Lucchesa

The cigar smoke and bay rum sweetness of Frank Burns, here with oudh and vetiver, so stronger and darker on me. I'm not actually getting a lot of leather. The cigar smoke was a little too sharp on me while wet and the oudh was a little oudhy, but it dries down beautifully. Unisex trending masculine, and I actually get a little throw for a while, which is lovely. I have to say I tried this fresh and didn't review it though I kept the decant, so it must have struck me as having potential but needing a little aging. Six months later it's very nice, and I suspect that cigar smoke will only get smoother with time.

So I got ahold of 2 Black Helicopters scents recently, and neither one had been reviewed since 2010. Weird, right? Where have they been hiding? Being a west coaster, I am not familiar with many of the components of The Montauk Project. Wet, it's greenery with something that has a mint-like edge to it. Fortunately, the mintiness recedes quickly on me. In drydown, this is absolutely lovely. Something pleasantly floral comes out -- sunflower? creeper? This seems more of a deciduous than an evergreen forest to me; the pine and cypress are very much in the background. It's a soft and sweet forest floor bathed in dappled sunlight; on my skin, it leans towards the feminine end of unisex. I think Arkham is a good comparison if this one is too hard to track down.

The Marquis is my favorite Neverwhere character too, and I am in love with his scent as well. First I get a generous dose of bay rum and leather, gorgeous, male, a cozy bulwark against the world. I get some throw too, which is unusual with my chemistry. As it dries down I start to appreciate the wool, which was probably contributing to that snuggly feeling -- the leather and wool reminiscent of Adam -- and the woods. I'm not sure I ever really make out opium tar, but there is a subtle smokiness here as well as a definite sweetness, which I'd attribute to the rum. Add it all together and it's just magical. This works much better on me than the bay rum of Shadow from American Gods. Total win and going on the big bottle list.

Pepper is just as lovely and fun as I hoped it would be. I don't do straight florals, and I was worried about the tuberose, but it's a small enough percentage of this scent that it's not causing me grief. This is not a pure floral. It's a spicy, green, citrusy, lightly honeyed floral, with enough different flowers that it's hard to pick out rose or gardenia or, fortunately, tuberose. It feels like wildflowers in a meadow on a bright sunny day, but with that little punch of pepper and ginger -- the prickly feeling of lying in the grass, maybe. I don't really get any pine resin. I get a little throw when wet and about average wear length for my skin. So delighted I got to try this!

All in the Golden Afternoon started out really light on me, and more floral than fruity. I still can't tell you which flowers they were. I didn't peek at the notes when testing, and I pretty much failed to identify anything except amber and maybe general citrus. I kind of expected this blend to disappear right away, like Cheshire Cat and many another citrus do on me, but it lasted and lasted. Bright, cheerful, yes, fizzy, and I would have guessed there was a light musk in here as well. Very nice!

Ahathoor is really nice on me. At first it was light, kind of warm and dry, maybe some amber. Then it morphed into something deeper which I'm pretty sure included frankincense. Definitely unisex. I'm not crying that it's gone, but I am really glad I got to try it.

The Book from ParaNorman has been mentioned, but there's also The Book, a Fleurette's Purple Snails 2016 Luper. Brown leather, tonka, vanilla bourbon tar, and a thin whiff of rose And did Scholar's Tower get a mention? Gleaming amber spheres, polished cedar and mahogany, sweet parchment, inks of frankincense ash, and soft plumes of incense I love this category of scents, but they nearly all get swallowed up immediately on my skin; Buggre All This Bible barely bothered to put in an appearance. I wanted to love it so much!

I am a total sucker for any medieval or Renaissance scents, despite the fact that they don't always work on me (I wanted to like Bess so much that I ignored the fact that my skin was turning it into Dimetapp). I love the inspiration for Phantom Time Hypothesis, and luckily it is beautiful on me. Rosewater, ambergris, a hint of citrus, a breath of musk -- oh, so lovely, so cooling for the hot spell we're having right now. Rose doesn't always work on me, but this feels more like rosewater, which is better on me. I see that damask rose is also the rose in Maiden, which is a favorite. I wonder which rose is in Alice? There are no sharp edges to this scent (the benefits of eight years of aging, perhaps); I get nothing medicinal from it. If you have an unloved bottle at the back of your BPAL drawer, you might want to pull it out and see how it's aged for you. I find it very feminine, light but not vanishing (it held up very well during yoga today), evocative of another time yet utterly contemporary. I'm so delighted to have gotten to try this one!

In His Hands was a frimp, and I wouldn't necessarily have chosen it; while I'm learning to love vetiver, I still shy away from it as the first ingredient. The imp had dark brown globules, like a cacao blend, which stained my wrist; in fact, the brown spots were still visible after a shower, so take care in applying. When I put it on, I couldn't really smell much -- strange for such powerful ingredients -- so I applied a little more. But In His Hands is one of those BPALs that take their own sweet time becoming what they're going to be. I kind of forgot it was there, and half an hour or so later was greeted by this dark, sultry, syrupy, smoky scent that was to die for. The clove emerged even later, and I never really picked out the leather, but it is gloriously sexy. Gender neutral trending masculine, awesome of course for those of us without a Y chromosome who like such scents. And despite the slow start, it smolders for a long time and was still lingering on my wrist this morning after yesterday evening's application. This is the best kind of frimp experience -- out of my comfort zone, into sheer enjoyment.

Ugh, I'm really regretting putting this one on my skin. Orc on me is like fresh, sweet cucumber and zucchini salad over a base of charred noodles. The leather is coming out a bit as it dries down, but I have a hard time imagining it will salvage this into anything wearable for me. Frankly, my hopes were not high, though from a curiosity standpoint I'm quite glad to have gotten to try this one (frimp from a kind forumite!). ETA OK, within an hour Orc had mellowed to a very pleasant kind of smoky green leather. The harsh, acrid quality of the vetiver was gone as was any identifiable zucchini smell. In this phase, which lasts a good long time, it reminds me of something like Lindworm. So if you can muscle through the opening, the dry phase is quite lovely.

Disrespect for Established Authority is actually pretty straitlaced on me. Light leather, pale tobacco, a little smoky, a little sweet, though I'm not really getting a lot of vanilla. It wears very close to the skin -- and is very pleasant, don't get me wrong -- but it doesn't last long on me at all.

Next May I will be doing a lecture as Romaine Brooks, a cross-dressing lesbian artist of the 1920s who painted portraits which are restricted almost entirely to shades of gray. This may be her scent. White lavender. Gray patchouli and ambrette seed. Black vetiver. Elegant, unisex, utterly refined. Aloof, classical, secure in its own superiority. The rum and tobacco suggest the smoky, idea-filled salons of Left Bank intellectuals; the lavender and vetiver combined suggest femininity without sweetness. So glad to have gotten to try this one!

If you're looking for a unisex amber blend, L'Idole might fit the bill nicely. On me L'Idole is primarily an amber and juniper scent, with a little sage thrown in. I don't get much leather, just a whisper of cardamom, and I nearly never perceive the Lab's pepper note. This is more forest than gin joint, and it dries down into a very soft, cuddly scent, warm amber balancing cool juniper . Very nice!

2017 Illustrated Woman -- I can't believe I haven't reviewed this. I put it on today because I'm going to be hiking later, and I was puzzled that I couldn't smell much at first, because this is one of my favorites. It just comes alive on my skin, though. Two hours later, it's freaking gorgeous. Pine and honey and vanilla, a little musky, with the tobacco and patch very subdued. If you like Elf (which I also adore), this may be excellent on you as well. Illustrated Woman is that little black dress you can wear to work under a blazer and then put on the strappy stillettos and wear out for cocktails with a new flame. It's wholesome yet sexy, and it's a blend I just feel good in.

I'm not sure what year this is, but it's an Ajevie decant, so I'm guessing 2016. Terebinth is a big pine note, and wet it comes on really strong in association with the pitch. The clove starts to assert itself in drydown, and the pine softens considerably, as it always does on me, and then it's a lovely dark forest scent with some clove, which adds an almost fairy tale quality to the scent. An absolutely lovely outdoorsy unisex blend, though the wear length is only a couple of hours on me.

The Drunk Astronomers was a longshot for me. Red musk stomps all over everything on my skin, but I've had good luck with blood musk. Ditto jasmine, but I was hoping jasmine tea might be better behaved. Amber is almost always good. Meanly, the two problematic notes gang up on me. And as with Juliamon, the problem is the opening. It's a very nice jasmine, not an indolic one, but it combines with the blood musk to create a powerfully cloying effect on me (I agree with Little Bird that an unlisted jot of dragon's blood resin may be at fault here). It goes beautifully with the story, actually, but it scares me, and of course it has killer throw. 20-30 minutes later it has all settled down into a jasmine sweetened by amber with musky undertones. I don't get much tea, but tea notes are often faint or fugitive on me. In this phase I can appreciate its beauty, though it is still far too jasmine-dominated for my taste.

Harlequin and Columbine was not on my radar at all and was frimped to me by someone who was clearly reading my notes and wishlist carefully. It is just lovely on me. I tried it blind and the blend it reminded me of most was Fate's Jaster from the recent Fool series. Both of them have redcurrant and lemon peel, and there's certainly some vanilla in the fool's buttercream. And both of these scents are very smile-inducing to me. Pomegranate is not a reliable note on me, but here it either fades fast or just gets subsumed in the redcurrant. I get tart red fruit with bright sugary lemon and vanilla. The woodsy notes are there, but definitely in the background. I wasn't able to pick out any mandarin. This is upbeat and lovely, and the woods and sage, though they are not prominent on me at all, make it perhaps a more interesting scent than Fate's Jester (not necessarily better, but deeper, less simple and sunny). Definitely a keeper!

Hagsgate went on sharp and a little sour, so I didn't have high hopes for it. But ten minutes later I was walking the dog and sniffed my wrist and wow. It had blossomed into something absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't remember what all was in it, and now that I look at the notes, I'm not surprised. Cucumber definitely, but I would never have pegged eggplant or artichoke. But garden greenery mixed with the lovely BPAL soil note. I never got vetiver at all, so if that's your sticking point, I think you're safe here. The patchouli seems to blend with the soil as a supporting player. I swapped for this because I was intrigued by it, but it turns out to be a surprise hit for me.

This is mainly a leather blend on me with sandalwood backing it up. Champaca sometimes amps to the point where it's nauseous on me, but it's just sort of a light incense here, very much subdued. And sadly I don't get any coconut at all. It's actually very nice to have a leather blend this light and pretty; it is perfectly unisex and would be great on anyone but might be easier to wear for women who are less comfortable with the masculine blends. Prosperous Flowers is my number one shunga leather love, but this one is lovely too, and I will enjoy my decant.

VetchVesper thought I would like Comparison of Celebrated Beauties, and she was right. Almond blossom is quickly becoming one of my favorite florals, and it seems to last better than just the almond note on me. Wet, I get lovely vanilla-almond-cream florals. I'm not that familiar with the mimosa note -- it seems light and pretty. Comparison doesn't morph a lot on me, and it sticks around a really decent amount of time -- still present, might start think about reapplying soon, at about 4 hours, when most shungas are happy memories on me. And it held up beautifully through yoga class. Love!

Citrusy tropical flowers. I get the comparisons to Shanghai and Embalming Fluid, but whereas the latter went cleaning fluid on me (which is what I predicted for Ehecatl when I smelled it in the imp) and the formed lasted about 38 seconds, Ehecatl has some staying power, and the lime and matcha keep it out of Lemon Pledge territory. The musk is a little sharp, in keeping with this bright summery scent.

Testing blind, I got rose, definitely rose, a lot of rose, and maybe some violet, which I think now may have been the orris, and Other Florals. I couldn't tell what the Other Florals were -- I would not have identified ylang ylang, which is often a bad actor on my skin, nor sweet pea, which is usually good. I was pretty sure there was something else in there, but it didn't scream myrrh to me. Erato definitely becomes its own thing, in which it's not easy to pick out the individual components. It has decent wear length, too. Rose is not my best note, so I'll be passing on this imp, but I'm delighted I got to try it.

Creamy, sweet, fruity-floral dragon's blood resin. If you are not a lover of dragon's blood, Dragon's Bone® is not the scent that is going to make you change your mind. It seems more floral than Dragon's Milk, which to my tastes is not an improvement, so despite the wonderful name, I'll be passing this along to someone who may enjoy it more.

I really love Dragon's Milk, but I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that I don't really love dragon's blood resin on me. It has a cloying edge to it, fruity and floral both at once, and tends to take over on my skin. In Dragon's Bone, it takes about an hour for any woods to come through. I don't get the orris at all. The blondewood seems particularly nice, almost lemony, and I always love sandalwood, and it's lovely when those notes are in balance with the dragon's blood. But then the DBR reasserts itself and begins to dominate again. There are so many BPAL notes I unequivocally adore; dragon's blood I'm ambivalent about, and so I should pass its blends on to those who will love them more.

I love blackberries. Blackberry pie may just be my favorite food. I keep looking for the perfect BPAL blackberry. Maybe I have to reconcile myself to the fact that blackberry is never going to work on me. Aremata-Popoa sounds like a freaking delicious cocktail, but it's a disaster when it hits my skin. Artificial berry booze. Like Frankenberry cereal doused with rum. And no ouzo -- I really like anise, too! Drydown is more pleasant, but I can't get past the wet phase.