Lucchesa

Nimue the Blood Queen is a femme fatale. In the imp it's very fruity, but on my skin Nimue is elegant and velvety. Smoky incense and dark fruits, mainly plum, not too sweet. There must be some opium among the poisons, and starbrow's description of a siren in an opium den is dead on. I had no problems with the oudh; it's just a deepening note here. It doesn't last as long as I would like on my middle-aged skin, but it's worth reapplying.

The green lotus is a really interesting note, not as bubblegummy as regular lotus but still sweet and tropical. I'm getting more orris and less Egyptian musk than I was hoping for. A nice summery scent and a hard one to pin down -- not your usual floriental. Wear length is only so-so on me.

Honey Marzipan is exactly as advertised. Lots of honey, and in the opening lots of marzipan too. My skin tends to eat up almond notes while honey lasts and lasts on me, so I expected this to quickly devolve into just honey, but the marzipan sticks around although as a secondary note. Great wear length, and it makes me smile all day long.

I am a sucker for the beeswax scents, and I love evergreens too (though not usually juniper), so Discarded Sandal was a no-brainer. At first I got juniper and pine -- and maybe hinoki, is it a little astringent? -- overlaying the beeswax. But it didn't take long for the beeswax to warm up and take over this scent. I never made out the lily of the valley, which is fine, just the beeswax and the woods, like a meditation space beautifully cared for with beeswax-polished floors in a forest. And it lasted forever -- I can still smell the beeswax on my wrist 24 hours later.

I was interested in Famous Kabuki Actors because of the mix of the goat's milk and honey notes with the masculine woods, tobacco and vetiver. My skin didn't really allow me that experience. It started out all the former, in the vein of Harlequin Milk or Jupiter Nourished, and it stayed foodie for a long time. The darker notes didn't appear until late drydown, by which time the goat's milk was gone, so they just shared the honey. It's nice but more gourmand and less masculine than expected.

I don’t know what milk bread is, but there’s a NYTimes recipe with almost 1500 five star ratings, so I’m going to have to try it. But I enjoyed the Lilith Bread, and this is very much in that vein on me. It is more savory than sweet — neither the star anise nor the amaretto lasted long on me. But I got a lovely buttery yeast bread with a hint of almond and cardamom that lasted for hours. I think if I wore it in a public setting I would make people hungry.

I agree that this is an odd duck. I’m getting that tinge of cucumber that the other reviewers described, which makes this more of a green scent than the shadowy bookish blend the notes led me to suspect. The vetiver is the grassy kind, not the charcoal kind, paired with a gentle frankincense. I’m not making out any oud or patchouli, and I tend to be anosmic to the pepper note. Shadow Pictures faded fairly quickly on me. It’s quite nice but not quite what I was hoping for.

Second review in a row where I find myself in lockstep with @starbrow. This is a stunner from the get-go. Rich dark red musk. Rich dark red fruits. A backdrop of my favorite resins, patch and tobacco. I generally avoid rose but this blackened version is stunning. Terrific throw — I could smell it while masked. Pouting lips painted darkest red, a big velvety red wine, gorgeous in its complexity. Just yes.

Skin chemistry fail. Levitating Phallic God was one of the lupers I was looking forward to most. I am friends with all but the harshest vetiver, and licorice and I are BFFs. This hit my skin like a plastic bag hitting a hot stove. Not just smoky but chemical. Very dry, no licorice, tea or lemon. I didn’t scrub it off as I was headed out. Over the next hour or so it faded significantly into quite a pleasant skin scent. Soft vetiver, with a hint of sweetness that is still not recognizably licorice on me. This I would wear, though it’s faint. But the opening ruins this for me.

I got a testable empty of this from my fab decanter who must have known I would enjoy it. I usually avoid olive blossom as it goes straight to soap on me, but this is lovely. It’s one of those scents that are like how skin would smell in paradise. Lightly honeyed, sheer, effortlessly sexy. Staying power is only average — Judgmental Longhorn on the other wrist far outlasted it. But the low throw and sunny vibe would make it a perfect work scent. No one else needs to know you’re channeling your inner Eve.

CItrus! So much citrus! Blood orange and sweeter tangerine dominate the opening. I never got clove from this one. Or myrrh, that I could tell, which is a shame because I wanted to know what red myrrh smells like. Just lots of citrus on a backdrop of snowy evergreens, with amber coming out in the later drydown. This didn't last particularly long on me. It's very pleasant while it lasts, though.

A Moonlit Winter Landscape is very much a soil scent on me. Gritty and earthy at first, almost a Graveyard Dirt feel on me. Then the florals came through, especially the iris, and it was an evocative musky graveyard with scattered flowers, lovely and haunting. No amber or benzoin until very late drydown. If you like the GC blends VetchVesper mentions, or Graveyard Dirt, this is a must.

Wet, I'm getting a lot of cypress, definitely cool and outdoorsy. I am ever in search of a blackberry scent that doesn't go straight to berry candy on me, and while the descriptor "candied blackberry" worried me, the opening hour or so was very promising, with just a hint of sweet, dark fruit against the musky greenery. Eventually the blackberry does take over, with a candied sweetness that the musk and green notes can't quite hold back. I couldn't smell any tobacco until a couple of hours in, and I think it blends beautifully with these notes. Much more successful than most blackberry scents on me!

Beeswax, Amber, and Star Jasmine is super lovely if jasmine is your thing. I avoid scrupulously avoid jasmine, but star jasmine is usually rather nice on me, and I love beeswax and amber, so this seemed worth a shot. It is all about the jasmine, though. It's not indolic on me, but it is heady, and while there might be a faint sweetening from the beeswax, the amber is drowned out entirely. It has great throw, as jasmine tends to do on me. If you adore jasmine, don't miss this.

I was worried about this one going aquatic — I mean, icebergs — but I do not get soap or dryer sheets. What I get is peach with a bit of apricot. It dries down into an ambered, musky peach, quite reminiscent of the dry down of Fae on me. I was hoping for more of the evergreen notes, but they never really developed, nor did the rose. But if you love peach, this is a must. Good wear length, too.

Wheatstacks on me is peach, hay and rooibos, with some cool white musk balancing out the bright hay. I’m not getting any carnation, sadly, and the wear length on me is not impressive — The Icebergs outlasted it handily. Nice but not a standout on me.

I put on Bensiabel yesterday because of the lilac. I had forgotten how much I enjoy it! It's not really a lilac blend on me; the lilac is there at the beginning but doesn't really stick around. Instead it's soft leather and plum and maybe some hyssop. Plum and leather are a surprisinly good combination. It's never overly sweet but has a kind of rugged comfort vibe to it, totally unisex. A purple witchy leather blend. I've put myself on the waiting list hoping for it to come back into stock.

Apparently I never reveiewed Ashlultum, even though it's on my list of things I'd love to have more of. I'm wearing her today because the lilacs are just starting to come into bloom. The lilac isn't strong in Ashlultum but does persist all the way through. The coconut and tonka are the main notes on me (but my skin always devours tea notes) with a little chewy warm tobacco. Not really getting the hyssop. Anyway, this is lovely and snuggly. The coconut and vanilla make it vaguely tropical, but the tobacco keeps it out of sunscreen territory. I don't enjoy wearing flowery scents, but here the lilac -- one of the few florals I really dig -- is the perfect light accent note. Just lovely.

My favorite gingerbread blends are the exact three @DiesMali just cited: Gingerbread, Black Clove and Vetiver; Gingerbread Tobacco; and Gingerbread Patch Leather and Dark Musk. This ranks right up there, I would say. Gingerbread with extra clove against a base of soft leather, threaded through with sticky tobacco. Spicy and sexy with good throw and wear length, though I did slather.

MB: Bloody Mary is a nice creamy cherry blend, but on my skin the other red fruits create a generic red candy effect, as I often get with berry notes. The wear length is somewhat less than I would desire, and the throw is very low. There are newer and less rare cherry scents that work better on me.

Mmm. Honeyed lavender and fruity red musk to start out, making this kind of like a lavender Smut. Has there ever been a lavender Smut? Lavender usually disappears on me, but this one lasts longer than most. Eventually I get the warm ambrette and maybe some cognac, though I never really smell the balsam or mate. A lovely spring red musk blend, though. I'm so glad I have this -- thanks to a generous circular swapper!

I was gifted this bottle by an extremely generous forumite, and I have worn it several times, with varying results. I hadn't ordered a bottle because although I love the salt note, I was afraid that the name might imply an unlisted aquatic note, and nearly everything aquatic goes to cleaning product on me. When I applied this straight from the mailbox because patience is not one of my more notable virtues, I got, basically, plum dryer sheets. The second time I wore it, I got plum when wet and that toothsome salt note I love, and it mellowed down into opium-plum-salt loveliness, dark and velvety, exactly what I was hoping for. The third time I wore it, it was more like dark opium plum with a bit of dryer sheets. And so on. I am pretty confident, though, that this is going to age magnificently, and that each time I wear it the aquatic tinge is going to fade farther into the background. If you are fan of scents purple, you need to give this a go.

I bought a bottle of Youth's Disengagement last fall and didn't even skin-test it -- I was too wrapped up in the dark autumnal scents. Well, the sun is shining in the Pacific Northwest, and I'm so happy with my purchase. YD does not smell like cake to me (Eat Me was a disaster on me). It smells like one of Beth's gorgeous creamy florals without the flowers, and as someone who loves that category but is not a big fan of floral, that is high praise. There's the pillowy sweetness of marshmallow root and vanilla cream with the delicacy of rainier cherries against a lovely pale incense-y sandalwood. I'm not actually getting the anise (which I had hoped for) or the ginger (which I had not). Currants? Maybe. Sweetness and light? Definitely.

HerbGirl said it first, but this is very much in the vein of #occupywallstreet. Another filthy frigging patchouli, in the best possible way. Big patch, globs of cocoa, drier and woodier than #occupy because of the cedar replacing the vanilla. Thus, an outdoor scent for the patch lover, with good throw initially, though it dials back in drydown. If patchouli is your jam, this is the jammiest thing the Lab has given us in a while. Rejoice!

I'm still trying to get a read on Good Ship Venus, having tested it more than once now. Wet it's almost camphorous, and I'm not sure where it's coming from -- there are big patchouli notes that are almost camphorous, but here I'm getting only the camphor, not the patch. I'm not getting the chewy salt note from Asleep in the Deep but more of a saltwater note. There is only the faintest whisper of spices on my skin. The patchouli never arrives, although the tonka shows up after an hour or so, but by that time the whole thing is awfully faint. I was expecting Good Ship Venus to be my favorite of the shanties, but it just isn't coming together for me.