Harvest Moon 2004

[fairywingmaker]

The autumnal blooms of clematis, chrysanthemum, narcissus, sunflower, sage and lily twined with Dionysus’ sacred grapes and ivy, a bounty of apple, pumpkin, and ripe berries, and the amaranth and lingum aloes of Janus, all touched by a gentle breath of festival woodsmoke and sweet wine.

This is the first really strong, visual reaction I've EVER had to a scent. I love this! I can see a pagan feast...the fire, the food, the dancing, and feasting. WOW!!!!!

First Buttery Pumpkin, then I can smell the chrysantemum, and something sweet, then smokey. This is an ever changing scent. I'm awed by it....

[Summerpixy]

Harvest Moon.

 

In the bottle: artificial buttered popcorn is the high note

 

On my skin: Soft, creamy, and yet floral at the same time... this is interesting. It's not a scent that wafts off the skin, yet if I sniff my wrist there's no doubt it's there.

 

I like it. A few more tries and we'll see how much I like it, but on this first try its quite nice.

 

2nd try.. I still like it, although I can't stand the smell of it when I sniff it from the bottle, once it's on my skin it's lovely. I'll just learn not to smell the bottle and just apply it.

Edited October 5, 2004 by Summerpixy

[amberbella]

In the bottle: I'm getting the smell of an old movie theatre....in such a good way.

 

Hubby, however, insists on vinegar, if you can believe that. I just keep smelling movie theatre...buttered popcorn, old candy, spilled soda. I love the idea of my house smelling like that so I'm planning on trying it out as a room scent.

 

As others have said, it fades on skin quickly.

[TheDarkMother]

In the Bottle: Wine and pumpkin bread, very buttery and thick. I'm not certain if that is a good combo or not, to tell you the truth.

 

On me: This is a golden colored liquid that is VERY foody and VERY strong. The intense pumpkin smell dominates for a few seconds before this strong wine scent returns. The wine is gorgous, fruity, with a floral trailing behind it that is just beautiful. But if you get too close to my wrist, the pumpkin still dominates. It doesn't radiate outwards, but its right there on my wrist.

 

The more I sniff it, the more it does seem to go together. All the scents of Autumn crushed in a bottle. This is the reason why I love October more than any other month. I wonder if they will ever make an Oktoberfest smell? This one is pretty close.

[Lorencita]

This smells way too foody to me, I no likey... I will try it as a room scent though in my oil burner.

 

ETA: I tried this again on, and let me tell you... it's beautiful. I'm glad I have 2 bottles, for my mother and myself!

Edited October 2, 2004 by Lorencita

[Northernminx]

I was expecting more spice in this than I got but I can't complain.

In the bottle, sweet and buttery, chrysanthymum and warm golden sweet breads.

Putting this on that candy corn smell hovers for a bit but mellows into a gorgeous blend of warm buttery notes and golden florals. There's nothing light about the flowers, they're all the hardy, waxy, autumn kind found bedecked on new england porches from October 1st until the first frost kills them. A vague hint of apple and maybe white wine instead of a darker red. It's an autumn harvest indeed, but more earthy and foodier than Mabon. This isn't a hugely strong scent on me but it's persistant and stays and I'll get whiffs of it through the day. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.

Definitly hanging onto this one. It could well be a staple autumn scent for me

[Sushwa]

I've worn this one several times since I got it, & I love it more & more.

 

First time wearing, it seemed like a confusion of scents--& way more sweet & floral than I tend to like. As it dried, though, I could smell the warm spice of dry leaves comig through; & then the berries and wine. An hour later, it all had melded into the smell of a warm October day in the woods--lovely.

 

That first wearing was the only time I've smelled the grapes & wine. It still smells wonderful & spicy on me, though.

 

I, too, have trouble with the scent fading quickly; but yesterday I mixed a couple drops into Neutragena body lotion & smoothed it onto my arms & legs, & the scent lasted & lasted & lasted. I walked around in a fragrant haze all day & could still smell it when I went to bed last night.

 

Definitely a keeper!

[grrrlennyl]

harvest moon

 

at first: very foody. like pumpking pie with apples and cranberries.

on: fall. i don't know how else to describe it. it smells like it feels when you just start needing to wear a sweater when you go outside. very nice.

1.5 hours later: this has turned really floral on me. interesting. it's like rich red and yellow flowers. lovely.

4.5 hours later: still floral, but a warm floral. i think this would be great as a room scent.

7.5 hours later: this is almost gone, but that's ok. it lasted pretty well, even after repeated handwashings.

overall: lovely and a perfect scent for this particular full moon. i'll be burning this in my oil burner, too. i'm glad i grabbed a bottle of this.

[Belladonnastrap]

Shine on, Shine on Harvest Moon..up in the sky! I ain't had no lovin' since January, February, June, or July

 

 

First sniff

Like Gluttony but with less butter notes and an element of fall in it. Very sweet and fallish the sunflower and apple stand out the most.

 

When wet

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Wow the buttery scent is disappears and the apple and sunflower come out to play. It smells very much like fall! The pumpkin is just peeking out as well. Actually its odd because one wrist smells like pumpkins/apple and the other smells like flowers o.O

 

Drydown

Okay this is really odd. The drydown on the flower side smells a lot like an autumn bouquet...something that someone who was getting married at Halloween would wear. On the foody side the drydown is like a bunch of lovely pumpkiny cider.

 

 

Aftermath

Harvest Moon isn't quite what I was expected but I love it nonetheless. It's very much a fall scent and invokes the images of it. Definitely a keeper~

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Harvest Moon is all buttery, warm pumkin pie out of the bottle.

 

Second Impression: The buttery pumpkin goodness morphs rather quickly into a gorgeous autumn floral with a touch of apple wine blending in. I really enjoyed wearing this. It's rich and so very autumn-y.

 

Final Analysis: The whole experience of Harvest Moon lasted about four hours and I loved every minute of it. I put this in my scent locket as well and as I enjoyed the blanket of rich fall flowers and apple wine floating around me, I got the buttery pumpkin goodness wafting up the entire time. I will enjoy every last drop of this. Beautifully crafted.

[summer]

MMm. At first it's buttery and foody, with a slightly crisp fruity note somewhere in there, and underneath there's the rustling of leaves. As it dries it gets more floral and perfumey, but everything about it just SCREAMS autumn. I find it hard to describe this one, because it's so well blended, but suffice to say that it's GORGEOUS, and I was sniffing my wrists all day today. I can imagine myself wearing this literally every single day until it's gone.

 

[evil_laugher]

This smells weird coming out of the bottle. Ignore it, because it'll smell grrreat when it's on. Sort of like autumn leaves and some sort of buttery food or drink that you should not be consuming while on a diet. It feels better at night than during the morning.

 

ADDED Oct. 18:

 

This is a really nice scent, as I said before, but it fades out pretty fast. And that's a tragedy.

 

EDIT: Added followup post to this one --Shollin

Edited November 20, 2004 by Shollin

[lorajc]

I wore this for the 2nd time yesterday and I'm still not sure quite what I think of it. It defintely goes on buttery and creamy with the pumpkin and then it turns to a strong floral and then about an hour into wear, it severely fades into a very soft floral with a very slight hint of wine/apple. I'll have to try applying in my lotion first to give it more staying power.

[asa805]

Wow what a complete turnaround on this one. When i first got the bottle i slathered it on and found myself very confused by the scent. It was foody but also floral. It was buttery but reaked of lillies. The drydown lost a lot of the buttery foody aspect but left just an overpowering and icky flower smell. Then about an hour later it softened and a little of the foodiness returned with a soft smoky/wine scent underneath the flowers (which were softened). So i was intrigued by the wet scent, hated the drydown and lvoed the last stage. It faded quite fast (3 hours tops).

 

Now i tried again today thinking that I will give it another chance before i decide to swap it away. ANd wow I LOVE IT! Ok i dont know if the change is the fact that its that wonderful time of the month (starting today) but this just turned gorgeous on me. The flowers werent too strong, there was a gentle sweet foodiness (candy corn??) in the background keeping the flowers from going wild and i got a nice spice from it as well. This is amazing and i am definately keeping this if only to wear for one week a month. Im really curious if my first impression was biased somehow and when i try it again i will still get this yumminess or if this is really just a chemistry issue.

 

Either way im delighted. Glorious glorious harvest moon. how i will savor and hoard thee.

[TygherRayn]

In the bottle, this starts off incredibly foody. Like a sweet bread of some type, but I'm not sure I can pick out any notes to be sure. It's possibly the pumpkin .. creamy and golden at the same time. If this were a food, I'd likely gain about a hundred pounds eating it. Yum!

 

Just putting it on, this stops being a golden corn hue and becomes considerably darker. Fresh baked bread, or pumpkin cheesecake. It's nutty and warm, chocolate brown, but with no chocolate scent. There's an underlying floral note that sorta tickles at my nose that I can't quite get. But this is the smell of a bakery in the autumn, perhaps, with bunches of fresh flowers decorating the windows every morning, mums and sunflowers in golden hues.

 

This stops being foody about 10-15 minutes after applying it, remaining a very dark floral, but not dark in the nocturne/Nyx sort of way. This is just the impending darkness of a chilly autumn evening. When you've had the windows open all day, and the mums outside are scenting the air, and there's cider simmering on the stove. I love this scent. Perhaps not as much as Mabon, but I love this scent.

[Dianella]

This was a very odd scent on me. In the bottle I smelled buttered stale popcorn and then when I put it on that faded but then I started to smell like...manure or something really awful. However that was gone swiftly and then the flowers came out. They're qute strong on me initially then they sort of calm down and blend with some spices. I think this oil will take a few more tries to see how I feel abou it!

[orangepoppy]

Harvest Moon smells like autumn, which is my favorite season! It's just glorious, on me, and in my oil burner. All of the ingredients mix and mingle and I swear I get something different each time I sniff. This doesn't seem to waft much but that's fine, it's like having a secret. The foody scents mixed with the flowers and the bit of smoke definitely brings to mind a feast celebrating the bounties of the season. I'm so glad I ordered this!

[any_old_actress]

FIRST SNIFF: i have no idea...

 

WEARING IT: no scent comes to the foreground on me, the background is a hint of apple, ivy, wine, smoke and for some reason something that smells like heather and myrrh? it's not as foody as i had hoped it would be and i don't think it's a sniff that particularly works on me either.

 

VERDICT: i'm disappointed that it didn't seem to work on me, but i'm gunna try it a few more times before i decide to swap it.

[sihaya09]

Mmm. An awsome warm, foody scent. When I opened up the sample vial, all I could smell was melted butter! On, it warms up with autumn spices and some light pumpkin-- smells that made me want a big chunk of cornbread and other grain-y foods. In the drydown, a very yellow floral came through. I'm in love with this scent and hopefully I'll be able to swap for another imp of it.

[quinkel]

This is my second lunacy blend and it has the same complexity as Blue Moon.

 

A scent that changes everytime i sniff it and has so many layer that it will take many wearing before knowing it completely. That said, consider this as a pre-review because for sure I will have to edit in a couple of days.

 

out of the bottle it smell a bit like aspirine like in blood rose. On the skin it's herbal, should i give it a color, it would be dark green. Again, like Blue moon, it has a magical feeling, like a girl in a dark castle opens a bottle with a green bubbling potion....

 

Only a tiny drop on my wrist and the scent is around me all evening.

 

It's a precious scent and i am proud to own it

[xochitl]

Harvest Moon - my most beloved of all BPAL scents. I wasn't around to order it, so thank goodness for SpinalDesign's generosity is selling it to me!

 

I don't know how I am getting butter from this, but it is there nonetheless, right out of the bottle. A buttery, sweet, lightly green, but mostly woody scent. The colors in my mind are maroons, tempered with dark oranges and yellows. Brown inflections. And wearing the oil is bure bliss. It doesn't bother me at all, ever. I can wear it everyday and even love it wearing it that frequently! I practically bathe in the stuff - one 5 ml bottle may not be enough!

[Penance]

Got an imp of this from Allidavie.

 

First sniff:

 

Oh my God...this does smell like buttered popcorn Jelly Bellies! That's pretty bizarre.

 

Wet on skin:

 

This scent changes character almost as fast as I can figure out what it is I'm smelling. At first it's pure buttered popcorn flavored jelly beans, then it changes into something buttery and vaguely floral and then it changes again into something very autumnal smelling that I can't place. This is really nice.

 

Dry down:

 

It's buttery. It's foody in a way I can't put my finger on. It smells like autumn. It's gorgeous! I can't pick out any particular notes, it's so well-blended, but it's a very happy autumnal scent.

 

The bottom line:

 

This is gorgeous! I don't normally go for foody scents, but this is really beautiful. It embodies everything I think of when I think of autumn. This is a definite winner.

[shriekingviolet]

Initial Impression:

Strong grainy smell with a sweet white undertone. Buttery overnotes.

 

After Wearing It:

Wet, this is gorgeously buttery. Smooth to the point of being slippery, warm, golden and wonderful. Butter and grains is all I smell and it is so delicious. I want to eat it, I want to drink it, I want to pour the entire bottle onto my skin and rub it in, just to be as velvety as Harvest Moon is.

 

Unfortunately, this stage didn't last. Less than an hour later all I could smell from this was white wine. Semi-sweet pale white. Which is nice, even agreeable with my chemistry, but ultimately a disappointment considering how wild I was about the inital phase of the fragrance. Plus, this oil didn't last long on me: 4 hours later and it was gone!

 

Final Thoughts:

I'm happy to have a bottle of this, but because of the low lifespan and the brevity of my favorite stage, I probably wouldn't be tempted to repurchase. Which is good because it's LE.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Thanks to the ever-gracious Minilux, I get to try this just in time for prime Harvest season. That is, even if the Moon itself has passed, Harvest is inextricably linked with Thanksgiving in my mind, so this is automatically my Thanksgiving Day room scent no matter *what* it smells like (I trust Beth ).

In the bottle with the adorable Lunacy label: the ivy from Mabon with something ineffably foody. I am intrigued.

 

Wet: nothing at all like on practically all other reviewers! No butter, no food. Clean, green ivy with woodsmoke underneath. Outdoors on a crisp autumn day. Not only do I *like* green scents, but my skin seems to want to turn everthing into them. Wait, it's starting to morph...

 

Drydown: aquatic fall flowers, much like La Bella Donna della Mia Mente. Still on the autumn nature walk here, but stopping by a pond in the woods. Lovely, but I repeat, where is the food everyone is talking about? The apple, pumpkin, berries?? It faded without ever displaying any of those. I will try it as a room scent and do a separate review.

Edited November 15, 2004 by Laurel_the_Woodfairy

[Mrs. K]

My first review of my first bpal! I received my first introductory scent from Nichole: SilverAngel. Thank you!!!!!

 

In the bottle: I smell apple cider & flowers, slightly spiced, slightly buttery and a little sweetness.

 

On me wet: The florals came out really strong as a high note. The middle note was more fruity with sage and the low note was smokey.

 

On me dry: Very spicey apple cider with smokey sage undertones.

 

My skin runs very cold, so the scent is quite subtle and very pleasant. I am also very pleasantly surprised that I am not getting a perfume-headache (I am usually very sensitive to most perfumes).

 

Great fall scent!