Harvest Moon 2012

[OctoberGwen]

This Harvest lunacy combines the autumnal scents of balsam fir, cedar, sorrel, thyme, juniper berry, clove, saffron, damson plum, chrysanthemum, sage, black cherry, and fennel with dry maple leaves, golden ale, the crushed wine grapes of Dionysus, and Janus' lingum aloes.

As I've mentioned elsewhere on the forum, the Lunacy blends usually do not smell good on my skin; I can only conclude that there's a common ingredient hidden in the lunar oils that just hates me. This makes me sad, as I'm all about the magic of the moon.

However, being a good BPALista I do keep trying. Harvest Moon was one that I really wanted to have for several reasons, and next to Chrysanthemum Moon it comes the closest to working on me.

This is a nostalgic, familiar scent and I find it very evocative of this time of year. I'm not getting any individual components (thankfully, as I was concerned about the ale and Dionysus's grapes), rather, it's a woodsy, rich, ripe scent that brings to mind a late Summer garden on the edge of the forest at night. It's not that Harvest Moon smells of decaying vegetables or heavy vegetation, but the rich backdrop of the scent somehow evokes the bounty of this time of year. There's also a hint of smokiness and perhaps a faint breath of the clove. It borders on having a perfumey quality to it, but doesn't quite cross that line.

There's a certain feeling that I get when standing under the brightest moon of the year on a late August or early September night, and this scent captures that feeling. You can almost feel the wheel of the year turning. That's the best I can do, I'm afraid.

I'm glad I took another chance on Lunacies with this one. The label art is just gorgeous, too.

[absinthetics]

I Love this lunacy. I am rarely into Lunacies. As stated above, my favorite lunacy blend other than this one is Chrysanthemum moon. This smells like ... like apple cider, even though there is no apple note. It's probably a mental thing that converts the cherry into a spiced apple scent. It is Gorgeous. I'm going to track down an extra bottle.

[girbot]

This is only the second Lunacy I've tried and I'm really happy I took the chance. This is beautiful and will probably end up being my most used fall scent. It smells a bit on the perfumey cologney side in the bottle but those sharp notes end when it hits the skin.

 

Dry: the spice and fruit notes really take over the show. The plum, grapes and cherries give it a sweet pleasant smell. The clove, fennel, and thyme give it that distinct autumn spice feel. Spiced cider with a touch of dried woods and leaves hits the nail right on the head to me. It did not smelly overly smoky to me, just a bit woodsy.

[OhIlyra]

This is my first lunacy blend

 

In the bottle: There's a very distinct, almost sharp masculine scent about this. If i sniff at it more, I get an underlying soft sweetness. Straight out of the bottle, this isnt something I would choose to wear, but a blend with this many notes s bound to do some morphing, so on it goes!

 

Wet: The sharpness is immediately softened by my skin. Now i can start to tell the difference between the herby and fruity notes, but the fruit is still hiding out in the background.

 

Dry: The ale is definitely noticeable, and so are the plum and cherry. The herbyness is still around, but definitely softened now. This reminds me of the smell of my grandparents house, after thanksgiving dinner, after all the dishes are cleared, and someone has spilled their beer on the tablecloth.

 

This is such a comforting blend. I see myself using this more as a room fragrance than an actual perfume, but I'm definitely glad that I grabbed a bottle

[Blood onmy hands]

Harvest Moon 2005 and 2006 are two of my bpal favorites, so I always try the Harvest Moon blends. I think that 2012 might be my least favorite Harvest Moon, though. It starts off with a slightly soapy evergreen/pine-like note that I don't like, and dries down to what smells like a sharp, cheap cinnamon potpourri on my skin. It reminds me of the potpourri section of a craftstore (where it's cheap and overwhelming spice oils, a bit of evergreen, and a dry wood mixed with a sweet & plastic-y mishmash). Gives me a headache

[Dark Alice]

Fake potpourri with a gorgeous cider note. I wish the cider note was stronger and the mishmash of other notes were calmer. *sigh* Off to the sales with you.

[zeldaZ4]

In the bottle, all I could smell were raisins soaked in cherry cough syrup. Uh oh, why did I buy this? The dreaded cherry!

 

But then, on my skin...

 

What a lovely surprise! Black cherry must be better on my skin than cherry. This is warm and fruity. Wine soaked Autumn fruit, warmed in a glazed stoneware mug. Sitting on the front porch on a golden afternoon, drinking the richly spiced mixture while glowing leaves swirl on the wind. A few minutes later, I'm joined by my best friend, a mug of October ale in his hand. The wind blows through the trees in my neighbor's yard, bringing the slightest hint of balsam and pine.

 

This is really complex and evocative on me. Many beautiful things going on - as befits a Harvest. So glad I got a bottle!

Edited September 5, 2012 by zeldaZ4

[rhubarb3point14]

This is bright and spicy and autumnal on me. I smelled a little bit of fruit right at the beginning, but it’s mostly woodsy spices once it dries down. Its one minor flaw is that it is just a teensy bit sneezy for me because of the chrysanthemum.

 

Overall, I think it's great! I've been congratulating myself all day on smelling awesome.

[zankoku_zen]

Black cherry, damp forest leaves, and a tinge of grape and smoke. On wet, there was a heavy 'cider' component that dissipates on me when dry.

 

This totally smells like the fall though.

[angelamaria]

In bottle: a rather strong herbal blend--I sniffed this and felt like it was going straight to my guts. A slight greenness, but predominantly autumn with orange and yellow leaves. It's very well blended, slightly cool, with a slightly fruity vibe--or rather, juicy, not fruity.

 

Wet on skin: this softens considerably, but stays true. It loses a bit of its fruitiness, and a smoke note is coming out--which is weird, I don't see any smoke notes there. Maybe a component is turning powdery.

 

Dry: and the fruits came back! This is definitely a fruits and dried leaves scent; maybe they've finished harvesting and are enjoying the fruits of their labors? After a bit on my skin, an "oaty" scent is coming up for me, making me think of having an oatmeal dish with lots of fruits mixed in it.

 

Verdict: while not something I would wear, this is a very evocative scent, very apt for the harvest moon.

[milo]

This is very abrasive at first, with fresh leaves and strong spices. Dry, the cherry comes out and the spices tone down to create a spiced Black Cherry Cider, with the touch of leaves in the background. I really like this, it's very evocative, and I'm sure I'll use up my decant.

[Gateau]

I've always been intrigued by Harvest Moon, because it has so many notes I love, but a few I find hard to wear (mostly the woods and the plum). In the bottle it's very strong on the maple leaf and ale, but on my skin it warms into a lovely fruity and woodsy scent with nothing sharp or metallic (my problem with plum) in it. It really does capture the autumn air, abundance of the earth's good things to eat and drink, and a feeling of a nice warm house after you've taken a good walk in the fall woods.