Pirate Moon

[donnatron]

Red musk, ambergris, coconut palm, red sandalwood, balsam, date, warm leather, tobacco, ebony, lingum vitae wood, pandanus grass, an' a touch o' lime.

Bottle: Red musk and leather. They seem kind of thick and heavy but there's a dry, sandy note and a bit of freshness keeping this from seeming excessively Krampus-y.

Wet: Sand. Miles and miles of warm, dry sand. The sand backs down a bit and I get some of the aquatic. It's minorly dryer sheet but I kind of like that clean fresh smell and so I like it. Also getting a continuing hint o' l-l-l-leather. Lime, unfortunately, is nowhere to be seen.

Dry:

Every now and then I need to resort to Pirate Moon for a lively but relaxed feeling. Red musk, sure, but really well blended on my skin, so I'm not hit by too much of anything...not limey, not too salty, not so masculine I can't feel comfortable...more like borrowing my man's best soft cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Very comforting.

Agreed. There is something so soft, warm and skin sensual to this scent. It's really one of those "natural scent" smells. Not necessarily like the natural scent of skin but like it's just a comfortable warm mix of my perfume, my clothing, my skin, hair, books, and environs. It reminds me of lazy summer days lying in the backyard reading and being indulgent. Although it really doesn't smell like it the tonal quality of it reminds me of Snake Oil. Snake Oil is one of those year round scents where it makes as much sense to me to wear it apres ski (assuming I skied, which I don't) as in a bikini with a sarong and a tropical drink (I also don't wear bikinis but bear with me on the visual here ). Pirate Moon equally evokes comfortable nights in a wood panelled study with an old timey Sherlock Holmes pipe and running into the surf at the cleanest, most secluded beach imaginable. It's gorgeous. Drop dead gorgeous.

Throw: Mild and close to the skin.

Overall: So glad to have this. Initially I was a little disappointed about the red musk being such a supporting note but all the notes wind together into such a beautiful scent that I am glad to have nabbed a bottle of this so late in the game. Edited April 1, 2009 by paperrose

[WidgetAlley]

Bottle: Soft, sweet, a touch tropical, a touch clean, a touch sexy. Extremely hard to pick out notes-- definitely date palm and ambergris, a little lime, salt, tobacco and other sweet, dry, brown notes and something that smells a whole lot like clean cotton. It smells exactly, EXACTLY I say, like a balmy, mildly breezy, sunny, warm-but-not-hot day at the beach. Just uncapping the bottle is a major stress reducer.

 

Wet: The same, but with a little bit more green bite to it (lime?) and a bit more tobacco and musk. It doesn't smell like fruit, and it doesn't smell like booze, and it doesn't smell like sex, it just smells like happy. Like warm, comfortable, lazy contentment. Holy crap I love it. I agree with whoever said it's like wearing your man's old shirt. It's not that it smells like worn out old man shirt, it's just so natural and conforms to your own scent so well, it feels like the easiest thing in the world.

 

Dry: Much the same, but even more seamlessly blended. If I search, I can smell musk, ambergris, citrus, a number of woods, something like hot sand, salt, tobacco, dried fruits and cloth... but mostly this smells like sitting on a beach on a spring day, nestled in the arms of someone you love. This blend is probably my #1 stress reliever, and is what I put on when I can't face the thought of getting up in the morning. It's an olfactory hug and a much-needed massage. I love it.

[sprocket21]

Yarr! While I think a Ninja Moon would be slightly superior, I do love me some pirates (and some rum), so how could I not snag a decant?

 

Wet on me, it's woody and musky and I detected a hint of lime which then fled. There's also some leather in there too. It's very crisp and seems to me like sort of a manly scent (though I shouldn't find that surprising, since the pirate life is not exactly...feminine). I don't know why, but it's coming across as a musky "green" scent. I was expecting it to smell, well, not green and more like a pirate ship would smell like. Very interesting scent, but not for me.

[Monster]

Pirate Moon smells surprisingly fresh and watery to my nose! I think that's the red musk and the leather mingling and playing tricks on me. This smells like warm, dry wood, splintered and scorched by the sunlight and salty water. There's a sunny sort of tropical feel to this, I think that's the coconut palm and the lime.

This is a sexy summer scent for the girl (or guy) who doesn't like to smell like a fruity girlie drink. The wood and resin notes in this are just gorgous. A wonderfully complex blend that really REALLY smells like (well, what I imagine...) a pirate ship.

 

When this is dry all of the notes come together in one harmonious accord of Eau du Pirate Ship. Yarrrrr!

[kerikeri]

This was very generously frimped to me.

 

It's definitely a gorgeous beach/seaside scent-- it smells like sun, sand, salty air, and ship's wood. It's not exactly my usual style, and the wood makes it feel a little masculine, but it's probably the best mood-evoking Lab scent I've tried so far. I agree with the above commenters that it's a very comfortable, natural scent. I'll save it for warm summer days spent outdoors.

[cupcakegernade]

IN BOTTLE: As soon as I open the bottle I smell the leather, tobacco and wood. I also pick up the musk, sandalwood and cocunut. This blend smells very boozey to me with hints of salt water.

 

Wet: The strong notes are the leather, tobacco and wood. It still smells of salt water. The date stars to come into play along with the other notes, some of which are undistinguishable.

 

DRYDOWN: This is a very woody sent, highlighted by the cocunut pal and date. I do pick up a slight hint of the lime, but I have to search for it. It becames very well blended with a real nice mid throw.

 

OVERALL: This turns into a gorgous warm sent, my favorite for summer wear. I really feel that I am on a old ship with a bunch of dirty drunk pirates in the middle of the sea, The smell of salt water in the air and the ocean mist spraying your face, as the warm sun shines down and glistens on the water. May need to hunt down another bottle for back up or decants to fill mine bottle once it gets low. Five stars for this one.

 

 

[Invidiana]

This is a definite keeper for sultry midsummer nights: a coconut breeze blowing aboard a booze-loaded pirate ship sailing the South Seas at midnight with a full moon bobbing above. I sense a touch of seaspray, which isn't listed in the notes but might be my nose picking upon the squeeze of lime. A hazy, diaphanous blend that's light but still manages to be sexy and mysterious. Yarrrr!

[Aldercy]

This is one of those that's so well-mixed that I can't actually tell what I'm smelling. Pirate Moon is slightly tropical, slightly woody, slightly resiny/sultry, slightly citrusy... but nothing stands out over anything else. Red musk usually jumps out on me, but not in here. It's like the heat of the leather, musk, tobacco, red sandalwood, etc is all perfectly countered and downplayed by aquatic or creamy fresh notes. Definitely a summer scent.

[superpopkid]

This is my first lunacy! I was apprehensive of boarding the pirate vessel - I got a "generic cologne" vibe from the decant bottle. Wet, that impression lingered, but just for the first few moments. After a minute, I got a lovely warm whoosh of red musk. There is a lot going on in this scent, which gave me trouble picking out notes. A half hour in, the red musk settled down and the woods and sweet spices came forward. To my glee, the cinnamon stayed true and soft instead of going sharp and cedar-y as it often does on my skin. That's when I was able to pick out a little leather and lime. I don't smell the ocean in this. If I hadn't known that this blend contained ambergris or saltwater notes, I would never have guessed that there was anything aquatic about it, but those notes may explain the fact that despite a lot of "dry" notes, it smells more...lush, for lack of a better word, then a blend like plunder, which is all "dry" notes.

 

I like this a lot. It's butch in a warm, rich, spicy way, and lasts seven or eight hours with medium to strong throw. Color impressions: amber and golden brown. I find red musk too heavy for the summer, but a blend like this is perfect for keeping me toasty on a New England December day like today.

[fairnymph]

Root beer coloured oil. Sweet, spicy, fresh, exotic, woody, musky, a little salty...incredibly complex! Overwhelmingly so. Ambergris, balsam, the woods, red musk, tobacco and lime stand out for me. The latter two remind me vaguely of Mr. Nancy. Other than it being heavy on the red musk (which I detest), I quite like it.

 

Tarter, sharper (and greener, though not from notes I can pinpoint), woodier. Less sweet and heavy and thankfully less red musk. Maybe a little drier, the red sandalwood making itself known. The lime is holding! I'm getting a bit of leather, and it's a NICE leather, not a powdery-plasticky-slick kind, but actually warm. The tobacco is gorgeous, and overall this is really a wonderfully fitting and totally sexy masculine scent, so far.

 

Eeep. The other notes have faded or red musk has amped - either way it's way heavier on the red musk now. Also, coconut has made an unpleasant appearance, and the grass/palm notes have become unpleasantly bitter. Lime is mostly gone, but the ambergris, leather and tobacco are holding nicely. Still, not enough to save this blend for me.

 

Strong throw and great longevity. Definitely masculine and I have trouble imagining a woman pulling this off.

[impolight]

It is unbelievable that anyone would ever consider parting with a bottle of Pirate Moon; especially considering that it is commemorative of celebrating the unity of our Lady Elizabeth to her beloved... Nevertheless, some of us are more fortunate than others, and when a bottle of Pirate Moon surfaced in a swap, there was a lightning-quick commandeering of it, to be sure!
Pirate Moon has proven to be love at first sniff!
It took some time to get the brain around this in the respect that there is nearly an instant favorable bias based on the Scallywag iconography and the maritime associations assigned to this blend.
This is compounded by the fact that this formula came from the Lab!
From the Opened Bottle: Wow... Pirate Moon is everything it promises!
The Ambergris & Lime make the first introductions, and make a promising allusion toward the briny, kelpy texture of oceanic adventurousness!
The flapping of fronds in a high gale can practically be heard, so distinctive is the Coconut Palm note!

A couple of years ago, during a springtime jaunt out to St. Augustine, Florida, we were strolling along the surf when a heady fragrance caught me up in a fresh cocoon and we had discovered that it was this very stuf! Brilliant!The same can be said of the Grass note which you can almost feel whipping against your bare shins along with the shift of sands beneath your feet!

The sweetness of Date is here, adding just enough sugariness to get your salivary glands on the squeeze.The Warm Leather is also very, very good! Yo-ho at the ready!
On the Skin: Boy-Howdy! Ampage! Grass, Limes, Palm, and Leather! Whew!
The woodsiness now comes out to play too! Here is the Sandalwood, Lingum, and Balsam! The skin nearly creaks!
There is a sweet cigar in hear somewhere, begging to be chewed almost as much as it is smoked, and the sweetness of it is the nicest contrast to the crust of saltiness that has built up in the corners of your mouth!
There is more than a little surprise that there is no Kelp, Bladderwrack, Seaweed, Sea Moss, or Marine Accord in Pirate Moon. Thar be not even a mote of Ozone inscribed in the notes O' these Labbies, arrr!
Regardless, a clear association with all things seafaring, rum-swilling, and plundering ahve been flawlessly icorporated into the formula that is Pirate Moon!
One cannot help but roar, swagger, and spoil for a wee bit of bloodshed when wearing this fragrance.

The Wife even fixed Her best predatory gaze upon the source of this fragrance... "What is THAT?" She demands.She is told that it is Pirate Moon and She wholeheartedly approves.
It feels neat to be the quary!
Pirate Moon is certainly unisex.
On Her, Pirate Moon is bawdy, lewd, lascivious and deliciously erotic, though fully equipped to kick your sorry ass!
On Him, Pirate Moon is your (treasure) chest swollen full of his cocky air; he reeks of recklessness, high-spirited adventure, dripping wet thrust, parry and sinews, strong, skillful hands, and a snarling bite at the nape of your neck... And a taste of yer ear!
Pirate Moon should be resurrected on the regular!
This is an awesome fragrance!
This is Aces & Eights!
A perfect 10!

[DifferentDances]

Bottle: Warm musk, an aquatic tone, and something fruity.

Wet: Muskiness, reeds, salt. Um, and a mild burning sensation.

Drydown: Damnit, I smell like cats. Yay, red musk, you are strong. There is a slight salty aquatic overlaying the musk, but it's very, very faint.

Dry: Red musk. Argh! I amp red musk like crazy, which would be nice if I actually liked that smell!

 

My rating: 1/5

[ljaylh]

Mmm.. this is divine! Arrrrrr.. I loves me some pirates!!

 

In the bottle, it smells very heady - quite woody and balsam-y - and there's a slightly tangy air to it,kinda like the chemical smell you get with some paint products - but it's not offensive, it's just.. there.

 

When it hits my skin though, it's a whole different story - the balsam is up front at first, and the grass is pretty strong too.. it's kind of clamorous for the first five minutes or so, until the notes get their groove on and start to balance out. Then it turns all soft and yummy, musky and leathery and woody, with the lime dancing along the top layer. At first it's quite bright and the notes really pop, but on dry-down (after about 15 minutes) it's changed into a gorgeous close-to-the skin scent. A soft powderiness eventually emerges, but it's not baby powder or 'old lady' powder - it's pirate powder! If pirates were clean and fresh, smelling of sea air and leather (rather than BO and unwashed hair and clothes as I suspect most really do) then this is how I imagine they'd smell.

 

About one hour on, that powdery lime-i-ness has pretty much gone and in its place is a soft leather with a slight background of musky wood.

 

I don't see this as a masculine blend at all - it probably smells wonderful on the guys, but it's definitely wearable for the gals. I was actually hoping it would be a little more ballsy.. the leather here is similar to the one in The Blockhead - very soft and subtle - and the other notes like date, tobacco, ebony, palm etc are surprisingly light as well.. the overall result is pretty light and soft. It's the sort of smell I associate with being at the beach on cool summer nights, when the breeze is coming in just enough to carry the ocean spray with it.. and when you get home, you smell slightly salty but fresh and clean and slightly lime-y. My only issue with this one is that it fades pretty quickly on my skin, so I want to keep slathering it! I'm going to need a few gallons of this one, methinks

[mxtine]

There is so much going on with this blend that I don't know where to start. Leather, cigar-smoke infused wood, balsam, tropical breeze carrying the scent of coconut, salt water crusted-skin, and glorious red musk. I know this is what Captain Jack Sparrow smells like. Ahoy, me want t' rip his clothes off, Arrr!!!

[HuldraGiusto]

Was so excited to get my hands on a bottle of this...

 

In the bottle: Lime, wood and a bit of leather ( all of the smells I love)

 

 

 

Wet: RED MUSK, strong male smell and wood... (side note: Beth the cat loves you now..

She never notices me unless she thinks it is time for someone to feed her, but walk out of the bedroom to ask the roomie what he thought and she came running from her perch and pulled a crazed fan girl moves on my legs to the point I was feeling a bit awkward. )

 

 

Dry: Wood, roomie says I smell like what the Old Spice guy should smell like, while he is on a horse wooing women. Had to go shower to get the cat off of me. much to her disappointment .

 

Bottom line this is not for me.. need to find the right guy for this.. or just put on cat toys and watch our prissy cat go crazy fan girl again.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Partial 5mL from a generous forumite.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I've been thinking about trying this one for quite a while. I love all things piratical and most of the notes are ones that appeal to me (red musk, red sandalwood, tobacco, ebony and ambergris in particular), but there are some things here that have me worried. Balsam and leather can go either way on me and I don't think I've ever tried a scent with coconut palm, lignum vitae or pandanus grass before, although all of them sound like they could work for me. Dates aren't something I enjoy the smell of, but I doubt they'll be an issue combined with the other notes. Lime is the most worrying note here for me. I don't like citrus blends and lime in particular is a nemesis of mine.

 

So we'll see how this goes.

 

First sniff:

 

Cologney and aquatic smelling, which is appropriate for a pirate scent, but strange since the notes don't list aquatics. It smells fairly fresh and somehow clean without being soapy in the slightest.

 

Not loving it at this point, but it's not bad.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Basically the same as is in the bottle, but with the added addition of slight touches of red sandalwood (which always smells more than a bit like cedar to my nose) and red musk.

 

Dry down:

 

This one's a morpher, apparently. Just when I was resigning myself to Pirate Moon smelling like (nice) aquatic cologne, everything changes on the dry down. Once this dries, it actually reminds me a bit of my beloved Tarot: Judgement, which is both awesome and appropriate since Pirate Moon hitched a ride in a package with a bottle of Judgement. It also reminds me a bit of another favorite of mine, Anne Bonny (which shares red sandalwood as a note).

 

At this point, I get an intense musky, resinous, woody, dry, warm scent. It seems to be a mix of red musk, red sandalwood, tobacco, leather, wood (I don't smell the balsam here; it's more of a dry, dark wood scent) and the very lightest touch of sweetness from the date and possibly the lignum vitae. No lime to be had, thankfully.

 

The bottom line:

 

I really like this once it has a chance to dry down. Just like Anne Bonny, it's a very "me" pirate-inspired scent. I don't particularly like aquatics, so things like Jolly Roger aren't my style, but a nice dry, woody/musky blend like this is always welcome in my collection.

 

Definitely a winner, although I never would have guessed that I was going to love it based on the scent in the bottle.

[Gin]

I kind of hate when the notes blend so much that I can't tell what's what. This is one of those oils. It smells like musk and wood and salt water (though that could be my imagination), and sweet grass. I get no lime, which is kind of disappointing, but I like this well enough without it.

[Balame]

In the Imp: Woodsy and green, whoa. Is there a jungle growing on that ship? Clean sheets too. Apparently these pirates are decidedly un-scruffy.

 

Wet: So surprisingly green. Like Caliban or Tempest. Ozone-y grass. There's a tiny bit of woodsiness hiding behind everything, and a hint of tobacco, but they're severely overwhelmed.

 

Dry: Much, much better. Took a while to get here but now I'm smelling gently rounded tobacco and wood, slick balsam oil, and the dreamy scent of plant life waning as the ship pulls further away from shore. I actually smell salt and bitterness too - far more pirate-y than fresh laundry. It's tempered by the sexy musk wafting in the background. It really is quite comforting, despite the adventurous vibe. Sort of like being all cozy in the ship's galley after a long day of work, with the sea spray still on your clothes.

 

Overall: A very good (and idealistic) ship smell, but therein also lies its problem (in my case). More atmospheric to me than for individual wear, which is fine, but that also means I don't need to hoard it.

[crebbsgirl]

Lime, ambergris, balsam and sandalwood on my skin. There is just a touch of red musk here, hard to smell unless you're looking for it. Something here is reading as aquatic on me. But I like it. Someone mentioned this smelled like Big from Lush, and I can vaguely see it.

[OctoberGwen]

I bought a bottle of this unsniffed on eBay and WOOOOOOOO! am I glad I did!

 

I must say, I don't think I've yet to smell a red musk blend that I didn't like. Pirate Moon is really unique in that the red musk doesn't take over, it just anchors the whole thing. Others have described it so much better, but it really is a masterfully blended, beautiful scent that evokes a pirate ship docked in the warm waters off a Caribbean island. Absolutely gorgeous; it's probably in my Top 10.

 

Edited February 1, 2012 by OctoberGwen

[Dusk]

As soon as it goes on my wrist, it's a complete surprise. In the bottle, it smelled like wood with something sweet mixed in. On my skin, it's green, grassy, and somewhat aquatic. That I'm smelling grass is especially bizarre to me - I completely forgot about the pandanus grass that was listed. It really is pure green for a moment, with some dry wood. Then I smell something tropical emerging, coconut, I think. I also think I smell apple and banana, but that doesn't sound right, I think one of the notes is just eliciting a memory association. There's a vague suntan lotion air about it, but it's not bad.

 

After a few minutes, the grassy notes fade back, though they're still definitely present, and it smells more like I thought it would. There's a wood I can't identify and a sweet fruit note. I know there's coconut and lime, but checking the notes, I think it's mostly date. I think that's what I interpreted as banana earlier - which is really, really odd, because they're nothing alike - I think there was banana flavoured/scented something that wasn't actually banana, and the kind of sweet that I remember from that is the same kind of sweet I remember from when I had a dessert with dates. Or maybe I was just thinking tropical, and bananas came to mind. I'm not sure what I could be smelling as apple, but that's still there. I'm starting to smell leather, too. Balsam. It's a surprisingly subtle blend - I saw "pirate" and expected madness. But it's not. It's complex, low key, and surprisingly sexy. I think some of that is due to the red musk.

 

Dry, there's still a grassiness, mostly a woodiness. Still some leather and date, I think, but it's really difficult to pick apart the notes. It's blended together nearly seamlessly. Occasionally, I smell soap, but it disappears quickly. This one keeps changing in subtle ways, constantly. Really interesting.

 

Overall, although there is something markedly tropical about it, it's a mature and masculine tropical scent, not bursting with sweetness like I would assume from something tropical. It's possibly more masculine than unisex, even, and I'm not sure what makes me say that. The leather is probably part of it. And there are very strong wood notes with very little sweetness, even the fruit doesn't smell feminine to me.

 

Usually I dislike aquatics, and that's probably what I'd categorise this as, because of the overall feel and airiness of it, and there is something there that smells like salt water. But it's also woody, and very complex. I find myself liking it. I'm still not sure how "me" it is, but I'm definitely willing to give it a shot.

 

The only problem is that the scent isn't wafting as much as I'd like, and it's actually a bit weak. I'm going to give this one a try another day and see how it goes... I think my skin chemistry is just a bit off at the moment, because few scents have had as much throw as they should lately. edit: an hour or two after writing this, the sandalwood and leather started amping and got some serious throw. Odd thing to have happen, but nice!

 

Summary: Very complex, unexpected, and exotic. Sexy and masculine. Morphs a lot- starts very green and ends very woody, but spends most time as a woody aquatic. 4/5

 

ETA: It was my skin chemistry. Got lots of throw this time, especially sandalwood, and some balsam and date decided to stay til the end too. Going strong 6 hours later. Missed some of the aquatic stage, though.

Edited April 8, 2012 by Dusk

[brilliantcat]

Mainly woods with some lime and a breath of sea air. As it warms, it remains primarily a woodsy blend on me with hints of the musky ambergris and salt air. It's actually very... plain? on me. Nothing special. I got this for my husband and it smells FANTASTIC on him, so he's definitely safe from me stealing it

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Mmm, sexy red musk. Hints of other notes that I am having a hard time placing, but that are really working nicely.

 

 

Dry: The woods in this really amp up and lend this a much more unisex feel to me. I can smell the tobacco too, if I huff hard on my wrist. Red Musk is still dominant. I like this a lot, it's very sensual.

Edited April 27, 2016 by LizziesLuck

[Cali]

Ooh, it's perfect. A sultry and subtle pirate it is. Some of the notes are so dimmed down I get whifts of everything once in a while but it's still blended in a way that the rest of the notes are there, quietly in the background.

The most prominent notes from the bottle are the sandalwood, tobacco and the other woodsy notes. I'm not getting much lime at all. It's like a calm night at sea on an old ship. Beautiful!