Holiday Moon

[Lyrical]

Bamboo pulp and oude with green and white tea.

In the bottle: slightly citrussy green tea with an intangible pale, woody base. At first sniff I'm reminded of Hungry Ghost Moon, but it's not the same.

Wet on skin: definitely citrus, very cool, somewhat sharp.

Dry on skin: stays sharp and citrussy although I can't name a particular fruit - it's somewhere between grapefruit and lime. Unisex. I don't know what oud or bamboo smell like. It's very dry. Eventually it ends up cool and somewhat woody, in a pale, bamboo sort of way. Then it veers towards bitter, but with a touch of powdery sweetness. Hmmmm.

Second review: I liked this much better today! I felt a strong urge to wear something clean and refreshing, and less sweet and creamy than Hungry Ghost Moon. This one fits the bill! It stayed lemony and fresh for hours, and I will definitely reach for it in the summer heat. Medium wear length, but well worth re-applying! I'm loving it now!

[brsis]

Initial thoughts: Good. LORD. Lookit that. Bamboo pulp and teas. The only way I'm not loving this is if it turns into old socks and cat's privates on my skin.

 

In the bottle: Green. Fresh. Watery (Not aquatic). This is a beautifully peaceful and uplifting scent, and I never thought I'd actually ever use that word.

 

On the wrist, wet: Much of the same - it's very gentle and fresh and greeeeeen. Bamboo pulp must be the slight astringency I get from this scent. Just off the bat, it seems like it'll make a good sleep scent for hot days.

 

Twenty minutes later: The astringency has settled down and the tea has come forward. This is not a powerful scent - I know it's there, I can almost pick out what I'm smelling, but the overall impression is one of pure, unadulterated moonlit night time air in some green oriental grove. It's comforting and relaxing and invigorating all at the same time. It's zen in a bottle.

 

Verdict: Keeper, absolutely.

 

Tl;Dr: Soft, pervasive teas and bamboo makes for a soothing, meditative oriental fragrance.

[livingdead71]

This smells very citrusy in the bottle. On the skin, the tea comes out, and I think I'm smelling the bamboo pulp as well. This is a very pretty scent with a nice amount of throw. I love tea and citrus blends, so I'm not surprised I love this. It feels like a warm weather scent, so I will probably wear it more in Spring and Summer.

Edited October 9, 2008 by ScaryDoll

[cecelle]

I've not had good luck with moons, but this one is great on me.

 

Wet, it is overpoweringly green, but on drydown, the teas come out, and you get this nice tea with a somewhat woodsy background note. Might be the oude, since I have no idea what oude is or smells like, LOL.

[LunaDragonGirl]

Creamy, sparkling yellow, lemon tea cookie! Delish! A lot of people have mentioned "green" but I'm getting a sparkly yellow from this, although I can see a bit of green there...it's like a new spring daffodil...pale yellow with the green stem, pushing up through the last of late winter's gently-sparkling snow. This has aged pretty well...when I first got it back when it was released, it had a bit of a harsher green edge to it...it has mellowed out considerably and softened.

 

Also, this layers really well with Hungry Ghost Moon, at least, last time I was bottle-testing.

 

I want lemon tea cookies now! NomNom

[asciident]

Wet: A soapy floral, oddly enough. I would have expected it smell more like tea.

 

First on: Soapy touch is gone, and now it's just floral. Tea buds, perhaps?

 

Dry: Unchanged on drydown. I'm not really feelin' it.

[filigree_shadow]

I think Holiday Moon was the first BPAL lunacy blend I ever tried. It had just come out right before I discovered BPAL, so there was a lot of it available for swap/sale. I had no idea what notes I liked back then, so I thought I might as well try it.

 

I liked it back then. I like it now. I know enough about my perfume taste these days to know that I never reach for scents like this, but I honestly do like it. It smells fresh, a little watery, and a little bitter. Green and kind of clean. Although it's not personally for me, I would totally not object to smelling this on someone who's sitting next to me. The tea and bamboo are very complementary notes, in my opinion, and the scent smells well-balanced.

[Sweetie666]

Hmm I smell like a campfire post marshmallow roasting session. Not unpleasant....but not a favorite.

[magikalbrownies]

man did they bottle green tea or what??

 

this stuff smells amazingly like some of the packs i have in my pantry. geez.

[tartchef]

Oh golly. Nyomitynyomitynyom.

 

I am a total sucker for Beth's bamboo scents, and here it is, front & center! Tangy & juicy & crisp & just spectacular The oud & teas are cool & deep & faintly bitter, quietly underscoring the bamboo & keeping it from getting flat... A perfect example of a few key ingredients combining to make a greater whole...

 

Lovers of the original Dragon Moon, Hungry Ghost Moon, Tanuki, Velvet Cthulhu & Embalming Fluid should make it a point to try Holiday Moon at some point - comparatively speaking, Holiday Moon is a much simpler scent than any of the others, but it has a purity of green that is really beautiful.

 

Thanks, Apple, for sending this my way!

[ouch!]

MMM! Good one!

 

This reminds me of Tweedledum right off the bat mixed in with Lush's Avobath. It feels like there's the slightest hint of lemongrass in here when it's wet.

It's a lovely burst of fresh greenness that's making me want to bathe in a pool of crystal clear cold water surrounded by lush greenery. It's friggin gorgeous!!

 

It's not got the strongest throw though and does fade from the get go, this is usually the case with green things on my skin. The fact that this scent is tuly beautiful makes up for the fact that it's gone in a flash. I'm gonna need to slather lots but I don't mind.

 

The dry stage is...less green and slightly more perfumey, the burst of juicy fresh greeness makes way for a subtle..slightly sweet perfume element that is still nice but oh so faint.

 

A gorgeous blend, but..just doesn't last long enough. I'm gonna pour the whole imp on myself when I come to wearing this in the summer.

For now..I still prefer Green Phoenix.

 

 

[loubric]

1/5/10

 

The description of this one got me VERY excited. I adore teas. And it doesnt disappoint. Clean, lemon citrus green goodness. Light and airy.

Beautiful.

 

 

 

EDIT: 4/14/15

 

Reviewing again because I just got a bottle of this. Still beautiful and sweet green tea. On me it's a gorgeous sugary lemon and white tea blend. It's alos one of those scents that smells like a memory. I remember staying in a house with my parents when I was 9 or 10. They did a vaction house swap. The bathroom had a huge tub that was surrounded by plants and a frosted window. I would lay in the bath reading and fill it with radox (a herbal bath oil). This smells like this house/bath/oil. Very sophisticated and luxurious!

 

Edited April 15, 2015 by Lilly

[Schmoozy]

 

Quite possibly one of my favorite lunacy blends. It's tart, crip and fresh. I adore tea scents, and bamboo is love. Together they meld to produce this green, citrussy tart scent. It's lush and bright and simply gorgeous.

[ChaosKitty]

I love this, it's perfect for springtime! It has a similar tea note that Kumiho has, slightly lemon/citrus, but instead of the sharp ginger, there is fresh, green bamboo. Wikipedia tells me that oud is agarwood and has a scent profile that includes ambergris, jasmine, earth and wood notes. But I don't smell any of that here, even after it dries down. It just smells very clean and fresh, like white tea with a bit of citrus and a bit of green. I'm fast becoming a fan of the tea scents, and this is one more that convinces me to try more of them. Love it!

 

[BuxomM]

I smell green tea, it bright and refreshing but tart. As it dries the bamboo scent gets stronger. I wish this had sweetness too it because then I'd love it but it's too tart.

[raisin]

I think I'll need to be careful with this one.

It goes on a little lemony... not the verbena note that I like okay, but a similar lemon to Venice. That sort of mellows out, but a few hours into wear, I'm getting occasional whiffs of that floraly Venice lemon, and I don't love it.

Nose to my wrist, I can still pick up on what makes this blend beautiful. The white tea is prominent, and I'm getting some hints of green that I can only guess is the bamboo, and some green tea notes (a bit more similar to the sweetness of matcha than the more bitter kind). So that part is beautiful. I just wish that were more evident in the throw, instead of the lemon.

[Vega]

Sniffed: Green and watery, a bit juicy.

 

On skin: Holiday Moon is cool, watery and lushly green, with that simultaneous slightly astringent and slightly sweet flavour typical of tea. The sweet, verdant, non-fruity juiciness must be coming from the bamboo pulp; I'm still not sure how oude/agarwood smells. This is deep (deep like a still, clear lake), full and refreshing; an introspective and calming blend. It gets lighter over time, but manages to stay watery, full and juicy even as it fades. It really evokes a serene open-air tea-house surrounded by bamboo groves and a peacefully flowing stream, beneath a lightly overcast sky. Colour impression is deep, saturated, translucent green tea.

 

The poem in the description is one of the more famous examples of Chinese poetry; it's much more beautiful in Chinese than translated, IMHO! While the blend doesn't quite evoke the poem to me, it still perfectly captures the idyllic and contemplative nature of Chinese poetry in general.

 

Verdict: Holiday Moon is a sleeper hit: the more I try it, the more I love it. I've tested it with Ehecatl and Shanghai, and while those two are similar green-tea blends, they can't beat the lush purity of Holiday Moon that strikes that perfect balance between green, aquatic and delicately juicy-sweet. I love the blend and the whole concept behind it. I think it may be worth a bottle, certainly more than the half-imp I have now.

[miaa]

In bottle: Holy! A blend which smells fresh,fruty and minty.

On me: Deep fruit,fresh mint in the background. A mix of Annabell Lee,fruit moon and F5. As time goes I smell a kind pf smokey-yet-fresh back tone I can smell all my three favorite blends in one. Perfect.

[Gin]

I thought I'd love this one, but do not. I love the Lab's tea notes, but Holiday Moon taught me that I don't get along with bamboo.

[mymymai]

ITB: Strong bamboo pulp, floral teas, and a slightly resinous oude.

 

Wet: Strong tea, oude, and that a green bamboo pulp. It's interesting, but I'm not sure how well I like it yet.

 

Dry: It's a bit warmer and less green once dry. It's like faint tee, slight resin, and just an impression of something plant-like.

[Soupy Twist]

A little tea and succulent in the bottle. Goes on as cut succulent, but something sour comes in — the oude? I'm not sure what oude smells like. The whole thing eventually dries to an unpleasant plant pulp.

I want the sparkly green refreshing citrus tea everyone else smelled.

[starbrow]

15 years later, this is gorgeous. Crackling-crisp bamboo shoots stirring cool teas, grounded by something woody and pulpy. This is gooudh. Not pooudh . Total spa kind of smell, wonderfully cooling and perfect for spring and summer.

 

Ultimately, I reach for two other blends in my collection for this kind of effect - A Balmy 26 Degrees and Cooling Breeze - meaning that I could definitely let Holiday Moon go, with a gentle pat on the head for the beauty that it is. Highly recommend if this is your jam!

[Sokudo Ningyou]

I love this scent, and I wish so hard that it would be brought back for another Lunacy.  This was one of the first scents I got when I first discovered BPAL not long after its release, and it's still amazing.  A light refreshing green scent, with tea and ginger and so so good. I may be hoarding it like a jealous dragon, but I will be dearly upset when my bottles are done.