¡Ombligo!

One of the reasons that this is my favorite time of the year are the autumnal fragrances in the air. I love how pumpkins, apples and candy corn smell and regionally, there is the scent of roasted green chile mixed with the scent of cedar firewood in the air - I'd be in heaven if they bottled that scent. Anyhow, I find most while traditional autumnal fragrances smell wonderful as room fragrances, they don't transition well as body fragrances.

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab came out with a series of limited autumnal fragrances but none captured my heart, not even Trick or Treat which is supposed to smell like Candy Corn.

So why did I order Harvest Moon? Two words: Mulling Spices. *swoons* Oh spices, how I love you!

Harvest Moon was described as the autumnal scents of gladiola, chrysanthemum, aster, dahlia, anemone, bergamot, marigold, sage and verbena dust a blend of wine-soaked apples, plums, and red pears, mulling spices and brown sugar, the ivy leaves of Dionysus and Janus’ amaranth and lingum aloe.

It starts off a bit medicinal which thankfully fades after mere seconds and then there is a bouquet of warm flowers which goes away far too quickly. That's when the scent is taken over by the scent of fruits, pears and apples. After Christmas at The Body Shop they had a huge clearancee on their seasonal home fragrance oils. I purchased several of them including Mulled Cider. Where Mulled Cider has a very fresh, crip apple scent to it, Harvest Moon has more of a baked apple scent to it along with baked pears.

Last October my friends and I ran through a corn maize at night. It was a blast! We decided not to follow the map and play it by ear which was fun until we kept going around in circles, then we started turning on each other. Once we found our way out, everyone was suddenly happy again. In the front of the maize they sold autumnal fruits, vegetables and flowers, that is the scent that Harvest Moon embodies after it dries down.

The staying power is good but could be better as I find it fades after being on my skin after three hours. Perfect for autumn of course and easily an all day fragrance but I could see pulling this when I'm longing for an autumnal scent.

Harvest Moon was only sold for 24 hours on August 19, 2005, it retailed for $15/5ml bottle and is no longer available..