Hunter Moon 2007

[sookster]

... Dry leaves, autumn bonfires, blood red wine, feral, animalistic notes and the chill of approaching winter.

straight sniff from imp is boozy vanilla

once applied i get a strong whiff of musky civet combined with boozy vanilla...smoky and
gorgeous and now i must hunt down a big bottle of this perfectly blended autumn scent !!

[Victory]

When I first opened my bottle of Hunter Moon on the day it arrived it smelled strongly of alcohol- not wine, almost a rubbing alcohol. Yech. On, Hunter Moon wears as a pale brown, slightly furry musk. Not the deep furry musk of Coyote that makes me think of sinking my hand into thick fur, but furry all the same. Maybe it's the musk of the deer running from the hunter. Something about Hunter Moon makes me think of O, even though when I wear O it smells nothing like it. (O isn't sweet on me, it's more a musky scent like this oil.) I don't really smell any vanilla, but the muskiness + vanilla may be fueling this similarity in my mind. Hunter Moon is like O-light. I think that I would have liked Hunter Moon to have some more wine/leaf/smokiness, but I'll let it age some and see if it'll come out but even if the wine and leaves and smoke never come out, I'll enjoy this oil.

[emerald_ibis]

Montresor, this is Coyote.

 

Coyote, allow me to introduce Montresor.

 

Now, dance.

 

Dance and mingle and let the best of both of you rise up into the air in a cloud of beautiful soft musk and rich wine.

 

And they did. And when they were done, Hunter Moon '07 was born.

 

Yes. I really, really like this one.

[theseagrows]

this reminds me of a softer, warmer, less complex buck moon. it's very soft and animalistic and a bit powdery. i am having trouble picking out notes though. it's powdery in a violet-coconut sort of way...not sure how else to describe it there is also some sort of soft musk. i dont get much leaves or wine though. i may keep my imp but i don't think i'll get a bottle.

[Nisaba]

I love this scent!

 

Ok, having gotten that out of the way... actually, it's not going to get much better because I'm crap at identifying notes. Initially out of the bottle and wet on my skin I get something akin to very dark cocoa. It's probably a musk or something. But then a touch of rich wine comes out, but I only mention that because it was one of the few notes I could identify over the lush, soft background of comforting warm yumminess. It all melds into a beautiful, soft but not powdery, slightly smoky, warm, close scent. I can't stop sniffing myself. I bet this will age beautifully too.

[filigree_shadow]

I'm going to have a terrible time reviewing this. It doesn't smell like dry leaves, bonfires, wine, or winter chill to me, at all. It mostly sells like a sweet creamy scent with a little bit of light musk underneath. It smells just a twinge grape-y, so I think the sweetness comes from the wine.

 

Not nearly as feral and musky as the previous version of Hunter Moon. I like this one better. It's softer. In fact, I like this a lot.

[laliloo]

When I first sniffed my bottle of Hunter Moon, I was a little concerned that this was the first lunacy that I've ordered that wasn't going to be absolutely gorgeous on me.

 

However, once I applied it, the smell deepened, mellowed and softened into yet another beautiful Moon scent. I love it. Like all the lunar oils, I do find that the scent disappears quite quickly - I can smell just the faintest waft after 2 hours and nothing after 3 or 4. But that's fine. I don't mind reapplying and I do have a tendency to wear the moons to bed, so it doesn't matter if I can't smell it after 2 hours as I'm snoring by then anyway!

 

This is really well blended and I am struggling to pick out individual notes. I can get a whiff of the red wine, and the musk is nice and fuzzy in the background. However, all I know is this is a beautiful scent that I am so glad I took a chance on (considering I really wasn't familiar with many of the notes listed).

[Trish]

In the bottle: Musky smoky sweet red wine with a hint of spice. Absolutely gorgeous. If my skin decides to reject this it is so going in my scent locket.

 

Wet: Oh YUM! Rich warm deep red wine that is neither sweet and fruity nor dry and tart, but beautiful balanced. There's musk and a bit of spice too but omg the wine! This is THE perfect wine.

 

Drydown: Mmmmm musk. I'm getting a little red musk out of this, but there's another lighter musk as well. There's some woods emerging now too, just soft ones underneath the musky spiced red wine.

 

This is seriously sexy.

 

As it dries a bit more it sweetens quite noticeably and then just as quickly the sweetness backs off, along with the red wine.

 

Dry: Smoky musky woods, with a touch of spice and just a tiny bit of red wine. The woods are soft and subdued, not sharp in the slightest. It's warm and dry, and the smoke reminds me a lot of the smoke in Priala which I adore. It's not quite as smoky as it though. There's a bit of incense in it too, or at least my nose is saying there is.

 

This is beautiful and I wish I had got a second bottle now. I would perhaps prefer it if the wine had stuck around, but I love musky woods and smoke and incense and spice as well!

Edited October 10, 2007 by Trishek

[SnowWhiteMoon]

This is going to be a pretty sparse review, sorry to say...

 

In bottle: I don't know what I'm smelling, but it's not pleasant. Disappointing.

 

On me: It's musky and odd. I can't place what I'm getting from this, but I just don't like it. Maybe it's the bonfire thing. Smoky. I dunno. Just know that it dries pretty intense. Too intense for my liking.

[zankoku_zen]

This is a very complex blend for me. I don't pick out any individual notes but my general impression is of a musky vanilla like smell, with a touch of spice. I can see the comparison to O without the sweetness.

 

No hint of wine in my case, but that's okay.

[SeaLady]

This is my best day with this scent yet! And so I am reviewing it. For my skin, the more the better when applying this one.

 

I agree with the reviews that include vanilla! This smells like the same vanilla and light musk in the Snake Oil blends, to me. I get no wine (which is a relief, because it doesn't usually work on me - damn you, Greek scents!), but I get many things that are so light I hesitate to put words to them - smoke is too heavy, leaves are too heavy, dirt certainly doesn't work.

 

This is your cat, who has been out lying in the garden, stalking through the woods, on the roof by the chimney where the smoke is - the might Hunter, stalking the imaginary prey. It is cold out. Your cat comes in, tired from a day of hard work, and lies in the sun in the kitchen where the cookies are baking. These cookies have barely enough sugar in them - not at all a foody, buttery smell. These are breakfast cookies that are almost bread. This is the smell of your cat's sun-warmed fur, reminiscent of the wild outdoors and mixed with the comfort of being safe inside to guard the cookies. Snuggle your cat. Snuggle hiimmmmmm. (Or her, Hunter Moon does not discriminate )

 

Some days, the fluffy furry scent is too fluffy, and resembles baby powder. Today, it is juuuust right. Nom, nom, nom, this is so lovely

[citharadraconis]

Holy wow, this is a morpher.

 

In vial: Musk with evergreens and a hint of wine. Not unpleasant, but not something I'd care to smell like, I think.

 

On, after a couple of seconds: ...cake? I think the wine is amping, with sweet, almost creamy musk behind it. This is delicious, if not at all what I expected.

 

Drying down: The wine recedes a bit, leaving a soft, "fuzzy" scent behind it. I can see the Buck Moon comparisons, but where that had an airy herbal undercurrent, this is all sweet wine. I like this a lot, and would welcome more than the half-decant I have.

Edited October 19, 2007 by citharadraconis

[ayelienne]

I love this - smelling this gives me strong visual impressions of the same "pre-hunt celebration at the feast hall" that I visualize when I smell Tintagel, except Hunter Moon is the celebration before the hunt and Tintagel is the "the hunting party returns" celebration.

 

In Hunter Moon, the wine flows strongly on this warm autumn evening, the smell of leather fills the air, cheeks are slightly flushed with pride and alcohol, there is merriment, and the muskiness of the hunters mingles with the distant musk of the hunted, which electrifies the air with a throbbing sense of anticipation.

Edited October 20, 2007 by ayelienne

[Miss Lynx]

The Death of Autumn was the one I was most looking forward to from my Halloween decants, but this is the one that made my eyes go wide when I sniffed it in the imp, and I absolutely had to dab some on despite the fact that I was already wearing Priala.

 

My initial reaction to that first experiment was that it was absolutely lovely. The previous incarnation of Hunter Moon wasn't bad, but this one is much nicer. It seemed to have that combination of sweet heady boozy fruit (from the wine, I suppose) with musk and earthy notes that makes me so love scents like Bewitched, Lampades and Urd. There was definitely a touch of the same decaying-dry-leaves note that dominates The Death of Autumn, but the musk and wine make it much softer and sweeter.

 

However, on trying it again today, applied more heavily to more parts, I liked it somewhat less. The sweetness became a bit more overwhelming, a bit too perfumey. At times it actually seemed to bear a distinct resemblance to Snake Oil, which unlike 99% of the BPAL-loving populace, I do not like. It was that same sort of too-sweet, cloying vanilla. As it settled into my skin, it seemed to go very differently in different places. On my wrists, it was more or less the same sweet heady musk as the day before, but in the crooks of my arms, it was perfumey to an almost unpleasant extent, as if it had the dreaded ozone note in it or something. And there was a touch of that sharp high sweetness that I have come to fear whenever I see the phrase "traditional lunar oils" in a Lunacy description.

 

So on the whole I would have to say the jury is still out on this one. I was about ready to start searching for a bottle of it after my first experiment, but now I'm not so sure... Further testing needed, I guess.

 

Grade: A

 

ETA: Further testing brought back the love, in force. Not sure what was wrong the second time I tried it, but every time since it's been lovely, to the point where I had to acquire a bottle. I've actually bumped the grade straight to an A now.

Edited December 7, 2007 by Miss Lynx

[PurringPulsar]

Hunter Moon 07

In the decant: a dry, boozy, slightly perfumey, slightly musky scent.

Wet on skin: smoky but perfumey? This reminds me of a masculine perfume with a hint of strong booze and smoke.

Dry: mmm, now I see where the Buck Moon comparisons come from! This now smells like a grown up, sophisticated Devil’s Night. Whilst DN was full of sweet playful spice and a youthful musk, this one has a mature musk to it, as well as a bit more booze, a hint of masculine perfume (not generic aftershave, but something classier) with dry notes of crisp autumn leaves and heady smoke. Underneath it all, that soft, furry musk that Beth does so well, capturing the softness and warmth of fur on a living animal without smelling gamey. I swear there’s even a touch of incense to this…but that may just be because this one resembles a coconut-less Brown Jenkins. It gets lovelier by the minute.

After a while: this gets better and better. Now there’s a soft earthy-sweet-musky scent to it like Death Cap, but without the wet soil. I wonder if there’s tobacco here since it reminds me of Bachelor’s Dog…mainly because of the musk. But overall, it smells like sandalwood incense now, with musk and smoke and autumn leaves! Mmm! There’s a nice ashy, crumbly quality to the incense note in here, like incense that has finished burning, along with it’s smoke. There’s not as much booze as before-it’s a lot drier in scent now. In fact, this now resembles an incense version of aged Devil’s Night 05 (the 06 version being sweeter and with more of a sugary ginger aspect, which this lacks). I don’t get anything chilly to it.

This sweetens over time, almost like there’s a hint of vanilla or amber underneath. It also softens, the soft ashy scent growing, and the furry aspect of the scent becoming more prevalent. It also reminds me of that wonderful dusty incense musk in the Lurid Library. Damn this is growing on me. Then the scent develops a soft powdery aspect (which is almost like a development of the ‘ash’ stage) and I smell a definite undertone of sweetish black musk, in addition to the furry musk and incense/smoke.

Verdict: this is much nicer than the previous Hunter Moon…whilst I liked that, I love this one a lot more. At first I wasn’t sure because it smelt very masculine, like a sophisticated men’s perfume. A smoky and smart perfumey scent which then turned gorgeously musky, with that same furry, gently animalistic without smelling like civet. It was soft and I wanted to snuggle up to this fuzzy fragrance tinged with smoke. And the smoke notes in here are gorgeous-there’s a hint of bonfire and crunchy autumn leaves, but then it turned to a wonderful autumnal incense scent, smoky and woodsy and almost resinous, with the same dry quality as Lurid Library, only with a leafy scent instead of a papery one. This gradually resides into a scent of powdery incense ashes and darker musk, and a hint of cosy sweetness. I really like this scent-I love Beth’s furry, warm ‘mammal musks’ and with that fabulous fragrant smoke note it is even more delicious. Definitely a keeper.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Yes! one bottle, maybe two.

If you like this, try: Brown Jenkins, Death of Autumn, A Bachelor’s Dog, Devil’s Night, Death Cap, Lurid Library

[DifferentDances]

Bottle: Sweet, sweet scent, with something creamy that's reminiscent of Tamamo no Mae.

Wet: The sweetness gives just a little bit, letting a hint of green slither through the sexy sweetness. There's a warmth that definitely reminds me of TnM, which worries me because TnM's musk I can only wear once a month. It's creamy sexy goodness when it does, though.

Drydown: Not too much morphing. The sweetness is definitely taking a back seat as the musk warms up and becomes that weird, damp, powder smell I'm not terribly fond of.

Dry: Bah. I wish it'd stayed in the wet stage. Mostly musk now.

 

My rating: 3/5, 5/5 for potential. I need to retry this on a different day.

[crimescenecleanup]

Ok, I'm way confused.

 

In the bottle this is a crisp dark musk with leaves and woods and vanilla in the background and a hint of wine and evergreen...but not pine.

 

On my skin, this is...Blood. Not real metallic blood, but BPAL blood accord, with cloves and vanilla musk and tons of Dragon's blood resin. I recognize the waxy, creamy note I always get from Dragon's blood. Now I amp the blood notes like nothing else but this is ridiculous. I get CLOVES DRAGON"S BLOOD VANILLA CLOVES DRAGON"S BLOOD VANILLA musk CLOVES DRAGON"S BLOOD VANILLA and something spicy that burns and tickles my nose but isn't immediately identifiable as cinnamon or cassia or the usual "firey" scents that cause me trouble. This is actually very similar to The Chilling Cellar on me, weirdly enough.

 

It's not unpleasant by any means, just not what I was expecting.

 

If it didn't smell so awesome in the bottle I'd think I got a mislabeled Hunter Moon. 'sigh' maybe if I age it it will be better on my skin. I sure hope so.

 

I guess this will either be a swap or a strictly scent locket/hair scent

Edited October 28, 2007 by crimescenecleanup

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, I get musk, as well as the sweetness of the wine.

 

Once I put it on, there are leaves up front, with the musk and the wine blending nicely in the background - I expected something much more vicious, but this is very gentle. There's a creaminess to it.

 

Once it dries, there's an almost vanilla sweetness to this; the creaminess is still present. Truthfully, beyond the musk that I'm attributing to the "feral, animalistic notes", I'm not getting anything that I expected out of this now that it's dry- no smoke, no wine, no leaves. Beautiful, but very unusual.

[phantasmmysteria]

It's soooo unfortunate that, after regretting missing out on this Lunacry and tracking down TWO bottles, this scent just doesn't play well with my chemistry.

 

In the bottle: Sweet flowers. The smell is familiar, but I can't put my finger on it in recognition.

 

Wet: This scent is best when just a teensy bit is dabbed on. It starts out with the sweetness from the bottle, but it flares up brightly as it touches my skin. I don't think this blend contains white musk because my skin tends to love that... but this blend quickly turns to POWDER. The only thing I get besides powderyness on the drydown is a little bit of evergreen or the night chill in the background.

 

Dry: This eventually mellows out into a soft sweetness, but it just doesn't sing on my skin. It's such a shame, but c'est la vie.

[Lyrical]

In vial: 1st sniff: rich. 2nd sniff: dry. 3rd sniff: reminds me of a cologne from my childhood. There's a sweetness here too. It's gorgeous!

 

Wet on skin: lovely! I can't make out any particular notes, but it's fresh and rich and warm and brown with a hint of green.

 

Dry on skin: as it dries it passes quite close to the golden glow of Belle Epoque, then moves nearer the warm spicy amber of The Lion. But it's not either of them. It's smooth, golden and spicy, with an unexpected note of sweet vanilla, but still with a feral element. Lovely! Not a lot of throw, though. It ends up as rather powdery sweet, vanilla musk. I never did find any red wine. Very nice indeed!

[underline2]

I love this scent! I get a little bit of the wine at first, but it quickly goes to a straight wood scent, which I'm surprised to say I adore. It's total bonfire! Warm and woody and slightly smokey. My only problem is that my skin doesn't seem to want to absorb it. I can still see the sheen of where I put it on fifteen minutes later and my skin is slightly sticky as well. But I can totally work around that! This is a perfect vamping-up and going-out perfume! (It just makes me wish I were a brunette...)

[scarletgenesis]

Cold Musk, a little powder, dry leaves and the very start of a fire in the forest. (no red wine for me, but I'm perfectly fine with that)

 

This does remind me of clean kitty fur.

 

True story:

I just came in from the cold outside. It snowed a tiny bit this morning, and is very pretty out my back door, looking into the wooded area behind my house. My husband is starting a fire in the wood burning stove, I have water on for tea, and I have a cat sitting next to me on the couch purring. Occasionally, she will climb into my lap to bump my head and I'll bury my face in her fur.

 

Hunter Moon is all of these things... cold, feral, and at the same time comforting like a warm kitteh and being inside on a cold day by the fire. It really evokes some very specific images and emotions. This would be a perfect scent to wear hiking in the cold woods, or inside on a day like today. Very nice.

[Bagfish]

I got a decant of Hunter Moon when it came out in the Autumn, tried it and thought it was nice but left it at that. So I dug it out of my imp box a few weeks ago and now I just can't get enough of it.

 

It is a most beautiful, golden-brown, furry, musky scent with a little hint of a rich fruitiness which reminds me ever so slightly of the richness of Khajuraho. There is no way that this has red or black musk in as both of these go really foul on my skin whereas the musk is so gorgeous and the vanillic notes that slink out from underneath just make this something special. I want to wear this all the time!

 

I managed to acquire a half full bottle of this, but I'm definitely going to have to try and score more as Hunter Moon is definitely a top ten scent.

[donnatron]

Imp: Soft and a bit boozy. I'm getting the bonfire and wine notes the most.

 

Wet: Oooh, this may be a good wine scent for me. It's starting out quite nice, smelling a bit smoky and the wine is clear and sharp.

 

Dry: And then it all goes off the rails. I put this on my wrist, starting doing my make up and while I was blending concealer on my forehead I was just like "What smells like my optometrists office?" It was me! This comes out smelling EXACTLY like my optometrist's office, that sort of sterile, laboratory cleanser scent. Not very sexy.

 

Throw: Not much.

 

Overall: While I do appreciate the effort of noble optometrists everywhere, I would prefer to not pay tribute to them through my perfume.

[zankoku_zen]

Oh man, I remember sniffing this from jewelbug's bottle and thinking it was too musky for me. Well, I tried a sniffie with enough oil to test and I was right. This one is a creamy smoky musk, much in the vein of Death of Autumn, but less masculine and aggressive than DoA.

 

Not my kind of scent at all.