Little Bird

Hee, I love the label for this one. In the bottle, this smells very herbal. Sort of a green fragrance with hints of a sweet grapefruit in the background. On me at first, the Hungry Ghost kinda smells like green meadow dryer sheets. Very clean. I was hoping that this would be foodie on me, but it's not really. It does sweeten up a bit more and I get the 'sugar' in the drydown, but the clean dryer sheet smell is dominating on me. Sugar + dryer sheets is not good on me. This one is a bit too musky dryer sheets on me, but the label art is cute. I never get any of the ginger candy, vanilla, woods, or resins that were mentioned. Hungry Ghost Moon isn't one that I'll wear much.

All of my Chaotic Children... My first Chaos Theory III . It's number CCCXXXIII (333) that I ordered on 6/10/06. I wonder if it's somehow lucky, with all of those threes. In the bottle... this smells strongly of clove and some sort of creamy vanilla-ish note. Awesome. On me, this is beautiful. I know that these don't have cinnamon in them, but if I didn't know that, I would guess that this is cinnamon, clove, and foodie-creamy-sweet vanilla. This is spicy, creamy, foodie, and sweet. I love it ETA: After wearing this for 2 hours, the drydown is even better than the initial stage. The spice has calmed down and a softly woodsy or resinous note has popped up underneath the creamy vanilla and hint of spice. It makes me think of sandalwood and the velvety resins in Midnight Mass. This is like the best sandalwood-spice-vanilla ever. Summing it up: Best Chaos Theory ever. Foodie vanilla, spice, sandalwood, and velvety resins. Personal Rating: A definite 5/5 on the loveliness factor. ------------ Chaos Theory DCCCLXXXI (881) ordered on 7/30/06. In the bottle and on me, this bears a very strong resemblance to Eat Me, only not as sickeningly sweet as Eat Me was on me. It smells like fruity currants, tart strawberry, and lashings of creamy vanilla with a stickier, incensy sort of sweetness added in. This one also has a ton of throw and insane lasting power. A tiny drop on my wrists had the scent wafting around me for over 12 hours until I took a shower and washed it off. My very picky mother, who usually isn't highly impressed with my perfume oils, said that this smells "absolutely wonderful... seriously very good." Summing it up: This is like Eat Me, if some of its hyper sweetness were taken away and wonderfully tart strawberry was added in its place. Personal Rating: 5/5. I don't normally like fruity, but the tart berries and sugary vanilla-incense is amazing. ============ Adopted Theory... Chaos Theory CCXLI (241) adopted from visualworlds (previous review here: CCXLI) After reading the previous review, I had to try this one out. I am attracted to anything that may be unloved in life (which is how I end up with all of my pets). It intrigued and fascinated me. In the bottle... this smells like raisins. Raisins and medicine and maybe... poo. I am actually afraid to try this on. Tania: I should just leave my review at that, lol pilotkitten: you can always wash it off you know... < pokes > Tania: it might be a clinger pilotkitten: lmao pilotkitten: got any steel wool lying around? Tania: probably pilotkitten: lol then go for it Tania: I'll eat some Special K first... lol pilotkitten: lol chicken So, after my bowl of Special K and some other avoidance tactics... Gods, this is awful. If I had to compare it to a BPAL fragrance, I'd say this has a resemblance to Czernobog, with the addition of that weird, raisiny musk that I get from Smut. The comparison to zinc tablets is also pretty accurate. If I had to guess at what horrible notes are in this, I'd guess for mullein, since that's always a fun note to blame things on. I get a musty, metallic, medicinal, biting, horrible note from mullein. Mullein and musk. Drydown... reminds me of vomit. Summing it up: This smell makes me want to die

In the bottle this smells like perfumey florals and lashings of musky vanilla. A bit too sharp and perfumey for my tastes. On my skin... the same. Then it starts to dry down to a slightly powdery sweetness that really reminds me of La Fee Verte. The same musky powder and sweetness. And Et Lux Fuit stays that way. I can't pick out any one note, but it's a sweet powder and musk on me. Too much powder and too much musk for me, sadly. This one gives me a headache

White Musk, when it's good on me, has a sort of chilly, clean, vanilla-ish quality to it. When it's bad, it smells sharp and reminds me of hairspray. I was surprised that this singlenote actually has a warmer, buttery vanilla smell to it. It's still clean, airy, and rather faint, but sweeter and not as icy as the other white musk notes that I've sampled (and enjoyed) from other companies. I'm used to white musk being a good skin scent, clinging close and not having a ton of throw... but this one is especially light on me. It only lasts for about 15 minutes before I cannot smell anything at all. Very pretty, but I like the white musk singlenotes that I've found from a few other companies a bit more.

Eleggua in its imp vial smells very similar to the way that Spooky smells in the bottle that I have. On me, Spooky is bracing peppermint with chocolate and coconut, and a drydown of buttery rum cookies. Eleggua seems to have a softer mint on me, more spearmint than peppermint, and none of the chocolate that was in Spooky. Spearmint and coconut, with perhaps a bit of the buttery rum thrown in as well. It's very light on me and fades away entirely after about an hour, but it's a rather pleasant, sweet scent while it lasts .

Swallow's Blood is another blend that I tried out at a friend's recent sniffie party. It's also another blend that didn't work out at all on my skin (which is good, I suppose, because it meant that I didn't have to rob my friend ). I think that the two main notes that I got from Swallow's Blood were dragon's blood and jasmine... two notes that are notoriously bad with my skin chemistry. It was a very strong and overpowering floral with a horribly cloying, almost rotten, sort of sweetness. After about 15 minutes into the drydown, this also starts to go soapy on me, settling on a sort of spicy dragon's blood soap. I'm always a bit relieved when the discontinued blends don't work for me, just because I won't have to track some more of this rarity down.

I tried this one out at a friends sniffing party a few days ago, forgetting what the notes were. Azazel is definitely very heavy on the lemongrass. Piercing, sharp lemongrass with a bit of a spicy herbal undertone. Even without a list of the notes, I easily picked out the lemongrass. In the drydown, this is still heavily lemony, but with a soapy lavender and sort of dirty/funky herbal smell coming in. Sage isn't so great on my skin, and it might be what mucked this one up so badly. I don't much care for lemon, so Azazel is a bit off-putting to me... and this isn't even a good lemon for my skin chemistry. Too herbal and sharp.

Black Phoenix has a really awesome label that transferred over just fine from 5 ml to 10 ml size... it looks like the red and pink phoenix labels, only with a black phoenix on an orange/red background. Actually, I like the detail on the 10 ml of that one even more than I liked the 5 mls . It's probably my favorite label.

You should definitely try Dorian & Snake Oil... two of the most popular vanilla blends. You also might want to take a look at: *Velvet (sandalwood, cocoa, vanilla, and myrrh... although your issue with Bliss makes me hesitate to recommend a chocolatey scent, the sandalwood-vanilla-myrrh might work for you). *Eclipse (almond, vanilla, frankincense, heliotrope, and cinnamon... a spicy, nutty vanilla). *Dragon's Milk (the only dragon's blood scent that really works on my skin... a sweet, honeyed vanilla with spicy-red tones). *Eat Me (white cake, vanilla, and currants). *Drink Me (cherry, pineapple, custard, and toffee... just because it has some of the same dark foodiness that I got from Hellcat, though this one does have some obvious fruity notes). *Tweedledee (if you liked the orange blossom in Hunger, Tweedledee if one of my favorite orange blossom scents). *Mouse's Long & Sad Tale ("vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood" ... I love this one... I hate powdery scents, and this one does go a bit powdery, but it's a very pretty sort of sweet vanilla and sandalwood powder). If you're worried about things going powdery (I assumed that's what you meant by baby's bottom, lol), it helps to know what notes might often go powdery on you... BPAL's violet, amber, and sandalwood notes have a tendency to smell like baby powder on me.

I'd really recommend Sleepy Moon if you can get ahold of it... it's the most gorgeous lavender blend that I've ever tried. But, for GC, you might want to look at Temple of Dreams (lavender and lemon-ish), Baku (lavender and eucalyptus), Somnus (kinda medicinal lavender) or Cheshire Cat (which was mostly lavender and chamomile on me, with some sweet fruitiness, I would call it a gentle lavender).

Oddly, in the bottle, Litha reminds me quite a bit of an orange soda. I get something sweet, effervescent, and citrussy. On me, this still smells like orange soda with, perhaps, a bit of lemon. This reminds me strongly of Sundew. Sweet, bubbly citrus. In the drydown I am getting the slightest hints of very sweet honey and sweet wild flowers. It's a very bright, happy fragrance.

So far, The Salon blends have been kind of disappointing for me (after trying Carceri d'Invenzione, The Isle of the Dead, and Two Monsters). They smell bland and aren't really what I would ever personally want to smell like. I was hoping that And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt would be a *me* scent. In the bottle, I can pick out a faint honeyed sweetness, some spicy cardamom, and a slightly sharp frankincense note. It's spicy. Still kind of too sharp and perfumey for me though. This could be a warm and sexy scent, on the right person. It gives me a bit of a headache. There's a definite warm musk and sweet honey here. After a half hour or so, the sandalwood and cypress come out to join the other notes, lending a dry woods to the warm musk and honey. I'm also picking up a bit of the amber, but only a tiny bit, and it's making the blend go powdery on my skin. Overall, this is a warm and exotic blend. Slightly spicy, slightly sweet, musky, and with a drydown of powdery woods thrown into the mix. This isn't something that I'd normally wear. I'd recommend it if you like honey or musk scents though, or if you like classically perfumey fragrances.

In the bottle, this smells like an incredibly sexy, musky men's cologne. On me... this manages to be both sweet and cleanly musky, while also being very dark and heavy on the incense. In the drydown, I'm getting even more smoky sweetness. There isn't any one note that I could pick out of this blend, other than the sexy black musk. It's very complex and well-blended. This is mainly a smoky black musk scent. Dark, clean, and perfumey. Definitely too masculine and too simple for me to wear, but I could see a man pulling this one off much better than myself.

My computer has crashed three times now and deleted my review of this one. Here goes try number four. This is nothing like the Freesia from Bath & Body Works (the perfumey, fresh smelling floral that gives me a headache). It's a lot better than that though, and not at all what I was expecting. First on, this actually reminds me of gummi bears. Tropical gummi bears with more of a pineapple-y smell to them. Very sweet and fruity. In the drydown, some of the sweetness wears off and this begins to smell more like crisp apple and some ozone notes. This is clean and fruity and (surprisingly) not very floral smelling on me. I like it.

The only time that dragon's blood has worked really well on me was in the Dragon's Milk blend, where it's sweet and sort of creamy. Normally, dragon's blood has a sickly sweetness to it that reminds me of rotten wildflowers and rotten fruit. I'm definitely picking up on that sickly sweetness when I first apply this, mixed with some sharp woods notes. In the drydown, the dragon's blood is barely noticeable and this is almost a pure sandalwood scent on me. A very dry and slightly powdery sandalwood. Dragon's Claw isn't awful on me, but it's a dry woods scent, which isn't something that I really like to wear either.

I don't normally like florals, but I do have a few favorites that you might like. Marie is one of my favorite florals... and it's just simple violet and tea rose. Maiden is carnation, tea, and rose, but I get mostly spicy carnation. London was more of a classic, dry rose perfume. Versailles is a beautiful rose and jasmine with citrus (I like it and I normally don't get along with jasmine or citrus). Those are my favorite roses and a good carnation scent .

I've read that the smell of oranges are great for increasing a man's arousal... I don't know if that's really true, because my boy tends to love anything that smells like vanilla or sweet food... but Tweedledee might be a really wonderful/casual orange-ish scent that you could wear to work. I normally hate the smell of orange, and I found that one to be really feminine and pretty Scents that I wear that my boy finds especially sexual... Monster Bait: Underpants, O, Lump of Coal, Sacred Whore of Babylon, and Dragon's Milk. Those are the ones that he can now recognize and remember by name, lol.

My favorites don't seem to be the typical favorites, lol. The Hamptons is probably my absolute number one favorite from Wanderlust, followed closely by Kostnice. The Hamptons is just such a refreshing, sweet lime and cranberry scent on me. Very edible and great for summer. Kostnice was one of my first BPAL loves, and it remains a favorite <3 I also really enjoy Bayou, Florence, Glasgow, Versailles, and Whitechapel. Bayou just amazes me because it manages to be both swampy and a lovely floral perfume at the same time. Florence is a golden, spiced berry scent. Glasgow is just as beautiful and true as the description. Versailles is a sunny-citrus rose perfume, and one of the only perfumes where the jasmine doesn't overpower everything else. And I love Whitechapel more on the boy, as it seems to go soapy on my skin lately.

I wish that I had gotten the mossy-earthy tree smell that others have gotten from the Redwood singlenote . On me, this is pencil shavings and waxy-sweet chapstick. It makes me think of the inside of my school desks when I was younger. In the drydown, this reminds me of the wooded drydown that I got from Carceri d'Invenzione. A dry, masculine, true woods smell. And, like Carceri d'Invenzione, this singlenote works out much better on my boy's skin than mine.

Calla Lily was sharply perfumey and soapy on me, and it gave me an awful headache. Thankfully, Stargazer Lily isn't that bad on me. First on, this has a slight sharpness to it, but it's a sort of green, fresh sharpness. It smells like wet flower stems. Then it quickly dries down to a soft floral on me, slightly powdery and with a sort of sticky sweetness that makes me think of pollen. After about a half hour, this has dried down to a faint, sweet floral-powder on my skin. Very pretty.

Lotus Moon is so interesting and lovely in the bottle. It has an intoxicating bubblegummy sweetness mixed with a spicy greenery that is the pine resin. It smells somewhat edible. I was in love with it. I was worried about buying a bottle of this one, because opium gives me vicious migraines (as in Stardust or Opium Poppy) and amber can sometimes smell off on me, but I adore lotus and pine notes. So, of course, on my skin this is allll opium. The opium completely devours the beautiful lotus and pine . Opium smells like the cheapest and most horrible hairspray from the 80's, so sharp and metallic that it makes me feel like I'm getting a nosebleed. I waited it out for over an hour, but this may as well be evil opium singlenote on my skin. I have such a bad migraine now, even after washing it off, and I feel heartbroken. For almost a year now I've been eagerly awaiting Lotus Moon, because it's one of the only florals that I love. It was my most highly anticipated and longed for lunar blend on the preview. And it smells so good in the bottle, but so horrible on me, thanks to the addition of opium. This is so crushingly disappointing

Carceri d'Invenzione was the first bottle that I snagged from The Salon, because I absolutely love frankincense & black pepper and have a deep fondness for red sandalwood. In the bottle this is sweet, spicy, warm, and exotic. First on my skin, this is mostly sultry red sandalwood (a warm, spicy woods on me that sort of reminds me of cassia) and a musky tobacco, with a hint of black pepper dancing around in the background. Over time, more of the redwood comes out and it takes on a true woods smell as the spice and sweet sandalwood fade. The spice is still there, but it's a peppery spice, not a sweet one. I'm not really getting any of the frankincense. This isn't as resinous as I was hoping for, more of a woods and tobacco scent, but I still like it. I'd probably like this one even more on my boy.

I was intrigued by The Isle of the Dead because of the black rose, and the mixture of notes just sounded so unique. In the bottle, this smells dark, slightly sharp, and kind of menacing. I can definitely pick out the juniper. On me... the juniper is very much present. Sort of herbal and with an unattractive spearmint sort of undertone to it. After a few minutes, the benzoin also comes out and takes on a warm amber-like quality. Dry, dusty, and powdery. It makes my throat feel dry and unhappy just from smelling it. And that's how this one stays on me. It clings pretty close to the skin, but I still keep catching whiffs of this one as I work. I'm not liking this at all. It's too dry and strangely herbal. It's nothing like the exotic or pretty notes that I was hoping for.

You might just want to try out some of the other 'boozy' scents. The Hamptons is wonderfully fruity and refreshing, and Twenty-One is another martini scent that's fizzy, citrussy, and cool with the juniper-ish bite. They're all lovely and very different from each other, but in the same sort of category in my mind.

I love the Lotus singlenote, it's one of the few florals that I genuinely like. I'd probably even get a full bottle of this one if I could. First on it's the sweet bubblegummy note that I've come to like in so many blends. But it's a sort of watery sweetness. It dries down to that same sugar water, bubblegum, and happy brightness. Watery, sweet, pleasantly soft floral. The closest that I've come to a blend that matches the singlenote is Forbidden Fruit, which I also find to be very soft and lovely