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BPAL Madness!

Lucchesa

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Everything posted by Lucchesa

  1. Lucchesa

    Bearded Dragon

    Oh, I definitely get the Cafe Mille et Une Nuits (which I love) comparison. Musky coffee when wet, then the cardamom starts to shine through. Dbr can be cloying on me, but it’s subtle here, blending with the dry vanilla. Is there a category for not quite gourmand? Dirty foodie? It’s a category I enjoy, and Bearded Dragon is a very nice entry.
  2. Lucchesa

    Gingerbread Oud

    I would never have bought a perfume vaunted as an indolic oud because that black oudh note is just nasty on my skin, and not in a good way. But the splendiferous @Teamama passed on the decant, and it’s surprisingly lovely on me, gingerbread spice with a well-behaved, perfumey oudh note and a little bit of molasses. I get pretty good throw for an hour or two. I was testing Wild Strawberries and Patchouli on the other wrist and the combination was fire!
  3. Lucchesa

    Pink Moon: Wild Strawberries and Patchouli

    This is the nicest BPAL strawberry note I’ve found. Usually berry notes go straight to candy on my skin, but this wild berry note is not quite as sweet, plus the very dry patchouli seems to be anchoring it in more realistic strawberry territory. On me this is definitely a berry scent, not a patch — it stays in the background. I’m much more a patchouli hound than a fruit lover, but this one makes me smile. It’s like sunshine. Thank you, @Teamama, for the decant !!!
  4. Lucchesa

    The Thirst of Unbearable Things

    This is quite lovely on me. It starts out as an intense blast of lavender, but as always the lavender is fugitive on my skin. It gives way to a not overly sweet fig and a delicate cedar. The late dry down is mostly fig on me, just hints of cedar and the memory of lavender.
  5. Lucchesa

    Hearts Are Not Had as a Gift But Hearts Are Earned

    Rose almost never works on my but I was curious about Hearts because the other notes are all terrific. Yep. Rose. So much rose which as so often goes sour on my skin. No hearts for me. If you can wear rose, this is a big scent with good throw and staying power; I can still smell it more than 12 hours after applying. Thanks, @Teamama, for letting me try it!
  6. Lucchesa

    Con El Dolor de la Mortal Herida

    This decant was a gift from the fabulous @Teamama and went exactly the way I imagined based on my skin chemistry and history with rose/resin scents: sour rose. Oh, well, I shall pass it on.
  7. Lucchesa

    Tea Funeral

    Lilies amp on me, and this is a whole lot of lily. I can smell the tea in the imp, but on my skin the lilies overpower it, the way a bouquet with stargazer lilies will smell like lilies and nothing else. Great throw and wear length. Thank you, @Teamama, for letting me try this one!
  8. Lucchesa

    Les Passades

    With these notes Les Passades should be fab on me, and it's only OK. I agree with the last three posters that there's something fizzy and even cola-esque in here, and it is quite prominent on me. The patch and vanilla are quiet; it's more of a gentle musk with Pepsi and amber. I have so many BPAL patchouli blends that I absolutely adore that I don't need to keep this decant.
  9. Lucchesa

    This More Than Bloody Deed

    This More than Bloody Deed reminded me at first of Against Idleness and Mischief, which I haven't worn for a minute. Both feature a strong wildflower honey note. Eventually the red labdanum comes through, warm and tending toward cola, but always in the background compared to the honey. I never get the vanilla at all; I think the honey just kind of subsumes it. But this is a lovely honey blend and I will keep my decant, a gift from fabulous @Teamama!
  10. Lucchesa

    Divinities Implacable, Doom-Laden

    Rose is iffy for me (this decant was a gift from the incomparable @Teamama), but it is not strong here and reminds me of the dried rose petal note that often works better on me. Wet it's musk and myrrh and I would have said amber so it's affirming to see Casablanca mention that it's related to labdanum, which I wasn't aware of. Dead roses on an altar with sacrificial chunks of resins not yet burned as incense. Goth AF and swoony.
  11. Breathing Destruction is very sweet and almost pink on me. Wet it's the berry candy smell I usually get from berry notes. I don't read it as specifically dried fruit. Cranberry and pomegranate, maybe some cherry or even grape as starbrow suggests because that is always a very sweet note on me, and I feel like it's the pink fig I smelled in another blend recently. It does develop into something a little richer, but the vetiver never shows up on my skin, and that's what would have made this work for me.
  12. Lucchesa

    A Rousing Performance

    Oh, this is gorgeous if you like the kind of scent that leans lumberjack. It's fairly sharp evergreen when wet, but it quickly settles down into a welcoming forest with the addition of very soft leather, a hint of the sweetness of maple leaf, and an extremely wearable patchouli. I love patch in all its forms, but I know that's not true for everyone, and this one on me is not at all head shop, more of a gentle hug. Throw is quiet, which is normal for my skin chemistry, but it lasts a long time. Utterly without gender. I need more.
  13. Lucchesa

    Wolf Spider

    Wolf Spider has aged beautifully. It goes on my skin as a still pretty gritty tobacco with the herbal notes, sage and chamomile, but it softens up quickly with the sweetness of the coconut and the warmth of the tonka and vanilla. White musk can be high pitched on me but any tendency in that direction has aged out of it. Just a warm, cozy, sexy unisex cuddle -- kind of the opposite of the feeling most people get when looking at an actual wolf spider. And yet there's a ruggedness and rawness, especially when wet, so it works with the name. So thrilled to have this one!
  14. Lucchesa

    The Decadents

    A gorgeous addition to the handful of lilac scents I wear for about three weeks when the lilacs are in bloom. As they are now! Lots and lots of sugared lilac with no appreciable blackcurrant or absinthe and just a bit of tobacco. This just arrived by mail two days ago so I wonder if the tobacco will become more prominent as it did for @forspecial_plate, which would be fine for me as long as the lilac was still present. So pretty, so much spring!
  15. Lucchesa

    Dead Leaves, Scorched Pumpkin, and Marshmallows

    Dead Leaves, Scorched Pumpkin, and Marshmallows starts out a lot like Dead Leaves on Fire, a signature scent from that dumpster fire of a year, 2020. If there's pumpkin and marshmallows, they're scorched, too. It takes the better part of an hour for the burnt leaves smell to recede, but since I own and wear DLoF, that's not a deal breaker for me. Eventually it's smoky dead leaves and roasted marshmallows with a little bit of pumpkin in the background. Just pumpkin, no pie spices. The toasted marshmallow note lasts the longest, as a skin scent. Very nice.
  16. Lucchesa

    Wayfaring Stranger

    I can't believe that Wayfaring Stranger has only two reviews. It's a gorgeous and unusual addition to the Lights of Men's Lives family of candle scents. This one starts out harsh, with the raw whiskey and tobacco notes in the forefront. This is not a lovingly aged scotch and a smooth tobacco; this scent starts out a dive bar. I get rust but surprisingly little dust, which can be a strong note on me. So yes, the opening is kind of foreboding. But as the booze and tobacco warm and soften, the sweeter coconut husk and especially the beeswax emerge, and the combination works really nicely. I love elissamay's description of an ofrenda -- it's very evocative of the vibe I get from this. My favorite 2023 Weenie so far.
  17. Lucchesa

    Fire Scene at Night

    I’m a tiny bit puzzled why I chose to buy this decant. Dragon’s blood and red oudh are rarely a success on me, and red musk is touch and go. Black currant, amber and woodsmoke sounds nice, though, and they are. Like white_jenna63, though, I mainly get dragons blood and fruity red musk. There’s a bit of pepper and a nice backdrop of amber, but they’re definitely secondary. I hope the woodsmoke lasts longer as it ages as the early phase of this with the smokiness apparent is my favorite. Edit 11/13/24: Ooh, this has aged really nicely!!! I'm still not getting much woodsmoke but the whole melange is beautiful and seems kind of quintessentially BPAL.
  18. Lucchesa

    Fir Needle, Peony, and Indigo Musk

    On me, this is PEONY with fir and blue musk. The musk sort of blends with the peony, and the fir doesn’t stand a chance. Big pink floral with a hint of baby blue musk, cool in tone.
  19. Lucchesa

    Happy New Year, everyone!

    This is beautiful! I wouldn’t have guessed Tennyson would feel so timely! Thank you!!!
  20. Lucchesa

    Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe

    Apparently I never reviewed Wednesday's Child. I'm one, full of woe FTW! And I love this big clove scent. It isn't complicated, which is probably why it fits Beth's idea of a kid's goth perfume, but it's not an infantile sugarbomb foodie. Sugary clove is the star here, everything else is singing quiet backup vocals though if I try hard I can smell the patch, the cocoa, even the tiniest bit of cherry and dried roses. If clove is a knockout note on you, this is one to search out.
  21. Lucchesa

    Inkfeather

    Ink Feather might have been crafted just for me. I love the licorice note in all its incarnations, from root to whip, and it starts out strong on beautiful dark sweet earthy licorice. For a while it's a licorice root amber perfume, then a licorice root patchouli one, and it ends for me as a soft licorice incense which is a big warm blanket for my soul, but also sexy, probably because it makes me feel good. I suspect we licorice lovers are few but fervid, and we need this.
  22. Lucchesa

    Dead Leaves And Horchata

    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.
  23. Lucchesa

    Recommendations for Liquor and Wine Scents

    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.
  24. Lucchesa

    Death on a Pale Horse

    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.
  25. Lucchesa

    Autumn Sun I

    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.
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