Little Bird

In the bottle, this is like a whiff of salty lime margaritas and tropical flowers on an ocean breeze. On my skin, the scent instantly goes sharp and something smells really smoky (like burning paper). It's mostly smoke with a hint of lime and a stab of sharp floral. I usually enjoy most of the notes in this, so I'm not sure what is going smoky :/. It smells like I waved my arm too close to a campfire where I applied this. After a half hour, this is really light and just smells like a hint of soapy floral and smoke. I expected this scent to have better staying power than it does All in all, this is not-so-good on me, and I don't think I'll keep my decant...

In the bottle, this smells creamy, sweet, and golden, with a clean edge. On my skin, there's a sweet (almost honeyed), toasted warmth from the chestnut, with the other notes adding a creamy, clean feel that softens the sweetness. I usually find chestnut notes to be way too sweet and cloying, but the other notes in this blend are keeping the chestnut under control. As it dries down, it gets a little bit of a spicy, herbal edge to it and a hint of something lemony. Out of all of my Lupercalia decants, I keep coming back to Harimise and it's really growing on me. The scent that wafts off of my skin is the sweet warmth of the chestnut mixed with clean magnolia and creamy rice powder. It's a really appealing, clean sweetness that I've already gotten a couple compliments on. It's like clean skin + sexy, comforting warmth and a touch of elegant perfume. And it feels like a casual, every-day sort of scent to me. It feels comfortable, and it actually has great staying power and throw on me. ETA: I ordered two bottles of this and one smells as described above, and the second bottle smells sweeter (kinda maple syrupy) and more baby powdery. Serious lack of consistency...

My overall impression of Aatos Polemoio is that it smells like a handful of old, dusty, cheap, spice-scented potpourri left out in a dirty wooden bowl. It's a very dry, gritty sort of scent, and the spice smells so cheap, sharp, and gross on me. Bleh . I love black currant, but I don't get any fruitiness from this it all. It's all sharp, cheap, gross spiciness and dry, dark, gritty wood notes...

In the bottle, this smells like perfumey, slightly soapy, yellow flowers. On my skin, this is perfumey (and when I say perfumey, I mean a sharp, chemical-y, almost musky smell), sweet, yellow flowers. I wish that I could smell the grass or greenery that others have mentioned. As this dries down, it's sickly sweet yellow flowers and a hint of dish soap. It's too sweet and too perfumey for me...

In the bottle, this is intensely tart, fruity, and refreshing. It smells cool and clean, perhaps from the mint. On my skin, this smells clean without being soapy and cool without being minty. It's like a blast of tart, frozen cranberry and a background of clean laundry hung up to dry. It reminds me of The Hamptons a bit. It's a clean, pleasant cranberry smell. It's strong for about a half hour on me and then fades pretty quickly after that. I think that I'll keep my decant, but I still prefer The Hamptons for a tart cranberry scent.

I thought that Ronin smelled like a lighter Golden Priapus with a good dose of sweet, golden honey. I guess that the sandalwood, pepper, and oakmoss mix together in a way that reminds me of pine forests. This is mostly honey on me, though, with the other nights hanging out in the background. Ronin doesn't have very good throw or staying power on me; it clings close to the skin and only lasts about an hour. It's an okay scent, but probably not something that I'd choose to wear again...

This is so unlike any of the other boozy/wine scents I've tried. It's not as sweet as blends like Gluhwein or Soothing System. I get a lot of cherry from this. I normally don't like cherry scents, because they're sickly sweet, they smell like kool-aid powder, or they smell like cough syrup. The cherry here is a dry, dark, sophisticated, grownup cherry that I just love, though. In the bottle, this is scary-alcoholic and smells just like opening up a bottle of dark wine. On my skin, thankfully, the alcoholic/chemical note disappears and I'm left with that rich, dark cherry and some darker, slightly smoky notes. I thought that it smelled a bit like a hint of smooth, smoky leather, but my husband says that this smells incensey to him, so I'm probably smelling the "black incense" and thinking leather. There's something about this that smells like cool, wet air to me as well, and reminds me of being inside of damp caverns. The Zadok Allen Vineyard actually reminds me a bit of bptp's Dungeon spray more than anything else. I wear Dungeon by spritzing it on my jackets & shoes, but ZAV is an even darker, more complex, wearable, dark wine. I don't own any other wine scents quite like this one (or as good as this one). This is an awesome, rich scent, and I think it would smell great on a man or a woman. I need at least one backup bottle before this gets discontinued.

Saint Foutin de Varailles is *gorgeous* and pretty much smells like equal parts of all of the listed notes on me. It smells like dried, dark, aged, sweet roses, a bit of fruity (almost plum-like) dark wine, and sweet, honeyed beeswax and incense. It's a dark, sexy, old smelling scent that makes me think of pinup models, old dance clubs, and flappers. This is what I always wished Formula 54 had smelled like on me. I can also imagine the woman in the The Blood Garden artwork to be wearing this scent. It's such a bold, confident fragrance. I think that this is going to have to take the title of my favorite rose scent. I usually amp up rose blends to rose single note, but this is complex, dark, sweet, sexy, and all around beautiful. I feel like it fits me really well, like I'm supposed to smell this way. I need a full bottle of this, for sure. I don't own anything else quite like this scent. I want to bathe in it, and I want my house to smell like this too... :love!:

I don't like plain Snake Oil aged or fresh (though I enjoy a lot of blends that mix Snake Oil with something, like the Snake Pit blends) and I tend to dislike honey scents (too sweet/simple), but I find Womb Furie to be very wearable and lovely. The Snake Oil here adds a smoky darkness that cuts through the honey's sweetness, but the honey manages to sweeten up and get rid of the parts of Snake Oil that I usually find to be powdery/dirty/gross smelling. Womb Furie winds up smelling like a dark, exotic, slightly smoky, honey incense on me. I think that this will age really well too.

In the bottle and on my skin at first, this is warm and sour and kinda reminds me of urine. As this dries down, more of the fir note comes out, and it's also a bit on the floral, perfumey side of things. I'm used to evergreen notes smelling kind of cold, but this blend has a warm, sour, salty quality to it that I hate. And within a half hour, this turns intensely baby powdery with a hint of soap, like someone tried to clean up the nastiness that this was and just made it worse. This is just awful on me in every way...

In the bottle, this smells like gingerbread men dipped in chocolate. On my skin, this smells bready & slightly dry, and a sharp ginger note takes over. It's like a gingerbread cookie that was left out to go stale. The ginger is really sharp and intense on me, and it overpowers any chocolate or coconut that may have been here. This Truffle is dry, bready, and has an intense, sharp, foodie ginger going for it. I prefer Shub-Niggurath for a ginger scent, as it is much less dry & simple smelling on me. This isn't a bad scent; it's just not as complex as I was hoping for. On a positive note, this doesn't make my skin red or itchy, it doesn't give me a headache, and it's not something that I felt the need to run and wash off, lol. It's just okay...

This isn't a very chocolatey truffle. In the bottle, I can smell a hint of dark chocolate, but there's no chocolate note to be found once this is on my skin. This is a lemony green tea (not as sharp or lemony as Shanghai, though, and it's sweeter than both Shanghai and Embalming Fluid). It's very refreshing and summery smelling <3. I keep thinking that I smell a hint of soft, green grass somewhere in here. It's a very green scent. As this dries down, it smells like lemon-lime lifesavers candies & a hint of something like green grass - very smooth, sweet citrus. I love how green and summery this smells (as we've gotten a ton of snow the past couple days). I wish that it lasted longer, though. It has pretty good throw while it sticks around, but it doesn't even last a full hour on my skin. All in all, this is a pleasant, smooth, sweet fragrance. I'll definitely keep my decant, and think about getting a bottle for slathering...

In the bottle, this smells like sharp, perfumey, chemical florals. On my skin, it's much the same. It smells like the cheap, department store, floral-heavy concoctions that I try to stay away from. It's the sort of scent that makes my nose burn and my throat feel tight. I get a lot of chemicals, metallic hairspray, and fakey sharp floral. My skin has a tendency to amp up red musk and rose notes, and I don't smell either of them here. It's a mess of perfumey, sharp, dry, chemical floral notes on me. This does get a bit sweeter & slightly incensey in the drydown, but not enough to make this wearable for me at all. Two Loves is just too intensely perfumey-floral. It gives me a headache

I can't pick out any of the notes in this exactly. This smells like a very white scent to me, and makes me think of pale, clean skin and white tissue paper. It's sort of powdery soft and clean, without smelling too dry or like baby powder. Something in this goes tart & slightly fruity on my skin, and makes me think of sweet tarts candy. I think that the coconut milk is adding a bit of a creamy feel to the whole blend. I wish that I could smell more of the coconut. This is a really strong scent with lots of throw, which is odd, because it smells so light and delicate. I'll probably just keep my decant of this one, as a tiny dab of oil while go a long way for me. I'll wear this on days when I'm looking for a clean skin scent and don't mind the sweet tarts edge that this one has. I'm also hoping that it'll be more coconutty on me with some aging.

In the bottle, and on my skin at first, this smells very woodsy, and I was surprised that there aren't any cedar or sandalwood listed as notes. I guess it might be the amber giving me that woods impression. The caraway adds a minty/menthol smell to the whole thing, so that is smells like woods in winter on my skin. As this dries down, it smells like everything is going wrong on my skin. Something turns unpleasantly sour and dirty, something else turns unpleasantly warm and powdery, and another note turns sharp, acrid, and smoky. Underneath the sour, powdery warmth and sharp smoke, this is sort of spicy and sickly-sweet-floral. It makes me want to gag :/.

These new year's scents rarely work on me. They have a tendency to go soapy-clean on my skin, and I don't care for soapy scents (I'm more into patchouli, earth, resins, incense, leather, vanillas, and foodie scents). Earth Ox is total soapy-blah on me, Earth Rat has a promising melon-y startup and then turns to sharp, citrussy soap, and Fire Pig (the best on me) is a light, clean, peachy-citrus that fades away within an hour. Metal Tiger continues the soapy trend by smelling like sharp, tart, bitter citrus and soapy, floral dryer sheets. I like sweet citrus smells, but I can't handle sharp, bitter citrus notes. And Metal Tiger is strong, soapy, awful mishmash on my skin. I had to scrub it off after about an hour. The label is lovely, though...

Unveiled smells a lot better in the bottle than it does on my skin. It smells sort of juicy, peachy, breezy, and refreshing in the bottle. On my skin, it's suddenly very dry and spicy (perhaps the tea and amber?). It smells a lot like autumn potpourri - dry leaves and cheap cider spice. I've been having better luck with wearing spice scents lately, but this is the sort of spice that overwhelms and gives me a bad headache. My skin chemisty does have a tendency to amp up spiciness, though. It also made my wrist red and itchy where I applied the oil :/. I can see how this would be pretty on someone else, but it's cheap spice potpourri on me

I'm loving a lot of this year's Lupercalia blends, but I think that this one is my favorite. I'm sad to see that people don't like it and are calling it masculine, because I totally tried it on and thought, "Yay! A beautiful, feminine resin scent!" lol. In the bottle and on my skin at first, this is all smooth, resinous, golden frankincense. It makes me think of blends like Cathedral and Faustus (which are two blends that I love). I can smell a little bit of sexy black leather as well, reminding me of the leather + sweetness in Liz. This dries down to the most wonderful, golden, warm, resins/incense & vanilla type of scent on me. I guess that the cream note is actually playing nice on my skin. I was toying with the idea of getting a custom blend from another company, and I was going to ask for warm, golden resins, vanilla, and incensey, dry flowers. Now I don't have to, because Prosperity of a Country is exactly what I was looking for. Golden, feminine, resinous vanilla with an exotic, almost dried flowers dusted with gold impression. So gorgeous. I love this (and my husband gave it a 9 out of 10 rating). I only have a decant at the moment, but I'll get a full bottle or two of this before the Lupercalias leave town.

This reminds me a little bit of The Adoration of the Mi-Go and Garden Path with Chickens, but it's not as watery-clean or sweet smelling as the former and not as floral as the latter (it's not floral on me at all, really). It's like a dryer, darker, not-as-sweet Adoration of the Mi-Go. I digress. The Steeple smells like green herbs and moss on rocks, with a hint of a perfumey, clean edge (going a little bit into laundry dryer sheet territory). I get a dark, damp wood smell in the bottle and on my skin at first, but the dry down is all green herbs and mossy stones. If you like pure herbal scents or perfumey-green scents that are a touch soapy-clean, then you'll love this. It's not really working for me, though.

I get lots of anise and sugary vanilla from this at first, which makes me smell like a sugary black licorice candy. I don't love the taste of black licorice, but I do love the smell <3. While the vanilla and anise take the main role in this scent, I can definitely smell the neroli and cherry blossom around the edges. As it dries down, I smell more of the neroli, so it's mostly sweet orange, with hints of black licorice candy and creamy vanilla. Pink Mood is candy-sweet, playful, and orange-y smelling on me. I think that this will join Le Père Fouettard in my collection of favorite licorice scents . I can wear this one more in the summer and save Le Père for fall and winter...

I have to agree with SmileCat's review in that this smells like an expensive dusting powder. I get sweet, dry, powdery violets and an expensive smelling vanilla. It smells luxurious and makes me feel like I should be sitting naked at a vanity and dusting myself with a variety of decadent, expensive potions. It's very romantic and pretty and makes me feel kinda shy and vulnerable. I could see myself wearing this when the hubby takes me out for a surprise romantic night and we're getting all dressed up. I would not, however, tell him the name of what I was wearing (the name does not seem quite as shy and romantic as the oil makes me feel, lol)... It reminds me a bit of LUSH's Bathos scent. ETA: My bottle of this went bad after about 2 years it now smells like melting plastic, honeydew melon and smoke. Drydown is all of that with a whiff of sickly sweet, cloying, tropical-ish vanilla. Weird and gross. I wish I'd worn it more when I first got it.

I was excited to try this, because I love lilac and lavender, and I'll try anything that mentions tea. My favorite bpal lilac scents are the Blue Lilac single note and Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree from The Salon. The lilac note in Needlework is very different from those, though. This is more of a perfumy, laundry-fresh lilac scent. The only notes that I can can pick out for sure are lilac and musk, but something in this goes slightly soapy (and oddly a powdery, dry smelling soapy that gets caught in my throat) and the whole thing has a very perfumey, sharp feel. As it dries down, it's even less lilac and more dry, sharp musk and soap. I *love* the artwork that inspired this scent, but this is too sharp, musky, soapy, and dry for me.

I love the chocolate in this. It's a dark, warm, fudgey chocolate that smells like brownies on me. I can also smell the salt and aquatics (and the aquatic goes soapy on me, as usual). Cthulhu in Love smells like brownies sitting on top of a pile of soapy dryer sheets, sprinkled in salt. I kind of like it, but I think that I'm really only liking the chocolate note. I don't think that I care for having soap in my chocolates, lol. I'll keep my decant of this, but I don't need a full bottle. There are better chocolate scents out there, though I can say that this is the only chocolate scent that I own that also goes soapy on me.

I definitely agree with the comparison to dark myrrh single note. This is a beautiful, smooth, slightly sweet resin, and it stays strong with lots of throw. It makes me think of gold and dark amber shades. I was nervous about the tobacco note and whatever wenge is (a wood note?), but I don't smell anything but myrrh and hints of geranium flitting in and out of the scent. The rose geranium is an almost spicy, planty smell on my skin, but sweet and very pretty & wearable. This scent is just so stunning and calming to me. I find it very relaxing, so I love wearing this scent to bed, but it's also a gorgeous, exotic perfume that I love wearing when I'm going out (and I've gotten a couple compliments on it already). It's a very smooth scent with a touch of sweetness that makes it totally wearable. I need multiple bottles of this, for sure . ETA: Brotoloigos is my favorite Lupercalia blend (and it had a lot of competition, because so many of this year's blends are wonderful). It's the one that I keep going back to and I've been wearing it the most since my orders arrived. If you like myrrh/resins at all, this one is a must-have. And the hint of geranium is super comforting and calming. Something about the smell of geranium soothes my nerves, and this has that effect without smelling medicinal or spa-like. It's like an awesome perfume with a hint of calming therapy for me, lol. It's just perfect.

I figured that I wouldn't like this Truffle, because I hated the whiskey in Mad Sweeney. I actually kind of like this, though I don't think that I could stand wearing it for very long. It's like equal parts sweet chocolate and slightly sour, darkly colored booze. The booziness smells smooth and a bit spicy on my skin. It's not the smoky, scary booze of Mad Sweeney. This reminds me *a lot* of Scentsy's Bourbon fragrance (which I believe is whiskey and maple sugar). It's the same, interesting mix of sour booze + sweetness. And as much as I love smelling it every once in a while, I'm not sure that it makes a good perfume for me. It's a little too alcoholic and sour. Dark Chocolate, Whiskey, and Cognac Truffle smells curious and fascinating, but after a while of having it on my skin, it started making me feel kinda nauseous & headachey and I had to wash it off.