Little Bird

Scent-wise, Cleo May smells really unique and lovely. It actually has a watered down, sweet, fruity sort of smell on me. Perhaps the way that gatorade generally smells (uh, watered down), sort of blue raspberry-ish and icy water. It also has a honeyed quality to it. I don't get any florals. The fragrance is pretty long lasting, but subtle. As for effectiveness... I'm not even really sure why I bought this, because I'm not currently interested in prostitution (although if my BPAL addiction continues down this debt-ridden road, I might consider it) or one night stands. In any case, no one came on to me while I was wearing this one, except for my boy, and I think that was more of a usual thing than thanks to the perfume, lol.

I wore Charisma today because I had to go in to the hospital and talk to a bunch of people about my treatment plans and a whole bunch of fun personal stuff. I was scared out of my wits and wanted to make a good impression so that people would actually listen to me... and I wanted something that would perhaps help me to talk to people, form coherent sentences, and just generally make a great impression on the people that I need to help me out. That said, I did feel a lot better today when I wore Charisma. I was unnaturally (for me anyhow) calm and didn't have a single moment where I stuttered or felt overwhelmed. I knew exactly what I wanted to say and ask, and I was able to speak without any hint of anxiety or trouble. Everyone that I encountered was warm and really went out of their way to help me and try to strike up conversations with me. It was as though complete strangers suddenly found me to be captivating and fascinating. I even like the way that Charisma smells, but I've found most of the TAL blends that I've tried to be rather pleasantly scented. Charisma actually makes me think of the way that glass smells, sort of cool and clean. It's clean, a bit powdery, and a bit smoky on me. And I definitely get a spicy/resinous hint of frankincense in here as well(and I lurve frankincense). Overall, I love this one.

Queen of the Nile has a really beautiful fragrance. It actually reminds me a lot of Florence. It has the same berries, spice, and smoky amber quality that I get out of Florence. This blend is just a bit darker and more seductive. It smells a little muskier than Florence did as well, perhaps a smoky dark musk. I did get quite a few compliments on the fragrance when I wore this, but I didn't really notice any strangers coming over to fawn over me or anything. And the person that I wanted to open up communication with did not notice it or me at all, but politely brushed me off as usual. My friends all just wanted to know what my new perfume was. I'll wear this a few more times and see if it helps with my communication issues (and I'll update if I notice anything)... it's not a chore to wear because it smells so damn good anyhow

This smells pleasantly clean in the way that a river smells, with water running over the rocks. Sort of clean and stony. Maybe a bit of white floral as well. I'm still not getting any sort of spice that others have mentioned. It's pleasantly sweet and herbal after a while on my skin (actually reminded me a bit of Kostnice over time).

Alice tends to be my sweet/flirty scent... it's not full out sex appeal, but feels more charming to me. It has an innocence to it that I really like.

You should definitely snag a bottle of Monster Bait: Closet while it is still available. It's the closest thing I've come to finding something that smells like Beaver Moon... only it's a lot better than Beaver Moon Actually, you should grab a bottle of Monster Bait: Underbed too, if you like the chocolate scents. You might also want to try Vice, it smells like chocolate covered gummi bears on me. Jailbait smells like bubblegum and lollipops. Velvet is silky sandalwood and cocoa. Hellcat is an interesting foodie blend along the same lines of Gluttony. Obatala is milky-coconut and sugared sweetness. Sudha Segara is a sweet milky scent. Alice is milk and honeyed cakes on me in the drydown. If you're interested in fruity-foodie blends, a lot of the newer releases are awesome. Oya is wonderful plum, Yemaya smells like fresh cantaloupe, and Ogun is a spicy melon blend. Shango smells like a mixture of tropical fruits and apple. Hollywood Babylon is vanilla-sugar drenched strawberries. Dragon's Milk is also a great foodie blend that is hard to describe. Very sweet and wonderful. I always get compliments on that one. Voodoo is sort of foodie on me as well, and it's my favorite scent. And, if you're interested in vanilla-tea scents, definitely try Dorian. It's foodie in a way, and also very delicious. /will end rambling now

Amor starts out overwhelmingly of that cherry/almond scent that I'm not fond of, then quickly dries down to to something like lovely cherry and orange lollipops on me. It fades rather quickly over an hour, and leaves behind a faint sweetness after that. I catch light hints of that candied scent for hours after application. I don't normally like orange scented anything, but I love the candied orange in Amor. It's a happy scent to me, and it make me smile a bit when I smell it. I'll probably purchase a few bottles of this one. It's something that I really want to slather on and enjoy.

I really love the way that Sexual Energy smells. It's like the spicy blend that I've always been searching for. Not too heavy on the cinnamon, and infused with lots of great spices. I think that I can pick out what smells like sugar, clove, and nutmeg. It's very pleasant and warm. As for the effectiveness... it didn't really give me any more sexual energy than I have normally. But I normally have a lot of extra energy the second that I'm placed in the same room with my boy (he is my mood enhancer, lol). The boy said that he liked the smell, but was thankful that it didn't make me more amorous, because that might be the death of him. I agree with Lycanthrope's comment that this is exactly what I had hoped Three Witches would smell like.

Temple of the Dark Maiden does smell very dark to me, but I cannot really pick out any one thing that it smells like. It's a bit smoky, a bit wooden, and a lot earthy. At first it reminded me a bit of anise, and then a lot of vetiver, but it doesn't smell like either of those exactly. It isn't what I would classify as a good smell or an awful one. Overall this one is dark and smoky and not something that I would ever really recommend wearing either.

Based on scent alone, Temple: Celtic is gorgeous. It's sweet, fresh, and summery to me. It smells watery and green in the way that cucumber does, but it's definitely not an aquatic scent. It has a wonderful sweetness to it that reminds me of the way that raspberries and raspberry branches smell. I actually would wear and love this as a perfume. It's a bit watery, a bit green, a bit fruity, and a bit sweet. It reminds me of my grandmother's garden in Arkansas... she always grew cucumbers and there was a backdrop of raspberry bushes. Just beautiful. I'm a bit in love with this scent.

My first thought when using Temple: Norse was also that it reminds me strongly of The Hesperides, only I like it more than The Hesperides somehow. My bottle of The Hesperides smells like cinnamon apples and a sort of ashen, leafy quality. This is more like spicy (but not necessarily cinnamon-spice) boozy apples. They're sweet and crisp at the same time. After several minutes, Temple:Norse becomes very sweet apples. Almost as though a sweeter fruit or a sweeter floral note is lingering underneath the boozy apple scent. It reminds me a bit of super-sweet jasmine, but it's not overpowering or bad in any way. It's very lovely, just based on scent alone.

This is another scent that smells completely different now when compared to how it smelled in 2006. It used to smell of dry, black dirt with a papery, white mushroom and hint of white floral perfume. In 2012, my new bottle of this doesn't have any dirt smell to it at all and smells like soap and something like harsh woodsmoke and sharp white floral perfume. It's a scrubber... 2016 frimp: This smells like a hint of wet, black dirt and a ton of dirty ashtray smell with perfumey, soapy floral. Blech. 2019 frimp: Herbal, dill pickle-ish scent with a hint of earthy, pickled beets over an intensely soapy, white scent that's like laundry soap with some floral tones.

First on, Sheol is all sharp florals. There is also a hint of something sweet that reminds me of fruit in the background. It doesn't smell like any one fruit in particular, just has that vaguely nondescript fruity feel to it. After 15 minutes. Smoky florals and spicy notes. I can't pick out any one note in this, it's just a jumble of perfume. It reminds me a bit of the department store florals that I tend to stay far away from. Too sharp for me. After a half hour. A lot of the sharpness has faded and Sheol has sweetened up considerably. It smells a bit golden and incensey, and also has a smooth tonka note to it. Sheol isn't so bad in the drydown, but it's really not something that I could ever wear. It starts off with way too much sharp/smoky floral.

I don't get dirt or any green notes from Mandrake. It's nothing but dry, spicy cedar. This one clings really close, I can barely smell it unless I slather it on or have my nose right up against my skin. I like how subtle it is. Spicy, subtle cedar. After 5 hours it had completely faded, but it stayed the same throughout. I like this sort of cedar, it's very comforting and masculine to me. Mandrake is something that I wouldn't mind slathering on the boy.

Uh-oh. In the imp, this immediately gave me a painful trip back to the memory of how badly Stardust gave me a migraine and made me want to scrape off my wrists. Could it be that poppy is the migraine inducing floral that always smells like really cheap hairspray on me? Metallic, noxious, suffocating fumes. 15 minutes after first applying and cautiously sniffing at my wrists... this has calmed down a lot and taken on a sweeter, powdery edge. But it's still overpowering and making my head pound, and it still has this twisted chemical edge to it that makes me a little nauseous. Just like with Stardust, I have to wash this one off before I become ill.

I love Odin when I first apply it, it has a great greenish note to it that reminds me of really sweet limeade (I love anything that reminds me of limes) underneath some woody herbal notes. Sadly, within 15 minutes, this starts to smell like nothing but dusty amber on my skin. And, as amber-ish notes always do, it turns to nothing but baby powder within a few seconds. I keep re-applying this because I love the first 15 minutes. I so wish that it didn't go powdery on me

I was also intrigued by the olive green color of this one. It looks very cool in the imp. Anyhow, lol. This is very dark and strange on me. Not bad strange, but very different from anything that I've ever smelled before. It smells empty. Whenever I sniff my wrist or catch a faint whiff of it floating up to me, I'm struck with a spicy woods scent and then suddenly nothing. The dark musk lends it a clean, chilly, vacant sort of element. Oblivion is like cold emptiness drizzled in spicy woods and something smoky and resinous. It's dark and sexy and something that I would love on the boy. It strikes me as something that is too masculine for even me to wear, and I tend to wear a lot of men's colognes. Spicy woods and hints of dark musk and earthy patchouli, but overall it's surprisingly light and disappears after only a few hours on my skin. I think that this one captures the concept of Oblivion very well, it's so deep and empty at the same time. I like the concept a lot, but the boy is getting the imp. ETA: I lied. I gave this to the boy and then stole it back for myself. Oblivion is sexy as all hell.

I love the idea of a mushroom inspired perfume, but I was a little worried about the soil in this one. The Premature Burial is, so far, the only dirt-perfume that has really worked on me. First on... smells like dry, brown soil. Not like black potting soil, but regular old, brown dirt. After a few minutes, a musty sweetness comes out that makes me think of vanilla. Death Cap is soft, dry brown soil and a slightly powdery vanilla-esque sweetness on me. The boy calls it, "Dirt for girls." I'm not sure if I'll ever need a full bottle of this one, but I'm definitely not running to wash it off either. I actually find Death Cap to be strangely comforting.

At first, Yemaya smells of sweet melon and grape flavored bubblegum on me. It's not an overwhelming artificial grape smell, but it is there in the background. 15 minutes later, this smells like wonderfully sticky, juicy cantaloupe. It's a great summery scent. The strange grape note has vanished. Half hour later, Yemaya stays smelling like nothing but ripe cantaloupe on me. I love melon scents, and this one is wonderful. Very sweet and juicy. I'll need a 10 ml for myself, and will probably have to buy a 5 ml for my sister-in-law, who is already trying to steal my imp.

I've been having a rough time with the Rappaccini's Garden blends because florals and I tend to not get along, but I still faithfully try each one when it comes out. Sundew is actually really good on me. It's sticky sweet and vaguely lemony to my nose, almost like lemon Kool-Aid with a lot of extra sugar added. There is also a hint at something green, like a grassy meadow lit up with sunshine. After about an hour, the zesty lemon scent shifts into more of a creamy scent. I normally hate citrussy scents, but this smells more sugary than sharp. Nothing about Sundew smells really floral on me and it doesn't go soapy at all. It's sweet, bright, and very pleasant. I might get a 5 ml of this one and I'll definitely be keeping my imp

First on, Oya is a sharp cherry-ish almond scent with some soft woods in the background. Thankfully, it quickly dries down into something deliciously dark and fruity. It has a slight sweetness to it that reminds me something of sweet tarts at first. After an hour, this is smooth and, well, plummy. It has an elegant sweetness to it that I really love. It doesn't smell like real plums exactly, because it has a sort of smokey, perfumey quality to it. It's better than real plums. Oya is an elegant, dark plum perfume on me. And this is the first BPAL plum scent that I've had where I can really pick out the note at all. It's gorgeous.

In the imp, smells very perfumey and kind of like cheap hairspray. On me... yes, it does smell an awful lot like Chanel No. 5, which also doesn't work on my skin. Baby powder, a slight hint of vanilla, and something soapy like my father's old shaving cream. On me, Ozymandias stays perfumey and heavy on the baby powder and soap. I had to wash this one off. I wish that I had gotten the incense that some other people do from this one

All of the aquatic/ozone scents tend to blend together for me... my nose has trouble differentiating between them and they tend to go soapy and remind me of fabric softener after a while. That said, Olokun is a lot brighter and happier than I had expected from the "gloom of the ocean floor." First on it smells like green grass and a hint of pleasantly sweet grapefruit. Grapefruit usually smells awful on me, but it stays sweet and energizing in this blend (if grapefruit is, in fact, what I'm smelling). After an hour it reminds me a bit of fabric softener sheets with a charge of ozone... but still with a bit of zingy citrus and sweet green grass. It makes me think of bright summer days than it does of the dark, gloomy ocean floor. Aquatic/Ozone scents are not really me. They always go a bit soapy and remind me of doing laundry. Still, Olokun is a nice scent, just not one that I would personally wear.

So many of the new blends have made it onto my "need a 10 ml bottle" list, and Ogun is another one of those blends It starts out smelling very melony and reminding me a lot of Fée, if Fée were to become an alcoholic and start smoking. I like this naughtier version quite a lot though. First on, it is all honeydew melon with a bit of goldeny sweet tobacco in the background, and a hot dash of chili pepper. The honeydew stays strong for a half hour before fading, and then the gin and juniper come into play. It reminds me a bit of Twenty-One in this stage, only a hotter version thanks to the chili pepper and tobacco. After several hours, this has mellowed down to a smooth blend of warm chili pepper, cool juniper, and softly sweet melon and tobacco. The chili pepper stays pretty strong throughout, keeping it spicy and sexy. And I love the contrast of the warm notes like chili pepper and tobacco against the colder notes like melon and juniper. I can pick out each note individually if I try, but they meld together very nicely. I never would have imagined that all of these notes would go well together, but Ogun is completely amazing. I'd love this on the boy or on myself.

First on, spicy and fruity (but not in a good way)... this has a very generic candle smell on me. Sort of like wandering into the section of spicy candles in a knick-knack shop. I like carnation and I like plum, but this isn't at all what I was expecting. It's not juicy or fruity, but more like dried plums. And the spicy carnation doesn't smell like real carnations so much as generic cinnamon-spice. 15 minutes later. This smells like pure cinnamon candle on me. Very spicy and sharp. Not even a hint of dried plum anymore. I was hoping for a summery pairing of spicy florals and juicy plums... but Frumious Bandersnatch does not deliver. It's not a natural scent on me at all. Just headache-inducing spice candles