The Moon

[tempete]

The Moon starts out as an intensely sweet, piercing floral on an herbal background. As the scent dries down, the herbs disappear and are replaced by a lovely creaminess which I think is vanilla. Unfortunately, The Moon goes sharp and plasticky on me in the final drydown.

 

I too thought that the major floral in this was jasmine, but Beth's jasmine notes go soapy on me nearly without fail. I have to agree with andrabell and go with magnolia. It's too bad that The Moon went plasticky because I would have bought a bottle otherwise.

[coulrophobe]

On me, this was pure pungent gardenia - maybe with a touch of jasmine or honeysuckle, but gardenia was definitely the most prominent note.

 

My mother had a gardenia growing up, and when it bloomed I loved the smell wafting through the house - but standing right next to it, the pungency was overwhelming. This blend is similar - wet and in the initial drydown stage, this was a very aggressive and overpowering gardenia scent; I smelled liked I'd been ambushed by a flock of roving gardenia bushes. Damn things just jumped out of a dark alley, bowled me over and stole my wallet.

 

But on drydown, this scent mellowed nicely, turning into more of a femine floral, without the harsh edge/pungency.

 

Not one of my all time favorites, but very pretty once it's calmed down on my skin for a bit.

[nineveh]

This is definitely a heady floral. It could be jasmine or gardenia. That's all I'm getting out of it, actually. They're not turning cloying on me, thankfully. Their scent is deep and creamy, just how I would imagine a moon scent to smell.

[PurringPulsar]

The Moon

 

In the imp: watery, slightly soapy florals. Possibly jasmine and/or gardenia. There's a little bit of something citrussy or aquatic.

Wet on skin: there's a slightly sharp, green, astringent note there, it's slightly off putting and feels dry, but in here it's not too unpleasant. The white florals are still there and there may be either mint or some kind of citrus fruit.

Dry on skin: mmm, this is interesting. there's something there that's green and astringent, and yet there are also soft, slightly soapy floral notes, no doubt gardenia or jasmine, maybe both. There's a watery aspect to this scent, and I'm also wondering if there's a wood or pine note, or herbs, or anise, pepper or something along those lines.

After a while: there's something green in this scent, like crushed flower stems. It's still very flowery. The scent also loses that watery quality it had before and becomes dry and dusty (like the surface of the moon!)

I think the scent becomes more tolerable as time passes. I think this is a scent that requires patience. I eventually get used to the green sharp note and the florals smell nicer, richer and fuller. I don't get the vanilla note that others describe though. I do get a light wood scent though, possibly sandalwood or balsam wood?

Verdict: hmm. I'm not keen on the dry astringent note in this, but this calms down eventually. There are some lovely, if slightly soapy, white florals here, and the scent has a hint of something aquatic, like dew drops on petals. There's definitely gardenia or tuberose in this, and possibly also jasmine. There's also something else in here that I can't quite put my finger on, a herbal or peppery scent of sorts, this may be what contributes to the sharp scent. It lives up to it's name-it has watery qualities at first, which then grow dusty and dry like the moon itself, with white, possibly night blooming flowers, the scent has an ethereal, yet mysterious, distant, withdrawn feeling-it's not warm and approachable like the Sun. It is also a scent that requires patience as it does improve as time passes. If it didn't have that dry astringency, I would love this scent. It's nice, but I'm unsure if I'd buy a bottle. But it does seem very apt for a lunar scent.

Edited July 9, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Slightly fruity jasmine.

 

Wearing: No fruit, just jasmine and/or gardenia. This is very feminine, and has great staying power.

 

Final Impressions: Girly. I like it!

[bonibaru]

I get a very strong floral scent from this on the skin, I can pick up the jasmine but as others said it has a strong gardenia vibe to it. What I do like about The Moon is that it has a musky, incense-y background underlying the floral, so it doesn't have that "little old lady boudoir" smell to it that I so dislike about most florals. It's a bit more sensual, a bit more provocative. Not sure yet if I'll keep it or wear it often, but I'm not ready to let go of my imp just yet

[UltraViolet]

In the bottle

Heaven.

 

On

I'm just giddy with love for this blend. Previous to being gifted with this imp I had no idea "The Moon" was this good. I have no clue what's in this let's see; Jasmine? Oh it's absolutely alive, it's morphing, well not changing really but like ebbing and flowing like the tide. It's a powdery, sweet jasmine, and maybe white lotus ( I think everything has white lotus lately so take this guess with a pinch of salt) that is altogether perfumey, clean smelling and aqueous. It's lovely.

 

30 minutes

Is there almond in this? Dunno.

 

Throw:

average

 

Scent category:

floral/aqueous

 

Summary

It's almost therapeutic to breathe it in. Just as Zombi is that for the earth and for grounding, this is the same. It's very calming in a watery way. And watery blends are typically not very calming to me, not like earth blends (I'm an Aries). This is not as strong of a scent as "Blue Moon" either. You know how Blue moon just gets you right in the 6th chakra ? Well "The Moon" is more along the lines of "Luna" in strength but "The Moon" is sweeter almost foody like "Snow White".

 

Purchase again?

Yes! A bottle if I could.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

4.5

Edited July 19, 2005 by UltraViolet

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 1/5

Summarised in a word or two: Woodsy.

 

In the imp/bottle: Bitter and musky. As a few others have mentioned, this reeks to me of something civet-esque.

 

On skin, wet: Jasmine, vanilla?, and that terrible other thing. Musk? Something herbal? I can't place it, but I don't care for it.

 

On skin, dry: Jasmine and vanilla are very soft, almost creamy. Were it not for whatever makes it turn rancid, this would be very, very nice.

 

Conclusion: Not for me; that woody/musky/animalistic (I can't place it!) note sabotages it for me.

Edited December 20, 2005 by Aredhel

[grrrlennyl]

at first: beautiful flowers, with something sweet underneath. very white. i think i get some jasmine, too.

on: warmer than in the imp. there's something spicy to this, but i'm not sure what it is. possibly pepper of some kind? there's also a very sweet, powdery jasmine. nice.

1.5 hours later: lovely jasmine. this is sweet and wonderful. it's very comforting, to the point where it's making me a bit drowsy

overall: i really like sweet, powdery jasmine, so i can definitely see myself weearing this as a perfume. it will also be nice when i need something calming and comforting.

[Shollin]

First sniff: This is soft and floaty, and the tiniest bit astringent – medicinal, even. I’m having trouble identifying any of the notes.

 

Wearing: It’s floral on my skin, a very soft floaty floral. I think I smell jasmine in here, but it’s very restrained. As it was drying, it reminded me quite a bit of Blue Moon. It’s subtle, but pretty, and I think I’ll hang onto it.

[allelujiah]

This scent shouts out of the bottle. Right from the vial it has a bitter herby quality and a really cloying floral component. Upon application, the floral sweetens a bit to something that smells like...lotus? It is really dark green at first though, before the herbiness mellows out.

 

After it dries down, the jasmine becomes much more prominent. The herbiness mellows to a become that background that many magickal scents have.

 

There is a honeyed quality to the jasmine that I think may be the lotus calming down.

 

This scent is pretty, very feminine and STRONG.

 

Its a heady scent, and I can totally see how it is meant to intoxicate and lead one down the path of dreams and visions that is the Moon.

It isn't a scent for me, but it is quite nice, and very card appropriate.

[QueenFae]

A very soft, light, lovely jasmine blend. I agree that it smells more like night blooming jasmine, which is so appropriate. It's wispy and white and very pretty. It reminds me of Luna and the base for the lunar oils. What a beautiful representation of the Moon, I can almost taste the moonbeams on my tongue. I don't think I'll get a big bottle but I will certainly enjoy my imp.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

The Tarot Series Circle.

 

First sniff:

 

To me, The Moon smells like a spicy, somewhat soapy floral. Carnation, maybe? I'm not terribly good at identifying florals, unfortunately.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Very floral. Somewhat heady, with a spicy, almost almondy background. I'm not very fond of florals and I don't really want to wear anything that reminds me of almonds.

 

Dry down:

 

Pure almondy evil for some reason.

 

I'm not sure it is almond, but it smells like almond to me and I don't like wearing anything that reminds me even vaguely of almonds.

 

The bottom line:

 

I'm not having very good luck with the Tarot Oils and The Moon is another failure for me.

[Little Bird]

This is the Tarot Oil of my nightmares. Super strong jasmine and musk. My skin always amps up jasmine, but in this it's even stronger than usual. The Moon = strongest jasmine EVER.

 

After wearing this for about five minutes I got a vicious headache and was nauseous from the smell. Florals have made me sick before, but this was an especially bad experience.

[Fishwomon]

This is the only Tarot oil I've had a chance to try, but since I love the tarot, I hope to try many more (gotta get me into one of those circular swaps). I have a nice tarted imp of this, and lately I've been wearing the scent to bed in my hair. It's strong, so just a drop works for me and seems not to overpower my bedmate.

 

White flowers with some spice. Quite lovely. This scent doesn't seem to change on me at all (when it's on my skin, I mean); it just grows fainter as the hours pass. The fragrance reminds me of a moonstone, too, that opaque, glossy white.

[aidenraine]

At first I got a soft lemon with powder, and a touch of green underneath,

but as it dries it morphed into a powdery Jasmine, just like Lush's Fairy Jasmine bath bomb.

 

(shortest review of mine... ever)

 

[Lissa]

Ick. Okay it must just be me, but it seems like all the moon scents that I try on instantly turn into a super sweet, yet oddly sour milk smell on me. It's strong enough to make me gag. And I try and try to wash it off, but it lingers. I really thought that the Tarot Moon would be different, but no such luck. Smell great in the bottle, icky on me. This makes me very sad since I really wanted this to work.

[desu]

In the bottle: Jasmine.

 

On my skin: Jasmine. My skin amps jasmine, so that's all I smell.

[cuervosueno]

I'm reviewing this for the tarot circle, but now having put this on my skin, I remember why I gave my imp of the Moon away.

 

Its very very strong. A musky floral, and by that I'm not sure I mean there is musk in it, but it has an animal muskiness.....I don't think it is civet which I usually recognize. It could be my arch-nemesis narcissus, which smells like a funky-sock floral. I don't think its jasmine, though many have mentioned that, because I love jasmine, particularly Beth's jasmine.

 

Whatever it is, it is pretty awful on me. Luckily I only have a few more of these to write then I'm off to the bath.

 

But you know, it kind of works for the card. Because think of the Rider tarot--the glory of the moon, but the water, and the crayfish which makes me think of mud and muck and that sort of rank smell.

[HennaFairy]

bottle:

musky, a little fruity

 

wet:

musky. Spicy jasmine (or magnolia… a floral)

 

dry:

still musky. Still hints of florals, fruit, and spice underneath. But I can't get past the musk.

 

overall:

I don't like the musk (or whatever I'm "reading" as musk) in this

 

rating: 3/10

[filigree_shadow]

Phew. What is that? Gardenia? Holy smokes that's strong stuff. I'm not good at picking out floral notes so I can't say for sure what it is -- but whatever it is, it's extraordinarily strong. I find this scent rather repellent. There's something slightly fruity-smelling underneath it, but to be honest I don't relish the thought of spending any amount of time with my nose near this oil trying to pick out what's in it.

 

Not liking this one too much.

[Magda]

In the bottle, this smelled...not good. It wasn't completely repellent, it just had a cheap sort of smell, like those $3.99 fragrance oils you can get in hippie shops with names like "Peaceful Aura" or "Magickal Mist."

 

I kept putting off trying it on my skin, but then today I figured I wasn't going anywhere, plus I wanted to do some tarot work, so I might as well just try it. Almost immediately, that harsh, plasticy smell disappated leaving behind a lush, creamy floral. I don't get jasmine from it. I went out into my garden to check, and it doesn't smell like star jasmine or night blooming jasmine. To me it smells like pikaki, or maybe moonflower. It's very sweet but doesn't amp on my skin the way jasmine tends to.

 

Beneath the floral there's some incense that gives it a hippie shop feel again, but this time in a good way. I assumed I'd wear this mostly for tarot work, since I don't generally feel like floral perfumes fit me, however with the layer of spice and herbs beneath the floral, The Moon is multifacited enough for me to wear as a day-to-day perfume. I think I'm also going to use it for dreamwork, since it just feels like it would be good for that.

[LiberAmoris]

The Moon is an oil I've had for a long time but never reviewed because it's so hard to describe. I got it because the moon is really important to me---when I was 19 I used to meet a lover in secret on the full moon of every month at a waterfall in western Washington (I was once a romantic before becoming a hardened adult!). He was a really important person in my life and ever since then the moon has been an implicit form of measurement.

 

Wearing it, I get gardenia and a cluster of soft whites and golds. There are moments where it actually smells like bananas and then it drifts back to gardenia underpinned with white nameless flowers I recognize but cannot give word to. An hour after putting it on, it blends with me so that I can't tell where it stops and the smell of me begins. Like I've been in a place with night-blooming flowers and they've rubbed off on me. It's nocturnal, there's a bit of sadness to it, and it feels like being pressed between the leaves in a book.

 

Sometimes I layer this with a sleep oil, and it always meshes well.

[juniperus]

Jasmine at first sniff, and possibly moonflower and other night-bloomers, as these are notes I seem to amp. The jasmine is mostly playing nice, however, and the amping is pretty minor compared to what I usually get form it. It's light...translucent. Very pretty, mysterious, and...shimmering.

[harmonyfb]

Jasmine, jasmine, jasmine, thick and gagging.

 

Off to swap.