Lucchesa

Shattered Silence is a dark snowy forest scent that eventually mellows into a black musk with the evergreens in the background. It's all sharp evergreen branches at first, with a piney snow note and some moss, and it takes 30 or 40 minutes for the dark musk to begin to be prominent. On me the gin-like juniper note is the most noticeable, more so than the cedar or yew. Juniper is the only evergreen I don't love, so I won't be springing for a bottle of this one, but I'm really glad I got to try it because the concept of wolves howling in a winter is really beautifully expressed. Gender neutral, medium wear length though I applied sparingly.

2018 version. Midwinter's Eve could illustrate that line about visions of sugarplums dancing in children's heads. It is candy-sweet on me. I like plum, but I find myself wearing fruit blends less and less often, and when I do, they tend to be darker than this one. This is as pretty and bright as the Nutcracker Suite, with sugarplum fairies dancing around over a vaguely floral backdrop, nothing I can identify more precisely. I don't find this poignant and melancholy at all; it's more youthful delight in the fun of the holidays. And the sweets of the holidays.

As a lapsed Catholic, I still have romantic yearnings about incense braziers swinging on chains, Latin chants and the like. I expected to love Midnight Mass and tried the 2017 version, which I found disappointing. Ever the optimist, I got a decant of 2018, and it's beautiful! So I don't know if it's a formula change, a skin chemistry thing, a change in my tastes, or what, but 2018 Midnight Mass is a dreamy cloud of ecclesiastical incense. On me, Cathedral goes straight to cedar shavings, while Midnight Mass stays true, slightly sweet, slightly smoky. This could be a meditation blend if you lean towards Western rather than Eastern spirituality. It's lovely. No throw, which is normal on me, and about average wear length.

Gingerbread, White Cedar and Gunpowder sounded like the most "interesting" of this year's crop of gingerbreads. Wet, it's more like gunpowder, gunpowder and gunpowder. And very interesting. After a few minutes, I start to get cedar as well, though I'm not entirely confident that I ever really made out any gingerbread. This isn't a sweet scent on me. It strikes me as very much a wild west kind of blend, like it would be perfectly at home in the Pretty Deadly universe, and I haven't smelled anything else quite like this. Unisex tilting masculine.

Berliner Dom Antics is gorgeous on me, and I seem to have gotten more patch than many of you. On me, this smells like light, spicy gingerbread, Snow White snow, and sweet patchouli. And it lasts and lasts -- I could still smell it distinctly, albeit faintly, 24 hours after application, which is almost unheard of on my skin. (OK, there's a small possibility I reapplied during the day. Still, overnight persistence for sure.) It's sweet but the spice and patchouli keep it well away from cloying. I'd say it's on the lighter side of cozy. This is one of the rare scents that I think would be appropriate for a young girl but that I also truly enjoy wearing.

My Snake Oil hair gloss was a gift from an incredibly generous forumite, so I don't know what vintage it is, but my guess would be aged a couple of years at least. I know the Post says the hair glosses have a six month shelf life, but this is glorious! I mean, it's Snake Oil. For your hair. I find all HG to be equally excellent in smoothing my coarse, dry, unruly curls, so what I'm reviewing is how much I like the scent and how long it lasts. And Snake Oil HG (like the perfume) lasts a long, long time. I could smell it in my hair quite distinctly the next morning. It will pair beautifully with any SO variant and probably a lot of other things as well. (I used it with classic SO perfume and Hedonism bath oil, which is heavy on the patchouli, and it was delicious.)

I received Pleasures of the Imagination II in a circular swap from a super generous forumite, and it has a reducer cap which I'm not used to, so I got a bit too much on my first try. And wet, it was LEATHER. All the leather. Leather, leather, leather. I'm not going to weigh in on the color of the leather except to say that it's not the super new, not-quite-cured-completely leather of The Red Rider. It reminds me more of the leather in Adam, and checking my notes, that's black leather. So I guess I am going to weigh in on the color of the leather. I haven't worn The White Rider in a while and am curious to try these side by side. For the first 20 minutes or so on my skin, this is single note leather, and strong. I got more throw than I usually do with my chemistry, and I wasn't sure I could pull it off. But soon enough the leather calmed down and let the sandalwood and tobacco through. This isn't dark, sweet, chewy French tobacco; it's drier and more ethereal. More cerebral, maybe. Like a dominatrix who's also an intellectual. The leather continues to be the most prominent note, and on me this is more a power scent than a snuggly one. It's sexy, because powerful confident people are sexy, but it's not out to seduce. I think I'm going to get a lot of use out of this!

My House of Night is obviously a well-aged imp. It goes on very green, like the dewy stem note you sometimes see in scent descriptions. The bouquet is definitely present; the boughs are in the background. But damp foliage (rather nicer than I'm making it sound) was my initial impression. It's a lighter weight scent (I had something dark and heavy on the other wrist), yet it lasted quite a long time, though I didn't get any throw. After a couple of hours, the spiciness that other reviewers have mentioned emerged for me, and a sweetness as well. Nothing soapy or powdery. I ended up liking it better than I expected. House of Night felt very BPAL to me -- I can't think of another scent it's quite like, maybe Burial without the dirt, but it definitely has Beth's signature on it.

Salzburg Krampuslauf was gorgeous on initial application -- bright and cheerful, like sunshine on snow, with more Dorian than Snake Oil on me, and a little wood and leather rounding it out. I got a little throw from it too, more than I usually get. Unfortunately, this is one of the non-Snow-White snow notes that doesn't work on my skin, and it goes soapy after about 45 minutes. My sister really liked it though, so I may need to get her a bottle.

Carry Me is lovely. With lavender scents I usually get a strong initial blast of lavender which fades all too quickly. I think because this is a lavender fougere, the lavender is not as strong as usual initially, but it is steadier and longer lasting. Like ramblingrambler, I also got a hint of lemon, but I like to grate a little lemon peel into sugar cookie batter, so that's what it made me think of. Sweet, gentle lavender and sugary vanilla, for a night or day comfort boost.

Gingerbread, Coffee Bean and Smoked Vanilla is mellow and really nice on me, an excellent winter comfort scent. I had my decanter combine my Yule BPAL and BPTP orders, which held up the former, so my decant has perhaps aged a bit more than everyone else's before their first test. So let this rest at least a couple of weeks before you decide it isn't for you. I do get coffee bean. It isn't strong -- this is a low-key scent in general -- but it's definitely present and highly comforting. As far as the gingerbread, it's not the dark, sticky, blackstrap molasses type as in Gingerbread, Vetiver and Black Clove from a couple of years ago. It's more of a light, spicy gingerbread, with an extra dollop of not particularly smoky vanilla. If you missed Goblin Stampede, this is a good substitute.

I love Third Lash! White fir is one of my very favorite evergreen notes, and it's just beautiful with the thyme. I'm not sure I can really pick out the olibanum -- it's not the super dry frankincense that reads as cedar on my skin, at any rate. This mellows and sweetens slightly in drydown. The soft leather in the background isn't evident wet but becomes more and more a part of the scent as it dries down. Totally unisex, with a little throw (which is pretty good for my skin) and good wear length.

Meowwwrr! I used to be afraid of civet, but then I tried debauchery. I mean, Debauchery. And Yule Cat sounded edgy but wonderful, which is just about right. Wet, it seems very evergreeny, though I think all the listed notes are deciduous trees. Actually, who the hell knows what goosefoot is? Dark, sexy branches, mossy vetiver. Yeah, it may skew a little masculine, but I have no problem with that. A tiny bit of sweetness appears in drydown, which is snugglicious without losing its edge of wildness. Low throw, but that's normal for me. Such a keeper!

Seraglio was something I tried early on in my BPAL journey and liked but never reviewed. I retested this morning, and it's not a "me" enough scent to be devastated that it's been discontinued, though it is quite lovely. Almond notes usually come on very strong when wet and fade quickly, and that is the case here, where it's all ALMOND for the first ten minutes before the rose, spices and citrus become part of the experience. I don't wear rose very often, but this is a nice, middle-of-the-road rose, not sour, not too heady. Kind of a warm rose, if that makes any sense. I don't really smell the sandalwood, but I think it's there, unifying all the other notes. No throw on me (which is normal for my skin) and average wear length.

The Hamptons is mainly ocean spray cranberry juice on me, sweet-tart, bright reddish pink in color, with just a hint of lime. It's not particularly boozy on me, and "effervescent" (i.e. champagne scents and the like) is a category I usually avoid. But I can see this having anti-depressant qualities on the right wearer -- it has a spirit-lifting vibe. Try this if you like bright, fruity, sweet-tart summery blends.

Katharina ought not to be as nice as it is on me. The white musk doesn't go soapy or screechy, and the orange blossoms stay creamy and subtle. So I get a bright, pretty, and sweet apricot scent on a musky ground with scattered orange blossoms. Very light and fresh and springtime-y, kind of girlish. On my skin, this doesn't match my interpretation of Kate; it's too sweet, not "willful" enough. But this might be a great enabling scent, as it is very pretty and unchallenging. (I prefer Depraved and Carnal for my GC apricot fix. And the sadly DC'd Grand Guignol.)

First Lash went on very green, woodsy and a little harsh. I expected it to mellow on my skin, and within 30 minutes it had settled in nicely. It never sweetened the way pine does on me, but it softened considerably. Dry, it was still green and bright and woodsy with a little smoke and amber, and eventually a woody frankincense becomes more prominent. This is a lovely, outdoorsy unisex scent with some smolder to it. Low throw (normal for me) but a nice long wear length; First Lash outlasted Hearthflame and Incense on me. Decisions, decisions!

I tested Hearthflame and Incense and First Lash at the same time since they share similar notes and I wanted to deathmatch them. First Lash started out green and a little harsh on me, while H&I was richer and deeper right off the bat, with a bit of sweetness -- dark burgundy rather than green in color. It developed into lovely resiny woodsmoke with an afterglow of frankincense. It wore close to the skin on me, which is normal for me, and lasted a few hours, though not as long as First Lash did. I think I like this one a tiny bit more than first lash, but they are both very nice on me.

On me, Tenth Lash starts out with a blast of sweet cherry almond, like a marzipan treat topped with maraschino cherries, lots of them. It's too sweet even for me, and I crave marzipan scents. But this gooey opening quickly gives way into something more like I expected from the notes: almond that has a slightly bitter edge, dry cacao, and patch vying with syrupy cherry. This stage I like a lot, and I think it will age well, with the patchouli contributing more structure as it matures. It wears pretty close to the skin on me, which is normal for my chemistry.

Have you ever written in a review of a patchouli blend that you wished you could bathe in it? You CAN! I had avoided Hedonism because ylang ylang is generally bad on me, but an extremely kind forumite gifted me a bottle, and it is magnificent. Don't let the ylang put you off: this is all about the patch. I didn't actually bathe in it; I smoothed it all over my dry winter skin when I stepped out of the shower. So luxurious. It's patch patch patch on me with a little bright citrus, a breath of floral (without the bottle description, I couldn't have told you which one), and the subtle darkening of myrrh. But mainly patch. I feel like a hippie love goddess. This should layer beautifully with any patchouli-forward scent.

I love Pumpkin Tobacco, and I love Gingerbread, Vetiver and Black Clove. This is that tobacco but not that gingerbread. It's a gorgeous rich chewy tobacco with -- agreeing here with some of the other reviews -- the dry baking spices that go into gingerbread, but not the toothsome dark stickiness of gingerbread itself, and I get a lot more tobacco than spices (which might balance out over time). It's actually quite similar to Pumpkin Tobacco on my skin, which is wonderful, but since I have a bottle of that, I don't need a bottle of Gingerbread Tobacco.

I'm not sure what I was thinking when I added Blackcurrant Glogg to my decant order. Looking back, there are half a dozen other scents in the update that are closer to my wheelhouse. Wine is generally bad on me; blackcurrant is hit or miss, usually miss. So take this review with a grain of salt. Wet, I get the grape syrup my skin usually turns wine into, made even sweeter by the sugar and boozier by the brandy. The spice trio is really faint on me, but the wild blackcurrant, which I can't distinguish from regular blackcurrant, and the orange peel are very much in evidence. So fruit, booze, sugar and a little citrus, and it does have a festive feel to it. It's actually a perfectly pleasant scent, and I would love to taste it at a holiday party. It's just not what I tend to wear as perfume.

If I had had a chance to read the reviews, with the persistent mention of mintiness, before ordering decants, I probably would have skipped this one. Mint is near the top of my no, thank you notes. But the listed notes all sound so lovely. So wet, of course I get red musk and mint. Assuming there's no actual stealth mint in here, I tried to prise it out. I think some of it is from that almost camphorous black patchouli you get sometimes. Or maybe it's the opium -- my skin turned Laudanum into peppermint toothpaste without any mint note, as I recall. Even against powerful notes like red musk and black patch, the mint kept holding its own, which was not what I signed up for. After two hours, Red and Black Candy Canes becomes the scent I had hoped for from the description (or, in starbrow's words, evil candy canes). Sweet, spicy opium-tinged red musk against a backdrop of patch. This is the red musk I long for, sultry but not all-encompassing. I love this. But I don't love that it took two hours to get here. I wonder if aging will bring it into line faster.

An exceptionally generous forumite has given me some bath oil, which I use not in the bath but as after-shower moisturizer. Phlox is the first one I tried because I thought it would pair beautifully with Water of Notre Dame (and I was right). I don't enjoy wearing all-floral blends much, but a single flower is a different story, not sure why. Phlox is a lovely, creamy pink scent, kind of old-fashioned and innocent. I do think it has more of a spring-summer vibe than a January one, but it put a little spring into this January day. I can see it layering beautifully with a number of non-phlox-containing scents. It has just enough throw and has lasted really well. Delightful!

On my skin, Burial starts out as a sharp blast of evergreens, mostly juniper; I would have guessed cypress too. It stays a pure forest scent for a long time before I start to get some rose as well, and only after a couple of hours can I perceive a bit of the Lab's lovely soil note, which I was hoping for much more of here. Juniper is not my favorite evergreen, rose is not my favorite floral, and I wanted more dirt, so this wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I will stick with Deep in Earth.