Lucchesa
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Everything posted by Lucchesa
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I quite enjoyed Songs of Autumn III, but I quite enjoy Quintessence of Dust, and I found the dust note similar. Songs III has a lot of dry notes: dust, sage, tumbleweed, ash. Then there's the sticky cactus nectar tying them all together. Despite the cinders, it's not particularly smoky on me. Dusty high desert and agave. I had to get up close to smell it (normal with my skin chemistry), but it's comforting and grounding.
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I don't know what it is about BPAL's library scents, but my skin chemistry obliterates them. I did try Lurid Library recently and got soft incense rather than old books, and while it lasted a long time, it was very quiet on me. The Lurid Library's Pumpkin Patch smells similar to me. There is no pumpkin spice here, not that I expected it in a pumpkin patch; there may be some faint squash vines and soil, but I'm not finding any appreciable pumpkin. And after an hour or so, there was very little scent left.
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@VetchVesper I don’t know anything about pruning! I just know I have a wisteria that has gotten way out of control, is snaking up my cypresses, in and out of my fence, and around the top of the chimney, and while I did actually spend an hour today hacking away at it, I realize I need a professional to get up on the roof and do it properly. My step counter has gone off the rails again because it’s giving me 16,000 steps, and while I did walk about 4.5 miles today, first to one store then to another, plus the pruning, there’s no way I got that many steps in, and the last thousand or so came while watching Die Hard. Anyway, Sinister Groundskeeper sounds like a perfect fit. @Amazonia I too got my Weenies yesterday, but I only tested one: Dead Leaves and Black Licorice. It’s practically perfect except that it has no throw on me. @Kelthara Rest days are part of the process. I hope you had a rejuvenating one. Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it!!!
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@VetchVesper Two hours of raking is exactly the workout I need to do! And pruning, I need to do a lot of pruning. @Kelthara Life the Sculptor sounds perfect for yoga. I just walked today, to the independent bookstore to get some last-minute presents. I wore a couple of decants I found that I'd gotten in a swap and forgotten to test. Weenies of last year. And then after dinner I walked a few blocks to get up to 10,000 steps. Love to everyone -- working out is always good for me for dealing with holiday stress.
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Tahitian Vanilla, Mysore Sandalwood & Bergamot
Lucchesa replied to zankoku_zen's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
Sweet lush vanilla, almost like the vanilla orchid note is in there as well. The bergamot is just a hint, and the sandalwood only a little more prominent. Really, this is the vanilla show, an almost floral vanilla. It's kind of uplifting, as if it were a happy-making TAL, but it's not the kind of thing I wear. It does have unusually good throw on me, though! -
Today I am indeed sore, with something close to pain in my right shoulder, which I need to be watchful of (it's a weak point of mine, frequently reinjured). This morning was gorgeously sunny after the godawful slush of yesterday, and Abby and I took a brief walk, about 20 minutes, at one of Seattle's most beautiful parks after visiting a friend of mine who lives nearby. I wasn't wearing any perfume because I wasn't sure if my friend had scent sensitivities or not. But this afternoon I walked to the nearby grocery store for lentils, and by that time I was wearing Kabuki, which I just got in the Solstice Swap! I'm so happy with it. I'm still not quite at 10,000 steps -- perhaps I can walk around the block before I go to bed. My friend mentioned seeing a particular tree in Seward Park every day for 30 years, and that made me think. What if I started every day with a walk around Green Lake? Just make it the first thing I do every morning, rain or shine. It would be an interesting experiment for January. Go, @Amazonia! Anti-masker dodging is a sport, right?
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@Madame Mew Yep, it POURED all day today and even snowed some. Supposed to be sun tomorrow. I’ll believe it when I see it. Today I wore Velvet and did a 30-minutes Gaiam exercise ball video from the library streaming site. Definitely better than Denise Austin though it was new to me and I had trouble figuring out what they were doing a couple times. I’ll be sore tomorrow. Happy Solstice, everyone!!!
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@Kelthara I just ordered a bottle of V'al Hanissim from the brand new update since I am still kicking myself for not buying one this year. Yules seemed like they would be up forever, but it sold out. Welcome back! I've had a couple of useless days -- I had racked up 100 straight days of meditation on Insight Timer and I broke my streak, and didn't exercise either. Today I did a one-hour hatha yoga class online through my local studio. It was a pre-recorded one available for subscribers. My back is hurting because I've been sitting ALL THE TIME -- I really need to yoga more regularly. I wore the TAL Joy and I highly recommend it! @Madame Mew Rain here today too, hence the yoga! Awesome ingenuity! How did the cinnamon rolls turn out? @Amazonia You are kicking ass as usual! @VetchVesper So glad our fearless leader is back!!!
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Today I gave a talk on Wayne Thiebaud, famous for painting pies and cakes and candy, so I wore Popcorn Ball Snake Oil. It rained all day, so I wanted to do some kind of indoor workout, but I'm tired of YouTube interrupting with ads. I realized my library has workout videos available to stream -- but they're oddball. There were old Jane Fonda ones, a bunch of 20-minute ones (that I could in the future combine, like lower and upper body), some short paleo ones, a ton of Denise Austin. I ended up doing 35 minutes of a Denise Austin video that had to be from the 90s. PBSO held up beautifully, but the workout was definitely dated. I went back in and bookmarked some that look more interesting -- a few from Gaiam, a Bollywood dance workout...
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Hi, lovelies! Since I wore Aziraphale yesterday, today I wore Crowley. I did about a 40-minute walk to the drugstore to pick up some photos I’d ordered. I got sweaty, which is kind of my goal. Crowley is still faintly hanging on, many hours later. My perfume was definitely the sexiest part of my day.
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@Seajewel Welcome back! I’m so glad you were able to run yesterday! I don’t know that scent and would probably avoid it because champaca is one of my death notes, but the name is awesome. This morning I gave a talk on the National Gallery in London. I wore Aziraphale because it seemed like someplace he would enjoy hanging out, and I was showing several slides of angels. Later I got in a quick rain-free walk to the library to return my books, about 25 minutes.
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Fragment 38 was a frimp in a swap, and it's much fruitier than I would have expected from the notes. It's candy-sweet and almost citrusy, and while the olive blossom doesn't go to soap as it often does on my skin, I never get the wood and amber combo I was hoping for. Sweet, summery, and higher pitched than I normally wear. It definitely has that high-end spa vibe that others have mentioned.
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Witchy workout friends, hello!!! I'm sorry I haven't been checking in. I've been exercising pretty regularly, and wearing perfume pretty regularly. But today I forgot to put any perfume on before heading out to play pingpong for an hour with a friend. In the brilliant December sunshine. In Seattle, where the sun never shines in December. Win! Now I'm testing Leather, Indigo Incense & Red Amber and Dark Chocolate with Sun-dried Tomato, Pink Peppercorn, Thyme & Comfrey. I hope you're all doing well -- @VetchVesper, maybe a 20 minute walk would be a good break from decanting?
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Dark Chocolate with Sun-Dried Tomato, Pink Peppercorn, Thyme and Comfrey
Lucchesa replied to Gwydion's topic in Lupercalia
I received a sniffie of this in a decant circle, and I dug out enough to skin test because gosh darn it, this is the only blend I have with sun-dried tomato in it. And this is an oddball. At first, I'm not a fan. It's chocolatey in a way that doesn't seem to go together with the savory ingredients. I wouldn't choose this to eat except for curiosity, and I wasn't buying it as a scent. But it got less weird and more interesting the longer it wore. The chocolate gets less sweet, and the thyme and comfrey get to shine, with the chewy dried tomato note tying together the rich dark notes. I don't need any more of this -- I have no idea where I would wear it -- but my initial distaste transformed into admiration. -
Leather, Indigo Incense & Red Amber
Lucchesa replied to zankoku_zen's topic in Duets & Menage A Trois
When this first hits my skin, it's soapy, but that lasts for less than a minute. It settles into a rich, fruity incense, and I do agree with supreme_C0rt that it's tinged with opium. The amber and leather are barely making an appearance on me, although an almost spicy note plays around the edges. This is not at all what I expected -- I wanted a lot more leather than this and some amber too -- so I'm going to hang onto the decant to see if it gets more balance with age. I'm also going to hang onto the decant because it's a gorgeous incense blend, even if it isn't what I was hoping for. -
Iambe is super floral on me, mainly gardenia with a little rose. There’s some perfume-y amber. Any white tea is obliterated by my skin. Perfumey flowers — not for me.
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I love lavender but it never lasts on my skin. You Are Not Alone's lavender lasts. It's not strong -- it's very gentle and soft, and the paper and cotton notes are as well, but it stays with me. For a quiet scent, as any book scent seems meant to be, this has really good staying power. It's hard to describe the "paperback book" and "cotton hoodie" notes except that they ring true. Comforting, soft, clean (but not dryer sheets clean), You Are Not Alone does wrap you up in a protective scent blanket of well-being.
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The Dorian is strong in this one. Walking My Daughter starts off as a citrusy Dorian, with the bergamot and white tea notes prominent, floating on a cloud of marshmallow vanilla. The tea fades, and while lavender never lasts on me, here it doesn't even really show up. So bright citrusy marshmallow Dorian. Sweet and spirit-lifting.
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Hi, everyone! Yesterday I wore Dumb Cake and rode my bike to the U District to pick up a couple things I needed. My fitness tracker clocked it as 2 17-minute bike rides. There are hills in Seattle so I got plenty sweaty. And @Madame Mew, I love your city too, and my son theoretically goes to college there (actually at the desk in his bedroom here), so when this is all over, I'm going to come take a long walk with you! Today's WOSOTD: Black Annis while I wait for Black Licorice Smut and DL & Black Licorice to materialize. Abby and I met my aunt, uncle and mother-in-law at the arboretum and went for about a 2.75 mile walk. The weather has been glorious. Later in the day did another brisk mile to run an errand, and ended up with over 10,000 steps for the first time in a few days.
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The Contrast, which was a frimp in a recent swap, starts out almost all frankincense on me, a soft spicy frankincense, lovely. Gradually the vanilla benzoin comes into play. This is very pleasant and perfectly unisex. In the imp it's a very pale oil with globules of darker amber -- I wonder which is which. It doesn't have great staying power on me but is very nice while it lasts. So glad I got to try it!
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Good job, @Madame Mew and @VetchVesper!!! Today I wore The Contrast and took Abby for a walk she didn't want to go on. About 30 minutes -- I put her in the car halfway through. And yesterday I wore Sissy the Ascendant, which is like smoky rootbeer on me, and did about a 40 minute walk. The weather should be dry all week!
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I am going to be very boring here and suggest that you not overspend on a decade-old rare that you yourself admit you're not fully satisfied with. It's my experience with older bottles that the strength does not just keep increasing; at some point it starts decreasing, and you can't be sure how it's been stored and cared for. OK, if you have oodles of money, ignore me, but does that describe any of us at this point? Today's WOSOTD was Fake News, which held up really well to walking to a local park and then playing pingpong for over an hour with a friend who doesn't look like she should be able to play pingpong at all but who is surprisingly good, then walking home the long way. The breeze made things interesting. So I got my 10,000 steps in and got some sunshine.
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I was only baking for myself and my kids, so I only made one pie. Pumpkin with a cocoa crust. The crust was good and easy, made in the food processor. I'm sure the filling would have been good too if I hadn't forgotten to put the sugar in. It wasn't terrible; we put powdered sugar on top.
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Happy Thanksgiving, fragrant witchy workout friends!!!! Yesterday I wore Illustrated Woman and walked to the natural foods store with my little pull cart for my last minute Thanksgiving needs (including nabbing the penultimate can of organic evaporated milk). Then I got an impromptu invite for tea on my friend's porch and biked to her house (a hard 20-minute bike ride there, an easy 15 minute bike ride home). Today I put on Coiled Serpent and did an online yoga class with my local studio, one of my favorite teachers. It goes so well with yoga! I got sweaty (which brought out an interesting musk effect in Coiled Serpent) so I showered afterwards and now am wearing Pumpkin Spice Silkybat HG and Pumpkin Queen in the hopes that they will bless my pie baking.
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Hi, everyone! @Madame Mew, did you decide to work out or to eat pizza? Yesterday I wore Tombeur, which I hadn’t worn in ages. So cozy and sexy! I walked to the drug store and back, not even three miles, but I had a talk to finish so I couldn’t do more. Tombeur held up beautifully. This morning I gave my talk, which was on Beatrix Potter, so I wore Mole from the Wind in the Willows scents, which was as close as I could get (actually, she raised sheep, so I could have gone with Two Sheep and Two Goats but I didn’t think of it). Mole did not last on me at all so I may be deaccessioning it soon. I’ll pick something else and go for a walk after dinner.