Little Bird

I thought that this was going to be powdery white florals (yay brain fog) and then was really confused as to why I smelled like amazing, fluffy, lemony marshmallows on a base of warm amber after slathering this on. I was really happy about the turn of events, though. ? Penis Bound With Gold Ribbon is one of my favorite bpal blends and it has similar notes of "golden musk, sweet amber, and lemon cream." White Cat is like the sweeter, more youthful, more playful counterpart. The amber isn't as dark in White Cat, the golden musk is stronger, and the fluffy sweetness is much stronger. As it dries down, it's mostly a fluffy vanilla marshmallow scent with hints of lemon zest and a warm, glowing, golden musk and soft amber. I really like how bpal made this scent smell fluffy, soft, and cuddly like the kitty on the label. As a cat person, I really appreciate this series and think that it is really well done. I've always wished that bpal would do a cat line and a bird line like their butterfly series, so this is a dream come true for me. ?

A sour, sharp, chemical, white musky floral and baby powdery sandalwood. Sharply soapy in the drydown. This is like my nightmare scent.

Creamy, sweet honey is very strong, giving me a honeyed marshmallow impression. The tea, I think, is adding a crispness, breezy floral, and touch of herbal tea leaf. It is mostly a sugary, creamy honey, though.

There are so many different varieties of black musk, but this one reminds me of black ink, incense cones, and velvety, warm fur. The amber is sweetly resinous and I would have guessed it was myrrh, actually. There's a spicy warmth to it in the drydown that's clove-like to me. Very deep, dark, and resinous/ incensey. I love it.

A gorgeous, perfect, simple sweet cream perfume. It reminds me very much of Bpal's Boo and a little bit of Haus of Gloi's Ghost Puffs. Cool vanilla, sugared milkiness, and a whiff of salted butter. It's also very strong with great throw on my skin. It might require a backup bottle.

I cannot resist buying cat themed fragrances from any company. My own little furry familiars are often the only things that keep me going on my hardest days. Raminou is one of those well blended scents for me where most of the notes don't really leap out at me, but they're there, just all blended together seamlessly into something larger. I expected Raminou to be loud, big, and bold, but it has a quieter, calmer feel to it, more lazy and indulgent than passionate. It's a great scent for a chonky tabby getting ready to lounge in its favorite spot for the entirety of the day with no particular urgency towards anything, just snoozing and soaking up sunshine. I get the red musk, but it's not as loud or sweet as usual; it's more warm and cuddly with a hint of glowing red wine to it, and the golden vanilla, tonka and honey add a creaminess and warm, golden sunshine feel without turning gourmand or reminiscent of frosting or baked goods. The labdanum and cashmere add a powdery, snuggly, warm tone. Further into the drydown, the hint of saffron and patchouli are gorgeous and add an earthy spiciness and the myrrh comes through as well to make things a little sweeter and richer, with a flair of dry oakmoss giving it a feel of sophisticated vintage perfume. All of the notes radiate warmth and comfort to me.

The Lab sold a bunch of bottles of The Great Conjunction and The First Sun prototypes on etsy and I picked up both. The Great Conjunction turns too powdery for me, but The First Sun is lovely on me. It's like a perfumey orange creamsicle with threads of golden frankincense woven through it. I get a powdery amber in the drydown as the citrus fades off, but it's still more of a sweet, resinous, golden frankincense and creamy, cool vanilla tone on my skin.

This goes on like mimosas - fizzy champagne and sunny orange juice - spilled over a much darker, slightly earthy, mineral scent. The mimosa impression mostly disappears after 15 or 20 minutes (just a hint of fizz left behind) and the darker base notes strengthen. It's earthy, rocky, and darkly musky to me (like black musk, but sweeter like the musk in blends like Smut). I think I'm getting a base of slightly powdery, dark labdanum and maybe a little patchouli? The fizzy impression also shifts to a bright, metallic, slightly cologne-y tone. I love the mid-stage, but around the 40 minute mark, the whole thing just turns powdery and nondescript on my skin and stays that wear for hours. Very powdery amber.

The sandalwood in this is so unbearably powdery, dry and odd on my skin, like dusty baby powder and Play-Doh. Something also smells weirdly burnt on my skin. Because of the scent name, it keeps making me think of burnt eggshells. Rose usually amps on my skin, but I can't find it here. There's a sweetness, but it doesn't smell like white chocolate or marshmallow on me. I have trouble with bpal's white sandalwood going powdery and off on my skin, but this is somehow even stronger and worse. I had good luck with most of the 2022 Liliths, but this one doesn't work on me.

Smells like a sudden deluge of rain absolutely drowned an herb garden and the tender greens are all waterlogged and giving off an herbal-spicy scent. The hint of rain on hot cement is there too. The lavender and coconut don't come out for about an hour on my skin, but they add a really beautiful, super creamy, delicately sweet undertone to the rainwater and herbs in the drydown. I expected this to turn soapy on me, but it doesn't. It's very atmospheric and calming.

I really enjoyed most of the 2022 Lilith series, but if I had to pick a top 3, it would be Oda a la Luz Encantada, Luceat, and this one. Dad! smells (appropriately) like it could be in the same scent family as Dorian and Paper Phoenix. The sweet vanilla tea with a touch of lemon is so reminiscent of Paper Phoenix, but the floofy, strong marshmallow and hint of honey cream in this are just wonderful to me. I love the scent of marshmallows and this is like huffing a bag of mallows or dumping a whole bag of them into a cup of tea at the Mad Tea Party. A fun, joyful scent.

This reminds me of Trick #2 at first (notes of pomegranate, tobacco, patchouli, wild berries, pine pitch, oak, vanilla, and pink pepper). The patchouli and amber are dry, earthy, and resinous, the cade gives off a whiff of smoky evergreen, the dark berries and vanilla lend a pleasant sweetness, and the ylang ylang adds a warm, powdery, classic feeling floral perfume. As it dries down, it's actually a little too powdery on my skin and, as much as I love patchouli, the dry quality of this patchouli mixed with the powder isn't really working for me. The lingering hint of berries and vanilla is my favorite part.

This is more bright and fresh smelling than I expected. It smells like honey scented shampoo and a crystalline, airy, cold sort of lavender at first. I also keep thinking that I smell one of those tree shaped, pine scented air fresheners for cars. Like something misty, sweet, pine-y and a little woody. The driftwood, I think, is giving off a salty men's cologne and the dry wood part. I don't really pick up on the resins/amber or patchouli. This feels clean and icy to me, like a recording studio up in the mountains, tranquil and cool. I also find it interesting that honey shampoo, lavender oil, pine air freshener, and aquatic men's cologne impressions would all tend to smell cheap and basic to me, but they don't smell cheap or off putting here. It's a scent that actually smells surprisingly sophisticated and well put together. It's a clean, confident scent to me.

This smells exactly as I hoped it would. Steeping freshly picked jasmine blossoms in a cup of warm milk and sweetening it with a drizzle of wildflower honey, a few drops of rose jam, and a dollop of sweet cream. I was worried about the other notes going soapy or powdery, but this is all about the floral and gourmand facets on my skin. It's fresh yet rich, sweet, and creamy. Vanilla-y floral, but complex and unique. I would love to have this as an actual drink.

This reminds me of Jack; it even has a weird, fruity, sour peach-y scent on my skin that shouldn't be there. It also smells of smoky, burning candle and leans waxy/plasticy with a sharp spice note, so it's very much giving off 'cheap pumpkin spice candle' vibes. I don't know if I smell chocolate or muffin at all of if I'm just really good at imagining things as I sit here trying to pick the scent apart. Maybe a tiny hint of creamy chocolate somewhere in here. The cheap, melting wax smell really bothers me. Another pumpkin dud for me.

I will never pass on a weird puppet scent, no matter what the notes are. My dad used to tell elaborate stories with creepy puppets and dark twists and that's something that I grew up with and adored. He was killed when I was 12-years-old and I hold on to those tender memories. I'm late on a lot of my reviews because I've been in the middle of moving and my 'Weenies in particular just got packed up into storage and are now making their way back out to haunt the new house. At least they are well aged and settled now. I love Abelard and Heloise because they both rest on a base of wood and creepiness. Bpal really picked out notes that you smell and think, "Yep. Haunted puppets." Abelard is a bit creepier to me (in a good way!) because it has this dry, slightly sweet, odd wood note (but not powdery or dusty, just.. old wooden puppet) and a chilled note that makes you think of a ghost passing you in the hallway of an old yet well loved and well kept house. The chill is almost a little plasticy, a little cucumber-y, with the tiniest hint of lime fizz, and a little vanilla-y, and I'm pretty sure I've smelled it in one of bpal's odd single notes (Crumpled Wrapping Paper?). The hint of sweet vanilla, I think, must be the coconut, but this doesn't read as beachy or tropical to me. The carnation and frankincense are nondescript, but give off wafts of warm incense smoke in the drydown. The overall effect for me is haunted, but in a good way. Old wood sprinkled with magic, cold vanilla, and wafts from a burning incense stick. Heloise starts off much darker and more blunt and straightforward to me. It has a cologne-like quality and I feel like I've smelled fragrances like it before. Dark men's cologne musk, masculine spices, and dry, dark woods. I felt like it wasn't terribly unique for the first half hour, but then I wind up liking this a lot more as the traditional masculine cologne settles down and the wood and sweet incense smoke gain strength with the spices smelling a little like bay rum + black pepper in the background. I usually don't enjoy wood notes, but I like the woods in both of these fragrances. My brother is a carpenter and Heloise smells like all of his woodworking projects over the years and heading into lumberyards, plus spice, dark incense, and cologne-y musk.

I will never pass on a weird puppet scent, no matter what the notes are. My dad used to tell elaborate stories with creepy puppets and dark twists and that's something that I grew up with and adored. He was killed when I was 12-years-old and I hold on to those tender memories. I'm late on a lot of my reviews because I've been in the middle of moving and my 'Weenies in particular just got packed up into storage and are now making their way back out to haunt the new house. At least they are well aged and settled now. I love Abelard and Heloise because they both rest on a base of wood and creepiness. Bpal really picked out notes that you smell and think, "Yep. Haunted puppets." Abelard is a bit creepier to me (in a good way!) because it has this dry, slightly sweet, odd wood note (but not powdery or dusty, just.. old wooden puppet) and a chilled note that makes you think of a ghost passing you in the hallway of an old yet well loved and well kept house. The chill is almost a little plasticy, a little cucumber-y, with the tiniest hint of lime fizz, and a little vanilla-y, and I'm pretty sure I've smelled it in one of bpal's odd single notes (Crumpled Wrapping Paper?). The hint of sweet vanilla, I think, must be the coconut, but this doesn't read as beachy or tropical to me. The carnation and frankincense are nondescript, but give off wafts of warm incense smoke in the drydown. The overall effect for me is haunted, but in a good way. Old wood sprinkled with magic, cold vanilla, and wafts from a burning incense stick. Heloise starts off much darker and more blunt and straightforward to me. It has a cologne-like quality and I feel like I've smelled fragrances like it before. Dark men's cologne musk, masculine spices, and dry, dark woods. I felt like it wasn't terribly unique for the first half hour, but then I wind up liking this a lot more as the traditional masculine cologne settles down and the wood and sweet incense smoke gain strength with the spices smelling a little like bay rum + black pepper in the background. I usually don't enjoy wood notes, but I like the woods in both of these fragrances. My brother is a carpenter and Heloise smells like all of his woodworking projects over the years and heading into lumberyards, plus spice, dark incense, and cologne-y musk.

I wore this today and didn't remember the notes, so I wasn't biased in my thinking. It starts off like sticky cherries thrown into dusty incense and quickly dries down to smell exactly like cherry Dr. Pepper on my skin. Dark and sticky with a red cherry edge. Sometimes resins turn cola-like, but the red fruits make it read as a perfect Dr. Pepper scent on me. Lasts about 4 hours on me before it fades considerably. I really think that this is a fun fragrance. So Ejaculate of Serpents = cherry Dr. Pepper.

Clove is one of my favorite scents and Cinder Paw actually reminds me of LUSH's Skinny Dip clove (spicy, sweet, creamy). I don't really find this scent to be ashy, smoky or burnt at all. Just lots of spicy, sweet clove that has a creamy undertone on my skin. I don't smell the patchouli or fur either. Clove, to me, is a really witchy, exotic, sensual scent that I've always adored. It has a powerful and seductive quality to it. After several hours, Cinder Paw has a vanillic, resinous, amber undertone on my skin, but still mostly that strong clove and doesn't change much, which I'm totally fine with. It's a wonderful scent and lasts all day with really great throw and projection. I wish I'd grabbed a backup bottle and I definitely will buy more if it returns. I've been really impressed with all of the scents made for Spiritus Arcanum. I like their vibe a lot.

Lots of pulpy, green, clean bamboo and sweet, juicy, tropical fruits. I also feel like I can smell the plum blossom more than usual in this lunar new year blend, and it has more of an actual plum fruit scent to it as well. The fruits are all syrupy sweet and juicy, but the fresh bamboo and creamy blossom notes help to cut through all of the sweetness. Definitely one of my favorites of the lunar new year series. This one isn't soapy like many of the others are on my skin.

This lunar new year blend is more dry and sharp than many of the other variations. Dried out, sour citrus peels, laundry soap powder, a realistic kumquat note trying to sweeten things up, and a good deal of smokiness that smells like a recently blown out candle, wax and all, with a hint of incense scent. Dry and crisp. It doesn't sound that great the way I've described it, but I do like it. Its clean citrus and laundry + smoky thing is actually working for me and it smells joyful to me. It leans towards a dry and sophisticated incense in the drydown.

The blood musk is metallic, but in a silvery, cool, cologne-like way instead of smelling coppery or like iron. Metallic cologne, a hint of red musk, amber that comes off like dry woods and dust, and an odd drizzle of sweet honey and savory saffron. I actually find the overall combination to be really off putting and dirty smelling. I normally enjoy all of these notes, but this blend feels really disjointed to me and the thick dusty/powdery quality of the amber isn't working for me here.

Goes on with lots of powdery, sweet orris and a bubblegummy-yet-clean floral scent that makes me think of the High Strung Daisies blend. I also keep catching whiffs that smell like brown sugar. As it dries down, the rose comes out and it's a lovely mix of fresh and sweet, touched with that toasty brown sugar type of scent that I would normally dislike, but I'm loving it here with the floral notes. The orris also sticks around as a shimmery, powdered sugary, silvery veil. I love sweet, gourmand florals and this definitely leans into that territory. It's a scent that makes me think of a shimmery unicorn lazing about in a fairy garden full of fat bumblebees. I didn't expect to love this as much as I do, but I wore it while gardening this morning and it really put me in a planting flowers mood and it was strong and long lasting even in the heat and is still going strong 4 hours later. A beautiful, gourmand floral.

I usually hate root beer / sarsaparilla scents, but Native Gold conjures up this old Western vibe that I really enjoy, transporting me to an old, dusty mining town in the West of old Hollywood movies. It somehow really does smell like dusty minerals and the scent of standing just inside of a cave, this chilled, rocky, ancient scent that I love. The dry cedar and sweet tobacco conjure up the images of an old wooden saloon. The sarsaparilla smells like root beer, but leans more towards dried herbs and old apothecary than a root beer float, which I prefer more than the impression of the sugar drenched drink. As it dries down, this is also reminding me of Essence by Reminiscence Paris, which is one of my favorites.

The first minute on my skin is delightful with the burst of realistic, juicy, tropical guava and a vanilla sugar and cognac that reminds me of Black Lace's flankers. It quickly fizzles out, though, to a loud and baby powdery white sandalwood and warm vanilla sugar. Bpal's white sandalwood has ruined more blends for me than any other note over the years.