Little Bird

I've been begging and hoping for a BPAL caramel apple scent for over a year now, so I did a little happy dance around my room when I saw the description for Creepy. Yes, I am someone who desperately wants to smell like caramel apples, lol. In the bottle... tart apples smothered in warm butterscotch and just a hint of something that smells slightly boozy. The apple in Punkie Night smelled artificially sweet and perfumey on me, but this smells like real apples. I like the apple in Creepy much more. It smells as apples should - tart, crisp, juicy. Unfortunately, the other notes really muck this up for me. I so wish Beth had just done a straight caramel apple for Creepy and not tossed in the rum and butterscotch. The butterscotch completely overpowers the caramel for me, and I didn't want butterscotch apples. I hate the sharp boozy smack that the rum throws in as well. On me this smells like a fantastic apple note smothered in sharp, boozy, bitter butterscotch. BPAL's caramel is so awesome and normally such a strong note, but I can't find it in Creepy.

In the bottle, this is all the sweet, velvety incense of Midnight Mass... with the cake and tart currant of Monster Bait: Closet. On me, the incense/woods go much dryer and it loses that Midnight Mass comparison. There's just a hint of dry cake and tart fruit. After about 15 minutes, a sharp wood note overwhelms the cake and fruits. Then this is just a light incense and sharp, masculine woods. This is such a dry blend to me, making me feel like I need a drink of water when I smell it. I actually wish that the cake and currant were stronger; and I still like Midnight Mass for my perfect incense blend. All Souls is just too dry and masculine-woods on me.

BPAL's grapefruit notes have a tendency to smell really sharp and bitter on me, so I was wary about trying Night Gaunt. In the vial, it smells like the labbies crammed an actual ruby red grapefruit in here. On me... bitter grapefruit and sharply perfumey white flowers. It does have a powdered sugar sweetness to it that I like, but the sharp perfume is ruining the sugar for me. It's rather strong and overpowering on me as well. BPAL's grapefruit just hates me

Shoggoth is mostly lemongrass with hints of coconut and soapy, watery lily. I was hoping that the lime note would make an appearance, but it never does. This is mostly just a soapy, herbal lemon smell on me. Sad

This is like a cross between Oblivion and Hurricane (two of my favorites). This is earthy, but without smelling like dirt. The vetiver goes sweet and just a tad powdery on me. And there's a fruity sort of sweetness that reminds me of berries and lime. The Music is earthy, but more of a powdery-sweet incense way than a soil smell. Sweet and pleasant. I dunno if I'll ever end up with a full size of this one, because I already have big bottles of Oblivion and Hurricane... but I like these sort of blends.

In the bottle, this smells just like the first pumpkin patch blend. Kinda a sharp apple cider fragrance. On me... the sharpness softens, but this becomes a rather perfumey apple scent. It doesn't smell like true apple to me, but reminds me very strongly of the Bath & Body Works "Country Apple" scent. Almost floral, fakely sweet, perfumey apple. After 15 minutes or so, a hint of cinnamon and some woods are coming out behind the country apple. Now it smells like craft store... where they have the premade wreaths and cinnamon-apple candles. Punkie Night isn't as natural a scent as I was hoping for. This will be making its way into my oil burner though. It's a nice home fragrance for the upcoming winter season, I think. ETA: And this is crazily strong and has a lot of throw on me. I've had it on for an hour and had to scrub it off because it was giving me a headache. Very overpowering.

In the bottle... I definitely smell Jack in here. Sweet and buttery... yet more spicy than Jack. I'm hoping that it won't be as nauseating as Jack is on my skin. On me... woo. The comparison to Jack fades as soon as this touches my skin . This actually makes me think of yellow cake with an orange cream cheese frosting; and a warming, spicy kick added in for good measure. I sometimes have trouble with spicy scents, but this one isn't overwhelming at all. I want to not like the Pumpkin Queen, because she held up my order for over a month, but I'm finding her too yummy to stay mad at her. She is foodie heaven.

I generally don't stereotype fragrances, but Count Dracula smells very goth-style to me, lol. In that I'd expect a dark haired boy with the black leather jacket to smell like this... all brooding and cold. The black leather is the main note that comes out on my skin, and I don't really like how cold this type of leather smells. Then there's a hint of citrussy neroli and some spice. The spice isn't sweet though, it's a bit sharp... definitely the 'bitter cloves' and 'fiery ginger.' The black musk comes out more in the drydown, and this takes on a classic men's cologne sort of smell. I don't really like this sort of leather or this sort of spice, so my bottle will be finding a new home. Sadly, the only blend that I've really loved from The Order of the Dragon series has been the wonderful Quincey Morris (sexy cowboy in a bottle).

When I did my initial sniffing of all of the new scents in their bottles, Dr. John Seward was my favorite. It surprised me by smelling like a masculine version of The Candy Butcher (minus the weird plastic smell that I get from The Butcher). If I didn't know what was in it, I would have guessed that it had vanilla cream, cocoa, and black musk. I can smell the lovely sandalwood as well. I was afraid to try this on myself, because my skin amps up opium poppy and I have a really bad reaction to opium (migraines and nose bleeds - very weird). On me... smoky opium poppy and pepper. Dries down to smoky opium and creamy tonka. The tonka has an almost foodie vanilla smell. I like the tonka, but I had to wash this one off after 15 minutes, as the opium was too strong and overwhelming. If you were looking for a good opium and sweet vanilla combo, John Seward is for you.

I love myrrh, resins, and currant... but Wilhelmina Murray quickly dries down to a light, bland sort of floral. It's a nice scent. There's a spicy sort of tea rose and hints of something that smells grassy and green at first. There are several rose and resin scents in the BPAL lineup that I like a lot more. I don't even really get any resin from this one. After about 10 minutes on my skin, this is just a light, plain rose note on me, and it goes slightly sharp and suffocatingly perfumey (odd, because tea rose usually is sweet and lovely on my skin).

In the bottle... smells rather sweet, like blood orange and honeyed flowers, with a hint of something powdery that reminds me of the way my mother's makeup drawer always smelled. A very red and feminine fragrance. On me... this is sharply perfumey (like the musky 80s perfume my mother always wore) with a mishmash of notes that are sweet and powdery. Still making me think of my mother's makeup drawer, but so sharp and perfumey that it's like a bottle of cheap musk got dumped out in that same drawer. I love rose, frankincense, blood orange, and white musk on most occasions... but Lucy Westenra ends up smelling like a cheap, overwhelming musk on me. MUSK and powder. Bleh.

Yha-Nthlei is my new favorite aquatic blend (my only favorite aquatic?). I don't particularly like any of the listed notes, yet this is somehow so stunning. Actually, I don't necessarily smell any of the listed notes either. I was expecting this to be sharp, but it's not at all. Chilly and fresh. An aquatic that doesn't actually go soapy and smell like dryer sheets on me. This blends together to make something so smooth, and just a touch sweet. It's not soapy and it doesn't have the usual sharp citrus note that I get from aquatic blends. Another beautiful Arkham scent.

I was excited about a blood musk and incense blend; The High Priest does not disappoint. Blood musk, on me, always makes me think fondly of cinnamon or cassia. If cassia had a type of musk, it would be blood musk. With it's darkly sweet qualities. Spicy and warm. This blend has such a sexy vibe, because it makes me feel warm inside whenever I smell it. The incense is rich and has something of a smudged, soft vein to it. Almost thick and powdery (without being at all baby powder-ish). I don't exactly smell any of the notes besides the blood musk and incense; but I catch hints of leather and woods dancing around the background every once in a while, with more of a dry woods after an hour or so of wear. Very lovely and warming. I'd recommend trying this if you liked any of the other blood musk blends.

Bpal makes the best leather scents. The leather base in this is so sweet and soft. Worn in, warm, soft leather. Then there's a creamy vanilla and the sexiest musk *ever* resting on the leather base. It smells like a strong, outdoorsy, protective man... comforting and sensual at the same time. I thought that I would hate this when I sniffed all of the new scents in their bottles, but this might need a top ten spot on my favorite LEs list. It really reminds me of my boy and the way that he smells naturally (manly yet still so warm), so that's probably why it makes me feel like swooning.

In the bottle... spearmint and juniper. Minty and reminding me of chewing gum. I'm not really fond of mint, so I'm hoping that this will morph on my skin. On me... chewing gum. Or toothpaste. In that powdery, light green spearmint sort of way. I was hoping that this would be more of a natural forest/mountain scent... but it's all fakely sweet mint in a way that reminds me of bathrooms (maybe that toothpaste association, but it also reminds me of some cleanser that I hate). Not what I'd want to smell like.

In the bottle... clingy skin musk and sticky-sweet honey. There's also something almost fruity here, kinda reminding me of peach. On me... not good. This instantly morphs into a blend of jaggedly sharp musk, soapy florals, and pain. Sharp, strong, soapy floral. This is an instant migraine inducer for me. I scrubbed it off after about 15 minutes, when my throat started to feel tight... like being smothered. I normally like skin musk, but something about this is just awful on me.

I expected this to be mostly dry woods and incense from the description, but it has more of a wet and mossy quality in the bottle, and a hint of something that reminds me of soil (sort of that papery soil note that I also get in Destroying Angel). On me... dry/thin soil, a sudden blooming of pine notes, and a waft of cedar and incense. In the drydown, the dusty cedar dominates and the fresh pine notes disappear. There are hints of sweet incense in the background that get stronger with time. This reminds me more of The Pit & The Pendulum as far as incense blends go. Carfax Abbey is another interesting, unique incense blend. Unfortunately, I think it's too much of a dry and dusty scent for me to get away with wearing it.

In the bottle... I can definitely smell the dragon's blood and leather. It also smells musky to me, like warm red musk. On me... dragon's blood and pepper. The sweet warmth of the dragon's blood is coated with a biting pepper note. This fragrance definitely has a sharpness to it that I'm finding rather unpleasant. And it almost wants to go soapy on my skin, but never quite makes it to the full dish soap comparison. Soapy dragon's blood and biting pepper. The Bloody Sword actually prompted me into a sneezing fit

I'm definitely wearing Creepy. Actually, I might wear Creepy every day anyhow, lol. It's the caramel apple of my dreams (or, I suppose it's more a butterscotch apple - but heaven either way).

In the bottle... the verbena is hyper and bouncing around. Intensely lemony. On me... strong, sharp lemons. I was expecting to hate this, because I don't like lemons, but this really mellows after about five minutes. A smooth, crisp tea note emergest, along with a delicately sweet floral note. The tea dominates on my skin in the drydown, and it's really lovely then. Crisp and cool. Like having tea near a frostbitten garden on a chilly afternoon... with just a hint of lemon in the tea.

Samhain and I didn't get along at all, so I was hoping that Samhainophobia would be more my style. And I just want to say that the Halloween labels are all so amazing this year. I love this one in particular (child being scared by a jack-o-lantern while reading a ghost story... it's just so mean, lol). This smells very much like Samhain in the bottle, but with a sweeter spice to it than Samhain has. Something in Samhain ended up smelling dirty like cigarette ash on me. On me... this is a smoky, earthy blend. But not smoky in a bad way, it smells more like a sweet incense to me. Dry leaves, sweetly spicy cloves, and hints of earthy patchouli are dominating this one for me. Samhainophobia is like a Halloween incense... dark, smoky, and sultry. I'm glad that this doesn't turn on me like Samhain does.

In the bottle... there might be some vetiver and/or dragon's blood in this one. It's earthy with a spicy, woodsy note, but with the tang of dragon's blood and some sort of sweetness that makes me think of white chocolate. This actually is reminding me a bit of the way The Tell Tale Heart also smells in the bottle. It actually smells rather foodie. On me... this is foodie like Dragon's Milk . Vanilla and spicy dragon's blood. In the drydown, this is like Dragon's Milk with a hint of woodsy incense. I've layered Dragon's Milk with various other incense blends and loved the result... so I'm liking this one. The Castle isn't at all what I was expecting. I'm not getting any pine, moss, or dry leaves? This just goes very sweet and foodie on my skin (which I like, so hey...).

In the bottle, this is mossy with an almost salty sharpness, and very woodsy. I love scents that smell kind of swampy (yay Bayou & Whippoorwill), and this falls into that category for me. It's colder and not as floral as Bayou, and not as crisp or watery smelling as Whippoorwill. On me... moss and dry, spicy woods. Renfield very much makes me think of playing in the woods in the fall, when everything is dryer, climbing on moss-laden rocks and weaving through barren trees. I get hints of a very light citrus in the drydown. The patchouli isn't strong for me, but is a grounding element in the background. Renfield hasn't been getting much love, but this is a new favorite for me. I love blends that remind me of the forest settings that I grew up in... and the moss notes here are wonderful. I'd love this on a guy, and will be wearing it myself when I want to be transported back to the forest in fall

I have to leave shortly (class from 2 - 9 PM, wee I hate college), but I just wanted to say that even the whole 'she was using us for market research' thing sounds pretty far-fetched to me. H&EE is a small company, more of a hobby for Michele than anything. She's not planning on doing hostile takeover of the perfume industry. And, quite frankly, if she were using BPAL for market research... I'd expect her to have some similarities to BPAL. And she doesn't. What could she get from this forum? Everyone here has different tastes. So far, Michele has done a lot of custom scents for people on HER forums. She hasn't been feverishly trying to recreate BPAL fragrances. H&EE mainly has a lot of blends that are vanilla/tonka, use her antique patchouli stock, or are foodie. Which BPAL doesn't have a lot of. Her fluffy fairy scents don't strike me as being very similar in concept, feel, or scent component to the lab at all. She sells a lot of bath products, which doesn't even compete with the lab on any level. There are definitely more etailers on the retail therapy forum that remind me much more strongly of BPAL.

Thanks for that, PilotKitten. You made a lot of really good points that I agree with. It’s the obvious double standards here that have really been upsetting and disheartening to me. The mods quite honestly seem to watch the H&EE thread, hoping for a potential legal issue or complaint to arise, so that they can escalate it. This has happened so many times, it’s obvious and plain as day if you just read through the thread. It’s almost like the mods and a few people are literally trolling that thread and looking to start drama/suspicion at any available point. H&EE gets jumped on more than companies that have actually robbed customers and copied BPAL's scent descriptions. And for what, really? And, like PilotKitten has just pointed out, there’s even a double standard with how the customers of H&EE are treated on this forum. On the H&EE thread (before the lab posted an announcement about using the term imp), the mods came in and started a huge debate on the H&EE thread, publicly calling out and embarrassing one of the H&EE customers for innocently using the term frimp in reference to a free sample oil. The mods noticed this slipup a day after it was posted and jumped at the chance. Several of the mods came in and were actually very defensive and rude, making everyone involved feel like morons for daring to be stupid enough to use the lab’s term “frimp” on anyone else’s oils. It was *very* poorly handled and unnecessary. And… yet… olympia301 referred to her own blends as frimps in her own etailer thread on the bpal.org retail forum. And the mods didn’t say a word, and no one cared. No one cares. The mods rudely told us that it was important not to use the term frimp/imp and that we should be more considerate of the lab’s feelings. We said that it was an honest mistake, and the mods acted like we were idiots. Yet… they didn’t care when an actual perfumer used the same term in reference to her own products. That speaks volumes to me. Do I think that the mods are bad people or even bad mods? Definitely not. For the most part, I love how this site is handled. But I think that the drama and picking on Michele/H&EE/and customers of H&EE is wrong and uncalled for and has been rather underhanded at points. I love BPAL. I love and like many people on bpal.org (and don't hate or dislike a single person here). But I also love H&EE and like Michele. I've been around for and noticed all of the same things that filigree_shadow has mentioned. I didn't see any of those events in the same light. If you're trying to find something wrong or you want to believe that something is wrong, you can always find it. Maybe there were communication issues between Michele and the mods... that have obviously been blown out of proportion and escalated. But Michele really isn't the manipulative monster that she has been painted out to be, and H&EE obviously hasn't ever stolen anything from BPAL, which is clear to anyone who has looked at the site or tried the products. BPAL & H&EE just aren't anything alike.