Strawberry Moon 2009

[Ravenclaw79]

Strawberries that in gardens grow
Are plump and juicy fine,
But sweeter far as wise men know
Spring from the woodland vine.

No need for bowl or silver spoon,
Sugar or spice or cream,
Has the wild berry plucked in June
Beside the trickling stream.

One such to melt at the tongue's root,
Confounding taste with scent,
Beats a full peck of garden fruit:
Which points my argument.

May sudden justice overtake
And snap the froward pen,
That old and palsied poets shake
Against the minds of men.

Blasphemers trusting to hold caught
In far-flung webs of ink,
The utmost ends of human thought
Till nothing's left to think.

But may the gift of heavenly peace
And glory for all time
Keep the boy Tom who tending geese
First made the nursery rhyme.

Wild strawberries, strawberry flower, vanilla-infused sugar, early summer grasses, and milky dandelion sap.

This scent went from "whoa!" to "oooh!" to "hmm" on me. At first, it was "whoa, strawberry candy!", very bright and sweet. Then, it was "oooh, neat, actual strawberries," like the smell of a patch of them, berries and their leaves. Then, it turned to something sort of... almost soapy. Clean. Vaguely sweet, but not strongly berry-fruity. Still alright, but not wonderful. And it ended up, after the soapy edge faded, as mostly dandelion sap and strawberry leaves, but very, very faint.

I'll hang onto this one regardless, 'cause it's my 30th birthday moon, but it'll need a retest before I decide if I really like it. If it stayed in the second phase, I'd be in lurve. Edited May 16, 2009 by Ravenclaw79

[willowtreeling]

This is the first Strawberry Moon scent I have smelled, and also the first strawberry bpal that is a keeper for me!

 

At first, it smelled like syrupy strong strawberry flavoring. I wouldn't say Strawberry Shortcake or candy, more like Torani syrup or something. There is a deeper scent to it than Maenad, for instance, or some of the other strawberry blends i have from other companies. It has sort of a strawberry booze thing, going, just ever so slightly--and def. no incense (yay!) I actually thought I detected cinnamon, which had me worried, but it bowed out and didn't trouble me at all....It's not something I would slather, however, as it is a bit overwhelming. This is nice, too, though, because other strawberry blends are too vanilla-y.

 

I like it! It's not my holy grail strawberry oil---I haven't been able to repeat the strawberry oil from the now-gone little hippie witch shop that I got it from years back--but it's good stuff. I am glad I purchased it.

[ShadowsDance]

Oh. My. God. The smell from the bottle is amazing. Every strawberry scent from the lab that I've tried has been more of a strawberry candy scent (no complaints, I love it!)... but this.. oh my, this, no this is real fresh strawberries. It smells like picked strawberries which have been cut up and tossed with a bit of sugar. Amazingly tart and sweet. The throw is something as well, the open bottle is sitting about a foot away from me as I type this, and I swear if I close my eyes it honestly smells like I have a bowl of strawberries right on front of me. I have never been so taken with something from the bottle like this.. lets see what happens on skin..

 

Wet.. hmm, the strawberries are still there, but the greens are coming out as well.

 

Dry, it's about the same as wet. Strawberry and green grass. The grass kinda goes a little funky on me at times (slightly soapy?), but most of the time it just smells like grass. I'm not so sure about this on my skin. It's great, but not as great as the bottle ( ). After a while, it does get more and more soapy.. :/

It is absolutely a keeper though.. I'll wear in my hair, scent locket, room scent, or something! Even if I only ever smell it from the bottle, that's worth keeping it, lol.

 

Also, I should also note that the bottle just got out of the mail. I normally do not see a difference, but I am going to allow it to "settle" for a few days as some do, and try it again on my skin then. I will edit again if there are any changes!

Edited May 17, 2009 by Shollin

[ElinaMakropulos]

Right out of the bottle this smells like the strawberry bubblegum I used to chew in great wads as a little kid, very sugary and artificial (but definitely not unpleasant). That phase fades pretty quickly, however, and it becomes a fresher, truer strawberry scent, complete with leaves and stems. Overall it's very nice and I like it far better than the original. It does have very little throw and lasting power, though

[Lysanna]

This is my first review, so bear with me.

 

When I saw that it was going to be a Strawberry Moon, I excitedly bought two bottles. I, like willowtreeling above, had a bottle of strawberry oil from, gosh, I don't even remember where. I doled it out carefully because it smelled like delicious strawberry candy. Alas, it ran out. Yet hope springs eternal with the Strawberry Moon update!

 

Wet, it smells like -- holy moly! Delicious fresh strawberries?! This is WAY better than that mystery oil of yore!

When it begins to dry down, the lush berry scent takes on its partner of greenery to become quite a balanced summertime outdoor scent. Like everything good you remember about summers gone by encapsulated in tiny drops of oil. Yum.

Thennnnn after about half an hour it goes to soap. Oh no! It loses all that strong berry smell and fades down into a (premium!) strawberry soap with sort of muddled green. After two hours or so, it is completely gone.

I can't speak about the throw as my fiance is smelling-impaired. (or else everything is baby powder! )

 

I was extremely saddened by this, as I bought the two 5ml's in my enthusiasm for a perfect new strawberry scent to wear every day in summer. However, my despondency was not to last, as I discovered the amazingness of SCENT LOCKETS. Yes, ladies and gents, a swipe of felt in a tiny touch of oil, and it's allllll wet-phase juicy strawberry goodness. I've had the locket on for an hour and a half now, and thanks to the magic of SCIENCE I can love this scent for months (years?) to come.

[opticnerd]

I was crossing my fingers we would get a Strawberry Moon for June, so I was incredibly stoked to see my wish fulfilled! I ordered 2 bottles without hesitation and now I'm doing my first full wear.

 

Me likeeey!

 

 

Ok, but I like all things strawberry, so its not surprising. This however, to me, isn't very strawberry-ish at all. It smells like a wet warm June morning, with dewy grass and flowers just beginning to heat up under the sun. There is sweetness and humidity, coupled with a slight tartness of fresh strawberry juice. In the background, what I really smell is the dandelion and grass coming into play- its warm and musty and almost hay-like, yet sweet and milky. Utterly brilliant!

 

 

There is just the faintest hint of sweet wet sugar on sweet berries that you get in Sugar Moon, but it is not as sharp or prominent. This manages to stay soft without going powdery, soapy, plasticy, or fading too fast. It manages to be sweet without without being candy. At one point, during the initial drydown, I had feared it was about to go soapy as the floral came into play, but it didn't. It is a very warm and late spring-becoming summer scent. Though I don't get much vanilla, I get a slight whiff of vanilla flowers, not actual vanilla bean. And its slight. Its just a great blend that is so *June*.

 

 

love it.

[Leopard403]

Oh, man! Sniffing straight out of the bottle, this is like standing in a strawberry patch on a warm day. I get no candy-ish note here; it's all fresh, authentic strawberries to my nose, with an anchoring note of a soft vanilla that makes this a warm scent that lingers, rather than the typical berry that burns off of my skin quickly.

 

And the label is adorable!

 

 

edit to add: The first time I did a full wear of this, I slopped it down the front of my shirt and had to change. Sad waste of oil... but when I got home 10 hours later, I couldn't figure out why my apartment smelled so nice. Yeah, it was my shirt. And today, almost 36 hours later, it still smells lovely in here. Much sweeter than it does in the bottle, but still quite nice.

Edited May 20, 2009 by Leopard403

[amyw]

I suspect many of us will review this one tonight, as many of us are probably receiving it today. Anyway...

 

In the bottle I smell mostly strawberries with perhaps a tad bit of the green grass note and maybe a tiny bit of vanilla sugar sweetening it up. It goes on similarly, but as it dries down it goes through a very brief, odd phase I don't like. Then immediately after that it improves and there's a creamy note that comes out on me that I suspect is the combination of vanilla sugar and dandelion sap. I don't detect much grass except maybe right at the end of a long inhale, and I'm not sure what strawberry flower smells like, but I don't detect any floral notes. I suspect the grass note is in there somewhere, preventing the sweet notes from running away with this blend.

 

I'm not sure what I expected other than strawberry, but I do believe I lurve this. It's not very strong, has medium throw, and I'm afraid my skin is going to eat it, but it's so very pretty when I sniff it up close. It's pretty enough that I keep sniffing and closing my eyes. It could easily be sickly sweet or way too tart, but it's not at all. It's a great balance between an earthy kind of fruity and sweet with some really nice creamy aspects to it. And not a bit of artificial smell coming out at all. Yum! So very glad I got two bottles of this.

[Lethran]

In bottle: Beautiful rich strawberry scent, with a touch of sugar. It really does smell like eating a bowl of strawberries on my grandmother’s lawn in early Summer. Wet: Less verisimilitude, but still very strawberry. The grass comes out more. Dry: Ah. There’s the dandelion in there with the others. It still stays sugared fresh strawberry dominant. Strawberry is hit or miss for me, and this is the strongest hit yet. It is genuinely lovely, though rather feminine.

[Champagne]

Oh, this lovely oil starts from a sweet, candy like strawberry to switch to tartness, and then the dandelion note jumps off from nowhere. I like this phase too cause it allows me to visualize myself surrounded by a lush lawn from where little strawberries are waiting to be eaten . And then it goes back to pure berry heaven. It`s that good and it`s my birthday month blend too

[bronwyn]

I just got my Strawberry Moon today --

 

As others have said, it's all sweet strawberry candy in the bottle, but once it's on... There's not nearly enough strawberry left - it's all grassy green leaves and lawn. (This isn't a BAD thing, but it isn't at all the scent I was hoping for.)

Interestingly enough, my left hand smells sweeter than my right (I swabbed a bit on the back of each to test) - it really is true that we smell 'lopsided'.

 

Where'd my strawberries go? Ah well - it's still a fresh, clean scent on me (at first it wasn't, and then I went and scrubbed my hands free of lotion and whatnot and tried again - much better!) and a good, light spring/summer smell. But I do wish the strawberry-sweet parts stayed longer. Ah well.

 

I think I'll be digging out my scent lockets and wearing this scent that way, the way I do some others that smell fantastic in the bottle but don't agree with my skin chemistry.

[dawndie]

In bottle: bubblegummy strawberry

 

On skin: strawberry bubblegum, like I should start chewing on my arm. Green grass note quickly follows

 

Half-hour later: the garden greenery is quite strong, barely sweetened with strawberry juice. I love the green grassy blends so it's fine with me. Disappearing quickly, too

 

In conclusion: while I was hoping for the return of the original Strawberry Moon, this is great in its own right. Refreshing and peppy.

[Xanon]

In the bottle: Fresh strawberries, sweet but not really a candy sweet for me.

 

Wet: Cut grass with strawberry juice.

 

Dry down: I get the milky dandelion and strwaberries. Stays very close to my skin, which is a shame.

 

Over all: I am very happy with this scent. This is my first moon order and I am loving it. Wish it had a little more throw, but that's ok.

[mooncityminx]

OMG beautiful!

 

The strawberry is sweetish but more realistic than usual. There is the green smell, that part is subtle, something only very slightly floral. OMG! Did I say OMG? This smells so real. And yet so much better than real. It is similar in a way to One to Tie, Two to Win from the Dogs Playing Poker series. I love that one but don't wear it very often, just occasionally in the summer. This one is so perfect because it is sweet/foody enough for my sweet tooth, but not too foody or sweet. I could see wearing this everyday in any season. It's the best of everything.

 

At the same time the strawberry note is totally different than any other strawberry bpal I've ever tried before.

 

I think this is my new favorite of all time! I'm so glad I bought two bottles (and the t-shirt) but sad that I don't have even more, and won't be able to order more next month like a typical LE. *rapture/despair*

[terrenity]

Fresh from the mailbox, so YMMV!

 

In the bottle: Bright and syrupy strawberry. Definitely different from Beth's usual strawberry (which I'm happy about, because her usual strawberry note is one of the few fruits that doesn't work on me).

 

On: The syrupy quality fades as it dries, mellowing into what I would call the exact scent of a whole strawberry. I can even smell the seeds and the green top! One of the most gorgeous blends I have ever smelled. -faints-

 

5 minutes later: I think maybe one of the components of this strawberry note, that makes it so fruity and juicy, is actually Beth's plum note. The longer this sits on my skin the more plum-y it smells. While Beth's plum note is my second favorite note (the first being melon!), I was actually kinda looking forward to another fruit I could love.

 

For some reason sniffing this gives me a really strong scent memory with the Springmaid-Wamsutta store (a linens/towels/etc store) in my hometown. -scratches her head- I have no idea why, just like I have no idea why the L'Estate bath oil makes me want to go to Micheals. It's not a negative association.. just a weird one. Huh.

 

Anyhow, I was beginning to wonder if I amp plum, and this blend seems to be confirming that (unless I'm crazy and imagining the resemblance to plum, which is very possible). That gorgeous strawberry is still there, her yells muffled by plum's hands over her mouth, but plum's got a pretty tight grip and I don't foresee strawberry making a comeback.

 

Verdict: Since this is fresh from the mailbox, I'm going to give plum some time to settle down and see if she can't make amends with the other notes in this blend. There's definite top five potential here, so I'm not giving up. -shakes her finger- I'll be back in a week! You settle down and play nice, okay?

[Caerphilly]

I'm so glad I got 2 bottles of this! I love it!!

 

In the bottle: Sweet Wild Strawberries like my grandmother used to buy me in Poland when I was little. Juicy , delicious, lovely!

 

Wet: Very strong and sweet wild strawberries. I can smell some grass, but it;s mostly almost candy sweet wild strawberries.

 

Dry: The wild strawberries are very very light now. I can barely smell them they're in the background. This turns to a slightly bitter weedy smell. It's clean and fresh but a little bitter. Like a wild field in Poland overgrown with weeds. (that I used to visit when I was little.) This is the dandelion sap.

 

Overall: This scent fades quickly and doesn't have much throw. But, I really love this smell because it's nostalgic for me. It reminds me of visiting my family in Poland during the summer when I was little. I kept reapplying this scent all day and all I could picture was grandma.

[amanderinorange]

I received this on Monday, but due to my lameness wasn't able to try it out until yesterday.

 

In the bottle: sweet, kinda sour and totally like a real strawberry!

 

On me: this stays very fresh strawberry for a little while and surprisingly has a decent throw. About 10 minutes later I get a bit of the dandelion and grass and it's quite lovely.

 

Overall: I like this scent and can see it being a good summer scent as long as bugs don't attack me while wearing it. It's interesting smelling like yummy strawberries and hopefully I don't get sick of it. If I do, I can see this being a great room scent as well.

 

[FallDaze]

~ In the bottle it's a super sweet strawberry bubble gum. Very sugary and slightly sharp. I hope this softens down a bit...

 

~ Wet - the sweet strawberry bubble gum scent is still there. The grasses are starting to come through as well as what I think is the dandelion sap. The bubble gum is still way too sweet and dominant.

 

~ Dry down - It's lost that bubblegum sweetness and has taken a greener turn. Now it's more reminiscent of strawberry fields in the sun. Extremely light, and extremely subtle. At first I thought it had disappeared completely, and it was only when I had my hand all the way up to my nose that I was able to detect it.

 

Sadly, it's gone soapy. It just makes me think of strawberry field scented shampoo.

[Cheri]

I just got my package today and tried Strawberry Moon right away. It's all strawberries when wet, but while I was working on the new house that we're moving to, I kept smelling something delicious and realized it had morphed into a sweet strawberry musky scent. I've never smelled a real strawberry that was this good. It's soft and girly and luckily without any unpleasant bitterness soapiness. Just perfect!

 

As of today this scent has moved to second place just behind Snow White. I could sniff this all summer and not get tired of it.

[missrini]

You know how sometimes you don't know you're missing something until you actually GET it? Well that is Strawberry Moon for me. Even though I'm a relative newbie, I have already amassed quite a number of bottles and many many many imps......but they were all (dare I say it?) starting to bore me a bit It's not that they're not lovely....they are!....it's just that I really love the amber, vanilla, coconut, sugar type scents and was missing the fruits. Oh the fruits! Well Strawberry Moon has filled the void and given me more yummy fruit than I could hope for

 

On me it smells pretty much all strawberry, but without the "fake sweetness" that I was worried it would have. The reviewers here have all been so accurate on that score! I actually bought this bottle unsmelled based on that I also smell the greeny planty smell, but it's quite faint and it just balance the strawberry nicely.

 

The only down side for this scent is that it has pretty much NO throw and doesn't last very long at all (much like Raven...and I love Raven too.....maybe it's any sort of fruit on me?)

[suki]

O. Mi. GODDESS.

 

this, THIS is the strawberry scent i've been waiting for my whole life!

 

every other strawberry from BPAL does one of two things on me: it either becomes all plastic so i smell like a Strawberry Shortcake doll, or it goes all candy-like on me, like i just rubbed Twizzlers all over my arms.

 

but this, this does neither. it's amazing. this smells *exactly* like real, warm, late summer, TART strawberries, maybe the slightest, and i MEAN slightest, hint of green in the background.

 

on my skin, it stays true, just beautiful, real ripe strawberry to the last.

 

the throw is low, but the hint of it stays on my skin for a long while.

why, oh WHY did i only buy ONE bottle of this?!

still, i will treasure this bottle for all my days

 

 

:wub:

 

 

[fairnymph]

Strawberry candy (it reminds me specifically of those pale pink, knobbed hard candies with the soft centres, wrapped to look like strawberries) and green grass, with maybe a hint of clean white floral. Not overly sweet.

 

Much more intense! Less sweet/candyish, and this is definitely unlike previous BPAL strawberry notes I've known - much more realistic to my nose, more herbal, zesty, and almost a little unripe. The last COULD be due to the strong grass note and now present-and-amping slightly bitter dandelion. A touch soapy, but not in a bad way.

 

Dries very quickly, almost instantly, and starts to fade just as rapidly. It's a bit of a tease - puts on a bold front but can't really deliver in strength. The sweetness/strawberry is fading in particular, to the point where it's very light within minutes. Grass holds, and the dandelion is just as strong now. Less bitter, it really has become somehow milky/creamy. Still a hint of white floral, almost linen-y.

 

Milky dandelion sap is in command here, and surprisingly the grass has backed off quite a bit - it's behind the strawberry (no longer candyish at all) and white floral, now. The tinge of soapiness has dissipated entirely - I think that was just a brief threat from the grass. This feels very green and spring-like and outdoorsy. Still somewhat feminine, but a man could wear it.

 

Milky, pleasantly bitter and very green-fresh dandelion that really feels sappily wet with a bit of zesty, tart, wild strawberry juice (seeds, too). More faintly, a bit of clean white floral and grass. Surprisingly good throw, though this fades a lot from the intial blast - about 4 hours longevity on my skin.

 

A must try for lovers of dandelion. I'm glad I got 2 bottles!

 

 

 

[tajana]

Smells candy-like in the bottle but like a true fresh berry after it settles on the skin, probably because as it dries, the greeness of the dandelion comes forth. The trace of vanilla rounds out the tart edges of the strawberry. I didn't think I liked it that much at first but after it dried, the dandelion and grass added a delightfully fresh element. Grass notes I've tried before smell soapy but the "dandelion sap" smells really realistic and fresh and not sterile at all, it reminds me of being eight years old and lying down in a grassy field at the park, picking a handful of dandelions. It harmonizes really well with the strawberry notes, which smell like a bowl of finely chopped up strawberries, succulent and brilliantly ruby red, mixed with a spoonful of sugar. I'm salivating at the thought. Totally delicious and summery.

 

Interestingly, my sister, who reflexively hates just about any perfume oil went ballistic for it. She whiffed it in the bottle and said it smelled like gummi bears and ring pops and made her really nostalgic, and then after she put it on it settled down to strawberries and dandelions... she kept huffing her wrist and demanding I give the bottle to her.

 

Even though it isn't cloyingly candylike after it dries, it is still childish, if only for the memories it conjures up. Longevity and throw are about what I'd expect from a perfume this light... which is to say, not very long lived, but the throw is just right while it's around. It fades eventually to soft powdery, sugary vanilla (powdered sugar?) with a bit of "pink" and "green" from residual strawberries and dandelions.

 

I didn't expect to like this as much as I do... as the hours have passed, I've definitely decided that I'm glad to have some of this. The bottle art is gorgeous, too!

 

EDIT: LOL, I still like it, but my boyfriend isn't the biggest fan. He says it smells like "diabetes"... by which I think he means hyperglycemia.

Edited June 10, 2009 by tajana

[pacifick]

Fresh, sticky dandelion stems.

[hyejungkook]

My first review...here goes:

 

In the bottle: smells like juicy strawberry gum, except without the artificiality, and I can smell a green, slightly creamy tang...must be the grass and dandelion.

 

Wet: Juicy strawberries and green stems with a creamy undercurrent, probably the vanilla-infused sugar.

 

Initial drydown: A trace of strawberry sweetness remains, but the creamy, milky notes are dominant, with some floral and a little astringent green coming through. The dandelion sap, I think, gives the scent a faint acrid tinge. I had hoped for more strawberry but it's still appealing. It's like sitting in a field of grass and flowers on a warm, early summer day, holding a bowl of strawberries completely drowned in cream and sugar in your lap--can't see any red in the bowl at all. Not very much throw, but I dab rather than slather.

 

45 minutes later: Oh lovely, the strawberry is coming out again; it's not so drowned in the creamy grassy floral sweetness anymore.

 

4 hours later: Lingering strawberry and vanilla sugar with a touch of green very close to the skin.

 

Verdict: If you are looking for something that screams strawberry, you may be disappointed. The initial drydown is interesting, but I don't care for the slightly acrid note or the disappearance of the berry. Ah, but once the strawberry comes back, it's just delicious--I need to go eat strawberries in cream and sugar now.