Little Bird

In the bottle, tart blackberries with an earthy, almost root-like smell that reminds me of strolling through blackberry patches. It's a smell that I know and love well since I grew up in the Ozarks. It's the smell of an entire patch of blackberries rather than the juice of one berry. I was really hopeful that this would work on me. Most of BPAL's lunars haven't been wearable for me, and I haven't had a *love* since Sleepy Moon from February. I was hopeful for this one since I love everything in it with the exception of the poppy and sage. Of course, my skin amps up the poppy and completely ruins this for me . Poppy has ruined a few blends for me now (gives me nosebleeds and migraines). It's a sharp, stinging, smoky, white sort of smell on me. The beautifully tart blackberry is holding on, but it's smothered by the migraine inducing poppy for me. I waited this one out for an hour and a half (I so wanted to love it) and the poppy does finally calm down, and some creamy/vanilla-ish tonka comes out to mingle with the berries. The lingering sharpness of the poppy just kills this for me though. Bitter Moon minus the florals would be heaven. As it is... I can't wear Bitter Moon at all. So disappointed in this order

In the bottle... very floral. It does bring to mind a very deep, rich purple. These are very haughty, strong florals with a hint of soap creeping underneath them. I was afraid to try this on my skin. The second that I tried this on, I sniffed my wrists and said, "Nuh-uh." This is very much a not-for-Tania blend. When I go to try on perfumes at department stores, the florals all take on the same smell to me. A sharp, acrid, chemical, 'perfume' smell rather than the actual smell of flowers. That's what Purple Phoenix does on me. This isn't even as pretty or purple on me as it is in the bottle. It's just sharp and unpleasant florals. Almost metallic and chemical-smelling like cheap hairspray. I don't get any fruits or resin or anything but chemical, cheap florals. Purple Phoenix is awful on me

Each bottle of Chaos Theory is truly unique, a fragrant fractal, and exercise in the joy of chance and uncertainty! Each is a one-of-a-kind, utterly random combination of scents, the composition of which is based on whim, mood and gut instinct. CTIII: DCXCII In the vial... smells a bit clean, a bit green (almost sweet lime?), a bit herbal, and a bit resinous. Smooth and slightly sweet, almost wants to be spicy. Uh, I guess I have no clue what it is, lol. On me... sweet, powdery, smoky incense - and that green, sweet lime note is still apparent. This reminds me of a less heavy, less dark, and slightly more feminine version of blends like Doc Buzzard. In the drydown, more of a spicy twang comes out and it reminds me a bit of holiday spice cola underneath the incense and lime. A beautiful, soft incense with quite a bit of throw and staying power. Slinky and sexy. It has an almost musky skinsosoft-esque softness underneath that makes it more girly. Previously reviewed by PilotKitten.

CT III - MCXXVI This is definitely a fruity floral. In the vial and first on my skin, this reminds me of sweet tarts and honeyed, slightly soapy lilies and orchids. In the drydown, this is a very sweet, pretty bouquet of spring flowers. It has that sticky-sweet smell of pollen and flower sap. This actually reminds me a lot of White Rabbit with its honey and clean notes. A creamy, slightly sweet, slightly clean bouquet of flowers with a hint of juicy fruitiness (maybe even reminding me of a wine note) in the background.

CTIII: DCCCLXXXIV - a decant. In the vial, smells kinda like grape bubblegum, cream, and caramel. Fruity and candied. On me... love. This smells a lot like LUSH's Creamy Candy fragrance. Pink candies and sweet vanilla. But it also has a touch of something creamy, tart, and fruity that reminds me of LUSH's The Comforter. The drydown is cotton candy, creamy (almost carameled) vanilla, and something like blackberry lemonade. Yet, it's not just foodie or fruity or sweet. This has something sexy and slightly powdery lingering in the background and keeping it from smelling too childish or overly sweet. Candy musk and tart berries. This reminds me of something and there's some note here that I know but can't quite grasp. I think that I'm going to beg my decanter for the bottle of this one

Another gifted decant from the lovely PilotKitten CTIII: MCCCXXVI This is a strong blast of lemon/lemongrass. It smells like sour lemonhead candies on me. Kind of herbal, but mostly it's just screaming LEMONS!!!111 BPAL's lemon notes go kind of sharp on me, so this doesn't work for me, but it's a strong, bright, and rather cheery sort of scent.

Chaos Theory III: DCLI. A gifted decant from PilotKitten In the imp vial and first on me... nutty and it reminds me of something. Roasting chestnuts? Almost nutty (in that woodsy sort of way) with brown sugar and an extra toasted warmth. A bit reminiscent of Hearth. It’s incredibly light and foodie, but something in this gets really sharp and soapy on me in the drydown. Like brown sugar and roasted chestnuts, with a sharp and soapy lily coming out after a few minutes. Last reviewed by supremegoddessofall.

I love Jungle... haven't found any fragrance that really resembles it yet though (sadly). Strangler Fig & Eden both have a sort of leafy greenery to them (like being in the top of a tree), but Eden has foodie notes and Strangler Fig is kinda woodsy. And they're more like green leaves than green flower stems. For floral bouquets, you probably want to check out Funereal Oils. The Reaper & The Flowers might work for you (florals and a grassy green note). There are a lot of unique floral bouquet blends in the Funereal section. Szepasszony, The Lady of Shalott, & Amsterdam are all both floral and aquatic. Machu Picchu & Manila are rainforest-y florals. Maiden is one of my favorite florals, because it smells exactly like a fresh cut bouquet of carnations, but that isn't heavily green. I also loved Caliban because it smelled like rich green vegetation on an island, with sea spray all about. Bayou is a favorite of mine because it smells like damp, swamp-green vegetation & hot florals. I hope my rambling is somewhat helpful, lol.

Enochian does not work well with me as a personal scent. I wonder if there is some rosewood in this... because it gives off that pungent, sour fragrance that rosewood takes on my skin. Actually reminds me of bile. In the drydown it's a mishmash of florals, with some going powdery and some going soapy. There's also an undertone of dusty woods. It reminds me of playing around in my grandmother's dusty medicine cabinet, with the aged woods and neglected perfumes and powders. Sharp and headache inducing for me.

First on, this was rather metallic and herbal to me. Sort of like ylang ylang's sharpness and some acrid green herbs. Also might be getting a bit of frankincense. In the drydown, the sharpness calms down a bit and some sweet clove pops up. I never really get the orange that others have mentioned. Mostly this is sweet clove and an herbal background to me.

This is another blend that I was hoping would smell something like Skadi (I know, I know... even my boy has told me I need to let go of Skadi already, lol). Everything that I try seems to lack the spicy warmth that made Skadi so wonderful. The Snow Maiden is nothing like Skadi or Snow White on my skin. This is a cold, clean, bitter scent to me. More like Snow Bunny than anything else. Clean (almost soapy) slush notes, a bitter grapefruit, and something like perfumey white florals. Cold and sharp. The sharp florals get stronger in the drydown and the soap gets a bit more pronounced. The Snow Maiden turns more and more towards cliche department store floral perfume on me over the hours... suffocating, stinging flowers and chemicals. If white florals tend to give you headaches, you might want to stay away from this one, because it's migraine-city for me.

Vigor is a cold, medicinal, sharp fragrance to my nose. On my skin it's a chilly menthol, cold evergreen, and some sort of citrus that makes me think of bitter orange peel. It gets more aquatic in the drydown, and a tad soapy, before it disappears after about a half hour. Stimulating like jumping into a freezing lake.

Without even looking at the list of notes before sniffing Fox-Woman in her bottle, I knew that this blend had cherry blossom and an herbal smelling jasmine note in it. Frighteningly floral. On my skin, those two notes continue to be the only ones that I can pick out. I agree with other reviewers who have described this as a musty smelling floral. For a floral-jasmine scent (jasmine is one of my perfume enemies) this isn't as bad as I thought that it would be. The florals stay sort of muted and soft, with that strangely aged, musty quality to them. After a while it takes on a pleasantly sugared sort of quality as well. I'm not sure that I'll keep this one, but it's interesting and rather pretty. I'd like the Fox if I were more fond of florals.

This is heavenly in the bottle. A flurry of salty, dry ozone meets creamy white musk and a sweet, chilly mint. Like the dry chill of a winter wind. I'm not smelling any frankincense. On me, this sweetens up even more. It's a clean, sweet scent. Girly ozone. Cloister Graveyard in the Snow dries down to a sweet vanilla mint with hints of salty ozone and clean musk, and the overall impression is that this is both a very chilly and a very dry scent. I never smell anything like frankincense from it. Lovely. I think this one is my favorite of The Salon .

In the bottle... slightly metallic floral with very powdery undertones. On me... a sharp, perfumey rose is at the head of the fragrance, with baby powder and vanilla swirling around it. This is very department-store-floral to me. Sharp, thick, and with a more classic, powdery drydown. It's a sort of powdery, bitter rose that I'd expect my cruel step-grandmother to wear. The combination of sharpness and heavy powder makes my eyes water

I was really excited to try Jólasveinar because I was hoping that it would be somewhat similar to Skadi. Skadi was like pine and spice (but so much better), with a blooming warmth to it that reminded me of coming in from a snowstorm and sitting in front of a warm fireplace. So cozy (some day I'll let Skadi go... some day, lol). In the bottle, I definitely smell snowy notes and pine, with a hint of warm spice underneath them. It's heavy on that sharp slushy note that I'm not crazy about though. On me at first... perfumey, juicy orchids and snow. It has a chilly menthol bite to it as well. I would normally hate this blend, but it has a wonderful foodie something underneath the snow and floral perfume. It's like catching hints of caramel flavored coffee and sugar cookies underneath the orchid perfume and cold slush. Unfortunately, after 15 minutes or so, the foodie notes are gone and this is a very sharp floral... it ends up smelling sort of metallic and suffocating like cheap hairspray on my skin . Nothing like Skadi. I wish that the foodie notes were stronger and had more staying power, because they could have saved this blend for me. As it is, this is too much floral for me.

First on... maraschino cherries. Sticky sweet and drowning in sugared syrup. It almost reminds me of cherry cough syrup for a few minutes. In the drydown, it still smells candied, sort of like cherry lollipops. I haven't been able to really pick the cherry note out of any of the regular BPAL blends, with the exception of The Red Queen, so it's not a note that I'm very familiar with. The single note itself is light and fades rather quickly on my skin. Black Cherry was more of a tart, powdery scent on my skin. This plain ole regular Cherry is on a major sugar buzz. I wish that there were more cherry blends to choose from in the regular catalogue lineup. Layering this with the lime single note makes me very happy

In the bottle, 13 '06 smells like an amazing blend of cocoa, creamy vanilla, and a really clean something that reminds me of lavender and white musk (though I know there's no white musk in this). Lovely. My favorite candy is Dagoba's dark chocolate lavender. This smells exactly like that wonderful chocolate on my skin. A cool, sweet lavender and lashings of bittersweet cocoa. I can't pick out any of the other notes exactly, and the lavender and cocoa stay dominant (yay), but there is a complexity of other notes that come out to play over the hours as I wear this. I think that I'm smelling amber and nutmeg as it warms up a bit. Beautiful. I like this one even more than the original version, and I wish that I'd purchased more than one bottle. ETA: I've been wearing Thirteen the last few days and after three hours or so, it dries down to a wonderfully cool, sweet scent... like the vanilla drydown of Lick It & Underpants.

In the bottle... this smells like wonderfully creamy strawberry cheesecake (which I'm guessing is the grapes + cakes). On me... a flurry of rich, golden resins and a creamy vanilla. This has an almost aggressive sort of spice to it as well. It makes me think of offering cakes and resins in a golden temple, where everything is too expensive & perfect for you to even think about touching. Very rich. Halôa is very complex and hard for me to explain. BPAL has done a lot of cake + resin sort of blends lately, but this doesn't really smell like any of them. There's a spicy dry wood, a sweet cheesecake, and the rich olive & resins rounding it all out. It paints a vivid temple picture for me. It's an interesting blend, though perhaps a little too interesting and unusual. Sometimes when I wear this, it smells really sour and odd on my skin... other times, a pleasant sweetness oddly paired with some resinous woody notes. ETA: And Halôa smells just like the limited edition Lycaon on me as well.

The Temptation smells heavenly in the bottle, like soft peach and a creamy, almost milky floral note. On my skin... this is much like it smells in the vial. Juicy, soft peach and creamy florals. The florals here actually remind me of the cool, creamy florals that are in Snow White. Of course, the drydown completely ruins this for me . Sharper, perfumey florals and some perfumey, smoky musk notes run to the front and completely smother the pretty notes. The juicy, beautiful peach blossom tries to hold out, but is continually beaten back by sharp musk. This morphs from a juicy, milky-sweet blend into a sharp, classic floral that I hate. *sigh* So sad.

Yay! A citrus blend that I actually like . Mania is such a lovely blend. Red musk itself always smells slightly sweet and fruity on my skin, so it meshes very well with the other fruity notes. The red musk plus the sweet strawberry leaf help to calm down the grapefruit and keep it from going sharp on my skin. The grapefruit's zesty citrus, in turn, keeps the other notes from going overly sweet. The grapefruit and strawberry balance each other perfectly. And all of the notes are wrapped up in a blanket of creamy, clean white musk. Heaven. This will be a 5 ml bottle purchase in my next order, and I'll be hoarding my imp until then. It's sweet and creamy enough for me, & citrussy and clean enough to make my boy happy.

In the bottle... Horreur Sympathique smells like grape bubblegum and sugar. On me... grape bubblegum, sugar, and some goldeny sweet, warm honey. It loses some of its bubblegum sweetness after a few minutes, and then just smells of sweet grapes and honey. It's lighter and more upbeat than I was expecting. 15 minutes into the drydown... rather perfumey honey. Honey musk and tooth-aching sugar notes. A rather simple, sweet musk sort of fragrance. The honey is really dominating on my skin. Horreur Sympathique isn't a blend that I'll ever find myself wearing, but I'd recommend it to anyone who is a fan of BPAL's honey.

Love-Lies-Bleeding actually reminds me of some of the Turkish Delight fragrances that I've tried from other etailers. Sort of a foodie chocolate-rose scent. A bit powdery and pleasantly sweet. In the drydown it makes me think of powdered sugar, tea rose, and chocolate shavings, perhaps with a bit of a berry wine thrown in. This strikes me as a sort of romantic, thickly foodie scent.

In the bottle... this smells like pine, a squeeze of zesty lime, and a misty sort of aquatic note. Very pretty. I had high hopes. On me... laundry . I smell like a sweet laundry soap. Slobbering Pine becomes a slightly sharper, darker version of Dirty on me. Strong and soapy, with a very cloying sweetness. Headache inducing soap, with a sweetness that's rich enough to make me gag (and I normally love sweet scents). I wish that this had been more of a natural, piney scent

Devil's Claw is defintely funky, evil, rotten, dirty, gritty... well, not good on me. This is the funky vetiver that was in blends like Azathoth. Kind of reminds me of burnt BBQ, charred cedar, and dirty ash tray. It has that ashen smokiness that I've gotten in blends like Brimstone & Djinn.