Lucchesa
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Everything posted by Lucchesa
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For cherry, GC blends you might try include Blood, Kabuki and King of Hearts. Seconding Blood Kiss, a favorite of mine. Also The Cherry-Tree Carol among the current Yules. And since the Liliths are still around, Gen Z and 2020 Aesthetic. Last year's lupers had a cherry section which was great! And I forgot Phantom Calliope, another favorite of mine. Cherry with cardamom.
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Terebinth is one of my favorite notes, and amber always works on me, though I'm not as familiar with the black variety. Oakmoss can go either way, and oakmoss is what I get most of here. Oakmoss with some pine and amber notes, and although amber tends to last forever on me, I had to reapply this within about three hours. I suspect this one will be much improved by aging -- it's not quite coming together on me right now.
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Strong, dark, sweet coffee, rich and true. Not much throw (standard for me) but good wear length. This works really well on me.
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Teakwood, Moss and Salt is not what I expected. I was actually hoping for what some describe as corn-chip salt, because that's an amazing note on me. Teakwood tends to turn almost caramel-like on me skin. This is nothing like the teakwood in, say, Antikythera Mechanism. Instead, there's an almost minty, camphorous opening, definitely cool in tone, whereas teak and salt tend to be warm notes on me. So I agree with the previous reviewers that this is a kind of bracing, spa-like scent.
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Beeswax, Cedarwood & Bourbon Vanilla
Lucchesa replied to zankoku_zen's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
I'm all about the beeswax, and cedar is a note I love too. Beeswax, Cedarwood and Bourbon Vanilla does not disappoint. It's so so yummy. Beeswax and cedar to start out with, candles lit in an ancient forest clearing. Then the sweet vanilla joins the mix, softening the wilder notes. Gorgeous, with good staying power. If you are a beeswax lover, you need to try this before it goes away. To quote doomsday_disco, Hnnngh. -
I ordered samples of all the Lux Brumalis because I'm an art historian and so many of them sounded gorgeous or at least intriguing. This was one of the latter. I don't do florals in general, but I do love lilac. Is blue lilac actually a thing? Because that is what this smells like to me. Lilac and blueness. Lilac and cool bulb flowers, lilac and pale ambergris and chilly white musk. No ambrette that I could make out. It's super duper pretty and way more flowery than I usually wear. Low throw (normal on me) but decent staying power.
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Holy peppermint patty! Wet, this is all chocolate and peppermint on me, against a background of gingerbread spice. Now, I may have three packages of Thin Mints on the way, but I do not want to smell like them. Mint is a note I avoid on principal, but I ordered samples of all the Gingerbread Monsters, so I'm out of my wheelhouse on this one. Mint. Whoo. Fortunately, the peppermint faded quickly, leaving a gorgeous spicy milk chocolate gingerbread. That I can handle smelling like.
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I’m here! Way to keep on keeping on, @Amazonia!!! I don’t know The Mark, it sounds right up my alley. Alice was my first BPAL love, though, and while my tastes have gone much darker since then, she never disappoints. Definitely more than the sum of her parts. Yesterday I put on O the Joy of My Spirit and some nice clothes and biked the seven miles to Seattle Art Museum to see the member preview of the Jacob Lawrence exhibit I’ll be lecturing on next week. I’m not in biking shape, so it took me 45 minutes to get there and 50 to get home (more hills, tireder bones), but it felt almost like real life. I wish I’d brought the bottle because it’s one that needs re-applying, but I love the oddball Nutella in a forest thing. Even in KN95 mask I got recognized (I lecture at another local museum), which is why I was biking in a skirt. Lots of love to to you all!!!
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I bought this from a friend's sales page because it sounded like my kind of thing, and it is, exactly. It's beautifully blended with no hard edges. Herbal lavender and spicy carnation are among the least flowery florals; I think a guy could easily pull this off. It's dark, sweet and smoky from the vetiver, tobacco and vanilla, really mellow and lovely, everything balanced. I've been wearing it as a winter blend, but I think it could be lovely for hot summer nights as well. It seems like this is a blend that depends highly on skin chemistry to work its magic, and I lucked out!
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I’ve worn this twice now and keep neglecting to review it. I get mainly a slightly spicy golden amber, a favorite note of mine, with the warm fuzzy feeling of BPAL “fur.” I should death match it with the GC The Lion. The sweet resins are background players on my skin. The amber is quite long-lasting — very nice.
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I love this and it's perfect with Earth bath oil, which I have a little bit left of. Lots of sage and patchouli when wet, then there's the pitch and the green growing things. The myrrh is a later arrival on me, and the late drydown is incensey, mossy woods. I never get the grains but couldn't care less. This is earthy, grounding, and just beautiful for lovers of dark forest scents.
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@Amazonia PiYo sounds intense! The image of you and Neko dancing and punching too baby shark makes me laugh. I haven’t had my shoulder looked at because it is improving, and I’ve hurt it this way before. Multiple times. But about a week ago I did 15 minutes of intermediate vinyasa and got clear signs I had overdone it, so I’m backing off. Plus I need to keep my mileage up for the Ireland challenge. Yesterday I did get out for nearly four miles, most of it dry. Today, it was closer to five, and it just rained the last ten minutes. I was testing It Was Just a Cat (thumbs up) and Rickety Staircase (thumbs down).
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Rickety Staircase went on a little soapy, and it gave the sense not of old oak but of polished oak. This is not the warm amber of It Was Just A Cat, which I was testing on the other wrist, but something much cooler, more standoffish. Overall, I got polished wood and a bit of cool amber. This was very quiet on me, and not terribly long-lasting.
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Welcome back, @Amazonia! I’m not familiar with PiYo. Pilates Yoga? And lucky you, Krampus is awesome! Goddess flow sounds awesome, @katharina! A shoulder injury is still limiting my yoga, but I have been walking every day. Yesterday, 5 miles, to the tune of Revenant Rhythm. I got frimped a decant in a swap and wow, wow, wow. today’s WOSOTD is There Is No Bliss Like This but it’s raining so I haven’t braved the outdoors yet.
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I didn’t get a decant of There Is No Bliss because of the ylang ylang but was happy to swap for one because it doesn’t show up as prominent in the reviews. This is indeed a happy, safe blend. My first BPAL love was Alice, and I’m still a sucker for a sweet carnation scent. Carnation and clove, impossible to pry apart, are the main players on my skin, backed by a warm vanilla. I’m getting very little patchouli or cinnamon and no skin irritation from the latter. The ylang ylang is quiet or silent in this mix. Beth was doing marvelous things with carnation last year — Pleasure Boat, Song of Hope — and this is similarly joyful for me.
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A super generous forumite gifted a decant of this to me in a swap. Wow. It is everything it is made out to be. A big, sexy patchouli sweetened with vanilla and all tied together with an organic hemp bow. And it lasts for hours and hours. Perfection.
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I’ve tested this twice now and still don’t feel like I have a handle on it. It morphs a great deal on me. At first it’s sharp, almost acrid. I think this must be the ginger and ti leaf responding badly to my skin. This phase is not particularly pleasant. Later it’sa creamy rice milk skin scent with only a hint of spiced tea. I never get anise (a shame, I love anise), and I didn’t manage to track the transition between the two phases. It was one thing, then it was another.
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Silk Phoenix kind of stops at “gleaming black leather” on me. It’s the Tandy leather store of yore. New leather, rawhide, suede, maybe a hint of gunmetal, but nothing of the souk or smoke. Almost a single note leather. I got frimped this by a generous forumite and am so glad I got to try it.
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CONGRATULATIONS!!!
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Hi, lovelies!!! Good job, everyone, and welcome, @katharina! And sorry for not checking in. The west coast of Ireland challenge my sister and I are doing started a week ago Monday. She’s kicking my ass! I need to average about 4 miles a day, and over the first nine days I’ve walked every day and am averaging 5! Today I did a 5.3 mile walk and WOSOTD was Zorya Uttrenyaya. (I’m also doing the different BPAL every day in January thing and going in alphabetical order.) It’s a coffee scent, so I thought it might give me a needed kick, but it was more like a big warm hug, and I can still smell it. Nearly out of my decant and need more!
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@Amazonia I am SO SORRY to hear about your aunt's partner. You have every right to be filled with the blackest rage. We should not be here, as a country. Good luck with Neko! I hope you've managed to craft a more workable situation with her mother. And congratulations on all the hard workouts and the visible results. @Kelthara Good job on sticking with the yoga challenge! I can't wait to do yoga again, but this is the point where I always go back too soon and reinjure myself. Belly dancing sounds like fun -- let us know if you find something worthwhile. @Madame Mew I hope you're getting the same sunshine we are! I talked with Vetch_Vesper last week -- she's fine, just has a lot of stressful life stuff on her plate right now and hasn't been on the forums much. I keep walking. 40 minutes today because I had a commitment I had to get ready for. I forgot to wear perfume, but now I'm wearing Quintessence of Dust and I plan to get in a few more mini-walks as breaks in my work this afternoon.
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Vampire Tarot: The Pope
Lucchesa replied to LizziesLuck's topic in 15 Painted Cards From A Vampire Tarot
I was the fortunate recipient of this scent in JazzieCazzie's Boobiepalooza box, and I'm shocked by how little love The Pope is getting here because it really is beautiful. It seems like it's in an obscure corner of the website and most people don't know about it. And it's a tad more expensive, but that just reminds me of the Loreal commercials of my youth -- sure, it costs a little more, but you're worth it. The Pope is much lighter than you might expect from notes like frank, cedar, and clove-smoke; in fact, if you're looking for something like Thorns Clove Cigarette, you're likely to be disappointed. I'm not familiar with the rose maroc note, but I assume it's rose (which might be keeping the rose-averse at bay), and I get absolutely no rose from this scent. Instead, I get cedar and gently smoky clove and a benzoin so playful I was initally thinking it was labdanum. The Pope shares some notes with The Cat (benzoin, cedar, honey and dark musk), and if you love The Cat, you should definitely try The Pope. On my The Cat is darker and denser, while The Pope is more ethereal. It's ultimately more warm, spicy and sexy than ecclesiastical. I need to wear it more often instead of saving it as a special occasion blend. -
Hi, all! I’ve been walking faithfully when it’s not pouring. Today I wore The Pope, which had hardly any reviews but is really great, and did a four-mile walk. My shoulder is still not happy...
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@twilighteyes This is completely awesome! Thanks!
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Apparently I never reviewed Jack. It's sweeter and peachier than I remember. Pumpkin and canned peaches dripping with syrup and gently spiced. I only wear it around Halloween and Thanksgiving, and over the past few years my tastes have gotten darker, but it is still a very enjoyable scent.