Strawberry Moon 2005

[wickedgoddess]

Strawberry Moon is a blending of strawberries and cream with light, dry lotus and soft ylang ylang and a touch of green tea and sage to bring it closer to Earth.

Wet - There's a new summer tea they have at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. It's Strawberry Cream Tea and it contains strawberries, cream and green tea. This smells exactly like that.

Dry - I like this better than I thought I would. The strawberry isn't too sweet and the ylang ylang and sage blends with the strawberry nicely, giving it a bit of a herbal scent. I do get a bit of that plasticy note on extreme drydown, and it's still a bit too fruity for my tastes, but I don't have anything else with strawberry in it, so I will probably hang on to it.

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 3.

[L-z_Empress]

Strawberry Moon is a scent that I thought I would be allergic to because it seems that any BPAL oils with lotus in them make me break out in hives, but I couldn't resist - every single lunacy blend has worked on me (gotta love the "traditional lunar oils") and cream and tea are my favourite notes. Because of this, I figured I would give it a go and if I was extremely allergic I could always swap it for more Pink Moon . Well, there is no way I am getting rid of my lone bottle of Strawberry Moon. When it got to me yesterday, I was wearing Skindazzles whipped Body Frosting in Pink Sugar, but I had to try the scent on right then and there. With the two scents together, what I got was the most gorgeous thing - a sweet, creamy, juicy, ultra feminine scent that made me want to go do something wholesome like pick flowers in the woods. Today, I am wearing it without the Pink Sugar and it still just as lovely, the strawberries are very pronounced and smell like the strawbetries that my mother used to grow every summer. I don't smell any lotus, green tea, or sage, this scent is light, sweet strawberries and fresh cream which is okay with me. Strawberry Moon is definitely a keeper.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Strawberries flambe... booze and all.

 

Wearing: This starts out as a very boozy berry, but it very quickly becomes less boozy and more like... real fruit. It is not just sweet - it is slightly acidic and crunchy. As it dries, the sage and tea notes come out with the ripe strawberry. This is my favorite stage - the red and green stage! The final drydown is sweet strawberries and cream.

 

Final Impressions: Not what I expected, but very, very nice!

Edited July 30, 2005 by paperdoll

[Thorne]

This reminded me of Pink Moon's less intense baby sister. At first, it smelled of a slightly plasticy strawberry scent. Not quite real strawberries, not quite fakey strawberry "flavor."

 

As it dried, it mellowed into a soft, girly pink kind of smell, all sweet sweet flowers and a little bit of sugared fruit with the lunar oils blending in. Very nice.

 

All in all this is so similar to Pink Moon that I can't see using it much...until I run out of Pink Moon, and then I bet I will use it up.

[Muppetk]

In the bottle: strawberry bubblegum with a hint of booze?

 

Wet on me: Strawberry with a hint of something green. I guess it's the green tea, but it teminds me of the way a tomato plant smells. The green part - stem & leaves.

 

Drying: Pretty similar to wet. Oh no. Fading FAST into that plastic doll scent I got off of snow white. If this doesn't morph further, it is SUCH a swapper.

 

Dry a few minutes: well, the plastic has faded a bit, but it's still there. Aside from that, the strawberry note is very nice, fresh, not artifical.

 

Dry a half hour: scent is mostly gone. My fruit curse strikes again, but at least it didn't turn this one wierd or sour on me. Well, not beyond the odd plastic snow white smell. I wouldn't be surprised if this smells like a strawbery Snow White on someone else.

[tesao]

caveat emptor!

 

i bought this oil as a ritual oil. i haven't had a chance to use it yet for that purpose, so this review will be specifically regarding the scent.

 

in the bottle: gag me. this smells truly truly vile.

 

on my wrist, wet: overwhelmingly artificially flavoured cherry cough syrup. this is my body chemistry amping up the fruit and the lotus. SUPER pink. at least the vile smell from the bottle is gone.

 

on my wrist, dry: mostly red/pink fruit. this is cloyingly sweet.

 

dry down: now i'm getting ripe strawberries. strawberries and crème chantilly. with, unfortunately, the sticky sweet lotus note popping up a bit too often.

 

overall: well. i'm not going to be wearing this one any time soon. but for a summer moon, ripe with possibilities, this could be a fantastic ritual oil. even though this moon is past, i may well try it next month -- where i live, it will still be warm and fruitful!!

[HoneyHoneyNY]

I love the strawberry in Bon Vivant, and as soon as I read reviews of Strawberry Moon, I was dying to try it.

 

In the bottle it smells like Tequila Rose, the strawberry cream liqueur. That's the first thing that came to mind.

 

On my skin, out came the strawberries and cream, and the boozy note faded. Immediately after that, I caught a candy sweet bubblegum smell that must be the lotus. Under all that, I can smell the herbal-y lunar oils. I want to see how this behaves on my skin.

 

ETA: I ended up swapping this off. I liked it very much, but the strawberries, the lotus, the creaminess, and the lunar oils ended up battling it out on my skin.

 

Bon Vivant is beautiful to me, clear and sparkly and not so hard to wear. I guess I don't need more than one Strawberry scent.

Edited August 15, 2005 by HoneyHoneyNY

[ethermaiden]

My initial sniff from the imp made me want to swap this away without further thought. It stung my nose with a strong astringent chemical smell that I can't place. I love tea scents, so it wasn't that. Oof.

 

Trying this on I got a little whiff of sweet cream from the imp wand. For the split second when I was applying this I got a hint of cherry bubble gum or artificial strawberry beverage. Then it went to herbal and has pretty much stayed there. Nose-to-skin and wafting both give me the same herbal scent. A wee hint of the chalky pink "tutti-frutti bubblegum' flavored antibiotic fluid from childhood.

 

I was hoping from the reviews to have found a wearable strawberry that smelled like an actual strawberry, but no go. At least not on me.

[darkling]

In the bottle and its primary stage on my skin, Strawberry Moon was entirely syrupy artifical strawberry. It reminded me of that scary strawberry syrup that kids use to make strawberry milk.

 

After half an hour, the strawberry remained artifical but took on a powdery quality. The scent was now reminiscent of a Strawberry Shortcake doll as others have noted.

 

After a few minutes of the powdery phase, the strawberry began to develop a more natural tone due to the mingling of the green tea and sage. At this point, the scent is exquisite. Light, fresh-picked strawberries and a cool glass of green tea in a garden of herbs and gentle flowers. Sadly, this phase only lasts a minute or so before the entire scent fades into oblivion

[sarada]

I didn't order a bottle of this because of the ylang ylang and lotus, but I wanted to try it. I like Pink Moon but figured that would be enough strawberry for me for awhile, because ylang ylang always strikes me as a very harsh chemical scent, rather like nail polish remover, in most of the blends where it is used.

 

Indeed, in the imp I get a strong sensation of that chemical smell...alcohol or turpentine, something akin to paint thinner/remover. Why does ylang ylang do that to me? Lotus is another thing that I watch out for, as it's got that sort of plasticky quality at times but mainly lotus just isn't a scent I like in general.

 

However, I love strawberries and I love green tea and sage. That paint thinner scent fades as soon as I apply this and it makes me think of those frozen fruit ice pops, where it's just like a big chunk of dark red berries smooshed together and melting in your mouth. Although I am still dimly aware of that chemical smell that I don't like through the drydown the berries manage to edge it out. I get a faint glimpse of green tea and sage but not as much as I'd like. I love both of those notes...they seem to cool the blend off a little and give it a blast of fresh greenery but it's mostly thick, syrupy strawberries.

 

I do think this will be nice to wear outside at this time of year though as I like what fresh summer air does to scents like this, that I might not be inclined to wear during other times of the year. A nice warm breeze helps to waft this through the air and reveal the nuances of the fragrance that I don't notice when I'm sitting inside at my desk.

[tsarina]

This is my most favorite Moon ever. The strawberries smell fresh and sugared, dunked in cream and placed out in the sun. There's a green, grassy note in the back ground that makes me think of parks and summer picnics. It's sweet without being cloying, and seems to last forever on me. I love it.

[joseybird]

The base of this scent is definately Strawberry SN--the scent of pure gummy strawberry candy! I think I can detect the lotus in here, but the sweetness of the strawberry masks/blends with it so well I can hardly tell. The ylang ylang is invisible, but the herbs and slightly sharp tang of tea is in evidence here...

 

This actually reminds me quite a bit of Corazon, although I prefer the latter It's like a fancy Italian strawberry ice pop...nice for summer, but a bit out of season any other time of the year for this girlie.

[Lilithlefay]

This smelled exactly like a juicy strawberry in the bottle and once on the skin I got the worst craving for strawberries!!! Definately creamy, slightly floral...but very subtle, and yes the strawberries, but not just any strawberries nice, big, rich, juicy, warm in the sun strawberries. There isn't any bubblegum stickiness to the sweetness either so I am in love!!!

[coulrophobe]

I have some strawberry-scented nail polish remover. Now, while it smells better than normal nail polish remover, it really doesn't smell anything like strawberries, nor does it smell very pleasant. Out of the bottle, that's what Strawberry Moon smells like - a faint whiff of strawberry, but the predominant note is chemically.

 

Luckily, that changes when it hits my skin. I smell strawberry candy - nothing like real strawberries, but nice. It reminds me of those hard candies with squishy centers, with wrappers printed to look like strawberries. The floral and herbal notes linger in the background, keeping this one from being straight fruit.

 

I like it, but I just wish it wasn't so artificial smelling on me. I'm super jealous of all those on whom it smelled like real strawberries and cream!

[inbigtrouble]

I think I am in love!

 

Wet: At first sniff this is super-strong and very sweet on me. I know this sounds terrible, but it smells like strawberry Nestle Quick to me, at first. That, or pink penicillin. It is probably just the overpowering sweetness that gives me that impression.

 

10 minutes: A lot of the sweetness goes away pretty quickly and I am left with just a strong, true strawberry scent. Pretty simple.

 

Dry: This has mellowed out even more. I don't catch any of the floral notes or even the cream in this. That is just fine with me, because I am left with lovely, ripe red berries.

 

Why, oh why did I not order a bottle of this!?

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Sample from hellfire82 on LJ.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I really don't expect to like this. I didn't order Strawberry Moon because while I love the smell of fresh strawberries, I don't want to smell like them and because of my hatred of Bon Vivant (the only other BPAL strawberry blend I've tried aside from Pink Moon) and because of the ylang-ylang and lotus.

 

First sniff:

 

The strawberry note in here is definitely better than the one in Bon Vivant - far less "strawberry lipgloss" vibe - but it still doesn't work for me. I smell strawberry, cream and the bubblegum note that means lotus. Definitely not for me so far.

 

Wet on skin:

 

More realistic now. The cream is stronger and so is the lotus. Honestly, this reminds me a bit too much of cheap strawberry bubblegum (must be the lotus and strawberry joining forces) for me to actually wear this.

 

Dry down:

 

Powdery strawberry bubblegum.

 

I really can't wear lotus because I absolutely despise the smell of bubblegum. For someone else with more of a sweettooth, this would probably be far more wearable, for for it it's just not working.

 

The bottom line:

 

Not for me, but then I didn't expect it to be. This is going to be finding a new home.

[Ajila]

Wet on me this was sweet and creamy like strawberry ice cream, with something green in the background my mind says mint, but I suspect that's because I associate mint with strawberries (there's a mint bush you have to brush past to get to the strawberry patch in my grandparents garden) and that it's actually the combination of the sage and green tea. Dry on me it's the combination of strawberry plants and candy floss . Strawberry Moon is a fantabulous blend of the first degree.

[lorajc]

For some reason, I expected this to be a lot more tart than it actually is. It is all strawberries and cream on me, but it is not a tart strawberry and it is not really super sweet. It's hard to describe. I guess it smells more like a strawberry syrup with cream undertones. I do not smell the lotus or sage at all. This wears EXTREMELY light on me and I really slathered it on. I really wish my skin would amp this up a bit. I think I've used almost half a bottle already. I do like this and would be interested to see if I could get the scent to waft a bit if I would get overheated........but that rarely happens.

[Loligo]

I am as pleased by this one as I was disappointed by Honey Moon. I didn't expect much luck with Strawberry, but it turns out I love it. It's always wavering between strawberry gum and true strawberry, but it never gets cloyingly sweet. It's soft and rich. The sage and tea come out for a while in the middle, but I never get a noticeable cream smell (though the cream is probably what softens the overall effect).

[grrrlennyl]

at first: this smells like nail polish remover with a hint of strawberry lip gloss.

on: this smells exactly like strawberry wine.

1 hour later: more powdery.

2 hours later: powdery, with a strawberry background.

overall: for some reason, strawberry scents are really, really boring on me. too bad.

[oatmealneko]

I had originally skipped this blend because my previous experience with strawberries & BPAL blends wasn't great. Then the reviews started to trickle out & I swapped for a bottle of Strawberry Moon.

 

Bottle: Sweet candy strawberry alcoholic drink.

Wet: Sweet strawberries, the alcohol note fades & then it turns into strawberry-scented Bewitched. Identical, except the berry note being different.

Dry: The scent softens quite a bit, I think the cream pokes out around here. It still reminds me of Bewitched, but the berry note here is softer, the green tea note is still sharp, but overall.. LOVE! I don't pick up any ylang ylang or lotus, which tends ruin scents for me (especially ylang ylang, lotus gives me a 50-50 shot).

Edited August 9, 2005 by oatmealneko

[DiamondHeart]

It smells like hot, fresh waffles with strawberry topping and real whipped cream. With some nice herbal green stuff to offset the sweetness.

 

I definitely wish I had gotten two bottles!

 

~Diamond~

[sophia_helix]

I was kind of nervous trying this, after the chemical-sweetener attack that was Pink Moon.

 

In the bottle:

 

Straight strawberry bubblegum, nothing more.

 

Wet:

 

Yikes, it's getting even more like candy strawberries. That's fine for a bubblebath, but I'm not sure if I want to smell like that...

 

Drydown:

 

This had a really interesting drydown. First the candy smell faded a bit, bolstered by a very "perfumy" smell, which I think is probably the ylang ylang. It was a touch soapy, but nice, like walking into an expensive bath products store.

 

Then it dried further became more incensy/rich, which was definitely the sage working on it. Very nice, although not much throw.

 

Half an hour later, I got a sudden hit of something creamy and green, very much like Bewitched or Rosalind, which sadly faded. Currently it's back to a more candy scent, with a wee bit of plastic that has me nervous.

 

I like Strawberry Moon a lot at certain times, and I can definitely see wanting to wear it occasionally. However, I think I'll be satisfied with my one imp, just because I can't trust the scent to stick to the drydown stages I liked most.

[violetblue]

I agree with the nail polish remover likeness unfortunately. Then I remembered my old college buddy, Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill wine, pmsl. This totally reminded me of that too - on me there's barely any throw, just a soft scent, like the smell of a Strawberry Shortcake doll! I didn't catch much more than that and came to the conclusions that this one just didn't do it for me.

[madelf]

This smelled so lovely in the imp, but did not work on my skin at all.

 

In the imp, it was a beautiful scent of strawberries and cream, with a sort of watery flower note in the background. However, on my skin it morphed into cherry Pez. Of all the candies in the world that I do not want to smell like, cherry Pez is pretty high on the list. I kept hoping it would get better, but it never morphed or changed at all. Seven hours of cherry Pez.

 

This was such a disappointment, and made me lament my skin chemistry the entire time I was wearing it.