Lucchesa

I brought a tester of L'Autunno while traveling recently, and my travel companion said, "That one smells like food." (It was wet at the time.) Well, it does and it doesn't. It smells like baked apples and earthy fig and woodsmoke. Toasted almond made an appearance, a favorite smell of mine, and spicy carnation, and dark woods that I couldn't have identified as specifically as hawthorn or patchouli, and sweet myrrh. Rich, earthy, complex, and evocatively autumnal. Super lovely on me. Sigh.

Florals, dragon's blood and ginger? Whatever it is, it's not me. It would be really pretty on the right person, but I don't gravitate towards blends that are primarily floral.

The Apothecary is absolutely gorgeous on me, green and fresh with the ginger and tea combining for an almost citrusy feel... and my skin eats it up in about 20 minutes. So I redouble the application and, yep. Same thing. This often happens to me with tea notes, and it's freaking tragic. So much beauty, obliterated by my stupid skin chemistry.

After being on my wishlist for sometime, Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener was given to me not once but twice in the last week! So I tried it this morning. In the imp.... Aack, opening the imp, it sprayed in my eye! Do not get it (or any BPAL) in your eye! Aack! Wet on skin, this is some strong sassafras, and it's all I can smell at first. It dries down into warm vanilla root beer. I don't smell any butter (warmth?) or incense, and the oak leaf contributes to an herbal vibe. It is a skin scent on me (which is normal for my skin), average wear given how strong it came on at first. SSS is actually really nice; I'm just not sure there are that many occasions when I want to smell like root beer. I can see wearing this to a carnival or arcade. It reads summer-fall to me, maybe because of the carnival associations, but is comforting enough to stand up to winter. I think I'll keep one imp and swap the other.

This shouldn't have been this good on me. White musk is iffy, pear can go fake on my skin. But wrap them together with sweet, creamy rice milk and this is a dream! (of a phallus palanquin...) A light, creamy, springtime scent with surprising staying power. Wet it's pear and rice milk, and the musk comes in on drydown to ground them, but frankly I had forgotten it was white musk. I was thinking something along the lines of golden musk. I wore this to yoga today, thinking (like most Shungas on me) that it would have no throw and was pleasantly surprised that I could smell it wafting around as I moved (I managed to get my wrists near my face more than was actually called for by the instructor ). This is a delight, and it's making me that much more eager for this year's Shungas to arrive!

Saint Foutin de Varailles worried me at first. It was all slightly sour dry red wine and dusty rose. But within a few minutes, the frank emerges and behind it, the beeswax, and the combination is ultimately lovely. This isn't fruity wine or beeswax that's dripping with honey; this scent is not sweet on me at all. It's a dry frank, a dry wine, dry rose petals, beeswax that hasn't seen the hive in many years. It's not, in fact, my usual sort of thing at all, and yet I like it a great deal. It's a grown-up scent, incredibly evocative, a little mysterious. And while I rarely get throw with any oil, I kept getting wafts of warm resiny, winy rose petal. My friend is singing in a concert of modern choral music at St. James Cathedral in a couple of weeks; I think Saint Foutin would be perfect.

I was thrilled to acquire Dwarven Ale purely for the sake of completion: it was the only RPG scent I didn't have an imp of. I had no idea I would end up enjoying it as much as I am. I mean, fermented mushrooms, really? But this is Jack stumbling out of a tavern, roaring drunk, singing dirty lyrics at the top of his lungs. It does go through a weird fermented stage wet on my skin, but wait it out, it improves exponentially. If you like pumpkin, this is a blast. There is cinnamon in this, but I didn't react to it. My skin reactions have been idiosyncratic: I reacted to Inferno, like everyone else, to Baron Samedi, Alice's Evidence, and possibly, tragically, Troll, but can wear Chimera, Sin, and many other cinnamon or cassia blends without trouble. I would recommend wearing this to any autumnal event where you're planning to get joyfully plastered. Or, conversely, to any autumnal event where alcohol, though an impossibility, would be really useful: that board meeting, meeting a new flame's parents, or helping kindergartners into their costumes for the school Halloween party (my kids are teenagers now; clearly I was scarred by this). If you're thinking, really, I have to do this stone cold sober?, Dwarven Ale will help.

In the imp, Fortuna Populi Romani reminded me strongly of Golden Priapus -- vanilla and juniper. GP is one of my favorite GC blends, so this was a good sign. But FPR is actually quite different from GP, more going on, equally lovely. There's the faint smokiness, the leather, the ambrette seed, which is fast becoming a favorite note of mine, and the patchouli. I don't actually smell any saffron, which is fine, it can be problematic on me. The juniper note so prominent ITI fades on drydown, and it all combines into a woody-vanilla comfort scent, perfectly unisex, just lovely on me. My middle-aged skin makes it go away much too fast for my liking. Slather and reapply!! Repeat!! Aging may help with the staying power, too.

This goes through a very awkward stage on my skin before settling into something really worthy. Wet, it's head shop patch and stinky oudh, a bit of vetiver, and pomegranate rind, which is not the bright juicy seeds but something bitter and odd. I was getting very little sweetness despite the last three listed notes. I was ready to write it off as a total fail. Very low throw on me (which is normal for my skin). Half an hour later, the notes have stopped duking it out and decided to cooperate, and it's a thing of beauty. The patch has settled down, and the oudh just adds that edge of maturity, and the booze and tonka and honey are grounding it all with some sweetness, and the pomegranate rind? No idea. But if it's still there, the ugly duckling has become a swan. I'm not sure I need a bottle -- after all, there are many many scents that I love to death from start to finish. But if it opens oddly on you, wait it out before scrubbing it off, because it might just morph into stunning.

I could echo VioletChaos's review almost word for word. This is a citrus blend, not a honey one; the honey is dry and light, not thick and heady. I got that hint of sharp green sap and more than a drop of king mandarin -- also one of my favorite notes. The vanilla was very quiet. A beautiful daytime blend of orange blossom, sweet-tart mandarin and pale honey, so nice. My skin tends to eat up citrus blends inordinately quickly, so unfortunately, unlike Soupy Twist, I don't get any throw from Fortuna Balnearis, and it doesn't last very long on me. But it is lovely enough to be worth slathering and reapplying.

Fortuna Dubia is not morphing much on me at all besides the initial herby sharpness mellowing down and blending, so thank you, skin chemistry! This is a sunlit springtime meadow, and I love the idea of hope preserved at the heart of this scent. So while it would be perfectly appropriate to wear to all your May garden parties (and anywhere, really, since I don't get any throw but then again that's usual for me), it would also be a lovely fragrance to pull out in the dead of winter or frosty heart of spring if you live somewhere like the Pacific NW and want to remind yourself that spring is, indeed, on its way and will be beautiful.

I'd been curious about this scent for a while, and this weekend the 2017 version was literally handed to me as a gift by an incredibly generous forumite. I am enjoying it a ton. First of all, I do NOT get banana from this. Banana would have been a non-starter. I definitely get sugar, and it seems to vary from a caramelly, slightly burnt brown sugar to a very clean, innocent powdered sugar. Weird, the way Beth can create the perception of something like powdered sugar that I think of as being almost without smell, I'm not sure what the candied fruits are. Can you candy red currants? Because on me the fruit notes wafting in and out of the sugar are bright and tart, like red currant. It's a lovely effect, and subtle, and as LizziesLuck mentions, you could wear it absolutely anywhere: doctor's office, board meeting, chaperoning a 3rd grade field trip. It's more of a spring/summer scent in my estimation, but it could certainly be worn year round, especially if you don't live in a climate where you require your winter scents to create an illusion of warmth.

I loved my decant of this so much I was immediately in search of a bottle, which I've finally obtained - 2015 version. I'm surprised I didn't review it yet. I am a sucker for warm scents with a lantern or candlelight groove, and Red Lantern is no exception. It's a little sweeter than I remember, the caramel taking center stage along with the chewy sweet tobacco. Ooh, and the coconut, and the red currant, a little tart and juicy, and it is all so beautiful and delicious and swoonworthy. It really transports you to the silk cushions of a lantern-lit opium den. Sexy as hell and yet, once it dries down, it's not inappropriate for work because it's really pretty, even as it makes you feel like a wanton vamp. Love.

This is a much more patchouli-forward scent than I usually favor. Four of the seven fortuna decants I ordered feature patchouli, so I guess I was feeling indulgent towards patch that day. But I love tobacco and sandalwood, and I had never tried a BPAL with licorice root, which I love in tea and was very curious to try in scent. A fairly dry patch, woodier than the head shop variety, dominates on my skin. I'm having a hard time identifying the sandalwood and I think my chemistry is just melding it with the patch. The tobacco is floating in the background, and the licorice root wants to emerge around the edges of the patch/sandalwood, but it's having a hard time asserting itself. I wish the licorice root and tobacco were a little stronger; it feels like my skin is damping them down and encouraging the patchouli. ETA: I get a little more throw from this an hour or two in than is usual with me. If you love patchouli and sweet, chewy tobacco, Fortuna Annonaria has your name on it!

Oh, wow, St. Clare is really, really good on me. Wet, there's tobacco and tonka, vanilla and rum, nothing sharp, everything gorgeously mellow. It's difficult for me to pick the notes apart once they've dried down into a smoky sweetness. I am not getting any noticeable oudh with this, just a lot of golden-brown warm comfort vibes. Lovely, and I'm so happy I had the chance to try it!

Wet, this is a lot of sweet vanilla snow, and I don't get pine or mint at all, fortunately. I think Beth somehow interpreted "frosted" as both snowy and sugary frosting, which is so lovely. The sandalwood starts to emerge on drydown but is never strong on me. Since the frosty vanilla was reminding me of Frostbitten Dorian, I put that on my other wrist. On me A Lady is a little higher and brighter than Frostbitten Dorian. As much as I like A Lady Tall and White, it checks a lot of the same boxes for me as FD (which, unusually, lasts really well on me), so I don't need to go in search of a bottle. But I'm so happy to have had the chance to test it!

I finally got a chance to try Nymphes de Pave! While I can smell the bourbon note wet, it's not boozy on my skin at all. Instead, I get dried figs poached in vanilla honey and a very mellow rose. It's very pretty and I agree with LizziesLuck, it would be lovely in spring. I have the nagging feeling that it reminds me of something else in my stash, so I need to retry all my honey fig scents to see if there's something more easily obtainable that smells similar on me.

Ysabel is gorgeous! Carnation is my favorite floral; I’m not a rose hater, but it can go sour on me, especially in combination with incense. On me, the velvety red rose takes a backseat to the carnation and clove. The musk and cedar and incense all combine into spicy sexy incensey goodness. I can’t really perceive any pomegranate unless it’s just a hint of sweetness. But the dominant note on my skin is spicy carnation, quite like Spanish red carnation SN, and the backdrop is stunning. So thrilled I got a chance to try this!

I finally got to try this (thank you!!!) and it is absolutely as beautiful as I expected. I don’t think I have any other scent where where rich smoky rosy incense combines with neroli and my beloved bergamot for a citrusy tarot-reading vibe. Tragically, my middle-aged skin just eats this beauty up, though. I want to walk around in clouds of this...

How can one improve upon Haunted? The elegance, the beautiful simplicity. Hmm, maybe by wrapping it in chocolate? Dark chocolate, of course, not too sweet. And it works. It adds a rich cocoa layer to the perfection of Haunted. It doesn't read as foodie, but it's not a dry cacao either, just another layer of richness with the amber and musk. Really lovely. It didn't last long, but I didn't slather or reapply.

This imp must be roughly three years old now, and it has aged beautifully. Jasmine can be a really problematic note for me, but jasmine tea is usually OK, and I love dark ambers and bourbon vanilla. And in fact the jasmine tea is strong while wet, but it takes a back seat as it dries down to the rich amber and vanilla bourbon. It is kind of boozy on me -- I don't think I'd wear it to work -- but I don't want to feel this sultry at work anyway. Rich and lush and wanton, with a little throw. Lovely.

Testing blind what must be a pretty old imp by now, the only note I can make out is rose. That doesn't surprise me when I look at the list of components; when there's this much going on, I usually have trouble picking out notes. What's surprising is that the florals stomp all over the red musk instead of the other way around; I usually amp red musk to heaven, and I can barely tell it's there. The frank is imperceptible; the amber and blood orange, once I know they're there, are a warm glow. But ultimately this is too floral for me to enjoy wearing.

Stillness wet is predominantly lavender, like nearly every lavender blend on my skin. But it also highlights pine, and as it dries down that pine edges out the lavender as the dominant component. My skin usually devours lavender, but it lasts longer than usual in Stillness, backed up by the chamomile. I'm not getting a lot of patchouli here (which is fine), and I have no idea what palmarosa smells like. All in all a sort of woodsy herb garden, maybe like the lavender gardens on the Olympic Peninsula, and a marvelous scent experience. I'm so pleased I got to try these imps -- thank you, Lisa!!!

Silence is all lavender on me at the beginning, but lavender never lasts long on my skin. It took 10 minutes or so for me to start to perceive the gardenia and cedar, but on the drydown this is a lovely gardenia/cedar blend with just a hint of the dry, herbal sort of lavender. The cedar is gentle, not pencil-shaving-like, and beautiful. Gardenia is always a good note on me, and its creamy sweetness plays well with the foresty cedar. I wish my skin didn't eat up lavender immediately, though...

I recently retested an imp of this after I was frimped it and couldn't remember why I had rejected it earlier. Looking back, my notes say only "Hello, red musk" and I'm wondering what I accidentally mixed up with La Petite Mort, because there's certainly no red musk here (which tends to take over completely on my skin). Instead, this is warm, creamy, insinuating. I'd call it a light floral with warmth and depth. It has a gentle, sweet myrrh, not a high church myrrh, and the ylang ylang is not screechy. Although it may be in the same family as O and Snake Oil, it is by no means a duplicate of either of those scents, so if you are looking for that vibe but O and Snake Oil don't work on your skin, this would be an excellent GC to try.