Lucchesa

I blind bottled No Man Is an Island and apparently forgot to review it. I think it has gotten even better in the three or four months I've owned it. It's one of those gourmand/not gourmand scents that I like better than straight gourmands. It has all the rich warm hug of hazelnut vanilla latte comfort with the grit of patchouli and purple sage. Especially the purple sage, which is the standout note on me here. It's almost on the edge of "No, mom, it's not pot, it's sage." And yet it pairs beautifully with the cozy foodie notes, never quite melding with them on my skin. Basically, I can't keep my wrist away from my nose.

Testing blind, I would have said Economic Recovery was frankincense and patchouli with a sweet floral. Rice flower, that. Not seeing frank mentioned by anyone else weakens my resolve a bit, but that's what it smelled like to me. It's good. It's a little rough and dirty, then it evens out into woody patch with musky ambrette, sweet rice flower and herbs. I don't get any bergamot whatsoever.

I had just a tester of Lovers and a Fan, but I certainly wouldn't turn down more. Coconut is always good on me, honey usually, saffron maybe. Here the saffron keeps the sticky honey from overwhelming the coconut with sweetness; there's a kind of dry, even dusty feel to the saffron that balances the other notes beautifully. The end result is summery and sexy, not Coppertone but a grown-up scent. Nice!

I didn't try this because black oudh has become such a death note on me, but it was passed on by a super generous forumite. I needn't have worried; the oudh is not in the least noticeable on me, adding richness but no fecal matter. At first I get the glorious maple note, like one of my favorite HGs, Under the Maple Boughs, with a lemony indigo musk. It's akin to the dead leaves note but not identical. The blackcurrant has a tart edge and isn't overly sweet, and the roses are kind of an afterthought, maybe a faint rosy oudh note around the edges. This is nice but didn't last terribly long on me.

ImPEACHment on me is initially very sweet musky peach, a cousin to Fae and Aglaea. There's a warm honeyed amber and just a hint of rose, but the frankincense and oudh are silent on me. The peach/apricot fades after three or four hours, leaving on me a soft honeyed rose-tinged amber, pretty but kind of generic. Definitely a skin scent.

Gingerbread, Fir, Myrrh and Mahogany has had over half a year's aging in its decant now, though my experience is similar to Casablanca's from late January. It starts out all gingerbread on me, with the fir and mahogany lurking underneath and no appreciable myrrh. After about an hour, the blend has balanced out significantly. It's still gingerbread first of all, but it's sharing space with forest and polished woods, and there's an undertone of gentle myrrh. I quite like this -- it's kind of a masculine gingerbread, like the gingerbread man managed to hide out safely in a cottage in the woods and become a lumberjack.

Bourbon tobacco -- what an excellent note! I'd love to see more of it. It blends beautifully with the frankincense; I don't notice the tonka so much, but it may be responsible for the sweetness that creeps into this scent as it dries down. So I get a rich sacred/profane incense/tobacco with an undertone of booze wafting around me. I get much better throw from this blend than I am used to with my skin chemistry, a big plus in my book. I am definitely considering upgrading to a bottle. ETA And my husband really liked this, so a bottle has been ordered.

I was lucky enough to receive a half decant of this in a circular swap and I understand why it is so highly sought after. On me, it's lots of leather, spicy honey, patchouli and what I would describe as a very dark red musk. Not a grapey stompy red musk; something more understated and closer to black musk. The evergreen notes don't really emerge on me, and there's too much floral action for this to be an ideal blend for me, but it is undeniably sexy as hell, with good wear length on me.

Lavender never lasts on me, though I had hopes for blackened lavender. Violet almost never works on me (Elf being the exception). But I love labdanum and hops, and I was excited to try this out-of-my-wheelhouse scent thanks to a generous forum PIF. And it almost worked! It's an unusual lavender, strong and dark, with some sweetness from the hops and labdanum, which doesn't have the fizzy quality I'm used to. (Not sure I've ever tried red labdanum.) The violet leaf at first seemed more herbal than violety. But as it dries down, the lavender predictably wears off on me, and the violet kicks up, with its powdery elderly great-aunt qualities. The labdanum and hops can't hold it back. If you can do violet and lavender lasts on you, this is a novel lavender blend and well worth trying.

Wet I get a lot of grapefruit and amber and what I realize after checking notes is mimosa. The drydown though features a lot less citrus; the cedar comes into play and although the mimosa is still present, this shifts into something surprisingly unisex. It doesn't last terribly long on me, especially not the first phase with the grapefruit. I wish my skin didn't eat it up so. Many thanks to the generous forumite who PIF'd me this!

Anathema Device starts out ALL blackcurrant on me. Fruit, fruit, fruit!!! Sweet sweet black berry. If you are a lover of the blackcurrant note, you've probably already tried this, but if not, what are you waiting for? Eventually, an hour or so in, blackcurrant shares space with the bourbon vanilla, amber, and sandalwood. It's really quite lovely, though the opening is too fruity on me. I am very grateful to the generous forumite who gifted this to me!!!

Green tea and oakmoss can be iffy on me, but I love anise, and at first I got a lot of it in Michiyuki Koi No Futusao. This started out a wonderful spring/summer anise blend, with the bright green tea dirtied up by the oakmoss. Definitely a shunga! If the anise note had lasted longer on me, this would have been bottle-worthy, but it faded away within a couple hours, leaving the still very pleasant green tea and oakmoss combo. Not much throw (which is typical for me). Tea notes tend to be fugitive on me, so I enjoyed how long this one lasts. I wonder if age will improve the anise longevity.

Testing blind, I got fudgey chocolate at first, which quickly resolved into hot cocoa with cinnamon. My nose has never been so accurate! This is really lovely for fans of chocolate scents, but it doesn't have the emotional resonance Dia de los Reyes has for me, and I have a backup of that, so I will pass this decant on.

We Wear the Mask doesn't feature a very promising set of notes for me, but... the poem. Plus I'm interested in getting a better handle on carrot seed. Lavender never lasts on my skin. Unsurprisingly, We Wear the Mask opens with lavender, darker than most, but my skin devours it promptly. What lasts is the very elegant blend of lightly smoky sandalwood, wisteria and iris, and the curious, slightly bitter tang of carrot seed. Iris and wisteria are not on the short list of florals I enjoy wearing, but the blend is haunting and has a kind of austere beauty, with neither floral nor wood notes predominating. (The iris does not go powdery on me, if that is a concern for some.) I can't decide whether to keep the decant because it expresses the verses so aptly or to pass it on to someone who would wear it more often.

I had a very different experience from starbrow. On me, Apostrophe of Time is mostly neroli. I can smell the sage and the lemon peel, but the neroli overwhelms the bergamot, the amber and the labdanum. So on me, this is big-ass neroli, with undertones of lemon and clary sage, and the throw was all neroli. It lasted about half a day before needing refreshing.

Minna is so good. I tend to think of white patchouli as the more stripped-down lady-like variety, but the patchouli here is full-throated, and on wet I get lots of patch backed up by cognac and bourbon vanilla. The tobacco comes in as it dries down and warms up. I don't get tea but it's an ephemeral note on me, and the sage is present but barely. Really, this is a patchouli blend, and an excellent one, with good wear life and more throw than I usually get. Unisex and super sexy.

Lydia is wonderful on me -- I'm sorry I only have a tester. It's an almost spicy patchouli with dark sweet opium. Awadh is apparently oudh (just google) but it's only adding richness, nothing fecal here. The labdanum keeps it lighter than the other notes might suggest. Dark sweet resiny patchouli goodness, total win.

Honey musk is a stunning note I wish we saw more of. It's really the star here. Green tea is a note that my skin likes to devour, so on me Lady Una is honey musk with faint traces of vanilla and blackberry leaf (not the fruit -- it doesn't go berry candy, it's a very different note) and presumaby whatever fae spices might be, something faintly herbal I would guess. Absolutely gorgeous and a beautiful summer scent, though it's one I can imagine being worn year-round.

I love Ask the Nearest Hippie! I am usually the nearest hippie in most situations, but I almost never indulge anymore in what is now a legal substance, and I was afraid this blend would be all about the cannabis. And indeed it is, for the first ten minutes. Patchouli, vanilla, and the dank green must of weed. And this was definitely going in the not safe for work pile when the cannabis faded out of the picture entirely, leaving me a gorgeous dry patch and vanilla bean. It really is a close cousin to Banshee Beat once the pot accord burns off. This is much more wearable than Stoned Griffin, which was a surprise hit on me but definitely not for leaving the house in. Really beautiful with good wear life, and if you are at all a lover of patchouli and vanilla, you must try this. I don't know what took me so long.

Leather, leather, leather. Dusty leather. Strong. The booze and tobacco are there, but afterthoughts. Saloon #10 is all about the leather, and apparently I need my leather cut with something softer because this is kind of overwhelming.

I had the feeling that Bawd would be one of the roses that works on my skin. I was right. Bawd is, however, almost all rose on me. The "raucous red velvet musk" is curiously quiet on me, not my usual experience with red musk. The patchouli is also barely there. This is mainly full red rose and peony with a little vanilla, and my skin eats it up within three hours.

Joyful Dalliances in the Underworld is underwhelming on me. It starts out cherry cognac with that fiery note, whatever it is, inherent in the word "aflame." (You know that note, it's in things described as hearth flame and whatnot.) Then I get apricot and low-key vetiver, like Depraved with vetiver replacing the patchouli, and the leather is faintly apparent. It never gets any stronger on me. I was hoping for A. leather, B. cherry cognac, C. smoky vetiver. I get mainly fruit, and my skin eats it quickly.

Candle scents are one of my favorite categories, so I do not know how I missed this one. It's gorgeous, with unusually good throw on me. Lots and lots of beeswax with a soft, dry patchouli grounding it. This is reminiscent of Lights of Men's Lives plus very well-behaved, non-gnarly patchouli. But the patch is not the star here; the beeswax is. Gorgeous.

This Tattie Bogle was a gift (thank you!!!) so I don't know its vintage. The gunpowder is the most prominent note on me, especially when wet. Gunpowder that's in a very unsafe place with warm hay and bone-dry woods. If you lit a match, this would explode, and there would be lots of fuel for the flames. The drydown is softer, bright autumn day, cologne-like, definitely on the masculine end of the unisex spectrum, but still with that bite of gunpowder.

I don't do jasmine and would never have tried this had it not been included as a frottle in a recent decant circle and generously shared with participants. Mrs. Wilson is almost all jasmine on me, with the citrus in the background. But it's THAT jasmine, the one that is the exception on my skin, the one that is rich and round and sweet and creamy and altogether gorgeous. I have occasionally found this jasmine in other blends but I wear florals so rarely that I can't tell you offhand which ones they are. If you love the smell of jasmine and it goes all cat pee on your skin, TRY THIS. I'll be passing on my decant because big ole florals just aren't me, but I can still appreciate how gorgeous this is.