Lucchesa

Could it be a 13?

This imp of Chant d'Automne is 11 years old. In the imp and on wet, it's a lovely smoky version of the dead leaves note. The amber is there if I sniff for it, becoming more prominent as it dries down. There's definitely some dark smoky vetiver and tobacco in here, though I'm not sure I can pick out the blood musk; it may have aged away. As it dries down, it gets softer and cozier. I love the dead leaves note -- hey, I love all these notes -- and this is a total win on me.

Pottaskefill is almost perfect. I love licorice scents, and I am learning that I love the salt note, and salt licorice is to die for. With soft leather and birch tar? Mmph. Chewy, sexy, unisex. The "almost" is because it went a tad soapy on me at one point. This happened recently while testing another blend which shouldn't have gone that direction, so it may be a weird skin chemistry thing of the moment. Anyway, I will be on the lookout for more of this one.

Hyakki Yagyo on me was a powerful, headshoppy musk blend. The combination of the black musk with the champaca made it behave more like red musk on my skin; it's not the lemony black musk I am partial to. The coconut comes out on drydown, which is lovely, but it's never prominent on me; the clove is only a hint, and I'm not sure I ever found the myrrh. If musky incensey blends work for you, this one is sexy, has some throw and lasts a long time. It's not quite me but champaca almost never works on me so I'm not heartbroken.

This was the first Monster Bait I've had the opportunity to try. When I applied my decant of biggerCritters without checking notes, my first thought was creamsicle. Orange and vanilla ice cream. Then I realized there was a white floral floating over my creamsicle. A creamy white floral, something really familiar that I was blanking on, so I checked the notes. Duh. Jasmine. I avoid jasmine so rigorously that i had forgotten what it smells like when it works. If I had smelled cat pee, I would have known immediately it was jasmine. And it's mixed with gardenia, the rare white floral that I enjoy. And the whole thing is totally delightful. The citrus mellows out, and it's a gorgeous, long-wearing fluffy vanilla scent. The jasmine hangs in there but it's sweet and creamy like the gardenia, and it's lovely.

Instead of the desired smokiness everyone else is getting, Fifth Lash was soapy on me. Why? I don't understand. Red musk, lots of it; leather, a little plum, and soap. Stupid skin chemistry.

A fabulous friend gave this decant to me. I had shied away due to aquatics never working on me. This came close, but in the end, the laundry detergent effect won out. But if you can do aquatics at all, this is a really interesting blend, and on me it had great throw and wear length. It starts with that almost chewy sea salt note from Eyeball Seaboar, which I love. Then I got the pale pink floral note of the peony, and finally the inky petroleum. But the dryer sheets were there too, and they eventually dominate the experience on my skin. Still, I'm super glad I got to try this, and I'm going to be looking for more sea salt blends.

Silver Dollar really does have a silvery feel to it. I can't really smell the benzoin, but the iris is a cool, powdery floral against the citrusy white tea and bergamot. It smells like the bathroom in the Four Seasons in Seattle (happy hour is affordable, really). This is not a criticism. Elegant, clean, and expensive. It's not really me, but I'm glad I had the chance to try it.

Wet, I was guessing that there was oudh of some description in She Perishes -- there was a note that wasn't pleasant on my skin. That calmed down pretty quickly and let the woods, resins and spices develop. It wasn't overly cinnamony on me; there was a kind of dry warm waft of spices as the top note and the balsams and resins underneath. Probably some of the other notes too that I'm less familiar with. A gentle, dry spice blend, quite nice but not a standout on me.

Wet, The Orb comes on with the blast of almond extract that is characteristic of almond notes on me. It's not noticeably bitter. That doesn't last long and is replaced by strong oudh, similar to the oudh in Nevertheless, She Persisted. This is right on the edge of my oudh comfort zone, and of course it's got good throw, so it makes me a little self-conscious. This stage lasts a bit over an hour, and then the notes find a beautiful balance on my skin, with the almond reemerging and the oudh calming down, so it seems like my experience was much like artisjok's, and like her, I enjoy it more and more the longer it wears. This is totally unisex, warm, a little nutty, and if you can rock the oudh, it would be a great power scent.

Testing blind, I got gentle rose with amber and myrrh. Think rose plus the amber of Haunted and the myrrh of Sloth. But even though it's a soft rose, it's really at least half the scent -- the rose, and the resins -- not a sixth of the scent (I know it never works that way, but I was hoping for more resins/musk than rose). I'm really not getting appreciable oudh, which is iffy on me, or black musk, which I love. The rose stays true on me, without going sour. If you love the rose/resin combination, with an emphasis on the rose, this is a must try.

Zmey Gorynich is gorgeous on me, but it takes about three hours to get there. Before that, it's all red musk. OK, and a little dragon's blood. Once it finally settles, it's a very sexy, musky, sweet-but-not-cloying leather blend, with a hint of resins and incense. I love the late drydown, but red musk and dragon's blood is not a duet I would choose if Beth made it, and that's what I get for the first three hours.

Clown White is foodier than I expected. I get almond too -- I'm glad to have that confirmed by other noses. It reminds me somewhat of Ooky without the lemon. Sweet, nutty, a little chalky, and quite long-lasting. I'm keeping this one!

Vishuddha on me is a lemony herbal, like a lemon verbena or lemongrass, with something dry and resiny, a little sharp, maybe even astringent. It dries down much softer, though it never becomes something I would pick out for the scent. However, as my profession intimately involves my voice, I will try working with Vishuddha in the context of the throat chakra and see what develops. This was an exceptionally thoughtful frimp from a lovely forumite!

SophieCedar's experience is very close to mine -- juicy orange and herbal/spicy brown notes, like a designer kitchen circa 1971. Once it dries down, I am still getting plenty of mandarin, not usually a long-lasting note on me. This is highly reminiscent of one of those pomanders at the Dickens Christmas Faire, orange and clove. There's some carnation too, very spicy clove-like carnation. Interesting, but not me somehow; I like all three of these notes, but not all together with nothing else.