Lucchesa

On 12/5/2023 at 12:08 PM, twilighteyes said:

 

I certainly won't!   I have separate cards.  But should I send them at the same time?

I’m sending one two days earlier. 

1 hour ago, Thuy said:

don't forget that we have a December birthday! There may be some overlap here with the winter card swap!

Don’t anyone dare send a single card with greetings for both birthday and holidays! I hear that’s the major pet peeve of people with late December birthdays!!!

On 11/24/2023 at 12:29 PM, llamadolly said:

I loved the gnome swap and it could be very fun to have it rotate around the year seasonally

I concur!

Last day to sign up for the holiday card swap!

Dead Leaves and Horchata is, a year later, still disappointing to me.  I get little dead leaves from it, and not a clear sense of horchata either.  Instead I get lemony cinnamon sugar graham crackers.  Not bad, but not what I was hoping for either.  Pretty good wear length, though. 

There's a booze imp pack -- ones that haven't been mentioned yet are Absinthe, Elegba, Grog, and Juke Joint.  Bard has bay rum -- seems like some of the piratey scents do too.  Yep!  Jolly Roger, Port-au-Prince and Mary Read, all with rum of some kind.  Miskatonic University for Irish Coffee -- also Irish Coffee Buttercream and Spiced Rum Buttercream Coffee, both ACLU activism scents that are still available.  Good holiday scents!  And Blood Kiss has a heady cherry wine note. 

On 11/1/2023 at 4:24 PM, doomsday_disco said:

Is anyone going to host the winter holiday card swap this year? 👀 

I just posted it, awaiting moderator approval.

And I just sent in my ?aire for Tacky Ornaments!  I'm bummed that I missed Krampus but it just wasn't feasible this year. 

Just got back Thursday night and am still finding my way...  However, card is written, stamped and addressed and will be either in today's or if it doesn't stop raining in tomorrow's mail.  Happy belated birthday, @skyelyric!!!

4 hours ago, twilighteyes said:

 

Naughty!  Now I want postcards from Italy as a punishment for you!       

Noted!

I want MolyH's imp! Or skin chemistry!  On me, Death on a Pale Horse is high-pitched white musk, high-pitched florals, and sharp citrus.  I don't get mint, which is fine, but i also don't get patchouli, which is not.  Eventually, a couple of hours in, the florals lose their potency, and I am able to make out the sandalwood and the vetiver, which is the dominant note in late drydown.  And this phase is not at all bad on me.  But these are definitely not my notes. 

Ugh, I am late!!!  This week is the worst!  Happy happy birthday, @twilighteyes, and I solemnly promise your card will be in the mail tomorrow.

This is rather nice but is definitely on the pale and limpid side.  I really just get tea and amber and maple leaves.  I would really love for some vetiver and loam to dirty it up.  I like the notes that do appear -- I would definitely buy at least a decant of Dead Leaves with Black Tea, Amber, and Maple. But Autumn Sun I is not quite all the description promises. 

Gooped Familiar on me is black musk, cedar and hay with some warm amber giving it a perfumey vibe.  After a few hours it's sweeter and fuzzy around the edges with some spices to it, though I never (sadly) get my beloved carnation note emerging.  But it is still a winner on me, warm and comfy like a favorite feline and perfect for early fall. 

U Strip is almost entirely sweet toasted coconut on me.  I was hoping for the darkness of some vetiver, but it's practically imperceptible.  Instead, this is light and almost girlish.  Low throw (normal on my middle-aged skin) and about three hours of wear length. 

The Gatekeeper is dry, dusty sandalwood and creaky leather. There’s a hint of old paper and some briefly sharp papyrus, but like nearly every library adjacent scent, it’s quite fleeting on my skin. 

I neglected to review this decant last year and haven't worn it since, but I really do like it.  It's a warm, dry scent -- not a sweet sticky tobacco but a dry one, ditto for the patch and the bay.  In fact this blend has very little sweetness on me at all, which is a welcome change from some of the foodies and other scents where the sweet notes can take over.  It's clean but not in an aquatic way, more like a well-groomed man with excellent bone structure sort of way.  Confident, a little rugged.  Super nice. 

I am surprised I didn't reviewed Back in the Recording Studio last year.  It was the first Lilith I tried and set a high bar for the rest.  Cool lavender in the opening with what must be driftwood but definitely felt more evergreen to me (this does not tend aquatic on me, thankfully), but they give way to the warmer notes of tonka and amber and honey (dry not sticky).  I never get much patchouli, unfortunately, and it's not obviously a beeswax scent on me, but it all coalesces into something absolutely lovely and long-lasting. 

Dead Leaves, Boot Leather, and Sweet Grass didn't work for me last fall.  Now it's gorgeous!  I'm so glad I held onto the slonk.  Soft brown leather dominates throughout, but the dead leaves note has finally come into its own.  It is a wet green dead leaves note as described by Little Bird and others, but it doesn't become aquatic; it may be the sweet grass contributing the green feeling.  Comfortable, outdoorsy, totally unisex, totally a pleasure. 

Bubblegummy fruit on me with tropical florals.  Nice but not my jam.

There’s a lot going on here, and all of it good. Meaty fig and barley cake, spices, incense, roots and fungi and a pungent burst of evergreen… and then poof. It vanishes. I reapplied and same result. My skin vanquishes it. Very sad. 

Foreboding Buffalo starts out with a lot of chocolate on me — and like @dancingchair, I thought immediately of Muddy Armadillo. But it goes to a very different place. The patchouli is present, the vetiver is favor, and the reddish brown musk takes over. So a sexy earthy musk grounded in cacao. Nice!

On 8/22/2023 at 7:34 PM, Vanesa said:

Didn't think you were   Just thinking about the social un-distancing swap during early covid, where check ins were the point.  It was lovely!  Also a big undertaking to keep up with, though.

I’m so happy that the social un-distancing swap is being remembered fondly. I’d almost forgotten it. I remember @yowahoshihime’s fabulous baby fox videos. I haven’t seen her post recently — hope you’re doing ok, @yowahoshihime! And it’s long past time to check in with my lovely partner! 

2 hours ago, ziggystardust13 said:

possibly! I haven't participated in this swap in the past but have in several others. Can you elaborate on what exactly it is? thx!

13 Nights is also my favorite swap, and I can’t participate this year because I’ll be abroad all October. It involves sending 13 wrapped gifts in early October and opening and posting about one each day from October 21-November 2. Last year’s info: 

and if you’re curious about the kind of things people sent:

I was really hoping for more beeswax, but I can barely smell it at all.  Instead, this is a dusty stone and frankincense scent with soft brown leather and maybe some dusty wood but not specifically oak. It reminds me a little of Adam but with a softer leather.  And then it is subject to the curse of all library-adjacent scents on me and disappears almost entirely within an hour or so. 

Wet, Chocolate Babka is a whole lot of chocolate -covered marzipan (one of my favorite sweets!). As it dries down, a distinctive rye note emerges, and eventually the almond fades so it's a chocolatey rye.  This has pretty good throw (rare on me) for the first couple hours at least.  Really nice and now I want to taste chocolate babka!