Lucchesa

I knew The Mock Turtle's Lessons wouldn't work on me, but I wanted to try it out of curiosity and because it's a Mad Tea Party scent. It was less bad than expected! Aquatics just go soapy on me, but the first notes I got out of this were apple and mint. A little booze, a little lime, with the aquatic notes, yes, blurry, not sharp and distinct and detergent-like. It's light and spring-like, and the apple is more sweet than tart. Ultimately it's soft aquatic with just hints of fruit and mint. Wear length is a little less than average on me.

Desmonema is not a willful misspelling of Desdemona but a jellyfish species, if anyone's interested. With the exception of quince, which usually doesn't show up in large enough quantities for me to really judge what it smells like on me, and mimosa, which is iffy, all these notes tend to be reliably good on me. Wet, I get black vetiver and patchouli. It's dark and earthy, rough around the edges. It softens considerably on drydown, though I would not call this floral. Nor do I get much citrus. It's mainly vetiver-patch-coconut-myrrh, with some sweetness that's probably due to the fruit. (Again, I can't make out quince specifically; I need a quince SN.) I agree with zanzoku_zen that this is reminiscent of Goblin. But even with the coconut, it doesn't feel summery to me. Maybe a nighttime scent for summer, a daytime one for fall/winter. I'm going to test this again but I rather like it!

I am no fan of ylang ylang or violet, but I am very fond of hyssop, frankincense and loamy scents. Plus I love the poem and thought the notes might capture it really well, as in fact they do. But I honestly didn't have high hopes for this because of the first two listed notes. The florals come rushing out of the gate together, but it's not an old lady violet, and I'm not actively disliking it because I can start to smell the frankincense and soil fending off the floral assault. I Died for Beauty turns into a frankincense scent backed up with flowers and dirt. I don't get a lot of hyssop, but I think it's actually interacting with the violet in a way that makes it more palatable to me. Much better than expected!

Asphodel -- an obviously well-aged imp -- is a pale purple-gray floral on me. It's reminiscent of lilies and maybe wisteria or hyacinth? I don't wear a lot of florals, and I was hoping the gray in the description was code for ambergris, but I don't think so. It's actually quite pleasant, even discreetly sexy for a floral. It's not my usual kind of scent, but I may hang onto it to see if I ever feel like wearing it.

The Orange Window HG is very, very orange, with lots of mandarin and sweet blood orange, like they've just come out of the juicer and been spiked with a dollop of honey and a little splash of cognac and rooibos tea. I kept trying and failing to find the leather until I looked up the notes and remembered the leather was in the atmo. I'm not getting much resin, and I can't comment on the honeybush. Not a note I know. Work friendly because your coworkers will imagine someone has just peeled open a clementine, it smells so realistic.

It may be age, but on me the clove in March Hare is very subtle. I get lots of sweet apricot preserves and just a hint of clove. This is a skin scent on me (which is normal with my skin chemistry) and has average wear length. I am delighted I got to try this, but since I prefer Depraved or Grand Guignol for my apricot fix, I will pass it on.

Predictably, my husband doesn't like Blood Red Window Panes. He pretty much hates red musk. So I will have to wear this one when he's not around. It's definitely dominated by the honeyed red musk, with some warm oudh and tobacco backing it up. I can't honestly smell the saffron. I just sprayed this one onto my dry hair straight out of the mail, but it's sticking around really well; I bet it will last even better when applied to wet hair.

Valentine of Rome 2014 is a surprise hit on me. I was frimped a decant and would probably have avoided it because olive blossom has a history of going soapy on me. But I don't even perceive it here. Instead, it is mostly frankincense on me, a gorgeous frankincense with good throw. I can make out the myrrh too, and the blood is distinct on drydown, but the other notes jumble together in the background, making the frankincense sweet and warm and smoky instead of dry and woody. I like Penitence, but it's austere; I think Valentine of Rome is much more wearable for me.

I was frimped an imp of Sympathetic Crone (as my decant is labelled) by a super generous forumite -- it had been on my wishlist for ages. It is a honey-dominant scent on me. Thick honey and something else that seemed foodie on my skin -- the acorn? It was almost yeasty, like there was bread baking with all the herbs hanging in the crone's kitchen. A little woods, some sage, a nutty quality -- these are all compliments in my book, and I loved this, but it lasted less than 2 hours on my skin, which obviously isn't due to lack of aging. I love this and am thrilled I got to try it, but my skin eats it up (very unusual for a honey blend), so I will swap it away because I'm sure others are eager to try it as well.

I agree with the previous reviewer that if you like myrrh, Krampus' Chains has aged into something snuggly and delicious. The myrrh has definitely taken over the aging process. I got no metal or rust note and maybe the faintest bit of red musk. The tobacco is more of a chewy sweet warmth than a definite tobacco note. But I was here for the licorice, and I got plenty of that, not overwhelming but a subtle complement to the myrrh. It's smooth and creamy and unisex, with a little throw (more than my skin usually allows me) and good wear length. Very nice.

I just got an obviously well-aged bottle of Halloween: Los Angeles, and it is truly lovely, though somewhat melancholy due to the current fire situation in my beloved home state. At first it was all fresh and outdoorsy, sage and chaparral and other warm southern-CA-type scents. In fact it reminded me of the She-Goat from the newest crop of Liliths. It took about half an hour for the smoke to emerge on my skin, and then it was exactly what I was hoping for. It's not a vetiver-heavy smoke, but something more like a smudge. In fact, there is more sweetness and lightness to this scent than I expected, which makes it feel more late summer/early autumn than late autumn/winter to me. Beautiful.

Trying lavender blends is bittersweet for me. They are always so beautiful when wet, right before my skin gobbles up the lavender. I do love licorice, opoponax and benzoin, so A Multitude of Dreams was a must-try. It starts out on me, predictably, with a lot of lavender, some licorice, some syrupy oppoponax and warm benzoin. Just as predictably, the lavender doesn't last on my skin, and unfortunately, the licorice also becomes very faint. So I get a lovely deep opoponax and benzoin drydown with a hint of licorice and a bare whisper of lavender. If the opening persisted on my skin longer than 30 minutes, I would own a bottle of this, but sadly my skin tends to obliterate lavender.

I got less of the dead leaves note in Dead Leaves, Apricot, Ambergris and Tobacco than in any other DL scent I tried this year. And I love the dead leaves note. Here I get mainly ripe apricot and ambergris. The tobacco (and this fall's tobacco note is a beauty too!) and leaves are faint on me. It's possible, even probable, that these notes will strengthen with aging and balance this out to work better on me, but there were so many wins in these Weenies that I'm not sad to have one I can pass by.

OK, I give up. I adore blackberries. Blackberry pie may be my favorite food on the planet. So I keep trying to find a blackberry scent to revel in, and I keep failing. But When All Colors to Black Are Cast looks like it was designed for me. Dried blackberry -- that might work better. Inky black musk, my beloved opoponax -- I don't have as much experience with sweet labdanum, but sweet resins are my jam. Mmm, blackberry jam... In the imp, When All Colors is darkly purple. I get a lot of black musk and dark resins with a sweet dark blackberry swirling around it all. But on my skin, I get berry candy. Just generic berry, and it swallows up all the other lovely notes. An hour later, I still have berry candy on my wrist. Five hours later, it's faint but starting to smell more like it does in the imp, and if this could be amped up to normal strength through the life of the perfume, I would be buying at least one bottle. But my skin mutates blackberry into a fake, overly sweet note that crowds out everything else. I need to accept that I love many many BPAL components and that blackberry just isn't going to be one of them.

My husband said this one smelled like honeysuckle and hay. I told him it was called Pumpkin Tobacco, which he didn't take to because he basically hates pumpkin (winter squash, sweet potatoes, everything in that vein). He's anti-tobacco, too. So when I buy a bottle I will have to tell him it's Honeysuckle Hay. No pumpkin spice to this, just pumpkin, and while I'm not exactly familiar with dried pumpkin as a thing, imagine a slice of sugar pie pumpkin roasted until the edges are brown and caramelized. Not from added sugar, just the sugars in the pumpkin itself. Imagine that blended with bourbon and toothsome tobacco. This is mainly a gorgeous sweet tobacco with the pumpkin and bourbon making it even richer and warmer. Heaven.

Sadly, I don't get the smokiness everyone else is talking about. Zoe and the Goat is beautiful, though. It's mainly patchouli and honey with a creamy edge. This is a much gentler patchouli than Tricksy. A warm golden bearhug of a scent, with good staying power and throw.

I really like the goat's milk note, and Jupiter Nourished by the Goat Amalthea has a strong goat's milk component on me, earthy, just a little funky. I would have loved to have gotten the goat's milk, hazelnut and coconut that some reviewers reported, but instead I got a lot of fruit. (When I was growing up, ambrosia was the term for a dessert with Kool-Whip and canned fruit cocktail, and this was indeed reminiscent of that to me. If you're not familiar with canned fruit cocktail, I think it was pear, peach, grapes and maraschino cherry.) And later in drydown, after an hour or so, I began to perceive baked goods, which is rarely a good note on me. So I'm torn -- it's a really good goat's milk, but the other ingredients are less wonderful on me. Good wear length and a little throw, more than I usually get with my skin chemistry.

Sweet smoky vetiver, vanilla with a boozy edge, cuddly wool. This is definitely in the queue for bottle purchase. I totally agree with marared that people who are on the fence about vetiver should try this one, as it may make believers out of them. It's smoky but not charred-charcoal vetiver, and while it dominates the opening, it mellows down pretty quickly and partners beautifully with the vanilla and wool. Two Sheep and Two Goats is like a warm woolen wrap that a ruggedly attractive, bourbon-drinking guy was wearing by a roaring fire. It's going to keep me warm this winter!

2018 version. The Hag hit my skin sharp and frankly a little unpleasant, all bay leaf and galangal. This is the hag yelling at the neighborhood kids to get the hell out of her yard. But I wasn't worried; I knew they would soften and that I'd get some sweetness from the currant and rum. And sure enough, within minutes, this was the hag rescuing you from a winter storm and handing you a well-spiked warm drink as you huddle in her kitchen surrounded by drying herbs and bubbling pots. I like this phase a lot. But it ghosted on me in less than a hour. When I applied it, I had the feeling I wasn't putting enough on, even though it was my normal testing amount. So I'm going to let it rest a couple of weeks and slather and see how it goes because this had promise.

I was frimped Urd and put some on without checking notes. If I had, I might not even have skin tested. Grape is usually Dimetapp on me, and nag champa can turn my stomach. It wasn't as bad as all that -- in fact, the blend that it reminded me of was Dia de los Muertos, and sure enough they both have cereus. But despite the presence of both black and red patchouli, the patch is drowned out by the fruit, cereus and nag champa -- my least favorite incense note. Not my cup of tea.

Sri Lanka has the feeling of fresh woods on me. Usually sandalwood smells like it was harvested years ago and has been well cured until it is bone dry, but Sri Lanka smells like walking through a sandalwood and cedar clearcut just after the incense-burning lumberjacks have departed, stomping on patchouli bushes as they did so. Green woods and warm, dry incense, really lovely, and I got a little more throw from this than my skin chemistry usually allows.

Shroud struck me as a classic GC kind of scent. It reminded me of Rakshasa -- I think there may be some white roses in those white flowers. Or like The Ghost with sandalwood. It's very pretty and quite evocative of a spectral mood but too floral for my tastes. No throw (which is normal with my skin chemistry) and wear length a little under average.

Amicitia goes on almost buttery on me -- I think this is the caramelized honey and fig. The carnation (my fave floral note) is very present with the warm dry outdoorsy notes wafting in the background. Over the first hour of wear the balance shifts and the sage and chaparral become the dominant notes, with the cedar, honey and fig taking the supporting roles. It doesn't morph much after that, and while the throw is low (which is usual for my skin), it lasts a good long time. Amicitia is dry, warm, and comforting, and while it is in no way girlish, I think it would be a lovely blend for introducing a young person to scent.

I enjoyed But Men Loved Darkness enough to swap for a partial, but apparently never reviewed it. Wearing it today, I was trying to figure out what was in it. I would have guessed opoponax (dark syrupy resin - I guess that's how I'm reading the cistus labdanum), myrrh, blackened vanilla, and other stuff. I would not have identified patchouli or ginger. Nor did I come up with saffron, sage or bitter clove, though now that I know they're there I can kind of make them out - there's a dry earthiness that tempers the dark sweetness. And I have no idea what pimento berry might smell like. Despite the presence of ginger and clove, this is not a pumpkin pie spice kind of blend on me, nor foody in the least. It's a dark sweet resin kind of blend, which is one of my favorite kinds. Obviously my bottle is well-aged, which may mean the spices have become exquisitely subtle. I get no throw from this (which is typical for my skin chemistry) but good wear length. It's really beautiful, unisex, the kind of dark sweet blend I love in cold weather, and I feel beautiful wearing it.

First off, the dead leaves have been glorious this year! But Dead Leaves and Scotch did not start out promising on me. The leaves plus scotch was musty and oddly a little sour when wet. But I waited it out and an hour later it had sweetened and softened into something lovely. It isn’t “just stumbled out of the bar” on me, and it wears close to the skin, so this is work appropriate. My husband describes this one as sweet and gentle and likes it a lot, which given his usual indifference is high praise.