Luna Azul 2023

[zankoku_zen]

Ted’s interpretation.

 

The ephemeral romance, the fleeting affair: frankincense and blackcurrant, caramelized black amber, and motia attar.

[VetchVesper]

Not going to lie, I am a little disappointed in this one. I absolutely adored my partial of the 2020 version. I was hoping buying this year's Luna Azul would rectify my lack of the previous version, but, despite having the same notes, this is a very different offering. 

 

The dark, caramelized aspect of the previous version is missing here, while the ephemeral blue quality, present in so many other lunacies, is a star here. I get a lemony aspect that I can only assume is the frankincense. Oddly, @doomsday_disco's impression of lemon and incense, in "Cotton Candy Blue Moon," is what I get here. 

 

This is pretty, in its own right, and probably more stereotypical of past lunar blends than 2020' s heavier, sultry blend. 

 

My scent impression: An exotic lunar garden lays before you. Its white pebble-strewn paths meander amidst lush, luminous blossoms that soak in starlight and spill out sweet scent. Soft incense smoke swirls in eddies, ephemeral and teasing, as they drift from the halls of Queen Serenity's palace. 

[Little Bird]

A clean, watery, floral-ish, blue, lunar oil scent really dominates this year's Luna Azul.  It doesn't smell very much like any of the listed notes to me.  The lunar oil scent is apparent, and then it kind of smells like a very herbal lavender, sour sage, and a hint of sour, unripe blackberry.  It's one of those disappointing bpals for me where you smell it and look at the notes list and wonder if you got a bottle of a different scent entirely.  An hour in, it shifts quite a bit and starts to smell like a heady, spiced floral + those strong, lunar blue notes going a bit soapy, giving off a jasmine and herb scented soap impression.  I had to look up motia attar and the google says it smells like jasmine and spice, so at least that part makes sense.

[becca_s]

On me, I get a sweet black currant scent that blends with the frankincense. After it has dried down I get a few whiffs of a light jasmine note. It is very light and hides behind the black currant and frankincense. There is definitely something lunar and contemplative about this scent. It's like walking through a night garden. This is a scent I can imagine wearing in the evening. I like it, but after testing it twice it is very light on my skin and has a shorter wear time. I think that this could change with some aging though.