Lucchesa

I was lucky enough to receive a decant of Mr. Jacquel in a recent circular swap and I love it!  It smells very classic BPAL to me, which means it's heavy on the amber with other stuff I can't quite recognize.  The patchouli and hyssop are quite understated on me; it's really about the amber and whatever the embalming spices might be. 

Lilac is one of the only florals I enjoy, and testing blind I got lots and lots of lilac.  No leather or frankincense; instead, this becomes something more like a creamy poofy pink lilac, with lace-like vanilla; this part lasted for ages, even overnight.  Lovely!

Schrodinger's Checkmark is that gorgeous black patch the lab is so good at sweetened by floofy vanilla marshmallow.  I'm not able to individuate the benzoin.  The throw is low on me, but the wear length is good, going on seven hours at the moment.  This is the sweeter, foodier cousin of You May House Their Bodies -- I think it's the same patchouli.  And I love them both dearly. 

I tested this blind. Berry candy. Sweet tarts. Bright red fruit. Not my kind of scent at all — I couldn’t imagine why I’d ordered the decant. Later I checked the notes. Oh. Some of my favorites. Tobacco, carnation, labdanum. And it was the raspberry oud that had me intrigued. But on my skin? Raspberry single note. Sigh. 

I love White Rider and was realty looking forward to the leather and sandalwood cutting the sweetness of Snow White. But at first, I got about 95% Snow White. My disappointment did not last long though. Over the wear length, which was about four hours on me, which is not bad for my skin, the balance gradually shifted towards the more masculine elements of White Rider. There is a perfect yin yang moment somewhere in the middle where the sweet vanilla snow and the leather and sandalwood are utterly in balance, but there are a lot of wonderful points before and after that as well. Late dry down is a faintly vanilla frosted White Rider. I love this one!

I should have ordered more of this. I don’t think I need a whole bottle, but more than a decant would be nice. My father was a middle school woodshop teacher, so these kinds of scents are very nostalgic for me. It starts off newly planed bird’s eye maple and machine oil — this is Robotic Scarab’s wooden cousin. The rust and smoke notes are very gentle on me. It dries down into mainly wood and sap. I love this!

Carved Wooden Cultist Lair turns into single note incense on my skin. I wish I got starbrow’s beeswax. Or z_z’s woodsy dark musk.  It’s the exact same incense as in certain other BPALs my brain is refusing to name. It’s nice, especially about an hour in, but my skin has obliterated its complexities. 

Spumoni is my 2022 foodie. I ate lots of spumoni as a child. Chocolate, cherry, pistachio. In a perfume.  Perfect. 

When Burn Pile first hit my skin, it was so blackly smoky that I thought I would reserve it for ritual use. It would have been perfect for the shredded text messages my best friend and I sent up in flames after the guy I who’d been leading her on for weeks showed his true colors. But an hour or so after application, it has dried down into something quite lovely, with the across edges smoothed away. Dark smoky resin, very atmospheric. Would pair well with smudged black eyeliner. 

The cranberry note here surprised me. I was expecting Ocean Spray juice or Craisins— in other words, highly sweetened, almost candied cranberry. Which is why I only ordered one cranberry bog decant. Like actual cranberries, however, CHS&PR is not at all sweet. The cranberry is earthy and tart and dominates the opening. After a while I get the sandalwood too, also not appreciably sweetened by the honey. Like a sprinkling of honey dust. Very little patch on me at this point, but I’ll keep this decant because the cranberry-sandalwood combination is like nothing else I own and is really appealing. 

I wore This Is the Day on my way to meet an old friend this morning.  It is absolutely lovely.  Without looking at the notes, I thought there must be labdanum in here, as there's something of its slightly spicy sweetness, but that's probably the actual (but not overwhelming) spices from the figgy pudding.  Lots of fig and vanilla, non-gnarly patchouli, and no appreciable smoke or vetiver on me.  I only got about four hours wear length from it, but it's worth reapplying. 

I was lucky enough to receive a decant of this in a circular swap, and I believe it may be a very well-aged decant.  On me, it's mostly frankincense, with myrrh and labdanum playing backup resins.  This is a treat for frankincense lovers.  I don't get any leather and only a faint trace of wood.  Perhaps the leather is more apparent when it's fresh.  I'm delighted to have tried it, but I think my decant will suffice. 

Have I never reviewed Goblin?  It's the closest the GC comes to a single-note patchouli.  Gnarly?  Maybe.  Rich and beautiful, yes, and sweetened and softened slightly by the benzoin and the black coconut, which reads more like coconut husk on me.  A joy for patch lovers. 

I'm a big fan of Event Horizon when I want to go dark and femme:  Black opium, labdanum, opoponax, black orchid, and benzoin. Imps (sample vials) are the way to go when you're first figuring out what you like.  Some of the things I thought I would like (jasmine) were terrible on me while other things I thought I hated (patchouli) are now huge favorites.  I have extra decants of Event Horizon and Bastet if you'd like me to send them your direction.  PM me!

Haunt is not quite what I was hoping for. I wanted the dead leaves to temper the sweetness of the Snake Oil, but instead I get them sequentially: first DL, then SO. Instead of Dorian, I get what smells on my skin like Snake Oil with a dab of TKO. No smoke at all. I think I was wanting something more like the love child of SO and DL on Fire. I’ll have to try that!

Raven Moon 2022 is pretty similar to how I remember the 2012 version smelling. Lots of myth and black musk, with a soft vanillaed patch in the background and the spices barely discernible. It’s nice but not a standout on me. 

Lovely! Warm and snuggly, with good wear length. I’m getting lots of tonka and oak and a soft sandalwood all sweetened by a little beeswax. No discernible vetiver, which is a shame, but it’s still lovely. 

Leather, leather, leather.  I want there to be beeswax.  And balsam and tobacco and smoked vanilla, all among my favorite notes.  Nope.  Just leather.  Nice leather, but leather.  I'll hang onto this decant and see if any of the secondary notes develop with time.

Received as a frimp in a decant circle (thank you, @VetchVesper!) a couple years ago.  I quite like this one!  A sprightly citrus with evergreen and ozone.  Not my usual thing but effervescent and mood lifting. 

I purchased The Orgy buy one, get one free with a backup of a bottle I really wanted.  This was the free one.  I wanted to try it because I love Hogarth and it's one of my favorite of his images, but I was worried about the rose and even more about the lead.  And sure enough, the opening is rough.  It's pretty much bandaids and alcohol. A wound, in other words.  Sadly, it doesn't get a whole lot better on me.  The alcohol dissipates, but instead of leather and port I get sweet rosy bandaids.  I'll have to pass this one on. 

I’ve never reviewed Haunted? It’s one of my favorites. So simple, so evocative. Bright amber and dusky musk, with that lemony tinge black musk often has. Like many amber-based scents, it feels old fashioned to me (in a good way) and lasts well. 

I only got a decant of The Haunted Mill when it came out because I am avoiding oud, but it’s very much in the background here, not problematic at all. The other notes are all favorites, and it’s a lovely blend, kind of a cross between a weenie and a Yule. The patchouli also stays in the background, and it’s primarily soft leather and opium tar on me, with woody base notes. Much more comforting than forbidding!

Voodoo Lily starts out with that citrus that threatens to go all lemon pledge on me. It pulls back from full cleanser mode though the citrus remains prominent, backed with a heady lily and a hint of spice.  Fruity lily is not for me. 

I’m all about the licorice blends, so I was puzzled to find I’d only bought an Ajevie slink of this one until I read the notes. Licorice oud sounded an awful lot like black oud, and black oud is not my friend. My caution was misplaced, though. There is nothing fecal here. It’s black salt water taffy with an earthiness provided by the oud and patchouli, and the oud gives it some early throw as well.  My only disappointment here is that it is not particularly long lasting on me, but it’s pure delight while it lasts. 

Die Pest is very much a cologne on me as well, which I didn’t expect but am not upset by, as I prefer unisex scents and leaning masculine is fine for me. It’s difficult for me to pick out individual notes like myrrh or fig here. Kind of a birch tar cologne with hints of patchouli and peppercorn, slightly softened by the vanilla. If you’re looking for something femme or in the sweet patchouli family, this is not your animal.