Little Bird

Mort de Cesar is one of those scents that I don't really like on me, but I love it on my boy and would probably like it on anyone else. The bitter spice, sharp metallic twang of the blood accord, and powdery amber-musk make this not-me, but all around I do actually like this. On my boy it's a sexy blend of bitter clove, cinnamon-ish spice, and woods. Every once in a while I sniff and think it's resinous or a bit powdery or warmly musky, but overall it's spice and woods and a rather attractive scent . I wish I'd gotten a bottle of this for my boy.

In the bottle, I can smell blue musk, dark fruits, and sugar that smells a bit like molasses . Blue musk always smells cool and watery to me, and the overall impression is like some sort of exotic, sexy, fruity, sugared drink. I was tempted to take a sip out of the bottle. Oddly, after sniffing this in the bottle a while longer, it starts to smell very similar to Aquolina's Pink Sugar to my nose. On my skin, sadly, something starts to get instantly high pitched and pushy. It makes me think of the sharp, metallic, high smell that cheap hairspray has. And then my skin seems to eat this. I can smell the barest hint of fruit, but it's so light that I could just be imagining things. Mostly, it smells like nothing. After an hour, Sugar Moon makes a comeback and smells like pure baby powder. What.the.hell. So I re-applied this in various places all over my body, in the hopes that it would have better staying power or something somewhere else. On some parts of my body, this has slightly better staying power, and smells briefly of a blueberry dusted in sugar before it gets thrown into a gallon jug of water and disappears again. I love Sugar Moon in the bottle. Love. I literally opened it, sniffed, and squeed. And it fades on my skin faster than any perfume I've tried before. I'm hoping that this will get better for me with aging and that maybe my skin won't devour it. It's just so gorgeous in the bottle... ETA: I tried this on my boy, because his skin and hair hold on to scent in an amazing way. This still didn't have a lot of throw on him, it clung really close to his skin, but it was still noticeable 12 hours later when I snuggled up to him. Oddly, this smells exactly like Lampades on his skin. It's a watery berry smell, almost like berry Kool-Aid.

I wish that I had passed on buying a full bottle of Hanami. The label is gorgeous and I love the concept, but the oil isn't kind to me. In the bottle, I sniffed it and was hopeful. It has a weak, sweet, floral-fruity, girly smell that does remind me of some sort of clean, sweet shampoo. On my skin at first, it's watery, soft petals with a hint of sweetness. Unfortunately, this morphs into something strange rather quickly. It reminds me of the way recently cleaned rest area bathrooms smell (clean-ish and disinfected, but still dirty and off). There's also a very strange dryness to this on my skin, as though flowers were so parched that they just crumbled into dust. Hanami is light, subtle, watery florals, leaning towards going soapy without ever being full-out soap. It goes a little funky on me. My boy liked this on me at first, but hated it after it sat on my skin for five minutes. He sniffed me and went, "Wow. That did something strange." My bottle is dancing over to my swap pile, unfortunately.

I'm jealous of everyone that this works well on. I was really hopeful that Haloes would be a more complex Tamora-esque fragrance on my skin, but the notes in this go too powdery and plasticy on my skin. I've held on to my decant for a while and keep re-testing it, but it doesn't seem to be aging into anything better (Tamora only smells good on me when I've let it sit for a couple weeks). I love and adore apricot, but I don't really pick out any apricot or fruitiness from this blend. Lily of the valley usually works on me, and I tend to like ginger, tonka, and vanilla... But this goes on as plasticy vanilla (well, my boy says it smells like plastic to him, it just doesn't smell like a great vanilla to my nose), powdery sandalwood, and a dank, rotting leaves sort of smell that I often get from oak notes. In the drydown, the powdery sandalwood and amber make this very dry and unbearably powdery on my skin. It smells like baby powder, a hint of rotting woods, and a hint of not-sweet-enough vanilla. I wish that I would amp up the fruitiness and that this blend were sweeter on my skin it's okay though, because Tamora is still gorgeous and reminiscent of what I had hoped Haloes could be for me.

I love the Earth Rat label... kinda makes me wish I'd gotten a bottle now.

I was a bit afraid to try this because pomegranate and I don't have a good perfume history together, but this is a really pretty scent. It's a soft, subtle sort of blend on me, and really well blended. I can pick out the floral, the fruitiness, the resin, and the anise if I try, but all of the notes meld together very well with a slightly powdery sweetness. It's a rich scent to me, but also rather light, cool, and airy. I'm glad that the pomegranate doesn't turn to hyper sweet tarts like it often does on my skin. This fades very fast, leaving just a light, powdery sweetness after an hour, but it's nice and interesting while it lasts. I really like this Aquarius . I don't know if I need to track down a full bottle, but I'm definitely keeping my decant.

I've been pleasantly surprised by a lot of the new zodiac-inspired blends, but I've put off trying Pisces. Opium poppy hates me more than any other note, and hemp smells too earthy on me, in a gritty, dirty sort of way. Pisces is incredibly bad on my skin. Something about opium poppy just smells like cheap, sharp, drugstore white floral & white musk perfume on my skin. It's so loud, sharp, and cutting. I get that impression and then herbal earthiness from this blend. In the drydown, it's all floral sharpness and baby powder. I had to scrub this one off after a half hour...

Parentalia starts off as herbal, almost bitter smelling woodsiness on my skin. A bit sharp. Then the florals come crashing in and I smell a soured something that I'm guessing is the rose going sour. I was overwhelmed by how bad this was for the first fifteen minutes or so, but it finally did calm down a little on my skin. It's as though the flowers and woods literally dry out in the drydown, because I'm left with something like rose dusting powder and dusty cedar planks. There is a bit of a resinous/incense quality as well, but it's very light on my skin and I seem to amp Parentalia into a dusty/dry/powdery category that I don't really love. I might hold on to my decant to see if this ages a bit better, but it's inching its way towards my swap pile.

Frost-crusted winter flowers, white pine, eucalyptus, and traditional lunar oils. I have a hard time with the snow-type blends (they all tend to smell the same to my nose, sharply amped up snow note). They're generally very forgettable for me. I haven't found one that's amazing on me yet (though Cloister Graveyard in the Snow is rather nice), and Moon of Ice actually isn't very good on me. The florals are a tad sharp and soapy and the eucalyptus really ruins this one on my skin. It gives it a medicinal sharpness that I hate in perfume. The sweet snow/aquatic-esque note isn't bad, but the overall combination of soapy flowers, sharply medicinal eucalyptus, drowning pine, and sweet snow isn't very good to my nose... my decant is going to the swap pile.

I seem to be in the minority with not loving the smell of this one (even my boy really likes the fragrance). I get a bright orange citrus, a sharp little bite from the ylang ylang and a hint of grounding earthiness from the patchouli. And this somehow comes off as glowing red, sensual, and warm. Perhaps I get a dry spiciness that makes me think of clove as well (dry, spiced myrrh?). Mostly, though, I can smell the mandarin and ylang ylang, and I think that I favor more of a juicy, sweet, cooling citrus, so the warmth and dry/herbal complexity of Ignis doesn't appeal to me as much. In any case, the texture of this is still fantastic for a massage, and my boy really loves it, so I'm sure we'll have no problem using it up . My boy has an Ignis back massage in his future.

This is my definite favorite of the Phoenix-type blends. It smells nothing like "copper gears, brass cogs, fused wiring, scorched iron, and motor oil" to me though. I was actually hoping that I would get a bit of the metal and motor oil smell, because I have a thing for that rugged mechanic smell (thanks to my ex-love always working on cars). Mechanical Phoenix starts off as a cold, almost ozone-y men's cologne, a bit sharp but not unpleasant. In the drydown, this actually starts to smell rather resinous to me though, in a powdery, warm, sweetened, and slightly wooden sort of way. It still smells masculine to me, but not so much that I wouldn't wear it myself. This is a really interesting scent. I love how it starts off smelling like cold ozone cologne on me and then dries down to warm resinous-woods-goodness. I'm going to have to track down a bottle of this one.

I am rejoicing and have already ordered a bottle of Blue Fire . I couldn't pass it up, even though lemongrass is often terrifying and awful on my skin... I am *so* hopeful for this blend.

I wish that I'd purchased a full bottle of Aquae instead of a bottle of Terrae. This one has such a soft, soothing scent on me. It's a very strong scent, but seems more mellow and comforting to me. I love chamomile and lavender though, so this is a good combination of two of my favorites. Aquae starts off smelling like a burst of chamomile tea and something kind of sharply herbal and green (geranium, maybe? I dunno). Then it mellows down into a watery, warm chamomile tea with soothing herbal lavender on a woodsy base. It's a very grounding, comforting scent to me. My boy gave me a back massage with my decant and I loved it. It did leave my skin feeling a bit tacky, but a quick shower took care of that and left my skin soft and lightly scented. Lovely...

Pear is one of my favorite things to eat and one of my favorite real-life smells, but it always seems to lose something in its transition to perfume. Peacocks has a sort of candied, perfumey-musky pear to it. The bamboo also pops out and seems to constantly linger in the background, smelling crisp and slightly lemony on my skin (sort of like a mix of green musk, sharp green tea, and lemon - that's what bamboo notes smell like to me). In the drydown, the jasmine starts to make its presence known, but it's surprisingly well behaved. I tend to be a jasmine hater, but it's rather soft smelling in Peacocks. The white musk seems to be very nice in this blend as well, creamy and almost vanilla-esque. I never really pick out any mossy or earthy notes, just clean, crisp, sweet notes. I actually don't mind the sweet, musky pear and creamy white musk in this. I think that they keep the jasmine and bamboo from being overwhelmingly sharp on me. The other florals seem to add a perfumey vibe. Overall, this is a nice, Asian-inspired fruity-floral that smells crisp, sweet, and clean on my skin. This isn't for me, but I have a hard time wearing bpal's Asian-inspired blends. They're a little too clean and crisp for my tastes. Still, Peacocks is very pretty, and my boy did like this on me.

I love rose geranium single note, but there's something off and soapy-floral about Longing, so I'm not sure what's going on there. Maybe it's the 'bois du rose' going sour or something. Anyhow. Longing starts off as sharp, sour floral and then morphs into baby powder and sharp cinnamon on my skin. The bay rum seems to just amp up the sharp spiciness. After 45 minutes or so, the spice calms down and this is a light, musky baby powder. This would probably be beautiful with the right skin chemistry, but I definitely don't have the right chemistry. The musk goes to baby powder, and I don't love powdery scents...

I loved Her Voice when I first dabbed it on. I'm not a floral fan because florals tend to smell fake and musky to the point of being headache-inducing for me. I like floral scents when they smell like true flowers though, and Her Voice smells very natural to me at first. Green stems, dewy petals, and a mishmash of flowers with a honeyed, almost caramelized sweetness that I'm guessing is the beeswax. I have trouble picking out particular floral notes, and I couldn't guess at the flowers in this blend. In the drydown, this gets a little too sharp and aggressive for me, as though the flowers are battling for dominance on my skin. Things start to get a little sour and soapy from the florals and the amber adds a dustiness to the mix. It's as though the beautiful bouquet went off a bit and was thrown out a car window on to a gravel road to get covered in road dust. I can see how this one would be gorgeous on the right person, but I think there are too many flowers in the mix for me, along the dreaded dryness of the amber.

I had rather high hopes for this one, because I really love lavender and violet is often kind to me. This isn't the lavender-violet scent that I had in mind though. Something about this is very sharp and a tad soapy on my skin, like a very clean, sharply white floral perfume. The lavender and balsam hang around a bit at first, smelling sort of herbal and sharp. I favor a sweeter, smoother lavender type. I'd say that this is more sharp, musky smelling white floral perfume on my skin than sweet violet and lavender...

Tobacco has ruined so many blends for me, and I can add Lunar Eclipse to that ever-growing list now. For the first half hour or so on my skin, this is all dirty, gritty tobacco. It makes me smell like I've rolled around in a used ashtray. Over time, a bit of fruitiness starts to peak out along with a bit of spice and what I think is the earthy vetiver. Still, it takes over an hour for the tobacco to fall to the background, and then the more subtle notes are fading as well. I really wish that I could try this without the tobacco in it, but as it is, I definitely can't see myself wearing this again.

I don't dislike jasmine from most other perfume companies, but bpal's jasmine tends to turn very rancid and overwhelming on my skin. The Presence of Love is mostly grapefruit and jasmine on me at first, and then soapy, bitter jasmine in the drydown. The grapefruit turns very tart on my skin, kind of smelling like sour sweet tarts, almost a little powdery. Then the jasmine creeps in and the whole blend quickly turns to a sharply scented jasmine soap. Definitely not a keeper for me.

My boy has stolen my decant of Valentine of Rome, with his love for incense and smoky fragrance types. First on, it sort of smells like sharp, cool evergreen and bitter clove, but it mellows down into a slightly smoky, sweet incense with rich resins and a hint of pleasant, dry woodiness. This actually goes oddly perfumey/sharp on my skin, but the boy pulls it off very well and it seems to sweeten up and hold on to its spicy, resinous goodness. I might try to get a bottle for my love before it disappears from the site.

put off trying Anactoria because it's really not my sort of fragrance. I have trouble wearing everything in this with the exception of the currant. The main notes that I get from this one are a heavy musk that goes rather sharp on me, a sticky-sweet honey, and a slightly earthy, tobacco-esque something, all wrapped up in a dry, powdery amber. I also get a sort of wine-like note every once in a while, that might be dragon's blood or the currant going bad against all of the other notes. After about an hour on my skin, this is mostly powder, perfumey musk, and hints of a honeyed sweetness. I have trouble wearing scents that are very dry or very musky, so this isn't a keeper for me.

On me, this is very sweet pomegranate. It smells candied somehow. Usually pomegranate turns very dry and smells like sweet tarts on my skin, but the pom wine seems to stay juicier and I amp up the sweetness in this. In the drydown, a bit of something earthy and slightly wooden starts to creep around behind the pom. I don't seem to like pomegranate in perfume-form and, while this is better than many of the pom scents I've tried before, Flower Song still isn't something that I feel like I can pull off wearing. Sticky-sweet, red fruitiness...

The notes in Butterflies & Plovers are not kind to me. The citrus is sort of bitter, like citrus rind, rather than sweet and juicy. The ylang ylang is sharp and oddly metallic on my skin. There are hints of earthy patchouli and clean violet, but they drown in the bitter citrus and eventually the amber swoops in and really ruins things, giving the entire blend a strange, dry, dusty smell.

La Vita Nuova is soapy in the bottle and it just becomes unbearably soapy on my skin. It really makes me think of shampoo, very clean, slightly sweet, fruity, and overall very much a soap scent. The lemon comes out more in the drydown, making it more of a lemony fresh shampoo fragrance. This is definitely going to swaps for me.

In the bottle, this doesn't smell very appealing to me... sour rose and sharp clove. On me, it gets even worse. This morphs into a smell of dirty, unwashed, sweaty skin. The woods notes are funky, gritty & dirty smelling, and all of the notes seem to mesh together into a loud, sharp, sour mess. It's too harsh for me and doesn't work at all with my skin chemistry.