Little Bird

I was gifted a bar of El Dia De Reyes soap and have been avoiding it, because so many of the BPTP soaps have dried my skin out like mad and just generally disappointed me by having little to no scent that I can detect. But I ran out of soap in my kitchen today and decided to give this one a go. I was pleasantly surprised. This soap actually had pretty good fragrance (though I don't think I would ever recognize it as smelling like the oil of the same name). It was still very light & subtle, but I could definitely notice it when I lathered up. It had a nice, creamy lather and smelled like caramel coffee with a hint of cinnamon sugar. My hands felt squeaky-clean afterwards, but they actually weren't badly dried out, and the soap did a great job of stripping off the scent of a perfume oil that I wasn't loving, lol. Later, it managed to make my hands smell clean after I had peeled and chopped an onion and some garlic. It doesn't leave any fragrance on my skin either. This is definitely more drying than my usual bar soaps, but it's still pretty good (and not as drying as some of the other soaps I've tried from this line), and I like how well it removes other fragrances from my skin. I think it will be a decent kitchen soap ETA: I may have spoken too soon. My hands are sucking up lotion and feeling pretty dry again :/. This still isn't as bad as the Perversion soap was for me, though. I'm torn. Part of me wants to save this soap for onion&garlic-duty, but I'm not sure I could stand this dry feeling on my hands afterwards. These soaps are so harsh on my skin for some reason.

In the bottle, this smells primarily of black musk (cold, dark, almost smoky-musky, cheap men's cologne) and charred wood. On me, for the first minute, I get hints of what could be a lovely wood and earthy oakmoss, but they're quickly swallowed by a sharp muskiness. In the drydown, this is just sharp and awful on me. I don't really like dark/black musk because it smells like a cheap, sharp musk on me and I amp it like mad. The Two-Headed Goat is like cheap black musk and sharp, metallic hairspray on my skin. Every once in a while, I can also pick out a charred, smoked sort of smell that I don't care for either. Strong, sharp, cheap musk... This gives me a vicious headache, and it's obviously not a keeper for me.

First on, Wensleydale makes me smell like I rubbed floral dryer sheets all over myself, with almost a fruity sweetness. It was dry, almost ozone-y (ozone smells like dryer sheets on me though), with a high pitched sweetness. I don't get the hint of greenery that others have mentioned, so that disappointed me. In the drydown, it smells like soap. Creamy, floral soap. I also catch hints of something sharply musky every once in a while. I hate blends that go soapy on me (usually reminding me of harsh dish soap), but this isn't as bad or harsh as I was expecting. It dries down to a creamy, soft, expensive smelling floral soap. I'd still never wear it again, but it isn't giving me a headache or making me run to wash it off either.

ETA: Most of the lab's Carnaval blends smell completely different if you purchased a bottle when it was first released and then a bottle a year later. I think they must have ran out of components and substituted some. My bottles of Inez and Priala, especially, smell nothing alike if I compare them. My original bottle of Inez is very warm and sweet, with a rich, resinous amber that doesn't turn powdery, a heavy & creamy-sweet vanilla, and gentle, soft wood notes. My later bottles of Priala smell like the dry, sharp musk in a man's cologne plus soap and a very baby powdery amber. It smells cool and clean. Completely different. I hate buying bottles from bpal and then finding out that they've been completely reformulated. The lab should really post notices for these things.... I wasted a lot of money buying backup bottles of Inez, Priala and others that don't smell anything like the original version.

My first thought when sniffing Marianne in the bottle was that it smelled sort of like Snake Oil with blackberry added in. I didn't remember what was in this one when I first tried it on my skin, and I wrote down, "Sexy, warm musk, dark fruit with a sour twang (blackberry? raspberry?), and wonderful woodsy tones. Some patchouli in the drydown?." I would say that the red musk is the foundation of this scent on me (I also tend to amp red musk, which is okay, because I loves me some red musk), and the fruity black currant is pretty constant, with just hints of juicy orchid rounding the edges and a lovely earthy tone from the patchouli in the drydown. Patchouli is probably my favorite smell ever, so I love the subtle but obvious part that it plays in this blend. I love red musk, black currant and orchid as well. I'd say that Marianne is a perfect combination of all of those favorite things . I have a bottle of this now, but I'll be getting at least one more full bottle before the carnaval leaves town. ETA: The second bottle I ordered of this smells nothing like the first. The second one is all ashy, gritty patchouli and something that smells like body odor. This is why I never purchase multiple bottles from bpal anymore not even close to being the same scent...

I think that this is pretty heavy on the jasmine and heather for me, and jasmine tends to smell pretty awful on me. Jasmine Cottage reminds me a little bit of The Passionate Shepherd to His Love and Glasgow at first, only heavier and more sickly-sweet. On me, this is a really heavy scent with a lot of throw, and it gave me a headache. I wound up scrubbing it off about about an hour, when it started going especially funky on me. Something about it reminded me of dirty rest stop bathrooms where the smell is halfway covered up by floral soap and disinfectant. This definitely isn't a winner on me, but I have a hard time pulling off heavy florals and, especially, jasmine. This blend is just cloying and goes all wrong on my skin.

The Stormhold smells promising in the bottle. There's that fakey-sweet rain note that reminds me of rain scented candles, and a mixture of vetiver and something else that really does smell quite a bit like warm summer pavement that has just been rained on. On me, unfortunately, I amp up the ozone and instantly smell like sharp, soapy dryer sheets. The East smelled like sweet, fruity-floral dryer sheets and laundry soap, and The Stormhold smells like rain fresh dryer sheets, with a hint of a salty twang and a barely-there touch of earthy vetiver. Even the very slight earthy quality is long gone after fifteen minutes, leaving me with salty, rain fresh dryer sheets. I have a hard time wearing soapy/clean scents (I lean more towards resins, patchouli, sweetened woods, and foodie blends), so The Stormhold probably won't get much love from me.

I normally don't like florals, but I wanted to try The East because I always want to try currant blends, I tend to like tea, and I once had a bluebonnet soap that I adored. In the bottle, this is almost sickeningly sweet and has a lurking soapiness that makes me uneasy. On me at first, this is floral, but a fresh, sweet floral. However, after about five minutes, it has turned into sharp, crisp, floral dryer sheets. It's a bit too clean for me, and almost aggressively bright. Over time, the East sort of makes me feel like someone drenched me in floral scented laundry soap and pinned dryer sheets to my clothes. Clean, sweet florals with an edge of soapiness. I love the label art, but the oil isn't really my thing.

In the bottle, this smells like dry herbs, dry woods, and something like roots that have just been pulled from the ground. I like it, but I was worried that it wouldn't work on my skin. In the bottle, it didn't seem sweet enough, and was a little too dry and dark for my tastes. On my skin, this blend instantly sweetens up and turns into something lovely and wearable for me. The apple blossom jumps forward and adds an apple-sweetness, joined by a sweet, subtle spiciness. It's not ashy or dusty on me at all, though it does have an herbal base that I actually enjoy. The herbal quality is a bit green, but also strikes me as being dried herbs at the same time. A mix of green and dried herbs. It's a bit of spiced apple (almost like cider on my skin), a bit of greenery, and a bit of dried herbs on me. I like this. It's interesting and rather garden-like with the impression that I keep getting of freshly pulled plant roots. The Norns' Farmhouse isn't a top ten and I'm not sure how often I'll reach for it, but I still like it... it really does remind me of growing up in Missouri when I was little, picking fresh herbs, strolling through farm fields & playing in barns full of dry hay. And I do like the hint of sweetness from the apple blossom, and the not-overwhelming-cider-spice that I'm getting from something

Iris really hates me, at least in bpal blends, it seems. It's the note that ruined the otherwise gorgeous Zarita for me. My skin seems to amp up the iris in Dyan Moon as well, turning this into a sharp, musky, generic white floral smell with hints of more pleasant notes suffocating underneath. I think I might pick out the blue musk and lily every once in a while, as they try to soften and lend a cool, powdery feel to the blend. After about an hour on my skin, this has mostly faded and I'm left with the blue musk's cool, watery feel and hints of sharp florals and rose. I'm glad that I went with just a decant of this one, because it's too much musky-floral for me to handle.

None of the notes in this are notes that I'd say I really like, though I do sometimes have good luck with orchid and lotus. First on, The Coil is mostly ozone with hints of eucalyptus and mint, which unfortunately smells like crisp dryer sheets and a medicinal, menthol-y coolness on me. In the drydown, the mint & eucalyptus seem to fade on me, bringing in a slightly soapy, floral quality. I smell like breezy, floral dryer sheets. The Coil isn't unwearable for me, but it's not something I'd ever reach for either.

I thought that I would like Nanny Ashtoreth more than The Buggre Alle This Bible, but I actually love the Bible and find Nanny Ashtoreth to be very not-me. I was excited to try this, because I hoped it would be honeyed berries and leather, and I like leather when it's paired with sweeter notes. Unfortunately, I don't really get the honey or berries from this at all. This is heavy, smoky, dark leather on me, with hints of something that almost smells like spiced black musk. I'm not sure what's giving me that impression, but it's very masculine to me. I suppose this might be better on a man, but I don't really like it on my boy (it's a little too dark for my tastes). I definitely can't pull off this blend myself, and wish that my skin chemistry amped up some sweetness from it...

First on, I get an impression of damp, rotting wood, which I'm guessing it the 'dry leaves' refusing to play nice on my skin once again. Then, Autumn quickly dries down into nothing but rose and sandalwood for me, and both of those notes go a bit powdery on me here. I'd like to smell this on someone else, because other reviews make it sound so unique and gorgeous, but it's just powdery, sweet rose and dry sandalwood on my skin. It's not unpleasant, and it's even rather pretty on me, but probably not something I'll reach for often or need a full bottle of. I have other rose perfumes that stand out for me more than this one does.

I was afraid to try this, because Glowing Vulva didn't work for me at all. I can definitely see the comparisons to Glowing Vulva, but Antikythera Mechanism seems to do everything right on my skin, where GV turned to rotting leaves and disgusting powdered milk. I figured that this wouldn't work on me, because GV was awful on me, and I especially tend to hate blends with tobacco in them. I don't get anything like tobacco from this blend at all though. It goes on with the teak actually smelling rather attractive on my skin, reminding me of driving through the forests of Missouri in summer, on the way to the creek. It smells very much of tall trees, thickly clustered around the cliffsides overlooking the river. Anyhoo, a fantastic woods smell and then the black vanilla is just wonderful. It threatens to go powdery on my skin, but never really turns enough that I start to dislike it. It goes very sweet and almost buttercream-frosting-like on me. The Antikythera Mechanism actually smells rather similar to a couple of my favorite Heaven & Earth Essentials Blends (I kept thinking I was wearing "Black Cat" or "Harmony Vintage" which is probably the mix of a similar wood and sweetness amped on my skin). Surprisingly, I actually really like this. Add me to its list of fans I definitely see myself getting a full bottle in the future.

I so desperately wanted to love The Robotic Scarab. I love frankincense and have good luck with some of the metallic blends & blends with anise in them. My skin amps spice like crazy though, and all I get from this is some sort of cinnamon or cassia. It's a sharp, strong, cinnamon-esque spice that threatens to give me a headache if I sniff at it for too long. I wish that any of the other notes would come out to play, but after five hours of wear, it's still a strong, flat cinnamon fragrance on me ETA: Got a frimp of this in 2016 and it smells totally different. I only get a hint of cinnamon from the frimp, but I'm still not smelling anything even remotely like metal, leather, frankincense or anise. It smells like a really dry, powdery skin musk and baby oil with a hint of cinnamon...

Nostrum Remedium is really rather awful on my skin, and has unfortunately wonderful staying power and throw. It starts off so incredibly sharp and strange on my skin, but with an undertone of cloying honey that makes me feel a little sick when I smell it. I thought that this did smell like a sharp wasabi with sour lemon and hints of honey, but my boy (who actually eats and is more familiar with wasabi) said it smelled nothing like wasabi to him, but more like a sharp potpourri. In the drydown, we both agreed that this is like a harsh lemon dish soap. It's crazy-sharp, and it's the soapiest scent I've ever worn Nothing about this really works for me

I've tried Ether a few times now, always hopeful for the 'white resins' to do something spectacular on my skin. Unfortunately, this flips between giving me an impression of generic, white floral, drugstore perfume or it smells like sharp, floral soap on me. It's more perfumey and soapy-clean than resinous.

I'm really surprised at how much I like This Bible. It doesn't smell like books or a library to me, but it does have a really wonderful, clean leather smell to it. I was riding around in my brother-in-law's new truck just last week and commented that I'd love to have a scent that captured that new car smell, and this does capture that scent for me. It smells like new car rather than bibles or books, but I'm really glad to have a bottle of this. I can definitely smell the leather, and I normally don't enjoy leather (and normally *hate* tobacco), but this is a clean, smooth leather on my skin, with hints of a sultry incense creeping around in the background, popping out every once in a while. I smell like sexy new car, and I like it. ETA: After having my bottle of this for a month, it's much less leather and much more tobacco. It doesn't smell like new car leather at all anymore (boo), but more just a slightly sweet, damp, brown tobacco leaf with a hint of brown leather. ETAA: I've had my bottle of this for a couple years now, and the tobacco just kept getting stronger. This scent now smells *exactly* like my mom's purses when I was little. They were always leather purses filled with a mix of things, but I always hated the cigarette smell in them (as the ash and little flecks of metal wrapper would fall to the bottom of the purse and mingle with that metallic smell that coins have). That is exactly what this smells like... leather purse, cig ash, and dirty metal. I'm finally giving up on it and have the put the rest of my bottle up for swaps.

I like the original Dragon Moon, but this 08 version doesn't really work for me. On me, this is a sharp pine-y smell with a soured undertone and a dirty, smoky something. Smoke, sour, astringent pine, and something else that's very off and dirty smelling underneath it all (stinky feet smell? with gunpowder?). I love the label art, but this oil is a major disappointment for me...

Tiki King goes through two phases on my skin, both reminding me of LUSH products. It starts off smelling exactly like Avobath, very sharp, bright, refreshing lemongrass. When it dries down, this smells like I Should Coco soap. It's like a mix of something dry and wooden (almost smells like cardboard) with dry coconut shavings. This isn't quite the dark, masculine coconut blend I was hoping for, but I do still like it on myself and on my boy. The sharp, lemony start isn't my thing, but the coconut drydown is interesting and makes me feel very summer-y

Desert sand, red musk, blackened ginger, dragon's blood resin, black pepper, cinnamon, and tobacco. I had high hopes for The Ifrit. I love red musk and the spices appealed to me, but this goes all wrong on my skin. At first there was a sexy burst of cinnamon and it reminded me a bit of Priala, but then it went sharp and a little soapy, making me think of opium. In the drydown, I think the tobacco completely ruins this for me. It's smoky, sharp, gritty, and smells sort of soured and off. All of the lovely spices disappear and I'm left with sour, smoky tobacco . This isn't a keeper at all for me.

I was hopeful for Phoenix Steamworks because I've liked quite a few of bpal's metal/glass themed scents (Mechanical Phoenix was a recent love for me), but something about this doesn't work on me. Some incense/resin blends go sharp, warm, and perfumey-musky on my skin, so I'm wondering if that's the case here. I get a sharp, musky, hairspray smell that dries down to sharpness with something like warm baby powder and a touch of something dusty/dirty in the mix. This is one of those scents that just goes to baby powder in the worst way on me... not a keeper.

Normally I dislike fruity-floral blends and think they all smell the same, but April Fool is a fruity floral that actually smells unique and wearable to me. I love a lot of the lab's roses, and this is another favorite. At first, this was sharply herbal with a jab of sour citrus, but it quickly mellowed down on my skin to a soft, sweet rose with hints of juicy, sunny citrus and a background of dark herbal greenery. In the drydown, it gets even sweeter and more berry-ish, which I guess is the huckleberry. The herbal greenery seems to keep it from getting too sweet, and the soft rose and citrus add a complexity to round out the edges. I like that I can pick out most of the notes and they're still meshing together so well. I slathered on some more of this one when my boy came home for lunch and he said it smelled "really beautiful." I might have to search out a full bottle of April Fool...

I thought that I would love Golden Wave, but it doesn't really live up to my high expectations. I've been loving orange citrus scents lately, I like guava in bpal blends, and I love a lot of the gin scents (Blue Fire and Twenty-One are both favorites for me), so Golden Wave sounded like a heavenly combo. The reality of it isn't so great on me though. I wanted Golden Wave to be a juicy, fizzy citrus scent, but it's surprisingly dry and tart smelling on me. Something in this actually smells similar to what bpal's pomegranate note does on me (dry, bitter, sweet tarts sort of smell). I'm wondering if the passion fruit is the culprit. Anyhow. First on, the gin is crisp and lovely, smelling slightly like juniper and fizzy ginger ale, but it is short lived. The gin quickly fizzles out, leaving me with a touch of sweet guava, a hint of dry tangerine, and an overall impression of sweet tarts with an edge of bitterness. It's disappointingly dry, tart, and a bit sour on my skin... Golden Wave is very subtle and light on me. I'd like to smell this on someone else, because it seems to go all wrong the second it touches my skin. It's not an awful scent or something I feel the need to run and wash off, but it goes all dry and artificial on my skin, and I like my fruity blends to have a juicier quality to them. I wish I'd gotten an extra bottle of Blue Fire or Te Po instead of this'n.

Oddly, I don't smell flowers or fruit from this at all, and I tried it on my skin and my boy's skin. It smells like damp earth with some rotting wood thrown in, and perhaps with a bit of sour, dry moss in the drydown. My boy really likes Worm Moon on himself, but it doesn't have great staying power on either of us. It leaves a hint of light, earthy, almost incensey fragrance on the skin for a half hour or so, but it disappears entirely before it hits the full hour mark. I'm not crazy about Worm Moon. I'll probably let the boy keep the decant, but I don't feel the need to search out more (except maybe an empty bottle, because I do like the label art).