Harvest Moon 2010

[poetria]

This Harvest lunacy combines the autumnal scents of dry leaves, mulling spices, balsam fir, cedar, juniper berry, clove, saffron, damson plum, sage, yarrow, and lily twined with Dionysus' sacred grapes and ivy, a bounty of apple and pumpkin, and the amaranth and lingum aloes of Janus, all touched by a gentle breath of festival woodsmoke and sweet wine.

I really adore this!! I haven't tried any prior years' Harvest Moons, but I think this is just beautiful. It is incredibly complex, and well-blended, so it's a little harder to pick out the individual notes, but...

As it evolves on my skin, I get the fruity apple and plum (and maybe pumpkin? I know, not a fruit, but still!), sweet woods and spices, dry leaves, a breath of lily (which, to me, lends an occasional lightness, even clean aspect, to this blend), something that evokes a feeling of rich warm darkness, and, dare I say, something a little vanillic, almost caramel-y... I would not call this a gourmand fragrance, though. And in the background, every now and then (especially in the deep drydown), I can catch a hint of smoke, like leaves or a bonfire burning in the distance...

For me, Harvest Moon 2010 is such a gorgeous, quintessentially autumnal fragrance, and I am truly enjoying wearing it. So glad I took the chance on this in my first BPAL order

(Edited to add official BPAL description)

[minniemoo]

Harvest Moon 2010 was my first Lunacy and I had such high hopes, but alas...

 

Even sniffing the bottle makes me feel queasy and I can hardly bear to wear this. To me, it smells strongly of wine and rotting fruit, bleurgh. On my skin, it does settle a little, but it's still far too overpowering I might try it again in a few months but I think this one may be my first big BPAL fail!

[AmyO'Shields]

When I open the bottle of Harvest Moon 2010, I smell sweet, fizzy, woods...not like Birch or Root beer, more like Cedar or Hemlock Beer? With a hint of grape?

I actually love this perfume, I wish I could sniff the previous Harvest Moons to see what they were like! When it dries down, I get a syrup-y sweet smell of decay, if that makes any sense. Not sure how much I will actually wear this, but I do tend to reach for it when I wake up in the morning for a wake up call! MMMMM...Harvest Moon and Earl Grey to start the day!!!

Edited October 27, 2010 by Herb Girl

[starfish327]

i need to let this one settle a little more, but this is my initial impression.

 

in the imp: very sweet, with a hint of spice and vague greenery or florals. not as intense as i had feared it may be.

 

wet: i get a lot of jumbled fruit and florals. it's a little chaotic and intense at this point (but it could be travel shock as well). it does smell like fall to me, and of the lunacies i've tried this may be the only one that works other than raven moon (and crow moon on odd days).

 

dry: it morphs a lot on dry down. i amp the mulling spices and the cloves, which sit on top of something that smells faintly aquatic. i think it's the lily and the greenery working together. periodically i get hints of the fruit. it's a strange mixture but it's not unpleasant. and it does remind me of late fall.

 

i'm going to need to give this one more time to rest, but i think that this one will be a keeper.

[milo]

Wet this is juicy apple with a bit of spice. As it dries, still fruity, but the leaves are coming out more, and I really get the mulling spices as well. In fact, I would say that it is spice dominant now. This is nice, but not something I'd wear. I think it's more suited for a room fragrance.

[Ramen]

In the bottle, I get spices and fruit and a sharpness I can't identify. When I put it on I still smell spices and fruit, but the leaves and herbs come out to play so it's more like walking down a tree-lined street on the way to an autumn bonfire. A great scent for fall or anytime I want it to feel like fall.

[Gin]

At first, this is shockingly green. Ivy and pepper--like green pepper or jalapeno pepper, very green and spicy.

... And then it stays there. That's all I get. WTF?

I put a little more on, to see if I could coax something else out of it. I think I got a whiff of pumpkin and maybe some florals but it mostly stays weird and spicy and green. In the last stages, I can smell soapy floral under the green, which has softened a bit but not much. I don't know what to think about this.

[aleciarivas]

Blech!!! This turns into something like dead rotting wood and clinging green vines on me. A hint of pleasing incense beneath, which in no way salvages the stronger tones. This one's getting washed off immediately!!!

[porcelina]

in the bottle, harvest moon is sharp and pungent and deeply fruity (the plum and grapes combined with apple). i can already tell that this has aged pretty well- i intensely disliked it when i first tried it on last year, but it's much better now! on my skin, there's spice and the lab's familiar dried leaves note, with some juicy apple and dark purple fruit- and all in a haze of delicious smoke. it definitely invokes autumn! it's like a fruitier samhain as it dries.

 

the smoke gets a little funny towards the end and at points it goes a bit "generic fall candle" on me and it's quite a strong blend. i don't think i'll be wearing this very much at all, but i can see it as a room scent.

[Mechanical Death]

in the bottle this is all gorgeous wine with mulling spices. Mmm!

On the skin it blooms, the plum comes out more, a twang of the balsam, gorgeous wine and slices-- the clove peaks out a bit and blends with the leaves. It's the same scent used in the dead leaves and desolation from this years Halloween candle. It's stunning and smells every bit like fall.

[tinyvulture]

Strong cider with mulling spices. Whoa! This decant may not have aged well...it's just so earthy and pungent, with a sour fermented note, almost like cheese!

 

ETA: It smells different and better on my son...like wine with cinnamon.

Edited August 6, 2014 by tinyvulture

[radioaction]

Smells lovely and green in the bottle, but on it quickly turns into burning leaves and not in a good way. Up close, there's some nicer fruit notes, but the throw is all strong, harsh smoke. So sad! I may try this in a locket to see if the smoke doesn't take over, but it's likely headed for swap/sale.

[hammy]

In the bottle - Very green, with spicy wood.

 

Wet - Spices are just rolling off my wrist. The greenness from the bottle is transforming into leaves. Yellow, then orange, then red. The leaves are changing color in 30 seconds flat. It’s insta-autumn. Ooh, but it kept going and now I’m getting some apple cider notes. Weird. These are all notes I usually like, but there’s something disconcerting about this blend that is keeping me on edge. It’s a little oversweet, which is not a word I have ever had occasion to use.

 

Drydown - Now it’s all wood and spice, and something airy that is keeping the whole mix from being truly grounded. Ivy? Lily? Whatever it is, it feels frantic and unsettled. About a half hour in, the whole thing turns to soap on me and doesn’t change again.

 

Verdict - A puzzling start, and a sudsy finish. Swap.

[Marla Moreau]

In bottle: Not certain what the base is, but whatever it is I would take a shot of it if a drink that smelled like it if it was placed before me. Slight overtone of incense AKA potential? Maybe... uncertain. Definite apple and dry leaves.

 

Wet on Skin: Rotting apple pieces with dry leaves, My roommate said that in the crook of my arm it smelled like potpourri, and on my wrist it smelled like something pleasantly unisex... I think wrist amped the nice incense notes and the crook of my arm amped the apple spice potpourri kind of thing. But neither to a clearly discernable degree of notes - not obvious. No complaints, just seeing where it goes.

 

Dry Down: Something amps that's part of the base notes, the apple is more sweet and somehow that makes the blend smell more sour/unpleasant. I'm just getting potpourri... then it fades and I'm getting apple... blossoms? Slight white floral. But if I keep sniffing my skin it goes back to that potpourri smell with the apple and spice amping? Ends with a glade candle apple cinnamon scent, apple fades to faint warm apple pie in background, then cinnamon amps big time, which I like typically, but not so much here with conflicting notes. Fades extremely fast and very low throw, if not for the cinnamon amping. Faint aroma of warm milk and cinnamon smoke in the background, then nothing. Literally nothing at all an hour later, prolly less than - then black tea with orange incense aroma suddenly... I like this part, some chemical reaction, but so so faint.

 

Verdict: Disappointed by the fading to the point I would literally bathe in this in hopes of it working on me. It's a very unique blend that I think would be great on someone whose body chemistry was different from mine or someone who likes very close to skin . The confusion only makes me wish it didn't just absorb into my skin more so I could leave a better review. I'm a little sad about this one, I wanted it to work. I'll try it again after a fresh shower, if it doesn't work, selling.

Edited August 3, 2015 by MarlaMoreau