Lucky #20

[Ina Garten Davita]

What a surprise!

 

There is no description of this. From the name, I'm sure it's supposed to bring the wearer lots of good luck. Someone in the know, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

First Impression: The familiar sharp soapy voodoo oil smell in the bottle.

 

Second Impression: Jasmine, heady and dark. Reminds me of Juju at first. On the long drydown it smells dark and smoky.

 

Final Analysis: I applied just a dab of this from the cap, it's quite potent. I immediately got a real nice mood lift and I already was in a great mood. I'm so thrilled to have gotten to try this.

[Macha]

I should start out by mentioning that my experience with voodoo (and naturally, voodoo oils) is pretty much limited to what I've researched since discovering BPAL. So experience = 0. Additionally it seems that each practitioner has their own particular recipe, their own take on the formula, and that these don't always agree. Also, there's a significant amount of competition amongst practioners to protect their secret recipes. So...it doesn't seem likely I'm ever going to know exactly what is in this, particularly since it seems like this is actually a proprietary recipe that Beth has created herself (i.e. I haven't been able to find a "Lucky #20" for sale anywhere else, although the #20 is a number that pops up in a number of places that sell, or claim to sell, traditional voodoo recipes.)

 

Well, okay then. I'm going to depart from my normal format for this oil and simply say that it smells like an overwhelmingly strong tuberose to me (I didn't get jasmine at all, but my sense of smell is still in training), with an herby/green/peppery undertone, and has significant throw. I had to be very, very careful not to put on too much, which would be an instant invitation to floral headache city. It lasted about 2 hours on my skin, before fading to something I have to press nose to skin to smell at all.

 

Beautiful? err...Yes? Sort of? Interesting, in any event. It's a thick, syrupy fragrance that refuses to be ignored. It's VERY green underneath in a way that makes me think of geraniums. It is everything good and everything bad in gardenia/tuberose scents. If you want to use this as a perfume oil and you don't like the smell of gardenia or tuberose, this is not for you. In fact, you should run screaming, or keep it only for ceremonial uses. I've haven't played with using it as a room scent, but I don't doubt it's just as potent.

 

But what the bloody hell is IN it? I find I'm fascinated by this....I'll post back if I find anything out.

[helarctos]

To me, Lucky #20 smells strongly of honeysuckle, and nothing but.

 

I'm not sure about its effects yet. After decanting an imp I owed to a swapper, I applied to myself the remains from my dropper, and immediately dropped a whole baggie full of empty imps on the floor. No harm done, but it seems even Twilight Alchemy Lab can't counter my inner klutz.

[shelldoo]

it is some kind of spring type flower, possibly hyacith or honeysuckle something sweet, and strong. if u like strong spring florals this is it

[mmcfa2]

green and cheerful! I smell the same note in many of the voodoo blends that makes me think of celery or coriander but in this blend it is perfect. It's a huge mood lifter, I was amazed at how bright I felt getting wisps of this. I'm glad it has throw cause the throw is what I really love, if I get too close to my wrist I don't like it quite as much. I do get the reference to tuberose and gardenia and maybe magnolia. This is great!

 

Thanks again kmadsen for the chance at this one, it will be a real power scent for me! I can think of no better scent for days when I need an extra dose of confidence or well, luck!

[Lina]

I got this fresh (made 6/10), hand labled, brown bottle of Lucky #20 as part of a swap. This will be primarily a working (versus wearing) oil. Of course I cannot help it and I am wearing it today.

 

Jasmine, lavender, and herbal. This is a bright green scent and I get flashes of pink. Powdery, smokey, heady and strong. I feel intoxicated (but that could be the margaritas I drank last night) and sleepy.

[yeahbutnobut]

Lucky #20

 

In the imp: hmm. A mix of light soapy florals and something woody? Possibly gardenia in there-it reminds me of the dry stage of Hanging Gardens, but without the fruit.

Wet on skin: yup, this has that rough, scrubby wood note from HG, along with the gardenia. It's not very pleasant…it's quite hot and gritty, a bit spicy.

Dry on skin: the floral note returns again. It's a nice, if somewhat soapy, smell, but it's less soapy than it was when wet. There may be some jasmine here as well. That rough, hot note is still there though, I'm not so keen on it, but I think I'm getting used to it, and it's fading, leaving a nice gardenia/jasmine scent in it's wake.

After a while: soapy white florals-jasmine, gardenia and maybe honeysuckle or lily, with a slight woody/herbal bite. It's quite nice now. There's something about this that reminds me of Beltane. As time passes, the flowers become quite powdery.

After many hours, I get a smell that is faint and yet is slightly...animalistic? it's not musk though, but it has a quality that seems a bit animalistic, or maybe my skin is being weird? Or could it be that infamous note...civet???????? I've not smelt it before but it fits people's descriptions of what it smells like. It's not very strong though, so it's bearable.

Verdict: this is not something I'd really wear as perfume, but I could wear it for magical purposes to bring luck. The smell was a bit off putting at first, with a rough, harsh smell that was quite grating and dissonant, and some florals, but then the florals become stronger and the smell gets much nicer-a soft scent of white flowers, much more pleasant and wearable-before turning slightly animalic on my skin after about 5 hours. Hopefully this oil will bring some good luck my way!

Edited June 25, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[cindyrella]

In the bottle: I smell jasmine, which I find a bit pee-like

 

On me: Soapy jamine, with something heavy, sweet underneath. It made me nauseus (sp?) like Nocturne did, so I'm wondering if there are similar notes and I had to wash it off after 10 minutes.

 

No, this isn't for me

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Whoa, a tad sharp on the nose.

 

Just On: Hmmm something sweet.

 

An hour or two later: Oh yeah, that's something sweet just hanging around the edges.

 

Around 6 hours: Gone.

 

12 hours: Still gone.

 

Overall: NO idea what's in it, and it's not exactly a perfume blend, but I can see using it in ritual.

 

After reading other reviews: Apparently I'm not the only one with no clue on notes in this.

[~AmusedMuse~]

My Impression:Jasmine with lavender and some other floral boquet, but with a bottom note of something woodsy and more, for lack of a better word, staying ...

[wickedgoddess]

Origin - part of the TAL Circular Swap

 

Wet - Jasmine and possibly lavendar. This is a TAL I would actually consider wearing for the scent alone.

 

Dry - The same. This reminds me a bit of The Moon, but not as complex. The Moon is one of my favorites, so that's a good thing. There's a bit of something else in here, I think it's that rooty smell that is in many of the voodoo blends, but it also could be violets, because violets smell like ick to me. Either way, it's not strong enough to effect my enjoyment.

 

I wore this doing errands today. I went to Sav-on to buy some more mailers and they were sold out. So I went to Target where we ran into my son's teacher, who is changing schools, so we thought we would never see her again. So yeah, luck of the minor kind, but still luck!

[quimerula]

I get a burnt and dry smell from this one.

 

I don't know if it's spicy or floral, but it's a very strong scent indeed.

I can smell a hint of jasmine, but I can't pick up other notes.

 

As for how it works... I'll edit this post later.

[angelblue]

ok. this one is a bit weirder than other blends i've gotten.

 

wet-violets. -very strong- violets. and something slightly bitter in the background.

 

dry- sugared violets. still has that slight bitterness in the background and something almost..wood like creeping forward.

 

as it fades, it starts smelling like fresh grass. but it's fading fast. another 15 minutes and it'll be completely gone. as for the magical purposes...we'll see

Edited August 8, 2005 by angelblue

[Penance]

Origin:

 

I was gifted with an imp of this by the ever generous and wonderful jj_j.

 

Scent impressions:

 

Whoo-wee is that a strong floral. Intense and ever-so-slightly soapy with a heady edge that's causing an immediate nagging headache (I can't tolerate a lot of florals for some reason, but - same as with Has No Hanna - I'm willing to tolerate it if it means my luck is improved). I'm terrible with floral notes, but my guess is gardenia since it smells very similar to my mom's favorite gardenia lotion. I'm definitely not a floral fan, so this doesn't appeal to me scent-wise, but I'm not wearing it for the scent, so I guess it doesn't really matter, although it's always wonderful when something works and smells good.

 

Effectiveness:

 

Well, I've now officially had two oils with a purpose (as opposed to just plain perfume oils) backfire on me, for lack of a better word. In much the same way that Come To Me is apparently Get Away From Me on me, Lucky #20 would probably be more aptly named Unlucky #20 on me.

 

I've had a run of bad luck starting from about 5 minutes after I applied Lucky #20 (to the back of my neck, so I wouldn't have to smell it - the same thing I do with Has No Hanna) and continuing through the entire day so far. I'm not going to get into the details because they piss me off and I'm in a bad enough mood, but suffice to say that I'm disappointed.

 

I don't know why certain Voodoo/TAL oils hate me, but it's not simply a matter of not working...it's more like creating the exact opposite of the effect I was hoping for.

 

The verdict:

 

I'm going to give Lucky #20 one more try on another day before I give up on it. I'm hoping it's coincidence that I've had a horrid day and that even Lucky #20 couldn't counteract it, but I seriously doubt that's the case.

Edited November 4, 2005 by Penance

[gingersnapp]

Wow, this is STRONG! I'm pretty sure it's lotus on me, but not a pure lotus. I can't tell what else is in here, but it's kind of soapy but with a little touch of dryness / mustiness.

 

I'm still waiting to find out the results of the application. But I'm hopeful. And nothing bad has happened to me yet.

[emzebel]

Part of the TAL Circular Swap.

 

I tried a tiny but of this, hoping as I did so for a bit of luck.

 

Unfortunately, this is a blend that I had to wash off right away, as whatever the heavy soapy flower note is (and I leave that to those of you that can actually sniff it to debate), it made my brain hurt.

[quikslvr]

Honeysuckle? Syrupy, which darkens. It's a little--unnerving-smelling. Definitely not a perfume oil, rather being more of a workhorse, I would think. Very floral, but it seems to fade fast (or I just get immune to it fast).

 

The only effect I noticed was that my commute downtown and then home around 5:30 was a breeze (no red lights, I don't think), despite me thinking it would be a bear.

[Northernminx]

Jasmine and maybe some violet, this was a dark and potent floral. I didn't find myself particularly any luckier using this, but I also don't always know how to use these and so my implementation is nebulous at best. (It's also not been a good month to judge luck in any form.) Lovely to sniff though

[dirtytrip]

I was sorry to read that Penance had such a run of bad luck after using this oil! I have to say that this wasn't the case with me. I wore it all day and as far as I could tell, nothing unusually lucky or unlucky happened, that is, until I got off work. I went to pick up my dinner, a large cheese pizza, and they gave it to me! I definitely hold the oil responsible

[Blood onmy hands]

Lucky #20 frightened me a bit in the tiny decant vial that I got it in. At first sniff it was like getting beaten over the head with an overpowering floral bouquet. Sticky sweet and FLORAL. A tiny dab on me and this instantly turned into heavy jasmine with a drydown of jasmine and herbal soap.

 

Soapy jasmine. Thankfully this fades and isn't very overpowering or noticeable on me after about 15 minutes.

Edited August 29, 2012 by Little Bird

[starrykitten]

Lucky #20 smells a lot like The Caterpillar to me (which I'd also compare to Lush's Tramp shower gel...yum!). It's green with some jasmine and incense, not too grassy...

 

I pulled this out when my computer died, hoping my computer would be revived. No such miracles (apparently perfume can't fix a motherboard!) but that day I did get an email accepting some of my poems for publication.

[zankoku_zen]

Lucky #20 definitely has a strong herbal jasmine smell to it. Definitely jasmine, and then something dark and rooty underneath.

 

As for effects, so far neither negative nor positive. I am currently editing a grant at the moment, so its hard to say! If it helps out in that avenue, I will edit this post and let you know.