Falling Leaves Moon 2020

[zankoku_zen]

A cascade of fading leaves against a backdrop of grey ambergris, grassy vetiver, carrot seed, fossilized amber, green cardamom, cinnamon husk, saffron, tobacco flower, and bay laurel.

[torikitty]

I am the worst person to leave the first review, so please take this with a grain of salt. I don't know what I was thinking, considering I'm not usually a fan of green things. I think the green cardamom and tobacco flower were calling to me.

 

Initially: ew, this is so green. So helpful, I know. 😅

 

Then it becomes this smoky, husky, slightly green thing. Interesting!  A morpher on my skin, I wasn't expecting that. Then it starts to smell like the cool goth kids wearing a heavy leather jacket and smoking something herbal from afar. This is really surprising. I feel like I might be amping something, but I'm unsure which of these would smell like a green smokiness. First thought is the bay laurel, perhaps with the cinnamon husk. Or maybe the grassy vetiver. I'm really not sure. I'm not picking up any of the green cardamom, saffron, or tobacco flower. They are being drowned out by the smokiness. An interesting trip, that's for sure.

[VetchVesper]

Weeee!  Got my bottle fresh from the mail and am ready to slather and review.  If this changes much in the next few weeks (after settling), I'll update.  

 

First sniff - this is very much a dead leaves scent, but a promising one, where the cologney cardamom is softened slightly by warmer notes.  It's reminding me a touch of Dead Leaves & Sugared Cardamom in the bottle, but I like this better.

 

On my skin - Whoo!  An imediate burst of earthy greenness.  Oh yes.  I do like this.  Interesting and unique.  I DO smell the bay.  Sort of a dry, green sharpness that is quite prominent at first. The carrot seed provides a subtle sweetness.  FLM is becoming less earthy quickly, and and the amber and ambergis are creeping to the front.  This is a lot less dead leaves leaves now, and I would no longer describe it as cologney.  More snuggly.  I can tell the cinnamon's in there as sort of a brown fuzziness mixing with soft moss but it's not taking over. (I was hoping for Ceylon, and that's what I'm getting  ) This is really lovely.  I'm still getting a teensy hint of something a bit alcoholic that reminds me of cognac.  Perhaps some sharpness from the vetiver?  I have mixed results with vetiver, but this is behaving itself.   And I do catch a hint of the tobacco flower.  Everything is extremely well blended, but there's a lot going on.

 

About 15 mins in and the tobacco flower is continuing to come forward.  Dry, soft and smooth.  This is gorgeous so far.  No blind bottle regrets.  The amber, moss, and cinnamon really give it a plush, fuzzy feel that I expect more from warm perfumes, but this feels cool overall.  Cool browns and greens - very autumnal, but not a dead leaves scent.  I'd say this is gender neutral, but I would hang all over a man who smelled like this.  I hope it will stay this pleasant as it dries down and last many hours.  One caveat -- this feels a bit tingly on my skin, but I put it in a delicate area, and I'm not getting any redness.  Still, if you're extremely sensitive, you might want to wait and see if others have any problems. 🍃 🍁 🍂

[puellacaerulea]

I agree with the above reviewers that this is a green scent, but in a muted, dry, slightly smoky sort of way. The dead leaves are strong in the decant, but after application, the ambergris, amber, and vetiver start to amp up. Despite that, it's not a heavy scent -- I think the leaves, along with a slight sweetness from the cardamom and carrot seed, are keeping it from getting heavy and smoky. My overall impression is a dry and smooth take on the dead leaves blends -- think muted greens and browns.

[deadlyves]

I'm going to totally fail at describing this... 

 

A dead leaves scent, but not as sharp. Its rounded out and warm, toasty even. The amber is noticeable but evenly paired with something else I don't know. I'm not getting a whole lot of the cinnamon, but cinnamon husk has proven to be my favorite for adding a bit of the smell without the bite. I agree that it's muted browns and green. Its both fresh and dark and dirty. Theres something lighter and slightly sweet trying to lift it up but is barely peeking through, like something weighed down by a blanket (or maybe a blanket of fallen leaves?).

 

I really like this, and am very happy I blind bottled. 

[trinitysite]

I like green, and I like spicy, and I like this! It does go on super-green - none of the Dead Leaves have quite worked with me before, but it's definitely more Dead Leaves than super greeny leaves. The spices come out pretty quickly. Usually cardamom ends up buried on me, but I'd say the cardamom and amber are the most forward notes. I usually think of cinnamon, cardamom, and saffron as warm notes, but here they're cold. Green and golden-brown. A little sweet, and gender-neutral: I (nb) love this, and I think it would smell great on my (male) partner as well.

 

I sometimes have a skin reaction to cinnamon, but no problems here.

[feyofthefellwood]

Spicy dead leaves + fuzzy ambergris. This reminds me of Autumn Overlooked My Knitting, but with more going on, and the green-ness and spices stick around longer than the leaves in Autumn Overlooked. It's interesting, but I think my decant will be more than enough for me.

[HerbGirl]

The fresh green leaf note + ambergris alone was not what I was hoping for here. I was so excited to smell vetiver, carrot seed and cardamom, saffron, tobacco or any of the notes listed with the leaves and I get none of that here. I don't think mine was properly blended before bottling. What a disappointment. 

 

Eta: The cinnamon, bay and ambergris have become most prominent now with a touch of leaves in the very beginning. This is one of the most masculine scents I have ever smelled. It is not masculine in a foresty way (I love those) but in a cologney way. I am missing the notes I was hoping for. 

Edited January 10, 2021 by HerbGirl

[biggnerd]

This starts off as a strong dead leaves notes. I don't hate this scent, but it's not one that I particularly like. Eventually that scent fades into a very very soft ambergris with some other muffled scents. This phase is pretty, but too soft for me to get any good wear out of it. 

[fairybites]

This was a bit of a letdown as the first Falling Leaves Moon I've tried. Heavily carrot at first, but with drying the cinnamon and tobacco comes out more. The leaves don't appear until it's dried down for a while. 

 

It was the worst when wet so it isn't completely bad dry, it's just not something I could find myself reaching for. Glad I tried it at least, just wish it worked better on me.

[Bassmastadroog]

In the bottle: hay-ish vetiver and carrot with bay. Grassy but not ‘fresh.’ Texture is crunchy.

 

On skin: hay and bay. Chewy, warm tobacco rising up beneath the bay. Maybe a breath of saffron? If so it’s super light, and only contributes a sprinkle to the overall spice effect. 
 

Drydown: a breath of cinnamon (not hot) and tobacco with some vetiver/carrot leftovers. I could say there’s a little cardamom but the spices at this point are just mixed to create a single spice effect. Smells like a more masculine linger of cologne at this point, dominated by vetiver. Not a fan. I loved the description more than the scent I’m afraid.

 

 

[zankoku_zen]

Dead Leaves does a lunacy. Leaves, ambergris, and a whiff of bay leaf. So at this point, I should just admit that bay leaf in anything is like my kryptonite and while is is definitely in the unisex to masculine range, I adore it, and now I'm gonna go slather this on mr. zee_zee. Dead Leaves does a lunacy, but make it voodoo. Yup. Basically its Dead Leaves celebrating in New Orleans. You're welcome.

 

10/10 would buy, and would also use for anything magically oriented. This smells like magic.

[LavenderCoffee]

When opening the bottle, the leaves jump right out at you. I'm not big on a prominent dead leaves note, but this seems like a slightly greener version of it, or the other green things are keeping it in check.

Once applied, the green-ness begins to settle down, and bay and ambergris join the party. I like this party! I'm not getting any cinnamon specifically but there is a nice bit of kick.

Dry, I have to agree this is a great fall leaves/bay/ambergris blend 

 

[Tungerine]

When I got it a few years ago my initial impression was DEAD LEAVES!!! (damp rotting ones) with a hint of ambergris, and the other notes were barely detectable. I put it away for a while and now it's much improved. All the notes are well balanced, and it's more dry leaves than wet, with soft spices. It reminds me a little of Alecto, but softer and sweeter.

Edited August 4 by Tungerine