Little Bird

I can't smell any orange blossom in Khrysee. This starts off as a powdery, creamy, sweet scent on me (at times, a bit too sweet). The amber smells like baby powder and a hint of sandalwood on me. It's as though someone covered the powdery amber in cream and a bit of sugar. Over time, this gets a bit less baby powdery and more sultry. It starts to smell smoky and kinda incensey on me for some reason. Sultry, thick, sweet vanilla, smoke, incense, and a touch of powder. All in all, I like this blend. At times I can see it being too sweet, too powdery, or too smoky, but I really like it for layering with other scents. I've layered it with Tweedledee to get some orange blossom & cut through the cloying/heavier aspects of Khrysee, and it's really lovely. I can imagine this being nice layered with lots of other blends.

Epistrophia really isn't as bad on me as I thought that it would be, and I tried it on fully expecting to hate it. The lab's iris note almost always kills blends for me by morphing them into a sharp mess, and I don't tend like ylang ylang or the lab's amber notes. But this is really pretty on me . It's like a soft, purple floral smell. Florals often smell dry or musky-sharp to me, but orchid tends to smell juicy and alive to me, if that makes any sense. The combination of the orchid & violet conjures up an image of fresh purple lilies with smooth, waxy petals. It's a soft, delicate scent on me (which is probably why it makes me think of lily). The frankincense & amber add a nice, resinous sweetness that isn't going powdery. This feels like a gorgeous night time floral. It just has a dark feel for me. My favorite floral for night is Evening Star, but Epistrophia is going to be a close second. I'm glad to have a bottle of this one.

In the bottle, this smells like men's cologne with a cloying, warm, powdery amber note and cool, clean lavender. The more that I smell it, the more that it seems unbearably dry and powdery. On me, it's dry, powdery something and a sharp, perfumey musk with an overall feel of men's colonge. As it dries down, this has a slightly better stage. The powdery aspect calms down and fades & this loses a lot of its initial sharpness. It's hard for me to think of any real way to describe this, though. It smells like men's cologne, musky and cool. I can't pick out any of the listed notes except for a musk and perhaps a clean, sweet, slightly herbal lavender. Clean, masculine musk. After a half hour, it morphs back into smelling like baby powder, with a sudden added note of burnt rubber. This one isn't working for me.

In the bottle, this smells like my perfume hell. It's loads of sharp, perfumey floral and musky ambergris. I can smell the sweet tea rose in there as well. I like tea rose, but not when it's paired with sharp florals and musk. It's just way too much for me. On me, the plumeria goes soapy and the rose amps up into a perfumey, musky mess. It's like rose soap paired with a sharp, musky perfume. I can't wear this one. It's too sharp, too floral, too soapy, and too musky. It's one of those blends that winds up feeling very suffocating & heavy to me.

Dia reminds me of Ebisu, especially at first (perhaps because of the clean musk and oakmoss that they both share). It's a clean, fuzzy, lightly green sort of smell. In the drydown, this takes on a very pretty, tropical feel. It makes me smell like I'm fresh from the shower with skin that still smells slightly soapy & warm, and I've spritzed on a bit of musky coconut perfume. The coconut isn't the sort that reminds me of suntan lotion at all. It's very nice. Dia is a surprise favorite for me from the Odes series . It's a clean, subtle, tropical scent that I think I'll be wearing a lot this summer.

In the bottle, this smells like fruit, honey, musk, and baby powder. On my skin, it's pretty much all powder. Even my boy smelled it and said that it just smelled like baby powder to him, and he's not a fan. After a few hours, the honey comes back, but it's a light, creamy honey underneath the powder. It reminds me of some sort of Burt's Bees honey lotion that I had once, but covered in baby powder. Man With Phallus Head isn't going to be a keeper for me. My boy and I aren't fans of baby powdery scents.

Melainis starts off amazing on me and gets slowly less and less awesome over the course of an hour. It starts off smelling like what I had wished Formula 54 would smell like. It makes me think of dark, crowded clubs, excess, and sex. The tobacco is dark and sensual, and I normally hate tobacco scents. The clove is a hint of spiciness. There's an overall feel of sticky cola that makes me think of spilled rum and coke. I catch a bit of anise in there as well, fading in and out. Even the black musk is playing nice and smells cool and sexy. It's dark, mysterious and stunning. As it dries down, it starts to smell like a good dark amber scent with dry woods and a bit of resinous sweetness. It loses its complexity but still isn't bad on me. After a half hour, though, this is like dry hay, and it's not good at all anymore. It's just dry, simple, and bland. I love Melainis so much at the start and then it morphs into something completely lackluster. I'll have to try this one in a scent locket or something.

In the bottle and on my skin, this isn't very good. I once cleaned wet, moldy curtains out of an apartment, an apartment that had just had a fire. The smell of this is like a memory of that burnt wood and moldy curtains. In the drydown, this starts to smell ozone-y fresh and soapy clean, like someone covered the moldy curtains in laundry soap. I expected a dark, woodsy, resinous scent from this, and it's really soapy-clean, fresh, and tangy smelling on me, with just a bit of smoke and mold. I don't care for this one.

I instantly loved Symmakhia in the bottle. It reminds me of Monster Bait: Underpants in the bottle, which I guess is the creamy, sweet vanilla-sandalwood combo. On my skin, it goes slightly powdery at first and the fruit and floral notes start to peek in around the edges. After a few minutes, this starts to morph into a warm, sweet vanilla, baby powder, and a dark, soured, almost resinous rose that makes me think of Pulcinella & Teresina. It's very exotic, and darker smelling on me than I thought that it would be. I was afraid of the grape note, but I don't smell any grape and wouldn't say that this is fruity at all in the drydown. I amp rose, and after fifteen minutes, this is almost all rose. It's interesting how it goes from smelling sweet, light, and powdery to such a rich, dark rose fragrance. I have a partial bottle of this and that will be enough for me. I actually wish that I didn't amp rose so much, so that the other notes had more of a chance here. It's a gorgeous rose, but I have so many rose scents in my collection already. Actually, the drydown of this smells very similar to Arcana's single note "Black Rose," but I actually prefer the Black Rose single note over Symmakhia.

This starts off nicely resinous and mysterious smelling on me, but my skin chemistry amps rose like mad, so the resins disappear within five to ten minutes. After the death of the resins, Eustephanos dries down to a dry, slightly sour, classic rose perfume smell on me. The amber adds a touch of baby powder and the pomegranate adds a hint of bitter, tart fruitiness. I like my roses to be light, sugared, and fresh smelling. This is a little too dry, perfumey, and tart for my tastes. It's a heavy, stuffy sort of scent on me, and probably not one I'll be keeping.

Tuberose + ambergris turn this into a sharp, musky, perfumey hell on my skin. I can smell citrus in the drydown, but the bitter citrus notes do nothing to smooth out the sharp floral and musk for me. Something in this starts to smell like soapy dryer sheets after a while. This fades fast on me, but I don’t like it at all while it sticks around.

The champagne completely took over in Champagne & Cigars and Champagne, Chocolate and Cheap Sex, but the rose in this blend manages to finally subdue the champagne. Of course, I amp rose like mad. This is probably my favorite of the champagne scents, even though this one isn't very 'me' either. I tend to favor girly, soft, sugary roses, and this is more of an aggressive, perfumey, grown up rose. I do really like the feel of this one, though. It smells expensive and elegant - a little black dress sort of scent. It’s sharp and sure of itself. The rose is a little sour on me and threatens to go soapy at first, though it never quite makes it (thankfully). The champagne adds a nice little sparkle underneath the rose for the first fifteen minutes or so, before it just starts to smell clean on my skin. I wind up with clean, bright champagne and a perfumey rose. It disappears after 3 hours or so. I have a lot of rose blends, and this one is a bit too sharp for my tastes. I don't need to try to find a bottle of this, but I'll probably hold on to my decant. I like to smell it, because it conjures up images of fancy parties and sleek dresses... I'm just not sure that I like it on me.

Eau de Ghoul is strange on me. I wonder if this has some sort of bitter grapefruit to it. It has an odd, sweaty, BO smell that I sometimes get from grapefruit oils. It starts off very citrussy and funky smelling. In the drydown, the earthier notes start creeping in. I can smell smoky leather, soil, and a metallic weirdness that's probably the blood. I can smell more and more of the cinnamon and spice when this dries down, and it starts to burn my skin wherever I apply it. I guess this is a spicy-earthy-citrus on me, but mostly it smells very bitter & dirty on my skin.

Gah. This is gross gross GROSS to me . It's powdery like baby powder, but not as clean and soft smelling as baby powder. It's like baby powder that has been absorbed into really greasy, sweaty hair, with a tiny hint of sour, urine-like lemon cleanser. Absolutely awful...

When first applied, this is almost all champagne with a bit of gritty, smoky tobacco cutting through the sweetness. After a half hour, I can't pick out the tobacco at all and this is fading fast. This blend smells sweeter on me than the Roses or Cheap Sex, which surprises me. It’s like a dry candy smell combined with a bit of sharp cleaning fluid and the sour quality of the champagne (makes me think of poisoned candy). All in all, the Champagne scents seem like blends that I wouldn’t wear very often. The champagne note is a bit too sour/off for me.

I don't get any greenery or sharpness from The Rose. Oddly, when I first apply this, all I can smell is apple. It smells like biting into a perfect, crisp, cool, bright red apple. Given a few minutes to settle, The Rose smells like the softest, pale pink rose mixed with crisp, sweet, red apple on me. After fifteen minutes or so, it takes on an added cool, clean quality that reminds me of Sleepy Moon's lavender. This isn't green or overly rose smelling on my skin, and I normally amp up rose. I really love this blend and how it plays out on my skin. Whatever is in this is really working with my skin chemistry. I definitely want a full bottle at some point. -- My review after buying a bottle in early 2012: This smells nothing like the original sample that I have (that I got directly from the lab, and the bottle is also purchased directly from the lab). It looks like I've been screwed over with another 'variation' . My bottle of The Rose smells like perfumey, sour rose (it does remind me of Rose Red, which never works on me) that is dusty and bone-dry. It actually smells dirty and sour on my skin. Not happy at all with this one...

I usually enjoy peach, red sandalwood, and vanilla scents, but all three of those notes seem to die a horrible death on my skin. Belle Vinu is all sharp, perfumey, strong white floral on me (the osmanthus?). I can smell hints of vanilla and rosewood underneath the perfumey floral, and they're gorgeous, but I can't stand the overall sharpness. I don't get any peach or fruitiness from this. After a half hour, I had to scrub this one off. It's such a strong, aggressive floral on me

The Sea Foams Blood starts off smelling like dish soap on me, but mellows out in the drydown to smell like a fancy floral hand soap and dryer sheets. I don't smell any blood or darkness here - just soapiness and sweet floral. This is just way too soapy for me.

Poppy flowers, acai berry, and honey. ETA: I recently ordered a second bottle of this scent and it is not the same fragrance that I liked and reviewed back in 2009. I don't get any honey or berry from this new blend. The new 'version/variation' of this blend smells like soapy green apple and crushed dandelion stems, very green and sharp, with no berry or honeyed sweetness. Comparing my 2009 bottle with a 2012 bottle they are basically completely different fragrances with the same name, so ignore my original review if you're going to buy a bottle of this 'new'... as it is now a very green fragrance. My original review: I hate poppy and don't normally like honey, but I love the acai berry note in Australian Copperhead, so I thought I should give this a try. Happily, I get the same acai note here as I do in Copperhead. It's a tart, juicy, purple sort of berry with a green edge to it. Exotic, dark, and fruity. Poppy is usually unbearably sharp and perfumey on me, but I'm loving the floral aspect here, much to my surprise. It's like green stems and papery, clean, white petals with a drop of honey in their middle. I normally hate white florals, but this isn't turning sharp & musky on my skin. I think of white tissue paper whenever I wear this. Delicate, clean, papery floral <3. This doesn't have any of that crazy, cutting sharpness that I associate with poppy. It's a soft, sweet, pretty, clean floral. It makes me think of spring, and I'm seriously missing spring at the moment. Much to my surprise, I really like this. I don't wear a lot of floral scents, but I find myself reaching for this one quite a bit. It has tons of throw and a little bit goes a long way, but it's an amazingly unique fruity-floral with a touch of honey.

In the bottle and on my skin at first, this smells clean. It's like fruit scented shampoo with a kick of leather in the background. As it dries down, I get something like a dry, perfumey, slightly spiced wood. The fruity aspects start to smell sharp and lemony on me after about five minutes, and I start really hating this. I don't know where all of the listed notes are at, because this smells like cheap, dry musk and lemon cleaning fluid on me. Smoky leather fades in and out. I'm getting nothing like vanilla or cream, and no fig at all (and I love the fig note, and it's usually pretty strong on me). This is a sharp mess on my skin. ETA: I've held on to my bottle of this one for the past three years, hoping for the fig and cream to come out more as it aged, but it hasn't gotten better at all. Oddly, it has gotten more fruity and soapy with age. I don't get the leather at all anymore, it's just a vague, artificial berry shampoo sort of smell. Fake-y berries and that artificial clean smell. Bleh. Time to put this one up for swaps.

In the bottle, this is a white sugared, fluffy smelling sweetness with hints of something like suntan lotion (must be the coconut giving me that impression). On me, this starts off a bit too aggressive for my tastes. It's a cloying sweetness with a plasticy edge, and an oily, sticky suntan lotion smell to it. In the drydown, the white chocolate starts to smell more like milk chocolate on me again (which I don't mind at all ). The coconut disappears, which I also don't mind, since it wasn't playing very nice on my skin anyhow. I'm left with a strong, sugary vanilla and hints of chocolate. Something about it smells a little sharp & cloying on me, but it's not too bad. My favorites of the chocolate box are Milk Chocolate Buttercream, White Chocolate Strawberry, and White Chocolate & Sugared Violets. I'll probably keep my bottle of this one, but I won't need a second bottle.

In the bottle, this smells like real, fresh, slightly tart strawberries and a hint of cream. I was expecting this to be sickly sweet, candied strawberry on me, but it actually smells fresh and tart, like real strawberries. The white chocolate is like a tiny bit of smooth cream at the strawberry's edges. I'm shocked that this scent never turns on me. The strawberry stays true and doesn't morph into a candied mess, and the white chocolate is like a wonderful, soft cream that never overpowers the berry. The tart aspects keep it from smelling like strawberry cream saver candies on me, thankfully. My only complaint about this one is that it's incredibly light on me. Still, it's wonderful enough that I don't mind reapplying. I really love a good strawberries & cream scent, because they smell so girly, innocent, and playful to me. If anyone has ever tried Skindazzles' Strawberry Milksage scent (which was awesome and is now discontinued, much to my annoyance), this has that fresh strawberry milkshake type of quality, minus the sage, obviously. I'm going to add a couple more bottles of White Chocolate and Strawberry into my next order

This doesn't really smell like white chocolate to me, but more of a milk chocolate or cocoa. It's like violet dipped in milk chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder. The violet is sweet, dark purple, and a touch powdery. Violets always smell bruised and melancholy to me in this pretty sort of way... Anyhow, this is a really beautiful, simple blend. I can smell the chocolate and the violet equally. Milk Chocolate Buttercream is my love of the chocolate box, but I'm really liking this violet one as well. I might need another bottle of this one before it's discontinued.

Sniffing the box of chocolates in their bottles, this one was my least favorite. It smells like markers, all harsh and chemical-like. On my skin at first, this reminds me of Monster Bait: Bloody Mary. It smells like sour cherry candies, no chocolate, and a bit of cream and powdered sugar. The cherry is tart and not sickly sweet. In the drydown, this starts to smell a bit weird and sharp again, like cherry cough syrup. I also smell a hint of the chocolate, but it smells like burnt chocolate . Burnt chocolate and cherry cough syrup. Not good. The smell makes me feel a little nauseous. Dark Chocolate and Cherry is my least favorite of the chocolate box scents.

In the bottle, this is half full of the thick, sludgy, cocoa absolute type of oil that's in Boomslang (it smells nothing like Boomslang). I can smell the chocolate, the pepper, and the caramel. My boy hated it and said it smelled like really strong coffee. I don't think that I'm liking bpal's pepper note. I had the same problem with Ghulheim, where the pepper smelled like spiced breakfast sausage on my skin. Odd, smoked, spiced meat. This isn't as awful as Ghulheim, though. The caramel adds a nice, smooth sweetness, and there's a pleasant bit of smokiness to the caramel. I don't smell any chocolate at all, even though the chocolate oil left my skin stained a light brown, lol. My boy said it smelled like burnt coffee and caramels. This only lasts about an hour on my skin, and I'm not too fond of it. This does have my all time favorite bpal label, though <3. I love the artwork on the box of chocolates scents.