Lucchesa
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Everything posted by Lucchesa
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Halite Phoenix has that chewy salt note that I love from blends like Aegir without any troublesome aquatic notes that turn to detergent on me. Salt, sand, sun. It doesn't morph much on me and has decent wear length. Probably good for layering, but I like it all by itself.
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Sorcerer contained way too much dragon's blood for my comfort zone. It's the only note here that really doesn't work for me, particularly in its incense form, and that was primarily what I got here. A little lavender and citrus at first, a little cacao and frankincense after that, but it settles into dragon's blood incense pretty quickly and doesn't budge on me from there. Of course it lasted really well on me. There are lots of wins in the new RPGs for me, but this isn't one I can wear. If you love dragon's blood, go for it!
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My decanter accidentally sent me Californite Phoenix instead of Colemanite; it's not in my usual wheelhouse, but I'm super glad I got to try this one. My experience was quite different from that of Casablanca, though I do concur on the airy musk. I didn't get mint at all; instead, on me Californite was a perfumey green moss blend. I couldn't pick fern out of a lineup, but there's definitely a greenery note here, and fougere is French for fern. This didn't morph on me; it had good throw, which is rare with my skin chemistry, and decent staying power. Elegant green fougere.
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Epidote Phoenix is really outstanding. It's exactly what I wanted Theoi Nomioi to be; it's Golden Priapus without the vanilla; it's like walking into a Pacific Northwest evergreen forest. For my skin chemistry, Epidote is the most realistic and long-lasting forest scent I have tried, and it has a little throw, which for me is a lot of throw. This is totally gender neutral. If you want to embody the spirit of a pine tree, this is perfect.
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Berzerker is trees, trees with broken branches, trees animals have rubbed against while rutting. There is a faint tang of blood and soft leather, but they are definitely in the background -- don't be scared off by this if leather is not your thing, it isn't strong here at all. Also, juniper is the one evergreen note I shy away from, but in combination with the poplar it is somewhat tamed here, more like "evergreen" than "juniper" or "gin." This one definitely leans manly though I enjoyed wearing it, as someone who often gravitates towards unisex scents. Zanzoku_Zen's "forest musk" is an excellent description.
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The note list for Psionicist starts out like my list of death notes, so I knew this would not work on me. I prefer not to wear mint or eucalyptus, and white musk is usually not good on me either. I can see where this might be appealing if you like these notes. It's not sharp or mentholic, more cool and a little otherworldly, and it lasted well on me.
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Oh yes, Monk could totally be a Shunga. Aren’t there Japanese erotic stories about misbehaving monks? The sandalwood incense note is tied to earth with the honey and saffron. This has good staying power too — I can even still smell it after showering. Really nice.
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Mitral Valve starts out, as nearly every lavender scent does on me, with a strong blast of lavender -- here a honeyed lavender. As it dries down, the lavender recedes in place of juniper and cool musk. There's an herbal backdrop of hops, but I never really get much carnation. The lavender fades quickly, as it always does on me, leaving a honeyed herbal evergreen, soft and lovely. I'm going to try this decant as a sleep scent and see how it works.
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2014 Magnificent Autumn. This is green leaves with snapped stems and dry leaves crunching underfoot, with a little smokiness and very little sweetness on me. It's really beautiful but quite fleeting on my skin, and since it scratches the same itch that my bottle of October does for me, I'm going to let this decant go to someone else.
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2019 Dark Pumpkin Mead. This is yummy. Wet, it's buttery caramelized pumpkin with a hint of maple syrup. As it dries down I get a hint of the fizziness and fermentation of the mead, and the spices begin to emerge, but it's never an in-your-face pumpkin pie spice, it's quite mellow. I really like this -- it's warm and comforting -- but it's not a category I actually wear very often. If you love Dwarven Ale, you must try this.
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Wax Cylinders is lovely and belongs to the beeswax/candle genre I enjoy, with Lights of Men's Lives, Hanerot Halalu, etc. There's no smoke here, just subtly honeyed beeswax as the predominant note, with gentle leather and woods backing it up. Elegant and gender neutral, this is a beautiful addition to this category. Wear length is a little less than average but this one is worth reapplying.
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The dominant note for me in Southern Cloudywing is mate. This may be the first BPAL I've tried with this note, and it's quite realistic. As it dries down I get orange zest and tonka but I'm not getting much cardamom and my skin tends to devour the tea note. It really seems to be a mate blend. Interesting but not quite my thing.
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Wow, no one has reviewed this for a LONG time. I have a bottle of Melainis, bought second hand. It is very smooth, lovely dark resins and musks, a hint of fruit and caramel and clove, though I couldn't make out the anise which was specifically what drew me to this scent. Teak always goes in a caramel direction on me, so I expected that to meld with the caramel note, but everything has aged together into a whole that expresses dark, sweet longing rather than the individual notes. It wears close to the skin on me, no throw (not unusual for my chemistry).
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Assassin is pretty great on me. Sweet, sexy leather -- I would say that while still unisex, this is one of the more femme leather scents I have found in BPAL. The pitch is low-key when wet and stays very much in the background. Good wear length on me and a little throw, which is good on my skin. Really nice.
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Artificier (my imp has an extra i) definitely smells like it would be right at home in the Steamworks collection, somewhere between Galvanic Goggles and Robotic Scarab. It's bright, unisex, not specifically metallic on me. There is probably some ozone in here. I like it. No throw, which is typical for my skin, and wear length is only average or a little less on me.
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Chestnuts and Hearth Smoke was in my stocking this morning, and frankly I'm struggling to find the chestnuts. Roasted chestnuts is possibly my favorite smell in the whole world, but here I'm getting lots of that hearth smoke note, similar to the fire-red tobacco in Orion or the fireplace smoke in Hearth 2017, which is not the best smoke note on me. It softens nicely but wears very close to the skin. I was really hoping for a blast of roasting chestnuts. I will give this some time in hopes that the chestnut note will develop with a little aging.
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The Butterfly on me is a bright, sharp bergamot with amber and some chewy petitgrain. I'm not sure I'm finding the tonka at all. It's funny, my first BPAL love was Alice, with milk & honey, carnation, rose and bergamot, and it's looking like the only one of those notes I can reliably wear is carnation. The others are all iffy on me, and my taste has gotten darker and more unisex. Here the bergamot is just too bright and high-pitched for me. It's better after about an hour as it all settles down into a kind of citrusy warmth, and it's definitely an upbeat scent, but it isn't me.
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R'Lyeh came to me as a lab frimp and is one of the few available GCs I have not already tried because aquatics never work on me. I have to say it was surprising. It's much sweeter than your run of the mill aquatic and does not go into dryer sheet territory. If I hadn't read the notes (or what there are of them) before testing, I would have described this as more of a fruity-floral incense than a dark aquatic. Is there opium in this? It feels more like it belongs in the same category as Darkness or Event Horizon than Sea Foams Blood or Kumari Kundam. I rather like it, but given how many BPALs I love, I'm unlikely to reach for it often.
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Yew Trees is a skin chemistry fail on me. Berries rarely work for me, but I generally love pine notes. Somehow the combination brought out the worst in both on my skin. So I got something like sickly Pine-Sol. Swaps.
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Pipe tobacco is a scent my skin chemistry tends to devour (Hellfire -- I get nothing). I keep trying, hoping for that pipe tobacco holy grail. Frequently the same disappearing act happens with tea. Sadly, Mr. Young on my skin is clean, almost soapy, with a discreet aftershave. If you like Dirty and other scents that are advertised as clean, this ought to fit the bill nicely, and it's definitely work appropriate. I just wanted some tea and some pipe tobacco to go with it and they don't show up on my skin. But I'm so pleased I got to try this thanks to the PIF of a generous forumite!!!
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Yes. As advertised, Birthday Surprise is pure deep dark gooey chocolate. It's not terribly complex, but it's not trying to be. If chocolate scents work on you, this one is terrific. I can't stop sniffing my wrist. Decent wear length, not much throw (which is normal on me).
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In the Forest is predominantly a leather scent on me. I love it. There's a grounding of deep woody notes, the pitch and patchouli. I don't really get copal or oakmoss, maybe just a hint of sage and saffron, and the clove on me is only really perceptible in the wet stage. But it's really all about the leather, and it is not a Red Rider leather on me but a more worn, softened leather. On the masculine side of gender neutral. Rugged, sexy, comforting. It lasts all day, too. I'm so glad a super generous PIFer sent me the decant. Now where do I find more?
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On me, Yule Buddies is that gingerbread man wearing a leather jacket but also smoking a pipe stuffed with cherry tobacco. It has decent wear length on me. Cozy, sexy, total win. I love this!!!
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Table Turning is not my usual jam but was passed on to me (thank you, dear!!!). The ectoplasm reads as lime on my skin. White musk is always iffy on me and is a little screechy here, and instead of teak, this smells more like rosewood to me. (Sharper -- teak can turn quite sweet with my chemistry.) So all in all a sharp, clean, bright, citrusy blend, perfectly pleasant, just not what I normally wear.
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Low-Key Lyesmith was given to me recently in a spectacularly generous PIF. It's something I was curious about but would never have gambled on more than a decant for. In the bottle, this is not promising. It smells industrial, like a furnace where used whisky barrels are being burned. But within a very few minutes, the spices shake off the initial harshness, which disappears, and they continue to bloom and soften over the course of the wear length. I get mostly smoky clove against a ground of cassia. It's rare for a BPAL to transform from something frankly unpleasant to something I truly enjoy wearing, but that is the case here. The longevity isn't exceptional, but I'm happy to reapply when the end result is this good. TL/DR: Dark clove with an edge.
