Rose Moon

[LadyCrow]

Thou art false, O moon, as the hearts of men. I will not, will not love again. Bulgarian rose, tea rose, violet leaf, opium poppy, Bois de Jasmin, patchouli leaf, honey, blue lilac, balsam, woodruff, and lemon peel.

In the imp: Sour rose.

Wet: Oh, deary me. The Bulgar rose is doing that "bug repellent" thing on me. Okay, wait... wait... look at all the other notes, and all the other people who love this... just wait....

Drydown: I can pick out the tea rose, the one that doesn't go disastrous on me. I can pick out the citrus, and the honey. I even get tantalizing hints of the patchouli leaf... but I just wait forever, and the dratted Bulgar just sits there being awful. I tried! I really wanted to like this! But I'm getting slightly less opium out of this than I would if I showed up at the ER with a hangnail as my presenting symptom.

[metaldog32]

It’s a lunacy; I almost always get the lunacies. It being my birth moon lunacy just sealed the deal.

 

My sister is the rose aficionado. She wears Rose Red, Blood Rose, and Spellbound so well.

 

Me??? I like rose..but I need it tempered with something. The honey, blue lilac, patchouli leaf and yess the woodruff made this seem like a good contender for a rose scent I could go ga-ga for.

 

Initial sniff from bottle: Roses..not the super dewy ones in Rose Red..and not the super haughty one in The Peacock Queen..I get more of the tea rose with something sweet in the back..maybe it’s the honey???

 

Applied wet on skin: Tea rose..and yes the lemon peel in the back. So far so good. Lemon peel doesn’t turn to Lemon Pledge..so already this has bonus points.

 

Couple of minutes on skin:Rose has softened a bit…but still has presence. Somehow..the opium poppy and patchouli and woodruff are swirling with the rose and other florals..here is where it becomes fabulous.

 

Hour and a half later: It’s all softened now…the rose with wisps of the poppy over a base of some sort of earthy/wood note…again..it’s very much subdued.

 

Lasting power: Clocks in at about 3+hours with throw soft to average.

 

Bottom Line: Rose Moon is a very interesting rose fragrance. Sure..in the beginning she seems to come off as predictable..but stay with it and you get surprised along the way. It’s nice for spring/summer but for me I think it would be even better in the fall and winter. Something about the patchouli leaf and balsam and woodruff give it a depth that I think works well with the cooler months coming ahead

[CrazyPretzel]

In the bottle: pure, soft, sweet rose and lilac. Very pretty.

 

Wet on me: It becomes a little sharper - I think it's the lemon peel I'm smelling.

 

After a few minutes: Both tart and soft; a 'classic' perfume scent. I could imagine very expensive dusting powder smelling like this.

 

Drydown: Hmmm, there is a slightly sour edge to this that I could do without. Maybe it will disappear after a while. This is definitely a very rosy perfume (quel surprise) that's old-fashioned without being remotely old-ladyish. In fact it smells quite coquettish. A good one to wear with a parasol! Not as sweet as I expected but I predict that this one will really grow on me.

[Sasha]

This is simply a gorgeous rose scent! The lemon in the description worried me, but it smells simply amazing. Not a bit like the lemon pledge I expected, it adds an unexpected freshness to the rose.

I wore this to a friend's house, and when I walked in she asked if it was perfume or roses from outside wafting in when I opened the door. She said it smelled just like a freshly blooming rosebud.

This is my favorite rose scent so far!

[hkhm]

bottle: honeyed, lightly spiced roses. perhaps a sort of honeyed rose-hip and rose scent.

 

wet: there's lots of rose (which is turning a bit soapy as usual) but there's also a lilacish scent with the spiciness.

 

dry: the soapiness isn't as bad as usual but is still present. the other florals seem to be doing their part to help.

this blend fades to a nice, faint scent that smells sort of antique. i like it even though it doesn't smell great on me.

 

(edited for spelling)

Edited October 23, 2007 by hkhm

[arabella]

First Impression: "In my face" rose, just as expected.

 

Dries down to: After about an hour or so, the rose is totally tamed down and the other notes blend in, but they're not individually discernible.

 

Additional Comments: When I first got this, I didn't really give it a fair trial because the rose amped up so much, as it normally does on me. For some reason, today, I put it on anyway and was pleasantly surprised by how nicely it developed. This will never be a favourite of mine, but I'll definitely wear it on the occasions I want a long-lasting, pretty scent.

 

Lasted: All day.

 

Rating: 3 out of 5

[grashopper8]

This is a soft, lovely, wearable rose scent. It is delicate and feminine and 'smooth.'

 

I can get hints of opium poppy and the slightest honey-powder sweetness in the background.

 

Just beautiful! I can understand the hype.

 

4.5 out of 5

[LadyMedb]

This is gorgeous! It's a little green-stemmy when I first put it on, but then it just settles into this amazing soft rose incense scent, fresh, sweet, and romantic - no sharpness at all, and no dreaded soap. It's ultra-feminine, and you can wear it absolutely anywhere. I adore it!

Edited December 8, 2007 by LadyMedb

[SmileCat]

How have I not reviewed this blend until now?! Such a shocking oversight on my part.

 

I love this scent. Now, I love roses so this is not a surprise. But this rose... It's a softer rose, but not soft like powder or fuzzy. Wistful, it's a wistful rose. The blue lilac and the violet leaf and other florals fill in the overall rosiness and while the balsam and patchouli leaf worried me, but neither of them show up. Or if they do, it's so far in the background they provide more of a foundation than any noticeable scent.

 

Rose petals strew on a silvery lake.

 

ETA: I went and hunted down my Will Call preview review because I think it describes Rose Moon so well:

 

Rose Moon: this was mostly rose, but such a pretty rose! Very full and round, a rose with weight. Solid, it would fill my whole hand, velvety and a luscious red. At first I thought 'nah, I like the rose scents I have' but now I think I want a bottle because while it's rose, it's a different rose and it feels different from the others. Smoother. Not smooth like glass or smooth like satin, but smooth like cool skin. Only rose. Sorry about my 'scents as tactile sensations' bit, but I don't know how else to describe it.

Edited February 3, 2008 by SmileCat

[cecelle]

In the imp - "Hello, here I am" in-your-face rose

 

Wet - I don't really like it right now. There's an unpleasantly sharp soapy note.

 

On dry down - tea rose , well rounded with hints of other scents, but mainly tea rose.

 

Not a whole lot of throw, but makes for happy wrist sniffing.

 

After 30 minutes - still rose, but now with a sweet hint of honey.

 

Sadly, this has all but disappeared after about an hour.

 

Nice, but not my favorite rose.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, this is all rose - beautiful.

 

On my skin, it's rose with woodsy-ness.

 

When it dries, it's a really nice rose - a living rose, sort of like Rose Red, only more intense.

[LupaWulf]

I felt springie today, so I tossed some Rose Moon on.

 

In the bottle it smells very rosey and almost a little like a garden with an underlying green scent. It stays this way through the wet period, but very curiously smells slightly powdery during drydown. Once it is dry a very nice and delicate tea rose scent comes out rather noticeabily.

 

So far it has lasted fairly well, during the afternoon I have noticed that it has started to fade and become a little bit less rosey and more like sweet spring garden flowers.

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

I'm prejudiced from the very beginning, as I know I don't like roses. In the vial, this smells like regular potpourri, but I mean that in a nice way, I think.

 

First on:

”Cool” potpourri – it's all lilac and jasmine and other florals that always make me think of cool summer nights.

 

Dry:

After about 20 mins, it's still a soft potpourri type scent – it reminds me of dried flowers and the essential oils in my mother's boutique. It's very pleasant and calming, actually.

 

Finally:

I liked it, actually, even though I find roses evil in perfumes. It's a very timid scent. I'm not one for florals though, so I think I shall pass it on, but it was worth trying.

[goth_huntress]

Not enough Rose for me. I wanted it to be more like Peacock Queen or even Black Rose. Was not a keeper.

[whimsitini]

I rarely have a good experience with BPAL rose. The tend to overpower me. This one is a bit different. There is still the standard "rose" smell but it lightens quickly, however I can't identify any notes other than "floral".

 

Dry down: Lemon peel and faint patchouli.

 

Nice to find a rose that doesn't amp but over all it's not a very me scent.

[twilighteyes]

I just got this as a frottle from the lab.

 

In the bottle: Tea rose

 

In the scent locket: Tea rose

 

I'm not wearing things on my skin right now -- going through an itchy skin flare up phase where I break into a rash if I put any fragrance on my wrists. *pout* So can't say what it would be like on my skin.

 

But I'm loving it in the scent locket -- today is the second day in a row I've worn it in the locket. I'm at the end of my cycle and wanted something soft and feminine. It's quite a lovely rose scent and I'm getting pure pure rose. Not sure if this is a product of it aging alone and untouched or what. I'm assuming the lab stores their extra unused bottles in a dark, cool place.

[butcherbaby]

yay!

and i do mean YAAAYYYYY!!!!!

 

you see, rose is my absolute favorite scent. i've worn 'tea rose' perfume sinc the 80s. i buy rose candles, burn rose insense, bath in rose bubble bath, and even buy rose bathroom spray. my favorite shampoo/conditioner EVAR was a st ives rose scent untill they discontinued it, and i'm still on the hunt for a good rose bodywash since softsoap (i think) discontinued theirs.

 

and the BPAL rose scents hate me.

 

i keep trying them, one by one, and my skin usually amps the rose to such screaming pungent proportions that nothing else comes through, it kills my sinuses, and i have to wash it off.

 

well, not THIS one! JOY!

 

this is VERY strongly rose in the imp- so much so i thought i'd hit another wall. i was very sparing with my test swath.

 

wet: so far, so good. a leetle strong on the rose side, but holding back on the biting sharpness i usually get.

fifteen minutes: do i dare even hope....? yes, i am smelling the rose quite well, but there are also other notes in there! it kinda smells like a really good rose incense, or my favorite scented candle.

1 hour into wear: i am happy to say WE HAVE A WINNER!!! this has settled into a delicious warm rose, smoky & grounded, very much an insnce blend without giving up one drop of my beloved rose notes.

 

big bottle? hell YES! two if i can find em! gonna go scour the swap & sales pages right now~!

Edited May 2, 2008 by butcherbaby

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Dusty rose, something sharp.

 

Wet: Rosier, still quite dusty, almost powdery. I can smell some heady floral-type notes.

 

Dry: I'm getting powder-soap now, and the lemon peel, on top of dusty rose.

 

Summary: Soapy old-lady.

[suki]

in the bottle: a sweet, but not cloying, full-bodies bulgarian rose. it reminds me of Hope, but without the sugar aspect.

 

wet on skin: the same. a natural, lovely rose, just passed it's full bloom.

 

dry down: a 'skin' rose, by which i mean this stays close to the skin, doesn't have a strong throw, and is totally lovely.

 

in all: i'm not big on florals, i'm very picky about them. this one is everything i love about real roses in bloom, and none of the stuff that i tend to dislike about floral perfumes. in short: a total treasure!

 

 

 

[rconklin]

I was worried about this one, what with my skin's tendency to make all rose smell like potpourri in an old lady's house.

 

In the bottle, this is a lovely rose with a hint of something else--something different. I think it's the combination of honey+lemon peel+violet leaf that is giving it just this hint of sharp sweetness with the rose.

 

Wet: The rose is a bit on the potpourri side, but it's quite unlike any of the other rose scents that I have tried (with the exception of Rose Red 07 and Persephone which are different animals all together). In any case, the rose here has friends. Jasmine is behaving well, though certainly present. Sharp violet leaf. And lovely, lovely lilac.

 

As it dries, Rose Moon actually becomes less potpourri rose and more rose-rose. The honey and lemon peel are very much present and I feel that they are at least partially responsible for bringing out a fresher, cleaner rose scent. The other florals, with the exception of some sharp violet leaf mostly disintegrate under the heavy rose, but the balsam and patchouli poke their heads up and add a lovely earthy element.

 

This is a fabulous rose scent. A very grown up, elegant, lady-like perfume.

[TooMuchTemptation]

I love roses, but I had yet to find a rose blend that I really loved wearing. I’ve found several that I enjoy the smell of, but nothing that really seemed like a me scent. When I heard about Rose Moon (long after it had be released) it sounded like something I just HAD to try. Never mind that I had serious reservations about the poppy, bois de jasmin, honey and lilac.

 

In the bottle, I get a strong sweet whiff of roses, but right behind them is a cloud of floral-y-ness that I’m not sure I like. There’s a bit of the oily sweetness that I associate with jasmine there too. Hrm.

 

I dab a little on my skin and ahhh, there are my roses, beautiful, if a teensy bit soapy from the other floral elements. Just when I think they’re going to turn the corner to unbearably soapy, they soften and become gently powdery. This is starting to make friends with my skin.

 

As it dries, it softens further. It’s still rose, but it’s no longer a perfume-y soapy rose, but more musky. I might even call it a bit sweet and faintly spicy.

 

After wearing it for a while, I still catch faint wisps of rose wafting around me. It’s soft, but not powdery, and the dry down definitely has warmth. It’s lovely on me. It seems well-blended. The rose is definitely a key player, but it’s well-blended, I can’t really tease the other notes apart from each other. They give a harmonious impression.

[isisonearth]

Despite the many notes in the bottle it smells almost like a rose single note with a faint undertone of patchouli.

 

Wet on my skin the honey comes out along with the lilac, balsam and woodruff. For a while it is almost herbal smelling.

 

As it drys down the patchouli begins for waft out again and I begin to detect a touch of lemon. Slowly the roses begin to reappear but they are very tempered by the rest of the blend.

 

This a a year old bottle and when it was new the rose was almost overwhelmingly sweet on me. It has developed into something much deeper and more complex. A change for the better.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I'm a hardcore rose addict and always searching for more rose...today I tested Rose Moon in the morning and Monna Vanna in the afternoon. First things first. Rose Moon smells like Hope and Faith's mother--you know, our lovely Siamese twins. Well, we have both rose AND violet here, and I can smell both clearly; a touch of lilac helps tie the notes together. Lilac is a "mom" note to me, as my own Mom likes the more delicate florals. If you like to layer Hope and Faith but run out of one, or want the effect without having to use two oils, I highly recommend Rose Moon. I have no shortage of rose scents myself, so this one is going to Mom!

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Roses, roses, roses!

 

Wet: Lots of sweet roses, similar in note to "Peacock Queen." (I hope it doesn't go sour the way that one did!) Also something herbal, not sure what.

 

Half an hour: Still rose, not sour, but not sweet any more either: cut with some herby and tannin notes, and I think I can make out the patchouli.

 

Two hours: Rose and patchouli now, with a bit of honey. Wow, this changed a lot. I like all the phases, but this one particularly. Definitely a keeper.

 

Three hours: More patchouli and honey than rose now, but still nice.

 

Four and a half hours: More subtle now, mostly roses and honey.

 

Six hours: Still hanging in faintly.

[obsidienne]

I don't know if it's just due to aging or whatever, but this smells a great deal like a combination of Katrina van Tassel and a very aged imp of Rakshasa that I used to have... except with more depth and complexity due to the other notes.

 

It can almost go soapy, so I try not to slather it on, which is my instinct with rose blends. Throw is good, and it lasts for quite a while, as well.

 

Overall, Rose Moon is intense and deep honeyed roses, enhanced by the other florals, and spiced with patchouli and tiny flashes of lemon. Truly gorgeous!

 

Admittedly, I'm really curious as to what this was like when fresh.

 

(edited to reflect new perspective )

Edited August 7, 2009 by obsidienne