Little Bird

I got a bunch of bottles of this when it went on sale on Urban Outfitters for like $5 a bottle, which was a steal at that price point. I'm always adding vanilla-patchoulis to my collection and this is a good one. It has a bit of a mentholic/medicinal undertone and an airy-yet-sweet vanilla with earthy patchouli that has some chocolate-y nuances to it. You can smell all three notes and it's simple, but well done. It almost smells a bit resinous, like non-powdery amber, on me as well. Very satisfyingly sweet and cuddly patchouli.

On me, um, this smells like dying, wilting green grass... that has been peed on. There's something sour and not quite right here. As it dries down, this is dusty, dry wood (almost baby powdery on me at times) and a hint of smoky leather over that sour green smell. I keep catching whiffs of something that reminds me of clean men's cologne when I wear this as well. I don’t know why this is so bad on me, since I'm normally all over anything that mentions balsams, leather, or vanilla :/. This doesn’t ever sweeten up on my skin (no vanilla that I can identify), but it lightens up a lot and fades away entirely after about an hour and a half. All in all, I'm glad that I waited on a decant of this before springing for a full bottle, because this probably isn't something that I'd wear again. I might keep my decant and see how this oil ages, but I'm not too hopeful for it.

I love gardenia (one of the few floral notes that I love), but pikaki and lily both have a tendency to go soapy on me. And that's exactly what happens here. Sweet Life, on me, is creamy, tropical, sweet, perfumey gardenia, in soap-form. The scent gets a little sharper than I would like in the drydown, but it's too soapy for me to pull off anyhow. For some reason, I feel like I could see Paris Hilton wearing this. Anyhoo. I’m happy that I just went with a decant of this one, because I doubt that I'll wear it again. I'll take Tiki Queen and Possets' Silver Gardenias for my gardenia fix, lol.

You might want to check out some of the warrior queens scents (though they were LE at the bptp and might be a bit harder to find). Hua Mulan sounds appropriate (tea and womanly notes and a hint of dark leather): *Hua Mulan - pink musk, white ginger, tea leaf, night blooming jasmine, bergamot, and leather. I also really like Dorian layered with Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree. Embalming Fluid is a smooth tea scent that smells great layered with cherry blossom scents too.

My first thought was Penis Admiration, because it reminds me of butterflies, and that dress makes me think of lilacs and butterflies too... Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree and Pet Magah Bird come to mind as well.

I am obsessed with Poisoned Apple v2 (which is the only apple scent from bpal that I've really loved), but this version isn't so good on me. I agree with reviewers who said this may have some apple blossom in it, because this goes soapy on me in the way that apple blossom usually does. It's like a refreshing, sweet, fruity-floral shampoo on my skin. Green apple shampoo with a clean, breezy, floral edge... my husband actually likes this on me, but I find it too soapy smelling and clean for my tastes.

This starts off with the watery, sweet floral smell that I associate with dragon's blood (which always makes me think of rotting flowers in a vase of stagnant water). As it dries down, I get the very dry woods smell that other reviewers have mentioned. It's like a vase full of rotting flowers sitting on a dusty, splintery, old wooden table. It smells old, dry, dusty, wooden, and sweet. I don't really like it, but the only Ars Draconis blend that I've ever purchased a full bottle of was Dragon's Milk...

There's not much that I can add about this scent that hasn't already been said. It's more lavender-y than the released TKO, and not quite as sweet or creamy smelling on me. The lavender is a bit sharper and more herbal smelling than the smooth, sugared lavender that I get from released TKO. It's not quite as unique to me as the released version. This smells like the herbal remedy vanilla-lavender sleep blends that I've had from several different companies (usually in some form of lotion or bath product). I can smell this and not think that it's very unique or bpal-like. I really love the rich, creamy, sugared sweetness of the released version of TKO, but I do love lavender, so I still like this version as well. I think that I'll keep my decant, but I won't need a full bottle.

The chicken-Legged Hut smells like someone took a bowl of warm, grainy oatmeal and sprinkled honeyed nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon spice over it. Then it smells like someone took that bowl of oatmeal and threw it up against an old barn wall and watched it drip down into the dusty, dry hay below. It's an odd mix of warm, foodie, almost cloying sweetness and dry, dusty hay/woods. I don't get much of an herbal feel from this. This isn't awful, but it's not very wearable to me (a little too sweet and a little too dry/dusty on my skin). It's also a very light scent on me, and only lasts a couple hours. I might try out my sample in the oil warmer, but I don't think that I'll be buying more of this one.

I personally don't like Snake Oil at all (aged or fresh, it smells awful on me), and I love several of the Snake Pit blends. Boomslang is one of my favorite scents ever, and it's intensely chocolate-y and exotic smelling. If you like vanilla and sweet/foodie scents, I'd definitely recommend trying Inez if you haven't already. It's sweet vanilla and gorgeous, warm amber and woods on my skin.

Rhinotoros is mostly vetiver on my skin. The vetiver and patchouli combine in this dark, earthy, smoky, ashy sort of way that I'm not enjoying (though I usually love patchouli). It makes me think of hot coals and ash. Every once in a while, I can smell a bitter grapefruit note, but the vetiver seems to be doing a good job at overpowering the other notes on my skin. After an hour, it's mostly earthy, dry patchouli and a sharp, smoky vetiver. I don't really see myself wearing this one again. It goes too dark, smoky, and sharp on my skin...

I can definitely see the comparions to Hellion with this room spray. I spritzed Parlor House all over my throw pillows and it smells like patchouli, plum and dark, smoky musk to me. It's a very dark scent, and not as sweet or delicious smelling as I was hoping for, lol. Something about it smells dark and earthy and reminds me of bpal's El Dorado perfume. The fruitiness smells slightly sour to me. I'm glad that I got a decant of this to sample, but I don't think that I'll need to search out more of this spray. It's a little too dark, musky and sour for me, and not quite sweet enough for my tastes.

My skin amps up rose notes, so all I can really pick out in this blend is the rose. It starts off slightly bitter and perfumey rose and then dries down to a very sweet rose. I suppose that the lychee might be adding some sweetness, but I wouldn't identify this perfume as smelling like lychee, really. Thouros is a soft, light, sweet red rose on my skin. I have enough rose blends (and blends where I amp up the rose to single note status) that this isn't really wowing me.

Deathly Pride has a good dose of awesome coconut (notes of licorice incense, coconut, and bay rum). It was in the latest bptp inquisition yule series. Goblin is probably the most coconutty bpal on me (black coconut, patchouli, and benzoin). It smells like a really creamy, sweet coconut mixed with patchouli. There's also Obatala (which I find verrry coconutty), Brown Jenkin, and Elegba, but those are all older ones that you may have already tried. There's the new Roses, Pearls, and Diamonds scent that just came out (notes of red roses, dazzling crystalline musks, and pearlescent coconut-tinged orris). I have that one on order, but haven't tried it yet. You might want to try these (though I don't know if I'd say they have a dominant coconut note; I think that depends more on skin chemistry): *Dia (white amber, coconut, white musk, oakmoss, and tobacco flower) *Mlle. Lilith, Fortune Teller (coconut and a bit of sugar with pomegranate, pink musk, orange blossom, cypress, honey myrtle, and incense) *Pet Magah Bird (blood orange, black plum, sugar cane, guava, frangipani, coconut, pimento berry, violet, caramel, and pear) *Upa Upa (spiced rum, coconut, pineapple, and vanilla) *Velvet Tiki (gold-washed frangipani, vanilla flower, vanilla bean, coconut, hibiscus, papaya, pineapple, bouganvilla, passion fruit, and three orchids) And there's Milk Chocolate, Coconut, Cardamom, Rum, and Ginger Truffle available as an LE right now...

I find freesia to be a very perfumey, sharp, air-freshener type of floral note, and it gives me a vicious headache if I'm left smelling it for too long. I get a lot of perfumey freesia from this scent, with a background of soapy aquatic. It winds up smelling like perfumey floral scented dryer sheets on my skin, strong and headache-inducing. I had to scrub this one off after a half hour, but I honestly wasn't really expecting it to work on me...

Candles Moon doesn't smell anything like candles to me. In the bottle and on my skin for the first hour, it smells like bright red, sugary hawaiian punch with a hint of sweet spices. After an hour, the scent gets a bit creamier and a lot lighter, like the whole thing was watered down with a creamy vanilla. It's creamy, soft, warm vanilla and a hint of that fruit punch smell. The scent is entirely gone within 2 hours after applying. Weird. I almost wonder if I got the wrong scent, because I'm not getting any of the trees, snow, ozone, or wax that other reviewers have mentioned. It's not even a milky scent on me, though the drydown after an hour is creamy and vanilla-y. I don't mind this scent, but I don't love it either. I'm very happy to have gotten a partial bottle of this, though. I really love the artwork, colors, and lettering chosen for Candles Moon <3.

In the bottle, this is perfumey, clean floral and candy-sweet pear. On my skin, it's hard for me to get an impression of this scent, because it only lasts about 15 minutes on my skin, and it's still a light scent for those few minutes. Red sandalwood and cedar tend to be heavier notes, but I don't smell them at all here. This is mostly clean, dry, incensey floral with a hint of candy pear (smells like the juicy pear jellybelly bean). The floral doesn't even smell the way that jasmine usually does on my skin. Khalkokorustes isn't bad, but it's too light on my skin for me to see myself wearing it again...

In the bottle and on my skin, this is all baby powder all the time . I have a problem with some sandalwood notes going powdery on my skin, but this is extra powdery. It smells like an explosion of clean, soft, white baby powder. I hate baby powder, so I had to scrub this off after an hour... Andreiphontes is definitely not a keeper for me.

In the bottle and on my skin at first, this is definitely an orange pomander smell. It's dry, slightly powdery orange and tons of clove spice. As this dries down, the spice morphs into something funky & bitter that reminds me of taco seasoning :/. I don't get any of the black licorice/anise. Miaiphonos is all dry, powdery orange and not-so-pleasant spices on me. This isn't working on my skin, and I won't be keeping my decant...

I get a lot of frankincense from Enyalios. It smells golden, smooth, sweet, and resinous. The oakmoss and balsam add a nice, dry woods base, and the juniper is giving it a bit of a cool, menthol feel. This is a really beautiful woods & resin scent that makes me feel like I'm in the middle of a forest. The patchouli comes out more in the drydown and the juniper pretty much disappears. I love patchouli and the patchouli here is earthy, sweet, dry, and brown smelling. I was curious about how the cocoa would play out in this blend, but I don't smell any cocoa here at all. Enyalios is like a woodsy version of Cathedral. If Cathedral is the smell of being inside a church, then this is a church in the middle of a forest with all of the doors and windows open. It's a really beautiful, calming scent for me

Needlework let me down in the lilac department this Lupercalia, but Penis Admiration is a gorgeous lilac scent on me <3. It smells like real, fresh lilacs (cool, blue, waxy/creamy, honeyed, fresh lilacs) and a really interesting vanilla note. I don't know if it smells really smoky on me, but it's a sweet, sultry vanilla. As it dries down, there's something floral-spicy about this (not foodie-spicy, but rich and spicy in the way that some flowers smell). The overall feel is of a really exotic, sweet lilac... I keep imagining that this smells like butterflies, or would be a great scent for attracting butterflies, lol. I don't love this quite as much as I love the Blue Lilac single note, but I'm down to hoarding my last decant of Blue Lilac SN, so it's nice to have more lilac blends. My other favorite lilac scent is Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree. Penis Admiration is a sweeter, heavier sort of lilac blend. I'll at least keep my decant of this, and might try to track down some more in the future.

This is a really light scent on me and only lasts about 15 minutes on my skin. It's hard to get a clear impression of it. I agree with reviewers that say this smells lemony. The mix of blackberry & mandarin smells a bit like sweet lemon drops on me as well. The fruitiness is the main player, with a little bit of cool, smooth white musk in the background. There's the tiniest hint of something earth-like and darker too. Kiss Amongst Discarded Tissues mostly just smells like musky lemon candy on me. I was hoping for more of a true blackberry and gardenia note...

In the bottle, this smells like green, smoky wood and a hint of soap. On my skin, the blend softens and smells like soft, brown leather, dry wood, and sweet, slightly smoky, incensey tobacco. It really reminds me of Dee. As it dries down, this is mostly soft leather and sweet tobacco (almost smells a bit like sugary vanilla smoke). I like this a lot, but it doesn't have very good throw on me. I'm not sure if it would ever win out over Dee when I'm in the mood for a soft leather scent either. Maybe I'll keep my partial bottle and layer it with Dee...

Inganok Jewelers reminds me of El Dorado and Leipreachan at first (has that similar perfumey, hard, gold note), but it's not as good as either of those blends were on me. Jewelers is more earthy than metallic on my skin (like 70% earthy, 30% metallic, lol). It almost smells like a gritty, dry, brown patchouli plus a bit of clean, musky metal note. At points I thought that it smelled a lot like an earthy, slightly smoky vetiver as well. The drydown is rather sour and earthy on me. I don't get the impression of gleaming stone and silver at all... Mostly this is a sour, earthy smell on me. I have metal & earth blends that I like *a lot* more than this one.

In the bottle, this smells like creamy, sweet citrus and warm, slightly powdery amber. On my skin, this smells almost exactly like Possets' Naples Yellow scent. The only difference is that Okayaki is a lot lighter on me. It's creamy, sweet citrus and warm, rich, resinous amber. After an hour, I think that I can smell a bit of clean, cool snow note creeping in, but the entire scent has almost faded away at that point. I like this, but it smells so similar to Naples Yellow on me that I probably won't keep my decant (as I already own and love Naples Yellow).