Lucchesa

Wet, this is all sweet spicy carnation.  Love!  An hour later, I'm still waiting for the patch and frank to join the party.  Did I forget to send the invitations?  I'm not upset to have a pink carnation single note, but I was really hoping for the whole menage.  (I want some of puellacaerulea's hippie patchouli!)

This is really lovely!!!  It starts out on me all palo santo, with that (to me, very welcome) tinge of licorice.  Gradually the frankincense catches up to the palo santo and eventually overcomes it.  My favorite stage is when the two notes are right in balance, about an hour in, but it is a calming and meditative scent all the way through, and if you like both of these notes, you can hardly go wrong here. 

I usually avoid the champagne note, but the 15 minutes of fume was so positive on this scent that I had to get samples of all the GB monsters, and sure enough, this is really fun.  It's sparkling and fizzy and struck me as very much like ginger beer.  Effervescent, kind of nose-tickling.  I'm not actually getting much lemon, but the overall effect is festive.  Bright gingery champagne. 

Ghost Milk is really, really quiet on me.  I resisted the impulse to reapply it ten minutes after initial application because I'd put on a normal testing amount and should be consistent.  It actually lasted about 12 hours or so -- a really long time for me -- though at a very low skin level; I needed to get my wrist right up to my nose to smell it.  I do not get the slightly funky goat's milk note at all (which I enjoy in scents like Harlequin Milk) but rather a generic sweet vanilla creaminess with a whiff of marshmallow and white chocolate.  A cozy soft vanilla scent, but it is too faint on my skin for me to need more. 

16 hours ago, twilighteyes said:

 

Another reason I miss Seattle.  YEAR ROUND FARMERS MARKETS.

Go, Seattle!  But in fairness my sister moved back to northern California from Seattle to have YEAR ROUND FARMERS MARKETS with actual fruit and vegetables -- citrus all winter, tomatoes for months -- that do not include kohlrabi or rutabaga.  

I received a testable empty of this with a decant order, and I wouldn't ordinarily have tried it because of the violet.  Violet never works on me.  Except when it does.  This is ridiculously beautiful.  Plum and petrichor and wistful violet.  I'm not making out the lavender, but there's something almost citrusy behind it, keeping the violet from going powdery and old lady on me -- the osmanthus?  No appreciable frankincense either, but the whole ensemble is steeped in longing.  A brilliant example of Beth's gift.

I got a testable empty of this in a decant order and am surprised by how much I am digging it.  Foodies are my thing only occasionally, though I have found them comforting during the pandemic.  I would never actually eat blue cotton candy, and I avoid fruit punch, but I've recently learned how well the salt note works on me, so popcorn and pretzels are fun to wear.  This is sugary salty junk food, but the sugar bomb fades somewhat and the drydown is something like kettle corn.  Charming!

I got an empty of this with a decant order -- ordinarily I wouldn't have tried it. So please bear in mind that I'm reviewing something that has a low possibility of working on me. Lots and lots of red musk, which drowns out the skin musk for me.  And the peppercorn. The sandalwood blends with the red musk in an incensey way.  The orange blossom gives it the feel of high-end soap, as it often does on me, so instead of a down and dirty red musk, this is a fresh and clean red musk, with decent throw and good staying power. 

For cherry, GC blends you might try include Blood, Kabuki and King of Hearts.  Seconding Blood Kiss, a favorite of mine.  Also The Cherry-Tree Carol among the current Yules.  And since the Liliths are still around, Gen Z and 2020 Aesthetic.  Last year's lupers had a cherry section which was great!  And I forgot Phantom Calliope, another favorite of mine.  Cherry with cardamom.  

Terebinth is one of my favorite notes, and amber always works on me, though I'm not as familiar with the black variety.  Oakmoss can go either way, and oakmoss is what I get most of here.  Oakmoss with some pine and amber notes, and although amber tends to last forever on me, I had to reapply this within about three hours.  I suspect this one will be much improved by aging -- it's not quite coming together on me right now.  

Strong, dark, sweet coffee, rich and true.  Not much throw (standard for me) but good wear length.  This works really well on me.  

Teakwood, Moss and Salt is not what I expected.  I was actually hoping for what some describe as corn-chip salt, because that's an amazing note on me. Teakwood tends to turn almost caramel-like on me skin.  This is nothing like the teakwood in, say, Antikythera Mechanism.  Instead, there's an almost minty, camphorous opening, definitely cool in tone, whereas teak and salt tend to be warm notes on me.  So I agree with the previous reviewers that this is a kind of bracing, spa-like scent.

I'm all about the beeswax, and cedar is a note I love too.  Beeswax, Cedarwood and Bourbon Vanilla does not disappoint.  It's so so yummy.  Beeswax and cedar to start out with, candles lit in an ancient forest clearing.  Then the sweet vanilla joins the mix, softening the wilder notes.  Gorgeous, with good staying power.  If you are a beeswax lover, you need to try this before it goes away.  To quote doomsday_disco, Hnnngh.  

I ordered samples of all the Lux Brumalis because I'm an art historian and so many of them sounded gorgeous or at least intriguing.  This was one of the latter.  I don't do florals in general, but I do love lilac.  Is blue lilac actually a thing?  Because that is what this smells like to me.  Lilac and blueness.  Lilac and cool bulb flowers, lilac and pale ambergris and chilly white musk.  No ambrette that I could make out.  It's super duper pretty and way more flowery than I usually wear.  Low throw (normal on me) but decent staying power. 

Holy peppermint patty!  Wet, this is all chocolate and peppermint on me, against a background of gingerbread spice.  Now, I may have three packages of Thin Mints on the way, but I do not want to smell like them.  Mint is a note I avoid on principal, but I ordered samples of all the Gingerbread Monsters, so I'm out of my wheelhouse on this one.  Mint.  Whoo.  Fortunately, the peppermint faded quickly, leaving a gorgeous spicy milk chocolate gingerbread.  That I can handle smelling like. 

I’m here!  Way to keep on keeping on, @Amazonia!!! I don’t know The Mark, it sounds right up my alley. Alice was my first BPAL love, though, and while my tastes have gone much darker since then, she never disappoints. Definitely more than the sum of her parts.

 Yesterday I put on O the Joy of My Spirit and some nice clothes and biked the seven miles to Seattle Art Museum to see the member preview of the Jacob Lawrence exhibit I’ll be lecturing on next week. I’m not in biking shape, so it took me 45 minutes to get there and 50 to get home (more hills, tireder bones), but it felt almost like real life. I wish I’d brought the bottle because it’s one that needs re-applying, but I love the oddball Nutella in a forest thing. Even in KN95 mask I got recognized (I lecture at another local museum), which is why I was biking in a skirt. Lots of love to to you all!!! 

I bought this from a friend's sales page because it sounded like my kind of thing, and it is, exactly.  It's beautifully blended with no hard edges.  Herbal lavender and spicy carnation are among the least flowery florals; I think a guy could easily pull this off.  It's dark, sweet and smoky from the vetiver, tobacco and vanilla, really mellow and lovely, everything balanced.  I've been wearing it as a winter blend, but I think it could be lovely for hot summer nights as well.  It seems like this is a blend that depends highly on skin chemistry to work its magic, and I lucked out!

I’ve worn this twice now and keep neglecting to review it. I get mainly a slightly spicy golden amber, a favorite note of mine, with the warm fuzzy feeling of BPAL “fur.” I should death match it with the GC The Lion. The sweet resins are background players on my skin. The amber is quite long-lasting — very nice.

I love this and it's perfect with Earth bath oil, which I have a little bit left of.  Lots of sage and patchouli when wet, then there's the pitch and the green growing things.  The myrrh is a later arrival on me, and the late drydown is incensey, mossy woods.  I never get the grains but couldn't care less.  This is earthy, grounding, and just beautiful for lovers of dark forest scents. 

Thanks, @Em-! Our spring equinox swap is posted, awaiting moderator approval.  We’ll be opening March 21–plenty of room for a book/unloved scent swap aimed at April 23, @doublehelix and @torischroeder9 

@Amazonia PiYo sounds intense! The image of you and Neko dancing and punching too baby shark makes me laugh.

I haven’t had my shoulder looked at because it is improving, and I’ve hurt it this way before. Multiple times. But about a week ago I did 15 minutes of intermediate vinyasa and got clear signs I had overdone it, so I’m backing off. Plus I need to keep my mileage up for the Ireland challenge. Yesterday I did get out for nearly four miles, most of it dry. Today, it was closer to five, and it just rained the last ten minutes. I was testing It Was Just a Cat (thumbs up) and Rickety Staircase (thumbs down).

Rickety Staircase went on a little soapy, and it gave the sense not of old oak but of polished oak.  This is not the warm amber of It Was Just A Cat, which I was testing on the other wrist, but something much cooler, more standoffish.  Overall, I got polished wood and a bit of cool amber.  This was very quiet on me, and not terribly long-lasting. 

@Em- Would it be ok for us to reuse much of the copy from last year’s quick Leap Day swap? Something to sniff, something to read, etc.? Thank you!!

@doublehelix I'm sorry I didn't see your appeal earlier -- I would have been happy to!  @lorizav and I are whipping up a small swap akin to last year's Leap Day swap.  I don't know about the St. George tradition but I see it's April 23.  Would it be better to do one spring swap with books and other items and aim for that date, or do a small one now and a second one for the book exchange? (I always vote more swaps = more happy packages in the mail.)

@torischroeder9 I love the swap of unrequited love concept!!!

Welcome back, @Amazonia! I’m not familiar with PiYo. Pilates Yoga? And lucky you, Krampus is awesome!

Goddess flow sounds awesome, @katharina! A shoulder injury is still limiting my yoga, but I have been walking every day. Yesterday, 5 miles, to the tune of Revenant Rhythm. I got frimped a decant in a swap and wow, wow, wow. 
 

today’s WOSOTD is There Is No Bliss Like This but it’s raining so I haven’t braved the outdoors yet.