Luna Sanguinem

[Nepenthe]

A scent of dreams and portents, strange omens, and palpable mystery. The blood moon passing through the earth’s shadow: mugwort, moonwort, and black lotus reddened by pimento, smoked carnation, red musk, and red rose petals, all shadowed by tobacco absolute, bourbon vanilla, Peru balsam, leather accord, and myrrh.

In the bottle: There is a musty herbal smell that overshadows the other notes. I think that must be the mugwort, it reminds me very much of the musty note in Winter Stars. Underneath, I can just make out a heady floral, but nothing I could identify.

On skin: The mustiness fades almost immediately. It turns into something akin to rose incense, unlit and with a hint of something spicy. I get the impression of very red, very hot and very dry. (It doesn't seem like a head shop sort of incense at all, it is more familiar and feminine.)

If I put my nose to my wrist I can make out tobacco and something vanilla. It is a bit like the Antikythera Mechanism, but instead of golden and oiled, it is red and scorched.

It is a surprising smell, and I think giving a little resting time (I tried this just a few hours out of the mail box) might bring out more depth.

[Jennifurious]

I agree that the difference between the fragrance in the bottle and on the skin is like day and smoky blood red night. In the bottle, this comes across as herbal, kind of mossy and, well, lunar.

 

On skin....SMOKY. But in a completely pleasant and not overbearing way. This quiet tide of sweet and spicy florals starts to rise with carnation being the most prominent, followed by a hint of candy-like lotus and a soft kiss of rose. All of the tobacco and leather and dark vanilla just form this dark fuzzy background to the smoke and flowers.

 

And finally, the red musk asserts itself (this is a note I happily amp and it is never overwhelming in this blend.) It starts as part of that dark background and vibrates its way to the forefront. This dries to a carnation, lotus, a hint of that smoke and the most well-behaved and lovely red musk.

 

SO glad this called to me and I jumped right on it. I don't own ANYTHING quite like this and I'm very curious about other's impressions of it. I could see this being something very unique to each individual, but for me: LOVE.

[Wren12]

ITB: Smoky, herbal and a touch of green.

 

On Wet: Ooh, the musk blooms straight away, sharp and sweet, like the musk in Infernal Lover, which is my favorite iteration of red musk. The herbal note fades more into the background and a slightly sweet floral note bolsters the high sweet sharpness of the red musk. A smokey note brings up the base notes sweetened and made more rich by the carmel, heady scent of tobacco flower mixing with the vanilla.

 

Dry down: The musk remains assertive with the tobacco flower taking the place of the sweeter floral note from the wet phase. The whole lot is underscored by smokey, slightly boozy vanilla bringing just the right edge of softness to the rest of the sharp notes. The herbal notes are no longer assertive and this has become much more of a musk/incense scent.

 

Overall I am totally happy I got a bottle of this. Everyone works together perfectly and it is unique and wonderful. Viva la luna Sanguinem!

[Poenari]

Oh, dear, this is not working out at all. So far, I get an initial burst of red musk (YAY) but then it turns into canned ham smell on my skin. I've tried this several times now, and every single time, nothing but canned ham. WTF!

 

Edited to add: I feel like I needed to revisit this, because there are so many "win" notes here for me that there must have been something wrong with my initial test. I love carnation, I love smoke, so smoky carnation should be awesome. I love red musk, vanilla, tobacco, Peru balsam, and myrrh. But unfortunately I was correct. This turns into a smoky mess in a bad way. When I mentioned "canned ham" it is based on a long-distant childhood memory (do they even make canned ham nowadays? Who knows, who cares?) I wonder if the pimento is melding with the smoky carnation and turning this scent into such a hot mess on my skin. I'm sorry to leave a negative review, and hopefully YMMV. I also rarely have good luck with Lunacy blends, so take that into account as well.

 

 

Edited May 4, 2014 by Poenari

[Atrous]

In the bottle: Musky, herbal, floral

 

Wet stage: Something very sharp. My guess is its the Geranium but who can tell for sure with so many notes. Could be its one of the herbal notes? Sharpness is surrounded by a smokey rose.

 

Dry stage: Sharpness decreases as it dried down and the blend becomes smoother. This oil seems to have two layers. There is the layer underneath that has a cool, lunar feel to it. And a layer on top that feels aggressive and hot. Its as if the moon is charred. Haven't tried anything quite like this from the Lab. It's complex and unusual. I Love This!

[Monster]

There are so many of my win notes in here I just had to have a bottle of this, I knew I was going to love it and I was right.

 

In the bottle, I detect mostly red musk and balsam. On my skin wet, this is a high-pitched scent over red musk. I really can't pick out any more individual notes, it's well-blended and balanced.

 

As it dries, the bright and sharp opening notes mellow out and allow the red musk to smolder on my skin like beautiful incense. I'm still having trouble distinguishing many of the individual notes. There's a red, floral quality to this however, it doesn't scream ROSE or CARNATION to my nose. There's a light sweetness to the background but doesn't register strongly as vanilla. I can tell these things are in there but they don't stand out. Instead, they work with each other to give you the impression of RED.

 

The final dry down is blood red scent layered over the impression of smoky/dusty darkness. It does a brilliant job of giving you the impression of a dark red moon hanging against a black night sky.

 

Red musk fans, this one if for you! You need it!

[SadariEvenstar]

This is basically the one note red musk show on my skin. It's not the kind of red musk I like either.

[Zii]

ITB: Something herby and deep punctuated by deep, lush red musk. I am getting the moonwart and mugwart for sure, lending their herby murk and just the slightest hint of spice.

 

Wet: Spicy, spicy musk. Something floral which is not rose, so maybe the carnation, comes out quickly to lighten the blend, but it's a sweet peppery musk right now.

 

Drying: This is amping up the dusty leather feeling that must be a combination of the mugwart, moonwart and leather, but there is something rich and floral that keeps it from becoming too dry. I'm also starting to get a little bit of tobacco out of the greeness as well, but I am getting almost no vanilla and nothing that I recognize as balsam, though it may be a player in the dry spice in the musk.

 

Dry: This dries almost exactly the same as The Three Cocks from the ragnarok LE, though they get there by different means. It's not surprising, seeing as they share the red musk, pimiento, and incense notes, but really that's almost all it dries down to. I get no floral outside the wet stage (fortunately) no vanilla and no distinct tobacco or leather (less fortunate). There is a slight sweetness softening the edges of this that makes it less sharp and more feminine, and that's the only real difference between the two once dry.

 

I definitely enjoy this, but I was hoping that there would be more leather and tobacco for longer, and generally a more complex final scent. I'll be keeping it around for aging to see if the notes I like warm up at all.

 

-edit-

A little patience and this has softened into a beautiful red musk and vanilla infused leather. The throw is much lower, but this stage is much more what I was hoping for.

Edited May 12, 2014 by Zii

[zankoku_zen]

Luna Sanguinem is red musk, resins and honey. Dark, smoky, mysterious.

[milo]

Quite nice at first, I'm getting red musk, very inviting. Turns rather perfumey. I wish it stayed how it was wet.

[bulletslc]

I have to agree with the person who described this as canned ham. It went smoked ham on me as well. It was an immediate scrub off.

[kakiphony]

In the bottle: Strong red musk with unidentifiable spices and a musty herbal tone. Really, the red musk is very dominant.

 

Wet on skin: Strong, spicy red musk a lot of spicy heat from the pimento. Strong and unsubtle. More fire than blood to my nose.

 

Early dry down (10-15 minutes): The red musk and spice in this is reminding me very much of how Vixen used to dry down on me before my skin chemistry started to change with middle age: Spicy, dry, Amish style ginger molasses cookies mixed with the inside of a cedar chest. There's a dry, not quite powdery (more sawdusty) quality, along with spices.

 

Late dry down (hours after application: I kept expecting some of the other notes like tobacco and vanilla or rose to show up at some point during the dry down period, but they never really did. On me, this is a red musk heavy blend and stays spicy and hot rather than ever getting dark, blood, or too complex. While the initial throw was strong, as this dried down it became much fainter and it wears very close to my skin (I like this quality). What I'm left with a spicy, almost powdery red musk scent. I maintain that, to me, this is a very fiery scent. It's oddly not at all what I expected from the description and I completely blame my (new, less fun) wonky skin chemistry.

[bridgetvoid]

when i first smelled this i felt like "Woah dragon blood" vert sweet and yummy but not what i was expecting

 

on skin it pretty much instantly morphed and the beeswax took center stage and it turned into something dark and smoky and sexy. it's gets a little softer and perfumy after a while, but it's a keeper. it sort of reminds me of Blood Moon 05

[Little Bird]

I had high hopes for this one after reading all of the bold notes listed for it, but it's mostly a sour sort of red musk with some herbal tones to it. I don't get vanilla, tobacco, leather or myrrh. Maybe some sour red rose mixed with the red musk and herbal notes. A little smoky in the drydown.

[DiZZysTARdust]

oh lord this is intimidating. in the bottle this smells exactly like a1 steak sauce but bottoms up. on my skin while wet it maintains that smoky steak sauce flavor for a minute. from a distance, on my wrists as i’m typing this, i get a cooler herbal scent. my now my skin has also cooled off. this is very herbal and a touch sweet but not exactly feminine per se. it kind of goes back and forth between a minty-camphoraceous type coolness and honestly almost a marijuana-like smokiness. smoky without being face full of grill smoke smoky. this is a good winter time scent, definitely the kind of scent i would reach for on a day like today where i’ll be running around doing holiday-type errands and need something to keep me focused

 

ETA this has a good throw but it’s very subtle and doesn’t dominate the space around me, more akin to being freshly washed

Edited December 7, 2018 by DiZZysTARdust

[DiZZysTARdust]

in the botte this is so strongly herbal if’s almost salty. it reminds me of some kind of seasoning. on the skin this is sharp at first. very herbal. something on my skin is like camphoraceous underneath a drier green herbal. i think that is the mugwort. i’m somehow reminded of privilege. it’s like astringent but in an airy way, not like eucalyptus or thyme for ex. which are more distinct. the throw is medium and much the same as the skin scent. the camphoraceous note fades first. it becomes more foresty in a sense, with flowers detectable alongside the herb notes, while being too well blended to stand out individually. it’s definitely a little musky at this point but like eerily beautiful, like i can’t stop smelling my wrists even though this isn’t a sweet beautiful flowery scent which is normally my jam. the herbalness fades next (after over an hour of wear on me) which diminishes the strength slightly but still strong on the skin. it’s now a beautiful floral, unquestionably red. the carnation is strongest i think. the rose is  more of a guest here, supporting the carnation to keep the incense base from making this an incense blend. there is more of a sweet vanilla metallic base.

[theseagrows]

someone frimped me a nearly full bottle of this in a swap. i am overwhelmed! anyway, in the bottle it smells like night blooming florals with a hint of sweetness, almost candy-like. on my skin the florals bloom, i think i get the lotus the strongest (explains the candy except now it's bubblegum), red musk and herbal notes. this is a lot fresher than i thought it would be. after about 15-20 minutes, the herbs get really amped up. it's sharp, clean yet murky. wow, it's like all the notes i was hoping were subtle are actually the stronger. i wanted carnation, musk, rose, tobacco, vanilla, leather and myrrh. i am getting mostly lotus the mugwort and peru balsam. damn my skin chemistry. in a nutshell, this is herbal fruity bubblegum on me. not at all what i was expecting, but glad to finally get to try this one!