Honey Moon

[Atalanta Pendragonne]

Honey Moon contains five different honeys, ranging from pale and sweet to deep and heady, with hints of jasmine, white gardenia, Hawaiian white ginger and thyme.

The thyme was most prominent on me; the florals and the honey were strictly background. A bit of a surprise, really.

[theshapeshifter]

Honey Moon was probably, for me, the most eagerly-anticipated of the moons I'd ordered thus far, and so far it is NOT letting me down.

 

It went on a little faint, but is warming up and picking up strength nicely after application. I had worried that the jasmine might overpower the honey (as I find with Lush's 'Flying Fox')... not that I don't like jasmine, but I was REALLY excited for a strong honey scent. But the jasmine wanders quietly in the middle distance, just giving a nice floral underlay to the lovely warm honey. The thyme and the ginger are present, but just enough to add a bit of freshness and sharpness, which keep the honey from being cloying.

 

This is exactly, EXACTLY what I'd hoped for. I love it!

[sophia_helix]

Oooh, just got this in from Carolyn. Thanks!

 

In the bottle:

 

Mmm, honey. Me + honey = endless love. Prior to this, my main honey blend has been Tiger Lily, but this is different. Instead of the sweetness of lilies anchoring the scent, there's the herbal thyme, the slight sharpness of ginger, and a very soft honey instead of a pungent punch.

 

Wet:

 

My skin would like to tell you that there is honey in this blend. Loudly.

 

Drydown:

 

The topnote stayed strongly honey (though again, not exactly the same honey as I've smelled in other blends), but the thyme stayed with it, cutting the sweetness. It sadly didn't last as long as I would have liked, and the end drydown scent was the nondescript "sweet" that I get from certain blends (most BPAL oils dry down to one of about three base scents on me), but since I was mainly in it for a new honey scent, I didn't mind putting on more and getting the wet scent again.

 

I feel like I'm doing a rotten job of describing this, since I'm basically saying "honey honey honey!" but if you like that scent, you'll love this, and if you don't, I think it may be the honey scent that works on you, given the herbs and florals mixed in.

[astrid]

Wow! Honey Moon hardly smells like honey to me! I really can pick up the honey in scents like Alice and The White Rabbit, but here almost nothing! This remains a lovely scent and it reminds me quite a bit of Flower Moon.

[polydactyl]

This is my first lunacy, as well as the first time I've reviewed an oil so soon after I've received it (yesterday). I've been wearing this scent all day, and it's lasted pretty well into the afternoon. I feel like I'm being enveloped by a cloud of sweetness and light, light florals, and it's wonderful. The honey is less tangy and more gentle than the single note I have. The jasmine and gardenia is there but not very obtrusive, along with what I think is the thyme. It's something kind of herbal and makes the scent smell like a garden in the warm sunshine. I'm glad I'm wearing Honey Moon in an office building and not outside, because I'm a walking target for bees, and I can't blame them, because it smells so good!

[cuervosueno]

As I said in my 13 review, I have an unerring instinct for not ordering LE's that will work on me. So I didn't order this, mostly because I'd had a bottle of the honey single note and in the end got tired of it, and I was sure I didn't want all those florals.

Then I decided to swap for a bottle of it, becaus the reviews intrigued me.

And I like it.

Definately has the rich honey note, esp. in the bottle, but I also smelled the white flowers--jasmine in particular, but together the honey toned down the floral and added a winelike richness to the blend.

Its really quite nice, and I like the spicy note that the white ginger contributes....I should have remembered that the only florals I enjoy are the white tropical ones--jasmine, gardenia, and yes white ginger---any one remember that perfume hawaiian white ginger? I used to like it as a teenager.

But this is nice, and complex, and like someone said, its a skinscent, sticking close so I get a whiff every now and then.

And Joseybird, I am SO going to try this layered with MilkMoon--that sounds awesome!

my lesson? maybe I should just order ALL the LE's....afterall I can swap...

(wish I had the $ to do that!)

[Em-]

Sigh...I adore honey...everything about it (well, except for the fact that I am scared of bees, but that's another story), so when I saw Honey Moon, I just had to order it, even though my nemisis, jasmine, is one of the listed notes.

 

I was really hoping for something just dripping in gooey, luscious honey. Alas, while the honey is there, mostly I get flowers and pollen. This is a lovely scent, and it doesn't slay me with jasmine, as I feared, but it is not something I will really wear, I don't think.

 

Ah well.

[Ajila]

Wet on me this is honey. I know that's a bit of a no-brainer, but I was really worried about the possibility of the jasmine spoiling this for me, but it doesn't make it's presence felt. I'm also suprised to discover I can distinguish some of the different sorts of honey. There is the soft floral honey that I get from the honey single note, the rich cloying honey I get from Athens (and which for unknown reasons I associate with William Golding's Lord of the Flies) and also a sharp fruity honey. As it dries it stays very much the same. Dry on me it's a slightly incensy honey, but the florals are still present in the background. On the whole this is a stunning blend.

[sarahj]

Honey Moon

 

in bottle: smells very faintly of herbs and a bit of floral...no honey at all

 

wet: still no honey, this smells of herbs (mainly thyme)

 

dry: the honey does make an appearance, but it's a very soft honey (much different from many of the honey BPALs I have tried so far) combined with herbs...the scent fades very quickly; in about 2 hours it has completely disappeared

 

verdict: this is nice, but is a bit too light and delicate for my taste

[lorajc]

I usually can't wear BPAL honey or jasmine, as they amp way up on me. Honey Moon is an exception to this. It does get a bit jasminey when first applied and smells very floral to me with the combo of gardenia and jasmine, but after it dries down for about 30 to 40 minutes, the florals start to soften and the honeys come out. It is a very soft honey and not at all loud like I've had scents go in the past. I just am addicted to the dry down on this scent. I make myself go thru the jasmine/gardenia phase because the end result is so worth it. I really like this and it tends to lift my spirits when I wear it.

[Loligo]

Damn you, jasmine. For the first half hour, the primary note for me was the harsh "cologne" smell I get from jasmine (which smells nothing like the actual flower). Hiding behind that was a light floral & pollen scent. Once the jasmine mostly burned off, there was a nice phase with warm thyme and a light honey scent, but the whole show was over in about two hours. I was really hoping for a richer, heavier, more edible scent.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: lots and lots of honey. very nice.

on: a sweet, soft honey scent. light and fresh. not as sweet as i thought it would be.

1 hour later: very strong and heavy. lots of honey.

8 hours later: this has lasted ridculously well. still very heavy, sweet honey.

overall: this smells pretty much exactly like o and la petite mort on me, so i dno't really need it. it isn't really anything beyond a general honey scent on me.

[Julilla Regina]

Not too much honey on me, for some reason. It smoothes out into a light floral mostly. Slightly powdery, not unpleasant. It is very nice, though I was hoping for mega ultra honeyriffic slathered all over my body-ness. It seems innocent and virginal, probably appropriate for honeymoons in other centuries....

[gangstaknitta]

I have been so very anxious to get my hands on this...and now it's here!!

 

In bottle: definitely very honey; I can smell the gardenia too and maybe a hint of mint? This is only my second lunar oil, but I can kind of pick out the "lunar oils"--a tiny bit minty and creamy, without being sweet

 

Wet: The honey is not as strong on my skin. Again, it's a little creamy--very interesting. It's like a floral-honey. I like it.

 

Dry: the florals are vibrant but not overbearing and honey mellows everything...it's a very nice blend. I'm so glad I finally got my hands on it!

[Diana]

I love this.

 

Typically any time I've tried honey scents, they turn really artificial, cloying, and plasticky smelling. This is such a glorious contrast.

 

It starts out very strongly of honey. Real honey, like you've just squeezed one of those little plastic bears of it onto your skin. The next thing I notice is the soft, subtle eruption of thyme. It's soft but noticable. It kind of grounds the sweet note with a more earthy base.

 

The flowers sort of just stay very subtle in the background, their sweetness intermingling and playing against the sweetness of the honey notes. The thyme stays fairly apparent all throughout the wear of this (which, I must say, is one of the longest lasting BPAL scents I've ever worn), though it's never overwhelming.

 

This is so well balanced and wonderful!

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Sample from Hellfire82 on LJ.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I really don't see Honey Moon working for me, which is why I didn't order it. BPAL's honey notes generally don't like me and I really don't like jasmine or gardenia, although ginger and thyme are nice.

 

First sniff:

 

Honey, gardenia and ginger. The honey actually isn't very pronounced to my nose, strangely enough. This is far more floral than I'd imagined and, unfortunately, that's a bad thing.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Now the honey is coming out in full force. It's not cloying the way honey has the potential to be. It's actually very light and subdued. The jasmine and gardenia are still very pronounced, but that could be my skin amping them up the way it has a tendency to do.

 

Dry down:

 

Pure, screamingly loud gardenia and jasmine. My skin loves florals even if I don't and it has an irritating tendency to latch onto them and chase everything else out of the picture, which is what's happening here.

 

The bottom line:

 

This scent's definitely not for me, but I knew that going into this, so it's no surprise.

[itsuki]

Thanks to wickedgoddess and the swap circle, I got to try this (a day after my own bottle of Honey Moon arrived, but it's the kindness that counts! )

 

Before this, I didn't even know what honey was supposed to smell like. ("Hmm... the stuff I put in my tea?")

 

Initial impression: Going on my skin, I caught wafts of a white, powdery scent that reminded me of Snow White. Instant love.

 

After dry-down: Alas, the Snow White smell-alike is gone, but left in its place is a faintly sweet nectar.

 

It's somewhat like pressing your nose very close to smell a flower, and getting some of the pollen in your face. A very heady sort of sweetness.

 

I'm going to try this again

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: The honey isn't as cloying as I expected from so many different kinds.

 

On me: On my skin it's jasmine and thyme. The hints of the honey's sweetness is still there, but by and large this is a floral. It actually reminds me of LUSH's Flying Fox. I really wanted to like this, but it isn't really my style.

[Little Bird]

I always think that I should love honey, since I love foodie scents so much. I think that I'm finally comfortable with and able to admit that I don't like honey though (not in my food, soaps, or fragrances, lol). The smell of honey is just too sickeningly sweet and syrupy to me. I digress.

 

Honey Moon was odd and not really what I expected at all. I fixated mostly on the "five different honeys" part and ignored the other notes. Surprisingly, the thyme and jasmine are what stood out most on me. For about an hour, Honey Moon is an odd herbal floral. I dislike this stage. Then the honeys start to come out and go sickeningly sweet and powdery on me. I dislike this stage too.

 

I'm glad that I listened to myself and didn't order a full bottle of this. I'm also glad that I have a friend who loves honey and jasmine to gift the imp to . Honey just isn't for me.

[Reinaluna]

Honey Moon: Sniffing the bottle I do get a light Jasmine, Then I put some on my wrist and I get a nice soft sweet honey. Kind of faint but nice.

[Janie]

I love Honey Moon. I generally find jasmine goes over the top on me, but in this scent it belnds beautifully with honey (and the other florals). The longer it dries down, the more the honey comes through. And I love honey.

 

I very much enjoy wearing this to bed - I love falling asleep to the smell of honey and waking up to it as well. Lovely without being cloying.

[Mythos]

Got this as a lovely surprise in my pack of Imps from Elphaba. Many thanks, m'lady!

 

***

 

I will normally post two different reviews. One for the scent, which I will put on a bit of paper towel so that no personal chemistry gets in the way of the scent. The other review will be on me.

 

Paper Chase

The Paper Review

 

HONEY MOON

 

In the Imp;

Floral and sweet. Very sweet. Inital whiff is mostly flowers. The gardenia comes through very clearly. A deeper smell reveals at least two honeys.

 

Immediately on the paper - wet;

The smell of the honeys comes out nicely and hits me in that same area that honey smells always do, at the back of the throat. In my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, there's a farmer's market on the east side called Smith's. They raise bees out there, for honey and honeycomb and while I'm intensely allergic to bee stings, I love the smell and taste. This reminds me of Smith's Farms.

 

Immediately on the paper - dry;

The florals come out more steadily until they are fully present. I think the spicey bite I sense has to be the ginger.

 

1/2 an hour dry;

As the half hour drew near, I could begin to smell a differentiation in the honeys. Interesting that the honeys have come up to stand side by side with the florals. A full fragrance.

 

1 hour dry;

At one hour, the florals have once again taken over. The honeys have dropped back and are barely discernable now. Still a strong scent, subtle in complexity, but not in strength.

 

2 hours dry;

Similar to another scent I reviewed (Bayou), the complexity in the scent swings back and forth between the florals and the honeys, but the whole remains steady.

 

Thoughts;

Almost to hour three and the scent is as prevalent as it was in the first hour. Very steady, very clear. I enjoy that the scent pervades for a long time. Certainly an all-night scent, but also one that's not for me. I like the sweetness, but the steady rhythm of the flowers as they faded up and down around the honey is just not for me. Perhaps it will smell different when I get to the wearing review.

 

Now, the worn review of this impish scent...

 

Skin Flick

The Wearing Review

 

In the Imp;

(From the Paper review) Floral and sweet. Very sweet. Inital whiff is mostly flowers. The gardenia comes through very clearly. A deeper smell reveals at least two honeys.

 

Immediately on the skin - wet;

Strong, almost overpowering florals. They die almost immediately and I can actually smell three of the five honeys. I'm not that much into it that I can tell which are which, but there's definitely different ones there.

 

Immediately on the skin - dry;

Unlike the paper review, as they blend into the skin, the florals keep under the sweetness of the honeys. Intruiging. I'm getting impressions of bright summer days in June, when the whole summer lay ahead of you under crystal blue skies.

 

1/2 an hour dry;

Much more floral now, but the honeys are still there. Delicate, there's a balance between the two that I smelled in the paper review. It comes much more to the fore on the skin.

 

1 hour dry;

There's a powdery scent that's come out underneath the fading of the florals and the honeys. It's very faint, but softens both of the others nicely.

 

2 hours dry;

Something interesting happened. The scent was fading at about an hour and a half. I thought it would take off and disappear. Then I went outside into the humid Ohio day to get my laundry. Walking back, suddenly I'm surrounded by a scent of honey, swirling around me like a happy cloud of bees. My sweat, combined with my body obviously liking florals, seems to have reactivated the scent. At two hours, it is now as strong as when I first put it on. Curiouser and curiouser.

 

Thoughts;

It intrigues me to no end that the scent reactivated on me, strong enough to the point where I could actually smell the scent swirling around me as I walked. And while florals may like me, this one is not for me. I am swapping it with a good friend for something else, but I would definitely recommend this for those that like the sweet florals. The honeys are plain and clear as bells on a spring morn. The name, entirely apt.

[LiberAmoris]

Like a honeymoon in Hawaii! Honey usually does pretty well by me, but this is just outstanding. The white flowers and ginger really draw out the honey note and give it a somewhat earthy feel.

 

If you've ever had Really Raw Honey, you have a sense of what Honey Moon smells like. It's like a bee's wet dream.

[LunaSea]

In the bottle, Honey Moon is wonderful - sweet, rich honey. Wet on the skin, I still get the lovely, yummy honey scent. For about 30 seconds. Then, the honey completely vanishes, and I'm left with something rather perfumey. Not jasmine (I like jasmine). Not thyme. No Hawaiian tropicals. Not even what I think of as the scent of the lunar oils. Just something perfumey that gets stronger as time goes on. I am rather heartbroken. I will definitely try this in my oil burner before I decide if it needs to move on.

[Phaedra]

I ordered this one because I’ve loved all of Beth’s other blends with honey in them that I’ve tried so far. Wet this smells like a mix of honey and flowers and smells the same when first applied. After a few minutes it has a strong floral note which I think is the jasmine and gardenia. After twenty minutes or so the ginger starts to develop which helps to balance out the sweetness of the other notes. The ginger stage lasts for about an hour on me. It lends a dryness to the blend too. This is the only stage of Honey Moon that I’m not too sure about. The drydown is a lovely close to the skin honey note. I’m going to have to try this a few more times to see if I can tolerate the ginger phase. The beginning and drydown stages are both quite lovely though.