HoneyHoneyNY

I really like Kuang Shi. It starts out as a nice brisk citrus, and dries down to a lovely skin musk on me. I was afraid of the sandalwood in it, but it didn't turn the scent too powdery and dry.

I love the chrysanthemums the flower, and the notes in this lunacy blend weren't ones that I was familiar with, but it sounded heady and interesting. In the bottle, I got a strong whiff of mums. I love the musky, sharpness of them, but the scent was quickly complicated by some sticky resiny sweetness, which I guess is the opium. Not bad Wet on my skin, the smell of chysanthemums which I like, rises up from my skin briefly, before being overtaken by the thick spicy undercurrent of this scent. It's pretty, but a bit too rich. Later as it dries, it turns really perfumy and floral. I'm starting not to enjoy it. It's kind of battling out in my nose, and the red musk is coming forward, which I don't like at all. Red musk and I are most often enemies. My skin seems to intensify all the notes in this scent so that they just take turns shouting for attention on me. Hours later, it's dry, but still lingering. Now it smells like stale flowers and funky ginger. It was very pretty, but didn't work with my chemistry. It was far too rich for me, and the dry-down was far to floral. I had to fix my spelling and grammar.

My costume is greek goddess-esque. I'm trying to decide what scent I own that will go well with this theme. Maybe Snow White, and maybe Hungry Ghost Moon, since that's my current love, but neither of those strike me as particularly goddess-y.

... Offerings of ginger candy, sugar cane, smoky vanilla and rice wine mingle with a ghost’s perfume of white sandalwood, ho wood, ti, white grapefruit, crystalline musk and aloe. This scent is tapered by the presence of seven herbs, woods and resins used in the purification of the spirit and the purging of earthly concerns from the soul. It's been a while since I've been interested in a lunacy oil. Hungry Ghost Moon sounded appealing, what with the grapefruit, and ginger candy, and vanilla, but all the wood notes in it scared me, since wood notes tend to turn very dry and sharp on my skin. I didn't order it when it came out, and I'm very sad about that, since I think that HGM is love. In the bottle this is fruity sweet, with a tinge of tanginess that the grapefruit brings. It reminds me of grapefruit gummies, which I love. It's not a heavy sort of sweet though, it's lighter, and not carmelized at all. It's green sweet, like chomping on a piece of fresh sugar cane. It's one of the few scents that I could sniff from the bottle forever. Wet on my skin, the initial gummy grapefruit scent actually lingers for a minute or two, and then it gets greener. Sometimes scents that are too green make me a bit queasy, but this stays fresh and light green. The fruitiness softens right away, though the scent remains sweet and fresh. I think I can sense a tinge of the dryness that wood brings to a scent, but it's not overwhelming, sharp or powdery. As it dries, it becomes more soft and subtle. It's light and so pretty. I can still smell the sweet greeness, but its less prominent. The scent is drier, but still very soft, and under the dryness is a touch of vanilla and a bit of sharpness that might be the ginger. After 2 hours on my skin, most of the green freshness has passed, and what I smell on my skin is a soft vanilla-dry not creamy at all-that reminds me just a bit of the vanilla in Antique Lace, but instead of the linen and flowers smell of AL, this is exotic, a little spicy and ever so faintly tropical. Not like pineapples and coconut, like green leaves and exotic spices. Underlying that is a delicate hint of musk. I think this is gorgeous. It's complex, but not heavy and overwhelming. Every stage of it is soft, light and wispy, but strongly present, not weak. It's also comforting. I find Milk Moon comforting in a warm milk, cozy blankets way, but sniffing my wrists while wearing Hungry Ghost Moon gives me a very peaceful feeling. It's serene, clean , and restful.

I got this from a swap. It wasn't on my wishlist, it was just a giftie, so I was happy for the opportunity to try something that I didn't have expectations for. The initial sniff from the imp was fresh and kind of half-lemony, slightly fruity and very lightly sweet. It's backed up with a kind of lotion-y scent, but I can't tell what it is really. On my skin, I smell the lemony-fruitiness for a hot second before the lotion-y scent resolves itself into that perfume bully, jasmine. The jasmine elbows and stiff-arms it's way forward, and then squats in the forefront. I almost feel the need to beat it back. I love the scent of jasmine tea, and jasmine in flower, but on my skin it's rather loud and high pitched. Huddled behind the jasmine are some soft warm florals, but I'm not really enjoying them. It's too floral for me. All the flowers in this blend seem to be jumping up and down behind the jasmine shouting "Smell me! No, smell me!" Later, dry on my skin the jasmine calms down a bit. It's still a bit too much for me, but now I can smell some of the notes that I just registered as "floral" before. I definitely can discern the wisteria and whiff of something violet like that might be the orris. This has also taken on a watery quality, which makes me like it a bit more. After I've been wearing it a while, it doesn't seem quite as high pitched as at first. It has a kind of old-fashioned water garden feel to me, Like a formal garden with ponds and heirloom flowers. I think it's a bit too floral and lady like for me though. It's very traditional, with the ozone/water scent keeping it from being too old ladyish.

I got this imp in a swap. I had some preconcieved notions about this scent since it contains my enemy Red Musk, but in the imp the red musk was far enough in the background to make me try it. At first sniff in the imp, there was a citrusy minty tea smell that reminds me of the iced tea I make in the summer with lemon and mint. At the tail end of my perception I catch the red musk. Usually a whiff of red musk is enough to send me running, but this is just a hint, and it's not overwhelming. It's an interesting mix of scents that I percieve as "cool" and "warm". The citrus and mint seem cool to my nose, and kind of refreshing. The musk, and the faint spiciness I catch underneath it seem warm to me, a bit like heated skin. As it warms up on my skin, the spicy musk note comes forward, but it's still cooled off by the citrus-mint note, though I can't really smell the mint as much as feel it as a coolness in my nose. Once it's dried a while, it smells pretty much the same, without morphing too much. Any bit of tea I sniffed in the beginning is pretty much gone. I sniff in vain for cocoa notes, unless the slight dry sharpness I'm getting is the cocoa. For me in the end, this scent is a mildy sweet citrusy musk, with some herbal complexity dancing in the background. For once the red musk isn't overwhelming, Which is fortunate, since it does its usual evil trick of lasting FOREVER on me. It's interesting and sexy, but not really me. I can imagine it smelling absolutely delicious on a man, though it's not what I'd call overtly masculine. I think this is a scent for a woman or man who is confident, a bit earthy, and well aware of their sexuality.

I got a sniffie of this as a frimp in a swap. The kind person who gave it to me included it in my package since they saw it on my wish list. In the imp, this smells delicious, like bittersweet chocolate dried out with a woody edge. I know from the description that the woody edge is sandalwood, though it has a patchouli-esque scent to me. I'm liking it because although it's chocolatey, it's not foody per se. On my skin: The imp is almost empty, but I get enough on the wand to put a tiny dab on my wrist. As soon as it touches my skin, it turns to baby powder. Lovely soft sandalwood baby powder. I'm so dissapointed! I wanted that spicy chocolate smell to come out. Much later, the baby powder scent gives way a little and becomes more sandalwoody again. The cocoa vanilla gives it a bit of a creamy feel, despite its overall dryness. It has a powdery sweetness. Kind of like sandalwood dusting powder with dutch process cocoa mixed with it. It's nice, but still way too dry and dusty for me. I wanted that delicious bitter chocolate and patchouli scent I got in the imp, but I got chocolate talc instead. I'm glad I got a chance to sniff it though. I'll have to look for another scent to soothe my chocolate desires.

When I first got this imp in a swap, it's because I was on the search for a HG musk scent. When I opened the imp, it smelled so sharp, that I didn't want to test it. It smelled like orange peel, and something else sweet but also almost bitter. I was sure I was going to hate it. On my skin it was only slightly less sharp, but much more fruity. At this point, it reminded me of Akuma, but without the orange clean and kool-aid feeling akuma gave me. After about half an hour the fruitiness really fell off. Much later, this morphed into exactly what I'm looking for. A soft, dry, and slightly sweet white musk based scent. I like this quite well, however it's kind of a tease. The drydown is exactly what I'm looking for in a white musk scent, but the initial stages are something that I like, but not my HG. I wore this imp on and off all last summer, it's refreshing and soft, not too heady. The more I sniff at it, the more I think I'll end up getting at least a 5ml, but the search for the perfect musk goes on.

I got this as a frimp from the lab. I didn't read the description until after I tried it since this was discontinued before I became a BPAL fan. That's a good thing, since otherwise the fact that this has lotus in it would have scared me away. In the imp, I got a soft, sweet fruity-minty smell. I had just been clearing most of the imps I had away, but something made me set this aside. I love the smell of mint, but I've been finding that the mint notes in most things turn kind of odd and headache inducing on me. The fruitiness behind the mint made me want to try it anyway. On my skin, the mint lends this a coolness, but a bright pink grapefruit scent comes out. One of the other reviewers likened the scent to Halls citrus vitamin C drops, and I agree, but it doesn't turn me off completely. Just as I'm deciding that I don't really think I want to smell like vitamin C drops another scent peeks through. It reminds me of Bon Vivant. There's a fruity sweet sparkle to it that I get (and love!)from BV. It's similar to what I get on the drydown of BV, but isn't quite as over the top and sweet. The coolness of the mint, and the slight floral quality I'm picking up, makes this more ladylike. Bon Vivant is an exuberant brash party girl scent, sweet and fun and candy like. Shattered is still bright and sweet and sparkling, but cooler, more subdued. It's more elegant and ladylike. It's beautiful at this stage. Much later, the pink grapefruity scent, and a lot of the sweetness has faded a bit, and I'm left with something cool, watery, and very delicate. It's light and fragile like spun glass, and gorgeous in the same way. That Bon Vivant champagne dry down is still with me too. I'm particularly enjoying this because at no stage is this overwhelming. Even though it has similarities to my beloved BV, this is different enough for me to really enjoy it. I wear BV when I'm going out to dance and party and rock out with my friends. I'd wear Shattered when I'm going to more hmmm... adult parties. When I want to smell pretty and sparkling, but not so brash and outgoing. I'm very sad that this is discontinued, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it may come back some day.

Well there's good news and bad news. The good news is that I have identified the note in Spellbound that made it go all stinky and head shop-y on me. The bad news is that it's Red Musk, and it's a primary note in Smut. I swapped for Smut, because I love musk, booze and sweetness. I was dying for it, and kicking myself when I missed it. When I opened the bottle and took a sniff, I smelled that head shop note, but I figured that it might change when it touched my skin. On my skin, a hint of sweetness and RED MUSK! It's killingly loud on me. After a few minutes I'm still getting the sweetness hint, and a teensy whiff of a smell that I like, but I can't really identify it because the red musk is all over me like the KGB. I can't shake it. I can just get hints of a scent I love, but I can't grasp it. But I want to leave it on a bit longer to see if the note I don't like falls off. A bit later, the Red musk is softening a bit, and I'm able to smell other notes, but it's still very much there, and I don't like it. I try to wash it off, but this stuff has amazing staying power, and a lot of throw. I walk outside to collect the mail, and even in the frosty air and after a couple of hand washings, I can smell it strongly. I wish that soft, slightly powderly skin musk that's lurking underneath the main note was able to come out more, but my skin refuses to cooperate. In conclusion, Smut isn't the perfect sweet musk for me. It will have to go to a new mommy who truly loves it.

I decided to review Snow Moon 2005. My previous review was based on an imp of 2004. So many people had posted about the vanilla and coconut notes in Snow White, and I just wasn't getting it. I wanted to see if it smelled any different aged versus fresh. In the bottle, I smell lillies over all. Fresh cut lillies that have been in the florist's cooler. Wet on my skin, still fresh cut lillies, but now I'm smelling a bit of the creaminess that people have felt so strongly, but I can't pin it down. It's not coconut to me, or vanilla, but kind of marshmallow-y. It's not the first thing in my nose, but it's there. As it dries, the lily smell comes to the fore and kills all the creaminess except for a faint softening undertone. The lily smell reminds me of the flower, without being floral. It's more like the smell of lily pollen, if that makes sense. It's just this side of turning plasticky for me, but it never really does, for which I am grateful. Even later, the smell that is strongly reminiscent of snow to me comes out, and surprisingly, the creaminess comes out once more, just a touch. I still can't pin it down, but it's there. My final analysis is that there actually IS something creamy in Snow White, but whatever is there the the cold non-floral lily scent mostly drowns out. My skin just grabs that cold note, and pulls it to the front of the line. I still love it. It's one of my special occasion scents.

I was a bit afraid of what Blood Moon would smell like, but I had to have it, since it's my birthday moon. In the bottle, I smelled sweet cinnamon, and spices, underlaid by something herbal, and yes, metallic. As soon as it touches my skin, the cinnamon blooms out, and then fades a bit to make room for the head shop smell I got when I put on Spellbound. Heady musky, incensy, and almost sickening, especially since it's underpinned by the disturbing metallic tone. This doesn't smell bad, it's just a bit too much for me, very rich and thick. I'm also beginning to think that red musk doesn't agree with me. As it dries, the scent of the local head shop only becomes more prominent. The spiciness that I love is overwhelmed by everything else. I'm sorry Blood Moon. Despite your pretty label, and being my birthday moon, we don't get along.

I couldn't wait to try this scent. As soon as I saw the description, I thought that's for me! In the bottle, this smells cinnamony-spicy and sweet, and there is some booze here, but not much to my nose. It's resiny sweet, and thick smelling to my nose. I think I can also smell the musk, but I'm not sure. Once it hits my skin I smell the earthy spiciness of fallen leaves, and a scent reminiscent of Hellcat, perhaps the booze note asserting itself. There is also a smokiness to this that combined with the spicy note reminds me of some kind of incense. As it dries, the autumn-y spicy leaves and smoke smell lingers for a long time on my skin, at least a couple of hours. Then it starts to soften and fade into a sweet skin musk scent that suits me really well. It sits next to my skin and cuddles up. Eight hours later, I can still smell it, and it's great. I really love this scent. It's perfect for cool weather, and suits me down to the ground. I was afraid when I read some of the other reviews and they said the musk turned funky, but it's good on me. The drydown is wonderful, and a little reminiscent of Buck Moon. Except that instead of gentle and woodsy, the musk in Devil's Night is edgy and badass. Me likey! I'm so glad I got a bottle of this. I may have to get another.

I got my bottle of Fruit Moon! In the bottle it smells like mellon and some kind of tropical fruit, like starfruit. It's sweet and tangy and juicy all at once. On my skin, it's the same, but more of the fruits come out to play. It's like a big bowl of fruit salad, but not plain fruit salad, something with tropical fruit in it. The melon is there, but I also smell something like kiwi, pomegranate, and mango maybe, and after that my nose gives up trying to identify it all. It's very sweet, but it has an prickly astringency to it that I like. As it dries, it lightens, and the lunar oils float softly in the background of this scent. I really like this scent, but I don't know if I'd actually wear this scent. I'm waffling back and forth on whether to keep it or not. I keep sniffing it, putting it in the swap box, and taking it out. I don't know why I'm so ambivalent about this, since I really like the scent.

In the imp, this smells sharply lemony, almost like furniture polish. When it touches my skin, the lemony scent settles, and I realize that it's the the ginger that I'm smelling. It's the same sharp, tangy ginger that's in Shub, but more simply framed with a nice background of tea. As it dries on me, it remains much the same as when I first put it on, zingy, and light. It's something I'd reach for in hot weather when I want something distinctive, but not overwhelming. A bit later, and it's still nice, but melting quickly into my skin. I have to put my nose close to my wrist and inhale deeply to really get it. I don't mind, beacause that will make it perfect for warm weather wear. I probably won't buy a bottle, but I will be keeping my imp.