Buck Moon 2021

[zankoku_zen]

Buck Moon is an animalistic, deep scent: an amplification of one’s natural musk coupled with forest herbs, pine pitch, smoky birch tar, cedar berries, dew-kissed juniper, amber moss, deer fur, a hint of clear, warm evening air and a crystalline spark of lunar oil.

[theshapeshifter]

I am going to have to retry this one at a different point in my cycle, or once it's settled more from shipping, or something, because so far this one is confusing me. In the bottle I get an oddly 'baked goods, maybe pumpkin?' kind of scent to it, and so far on skin I can get a bit of the musk but it's mostly going baby powder on me. Will update if it plays better with my skin next time! 

[hhelix]

I agree with @theshapeshifter   This oil smells nothing like the description. I put it on this morning and was getting a slightly vanillin, slightly baby milk vomit note, nothing foresty at all. It almost feels like the bottle was mislabeled. I am curious to read more reviews to see if others are getting something different. 

[Llanval]

Oh, looks like Buck Moon 2021 is my first bpal heartbreaker.

😱💀

 

In the bottle: This is not what the scent description lists. Nope no sir, why does this smell like cereal, like cream of wheat? Baked goods?? Noooooooooo.

 

Wet: There is NOTHING of the scent description in this bottle or on my skin. No forest herbs, pine pitch, smoky birch tar, cedar berries, juniper, or amber moss. For sure there's no crystalline lunar oil. 

 

This is an armful of baby. You've fed the baby cream of wheat, or some other baby cereal grain mush, and they've puked that and some soured milk, all over you. This is an unpleasant, faintly rancid splort of baked goods, cream of wheat or some sort of cereal grain, and baby powder. The forest left home for cigarettes, and is never coming back.

 

I'm so bummed. So so so bummed out by this blend. I wish I'd waited for the forum's reviews. I sure as s**t will in the future. There's just no way no waaaaay this matches the description. I was so hyped to try this, I kicked a Shunga scent out of this order, for this bottle. I'm heartbroken. Nay, devastated! Weeping dramatically on my fainting couch like a neurotic Victorian lady, here. 😞

 

I used the last of my Yorick to make this Go Away. At least the bottle is cute.

Edited July 23, 2021 by Llanval

[dlynngarrett]

Fresh out of the mail a couple of weeks ago, I, too, got the same cereal, grain upon first sniff. It smelled nothing like the description nor did it resemble past years of Buck Moon. I was really looking forward to this one, since previous years are one of my favorite moons.  At first I thought it was mail shock, but I tried it again today, and no change. I agree this seems to be a possible mis-label. Following for other reviews. 

[Estamets]

I agree with previous reviewers: this is nothing like what I would have expected from the description. To me, this smells like toast. Yummy, plain toast. A couple of hours in, a milk note creeps in: break soaked in milk, like something my grandpa would have eaten for breakfast. Now, 5 hours in I've got a lovely sweet skin scent.

 

I could be persuaded to believe that my natural smell is bread, but that's certainly not what I expected!

 

ETA: I swapped for a bottle of this because I actually…. like it? 
 

I’m getting the popcorn that others mentioned now, and a sliver of something lunar-esque. No moss, but maybe a touch of amber. I don’t get any forest greenery out of this. 
 

It’s quite gentle & cozy… that could be the fur note but it’s definitely a short, coarse fur, not shaggy dog or fluffy cat or hibernating bear fur.

 

EATA: okay WHOA. I just applied on my other wrist and BAM- there’s the pine forest! Crystalline needles! Dew-kissed juniper and cedar berries! The dry brown note comes through on the dry down, and is more recognizable as fur (rather than toasted grains). It’s all. Right. There. 
 

I don’t know if this is a super sensitive skin chemistry thing or if my nose is adapting to the subtleties of this blend, but it’s a world of difference. I get all of the notes except smoke, and I can understand “animalistic, deep scent” as taking a cozy nap in a pile of deer - NOT, as I first understood it, as a dark, human-turned-animal scent. 
 

ETA (Sep 12, 2021): for more of the lunar notes, SLATHER. I definitely get more complexity from the blend with greater quantities. Close up, it’s still that cozy popcorn musk, but after a decent slather on the shoulders with a roller ball, the throw is all clean crystalline dewy pine pitch and juniper. It almost turns soapy, but makes a U-turn as it dries down. 

Edited September 13, 2021 by Estamets

[Jenjin]

[zankoku_zen]

On wet, there is is a toast/toasted popcorn note, but it mainly dries down to a musk, fur, and a whiff of something very vanilla-like. It's a deep musk, fur on me though, and I get a fair bit of amber and moss, actually. Medium throw and wear length.

[doomsday_disco]

First, I get THE LÖÖPS. This also happened to me with Hungry Ghost Moon 2013, which shares a few notes with this blend, although it's more understandable that that one went that way. I think there is a lemony herb combining with some sort of grain note giving that cereal vibe. Then it morphs into fur musk and buttered popcorn.  (I'm guessing Jenjin also had this experience with that gif review above.  ) It stays that way for several hours, but at the end of the day, I do get hints of ambery moss cozying up to the musk.

 

This one wasn't what I was expecting, but I did get a few of the listed notes and I'm relieved to have not gotten the baby vomit experience of some of the reviewers in this thread.  I won't be hanging onto my decant, though, because I prefer my intentional LÖÖP and popcorn scents more.

Edited August 1, 2021 by doomsday_disco

[feyofthefellwood]

I was looking forward to trying my decant because of the polarizing response to this, and . . . I actually kinda like it? It does start out with a toasty popcorn quality, but the musk and foresty notes are underneath and come out as the scent wears. Maybe this is more like a Baby Buck Moon? Fawn Moon? Jenjin's gif is a good visual for it, but I'm here for it and it's nice to have a different variation on my older Buck Moon partial. 😀

[Rayleigh]

I had high hopes given reviews of previous years' Buck Moon, but alas. Bread. Salty, slightly sour bread. Long after dry down, I get maybe a bit of musk, but the sourness also increases. The salt is what puts me off of this more than anything. I'm not opposed to grain scents, and in fact some of my favorites fit that description, but this is not working even as a bread blend. Thank goodness for decants -- and fortunate that I already have some excellent BPAL blends that capture the woodsy vibe I was hoping to find here. I'll give this a rest and try it again, but unless the story changes, this one's not for me.

[ellocentipede]

I really love this one. It smells like velvety antler fuzz on a young buck in a forest. It also smells a lot like the gif that Jenjin posted. It's an optimistic and youthful take on Buck Moon!

[Threemoons]

OK, add me to the list of slightly confused people on this one.  My read:  In the bottle:  Kettle corn.  As in perfect, straight-up fresh, crackling hot, sweet and salty kettle corn fresh from the copper toasting bowl.  On, wet:  OK I guess there's some damp green moss tone in here somewhere under all that kettle corn.  Also getting tiny resinous hits of juniper and other evergreen sap.  Drydown:  Caramel corn almost all gone after a few hours but still faintly there; wood and fur notes finally coming out to the front in dry, warm wafts.  Low throw, medium wear length.  Will be curious to see how this ages.  But really...kettle corn?  I mean I LIKE it but not what I was expecting at all. 

[Ythik]

I can't say I'm a big fan of this one, though it seems a little more well-behaved for me than most other people.  I'm definitely mostly getting an animal musk of some sort, and it feels slightly leathery/suede-y in a buckskin sort of way, which is probably the deer skin note.  I got a brief period of *very* faint forest-y vibes but even when they were there they just barely sort of float around the edges of the scent indistinctly.  It definitely has a warm evening air quality to it though.  A kind of almost-muggy warmth just before the evening starts to get chillier.  As it dries I occasionally get something that feels a little off, a little sharp, that my brain is interpreting as something like animal urine, which I can't say I enjoy, but then it sort of disappears back into the musk/deerskin warm fuzziness which is much nicer.

 

After reading all of the reviews here though I can definitely see how people are getting grains/carbs/popcorn.  There is something in here that feels grain-like in a strange way.

[roseus]

In the bottle I get toasty rice or grain scent, with a fuzzy brown musk and a bit of evergreen. A bit of an almond note as well I think. On my skin it's similar though that almondy note is harder to find and I get more evergreen. As it dries I get a bit more of the popcorn impression others had, but I also get a toasted rice vibe. This melds with the musk. Underneath the dark green scent I get a bit of tartness. This is a cozy, inviting forest scent, maybe a little glowing cottage just off in the distance. 

[groovyrooby]

Ahhh this is so nice and comforting. To start - sweet corn. Next - popcorn! Salty and buttery. I worried this would go plastic on me, as most delicious buttery things do. Then - warm grain cereal. There's that sweet hay I was hoping for! It's that particular sweetness from Scarecrow Turned Philosopher - a natural grassy, grainy sweet. I would almost call this a foodie smell. Also reminds me of my beloved Brood XIX in that way.

 

I've worn this quite a few times now and only once detected the Fruit Loops scent (which I actually was kind of excited for!), but I keep reaching for this when I want a calm, cozy smell, often at night, when hanging with friends or family, very casual heartwarming gatherings, or even when going to bed. It puts a smile on my face and smells like a big hug. Yummy, salty, and sweet.  

[fairybites]

I can see why some people were disappointed in this since it smells a lot like popcorn. But as someone who loves popcorn scents, this is really good! I wouldn't say it's the best popcorn scent because I do get some of the foresty scents with it. Smells like a popcorn garland left out in the forest. On me, the popcorn does eventually fade, but it still leaves a slightly buttery and salty scent in the background.

 

I didn't get a Froot Loops scent that others got, but I think I would have still liked this if it smelled like that on me. 

[forspecial_plate]

I get the popcorn note too - but there is definitely more to this, I am picking up on the crystalline notes as well, and that part reminds me of the old school Lunacy scents I've had the good fortune to smell.  I actually was able to compare this with all of the other Buck Moons (a good friend has the first one, and I have the rest), and I think they are cousins, different scents but you can tell they're related.  It also reminds me of Wolf Moon from '04 or '05, that one has a crystalline feeling too.

 

I love this!  It's cozy and comforting.