Little Bird

Again, I must thank PilotKitten for gifting me with an imp of this one However, I am very deeply in love with Cagliostro. So much so that it makes me slightly panicky to think that I won't be able to buy a full sized bottle. My overall impression was that it reminded me a bit of Florence... only a darker, stronger, better version of Florence. First on I am hit with spicy, sensual black musk and what smells like juicy ripe blackberries. It has a mouthwatering fruitiness, and I normally don't like fruity scents. It's not overly sweet at all. It's spicy and amazing. In the drydown, this gets less spicy and dark and actually starts to remind me a bit of pancakes. It's like going to a pancake house and getting a stack of them, smothered with blueberry sauce, syrup, and whipped cream. Still it manages to not be sweet or overly foodie. It retains a spiciness and dark musky scent that keeps the entire blend grounded. Maybe I am also smelling a bit of sweet, smoky incense in the background. It's just glorious. After a few hours on my skin, this does get smokier and more incensey. Still loving it though. I love the way this one changes on my skin. It actually lightens up and gets sweeter in the drydown, so it's not as dark or perfumey as I was expecting. It's just perfect. I would buy a 10 ml of this one if I could. If it is ever released, I am placing an order straightaway...

Snowblind is the butteriest vanilla mint ever. The mint is cool, creamy, and sugary, like candy canes, covered in the creamiest, most buttery, decadent vanilla. I always feel like I want to drink it for some reason. Like some sort of silky, boozy, buttery vanilla drink. Definitely smells like buttermints, but literally more wet and buttery and vanilla-y, not those dry, powdery buttermints. It's amazing. The only reason I wound up swapping my bottles away is that I love Spooky even more for a vanilla-foodie-mint, and I am hoarding Spooky so hard.

Cabaret is an intensely musky floral on me. It's the sort of heavy floral that can induce a vicious migraine in under five minutes My skin seriously amps up jasmine, and that is what I smell mostly after applying Cabaret. It is very smoky, sickeningly sweet jasmine. The red musk underneath the jasmine is turning sharp and smoky on me as well. This would probably work on someone who loves jasmine or traditional perfumey florals... but this is exactly what I don't like in a fragrance.

In the world of aquatic scents, Undine is a dark muddy pond that has been kept cold and sheltered under the shade of a thick forest. The sort of pond that, if you fell in, you would never get out. Something about it is cold and a bit frightening. First on this is a cold aquatic and something that smells of earth and decaying leaves (vetiver?). I agree with those who have said this made them think of mushrooms. Over a few minutes a white floral-ish scent begins to bloom underneath the dank earthy fragrance. An hour later... dryer sheets, a light powdery white floral, and that decaying earth smell. This is an odd one. I have a hard time wearing aquatics, especially ones that feel this cold on me. I kind of like the dark impression that this one gives me at first though. It has a lot of throw for about two hours and then it just seems to vanish. I'll probably try this one out a few more times. Something about it intrigues me.

I've surprisingly loved a lot of BPAL rose blends (Whip & Marie being my favorites), so I was interested in this singlenote. Sadly, the singlenote turns out to be the exact sort of rose that I cannot wear. It's very strong and has a lot of throw, but it's perfumey and headache inducing on me. In the drydown it starts to go powdery. Perfumey rose and baby powder. It's very intense and strong. It's not something that I could ever wear though.

Libra really hates me. First on it is very sharp and astringent. The ylang ylang is coming out in that perfumey metallic scent that it usually turns on my skin and I keep thinking of cheap dollar store hairspray . A bit of a watery/fruity apple comes out after a few minutes and this blend gets more bearable for me. I wish that the apple were stronger, and I normally don't even like fruity scents. Over the next hour this turns into a screaming soapy floral fragrance on me. It's intensely perfumey and giving me a headache. Never did smell any sandalwood. I'll be scrubbing my wrists of this one and adding it to my swap pile.

Wow. This is intense, hyper citrus. I don't normally like citrus scents, and this embodies all of the sharpness that I find so off-putting. It smells very lemony, but it's more like true lemon than lemon verbena or lemongrass on me. It's like slicing open a fresh lemon and cramming it in your mouth to taste all of the sour bitterness. In the drydown, grapefruit comes out a bit, and it turns on me as it always does. Something about grapefruit just smells very bitter and dirty on me. I washed this one off. Bitter, dirty lemons and I don't get along.

Chypre is a rather sharp, purple and green scent on me. First on it screams of herbal lavender, but soft powdery violets pick up in the drydown. Over the course of the next hour, a green soapy scent begins to take over. I'm not smelling anything that I think is white musk or neroli... the lavender has sharpened and the green soap is lingering in the background. I'm not sure why this has turned so odd on me. I was expecting something sweeter and creamier. This lasted about 3 hours on me. It was just strange and herbal on my skin. Maybe it is the violet that goes soapy and the lavender that is so sharp? Hm...

I think I'm as excited about the label art as I am about the scents. Snow Bunny, Snow White, and Rose Red are my favorites so far, just looking at everyone's lovely pictures. *praying that my order comes soon*

In the imp this is very spicy and foodie, in an "I am curry" sort of way. I love foodie scents, but I tend to like them to be more on the dessert side of things. First on, curry and honey. Over five minutes on my skin the anise scent comes out more and this blend is starting to make me feel ill. I've become very scent-sensitive over the last few months and this is making me incredibly nauseous. 15 minutes later this is like an insanely strong anise drizzled in honey (two things that I'm not fond of). Something of a sweet floral is also starting to peek through, but I can't wear this anymore. I had to scrub my wrists for ten minutes to get this off of me. It is a very strong scent... unfortunately, it just doesn't work on me.

It has taken me a while to get around to trying this one because I had no clue what hyssop was and was too lazy to look it up Apparently it is a flowering evergreenish herb that it used in medicines. And that's what it smells like. Green herbal with white florals and a strange medicinal twang. In the drydown the florals start to go soapy on me. It's a sweet, herbal soap. Very strange. Hyssop doesn't work on me at all. I don't really like cool herbal scents or white florals... and the soapy drydown makes me feel ill. Oh well. I'll be swapping this one.

First on, Egyptian Amber is rather smoky. It reminds me of burning incense, definitely warm and resiny. In the drydown it sweetens up and gets a warm spicy quality to it. I was rather enjoying it, but it began to go powdery on me after only a few minutes. Amber often turns to baby powder on my skin in blends, and the singlenote is taking the same route... 15 minutes later, this is a faintly sweet and spicy baby powder scent. It's disappointing and disappears quickly on me. Sad, I so want to love amber. It just never works out that way.

I'm not generally someone who cares for minty scents... I like lighter/sweeter mints like spearmint, but peppermint is generally too sharp for me. First on, this is very crisp peppermint. It's cool and it's making my wrists tingle (pleasantly) where I applied it. I'm not crazy about the actual smell, but I feel a lot better when I'm wearing this. I've been running a fever and getting horrible migraines... and this has really helped to alleviate those pains. I'll probably use up my whole imp this month (I always get sick when winter first rolls in).

This is like a less complex version of Phantom Queen on me. Orchid is one of my favorite florals (perhaps the only floral that I really love), and it is rather hard for me to explain what exactly it smells like. It's sweet and slightly fruity, in the way that a very juicy pear might smell. It stays true and sweet for about 8 hours before I can no longer notice it. Decent throw, but very soft. I might get a 5 ml of this one someday, but Phantom Queen is similar enough that I'll use up my bottle of that one first.

This is one of the few singlenotes that really hasn't worked on me at all. It's light, soapy, and perfumey... reminds me of dryer sheets. It disappears within an hour, and I'm kind of glad for that fact. It's exactly the sort of floral that would give me a migraine if it were stronger. I wish that this had the fruitier edge that other reviewers have mentioned, but on me it was just soapy.

Something about this one makes me violently sad. As in, when I wear this, I start crying and feel suicidal . I have really bad associations with the smell of sage, and I can smell sage lingering in the background with this one... so maybe that is part of the reason that this makes me so depressed. Anyhow. Beyond that, this is a rather pretty blend. It starts out very pleasant. I can smell the lovely sweet pea with a green/aquatic background. The sweet pea fades on me pretty quickly though. The drydown is all perfumey peony and sage. It gets more perfumey and sharp as the hours wear on... and it gives me a headache. I think I'll be imping out my bottle of Annabel Lee. For me this seems to trigger depression and headaches... two things that I don't need extra help on, lol.

When I first put on The City in the Sea, it reminded me strongly of Numb (as I see others have also noticed). It had the same shaving cream sort of soapiness, only lighter. After a few minutes the salt water scent comes out more, and it is so salty that it actually makes my mouth water a bit. I like Numb a lot, but I'm sort of disappointed that this is starting out so similar. An hour later... the violets have sweetened up on me and the salt water has intensified. It has lost that soapy edge, and I'm loving this. I'm also getting a hint of something darkly green in the background. It's a deep, cold aquatic on me, and it's unlike any aquatic that I've ever tried before. 5 hours later and this was still going strong. It has amazing staying power and I love that the soapiness fades away completely after a while. In the end it is almost a dry, salty woods sort of scent. I really love the sort of salty tang that is in a few of the BPAL blends, and this is a very strong salt. I'm going to keep my bottle of this one and buy another one for my love interest, because I think this would be amazing on a man.

Storm is one of the fastest disappearing BPALs that I have ever tried. It went through several stages and then was gone so quickly that it made me feel like I was dreaming (the nyquil I've been taking adds to this illusion, lol). First on this was bracingly cold, like being caught in an early spring rain. It was lemony, slightly watery, and had a cold menthol bite. The coldness and aquatic edge quickly faded and I was left with what smelled like salty lemons. I thought that I could smell dandelion or daffodil in the drydown, but it was so light that it was hard to tell what was really going on. Storm had all disappeared within a half hour. I'll probably be giving my imp to a male friend... it was clean and citrusy enough to work on a male, I think. It was gone before I had time to form much of an impression at all though.

First on this is a green herbal scent with a very powdery floral in the background. Within five minutes this has morphed into pure soap with a dusting of baby powder . And it has completely disappeared before I hit a half hour mark. So I slathered some more on... and got the same exact result. Morella just doesn't work at all with my skin chemistry.

Neptune is an odd, light scent on me... but it's one that I like enough that I'll definitely get a full bottle if the chance ever presents itself . First on this is powdery bubblegum-lotus and something citrusy. It's reminding me of Lolita, if Lolita had lotus in it. This might have orange blossom and lemon verbena in it. In the drydown this starts to get a bit more wooden and a bit more aquatic. It smells like sandalwood and salty ocean water. I love how light and sweet this is, but it has a tangy salty edge that keeps it from being boring. I so hope that I can get a full bottle of this one at some point.

Uranus. The planet that falls victim to so many bad jokes. I wanted to like this, but it's just not working on me. I'm getting the cinnamon and slight wooden undercurrent that others have mentioned... but it's just so fake on me. Craft store potpourri. It smells cheap and sickeningly sweet. In the drydown this is pure cinnamon, and enough to give me a headache.

The Lady of the Snow, Winter Ghost, Snow Queen. A chilling, haunted blend of bergamot, lemon verbena, sandalwood and jasmine. Yup, I have to put in another voice likening Yuki-Onna to lemon pledge. I like lemon pledge... just don't know if I want the smell following me around all day. After about an hour, a sweet, smoky jasmine starts to come out, but it is mostly overpowered by the sharp lemon scent. 3 hours later, this has turned into a light soapy lemon on me. I never noticed any sandalwood. I feel very unimpressed with this one.

I normally enjoy civet, but everything about Bacchanalie goes horribly awry on my skin. First on, this is very grape... but a medicinal one, like grape flavored cough syrup. Thick and sickeningly sweet, with a heavy medicinal edge. After a few minutes the orange blossom and civet come out. The orange blossom turns acrid and sharp on my skin, as it often does. The civet, which I normally love, smells musky and dirty underneath the grape and orange blossom. I'm going to stay far away from this one... it wrecks havoc with my skin chemistry

I would second the recommendation for White Rabbit. I will never forget what my boy said when I had him sniff test that one, "Smells like boring." And it does make me feel prim, proper, and subdued. Which is probably not something that you'd want to wear to work or anything... it's my lounging around, relaxing, and being lazy scent. Doesn't get a great response from menfolk though (in my case, at least).

Juniper Berry is very green and sharp at first, like trimming hedges and getting bitter sap all over your hands. It's that cool and refreshing too. It's not sharp in a bad way at all, I really like it. As I wear it, Juniper Berry gets rather sweet though. I'm actually thinking of hard red berries or cherry Kool-Aid. After an hour the fragrance has settled into a sharp green sap and sweet red berry scent. It doesn't seem right on me, though I'm loving it. I bet it would make an amazing room scent.