Lunar Phoenix

[DJ Sin]

LUNAR PHOENIX
HEAR, Goddess queen, diffusing silver light,
Bull-horn’d and wand’ring thro’ the gloom of Night.
With stars surrounded, and with circuit wide
Night’s torch extending, thro’ the heav’ns you ride:
Female and Male with borrow’d rays you shine,
And now full-orb’d, now tending to decline.
Mother of ages, fruit-producing Moon,
Whose amber orb makes Night’s reflected noon:
Lover of horses, splendid, queen of Night,
All-seeing pow’r bedeck’d with starry light.
Lover of vigilance, the foe of strife,
In peace rejoicing, and a prudent life:
Fair lamp of Night, its ornament and friend,
Who giv’st to Nature’s works their destin’d end.
Queen of the stars, all-wife Diana hail!
Deck’d with a graceful robe and shining veil;
Come, blessed Goddess, prudent, starry, bright,
Come moony-lamp with chaste and splendid light,
Shine on these sacred rites with prosp’rous rays,
And pleas’d accept thy suppliant’s mystic praise.

A blessing of imagination, pleasure, and foresight: galbanum, orris root, lettuce, pink lotus absolute, purple lily, bay, jasmine, narcissus, camphor, mugwort, narcissus, yam flower, jasmine, passionflower, parsley, and white papaya.

Just got my bottle today!

BTW this is my first review on this site

In the bottle its smells sweet and spicy with a bunch of floral scents.

Wet: Its nice

Dry: on my wrists its turning into soap smelling. I will see what it smells like with its mellow..

Just sniffed again, the spice is coming back around!

[hlinspjalda]

I bought this bottle unsniffed, in full knowledge that it contained several notes that might not do well on me.

 

In the bottle: Galbanum, lettuce, and an aquatic floral. The galbanum smells just like my new bottle of Galbanum SN.

 

Wet: More galbanum than anything else at first, with some florals (passionflower mostly) that are a bit in my difficult zone. Also an unexpected aquatic tinge. I was worried about the orris, but it didn't materialize.

 

Two hours: Still gently aquatic, in an inexplicable sort of way. There are florals too, and I just fail at identifying them. This is not really great on me, but it's not off-putting either, and there are no headachy florals in it.

 

Four and a half hours: This is a very gentle, pretty, lightly pointed floral blend now, with a slight warm aquatic overtone. I never detected identifiable jasmine or narcissus, and I'm not sure what pink lotus even smells like. But the scent does read as watery-white and quite evocative of a lunar phoenix.

[Lycanthrope]

I had a lot of hope for this, given that it has many intriguing florals. I get everything kind of whomped out by the Galbanum and lettuce. I amped the lettuce in last Unicorn, so it smells like a chopped iceberg lettuce. I can tell that the rest of the florals are trying to come out, but then I bring up hints of parsley and then more galbanum, and a fleshy yam. I... what... grocery?

 

I think this requires more testing, but innately I am not drawn to this blend.

[stellamaris]

You know, this is why decant circles are pure genius. I would have never bought this unsniffed, the notes did not grab me at all. Solar Phoenix had seemingly all the good ones, and I strangely hated it. Lunar however is quite wonderful, to me it's rich and kind of earthy, very well blended and gorgeous. I can see this on either a man or woman, those are usually the scents that are most wearable for me. This dries down to an amazing almost classic floral, I love love love this.

[becca_s]

Lunar phoenix really doesn't work on my skin at all. It smells really sharp and harsh - I think that this is coming from the lettuce and galbanum or maybe the parsley. I can't smell any of the jasmine or lily. I really wanted this one to work on me and I am envious of all the people who this smells great on. There is something in this which just doesn't work with my skin chemistry

[fairestrocza]

Jasmine and lilies are not my friends, so it is no surprise that this was terrible on me. When an aquatic aspect emerged, it was the final kiss of death. This is the anti-me scent.

[surlygurl]

Thank goodness I have a decant of SN galbanum, because now I know what that green funk is.

 

This is green, sharp, somewhat astringent. Supporting that are soapy jasmine and lilly. I can't really get past those three. On me, this is an herbal soap; the kind of soap I'd use if I felt I was coming down with an illness and wanted to wash it away. The sillage isn't quite as insistent, but it does scream "cleansing bitter herbs!" on my skin.

[mymymai]

ITI: Why, hello camphor and mugwort. These two notes are certainly forthcoming, but they crowd out the other notes of lily, orris root, and parsley that I can detect.

 

Wet: On my skin, the camphor and mugwort are still dominant but I can smell jasmine, lily. parsley, touches of lettuce and the bubblegum tell-tale sign of lotus. It's a complex, although overtly green scent.

 

Dry: Very herby, almost overpowering so even when dried for half an hour. Camphor is certainly a strong note, followed by parsley, mugwort, and narcissus. It's clean in its herbiness, though.

[Little Bird]

On me, this is really soapy white floral and hints of watery lettuce. Definitely a crisp & clean scent, but way too soapy for me.

[KissleMeNow]

Having though I hated all things floral, and then finding flowery blends I enjoyed, I decided to go for Lunar Phoenix in an attempt to explore beyond my scent comfort zone. Unfortunately, wet, it's exactly the kind of floral I fear. I couldn't differentiate notes at that stage – it was soapy in an almost-harsh way. As it dried, the jasmine overpowered everything else, and my eyes and nose began to run. However, once my nose had cleared (maybe an hour plus into the experience), it smelled... wonderful. Not, to my nose, in a floral manner – it was like mist or dew or water running over rock, something wet, fresh, clean, cool, and earthy. I can definitely see where the "lunar" is there.

 

Overall – I'm in love with the final scent, but if it repeats the first two stages every time, HECK NO. :/

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

in the bottle: ugh, no. like every bottle on the cologne counter all spilled into one big puddle. on skin, sadly, it isn't much better. it's just too jumbled and too many notes for me.

[Cactus]

In The Bottle: A swirl of notes. Green, herbal, floral, sharp.

 

Wet: A bit aquatic. Strong Lettuce and Parsley in the foreground. Sharply greenly resinous - the Galbanum is really in the forefront right now. And in the background of all this are sweet aquatic florals. This is a personal memory thing, but this smells a little like occult or new age oil mixes.

 

Drying Down: The Galbanum dissipates and the lettuce and parsley settle down. This turns into a seriously sweet, yet complex aquatic floral. I can pick out the lotus, jasmine, and passionflower, but the other florals are so melded together that I can't separate them. This smells Deep. And tugs on my heartstrings. I think I'm keeping this.

[zankoku_zen]

White, watery clean florals.

 

I have nothing else on this. WHEW.

[brilliantcat]

Ok jasmine, with all those other lovely notes you should behave.

 

Imp: Lovely watery flowers with a hint of bitterness that I think is the lettuce and parsley.

 

Wet: This is beautiful! A definite aquatic feel that is oh-so-feminine, and quite appropriate for a lunar scent, being tied into the tides and all. Soft florals, quite complex, more so than it initially appeared.

 

Dry: I can't keep my nose off my wrist! Loving this

[midnight_aeval]

Nope, nope, nope. Watery, aquatic, herbal. Pretty much all the categories of scents I dislike!

[neuilly]

I can't pick out any individual notes in this. In the far background is a really lovely sort of aquatic floral. Really pleasant. But the foreground is...well, not pleasant. A little herbal, a little bitter. I'm not really sure what's going on and it's not the worst thing I've ever put on but I can't say I'm enjoying it.

[milo]

At first, silvery and luminescent with something bitter. When I received my sniffies a month ago, I noticed the bitterness in the imp, and immediately wrote it off to try at a later date. I really wish I'd tried it sooner, as the bitterness fades off pretty quickly. It ends up being silver, orris-like, luminiscent, shining, and crystalline. It's kind of like Staged Moon Landing and Silver Phoenix, those kind of blends. I should note that this does not go powdery at all, it remain clear and crystal-like. I think I'm going to track down some more of this!

[mistressfizz]

Starts off with a blast of feral jasmine, sour and heady, with a rush of musky florals following. It's acrid and harsh. As this dries, an aquatic note emerges, softening the florals and adding a sharpness. I think the wet phase is too intense for me. I like a softer jasmine.

[theseagrows]

got this as a frimp in a swap.

this is a strong, soapy floral on my skin. i am getting the lettuce and camphor definitely, perhaps with some jasmine and narcissus. it smells like a flower shop but with a definite perfuminess added in. it's definitely very green and sharp floral smelling on me. glad i got to try it

Edited August 6, 2014 by theseagrows

[Sakura Tsukikage]

When I sniffed this in the imp, I also instantly noticed the green bitterness that hit me, and it scared me off a little. I know I smell the lettuce in the imp, and I think I smell the camphor and mugwort as well as the galbanum. However, once it's on, that calms down pretty quickly, and the other scents come out, especially the florals, with a touch of something juicier and wetter. It's rather strong on me, but doesn't have much throw--still I didn't put very much on, and it's startlingly strong when I get close, all the same. It smells very clean, not in a soapy way, more a way that reminds me of wet plants, and the color it suggests to me is a light green, a spring or mint green, rather pale (which is not to say it smells minty, because it doesn't, at all). It does have that sharpness to it, though. As time goes on, I get more sweetness--some time into wearing it, I'm starting to really love it, it smells clean and fresh and now a brighter, juicier green to me. It's very nice, and it does strike me as lunar somehow, though I don't think of the moon as green at all. It's gotten more floral, but still doesn't strike me as a floral--despite its strength, this seems like a rather elusive scent to describe, somehow or another.

 

Several more hours in, it still has that clear, clean feeling, but I realize that I've been smelling something like jasmine, narcissus, and lily along with the galbanum and mugwort all along, but none of them struck me as such. After the initial burst of extreme lettuce-y bitterness wears off, I think the lettuce fades into the background and gives it that clean green scent I'm noticing--maybe with the papaya? I think I'm getting the papaya as well, but more as a juicy freshness and hint of sweetness than anything else.

 

I started off very wary of this, but now I'm very fond of how clear and clean and bright it smells to me. It does smell a little "perfume-y," though--I don't mind that at all, but I know it bugs some people. But it's a perfume with lettuce and parsley very much in it, at the same time!

Edited November 7, 2013 by Sakura Tsukikage

[Bookgroper]

When I first tried this on, I was heartbroken thinking I wouldn't like it. It goes on with a weird mustiness that makes my nose wrinkle.

 

However. As I'd put it on and then run out the door, I couldn't wash it off -- which was great, because within about 15 minutes it had morphed into something delightful. I think it is the lettuce, but it reminded me a bit of Cancer, which is one of my favorites. I guess that's not surprising