NorthernSky

Lunea... Where do we start?
Keiko Mecheri does this type of fragrances well, this one does not fall into the 'so sweet it makes your teeth hurt' cathegory, like Loukhoum and it's sisters.
It makes me think a bit of dry wine. It's mean to be sweet if you look at the notes, and it kind of is... But at the same time, it's slightly bitter. There is that sweet marzipan with a rose aftertaste, but then you get lots of orange peel, and myrrh and smoke coming from the frankincense, and the gourmand angle is largely toned down.
The whole fragramce makes me think of Christmas. It has those different aromas that I associate with this time of the year, the food, the church, the visit to a Christmas market. It's at the same time quite a solemn fragrance, beautiful, tranquil.
The drydown is simply to die for. Maybe a bit too close to skin perhaps, would love it to project a bit more, but envelops your body like a warm, soft cashmere sweater.

From the notes I imagined it slightly differently. But then again, this is often the case, isn't it? What is on paper does not always happen on our skins I suppose.
Venenum is a wonderful mix of dry spices. Wonderful, yet somehow lacking. I did hope for more milkiness and sweetness coming from the milk, but really, there is hardly any. Milk has not really found its voice on my skin- I can smell a lot of spicy notes: pepper, cardamon, cinnamon, ginger, star anise. And a fresher tea note goes through it. It reminds me a bit of Jaisalmer minus the incense, and SL Arabie- they share the dryness of the freshly ground spice.
I suppose if it was sweeter, it would be more alike Artisan's own Poivre Piquant, and therefore be redundant in the lineup, but I still wish it had more of a sweeter touch to it to break through the powderiness of the spice.
I am a bit on the fence about it, I admire it and wear it gladly, but yearn for more depth.
The bottle however is stunning. The scent lasts long and projectspretty well. Definitely one to try!

If I didn't look at the notes of Ryukyu, I would say it smells... mineral. Like powdered rocks and cold water from the stream. that's what ai mainly get, it's a strange fragrance that escapes words and descriptions. From the beginning to the end, it remains cold and dostant andhard to grasp.
I am not sure if this is what I expected from the notes (spoiler alert: I didn't). I thought it would be creamy, tropical, with a slight citrus vein running through it.
It smells nothing like tropical scents I have known so far, which focus on the flowers and juicy fruit, this is a remote pace somehwere far away, a cave where an old monk has been meditating for a century.
It's a bit on an experience this one. I can't say it's a scent I would describe as wearable, but it's beautiful in its way if you're in a market for a contemplative fragrance.