Little Bird

In the vial and on my skin at first, this is a dark, sweet scent with sweet spices. It smells rather dark brown and dry to me, and makes me think of dry fall leaves. I can definitely smell the clove, sticky-sweet, dark opoponax, and tobacco. I can smell the tiniest hint of fresh, clean ozone/aquatic as well. The drydown is super-sweet and starts to smell like a rich, smoky incense. I'm not usually fond of smoky scents, but the smokiness here is sensual and incensey rather than sharp and gritty. This is definitely heavy on the opoponax and clove for me. This blend reminds me of Falling Leaf Moon when I first apply and then Schwarzer Mond in the drydown. Ekhidna is a dark, heavy, sweet incense scent. It's very intense and sexy. I bet that this will age wonderfully too. I'll definitely keep my decant and I might need a full bottle of this.

My bottle of this has aged weird (got lighter, sour and more powdery) and the recent imps I've tried have been lackluster as well, with no coconut that I can identify. The coconut cream in this was light initially, but is completely nonexistent with some aging . It's just a faint, watery, baby powdery rose. Not much sweetness at all. Really disappointing. ETA: Purchased an imp on 10/2016 to re-try a bunch of roses and the imp that I got from the lab is foul. It smells sour and strange, really reminiscent of PineSol with an undertone of powdery sweetness from the orris and what smells like white musks and aquatic... turns a bit soapy on my skin. This hasn't aged well at all.

In the imp and on my skin at first, this smells like green hedges, dry wood, and a zesty, soapy-clean, slightly citrussy smell. As this dries down, it's reminding me of Dirty. It's sweet, soapy, and sunny smelling, with just a tiny hint of greenery that's still making me think of dark green hedges and their waxy branches. I'm not getting any of the sawdust, which I was kinda looking forward to. Rocking-Horse-Fly is clean and summery smelling to me. This actually makes me think of my mom, who would open up all the doors and windows in the house during the summer and scrub everything and trim the evergreen hedges surrounding our house. Everything would smell clean and well cared for, but also still natural and warm. So that's the feel that I'm getting from this scent. I don't know if I could wear this (I'm not much for clean scents), but I'll definitely keep my imp and might need more of this for a room scent.

In the bottle, this smells like cool, slightly powdery vanilla-amber. On my skin, The Harp smells mostly of creamy, sweet, tropical monoi oil, with a hint of cool vanilla-amber and a touch of smooth, powdery sandalwood. It smells like laying out on a beach on a cool night and staring up at a black sky full of stars. I can imagine a young woman wearing this out to a romantic dinner on a tropical island (and I'll be taking this with me on my next vacation, for sure). It's very pretty and romantic. I like this scent a lot. I just wish that it had better throw and staying power. Even if I slather this on, it still clings close to my skin and only lasts about an hour. Still, it's pretty enough that it's worth reapplying, and I'm happy to have a bottle. I'll just save it for special occassions.

In the imp, I didn't think that this was very promising. It smelled like cheap craft store potpourri mix of fruit+spice. I expected this to be like a replay of Frumious Bandersnatch, which is a spicy, cheap, room fragrance-esque hell on my skin. My skin amps up spice notes and I don't have good luck with plum. That said, much to my surprise, I really like this scent (maybe even love it). I only get a hint of spice on my skin at first, but it just lends a warm, cozy feel in the drydown. Snap-Dragon-Fly is a lovely sugar plum type scent on me. Bath and Body Works had a LE sugar plum scent for Christmas around 12 years ago that I loved and never got over, and this reminds me of that scent. It also reminds me of bpal's Midwinter's Eve, but this smells warmer and sweeter than Midwinter's Eve. I'm not sure how to describe this other than "sugar plums." It smells magical, warm, and comforting. It's sweet, but the fruity-freshness of the plum keeps it from being too sweet. I'll definitely be getting a full bottle of this in the future.

This scent is just perfect. It's a perfect summer tea party scent, and it's perfectly playful and charming. I couldn't have imagined a better scent interpretation for Bread-and-Butterflies. In the bottle, this smells like a warm, sugared, vanilla tea. I can imagine a tiny cup of warm tea and a little sugar dusted vanilla cake. And it's much the same on my skin. The tea reminds me of Dorian a bit. It's like a vanilla-y tea with a hint of freshness that's almost citrussy, but not quite. I don't find this to be buttery at all (and my husband hates buttery/foodie scents and loves this on me) and it's not super-sweet. While I can imagine vanilla tea cakes when I smell this, it's not the smell of vanilla cake like in Eat Me. My family used to get dinner rolls that had a sugary sweetness to them, and that's what this smells like. Sweet, warm bread and vanilla-y tea with that lovely clean smell that tea has. I wouldn't smell this and think 'bread,' unless I knew to look for it. The bread just gives the blend this comforting, familiar edge. I was worried that this would be a novelty scent (while I like the smell of bread, I don't want to smell like a loaf of buttered bread), but it's a beautiful, wearable perfume. This is a perfect scent for Bread-and-Butter-Flies, and it's going to be one of my favorite scents this summer. It's a must-have if you like tea scents. :love!:

I get lots of dark, slightly bitter wood and baby powder from this scent at first (maybe teak and sandalwood, as other reviewers have mentioned). It's also darkly resinous and has a spicy men's cologne smell about it. The scent sweetens up in the drydown, but I was hoping that it would be even sweeter and more vanilla-y than it actually is on me. I also can't pick out the patchouli that other reviews have mentioned, which is a shame, beacuse I *love* patchouli. All in all, Osiris v4 is a little too dark & bitter for me at first, and then the drydown is a bit too powdery for my tastes.

I wish that this version of Dangerous Toys had been released instead of the bitter, dry woods heavy version that was actually released. I don't smell any similarities between this and the released version. This is foodie, sweet, lovely, and citrussy enough to make the blend feel summery and not-too-sweet. I get the bubblegummy note that others have mentioned, but it fades in the drydown and this is more like a lemon-y cake smell with creamy vanilla frosting. Every once in a while, I think that this smells fruity-marshmallowy like Marshmallow Poof. ETA: I liked this so much that I ordered two bottles off of the lab's etsy site. They were good for a couple months, and then the oil seemed to turn rancid and off. They now smell like sour citrus and baby powder. A bunch of the prototype bottles I got off of etsy have done this (turned sour). Really weird and disappointing. I guess maybe this is why these versions weren't released...

Scurvy starts off as a sharp lime on me, but quickly dries down to a sweet, candy-like lime with a creamy, slightly powdery backdrop (perhaps the sandalwood that others have mentioned). I like this well enough, but it only lasts about 15 minutes on my skin. I'll stick with Dark Chocolate and Key Lime Truffle for a lime scent.

I'm not quite sure what to say about this blend. It does give me an impression of rotting wood, especially at first. It's like a dank, dark, bitter wood smell. As it dries down, it starts to smell more green, clean, and soapy, but still with a dirty/bitter woods thing going for it. There's something very sharp and unpleasant about the whole thing as well. The Gilman House Hotel isn't something that I really want to smell or smell like. It's just kinda all around unpleasant to me...

I so wish that I could get a bottle of that Sakura spray. It has such a gorgeous label...

I used to wear Voodoo almost exclusively when I'd go out dancing. Something about a heavy, sticky-sweet, dark scent seems very sultry and unique and always made me feel very exciting and mysterious.

This is my least favorite type of scent (a sharp, chemical-y floral). I get a chemical sharpness that reminds me of cheap, metallic hairspray (which is what opium poppy usually does on my skin) and the drydown is like a mishmash of soapy, sharp, perfumey white florals. Strong, sharp, fakey floral notes. Bleh. I had to scrub this one off, because it was giving me such a bad headache.

My favorite GC foodie scent from bpal actually is Eat Me . If you can get ahold of Monster Bait: Underpants, Monster Bait: Underbed, or Monster Bait: Closet, those are all *amazing* foodie scents. They are all older limited editions, though. I'm hoping that they get re-released around this April Fool's Day, which is what I hope for every year, lol. I thought that I would love Hellcat and Gluttony, but those wound up being way too sweet for me, sadly. If you want something intensely sweet and sugary, Gluttony is definitely that. Some of my foodie favorites that are GC right now: *Cockaigne. Honeyed, spicy, pastry-goodness. *Miskatonic U is a great, sweet, creamy coffee scent. *Shub-Niggurath. It has a sweet, foodie gingersnaps smell. *Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener. Smells like a root beer float with extra vanilla cream. And if you like chocolate scents: *Bliss. Pure, strong, creamy milk chocolate. *Boomslang. The cocoa absolute in this is fantastic, and I get a lot of the vanilla from the Snake Oil. It's a currently available LE in the Carnaval... *How Doth the Little Crocodile. Really rich chocolate brownie, vanilla mint cookies, and a little bit of woods and dry oakmoss. Kinda sweet/foodie: *Dorian. I get a sweet vanilla cream and sugared, clean tea from this. *High-Strung Daisies. Smells like cotton candy, sugared pink flowers, and a hint of clean linen on me.

I have trouble wearing fruity blends too. Sometimes I find that Drink Me is a bit too fruity for me, but I love Eat Me (definitely in my top 10). Drink Me does have that foodie edge and vanilla custard, but the pineapple and cherry are definitely strong too.

I'm wearing both right now to compare, lol. In my opinion: Eat Me and Drink Me are both very different from each other, even though they both fall into a foodie-vanilla category. They're both foodie and a bit vanilla-y, but the vanilla aspects in Eat Me are cake-y and sweet, and the vanilla aspects of Drink Me are like a creamy vanilla custard. I find both of them to be long lasting with great throw. Eat Me has a bit of a darker feel to it (almost like a dark musk or incense edge), and it's a sweet, vanilla cake with hints of dark, sweet currant. Drink Me is fruitier, creamier, and has a warmer feel (like pineapples and a maraschino cherry mixed into vanilla custard, perhaps with a slice of warm poundcake). They don't really smell anything alike. If you like foodie scents, they're both awesome and sweet.

I've found that I love wearing sugary florals in the summer. Things that are lackluster and 'okay' really bloom and sparkle in the heat. I practically bathed in LUSH's Vanillary scent all last summer. This year I'm excited about wearing (in addition to Vanillary) Penis Admiration (so hate the name), Follow Me Boy, Harimise, High-Strung Daisies, Tiki Queen, and Very Slightly Haunted Dollhouse. I think that Penis Admiration is going to be especially pretty in the sticky heat of summer (and see, because of its name, I feel awkward saying that, lol).

I can kinda see the similarities between Hod and Morocco, but they're pretty different on me. They both seem to have an exotic spiciness to them, but Hod is stronger, sweeter, and much more carnation-y on my skin. I get a lot of the warm musk and hints of spice from Morocco, and it goes slightly baby powdery. I can't really pick out the carnation in it either. I'm not sure if anything smells quite like Hod does to me (sadly, because I love Hod <3).

I'd recommend trying out Sea of Glass. It's my favorite of bpal's aquatics (most of the aquatics/ozones smell like soap on me, but Sea of Glass doesn't) and it's a very smooth, cool scent. You also might want to try Squirting Cucumber if you like cucumber notes...

The ancient Greeks sure weren't shy about taking care of business. The port city of Miletus was once famed throughout the Mediterranean as a source of excellent stone, wood, and padded leather dildos. This scent is the celebration of an age-old pastime: polished wood, well-loved leather, and olive oil. In the bottle and on my skin at first, this smells like the leather note in Quincey Morris + tomato leaf. It's this odd, green, slightly spicy smell. It also smells just a little bit citrussy at first (maybe orange-y?). It reminds me of gardening. This smells like a cowboy who worked all day in a leather shop filled with leathers & woods and then came home and tended to a garden for a bit. It smells strong, but comforting. After an hour, this is almost all leather on me. Gorgeous, awesome leather. It seems cool and light (like a summer night), even though it has lots of throw and staying power. It's a beautiful, soft, clean leather. Love. BPAL does awesome leather scents, and this one is another favorite for me.

I am not good with floral notes, but I can see where others have mentioned gardenia and lotus. This is a creamy, sweet, tropical smelling floral on me, with a bit of the watery, bubblegummy sweetness that I often get from lotus. Sweet, watery floral is the best way that I can describe it. After an hour, the drydown goes slightly powdery on me, but it's still pretty. My husband really likes this on me. It smells like a light, girly, springy, tropical floral... it's not the sort of thing that I'd normally wear, but I think I'll keep my decant of this one.

I actually like this prototype more than the released version of Hellion, though neither of them are really favorites for me. The released Hellion was too dark and sharply musky for me. Hellion v2 isn't as dark or sharp on my skin. I get a lot more of the fruitiness from this blend. The plum (or what smells like plum) here goes a little bit sour on my skin at first, almost like a not-quite-ripe plum. The drydown gets a bit spicy (cinnamon and clove?) and makes me think of fruity-spicy potpourri. After a half hour, the plum is a bit smoother and sweeter and there's just a hint of spice, and a lot more of a smoky incense scent. It's like a perfumey plum all wrapped up in a smoky, slightly earthy incense, with a slight dusting of spice. This goes through stages where I think that it would be better as a room scent than as a perfume, and stages where the plum just smells sour and off on me. I don't have good luck with plum notes, though. I think the only plum scent I've ever really liked was Midwinter's Eve (which was a fun, sugared plum scent)... I find this better than released Hellion, but it's still not awesome on me.

The released version of O has a tendency to go cloying on my skin, and O v5 is actually even sweeter on my skin. This smells like insanely sweet, sugared honey on my skin. The drydown adds a hint of baby powder. After a couple hours, this gets pretty close to smelling just like the released version of O, but it fades rather quickly on me at that point. Super-sweet honey and a hint of baby powder. I like O v6 a lot more than O v5 or the released version of O. O v5 is my least favorite so far...

I also don't like Snake Oil, aged or fresh (it smells something like dirty, burnt hair and baby powder on me :/), but I love a lot of the Snake Oil blends. Boomslang is my favorite, and it's a must-have if you like chocolate/cocoa scents. The dark, vanilla-y, incensey qualities of Snake Oil are great with the cocoa. I really love a lot of the Snake Pit blends, actually. Australian Copperhead is another of my favorites, and it's great if you like fruity blends, because the acai berry note is pretty strong. Banded Sea Snake is pretty on me and I get a lot of the vanilla-y scent that's in Snake Oil, paired with a creamy, bright aquatic. Womb Furie was more Snake Oil-y to me than most of the Snake Pit blends are. The honey makes it more wearable, but I'm still not sure if I really like Womb Furie or if I can pull it off. I definitely recommend trying some of the snake pit blends even if you can't wear Snake Oil, though .

I'd recommend Dorian and Alice, for sure. Both of those smell rather unique to bpal, but they're well-loved and not too outrageous. I wear both of those scents quite a bit and have never had anyone tell me that I smell strange or not 'get' my perfume (which has happened with a lot of my other bpals, lol).