Lunar Eclipse

[dawndie]

Skoll the wolf who shall scare the Moon
Till he flies to the Wood-of-Woe:
Hati the wolf, Hridvitnir's kin,
Who shall pursue the Sun.

Red musk, black currant, violet leaf, wild frankincense, lavender, black orchid, Darjeeling tea, vetiver, red moss, myrrh, Moroccan spices, blackened fruit gums, and tobacco.

In bottle: dusty flowers

On skin: lots of black tea and dust

Half-hour later: the tea is less dusty and more infused with "red" notes, especially the fruity black currant

In conclusion: I knew this would be a light and dusty blend between the tea, myrrh, violet leaf and frankincense. This is like Chrysanthemum Moon with all the dusty florals, with additional red fruit popping in later. I love the ending, the fruit isn't too sweet. Beautiful!

[tartchef]

Dawndie's right - this is super dry & dusty at first, strange for a scent with red musk & so many fruits in play. I also get a heavy dose of violet & orchid, which alarms me somewhat - I got Lunar Eclipse in spite of those notes, not because of them.

 

20 minutes later, we're making spectacular progress - the dust has died down & o frabjous day! Wine gums! Blackcurrant wine gums! Underscored by clean, bitter tea & tobacco, with a trace of musk grounding the lot. It's still not a heavy scent (the vetiver is thankfully keeping mum), but a clear deep red, like hibiscus black tea. Holy moly, this is fascinating... it keeps shifting from fruity to dry smoky tea to dark spiced lavender & back...

 

It feels very much akin to Death of Autumn to me, with that complex, smoky dryness, so DoA lovers should give Lunar Eclipse a try, quick before it's retired...

 

ETA: Hm. This fades a lot faster than I'd anticipated - barely 5 hours later & I'm reapplying. On the retread, I'm getting a lot less dust & more of the moss, vetiver & tobacco - very deep & leafy...

Edited February 13, 2008 by tartchef

[hkhm]

bottle: this takes me to another place... opening my mom's ancient oak desk drawers and smelling that dusty scent of old pressed flowers and wood and letters. this smells dark and forgotten but no less loved.

 

wet: vetiver and lavender and light musk... very light myrrh. this is all darkness and shadows and dreamless sleep. perfect interpretation.

 

dry: the vetiver faded very quickly and it seems to be the lavender and myrrh which remain most strongly with a nice after scent of spice.

[suki]

in the bottle: headache-inducing sweetness and musk, similar to Glasya. uh oh >>

 

wet on skin: more of the same, with a heavy dose of neroli coming to the fore.

 

dry down: well, the cloying sweetness has abided and a more gentle floral/musk has emerged.

 

in all: sadly, this reminds me only of the at-home perm solutions my mom used in the 70's. glad i only tested out my boyfriend's bottle of this!

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Deep, dark, herbal and resinous but a bit dry.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a lot more dry and herbal than I was expecting. The red musk is the strongest note, but blending into that are herbal resins and very faint dry spices. I also get a sweet note that’s hard to identify… but it’s very dark.

 

After a little while: Wow, this has changed! Red musk, violet, frankincense, and some other thick sweetness that I can’t identify. Even though there are other notes that should temper it, they really don’t come through on my skin.

 

Overall Impressions: This is so unbelievably sweet on me, but it’s not the complex smoky deep sweetness I was expecting. I love Dark Delicacies, and I was really hoping for some similarities to that. Instead I got sweet red musk with violet and frankincense. I really hope other people have more luck with this one.

[heathercaley]

Mmm herbal red musk. I love red musk. It has that same quality as Mme. Moriarty and Midnight Kiss (Red musk galore!) But with an herbal dusty floral-sih feel. I also get Mint? That must be the lavender. Lovely!! Such a nice calming blend. I bet it will age beautifully!!!

Edited February 15, 2008 by Purrsnikety

[edenssixthday]

Lunar Eclipse - This is a very deep and dark scent. The red musk is the strongest note with the scent of vetiver and moss right behind it. It's a fascinating scent - so full of dark, deep scents, some fruits, florals, spices, herbs, resins... it's just so complex. It reminds me a lot of Blood Phoenix without the grape or sweetness. This scent is definitely not sweet - it's dark, brooding, deep, and menacing. As it starts to dry on my skin, the lavender and tea become much more evident and since I don't really care for those notes, it turns the scent into something mostly unwearable for me. Still, it's fascinating and I think will be well-loved by many.

[Ravenclaw79]

I've decided, on one whiff of this bottle, that yeah, vetiver, that's definitely the note that makes me go "blech!"

 

But I ordered the bottle, darnit, so I put some on anyway.

 

And y'know, that horrid stench is actually becoming tamer in this blend. I can smell some of the tobacco and some of the redder stuff, musk and a hint of currant.

 

I'm not really thrilled with it, but it's the best vetiver blend I've sniffed.

[sfsassy]

Lunar Eclipse is very interesting and has a lot of layers.

But overall, it's a herbal and resinous scent that somehow brings back a lot of memories.....but from what I do not know.

 

Not my fave, but I can see this one aging very well and becoming GREAT. I am going to hang on to it for a while and see what time brings.

[The_Merf]

The Lunar Eclipse behaves like quite a few other blends that have tons of notes (Faiza, Kubla Khan, Ostara). First, the worst possible note for my skin dominates during the wet stage--with this blend it was a combination of red musk and what smelled like old fruit. After that, the scent quickly goes to a characterless muddle. I love so many of the notes here, but there were no resins, no orchid, no tea, no spice. After the red musk/fruit blast, my test spot smelled vaguely mossy.

 

Alas, my skin is very unsophisticated, it would seem.

[Lunaliquid]

Oh, this is made of WIN!

 

In the bottle

Reminds me somewhat of a cough syrup I took as a child. Now that I'm starting to learn how to pick out certain notes, I definitely smell the red musk (which I adore), and a fruity top note.

 

Wet

Fruit is still in the foreground, with the red musk anchoring the scent while vetiver remains shy and barely noticeable. I can barely detect the tea (it is definitely not as prominent as in Theodosius), but the lavender rears it's head unfortunately.

 

Dry

Oh wow! This mellows down into a lovely mixture of fruit and red musk, with tea and smoky tobacco. Vetiver and lavender have completely vanished and I'm pleased. The smokiness reminds me to some degree of Black Lace although the scents are nothing alike. Like previous posters have said; it is not a very persistent scent that hangs around the whole day, I have to reapply after 4 hours or so, but I don't mind reacquainting myself with this one over and over again. Definitely worth hoarding. I'll stock up on this one before it disappears. YUM!

[MeiLin]

In the bottle: Very masculine. I thought, oh, this goes to the boy.

 

Wet: Oh goodness! I think I like this! Not as masculine, but still unisexy.

 

Drydown: Definitely feminine, though the right guy could get away with it. My boy, not so much. The myrrh just makes things interesting; it doesn't ruin the whole thing like it did in Bilquis (sob). The musk is predominant, a bright, clean musk sweetened by the currant, fruit gums and violet and then taken in a more sophisticated direction by the orchid, spices, moss and vetiver. The lavender keeps it bright, the myrrh and tobacco give it a slight edge. I say all that, but it's hard to pick out individual notes. This is a very sophisticated but not "perfoomy" scent, a good night-into-day one.

 

Drier yet: The florals are receding and it's going simultaneously spicier and darker--must be the eclipse part. It's morphing more masculine now. In fact, no two sniffs on this one have been the same. Very complex.

 

Gosh, I'm so pleased, I really was afraid I wouldn't like this, but it's one of my favorites! And gee whiz, it's not even foodie!

[Brianne]

It goes on like red musk with vetiver and fruit and the combination is not very appealing. I love red musk (my favorite musk) but vetiver can either work well on me or go terribly wrong and it's not getting along with me so far in this blend. Thankfully, that stage only lasts a minute and the red musk starts to dominante and I start to get an almost minty smell which must be the lavender I think. It's herbally but definitely has a distinct minty vibe. It smells like there is cassia in this also - I only say that because cassia has a distinct funk on my skin and I'm getting that here. It's like ginger and cinnamon gone rotten or something. It's in the background thankfully, but I swear that must be cassia.

 

I do like the red musk and herbal tone to this, but on the other hand, I can't seem to decide how I really feel about this scent. I'll sniff it one time and like it and then sniff it again and not like it. I like when I sniff and I get a musky, dry and herbal tone to it.

 

 

 

I'm going to have to hold onto this and see how it ages. I think with a little time in my BPAL box, it grow into a very lovely red musk scent.

[scarletgenesis]

In the bottle, Lunar Eclipse smelled....well, not to my liking. I couldn't place any notes specifically in the bottle, but it was very strong.

 

Once on, I got something like patchouli but with none of the spicy sweetness. I actually like the Lab's patchouli, even though I'm not a fan otherwise. I think that it was the red musk. I'm beginning to see that blends with red musk (at least as a primary note), just don't work for me.

 

I so wanted to get all the lavender, tea, moss, myrrh and tobacco. I didn't get any of that, really. Just lots of red musk and the fruit gums, which, I'm pretty sure didn't like me.

 

I ran and washed it off and slathered on some Dorian to make me feel better. (since it's a total sexy comfort scent for me)

 

I had a huge headache yesterday morning, and don't know if the blend enhanced it, or if I'm just associating bad feelings with the fact that I had a headache when I tried this. I may try it again on a day that I'm feeling all pleasant so that my mood does not affect how I perceive it.

 

I had high hopes for this, but it just may not be for me. I'm glad others are loving it.

Edited February 18, 2008 by scarletgenesis

[ACVail24]

In the Bottle:

Vetiver - Black Currant - Red Musk.

The vetiver and currant and red musk seem to be the dominant notes in the bottle - I do not smell anything else, though I'm hoping that something can temper the vetiver somewhat.

 

On my Skin, Wet:

Vetiver at first, then a blast of currant followed by a brush of musk.

As the scent settles, I can detect some moss and tobacco, but they are shadows in the background.

 

On my Skin, Dry:

Less vetiver now, the currant and musk are eyeing each other as the alpha note at the moment.

still shadows of moss and tobacco, with slivers of frankincense and lavender hanging on the rim of this blackened moon.

 

Verdict:

I'm not a huge vetiver fan, but as long as it is not the dominant note I am happy.

Not stockpile worthy but aging will be interesting and hopefully an aged bottle is not stockpile worthy.

8 of 10 Ranking!

 

P.S. Wonderfully appropriate bottle art!

Edited February 18, 2008 by Scylla

[slave1]

LUNAR ECLIPSE

 

In Bottle: Vetiver

 

On Skin: The vetiver overwhelms this blend on me. It almost starts out as Vetiver SN. So earthy and dry…dusty, makes me nose tickle. I don’t smell florals, I smell vetiver, the blackened fruit gums (sweet yet charred), and deep resins. It’s very well blended to the point it’s making it very hard to pick out the other notes at all. As the scent develops, it sweetens which gives me hope. The vetiver still dominates, but is allowing other notes to wave hello. The red musk comes out nicely, warm and dark red in tone. Overall I’d say this scent is red/brown. The moss adds to the earthiness, and the tobacco further darkens the blend giving it a smoky edge as well. It really isn’t a scent for me sadly, must too dark and earthy. But I appreciate the thought behind it and the mood it evokes. Strong throw and very long wearlength.

[Iceblink]

After all my moaning about how vetiver and I don't get along, I recently discovered Lenore and fell completely in love, so it seems that I *can* deal with vetiver under certain conditions. So I thought I'd give Lunar Eclipse a whirl since I love the concept. In the bottle it's fruity, tart red musk that turns into WHOA VETIVER when it hits my skin. The red musk is there backing things up and sweetening it up a bit. It's not unlike Lust spiked with vetiver, methinks. After a few minutes the vetiver relaxes and this becomes a sort of smoky, sort of sweet, sort of spicy red musk blend, and it's *sexy*. I think I like it a lot! There's a tanginess there that I guess is the fruit gums, but the overall impression is dark, complicated, and brooding. I'll look forward to wearing this more and seeing if any of the other notes pop out at me through the aging process.

[mhickle]

I bought this on a whim, after reading the description and thinking I just knew it would work on me. And I love it!

 

Lunar Eclipse goes on sweet and fruity, all berries and spice on me. It softens up and the fruit backs off a bit, letting the tea and spices play with the musk. At first, there is a strong throw, and I think perhaps it will have lasting power, but unfortunately on me it doesn't last more than half the day. I've noticed that with most blends - I'm definitely going to have to start carrying the bottle of whatever I'm wearing for the day with me!

[yeahbutnobut]

Lunar Eclipse

 

In the bottle: musky and dark and smoky. I smell the tea and tobacco, and something herbal-maybe lavender.

Wet on skin: whoa, here comes the vetiver! Holy crap that’s a strong, nutty-incensey vetiver.

Dry: ok, now the vetiver calms down a little and…wow, this now smells like beautiful dark incense with a touch of fruit tea, exotic spices, lavender and a throb of red musk. I also smell something earthy and shadowy (that makes sense!!) to it, thanks to the vetiver, myrrh and moss. The lavender then leaps forward for a while, but doesn’t overtake. The frankincense and myrrh here are gorgeous, and the tobacco and Moroccan spices actually give a hint of ‘hookah bar’ to this scent, which I love!

After a while: mmm, I adore red musk, incense and fruit combinations, and now that’s what I smell! The fruit gums, which smell like blackcurrant and plum and pomegranate (but not Wine Gum/Fruit Pastille sweets) and has a hint of Mme Moriarty to it. I also smell more of the musk (mmm) and the gorgeous smoky frankincense and myrrh and spices. I don’t smell much moss but there’s a hint of tea. This is such a gorgeous scent and I just love the mysterious incense scent it has. The lavender pops in and out every now and then, and the scent then goes back to fruity musk and then the myrrh comes in. this morphs gorgeously! Then this turns to incense and tobacco, and then to tea, then to herbs and musk…wow! I can’t stop sniffing this! This reminds me of Great Cry in Egypt at times, with the honey replaced with tobacco and vetiver. The vetiver, myrrh and musk are the notes left behind at drydown.

Verdict: this is one of the most stunning dark scents from the Lab, and now my favourite vetiver scent. A perfect perfumed interpretation of a lunar eclipse, this is shadowy and evokes shades of blood, maroon and crimson with an umbra of smoke. This has a fantastic feel of incense to it, as well a s a sensual musk, a black tea note that smells just like black tea should, a hint of fruitiness just to add a hint of sweetness, and the most exotic spices. Something in here imitates the depth of patchouli, even though this note isn’t listed. The tobacco is dry and smoky but not heavy. The resins are wonderful and there’s even a herbal hint of lavender at times. And the vetiver is there, but it’s a lighter, incensey vetiver, like khus. Beautifully complex and changeable, this perfume is breathtaking, and I am glad I have two bottles because this will age wonderfully, I’m sure! And yes, I am wearing this to watch the eclipse by (weather permitting…)

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Yes! Can’t wait to see what this is like by the next lunar eclipse (in 2010!)

If you like this, try: Mme Moriarty, And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt, Dark Delicacies, Death of Autumn, Scherezade, Cracked Bell

[sookster]

straight sniff from the bottle is darkness...frankincense & blackened tea leaves...

 

once applied lots of red musk, violet and frankincense; spicy and resinous this scent is not

for the faint of heart...the vetiver balances this in combo with the tobacco...

 

a true gem of scent and extremely well done

[strangemodegirl]

In the bottle it was serious red musk and vetiver..which is just fine by me, I love both.

After wearing it for a bit the vetiver fades a little and the black currant comes out. This is absolutely beautiful! I do wish it lasted a little longer though. After a few hours it had faded so much that I could hardly tell I was wearing any perfume. I did put some in my locket and even that didn't seem to make it last much longer. Might try mixing with some unscented lotion and layering to see if it helps.

[GreenSpine]

Rotten soy sauce.

 

Whatever spices hated me so much in War are also present in this. I am so disappointed - I was sure this would be lovely on me. Definitely one for swapping.

[enderfem]

Imp: Dark, earthy spices. None of the lighter notes, and none of the tobacco, which is a disappointment.

 

Wet: The tea and the spices kinda overwhelm here, but it is pretty. Some earthiness that I think is the moss.

 

Drydown: Dirty black licorice. Not a keeper.

[twilighteyes]

In the bottle:

Inhaling I get Vetiver and frankincense. Medicinal. Then I get musk. Shook up the bottle and tried again. Mmm more blended now and much less medicinal.

 

Wet on skin:

Dark resinous musk. Lavender. Spices.

 

Dry on skin:

Spices are coming out to the forefront. It's so well blended I am having a hard time making out individual scents. Maybe some of the orchid? Just seems like a deep, dark, earthy, resinous, spicy musk with a teeny hint of floral. Loving it.

 

Tried it out again today since I liked it so much last night. Put it on around 10 or 11am -- by 2pm I can get only faint whiffs of it lingering on my inside wrist.

 

Dry on sweatshirt:

Yes, I could still smell it this morning on my sweatshirt neck from last night's application -- I had to do some dog emergencies this morning so I just threw on the first thing I found, which was of course what I wore last night. YUM. OMG YUM. And STRONG. This will be a FABULOUS scent locket oil!! On the sweatshirt I can smell the currant and maybe some fruit gums.

 

Love it. Glad I ordered two more bottles just in case.

Edited February 26, 2008 by TwilightEyes

[heartlilly]

This one is really interesting. When first applied it smelled kind of like earthy, peanut buttery, tobacco--which was not only unexpected (and weird), but also not very appealing. Thankfully it doesn't stay that way.

After a brief sweet, slightly sharp tobacco phase, this mellowed into the most lovely fruity floral tea. Rich and kind of heavy, but delightful all the same. It took a little while to get there, but the later drydown of this is great.