Phoenix Shaving | Harvest Moon
Kent V8
The New Improved Schick Injector Razor | Personna 74
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Last year I acquired Phoenix Shaving's "Harvest Moon" EdP. Given the abundance of seasonal offerings this time of year coupled with my over-abundance of product, I just couldn't bring myself to purchase another soap at the time. I'm glad I did pick up the EdP, because after having been using this fragrance intermittently for a year, I just can't get enough of it. While the profiles are vastly different, Harvest Moon rivals Declaration Grooming's "Dark Fall" as my all-time favorite Fall fragrance.
Harvest Moon is a prime example of how documented scent notes sometimes fail to demonstrate the true nature of a fragrance. The notes are as follows: oud, green tobacco, black currant, tobacco absolute, hay absolute, Peru balsam, smoke, Spanish moss, and white sage. That certainly sounds like something I would enjoy, but I was not prepared for what I’d experience.
To my nose, Harvest Moon opens with a vaporous sweet petroleum teetering between creosote and gasoline. This description may very well steer some away, but it artfully achieves this vibe in a very similar fashion of that of classic Fahrenheit. This peculiar fuel note quickly ushers in a faint bit of smoke before becoming less volatile and more metallic. The metal element is that of warm oily steel with wet flinty and graphite notes. This subtle transition all occurs over a period of about 30 minutes before succumbing to a damp earthy fragrance with pleasant judicious fresh tobacco, green herbs, and sweet sun-baked alfalfa that emits a subtle buttery note. I enjoy this middle phase for a good 3-4 hours, at which point the EdP doesn't lose momentum but rather darkens a bit more with rich, dark, wet earth soaked in Dr. Pepper, of all things, along with freshly split resin-weeping wood. This quintessential Fall-themed dry down lasts for about another 3 hours before fading. Harvest Moon begins very industrial, painting an image of steam-punk machinery monstrosities before evoking memories of well-trodden theme park grounds on a brisk cool night and ultimately relenting to a natural warm, grassy earthiness with gentle wafts of cured smoky aromatic tobacco.
In addition to this being a very pleasant fragrance, the performance of this EdP is outstanding. It has enough character and variety such that I don't get tired of it or noseblind. It's understandably marketed as a Fall fragrance, but over the past year, I've found it to be quite versatile. Despite the unapologetically bold, possibly polarizing opening, I find that element is short-lived enough such that casual or even professional wear are still appropriate.
This is one of those unique instances in which I've extensively used a fragrance before ever owning the soap or splash. I've become so enamored with Harvest Moon, I couldn't avoid purchasing the whole set this season.
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