Lunasariel

2024 version! In the imp: ...Wine??? No, seriously, I don't get any rose at all, just straight-up red wine. My father is a winemaker, and this smells exactly like sticking your nose into the bung hole of a French oak wine barrel full of cabernet sauvignon that's almost ready for bottling. It's not unpleasant, just... what??? Wet: What the Sam Hill is going on with this perfume? Again, not rose, but something kind of acidic and spicy and chemical-y - way too much cinnamon or allspice? Camphor? I have no clue what's going on here. Dry: Whew, finally! A recognizable rose note finally develops, first most noticeable in the sillage, but eventually at skin-level as well. It is quite a camphorous rose, at least at first, but after a little while it becomes lovely and fresh-smelling.

2024 version! In the imp: It smells white and fluffy! Something akin to the "starry" note from, say, Canis Major or The Flame of the Bear, but less crystalline. It's quite a sweet scent, the way night air is sometimes sweet. And maybe a little bit floral? Wet: White and chilly, what can I say! Now with a distinctly sharper, chillier, more night air-y edge. Still very sweet - if I was smelling this blind I would assume some sort of ineffable florals, or maybe vanilla? Dry: Fairly linear. Always fairly soft, and getting softer over time, but it loses that sharp, chilly edge. I do want to say that it's coming across as mainly vanilla-ish, with maybe some florals as well.

In the imp: That buttery pie crust note that BPAL does so well hits me first, then sort of omnidirectional baking spices, and then a surprisingly soft and unobtrusive lemon. I'm getting more of a lemon snickerdoodle feeling than lemon chiffon pumpkin pie, but whatever it is, I'm here for it! Wet: Close to the skin, it's much more distinctly pumpkin pie spices with a hint of lemon, and still with that delicious buttery pie crust note. The throw is much more general baked goods. Weirdly enough, the lemon is *much* more noticeable on one wrist than the other. Huh! Dry: Lemony, spiced-but-not-spicy baked goods - not distinctly pumpkin pie, but not distinctly snickerdoodle, either. Predictably, the lemon burns off after an hour or so, leaving pure baking-spices-and-pie-crust goodness.

In the imp: A fresh, clean herbal scent, predominantly lavender and lemon in that order. And maybe a little woodsy? Wet: Lemon (or at least citrus), herbal and just a little sweet, with the tangerine also coming out after a few minutes. Not as floral as I had expected. Dry: The citrus burns off, leaving the ylang ylang and sandalwood to come forward. It's a mild, creamy, floral-woodsy sort of scent. Cooling the nerves and inspiring serenity indeed!

In the imp: Sweet lavender, and lots of it! And maybe some patch or lavender to provide ballast? A sweet, well-rounded lavender, anyway - kinda reminds me of the Liliths, or certain Lupercalias. Wet: Ahhhh, this is exactly what I was hoping for when I read the description! Sage is one of my all-time favorite notes, and this is a wonderful example - soft green, herbal, and alive. It's rounded out by rich, complex bourbon vanilla, and still a hint of sweet lavender. The patchouli also comes out to play after a few minutes, especially further from the skin. Dry: After a brief but worrying soapy phase, it settles into a glorious honeyed patch and bourbon vanilla, lovely and warm, rounded out with notable sage and less-notable but still present lavender.

2024 version! In the bottle: "Starchy" is the main note I'm getting here, like rice or flour (or rice flour!) - kind of musty, but leaning in a foodie direction. But it's also a bit creamy and a bit sweet (although I can't identify the sweetness as either fig, ylang ylang, or vanilla at this point). This is a very soft pink-and-white scent. Wet: Huh, there's a change-up! The starchiness is still there, but instead of balancing against creaminess and sweetness, it's balancing against sandalwood and fir. There's maybe a hint of creaminess still rounding things out, but now it's primarily a woodsy scent, with sandalwood being predominant. It still feels very soft, and wears very close to the skin. Dry: The starchiness eventually fades away entirely, leaving woodsiness (again, mainly sandalwood) and fruity-creamy sweetness. It does smell very cozy, comforting, and compassionate!

2024 version! In the bottle: Pretty, pretty, pretty! I can pick up the roses, the jasmine, the amber, the vanilla, and the mallow, but the overall impression is pretty, elegant, omnidirectional daintiness. A vintage Christmas gown indeed! Wet: The roses and mallow come on strongest at first, with the amber keeping everything grounded. Jasmine starts to creep in as well after a few minutes. At skin level, it's very floral-forward, but the throw is much more sweet cream/mallow and amber, with some very soft rose around the edges. Dry: Unsurprisingly, the amber and vanilla(/mallow?) prove the most tenacious, but the rose also hangs around longer than I thought it would. This is a gorgeous, dainty, elegant scent. The gown to go with this would be a stunner!

2024 version! In the imp: Evergreen-y, but not overwhelmingly so. The fir is balanced out with something berry-sweet and herbal, and a "starry" note that I also noticed, and loved, in Canis Major. Wet: The berry-sweetness and effervescent "starry" note take a big step back, and the myrrh and oak (I think?) take a big step forward. I've never smelled an oak note this pure before - it's woodsy and vegetal and a little musty, but in a good way, very much like breaking open a damp fallen oak branch. It's a dark, damp, woodsy, winter scent; very appropriate that I'm testing it on the winter solstice! Dry: More traditionally woodsy and resinous, or maybe incense-y? It's definitely a lot drier; mainly oak (or fir, from reading other review?) and some myrrh. The myrrh also is fairly dry, but becomes more resinous and less incense-y towards the very end (around 10 hours on me, which is about average), bringing back a bit of the sweetness I noted ITI. It's a quiet, inward-looking, meditative sort of scent.

In the imp: My brother walked by while I was uncapping this and said it smells like "old folks' homes and death." Thanks buddy! But really, it is a very strong, perfumey rose, with the narcissus coming across as kind of wet, green, and aldehydic or alcohol-y. Wet: Yup, that's rose! Still very aldehydic and traditionally perfumey. And it packs a HELLUVA punch. Dry: Gets less aldehydic and wet/green over time. The throw also decreases to something much more manageable. It settles down into a fairly straightforward rose SN, and stays there for the next 10-12 hours, which is about average length for me.

In the imp: A very soft, perfumey (but not sweet) lavender. The astringent edge that lavender sometimes has is blunted by tonka and/or amber. Subtle and lovely! Wet: Ah, damn. I haven't tried a fougere for years after they drastically failed to work on my skin, and it looks like things haven't improved. Soapy, plasticky lavender, alas. At least it's balanced out by a surprisingly nice rosewood! Dry: Once the lavender fougere burns off (after an hour or so), it actually dries down to a really lovely amber-rosewood scent, with more rosewood closer to the skin and the throw having more amber. Well, that was a nice surprise!

In the imp: I'm getting a lot of pumpkin spices (particularly nutmeg) and honey, but this is a surprisingly non-foodie scent for me. Probably because the more gourmand-y elements are balanced by a nice fur-ruffling musk, a very smooth patch, amber, and maybe just a hint of bergamot around the edges? Wet: Very incense- and pumpkin spice-forward (more pumpkin spice up close, but more incense from afar), but grounded and made cuddly by tonka and amber. The bergamot also becomes much more apparent after a minute or two. It brings to mind the colors orange and brown, and feels like a fuzzy, well-worn knitted jumper. Dry: This is such a gorgeous fall scent. Less sweet than you might think from the pumpkin spice/honeyed chestnut/amber, but just a lovely, mellow golden-brown scent. The honeyed chestnut really comes into its own on the drydown, and it eventually settles into mainly tonka, patchouli, and amber, although the pumpkin spice incense and honey(ed chestunt) are also evident. The tonka, patch, and honey last the longest, although the amber and incense also hang around for a long time.

In the center of the chariot shines Capellas yellow-white brilliance. A deep chthonic, earthy scent, with a glowing core: oakmoss, vetiver root, and patchouli with lemon rind and golden amber. In the imp: A very earthy, almost herbal fruity scent. I expected the lemon rind to be sharp to the point of astringency, but this has and oddly... juicy quality to it? Might be the amber rounding things out. Wet: This is a scent of wild places, a sunbeam piercing the canopy of the forêt sauvage. The vetiver is surprisingly well-behaved on me, deep and growling but not B.O. or burning tires, the way it can sometimes go. The amber-gilded lemon rind is still fairly dominant, but it's made dark and wild by the patch and just a hint of vetiver. At this point, I would compare it to Hemlock - a very realistic green, wild scent, but dark and mysterious instead of light and springy. Surprisingly little throw so far. Dry: Huh, that's a surprise! I was worried that the oakmoss would take this blend straight to Soaptown, as it tends to do, but instead I get an oddly pretty, almost fruity-floral scent. The amber is much more prominent, and the patchouli is now providing an almost spicy warmth instead of grit. There's still a breath of wild, fresh air, but I would now call this a cheerful, even office-appropriate, scent. Earthy, maybe. Chthonic, not so much.

In the imp: A spicy-woodsy scent, fairly dry, with pine prominent but not conquering all it sees the way it sometimes does. I also thought I got a sort of musky, animalic note, but there's nothing listed that matches it. Maybe some unlisted musk, or maybe some combination of amber, mosses, and woods? It's a wonderful sort of fur-ruffling scent, whatever it is. Wet: If I had to describe this scent in one word, it would be "organic." This is the scent of a damp forest floor, complete with leaf mast and decaying wood. It's very weirdly cozy, but not homey, if that makes any kind of sense - it's not a "fuzzy sweaters and baking bread" kind of scent, which is what usually makes me think "cozy," but it kind of wraps its arms around you and sinks into your skin. Maybe this is the hazelnut and/or amber talking? I had no idea what nooka is, so I looked it up, and according to Fragrantica, "Nootka, or Alaska cypress, is a cypress tree native to the coastal Northwest. The oil has a strong woody aromatic smell with hints of grapefruit and blackcurrant." While I'm definitely getting plenty of aromatic woods, I'm not getting any grapefruit or blackcurrant (which is a little odd, since blackcurrant is a listed note in its own right). Maybe they'll come out on the drydown? Dry: The scent moves up from the forest floor, going from damp leaf mast and gently decaying wood to living tree trunks, complete with moss and lichen, and bars of sunlight slanting through the canopy. It's a beautiful gold-green-brown scent. After eight hours or so, it does a particularly graceful fade into a sort of musky amber, with that "organic" feeling still going strong.

In the imp: Spicy-herbal and resinous, with the lavender very prominent and medicinal-smelling. There's something sweet stopping the whole thing from smelling too sharp, but it's buried under all the other, pushier notes. I think it might be the blood orange and/or the dragon's blood, which has always read strongly cherry-vanilla to my nose, but I can't tell which. Wet: A big flash of woozy-sweet lavender, like The Dream or Good Morning, London, quickly gives way to an absolutely glorious blood orange and amber, with more than a whiff of incense. I wish I was getting more of the cacao, though. Dry: The blood orange burns off after an hour or two, leaving mainly amber and omnidirectional incense/resins with maybe just a hint of cherry-vanilla dragon's blood.

In the imp: That's a nice well-worn leather! I'm also getting some very deep resins - I almost want to say something fruity and/or floral? And maybe a flash of metal and/or ozone. Wet: Huh, this is interesting! From afar, I still get that lovely well-worn leather and fruity-floral resins, but the closer to the skin I get, the more I pick up on a deeply unfortunate soapy/cleaning note. So as I'm sitting at my computer typing, I'm doing so in a cloud of "sexy but dangerous assassin," but as soon as I lift my wrist for a closer sniff, the assassin is replaced by a hospital janitor. Dry: Thankfully, the unfortunate soapiness fades after an hour or two, leaving darkly fruity resins and that lovely well-worn leather note. It's a darkly, quietly elegant scent, and I love it!

In the imp: A very light, watery, almost cologne-like scent. Makes me think of white light, and pale greens and blues. Wet: Not cologne-like, but still watery. I almost want to say something green and/or floral? It reminds me of light reflecting off of water. Dry: OK, now it's less watery/green and more cologne-like. There are still some florals hanging around, but it's now more clean-smelling and "perfumey." Still lovely as a light, clean, refreshing scent, though!

In the imp: Smooth resins, with a strong beeswax note. I almost want to say honey as well, but I think that's just the beeswax talking. Overall it's a mellow, burnished-gold sort of scent, almost goopy. Wet: A lot drier; more resinous and less beeswax-y, although the beeswax is still present. The resins really are wonderful, though - smooth, mellow, and sweet, with maybe the slightest vanillic edge? Dry: Pretty linear - turtles resins and beeswax all the way down. A softly glowing golden scent, simple and lovely on its own or great for adding warmth, depth, and coziness to other scents.

In the imp: A big, bright, effervescent blast of something fizzy - at first I wanted to say ginger ale. There's also some sweet tonka in there somewhere, but the petitgrain/ginger ale note is very nose-catching - it actually feels like bubbles going up my nose! Wet: The ginger ale-esque bubbliness quickly burns off, leaving a more distinct citrus note. It blends *beautifully* with the glowing golden amber and soft, fuzzy, brown-gold tonka - most of the time. The citrus occasionally veers a little high-pitched for me, especially at the beginning, but overall I found they balanced very well. Dry: As usual with most citrus notes, almost all of them have burned off an hour or so in, leaving only a hint of petitgrain to round out the amber and tonka. I'm also getting whiffs of something my brain keeps wanting to interpret as baking bread - so the nutmeg, maybe? My husband picked up on vanillic notes, which I didn't, so it might be the tonka as well.

In the imp: A very sweet and chewy tobacco (with maybe caramel making it extra-sweet and extra-chewy?), with soft, fuzzy herbs underneath. Wet: The tobacco is much more restrained, and is playing very nicely with a swirl of herbs (I would believe sage, but I couldn't pick it out immediately) over a rather dry, woodsy base. I get very occasional hints of bubblegum, which is what chamomile usually does on my skin, but thankfully not many - I was a little worried about this when I ordered, so I'm glad that the other notes are having a chance to shine through! After a few minutes, from afar, it's a a rather lovely balance between gray-green sage and dried brown tobacco leaves, with no raisins or caramel that I could pick up. The sandalwood started out almost nonexistent, but has become more prominent. Dry: This is the scent of dried herbs and tobacco leaves hanging among old wooden rafters - surprisingly dry and homey! At first the herbs (again, mainly sage but not distinctively so) are more prominent, accented by the tobacco leaves, and then they slowly shift places over several hours. When the tobacco becomes prominent, it becomes sweeter and chewier, like ITI. And maybe there's just a hint of fruity sweetness? Not enough for me to be able to say so with confidence, though, which I'm extra-glad of - I occasionally amp sweet notes, and I was a little afraid that the foody sweetness would stomp all over the tobacco and herbs, both of which I adore. Huh, this ended up being a lot quieter and more grounded than I'd anticipated. It's a sort of homey, quietly confident scent - not quite how I think of Schmendrick, although I suppose I did take a "magic, do as you will" chance on the camomile and foody notes not overwhelming the tobacco, sage, and sandalwood.

In the imp: A very pretty, perfumey, leather and juniper scent. It's lovely, with enough of a rough edge to make it interesting, but doesn't exactly fit my mental image of a berzerker. The juniper is a particularly nice touch - when I was ordering this scent, I was worried that it was going to boil down to Fighter 2.0, which on me smelled exactly like my elegant grandmother's fancy shoe closet. This is definitely not that - much more herbal and multifaceted. I also suspect that the "blood" in the description is dragon's blood; there's a sweetness here that I can't otherwise place, but I don't get the CHERRY-VANILLA PUNCH that I usually do from dragon's blood. Wet: A big ol' blast of I AM LEATHER, HERE ME ROAR!, that quickly settles down into a much softer, more well-worn leather that plays well with juniper and poplar bud. Or at least, I think that's poplar bud - it's a gently green/herbal/almost floral scent, and I really like it. The sweetness that may or may not have been dragon's blood from ITI is missing, and overall it's much less "perfumey"-smelling, but it does settle down very quickly, and wears quite close to the skin. Surprisingly demure for a berzerker! Dry: The leather goes through an unfortunate newer, kind of chemical-y phase that is indeed reminiscent of a high-end shoe closet, with some omnidirectional woods to complete the illusion, but after a little while it settles into a lovely well-worn musky leather and juniper scent strongly reminiscent of l'Idole from the 2017 Lupers, which was one of my favorites. Surprisingly soft-spoken and demure for a berzerker - this feels more like a druid who is mostly happy sitting in their glade in their well-worn leather robe, but can go on the occasional rampage as needed.

In the imp: A zingy and clean blast of eucalyptus and ever-so-slightly-sweet mint. I know this sounds like a one-way ticket to Cleaning Fluid Town, but right now it's just refreshing and pleasant. (Or maybe it's the muggy, hot, smoke-laden day that's making me crave anything cool.) Wet: It starts out as a much stronger eucalyptus note with less mint and MUCH more frankincense, but after half a minute or so an unpleasantly soapy note emerges; I can both taste and smell it. Luckily, that settles down after another couple of minutes into a mild eucalyptus note backed up by some white musk. Throw is decent and almost entirely eucalyptus. Dry: A surprisingly low-key cologne-like scent, soft eucalyptus toned down by gently resinous frankincense and white musk (and maybe blue musk? I don't have a great scent profile for blue musk). It's now wearing much closer to the body, and I'm surprised by how chill (heh) it feels, given the number of notes that tend to go high-pitched and shrieky on me.

In the imp: Fizzy, gingery, and effervescent, with a nice little kick from the pepper, while still avoiding the nose-biting elements of both ginger and pepper. There's something tempering the ginger here, which I think is the balsam? It's taking the scent out of foodie/craft cocktail territory, and into something much more multifaceted. Wet: A BIG punch of ginger, tempered by a much more distinctive balsam, right out the gate. The pepper is still giving it some (more) kick, but the sarsaparilla leans slightly soapy on me. After a minute, a very distinct machine oil note merges, which plays surprisingly well with the ginger and balsam. Dry: Starts out still very ginger-forward, tempered with an interesting smoky note (this is definitely metallic/diesel smoke, not woodsmoke). As time goes on, however, the ginger fades out and the balsam (and nutmeg, I think?) take a big step forward. The metallic smokiness note remains constant, though, and it turns out that balsam(/nutmeg?)/smoke is a really nice combination on me - it's not exactly snuggly, but it is kind of weirdly cozy, in an odd, unisex sort of way.

In the imp: Surprisingly cologne-like. Fresh out of the package, I noted down a lot more metallic and machine oil notes, but now that's it's been settling for a few days, it's much fresher and cologne-y. Is this the "blue flickers of arcane power?" Wet: Fresh, light, and cool - I initially thought lily of the valley, but I see others saying eucalyptus, which I could also see. Something light green and almost aquatic, anyway. It's oddly reminiscent of Sea of Glass. Dry: A light, vaguely metallic cologne, with the metallic/machine oil note growing stronger over time, but never overpowering the cologne. It does give the cologne a very interesting dimension - a sort of stability or grounded-ness (heh, maybe to counteract the "sparking wires"). I never did pick up on the eucalyptus notes that other reviewers have noticed, though.

In the imp: I think my eyes may have rolled back in my head when I took my first whiff of this. This is liquid gold - the vanilla is subtle & smoky, and the cedarwood is mellow & aged (no lumber rooms or pencil shavings here!). Wet: A little drier and more woodsy. It starts out about 65/35 cedar/vanilla, but quickly equalizes until it's this beautiful blend that's something entirely its own. The vanilla here isn't as crystalline or ethereal as in Zorya Polunochnaya, but it has a similar elusive, smoke-on-the-wind kind of feel to it. Dry: Very well-blended, equally balanced between the two notes. It's not quite a warm & snuggly scent, but there's something comforting about it nonetheless. Stability, maybe? It's a pretty Lawful Good kind of scent.