Contemplating the Moon Through an Open Window

[Jennifurious]

Milk accord, tuberose, oakmoss, Asian pear, opoponax, and carrot seed.

High pressure, not just because I'm the first to review but because this is such a complicated symphony of smells.

From the bottle, this smells vegetal and medicinal. I wasn't sure what to expect from this and I'm not exactly feeling great about my purchase. On application, this is just shrieking, high, herbal weirdness (in fairness, it was literally delivered a half hour before wearing). I want it OFF.

BUT THEN.....

The pear comes into play. Not a juicy, sweet pear, more like the smell through the skin of the pear before you take the first bite. And the IDEA of milk. The opoponax then comes to the forefront as a sharp, myrrh-like incense. This smells expensive, like vintage Cartier. Everything quiets down and becomes smooth, sweet and resiny. It's gorgeous and I think it will age beautifully. So if you've ordered this don't freak out when you open the bottle and first put it on. Your patience will be richly rewarded. Lovely, unexpected, and I'm very happy to have added this to my bpal menagerie.

[yakiguri]

On my skin I get primarily a sweet, creamy oakmoss, which is exactly what I had hoped Contemplating the Moon Through an Open Window would be. There's a perfumey / powdery aura with a bit of spice that reminds me of pre-reformulation vintage perfumes. I'm guessing that's coming from the tuberose + opoponax, but it never goes too high pitched. The oakmoss is deep, thick, and earthy, giving a buttery, almost leather-like feel to the blend. I dreaded that the milk accord would turn the whole thing sour on my skin but it wraps the whole blend in a creamy velvetiness.

Overall quite lovely and "classic" in feel, and I'm glad to have a bottle. I bet this will be amazing aged. If you like oakmoss, you definitely should at least try this.

[becca_s]

This one is my favorite out of all my luper decants, it starts out with the milky, pear and then the oakmoss, tuberose and opponax come out to create a beautiful, well blended scent. I wasn't sure if this one would work on me with the opponax and carrot seed but it's really lovely. Like the other reviewers have mentioned this is very vintage and classy I will definitely be getting a bottle of this one.

[surlygurl]

This starts out as sweet & pretty soap. The carrot is loud & sweet, the milk giving it body & a softness. As it dries, the oakmoss comes out a bit, softening & grounding the scent. It really does smell like a classic perfume. The sweetness remains throughout, even when dry.

[zankoku_zen]

Creamy milky oakmoss and hints of tuberose and pear. On the drydown, I get more of the carrot seed which adds more warmth to the blend.

 

This smells soft, and comforting. Like a good down blanket.

 

Warm, creamy oakmoss and carrot seed.

[Balame]

This is so nice. The milk smells like a lighter cream accord and stays true, which I am all over. Tuberose wafts softly around, giving it a tropical floral feel. Not overkill, softly sweet. Wasn't sure about the carrot, but it's there and extremely well-behaved. It almost smells as if you dipped a carrot in yummy sugared milk, making the scent as a whole a bit fresher thanks to the brightness of the vegetable. More tolerable than if it had a list full of sweet notes alone. Quite a unique combination!

[SophieCedar]

Ok this was my sleeper hit. When I 1st applied, my nose was blown to bits because I had just received my decants..overload! oops. It smelled of tuberose, milk and baby powder.

 

 

2nd time? Its that nice. Once I got a chance to really let it sit by itself, all the wonderfulness started to open up. Sweet creamy dreamy tuberose, bright smooth sweet asian pear, shadowy opoponax, and earthy but clean oakmoss. I get a bit of the carrot seed. I think its pulling the heavier notes together and making them cleaner, harmonious.

 

Overall, this is very innocentbutdirty, sweet, and creamy. When 1st applied I get a pop of bubblegum and a flash of powder but they're quickly gone. Left with a gorgeous scent for HOURS. I mean a little goes a LONG way.

 

ETA: Does anyone smell Love's Baby Soft???

Edited May 9, 2013 by SophieCedar

[Blood onmy hands]

Starts off with a wallop of big, heavy, waxy, tropical, white floral tuberose and undertones of sweet pear (which smells artificial and bubblegummy on me). The opoponax starts to come out quickly in the drydown, and smells sweetly resinous, slightly smoky, and slightly peppery. Tropical white floral + opoponax. I don't get any milk, oakmoss or carrot seed and the scent isn't as interesting or complex as I thought it might be. It settles into tons of sweet, resinous opoponax with a hint of white floral after about a half hour.

ETA: I just realized that this reminds me of the GC blend The Death-Horse. They're almost identical in the drydown.

Edited March 28, 2013 by Little Bird

[milo]

Cream or milk notes generally work OK on me, so I was curious to see how this one would go, as tuberose is not my friend. I'm getting just a touch of cream when wet, but fades pretty quickly. The tuberose stomps all over everything and makes it into a jumbled mess of floral soap the the fancy floraly kind. There may be a teeny bit of milk in the background, but basically, it's just making it a slightly creamy floral soapy.

[Shirel]

I ordered this on a whim before the lupers came down and never really wore it out until today...

OHMYGOSH anyone reading this, please know that this aged a-m-a-z-i-n-g-l-y

 

It has always been in my lists as a "classy" perfume, it's the middle sister between green and snuggly Ivanushka ("Soft, velvety fur and warm musk, brushed by forest woods and dusted by dry leaves.") and the older killer-heel-with-an-elegant-black-dress Black Butterfly Moon ("Soft, deep, and luminous: Lady of the Night orchid, benzoin, opopponax, currant, black chypre, white gardenia, ambergris, damp, wooded mosses, and black lily.") In my option, it has the snuggle-ness I get from Ivanushka with the class from Black Butterfly Moon without the floral notes from the latter.

 

When I put it on the Asian pear was at the forefront giving it a nice sweetness but soon it faded a bit into the background leaving a subtle sweet touch, the sweetness is aided by the slight milkiness of the milk accord (Though it isn't strong and didn't make me queasy at all like some BPAL milk/cream notes do) once it dried down a bit it had the air of a classy old perfume: Slightly sharp but with a musky warm cuddliness from the oakmoss, opoponax, and carrot seed mixed together.

 

I will add that I am currently wearing this during my red week so this may work a bit differently the rest of the nice but it's always nice to find stuff I can wear at this time, I usually amp sweet during this time so this may be a bit sharper later on. Either way, this perfume seems to age really really well and I'm glad I bought a whole bottle

[tinyvulture]

With shared pear and milk/cream notes, I'll have to compare this blend to The Perilous Parlor, which I own and love. PP is super sweet and creamy. Contemplating the Moon has the same juicy pear note, but the milk accord is dry, powdery...like powdered milk, I guess. Plus, there are soft, dry floral notes -- jonquil, tuberose -- and the vegetal neutrality of carrot seed. So while PP is a playful, foody scent, Contemplating the Moon is more of a complex women's perfume that happens to contain a pear note. I like Contemplating the Moon, but it's a bit too powdery, so I prefer The Perilous Parlor.

[theseagrows]

this starts off milky and baby powder sweet. i really don't get much tuberose or pear as singularly recognizable. it's all milk and opoponax on me and it stings my nose a bit when i smell my wrist. after about 15 minutes the powderiness calms down a bit and i think i'm getting carrot seed. i'm a bit surprised because usually tuberose is a bold note but i am not getting any in this! after about half an hour this is a subtle, slightly sweet powdery scent. i think it's mostly opoponax and carrot seed and the tuberose is really subtle, faint in the background. this is a very pretty, soft scent. powdery and close to the skin. <3

Edited August 10, 2014 by theseagrows

[Aviatrix]

In the bottle it smells sweetly floral, with a hint of milk. Wet on my skin I initially get blasted by what appears to be almond(??), but it disappears after a while and leaves a sweet, smooth scent of milk, a teensy bit of ripe pear and an incensey touch from the opoponax. I am guessing the tuberose is what I smell in the bottle, but on the skin I don't really detect it. I am unsure what carrot seed smells like, so I can't comment on that. The oakmoss is underneath the whole thing tying everything nicely together.

 

I was surprised at how sweet this scent really is. I was expecting it to be more "pale", but it is rather sweet and juicy. I like it, though