dawndie

In bottle: black cherry juice

 

On skin: dark fruity cherry cough syrup, boozy and slightly medicinal, which I happen to enjoy

 

Half-hour later: stronger, slightly powdery rose emerges, with the dark fruity base

 

In conclusion: I read all the notes and knew I had to have a bottle of this blend. Dark fruit and the BPAL Rose are on my all-time favorite notes list, and this lives up to its potential. Another favorite!

In bottle: sweetened flowers

 

On skin: musty dusty flowers. We recently drove to/from Ohio and I picture those big rolls of hay sitting in a flowery meadow

 

Half-hour later: mellow wine has amped up slightly in the background, anchoring the dusty florals

 

In conclusion: this is a beautiful fall scent, a slightly darker companion to Harvest Moon. Disappears pretty quickly, unfortunately, but worth reapplying. The label is one of my favorite Lunacies too.

In bottle: deliciously juicy dark fruit

 

On skin: the rose blooms right away, mulling with the dark fruit juice

 

Half-hour later: instead of staying sweet, it's turned darker with something dirty and gloomy

 

In conclusion: at first this reminded me of one of my favorite LEs, Queen of Clubs. All watery roses with dark fruit juice. Then the patchouli and black pepper take this blend underground and it ends up quite different -- definitely dark, solemn and eerie. What an interesting blend!

In bottle: slightly sweet incense

 

On skin: musk with sweet incense hanging about

 

Half-hour later: still sweet musky incense, not much morph

 

In conclusion: I really liked the musky incense vibe. I generously received from filigree_shadow a sniffie of Storyville (an empty pipette) and from what I could test this is in close proximity to that elusive LE. A really beautiful blend.

In bottle: root beer with a chemical twist

 

On skin: dusty resins with medicinal cough syrup

 

Half-hour later: sweetened dusty resins

 

In conclusion: the first time I tried this, it reminded me a lot of an Experimental Blend I got in a swap a couple of years ago, lots of medicinal dusty resins. Later I tried it and got more of the root beer/sassafrass that others did, sweeter and lighter. I like that this is heavy on the resins; it seems to be a powerful, no-nonsense blend.

In bottle: orange flower water

 

On skin: orange juice concentrate, tart and peppy

 

Half-hour later: the red musk really blooms in the forefront with sweet orange and flowers hanging out nearby

 

In conclusion: I sniffed the previous Red Moon at a Meet-n-Sniff a while ago and was so pleased to see this return with the red musk added. It's like Glasya and Litha are hanging out together drinking orangetinis. A new favorite!

Wet: sneezy detergent

On skin: light fruit, like green melon

Half-hour later: salty seawater with green sweetness

In conclusion: I was afraid Olokun would end up like most aquatics on me, like laundry detergent. However, maybe because it's the cusp of summer and I'm jonesing for a beachy vacation, I'm getting a real summery saltwater scent that's very evocative of surf and sand. I'm really enjoying this one and will definitely consider getting a bottle.

Wet: sweet smoke

 

On skin: very smoky dark incense

 

Half-hour later: sweetens up a bit, but still lots of incense

 

In conclusion: this reminded me very much of both Midnight Mass and Pit and the Pendulum, that heady thick incense. Midnight Mass mostly. It ends a bit sweeter though, like the philosopher pondered the ecclesiastical and has moved on to other deep thoughts.

Wet: dusty musk

 

On skin: light citrus and flowers, no individual notes standing out

 

Half-hour later: still very dusty and vague, which must be the amber and chrysanthemum

 

In conclusion: all the ingredients sounded great, but like others' reviews this blend just didn't want to assert itself on my skin. I wish it were more confident like the lady in the painting!

Wet: clean fruit

 

On skin: nice blast of pear, then some clean salty sea air

 

Half-hour later: still very aquatic, but balanced with pear and freesia

 

In conclusion: I don't get on well with most aquatics, they end up like detergent on me. But this blend has the extra pear and freesia -- I have an imp of the Freesia SN and it's a very breezy clean floral which goes well with the sea air in this blend. This one's very refreshing.

Wet: sweet flowers

 

On skin: cherry right away, then a nice jumble of soft florals

 

Half-hour later: still lots of breathy airy flowers, nothing is dominating

 

In conclusion: this ends up a tad dusty on me, which I think is the lavender and white sandalwood. This makes it interesting instead of just another twee floral. Pretty!

Wet: plummy fruit

 

On skin: fruity detergent, almost making me sneeze

 

Half-hour later: hasn't morphed much at all, clean & sneezy laundry detergent with some sweet dark fruit

 

In conclusion: I predicted how "salty ocean spray" would turn out from experience with a bottle of Storm Moon, like laundry detergent. But this is nicer than I thought with the plum and plum blossom, like sweetened laundry detergent. This reminds me of an amped-up Swank, like if the alcohol note was turned up to 11. This was a surprise!

Wet: alcohol-y rose

 

On skin: yum, rose blooming in all its glory

 

Half-hour later: if there are other florals present, I can't tell -- I just get creamy roses

 

In conclusion: I'm an unabashed fan of the BPAL Rose blends and this is another stellar example. Much like Parlement of Foules with a touch of cream instead of dusty resins. I was concerned about the violet, gardenia or calla lily amping on me, but if there here in this blend they're only to bow down in service to the rose. Beautiful!

In bottle: clean & aquatic

 

On skin: sparkly light floral

 

Half-hour later: a bit sweeter with tea and cucumber, but still lots of clean white florals

 

In conclusion: I have a sniffie of the original Blue Moon, which to me was a much stronger "perfumed cucumber" that was unique and refreshing. Testing side by side, this newer incarnation seems to disappear fairly quickly while the original is still going strong. If I had to choose between the two I would opt for the original, but I'm very pleased that this reappeared and I got to try it.

Wet: clove-flavored cough syrup

 

On skin: clove + wood wood wood

 

Half-hour later: syrupy-sweetened up with some black musk and a bit of spice. The wood receded, thank goodness

 

In conclusion: this is a sticky concoction. The wood was too sharp at the beginning, but I really liked the end result.

Wet: green plants

 

On skin: dusty flowers. Amber goes dusty on me unless it's anchored to something more powerful like black musk

 

Half-hour later: wow, orchid with a vengeance! I'm not familiar with moonflower or phlox, but they're acting like screamingly white florals with the orchid. No more amber and musk is nowhere to be found

 

In conclusion: the flowers amped way too much in this blend on me, which is a shame as grey musk sounded intriguing. This turned into a pretty but generic floral.

In bottle: green floral, slightly fruity

 

On skin: sweet green fruit (melon?), juicy and watery

 

Half-hour later: perfumey florals with added juice

 

In conclusion: this sounds like a nice summer blend, and sweet pea is a big player here. I have an imp of the Sweet Pea SN and it's a bright fizzy citrussy floral, almost making me sneeze. The sweet pea is deciding if it wants to dominate or not, and I wish this was a bit more green from the lettuce and pear. Definitely smells clean and refreshing though, and as long as it's below 100 degrees this will work for the summer.

Wet: nice light floral

 

On skin: sweet, earthy, green floral

 

Half-hour later: it's become more masculine and cologney, which must be the moss. Drat!

 

In conclusion: I enjoyed the beginning, this was a unique sweet floral, almost like it had a dollop of corn syrup added. However, I wouldn't buy a bottle for myself as it turns into an aftershave-like green cologne that's just not my thing.

Wet: vague white floral

 

On skin: "juicy" floral, flowers with a splash of pomegranate juice and dew

 

Half-hour later: the pomegranate has receded (boo) and one of my nemesiseses, IRIS, has taken over

 

In conclusion: while this didn't turn into a floral that was too dainty and twee, or too soapy, iris has conquered like it's done to several other blends. Iris is just too cloying on me. I really liked the beginning though!

Wet: sweet greenery

 

On skin: dusty dirty base with sweet orange on top. Weird combo!

 

Half-hour later: more green woodsy, but sweetned a bit with the mandarin

 

In conclusion: I thought I would dislike this one, between the bitter almond and cinnamon bark and "fire-scorched earth." It's an interesting blend, green woods and earth with an added sweetness. The end result is more than the sum of its parts, and I ended up really enjoying it. Another unique blend!

Wet: barely-there herbs

 

On skin: blast of herbal lavender, burrowing into my sinuses. Phoo!

 

Half-hour later: still lots of lavender, but with a creamy base

 

In conclusion: while lavender isn't one of my favorite notes, the creamier base makes it tolerable. This is the nicest lavender blend I've tried.

Wet: laundry detergent

 

On skin: totally different, I got a flash of metal and then leather straight out of the stable

 

Half-hour later: still lots of leather, with a sprig of herbs tucked inside somewhere

 

In conclusion: this blend is totally different than any other leather blend I've tried. I'm a big fan of the dusty country leather of Dead Man's Hand and Quincy Morris, and this leather is dirty, not dusty (and certainly not slick and "city" like DeSade and Whip). Super interesting and unique!

Wet: sharp hairspray alcohol

 

On skin: lots of thick green juice, very fresh. I picture goop oozing out of a broken piece of aloe. Slightly creamy background

 

Half-hour later: the creamy background has gotten stronger, along with a slightly sharp light musk

 

In conclusion: the Salons I have tried so far seem to have a beautiful creamy base in common, very haughty and regal. I do like the fresh green beginning, but the end result is a little too much rich-old-lady. Not a fall-over-dead favorite for me; it seems like it's already done a credit check on me and I'm not worthy. It's pretty, though, and I'm glad I got to try it.

Wet: barely-there antiseptic herbs

 

On skin: lemony florals, not strong or overpowering

 

Half-hour later: sniffing up close is dry and dusty amber and cedar, but further away is a very pleasant waft of "juicy" flowers

 

In conclusion: an interesting mix of slightly citrussy florals with a dusty woodsier base. This isn't an up-close wrist-huffing scent, as the dustiness felt like it was really drying out my sinuses. I am really enjoying the waft though, it's lovely.

Wet: light honey

 

On skin: sweet honey with some mellow resins

 

Half-hour later: the honey is still the strongest, but with a creamy mellow base of peach and resins

 

In conclusion: I was expecting more herbs with the belladonna and hemlock, but this is a very smooth resiny blend, beautiful with the strong honey. Almond will amp on me, and peach will sometimes go plastic and fake, but not in this one -- the creamy base is so well-blended. Very nice!