Lucchesa

I didn’t get a decant of There Is No Bliss because of the ylang ylang but was happy to swap for one because it doesn’t show up as prominent in the reviews. This is indeed a happy, safe blend. My first BPAL love was Alice, and I’m still a sucker for a sweet carnation scent.

Carnation and clove, impossible to pry apart, are the main players on my skin, backed by a warm vanilla. I’m getting very little patchouli or cinnamon and no skin irritation from the latter. The ylang ylang is quiet or silent in this mix.  Beth was doing marvelous things with carnation last year — Pleasure Boat, Song of Hope — and this is similarly joyful for me.

A super generous forumite gifted a decant of this to me in a swap. Wow. It is everything it is made out to be. A big, sexy patchouli sweetened with vanilla and all tied together with an organic hemp bow. And it lasts for hours and hours. Perfection.

I’ve tested this twice now and still don’t feel like I have a handle on it. It morphs a great deal on me. At first it’s sharp, almost acrid. I think this must be the ginger and ti leaf responding badly to my skin. This phase is not particularly pleasant. Later it’sa creamy rice milk skin scent with only a hint of spiced tea. I never get anise (a shame, I love anise), and I didn’t manage to track the transition between the two  phases. It was one thing, then it was another.

Silk Phoenix kind of stops at “gleaming black leather” on me. It’s the Tandy leather store of yore. New leather, rawhide, suede, maybe a hint of gunmetal, but nothing of the souk or smoke. Almost a single note leather. I got frimped this by a generous forumite and am so glad I got to try it.

4 hours ago, AlpineRN said:

This is LOVELY on me- it smells fresh, clean, and a little like herbal tea. Unexpectedly, I got engaged while wearing it, so I had to, of course, go back and get a second bottle, because I expect i'll want to wear this at my wedding. WELL DONE LILITH!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Hi, lovelies!!! Good job, everyone, and welcome, @katharina!  And sorry for not checking in. The west coast of Ireland challenge my sister and I are doing started a week ago Monday. She’s kicking my ass! I need to average about 4 miles a day, and over the first nine days I’ve walked every day and am averaging 5!

Today I did a 5.3 mile walk and WOSOTD was Zorya Uttrenyaya. (I’m also doing the different BPAL every day in January thing and going in alphabetical order.) It’s a coffee scent, so I thought it might give me a needed kick, but it was more like a big warm hug, and I can still smell it. Nearly out of my decant and need more!

@Amazonia I am SO SORRY to hear about your aunt's partner.  You have every right to be filled with the blackest rage.  We should not be here, as a country.  

Good luck with Neko!  I hope you've managed to craft a more workable situation with her mother.  And congratulations on all the hard workouts and the visible results.  

@Kelthara Good job on sticking with the yoga challenge!  I can't wait to do yoga again, but this is the point where I always go back too soon and reinjure myself.  Belly dancing sounds like fun -- let us know if you find something worthwhile.  

@Madame Mew I hope you're getting the same sunshine we are!

I talked with Vetch_Vesper last week -- she's fine, just has a lot of stressful life stuff on her plate right now and hasn't been on the forums much.  I keep walking.  40 minutes today because I had a commitment I had to get ready for.  I forgot to wear perfume, but now I'm wearing Quintessence of Dust and I plan to get in a few more mini-walks as breaks in my work this afternoon.  

I was the fortunate recipient of this scent in JazzieCazzie's Boobiepalooza box, and I'm shocked by how little love The Pope is getting here because it really is beautiful.  It seems like it's in an obscure corner of the website and most people don't know about it.  And it's a tad more expensive, but that just reminds me of the Loreal commercials of my youth -- sure, it costs a little more, but you're worth it. 

The Pope is much lighter than you might expect from notes like frank, cedar, and clove-smoke; in fact, if you're looking for something like Thorns Clove Cigarette, you're likely to be disappointed.  I'm not familiar with the rose maroc note, but I assume it's rose (which might be keeping the rose-averse at bay), and I get absolutely no rose from this scent.  Instead, I get cedar and gently smoky clove and a benzoin so playful I was initally thinking it was labdanum.  

The Pope shares some notes with The Cat (benzoin, cedar, honey and dark musk), and if you love The Cat, you should definitely try The Pope. On my The Cat is darker and denser, while The Pope is more ethereal.  It's ultimately more warm, spicy and sexy than ecclesiastical.  I need to wear it more often instead of saving it as a special occasion blend.  

Hi, all! I’ve been walking faithfully when it’s not pouring. Today I wore The Pope, which had hardly any reviews but is really great, and did a four-mile walk. My shoulder is still not happy...

@twilighteyes This is completely awesome! Thanks!

Apparently I never reviewed Jack.  It's sweeter and peachier than I remember.  Pumpkin and canned peaches dripping with syrup and gently spiced.  I only wear it around Halloween and Thanksgiving, and over the past few years my tastes have gotten darker, but it is still a very enjoyable scent.  

Ooh, Pumpkin Pie Musk is delicious!  On me it smells like pumpkin pie filling with lots of warm spice -- cinnamon, nutmeg, dried ginger.  I don't get crust (which is good, my skin is not always on board with baked goods scents), and the musk is subtle.  A very fun autumnal foodie.  I received the decant from a generous PIFer, I'm so glad to have gotten to try this, and I'm sending it off to someone else I think would enjoy it.  

On 1/7/2021 at 11:00 PM, Madame Mew said:

WOSOTD: TAL Honey Rose v45. I love this one! It lasted for so long. It’s comforting, slightly sweet, perfect rose. I did some yoga with Adrien on YouTube. I needed to take a step back and really stretch and do some good old fashion yoga. The slow burn is real. It was day one of her 30 day thing. A few days late but I’m here for it.

I never had the chance to try any of the v45 TALs -- they sounded wonderful.  I wonderful if they'll go away now that #45 is.  The announcement from the Lab only mentioned the Trump-adjacent BPALs.  Is Adrien's day one video heavy on the downward dogs and vinyasas? If not, I might be able to handle it.

Yesterday I wore Half-Elf, which I had forgotten how much I like, and walked around Green Lake (3.5 miles).  Today I'm wearing Impressions of the Floating World, one of my favorites, walked to a nearby park a mile from my house, and played pingpong with my friend Judy for about 40 minutes, all she was up to today.  We actually had a little sunshine.  It's not supposed to rain tomorrow either.  We'll see. 

My sister and I have signed up for this virtual challenge starting January 18:  https://runwestireland.com/

502 miles, four and a half months, which means I'll have to average about four miles a day.  More if I miss days -- maybe I'll do longer jaunts on weekends.  I've never been to Ireland, though we have family roots there.  It looks so beautiful!

The Wild Audacity is exactly as advertised, a bright and cheery lime absinthe.  I love anise and dislike mint in my perfumes, and I get lime first and anise second and no appreciable mint.  Delightful but not as long-lasting as I would have hoped. 

Giant Vulva is not amazing on me, which is good since it's so hard to find.  It's nice -- beeswax always is, and I do like skin musk, and this isn't one of the honeys that goes wrong on me -- but it's not orgasmic, and it's not particularly long-lasting on my skin. 

Apparently I never reviewed Half-Elf.  And frankly, I've almost never worn it since first testing it, and I have no idea why not.  It's excellent.  If there's oudh, it's exceptionally well-behaved.  I get sandalwood polished with beeswax and a gentle musk, but it's one of those scents where it's hard to identify the notes because they meld together so well -- I would never have guessed oudh and thought there might be some benzoin.  It has that polished feel.  Classy.  Totally unisex, which is my jive.  Good throw at first, medium wear length, highly satisfactory. 

Hi, all!  My shoulder is not feeling better, but I have been trying to grab walks when it is not pouring down rain.  Today I wore Giant Vulva (I was doing a lecture on medieval marginalia and figured the artists would appreciate the sentiment even if they didn't recognize the culture) and walked to the pharmacy, then a little bit farther to try to get up to 10,000 steps but since I spent so much of the day at my desk, I'm still 1000 shy.  I may go for a half-mile walk to correct that. 

Creaking Floorboards doesn't exactly shine with my skin chemistry.  I was hoping for dark, spicy, smoky woods, which is what the imp smells like, and all I really get is dusty.  I would have loved to pick up an anise note or any of the listed clove, but my skin often obliterates the tea note, and the spices seem to have gone with it.  Sadly disappointing on me:  I wish it would smell on my arm like it does ITI. 

@Amazonia No spoilers needed. You rant all you want. No underwear — that’s just profoundly sad. Again, that child is so lucky to have you as a grandmother. 
 

Welcome back, @VetchVesper! I’m glad the weather is cooperating for you. Here not so much. It poured all day yesterday, just relentless. Today the Sun came out briefly so I headed out for a long walk, about five miles, wearing Creaking Floorboards, which is nothing special on me. It’s pouring again and supposed to continue tomorrow.

This is the least dead-leafy of the DLs I've tried this year.  It's very much about the gourmand elements, with the dead leaves relegated to the backdrop.  Warm, nutty marshmallow -- I'm not sure I would have specifically identified it as pistachio if I didn't know what I was supposed to be smelling.  This is a nice warm hug of sweet toasty marshmallow cream and pistachio on a crisp autumn day.  

This is my favorite Dead Leaves this year.  Wait, I forgot black licorice.  So tough.  But I still think this wins, and I am a total licorice slut.  It's heartbreakingly evocative, somehow the perfect scent for the year we have just been through, the moments of sweetness and connection among the tragedies.  The smoke note doesn't always work on me, but there is no harshness here at all, just autumn bonfire smoke and dead leaves.  Decent throw and wear length.  I definitely need a bottle.  

6 hours ago, DiZZysTARdust said:

Coming here because bpal has made me a red musk fiend, and i've recently discovered the joys of tobacco. And now i come here iso recs for red musk scents that are tobacco heavy. Help plz

I frimped away my imp of Le Lethe so also can't say how tobacco heavy it is.  But I'm quite fond of Great Sword of War -- mine is aged, and tobacoo and red musk balance each other nicely.  There's also Arachnina in the Carnaval Diabolique -- I haven't tried her because of the floral notes, but I think you're more tolerant of those than I am.  I'm sure there are more.  I'll pore through my notes when I have a chance.  

Today I wore Against Idleness and Mischief (GC Mad Tea Party honey & herb scent) and walked around Green Lake in the morning before the rain started.  About 3.5 miles.  Tonight I walked a few blocks just to get up to 10000 steps.  I did foul up my shoulder so I won't be doing any yoga challenges.  It's standing poses for me for the time being.  Happy New Year, witchy workout friends!!!

A generous forumite frimped me some of this in a swap, and it is glorious!  Light golden honey and poofy marshmallow, and it lasts and lasts.  Some bath oils give a blast of scent and then mellow away (Intensity); others give me daylong scent and I know immediately I was wearing them if the clothes have gone back into the drawers instead of the hamper (Hedonism).  Honey Marshmallow is definitely in the second camp.  Please, Lab, may we have more?

@Kelthara Yes, dance parties with your self definitely count as exercise!

@Amazonia I'm sorry Neko's parents aren't able to care for her right now.  She is so lucky she has you as backup.  And you're being super creative in the fitness with little ones department!

I just walked today.  Not particularly far.  It's nasty out, wind and rain.  I was testing DL, Tunisian Amber & Smoked Balsam and Sinister Groundskeeper.  Sorry to be so uninspiring!  The idea of a yoga challenge sounds great.