Lucchesa

If you're looking for a unisex amber blend, L'Idole might fit the bill nicely. On me L'Idole is primarily an amber and juniper scent, with a little sage thrown in. I don't get much leather, just a whisper of cardamom, and I nearly never perceive the Lab's pepper note. This is more forest than gin joint, and it dries down into a very soft, cuddly scent, warm amber balancing cool juniper . Very nice!

2017 Illustrated Woman -- I can't believe I haven't reviewed this. I put it on today because I'm going to be hiking later, and I was puzzled that I couldn't smell much at first, because this is one of my favorites. It just comes alive on my skin, though. Two hours later, it's freaking gorgeous. Pine and honey and vanilla, a little musky, with the tobacco and patch very subdued. If you like Elf (which I also adore), this may be excellent on you as well. Illustrated Woman is that little black dress you can wear to work under a blazer and then put on the strappy stillettos and wear out for cocktails with a new flame. It's wholesome yet sexy, and it's a blend I just feel good in.

I'm not sure what year this is, but it's an Ajevie decant, so I'm guessing 2016. Terebinth is a big pine note, and wet it comes on really strong in association with the pitch. The clove starts to assert itself in drydown, and the pine softens considerably, as it always does on me, and then it's a lovely dark forest scent with some clove, which adds an almost fairy tale quality to the scent. An absolutely lovely outdoorsy unisex blend, though the wear length is only a couple of hours on me.

The Drunk Astronomers was a longshot for me. Red musk stomps all over everything on my skin, but I've had good luck with blood musk. Ditto jasmine, but I was hoping jasmine tea might be better behaved. Amber is almost always good. Meanly, the two problematic notes gang up on me. And as with Juliamon, the problem is the opening. It's a very nice jasmine, not an indolic one, but it combines with the blood musk to create a powerfully cloying effect on me (I agree with Little Bird that an unlisted jot of dragon's blood resin may be at fault here). It goes beautifully with the story, actually, but it scares me, and of course it has killer throw. 20-30 minutes later it has all settled down into a jasmine sweetened by amber with musky undertones. I don't get much tea, but tea notes are often faint or fugitive on me. In this phase I can appreciate its beauty, though it is still far too jasmine-dominated for my taste.

Harlequin and Columbine was not on my radar at all and was frimped to me by someone who was clearly reading my notes and wishlist carefully. It is just lovely on me. I tried it blind and the blend it reminded me of most was Fate's Jaster from the recent Fool series. Both of them have redcurrant and lemon peel, and there's certainly some vanilla in the fool's buttercream. And both of these scents are very smile-inducing to me. Pomegranate is not a reliable note on me, but here it either fades fast or just gets subsumed in the redcurrant. I get tart red fruit with bright sugary lemon and vanilla. The woodsy notes are there, but definitely in the background. I wasn't able to pick out any mandarin. This is upbeat and lovely, and the woods and sage, though they are not prominent on me at all, make it perhaps a more interesting scent than Fate's Jester (not necessarily better, but deeper, less simple and sunny). Definitely a keeper!

Hagsgate went on sharp and a little sour, so I didn't have high hopes for it. But ten minutes later I was walking the dog and sniffed my wrist and wow. It had blossomed into something absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't remember what all was in it, and now that I look at the notes, I'm not surprised. Cucumber definitely, but I would never have pegged eggplant or artichoke. But garden greenery mixed with the lovely BPAL soil note. I never got vetiver at all, so if that's your sticking point, I think you're safe here. The patchouli seems to blend with the soil as a supporting player. I swapped for this because I was intrigued by it, but it turns out to be a surprise hit for me.

This is mainly a leather blend on me with sandalwood backing it up. Champaca sometimes amps to the point where it's nauseous on me, but it's just sort of a light incense here, very much subdued. And sadly I don't get any coconut at all. It's actually very nice to have a leather blend this light and pretty; it is perfectly unisex and would be great on anyone but might be easier to wear for women who are less comfortable with the masculine blends. Prosperous Flowers is my number one shunga leather love, but this one is lovely too, and I will enjoy my decant.

VetchVesper thought I would like Comparison of Celebrated Beauties, and she was right. Almond blossom is quickly becoming one of my favorite florals, and it seems to last better than just the almond note on me. Wet, I get lovely vanilla-almond-cream florals. I'm not that familiar with the mimosa note -- it seems light and pretty. Comparison doesn't morph a lot on me, and it sticks around a really decent amount of time -- still present, might start think about reapplying soon, at about 4 hours, when most shungas are happy memories on me. And it held up beautifully through yoga class. Love!

Citrusy tropical flowers. I get the comparisons to Shanghai and Embalming Fluid, but whereas the latter went cleaning fluid on me (which is what I predicted for Ehecatl when I smelled it in the imp) and the formed lasted about 38 seconds, Ehecatl has some staying power, and the lime and matcha keep it out of Lemon Pledge territory. The musk is a little sharp, in keeping with this bright summery scent.

Testing blind, I got rose, definitely rose, a lot of rose, and maybe some violet, which I think now may have been the orris, and Other Florals. I couldn't tell what the Other Florals were -- I would not have identified ylang ylang, which is often a bad actor on my skin, nor sweet pea, which is usually good. I was pretty sure there was something else in there, but it didn't scream myrrh to me. Erato definitely becomes its own thing, in which it's not easy to pick out the individual components. It has decent wear length, too. Rose is not my best note, so I'll be passing on this imp, but I'm delighted I got to try it.

Creamy, sweet, fruity-floral dragon's blood resin. If you are not a lover of dragon's blood, Dragon's Bone® is not the scent that is going to make you change your mind. It seems more floral than Dragon's Milk, which to my tastes is not an improvement, so despite the wonderful name, I'll be passing this along to someone who may enjoy it more.

I really love Dragon's Milk, but I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that I don't really love dragon's blood resin on me. It has a cloying edge to it, fruity and floral both at once, and tends to take over on my skin. In Dragon's Bone, it takes about an hour for any woods to come through. I don't get the orris at all. The blondewood seems particularly nice, almost lemony, and I always love sandalwood, and it's lovely when those notes are in balance with the dragon's blood. But then the DBR reasserts itself and begins to dominate again. There are so many BPAL notes I unequivocally adore; dragon's blood I'm ambivalent about, and so I should pass its blends on to those who will love them more.

I love blackberries. Blackberry pie may just be my favorite food. I keep looking for the perfect BPAL blackberry. Maybe I have to reconcile myself to the fact that blackberry is never going to work on me. Aremata-Popoa sounds like a freaking delicious cocktail, but it's a disaster when it hits my skin. Artificial berry booze. Like Frankenberry cereal doused with rum. And no ouzo -- I really like anise, too! Drydown is more pleasant, but I can't get past the wet phase.

Voluptuous magnolias strewn over orchid, star jasmine, black amber and smoky rose. I got Black Dahlia early in my BPAL journey and have since realized I rarely enjoy wearing pure florals. And the amber here is definitely in the background. I do love the Lab's magnolia note, and star jasmine is far, far better on me than regular jasmine, and the idea of smoky rose appeals to me a lot. They blend pretty seamlessly; if the star jasmine in Vasilissa works on you, you'll probably have good luck with this one, too. It's not jasmine with all caps. Black Dahlia is a really lovely, heady floral blend; it's just not me.

Wow, I have the privilege of following two new forumites who are already writing stunning reviews. Welcome to the community, DryFrogPills and conflagrantThief! Black Forest was one of the earlier imps I purchased, and I realized today that A. I felt like wearing it and B. I'd never reviewed it, so here goes. Wet, it is sharp, realistic evergreens, broken boughs, trailing sap. I'm not going to pretend I can prise apart pine, juniper and cypress; it is just dark forest to me, and it stays this way for an hour or so. Gradually, the evergreens soften and the ambergris sweetens so that the drydown resembles a favorite GC of mine, Golden Priapus, but with black musk instead of vanilla, making Black Forest darker and dreamier. This is absolutely unisex: outdoorsy and vital at first, soft and cozy with longer wear. Lovely.

Hail Mary, full of jasmine. It's practically the last listed note, and it's night-blooming, which tends to be better behaved on me, but in Ave Maria Gratia Plena the jasmine squelches all the notes I was hoping to hear from: the rosewood and sandalwood, the lemon and sage. It dries down into a somewhat musky, powdery floral with good wear length. Not for me. A rosewood, lemon peel, sage and sandalwood blend would be lovely, though, if anybody's listening...

I continue to be impressed by how well the Pretty Deadly blends have worked for me. I was worried about the rose in Beauty taking over or going sour, but it did neither. Instead, it was a lovely backdrop for the tobacco and resins. Despite the presence of the vanilla, there is not a lot of sweetness in this blend. It's like the toughest possible rose, with outdoorsy woody notes (both frankincense and sandalwood in their drier incarnations often read as cedar to me) and tobacco. A capable, six-shooting woman, whose modern incarnation might be wearing a business suit or prospering in a male-dominated profession.

TKO is quite strong on me, with good throw (which I rarely get) for the first couple of hours. And it's beautiful -- a creamy sugared herbal lavender. The late drydown is a lovely vanilla, as with many of the sweet creamy floral blends. I don't need it for sleep, and I just don't wear lavender blends, so this is out of my wheelhouse, but I'm finding it oddly addicting. I may need to get a bottle of this one...

Somebody frimped me Tyrannophobia a while back and while I liked it enough to keep the imp, it didn't get into my notes at all. I decided to retest it when I saw a sales listing for it at a bargain price. It's a strong raspberry note and really a nice one -- it doesn't go fake, it doesn't go candy, it's tangy and realistic -- overlaying the tea and tar and metal notes, which are faint. Tea never lasts long on my skin. Fruity scents are not my jam, but this is such an enjoyable raspberry that I would think about buying that bottle if the tar and metal were stronger and this were a grittier, darker blend. It's just too upbeat for me, particularly given what this particular tyrant has done to our country. I'm really glad I got to try it, though. Thank you, frimper, whoever you are!

Highwayman on me is all about the vetiver. It's gorgeous if you like vetiver, with great throw. I was worried about the jasmine, but the night blooming kind seems better behaved on my skin, and it's not at all able to stand its ground against the vetiver. After half an hour or so, the vetiver softens and the leather and florals begin to emerge. (I get no cinnamon from this, nor do I miss it.) I get mainly gardenia, just hints of rose and jasmine, but they mysteriously twine in and out of the vetiver and leather. A dashing, dangerous outlaw with a gardenia in his buttonhole. I love this one!

The only shocking thing about Lurid is how much nicer it is than I was expecting. There are some problem notes here for me: white musk and ozone. And black currant can go overly fruity and sweet on me. But Lurid works surprisingly well as a light summery scent, fruity but not cloying. I'm not really getting much white musk; it's almost a sweet-tart candy, like what a black currant Jolly Rancher might taste like, with lavender and a little kick of ozone. This isn't a me kind of scent, but I'm surprised by how exceptionally pleasant it is.

I was so excited to try another marzipan scent that I didn't bother to think that mulled wine was unlikely to be a success on my skin. Wine tends to turn into sickly sweet grape on me, and on initial application, A Game Called Yes and No was all candy-sweet grapey fruit, no marzipan in sight. But it didn't last! Within minutes, the grapes had resolved into warmly spiced wine over a grounding of marzipan, and it has stayed true for a couple of hours now. The drydown brings it into the same scent family for me as my beloved Ooky. Festive, fun, and not ridiculously foodie, and it will pair magnificently with my Gluhwein hair gloss. Delightful!

Something in Giallo goes soapy on my skin. Reading the list of ingredients, I'm not able to identify the culprit, which is kind of frustrating. I was wary of the jasmine, though it is night-blooming, and the violet leaf; both are notes I tend to avoid, so they may be at fault. I love the inspiration for this, and black plum and opoponax ought to be a killer combination, but it's just not working with my skin chemistry. Sigh.

For the first two hours, Hunter is a clove scent on me. The beautiful clary sage, warm leather and amber are very much in the background while the clove has free rein on my wrist. After a couple of hours, the clove starts to fade away but so does everything else. I wish my skin allowed me a better balance of notes, because the notes are lovely. At any rate, Hunter has not replaced Coyote or the Lion in my affections.

Slay may be a bit too much for me. In the bottle I can smell the cacao -- all the notes, really, and it's so beautiful in the bottle -- but when it hits my skin it is all oudh and red musk. There are two notes that amp in such a way as to make me self-conscious about wearing perfume: yep, oudh and red musk. Blood musk is usually good on me, though, and I was hoping blood-red vegetal musk might behave itself. No such luck. But the oudh is a bigger problem for me here. It's that skanky oudh. And it blocks out everything but the red musk for the first half hour or so. By an hour or so in, I was able to appreciate the other notes, the patch and tobacco, a hint of amber and bittersweet cacao. But the oudh was still note 1, and the red musk note 2. When I compare Slay worn to Slay in the bottle, I just don't think my skin chemistry is doing this blend any favors. If I were to wear this, I would have to apply it at least 30 minutes before leaving the house. And I'm still not sure I have the chutzpah to carry it off. I'm going to let it cellar for a while and try again, because I suspect aging is going to improve this one a lot.