Blue Moon July 2015

[Lycanthrope]

The spirit of the full moon is capricious, intense and passionate, yet still distant, aloof and cold. Luna herself governs glamours, bewitchments and dream-work, innocent wonder, transient pleasure and delight, the Moment, impulse, mystery and veils. The Blue Moon is one of her rarest manifestations, and this scent is formulated to encapsulate her most complex and profound nature:

Mugwort and bay, for psychic sensitivity...
Myrrh for protection and purity of spirit...
Lotus root for true dreaming...
Clary sage for euphoria...

... within a crystalline prism of white vegetal musk shimmering with damp violet leaf, tranquil styrax, green tea absolute, and palmarosa.

Bottle sniff: Wet, definitely a tiny hint of the mugwort (frightening for me, since... mudbutt, on my skin chemistry). I smell more green, leafy things, and probably a little sharpness from the palmarosa.

On skin: Oh, yeah, mugwort, but then it segues into the bay, and then the usual muddled dirtiness of mugwort lifts, and I'm getting more of the freshness of tea. The herbalness when wet is very much the clary sage. There's probably a hint of sweetness from the lotus but it is not bubblegum sweet.

As it dries: I can feel and sense more of the myrrh that does ground a lot of the airy / ethereal notes. There's still a very nice but extremely herbal nature - definitely mystical, melded herbs.

Over time, it stays predominantly a green-ish, leafy, herbal, bay/gritty mugwort blend on me with a nice ground of resin with the styrax and myrrh. It's much less smooth (at this point fresh from the Lab) than the other Blue Moon incarnations I've tried before, and definitely smells magical. It is not my favorite of the Blues, and for me does not smell Blue, but it is very nice and reminds me of a TAL type blend.

[mooncityminx]

Blue Moon 2015 is SO lovely!

 

When I first opened the bottle all I could smell was herbs, mostly sage, and I was associating it with pasta salad or something, lol. But then the musks and green tea came out and after drydown I am left with something expertly blended. It strikes me as a new more conventional perfume scent than a typical bpal (if conventional perfumes were a million times better) because it is so complex and well balanced. The main notes on the surface are green tea (like the fragrance not like the tea itself, akin to Sea of Glass) with musk (like Pisces) and something soft and almost floral in the background. I can identify the palmarosa, which is ginger grass and has a non-spicy ginger feel, and together there is an overall ethereal feeling.

 

This fragrance is very much like a Twilight Alchemy Lab blend, because it most definitely has a feeling to it, a mood. I noticed right away when it had dried that it was nudging me into sort of a soothing dreamy happy mood. I feel awake, but serene and optimistic, inspired. It's so uplifting! As an oil painter, I can tell that this is going to be a go-to when I am thinking up new paintings. What a masterpiece!

[MoonriseSiren]

This is such a dreamy blend. I agree with Tempest; it feels like a TAL, and putting it on made me feel calmer and very at ease. It's got a feel like TAL Meditation, though it smells nothing like Meditation.

In the bottle I get a lot of mugwort, which was concerning since mugwort on me smells like...well, pot. But on the skin it all dries down and blends beautifully. For me, the dominant note on the skin is the palmarosa. It's like nothing else in my collection and I just adore it.

[DiesMali]

In the bottle: Sage and sweet lotus and myrrh, with something earthy.

 

Wet on my skin: This is surprisingly sweet, for as many herbal notes are in it. I get a lot of sage and lotus root, with myrrh and what I think is palmarosa if it's a gingery grass like a previous commenter said. It's already got quite a bit of throw, all sweet tea with myrrh and lotus.

 

Dry: What a gorgeous herbal blend! It's ethereal and floaty, reminding me a bit of Fairy Thorn but with tea and lotus instead of wildflowers. It's almost gingery closer to my skin, then the throw around me is as it was when wet: Sweet tea, myrrh, and lotus in that order. The rest is blended so well that I can't quite pick each note out, but lends this really comforting, soothing herbal feel to the whole thing. What a gorgeous and cool scent to balance the Terra Caloris! It's not blue, but rather deep blue-green.

[lady_pandora]

Blue Moon is minty on me! From bottle to skin and the whole time it's on, minty. It's an herby, sweet, minty scent. It's full of notes I don't know well, so I don't know what note or notes are creating this effect--clary sage is a Lamiaceae so maybe that's it? maybe it's connected to the tea somehow? I don't know. Anyway, though, it's a soothing, cooling blend, and very fitting for a lunar perfume.

[DevilsCandyCane]

This is so surprisingly lovely! I bought it because the full moon it was released on (albeit not the moon it was intended for) was really special to me, and I liked the description, but I truly did not expect to like the scent, from the listed notes. When it arrived I was really really surprised - I own absolutely nothing like this, and it's so calming and peaceful and beautiful. To me it's very dry and herby - sage, tea leaves, in the opening stages there's a little bit of very dried out indica weed, but that fades, so smelling like an Amsterdam cafe isn't an issue!

 

It's just so calm and meditative, and perfectly balanced when it comes to seasons - I could see this smelling like a summer evening, with the cooling grass scent, but equally the tea note is warm and cozy enough to be a winter scent. Very beautiful, and very elegant...and I also slept incredibly well the first time I wore it to bed, which is always a plus I can definitely see this being a favourite for bedtimes, stressful moments, and meditation - I cannot repeat enough how stunning, and how soothing this scent is - gorgeous!

[Dark Alice]

Smelled like savory sage chicken on me....brined in green tea while wet. The wet stage lasted a longggggg while. Then I had green tea and myrrh. But the Green tea was too much. Glad this is going to a new home where it will be loved.

[zankoku_zen]

Super green tea, sage and a touch of violet. It's a very soothing and calming blend, but I amp up all the green tea. Which is definitely interesting, since I don't recall a green tea heavy blend for other BPAL scents.

[Auspicious Q]

On me the many notes in this blend combine for a wonderfully calm spiced floral. I cannot identify the notes, but there seems a lovely gingery, incensy light spice over soft water lily and . . . other flowers. I can smell the bay and sage too in the back ground. Medium throw, moderately long lasting (all day, but not through a shower). This is sophistocated, a little sweet, very pleasant, feminine (although it is complex enough that it may do well for men too). A masterpiece from the lab.

 

Note: this scent shifted significantly for me from its arrival in mid July to the present moment (about six weeks), it was much more strident and herbal early on.

[loubric]

In the IMP it's smells sweet, cool and spicy .... on me it's cool, spicy and sweet ha ha!

 

Very herby and almost medical on my skin .... it actually smells like the chemist I used to buy gifts from as a child in South Africa. They had candles and bath products and the mixture of all the wonderful things smells like this scent!! It's green, gorgeous, cool and very sophisticated!