Little Bird

I actually don't get much clove out of Jack. Mostly it smells like buttery pumpkin bread and spice cake on me . It's very warm and foodie. A lot of clove scents smell 'off' on me, so I have a hard time describing what clove should smell like. Thankfully, I didn't get that weird clove smell from Jack, lol. Some people get a slight oaken note from it... on me it's like crisp caramel apples, apple cider, and the smell of autumn air and leaves. Mostly I get apple cider in the drydown. If you just don't like cedar blends, you shouldn't let that scare you away from all woodsy blends though. Cedar tends to smell foul on me, and I love a lot of other wood-type blends. I definitely agree with that last statement, lol. I really strongly dislike quite a few of the BPAL incense blends, but Midnight Mass is one of my absolute favorites (most velvety-gorgeous scent ever) and I've fallen in love with so many blends containing frankincense and myrrh. There are different types of resins and incense notes, so one can smell awful and another completely amazing... or they might be paired with other notes that completely change them. One of my favorite things about BPAL is how often I'm surprised by loving a perfume that I thought I would despise. Oh, and just to throw out one more scent that you might want to consider: Eclipse (bitter almond, vanilla, frankincense and heliotrope, with a drop of cinnamon), it smelled like lovely vanilla and cinnamon on me. Dragon's Milk is also sweet, warm, milky and comforting. Okay. I'll shutup now, lol.

You might want to try Jack (Halloween pumpkin, spiced with nutmeg, glowing peach and murky clove), Florence (Elegant iris, bright berries, gilded amber and velvety spices), and The Hesperides (oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple). Jack and The Hesperides are very 'fall' smelling to me, and Florence has the amber, fruit, and spice that you seem to be having luck with. You also might want to try something like March Hare, which is just apricot and warm clove. Tamora also sounds like something that you might like. When I think of fall, that's the sort of perfume that I think of... warm spices. But, really, I'll wear anything no matter what time of year it is, lol. The Lion and O always strike me as nice, warm fall fragrances as well

I expected this to be strongly musky and resinous, as civet and frankincense are both usually pretty strong notes on me (and I actually love both notes). In reality, I did not get any frankincense at all, and the civet only lingered awkwardly in the background behind the scent of orange tang Chalky, powdery, sweet orange citrus with a hint of civet. Surprisingly light with poor staying power on me... it went to pure orange powder within 15 minutes and had disappeared around a half hour of wear. Strange, this one. I think that I actually would have liked a civet and frankincense blend but this does not work on me at all.

We used to have ivy growing all up the shady side of our house in Missouri, and Black Tower does really remind me of the way that it smelled. Of course, Black Tower is a bit more complex than that, but it's pretty awesome anyhow. I'm wearing it now and really enjoying it

Where Clarity smelled like mint with hints of lemongrass and dish soap on me, Concentration smells like lemongrass with hints of mint and dish soap. They are pretty similar to me. I don't like mint, citrus, or most soapy scents, so I'm not crazy about the smell... thankfully, this is a lot lighter on me and has less throw than Clarity did. It softens to a barely there hint of lemon after about fifteen minutes.

I'm fond of incense and sandalwood, and I adore frankincense... unfortunately, cedar and vetiver often smell funky when they hit my skin, and they're dominating this one on me. The cedar has that off smoldering BBQ scent that it often does with my skin chemistry, and the vetiver here smells strangely rotten. It reminds me of the awful black vetiver that went so horribly awry in Lenore. Dark, smoky, decaying... and not something that I'd really want to wear.

I have actually put off reviewing these just because I didn’t have the patience to go back and find everyone else’s reviews, lol. But, I am bored and avoiding writing some final essays, so here we go: CXX: I was surprised that some people mentioned fruity/wine notes with this one. On me, this starts out smelling very peppery, but also very clean. Like pepper mixed with some ozone and salty aquatics. In the drydown, crisp ozones and aquatics, still a hint of pepper, and some sweetly herbal or floral notes in the background. After an hour, I catch wafts of something like smoky-sweet incense coming up around the other notes. Previously reviewed by laochodia, OriginalWacky, sarada, and roesmoker. LXXVIII: It’s warm, soft, slightly spicy, and comforting on me. I think that it smells a bit like powdery sandalwood with hints of warm ginger and/or cinnamon. A great combination of something that smells like warm woods and spice on me. After an hour or so, I also get a hint of something darkly fruity that makes me think of plum. Previously reviewed by laochodia, shelldoo, sarada, sihaya09, yeahbutnobut, and olympia301. There. Now I feel accomplished

I love to wear any fragrance that was originally intended for a man, so I was excited at the chance to try Haitian Lover. Unfortunately... this is the almond fragrance of my nightmares. Almond, at its worst on me, smells like insanely boozy/medicinal cherries that have been hanging out in a urinal. This is very strong and bad on me. I would say that it was a bad imp, but it happens to smell like dark fruit, a hint of something like clove, and smoky-sweet incense on my friend (another girl). On me... not so much. If there isn't almond in here, it's some other sinister note that also hates me with a passion. I didn't get anything like licorice or cinnamon, but I did end up washing this off after about 40 minutes, so I didn't really explore the drydown. Haitian Lover goes very funky with my skin chemistry.

I was leery of trying this one after reading the other reviews... but I'm bored today and am picking through my imp box. Some people have mentioned ylang ylang in this one, but that note usually smells strongly metallic and overwhelming on me, and I'm not getting that familiar scent here. I'm also not getting any bubblegummy lotus. This smells like a very sweet, yellow floral to me at first. I can imagine it having hyper-sweet jasmine or honeysuckle in it, but it doesn't exactly smell like either of those on me either. There are also hints of something like sharp lemon in here. And it dries down to something like powdery dryer sheets on me, which I'm guessing is some sort of aquatic something. Aquatic florals and I do not get along... and Circe is just such a strange and hard to pin down blend.

Add me to the list of people who were excited to try this one based on the description and then ended up madly disappointed when it hit my skin I don't have much to add that hasn't already been touched upon in most of the other reviews. This is a strange mixture of intensely soapy lemon, black licorice, and a bad smoky smell on me. It doesn't smell like incense smoke on me at all, but is a strange smoky fragrance that reminds me a bit of cigarettes (which equals a major headache for me). I'm not getting the shadowy incense or cloaked strangers... perhaps a chainsmoking stranger with a handwashing compulsion

Cancer is a very juicy, fruity rose on me, and a bit too sharp for my tastes. First on I get some serious lemon, sharp and sweet. After a few minutes, a wet rose smell begins to bloom behind the lemon. After a half hour, the lemon is fading away and the rose plus another sweet floral scent are dominating. Still, this has a wet and fruity quality to it. It's almost like a rose that one could drink, if that makes any sense to anyone. After a few hours, hints of an herbal and slightly powdery rose. It's a nice rose fragrance... but not nice enough to warrant a full bottle (plus, I am already spoken for by Whip & The Peacock Queen ).

I've been loving Snowblind & Lick It lately, but those obviously were LEs. Tulzcha was a great cucumber and mint scent, very watery and cool. You might want to try Pain (pennyroyal & lavender), Mad Hatter (lavender citron, black musk, and pennyroyal) or some of the more masculine blends. I get a cool feeling from a lot of the masculine scents (Villain, Wilde, Vicomte de Valmont). I'd definitely recommend The Mock Turtle from the general catalogue as well (blurry aquatic notes, with a confusing, contrary splort of iris, ambrette, green apple, vodka, white mint and a squish of lime). My friend loves R'lyeh for the summer, as it goes to a chilly aquatic grapefruit on her, though it smells awful on me, personally. A lot of the tea scents like Embalming Fluid or Shanghai can be really refreshing as well. And you might want to try some of the fruity blends like Shango (crisp apple on me) or Yemaya (lovely, summery melon).

Virgo, from Celestials - Astrological Oils: apple / white musk / rose narcissus / oakmoss patchouli I am so happy to have finally gotten my hands on a wee half imp of Virgo... I am not a Virgo myself, but I love patchouli something fierce. First on... this is all earthy, slightly spicy patchouli and dark green, woodsy oakmoss. I'm getting something that almost smells like cedarwood here as well, but it's not overpowering or off as cedarwood often smells on me. After 15 minutes, this is a lighter earthy scent with subtle throw. It's clinging close to my skin. I'm not really getting any rose or apple, but I am getting a clean and slightly perfumey scent that I think is the white musk, underneath the woods and patchouli. Earthy patchouli and oakmoss, a hint of something wood-like, and a smattering of clean, creamy white musk. I could barely smell this after an hour, but I did enjoy it while it lasted. I might get a full bottle if the opportunity ever arose.

I'd second (third) the recommendations for Glasgow, Rosalind, and Phantom Queen. Rosalind especially reminded me of grassy meadows and streams. You might also want to try Roadhouse for something a bit different... it smelled very strongly of dandelions on me, but with a rather authentic boozy note that kind of turned me off. Still, worth trying, lol. Strangler Fig smells like woody branches and green leaves. A very authentic tree smell. And, of course, I must recommend Ochosi. My review of that one: "Ochosi is much warmer than I had expected. It smells like wandering through a dew-covered meadow on a balmy summer night. Wet air, grasses, and a honey-shea softness in the background. It's just as lovely as I had hoped that it would be." I love the grassy tree scents...

I was a bit afraid to try Juju after so many reviews mentioned it having jasmine in it (my skin amps up jasmine to fierce and overwhelming proportions). Oddly enough, I'm not getting jasmine at all though. First on... definitely floral, though I couldn't say what sort of flower it reminds me of. Something dark, bruised, and with a smoky, slightly powdery edge. I'm also getting a hint of something that smells like dusty wood. It makes me think of my grandmother's old wooden dressing table with her ancient floral perfumes and powders. After a few minutes, this is intensely powdery. Baby powder with a hint of smoky floral. It's pretty strong on me too. It's interesting and has an intriguing way of smelling somehow old, but it's not something that I could wear as a perfume.

This will be a purely scent-based review, as I haven't been using the temple blends for any real purpose. Temple of the Horned God is mainly pine and dark musky notes on me. Perhaps also some very dark, earthy patchouli in the mix as well. As a scent, it's a little too dark and too musky for me to actually wear it. It's a nicely evocative forest blend though. Definitely geared as a more masculine scent, though not something I'd really want my boy to smell like either.

I am on a quest to review all of the imps that are still left untouched in my imp box. I haven't tried Banshee yet, because I don't really like citrus, mint, or eucalyptus. Forging onward... The citrus here is definitely lemony on me. I don't really pick out the usual menthol-eucalyptus scent, but there is something cold and minty here. Perhaps a spearmint, because it isn't intensely strong or piercing like peppermint. Drydown after 15 minutes... sharp, lemon-scented soap. And it stayed soapy until I washed it off after an hour. Banshee is definitely not a scent for me.

First on... eucalyptus and pine. Medicinal and sinus-clearing, it is. After a few minutes, it begins to get a bit woodsy. Spicy cedar and black pepper, perhaps with a hint of cinnamon or clove. After an hour or so, this smells primarily like cedar on me, and my skin often amps up cedar. It's a spicy cedar... and I'm not lovin' it. Sagittarius is not me. It fails to work with me much like my ex-boyfriend (a Sagittarius himself, and I never understood him) failed to work with me, lol.

Voodoo Queen and Storyville did not work out well on my skin, so I have some high hopes for Doc Buzzard. I tend to love a lot of the more masculine blends. And at least one of the C12 blends has to work on me. In the bottle, this reminds me very strongly of Luperci. And anyone who knows me will know that Luperci is my great fragrance love. Patchouli is my friend. On my skin, this reminds me a lot of Voodoo... it has Voodoo's same cola, patchouli, lime, and a hint of pine. The drydown loses the cola scent and is a meld of wonderfully foresty/earthy scents, with a hint of something resinous and slightly peppery. And still a lot of patchouli goodness on me. In conclusion to my loving rambling, this is now my number one scent for something sincerely forest-smelling. It's amazing. If you like patchouli or Voodoo or Luperci (my two all-time favorite scents ever), you would probably love Doc Buzzard. And it's different enough from both Voodoo and Luperci that it's still unique and completely hoard-able to me. I paid over $120 for a bottle of this one on ebay, and it was so worth it. The label is adorable too

Spiders scare the crap out of me. If I see one, I scream like a ninny, break out in a sweat, and get the shakes. Serious phobia. I've had a wee imp of Black Widow for a long while, and it took me that long while to work up the nerve to try it on. I didn't have high hopes for something that was inspired by a creature that completely unnerves me, especially if it has jasmine in the mix. I love myrrh and patchouli, often enjoy rose and sandalwood, and tend to hate jasmine and wine notes. Unfortunately, the jasmine and red wine are primarily what I get from Black Widow. This is hyper-sweet jasmine, thick grape fruit juice, and something strangely sour on me. I get a burst of earthy patchouli for a few minutes, and then it is completely swallowed by jasmine. I can't pick out any myrrh or sandalwood at all, and the rose is barely noticeable underneath the jasmine. The spiders and I do not get along.

I rather like Capricorn... though there isn't much to say about it that hasn't already been said. The lab's cedar notes sometimes go very off on me (they smell smoky and BBQ-ish - very strange) but Capricorn's cedar is warm and dry. It reminds me of cedar chip hamster bedding, in a good way, lol. After several minutes, I think that I can catch hints of earthy patchouli behind the cedar, and I *love* patchouli. Drydown... still that warm, dry cedar. After a few hours, I might be smelling something myrrh-like here as well. It's warm and sweetly resinous. The patchouli scent faded off rather quickly. It's a lovely woody-resin blend. I would love to try this one out on the boy as well. I might buy a full bottle of this one if the chance ever came up

Fiery Wall of Protection does not smell very good at all on me. Dragon's blood typically has this strange rotting flowers fragrance on me, and I think that there might be some ylang ylang in here as well (ylang ylang smells off and metallic on my skin). The overall smell of this one on me is strangely reminiscent of dried blood After a half hour or so, I am getting a little spicy clove-ish scent and something sweet underneath the bad smells... but it's still unsettling and not very good on my skin. I can't comment on the effectiveness yet.

I was not exactly sure on how to use Mnemosyne, so I just wore it to bed last night and pondered until I fell asleep. I didn't dream about any past lives or anything, but had some really great and vivid dreams about my hopes for my future. Which... I guess... would be the opposite intention, lol. Anyhow. I really loved the way that this one smelled. At first it was unpleasantly menthol-y with a hint of something cinnamon-ish in the background. Thankfully, the eucalyptus smell disappeared after a few minutes and I was left with the comforting smell of cinnamon toast. Mnemosyne smells just like warm sugar, butter, and a pinch of cinnamon on me. Very comforting and lovely.

Much love to PilotKitten for gifting me with an imp of this one First on... Toxin smells like very watery cantaloupe and some sort of sweet, floral scent. Perhaps a cucumber melon fragrance. It's fresh and lovely at first, but a sharp citrus begins to overpower everything else on me after a few minutes. In the drydown, I'm getting something like sharp lemongrass and dryer sheets. So many ozones and aquatics remind me of laundry soap, and this one is giving me a headache Citrussy aquatics are not for me. I really like this in the imp and on my skin for the first five minutes though...

This is going to be a primarily scent-based review... just because what I used this blend for is very personal to me. It was very helpful to me for its purpose. Good enough to be full bottle worthy. Attuning smells like powdery-sweet lavender flowers and an assortment of other wildflowers on me. I hate floral scents, but this has more of an herbal quality to it then an outright flowery one. It makes me think of being in a field of wildflowers, surrounded by clean air. I love the scent and I love working with this one.