay. And now it's here! *happy sigh*

 

In the bottle:

 

Oh, so clean and wonderful. There's lemon, and just strong, fresh ozone. I have to add here that I am completely a sucker for clean scents, love to inhale wet laundry and the smell of, um, Windex, so I'm probably a nut. But this oil was made for me!

 

Wet:

 

The lemon jumps RIGHT out at me, and I'm so thankful that it smells nice, instead of sickly like Embalming Fluid or Szepasszony did on me. It's just a nice, clean lemon. Did I mention clean? *g*

 

Drydown:

 

There's a strange little scent about two minutes into drydown, which makes me think a little of anise. I'm guessing it's the lunar oils. It goes away quickly, and the oil dries into a quieter version of its bottle-self.

 

Maybe a little too quiet -- my only complaint with Storm Moon is that it fades pretty fast. But my husband says it has a lot of throw (ok, he actually said "Boy, I can smell that over here!" *g*), and I always have a hard time smelling oils on myself after I've been sniffing them for a while. The initial, bracing rush of lemon and ozone is completely worth it any fading.

Edited July 16, 2005 by sophia_helix

[Lycanthrope]

In the Bottle or Imp:

It isn't quite as potently ozonic as I at first thought it would be. It's a slightly salty fresh aquatic (yay!) that is tempered by the usual herbal sweetness I've found in the Moon blends I've tried.

Wet, on Skin:

WHAM! Helloooooooooo ozone! This is crackling sharp!

Drying Down:

The lunar oil base is coming out here, gentle white florals and soft herbal notes, still being assaulted by sharp ozone bursts.

Dry on Skin:

Doesn't change much, if at all.

Over Time/Longterm:

Akin to sitting near a briar of salt mist rose, not next to the ocean but in the dunes, a storm having just rolled through and moistened everything with a torrent of rain and crisped the air with searing bolts of lightning. Not oceanic, however... just a touch salty.

Final Verdict?

Akin to Lightning, in that it's a sharp ozone, but it definitely steps back after rolling around a bit on my skin, unlike Lightning which continues to be sharp and fresh even after drydown. I do like this, but it's not one of my favorite aquatics, like Kingsport or Thunderbird, as those dry to a more breezy, beachy/shore aroma. Storm Moon heads towards storm-crushed blossoms.

[emzebel]

I had high hopes for Storm Moon, such that I ended up with two imps of it somehow. Unfortunately, it seems that anything vaguely ozone/aquatic starts to turn strong cheap men's cologne on me from the very first second.

 

I have had similar reations to other watery scents, so I think it is just a combination of my nose and my chemistry.

[diabolique]

I received an imp of this today in a swap, but I didn't know I was getting it. Yay for surprise imps, even if they ARE ozoney aquatics that would never work, in a million year.

 

In the vial, this is OBVIOUSLY sharp and aquatic. I immediately put the cap on and tucked it away for later. Smelling it again, somehow I'm getting that weird spicy-creamy note that occurs when you sniff a glass of egg nog.

 

On my skin, it's holyholycrapewwozone! I've never understood why anyone would wear a blend with a dominant ozone note. It doesn't smell right. When I walk outside during a thunderstorm, the first thing I smell isn't lemony ozone. Ugh.

 

Basically, this just makes me smell like one of those cheap candles that are supposed to smell like the ocean. The concept is really, really nice, being a huge fan of storms and rain, but I just can't wear this at all. Up for swap.

[urraca]

Rats, my first lunar oil and I can't say I like it very much. I don't get anything I can identify as ozone; it is mostly a fresh clean smell that smells kind of artificial. It reminds me of something I've smelled before, but I can't put my finger on it.

[Cedar]

Okay, so it took me a while to post this review. I think I was too busy smelling it.

 

This is MY scent. Figures that it's LE. Luckily, I've scored four extra bottles because I went through my first one in about eight weeks. In the bottle, it's not what I think a storm DOES smell like, because I've always lived in heavily polluted areas, but it's what I think it SHOULD smell like. There's almost a charge to it, very strong ozone and rain with something fresh behind it, possibly lemon? Something citrusy. Unlike Lightning, this one retains its scent on me and doesn't turn soapy in the slightest. It's perfect for wearing on those fall nights when it rains, and on those summer nights when you wish it would.

[Nachtwulf]

In the bottle: Grk! @_o This is... I can't.... quite describe it. It's /very/ pungent, though, I have to give you that. The 'ozone' note is -extremely- prevalent; they're not -kidding- about the 'electric and wet'. It's got a sweet undertone beneath it, but mostly, it's all claws in the nostrils.

 

Wet: It's even harder to identify wet. It becomes more sweet, slightly, but still remains all edges and points, 'ozone' notes overriding almot everything. But there's flowers under it... it's like a screaming thunderstorm in a flower garden in the middle of the night. It's too sweet for me to read 'winter' in it, really; it's not cold enough. But there's something kind of mediciney in it, too, that makes it less pleasant than it might otherwise be.

 

Dry: I think... it turns into something I'd tend to call 'Cool Breeze Aftershave'. It's very masculine, and the sweet-floral undertones aren't enough to soften it down at all. That 'mediciney' note sticks around, though a bit softer, falling short of 'soapy' but still remaining rather like men's toiletry items. When it's sat dry for some time, it seems to gain a faint citrusy note.

 

Final Opinion: Um. Well... I just...don't think this is me. It's too sharp, it's a little too male, and not really in a good way. The overall impression of aftershave (even if it's not cheap aftershave) seems to be a little funny to me for a woman. I wonder if anyone will trade for it... it /would/ be nice on a man.

[Blood onmy hands]

I want to love ozones and aquatics, but they just don't seem to work on me in reality. Storm Moon is one of the strongest ozone fragrances that I've ever tried before. It starts out smelling like sharp cheap hairspray and dries down to dryer sheets. It smells of charged air and static. Very soapy and gives me a quick/vicious headache. I can see this working better on a man than a woman, but my guy hates it as well.

[Alannah]

This scent is definitely unique. It does really go right up your nose at first (for lack of a better way to describe it)--very pungent. I love it wet... it walks kind of a fine line between ozone and air freshener because it's so strong and almost chemical-smelling, but after it dries down, it goes strange on me. I get a kind of smell I can only describe as "dirty"--it almost smells like I've rubbed pencil lead on my wrists, as there's a hint of metallic something in there. After the dirty phase, it fades completely.

 

I really wanted to love this but I don't think I can make it work on me! Too bad.

[AlaskaSnows]

In the Bottle: ozozne and fabric softener. It smells good, clean. It is not boring like some of the fabric softener dryer sheets smells like Dirty. I also get some salty ocean air, and it's really nice. Kinda air freshener-y, and maybe a hint of urinal cake. I have definitely smelled this as an air freshener, and a candle.

 

Dry: A Yankee candle scent. Very fresh and nice and breezy, but a home scent on a Spring or Summer day, and not a perfume, for me.

 

1 to 10: 5 Buy Again: No.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Cielamara let me try this one--a very complex aquatic. Now, as I've said elsewhere, aquatics feel masculine to me, and this is no exception. She got flowers, but they barely peeked out on me. A touch of woods, though. I can definitely see this being the scent of a rain-drenched forest at night; it's a "dark blue" scent to me. Not my sort of scent, but once again Beth captures a feeling beautifully!

[arpeggiated]

I had been talking with some friends at work about BPAL, and Kenya said that she liked more masculine, boy scents.

 

When I got this in the mail, I thought of her. It's a very masculine scent, but it smells so damn good I wear it fairly often.

 

The night afterwards, we had a rain storm. I opened the window after it was gone to cool off my room, and the air coming inside smelled exactly like Storm Moon. It was incredible.

[shayelea]

In the bottle: This is the scent of the yummiest laundry room ever. This isn't necessarily a bad thing -- fresh drying linen, fabric softener, dryer sheets, but there is a hint of laundry detergent that I smell. I sniffed this several times before putting it on, and I got that each time.

 

Wet: Still fresh-smelling laundry room, though the soapiness mellows a bit, and leaves behind the scent of...flowers? There's definitely lemon.

 

Drydown: Okay. So, like I figured would happen, the soapy scent comes out on me. A lot. The lemon disappears, and then out comes this scent I can't describe, but it's...well, it's a little nauseating. It's like, I've never smelled chloroform, but this is what I imagine it must smell like. Sweet and soapy and nausea-inducing. Fortunately, that part of the smell doesn't have a lot of throw, but the soapiness does, and like all laundry rooms, it's starting to prick my nose a bit. This will have to come off.

[iriedanym]

Normally I am not an aquatic scent girl (I'm more earthy/fire). Still, I had several people say they liked Storm Moon, so I gave it a try.

 

In the imp: Okay, it smells like...wait is that fabric softner? Yes, it kinda does smell like fabric softner. It also smells like when the rain first comes down and hits the pavement.

 

On the skin: Thought it might be too strong or too masculine smelling. Still smelled like I just threw laundry into the washer. It also reminded me highly of a cologne one of my exes used to wear. Thankfully, I don't hat that ex.

 

Dry: It mellowed out and became more subdued. Still has a tangy, ozone smell.

 

Verdict: While not my favorite of the Lunacies, it's honestly not a bad scent. It doesn't exactly reminde me of a storm, but it's still a nice scent.

[Etaven]

Upon first sniff in the bottle, I'm reminded of men's cologne. Something more tasteful than Axe, but too masculine for me to find appealing for myself.

 

Wet, on my skin- the flowers are out more, now, toning down the masculinity slightly, but not enough to really suit my fancy. I'm also not a big flower fan, though, so maybe that's why.

A sharp scent is also coming out... it reminds me of something my mom might wear. And I sort of get the image of wet pavement in my head.

If I sniff too closely, my head hurts a little... this one doesn't seem to agree with me too much; it's a bit too strong for my liking.

 

As it's drying down, it's lost the "manly" edge, and is more female... but not girly. More that powerful, business woman sort of female. Feminine, but aggressive, and if you get too close, overpowering.

 

After giving it a bit more time, the ozone is definitely out. It's still really strong, and still makes my nose twitch if I get too close.

 

It's not bad, but it's not my sort of smell, so I'll be swapping it.

[sixthsentinel]

After I bought this on e-bay, I kept kicking myself with the "what was I thinking?!" Especially after reading some reviews of it...I was instantly reminded of all the reasons why I'd never snatched a bottle of this up before---ozone? aquatic? HELLZ NO!

 

So imagine my surprise when I tried this scent on my skin & loved it. To me, it is just clean & fresh, and it brought me a sense of peace. At a time when I *really* needed it. Honestly (beware oncoming vomit-inducing cheesiness), this scent makes me feel like my spirit has been washed clean by an autumn storm. I feel...balance...peace. This is beautiful. There really are no words for it. I love it in a soul-restoring way.

[malanna]

Storm Moon smells like dryer sheets! That was my first thought. I analyzed my first thought a bit and realized that it smelled like the static of dryer sheets, which in turn made me realize that just meant it smelled like Ozone. It's like Lightning or Storm, but a lot less water-y and a whole lot more about the static-y air. That just...pretty much sums it up!

[alicia_stardust]

Storm Moon is beautiful and I think Beth captured it perfectly. The description fits so well.

 

However. It didn't work on me. I tend to only be able to wear the more "subtle" aquatic and air scents. This one was a little too much, and a little too strong, and a little too soapy. I think it would make a beautiful room scent, though!

[ancilla_morte]

This is so wonderful and yummy! it is so far my favorite Moon, and my favorite aquatic scent.

It smells, like other people have said, like Yankee Candle's Storm Watch. But it also reminds me of City in the Sea. I am not getting the ozone many people have mentioned. but maybe I don't know what ozone smells like?

I like this though because I can smell sweet watery flowers, very aquatic and fresh and clean. I would love to smell this on a guy.

I think I'd like to use this after a shower.

[Voleuse]

On first application, this is heavy ozone--kind of like dryer sheets, actually. But sweeter, more aquatic.

 

As it dries, it gets a little less aquatic, and a little more floral, but it stays essentially the same. It's nice, but I can't imagine I'd wear it very much.