Peony Moon

[sarada]

Peony, plum blossom, water reeds and soft Asian woods.

I didn't order this because florals don't do anything on me except disappear -- and I'm not into pink things, so I waited awhile to get a decant.

Wonder of wonders though, there is one pink flower that I like, and it is rose -- and this smells like a very very soft pink rose with touches of greenery. It it fresh, damp and tender.

Peonies are my mom's favorite flowers and her yard is full of them. However, I never found them to have a strong smell. I buried my nose in them this spring hoping to be able to tell what Peony Moon might smell like, but all I got was a nose full of water...and ants.

If peony essence smells like a perfect fresh wet tender pink-green rosebud, though, I'm totally there. Unfortunately it dies on my skin almost immediately and gets a bit of baby powder scent in it as well. I think it would work better in a locket, so I will happily use it on rainy, springlike days when I need a nice wet pink slap on the face to get me motivated.

Surprisingly lovely, even for someone with flower-eating skin like me. I'm glad to have a decant.

[kunoichi]

In the vial this is an odd mixture of sweetness and aquatic plants, which would probably be the reeds and the peony flowers. On my skin the reeds start to fade to reveal the sweetness of the peony and plum blossoms, but the reeds are there in the background as if flowers growing by a stream. This becomes less reed-scented and more wood-like and floral as time goes by, and after a few hours, this is a breathy sweetness on my skin reminiscent of gentle florals winding through a touch of wood.

[bellis]

I picked up a bottle of this because I've loved the Asian themed moons and I have a deep, nostalgic love for peony, but I didn't have the cash around to grab a bottle at the update. At first sniff, it's all fresh peony, leaves and all. It's a really lovely crisp clean floral, with a touch of the crystal clear stream aquatic that I love in Amsterdam. Once on, the peony fades after a few minutes and the plum blossom (which I love so much in Budding Moon) takes center stage. Then, after about fifteen minutes, it fades to almost nothing. I love the initial stage of this, but the plum blossom drydown is to similar for me to keep this bottle around when Budding Moon lasts much longer.

[Scrangie]

In this bottle this smells like peony. Sharp, astringent peony, like the peonies in my grandmother's garden. Clean and bright.

 

On my skin this is watered-down peony and cream.

 

Dried down, I smell almost no peony, but I do get this nice creaminess... Not sure where that is coming from, but I like it.

 

This has no throw on me at all, and the lasting power weak. Otherwise, this is a very nice fresh "pink" scent, exactly like fresh peony.

[noumenon]

Peony Moon is such a delightful scent! When I put it on, it's a blast of pure peony. Then as it warms the peonies begin to smell as if they've been coated in sugar and dropped into a clear pool of water. It's a beautiful acquatic floral...the best I've tried so far.

 

Not much staying power, though...even freshly applied, the throw isn't intense, and it always fades on me after about 4 hours or so. I can tell I'm going to tear through this bottle, because I always want to smell like Peony Moon!

[arabella]

First Impression: Soft rose.

 

Dries down to: Pretty much the same with a "green" undernote.

 

Additional Comments: Thank God for peony. It always works on me, where rose can be very tricky, as it, usually, amps way up. This has a lovely, fresh softness to it - a very feminine scent. The other notes aren't obvious to me but lend an Oriental tinge to the blend. And, bonus, this one lasts on me longer than most and is one of the few BPAL blends I've received unsolicited, favourable comments on from strangers.

 

Lasted: Several hours.

 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

[opaleyes]

This starts out as just pure straight peony when wet. A few hours later the woods have started to come out, and I get some sort of aquatic note as well- very crisp.

[theseagrows]

i wasn't sure if i'd ever smelled bpal's peony note, or what peonies even really smelled like. this is a bright, sweet, slightly tart floral on my skin. very clean smelling and pretty. actually the first lunar oil i've liked enough to keep my decant of! that being said, i don't absolutely love this, but i think it's pretty and worth keeping a little of.

[sofiaviolet]

The peonies are the strongest note. They make this a fanciful springtime scent. I like the uniqueness of it. It's kind of pink, but also kind of green. One of my favourite lunacies.

[Deiicide]

This oil brings back really really fond memories of this old Chinese Giftshop that used to be around the local mall when I was a kid. The soft woods with the flowers is something that I could just inhale for hours. Simply beautiful.

Nose meet wrist, ex nauseum.

 

Anyways,

 

In the Bottle: Hardly smell anything except a faint smell of woods and some kind of watery smell.

Wrist: Helllooo Peony. How are you doing?

Peony: omghihowareyou?whereamI?what'sthatdoingovertherecanIseeepleasepleaseplease

Me: .......

So that's what it's about for the first few seconds of my skin. The plum tempers it a bit adding some sweetness while the woods ground it.

Later: About the same feeling except fainter.

 

A very definative floral fragrence, very spring time. I'd also be willing to pull it out whenever I need to think Asian (Japanese majors are fun >.>))

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Full, fresh peony blooms!

 

On me:

I only got this blend because peony makes me think of my childhood. I didn't think of getting it when it first came out because I'm not much on florals. But when the summer rolled around, and the peony bushes were blooming in our backyard, I was reminded of how the scent of peony was ever present in the summers of my childhood. It made me feel light hearted and carefree. I suddenly knew I had to have a bottle! I was lucky and swapped for a bottle of it, and I'm not disappointed. I was worried it wouldn't be a peony scent in that it would have too many other notes in it and the peony would only be a small part of a complex blend (normally, I would not mind this, but I wanted pure and true peony). But I lucked out and this is definitely a peony scent.

 

It's full, fresh, super pink peony blooms just as the weather is turning warm. This is so strongly peony that I smell like I'm standing in the middle of a peony bush, and I've only put on a single swipe of it on my hand! After a while I do get a bit of something green and reedy, but it just gently backs the peony.

 

Final note:

Super true peony scent, I feel like I've got a vase full of fresh peony right next to me!

[gypsybaby1]

Tea Rose? Why am I smelling tea rose?

 

That's all I get. Of course, I've never really smelled peonies, so I can't make an honest comparison - all I know is that my brain says "TEA ROSE!!" when I smell the test patch and it's not pleasant in my nose.

 

Off to swaps!

[fairy]

This is a very pleasant floral scent. It's hard to pick out specific florals...I'd liken this to a big beautiful freshly cut bouquet of spring flowers

[buzz23666]

ok - i am dabbing the tears out of my eyes.

 

I wanted to love this one sooooo much.

 

In the bottle this is the most splendid and regal peony EVER.

 

wet - the peony is slight and it is coupled with the reeds that are most definitely wet.

 

dry - everything good about this goes away and I am left with an odd floral note and a sharp almost rotting greenery.

[Monster]

Ack! All flowers....very very strong flowers.

I guess I should've expected that hough

 

On my skin wet and dry this is pure peony with just a brush of root in the background.

The flowers are so strong in this it makes me wanna sneeze.

 

This is a great blend for anyone who really likes fresh floral scents, but unfortunatly it's a bit too strong for me.

[girl_android]

Ok, I'm onto my last imp! I *think* there's a package containing a panacea blend waiting for me at work (I left early today to attend a wedding), so all hope is not lost!

 

In the imp: It smells pink and white. I don't actually know what peony smells like, but this smells oddly familiar. Like something from memories of Body Shop purchases past? Also kind of reminds me of this rose-scented sachet thing in my cousin's room ... long long ago!

 

Wet on skin: roses with a tinge of green, it's quite nice. It's not quite roses though.

 

Dry: Something in there that makes me think the Body Shop's white musk. No idea why though. This one's hard to review, because I don't actually know what the listed notes smell like by themselves. I'm finding myself comparing the scent to things I do know, and thinking it's not quite that.

 

I quite like this (: I can think of a couple of friends who might like this too ... but it's not playing fair to enable someone with an LE, is it? Although ... that's how I found myself drawn in ...

[supremegoddessofall]

Very, very soft, and I honestly can't get any distinct impressions other than subtle florals. My skin is eating this very quickly. It seems pretty, but I'll definitely need a retest to form a betteer opinion.

[steffanina]

Peony Moon-

 

In Bottle: Very brightly floral and fruity. Very pink-smelling.

 

Wet: Hugely floral. Kinda nice!

 

Dry: This is sweetly floral-fruity and I really like it. Not candy-fruity but still sweet and delicious.

 

Overall: I like!

[Shollin]

First sniff: Like being nestled in the center of an enormous pink flower with soft fluffy petals. Beside a stream.

 

Wearing: It’s tiptoeing right on the edge of being too sweet, but I think it’ll be OK. It’s very pink and poofy. Alas, it didn’t hang around long enough for me to really like it.

[kythryne]

The first time I tried this, all I got was plum. Fruity scents aren't my thing, so I put the bottle in my BPAL box and promptly forgot about it, figuring I'd either try it again at some point or swap it away.

 

A few nights ago I was bored with my usual scents, so I decided to give this one another try. Now I honestly have no idea why I didn't like it. Maybe it just needed to age for a few months in order to work on me?

 

The plum is still there, but it's mellowed to a light sweetness in the background, with the peony and reeds coming out to play. I don't get much of an aquatic note, but there's a hint of it deep in the mix, rounding things out nicely. It smells rather pink to me, but not a bright pink, more of a deep, rich pink. It's very summery, but not overwhelming -- a good day or evening scent, feminine and strong and slightly quirky.

[darkitysnark]

Peony Moon was one of the frimps included in the ginormous One Week Traveling Journal #1 box that was recently resurrected. (:waves: to all the ladies on the loop!)

 

And, oh, my. I'm sorry, ladies, but I believe I'm swapping this one out. It's... this is exactly the smell of playing with my cousins in their old condo in Hong Kong... the one just down the street from my father's family's first dry-goods store (the one that started my uncle's real estate empire).

 

So it was peony perfume I was smelling when we made those little plaster Sanrio-esque figurines. And I can almost see my grandmother's little altar with the rice bowls filled with offerings. And even though this blend itself doesn't have the incense she used, I can sense them too as a ghost of smell that my minds is pulling up to complement the peonies.

 

It's been a long time since I've had this kind of reaction to BPAL, I figured I had reached my "wow" saturation point. But it looks like there's still moments to be unearthed.

 

Amazing.

 

On to the actual review of this blend: it's almost as light as Jabberwocky, which is unfortunate. This is definitely a private blend, not for sharing with the masses (it won't throw that far anyway). I'd love to share it with everyone around me, but I'll settle for working to inspire the same sense of play and wonder that that time in my life held.

[Melantha]

Peonies are my favorite flower, so this was a must.

 

Ah, gorgeous. There's really not a lot to be said, except that the other notes tame the peony a bit, and it's so great.

 

Lasts a long time, too!

[mmmitchell]

This is one of my favorite Lunacies.

 

I live in the Gulf Coast area of Texas, and alas, peonies do NOT grow here...not enough cold weather, and too much humidity. But I spent lotsa my growing-up time in Kansas, where the scent of peonies was really the harbinger of spring. My mother grew lovely peonies, as did her mother, and my younger sister grows them now. In fact, we are all so enamoured of the lovely scent of these beautiful blossoms that we have them planted all over our family's gravesites in Kansas......so my great-grandparents, my grandparents, my mother and my older sister have their graves covered with pink and white blossoms each and every spring. My youngest sister tends to them, but they are very carefree....these delicate blooms and bushy foliage come from corms that over winter extremely well, and are just mowed down each summer when they get scraggy.

 

I was so glad that Peony Moon offers such a spot-on olafactory blast to my past. This is the scent of peonies after a springtime rain. Without the huge black ants.

 

Thanks Lab. I'm not always in the mood to smell so freshly pink, but it's a scent that I treasure. I wish it lasted l longer on me, but, hey.......

[Carmencita]

Firstly, I hate florals. Hate. Except when they have been blended so as to be unobtrusive.

 

However, I purchased this because peony has a special place in my heart. In the first piece of historical fiction I ever read, a wonderful and under-appreciated novel by Muriel Jernigan called "The Forbidden City", 'Peony' is the private nickname of the protagonist.

 

I thought this would just sit in my BPAL box in homage, since I didn't expect to like it. I was wrong.

 

In the bottle: At first it's grassy pink flowers, new buds, not fully bloomed, their perfume not fully explored... and then a harsh note of violet which SCARED me.

 

On my skin: No violet, just that soft, new-bud pink peony, with a hint of something ripe like fruit behind it, but very subtle. If I wear this in my hair it has some throw, although it fades on my skin within a couple of hours. Hair or scent locket. It is beautiful. The only floral I could ever wax poetic about some day.

[wikkidraven]

wow! no wimpy floral here.

 

i was expecting something a lot less bold from peony moon, but it's actually got a lot of pleasant throw. the plum sweetens it nicely, but to my nose this is a very fresh, clean bouquet. very nice, without the usual 'old lady' feeling i get from a lot of floral blends, though on the drydown this threatens to go a bit soapy.