Montes Harbinger

[LiberAmoris]

The Harbinger of the Dawn: shimmering mugwort-infused crystalline musk painted by a glowing arc of sheer vanilla, pink grapefruit, honeyed benzoin, almond blossom, tangerine rind, rose water, green cognac, and neroli.

 

Montes Harbinger is so pretty, like a sparkling, citrusy play of light above a very gentle musk. No one note overshadows on my skin, and it's hard to pin down any individual one as they're as fleeting as the jittery prisms cast by a spinning crystal in a window. On the drydown I think I smell the rose water and the almond blossom, and then I catch the grapefruit and tangerine. There's just a hint of vanilla to it—the balance of citrus and the grounding benzoin and musk keep the blend from being too sweet, at least on me. This would be a great BPAL for work or a day when I want something clean and light but with real complexity.

[ReallyZeb]

The first note I get is almond but this vanishes once its dry and it turns into a really light and pretty rose with just a touch of citrus. After a couple of hours the beeswaxy note from the honey is the most prominent.

 

If I dip into gender stereotyping for a minute, this would be great for a young girl.

[VioletChaos]

I haven't gotten a Lunacy scent in quite a while, but the notes in this sounded too hard to stay away!

 

In The Bottle: I get vanilla-honey-almond-rose all in a rush. It's sweet, light and very "pink".

 

Wet On Skin: The tangerine and rose are doing something kind of ghastly at this stage, one pretending to be floor cleaner, the other insisting on becoming nail polish remover. I hope this stops right away!

 

Dry Down: Hmmm. That mugwort-and-musk combo might be the culprit behind the above cleaner/acetone mashup on my skin. But the longer it sits, the more the unpleasantness seems to move away, leaving behind a rosewater/almond combo that reminds me of Victorian Rose Milk.

 

In All: Medium to High throw- go easy in application with this, and expect changes. I don't know that this scent is 'me', but I'll hold onto it, at least to test another few times before I toss in the towel.

[radioaction]

Wet: Fruity, citrusy bubblegum

 

Dry: Everything blends together into a gorgeous, shimmery scent. The citrus is bright and juicy with a touch of bitterness. I can sometimes pick out the almond, and the rosewater comes out more with time, but everything mostly blends together in an ever so slightly sweet, pick with a green center backdrop. Rose normally does bad things on me, but the rosewater is playing nicely here, not taking over or going sickly. It does seem to have the most throw, I can define it more distinctly from further away, whereas it blends in nicely close up. This is kind of an enigmatic scent, swirling and evolving with each sniff.

 

Verdict: lovely! I'm not sure it feels completely like "me" but I think come spring/summer it might be just the light, refreshing scent I'm looking for.

[Minh Scent]

Green, light, yes, the dawn light indeed, sparkling through a prism, Liberamoris. This smells like finely blended perfume, with the notes in harmony.

 

As I sniff over time, the rose comes delicately to the forefront without being overpowering. Not much throw, but I like having secrets.

 

Note to self- Judging from the components, not sure this would age well. Slather.

Edited January 3, 2015 by Minh Scent

[EphemeralFey]

In the imp: I could pick out the grapefruit, tangerine and something green, probably the green cognac. It's a very light, citrusy, green scent.

 

On me: light sweet citrus with something green lingering in the background. If I take a deep sniff I get hints of rose. Very pretty and with a good throw!

 

After a while: Remained a light sweet citrus green scent that occasionally went toned down Fruit Loops on me according to the BF.

 

Thoughts: This is a really pretty scent, and great for summer. Not sure how much I will reach for this though, so for the best that I got a decant of this.

[zankoku_zen]

White musk, rosewater, citrus and hint of vanilla. This to me started off as a breezy citrus heavy white floral and has really become a rose-white musk sort of white floral. It's pretty, breezy, and just a tad soapy on me. Of course, it has great throw and great wear length, because my skin chemistry is contrary to my preferences like that. Super duper feminine, and I would suggest that this actually be appropriate for a young teen girl, although it can also veer into grandma territory if your skin chemistry blows up the white floral aspect.

 

Rosy, musky, white florals.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: For a moment, this reminded me of red Jello or Kool-Aid. Maybe it's the combination of the grapefruit and/or tangerine rind, rose water, and almond blossom. I'm not sure, but it is rather fruity.

Wet: I get that impression when it hits my skin, too. This is citrus dominant, followed by a floral aspect, which I think must be the almond blossom mixed with the rose water note. The neroli makes its presence known as the scent is starting to dry, adding a bitterness to the scent.

Dry: I am mostly getting the mugwort-infused musk now. The rose water is still present. The fruitiness of the wet stage is gone, save for a bit of lingering tangerine peel or neroli.

Verdict: I was curious about this one, but I refrained from getting a bottle of it since I am generally not fond of Lunacy scents. I am glad I went with a decant instead, as it isn't really 'me.'

[bulletslc]

Starts off very citrusy, but quickly dries down to a lovely sheer musk with a breath of pastel spring flowers wafting around it. Beautiful. If you like light contemporary musk and gentle florals (such as OLLA Ava) you might give this one a try.

[sprout]

Preconceived notions: Appears to be notes of win: crystalline musk, sheer vanilla, pink grapefruit, honeyed benzoin, almond blossom, tangerine rind, rose water, green cognac, and neroli., so I blind bought. The rose water could be an issue, but as it was listed lower on the list, I figured it was minimal and as it was rose water, hoping I don't amp it. I have been trying all the crystalline musk blends, to find a replacement or close cousin to my discontinued Zorya, Utrennyaya and Vechernyaya...

 

In the bottle: rubber???

 

Wet: Bicycle tire rubber. WTF?!??!!??

Drying: fruity--possibly the tangerine rind, but overall the rubber smell is receding thank God! I thought I had a scrubber on my hands...

Drydown: Beautiful vanilla musk, diaphanous and billowy like cotton candy and fluffy clouds. Very low throw (sillage) and I slathered fairly heavily. It did not last much past the 3 hour mark but this phase was what I hoped for with the vanilla and crystalline musk in the notes.

 

Final thoughts: Well, you have to buy a bottle unsniffed to get a Lunacy from the Lab, so I did, based on the notes. The drydown was gorgeous, and what I hoped for from the vanilla and benzoin notes. I am not sure which notes smelled like rubber and that has never happened before to me! It was quite unsettling and I hope this is something that will age out. If not, I have to figure out which note did it and my guess is the culprit would be the cognac or the neroli, as the other notes have not been problematic before. I suppose it could be the grapefruit, especially as it was very early on in the wet phase. I am putting this back to retest in 6 months. If I get rubber tires on re-test, off to swaps. The drydown is totally my cup of tea but I cannot stand the rubber smell to get there. I am also hoping that aging will help with the sillage and length of wear...

[milo]

At first this smells like pink grapefruit soap. After a bit, there's a powdery, feminine quality about it, but the grapefruit is still present. This is quite refreshing, very pretty, and would be great for a warm spring day. I will probably use the imp up when it becomes warmer out.

[Little Bird]

Clean, sharp, perfumey white musk with sharp grapefruit and soapy rose.

[shamrocked]

I am wearing this scent now and I LOVE it. It's been a few hours though and mostly what I can smell is honey with the tiniest hint of rose. Which isn't a problem for me at all, honey is one of my favourite scents. The rest of the others faded fast for me though.

 

Really pleased I have a bottle of this scent!

[Lucchesa]

I did not have the same experience the other reviewers had with Montes Harbinger. In the imp, I can individuate almost all the notes -- the various citrus, the delicate green cognac and rosewater from A Spirit, Katie, the musk, the mugwort. Wet on my skin the grapefruit was prominent, but as it dried down the two components I was least excited about came to the fore: white musk and mugwort. I never got the almond blossom; the mugwort simply overpowered it -- and the neroli, the tangerine peel, and everything else. Evidently I amp mugwort. This is the first mugwort blend I've tried, and I'm going to have to be careful about it in the future.

[Honey]

To me, this is mainly rosewater and almond blossom. The rosewater, honey, and almond give this a very marzipan feel.

To those who know it, it reminds me of the very basic Nivea facial cream (the "OG cold cream") that I grew up with as a kid. Another blend that also has a similar quality to it is Ave Maria Gratia Plena.

 

While on the drydown, the scent gets greener, yet it is still creamy, sweet and almondy.

The citrus is not very pronounced to my nose, but it is a somewhat bolder scent with a pale rose that isn't sickening or cloying.

 

This is like a non-gourmand marzipan to me that's true to the original recipe using rosewater.

You take that and mix it into a rich cold cream - and you got Monte's Harbinger.

Interesting for sure, but the blend doesn't really come together as a perfume for me.