Harvest Moon 2008

[suileach]

Harvest Moon is celebrated in almost every culture, and the bounty of the season is marked in a myriad of ways. Harvest Moon touches the Equinox, the festival of Janus, the culmination of Homowo, the "crying of the neck" in Cornwall, and the Women's Festival of the Moon. This is a day that celebrates abundance and beauty, fertility and progress, and the light of this full moon blesses new undertakings and reunites lost loves.

The Harvest Moon, by definition, is the Full Moon that falls closest to the Autumnal Equinox, and thus, it shares some of that Sabbat's characteristics. This Full Moon was thus named because it rises within half an hour of the sun's setting, in the Northern Hemisphere, and at this time farmers are able to work longer into the night by the light of this Moon. As the year draws to a close, the Full Moon rises an average of fifty minutes later each night, with the exception of a few nights surrounding the Harvest Moon, which only rises 10-30 minutes later. This moon is also, to the human eye, the fullest and largest of the year's Moons, hanging gloriously huge, yellow and low in the night sky, and many lunar illusions play tricks our eyes at this time.

The Harvest ushers in many celebrations, including the Equinox and the Festival of Janus, God of Doors. Janus is the Roman Lord of Gateways, beginnings and endings, and transitions. Thus, the Harvest Moon is a time for blessing new ventures, the onset of new and progressive phases in one's life, and rites of passage into adulthood. This time of year also marks one of the Festivals of Dionysus, Lord of Ecstasy and the Vine.

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

Wine 'n pine fir. Has an astringent scent at the start and it smells more like a winter blend due to the powdery fir. But it warms as it sits on the skin, the wine becoming more full-bodied, and the plum becoming sweeter. Wine and grape notes don't typically work on me, so I'm impressed by this one, which doesn't go all grape-candy on me. Sage is also present, lingering around the edges of the scent to lend a distinct herbal touch. Clove only makes itself known on drydown, and it works as an accent rather than overpowering the blend.

Ultimately, this is a great, seasonally-evocative scent, but one I would be far more likely to use as a room spray or tart. It doesn't really suit me as a perfume. It should be liked by fans of L'Inverno and The Shivering Boy.

[ladyjc]

OK, *yum*!!

 

This scent is what I wanted Samhain to smell like. When first applied, I got lots and lots of the perfect apple cider scent laced with spicy cinnamon EVER! Seriously, it smelled like when you're making the filling for apple pie...only with LOTS more cinnamon than normal. (love this part)

Later, it just melds into the most evocative fall/autumn apple scent. Still with lots of spice and apple cider. I just love this....it really would make a most awesome room scent as well. This is autumn in a bottle to me.

 

*drool*

 

Long lasting too...I've had it on for over 4 hours and it stills smells great.

[myth]

I'm actually a little afraid to review this yet, because I've tested it three times now and it's changed each time.

 

The first time the leaves were very strong, and freshly applied it made me think of the L'Autunno room spray... it had that same bitterish leaf note. Then as it began to dry the fruit came up, and it smelled like a beautiful marriage of both the L'Autunno spray and perfume oil.

 

But I'm recovering from a bad head cold, so I've revisited those impressions a couple of times. The bitter leaves were still very apparent on second try, but I got more fruit.

 

Now, two days after receiving it the oil has had ample time to settle from its travels, and while there are leaves still at first it very quickly becomes O HAI FROOT. Apple? It smells like apple cider, but there are no apples listed. These fruits smell ripe, almost dried. I'm getting a spicy, cidery sort of smell, like you might get from those simmering potpourris. But I don't mean that in a bad/fake smell way.

 

This is pretty much fall harvest in a bottle. Very evocative. It might be a little too much on the fruity side for me, but I'm going to hang onto it and let it age and wear in a bit before I make any final decisions. I'm a sucker for fall scents.

[porcelina]

wow, i was not expecting this. harvest moon is strong and sharply herbal. myth said it smelled like l'autunno room spray, and i definitely agree. it is a little too green, a little too shriekingly herbal for my tastes. after a while it mellows slightly but i just don't think it's my thing.

[Jilara]

WOW!

I put this on, and my housemate said "Whoah, it's candy apples in here! It's like the county fair!" This was from across the room. Now that's THROW! Interesting how everyone picks up apples, it seems, but there are no apples? The wet notes are all very fruity, with a bit of sweet spicing, but apparently it's something different from apples.

I'm not complaining. Apple notes often go very bad on me, and this is divine!

I pick up, as it dries down, something vegetal comes up in the background. I think of it as a basket of stuff out of the garden, warmed by the sun. It's nicely plummy in background, with a slight resinous touch.

Dry...this is complex. There is a sweet resin with the plum-apple spice that's at the forefront. Knowing it's there, if I really sniff, I pick up a hinting of black cherry like a good black cherry soap. I don't get any identifiable herbal notes, despite the sage and fennel. The vegetal note has either dropped out or blended into something else, because it's definitely mutated into a lushly rounded fruit with just enough resin to keep it from being sweet. Fruits of the harvest. This is an AMAZING autumn scent, and an instant favorite!

[Kippy]

It starts all fir and spiced cider. It's really apple-ish on the dry down, it's not immediately apparent that the fruitiness is more of a grape. Grape tends to escalate and get wildly strong over time on me, it does it here too after about an hour of wear.

 

While very evocative of the season, it's a bit too close to a potpurri or room scent for me to really enjoy as a perfume.

[hkhm]

bottle: the first sniff smell much like both october and novermber smelled to me, that acrid leafy scent.

 

wet: very nice herbal leafy scent. perhaps still a bitt sharp, but very nice overall.

 

dry: the acrid leafy scent is much nicer than october/november. this is a very autumnal scent.

 

(edited because while i was reviewing the notes, i was reading the wrong ones!)

Edited September 6, 2008 by hkhm

[cam]

In the bottle, I get dried, wet leaves, pine and smoke. On wet, it's a little too much pine at first. There's some spiciness as well -- maybe allspice? The longer it's on, however, the more the leaves and smoke begin to come through. Once this is really dry, it's very nice. The pine scent settles down to something manageable and pleasant. I like it.

[QueenFae]

Deliciously autumn! Without looking at the ingredients, I first think; fresh Fall air, crisp red apples, and fresh hays and grasses. This certainly smells like a perfect autumn day. It's the perfect balance between ripe harvest fruits, which I see now must be the juniper berries, and chilly air with outdoorsy plant smells. This is unique from the other Harvest Moons, and special and different enough so that I think I might keep it even though I have the others.

 

This has medium throw for a moon, and is somewhat long lasting. Very lovely and unisex, my boyfriend sniffed this and said "succulent!"

[scotchgrrl]

When I first opened the bottle, I got a wiff of peppery juniper berry. Now that I've inhaled for a few minutes, I can't get that scent back again. Now, still in the bottle, I get the wine, plum and black cherry.

 

Wet-still the sweeter scents of wine, plum and black cherry.

 

On dry down- the fir, cedar and clove are coming forward, not too strongly, but making themselves known. The sweeter notes are still there.

 

In all, I like this scent. I haven't been disappointed with a lunacy yet. I will probably end up looking for another bottle of this somewhere down the road. I will probably regret not getting 2 of this. I can't wait to see what this smells like on me at the height of fall.

Edited September 8, 2008 by scotchgrrl

[inurbanus]

This was somewhat of a risky scent to try, since I don't really like fir, cedar, or juniper berry. However, I am utterly loving this! As soon as I dabbed this on I was wrapped in a cloud of spicy plums. Not the thin, Kool-Aidy plums like in Bordello, but the rich juicy ones in Bathsheba. I can see the comparisons to pie filling, because the spices are very prominent, but the fruits in this smell a lot darker to me than apples. Comparing this to L'Inverno (because I expected them to be quite similar), I like Harvest Moon a lot better. I can't even smell the fir in this, and the plum note is a lot fresher smelling than the syrupy one in L'Inverno. Still, if you liked L'Inverno, I would say that there's a strong chance that you will like this one too.

 

4.5/5

[sookster]

ZomG...straight sniff from bottle is dark, herbaceous fruit....

once applied this has fantabulous sillage and is so well balanced...the fennel is marvelous

and i am beyond thrilled i picked up 2 bottles of the beauty...i can only imagine

how this will age...p-e-r-f-e-c-t!!

[livingdead71]

In the bottle, it's a little high pitched and sharp and gives me a headache. I can smell the fruits mixed in there too. It's better on the skin, but I think I'm smelling mostly the fir, cedar, and juniper berry, when I really want to be smelling the black cherry, plum, and wine grapes. I can definitely detect those fruits, but they're overpowered by the other notes on me. I smell just like a candle actually...but at least it is a pretty Fall candle.

[jehrichardson]

In the Bottle: Sharp and herbal, with a background of wood and pine.

 

On the Skin: Still very sharp and herbal, a bit more woody/piney aroma.

 

After a While: Fir, Cedar, Pine, Juniper. Quite lovely and woodsy, with a sharp herbal tang, which must be the bitter aloes, sage, and fennel. On a deeeep inhale, I start to get clove - nice and subtle, it so often totally overwhelms its neighbors. Of the saffron, plum, cherry, or grape - I get not a whiff. I'm hoping once the blend ages a bit that may help. This may benefit from an open-bottle rest for a few hours to bleed off some of the bitter and sharp high notes. I'll test with a small sample and see.

 

Verdict: I like it, but I don't love it with an all consuming passion like some. Playing around with aging and open-bottle rest may help mellow it a bit.

[heathercaley]

Holy cow this is sexy autumn in a bottle... I get a bit herbal (not sharp herbs, more laid back awesome herbs) and like everyone else... Apples!! It's so warm and comforting.. I get clove on top of it all with a bit of the woodiness underneath, and it's not so much apples... but the idea of the sweet red fruits of autumn. I happen to like smelling like an autumn candle so

 

Overall : Non foody / fruity Autumnness galore!

 

This will age very well... and it will be in constant rotation!!!

[Czarina]

In the bottle: grapes and sharp herbs.

Wet: whoa, I spilled about an imp's worth on myself. Man, this is strong. Acrid. I smell leaves. cloves, and cherry to add to the grapes and something sharp--an herb? I think the juniper berry.

Drydown: smells a lot like Samhain 2007 to me. Pretty smell..but something scary under the leaves...out of the corner of my eye...rustling...

 

Can't smell the fir tree in this.

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant from eviltemptressdq's circle

 

Initial Thoughts: Harvest Moon '05 is one of my all-time favoritest autumn scents. There's something so wonderful about the balance of fruit and woods and flowers. '06 wasn't the same at all. I wasn't sure about all the notes in this one, but decided to give it a try.

 

In the vial: An autumn blend with a heap of cherry on top.

 

Wet: Hello, spice! The sage and clove have taken over completely!

 

Drydown: Hmm...this one isn't morphing much. I'm still getting a noseful of spice cupboard...the clove and sage just won't let go even though the cherry is putting up a valiant effort to be noticed.

 

Verdict: This one definitely won't take the place of '05 for me. And I have several "spice" scents already...I need to do some side-by-side comparisons before I relinquish the decant.

[Dormouse]

This is beautiful. I was making apple butter, plum jam and hedgerow jelly yesterday and this smells just like my kitchen. It's spicy and fruity with a hint of smoke and that wonderful dead leaf smell that is in the L'Autunno room spray. Possibly the most perfect Autumn scent ever.

[jewelbug]

I get a lot of winey fruits out of this (they tend to amp on me). Really, its super fruity--winey fruits with a few apples floating in. Very lightly spiced (I had hoped for more spice actually), and the wine obscures any woodsy/herbal notes that never had a chance.

 

Don't get me wrong...its pretty. I enjoy the fruity wineyness. Its just not something that needs to join my collection. I think I'd prefer this as a room scent, but I tend not to use bpal in my oil burner very often.

[tinyvulture]

although i don’t see it in the description, i smell a strong “scorched grass” element, like in The Death of Autumn or Scarecrow. it’s sharply green/herbal, almost bitter, and makes me think of the last, hottest days of summer and the beginning of fall. the black cherry is also prominent. i’ve always loved black cherry candles. the spices – clove, sage, fennel – are really nice, too. after it dries, the cherry and spices are what i mostly smell. it’s not as spicy as the drydown of Fearful Pleasure (and of course this is cherry rather than apple). it’s a lovely scent for the changing season.

[Kimbernunk]

This one takes a while to settle down, if it ever does; it seems like it morphs about every 20 minutes into something slightly different. It's extremely astringent to begin - I can smell the fir and the sage, but nothing else. After a few minutes it begins to throw out wafts of deep cherry, followed by plum. The grapes appear after maybe an hour. Then little bits of clove-y spice round everything out. When it's finally calmed down and reached some sort of stasis, I have a deep fruity (definitely dark cherry rather than apple) deep evergreen scent. It's lovely and I'm very happy with it!

[Little Bird]

I love the 05 and 06 versions of Harvest Moon. This 08 HM is just okay for me. The only notes that I can smell in the bottle and on my skin are the black cherry and wine. It's dark and fruity, but it also has a warm, perfumey quality to it. At first I thought that I could smell something like pepper, but the drydown is all black cherry wine on me. It smells rather boring on my skin. I'm surprised (and disappointed) that I can't smell any of the other listed notes

[fairnymph]

Tested at EC Will Call - 2008 version: A lot like l'autunno but with piney woods. Spicy (cinnamon, clove etc) mulled cider and ripe fruit with evergreen woods and dark herbs. Unisex to feminine.

Edited September 21, 2008 by fairnymph

[sprocket21]

The first word that comes to mind when trying this is CRISP. There's a lot of apple when wet, but it dries to a much greener and herbal scent. I was kind of hoping for more fruit, but it's definitely interesting. It seems a bit too desolate to be fall though - to me it's more evocative of late fall/early winter.

[Bagfish]

All I can smell on my skin is carnations, clove and plummy fruit - as someone above said, it is reminiscent of Bathsheba. Harvest Moon is a very spicy fruity scent, lots of throw but smells more like it should be a tart or candle rather than a skin scent. I'm glad I got to try it, but I'm really pleased I only got a decant.