Harvest Moon 2013

[The Poison Queen]

HARVEST MOON 2013
Under the harvest moon,
When the soft silver
Drips shimmering
Over the garden nights,
Death, the gray mocker,
Comes and whispers to you
As a beautiful friend
Who remembers.

Under the summer roses
When the flagrant crimson
Lurks in the dusk
Of the wild red leaves,
Love, with little hands,
Comes and touches you
With a thousand memories,
And asks you
Beautiful, unanswerable questions.
- Carl Sandburg

Red roses and wild red leaves.

In the bottle: A sharp leafynes with an underlying bit of rose. VERY interesting!

Wet: A beautiful leafy rose. This is unlike ANY scent I've ever smelled, and distinctly a rose but very different. I LOVE the red leaf note!

Drydown: a soft autumn rose, like crumbled leaf dust (without being actually dusty or powdery). GORGEOUS! definitely not powdery or musty on me at all.

Dry: This stays very leafy and rosy, it's really just one of the most exquisite blends I've gotten from the lab, and it hands down my favorite lunacy yet. As a rose lover this is fantastic, but I could really see it being a friendly rose for those who aren't too fond of it.

[HerbGirl]

Bright not crisp Autumn leaves with rose. Perfect. I love this!!!!

ETA what a beautiful perfume this is! The throw is gorgeous too. It makes me want to walk through a rose gardn in full bloom...in Autumn! :- P

Edited October 6, 2013 by Herb Girl

[SadariEvenstar]

So, I'm not a gardener. It's part not being able to remember to take care of things and part terrible luck. I have some second hand roses though. My mother in law transplanted them into my flower bed before she moved out of state. I've only killed one.

 

Anyway, what usually happens is that I get a few roses in the spring and then little bugs come and eat all the leaves and I don't get anymore for the rest of the summer. Then, once it starts to cool down in the fall my roses revive themselves and I get a few more in late September/October as long as the weather cooperates. Harvest Moon smells exactly like what my little garden smells like right now. Juicy, realistic roses bursting out of a leaf littered ground. ('Cause let's face it, I don't rake my leaves either.)

 

The rose never goes soapy and the leaf note is not too green.

[Gateau]

Wet this is brilliant--deep red rose with dry, crackling leaves. Very strong--just a drop has huge row and lasts for hours.

 

Unfortunately for me, my stupid skin turns this powdery after drydown. I'm going to try layering with French Tobacco to see if I can hold onto that marvelous leafiness.

[ellocentipede]

Oh Gateau, I had the same experience. The rose is soft and rich and glorious; the leaf note smells to me of pure, natural honeysuckle (one of my favorite scents in life). I am in heaven for about an hour and a half until the scent morphs into a sweet barely-there powder. I will be keeping this bottle for the bliss it offers for a few hours (and for the gorgeous label!).

 

Edited for typo. Also I get the same "honeysuckle" sense from Haus of Gloi's "Leaf Pile."

Edited October 7, 2013 by ellocentipede

[Akurarei]

In the Bottle: Rose and dryness

On My Skin, Wet: A seriously strong burst of dry leaves!

On My Skin, Dry: Beautiful blend of red leaves and red roses. The rose note has the same 'density' as the red rose in The Peacock Queen.

Verdict: Absolutely gorgeous! it's a perfect fall blend, and I love the simplicity of it!

[anastasia]

i crave the smell of fall year round so anything that says dry leaves is something i think i want. this is what i thought chant d'autommne might be like which had a bit of a syrupy red quality that was just slightly too candy like to be perfect for me.

this is almost pure red leaves on me. i want to say there is a tiny amount of tomato leaf in here but it is definitely red over other leaf colors. i am hoping over time that it gets rosier because i am a rose hound and there is not noticeable rose here - rather, it contributes only to the sense of velvety fall redness. i put it on the collar of my shirts to get more throw and staying power. it is otherwise fairly light and a little short lived. i am going to lotion up to see if the fault is my dry skin. this is very beautiful and reinforces my feeling that i can't have too many dry leaf fragrances.

[bottleshark]

In the bottle: Leafy! Very much the scent of raking fall leaves. There's a hint of rose in the background.

On skin, wet: The sweetness of the red leaves and the rich roses are potent, but it doesn't smell too heady. It almost seems fragile, but it's still very persistent. The leaves definitely make the rose note smell fresh, juicy and clear.

On skin, dry: This stays pretty consistent, but the leaf note seems to get drier and becomes more of a crisp, brittle leaf rather than the freshly fallen dead leaves I got at the beginning. The rose takes the front seat at this point, but stays lush.

 

 

I love this. My skin amps both rosy and leafy notes, but in this blend they cooperate with one another instead of competing. I'll just need to be careful not to over-apply because this has a lot of throw and staying power. When I wore it out last night, my friends could smell it well into the post-midnight hours.

[dawndie]

In bottle: green, like A Blade of Grass

 

On skin: lots of fresh juicy green with a little bit of rose. Pretty!

 

Half-hour later: rose is stronger, but it's a light perky rose, not deep & dark like Rose Red

 

In conclusion: I was hoping this would be more dusty leaves instead of juicy greenness, but the rose is so nice and not powdery (and strong too!) that I don't mind. More of a spring/summer blend than a fall one.

[Lani]

On me this smells just like "A World Where There Are Octobers" only with a lovely rose substituted for the maple scent. Both scents are gorgeous, I really love the Lab's red leaf note! Very glad I ordered this one.

[izile]

This one wonked out on my chemistry hard.

 

In the bottle - straight up soggy fallen leaves on the bottom of a wet forest floor - slight odor of rot and something powdery-floral in the background, but very subtle.

 

Wet - it's definitely the powdery potpourri style rose, not the fresh rose I prefer. It's still playing a 3rd fiddle to the red leaves super-dominating everything - they still smell a little wet/rotty, but are gaining some spicy edges.

 

Dry - no. rose is nothing more than a powdery afterthought to bundles and bundles of finally dried off, un-rotting, fallen dead leaves on a forest floor. It's not un-pretty, but this is definitely not a perfume for this little elfling. On the swap pile it goes

[theredshoes]

Oh dear, I should have learned my lesson about this kind of blend from Two, Five and Seven, but what with the gorgeous artwork and lovely poem and me being a rose fiend, I was smitten. This just didn't work on me, and it's due to my amping green notes and turning them into bitter bitterness. SIGH.

 

(I know we don't buy the bottles for the labels but seriously this is just one beautiful design, down to the lettering.)

 

In the bottle: A very sharp green sort of chemical smell. Uh-oh.

 

Wet: A very very GREEN note. Husband said I smelled like celery. Husband was invited to revise his opinion. Repeatedly. He never did. I didn't smell celery myself, and thought at first the smell was a bit pretty, but on me it's definitely some kind of tangy green leaf with a sweet undertone. No red, no dry leaves, not really even any rose, other than a mild sweetness.

 

Drydown: The celery? note died down a bit (Husband: "Some") and the blend got sweeter, but more like generic flowery perfume, not red roses. After a while it was sweet powder underneath a green note. It's pretty strong and has a lot of throw, and lasted a long while, but on me this was not a good thing.

 

Verdict: I'm going to let this one age a while in the hope the dry leaf will come out and the green subside, at least a little bit. I love autumn, and roses, and this sounds like such a beautiful scent (on people whose skin doesn't hate grass. Damn).

[savage_rose]

I was a little worried when my BPAL priority mailer smelled like this amazing autumn rose garden, but nothing had spilled. It just has a throw like you wouldn't believe! The rose is more of a dry desert rose which works well with the dry leaves, the rose's warmth matching the coolness of autumn so nicely. So lovely!

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: Lunacies almost never work on me, but I just had to try this one! I love rose and I love the Lab's leaf note, so I'm hoping for a win here!

 

Wet: Juicy deep roses and a lot of fresh leaves. This honestly smells exactly like my mother's rosebushes' final bloom. Beautiful!

 

Dry down: The rose starts to turn slightly powdery, but it's just barely. The leaves are still beautiful and crisp.

 

Dry: The leaves fade away and I'm left with a beautiful rose note.

 

Final thoughts: I really like this, but I have other rose blends I love more (namely Peacock Queen). If you're a rose freak, this is for you.

 

Verdict: Keeping for now.

[HighPriestessIce]

This might just be my favorite Lunacy ever. It's all crisp red leaves all the time. As it dries down the red rose peeks it's head out. It's not a heavy rose, it almost feels like a tea rose. There's a hint of powder I associate with tea roses, yet it's still distinctly red rose. The leaves are still the star of the show though.

[vthesiren]

First thought: Moist, rotting leaves.

Second thought: Celery.

 

There is an undertone of pleasant roses somewhere under there, and maybe that'll come out later with time. But it's going to be tough to stick this one out. :|

 

edit: An hour later, the roses have come out, and they're gorgeous. Which makes the opening stages of this even sadder. Probably swapping this.

Edited October 16, 2013 by vthesiren

[theseagrows]

this starts off as a deep red rose + slightly sharp leaf scent, and after a few minutes that sharpness calms down and the rose softens, and i swear i am smelling some carnation in there. i love both rose and carnation, so that makes me happy. it smells a lot like maiden as well as lush's potion right now, with less carnation and more rose. there's something else in there, but i can't quite place it. something almost honey-ish. on my skin, this is like a deeper more sophisticated maiden, which is one of my favorite scents! it's like what i'd wear at night if i had worn maiden during the day, and it kind of reminds me of tea rose. if you're a rose lover, you have to try this!

[Leopard403]

I am falling all over myself in love with Harvest Moon '13. Sooooo glorious. It doesn't smell "like roses" and it doesn't smell "like leaves"; instead it is some fabulous combination of the two. Just amazing. I wish I'd taken a chance and ordered more than one bottle, but alas!

[TheIceMaiden]

This starts off with a bitter, earthy, gritty sort of leaf smell, like leaves that are starting to rot. It reminds me of the leaf note in October and The Death of Autumn. The bitterness fades out quickly on me and I get a much subtler leaf note combined with a soft red rose. The rose smells like a combination of tea rose and The Peacock Queen on me, it's very pretty. The drydown smells a lot like patchouli to me, and patchouli is not my friend. So, alas, I think I'm going to have to pass on this.

Edited October 18, 2013 by TheIceMaiden

[plainjean]

This is just...hauntingly beautiful. It starts off heavy on the rose, like a bouquet of velvety red roses. The autumn leaves are in there, just sort of floating around. But then the dry down...oh the dry down. It smells like it's part of my skin. Like I naturally smell like this gorgeous, incensey, red rose. Beautiful.

[Smaragdina]

I'm not going to be good at putting this into words, but I'll try.

 

This starts out as pure, leafy, rose on me - I say 'leafy' because it has DEPTH, it's a dozen roses rather than a single flower. It's not cloying or overpowering at all, which is what I was worried about - I like rose but it doesn't seem to like back, and Harvest Moon seems to be the exceptoin. The leaf note comes out as it dries. I've never smelled BPAL's red leaf note before; my brain interprets this as dusty and clean at the same time. It's really gorgeous. I get an impression of golden autumn sunshine in the garden.

 

It's a stunning daytime/work scent. have been wearing this NON STOP.

[zankoku_zen]

Leafy, dry leaves with a tinge of red rose.

 

Nice, deeply feminine autumn blend. The red rose adds a very feminine aspect to the dry leaves, making it perfect to wear for autumn. The red rose is the type of apple-fresh stemmed red rose that you get in some of the Yuletide Rose Red blends.

[doomsday_disco]

In the bottle: A very strong, true red leaf note with a bit of rose rather faintly in the background.

 

Wet: The rose is the dominant note on my skin. I am glad about this, because I wasn't sure if I wanted to smell like the leaf note I was getting in the bottle. The rose really complements the red leaf note I was getting in the bottle, which is fortunately not a musty leaf.

 

Dry: The rose remains at the front of the blend for a while, but the red leaf note is starting to peek out more over time. It fades into a somewhat powdery rose surrounded by red leaves.

 

Verdict: These notes go really well together, but I don't see myself reaching for the bottle I bought very often. Since I bought a bottle and ordered a decant, I will keep the decant and send the bottle off to swaps.

[JasminDreams2010]

Pretty, soft. It keeps flirting with being powdery but on me it never quite gets there. Though simple, the leaf note is evocative of autumn, the interplay brethren that and soft rose makes it seem more complex than just the 2 notes.

[Rakshasa Skipp]

In the bottle: Wet leaves, pure and simple.

On wet: Pushy, wet leaves.

On dry: The rose blossoms at about the fifteen minute mark, and the leaves crisp up. Both scents are fresh and lovely, and the whole impression is amazing and a revelation.

Fading: The rose turns to powder (but fades as to not overpower the rest), and the leaves stay the scent of a crisp October evening with loads of freshly fallen leaves.

 

Overall, it isn't all that tenacious, lasting three hours tops on me, and the throw is intimate without requiring wrist-huffing.

 

Verdict: It is so rare to find a scent that both I and my husband love. I wish I had known that I loved this autumn leaf note, because I would've bought a lifetime supply. As it stands, I'll be scouring for this for a good long time.