Sara Pezzini

[jencallisto]

A hint of leather and an understated vintage musk layered over the scent of lightly perspiring, honey-dusted skin.

In the decant: Delicate, musky honey.
Fresh on the skin: Sweet, light, delicate musk.
5 minutes in: Soft, sweet, powder with light honey-musk veil, plus something fresh that is almost citrusy. I'm kind of shocked at how much I like this so far.
8 minutes in: Whoa, <i>there's</i> the leather. Still just at the edge of the scent, but I'm not sure I'm glad it showed up.
15 minutes in: Hi, leather. I know you're here to stay, but could you back off a little, please? Overall, I like how soft and feminine this scent is, while still being totally badass and sexy. The leather keeps almost getting in the way, though.
20 minutes in: I'm kind of loving really this. Huh.
30 minutes in: Subtle leather, honey musk all warm and soft and fuzzy, delicate powder. Fairly clean and light. Very well-blended.
40 minutes in: There's a sort of soapy leather thing happening, and it's so subtly different, I'm not even sure it <i>is</i> different. If that aspects keeps increasing, though, I'm not sure I'm going to like it.
1 hour in: Yeah, it really has gone a little overboard on the clean for me... and yet, I am still more inclined to like it than not.
1.5 hours in: Basically it's become a sort of light, clean sweat scent, which doesn't exactly _sound_ appealing, but it <i>is</i>.
2 hours in: Dear self: you are an idiot. Why, <i>why</i> didn't you get yourself a decent of this when you had the chance? Though I think it might actually be bottle-worthy, anyway. A clean scent I actually like!
3 hours in: Powdery honeyed musk, warm and soft. Probably stable at this point.
12 hours in: Sweet, fuzzy laundry. Not my favorite scent, but not horrific.
18 hours in: Still lingering just the tiniest bit.

Verdict: Hrm. I do like this, but I am afraid that in other moods it would make me recoil. And yet, I enjoyed it a surprising amount. I may need a decant to go with my decant of Witchblade.

One word: Clean.

[Victory]

BPAL leather is a hit-or-miss note on me. It can be fantastic, and it can smell as dry and desiccated as bleached cow skulls in the desert. I was really happy therefore, to find that Sara Pezzini's leather works wonderfully on me, since that's all I smell on my skin. If you've smelled the leather note Villainess uses, it reminded me of that. Honey is my wonder note, fixing everything for me, so I wonder if even though I can't smell it, the honey worked its magic on Sara's leather. As much as I'm delighted that this leather works, and it might be nice to layer with other perfumes, I'm not going to cough up that much money for a single note.

[grnwoodtree]

Sara Pezzini - played by Yancy Butler from the TV series - is one of my all-time heroes and role models - that may seem hokey, but I dont care.

 

I was shocked and thrilled when BPAL announced they were making these (ALTHO I firmly believe they MUST make a Nottingham, and I have the scent notes for them too!)

 

Sara is harsh, rich, musky, sweaty, leathery, and sweet, just like the character. She is honey, but with that tangy scent of LOTS of sweat that's soaked whatever is being worn. It's what I think of as a man-ish femininity, and suits me perfectly - its also a scent I forced myself to love - and it ended up growing on me. Much like her prickly character, first impressions make you think its too harsh, too strong. However, after resting, and after more exposure and hanging out together, it becomes like a second skin to me.

 

Thanks to the makers for this one. One of the best interpretations I could have imagined.

[whisperstilled]

In imp: Odd but interesting. Musk, something like cherry, honey, and leather. Off to a good start.

 

Wet: How odd. There is something distinctly citrusy here, but based on the notes I can't imagine what it would be.

 

Dry: Disappointing indeed! Faint honey, a brush of musk, and the tiniest touch of chemical leather. No oomph, no pizazz, no strong woman badassery. 2/5

[Lorelai1945]

Hmm. In the imp this is a lot of skin musky with a little honey- it reminds me of what I remember Vasilissa smelling like. On the skin, it almost immediately starts to morph into something soapy- then strong, chemically leather. It's a strong, cold leathery, metal chemical smell. It softens a bit, and then begins to remind me of dirty asphalt snow. I've never smelled any Bpal quite like this. I really don't like it, and I'd never be able to wear it, but it's so strange that I keep smelling my wrist. I get zero honey or any sweetness of any kind on my skin.

[plainjean]

Ever since I realized that leather worked really well on me, I've been seeking out leather blends. Some haven't been so great, but Sara Pezzini? I really, really love Sara Pezzini. In the vial it's smoky honey and soft, worn leather. On the skin, it's very much the same, and the honey doesn't go rancid, which is awesome. It definitely has a very vintage feel to it, but not in an "old" sort of way. It's a clean scent, but a..dirty clean. That doesn't really make sense, but that's the only way I can think of to describe it. Anyway, yes. I love it and will most definitely be getting a bottle at some point.

 

ETA: After a day of wearing Sara Pezzini: It's barely there anymore, but occasionally I do get wafts of the most beautiful, honeyed skin scent.

Edited October 6, 2010 by plainjean

[Pika]

This has a touch of metal along with the leather on me! Sweet flowers and a little musky. Lasted a few hours before fading, but really nice while it was on! I especially liked it strong and wet at the beginning.

[grrrlennyl]

Sara Pezzini

 

On: Tons and tons of honey with a hint of leather.

1.5 hours in: I'm getting a background of wood with something dusty and honeylike in front.

2.5 hours in: Honey with a slightly plasticky leather note.

3.5 hours in: Honey, but still an odd leather note closer to the skin.

Overall: This definitely has a lot of throw. It's just not great on me.

 

Update: I slept with this on and, over 14 hours after applying it, I'm still getting a nice bit of musky honey. Very pretty and definitely one of the most long-lasting oils I've tried.

Edited January 15, 2011 by Shollin
Removed Lab description

[filigree_shadow]

Up close, it's sweet and musky with leather, but from a distance all I can smell is sleek leather. BPAL's leather notes are pretty much all fabulous -- so far I don't think I've found one that didn't work on me -- which makes it problematic narrowing down which ones I want to keep. They all smell good. I really like this musky smooth one. But do I like it more than my other leather perfumes?

 

Nanny Ashtoreth knocked my socks off, and this one isn't quite doing that, although I am enjoying it. I wonder how many leather perfumes one person should reasonably have. I feel like two should be enough. So I guess I won't keep this one. I feel kind of sad letting it go, though.

[calivianya]

Sara Pezzini is rather delicious on my skin. I can quite clearly smell the musk and leather, with a little bit of honey sweetening it up. This starts to turn a little powdery as it dries, but it's powdery in a good way. This really does smell like (clean) sweaty skin and leather! It is a very evocative blend to me and I like it. I'm starting to really stock up on leather blends, so I'm not sure if I need it, but it is beautiful.

 

Once fully dry, the leather really takes over. This is almost pure leather at this point. I think I will try it in a scent locket to preserve the musk and honey.

Edited February 27, 2011 by calivianya

[damonkitty]

This is so yummy. It has my favorite kind of leather in it. The leather that makes me hoard bottles of blends that have it as a note in it . It is a sweet blend due to the honey note. It could really border on a foodie blend since the honey sweetens it so much. I like blends like this that have only a few notes in them (especially when the notes are leather, honey, and musk). It is simply beautiful!

[lunaticana]

I think it is that white leather of the White Rider I love so much, so good, so soft and so dangerously sexy

[revinn]

I'm conflicted on this one.

 

I put it on, and I smell a sweet, dusty smell with a hint of leather. It's lovely, fresh and clean (which I usually don't like!) and subtle. Definitely a skin scent.

 

Then I asked two of my friends to smell it, and they BOTH told me that it smells like a really clean bathroom! "No, it's a good thing! That's a good smell!"

 

Well maybe it is, but I don't want my perfume to evoke a clean bathroom! Sigh. At least I love it, and can enjoy it at home. If only my skin didn't eat most of the leather and amp honey, this may have gone more smoothly.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Almost straight up leather. A touch of musk.

 

On skin, wet: Light musk and a bit of honey, with the leather being more of an undertone.

 

On skin, dry: The leather becomes dominant again, and the honey totally vanishes. I don't know if it's the musk, but something now smells very clean, like skin but not "lightly perspiring," more like "fresh out of the shower."

 

After an hour: Leather and that clean smell. I actually like this a lot, even though the leather/honey mix I hoped for didn't last. I'm not sure I like it enough to buy a bottle, but I'll think about it.

[saturniia]

Wore Sara Pezzini earlier today; my dad thought it was a car air freshener (we were all going to the same place). I still love, love, love SP, because it reminds me of my grandparents, but it's probably a "to be used lightly" scent, rather than a "layer it on" scent, out of consideration of others.

 

Average impressions:

 

Wet, on skin: leather's usually the strongest note. The longer it's in the bottle before I put it on, the more it gets this sweet smell. It's not quite fruity, but for some reason I think apples. Weird.

 

Dry-down: Leather stays prominent for a while, but the honey sticks better. I don't know if I can tell musk from my normal, lived-in skin, but the smell becomes more "human" and less "grandparents' house" as it dries.

[brilliantcat]

I'm addicted to leather and from the whiff I get in the imp, we're going to get along just fiiiiiine. On me, the leather is soft and suede-y with a touch of sharpness (not sure what from) and musky honey. It's quite a feminine leather without being overpoweringly floral. This gets a hearty "LIKE" from me

[hexnut]

(spoiler: I LOVE THIS!)


Sampled and purchased at March 2013 Will Call, formally tested for this review, and worn often betweentimes.

In Vitro Sweet and honey-like, with a slight tang.

Wet Sweet honey, less sharp than in the bottle. I assumed the musk was smoothing the scent.

Drying Predominantly honey plus some other source of sweetness, but a slight edge appeared and developed into relatively mild leather that both contrasted with and complimented the honey. There was little to no change over a long fadeout.

This was very skin-close the first time I tried it, but fortunately I persisted in huffing the test spot and ultimately bought a bottle. Which is no mean feat considering that Sara was competing with Crowley at the same Will Call. I have never worn a BPAL scent that behaved so beautifully on my skin, and it's wonderful on clothing too. Honey, leather, and musk sounds simple enough but all together Sara Pezzini is more than the sum of its parts - sophisticated but not complicated, lively during the day yet comforting enough for bedtime. I want my skin to smell like this forever.


100

[Teaker]

A cool leather scent with a hint of honey. Quite nice when wet, it reminds me quite a bit of Wanda, but warmer and softer. It's definitely leather-dominant. Once it dries it turns to play-doh, drat.

[Aviatrix]

This is…..pure leather on me. I get none of the other notes at all. *sadface*

Yeah, not really my cup of tea, to be honest. The leather really drowns out any nuance in it.

[LizziesLuck]

Leather is so iffy on me. But I adore must, and honey, and I do like leather in some things, so giving it a go!

 

Wet: Blarg! Pure chemically leather. It's settling quickly though, and I can smell the honey coming through. Still a lot of leather.

 

 

 

Dry: Leather. Really really nice leather. Like, if you're a leather lover, get you some of this, asap. The musk and honey are subtle hints, but this is for sure a leather scent. It's kind of sexy, but it's just not me. I find very few leather scents I feel comfortable wearing, and I don't think this is one of them.