Flower Moon 2009

[inkaddict]

... Flower Moon embodies the unrestrained bliss, energy and color of the season: a bouquet of vivid, sexy blooms, coated in thick, golden honey... wisteria, swamp jasmine, honeysuckle, daffodil, rhododendron, phlox, and a mix of California wildflowers.

In the Bottle: Honey, flowers, a hint of spiciness. Not bad, but not really exiciting either.

Wet: As soon as it touches my skin the flowers start to bloom. The honey is clean, light and pale. Excellent throw, too.Now that daffodil and honeysuckle peek out from behind the jasmin Flower Moon makes me think of a pool of pale golden honey, hundreds of flowers dotting its surface.

Dry: This scent keeps evolving, growing. Perfect for sping, really.There's wisteria now, wildflowers and the honey is different too, it reminds me of a milk&honey candy I used to love as a child. No trace of the dreaded soapyness, pot-pourri, or old ladies in there: it's vibrant and alive, it's sipping herbal tea with honey one morning, looking out of the window and smiling at the first flowers in the garden.

Verdict:
I love sweet flowers, but I've discovered that most sweet notes -cream, caramel, most sugars with the exception of cotton candy- tend to either be cloying or turn to burnt rubber on me. Or both. Pherhaps honey is the answer? It worked well in Tissue too. And I'm squeeng because I can easily pick out daffodil, one of my fav flowers and one that -like calycanthus- it's underused in perfumes. Edited May 12, 2009 by Shollin

[ifinena]

I bought this, despite my brain saying "there's honey in there, keep away".I read WC reviews likening this to my beloved Mum Moon in "feel". When will I ever learn that bpal's honey has a 90% chance of not working on me?

The florals in the blend are not offensive at all. Really quite pleasant. It's the honey on top that ruins it for me.

This is a blend for people who love honey. Sadly not for me.

Edited April 19, 2009 by ifinena

[ffiferoo]

I had very high expectations for this one, especially with my newfound love of daffodil, but it isn't what I expected at all. It's definitely floral - I think I get the honeysuckle the most - but I also am getting a beeswaxy note that's quite prominent. I'm hoping that it will change after a bit and (maybe?) give me a bit of daffodil, but if not, this is a very nice, light floral that isn't too heavy for the warm spring weather we've been having.

[Little Bird]

I have a hard time wearing floral blends (they often give me headaches), so I wasn't sure about this. In the bottle, I can definitely pick out the honey. It's a fuzzy, golden honey, with an almost metallic sharpness to it. BPAL honey notes often aren't as sweet on me as honey notes from most other companies. The floral aspect is a little sharp & perfumey, which is exactly the sort of floral that I don't like.

 

On my skin, this is sharp, clean floral perfume. It makes me think of pale, perfumey white flowers. I get light hints of the not-so-sweet, golden honey draped over the musky flowers. Whenever I smell it, I think that it's a very clean floral smell, but it's not going soapy on me at all.

 

This isn't awful, but it is too much perfumey, fakey floral for me to pull off.

 

The label art is a favorite, though <3

[edenssixthday]

Flower Moon 2009 - When I first apply this, it smells like a heavy wildflower scent. It doesn't seem much different than the '05 version. And then... and then... about 15 minutes later, the scent has dried down and warmed up, and the honey bursts forth, pouring over those wildflower notes with its sticky sweetness and rather than turning into poopy-diaper-honey (as honey tends to do), it starts to smell just too damn pretty for words. I think this may be my favorite BPAL honey scent of all time. It's springtime in a bottle...and it kind of makes me hungry for a whipped honey sandwich. The staying power and throw are most excellent. I'm loving this one! Edited July 9, 2009 by edenssixthday

[zankoku_zen]

Okay, so honey, wisteria and jasmine can all be problem notes on me. On wet, it's more floral but as it dries, the honey comes out and it kinda holds everything in this sticky, sweet medium. The jasmine doesn't really turn to cat pee and the wisteria isn't horribly overwhelming. That said, on me, it's definitely a honey/wisteria/jasmine blend. It's pretty, but not me.

[crebbsgirl]

I am NOT a floral girl. Flowers and I just don't get along. I've learned to accept it, and move on. So when this blend came out, I totally passed it by. And then the reviews started coming in. So I tracked down a decant. LURVE IT! This is wonderfully sexy and different. The honey really adds a wonderful dimension here, and prevents the flowers from being too, well, flower-y.

[thelaurenator]

I for one love florals... and if you love florals you will LOVE this blend. Gorgeous wildflowers and honey, just like the description says.

 

Yuuummmm!

Edited May 18, 2009 by thelaurenator

[laslibres]

Florals...that are sexy? Sexy florals. Huh. It's rare that a blend goes that way on me, but that's what Flower Moon 09 is. Mostly because of that gorgeous honey note that the Lab does so well...this is a similar honey to Cupid Complaining to Venus, which I also adore. I feel like CCtV is more of a summery scent, with the fruit, and this is the spring version thereof, with flowers instead of fruit.

 

I'm really terrible at picking out individual floral notes most of the time, so I can't really tell you _what_ flowers I'm smelling, but they smell very warm and golden...well, but not just "golden," they smell like a whole bunch of brightly-colored flowers! Warm, bright, joyous, and then dipped in honey to make it extra special. New favorite Moon scent!

[sylvanusurban]

 

In bottle: Flowery.

On me, wet: Reasonably pleasant flower blend. Or so I think. Boy, standing halfway across the room from me, gets a whiff and says “Aagh! That’s not a good one!”

On me, drying: It seems to be taking on a diaperish undertone. I guess I’ll wipe it off.

 

Verdict: Not the worst thing I’ve ever smelled, but I think I’ll pass on it.

 

ETA: Wow, it has a lot of rave reviews, though, so maybe I’ll give it a second chance.

 

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Unsurprisingly a floral honey

 

Wet on me - A sweet concotion of flowers that I don't recognise

 

Dry on me - A subtle scent, but with a definite kick to it. A conglomerate floral sweetened by the honey

 

Overall - It would need more honey to be a real hit with me, but it's not unpleasant

[mgrazulis]

A lovely decant from snowysss. Such beautiful wildflowers...but the honey turns to a powdery dust all over them after 20 minutes on my skin. I am very sad... darn my chemistry!

[aquazoo]

Light honey and floral, as advertised! I can't pick out any one scent. It's blended and balanced perfectly. After a while I can smell the honeysuckle.

 

[megank4]

Yes, honey and flowers, but smells like some sort of vegetable and grass underneath.

Pleasant and springy.

 

[HamletsKeeper]

In the bottle - I can't really pick up any particular scent in the bottle. It reminds me of a shampoo I used to use with a herbal base. Nothing unpleasant just fresh and clean smelling.

 

Wet This settles on my skin quite powdery, I get a very strong talc smell with something green underneath. I was a bit worried at this stage thinking it might just go this way entirely.

 

Dry down - now the floral notes raise their head the powder scent is entirely gone and replaced with a strong dry note (is this the honey?) if it had a colour it would be palest gold. And now I get hints and whiffs of individual florals although I couldn't tell you which ones. Just that there is a floating character above the dry note that seems to alternate from a thick flower scent (jasmine?) to lighter, more astringent florals.

 

Overall - it's a nice dry floral that isn't cloying or sweet. I was quite taken aback because I expected it to be a sweet scent, but there's enough in it that isn't sweet which keeps it sharp and fresh. In commercial scents I typically go for light, fruity florals and this scent also works well on me although it has none of that fruity character I would typically go for. I can't say I smell honey in the way I expected, but what I do smell are the florals I like on a heavier yet dry base note which makes a pleasant surprise and nice change. I could definately wear this scent daily. It has a grown up character about it I like and isn't powdery at all once past the wet stage.

 

I think I applied about half a drop of this on my wrist and it's sticking around with a decent throw although it would be easy to keep this one close to my skin with careful application. A nice scent and I'm glad I have a full bottle of it. I will wear it until I run out but don't think I would hoard it.

 

Edited to add - when applied more heavily it does have a definate grassy smell to it. Meadow grass that's green and lush at the base with dried heads on it. The kind of grass that reaches it's zenith mid-summer, like a wild hay. Lovely.

 

After wearing this for 24hrs I now know what this scent smells like on me. It smells exactly like jasmine on the vine which is totally different to jasmine oil smell. As I was walking yesterday I kept passing jasmine vines and then smelt my wrist and they smell was identical. How wonderful to find a perfume which smells exactly like my favourite spring garden scent.

 

Worn as an oil this one is more honey, as a EDP spray it's more floral and grassy. Very meadow sweet.

 

Revisted After wearing this scent several times over the past month I really think it deserves more love than it gets. I wear this mostly as an EDP spray and it's such a unique scent, long lasting with excellent throw. It's dry, grassy, slightly sweet without being a typical floral. The flowers in this scent are wildflowers, all slightly bitter, green and papery. Nothing like a rose\jasmine\lily blend. This scent evokes medows with long grasses and tiny brilliantly coloured flowers dotted amoungst the grasses. It's warm, summery and unlike any other scent I've smelled before. Everytime I spray it, I think "oh my! So lovely".

Edited October 20, 2009 by HamletsKeeper

[ralenth]

I pulled this out during my culling pass this morning and decided to give it a test before dropping it off at the orphanage. Flower Moon has aged quite nicely. It's a slow, thick honey with soft musky florals. Honey and I don't often play well together, but this is gorgeous. The throw is medium and it seems to have staying power. I'll definitely be keeping this and putting it into rotation. Yum.

[countessmouse]

In the bottle and wet on my skin: Jucyfruit gum (I kid you not) with a bitter note. It had me worried until the honeysuckle and daffodil popped and now it's quite lovely. Even the bf likes it, mostly because he adores the smell of honeysuckle on me. I'm not getting any of the honey note that other reviewers mentioned, but then my skin really doesn't pick up foody scents well. A keeper.

[Schmoozy]

 

I had to pull this out after the Killer Beez update, as I have realized that my dislike of honey in Beth's blends has drastically changed over the last year. I thought that if I aged Flower Moon the florals would become less pronounced and the golden honey would be richer. I am not disappointed. When I first tested my bottle the swamp jasmine was all I could smell, but now this is a beautiful mixture of all florals (not one is prevalent) and thick golden honey. It is sunny, and rich, lush and sweet. At times the honey is a bit medicinal (which happens with my skin chemistry and that's ok, because I adore medicinal smells) but overall this is stunning.

[odalisque]

Wowwwww. This is one fantastic honey blend. I could smell the honey note faintly as I was unwrapping my package, through the bubble wrap and everything.

 

I can distinctly smell the daffodil. I never would have thought I knew what daffodils smell like, but there it is: it's kind of, um, a yellow smell? And kind of daffodil-y? Yeah, sorry, that's all I got, you're on your own. Also, bluebells, swear to Maude. The honeysuckle has much less of a starring role in this one than it does in, say, Eos (which is similar in that it's a sunny spring floral but not in much else). Somebody mentioned that it was "dry and grassy" and I agree -- not dry in the sense of being un-sweet, because it's definitely sweet, but even though it has early spring flowers like daffodils I get a sense here of not wet green spring grass but slightly dried-out meadow grass in the summer.

 

The honey is really, really similar to the honey in Hetairae. It's a less voluptuous scent than Hetairae over all, though; I know I use this kind of analogy a lot, but if Hetairae is a candlelight banquet then Flower Moon is a morning picnic. It's a very rich clover-honey scent, I thought that the clover-blossom quality was something the ylang in Hetairae did, but now I suspect it must be inherent to the honey note itself; of course, I can't rule out that clover is among "a mix of California wildflowers". Anyway, this isn't a floral blend, really; the flowers flavor and infuse the honey, but the honey itself is the star.

Edited April 28, 2010 by odalisque

[milo]

Wow, this is REALLY florally! Too much so, until the honey came out! This is the honey (or the note), that I smell in Trinket. A beautiful, sweet musk note. Now if only the overwhelming flowers would just disappear....For those of you who are scared of powder, the jasmine is behaving, and I'll bet if you love florals and especially jasmine, you'd love this. The honey note here is fan-freakin-tastic, and I'll probably keep the imp just because I love this particular honey note.

[Marblemeadow]

WOW. Flowers on parade. This is like walking into a flower shop and smelling all the lovely flowers while the Rose Parade is going on outside and the scent of roses is wafting in. This is super floral but not in an old lady kind of way. This is fresh flowers. It's balanced somehow and despite my not liking florals, I think I actually like this. Unbelievable.

[DahliaHayashi]

I really wanted to love this one! I really did.

It was my first bpal, it was a lunacy (which i adore alone for the name) and it was an april lunacy (april is my birthday month).

I was excited like i child when i got this one.

 

In the bottle:it smelled like sweet honey with flowers and loved it.

 

On my skin wet: It is changing....BAM! it turned imideately into an old lady flower perfume.

 

I thought i would wait a while for it to calm down.

 

On the skin dry: It says all grandmum perfume (not mine though she hates flower perfumes ;p).Even stronger now.It got really overpowering and gave me a headache

 

I tried it a second time but it was excatly the same. seems not for me...

It was not the best experience for a first bpal perfume

Well luckily i got Voyers among the cherry blossom just 2 days later and fell in love with this one which made me not giving up on bpal

 

Update September 2011:

I wanted to sell or swap it and so i was letting it sit in my bpal box over the summer and since i just reached for voyeurs among the cherry blossom during summer and my little imp box in my box and ignored my other bottles since my other bottles until this week where just flower moon and and my dear love flesh eating reindeer which is really not for summer, i totally forgot about it.

i just made my first bpal order and remembered it and i took it out for selling it and when i sniffed it again to make sure that i really cant make it work i got a little suprise

Within the half year i have this one it morphed into a sweet honeyed flower scent. I tried it on an it quite works now

I am still not sure about this one since i learned i need flowers with a grassy note because my chemistry tends to push out the flowers like crazy so they overpower everything else.

but its quite sweet and nice now and i will wait some more month and give it a try again and make a final decission.

Aging is a great thing

Edited September 1, 2011 by DahliaHayashi

[Diva Urd]

In the bottle: Ohhh yes, honeyed wild flowers. Very nice.

 

On: I get honeysuckle, I get daffodil, I get jasmine... the whole flowers, with stem and leaf. Petals, stems and stamens thrust into a dollop of surprisingly light, golden honey. The honey recedes a bit as it dries, but it remains in the background. This is a slightly sweetened field of flowers. Lovely.

 

Later: A bunch of wildflowers, stems and all, with just the faintest breath of honey. Quite unusual and very nice. I'll keep my partial.

[Thimbleviolet]

Wowowowow! I bought this bottle unsniffed from BPAL etsy, and boy am I glad I did!

 

This is exactly the scent of the 'fairy shop' I used to frequent as a little girl. It wasn't a tacky, plastic sequinned wand sort of place but a perfect bower of enchantment run by a lovely old couple who made most of the products themselves. Flower Moon is exactly like the incense they burned in that shop.

 

Wet: I get heavy, incensey full blown blooms and something that reminds me more of amber than honey.

Dry down: The wet scent is still there, but there is another layer that I can smell when I hold my wrist away. It's powdery (in a good way) and reminds me of Australian wildflowers under a blazing sun, especially everlastings. Maybe a faint hint of wysteria too?

Throw: Really quite powerful on me, and my skin eats oils. A little goes a long way.

 

Definitely a keeper and so far my favourite of this order!

[PrinceofcatS]

Years and years later, but I figured I'd post a review anyway. A friend passed this on to me as a Christmas present and I'm in love with it. When first applied it smells like the most dazzling collection of light, but heady, wildflowers - I can't pick out every note, but I do get daffodil, one of my absolute favorite scents.

 

The first time I wore it I could barely sniff any honey out and then it blossomed over time into a pure, thick, sticky honey smell that lasted for hours on me. The second time, I wore less, and the honey remained light, almost "pale" and floral, and the flowers stayed on the skin. It's a versatile and beautiful scent and I expect it layers well, though I haven't tried that yet.