Lucchesa

Vanilla Orchid is a soft, sweet white floral on my skin. It is definitely orchid, with just the barest hint of vanilla, so don't expect this one to be foodie -- we're talking about the flower here. Orchid is a pretty heady note, and florals are not really my jam, but I will keep this imp to help my nose differentiate the note when I find it in other blends (for instance, I first tried this while testing Rigorous Love, and it helped me understand which part of that blend was the vanilla orchid). If you like white florals, though, this is a gorgeous one.

On me, the Great He-Goat starts out all vetiver and patchouli, and as it dries down I get the amber and black musk smoothing out the rough edges of vetiver and patch. Carnation is a great note on me; pom and ginger are iffy (though I was looking forward to trying smoked ginger); I don't really get identifiable portions of any of them. This is dark and retains a bit of the initial harshness. It works well on me, though, and I will keep it for future Goya lectures.

Wet, I could smell that rich, round syrupy opoponax, and I knew I would love this one. There are so many beautiful dark notes here -- black musk and myrrh are in the foreground on me, with the opoponax, while vetiver and tobacco are supporting players. I'm not really getting the green notes (hemp, sage, moss); this is a lush, velvety black scent on me, and it's absolutely lovely. It becomes a skin scent on me fairly quickly but lasts a long time.

If I really had to pick just one: The Lights of Men's Lives, inspired by the fairy tale Godfather Death. The wax and smoke of millions of candles illuminating the walls of Death's shadowy cave. Warm beeswax, a hint of vanilla, some smokiness -- this one is absolute magic on me.

Unexpected total win! I wanted to try Psychodynamic Discharge for two reasons: 1. I love the name and 2. the label painting was included in an exhibition at my museum several years ago and I gave a talk on the artist. But I expected this to be a failure on my skin because red musk always struts to center stage and shouts down the rest of the ensemble. Not here. Here she plays nice. Still sexy as hell in her thigh-high red latex boots, but she lets black leather have the first line, and coconut and red pepper get to share the stage, and rose comes out in the second act. Frankly I'm not differentiating much patchouli, ginger or vetiver but I think they're keeping red musk in line. This is fantastically sexy, with good throw and wear length.

2009 413 U.S. 15, and it has aged beautifully. Berry is a troublesome note for me, but it stays realistic and subdued here. Warm fig, soft leather, cognac -- these are the main notes on me, and they are lovely. And Beth is a genius -- I can actually smell paper bag, enveloping it all. The fruit makes this a summer, daytime scent on me, lighthearted, but those sexy notes of leather and cognac are underlying it as well. I have not tried the 2018 incarnation, but I suspect it will only get better if 2009 is anything to go on.

I had Robin Goodfellow once before and it didn't do much for me, so I swapped it away. What was I thinking? Fortunately a generous forumite (thanks, HerbGirl!) frimped me another one, and I am really digging it. Wet, it's surprisingly light and floral, given the notes. Must be the heather and ragwort, notes I'm less familiar with. As it dries, it darkens, with sage and moss and woods making themselves felt. At one point I even thought there was vetiver in the blend. It is absolutely beautiful at this point, a dark mossy forest with flowers and toadstools, where anything might happen. The musk is gentle and not prominent, despite the fact that it's listed first. I'll need to test this a couple more times, but this may be going on the bottle list.

I was lucky enough to pick up a decant of original De Sade in a batch of DC'd imps, right about the time the resurrection was announced. And while it's nice, I'm not totally blown away by it. It's leather all right, kind of new leather, sexy dominatrix leather. I get a little bit of throw and it lasts a good while, but I realize I prefer leather as an ingredient, not as the whole scent. I'll definitely hang on to my imp, and I'm delighted I got to try it, but I don't need more than this.

I swapped for Rigorous Love largely on the basis of surlygirl's assertion that it was horrible on her in the same way that Paduan Killer Swarm was horrible on her. PKS is swoon-worthy on me, so I had high hopes. Which were not entirely borne out, but that's OK. Lemongrass tends to take over on me, and wet, Rigorous Love was all lemongrass. A lovely bright pure lemongrass that didn't go anywhere near Pledge, as actual lemon always tends to do on me. But I had to wait for drydown for any other notes to poke out. Once the lemongrass softened down, in an hour or so, I got coconut and gentle anise and a breath of vanilla orchid. I'm not really experiencing much in the way of balsam or mimosa, but they weren't what I was here for anyway. This stage is quite lovely, no throw (normal for me) but reasonably long-lasting, upbeat, summery, work-appropriate. It's not knocking me off my feet, but it is very nice and I suspect it may grow on me.

I have tried Thorns, been uncertain, swapped it away without reviewing it, and reacquired it at least once, possibly twice, so I guess you can say Thorns has already given me hours of entertainment. Now that I know my mind a little better, well, I'm still not sure about Thorns. I don't really care for its wet stage: it is harsh, astringent vetiver. This seems like the grassy green vetiver more than the smoky black vetiver; anyway, it's strong. About 30 minutes in it has mellowed down to something I can enjoy, a kinder, gentler vetiver against a sweeter floral note. I'm not going to weigh in on whether this is dragon's blood resin or rose; DBR is usually awful on me, but pitted against this much vetiver its sickly sweetness might actually work. So this phase is very pretty, work-appropriate, and lasts a long time. But when I have so many other scents I like from the first drop, can I justify keeping this imp around? Still, it's Rapunzel, which was my favorite childhood fairy tale, despite the fact that Rapunzel is an idiot. I'll hang onto it for now.

I get white cake and frosting and Martinelli's sparkling cider from 10-9-8. My skin is allowing me neither a prominent vanilla note nor any cocoa from the red velvet cake. At least I'm not getting a skin reaction, and I can't smell any cinnamon either. As it dries down, the wisteria comes to greater and greater prominence. This is a really interesting scent, with the wisteria keeping it from being entirely foody, and I think it would be stunning with the right skin chemistry. Which is not, unfortunately, mine.

Wet on my skin, Jailbait is pure bubblegum -- it evokes hard pink Double Bubble so thoroughly that it should come with a lame cartoon wrapper. Once it dries it's a little more complex, if you consider fruit hard candy and bubblegum more complex than bubblegum alone... I may not have left this on long enough to get to the womanly perfume, but the first two hours is so not me.

I was recently frimped a tester of this in a swap -- it had been on my wishlist for a while, and I was delighted to get to try it. Wet on my skin, the honey, vanilla and fruit were the first to show up. If I had been testing blind I would never have identified the quince (in fact, I think this may be the first quince blend I've tried), but it's quite nice. I never make out any mandarin. Gradually the tobacco and cognac came out, both soft and very lovely. The scent is gentle and wears close to the skin.

I was frimped a tiny tester of Beaver Moon 2010, and that is all I need. Unlike donkehpoo, I don't like sticky-sweet candy scents, and that's all I'm getting. Those strawberry hard candies in the wrapper that looks like a strawberry, with a little little gummy peach candy. No cheesecake on me.

I love almond and was excited to try something with the orgeat note. Wet, Mahana is a lot of fun -- almondy, fruity, boozy. Definitely the kind of drink with a pineapple spear and a little paper umbrella, to be sipped at the poolside bar. The almond note dissipates very quickly on me, though, making Mahana a little too sweet and fruity for my tastes, and it doesn't last terribly long on my skin.

I really enjoy The Organ Grinder, and while it doesn't have much throw (which is normal for my skin), it lasts a long time on me. It's kind of hard to pin down because it involves a lot of reconciling of opposites. It starts out with the smooth, creamy almond milk note that I'm very fond of, and then it's gritty woodsmoke. Coconut (beach) and pine (forest). Dry patch and rootbeer. Actually, this is way less rootbeery on me than Gnome, Sissy or Stimulating Sassafras -- the sarsparilla blends with the other notes, the way the pine and patch blend with the tobacco smoke to suggest campfire. The whole is perfectly unisex and decidedly sexy in a cozy way. I look forward to wearing this a lot more often this fall.

The Earth Mother smells to me much more like the Sierra Nevada in summer than the mountain ranges of the Pacific Northwest. It's a conifer forest all right, but a dry one -- dry grasses, dry lichens, dry twigs snapping underfoot, silvery sage instead of the verdant ferns I have come to be used to. It is incredibly evocative of time spent in the California mountains as a child. This is darker than Theoi Nomioi, drier than This Is Your Wilderness. In addition to pine pitch and patchouli, I get a lot of vetiver in The Earth Mother, so if you fear vetiver, you may want to steer clear. But if a summer forest approaching the timberline appeals to you, add this to your cart.

I was warned about potential skin reaction with this blend, so I applied very sparingly. I didn't get a rash, but I didn't get much scent either, so I slopped some more on my wrist. Wet, it's Ibarra chocolate and roasting peppers, with a little cinnamon. As it dries down the peppers and annatto seed take front place, so it's rather like the Mexican spice section in the grocery store. Or like mole -- I suspect that's the inspiration here. And I love to eat mole, but it's not so spectacular on my skin. There are many other chocolate blends that work better on me.

The Gift is lovely -- warm amber, cozy woods and pale honey. Frankincense always has a dry, woody feel to me, and I am not able to differentiate it here -- there is none of the sharpness it usually brings. It seems to just be adding to the woods. No throw (which is pretty normal on me) and somewhat shorter than average wear length on my skin, but again, it's lovely.

I got an imp of Arana in a swap, so it's aged roughly half a decade now, and it's gorgeous on me. I like Antikythera Mechanism, but it doesn't last long on my skin. Here I was worried about the agarwood (oud), but there's nothing indolic about it; instead, it seems to contribute warmth and excellent wear length. No soap on me, just warm woodsy vanilla that wraps around me like a soft cashmere shawl on a chilly day. Love.

My tester of Peacock Queen, with a beautiful handmade label, is dated 09. Rose is hit or miss on me, but this came in a swap and of course I had to try it. I do enjoy wearing The Rose GC from the Marchen collection occasionally, for an understated realistic rose scent. The Peacock Queen is a whole different order of rose. A woman's rose, not a girl's. A rose in a power suit, with a dungeon in her basement. A rose in stiletto heels. The Peacock Queen's affirmation: "I am a goddess. Bow down before me."

I received my imp of original Baghdad in a swap with dementia_divine, so I assume it is the very same imp reviewed just above. Yet on my skin Baghdad is not a musky rose but a desert amber, not as sweet as Bastet but in the same family. Amber, saffron, sandalwood, a waft of citrus, warm, dry, lovely (Bast, Bastet, Lion, etc. are faves of mine). The rose and musk were both supporting players on my skin, and I didn't specifically make out nutmeg at all. I definitely need to try the resuscitated Baghdad while it is still available!

I want achildoftime's Havana! Almost all I got from my imp of indeterminate age was date palm and snakeroot. Actually, I have no idea what snakeroot smells like and the name seems to attach to a number of botanicals, but I get from Havana something green like sap, with a dry earthy sweetness and the faintest whisper of the gentlest possible tobacco and leather. It is a quiet scent on me, with no throw (not that I get much throw under any circumstances). Pleasant but not what I was hoping for.

Search Engine isn't getting a lot of love here, is it? It's a really interesting scent, and if you are a grapefruit lover, it's definitely worth a try. Wet on me, it is invigorating grapefruit with something vaguely foody going on -- I feel vindicated when I see that roseus had a similar experience. I was definitely not expecting baked goods from the notes. That phase didn't last long on me, and instead I got a kind of gunmetal note and maybe a dry sandalwood for the bones? The overall feel in drydown is much less aggressive then wet. My skin always eats up citrus pretty quickly, so I get about 3 hours of wear length, which is pretty average for me. If you like to use grapefruit shower products to wake you up in the morning, Search Engine might be a good scent to add to your arsenal. I can see using it in TAL fashion when I want to be productive. And it smells nice on me, too.

The chocolate is not the top note for me in 13 April 2018 the way it is in most 13s. This is more of an herbal mulled wine blend on me, with maybe some soft sweet marshmallow coconut emerging in drydown. I don't get the crazy throw some other reviewers have mentioned, but that's my middle-aged skin for you. It's nice -- definitely comforting -- and I'm delighted that I got a chance to try it, but red wine is not a note I wear very often.