Staged Moon Landing

[wl552]

Prop moon rocks: muguet, orris, white sandalwood, galbanum, cistus, and dusty vanilla.

Right off the bat, I'm getting that dusty vanilla note. The dust isn't candy dust, though, it's like real dust from a library or the museum... not a dirty dust, but a clean dust, if that makes sense. The vanilla is most prominent on my skin making this waft very sweet, but when I stick my nose against my arm, I do get that metallic zing, which I don't really care for; so I'll just not sniff up close. I'm not usually one for dust, dirt, metals or that kind of thing, but somehow in SML, it really works. It's playing nice on my skin and I like how it caresses my nose, gently teasing. It's a wonder scent for all year round; I'm very glad I was able to snag a bottle unsniffed.

Edited to add scent description since I started a new page. Edited May 13, 2010 by wl552

[anomie]

In the imp: sweet powdery dust. I didn't know the moon rocks were made of candy!

 

Wet: Still very powdery and sweet, but I can smell the sandalwood.

 

Quick drydown: Ugh, playdough. And yet I can't stop sniffing. I'm intrigued.

 

Later drydown: This really reminds me of Lush's American Cream. Unfortunately it reminds me of the somewhat plasticky note I got from that. Swap pile!

[ljaylh]

 

Ick.. I knew this one wouldn't work for me, and I was right. Too much going on - the muguet is particularly strong and the orris is also very present, and the white sandalwood is just confusing everything. The dusty vanilla is of a sweet variety, which is quite nice, but it's lost amongst all the other things.

 

The end result for me is a smell not unlike walking into someone's bathroom after they've just filled the air with a huge amount of cheap hairspray and spray-on deodorant. Maybe a bit of fly spray, too. Oh yeah - Nomie got it - this is very much like Lush's American Cream (which also smells like fly spray on me).

 

 

 

[moon_lemming]

Staged Moon Landing really does smell like cool dusty rocks to me. I can see the comparison to LUSH's American Cream, too. It's more like a cool powdery version of AC on my skin, until the muguet (I think) amps and makes it too floral for that comparison.

 

This is a strange blend. Sometimes it strikes me as floral and other times I think of it as a "vegetable vanilla" blend, almost like it has a hint of carrots. Weird.

 

eta: I agree with the comparisons to Black Opal as well, definitely in that family. Black Opal worked better on my skin, though, from what I can remember (although it still wasn't a favorite).

Edited May 18, 2010 by karen

[azurephoenix]

I got straight Choward's Violet Candy from this.. like if I was able to rub it on my wrists and perfume myself with it. Stayed pretty true for the 4ish hours it lasted on me. Unfortunately I hate violet candy, so off to my sales page this goes.

[cyanidenoir]

Staged Moon Landing is a little too sandlewoody for me.

My husband and I both agreed that it's too powdery and too traditional for my liking. But it does smell like what I'd imagine moon dust (real OR fake ) smells like! Very impressive, Beth

[milo]

Wet, this is lovely dusty vanilla. It dried down to pretty much is powdery orris on me. Definitely evokes 'fake' rocks, and really is quite pretty, but not me. I kind of wished the vanilla stayed. Another bullett dodged!

[ami226]

On the skin: Dusty vanilla and something almost fruity? Something ever so slightly minty? Kinda like minty gum?

 

This reminds me of what I was hoping Tokyo Stomp would smell like.

 

Interesting, but not for me.

[yeahbutnobut]

Staged Moon Landing

 

In the imp: gorgeous sweet iris, like Florence meets Silver Phoenix!

Wet on skin: oh yes, this is good. Now I can smell the sandalwood!

Dry on skin: wonderful! It smells of orris/iris, vanilla and sandalwood. I’d say this is less like the cold, sparkling Silver Phoenix orris, and more like Florence’s iris with vanilla instead of amber and with a bit more woodsiness added, and a lot drier and paler. I don’t smell any muguet per se, but I do wonder if that’s what’s turning the orris note into a more floral iris scent rather than just powdery orris. There’s a hint of green yet resinous sharpness from galbanum too. But it’s mainly vanilla-sugared iris and rich sandalwood.

After a while: the vanilla really comes out and develops the most gorgeous sugar crusted scent ever. This smells just like royal icing (the white crunchy kind used on wedding cakes) with crystallised violets dusted with powdered sugar infused with vanilla beans, and a beautiful sandalwood and iris base. The cistus might be what adds warmth to this scent, almost like amber? It reminds me a bit of Faith as well but it’s a lot more complex and more like iris than violet. This is what I wanted the violet, orris and vanilla combination in Signior Dildo to smell like. It’s such a comforting scent. I also agree with the Black Opal comparison but without the Egyptian musk or teak type note I get from that scent.

Verdict: as a lover of all things space related, I have an odd fascination for the fake moon landing theory even though I think it’s a load of bunkum! (Maybe it’s a fascination purely because of that.) So I was very eager to try this one, and I am not disappointed at all-in fact, this is even better than expected considering it contains lily of the valley. It reminds me of Florence, one of my favourite BPAL scents, so that makes me happy. It’s a similar rich yet pleasantly powdery iris with a sweet woodsy background, though this time it’s vanilla that turns wonderfully sugary in the best way possible at drydown-nothing creamy or buttery to this vanilla sugar. As well as being cosy and sweet, this scent does have a dry, dusty feel to it, which is fitting for the moon (or a fake moon anyway!) but unlike Silver Phoenix, which this also resembles to a degree, this is warm and grounded, not cool and dewy and ethereal. A lunar scent that’s a lot more down to earth than usual. I think I may need an extra bottle of this!

Emoticon rating: :love!:

Is it a keeper? yes! I think I need a backup too.

If you like this, try: Silver Phoenix, Florence, Black Opal, Signior Dildo, Faith, Le Serpent Qui Danse, Violet Ray, Cytherea

[midnight_aeval]

I tried this when I first got my decant and was pretty 'eh' about it. Since I've learned you can't test a scent just once, I tried it again today. I was caught off guard when it smelled like something really familiar - I knew it was something LUSH. It took a sniff from my LUSH box, sprays from a couple different EDPs when finally I got the right one; holy crap, this is a dead ringer for LUSH's American Cream. I've used at least 2 huge bottles of the conditioner, have the EDP and solid perfume. I always wondered how they figured AC is supposed to smell like Vanilla Milkshake (uhm, it sooo doesn't to me), but maybe the 'dusty vanilla' note is what I've always smelled. Dusty Vanilla Milkshake? LOL Orris is a super iffy note for me because it always goes dry and sour. I think it does the same thing in this blend, but that's what seems to make it so AC-esque.

[MerriAnneStowe]

This was one that I had to try, if only for the concept. Unfortunately, I like it the least of the half-dozen Helicopters I've tried thus far.

 

It starts out with some floral, but very quickly settles into a dry dust. Not a dusty vanilla, but a dry moondust that hasn't been near water for approximately 4.2 billion years. It actually feels like it's drying out my sinuses.

 

Oh well, at least the bottle art is nice & clever!

 

 

[zankoku_zen]

This one just smells fake on me. It's got this mineral, powdery floral - the orris is often problematic, and here it is a white pitched wail that is just grating. Yes, crystalized violets, dusty vanilla and it ends up being a shrill, fake, dusty vaguely mineral blend.

 

Made.of.lose

[crebbsgirl]

I thought I would love this one. Apparently I was very wrong. This went very similar to "Gladdener" on my skin. There was something a little milky and sour, and then the muguet and orris went very sharp on me. I caught faint whiffs of the dusty vanilla, but it wasn't enough to save this for me.

[Lethran]

In bottle: Deliciously sweet and weirdly chemical. The effect is rather like vanilla/violet candies and anticeptic. The orris is strong, though not overwhelming. I’m bad with orris so I’m not skin testing.

[Monster]

I was absolutely thrilled to see all of the Black Helicoptors scents. I'm not sure I've ever been so excited for a BPAL update ever.

 

In the bottle: A drier version of Velvet Bandito. It's like a Moon Cowboy! Richard C. Hoagland!

 

Wet: Aaaaannnnnnd it's love at first sniff Is there khus in this? I swear I smell khus! Or maybe it's the white sandalwood. I might be confised. This is dry, slightly sweet with a glllooorrrrrrriiiiiooouusssss background clove. It's like Cytherea and Velvet Bandito had an alien lovechild.

 

Dry: Sweet clove over dusty vanilla. I'm guessing the powdery note is the orris. This is just plain gorgeous. Staged moon Landing hugs my skin closely yet lasts a long time. It's a nice close-up scent and the clove is gentle enough to keep it from smelling like kitchen spice.

 

Overall: Love love love. I will be reaching for this one often

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

Decant: dusty vanilla floral

Wet on Me: fainter vanilla now, but more sandalwood and I'm still getting the floral bits

Drying Down: the sandalwood is there but softer. the vanilla has faded and the florals never seem to get rowdy on this.

Dry: soft and pleasant. this is nice. But I think this may go in my frimp pile.

[likie]

This is easily the weirdest oil I have ever tried. In the decant it was rather planty, kind of outer spacey seeming. Like what Mars foliage might smell like. Once it was on my skin, however, it almost immediately turned sweet. It's not a familiar vanilla sweetness, almost like the Martian plants are now bearing fruit and I'm smelling it. If I sniff very closely I can smell the vanilla, but otherwise it's this kind of creepy sweet smell. I'm a little weirded out by it!

[Seismogenic]

Based on the notes alone, this is probably not a scent I would have picked up. Given the inspiration behind it, though, how could I not? The whole Black Helicopters line cracked me up, but this one has the added bonus of being a geological conspiracy of sorts. That is enough to make me need to test it, even in the face of being a bit allergic to white sandalwood!

 

In the bottle: Extremely dry and dusty, with a sweet undertone.

 

Wet on skin: Much the same as wet in the bottle - dry dry dry, and ever so slightly sweet. It's a powdered sugar kind of sweet, for certain.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, the sweet note is a little more prominent. It is, however, still an incredibly dry sort of sweet, and it mixes well with the extremely dry stuff that was more prominent when the scent was wet. Picking out specific notes within this is proving difficult! One hour later, the sweetness has calmed down again, though it hasn't entirely dissipated. My primary impression is dry dry dry and pale.

 

Five hours later: This is getting very faint, but it still has the same quality as in the one hour mark: very dry, dusty, and pale, with only a subtle hint of sweetness.

 

End of the day: Very very faint sweetness.

 

Overall: As I said before, this isn't the kind of scent I would have necessarily picked up on its own, but I like it quite well! It's soft and comforting, actually, and my fears about the white sandalwood and my allergies were unfounded. Most importantly, though, I think this scent absolutely spot-on nails the concept it's going for. It comes very very close to some of the Lab's other geological scents - Black Opal in particular, though also a similar soft feel to Death Cap - but that bit of sugar-sweetness is just enough to make those rocks seem fake. And that is what this is meant to be - fake rocks on the fake moon! If I were not in on that joke, I'd probably be grumbling that this isn't mineral enough for me, but knowing the exact inspiration…pardon the pun, but this rocks. And makes me smile. I'm glad to have it!

[kawaiiferreto]

I've been procrastinating testing this since I grabbed it at Will Call last month; now that I tried it I'm so glad I picked it up! At my old work we had a storage room that smelled of faint smoke, vanilla/creamy must, and concrete. I LOVED how that room smelled. I was hoping this would be close to that smell, and it is!! It doesn't have that "someone smoked a clove in here years ago" smell precisely, but it does have that combination of a rocky earth smell with a faint creamy haze (not too sweet.) I love it!

[pandorasmuse]

In the decant: I definitely smell rocks in here, and fake rocks made of plastic. Amazing! I also get the Dr. Pepper smell that Ravenclaw79 mentioned, but only as the predominant impressions fade from my nose.

 

Wet: Oof. Plastic dust.

 

Drydown: This gets sweeter and softer after it dries, with orris and vanilla coming out on top. It’s still dusty, but not powdery.

 

Later: For some reason (probably the orris), this reminds me of Faith. I feel like this should be a more complex than it is. It’s nice, but it’s not strong enough to warrant seeking out a bottle.

[filigree_shadow]

This smells silvery and violet to me, but dusty. It's been a little while since I smelled Silver Phoenix, but I think this reminds me of that one. The dusty-smelling orris in this one makes it different. It's pretty.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

quick thoughts as this bottle has recently moved on to a better home: i can see the comparisons to Lush's American Cream. it also reminds me a bit of the "Sexiest Musk" from Body Fantasies that - don't pay any mind to the name - is really quite delicious. this goes oddly mint (but not mint)-plasticky on me, and has a dusty floral background in there, too. all in all i don't think this is quite staged-moon-landing so much as astronaut's aunt's guest bathroom. maybe?

[radioaction]

Starts out sparkling and fresh. It reads kind of minty to me, with some florals in the background. Sadly it turns into weird fake vanilla scented play doh after a bit. Probably what fake moon rocks would smell like, but not what I want to smell like!