Black Moon 2011: Beth's Creation

[sfsassy]

BLACK MOON 2011: BETH'S CREATION
The absence of light: black orchid, motia attar, mugwort, English pear, jonquil, violet leaf, myrrh, opoponax, crystal musk, ylang ylang, and 5-year aged patchouli.

I can pick out almost each of the notes. But the two strongest are the Orchid and the Pear. If you like those two notes you will be in heaven.It also has a very tropical vibe to it.

Now I did have the older version years ago and I can't tell you how they differ. But overall it's a very pretty scent. I can't wait to see how it ages.

[strahlend]

In the bottle my first impression is a resiny herbal scent with a dry wood that reminds me of cedar. There's also a soft, warm feeling that is probably the musk. There's a very slight floral fruity element too. All of these parts blend together really beautifully.

 

On my skin the orchid and pear really come out. There are some herbal undertones, but this is mainly a light and pleasantly sweet scent. It doesn't scream flowers or pear, the notes just mesh together and bring to mind a cool moonlight garden. I can't say that I ever detect patchouli as a presence, but maybe that's just me.

 

To my nose this smells very similar to the Black Moon '06 version.

[countessmouse]

Like strahlend, I also got the resiny herbal scent from the imp. It stayed that way briefly on my skin before the orchid popped with the pear. The fruit didn't stay very long, however, and it's settled to a musky orchid with a hint of wood that is quite lovely.

 

Added to my bottle list...

[Dark Alice]

Resiny grass. There is something in this that is turning to catpee on me. I think it is the orchid. I am so sad...I wanted this to work on me. Resiny herbal catpee. *sigh*

[dawndie]

In bottle: peppery floral

 

On skin: orchid straight out, with a bit of dirt from the patchouli

 

Half-hour later: flowers juiced up with pear, yum!

 

In conclusion: I didn't order the previous Black Moon, as I was afraid the thick heady florals would be too much. However, this is bright and juicy, and the patchouli adds a nice touch of gritty earth to the bottom. Delicious and not too heavy, even in this obnoxious heat wave we're having.

[GypsyRoseRed]

I'll start off this review by saying that I *really* didn't like the original version of Black Moon and automatically assumed that this rerelease would be exactly the same - aquatic and 'fresh' smelling. I'm so glad I was wrong! What I get out of Black Moon is dark, spicy pear candy with a kick of sweetness. Surprisingly awesome.

[cyberpuff]

It's hard for me to review this in the way that I normally review. First, opening the bottle I get a smell that's part mild turpentine, part salad dressing. Nothing I want to smell like, and I'm kind of disappointed. But I put it on my skin. It stays the same for a few minutes, then the fruitiness of the pear comes forward, along with the floral of the orchid. It stays bright like that for about fifteen minutes.

 

Then it totally disappeared.

 

Then later, about an hour after the disappearing act, I am catching whiffs of the most graceful, elegant scent. It's like the ghost of Madeline Elster, the blonde character Kim Novak plays in Vertigo. The scent doesn't have a huge throw, plus it's sneaky- what's with that long disappearing act? I think what I can pick out is the orchid, maybe a tiny bit of dark green from the violet leaf, and the musk. There's a slight spicy warmth to it-probably the grounding of the opopanax and patchouli, and I can say that those two things are probably what's keeping the rest of it from going off into the ether.

 

It's lovely and quite different than any BPAL I own. It's something to wear when you need the boost of elegance in your life. I'm normally like Judy Barton (the less glamorous, more mundane version of Kim Novak in the same film) and Black Moon makes me feel like I can be that other, more upscale version. And if you get some of this- please skin test it! I'd never think what I smelled initially would turn into something so sophisticated.

[cinnamonster]

I'm finding this a hard one to describe, it's like, grey crushed velvet, vaguely sweet and to me, very powdery.

 

Can I pick out notes...hmmm...yes pear, on a powdery hint of resin background. Gonna have to give this another go, decide if I want to keep it, I might do though. Interestingly (to me anyway) The Chameleons just came on - Second Skin, look it up if you don't know it...seems to fit the scent very well, but then I often find music for my perfumes!

 

The pear is the strongest note to me if I sniff closely. I do like it.

[Blood onmy hands]

I didn't care for the original Black Moon (smelled like watery, sickly-sweet florals and sharp, perfumey musk), but the addition of resins and aged patchouli made me hopeful for this year's version.

 

In the bottle, this doesn't really smell good to me at all. Oddly cool-minty, powdery, and perfumey floral with a hint of weird, fruity sweetness that's a little like banana flavored candy smell.

 

On my skin, it's much the same, but the juicy orchid and a little bit of the dirty patchouli & opoponax come in to join the mess.

 

After about a half hour, the scent isn't quite as weird as it was initially. It dries down to a perfumey, sharp sort of white floral smell with hints of earthy patchouli and sweet resins. The patchouli and resins smell dirty and a bit strange underneath the bright floral.

 

The startup is a little too off and jumbled for me, and the drydown is a bit too sharply floral... glad I just went for a partial bottle of this one and not a full bottle.

[o0SnowDrop0o]

In the bottle, I was surprised by how harsh and chemically this smells. But I decided to try it anyway... and it smells exactly like play-doh on me. Exactly. I've never had a blend "go play-doh" on me, but now I know that it's meant quite literally. No one else has mentioned this, so I think it's just me. I was hoping for the patchouli to be prominent here, and half-expecting the florals to be fairly strong, but I really can't pick anything coherent out of this... Off to sales/swaps...

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: Whoa, not what I was expecting! I get menthol(?!) mixed with bubblegum and a distinctly sour note as well. Very strange.

 

Wet: The menthol becomes more herbal and now it smells like heavy mossy, wet earth. Not aquatic, but a darker, dirtier kind of wet. It's spiked with creamy pear and sugary powder. An odd combination of earthy wet notes alternating with light fruity ones. Sometimes those types of notes work well together, but the balance doesn't seem to be struck here. It ends up kind of muddled and strange.

 

Dry: Well, it does settle on drydown. The herbal sharpness and sugary notes go away. Every now and then, I get a whiff of juicy pear mixed with ferns and jungle blooms, but it's mostly tropical musk, humid and soft, layered with damp florals and wet earth. It's pretty in this phase, but not worth going through the confusion in the beginning.

[fetish911]

out of the 3 Moons this was the only one that didn't work on me. It went all floral DEATH on me. Just bright, loud florals. At first it wasn't so bad. A bit herbally but sharp. I cannot pick out 1 specific note only that it reminds me of a stinky perfume my grandmother used to wear. Glad I didn't jump on a bottle of this one. I want to wash it off.

 

this one only gets 1/5

[porcelina]

a complex floral-and-resins scent could go either way on me- really good or really bad. let's see how this turns out.

 

ok, it's dark. very dark. the aged patchouli note is lovely, by the way, and balances out the light, sharp "crystal musk."

 

but… the florals are just too much. it's heady and dizzying; it kind of gives me a headache and makes me sneeze. i think i'm allergic to something here because every time i sniff, i have a sneezing attack. ok… this is not gonna work.

[milo]

In the imp, I'm getting a really fruity floral. On, the fruit (which must be the pear), only sticks around for a few seconds and then disappears. Good, because I don't like pear. It's now a strong, perfumey musky floral, though I'm at a loss to say what the florals are, but they are pretty strong. After a bit, they get a little less brazen. Still a musky floral. This blend really isn't my kind of blend, but I was sold on the patchouli, which I don't get any of. I'll keep the decant to see what happens in time, but otherwise, this is just too perfumey for me.

[Gateau]

In the imp -- more floral and light than I'd imagined

 

Wet -- suddenly it's a little urine-like, or like when you leave cut flowers in water too long, uh oh. Doesn't bode well.

 

Drydown -- luckily the pee phase passes quickly. Now it's a very pretty sweet pear-floral with some underlying deeper notes, but nothing very dark (violet leaf, etc.). Can't really make out the patchouli, which is nice since I'm patchouli-sensitive.

 

Dry -- Now it gets a little spicier and a touch powdery, but it's very nicely balanced and well blended. I like this as a cooler summer day/evening/rainy day fragrance. Like many of the reviews say, it's pretty close to the skin and fades rather quickly.

[zankoku_zen]

This started as a fruity floral with the pear overtones and a whiff of violet. It dries down to an almost vanilla orchid with hints of patchouli. It's heady, redolent, and very sophisticated.

 

Floral, heady, womanly.

 

I may actually need a partial of this.

[AnyseLawsBray]

In vial: Deep, syrupy, even oily pear. Lushly dark herbs. Incredibly alluring, I can hardly bear to pull my nose from the vial.

Wet: The pear flees almost instantaneously. The motia attar, mugwort & violet leaf clamber forward, great hulking bullies that they are, and turn the lovely darkness into sour, soggy black hay. Literally, it smells like I stuck my arm in a pile of burnt hay. Still dark I guess, but grassy rather than floral or fruity.

Dry: The pear comes back hesitantly, lessening the impact of the previous stage. The last five notes are more apparent to me now, grounding and smoothing out the scratchiness with resinous clarity. The end result a bit later on is much closer to the smell I get right from the vial that I loved so much.

 

Verdict: That middle stage is quite a ruckus, so if I want to wear this out I'll be sure to put it on at least half an hour before I leave the house, to give it time to settle. At first I didn't think it would be something I'd wear, but after experiencing it I am really liking it even so. I think this blend would be fabulous for roleplaying. To me, overall Black Moon embodies the essence of a mystical hedgewitch; very aloof yet desirable, seeming almost phantasmal until you are close enough that you can feel the warmth radiating from her skin - she is all too real. The combination of herbs, florals & resins bring to mind dark rituals, arcane pacts & sensuous sensibilities mixed with earthiness and elements of village life.

[pekeana]

So, basically, the only things in this perfume that *should* work with my skin chemistry are the myrrh, crystal musk, and the patchouli. My skin has gotten finicky over the years, and almost instantly rejects most florals.

 

I opened the bottle and took a deep breath. Oh yeah, hello, patchouli and myrrh - and unidentifiable florals (that normally spell disaster). Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

 

Imagine my shock and delight when I applied Black Moon to my skin and it turned into a deliciously warm, spicy, close to the skin scent. It's very intimate and sensual, but still retains enough floral spark to take it over the edge into depravity. It's just another case of something that absolutely should not work for me surprising the heck out of me!