Singing Moon

[Lycanthrope]

The song of a host of dread spirits wailing their grief to the moonlit heavens: grey, silken ambergris and cold davana cascading over a landscape of bog rosemary, marsh cinquefoil, sea holly, grey willow, bog asphodel, sundew, lowland meadow grass, and frost-limned peat.

2012 vintage!

Let this one develop on your skin for a wee bit. My initial impression was not favorable, but I was rewarded with a little patience. I took a chance and grabbed more of this version, since the 2007 version was a beautifully salty, very green bladderwracky, misty blend. 2012 Singing Moon is definitely not similar although it does still retain a very misty, ethereal quality. I would say this is less smoky, less marine.

If I would have to sum this up it would be 'misty rocks.' In the background there is something almost like lemon, maybe the sundew? It's a peep of reedy white citrus, otherwise all the other notes blend together into a cloudy, gray (in a good way) scent over very faint rocks (not quite an overt stone, like Black Opal or Kumari Kandam). There is not a dominant dirt note, nor do the herbs run away and make this super leafy or green. Ambergris does make its appearance, but on my skin it has always been a super awesome intestinal secretion (note) and it hasn't ever really amped on me. This has a very unobtrusive potency, so it seems ideal for a perfume for non-perfume wearers or work situation. I would say this veers slightly towards masculine only in that it has a gentle, smooth, simple cold musk-like quality. Over time, this turns a bit more floral, but never really super aquatic. It is definitely NOT minty, or BPAL Ice-slushy, which I kind of am a sad-panda about.

It is similar to Leanan Sidhe but not as sweet, if I had to compare it to something from the GC.

I'll play around with my one bottle, I do have the feeling in my situation I'd pass over this for a full-on aquatic or marine, just given my tastes.

[Antoinette]

I feel like I've been searching for a scent like this since I started with BPAL a few years ago. It's so good!

 

Singing Moon is like breathing in a cool silvery mist. It's ethereal but there's enough going on with the plant notes to keep it grounded. The ambergris in this is so gorgeous. It's sweet and a little musky. Just lovely!

 

I love this for hot days. It's really just like a cool silver fog. I love love love it!

[SadariEvenstar]

When I first put this on my skin my first reaction was, "Oh Hell N-, wait it's getting better." This starts out a weird soapy floral, but it morphs fast. What I'm left with is a beautiful silvery vaguely aquatic scent, it's like sitting near a pond in the middle of the night. The mist is rising out of the water, the air is cooling down, the wind is whispering through the water plants. The moon is bright but clouded, sending silvery gray light and creating deep shadows.

 

It's cool, a little bit sweet, a little bit floral, a little bit watery, but all beautiful. (And for the record, I generally don't like perfumes that fall into most of those categories.)

[Invidiana]

I waffled on this in the beginning because of the rosemary, but it turns out that barely makes an appearance at all. This is the scent of somber evening flowers towards the end of summer, chill winds hanging in the air, cool seaspray and frost just beginning to crystallize. There really is something "silvery" about this as mentioned previously, I'm taking it from the ambergris especially though I have a feeling the davana and frost notes also contribute to that feel. This is surprisingly beautiful and refereshing in a really unique way. I'm so glad I risked a bottle.

[kawaiiferreto]

This was pretty, but uninteresting on me. I'm not super familiar with many of these notes, so I can't describe the specific aspects of the scent too well. I agree this this has a silver/ moonlight feel to it.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: This is completely different from my beloved 2007. This blend is more traditionally sexy perfume, with dominant ambergris is a setting of soft, unusual florals and a peat counterpoint with a setting of grass and other greens.. It’s quite pretty and more complex and outdoorsey than one would expect at first sniff. I don’t know these floral notes as individual scents, but they stand out individually with proper sniffing. (I just have no idea which name goes with which note so can’t tell you which is the strongest of them). This could be a floral for folks who don’t like traditional florals. (fingers crossed). I have a similar problem with some of the savory green notes. I think the peat is strongest with willow in strong support and the grass and rosemary are quite soft, but I can’t go beyond that. Sorry. Wet: Richer and greener and wetter on the skin. It does have a real wetlands feel, and isn’t even vaguely like a tradition perfume now. The savory greens are now dominant, with the unconventional florals sweetening it slightly. The ambergris becomes an understated hint of seductiveness to what is otherwise a beautiful and subtle scent poem about water plants under moonlight. It really is beautiful and unlike anything else in the catalog. The more it warms the more floral it gets, and now I’m a little worried it’s too floral for me to wear, which would be a shame as it’s lovely with a surpassing amount of through. Dry: Mostly ambergris with Peat second and a mix of other greens very soft. It’s interesting, but I think it’s not for me in aggregate.

[angelamaria]

In bottle: soft flowers, a touch citrusy, a touch aquatic. It's hard to say what I am getting from it: there are some florals, but this is not a floral scent; some greens but not a green scent; aquatic, but not an aquatic scent; etc. There's a hint of a cologne-like feel to it--probably the ambergris. Light, almost airy, and gender neutral but leaning towards feminine.

 

Wet on skin: on my skin, this is a crisp version of the bottle scent, with more sweetness and a touch bit cooler. I don't really know for SURE what davana smells like, but I was reminded a little of The Girl--though this is a very very different feel from The Girl. It's very well blended.

 

Dry: I think the "bog" elements are now showing through. There's a lot more presence now when dry, and it's a darker scent--well, "boggy" and "marshy" but not dirty--just a murky green sort of scent but with a thread of freshness. After about 30 minutes in, a soapiness comes out, a boggy marshy soapiness that also has a slightly ticklish, grainy feel to my nose. Looking at the label art, this really does convey that kind of feeling. It starts off light and ethereal in the bottle and wet, but becomes dolorous and languid and deep when dry.

 

Verdict: I think this will continue to develop as a deeper, darker slightly boggy scent, which means this ultimately isn't for me. The bottle and wet scent is definitely up my alley though, this is very lovely.

[ellebelle]

I waffled A LOT on a bottle of this, but I'm so glad I risked it. Ambergris is often an iffy note for me, but it plays well with the others. On first whiff, it's definitely a lemony floral, but as it dries the scent deepens with the boggy more earth-like notes into something sexy and sensual. I anticipate wearing this frequently on warm summer days.

[Dark Alice]

This is such a light, ethereal scent on me. It definitely lives up to it's name. I imagine Billie Holiday singing one of her more famous hits "Blue Moon" beneath a starry sky. Too bad it's so light on me...b/c this is gorgeous.

[Ghost of a Rose]

ETA: 2012 edition

 

In the vial: A lovely scent, lighter and more feminine than most of the Lunacies. It's green, herbal, with a touch of florals, and something bright, almost lemony. Grass is the only specific note that I can identify, since except for peat, I don't know what any of the other things smell like. (Unless bog rosemary smells like regular rosemary?) And at this point, I don't notice any peat. Not knowing what most of these things smell like makes this fragrance difficult to describe, but I'll do my best.

(NOTE: I checked online, and bog rosemary is unrelated to regular rosemary and smells nothing like it. The name comes from the resemblance of its leaves to those of rosemary.)

 

On me, wet: Even more herbal on my skin, with a trace of earthiness. Within two minutes, the throw has already weakened significantly.

 

After 20 minutes: Up close, it smells a lot like a traditional perfume. There is a tiny bit of an aquatic note (the frost on the peat?), which together with the ambergris, contributes to the impression of a designer perfume. From further away, the fragrance is sweeter, more herbal, and more flowery. - stronger on the herbals than on the florals. This is excellent for hot weather.

 

After 30 minutes: No noticeable change. There's an undertone that I can't describe or identify, which is very unique and a little animalistic - maybe the ambergris? This is a highly complex fragrance.

 

After 1 hour: Same as above.

 

After 2 hours: Virtually gone.

 

 

I also wore this simultaneously in my perfume locket. There, it smells less like a classic perfume - sweeter, more floral, and more natural, than it was on my skin. Even in the locket, this is relatively lighter and more short-lived than most BPAL blends are in the locket. But that's not necessarily a bad thing - a lighter and less lasting scent is just what I prefer for hot weather.

 

Verdict: Another one of my favorite Lunacies, due to its theme, lightness, florals, and more feminine mood. Contrary to the description and in spite of the inspired mix of ingredients, this doesn't make me think of bogs at all; being too light and fresh-smelling for that. Which is kind of a shame, as I am intrigued by the idea of a scent that smells like a bog. But I love it anyway, for other reasons. Perhaps this is more of a heath-and-moor (with just a bit of bog) kind of scent. I never did notice any peat. But I'm probably thinking of the fragrance of burning peat instead - I've never smelled freshly cut peat up close. (Wish I'd thought to do that when I had the chance!)

 

My rating: 4.5 stars

Edited August 3, 2012 by Ghost of a Rose

[Poenari]

This is odd for me to even be reviewing Singing Moon 2012, because I only have this due to a customer service error by the lab. I waffled over whether I should even mention it in my review. I ordered two bottles of Spanish Red Carnation, but when I opened my package, it contained Singing Moon instead. I had no interest in even opening a bottle to sniff, as I knew it would be too misty and aquatic for me to bother with. I contacted the lab immediately and offered to return the bottles - promising that they were unopened and completely virgin from the lab, but they told me to keep them and sent out my Spanish Red Carnation with my next (already pending) order. What excellent customer service by the lab!!!

 

So here I am with two frottles of Singing Moon! I am gifting one to a coworker whom I've been trying to enable, but I decided that I might as well give the other bottle a sniff and a little skin test before deciding to gift it to someone else as well. As expected, it is misty, etherial, and very grassy, with the ambergris giving it just enough staying power to stick around for a while. Although this is not something I chose, I am finding it very nice on these unbelievably hot and humid days that are full of heavy thunderstorms. Something about it is just refreshing enough, but it does not feel too "un-like me" compared to my usual preferences for me to dislike. It gives me a similar feeling to F5, in that it is very green and not my typical preference. So thanks to the lab, a coworker is getting gifted a bottle, and I am going to try to convince my daughter to try the other bottle. I've been unsuccessful at enabling her but this one might do the trick! If it doesn't work out for her, then I guess it's meant to be that it was for me.

[zankoku_zen]

Singing Moon is misty, aquatic, and manly. If you were looking for a fresh, aquatic cologne blend for that special guy in your life, I'd definitely recommend Singing Moon 2012.

 

It's like Blue de Chanel, minus the metallic and alcohol notes. Fresh, green, hints of sea spray, hints of ambergris. Rich, perfumey, manly.

 

This is what BPAL mermen smell like. You know, with that salt water dripping off a six pack, long hair, and a penetrating gaze before they lure you into some sort of watery tryst. And let's face it, you want to be reeled in by this sexy aquatic.

[Coldfire]

Singing Moon 2012

 

Decant: ethereal, like moonlight for the nose

Wet on Me: green, whispy green with a faint touch of citrus

Drying Down: less whispy green, now whispy sewwt powder with light white flowers

Dry: dried down to a pale powdery green with white flowers. very pleasant.

[Little Bird]

I wish that I got more of the ambergris note from this, but Singing Moon is mostly a faint, lightly soapy lemon and green moss scent on my skin. Clean, green, and a little bit perfumey. Not my sort of perfume.

[OctoberGwen]

Goddamn my skin chemistry. Lunacy blends really, really dislike me - and it makes me very sad.

 

I had to try Singing Moon again; I tried the earlier version before I knew about my problem with Lunacies and it was okay but very aquatic: another bad scent category for me. The 2012 sounded different enough to warrant an attempt, and I just adore the concept behind this one. Come on...banshees!

 

When first applied, it smells just like I want it to. I can't identify anything, but if I close my eyes and inhale I am standing on a windswept stretch of moor at night and something unearthly is crying up ahead. Really wonderful and evocative stuff.

 

After a few minutes, though, whatever lunar herb I have a problem with asserts itself, and I get almost a sweaty, furtive smell that grows until it sticks in the back of my throat like Pixie Stix dust, except it isn't sweet. Ugh.

 

So frustrating.

 

The good news is, I can use this in my oil burner and it smells great.

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Cold, ethereal florals. Slightly herbal. Borderline-citrus.

 

Dry: As I feared, this has gone a little soapy. Though it's not listed, this smells like it has ozone in it. Slightly sweet, aquatic, cold, green, flowers. Evocative.

 

If this didn't go soapy on me, it would be bottle worthy!