Chrysanthemum Moon

[GypsyRoseRed]

Your attention is diverted from the pleasures of the Midway and the curiosities within the colossal 13-in-1 by the pressure of a long fingered and lily-white hand on your elbow. You turn and see a woman staring at you. Her hair is raven black, and she possesses all the fragile beauty of a fine porcelain doll. Lazily, she hands you a gold-dusted, sun-yellow chrysanthemum. She tosses her head towards a small indigo and crimson striped tent that stands just off of the Midway and gestures for you to come closer. Her scent is bewitching, almost intoxicating: a sensual incense of crushed mums, red ginger, and pulsing musk. You are overcome with a surge of desire, and like a silent siren, she compels you to follow.

As you approach the tent, you see that softly glowing lanterns illuminate a gilded wooden sign that reads, “Chrysanthemum Moon”. The tent is unlike any other that you have seen in the Carnaval: it is tiny, small enough to hold one or two bodies in comfort, and as you pass through the entryway, you see nothing at all within the space save for a framed piece of ragged parchment that reads,

“Then Helen, daughter of Zeus, turned to new thoughts. Presently she cast a drug into the wine whereof they drank, a drug to lull all pain and anger, and bring forgetfulness of every sorrow. Whoso should drink a draught thereof, when it is mingled in the bowl, on that day he would let no tear fall down his cheeks, not though his mother and his father died, not though men slew his brother or dear son with the sword before his face, and his own eyes beheld it.”

As your eyes pass over the black ink, the ground before you abruptly opens like a hideous yawning mouth, revealing a pitch black stairwell that leads directly underground. Turning back to find your guide, you realize that she has vanished.

Still clutching the golden chrysanthemum, you descend into the earth on well-worn steps of grey clay. The only light comes from the bottom of the stairs: a guttering oil lamp that stands as a sentinel before a heavy wooden door. You push it open, and move into a vast, dimly lit room. The ceiling is low and intimate, the walls are terraced with wooden berths and riddled with shadowy alcoves, and the air is thick with leaden brown opium smoke that hangs thickly over a seductive mixture of red musk, body-warmed perfume, and hypnotic Eastern flowers. Ornate braziers of burning charcoal are filled with smoldering poppy tar that punctuates the gloom with bursts of strange, surreal flames.

As your eyes adjust, you see that among the thick, plush cushions and elaborate brocade blankets strewn across the floor, bodies writhe. Some lie in hebetudinous repose, heads thrown back in quiet delirium, others sit transfixed like crouching beasts. Flashes of fire burst in tiny circles of bloody light as metal pipes are lit. Sluggish, slurring voices coalesce into a hypnotic susurration. Your mind becomes unfocused, your thoughts abstracted. The scents, the sounds, and the darkness envelop you, and you find yourself falling - falling endlessly into a dream within a thousand dreams.

This is the first of the Asian-themed moons that I've absolutely fallen in love with. Some of the others were pretty and wearable, but nothing that needed to be hoarded. This is different. Oh, yes. It's gorgeous. I'll preface this by saying I loved Snake Charmer, Shub-Niggurath, Snake Oil, Mouse's Long & Sad Tale, Antique Lace, etc, so you get some idea of my preferences. This is just as beautiful as these, in it's own way. Similar 'family' of scent, I think. It's a creamy, lightly spicy, warm perfume with one of my absolute favorite notes - *GINGER* - layered over something else that grounds it. It's not neccessarily foody.. *sniff*.. I know this review makes little sense, but this is grown up, very wearable, rounded, smooth and sexy without being too 'dark'. I can't stop sniffing my wrist, and you can bet your ass I'm going to make sure I order multiples of this before it goes away. Mmmm.. Lovely. Edited August 25, 2006 by Shollin

[Kimocean]

I agree completely with Gypsy's review. This is an absolutely LOVELY scent. Just enough spice and a gentle creamy note underneath. I too am smelling and smelling and smelling my wrist!

 

~Kim

 

Edit: Ah mum moon, why have you betrayed me? I fell so much in love with this one when I first had it and wore 3/4's of a bottle, purchased another bottle and generally felt like I couldn't get enough but as she has aged she's gotten much, much sweeter and the last few times I've worn her I get a nauseated feeling I think I'm going to have to swap away my extra bottle.

Edited April 30, 2007 by Kimocean

[blood*rose*flowers]

I agree with most of what has been written, so far only Budding Moon has turned my head this run but CM not only turned my head but dropped me to the floor. This is a spicey scent but not hot, it is milder in some ways then past Ginger scents. There is a dry dustiness for me though the cream notes and others ib and flow the ginger holds true. It is not a green smelling ginger (like in shub) but a redder almost cooked ginger scent, but not as foody as poppet.

 

This is a spice cabinet aged and dry but rich and beautiful. If you are a spice fan this is one of those scents that doesn't have anything exactly like it. This will be a perfect match for many of us who have been longing to fill that need for spice. This is delicious scent!

[shelldoo]

oh....my....god.....

 

how is that for a review? want more? ok, give me a second to change my undies....

 

back i will try to expound on my thoughts, however i will be unable to do the incredible scent justice. with that in mind:

 

 

in the bottle: a lush scent, creamy, yet spicy. very musky slightly smokey a touch of what must be the ginger.

 

wet: ther is a very familiar note, something resinous. also i do recognize an opium type note, and something slightly floral, but a mild gentle floral.

 

 

as it dries, this scent gets creamier, yet retains a floral type incense feel. it is indeed in the snake oil, a.l. etc, yet is also a whole new animal. sexy, slinky, hypnotic, and all around scent perfect for my tastes. well done. very well done.

[filigree_shadow]

In the bottle: Smells a little bit herby.

 

On: Ginger, a deep musk, some dried flowers.

 

As it's drying, it becomes more musky. It's kind of a gently spicy opium musk. I love this type of spice. The spice notes like cinnamon and cassia are too strong on my skin -- this one is just right. It smells warm but not hot. Hazy and dreamy. It gets a little bit sweeter as it dries, but not overly sweet and not powdery either. It's sexy without being aggressive. Kinda smoldering.

 

Definitely a fall scent, and definitely one I'll wear. I like this a lot.

 

ETA: Here's a photo of the beautiful label.

Edited September 8, 2006 by filigree_shadow

[crescentmoon]

I just had to pick this up last night after trying it at will call. It's a little herby/green in the bottle, but on I can really smell a mix of dried flowers like filigree described above and ginger. Lots and lots of ginger. I smell like a spicy flower. I love it!

 

Very great scent to pick up at my first will call. It's my "NEW" lunacy too! Great way to kick things off.

 

Edit: I put it on again today. It's the first time I've worn it since will call on Thursday night where I tried it out. :-/ The two spots I put it on my neck turned red, though that faded. My wrists are a bit itchy. SAD! I hope this is just a fluke. It smells DIVINE. My husband loves it.

Edited September 9, 2006 by crescentmoon

[Lycanthrope]

Chrysanthemum Moon!

 

I got a bunch of these, because of the description... let's see how it plays on my skin.

 

In the bottle, it smells a little resiny, a touch like... sassafras? Woods? It's sweet and a little spicy. Wet, it's a little like lotus, a sweeter flower essence over a musky base. It dries down to a relatively inobtrusive, soft incense powder with a little bit of twang which I assume is a touch of tobacco smoke.

 

It's nice, but not a 'me!' scent. Maybe I'll give it a few more tries

[columbus]

I apologize, this is going to be more of a gut review than a discussion of notes and the like. But that's the sort of scent this is. As the great Shelldoo said, I doubt anything I say will do justice to this Lunacy.

 

Mum Moon is such a lovely synthesis of notes that I really can't pick out any individuals, more the vague sense of their existence: there's a spice, which can only be the ginger, and it's musky too... but it's a very creamy musk. It's also reminiscent of incense, but certainly not any incense that I've ever used. It smells smoky without actually smelling like smoke.

 

As it dries, it gets softer (that is to say, it gets a softer edge. The throw is not effected at all) and sweeter. There's a bit of a floral here, but it's very subtle and pleasant. And the opium's there, too. It hits this wonderful stage of warm, thick and creamy spice, and it just stays.

 

Bah, I doubt any of that made much sense.

 

Anyway. I loved the concept of this moon, the idea of the opium den done up BPAL style. And this blend is very true to that concept. It's intoxicating, hazy, rich, and warm. I love it. I wore it today, and I'll probably wear it again tomorrow, and for days after that.

 

Bravo, Beth. This is exquisite. Divine. I feel the need to pull out a thesaurus to come up with some more adjectives, but I won't bore anyone with that.

 

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to smelling myself.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Dark red ginger

 

On Skin: Wow, this wasn’t quite what I expected. The incense is beautiful, it is dark but so sweet and not smoky (yay!)! The musk is sooooo sexy and the mums are soft and not sharp at all. This is a ginger scent that to me isn’t foody in the slightest. Very golden and dark red in feel. This is a very different approach to the Lunacy series, it reminds me of the direction Blood Moon went in. This scent is so beautiful, and while it seems quite feminine at first, as it develops I could see a man wearing it as well. This scent is a Fall scent to me, as compared to some of the earlier Aisian Moons this year that were so bright and spring/summer like. The spices are warm and the ginger sits on top for sure. As the scent continues to grow on my skin, I get a slightly sharp herbal note… but it is pretty and melds with the other notes beautifully. The part of the Lab’s desrciption about an Opium Den really fits this scent, slightly seedy but drop dead seductive and hypnotizing. I love this Moon and will treasure my bottle. Medium throw and light to average wearlength.

[charmingdetails]

Ohhhhhh, this scent is beautiful. Quite spicy at first, it soon mellows to a delicious, dreamy sweetness with just a hint of spice, and then it lingers for hours and hours. This scent conjures up the color red for me... it's warm and inviting. I adore it.

[Nadirah]

I think this is just about everything I enjoy in a scent. Its a light floral that becomes smokey without being overpowering. I can smell the Opium smoke an dthe lovely Ginger that is in this. It has good throw but isnt taking over the atmosphere around you. It is almost subtle but not quite. This lasts for about 6 hours on me which is great. Really beautiful blend! So glad I can wear this ! Definatly a keeper

[nightbird]

....!

 

I was iffy on ordering this Moon because I had no idea what some of the notes smelled like. I took a chance and ordered a bottle, and I'm really glad I did.

 

this is incredibly beautiful. it's spicy and smoky, but not overly so. I can't pick out notes to save my life, but I can smell some kind of tangy flower in there, and maybe a bit of ginger.

 

Chrysanthemum Moon is amazing. I'm going to hang on to this bottle and wear it often.

[sarada]

I kind of OD'd on scents today because I slathered myself in Black Tower before even realizing I'd have Mum Moom waiting for me at the post office today. But over the course of the day I think I've been able to test this sufficiently to put together my impression.

 

In the bottle, there is a sharp and heady, dusty floral note that I think I recognize from Harvest Moon '06 as the only note that gave me a bit of a sinus headache. But it clears after applying it...

 

Musky, dusty autumn flowers is my first impression. The mums are a bit stronger than I expected, and they soar right up my nose. There's a faint spark of spice, and it warms and sweetens a little on my skin. Smoky, sharp mums with a layer of dusty musk. It becomes a bit more mellow and almost herbal as it dries.

 

It very slightly reminds me of a sort of dusting powder I must have encountered in childhood. I am reminded of the top of my grandmother's dresser, where she kept perfumes and powders. That does NOT mean it smells like "grandmother perfume." Far from it! But I am put in the mind of antique dusting powders and turn of the century cosmetics.

 

I've seen the word "creamy" applied to it several times but I would not apply that word to it...it's a bit of a perfumey floral musk for me, a touch of ginger and a bitter herbal tang, and a heady musty swoon. It is one of the very rare blends that I would classify as an autumn floral, since I don't think of flowers when I think of autumn.

 

I'm not sure if it's going to give me a headache or not so I will have to test it more, on clean skin and in an environment free of distracting scents (like the candles and incense I have going right now). The bottle is so gorgeous I don't know if I could part with it even if it does give me a headache though!

Edited September 12, 2006 by sarada

[dierne]

In the bottle - This smells gorgeous! Light and warm and yet there's a richness too. Gentle floral undertones and equally gentle spices.

 

Wet on skin - Still subtle but the ginger jumps up my nose. Not so obvious close up but at about an inch from your skin theres a wonderful spicy floral.

 

Dry on skin - Still light and warm and spicy. No one note predominates but it's beautiful nevertheleass.

 

Later - Now it's warmer but still much the same. I really like this one. It's a keeper.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

sniffed from the bottle: smells like the aisle of the craft store where all the dried & artificial flowers are.

 

skinsniff, wet: papery-gingery dried flowers

 

skinsniff, dry: irish spring soap --the blue and white bar, not the green and white one.

 

not at all what i was expecting.

 

editing to add: i don't *dislike* this by any means. it simply isn't what i expected. i have no intention of selling the bottle!

Edited September 12, 2006 by TrailerTrashPrincess

[visualworlds]

Lovely artwork!

 

In the bottle it smells faintly herbal with a whiff of musk that reminds me of smut. I also detect a floral element. Wet on my skin everything is amped up and for a minute I think I won't like it because I hated smut. However after a minute it begins to mellow out and bloom... the harsh smut musky smell disapears to a smoother, rounder musk. The mum's come out and play mingled with a spicyness. It has a slight perfumey smell to me but in a good way. I love this scent. It is also very long lasting and I get gently waves of it as I move around. Actually I applied it last night and at the end of the day today I smell a creamy sweetness still on my wrist.

[tartsquid]

The reviews had me so excited for trying this! Unfortunately, I get no creamy spiceyness but instead only dry, musky florals. Over the course of an hour or so it becomes more gingery and less floral, but still not my cup of tea. I think I'll hang on to one of my bottles to see how it ages.

[portalkat]

I bought two bottles of this unsniffed.

 

From the bottle I smell a spicy floral that seems rather appealing to me. I put a bit on from the lip of the bottle and let it sit for a moment before I sniff. What I get is jarring, sharp and it reminds me of some of the dragon blends which really are not my favorites. I give it some time, but it won't let me ignore it - the throw is strong and it is screaming at me. I gave it almost two hours because I was determined to like it since everyone else seems to, but I had to break down and wash it off.

 

That was yesterday and I am still determined to like this. I rummage around in one of my boxes and find some sort of vanilla which I slather on beneath a dab of Mum Moon - sniff..................ummm, much better and more creamy and I'm actually going to leave this on because I can't stop sniffing my hand. I'm keeping the bottles and coming back to them in a few months. I have a feeling that this will age like fine wine.

[PurringPulsar]

Chrysanthemum Moon

 

In the bottle: hmm, interesting. It smells like a dried flower, quite a sour-ish one too. Possibly a dry chrysanthemum, with something herbal too.

Wet on skin: interesting! It smells like fresh florist flowers, but with a hint of ginger…no musk yet but I think I get opium too.

Dry on skin: what an intriguing fragrance. The dominant fragrance is that of the chrysanthemums, a greenish, slightly sharp, and also slightly dry scent, it's like a bouquet of dusty and dry flowers with fresh ones. The ginger spices it up nicely (and this red ginger seems to work on me-no burnt rubber!) and the opium adds it's hazy, dry, smoky ambience to the scent but doesn't dominate. I don't smell musk yet, but there is a scent to this that reminds me of bundles of dried herbs…the smell of old fashioned herbal remedies, with a little hint of soap, but it's not nasty soap.

After a while: eventually the sharp, semi-herbal floral bouquet smoothes out a bit and becomes soft and almost creamy-probably due to the musk, and the spicy, fresh ginger aspect of the scent increases too. the scent is now exotic in feel, but also faded and nostalgic, like a memory from the past. It also has a lot of throw. There's something in here that smells like camomile and honey, oddly enough. The opium in here smells almost like it's been absorbed in cloth, there's a feel of fabric to this scent.

There are times when the scent takes on a sourness which I'm not crazy about-sometimes it's quite nice, like honey, but at other times it's a little too sour for me. There's a very 'antique' feel to this scent on me.

Verdict: this is a very interesting scent. It is like nothing else I've smelt from BPAL, another Lunacy which competes with HGM as the 'most unique BPAL out there'. It's a strange, almost contrasting mix of dry flowers and herbs and a bunch of fresh, sharp chrysanthemums with the scent of tent fabric which has absorbed opium smoke for a long time, a little bit of ginger, and a creamy musk undertone. The scent also has hints of honey, which is totally unexpected. It's a fascinating fragrance, but there are some parts of the scent I'm not sure about-there are times when it develops a sour note which I can't identify, but I'm not keen on it. there are also times when it, I'm afraid, reminds me of old fashioned pot pourri. I wish I'd got more musk from this scent. I'm torn on what to do with this-I don't like it enough to keep a whole bottle-maybe an imp-but the label is amazing!

Emoticon rating:

If you like this, try: there's nothing like this elsewhere in BPAL afaik...so unique!

Edited September 28, 2006 by yeahbutnobut

[birdiefu]

In the bottle: Light resiny floral. A little sharp and perfumey, but not overwhelmingly so.

 

Wet: Fresh smelling, slightly spicy floral. I've never smelled chyrsanthemums before so I guess that's it. There is a tiny bit of muskyness trying to get out from under the mums. As it dries, a slightly smoky opium swirls up.

 

Dry: Fabulous!! Warm, spicy opium with some surpising backup. Deliciously sweet and true honey and creamy milk make themselves known to my nose. Not quite what I expected, but wonderful all the same- very balanced and not too sweet.

 

Overall, I'm glad I got two bottles! This is a great fall scent and I think my favorite lunar oil yet, though I wish the musk stuck around more. I can see Mum Moon ageing beautifully.

[euterpe414]

Ahh! I am in love! I don't think anything I could write would be as eloquent or descriptive as some of the other reviews, but this is a gorgeous scent! The primary notes/feeling I get from this scent is herbal, smoky, sexy gingery chrysanthemum with a touch of opium. This scent lingers, and smells very refined and expensive. It is absolutely perfect for fall and winter, in my opinion. I am glad I trusted my instinct (and my tired nose at willcall) to order a few bottles of this, they will surely be put to good use!

Edited September 14, 2006 by euterpe414

[savage_rose]

It just came today, and I had to try it immediately...

 

In the bottle: Warmly spicy. The floral is not obvious, not even the main note. An undercurrent of something I can only describe as "perfumey". Not in a bad way, it's just the perfumey scent I associated with one of my first scents, Tinkerbell cologne when I was little...Cairo and Ra smell a bit the same way. Er, so let's go with that: an undercurrent of something similar to Cairo and Ra.

 

Wet: Spicy and seductive...the scent seems to undulate, beckon. Very appropriate that this would be the "opium den" scent! It's absolutely divine.

 

Dry: All of the above, and it oddly enough smells a lot like a fall Ren Fest I went to back in college...I bought some spicy mulberry potpourri from a vendor, and as it faded it smelled almost exactly like some of the spicy notes of this. Wow, this scent just takes me back to being a college freshman, living way up on the 9th floor of my dorm, being out of my parents' house and on the brink of transformation and self-discovery. It's amazing that they can bottle this. Or how quirky and autumnal this seems!

 

::looks longingly at single bottle purchased, silently hoping it clones itself::

[dawndie]

In bottle: piercing alcohol, woo! Very traditional "perfumey" like Stardust

 

On skin: wow, a really heady (not headachey) floral. The musk is dusty and smutty and keeps this from being too twee and ethereal.

 

Half-hour later: not much morphing (hee, I typed "morphine" at first ), the musk anchoring the floral. This is such a well-blended scent that nothing specific is jumping out at me, like "wow! jasmine!" or "phoo! vetiver!" If there's ginger, it's existing just to slightly sweeten the musk.

 

In conclusion: another interesting rule-breaking Lunacy, and I'm glad I have a bottle.

[zenvodunista]

I'll be coming back to this. But I just got my order and had to, of course, throw some Mum Moon on.

 

In the bottle this is hot ginger all the way. On.... It's strangely clean smelling. A ginger floral with a touch of soap that I don't really mind.

 

Right now I'm not getting any opium, nor smoke, nor cream, nor.... not anything anyone else seems to be getting actually!

 

I'm getting the mums, sweet skin musk, and invigorating ginger. I'm not getting the opium den below, but the smell of my invigorating guide and the golden mum she handed me.

 

n.

Edited September 27, 2006 by zenvodunista

[lorajc]

Wow -- I knew I was going to love this (glad I went with my gut instinct and bought multiple bottles), but I had no idea that I would love it more than I thought possible!!! This is my favorite BPAL scent for the moment. I can't believe how gorgeous this is. This smelled very perfumey to me at first but that quality fades in the drydown (my favorite part) I've had it on for about 2 hours now and it's amazing. I'm not sure what mums smell like but I get a faint floral that smells similar to a carnation with a creamy spice intermingled with the red musk. I have this in the crook of my elbow right now and I'm only testing it. I can only imagine how lovely this will morph when I slather it on tomorrow morning. This is one that will really help me get thru the rough work day. It is very comforting, alluring and sensual. It really fits my Libra personality. I love it!!

 

BETH -- You've outdone yourself. I may have to search for 1 more bottle. I will cry when I use this up.

Edited September 15, 2006 by lorajc