Little Bird

I like The Obsidian Widow for a black dress & red lipstick combo. It doesn't give off a black feel, though, more of a dark red, sexy feel. Intrigue smells dark and shadowy to me. Whip makes me think of black and red because of the leather and rose combo. Voodoo is also a sexy, mysterious, dark scent to me, and it's described as "a midnight scent."

Some scents that might be good for conjuring up a hot desert feel: *The Ifrit (desert sand, red musk, blackened ginger, dragon's blood resin, black pepper, cinnamon, & tobacco) *Morocco (the intoxicating perfume of exotic incenses wafting on warm desert breezes: arabian spices, warm musk, carnation, red sandalwood, and cassia) *Scarecrow (the scent of a hot wind blowing through desolate, scorched, barren fields) *Ozymandius (dry desert air, dry and hot, passing over crumbling stone megaliths and plundered golden monuments, bearing a hint of the incense of lost Gods on its winds -- though this is more classical-perfumey & soapy on me, personally) You might also want to check out Australian Copperhead in the Carnaval series, though. It doesn't smell like hot desert to me, but it does smell lovely, and it has Australia right in the name, lol.

First on, this smells green & damp on me, like cucumber and grass clippings, with sharp, perfumey florals dancing around the greenery. As it dries down, I get a lot of clean, soapy rose. Greenery & rose soap with a bit of white floral perfume spritzed about. It's too soapy and too sharply fake-floral for my tastes.

I amp up spices, so I was happy when so many reviews said this wasn't too spicy, but The Greatly Revered Ones is intensely cinnamony on me. It has some extra heat to it as well, which kinda smells like chili pepper on me. There's a weird something in here that smells sort of gross and off underneath the spice (the maize? agave?) - it's just sickly sweet. Sometimes I think I catch a whiff of a dark chocolate smell in here somewhere, but it's not strong or constant on my skin. All in all, this is just a bit too spicy for me, and the other notes don't seem to be fitting in well.

In the bottle, this smells like the richest, blackest, muddy soil. It really smells somehow soft and muddy. On my skin, this immediately turns perfumey-clean & sharp (smells like a warm aquatic note more than the snow note I'm used to, because this isn't chilly or sweet at all). As this dries down, it's all mud, sharp aquatic, and dirty smelling cedar. It's also a bit soapy. Season of the Inundation smells fascinating in the bottle, but it goes all sharp, perfumey, and off on my skin

In the bottle, this smells like dryer sheets - sharp, dry, and soapy. On my skin, this has that familiar, soapy, doing-laundry scent that I get from most aquatic & ozone blends. Festival of Anuket is very sharp and soapy on my skin. It's sort of like smelling cleaning chemicals, in that it smells sharp in a way that makes me feel like it's something I shouldn't be smelling. Eye-watering, nose burning sharpness... I had to wash this one off, because it started to make me feel sick while I was wearing it. This is probably my least favorite of bpal's aquatic blends (my favorites are Sea of Glass & Banded Sea Snake <3).

It's funny to read the mixed love it or hate it reviews for this spray. Luckily, I am in the love-it camp . I get frankincense, beeswax, and olive leaf from this, mainly. The beeswax and frankincense are wonderfully smooth and sweet, but not too sweet or just a sweet fragrance. The olive leaf has this sort of slightly clean, slightly herbal, exotic smell to me. It's just wonderfully incensey and exotic smelling, and a very smooth fragrance. There's nothing sharp or out of place about it. I'm happy to have several of these sprays. I'll probably use it to spray on my jackets, since I love the smell so much.

Semiramis bath oil is definitely my favorite thing from the warrior queens series. I wish that I could get a couple big bottles of this stuff. In the bottle, this smells like a mix of red cherry and orange popsicles - sweet, juicy, smooth, cool fruitiness. I don't normally really like cherry or orange (the cherry tends to be too sweet and the orange not sweet enough, lol), but they smell perfect here, perhaps thanks to being blended with each other. If I rub this directly on my skin, I get lots of warm, earthy, sweet red musk and myrrh, and the fruits just disappear. I like how this scent plays out in the bath more than directly on my skin. In the bath water, I can pick out all of the listed notes except for the pomegranate. The orange smells decadent & almost sparkly in the bath. It makes me think of rich blood orange. And it leaves the most wonderful scent on my skin afterwards, where I can still pick out the red musk, orange, myrrh, and a hint of cherry. I find it to be such an uplifting scent. The red musk & myrrh make it smell sexy, expensive, and royal, and the sweet, fruity aspects make it cheery, playful, & fun. This is just a beautiful fragrance. The best bath oil ever...

Bpal's amber notes often go powdery, and heliotrope is a sweet, powdery floral, so Labores Solis goes very powdery on me. I get a little bit of something like a sweet floral incense underneath the baby powder. I like parts of this a lot, but it's too powdery for me to actually wear. I like all of the listed notes, but this sadly is not for me

Red currant is sour & tart on me. In the Tomoe Gozen perfume oil, the red currant mixed with the blackberry became unbearably sour. The bath oil isn't bad on me, though. The honey here really mellows out the red currant for me. It still smells like a tart red fruit, but the honey adds a sugary edge to it that smooths it out. It kinda smells like some sort of berry smoothie. In the water and on my skin, this smells like a tart, cool berry. Very simple.

I wasn't crazy about this when I first got it, but Boadicea seems to have aged well. It was initially very piney and smoky to me, but that has calmed down into just a hint of soft earthiness. The vanilla is still slightly buttery and powdery smelling to me, but it has sweetened up some. Much to my delight, the fig note is actually rather strong now. It smells like a sweet fig, almost berry-like. Actually, this oil smells a lot like Monster Bait: Closet in my bath water, with the mix of almost-berry-like, sweet fig and buttery, cakey vanilla. It layers really well with Closet . On my skin after the bath (or applied directly to my skin), this leaves a hint of sweet fig, cakey vanilla, and warm, powdery amber. It's really lovely. I'm glad that I kept my bottle of this to see how it would settle. It's much better now that the pine/vetiver notes have chilled out and the vanilla has sweetened.

I like the Ysabel bath oil a lot more than her perfume oil, though I have trouble picking out the listed notes for this one. When I wear this, I keep thinking that it smells like bees (I know, I'm strange). Ysabel bath oil smells sort of like honeyed wildflowers, carnation-spiced wood, and a sharp, pleasant little something that I cannot place. Overall it smells dark to me. It has an herbal/incensey quality along with the honeyed something, reminding me of pollen and wildflowers, if that makes sense. I love this bath oil, and would definitely wear it as a perfume.

Like everyone has already mentioned, Metallic Pinwheel reminds me of Blue Fire in the bottle and on my skin at first. The juniper smells like fizzy gin on me, the blueberry takes over & is the strongest notes in the blend, and the other citrus notes add a bit of zest underneath everything. The blueberry is very sweet and candied on me (like blueberry bubblegum), so it's nice to have the citrus and juniper to cut through its sweetness a bit. As it dries down, this is actually more fizzy and effervescent smelling on me than Blue Fire was. Where Blue Fire got sweeter on me as it dried down, this fades quickly into an explosion of sharp fizz. It's like the perfume equivalent of seltzer water on my skin. I don't know if this works so well on me. It might be nice for layering with other fruity scents, though.

In the bottle and on my skin at first, this smells like Milk Moon '05 - like canned milk with extra sweetness. A little too sweet and a bit milky-sour. After 5 minutes or so, this dries down and has a lot of figgy goodness to it. It smells like the dark, wooden sort of fig that's in Intrigue, but with an edge of sour milk instead of Intrigue's cocoa. I don't get any myrrh from this at all. The goat's milk doesn't smell any different to me than the usual milk notes. Nonae probably isn't going to be something that I wear a lot. It smells rather similar to Intrigue, but not as good. I kind of like bpal's milk notes, but they tend to be too cloying & strong for me to wear for any real length of time. I suppose that I just get sick of smelling the milk notes pretty quickly. Intrigue is one of my favorite fig scents, and I'd reach for that blend over Nonae. This is strong fig, a drizzle of Milk Moon '05, and no myrrh on me.

Zenobia starts off smelling like spiced cola and dry wood with smooth, dark resins. In the drydown, this smells like deep, purple, sweet, slightly powdery violets with clove and an overall dark, incensey feel. Sweet violet incense with clove. This smells a lot like LUSH's Bathos fragrance on me.

In the bottle, this is loads of red musk and a hint of red fruitiness (almost smells like red wine, but I suppose that's just the pomegranate giving me that impression). It reminds me of the Mme. Moriarty blend. On my skin, this is pretty much all red musk. I expected this blend to be lighter, juicier, and fruitier thanks to the melon and orange blossom, but I get absolutely no trace of either of those notes. Red musk smells like heated skin, sweet, dark, pulsating reds, and a little bit earthy on me (maybe like tobacco flower or a very light patchouli). It's a very dark, sultry, sweet musk on me - not sharp or perfumey as some musk notes can be. And that's all I smell for about an hour, before a tiny bit of pomegranate manages to make its way through the musk. Pomegranate smells like bitter sweet tarts on me. This is tons of red musk and a drop of bitter pomegranate on me. No melons or orange blossom. I really wanted this to be more complex and unique than it is. Semiramis is probably my biggest disappointment of the warrior queens series.

In the decant vial, this kinda smells like soapy cologne. I was worried that it would be soapy on me, but it's not. Oddly, this isn't smoky on me at all either. Smoky Moon is mostly powdery on me. Light, smooth, powdery sandalwood. That's all that I can pick out of this scent, and this one fades insanely fast on me. I'm glad I just went with a partial decant of this'n, because it's rather blah on me.

In the bottle, the red currant and the blackberry are clashing together and smelling a little too sharp & sour for me. On my skin... . The red currant/blackberry combo goes intensely sour and smells like I huffed lemonade powder up my nose. There's also a drizzle of sweet, pure honey here, trying to cut through the sharpness. This smells so much like sour lemon with a bit of honey on me that it makes me think of those lemon-honey cold medicine packets. Blech. I decided to ignore this one for fifteen minutes and come back to it. Tomoe Gozen does chill out after a while, and it's less sour and cringe-worthy on me. It's mostly honey now, with a bit of warm spiciness to it, and an undercurrent of sour fruit. I love black currant (sweet, dark, fruity jam goodness <3), but the red currant goes all sour and wonky on my skin. I hate the sharp fruitiness here.

In the bottle, this smells perfumey, warm, and sweet. I smell the amber and a sweet vanilla. On my skin at first, this is mostly amber, vanilla flower and oak. The amber is warm, golden, and powdery, the vanilla is sweet, and the oak adds a grounding bit of darkness. Something about this smells very musky & warm on me as well. It's like a perfumey, golden musk. With the patchouli, vetiver & leather, I was sure that this would smell very earthy and dark. Oddly, I don't smell any of those notes here, and I usually amp those notes. I also don't smell any dragon's blood. Amber, vanilla flower, and oak are the main players for me, and this scent has great throw and staying power. It has an overall warm, sweet, golden, perfumey feel. After letting this settle for about an hour, I keep thinking that it smells like there's some gunpowder/firecracker smoke in here. It smells like that delicious smell that's in the air after a fireworks show. That is mixed with the golden, intoxicating vanilla scent and perfumey warmth. Really beautiful. Boadicea definitely isn't what I expected from the listed notes, but I think she's a new favorite for me.

In the bottle, I pretty much just smell orange - a sweet, juicy, gorgeous orange. On my skin, it's still that lovely orange at first, with a bit of a tangy floral smell in the background. It's a really good, refreshing smell, the sort that makes you feel energetic and happy when you smell it. And then as this dries down, the orange disappears and the scent morphs into a cool floral. The drydown doesn't smell minty so much as it just has a cold feel to it. And I get lots of creamy, soft lily. There's also something here that's slightly cloying and not agreeing with me. J-Horror is actually rather pretty, but something about this gives me a headache, unfortunately . I wish that the orange would stick around. ETA: Reviewing the scent now that it has aged. I don't smell any orange with this anymore, not even in the bottle, where it used to be rather strong. J Horror is mostly soapy, creamy lily with a hint of mint. It makes me think of expensive, creamy bar soap and chilly tiled floors. Still gives me a headache.

In the bottle, this smells like powdery banana candies and cream. On my skin, much to my surprise, I am loving this. On my skin, this actually smells like real, fresh banana and cool, delicious cream. It's not fakey, candied, or overly sweet at all. I don't smell any of the blood & chainsaw grease, thankfully. Something about this actually smells fresh and clean on my skin (not soapy or anything bad, just a clean feeling). The banana mellows out in the drydown and I smell like vanilla custard with a hint of true banana. Yum. I hated Banana Peel in a Graveyard and figured that this would also be a dud on me, but I'm loving Splatter Comedy. I'm so glad that I bought a full bottle of this.

In the bottle, this smells like toasted coconut, cherry syrup, and chocolate. It's so sweet that it's scary. On me, this smells very similar to the March 09 version of Thirteen. It's all chocolate and bright, sticky, sweet cherry. I like foodie scents (cakes, vanillas, chocolates, buttery sweetness <3), but this is way too sweet for me. I had to scrub B-Horror off after a half hour, as it was showing no signs of fading or morphing into something bearable. This fragrance is just sickly sweet on me.

In the bottle, this smells like a smoky haze - dark, sharp, musky smoke. Like being in a room filled with burning incense, dim lighting, and a few women wearing very expensive, sharp, killer perfume. On my skin, it's much the same, though it sweetens up a little once it's on. Smoke, darkness, and perfume. I can't pick out any one note by itself; they all just melt together. Giallo is complex and has a lot of presence, but it fades surprisingly fast on me. It has an aggressive throw for about an hour and then all but disappears. ETA: Reviewing this now that it has aged... this smells oddly like nothing a faint whisp of smoke, but mostly an oily base smell. Most of the dark delicacies exclusive scents haven't aged well for me and are going to my swap pile...

\Jingu bath oil is very similar to Castitas, to my nose, which is probably thanks to the shared rice flower note. It smells very creamy and sweet, with a bit of fruitiness. If you were to draw me a bath with this oil and asked me to guess which oil you'd used, I would have guessed that this was Castitas. They *are* different if I apply them side by side, but they're still very similar on me. Bathing with this is like bathing in a bath full of sweet cream and plum juice. It's soft and clean smelling, but still sweet & fruity. The sakura, I think, makes this a bit more clean smelling than Castitas is. I really like this bath oil. It smells lovely. I usually pour the oils on to my skin & rub them in a few minutes before I get out of the tub, and my boy always comments on how soft my skin feels.

In the bottle, this is a creamy, clean, sweet sort of musk. It reminds me a bit of Buck Moon & Ivanushka's soft, sweet, cool musks. On my skin, this smells rather similar to Invanushka on me. I wouldn't say that this smells green or like green musk on me at all. It's a little bit powdery. Cool, sweet powder. Creamy, sweet musk that's a bit powdery (reminds me a little of chalk dust, for some reason). I'm not sure how I feel about Creature Feature. It's a simple, pleasant enough smell on me, but I just can't tell if I really like it or not :/