March 1: Deathly Pride -- Starting the month with a Naughty result from an Inquisition. For some reason, when this was live, I completely overlooked it, even though it is composed entirely of things I like a lot. Later, I got a decant and realized my mistake. Now I have one and a half bottles. ^__^

 

March 2: Mitzvah -- And ending my BPTP bottle week with a Nice perfume. This was a legend I was pretty sure I'd never get to sample as well, but I found it in a blog sale a few years ago along with my biggest discontinued GC lemming, Empyreal Mist. It's simple, sweet, and charming. I feel like a lot of these ancient perfumes have lost their mystique in the wave of newer perfumes that share similar notes or vibes, but I've been a fan long enough that I still feel that little thrill of "Omg, I have this" about them. 

 

March 3: Irrelevant and Disturbing Surreal Crawdad Dream '08 -- I decided to poke into the Liliths drawer of my decant collection (I keep my LE decants in an old Vosges chocolate advent calendar that has perfectly decant-sized drawers) for the next nine days or so, and I'm starting with this one, which is a sort of pre-Lilith-Lilith. It's the scent that Beth released when she was pregnant with her, and it's definitely a bit of an oddball perfume, as you might expect. Since then, I've often wished I'd bought a bottle, but at the time my finances were much less consistent and I *really* didn't know how I felt about the notes. It's pretty nice, though red currant is not great on me and it's pretty strong to my nose. ^^;;;;;

 

March 4: Cake Smash '09 -- I always expect to like this one more than I do. I've had the decant since '09 and every so often I sniff it because it smells really good in the vial, but on my skin the cupcake almost disappears under the Dorian/Doc Constantine/Snake Oil. It's not bad, by any means, but it isn't great on me, either. Textbook 'keep the decant, don't need a bottle' situation for me.

 

March 5: Lilith's Feel Better Flowers '13 -- This is a great bedtime scent. However, I have quite a few of those (one of my all-time faves is Gladdener of All Hearts, with which this shares a few notes, and that one reads far less soapy on me), so I never felt compelled to buy a bottle, but the name and story are so cute that I never gave up the decant, either. ^_^; 

 

March 6: A Very Pink Surprise Cake '14 -- So! Very! Pink! Quite accurate to the smell of strawberry-ish-flavored cake. It does remind me just a touch of Golletes, but that one is drier and I like it more, hence why I never bottled this one.

 

March 7: A Vast Similitude Interlocks All '15 -- ...Wow, mixed feelings about this one. I like aquatics, but usually darker, grittier ones with lots of seaweed, kelp, or brine. My main exception to this is Selkie, which is light and watery and full of greenery. This is neither of those. It's very bright and salty and beachy, but with a distinctly perfume note from the amber. It's not awful, but it's a very not-me perfume, and I can't imagine actually wearing it out.

 

March 8: Heel '16 -- In a turnabout, this is mostly things I don't usually like (jasmine and grass), with only one note I'm okay with (honeysuckle), but I like it pretty well. This is another from the "I don't remember testing this before" file. I don't even remember buying it, but I'm happy I did. ETA: well, it vanished within two hours. So, er...

March 8b: A Vigilant Eye At Heaven's Center '20 -- When I first tried this I didn't like it at all, but after chilling in my new decants box for a few months, it's much nicer. It's still a mass of green with a slightly funky undertone, but the mint is much brighter and it feels mellower.

 

March 9: Rose Quartz Bedroom '20 -- Well, it does feel very translucent and pink. The white musk is pretty strong here, giving it a very clean, laundry-esque quality. Again, not bad, I'm not feeling the urge to wash it off or anything, but not very me-appropriate.

 

March 10: Sentence First, Verdict Afterwards '20 -- Last one for this theme for now. ;} Finishing it off with a bouquet of very woody & clove-y tea roses. It's pleasant, though tea roses are my least favorite kind and I wish the red or white were a bit stronger to my nose. I'm not sad I tested it, but I'm glad I didn't blind-bottle. It's good, but doesn't hit me as OMG GOOD the way some other roses-and-woods scents have. Nice to see the thorny note again, though. I bought a bottle of Thorns (the dc'd Marchen, not the clove ciggies [though I do have that too]) not long ago and really enjoyed it.

 

March 11: Serpent's Kiss -- After mentioning Thorns yesterday, I decided to pick out seven dc'd GC bottles for this week. Man, this stuff is strong. The vetiver has mellowed out a lot since I bought this (2014, just after the dc announcement), so it's not as smoky, and the dragon's blood is much stronger and more floral. It's still a brutal scent, both cold and spicy.

 

March 12: L'Ecole des Filles -- Still one of the prettiest orange blossom-forward scents I've ever tried.

 

March 13: The Little Sparrow -- Soft, fluffy, beige, but so pleasant. It took me a long time and a few misadventures to get this one. I've also accumulated probably six or seven imps of it, so I doubt I'll ever run out.

 

March 14: Thorns (Marchen) -- This and Serpent's Kiss have similar openings -- vetiver & dragon's blood, very intense -- but this one dries down softer and woodier, with a bit of that lovely salty tears note. I really love the later drydown, when the blood has mostly faded and it's soft saltwater and wood. This was way too much for me when it was first released, but I've learned more about my tastes since then, and I'm happy Ajevie had a bottle of this in the charity sale.

 

March 15: Ides of March '12 (proto)-- WELL, YES. This is one of those bottles I dig out once a year and smile happily about, then tuck back away and forget about. It's pretty nice, though, herbalish and almost sweaty by turns. Costus root is a fascinating note; Beth doesn't use it very often, and I usually don't like the things it gets paired with, but it's not quite like anything else. I'll go back to my dc'd gcs tomorrow. ;} (ETA: The drydown on this was just gorgeous. I really ought to pull it out more often.)

 

March 16: The Unicorn (Mad Tea Party) -- Aaah, this one is so lovely, a barely-sweet, misty-pale floral. I like linden about half the time, and the other half it makes me think laundry thoughts. This is one that does not leave me with that impression. I really love the Lab's misty scents. Too bad they get discontinued fairly often. 😕

 

March 17: Three Witches (Illyria) -- While I do have some of the Bards of Ireland series, I'm sticking with my theme today. ;3 This one's a great layering scent, but quite pleasant alone, too. I like wearing it during colder weather.

 

March 18: Empyreal Mist -- It took me seven years of missing or being outbid on ebay and sales posts to finally manage to catch a full bottle, but I finally did. I had swapped and sold for several imps (and a bottle of v3!) and would have been happy with a partial or empty, but I finally managed it, and now it's one of my personal BPAL treasures. I just really, really enjoy that mist note. It's so nice. 

 

March 19: Sara Pezzini (Witchblade) -- I picked out seven collab/licensed scents I have bottles of to play with this week. Much to my surprise, considering that I usually don't think I like it that much, four of them have leather as a distinct or primary note. This one definitely does! It's very sexy scent, moreso than I usually go for. I don't wear it often, but I'm happy to have the low partial I have, because it's amazing.

 

March 20: Sweets to the Sweet (Clive Barker) -- Tart, sugary, conspiratorial. I blind-bottled this and have never regretted it. It's got commonalities with the March '20 13, but it lacks the depth that the darker sugars add. It's a bit hypnotic, and almost, but not quite, floral.

 

March 21: The Book (Paranorman) -- I have a low partial of this, which is good, because I'm not sure I've ever worn it before. ^^; I have a few other book-type scents I like a lot (Ü is my favorite!) and this one has a musty quality I'm not very into.

 

March 22: Channel Snow (Kabuki) -- It's mellowed some since I bought the bottle (2016), but it's still that gorgeous galbanum fuzz it was when I first tried a decant of it. Love love love.

 

March 23: Jareth -- What even needs saying about it? ^__^ There was no possible way I was going to not buy this, even if it were somehow composed of every note I hate, but luckily I think it's pretty great.

 

March 24: Alcie (Pandora) -- I distinctly remember disliking this, but testing it now, it's not bad. It still smells very soapy until it's completely dry (green musk, you are not my friend), but afterwards, it's very nice.

 

March 25: Liz (Hellboy) -- The first couple of times I sniffed Liz I thought I was safe forever, but at Will-Call in...2018, I think? I skin-tested it a bit and discovered that she was beautiful. I deeply suspect that this scent has a few batch variations, and I would definitely want to sniff it in person before buying. But the sweet, smoky, leathery, vaguely floral drydown is so worth it. Seriously, though, how did I end up with so many leather scents? It's not a note I thought I was especially fond of, but ...perhaps I was mistaken.

 

March 26: Monsterbait: Underbed -- I'm doing a decant countdown to April Fool's this week. ;} IDK if the Lab will do an April Fool release this year, but I love them and enjoy seeing what shenanigans they come up with! I got this a long, long time ago, thinking it sounded pretty amazing, but it was one of two or three attempts to be friendly with the Lab's cassia note that didn't go well. It's fine, I like the rest of the notes, but I'd like it a lot better if it were normal cinnamon instead of cassia, which smells slightly of dirt on me. 😅

 

March 27: Velvet Nudie -- Super-simple, but very interesting. The throw increases over time, so I can barely smell it at first, then my SO is asking me what I'm wearing after two hours. I'm not sure I'd want a bottle (I didn't get any bottles from the Velvet Salon, though I have or have had decants of all of them), but I'm definitely keeping this decant.

 

March 28: Teatime in Roswell -- This is very confusing.  I tested it twice, and the first time it vanished without a trace, to the point that I forgot I'd put it on and put on something else. The second time it was definitely cucumber sandwiches at first, but then later it shifted, becoming almost floral and very nice. I went into it thinking I'd give it one last chance and probably toss it in the swap box, but instead, I think I'll keep it. It's just weird enough to keep my attention.

 

March 29: Opuhi -- So, funny story, I opened the vial to sniff this and it smelled weird, off, not at all the beautiful pale tropical glory of Opuhi I know. The label was fully wrapped around and taped, so I cut it open and there were barely two drops left in it. I've definitely noticed that the lower the amount of oil (hence the greater amount of air in the vial), the more likely an older scent is to go strange, so in the spirit of adventure I just dumped those last two drops on my arm to see how it actually still smelled. It was pretty close to fine!  I have a bottle of this as well, and I may return to it again this year -- it's a gorgeous summer scent -- but this imp is now empty.  

 

March 30: Knockout Drops -- The notes for this, on paper, are a list of a bunch of things I love, but the actual scent on me is reminding me why I never sought out a bottle. It's kind of clean minty lemony vague and a little vanilla, no absinthe to speak of. I'd blame age, but it's always been like this. It's neither good nor bad, it's just kind of ...there. The reviews indicate that I'm not the only one who got this impression, and I'm a little jealous of the folks who get a more distinct fragrance.

 

March 31: Tiki King -- Really nice, woody, dark, coconut. I like this a lot, tbh. I'm a little surprise I never went for a bottle, though to be fair, it's a little darker than most of the coconut scents I really love, and more suitable to my tastes now than around the time it was available. I'm happy I have this! (eta: This also lasted f o r e v e r. I could still smell a bit of coconut incense-ish on my wrist twelve hours later -- tbqh, it reminded me a lot of the drydown of Deathly Pride!)