Lucchesa

One of my all time favorite Lupers is Delightful Visitor Among Haystacks (chrysanthemum incense and red carnation) and To Lesbia is the closest thing I have found. Like VetchVesper, I don't smell any nag champa, which is the one incense note I cannot do. Instead it is more of a Shunga-feeling incense with a spicy, smoky carnation. Really nice.

Lemon honey. Bright, cheerful -- a very light musk, a little beeswax, some sticky leaves. On my wrist, Chushu-no-Meigetstu flirts with Lemon Pledge throughout its wear length, though it never became all-out cleanser that needed be be scrubbed off. Still, my decant can probably find a better home with a lemon lover whose skin chemistry is kinder to it.

A Vision of the Courtesan went on brighter and more lemony than I expected. It settles down into creamy rice milk, soft sweet tobacco and a touch of frankincense. It has terrific throw, something I'm not used to with my skin chemistry, and good wear length -- in fact, I could still make it out this morning after wearing it all day yesterday. Really beautiful -- I see why it is getting so much love!

The Death Grapple, though the throw is low, has given me a solid nine hours of wear time, which is excellent for my skin chemistry. Lavender and sandalwood are the strongest notes on me at first, then the lavender and sandalwood recede and the cola-like labdanum take center stage. So cool vanilla labdanum grounded with herbal lavender and sandalwood.

I'm not familiar with aguardiente but am very fond of Strega and other anise liqueurs and was hoping for a lot of anise from this. I didn't get it, but I still like this quite a bit. It starts out really boozy, with what smells to me more like a coffee bean note than a brewed coffee one. The milk note behaves and doesn't turn on my skin. Cola de Mono settles into boozy coffee on me, agreeably spiced and with a dash of vanilla, and the coffee note hangs around a lot longer than it does in several of the Kaffeeklatsch scents. I would love to drink this, but I'm enjoying wearing it too.

I love the chocolate-based 13s, but I was excited to get to try this one. It's lemony sugar on me, not as ridiculously sweet as you'd imagine, and very cheerful. It's like Lemon-Scented Sticky Bat with the proportions of lemon and sugar reversed. I've not tried layering it because my life is complicated enough already, but this would be a delightful summer scent to wear on its own.

I am conflicted about Mayhem at the Battlefield. On the one hand, I love it. It's weird and wonderful, and it somehow smells quintessentially BPAL to me, and like no other perfume I had ever smelled prior to BPAL. Earthy and musky and spicy. The ginger and the hippie patchouli rub elbows with the funky mushroom note and the honey musk, which is not like the fae honey musk of Lady Una. It's way earthier. It's not for everyone, but I really enjoy it. The reason I'm not in line for a bottle, though, is that something in here (and I'm betting on the mushroom note as it's the one I have least prior exposure too) seems to be making me sneeze. But I'm going to keep wearing the decant, and if I find I can't live without it, I may have to put up with the sneezing.

Is there stealth oudh in here? I accidentally ordered two decants of A Glimpse, so I'm going to wait until the next one gets here, but my first glimpse is stinky oudh, probably black oudh as that's the worst on me. I guess some of the other reviewers are having the same reaction.

When I retested Pleasure Boat, it was pleasant but I wasn't sure why I had adored it so much on first try. I do love carnation; the carnation here feels like a fresh-cut greenish note rather than a spicy clove-like carnation. I got amber and vanilla (not overly sweet) but I wouldn't have said rose. There's also understated sandalwood and some green notes. It's nice. But an hour later, it's amazing. It's still carnation-forward, but everything has melded together into something that transcends the individual components, and it lasts a long time without morphing further. AprilB's description of this as like a golden brocade is spot on. Definitely a spring/summer scent (which are underrepresented in my collection), mood-lifting, my favorite so far of the Lupers (though many of my decants were delayed and I'm still waiting...). Definitely bottle-worthy.

Thought Photography on me, as with so many lavender BPALs, went on with a big blast of lavender, this one with a slightly metallic patina. I was hoping something interesting would develop with the palo santo and ambrette, but unfortunately, my skin ate Thought Photography right up. Not only the lavender but the whole thing was gone within about 90 minutes. I'm delighted I got to try it but will pass this decant on.

Saturday Morning is delightful. It's a beachy lemony coconut with some bright green notes and a little lavender. On me, lavender usually comes on strong at first and fades immediately; this lavender was never strong but didn't disappear either. Super cheerful, which makes it an excellent shelter in place scent, with better throw than I usually get and great wear length.

Lilacs are blooming, so I'm wearing Cave of Treasures and Eusapia. What other lilac loves are you trotting out?

Red Peach, Sweet Oudh, Honey and Saffron was generously frimped to me, and when I put it on I initially thought too sweet, too fruity. But it develops into something much more complex and interesting. There's nothing skanky about this oudh; it contributes a rich depth that's very grown up. The saffron also helps to cut the sweetness. This is a beautifully balanced scent and just gorgeous.

I tried and rejected Qandisa early on in my BPAL journey when I was still afraid of vetiver. Now that I'm a fan, I definitely wanted to retry this one. I remembered it being a heavy headshop scent, and I was gratified to see supreme_c0rt mention nag champa because that's exactly what I recollected, although it's not a listed note. I do like it a whole lot more than I did initially, though it still has a bit too much of a suggestion of nag champa to be something I would wear often. The black musk and honey initially read like red musk on my skin, so my impression wet was sweet red musk and vetiver. I never get a lot of lemon peel. As it settles, the red musk sensation recedes in favor of black musk, honeyed incense and dry earthy saffron against a pretty assertive vetiver, and not the sweet cuddly one of Two Sheep. So if you are scared of vetiver, this isn't going to change your mind. It's smoky and sexy, with good throw and wear length.

2014 version. This is gorgeous. I am a big fan of the dead leaves note, maple leaves especially, which is what ties this scent together. So it starts out as dead leaves, then there’s some sharper green ivy, the beautiful, mournful soil note and the early sweetness of the fig. And a thread of incense floating above it, all wrapped in the dead maple leaves. Good throw and wear length, too. Nostalgic, sigh-inducing. Did I mention gorgeous?

I’ve been wearing my foodies during this period of social distancing because I find them comforting, but Anne Beany is a little too sticky sweet for me. It’s basically all butterscotch for the first hour or so, then mellow down into butterscotch rum. Good wear length and a little throw, which is a lot for my skin, from this well-aged decant.

Gaudium reminded me immediately of A Season of Ghosts. Both are geranium-citrus scents, and they both feel clarifying. I do think Gaudium is well-named -- it's kind of a short sharp shock back into remembering the joy of being alive. I had only a tester, and I don't use bath oils in the bath anyway but after a shower. So I put Gaudium on my dry elbows and forearms. I didn't realize there was lavender involved; on me it was all geranium, citrus peel and lemon verbena. I like to use grapefruit-scented shower gel to get me going in the morning, and Gaudium continued that sense of bright awakeness into the next part of my day. I need more of this.

Cozy Pumpkin Sweater on me is definitely cozy and pumpkin, but I get hardly any spice. On me, it was simple: fluffy sweet vanilla pumpkin. It felt more like what I would imagine pumpkin floss to smell like. Although it's low key, it lasted for 24 hours on me.

That naughty Tengu: Peppery, smoky red musk. But mostly red musk.

We Must Love One Another Or Die is a rose and lily blend on me. Now I don't usually wear florals, and rose is very iffy on me, but this is a gorgeous rose that makes me hopeful that white rose is a variety I can enjoy. After a while, I get rose, lily and sandalwood, but I was really hoping for the ambrette seed, vetiver and smoke to dirty this one up. I'm going to hang onto my decant for the time being to see if any of those notes emerge, because they would make this scent amazing.

I was swapping for a less-full bottle, so my partner threw in a decant of Silkybat. It is all that. Sugared patchouli goodness that flirts with gnarliness but never gets all the way there -- this might be a gateway patchouli for people who are on the fence about it. Better throw than I get with most oils, and it lasts and lasts. Kind of like Berliner Dom Antics without the gingerbread. I love this!

Tamora is very, very sweet. Sweet peach, sweet amber, and vanilla. After an hour or so a smooth sandalwood becomes apparent. I'm not too clear on what heliotrope smells like, but this is definitely more fruit than floral. I tested this ages ago and kept the imp; I'm retesting the aged scent now to see if I should keep a new frimp. While I definitely appreciate that this is pretty, I'm not sure when I would ever want to smell this sweet or this peachy.

Why haven't I been wearing my foodies every day? SO comforting! On me it's a dark vanilla flan with a dusting of cacao, doused with tequila and set aflame. So many good foodie notes! I didn't really get the jalapeno (I often have trouble smelling the Lab's pepper notes) and certainly didn't get any skin irritation. Calaveras not only lasted all day, but I could still smell it the next morning. A total keeper.

Spiced rum, check. Cinnamon bark, check. Vetiver? Usually vetiver is powerful and unmistakable, but for the first hour or two it was sheltering in place so far beneath the other notes that I could barely make it out. So, rum and cinnamon and clove, but somehow it's not foodie in feeling to me. I agree with artisjok that it's not a sweet, sloshy rum. And about an hour into weartime, the vetiver comes out of hiding and turns a nice but unremarkable scent into something really good. It's a sweet vetiver, not a harsh, smoky one, and it gradually tilts the balance until the spices fade, then the rum, and the late drydown is mostly vetiver. You could wear this on a date and it would just get sexier and sexier. Totally unisex, good wear length.

Red patchouli, Nutmeg and Oudh is definitely oudh, but definitely not black oudh. It's not barnyard; it's deep and rich and very grown-up, and it's a perfect foil for the dry red patchouli. Just these two strong, self-confident notes (I honestly struggled to find the nutmeg) twining together, and yet it's not simple because the notes themselves are so complex. It has oudh-level throw, too, at least for the first hour or so, after which I did get a hint of nutmeg, but just a hint, because this is femme fatale, not spice cabinet. The woman who wears this does not bake apple crisp. Gorgeous now, and I bet it will be phenomenal in a couple years.