Luna Negra: Ted's Creation

[mistressfizz]

The solace of shadows: blackberry and blackcurrant with Nepalese amber, kewda attar, and a deep, rich, sweet dark musk.

Sniff: Mossy and earthy, slightly fruity

Wet: Very faint, not much throw at all. Soft and sweet. The sweetness is not sugary, but more like myrrh, a warm floral kind of sweet. I get hints of dirt and dark green as well. The berry isn't overwhelming, it plays surprisingly well with the heavier notes.

Dry: Ah, now this is where Luna Negra turns to pure love on me. Dries to a beautiful dusky musk. It's not dark in a sinister way, but a gentle, peaceful darkness. There's a shimmering quality to it (I guess this is where some people are getting the alcoholic sangria note). I can imagine a quiet summer night, sitting outside sharing a bowl of fresh berries with a friend, basking in the warmth and comfort of the day just passed. So lovely.

Edit to add scent description.

[Larinessa]

In the bottle: Musk. Smells like the same musk in 'Midnight kiss' and that has me worried as that goes straight to grape bubblegum on me.

 

On the skin wet: The musk still dominates, but the blackberry and current are making themselves known.

 

Dry on skin: Ahhhhh...! The musk calms down, and fortunately doesn't go to grape. The blackberry and black currant notes balance with it, very well. There is a hint of something floral, but not particularly noticeable to me.

 

This is a softer scent, it has some throw but more the enticing 'come sniff closer' sort, without being overwhelming. Fruity, and seductive. Good date perfume I think. I don't know if it will ever crack into my favorites list, but with a bit of aging it might. Quite lovely.

[Blood onmy hands]

Black musk smells masculine and sharp on me, but the dark musk here smells more like a red musk to me. It reminds me of blends like Lucy Kissed, Crypt Queen, Infernal Lover, and Mme Moriarty (but less complex than all of those are on me). It's fruity, sweet, wine-like, and sensual-musky. I like it, but it does smell a lot like several things I already own that are heavy on the red musk. I don't smell anyting of the amber.

[damonkitty]

This is a good one . I wore it to work today and found that it lasted pretty much all day through my work shift. I put it on around 6:30AM and it was still going strong at 1:00PM. At first I could swear it smelled exactly like Smut when I applied it. It then changed to amp more of the berries and a sort of patchouli scent. It may have been too much for work, but I wanted to give it a test run to see if I wanted to keep two bottles or not. I think it will age beautifully. For now I am holding on to the two bottles. Good Job Puddin . Your blend is a winner!!!!

[Ravenclaw79]

I was hoping for dark berries, but what I got is just dark, very dark, hardly any berry at all, at least on me. Pass.

[Amaranthus]

Luna Negra is SO GOOD. It goes on smelling like a plume of nag champa incense smoke and velvet-soft musk. The berries are subtle. The overall effect is like blackberry amber incense. There is a mossy patchouli note adding an earthy warmth. Beautiful!

[hlemonds]

Love, love, love! This smells fantastic on me. There's definitely red musk here, but perhaps tempered with another variety, maybe a touch of black to make it a bit darker? The currant and blackberry add a wonderful hint of tart fruitiness. Not certain what Kewda Attar smells like, but perhaps it is part of what gives me a sense of Champaca? And I'm certain the amber is there, providing sweet richness, but I can't pick it out of the whole. This is going to age sooooooo well. Thanks Puddin, for such an incredible creation!

[karihan]

Source: decant from ralenth's circle.

 

ALAS BLACKBERRY, WHY DO YOU GIVE ME ISSUES. I can wear jammy blackberries, a la Blackberry Jam and Scones, and the blackberry wine note in Mabon is lovely. But straightforward blackberry turns to something distinctly like cat pee on me. Ah well, at least it's just a decant. *places in swaps pile*

[ami226]

Just got this one in the mail, so things might change a bit!

 

On the skin: I swear I have smelled something like this before. Musky, deep, slightly sweet, perfumey berry. LOVE! You know, I think this reminds me of Mme Moriarty only with berry instead of plum. Not as strong though.... Very nice and I think this one will be staying around for a bit!

[xscpx]

Wet, it smells like dark, evil skittles mixed with Smut.

 

Dry, it's a beautiful blend that smells like MME Moriarty and Smut doing naughty things with berries. It's dark and rich but the berry lightens it a bit and makes it more versatile. I generally am not a fan of berry scents since they go all starburst candy on my, but this berry is just enough to lighten and lightly sweeten and otherwise dark, musky blend. It's gorgeous.

 

If you are a musk fan and enjoy MME Moriarty, Smut, Red Lace, I think you will really enjoy this.

 

ETA: My husband hugged me and took a big whiff of my neck and said "Wow, you smell great" and proceeded to continue sniffing me! Normally he tells me I smell like a "dirty hippie" but he really loved Luna Negra!

Edited August 13, 2011 by xscpx

[Gateau]

This is my darkest oil yet in terms of color. It's a beautiful rich deep brown. On my skin it looks like iodine until it's absorbed.

 

Imp--sweet and fruity

 

Wet--love the sweet berries and amber. Not sure what kewda attar smells like. Awaiting the musk.

 

Drydown--the musk comes on more strongly now, but it's much more pleasant to me than how I tend to experience red musk, which does something both cloying and rotten on me. The berries are really keeping it in check. Maybe I can wear dark musk.

 

Dry--Hm, or maybe not. The berries sort of burn their way off, and now I'm left with mostly musk, the kind of musk that bugs me. There is something sort of grapey that wafts over once in a while, but mostly it's just the musk I can't wear. I might see what aging does to my decant.

Edited August 18, 2011 by Gateau

[porcelina]

oooh my. this is gorgeous stuff. whatever musk this is, it's amazing- "deep, rich, sweet and dark" is exactly how i'd describe it. luna negra is smooth, sweet and resinous. it reminds me of snake charmer and WILF and other dark, musky, complex oils. to be fair, i have a lot of scents like this in my collection, but i feel like the berries here add a fruity sweetness that makes luna negra unique. yum.

[DrKate]

I love this, it's very much in the same camp as oils like The Infernal Lover and Smut so if you like those you'll almost certainly enjoy this. It's very musky, red musk I'm sure, backed by deep dark berries. I usually find berry scents to be far too sweet (I'm looking at you Io!) but that's not the case here.

 

I'm so glad I managed to track down a bottle of this.

[MeiLin]

Did anyone else get a patchouli accord on this at first? Cuz I did. It settled down immediately, though, to an amber-y red musk with a soft, sweet berry overtone. The kewda (sandalwood) is at the finish. Really nice.

[milo]

Wet, dark fruits and black musk, though a bit more heavy on the musk. This is really reminding me of Wilf and Panther Moon at this point. Dry, the berries are coming out more, along with some spice. For those of you who have tried Hellion, it's really reminding me of that right now. A bit later, it is really berry heavy and not Hellion so much anymore, but then it morphs back, the black musk is keeping the berries in check I think. Very well blended, Ted, and a definite bottle hunt down!

[Schmoozy]

Oh this is surprisingly dark and very, very musky! I also detect patchouli at the beginning, but dark musks tend to read patchouli with my skin chemistry. However once the amber and berries pop in and temper the musk, this is exactly what I was expecting. Dark, sensual, sweet and incredibly sexy!

[claudia6913]

The notes all sounded like complete win for me ... but fresh all I get is that sweet berry incense from the head shops, and I couldn't stand that stuff. (No offense Ted!) I will stash this away and hope aging (or perhaps better chemistry on my part) will help bring this into its own. It takes nearly 2 hours of wear for the sickly sweet scent of the berries to die down enough for me to get the sweet musk and a bit of the amber (which is what I'd hoped for from the get go).

[pinkgyrl]

Incredibly sexy but not overwhelmingly so - I just adore this and thank you to the sweet person who swapped this to me (you know who you are ) - I get a distinct blackberry note that gets deeper as it settles into my skin and a deep musk - in the drying process the amber almost smells like smooth suede on my skin. I will definitely need to find one more bottle, because I have a feeling that this will age gorgeously. This has a similar feeling to scents like Mlle Lilith, Fortune Teller, Mme Moriarity, Misfortune Teller v.3, and Crypt Queen - I adore the darker fruit with musk scents - some of my favorites!

Edited August 21, 2011 by GirlinDenial

[zankoku_zen]

Luna Negra, Ted's Creation starts off as cherry cough syrup on me, dries down to a blackberry musky blend and then tones of red wine start coming out. It finally morphs after a few hours into a red musk/Mme Moriarty kissing cousin.

 

Fruity, sexy, musky. If you like Mme. Moriarty or Crypt Queen, give this a whirl!

[jizatt]

I've really wanted a dark fruit/musk scent, but none of the big popular ones worked for me. This is sufficiently different I guess, because this is a smash hit on my skin. Fruity without being little girl at all, this is lush and dead sexy on my skin. Love this so much =) The amber is gorgeous and I'm thinking the kewda is what's so honeyed floral and beautiful in this...

[violetblue]

I agree, a love child of Smut and Snake Charmer - familiar in a cozy way but different too....really like! so glad I was able to swap for this.

[crebbsgirl]

This is predominantly musk on my skin. There is an underlying sweetness but the musk is definitely at the forefront. I'm not getting much in the way of other notes here.

[Vega]

Sniffed: An incredibly dark, full-bodied, syrupy scent, reminiscent of Medea and Wings of Azrael. Juicy berries contrast with a dry, austere amber, all grounded in dark musk.

 

On skin: Juicy, smooth blackberry and blackcurrant are the prominent top notes, whilst the amber, musk and kewdar attar (a floral with a balsamic scent) are mingling to form a very dark, heavy yet gentle base. Luna Negra is rich, warm and full-bodied, voluptuous and enshrouding; it's in the same family of dark blends such as Medea, Hades and Wings of Azrael. I've tested Schwarzer Mond as well; both blends are different embodiments of darkness. Whereas Schwarzer Mond is an ink-black, sorcerous Moon, Luna Negra is a tender, welcoming, comforting embrace, even a sensual one. Colour impression is the darkest shade of royal purple.

 

Verdict: While Luna Negra is a very evocative and lovely Black Moon -- indeed, a "solace of shadows" -- and I'm glad I got to test it, it's not quite my sort of scent.

Edited March 17, 2012 by Vega

[Glambie]

I was lucky enough to receive this baby in a swap, and I was so excited to try it! I'm a huge fan of Smut, and I kept reading reviews stating that this is perfect for us Smutty Bpalers.

 

I always loved the berry goodness of Bewitched but could never commit to a full bottle, simply because it was too much fruit and not enough complexity. THIS lovely scent, however, is like a darker, raunchier, and more wearable version of Bewitched. In fact, I feel as if it's the emotionally complex, sexy Goth sister of Bewitched, and I think I'll hold onto her for awhile.

[Gin]

I love the blackcurrant and blackberry in Luna Negra, but the amber and musks are too powdery for me.