Little Bird

Squirting Cucumber was the scent that I grabbed first out of my latest box of BPAL goodness. I've been making a lot of salads with cucumber in them lately, and every time I cut one open, I wish that I could find a perfume that smells that simple and good. In perfume, cucumber notes tend to smell strangely rotten on my skin, but BPAL's cucumber here is awesome. Squirting Cucumber is the closest I've gotten to finding a perfect cucumber perfume. It doesn't turn to that rotten, rancid note that I'm more familiar with in fragrances. It's crisp, cool, watery, and pale green. Dead-on the smell of a chilled cucumber that has just been sliced open. In the drydown, the scent of green grass and something warm and perfumey come to join the cucumber. My parents had a garden when I was little and this is like laying on the garden grass in the sunshine, snacking on a fresh cucumber. I wish that it would stay more on the chilly/cool side of things, but the drydown is still nice. A simple, happy fragrance. I'll definitely be keeping my decant of this one, and I'll think about ordering a bottle.

I am an opium-hater, but I'd recommend the obvious... Opium Poppy (general catalogue in Rappaccini's Garden). And if you can find any, Dr. John Seward is a favorite of my opium loving friend, lol. It was mostly opium and creamy, sweet tonka on me.

Going on, Enraged Groundhog Musk is a dry and spicy scent that makes me think of biscuits and graham crackers. Then for a while it's just intensely spicy and overwhelming, and the spice smells like a heavy cinnamon to me. I was afraid of this scent because I hate chocolate covered cherry combinations, but I don't smell any chocolate at all. The cherry here pops up every once in a while and smells like pie cherries to me... muted and slightly bitter, the sort of cherries that come in a can and are that sickly pink color. Anyhow. Graham crackers... intense cinnamon... drying down to light graham crackers and slightly bitter pie cherries. Staying power is only about an hour for me. I probably wouldn't ever wear this one again.

Mr. Ibis reminds me strongly of Destroying Angel, especially in the drydown. I get the same dry, papery-mushroom smell from both. For me, Mr. Ibis is that dry paper with the addition of a lot of perfumey, sharp, chemical musk that I'm not enjoying. 2 hours later, it has mostly faded and leaves my wrists smelling lightly of generic soap. I'm not crazy about The Carousel thus far.

Honey, myrrh, lily of the valley, rose otto, fig leaf, almond, ambrette, red apple, and warm musk. I can't handle Bilquis at all. None of the notes sounded so bad to me, but this is stomach turning on my skin. The almond is super strong on me and doesn't smell like cherry as it often does, but it's a strong and sweet nutty aroma. Sweet, wooden, nutty. I don't do well with nutty perfumes. On me, this is that strong nutty smell paired with some note that goes very fresh and dryer sheet-esque. Nutty almond and soapy, fresh, breezy dryer sheets. I toughed it out for a bit over fifteen minutes before I washed it off, and it didn't change at all during that time. This stuff is crazy strong and has a lot of throw and staying power. Normally I figure I have to wait at least an hour for a scent to go its course, but I honestly can't handle Bilquis. I couldn't make it through 15 minutes of the nutty-soapy smell again. Bilquis makes me queasy

This scent is deep, dark, dry, and slightly dusty at first. There’s a dark earthiness from the patchouli that is reminiscent of black soil, while the amber smells like dusty, dry woods on me. The whole scent is wrapped up in something slightly warm, herbal, and spicy (embalming spices, I suppose). It is a light touch of spice. I liked this well enough for the first fifteen minutes or so on my skin, then the amber went to baby powder and I had that lingering baby powder on my skin for several hours. Like baby powder, dirt, and something almost mushroom-like. Mr. Jacquel reminds me most closely of some of the soil/mushroom blends in the Garden, only more powdery and dry. Jacquel clings close to my skin and doesn’t have a lot of throw. The staying power is about 3 hours on me. I don’t dislike this. I’m not fond of how powdery it goes, but it’s light enough to not bother me. It’s not full bottle worthy for me and I probably won’t keep my decant, but I don't feel the need to scrub this one off either.

Mama-Ji is an interesting scent. It reminds me very much of potpourri at first (and I actually kinda like this stage), and then is a headache-inducing floral in the drydown. The spice is strong for the first 10 minutes or so. Spicy in a dry, room fragrance sort of way... but also somehow breezy and clean in the way that potpourri arrangements make a room smell. The florals here are like a mix of dried flowers in a scented arrangement at first. The overall feel for me is of a dry potpourri arrangement where dried flower buds have been scented with sweet spices. The spices fade away entirely over time and the drydown takes on the quality of a classic rose perfume that goes ever-so-slightly soapy on my skin. I dislike what Mama-Ji dries down to as the floral aspects give me a headache. I might actually use this as a room fragrance in an oil burner though, since I do like the opening potpourri-esque stage. I couldn't wear this as a personal fragrance though.

Spider on my skin is a rather bright, clean, men's cologne sort of fragrance at first. If I had to smell this without knowing the notes, I honestly would have guessed for white grapefruit, white musk, and bergamot. In the drydown it has more of a clean ozone/aquatic vibe that reminds me of Sea of Glass. There's also a funky, earthy something that lingers in the background that I'm guessing is the vetiver. This is reminiscent of the many fresh/citrus/aquatic men's colognes that are out in the market now. I'd like this if it had a sweeter edge to it rather than this dirt/earth edge. I can see the comparisons to Wilde as well, but Wilde is much sweeter and more complex on my skin.

Confession time: I've never drank alcohol and have no clue what whiskey actually smells like. In any case, Mad Sweeney (the bottle says Mad Sweeny?) smells incredibly strange to me and on my skin. In the bottle it smells exactly like rubbing alcohol. Sharp, pungent, chemical, horrible. On my skin, the rubbing alcohol impression is crazy-strong for a few minutes, and then it settles down into something smoky that reminds me of beef jerky (no joke). Smoked jerky with a slightly spicy glaze. That sharp rubbing alcohol scent flitters in and out and sticks in my throat. There are also hints of something like dirty leather or dusty wood in the far drydown. Beef jerky and rubbing alcohol . Mad Sweeney/Sweeny will go down as one of the strangest scents I've ever tried. I'm definitely not keeping my decant though, lol.

In the vial, Mr. Nancy really reminds me of being in Key West with all of the key lime pie and the exotic splash of bay rum. In the vial it's like key lime cheesecake & lemon squares. Sweet citrus and foodie. This is the one that I was most hopeful for - I love lime, bay rum, and foodies. I wish that it were as good on me as it is in the bottle. At first on my skin the citrus goes slightly bitter, but it was still a pleasantly lime-cheesecake fragrance. The bay rum added an exotic spice to the blend. However, after about five minutes or so, there is a smoky something here that reminds me of burning leaves in the drydown. Mr. Nancy is an incredibly subtle fragrance that fades disappointingly fast on my skin. The sugar cookies and lime don't seem to hang around either. I guess it's the tobacco playing badly on my skin, but this is incredibly smoky and smells just like burning a pile of fall leaves on my skin after a few minutes. Burning leaves and smoke. So disappointed

The Wild Men actually reminds me a bit of the LE Count Dracula at first, but without the Count's heavy leather note. The spice here is more of that bitter spice, not as sweet as I would like. Bitter cloves and hot, spicy pepper. In the drydown I'm getting some astringent moss and some bad patchouli. I normally love patchouli, but I think the patchouli here might be the funky, red variety that tends to smell like dirty hair on me. Blah. I was hoping this would be vanilla sweetness and spice, but this is more on the bitter, dirty-earthy side of things. I could see this being awesome on the right man or the right skin, but it's definitely not for me.

Crow Moon has been a hard scent for me to pin-down or review. Partially because it only lasts about 15 minutes on my skin and partially because it's so strange (and I'm still not sure if it's strange in a good way or strange in a bad way). I was surprised that this has such good staying power on some people and that, with all of the florals & woods, it isn't stronger on my skin. This is a paper thin fragrance on me. It's elusive and, in a literal sense, smells papery. Woodsy and dry like pencil shavings, but not quite as bold as that. I also get a burst of wet, perfumey florals after about a minute. It's woody, green, herbal, slightly earthy, and perfumey-floral all at the same time in a quick burst. I can't pick out any one note. Around minute ten this suddenly shifts into a woody powder that reminds me of sandalwood (which I see isn't even a listed note) and then it completely disappears. I've tested Crow Moon out several times now and it generally goes through that same cycle, although the chilly florals amp up more on my skin at points. It isn't a scent that gives me a strong impression of anything, but it's definitely not a sweet, warm, or summery sort of scent to me. ETA: After some aging, this is A LOT stronger and has better staying power on me. Unfortunately, it smells like pepper, paper, loads of baby powder, and herbal-floral-perfuminess. Mostly it is peppered baby powder though. I love the label and I want to love Crow Moon, but the oil doesn't agree with me at all.

This reminds me quite a bit of the new October 2006 reformulation of Thirteen at first. I suppose that makes sense, with the strong cocoa, vanilla, and lavender that they both have in common. Wulric isn't as smooth or sweet as Thirteen is on me though. The lavender in Wulric is more sharp, perfumey, and herbal rather than the sweet, smooth lavender that I favor. An earthy vetiver and metallic clary sage are also apparent in the drydown for the first half hour. The cocoa stays pretty strong and sweet on my skin, but it's paired with some sharper, aggressive notes here that I'm not crazy about. After an hour or so Wulric is an herbal perfumey fragrance with touches of cocoa. Not my thing, even though I love the cocoa note. My boy, of course, doesn't really care for chocolate scents, so I don't think we'll be holding on to this one. I like masculine scents and I love cocoa, but Wulric is just too much on the herbal and perfumey/sharp side of things for me.

I was pretty sure that I wouldn't like the Fire Pig... I haven't gotten along with the bamboo/asian-themed blends, and all of the citrus, dragon's blood, and floral in this scared me. Fire Pig does start off kinda blah on my skin. The bamboo and floral mixed with the citrus smells like sharp, citrus dryer sheets on my skin. Thankfully, it quickly calms down into a sweet fruity blend. It actually smells kinda like ripe peaches and a squeeze of sweet citrus on my skin, all sprinkled with sugar. There is just a hint of pine resin in the background. It stays a touch soapy on my skin, but not enough to bother me too much. No dragon's blood or in my face florals at all. I wish it weren't so light and that it didn't fade on my skin so quickly (staying power was about 45 minutes both times I tried it). I'll keep my decant of this one for days when I want a sweet, clean, fruity blend for a quick pick-me-up.

I don't know if I managed to get all of the dud Fizzy BOOMs or if I'm just overly picky about my bath products, but I've been seriously underwhelmed with the experiences. I used two Moxies together in my 1/3 filled up tub in an attempt to get some noticeable fragrance... nada. Mine had no discernible color to them, seemed to be fragrance free once they hit the water, and didn't seem particularly water softening. They smelled lightly of something like the powdery Orange Tang drink, but nothing once they had dissolved. I just... don't get it.

Civet isn't so bad on me in a few blends (and I even love it in a few), but this does start off smelling sort of soured on me. Very animal (in a bad way), strong and sour. Then, after a couple minutes, this suddenly softens on my skin and becomes the sweet, dark musky sort of scent that I am more familiar with. It also has a crisp coolness to it on my skin (like cool air on heated skin is the impression I always get). I think that civet is just one of those notes that's very dependent on a person's skin chemistry

On me this is a flurry of black dirt, astringent moss notes, and dryer sheets. It was the black pine that intrigued me with this one but I can't pick out any pine or really any foresty/tree/evergreen aspects at all. Oborot starts out soapy... dryer sheets and sour moss. In the drydown, it starts to smell more like black soil underneath the soap, which I'm also not really enjoying. Over an hour, something about this gets a bit sweeter and the blend starts to smell dry and dusty on my skin. Still, soapy and earthy. I ended up washing this off after about 2 hours. Oborot and I do not get along so well. I wouldn't ever think of this as a perfume scent. It's strange, soapy, and dry on my skin.

Fizzy BOOMs aren't working for me. I'm slowly making my way through my box of them and haven't been wowed yet. I didn't notice Ugh helping with any of my muscle aches after my work out. It had a faint fizzy lemon smell that reminded me of lemon soda (Sierra Mist) while it was dissolving, but it had no fragrance at all after about a minute of being in the water. No scent. No moisturizing properties that I noticed. Just... nothing.

I keep seeing people saying that the fragrances for these are subtle or light and a couple people like me... my fizzies have literally had no scent at all for the most part. I keep going through them in the hopes of having one that isn't a dud, but so far nothing. Detox is a colorless (no brown or yellow water) and odorless bathing experience. This bomb fizzed away quicker than some of my other ones. The sea salts gave the water a slippery feel that I liked, but it wasn't really moisturizing. Overall it was a lot like bathing in nothing. If I hadn't known, I would have figured I didn't put anything extra in the water at all. I have a bottle of the Detox oil and it's one of my favorite lime scents. My mom probably said my favorite thing about the Fizzy BOOMs, "They're aromatherapy baths that... don't have any smell?" ...

All of the early glowing reviews for these prompted me to purchase several bombs, and now I’m wishing I hadn’t wasted my money on them. I like my bath bombs to be highly scented (or even moderately scented would be acceptable) and moisturizing, and the Fizzy BOOMS just aren’t delivering. I love chocolate & cocoa & foodie scents. I was expecting this to be amazing with the cocoa absolute in it (Boomslang = perfection) but it falls dead flat. I could barely smell Zazzle at all in the baggie or even when I took it out and pressed my nose right up against the bomb. I wouldn’t even be so disappointed if these were lightly scented, but mine have been more on the verge of not scented at all. TKO is the only one that has seemed fragranced so far, and even that turned to a light, herbal baby powder once it hit the water. I filled the tub up with about three inches of water, no joke, and threw in Zazzle. I was sort of splashing around in a puddle of water and it had no fragrance whatsoever, so I just filled the tub up the rest of the way in defeat. My skin didn’t feel soft or moisturized after I got out of the bath and I needed my usual ton of lotion for my dry winter skin. The only thing Zazzle did was turn my water brown. I’ll use up the few bombs I have left, just because I don’t want to give them away and they’d be too expensive to ship to someone else, but I think I’ll pass on BPAL bath products from now on. I’m normally pretty easy to please with bath products, and I’m kind of stunned at how disappointing the Fizzy BOOMS have been for me. And I feel almost guilty posting ‘bad’ reviews, but the honesty is important to me... I wouldn’t recommend these.

I'll have to echo PilotKitten's sentiments with this one. It does just seem like a nice peppermint oil to me, and I don't think I'd ever pay so much for a peppermint oil. Plus, I'm a strange one in that peppermint seems to actually give me headaches if it hangs around for too long or is too strong. I can wear Lick It (though I didn't care for Lick It Again) and I love the tingly, cool feeling that it gives while the candy sweetness makes it wearable and cheery for me. Grr has no candied edge. If you can handle peppermint, a dab of this on the temples would probably be lovely. For me, this is too strong and too bracing. Even the Grr fizzy boom was too much for me to handle, though the booms are super lightly scented, just because I stayed in the bath for too long. I think I'm going to try what clover suggested with the rest of my decant, so I can get the benefit of a sort of quick peppermint treatment but it won't hang around all day.

I'm honestly not quite sure how to use this for my muscle aches, so this is mostly a scent review, lol. I wouldn't want to rub this into my sore muscles because the smell would be overpowering, and I don't see how just sniffing it would really help. Unless it's not for sore leg muscles or anything like that and I'm completely misguided Ugh isn't really a smell that I would want to have all over my person. It smells just like the herbal lemon cough drops that my father used to buy. They were either Ricola Lemon Mint or Ricola Honey Lemon... I can't remember exactly. Perhaps the mint because this does have a bracing chilliness to it that's more menthol than mint. Lemony, menthol, with a medicinal sweetness.

In the vial I smell mint and a funky bergamot that smells kinda fishy to me. Literally like fish. Sometimes lemony scents go off to my nose like that. I digress. On my skin... dirty, fishy mint. Thankfully the funky smell fades away quickly and the green tea kicks the bergamot back into submission. Green Tree Viper morphs into a super sugary mint with the smoothness of green tea in the background. I like. It's cool, refreshing, and reminds me of vanilla mints after a few minutes. It's pretty zingy and sinus clearing though. I smell it and get this chilly sharpness in my nose/head. After a half hour, this has lost it's original *pow* and is much softer now, fading quickly. I'm not much of a mint person and this one fades pretty fast, so I probably won't get a full bottle... but Green Tree Viper is still a nice little blend.

In the bottle, the creamy, cool sweetness of the tonka makes me swoon. On my skin, the herbal, smoky sharpness of the sage comes in and stomps out all of the other notes. The sage seems to swallow up the tonka and red sandalwood that I love. I'm left with a perfumey Snake Oil wrapped in worn leather and a sharp, bitter sage. ETA: I left my bottle to age, hoping that the sage would mellow out. Now this scent is mostly leather on me, but it's an intense, heavy, black, smoky leather that's too sharp for me (and I usually like leather scents). It feels like being smothered in black smoke and strips of burning leather. Not for me.

This was my most coveted of the Agony/Ecstasy Inquisition and so far none of the others have worked on me. In the bottle this smells like sharp, perfumey florals and I can pick out a hint of sweet, zesty mandarin underneath. I'm hoping my skin doesn't amp the florals. I wonder if this has black patchouli in it. The patchouli here smells like the black does on my skin, very dark and earthy in a black soil and leather sort of way (which I love). The earthiness is sort of the grounding note underneath the splash of bright citrus. The flowers pop up more as this dries down and the blend becomes more smoky and perfumey. I really wanted to like this (I really want to like at least one of the Valentine's blends), but it's really not for me either. The honeysuckle is the strongest note on my skin, and the lab's honeysuckle is strangely sharp on me. The mandarin also goes sharp and bitter on my skin while the parts that I love about this (the patchouli and frankincense) fade away to the background. The Ecstasy of True Love turns into a sharp honeysuckle-mandarin scent on me, with bare hints of resin and patchouli teasing me in the background, but never fully coming out. Boo