Little Bird

In the bottle, this smells soft, light, and almost nonexistent. I get a hint of powdery sandalwood and not much else. On my skin at first, it's a faint, lightly powdery sandalwood. My skin chemistry amps up rose notes like crazy, but I don't smell any roses here. It's very odd. You know how some unscented creams or lotions actually have a faint, creamy, lotion-y smell just from the ingredients in them? That's what this smells like. It has a smell, but it's like it's not a perfume smell or even supposed to be fragranced. I also think it smells a bit like clay. Fifteen minutes into the drydown, ah, there's the rose. It still smells lotion-y or clay-like, but with a hint of very soft, creamy rose. It makes me think of a very delicate hand lotion with rose in it. It's delicate, light baby pink, and pretty, but barely there on me.

In the bottle, the oil is a very dark brown and smells resinous, but also a bit sharp & sour. On my skin, this is a very dark, heavy scent. It smells like sticky, dark resins with sexy, manly musk, clove spice, and something like a hint of bitter orange peel. It starts to get intensely musky and smoky on me in the drydown, though. I like it a lot at first, but the drydown is like a man put on way too much cheap cologne and ran through a housefire... My skin amps up the black musk here and it turns too smoky-sharp for me. I think that this would smell a lot better on someone else, and I can see it aging quite nicely. It's just not for me.

In the bottle, this doesn't smell very good to me. It sort of smells like dandelion, but sharper and more menthol-y. Sharp, frozen, medicinal green. On my skin, oh I hate this. It smells like going through someone's bathroom drawer and finding Vicks Vaporub, medicated powders, a hint of hairspray, and herbal soaps that are well past their prime. Expired bath products and dust. I don't think that I've ever tried a fragrance that made me want to throwup as much as this one. I had to scrub this one off, as it was making me sick. It smells sharp and green, I suppose, but mostly it just smells cheap, medicinal, and wrong on my skin...

In the bottle, this smells like sweet pumpkin and a hint of green, fuzzy tomato leaves. I would never have thought of mixing pumpkin and tomato leaf, but it smells really wonderful. I love the smell of tomato leaves <3. The pumpkin in this isn't as buttery as it normally is on my skin. It's almost like a sweet pumpkin frosting smell, paired with the slightly spicy, fuzzy green tomato leaf. As this dries down, I smell the fir/pine pitch note and it's dark and slightly smoky on my skin. Sweet pumpkin (that's more of a sugar & spice scent on me at this point) with a background of dark, smoky woods and a hint of spicy tomato leaf. It reminds me of Troll & The Jersey Devil, but with the addition of lots of sweet pumpkin frosting. My hubby thought that this was too sweet and told me that it smells like sugar on me. I like it, though, and am happy to have a partial bottle. I might try layering it with Planting Moon...

Pomona and I aren't getting along well. Apple blossom, I've realized, smells like clean, fruity shampoo on me. So Pomona starts off smelling like crisp, fakey fruit and fruity shampoo. It's not very sweet; it's more on the crisp and clean side of things. In the drydown, though, something in this starts to remind me of children's medicine. I think it's the nuttiness mixed with the bitter pomegranate that smells medicinal to me. The other fruit notes are sharp, dry, and strange smelling in the background (I get a hint of burnt rubber) :/ I've been having better luck with fruit notes lately, but this blend reminds me of why I was wary of fruit blends in the first place. This is so strange and artificial in all of its stages on my skin. Not good.

In the bottle, this is cloying rose, powdery sandalwood, and an earthy tang. On my skin, this is a resinous, slightly sour (but not unpleasant) rose, dry sandalwood, and an earthy patchouli. Something about the sourness of this scent is really appealing to me. I normally amp up rose, but the rose here is playing nice and fades far into the background as this dries down. For the first fifteen minutes or so on my skin, this is hot, crumbly, dry resins, sour rose, and dry sandalwood. It smells like something very well aged and expensive. Then it suddenly morphs into baby powder (thanks sandalwood) with a hint of rose and fades away quickly after that. It starts off so well and then fizzles so quickly on me. I might keep my decant of this and see how it ages. I like it for the first little while on my skin, but it disappears so quickly and I don't like its baby powdery stage...

In the bottle, this smells like zingy citrus. I would have said this smells like limes, but it's better than lime, and I must be smelling the blood orange. On my skin, the citrus smells more like blood orange now. I don't normally like citrus scents, but I'm liking this one. It smells like bitter peel, sweet juice, and a refreshing citrus spray. It's a dark, juicy, energizing smell. As this dries down, the citrus stays at the front of the fragrance, but a dry floral and resins scent creeps in as well. Someone took the citrus halves and tossed them into a basket of drying orange, yellow, and red flowers and bundles of dry leaves. The myrrh adds a nice, golden feel to the whole blend. I love the colours that this fragrance conjures up. It's like smelling a bunch or oranges, reds, yellows, and browns - a perfect bunch of fall colors. Marigold colours. The colour of a beautiful, dark sunset. I'm a bit in love with this scent, and happy to have a bottle

In the imp, this smells very clean (but not soapy at all). I can smell the watery, cool, blue musk and powdery amber. On my skin at first, Under the Harvest Moon smells like a watery cologne. It's a bit sweet and has a hint of clean powder. As this dries down, it's like a very pale, watery vanilla and floral. It smells enchanting and makes me think of the pond in The Swan Princess cartoon/movie that I loved when I was little. It smells like still water reflecting the moon, white flowers sitting on the pond's surface, and a little bit of magical vanilla musk and sweetness. It's very smooth, cool, nighttime scent. Clean floral and a watery vanilla musk. This is very pretty. It's not something that I'd normally wear, but I love the feel of this blend. It reminds me a little bit of Evening Star, but not as sweet, and more pale and watery. Just a similar feel...

Languid, melancholy fire: red musk, purple orchid, frankincense, smoky vanilla, Styrian herbs, peru balsam, tonka, Zanzibar clove, and patchouli. In the bottle, this reminds me of Hellhound on my Trail. I get a not-sweet vanilla with smoky frankincense and herbs. On my skin, it's much the same, except the purple orchid and red musk also come in to join the party. I'm surprised that I'm not amping up the red musk more and that this is rather smoky on me. I also don't get any clove, and I normally amp up spices. This scent conjures up an image of a woman burning a stack of love letters and not showing any emotion over the act. Her perfume isn't sweet and neither is she. She's wearing a grownup, herbal vanilla with a hint of dark floral and musk, and her hair smells like the smoke from those burning letters. Mircalla is very smoky on me, and really smells like burning paper. Then I pick up an herbal vanilla that reminds me of Hellhound and hints of dark, womanly perfume. This doesn't smell sensual to me so much as it smells like the scent of a woman that you *really* do not want to mess with, because she will mess you up and leave you bleeding on the floor. That said, it's really not a 'me' fragrance. I like sweeter scents, and this one is a bit too smoky and bitter for my tastes.

In the bottle, this smells like nothing but bpal's buttery pumpkin note. On my skin at first, I'm surprised at how much I like this scent. I don't normally like bpal's honey or almond notes, because the honey goes metallic on my skin and the almond smells like cherries. This really smells like honeyed almonds though, with a pretty, delicate, golden sweetness. I love this at first and then get really disappointed by the drydown, which goes cinnamon-spicy on my skin, and it's sort of a sharp, cider-esque cinnamon with a background of buttery pumpkin. I really wanted the honey and almond to stick around . As far as the pumpkin blends go, this one doesn't have as much throw on me as they usually do.

In the bottle, this smells like bpal's buttery pumpkin note and black coffee. The second that the oil touches my skin, though, it's an explosion of cinnamon. My skin chemistry amps up spice notes like crazy, but at least the cinnamon here isn't sharp or red hots-evil. This is like a soft cinnamon sugar. As this dries down, I get cinnamon sugar with the tiniest hints of coffee and pumpkin creeping back into the picture. Lots and lots of super-sweet cinnamon to be had here, and it has great throw and staying power. I like this, but I can't really wear scents this cinnamon-heavy without getting a headache. I'm going to use my bottle of Pumpkin V as a home fragrance instead of a perfume. I'm glad to have a bottle of this anyhow, especially since the label is so cute (it's my favorite of the Halloweenie labels this year, next to Pumpkin II).

In the bottle, this reminds me of Possets' "Walter" fragrance - rose, buttery cake, and red fruitiness (which is probably the almond turning to cherry, as bpal's almond notes often do on my skin). On my skin, this smells like warm spice cake, red rose, and hints of warm caramel and sweet cherry. Over time, the cherry and rose amp up more and smell a bit sour to me. It turns into red rose, sour cherry, and a background of sweet, buttery cake. The sour rose and cherry combo starts to feel heavy and make my head ache after a while. I adore Possets' Walter scent, and it does the whole buttery cake-rose-and-red-fruit thing a lot better for me. I don't think that I'll be keeping Bite Me in my collection...

I wasn't expecting to like Suck It; my skin amps up black cherry notes and I'm never fond of the smell. In the bottle and on my skin at first, this smells like I crammed my head into a tin of black cherry kool-aid powder. It's tart, strong, powdery, artificial cherry. As the scent dries down, it doesn't smell boozy at all, but it does start to smell darker and a bit like black licorice on my skin. So, Suck It smells like a whip of black licorice rolled in dark cherry kool-aid powder. It smells verrry tart/sour on me, which is rather unpleasant. I can't really see myself wearing this one again...

A seductive, serpentine white scent, elusive, crystalline, and spellbinding: white amber, silver birch, immortelle, davana, pale musk, star jasmine, and ylang ylang. In the bottle, this smells like a clean, clear, crystalline, sweet musk with a touch of powder. I also get a dry floral smell that reminds me very strongly of Chrysanthemum Moon. On my skin, this smells like dry, incensey flowers dipped in gold with a vanilla-musky sweetness and handful of dry leaves tossed in for good measure. It's like Chrysanthemum Moon and Antique Lace had a very autumn-appropriate baby. The Girl is lovely, and the amber here isn't even going powdery on my skin. It's a soft, sweet, delicate fall scent that smells sort of mysterious on me. I'm surprised at how much this smells like Chrysanthemum Moon on my skin. It's like Mum Moon, but better .

In the bottle, this smells like a resinous sandalwood to me, and reminds me of Magus. On my skin, this goes verrry powdery. I get lots of powdery sandalwood and a sweet smelling musk. I don't smell any leather and this isn't a very dark scent on me. The drydown is like sweet baby powder and a hint of sandalwood. I feel like I'm drowning in baby powder when I wear this. I don't ever smell any leather from this, but I smell something like bright, sweet resins underneath the powder after wearing this for a couple hours. Violens smells better to me than Sachs, but that isn't saying much. This scent does have great throw and staying power on me, but I don't really like it and kinda wish it wouldn't stick around. This scent is just way too powdery for me, and I don't like the odd sweetness here...

I was really hoping that Black Butterfly Moon would be a sweet, dark floral with fruity and resinous edges. Unfortunately, this is all sharp, perfumey and soapy on me, and I'm not sure why. I normally love orchid and gardenia; they're two floral notes that I can usually pull off. Not in this case, apparently. On my skin, this smells like cheap, insanely sharp, metallic hairspray with a hint of woods and sickly maple syrup. It's way too perfumey and sharp for me. It smells like a cheap floral-musk that someone bought at a drugstore and then left to rot for decades... I don't smell any resins or moss at all here, and I don't recognize any of the listed notes in this. It's just a sharp, perfumey mess to my nose, and it gives me a splitting headache

In the bottle, this smells weird and oddly fruity to me. It's sort of like smoky vanilla and banana candies with singed herbs :/. It smells earthy and burnt. On my skin, this is awful . I love vanilla and I was hoping for a soft chamomile tea smell, but this is smoky and herbal and something sickeningly soapy. It's not sweet at all on my skin, and I really need some sweetness to cut through the bitter herbs here. After fifteen minutes, this is bitter herbs that have been burnt on the edges and a hint of the chalky, powdery vanilla smell that I get from Love's Philosophy. I also still catch a hint of really harsh soap underneath everything, but it smells dirty, like a bucket full of dirty mop water. Blech. I had high hopes for this (I bought two bottles unsniffed, even), but I hate it. The smell of it actually makes me sick to my stomach...

Boo was the Halloweenie that I was most excited about, and it does not disappoint at all. In the bottle, it sort of smells like cheesecake and buttercream frosting. It's cool, creamy, sweet, and slightly buttery. On my skin, it reminds me of Midway's soft cotton candy swirled into a cheesecake, and it doesn't smell buttery at all. The cool, creamy, slightly clean smelling vanilla just conjures up an image of a slice of vanilla bean cheesecake for me. There's nothing too sweet about this scent; it has the perfect amount of sweetness. My only complaint is that this doesn't have much throw on me, but it does last a good while and it's one that I wouldn't mind reapplying. Boo is easily one of my favorite bpal scents. It's a wonderful, creamy, cool vanilla with little touches of cotton candy and clean linen. A vanilla that's clean, smooth and not too sweet.

This goes on smelling sort of medicinal on me, with a pine and menthol feel. The drydown is really lovely and soothing, though. I smell something like herbal lavender over powdery sandalwood and sweet, bright resins. Over time it's less medicinal and more of a lavender incense scent that goes soft and slightly powdery on me. I love lavender and resins. I'd buy a full bottle of this if I had the chance .

St. Lucia is sharp, red hots cinnamon candies on my skin . I amp up spice notes, so this smells like pure cinnamon on me. It's strong and headache inducing, and it makes my skin red and itchy. The blend gets a little sweeter smelling and loses its sharpness after about a half hour, but it's still too heavy on the cinnamon for me.

In the decant vial, Pediophobia smells sharp, cheap, perfumey, and slightly soapy. It smells like drugstore floral perfume, but I'm not good with floral notes. If I had to guess, I would have said it reminds me of iris's perfumey sharpness. On my skin at first, this is clean, sharp, perfumey floral with a hint of sweetness (smells like lotus's bubblegummy sweetness to me). I worried that it would go soapy for a while, but it stays smelling clean without morphing to dish soap. It's like a fresh, clean smelling floral with a drop of lotus and a musky-sweet drydown on me. This is better on my skin than it is in the bottle, but it's still very much a not-me fragrance. Too much perfumey floral and musky-sharpness for me...

I think that Tweedledum and Fruit Moon layer really well with Sol Bacio.

In the bottle, this reminds me of Marshmallow Poof. I get that same fruit punch & creamy marshmallow candy smell. I don't smell any dandelion in the bottle. On my skin, I was disappointed at first, because this smells exactly like Marshmallow Poof. It smells like a cold, fruity sugar. Then, after letting this settle on my skin for five minutes, the dandelion comes bursting briefly into the scene. I always like how realistic bpal's dandelion note is. It really smells like bitter, weedy dandelions <3. Plastic Pink Flamingo is a lovely, sugared dandelion for a brief stage on my skin. I'm surprised at how wearable the dandelion is when paired with some sweet notes. This is like a dandelion dipped in sugar with just a hint of fruity syrup. The sugar softens the dandelion's bitter edges and adds a hint of fruitiness, and the dandelion keeps the sugar from being sickly sweet. And then, unfortunately, this morphs back into Marshmallow Poof after about a half hour and it stays there. It smells like loads of sugar, banana laffy taffy (??), and a splash of fruit punch. Way too sweet... I adore the label for this and wish that the dandelion would stick around. I think I'm going to try layering this with other dandelion blends...

In the bottle, this smells powdery, fresh, and almost citrussy. It smells summery and powdery. I think that I can smell the honey, but it's like a fresh, flowery honey... On my skin, the only note that I can really pick out is the baby powder. It's a soft fluff of powder and an extra hint of sweetness... creamy, white and soft smelling. I feel like I dusted myself with baby powder and dabbed on the tiniest bit of sweet floral perfume (or Castitas bath oil) - very innocent, proper and ladylike. I keep smelling something like a hint of Castitas bath oil underneath the powder. I imagine that this would be nice to wear when I just want to smell clean, but I'm not sure if I've ever really had the urge to smell clean and powdery. I think not. I don't find this unpleasant, but it's very not-me.

In the bottle, this smells like cherry chapstick and a hint of earthy moss. The fruity aspect smells cheap and artificial to me. I usually amp up red currant and it goes all tart and sour on my skin, but the fruitiness here smells cloying, cheap, and waxy. Perhaps it's the red currant smothered underneath the molasses and vanilla cream, but it's definitely cloying and not good on me. I can smell hints of the moss and patchouli drowning underneath the sweetness. Cherry chapstick, way too much syrupy sweetness, and a hint of earth. Lawn Gnome smells pretty awful on me. It's just way too sweet and smells cheap and off on my skin. Bleh.