olympia301

This one really suits me. For some reason I get one of the same notes out of HTP as I did out of Underpants. I have to say "amber" because that is part of the description, but there is a ghostly vanilla flitting about in the background. I can't really say I smell pomegranates or any fruit at all for that matter, but this is all beautiful and very difficult to pin down. I will be getting myself a 5ml bottle of this with my next order. It is just beautiful.

Thick, rich, dark, and sweet Sheol has a part with is a charmingly nostalgic flirt with the past. I can smell flowers in here and an almost overwhelming perfumy scent which makes me think of the human aftermath of a death in a very kindly way. I found Sheol had very good throw and staying power.

Smells just like suntan lotion on the beach. I have always had a hard time with aquatics/ozone...just not my thing. This one is probably the best one of the aquatics I have tried but I find it 'soapy' alas. It is a clean scent and I think it's rather sporty, but I keep on interpreting it as "Tide" or something, so I will have to leave it at that. The icon shows Katrina the hurricane.

Very pretty sandalwood which is very very peaceful and stays close to the skin. There is at least one other part of this but I cannot identify it. A calming blend and one which I think would do very well in an oil burner or a scent locket or both, if you were inclined to meditate, this is perfect for the atmosphere around you, or if you had a yoga class.

Sad to say that Black Rose and I did not get along. I may have found my one true rose scent in London, and everything else is "not London". Black Rose was indeed heavy, very rosey and too frontal to my nose to really be a favorite blend in my lineup. It could be the way I perceive it, too. I reminded me of Libertine, but I liked Libertine better so I guess I will just let Black Rose try to beguile someone else. I got the impression that this was one of Beth's older blends, and when I took a look at when this review thread was started, I was right. I do think that Beth has really taken a great turn in her blends somewhere around 2005 and I don't know what it is but it's the difference between good and great. Not to say that there are no blends before 2005 which are knock-your-socks-off good, because there are loads of them (e.g. Snake Oil, Velvet, Severin for instance) but this one... Once again I am glad I got to try it in any case.

If ever a perfume captured a tremulous mouse telling a long and sad tale, this one is it. Pink, pink, pink in a different way from Pink Phoenix or Pink Moon. There is a great deal of vanilla about this, and amber in one of its many many forms. The sweet pea is what makes it The Mouse's Tale. Sometimes I get a whiff of it and it's just tooo much, with the sweetness of the pea and vanilla and whatever nose tickling thing is in the amber used. Then it veers away into a Chinese sort of incensey moment. Then it goes back to a floral and amber. Very strange the way this one just goes around and around. I don't think it ever really settles down on my skin, like a mouse...they are nervous creatures, you know. Last night I got the idea of combining this with The House of Night, and I am glad I did. There are some really peculiar similarities (or contrasts) which had The Mouse happily scampering and squeaking all through The House of Night all night long. Loved it. The jury is still out on The Mouse's Long and Sad Tale as being part of my permanent collection. More empirical studies must be done---on mice.

This one was really really pretty white flowers. Masses of lunar blossoms. I could not pick out the individual notes, there were too many of them and they were all white flowers with thick waxy petals and bloomed at night. This one was a rare and fabulous treat.

Cold to being frigid, a little bit floral, rather herbal. Cold moon does what its name implies. Alas, it isn't my thing but that is only because I am not into that kind of floral. Oh well, I am happy I got to try it at least.

I tried to resist the temptation to try underpants. I really did. It is limited, it is finished, it is one of those legedary scents. I knew I was going to like it. Argggh! A dear friend sent me a sample of it. It really reminds me of Demeter's Sugar Cookie, but it is far better. I smell lemon somewhere in the background, just like the better sugar cookie recipes, there is lemon in the dough. It is a musk, it hangs around and pumps out its goodness just under the radar. Just a drop will keep you happy all day long. Try to cling to it with your nose, and it's gone before you can say "underpants". In some ways it reminds me of whatever musk there is in Antique Lace, but not quite. There is vanilla down there but it combines so well with the rest of the ingredients that it loses its character and becomes part of the whole very gracefully. Sandawood? I don't detect that note but I bet it is in there, just in such a small proportion that it too is part of the whole rather than claiming the spotlight. This may have been a fun scent and a tease, but Underpants is really a good good scent. I am happy I got to try it and got to love it. It's, I hope, a harbinger of things to come. Yesssss.

Damn great. Compared to Eat Me, this one is somehow a bit sharper and less sugary but by itself it is a knockout. I think there may be something out of Trick or Treat floating around here, and it is used for great charm and nose stroking beauty. Wow. Another 10 ml, and another step closer to the poor house. But damnation, I will smell so very very good.

Dear God, this was one time when foody and perfume meet and the combination is indescribably delicious. This one is my Holy Grail for sure. 10ml on my next order. There is a note in here that is straight out of Snake Oil which really goes with the rest of the blend like magic. Thank God this is a GC. Deep vanilla with spices and a shot of lemon. I don't get any berries to this, but that might be just a general fruit thing talking. Eat Me is great, just great. I love it.

God, this one was funny. I put it on and it was FOUL. Blech, just like those car air fresheners in a can that you put under your seat. Orange plastic. I was seriously thinking of washing it off but got distracted. About 3 minutes later it was gorgeous. It had blended with my skin and become something truly beautiful. I am not the world's greatest orange fan but that is the prettiest light side of orange. Orange and skin. Wow, this one is a winner. ETA: This is one of the Most BPAL-esque blends out there. I don't know why I am saying it, Beth is not world famous for her kumquat but for the life of me, if someone said,"Is there a typical BPAL scent?" I would say,"Tweedledee". Yep, I would say that.

I was so relieved this one did not work on me. I am spared at least a few coppers in my wallet. On me it was just a confused herbal, and reminded me of the cassia note I can't wear. I think it was the fig, which is real iffy on me. Green tea doesn't like me either, so I was headed for a fall with Tweedledum.

I think this is the first lunacy blend and it is a real beauty. If someone just rattled off the ingredients, I would have said "ick" but they are done so very well, with nothing overpowering the whole, I just have to say that is is art. There may be dragon's blood and orange in Red Moon, but you can't pick them out and say that they are taking over this perfume. They are used in the best proportion, and these prima donnas are gracefully coaxed into being in the chorus instead of taking center stage and yelling at the top of their lungs. All the other parts of Red Moon are woven in harmoniously. Very juicy and red fruit smelling, but not cloying and certainly not bubble gum. It is fresher than Hollywood Babylon (to my nose, others would disagree), and it isn't the sex or the spice in this case, it's the combination of the elements which makes the blend perfect in itself. Really really gorgeous.

Sad to say, Sleepy Moon and I did not get along. It is a very perfumy sort of a blend and I can't quite interpret the lavender in it as lavender, it's just part of a soapy sort of smell to me. I am quite sorry that Sleepy Moon isn't my thing. It sounded lovely.

This one is a beauty. I smell mint, of course, and then a gorgeous and totally harmonious floral (a real hothouse white blossom which is totally incongruous to the cold cold opener). That scent of the thick white waxy flower mating with a minty start is a wonderful marriage of opposing enviornments. I love this one, it is fabulous for summertime wear, and if you think it doesn't last long enough for your tastes, you can imagine it in a silver scent locket 'round your neck on a humid Southern night. Just perfect.

This is one lunacy I did not order and I am sorry I didn't. Yes, it is fruit and that subtle shot of Lunacy Juice, yes...fruit has been done before. But I love the bumptous interpretation of it all, a rowzing cascade of all kinds of good things. It kind of reminded me of Juicy Fruit gum when I first smelled it, but it settled into a more Beth blend of fruit smells. She never lets them get out of hand. Very nice. Very very nice. Yes, that is Chiquita Banana, yes she is the trademark of the United Fruit Company. If they don't like the fact I have used her for my icon, they can come to my house and bite my ass.

I have to agree 100% with Maewitch on this one. To quote: Sad to say, none of those notes are favorites of mine, so I am uniquely unqualified to pass judgment on such a rare item. I also suspect that this one does not keep, and like Beaujolais, you want to enjoy it as soon as you got it as aging will not improve it.

I smelled Hunter Moon right after Wolf Moon and the comparison brought out the slightly fruity parts of Hunter Moon, I imagine that is the wine component. This one actually reminds me of Wolf Moon quite a bit. I made the icon the color which I think this blend reminds me of, a greyed purple. somehow I don't get bonfires or leaves out of Hunter Moon, but it is pretty.

Very perfumy. I wasn't expecting that but it's a nice touch. Musk of some kind and I think I smell just a little bit of cassia and it is quite watery. Is it lupine? Well, I don't know. Am I glad I got to try it? Yes. It is a nifty interpretation of "wolf", and I was expecting more of a pine/woods scent so this is a bit of a curve ball. That's what I really love about the lunacies, you don't know how each concept is going to be interpreted.

Some of my very best work has been done when I have been boiling mad. Go figure that. But it's true. sometimes anger is the most efficient fuel for creativity, and that's a good thing (as you alluded to). P.S. I am definately in line for HGM tee shirt. Really really anticipating the shirt and the bottle label. Neat that you had that kind of a starting point.

Wel, I think the answer is: back in the '80's when ATM's first came into use and (surprise) you got your picture taken every time you used it. They didn't tell you about it (they didn't have to). --oly

Yes, it sure does. Wow.

I get a reaction to the (I guess) cinnamon in Eclipse. Once I had an empty bottle and filled it with water and shook it, trying to get all the goodness out of it that I could. I poured the Eclipse water on myself from the neck down. A couple of minutes later I looked in the mirror because where it had touched felt as if it had been scratched. There were red rivulets where the Eclipse water had run down my skin. Very wierd looking. Exactly the same pattern of the water. So, from now on I wear it in a scent locket. I can put it on the palms of my hands without a problem, too. The Palm Trick really scents the air frem the heat and the fact it doesn't seem to absorb as fast as pore laden skin.

It's a lot like violets presented on a frozen frosty silver platter.